Friday, July 07, 2023

There were some Vertigo anthology mini-series that I was completely in the tank for, and then others that I seemingly only see randomly years later. This is one of the latter, although it was from a good decade or so later than I thought it would've been. From 2015, Strange Sports Stories #1, cover by Paul Pope.
Feels like a dog's age since I've read any of these 8-page Vertigo numbers, and this one kicks off with a Gilbert Hernandez oddball, "Martian Trade" After a bully steals a dodge ball from three boys, a Martian ball appears! But are they still sore about gettting poisoned by earth germs? Can they save their friend from years of Martian slavery? And after the bully gets through with them, will they want to?
"Dodgeball Kill" features a reporter visiting a space prison, that has made a deadly version of dodgeball for the new meat vs. the lifers. But there are some fun twists. Similarly, "Chum" features ultra-violent hockey (more ultra-violent hockey) with prisoners ritually sacrificed to the frozen Cthulhu-esque monstrosity...Timmy Tentacles. A little girl at her first game is just getting into the spirit of things, when Timmy wakes up...("Dodgeball Kill" Written by Amy Chu, art by Tana Ford; "Chum" Written by Lauren Beukes and Dale Halvorsen, art by Christopher Mitten.
Lastly, another particularly downbeat story, "Refugees" Written by Ivan Brandon, art by Amei Zhao. A couple is mid-breakup, when the world ends, keeping them together a little longer. They manage to get to Cuba, where the world is still apparently ending, but there's time for a baseball game before then. The narrator maybe doesn't enjoy it as much as they could with somebody else, though.
Posted by googum at 5:00 AM
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4 comments:

Mr. Morbid's House Of Fun said...

You can't tell me "Timmy Tenacles" wouldn't make for a good pornstar name, especially an international one, like say, from Japan ;)

Or, to keep decidedly too adult, that could be the name of a Cthulu-eque mascot for a kid's show, or demented kid's show. Maybe something airing on Adult Swim?

I never saw this one, but I did appreciate Vertigo pumping out reimagined classic DC anthologies like this one Weird War Stories, Strange Adventures, and the others. Hell, even Flinch, which you've previously covered here, is a solid anthology.

9:30 AM
H said...

Never really had any interest in Vertigo books- didn't really see the difference from the main DC line of the time, and I wasn't interested in too much of that. I'd rather keep the past in the past though, if they're going to twist it into something so different from the original like this. Do your own thing- don't drag good names through the mud just because you're too jaded to buy into the old style of writing and art.

11:31 AM
Mr. Morbid's House Of Fun said...

@H:
I know milage may vary, but I'm sure there were more than a few creators that weren't just phoning it in & were actually trying to actively honor the tradition & history behind these older anthology titles. I guess you'll know by the quality & art of some of the stories.

4:13 AM
H said...

That's true- I doubt most of the creators were phoning it in, and some of them were probably trying to honor the original series. I just don't know if editorial and publishing would put out a story that actually did that, outside of a fifth-week event or alternate continuity. Most comic book companies have been trying to get away from the perceived stigma of comics in popular culture since the 80's. Heck, DC even had it as a slogan that comics weren't for kids and Vertigo was a line in the sand that said as much.

I feel like we had a similar discussion the last time goo did a Vertigo anthology.

11:19 AM

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