« But Mireault was, here as ever, a little too raw, a little too honest, a little too vulnerable for what comics might expect. » — Zach Rabiroff
This is as sombre as I’m willing to go. Hallowe’en, to me, is more about a seasonal mood and a welcoming sort of darkness… than serial killers and other aspects of people’s inhumanity to one another. And yet…
This is a testament to the late Bernie Mireault’s compositional virtuosity and mastery of the syntax of comics… but it’s also evidence of how deeply he could look into the abyss.
It’s obviously not a joyous read, but Zach Rabiroff’s Remembering Bernie Mireault: 1961-2024, recently posted on The Comics Journal’s website, is an exemplary tribute to a great overlooked talent.
Last month — and some twenty-five posts ago — I wrote about Bernie, showcasing a pair of stories poles apart from today’s offering… but they’re all Bernie’s. He was that solid a stylist.
Left Alone: The Rustin Park Killings, written by Jennifer Van Meter and illustrated by Mireault, appeared in The Blair Witch Project no. 1 (Oni Press, July 1999).
« I won’t put in a load of laundry, because the machine is too loud and would drown out other, more significant noises – namely, the shuffling footsteps of the living dead. » — David Sedaris
First things first — the general plot: « Dead in the West is a short horror novel written by American author Joe R. Lansdale. It involves the tale of longtime Lansdale character the Reverend Jebediah Mercer: he rides into the town of Mud Creek, Texas that is about to be attacked by an Indian medicine man who was unjustly lynched by the town inhabitants. Soon the dead will rise and seek human flesh and the Reverend finds himself right in the middle of it. He aligns himself with the town doctor and two of the town’s inhabitants, Abbey and David. Together they fight the zombie horde and try to dispatch the medicine man who is the cause of all the evil. » [ source ]
Well, I haven’t read the novel, but the comics adaptation, by seasoned scripter Neal Barrett Jr. (1924-2016) and illustrator Jack ‘Jaxon’ Jackson (1941-2006), is exemplary… well, the results are, at any rate. While we’re not dealing with anything truly new here… I mean, it’s a zombie siege in the well-trod Night of the Living Dead tradition, but in an Old West setting. But the pacing is flawless, the gore and horror balanced with judicious sprinklings of gallows’ humour — served deadpan — and Lansdale’s trademark brutal frankness strikes just the right tone.
Jackson, a fifth-generation Texan and in many ways the original Underground cartoonist, was an inspired choice, as he’s well and truly in his element here.
As this thing is fairly long — as it ought to be! — I’ve just plucked some favourite pages as examples. But if this is up your alley, do yourself a favour and grab yourself copies. Over three decades down the dusty road, these babies are still available at below cover price. It is to weep… but it’s a bargain well worth making.
This is Dead in the West no. 1 (Oct. 1993, Dark Horse); cover by Lansdale regular Timothy Truman. I guess he sells more books than Jaxon, but I’ve never been a fan, save when he’s inked by Sam Glanzman, (1924-2017) who expertly ironed out the chronic stiffness in Truman’s pencilling.I must concede that the giant spiders are a novel touch.This is Dead in the West no. 2 (Oct. 1993, Dark Horse); cover, again, by Mr. Truman.
There are some weather phenomena one quickly learns to associate with specific plots – fog denotes something creepy or mysterious, rain evokes haunting melancholy, wind howls like the souls of victims. Snow is a bit less obvious, though its connotations often run the gamut from coziness to isolation. Manga artist Junji Ito (see Tentacle Tuesday: Junji Ito’s Remina) often uses weather to mirror his characters’ emotions, so it is no surprise that he has a few snowstorm stories under his belt. I welcome snow — in this part of the world, we were lucky enough to finally get a white landscape just in time for New Year’s — but I definitely not want to be trapped in the wintry world depicted by Ito!
Here are a few pages from Fun Winter Vacation, a chapter/self-contained story from Souichi’s Diary of Delights (1997). Souichi is a little creep with more than a slight penchant for the occult, so weird shit happens whenever he is present. That’s him hiding behind the tree in the first panel – fetching lad, isn’t he? One might say he brings people’s darkest thoughts out into the open. You can read the full story here (remember to read right to left!) I’ve heard some readers complain that this narrative doesn’t quite make sense… welcome to Ito’s dreamlike logic. These episodes are meant to be absorbed like a nightmare one can’t quite wake up from, not dissected in the manner of an A leads to B equation.
Revenge, originally published in the June 1993 issue of manga magazine Monthly Halloween, is standard Ito fare, and concerns itself with a woman so beautiful that she drives people to madness… in this case, the notorious Tomie, who dispatches a few new victims and nibbles on a wee bit of human flesh in this snowbound vignette.
Read Revenge in full here, and of course support Ito by purchasing his books. Publisher Viz Media is currently issuing plenty of them in a handsome hardcover format, including stories never previously translated to English.
« If you will die for me, I will die for you and our graves will be like two lovers washing their clothes together in a laundromat. If you will bring the soap I will bring the bleach. » — Richard Brautigan
Many, many creators, some pretty high profile, have turned their hand at writing the character of John Constantine. And several were inspired to excellence. I haven’t really been keeping up, but I was quite keen on the plots and portrayals deployed by co-creator (with Stephen Bissette, Rick Veitch and John Totleben) Alan Moore, then by the underrated Jamie Delano, but also on brief-but-intriguing turns by Eddie Campbell and… John Smith*. John who? The Grand Comics Database (GCD) lists Mr. Smith as born in 1967 and having been “Managing editor on IPC nursery titles. Editor at IPC. Writer for various titles.” That’s the sum of it.
Flashback to 1992: I had recently quit buying Hellblazer when Garth Ennis, Will Simpson and various hands took over as the art aggregation. By issue 49, the Preacher “Dream Team” of Ennis and Steve Dillon had been assembled: from then on, it would be paper-thin elongated faces and bad teeth all the way. Uh, no thanks.
But ah, there was the briefest of respites for those of us paying close attention: a singular gem of an issue, masterfully scripted, terrifying mood piece in which very little is seen (or even glimpsed) but much is suggested. And the art duties were handled by the very good Sean Phillips, who’s since been squandering his talent on Ed Brubaker‘s derivative “I watch a lot of cable TV” witless fake noir tripe. But hey, people like that stuff, so who am I to criticise?
Anyway, I don’t have it in me to spoil the plot… not that it’s very much about the plot of this very special issue. Here are some choice excerpts, and perhaps you’ll catch a glimpse of what I see in it.
This is John Constantine Hellblazer no. 51 (March 1992, DC/Vertigo). Art by Sean Phillips.
Understated, quotidian horror. A job well done.
-RG
*I also really enjoy the pulpy adventures of Wyatt Blassingame‘s diminutive gumshoe John Smith, but that’s another set of prints.
Who's Out There? 