IRELAND'S FIRST SUPERHERO? THE CELTIC WARRIOR

Growing up in Ireland, you can't help but hear about Finn MacCumhail and the Fianna or the adventures of Cú Chulainn. In fact, if I remember correctly, I was taught those stories in primary school and, as far as I know, children still are. There is a rich history of Irish folklore to be found that could easily be used to tell an Irish superhero story but, until relatively recently, the Irish comic book community had yet to do so. (There was even a Marvel Comics superhero named Cú Chulainn but the less said about that the better. Really. Please don't talk about it). This has changed in recent years with Rob Curley's use of Finn as a member of the superhero group The League of Volunteers and more recently with Will Sliney's Celtic Warrior.

With Celtic Warrior, Will sets out to tell some of the best known stories of Cú Chulainn and he does this via the Irish tradition of storytelling. As the armies reach various points in Ireland, a history is revealed to us that gives us more the background for the events that are transpiring now. In the first chapter, Courage, we meet the armies of Munster as they drink to their upcoming victory. Victory is assured, they believe, because all the men of Ulster are sleeping thanks to their queen, Maeve. All save Cú Chulainn. One man tries to sound a warning but Cormac Connloignes, their leader, will hear none of the stories before his 18,000 men cross Ireland and claim the Brown Bull of Ulster. So they drink and sleep. The cautious men wakes as he believes he hears the sounds of beasts. He is mocked but the amy is attacked by vicious hounds. They defeat them but Cormac recognises them as the Hounds of Cú Chulainn. We then see the tale of a young boy called Setanta. 13 years ago, in the court of Conchobar MacNeasa, they see the boy's great prowess with a hurl. They bring him to the castle where, whilst defending himself, kills the hound that guards the castle. He is told he must take her place and raise her cubs until they are old enough to replace her. He is no longer Setanta, he is the Hound of Culainn. They have lost 500 men and wonder what lies ahead of them. In the distance, Cú Chulainn smiles.

In Chapter 2, Strength, the news of the attack is brought to the armies of Fergus Mac Roich. Back with the southern army, they have reached the Gap of Dunloe and are met with the obstacle of an ash tree. They have no option but to take down the tree. 10 years before, Cú Chulainn has fulfilled his task of protector of Culainn and is offered a sword. He picks one but, before he can wield it, is told he must prove his use by carving a shield. He is warned to stay away from the ash tree as, even he, isn't good enough to carve a shield from that. The ash tree gifts you with the souls of Ireland's fiercest warriors. He goes for an ash tree and it attacks him. Now, the southern warriors attack the ash tree in their way to little affect. The warriors of Fergus arrive and together they pull it up by the roots. Their is a carving underneath “Let no man pass unless he has the strength to purge this tree by himself.” Not only are they facing a man that can lift an ash tree by himself but one who wields a shield made of ash. In the distance, Cú Chulainn looks on, wielding an ash shield.

In Chapter 3, Destiny, the armies arrive at the Hill of Tara, seat of High Kings. 6 years before in this place, Cú Chulainn witnessed Maeve, goddess of intoxication, betray the gods and try to kill the Morrigan, goddess of war. She had taken control of the White Bull and once she takes control of the Brown Bull of Ulster she will control Ireland. Once Maeve departs, Cú Chulainn rushes to the war goddess' aid. She tells him that no man will be able to resist Maeve but she will give him the power to do so. Now, Maeve reveals that the Kings of Ireland, so under her control, have beheaded their own wives for her. Among them are Fergus Mac Roich, foster father of Cú Chulainn and Cormac Connloignes, son of the great Conchobar MacNeasa, King of Ulster, leader of the Red Branch Knights whose kingdom she wishes to conquer.

