Supergod #1: Warren Ellis & Garrie Gastonny

Avatar publisher William Christensen deserves all the kudos he can collect, even the signed, alternate cover, limited edition, convention special kudos. He started out as a fan, became a secondary (or tertiary) sub-distributor with a sharp eye on market trends, and expanded that into a publishing company where talent like Warren Ellis, Jaime Delano, Mark Millar, Garth Ennis and Alan Moore can find a non-Marvel, non-DC home for their more outrageously adult work.

Ellis has made Avatar Press a second-home for himself, regularly turning out original, thoughtful, violent and/or quirky material that I find far more interesting and satisfying than his work for the corporatists. That he and other creators come to Avatar and stick around also speaks highly of Christensen’s ability to not just attract but keep talent.

Now Ellis - with artist Garrie Gastonny - has a new 5-issue mini-series called Supergod. Whatever it is that Ellis is drinking, let me be the latest to say, “I need me a couple of pints of that, yes, please.”

In England, Simon Reddin is relaying “an oral history of how we all died” before he loses power and spends the remainder of his life “in the bloody stone age.” In the events leading up to to that, it’s revealed that London, you see, had its own super-hero, as did India, Somalia and Iran, and the US, and who knows what other country dabbled in the creation of their own Big Daddy Protector And Savior.

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Graphic Novel Pick:  “Caliber - First Canon Of Justice”

The recently founded Radical Comics has quickly become known for their mythological updated stories with beautifully painted artwork.  Among one of their flagship books was Caliber: First Canon Of Justice, an adaptation of Arthurian myth and legend set in the Wild West.  The five issue mini-series is now available as a hardcover collected volume graphic novel from Radical Comics.

In Caliber, vicious Cossacks are causing an uprising between the local Indian tribes and civilians so they can seize control.  A half-Native American/Frenchman by the name of Jean Michel or “Whitefeather” (this story’s Merlin) foresees the carnage, and sees that a man must wield the weapon Excaliber to bring peace, justice, and law to the land.  This version of Excaliber though is no sword, but rather a gun that needs no bullets, but blasts with the power in the hands of a true soldier of justice.  The young Arthur’s father is a leader in the army, but a Cossack conspiracy leads to the death of Arthur’s father, and Whitefeather goes into reclusivity until Excaliber’s true owner emerges.

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