I’ve had this half-finished
since just after I posted up that Gen 13 Trading Card Theatre post but my
attention span is sometimes short.
Gen 13 was Jim Lee’s
surprise success for his Image Comics imprint Wildstorm Entertainment. Originally
it was advertised as Gen X but Marvel got involved, this was around the time
Marvel was going to debut their own Generation X so that could have been a
factor. After the team debuted in the much maligned Deathmate the series launched
with a mini-series drawn by Wildstorm’s new sensation J. Scott Campbell (Danger
Girl) and then had its own ongoing shortly thereafter, again drawn by Campbell until
he went off to form another Image Comics imprint – Cliffhanger. Eventually the
book was relaunched and all but one of the team members was killed (spoilers)
to make way for Chris Claremont to write the third volume, this wasn’t a very
well received idea. Gen13 had A LOT of mini-series and 1-shots as well as a
second ongoing called Gen 13: Bootleg which did the same job as the mini’s and
specials and allowed other creators to work on the characters – and apparently
they were queuing up to do so.
So who are Gen 13? Well
they’re a group of Gen-Active teens who were rescued from a secret government operation called I.O. by a former I.O. employee and fellow Gen-Active John
Lynch. Gen-Actives are just Wildstorm’s version of Marvel’s Mutants. After
escaping and hiding out in L.A. Jolla (where the company that published them
also just so happened to be' based) they get themselves a dimension hopping teleporting
green rat-monkey called Queelocke who is so adorable, and Anna, a robot
housekeeper who kicks so much arse. The team soon learn that most of them are
the decedents of Team 7, a government team that linked the Wildstorm universe
and included Lynch, Grifter, Backlash and Deathblow. The rescued kids are:
Fairchild, a dorky redhead who became a super strong and indestructible amazon;
Freefall – Caitlin’s spunky and rebellious half-sister (as it turns out) who
control’s gravity and is Queelocke’s ‘owner’; her boyfriend Grunge who’s a
well-meaning idiot who can take on the properties of whatever material he
touches (rock, sand, water, bubblegum, lint onetime if I recall); Native
American lesbian Rainmaker who’s very pro-social justice and is just Storm in
terms of powers and Burnout, Lynch’s son who’s a guitarist with a crush on
Rainmaker and is just the Human Torch in terms of powers. Fairchild was kind-of
the main character, at one point Wildstorm bragged that more dorm rooms had
their life-size Fairchild poster on their doors than Pamela Anderson’s; I doubt
this is true but I kind of hope it was.
Anyway I’ve been fond of
Gen13 since I was about 13 so I’ve decided to tell you my top 10 Gen 13 stories
in the hope that you will read at least one and like it more than you thought
you would, so are you sitting comfortably? Then I’ll begin:
10. Trance
Gen 13 Volume 2 issues 8-9
Brandon Choi, J. Scott Campbell, Humberto Ramos, Alex
Garner
Wha’appen?
Freefall’s nightmares turn out to be reality as a group of superpowered carnies
lead by the mind-controlling Trance take control of Fairchild and pick them off
one by one, luckily they have back-up… their pet alien Queelocke and their
housekeeper Anna?
Why? This is
my ‘personal’ pick, unbiased I don’t doubt that there are better stories but I
personally like this story and want it on the list, I’ve been considerate and
put it at number 10 because I am a saint. It has its flaws - the story swaps
from the sleek, visually pleasing Campbell to the chunky, awkward Ramos (who
has some… difficulties with faces) and there’s a couple of groan worthy lines
(but then it IS a comic featuring Grunge) buuut it’s set in a creepy carnival,
it does non-linear storytelling very well, it does the ‘characters picked off
by creepy assailants’ trope very well , the villains are genuinely creepy and
well designed (well I think so, but then I have some very... particular
aesthetic preferences sometimes, aesthetic preferences informed by a section of
record collection that I’m sure HMV would call ‘Goth/Metal’) and it has a very
fun resolution with the true star of this series – Anna. Honestly the worst thing about this story (other than some of Humberto Ramos’ faces) is that it
leads directly into Fire From Heaven.
