Love And Rockets, Vol.7

Time to catch up on Maggie, Hopey and all the rest of the wonderful characters in the Los Bros Hernandez universe!

Image Comics Rejuvenates My Interest in New Titles

  Back in the 70’s when I was first getting into comics in a BIG way, I was picking up maybe 16 different titles every month, but once I hit high school in the 80’s it came down to maybe three or four max. By the time I was in college I wasn’t really picking up much besides Love and Rockets and it wasn’t until the DC/Vertigo explosion in the 90’s that I was lured back into comic collecting with its innovative storylines in Sandman, etc, and this lasted for a few years (at least until Sandman ended) and then it was back to almost no comics at all.

In recent years I might pick up a few issues of a certain title just to read, or my friends might turn me onto a trade paperback or two, but apart from the awesome online comic FREAKANGELS, the only comic I was seriously following was the incredible Brian K Vaughan/Fiona Staples Epic SAGA, the story of two star-crossed lovers named Alana and Marko from two warring worlds, the politics they have to deal with, and the child Hazel they have between them. My friend had initially introduced this to me because he knew I’d like the artwork but once reading the strip I just fell in love with it ALL: The Artwork, the Characters and the amazing STORY!

  
 One quirk of a quality Comic is the use of timed “hiatuses” for the author and artists to catch up, take time out and re-energize, SAGA is one that frequently takes breaks, and in fact has been in one since November of last year. So maddening to wait for the months to pass, so I was beside myself when it was announced that the comic was coming back after a 4 month hiatus! It was on the way to the comic store to see if the latest issue had finally come in, where I ran into an old friend who, after hearing how excited I was for Saga’s return, highly recommended a new series called THE WICKED AND THE DIVINE.

She explained that it followed these 12 Gods who come down to Earth every 90 years in human form. Intrigued, I told her I’d check it out, and when I picked it up, I found a beautifully illustrated, stylish series that in fact reminded me a LOT of Neil Gaiman’s own Sandman “Endless” Characters: Godlike beings wearing the forms of and mingling among the mere mortals of Earth, taking care of business for two years before they all disappear once again. I LOVED IT!

 With both The Wicked and the Divine AND Saga being published by Image Comics, I was naturally curious when I saw that a brand NEW Image series had JUST started, a very artistic and post-punky strip called THEY’RE NOT LIKE US, about a group of eccentric super-powered teenagers holed up in a luxurious mansion where they view the rest of the world with contempt even as they go about reshaping our world for the (supposed) better. Such great writing and a likeable main character, after two issues, I realized I had found yet ANOTHER great comic to pick up each month!!!

Being so impressed with how terrific these Image Comics series were, I began checking out what other titles the publisher had that I might be interested in, and found a few new series that had just published collected trade paperbacks of their first few story arcs, and I picked THESE all up, too!

    One was called THE FUSE and the other was called LAZARUS. FUSE followed the murder cases covered by two detectives (one, a seasoned and very kick-ass veteran detective woman named Ristovych, and the other a new by-the-book man named Dietrich) working homicide in a futuristic space station. The Trade paperback I picked up collected issues 1-6 of this series, and as its now only up to issue 11, it won’t take long to catch up!

LAZARUS is the story set in a futuristic society where powerful families run the various towns and each family has one member assigned as their “Lazarus”: a person with the duty of the bodyguard/enforcer/battle agent- Besides weapon and tactical strength and knowledge, this chosen one ALSO has the ability to revive after Death!! The series focuses on one particular family, the Carlyles and their Lazarus, the beautiful and deadly “Forever” Carlyle.

Man, I’ve always regarded Image Comics as a really “Super-Heroey” line of comics, and with the first titles that I first knew from them, like GEN13, SAVAGE DRAGON, SPAWN and INVINCIBLE, that kind of makes sense, but boy, ever since “The Walking Dead”, they have become (to me) the forefront in fresh and innovative tales! With all of these new titles to read and enjoy, it is a new comic collecting renaissance for me!!!

Powers, Vol.4-7

Lazarus, Vol.1-2

Sing A Song of Sunsets: Richard Linklater's "Before" Trilogy

Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy in 1995's "Before Sunrise"

 I first saw the Richard Linklater movie “Before Sunrise” as a rental way back in 1995, and I mean to tell you, it blew me away! Besides giving my first glimpse into the loveliness that is Julie Delpy, I was taken in by the film’s slow, gentle pacing and attention to details. 

The story of two young passengers on a train named Jesse and Celine (Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy) who make an impulse decision to spend an evening together walking around Vienna immersed you so completely that for weeks after I still felt like I had BEEN in Germany! 

After a chance meeting on the train, the two chat up, and taking a chance, Jesse works up his courage to ask this interesting young girl to spend time with him til his morning connecting train. Once they get off the platform and step out into the streets, it is one long, magical night of two people non-stop talking away the time, getting to know each other better and better.