In Chapter 4, Skill, the armies of Maeve are struggling onwards by sea. The God of the Sea, Lir, appears to be against them. They eventually find refuge on the Island of the Scathach. They just need to cross a bridge to get to the Giant's Causeway. Maeve reveals that they need Scathach's permission to pass. She reveals that if they can cross the bridge and defeat one opponent, they may pass. The armies charge and a lone warrior leaps on to the bridge to face them. Years earlier, Cú Chulainn and this warrior, revealed to be named Ferdia, trained on this island. At the end of their training, the Scathach reveals a dark future where only the Spear of Mortal Pain will separate them. Now, the warriors are being defeated by Ferdia. Even Cormac is killed. Maeve takes matters into her own hands and uses her powers to subdue him. The army marches on. The Scathach reveals that the dark future is here and wonders if Cú Chulainn knows what he is up against.

In Chapter 5, Knowledge, they have reached the Giant's Causeway and face the giant. We see the story of how Cú Chulainn faced the the giant. Having showed his bravery, the giant offers him all the riches he could carry. He shuns them. He just wants to know how the giant got so big. The army eventually dispatches the giant on they are finally on Ulster soil. In Chapter 6, War, they face ambushes and attacks before finally seeing Cú Chulainn face to face. He defeats every warrior he faces going into his legendary blood rage. Maeve reveals to him that she has his brother, Ferdia, under her influence. She knew he would defeat her armies, they were just to protect her as she passed through the island. Cú Chulainn doesn't want to fight his brother but Ferdia asks him to kill him so that Maeve won't succeed. He eventually slays Ferdia but Maeve attacks him from behind, stabbing him through the chest. He stumbles towards a rock so he can stay on his feet. Maeve orders her men forward but they won't go near him. The Morrigan, in the form of a raven, lands on his shoulder. Maeve decides to attack herself and is stabbed. The Brown Bull attacks her and the men chop off her head. Fergus, free of the spell, asks if the men, also free of the spell, will fight on for their queen or honour a man who has fought for his land. Throughout his speech, we see flashes of future heroes before ending with a crowd standing around a Cú Chulainn statue in GPO in Dublin.

I enjoyed the way the story was structured. Each chapter starts with a hint of the final battle before we go to the story of the armies' progress through Ireland. We then get flashes of Cú Chulainn's life when the progress of the army hits somewhere or meets something that has some connection to a Cú Chulainn tale. The art also reflects the different time periods as pages about Cú Chulainn's past and the flashes of future heroes are shown in what looks like images drawn on parchment. This affect is also used for the panels and the titles at the introduction of each chapter. The structure aids in conveying the pending inevitable tragic destiny of Cú Chulainn and the story is recreated in an action-packed and interesting way. This is the tale of an Irish superhero. Another interesting aspect is that this book is being published by O' Brien Press who have moved into the graphic novel business. This means that the book is as likely to be seen in a bookshop as in a comic book shop. It also results in a very nice package that would look good on anyone's bookshelf.

******

Follow Will Sliney 

Website: http://sliney.blogspot.ie/

WITH POD ON OUR SIDE: WHERE MONSTERS DWELL

 To me, Hell is other people on public transport and being that I commute to work this necessitates me taking matters in hand. Rather than resorting to physical violence, I have resorted to filling my iPod or iPhone with my favourite music and my favourite podcasts. 90% of these podcasts are comicbook related and one that gets priority when posted is Where Monsters Dwell. WMD is a weekly radio show broadcasted from Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada. I discovered this show quite by chance by becoming friends with co-host “Monster” Mike Campbell on Facebook years ago and have been listening ever since.

The show is a mixture of discussions between hosts Mike Campbell and Remington J. Osborn on a variety of nerd topics be it TV, film, games and a conversation with a comicbook creator. These discussions are very entertaining as, the hosts have said this themselves, it is a couple of friends meeting once a week and chatting about the things they love and they would do it even if they didn't have a radio show. They veer away from the negative and try to focus on the positives. They also give a much appreciated spoiler warning if they think the discussion is heading in that direction.