9. Queelocke’s Really Big New York Adventure
Gen 13/Fantastic Four
Kevin Maguire, Karl Story
Wha’appen? Queelocke
is growing larger and becoming more savage, this naturally leads to a
cross-over with the Fantastic Four and a cameo by Spider-Man because the Gen13
kids are in New York and when you’re got giant monsters in New York, who you
gonna call but the Fantastic Four?
Why? This is
just great fun from start to finish, I can’t say I’ve ever read something else written by Kevin Maguire but he brings
the feeling and sensibilities of Giffen & DeMattis’ Justice League
International run (which makes sense, Maguire drew some of that run) which is a
wonderful fit for the banter loving Genners and the bickering Fantastic Four and
for that matter a scene with Spider-Man and the Human Torch playing off of each
other. His art is also gorgeous throughout, I tend to think most people focus
on Maguire’s talent for facial expressions but the man’s just great all-around,
women, men, monsters, layouts, the man can do it and his giant Queelocke is
brilliant (helped by Maguire’s talent for drawing hair) and much like his
writing style (well, the writing style of two men he used to work with) his art
is perfect for Gen13, with three very sexy girls and two very goofy guys and in
this case a big hairy monster. It’s not
deep and insightful but I thoroughly recommend this whole heartedly.
8. Death and Broken Promises
Gen 13 Volume 2 issues 33-41
John Arcudi, Gary Frank, Jeffery Moy plus inkers
Wha’appen?
Ivanna and I.O. are coming for Gen-Actives and Gen13 with a very BIG new
member, The Coda Warriors are also coming for Gen13 and this really isn’t a
good time: Freefall has learnt that Alex Child is her father (making her
half-sisters with Fairchild) at the same time Lynch has left Alex, his old
teammate in Team 7, in charge of the team. There’s also a giant baby in one
issue.
Why? Encompassing
pretty much all of the Arcudi/Frank run on the book, Death and Broken Promises
is technically only issues 39-41 but you really do need to read all the issues
preceding it. I’m not sure how I feel about the Arcudi/Frank run in terms of
Gen 13 Volume 2 as a whole, it was a very big departure tone wise, becoming
very serious after the book had spent the first 20-something issues being
light-hearted but occasionally heart-warming, and Frank’s art was a big jump
from the likes of J. Scott Campbell and Al Rio, especially from Campbell who
draws such pretty faces. BUT regardless this is a good story with a good steady
escalation and then a big, satisfying pay off and one of my favourite death and
funeral issues (yes I have these), some of the character stuff is lovely and
having a chunk of the story happening while the Gen13 are oblivious lets us
just hang out with the characters and spend some time with them as they re-bond
after the I Am Your Father revelations early on, things aren’t so light-hearted
but they are occasionally heart-warming, or heart wrenching.
7. A-B-C
Gen 13 issues 13A, 13B and 13C
Brandon Choi, J. Scott Campbell, Jim Lee plus inkers
Wha’appen?
After selling his soul for a chromium cover comic book (really), Grunge passes
out at the mall and wakes up in the Land of Sequential Art (really) where he
goes on a Wizard of Oz like journey to find the Wizard of S.A. and face the
Frenzy Beast via meeting every guest star Jim Lee could get.
Note: this was
an ‘anniversary’ celebration, a book with 13 in its title reaching its 13th
issue, so they split the 13th issue into three smaller issues.
