If “Swan Songs” #1 is anything to go by, this new anthology series by Prince and Simmonds will serve audiences rarified, melancholy stories about the endings of things. In “Swan Songs” #1, the end comes on a macro scale as the world comes crashing down around our solemn protagonist and his mother. Since this story is a standalone, we’ll review “Swan Songs” #1 based on its own merits as a story, and we’ll also talk a little about the anthology concept itself.
Cover by Martin SimmondsSwan Songs #1
Written by W. Maxwell Prince
Illustrated by Martin Simmonds
Lettered by Good Old Neon
Reviewed by Kobi BordoleyW. MAXWELL PRINCE (ICE CREAM MAN HAHA) continues his weird winning one-shot formula with this all-new multi-artist project that explores the way things END…and also how they never really do. SWAN SONGS comprises stories about endings…The End of the World. The End of a Marriage. The End of a Sentence. The End of the End of the World! (Which I suppose one might consider the BEGINNING of a new world…)
And along for the terminal ride are some of comics’ best and brightest artists! The first apocalyptic issue “The End of the World” is drawn by none other than THE DEPARTMENT OF TRUTH’s MARTIN SIMMONDS. Future artists for future endings include CASPAR WIJNGAARD (HOME SICK PILOTS) and FILIPE ANDRADE (The Many Deaths of Leila Star) with more to be announced. All things come to a close; these are the SWAN SONGS.
The above solicit gives you a good idea of what to expect from the “Swan Songs” one-shots, and a little bit about the cast and crew coming together to make these happen. Reviewing standalone or one-shot stories is a little bit tricky, because some of the things we look at in ongoing, serialized stories are less important: pace, character introductions, plot, tension, etc. Of course, all good stories need those things, but in standalone stories, the things that are most important are, for lack of better terms, the vibe presented. Is the idea good enough to capture our attention for one story? Is the message, or narrative ethos of the story evocative enough that it can pull us in to a story we know is ending? Are the artist and writer working in full harmony, given that this is their one shot to stick the landing of their partnership?
We’re happy to report that “Swan Songs” #1 does all of the above, and works as an introduction to this anthology of stories. Much of that probably has to do with the fact that Prince and Simmonds are veterans of the form and of working together, having previously collaborated on the “Ice Cream Man,” an anthology horror series that explores the dark and twisted aspects of human nature through interconnected stories. It featured an enigmatic ice cream truck driver who pops up in different places, bringing surreal and often chilling tales to unsuspecting individuals. Maxwell’s storytelling style of existentialism, morality, and the human condition at large is also on display in “Swan Songs” #1. Given that standalones really hinge on artist and author coming together, we can attribute a lot of the success in “Swan Songs” #1 to Prince and Simmonds’ lockstep.
For example, the text and pictures of “Swan Songs” #1 work in tandem, with Prince’s story taking up as little space as possible when big visual set pieces are involved. On the other hand, when the story gets more intimate and character focused, larger dialogue blocks appear. This works on the page, and allows both Prince’s words and Simmond’s pictures room to steal the stage. In line with what we said before about the needs and focuses of standalone stories, the story and plot of “Swan Songs” #1 is pretty unimportant. That doesn’t mean it’s bad (far from it), just that the plot is there to serve a feeling less than it is to drive a fandom, create connection to characters, or grip us into a cosmic mystery, etc etc. “Swan Songs” #1 instead follows a young man at the end of the world as he cares for his mother, who is at the end of her life. The city is in ruin, we learn that phones have stopped working, This is the End signs abound, and the streets are overrun with doomsday prophets and roving bands of bardic degenerates, acting like a Greek chorus or a group of Shakespearean Furies. Across the city, Doomsday clocks count down to zero. We get the sense that when it finally does, the world will be put out of the misery in which it’s trapped. All the while, our young protagonist scours the city for magazines to read aloud to his mother, who is on dialysis at the hospital. How the hospital is still functioning during this ruin is besides the point, and the probability of things in “Swan Songs” #1 is less relevant than the inevitability of things. The story is violent, but also meditative and fiercely touching.
What really brings “Swan Songs” #1 over the edge is the art. Simmond takes no prisoners, and gives us humble readers as feast for the eyes. The pages in “Swan Songs” #1 are fully fledged, and saturated with the colors of a world in decline: reds, blacks, smoggy beiges and grays. In less capable hands, this would look messy, dull, or like a bad imitation of Cloudy with a Change of Meatballs (think of the pea soup scenes). But this is not that. It’s glorious and depressing all at once, and impeccably stylized. This doesn’t feel like a generic, dystopian collection of visual tropes, even though the death and destruction is there. Whatever is happening in “Swan Songs” #1 feels distinct to its world, while also obvious and legible. This is a strong opening entry to this anthology.
Final Verdict: 8.6. Moody and sublime, this is another strong entry into the haunting anthology genre.
