Deep Sequencing: A Laconic Map

Or a geographic plot map of Three
by Kieron Gillen, Ryan Kelly, Jordie Bellaire, and Clayton Cowles; Image Comics

Three is a comic about three runaway Helot slaves trying to escape to freedom from their Spartan masters, members of the "free-ist society" in history. It is an intensely historical comic that portrays realistic and real historical figures with attention to detail and thought towards historical accuracy. It is also a comic with intense attention to setting. Three is a comic that happens in a real place and documents a real journey through that space, and as such, it just BEGS for a plot map. And since I love making plot maps, a plot map of Three there now is.

Plot maps are by there very nature *SPOILERS* intensive. So, you know, read on at your peril etc.

Some methodology. While Three does a great job tying plot events to locations, some of the places are a little squishy. Using google maps I was able to place the locations of the rivers, mountain ranges, and cities with some accuracy, but placing the plot events onto this map is a bit squishier. I feel like the overall shape of the paths is within a reasonable guesstimate, since the story has the three Helots go north and then west between the two rivers and then through the mountains to Messene. I guessed the exact path using some conjecture on what appear to be mountain passes (now roads) on google maps and placed the bridge and cave kind of where I thought it might be appropriate.

As always with these things, apologies for inaccuracies or omissions.

Post by Michael Bround

Previously:

So I Read Three

So I Read Three

A 250 word (or less) review of the Three collection
by Kieron Gillen, Ryan Kelly, Jordie Bellaire, and Clayton Cowles; Image Comics

300 is  a popular comic about Spartans. It pits 300 Spartan warriors, members of the "freeist society in history" against the Persian hordes astride a narrow pass in the battle of Thermopylae. It is a comic about valour, bravery, and the indomitable spirit of Men. It is also founded on a foundation of Bullshit. Three is a comic that exists to examine and demonstrate the hypocrisy, monstrosity, and cowardice of Spartan society and its horrific culture of slavery. Three focuses on three Helots, the enslaved proles of Spartan society, who offend their Spartan masters and are forced to flee before another group of 300 Spartan men. It's a gripping, epic tale portrayed with a historian's attention to detail and poet's flair for the dramatic. Kieron Gillen, as much as I know him best for fairly pop-y, fun, and melodramatic comics is also apparently a keen enthusiast of history able to construct some cracking good period comics. Ryan Kelly, meanwhile, is probably one of the elite dozen artists when it comes to facial expressions and character acting. Throw in wonder-colourist Jordie Bellaire, and this is one really smart, exciting, and brilliant looking comic. Three is a comic for anyone with some fondness for classical antiquity. But it's also a really interesting piece of art in how it comments on and interacts with the comic 300: it is always cool to witness an ongoing discourse. Three, come for the Greek epic story, stay for the subversive and tragic history lesson.

Word count: 248

Post by Michael Bround

So I Read Saucer Country: The Reticulan Candidate

A 250 word (or less) review of Saucer Country: Volume 2
By Paul Cornell, Ryan Kelly, David Lapham, Mirko Colak, and Andrea Mutti; Vertigo Comics

This review will contain mild *SPOILERS*. For a *SPOILER* free review of Saucer Country please go here.

Saucer Country is a comic series designed to prey specifically on my childhood fear of extraterrestrials, and it is pretty great. The Series follows Arcadia Alvarado, a democratic nominee for President of The United States, as she searches for the truth behind her alien abduction experiences. The Reticulan Candidate picks up well into the election cycle, with Alvarado and her supporters running the gauntlet of debates and primaries and campaigning in the public spotlight. Against this scrutiny the group is also continuing their search to uncover the truth about Alvarado's abduction and the broader truth about extraterrestrial visitors to Earth. The Reticulan Candidate adds some really compelling layers of complexity to an already very elaborate conspiracy and smacks us with some pretty great revelations and surprises about the ongoing story. It’s a fantastic second chapter. One of the greatest strengths of The Reticulan Candidate, and Saucer Country in general, is how well it manipulates its audience’s relationship with conspiracy. The comic is very aware that we are simultaneously skeptical of the most fantastic elements of the comic and demand rational explanations, while also deeply invested in the existence and story of the supernatural elements. The way The Reticulan Candidate walks the tight rope between disappointing us with mundane reality or disappointing us by embracing pure fantasy is brilliant. And in doing so, the comic really becomes this exploration of what conspiracy is, and how it preys on the belief of its faithful to exist. The Reticulan Candidate is great comics.

Word count: 250

So I read DMZ

A 250 word (or less) review of DMZ the complete series.
By Brian Wood, Riccardo Burchielli, Kristian Donaldson, Nathan Fox, Viktor Kalvachev, Danijel Zezelj, Nikki Cook, Ryan Kelly, Andrea Mutti, Cliff Chiang, David Lapham, and Shawn Martinbrough, Vertigo Comics.

The United States is fighting and has fought in a lot of armed conflicts in countries around the world. Meanwhile, America hasn't had anything resembling a war fought within its own borders since its Civil War. (I'm Canadian, so this is all effectively true of my country too). I think a consequence of the foreign nature of our modern wars is that its difficult to contextualize the violence. As a result, I think it's difficult for North American civilians to properly understand what contemporary warfare really is; the reality of what it looks like and the cost to civilians caught in it. Well, in DMZ, Brain Wood, Riccardo Burchielli, and others have created a story to give North Americans context for modern war. They do this by creating a civil war between the United States and the Free States Army, an ideological insurgent militia, and placing these armies in a military standoff on either side of a demilitarized, war torn Manhattan Island. They then place Matty Roth, an aspiring photojournalist, right in the middle of the maelstrom and explore the conflict with all of its violence, military excess, warlords, corrupt corporations, and would be dictators. DMZ is an alarming and exciting read that makes brilliant use of Manhattan, a place that lives in our society’s imagination like no other, to illustrate what warfare actually looks like.¹ And I think you should read this comic, both because its good and because it has something important to say.

Word count: 246

1: Personally, I've visited New York, and reading about these places I've been torn apart by war was really affecting.

So I Read Saucer Country: Run

A 250 word (or less) review of Saucer Country Volume 1
By Paul Cornell, Ryan Kelly, Jimmy Braxton, and Goran Sudzuka, Vertigo Comics

My biggest childhood fear was aliens visiting earth and abducting people. I used to lay awake in bed staring out the window imagining creative and worrying providence for all the moving lights in the sky. ET scared the shit out of me and I can't watch that creepy little space monster to this day. So reading Saucer Country was a fraught decision for me. Saucer Country is a comic exploring the mythology/culture/phenomenon of alien abductions. This exploration is built into a narrative about Arcadia Alvarado, the Governer of New Mexico who has an alien abduction experience just before announcing her candidacy for President of the United States. To determine the truth of what happened to her she recruits the assistance of her Chief of Staff, her dubious campaign manager, a UFO researcher of questionable sanity, and her fellow abductee and ex-husband. Saucer Country is a starkly mature, informative, exciting and creepy comic that maintains its central mystery with a perfect balance of belief, skepticism, and ambiguity. It's a solidly good book. I was actually somewhat surprised by it; Cornell's superhero work usually has a trademark sense of fun and goofiness about it that really isn't present in Saucer Country's mature and dark landscape. I was also impressed by the strength of Kelly's pencils: the acting and storytelling chops on display in this comic are incredible. Saucer Country is really a fantastically crafted comic. The adult me enjoyed the comic immensely and the 12-year-old boy in me was terrified by it. 

Word count: 250