 As witnessed by his other great classic “Dazed and Confused” (which I’ve raved about here), Linklater takes great care in introducing you to likable characters, dropping them into vibrant backdrops, and then sitting back and let you just take time to enjoy being with them. Restaurants with chatty regulars, Quaint bookstores and Record Shops, the two take in the nightlife of Vienna, and you are RIGHT THERE WITH THEM!

One of the things I really, really love about Before Sunrise is the subtle passage of time. As the two walk around, behind them you can see the day go from afternoon to sunset, to a bustling city nightlife to midnight where only the night owls are about, to very early morning where it seems Jesse and Celine are the only two alive, and then finally the crisp, chilly following morning!

 For weeks I couldn’t stop telling everyone around what a fantastic find Before Sunrise was, but the slow paced premise didn’t really draw much enthusiasm. In fact, one girl I recommended the movie to rented it and came back to me a week later saying, “Z, you know that movie "Before Sunrise" you suggested?” 
"Yes?", I asked, hopefully.
She shook her head disappointedly and exclaimed, “That Movie Sucked!!!” 
LOL, it was then that I realized the charm of the movie was not for everyone!

*Attention: Mild Spoilers ahead*

 Before Sunrise ended with Jesse and Celine promising to meet back in Vienna in one year’s time, and we are left with wishful hopes that the two would do just that. A perfect if ambiguous end, so I was surprised when I saw that in 2004, Linklater, along with now co-writers Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy, had come out with a SEQUEL to Before Sunrise, called “Before Sunset”!

 The time is about 10 years since that fateful night, and Jesse, whom we know has had aspirations of becoming a writer, is now an up-and-coming author, out in Paris promoting his new book, the contents of which are (with names changed, of course) -all the events of that magical evening with Celine back in 1995.

Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy reprising their roles in 2003's "Before Sunset"

  At a book signing, Jesse looks up and whom should he meet but his beloved Celine herself. After the signing is over, the two get to talking again. Turns out that while Jesse did in fact return the following year to Vienna as promised, Celine’s grandmother had died so she hadn’t made the trip. 

  I have to say that at the time I couldn’t get into this second movie. It seemed to me like they created a reason for the two to NOT be together so they could re-use the plot of the first movie, and when the two began walking around the city that evening re-discovering each other, I didn’t connect like I did the first. Oh Well, I still really loved the first one.
  So, fast forward to this past year, where I’d recently dug up the 1995 movie “Killing Zoe” (which I talked about here) with Eric Stolz as a Safecracker in Paris, and my GOSH, Julie Delpy was SO freaking gorgeous, I was dying to watch Before Sunrise again. Going online, I found that there was a special collection that sold both Before Sunrise AND Before Sunset as a two-disc set.

 As soon as I got the set in the mail I popped Before Sunrise in and not only was it even MORE beautiful and magical than I remembered…but THIS time, even Before Sunset blew me away! As I re-watched it, I just couldn’t understand why I didn’t love this sequel the first time I saw it , but better late than never! My GOSH, I found that I loved it just as much as the first one now, rewinding scenes over and over, and MAN, the scene with Celine doing her little Nina Simone set was just MESMERIZING!!!! 

 After that, I wanted to read more about Linklater, Hawke and Delpy and, going onto trusty Wikipedia and reading up on Richard Linklater and his projects, I was absolutely STUNNED to find that just this past year, the three had made yet ANOTHER SEQUEL to the Before Sunrise Movies!!! 

Called “Before Midnight” the film takes us yet another 10 years into the future where we find Celine and Jesse vacationing in Greece. I couldn’t BELIEVE there was another film, and immediately ordered it! The film came in today, and once again, I am just TAKEN with the story of these two souls! 

Celine and Jesse in 2013's "Before Midnight"

Where the first film was about romance and whimsy, Before Midnight is a more realistic take on what happens to the two star-crossed lovers when reality sets in and you find you’re actually living your life... 

Greece Trip with Twin Daughters in Tow!

Having a chat with Son Hank

Jesse has his son Hank (from his previous marriage) with him, and we are to find that not only is he still with Celine after all these years, but they share two beautiful girls between them as well! A much more somber tone that the first two, but so good, I tell you, Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy are freaking’ AWESOME as the (now) 40-ish couple! So, sooo good!

Richard Linklater has, of course, most recently been the subject of praise for his latest wonderful movie Boyhood,(whihc also, coincidentally, stars Ethan Hawke as the Father) and his fantastic idea to shoot a boy’s life over the course of 12 years using the same actors so that you actually see them grow up in the film… Folks I talk to are surprised at the extremes Linklater has gone through for the sake of his vision, but as a fan of  Dazed and Confused and now his wonderful SUNRISE Trilogy, I’d expect nothing less!!!

PS: Years later, I met up with my friend who had had those less than praiseworthy words about Before Sunrise, and while we chatted about movies, she said, “Did you see that movie Before Sunrise?” 
I stopped, and cautiously said, “Yes, of course….”, to which she then said, “that movie was awesome!”
In shock, I stuttered back, “B-but you told me you thought that movie SUCKED!”
“Oh, Did I?” she shrugged and smiled, “Well, I saw it again recently, and I loved it!”
LOLOLOL