Dork Hero: Gene Tierney

Dragonwyck

A while back, I popped in a DVD for a movie I knew nearly nothing about.  A little melodrama called Leave Her to Heaven.  It starred a lady named Gene Tierney, who I'd seen in a couple films before, but never thought twice about.  By the end of Leave Her to Heaven, I was a serious fan.  Not only was she jaw droppingly beautiful, but she lent depth and pathos to a monstrous character in a way I found continually surprising, refreshing, and unsettling.  That I still kind of pulled for her by the film's end is a testament to Tierney's ability to keep you enthralled and maybe a bit in love, even when she does awful things.  Watching a bunch of her other movies let me see other sides of her talent, including some lighter comedy stuff.  But Tierney will be forever tied to that bold, unhinged role in Leave Her to Heaven.  Plus, she worked with the always awesome Dork Hero, Vincent Price on several occasions.  That raises her cool factor, right there.

Leave Her to Heaven

Laura

-Matt

Comic Review: Fatale 1, 2, & 3

    Ed Brubaker, the guy who made me give a crap about Captain America with his Winter Soldier story arc, tells a crime story with deep roots in writers like Chandler and Hammett, as well as the horrors of Lovecraft.  This is the sort of thing I want to read, that comics can excel at, and that is often overshadowed by capes and spandex.

Death Chases Me

    The first volume starts out with a crazy, over the top action sequence involving a mysterious woman and a kamikaze prop-plane that may be a bit too much, frankly.  However, once that’s over and Nicolas Lash begins his quest to understand things left by a dead relative, the story starts getting interesting.  The cast of characters and the depth of history expands quickly, jumping back to the 50s to follow reporter Hank Raines, who has also met the mysterious woman from the opening, looking no different.  It doesn’t take long to find some ghoulish deviltry afoot.  Dangerous cults, weird things in the shadows, and all the time, the mysterious, beautiful woman, the Fatale.  I don’t love Sean Phillips art, but I think it’s appropriate for the comic, giving enough of a classic, 50s look to help authenticity.  And Brubaker’s writing captures the tone of the hard boiled detective stories as well as the existential dread of Mythos dangers.

The Devil’s Business

    Moving forward to the decadent and disenchanted 70s, the second volume finds the Fatale living as a recluse, while cults, collectors, and…other things search for her.  I enjoy this story of broken and sad people dealing with religious nuts in the ugly aftermath of the 60s.  The jaded tastes of people with too much money and no direction.  Gross.  And while the past unfolds, in the present, Nicolas Lash’s life spirals out of control.  Nobody seems to be having a good time of it.  The building story is fascinating.  Each reveal increases tension, while making me more and more curious about what will happen and what has happened, and who everyone really is.  And of course, at the heart of it all, who is the femme fatale?  Who is Josephine?  What is she?

West of Hell

    The third volume looks into the history of Josephine, going back a long, long way.  Each chapter (each issue) finds her in a different time, expanding our understanding of who and what she really is, and of the many strange and painful events of her long history.  And as her history unfolds, hints and innuendos about the truth behind it all come to light.  I find myself enjoying this series quite a lot.  It feels like a comicbook version of the classic roleplaying game Call of Cthulhu.  In fact, reading it got me very much in the mood for that game, and in the mood to read more mythos tales of various sorts.  I’m very curious to see where this all goes and how it works out.  One of the best comics on the market today, it is a must read.

Fatale Book One: Death Chases Me
Author: Ed Brubaker
Artist: Sean Philips
Publisher: Image Comics
ISBN: 978-1-60706-563-0

Fatale Book Two: The Devil’s Business
Author: Ed Brubaker
Artist: Sean Philips
Publisher: Image Comics
ISBN: 978-1-60706-618-7

Fatale Book Three: West of Hell
Author: Ed Brubaker
Artist: Sean Philips
Publisher: Image Comics
ISBN: 978-1-60706-743-6

-Matt

Comic Review: Lost Cat

    As I’ve done several times before (here, here, here, here, here, here, and here), I read this latest book from Jason with a smile on my face…and deep concern on my brow.  If you haven’t read Jason, stop what you’re doing, go to your local comic shop/book store/(or if need be) internet site and get a copy of, well any of his books.  I think I’d suggest starting with The Last Musketeer, but there are so many good ones.  Get it.  Read it.  And then come back.

    OK, now that you’re back, let me get on with this Lost Cat review.  This time ‘round, Jason introduces us to a Sam Spade/Philip Marlow type detective, who needs some money.  A lost cat might do the trick.  From there, the usual unusual things begin to happen.  Femme fatales, jilted lovers, aliens (?), an awful old guy, paintings, a robot.  And it’s all done in that special way, that quiet, reserved, melancholic way that Jason slaps you so hard with.  I get a similar feeling reading his books to what I experience watching Coen Brothers films.  If you write down the plot, there’s not much there.  Yet, within the spaces, there’s a universe of anxiety, pain, bafflement, and resigned humor.  I love it.

    I’m not going to go into the plot of this particular book, or even point out certain highlights.  I’m just going to say that Jason is one of the most consistently enjoyable writers or artists working in the field today.  Every time I read a book by him, it’s like a breath of fresh air, blowing in from lost summers of youth.  Until his next book, I’m done blubbering on about how great he is.  You need to go find out for yourself.

Lost Cat
Author/Artist: Jason
Publisher: Fantagraphics Books
ISBN: 978-1-60699-642-3

-Matt