The laid back style really works when it comes to the interviews as the vast majority of guests are put at ease when they realise that the WMD crew just want to talk about what they want to talk about and won't push them where they don't want to go. (This doesn't stop Remy from trying to extract information about top secret projects on occasion but that is more of a running gag than serious pressure). Mike does a great job on the discussion of art process as he is genuinely interested in knowing how artists do things (he's a bit of an artist himself). If they aren't asking the questions you want, you can ask a question by posting on their Facebook wall (or call in if you're listening live) and producer Chuck will ask the question. The guests have included the legendary Joe Kubert, Gail Simone, Mark Waid and Irishman Declan Shalvey. They have a nice mixture of independent creators and the well known names and they have many repeat guests as interviewees seem enjoy the chats as much they do.

After appearing on the show, and being very entertaining (as he usually is) and presumably having a good time, Jimmy Palmiotti began doing a spin-off show called Listen to Jimmy where Mike chats with Jimmy about his work (which Jimmy skips over as something that people don't want to hear about) and what has happened in the week (not restricted to comicbooks) and he answers Twitter and e-mail questions. I think that is the part of the WMD show (and the Jimmy show) that I enjoy the most. I really feel part of both shows. They have asked questions for me and every week it feels like I am listening to a couple of friends chatting about the things I love. That and when they discuss future plans on air. “Maybe we should discuss this off air.”

*****

Follow Mike Campbell and Remington J. Osborn

Website: http://wheremonstersdwell.ca/

AN' FOR EVERY HUNG-UP PERSON IN THE WHOLE WIDE UNIVERSE. MY REVIEW OF THEM.

 Having read Tommie Kelly's The Holy Numbers (review to follow soon – it will be a bit more in-depth as it covers the whole story), I was interested in seeing what else he had done. Where better to start than with something out right now. THEM issue one. In the books I have read, Tommie's stories cover the theme of our place in the universe and society while at the same time telling a very human story. With The Holy Numbers, he was looking at religion, spirituality and its affect on society and our connection with the universe. From what I have read so far, with THEM, he seems to be dealing with art, fame or the idea of launching an idea into the world or maybe all of the above. I haven't figured it out quite yet.

The issue starts with a plant growing as a metaphor of an idea being launched unto the world. We then see the protagonist, Roman, desperately running from THEM. They are only shown as shadowy figures. Who are they? Our first mystery. We then skip back to a scene of him on stage basking in the light of his fame. He has created a masterpiece. What is it? Mystery number two. We then cut back to when he's an ordinary, unrecognised artist. He is in getting art supplies when the universe hands him a black book. It has name and the date on it. The owner, Mr. Sheldrake, found it while looking through things. Another mystery. Roman feels the universe or Sheldrake is messing with him. He thinks the universe wants people to be unhappy. Sheldrake quips that he feels less happy since Roman walked in. Sheldrake worries that the artist is being too pessimistic. He assures him that he is content. He is lying.

Roman gives us a run through of his life. He sleeps all day and works on his painting at night. It is his only escape. When he is not painting, he is thinking. And drinking. It dulls the voices that have been his constant companion. He feels disconnected from people. He doesn't understand them. He is not a success with his art. The unpaid bills and debt are voices telling him he is a failure. Voices like that of his father whose voice is loudest. So he paints to escape. When he is out for drinks, he hears that someone that he knows, John Morrison, has gained fame after “painting for about two minutes”. John's life is everything that his isn't. The universe, Roman feels, hands him things when he wants them. His friends like Morrison's art and feel that his success will be good for them. They think he should let it go. Roman leaves the bar. Walking home he continues to ponder. He feels Morrison's success only highlights his failure. He has stolen his spot in the universe. He feels defeated. His spot will never come. The issue ends with Roman getting struck by a car.

