ARTSSENTERIAINMENT
Vertigo
New comics defy description, tackle taboos
I ■
By William J. Harms
Staff Reporter_
DC Comics has combined its ma
ture reader books into a new line
called Vertigo.
The following is a brief review of
two new titles to be published under
the Vertigo imprint, “Enigma” and
“Sandman Mystery Theatre,” and an
already established but underrated
title, “Shade: The Changing Man.”
“Shade: The Changing Man” is
the best produced comic book in the
last three years. Written by Peter
Milligan with art by Chris Bachalo
and Rick Bryant, it is the story of
Shade, a man from Mela (another
dimension) who in his time on earth
has inhabited the body of a serial
killer and a woman, and now inhabits
the body of a psychotic.
To make things interesting, Shade’s
girlfriend Kathy sleeps with her girl
friend Lenny on a regular basis.
In “Shade” No. 33, the first issue to
be published under the Vertigo im
print, Shade finds a new body and
Kathy is kidnapped by a psycho in a
creepy hotel. Sound simple? Far from
it.
A book like “Shade” cannot be
described in a few lines, so it’s not
worth a try. It is, however, the best
written comic available. Milligan cre
ates a world so insane that it is all too
real. Through the use of Shade, Kathy
and Lenny, Milligan shows us the
dark side of humanity, and explores
subjects that are normally too taboo
for commercial literature.
The best example of this is the
issue in which Shade, who finds him
self turning into things if he stays in
one place for too long, turns into a
blanket underneath which Kathy and
Lenny make love.
-44
A book like "Shade" can
not be described in a few
lines, so it's not worth a
try.
-ff -
“Shade: The Changing Man” can
not be recommended enough. Hope
fully DC will reprint the early issues
in a trade-paperback so they can be
easily acquired. However, with issue
No. 33, which was released last month,
the back issues are not absolutely
necessary to understand the story line,
so it is a good place to start. Issue No.
34 will be released Thursday.
“Enigma” is an eight-issue mini
series written by Peter Milligan with
art by Duncan Fcgredo.
Michael Smith is the lead charac
ter. When Smith was a child, his life
was changed by a comic book called
Enigma, whose title character pos
sessed amazing mental powers. As a
grown man, he finds himself pulled
from his tightly organized life when
le is attacked by The Head, a man
who enjoys sucking people’s brains
3ut. It is then he realizes that the
Enigma is alive, no longer just part of
a comic book, but part of Smith’s
reality.
As with “Shade,” “Enigma” can
not readily be described because it
transcends normal storytelling. The
writing is top-notch, and Fcgredo’s
art is very stylistic and fits the writing
well.
The first two issues of “Enigma”
are fairly violent, with Smith nearly
being killed in Uie first issue. But
Smith’s close call with death merely
serves to help him discover who he
really is. As Smith tries to discover
the secret behind the Enigma, he dis
r'mrore h i m cnl f
“Enigma” comes highly recom
mended. The first issue was released
on Jan. 19, and the second issue will
be available Feb. 23.
“Sandman Mystery Theatre” is a
new monthly title written by Matt
Wagner with art by Guy Davis. Set in
the 1930s, Wesley Dodds is a tor
mented young man who at night be
comes the Sandman, a trench-coat
wearing vigilante who arms himself
with a gun that shoots sleeping pow
der.
The first issue is pretty good, al
though the art is underwhelming.
Wagner’s immediate introduction of
multiple characters makes it difficult
to keep everyone straight, but he will
have a strong cast to pull from in the
future.
The book’s dark undertone leaves
the impression that there is more go
ing on than is on the surface.
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Courtesy of DC Comics
A scene from the first Vertigo issue of “Shade: The
Changing Man.”
Sandman appears only in a couple
of pages, bul his presence is fell
ihroughoul ihe book. Wagner seems
lo be going out of his way lo gel out of
the “playboy by day, hero by night”
stereotype. Dodds is not very charm
ing and seems lo be son of a social
flunky, so his character is refreshing
and familiar at the same lime.
If you like detective stories with a
psychological thriller slant, check out
“Sandman Mystery Theatre.” It’s a
good book and the first issue goes on
sale Thursday.
UNL student suffers
indignities, confusion
over university name
By Jan Calinger
Staff Raoonar_
As proud as I am 10 go to the
University of Ncbraska-Lincoln, I
believe there’s one small flaw that
can cause a lot of confusion about
my alma mater-to-be.
The name can confuse a lot of
people.
Although all paraphernalia sold
bears the name ‘^University of Ne
braska.” and although one secs the
name “University of Nebraska”
when driving into town on 1-80,
this is still UNL for all practical
puiposes.
It’s not an upsetting thing. It
simply means I have to take five to
30 extra seconds to explain where
I go to school.
' Whenever I’m in Omaha my
mother’s friends ask me what col
lege I attend. The resulting conver
sation is as follows:
I go to UNL.