Why? What
happens when you try to be fun AND get your meta on and make comments about the
comic book industry? You get this. Choi does a good job of taking the Wizard of
Oz/Alice in Wonderland style of ‘moving from meeting to another’ which gives
the book the feeling that it needed (and that Choi was going for) and J. Scott
Campbell shows how good an artist he is by being able to draw dozens of
characters he’s never drawn before (professionally) perfectly but it’s odd and
sometimes a little hypocritical with its comments, especially in hindsight:
there’s a comment about how the TMNT were turned into a merchandising machine
when Gen13 would be licenced for cartoons and tie-in toys not much later;
there’s a jab at Rob Liefeld (who had jumped before he was pushed because he
was embezzling money from Image) and Marc Silvestri (who was then split from
Image due to grievances with Rob Liefeld) when today these two are still with
Image and Jim lee and Wildstorm are now owned by DC Comics, oh and a jab at
‘Bad Girl’ comics (always deserved) via a parody of Lady Death in a comic book
that would later be drawn by Al Rio and Ed Benes, who would’ve sexualized
Queelocke if they’d been able to get away with it. But the comments, including
the outdated ones, actually help make the book feel more like the Alice or Oz
books. What is the overall message? Well I think the Frenzy Beast is supposed
to represent the vicious circle that is the exploitative relationship between
fans and mainstream comic books – that so long as fans lap up the bullshit
they’re served the companies serving them will continue to serve them it, as
long as they remain blind zombies, as long as they buy into the chromium
cover-like ploys, Marvel, DC (and even Image) will continue to produce them. I
agree with a lot of what’s being said and the meta stuff improves the story for
me but you can of course ignore some of this and just read it as a fun
crossover extravaganza – and it is an extravaganza, characters from over a
dozen different owners from big companies like Archie and Marvel Comics to
self-publishers like Larry Marder and Terry Moore (both of these cameos are
delights by the way, watch Grunge try to eat the stars of Beanworld) it’s very
impressive and great to see if you’re a fan of non-Marvel & DC books (like
I am). It’s hard to ignore some of the messages but it’s not hard to enjoy the
book regardless of them is what I’m getting at, I think.
6. Superman/Gen 13
Superman/Gen 13 issues 1-3
Adam Hughes, Lee Bermejo, John Nyberg
Wha’appen?
While visiting Metropolis (because Fairchild is a Superman fan) Fairchild gets
amnesia and thinks she’s Supergirl, so goes around town ‘helping’. The rest of
the Gen13 kids enlist Daily Planet reporters Lois Lane and Clark Kent to help
find her and in the process find out that the old fuddy duddy Superman is
pretty damn cool. Meanwhile the real Supergirl has found to someone’s
impersonating her – she’s not very happy about it.
Why? Adam
Hughes – fittingly given his love of cheesecake – is no less subtle than
Brandom Choi at getting his meta on and over, but unlike Choi his message is
pretty timeless, which is also fitting, because the message is simple: Superman
– and by extension classic superheroes – have their own merits and are just as
good as edgy shades of grey modern heroes like Gen13’s peers at Image were then
and like Marvel and DC spend years turning their characters into of late – TO
FUCKING RIGHT! I used caps and everything, that’s how much I agree with that. I
generally don’t like amnesia story-lines so it must say something for the
quality of this one that I enjoy it so much - the clichés are done well and
with affection, Hughes is a fun writer, he should do it more often, oh wait he
is, on a regular basis, on Betty & Veronica, and he’s doing the art too,
and it’s great. Yeah Hughes doesn’t do the art on this, Bermejo does, Bermejo
is a fucking great artist though, halfway between realistic and cartoony and I
am in love with his Freefall; she looks so cool (actually she looks like Jay
from Jay & Miles X-Plain the X-Men which is probably why I like it). Yes, a
good fun arc with a good message and some great scenes to get that message
across (Burnout and Superman in the burning building is great, it may actually
be on my list of favourite Superman moments), it’s A-B-C done better with less
cameos and A-B-C was already good so I guess you can draw your own conclusions.
5. A Savage Breast
Gen 13 Volume 2 issues 43-44
Adam Warren, Lee Bermejo, John Nyberg
Wha’apppen?
Fairchild’s annoyance over the new hit ‘Happy2BHappy’ by Candy Bentar drives
her to uncover that Bentar is in fact a self-aware living musical meme, and heads
off to confront her – only she has ensnared Mr Majestic in her meme, a WildC.A.T. who’s roughly the same power level as Superman.
