Vertigo unites a group of talented comic creators, some familiar and some new faces, for a revived anthology series centered on sports with a fun sci-fi twist.
Written by Gilbert Hernandez, Amy Chu, Lauren Beukes, Dale Halvorsen, Ivan Brandon
Illustrated by Gilbert Hernandez, Tana Ford, Christopher Mitten, Amei ZhaoComics’ top talents, including some making their Vertigo debut, take on the classic DC Comics anthology title for four issues of strange, scary, sexy and sensational sports stories. Featuring stories and art by Brian Azzarello, CM Punk, Paul Pope, Gilbert Hernandez, Lauren Beukes, Ben McCool, Ivan Brandon, Monica Gallagher, Lee Loughridge, Nick Dragotta, Christopher Mitten, Darick Robertson, Mark Finn, John Lucas, Gabe Soria, Ronald Wimberly, Michael DiMotta, Tim Fish, Rael Lyra and many more!
Vertigo has been undergoing some changes ever since long time editor Karen Berger stepped down, and but at least the imprint has maintain its tradition of publishing anthology series. These have been a great springboard for new creators, while allowing famous artists and writers to try something different, and it doesn’t get much different than the mashup of sports drama and science fiction found in “Strange Sports Tales” #1.
The issue kicks off with “Martian Trade”, written and drawn by Gilbert Hernandez. Those familiar with his tremendous work on the decade spanning “Love and Rockets” will find much to enjoy in this story. It makes sense that it opens the issue, as it is easily the most accessible of the bunch. Hernandez’ art is simple and elegant, focusing on the characters instead of any heavy sci-fi setting. While it would be easy for newbies to characterize his style as slightly cartoonish, it actually allows for more subtle effective expressions of emotion. The story is almost completely dialog-driven, and Hernandez writes characters that actually sound like they are kids and adolescents, which is far from the norm in mainstream comics. The story is straightforward, and Hernandez infuses it with trademark dry humour and wit.
The issue branches into complete science-fiction territory with “Dodgeball Kill” from Amy Chu and Tana Ford. The story mashes together the ever-popular setting of a space prison with the unescapably pervasive force of reality television. Gladiator fights have been a form of popular entertainment for centuries and there’s no reason to believe this trend won’t continue into the future. Ford fills the slightly familiar story with a bunch of fun and visually familiar characters, The Jabba-esque warden is perfectly slimy, and the four-armed Sheev is clearly a big threat from the first panel he appears in. This story establishes the level of violence that will be featured in the series, and Vertigo clearly allows the creators to not hold back. It’s visceral and bloody, especially when a twist turns the violence away from the prisoners and towards the heartless prison staff. Ford’s art is highly detailed, and she manages to fit a lot into only eight pages. Her brief action scenes have a great energy to them, and there are real moments of tension. This is a fun story with an entertaining twist, and will make you crave a full-length sci-fi/sports/prison break story.
Even though the east coast is just starting to unthaw from the worst winter this side of Hoth, the hockey season thankfully won’t wind down for almost another three months. On the ice planet featured in “Chum”, the hockey season appears like it might be ending, and has taken even an entirely new level of cultural importance (which, as a Canadian, I completely understand). Lauren Beukes and Dale Halvorsen have created a story that combines winter sports with the significance of an ancient Aztec ball game. Any level of humor is pretty much absent here, and instead there is actually a rather poignant demonstration about the level of violence we accept in sports, and how quickly a mob mentality can take over. Given the barren landscape of the planet, it’s impressive that Christopher Mitten was able to pencil scenes that are quite visually striking. Instead of just fading into a bland background of white snow, everything is jagged and pointy, mirroring the danger found on the ice. The rink has a real scope to it, and the crowd is just detailed enough get across the vastness of this alien stadium. Mitten’s lines can get really heavy when pencilling the characters, and the shadows that fall across their jerseys give a real feeling of movement to the scene. This has probably the bleakest ending of any of the four stories, and the creative creates an emotionally resonant conclusion in only a few pages.
Continued belowThe first collection of “Strange Sports Stories” appropriately concludes with the end of the world in “Refugees”. This a classic story of girl-meets-guy, guy-leaves-girl, world-ends, they-flee-the-country-and-watch-a-baseball-game. While hailing from the Great White North means that some of cultural of importance of baseball is lost on me, I saw Angels In the Outfield like a hundred times when I was a kid so I think I understand. The art from Amei Zhao positions this story as the stand out installment of the issue. Everything looks like a gorgeous watercolor painting, and gives every scene a feeling of melancholy beauty. The story is simple, as bombs start dropping from an unspecified source, and the society quickly crumbles. There are a lot of negative things that can come with sports, but it does have the undeniable ability to unify groups of people. The world is burning, but the refugees have gathered around a baseball diamond to watch it happen together. Ivan Brandon crafts a story that doesn’t feel panicky or nihilistic, despite the apocalyptic events, and it’s a real bitter sweet way to bring this issue to a close.
The four stories found in “Strange Sports Tales” #1 are varied and different from one another, but are unified by the idea that sports can be about more than just the game itself. None of these stories really focus on who wins and who loses, but about how the characters are affected by sporting events. All the creators involved are very talented, and they each accomplish more in fewer than 10 pages then other series do in full issues.
Final Verdict: 8.0 – A unique and entertaining issue that creates 4 entirely different worlds that highlights the larger themes presented in sports, not just who wins and who loses.