“UNO? Did you say UNO?”
No, UN-LLLL. Down in Lin
coln.
“Oh. I thought you said O, like
in Omaha.”
I can understand the misunder
standing. It has happened to me
when talking to my inarticulate
friends. The difference was, they
were going to UNO, whereas I
mougni mcy were nerc in Lincoln.
Out-of-state conversations also
have the potential to be confusing.
While talking to relatives in Ohio,
,1 mentioned going to UNL. They
asked me what I was doing in Las
Vegas.
I learned after a minute of expla
nations that they thought I was
going to the University of Nevada
I at Las Vegas, or UNLV (which
some of my friends think is the
University of Nebraska at La Vista).
“You’re confusing us,” they
said.
Sorry, I didn’t mean to.
“Aw, that'sall right. You should
have gone to Ohio State anyhow.”
A friend of mine attending the
University of Kansas was making
plans last fall to attend the KU-NU
football game. She went to the
counter, where the attendant asked
her what she wanted.
“I tirkets ” she said.
“WKprpT*
“To the KU-UNL game.”
“The what?” *
“The KU-UNL game.”
“The Jayhawks aren’t playing
UNL this season, I don’t think.”
My friend was getting flustered.
Her friends at UNL told her the
Huskers were, in fact, playing the
“Yes, they are. On Nov. 7.”
“No, they’re not. They’re play
ing NU. It says right here.”
“Yes. The University of Ne
braska in Lincoln. It’s the same
thing."
“I never heard it said that way.
But here are your tickets. Say, are
you from Nebraska or something?”
But I thought of ways to solve
See UNL on 10
Biography offers insider’s view
of Led Zeppelin band members’
years of excess, superstardom
“Stairway to Heaven”
Richard Cole with Richard Trubo
Harper Collins
The time has now come when all
Led Zeppelin fans can do as Zcp
guitarist Jimmy Page once did and
throw their copies
of the Zeppelin bi
ography, “Ham
mer of the Gods,”
out the window.
. After all, it’s
cheaper than toss
ing a television set.
“Stairway to Heaven,” the new
Led Zeppelin biography, is a true
insider’s look at the career of the
viking conquerors of rock ‘n’ roll.
Co-written by Richard Trubo and
former Zep tour manager Richard
Cole, “Stairway” sheds light on al
most all the legends surrounding the
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star behavior in the early 1970s.
Much of the quality material for
Stephen Davis’ controversial “Ham
mer of the Gods” came from Cole’s
account of events. Not only are all and
more of the tales of frenzy and excess
from “Hammer” retold in “Stairway,”
but they are told in more depth and
with less speculation.
From the infamous shark fishing
and red snapper snatching at the
Edgewatcr Inn in Seattle to the televi
sion launching and general debauch
ery at the Centennial Riot House and
elsewhere (make that everywhere),
“Stairway” makes it clear why the
band had the reputation it did.
Cole and Trubo paint an honest
picture of the band that doesn’t at
tempt to justify or defend its activi
ties; but there is little shame to be
found, either.
Led Zeppelin was hated as much as
adored by the public and media for the
. intensity of its music and the lives of
its members. 1
From the beginning, the media
wrote off Zeppelin as being nothing
but a psychedelic testosterone surge
on speed that only juvenile delin
quents could be foolish enough to
identify with.
Poor media relations led the band
to isolate itself in the early years.
After Zep reached superstar status
and journalists wanted to profit from
its rise, the band remained the same
— inaccessible.
From the infamous
shark fishing and red
snapper snatching at
the Edgewater Inn in
Seattle to the television
launching and general
debauchery at the
Centennial Riot House
and elsewhere (make
that everywhere),
“Stairway ” makes it
clear why the band had
the reputation it did.
Thai only made media backlash
worse, and speculation got out of
hand.
By the lime their cponymously
titled album was released in 1971,
members of the band had supposedly
sold their souls to Satan in exchange
for wealth and fame.
Despite the frequent infidelity that
Cole describes as characteristic of
vocalist Robert Plant and drummer
John Bonham, he takes every oppor
tunity to make it clear that they were
really looking for entertainment. Much
is left up to the reader to judge.
Courtesy of Harper Collins
Richard Cole, co-author of
“Stairway to Heaven”
Frequent humorous and offhand
references to the cocaine and heroin
abuse of the band (not to mention
almostcontinuous drunkenness) seem
surprisingly casual in the modem anti
drug climate, but Cole makes it clear
that such activities were inextricably
tied to the group’s demise. And the
Final chapter of the book yields the
expected endorsement of sobriety.
“Stairway" may not offer much in
the way of a challenging read, but it is
a thoroughly enjoyable account of a
musical and social phenomenon that
will never happen again.
If ever you wanted to throw a TV
out a window (or every TV out every
window), dice a hotel room to bits
with a samurai sword or see if a
Volkswagen really floats, then “Stair
way” is for you.