I really liked the first issue. I enjoy Tommie Kelly's art and the story is a good mixture of the everyday story of someone trying to make it in the world and the big theme of our place in the universe. One issue is not enough to review the overall theme as I feel this issue covers a lot of them, as I noted at the beginning of this review, it could be art, fame or launching an idea into the world or all of the above. Some writers try high concepts while sacrificing the basic story. There is a big idea but no human element to help us connect to the story. Tommie Kelly manages to have the high concept while giving us Roman to empathise with. His is an everyman story of trying to make his way in the world. I also enjoyed the unanswered questions. There was enough of Roman's story for us to start to understand where the story going but there are enough mysteries there to get you to come back for issue two. I will be reading it. I want to know more about THEM.

 *****

Follow Tommie Kelly 

Website: http://www.tommiekelly.com/

SUBTERRANEAN CITY (ROBERT CURLEY) DUES (Or How I Came To Love Irish Comics)

 As a kid my exposure to comics mainly involved being scared by copies of Dan Dare Annuals belonging to my uncles and copies of 2000 AD that I picked up at a fair in my home town. I didn't discover that American comics were being sold in Ireland until my best friend discovered comic shops in Dublin around 1999. One of these shops was Sub City Comics which is owned by Rob Curley who, I didn't know this at the time, was a comic book creator. Sub City became my weekly comic shop and I would spend many a weekday, and the odd Saturday, browsing the racks and getting caught on what I had been missing all my life. On one of these days, I spotted an issue of a comic called Freak Show. (I remember it was issue three as it had the villain called the Director on it). I decided to pick up the other issues and give it a go.

The book was set in the 1950s and centred around detective Jack Nixon, actress Susan White, Elizabeth Grange and blue blood Miles Weishaupt. In the first issue, Jack investigates the murder of a famous film director. Suspicion is cast on Susan as there are photographs of someone who looks like her with him. Susan and Jack have a history and she is none too pleased to have him back in her life especially since she's under investigation. The killer is eventually revealed to be a lover of Jack's who is obsessed with Susan. They manage to stop him but Jack being outed leads to his leaving the police. The next story introduces us to Elizabeth and Miles. Miles gives Elizabeth a lift to an acting audition where she ends up getting used in the machinations of the villain known as the Director. He attacks the Oscars using her image which causes them to cross paths with Jack and Susan, who have decided to investigate the events after they read about them in the newspaper. Together they foil his plans and end up as a sort of Supernatural Detective Agency. Each issue they run into a strange villain in a series that is a mixture of Ed Wood and LA Confidential. I followed the adventures of Jack, Susan and co for the rest of the books run. Reading the first few issues, I noticed the name Robert Curley on the credits. I finally knew someone who actually creates these things! Along the way, I was also introduced to artists who would go on to make names for themselves in the US: Stephen Thompson, Stephen Mooney, Declan Shalvey and Will Sliney (on another Atomic Diner title called Atomic Rocket Group) and discovered that more Irish people were making comics. This led me to discover books by people like Bob Byrne (Mister Amperduke), Alan Nolan (Sancho) and Gerry Hunt (In Dublin City), who had been making them for many years.

After ending his run on Freak Show, and taking a break from producing books, Rob came back with a vengeance. Something had changed though. The new books had moved to an Irish focus. He started by introducing an Irish super-team called The League of Volunteers. Set in the 1940s, the group includes journalist The Glimmerman, ex soldier The Archer, vampire hunter Blood Rose and, from Ireland's ancient past, The Druid. The group comes together to foil a Nazi resurrection of an ancient evil called Bocanah. The series introduces dozens of characters including Fianna members, secret agents, scientists and hints of past leagues that included prominent figures from Irish history. The series has also spun a variety of mini-series and one shots including The Black Scorpion, The Crimson Blade (a member of The 1795 League) and the upcoming Glimmerman. He has also added some non-super hero titles (although I think a lot of the League books don't strictly fall into the super hero genre). First, he brought us an Irish demon hunter from 1899 called Róisín Dubh. He then added a personal favourite called Jennifer Wilde. It is an intriguing story about a girl name Jennifer who is trying to find out about her father's past while being accompanied by the ghost of Oscar Wilde. Recently, he added Noe: The Savage Boy which is about a village in Cork in 1631 that gets kidnapped by pirates.