Why? Oh look,
Lee Bermejo’s back, that’s cos he’s awesome, and Adam Warren’ll be back too,
because he’s awesome, but creator-wise this feels like a very Warren Ellis
story, a mad plot with all these complicated high concept bullshit like
‘Localized Node of Sentience for a Musically-Encoded Memetic Entity’ which is
what Bentar says she is, but it’s really just science sounding crap to make
‘she’s a living attack song’ sound more legitimate, it works. While, as someone
who is generally irritated by popular music, have always associated with the
story I returned to it when ‘Happy’ by Pharrell Williams was everywhere and
this story was being mimicked in real life scarily closely (well I never fought
a Superman expy only to find out that Williams was a living meme and I actually
had a lot in common with him). I fucking hate that song (how the hell does
anyone know what a room without a roof feels like for as start) I’m a fucking Depressive, I can’t just
be happy and know full well that being happy does not solve everything and I
don’t want some prick who apparently can just be happy and thinks that
‘happiness is the truth’ hammered into my head every time I use an electrical
device, I swear my fucking toaster played that song. Happiness is not the
truth, it’s an all too fleeting state of mind that is can be good for you but
I, and many others, have great difficult achieving due to medical complaint or
just because of something that’s going on in our lives and your song makes me
feel bad about that and pressured to be happy and it overlooks the importance
of being sad and the benefits of crying - that’s the fucking truth you falsetto
prick. What was I going on about? Oh yeah this is a good comic book story, it’s
very well balanced, action, comedy, drama, character moments and there’s enough
of that action thing so that the final confrontation with Bentar not being a
fight to the death doesn’t feel unsatisfying.
4. Lost in Paradise
Gen 13 Volume 2 issues 3-5
Brandon Choi, J. Scott Campbell, Alex Garner
Wha’appen?
While trying to find her father Alex, Fairchild ends up stranding the whole
team on or around the island of the Coda Warriors (Zealot’s race of Wonder
Woman knock-offs). Fairchild turns in Sheena, Queen of the Jungle, Grunge and
Rainmaker are caught by the Coda and Freefall and Burnout end up with pirates.
Why? This is
the pinnacle of J. Scott Campbell’s time on the series, it’s sexy, it’s fun,
it’s occasionally sweet, there’s at least one moment that Tumblr wouldn’t
approve of (not unreasonably, though it is in character for Grunge to feel an
overweight older woman, he is kind of presented as being right to do so, even
if it is a comical moment) Campbell’s art is superb and Joe Chido’s colours are
great fit for the art, environment and mood. Even though it was comparatively
short, less than 20 issues not including the mini-series it’s this era – I tend
to think of this era of the book, with Campbell on art and Choi on writing that
I think of as ‘the proper Gen13’, I wish I didn’t think like that about things.
Anyway this just a fun romp, I’ve used the word fun a lot this post but it
keeps being the word that best sums up the Gen 13, it’s not for deep thinking,
it’s rarely dark and broody though it has darker and emotional moments, it’s
just an enjoyable way to spend some time – it’s fun.
3. Linquist’s Fault
Gen 13: Bootleg 1-2
Mark Farmer, Alan Davies
Wha’appen?
Karl Linquist, an old friend of Lynch, brings Gen 13 in to retrieve his own
superteam, Team Alpha, from what he calls ‘Linquist’s Fault’ which I basically
an interdimensional portal for an alien invasion (oops). However once in the
fault they wake up in strange worlds that seem to reflect their greatest
desire- Cat is the leader of a super-team of younger heroes, Rainmaker is a
natural paradise and Burnout is alone with her, Roxy is… roleplaying in a
horror scenario where Grunge just wants to bang her seven ways to Sunday and
Grunge is…floating in a void (I assume because he’s content outside of the
fault). But then all but Grunge’s scenarios turn from dreams to nightmares and
Lynch is the villain in them all, happily Grunge tries to use his powers the
void and copying its properties, getting god-like powers.
Why? This is
the weaker of the two arcs Mark Farmer is involved in (I actually thought he
did the script for the toher, he didn’t he just inked it) but it’s still damned
good. Farmer’s usually an inker but he does a fine job on script here (there’s a few examples comic booky
‘telling you what you’re seeing’ but overall it’s very nice) and he’s paired
with the consistently high quality Alan Davies to make a storyt aht’s fantastic
if not, well crushingly depressing in places. I don’t quite get Freefall’s
‘dream’ but I certainly get all the others and when things go scary for all of
them it is genuinely creepy, which bring us back to the wholesale slaughter of
Kat’s Cadets and the depressingly sad, yeah don’t read this or my number 1 pick
if you want to feel happy, which is a shame because as we know happiness is the
truth (I’m not letting this go, no).
2. Magical Drama Queen Roxy
Gen 13: Magical Drama Queen Roxy issues 1-3
Adam Warren
Wha’appen?
