The Outhouse - The Greatest Comic Book Forum

by **Zero** » Mon May 14, 2012 9:29 am

Punchy wrote:
I still maintain that Fraction's run was pretty good.

You're the opposite of Batman

by **Victorian Squid** » Mon May 14, 2012 6:08 pm

Sent out as promised to Stephen Day.

by **Eli Katz** » Mon May 14, 2012 6:16 pm

Victorian Squid wrote:IIRC that was the book Eli didn't want his wife to find.

She did find it, and asked me why the fuck I was reading such demented crap.

by ****** » Tue May 15, 2012 10:26 am

DANCER #1
story NATHAN EDMONDSON
art / cover NIC KLEIN
"OUVERTURE"
Retired assassin Alan Fisher and his ballerina companion must escape a ruthless sniper who stalks them through the streets of Milan. To survive and protect the love of his life, Alan will unravel the tapestry of the past he's kept hidden and discover the killer's impossible identity. From the writer of WHO IS JAKE ELLIS? and the artist of VIKING comes a spy thriller with a 21st Century twist.

by **guitarsmashley** » Tue May 15, 2012 3:43 pm

So, I'm not sure how I feel about this one. Avatar books have a certain art style, it seems to be modeled after Jacen Burrows but if your not Jacen than you're not as good as he is.

The story was oddly paced and over all it was occasionally off putting. At the same time its a very curious story and set up. I haven't read any Lapham and I can't say this would make me go back and look some up.

5

by **@dace1314** » Wed May 16, 2012 1:42 am

This is a really solid comic book. I'm not sure what more you can ask for from the first issue of a brand new series. It strikes all the right chords - smart dialogue, interesting characters, excellent pacing/scene transitions, skilled and expressive artwork, and an intriguing plot.

David Lapham crams a ton of information into this book without the reader feeling bogged down or confused. He references interesting and horrific murder cases and elements like the Black Dahlia and a Chelsea Grin as well as Fantomas, a wildly popular character found in French crime fiction during the early part of the 20th century. His protagonist, just call him Dan, is a flawed hero who appreciates the simple things in life and wants to just lie in the park and listen to his favorite CD and day dream, but ends up in strange and dangerous situations. He is funny, unpredictable, and instantly likeable. He also appears to be totally invincible.

The main shape of the story is a who-done-it. It's a play on the old "lonely private eye out to save the damsels in distress while administering his own brand of justice" motif. And Lapham makes it work very well by putting his own fun and interesting spin on it.

The artwork of Raphael Ortiz suits this type of book perfectly. There's no denying the similarities between his style and that of Jacen Burrows, but that certainly isn't a bad thing. His line work and page compositions are simple, straight forward and effective. The intelligent perspective choices helps the flow between panels to be fluid and natural. He handles the action sequences with grace and his facial expressions always look natural and appropriate and bring a lot of life to the scenes.

The high level of storytelling craft is very impressive from this creative team and I look forward to finding out what's in store for Dan in the months to come.

8/10

by **S.F. Jude Terror** » Wed May 16, 2012 2:40 am

This book was okay. I enjoyed Young Liars but stopped reading after the wacky twist where the main character was insane or something, so I don't know how it ended, and I think I read the first issue of Sparta for the review group, and this was very much written in what I know of his style, which can be described as... purposefully strange. Such a style can be charming when genuine, but is also in danger of feeling contrived. I felt the latter when I started reading this book, but by the end I was convinced it was the former. Dan is a fun character for a hippie, and I'm interested in his further adventures.

I thought the pacing was good for a first issue, introducing Dan and giving us a good feel for what he's about, and introducing two important side characters, and then killing one off for as good an emotional payoff as you can get in one issue.

The art was decent. Cartoony but not too cartoony, and it allowed the book to come off as light-hearted despite the gory murder scenes and general depravity.

As long as this book can keep from seeming "too cool" for its own good, I will keep reading it.

7/10

by ****** » Wed May 16, 2012 9:16 am

I like Dan, he's fat and lazy. Finally a protagonist comic readers can relate to. His bohemian approach to life provides a nice counter to the bursts of violence. The whodunit noir setup works well and it's easy to see how this could be a series that can sustain itself. The Avatar house style art is kind of soulless and bummed me out, Ortiz never really managed to get the King Buzzo hair right. If Lapham had drawn this, I would have given it an 11.

Story: 9
Art: 5
Overall: 8

by **@dace1314** » Wed May 16, 2012 11:34 am

Thanks OMCTO! I haven't read that classic Byrne FF yet but it's on my radar!

