12 Days of Classic Comics Christmas Day 4
Dec. 17th, 2014 12:21 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jkcarrierYou can see everyone else's picks at http://classiccomics.boards.net/thread/980/fourth-classic-comics-christmas-2014
and my choice for today under the cut:
4) Mechanics #1 (1985)
In retrospect, this book was clearly a calculated marketing ploy: Take Jaime Hernandez's earliest "Locas" stories from Love & Rockets, back when the strip still had some sci-fi/adventure elements to it. Add fancy coloring on nice paper, a cheesecake-y cover, and an introduction by Alan Moore. They were clearly trying to catch the eyes of mainstream comics readers, and in my case it totally worked. Hernandez's art mixes a punk sensibility with grade-a illustration chops, with beautiful results. The nominal plot involves salvaging a wrecked spaceship in the jungles of South America while political unrest is going on all around. But really, it's about Maggie, the poor kid from the barrio who's in way over her head. We see everything through her eyes, via her letters back home to her friend Hopey, and it quickly becomes obvious that Hernandez is more interested in the lives and struggles of the regular kids than whatever's going on with square-jawed stud Rand Race or legendary wrestler Rena Titanon. It was a great introduction to what was, and remains, one of the defining comics of its era.
and my choice for today under the cut:
4) Mechanics #1 (1985)
In retrospect, this book was clearly a calculated marketing ploy: Take Jaime Hernandez's earliest "Locas" stories from Love & Rockets, back when the strip still had some sci-fi/adventure elements to it. Add fancy coloring on nice paper, a cheesecake-y cover, and an introduction by Alan Moore. They were clearly trying to catch the eyes of mainstream comics readers, and in my case it totally worked. Hernandez's art mixes a punk sensibility with grade-a illustration chops, with beautiful results. The nominal plot involves salvaging a wrecked spaceship in the jungles of South America while political unrest is going on all around. But really, it's about Maggie, the poor kid from the barrio who's in way over her head. We see everything through her eyes, via her letters back home to her friend Hopey, and it quickly becomes obvious that Hernandez is more interested in the lives and struggles of the regular kids than whatever's going on with square-jawed stud Rand Race or legendary wrestler Rena Titanon. It was a great introduction to what was, and remains, one of the defining comics of its era.