As with Freak Show and his other earlier books, Rob has introduced us to some terrific artists including Barry Keegan, Stephen Byrne and Stephen Downey. One thing has changed this time though, Rob has taken on other writers to work on these series. Maura McHugh co-plots and scripts Jennifer Wilde and writes Róisín Dubh and Alan Nolan is doing some upcoming issues of the League and there are hints of more to come. I'm enjoying watching this universe as it seems to be a metaphor for Irish comics as it has grown in leaps and bounds over the past couple of years.

*****

Follow Rob Curley

Website: http://www.atomicdiner.com/

LIGHTS! CAMERA! ACTION! HALF PAST DANGER!

 I was going to wait until the trade was out to do a review but certain events changed those plans for me. First of all, I really enjoyed the first issue and want people to know about. Secondly, I attended a signing with writer/artist Stephen Mooney (thanks to Rob at Sub City Comics) and his enthusiasm for the series was contagious. I have known of Stephen Mooney's work since his days on Atomic Diner's Freak Show where, amongst other things, he drew one of my favorite villains, the Director. He has since built a name for himself working on various titles for IDW including Angel and the A-Team. Having done this, he decided to use that notoriety to do his own story called Half Past Danger. I have known about these plans for over a year. I was privy to a preview of the art for the first issue at various conventions and was there for the announcement of IDW as publisher and Jordie Bellaire as colorist from issue two at last year's DICE convention. I was already excited about the series as I have gotten more and more into creator owned series because, in my opinion, you get the purest sense of what the creator is all about but the addition of IDW and Jordie meant that this was going to be a beautiful book. The panel at DICE also included an entertaining discussion on the Indiana Jones movies and which was best which led to my purchasing the series on Blu ray as preparation for the release of issue one.

The issue begins with the Staff Sergeant Tommy “Irish” Flynn leading a troop of American soldiers through a Pacific Island. He, like thousands of other Irishmen, joined the Allied Forces to fight Nazis. From the very beginning, you get Stephen Mooney's love of the movies. The opening scene is reminiscent of Raiders of the Lost Ark. We get the other cast member's views of the main character before we see him and get a great sense of camaraderie amongst the troops. The main thing we find out is that he has gotten them off more than one scrape and hasn't lead them wrong. We also get the feeling that he is about to get them into the biggest scrape of their lives. The troops run into a mysterious Nazi camp that is much further east than they should be and Flynn decides they should avoid the Germans and, in doing so, leads them towards some dinosaurs. The creatures, in some superb action sequences, make short work of the troops and only Flynn escapes with his life.

The story then cuts ahead two months to Flynn drowning his sorrows in a New York bar. We are not yet privy to what has occurred since his time on the island but he appears to be a broken man. His self-pity is interrupted by the appearance of Englishwoman, Elizabeth Huntington-Moss, an American soldier named Captain John Noble and a mysterious Japanese fighter. Elizabeth wants Flynn's help (we don't the what and the why yet) and you get the impression that she is a lady that gets what she wants. Their first interaction quickly results in bar fight where we get to the combat prowess of both the American and the Asian. Elizabeth didn't get her hands dirty and tries to order herself a drink instead. Flynn is eventually subdued and wakes in what appears to be a hospital. The American informs him that they intend to get him back into the war.

I really enjoyed the first issue. It had all the elements of a great action movie. We have an interesting lead, there is fast paced action, there are humorous elements and there is a great supporting cast. My favorite thing about the issue is that we don't know everything about Flynn, we haven't found out what those Nazis are were up to on that island, we don't know what has Flynn been up to since the island incident and we have only begun to know the supporting cast and what they want with Flynn. There are questions to be answered. Why is this my favorite thing about the issue? Well it makes me want to pick up the rest of the series so I can hopefully get some of these answers. I do want those answers.

*****

Follow Stephen Mooney

Website: http://www.halfpastdanger.com/