By the way, this comic wasn't any problem for me to find, my shop had several copies.

by **bkthomson** » Wed May 16, 2012 11:40 am

Getting my copy tomorrow.

by **bkthomson** » Wed May 23, 2012 1:52 pm

Dan the Unharmable #1
Writer: David Lapham
Artist: Rafael Ortiz

Dan is a man living the slacker life-- sleeping in the park taking the odd job or two to help people in need though not necessary good people, just people in a bad situations. At first I was calling him the lazy stupid step-brother of Lee Child novel hero Jack Reacher. Though what makes him different besides his lazy ways is that Dan is invulnerable and incredibly strong. My fears of a character similar to Will Smith’s Hancock started to grow as I read each page hoping beyond hope that this creative team is giving us something more original.

The first issue of Dan the Unharmable Lapham introduces readers to our ‘hero’ and his friend Tober, who seems to be more of Dan’s #1 Fan than anything else besides someone who lives on the streets. We are shown Dan ‘job’ and his philosophy of life, the universe and everything. Dan is a slacker in every sense of the word but he seems to have this deep root ideal of helping people that counters his outward behavior. Lapham knows how to write off the beaten path characters as he effectively done in Vertigo’s Young Liars and Dan is no exception. While Dan seems lazy Lapham does not write him in such a way that is off putting, he seems to be characterized after The Dude from 'The Big Lebowski', and to a degree likeable. Though living life to the speed Dan off in this issue slow and easy it dynamically picks up speed to end end where everything start to be turned upside down in our ‘hero’ life. Especially with last page that may come to some as a rather shock to reader with a character who seemed to be a focal point to the issue narrative is snuffed away, but leaves a message for the damsel in distress.

Lapham only shows Dan’s abilities during the most stressful of times, when they are needed when all else, mostly talking, fails. This is a nice touch to the character as with the abilities of Dan I can see it would be easy to fall into habit of exploiting it and using it to tell the easier story of less conflict and more violence.

Ortiz gives us a great effort in what I would call the Avatar House Style. Clean lines nothing muddled or leaves any confusion to the story told or out of place to Lapham’s words.

I will definitely be back for more of Dan the Unharmable, Lapham and Ortiz has something good here something that is engaging enough that issue #2 is on my pull list at my local comic book store. Here is to hoping the creators can keep this fun book going.

Score: 8/10

by **Stephen Day** » Thu May 24, 2012 9:56 pm

The opening sequence was amusing, I had a chuckle at the idea of a detective being disappointed when the case he thought would make him gets solved before he even has a chance to begin. Then we move right into the meat of the story. Dan is an interesting and fun character and one who seems to be comfortable with the bohemian lifestyle he has chosen. Then he meets his daughter and you now that his life has just changed on him. I wasn't expecting that last page though. It was quite the shocker, but a good set up to the rest of the series.

I'll give it an 8 out of 10.

by **Stephen Day** » Thu May 24, 2012 10:14 pm

Once again, thanks to Victorian Squid for sending me a copy.

by **Victorian Squid** » Thu Jul 05, 2012 7:19 pm

Stephen Day wrote:Once again, thanks to Victorian Squid for sending me a copy.

Late you're welcomes.

Issue #3 of DTU is spinning wheels a little bit, with some dialogue between Dan and his maybe-daughter that's a little hard to swallow. We have to think on some level Dan's a good guy, or maybe not. He doesn't even react to seeing the young girl who happens to claim to be his kin getting backhand pistol-whipped, or his friend brutally murdered, or any of it. But I guess you have to admire his slack.

The scenes where he casually rips the giant penis off of the guy and where Dan inadvertently causes a pile up of police cars are a little self-indulgent and straight out of Young Liars. DTU feels like it should be a little more grounded but the body count of the mutilated or killed is starting to pile up and become a little conspicuous. New characters are introduced just to die a page or two later. Are there no consequences to anything other than Dan's own broken moral compass that points only at himself?

by **Stephen Day** » Thu Jul 05, 2012 7:49 pm

McDarkseid wrote:
Late you're welcomes.

Issue #3 of DTU is spinning wheels a little bit, with some dialogue between Dan and his maybe-daughter that's a little hard to swallow. We have to think on some level Dan's a good guy, or maybe not. He doesn't even react to seeing the young girl who happens to claim to be his kin getting backhand pistol-whipped, or his friend brutally murdered, or any of it. But I guess you have to admire his slack.

The scenes where he casually rips the giant penis off of the guy and where Dan inadvertently causes a pile up of police cars are a little self-indulgent and straight out of Young Liars. DTU feels like it should be a little more grounded but the body count of the mutilated or killed is starting to pile up and become a little conspicuous. New characters are introduced just to die a page or two later. Are there no consequences to anything other than Dan's own broken moral compass that points only at himself?

Hmmm, it's difficult to judge not having read beyond the first issue, but it sounds like the writer didn't know what to do with the idea beyond that first issue.