Freefall feels inferior, she thinks her teammates are all better than her and
wish she was someone else and her boyfriend is often an insensitive twat. So
she works through these problems via a three-issue fairy tale dream sequence as
she tries to find her way out of a giant mall aided by a wisecracking talking
version of Queelocke and her idealized version of Grunge who has been split
into a ultra-PC fop and a caveman.
Why? Adam
Warren is fucking great, Empowered is one of my favourite series of all time
and I greatly enjoyed Dirty Pair and I love this mini-series. So the set-up
might sound very similar to A-B-C and it does work off the same premise, but
that story was focussed on commenting on the industry and guest starring
everyone and that was some of its strengths but this is just focused on
character and Adam Warren having a really good time cramming in ever
Anime/Japanese… thing that he can and
that is this comic’s strengths. Warren’s ability to inject pathos and great
character moments into what at first seems like a silly fun story with some
cheesecake makes Empowered the brilliant book that it is and that is happening
all over Magical Drama Queen Roxy, in fact you could kind of see it as a
proto-Empowered (only with even more Anime tropes). Fuck it I’m going to say
it: if you like Empowered you’ll like this mini-series, Warren even draws some
of it in the same style (when a battle breaks reality down to script format),
the ending is also so, so, SO good, both Freefall’s outburst and then her
waking up, Freefall’s my favourite Gen 13 character, this will learn you why.
Also there is a Tuxedo Mask parody in this book called Tuxedo Camel and he is
exactly what you think he is, so good.
1. Ordinary Heroes
Gen 13: Ordinary Heroes issues 1-2
Adam Hughes, Mark Farmer
Wha’appen?
Fairchild is suddenly picked up by Lynch and Gen13 and told to suit up but
nothing else, not how he has a brand new high tech helicopter or what they’re
to do in New York and things go to hell before he can explain – if he ever
intended to, Fairchild questioning her devotion to Lynch being central to the
story. In New York there is a thing, a creature that kills with a touch and
I.O. are there and the creature is a leftover from Lynch’s time in charge of
I.O., a very dangerous skeleton in his closet – it’s also a baby.
Why? This book
is sooo bloody good, I’ve never made a ‘Top Mini-Series’ countdown but if I did
this would be on it. The pacing is fantastic, the writing is fantastic, the art
is stunning, everything I like to praise in a comic is great in here and to
make it even better it’s filed with tragedy, horror tropes, questioning
authority and standing on your own (and bras), things that I am completely mad
for in stories. But even leaving my taste in things aside this is a very good
comic, let’s praise Adam Hughes art some more shall we as we praised his
story-writing earlier (though the ‘fun’ part of his writing is toned down for
the tragedy and questioning your beliefs part of the story, still there’s some
fun at the start), I think it’s generally accepted he draws the most attractive
women of anyone working in comics but allow me to get more specific and say
that he draws the best Rainmaker and Fairchild of anyone working in comics, he
gives Fairchild the body she should have and Rainmaker the face she should
have, he also lays out pages like a motherfucker, he is so skilled at that, so,
so skilled and it’s a testament to his ability to draw monsters that he makes
something big and pink scary. Is there anything Hughes can’t do? Is he a
champion water skier and qualified brain surgeon and award winning composer as
well? I bet he is, the prick. Anyway, read this, just fucking read it.
With that demand I shall
take my leave, I think Gen 13 is very much underrated so it’s nice to spend a
little time telling people about the good in a series that gets dismissed too
much as being the same old crap from Image Comics’ co-founders and I thank you
for reading it. Actually some more demands: once you’ve done educating yourself
by reading these – because of course you’re going to run off and read these AREN’T YOU? – go check out Gen 13: Wired, Gen 13 Volume 2 issues
18-25, Gen 13 Annual 1, Gen 13: Carny Folk, Gen13/Monkeyman and O’Brien 1-2 and
Gen 13 Volume 2 60-77 (Adam Warren’s
run as writer), Team 7: Dead Reckoning
1-3 and DV8 ½ & 1-7. DV8 was
a Gen 13 spin-off and the first issues were written by Warren fucking Ellis, I
didn’t include them in this list because they’re not really Gen 13 books
per-say but Ellis’ issues were good,
in fact just read all of DV8 – it was a decent series with some good
characters, and when you’ve done that come back to me, there will be a quiz.
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