EVERYTHING BUT IMAGINARY #172: ABADAZAD FROM THE ASHES

[Blake Petit]

It’s funny how, if you wait long enough, time catches up with you. Just about two years ago, I wrote a column called The Brains and Brilliance of Abadazad, about a new fantasy comic from CrossGen that had just blown my mind. Little did I know, at the time of that writing, that only one more issue of that comic would be produced before CrossGen went belly-up, leaving me with egg on my face and a column that was irrelevant even faster than usual.

But slowly, surely, things spiral back around, and now Abadazad is back, and I couldn’t be happier. Here’s the interesting thing, though: this story, which began life as a comic book, isn’t exactly a comic book anymore. But it’s not exactly a prose novel, either. It’s something in between.

First, let me give you a little background on this really remarkable comic book. Created by J.M. DeMatteis with art by Mike Ploog, Abadazad was a comic book about a little girl named Kate Jameson and her brother, Matt – children of a broken household who sought solace from their parents’ troubles by reading a series of classic kids’ books about a magical land called Abadazad. Like Oz, Wonderland and Narnia before it, the books-within-the-comic were the story of an incredible fantasy world populated by the likes of Queen Ija, the Floating Warlock, Master Wix the candle-boy and the evil Lanky Man. Kate would read the books to her brother over and over, until the day he vanished at a fair, lost without a trace.

Five years later Kate, now a sullen teenager, met with a kindly old lady who claimed that the land of Abadazad was real, and that her brother had been taken there. This was the launching point for Kate’s adventures, sending her to that magical land and beginning her quest to find her brother and bring him home. Unfortunately, that quest had barely begun when CrossGen imploded and it seemed that the tale of Abadazad (like so many of CrossGen’s other great properties) would never be finished.

But the story of the comic would have a happy ending after all. In a recent interview at Wordballoon.com, DeMatteis said that an editor at Hyperion Books, the publishing arm of the Walt Disney company, had read the comic books and thought they would make an excellent series of children’s novels. (Let’s face it, between Harry Potter and the Series of Unfortunate Events, kids’ books are huge moneymakers right now.) The problem was, CrossGen was in bankruptcy court and all of its properties were tied up with it. That’s when the sort of thing that can only happen with a company like Disney saved the day: they decided that the best way to get the property they wanted would be to simply buy the company.

Now, about a year and a half after CrossGen’s purchase, Abadazad is back, but Kate and Matt’s tale has metamorphosed into something rather different. The story is the same, but it isn’t a comic book anymore… not entirely. Instead, DeMatteis has written a series of prose novels, beautifully illustrated by Mike Ploog’s artwork, that take up Kate’s story from the beginning again. The book, ostensibly, is Kate’s diary (or journal or memoir, depending on what mood she’s in at that point of the story), which you’re reading as she writes. Here’s the catch, though: the diary was enchanted by Queen Ija of Abadazad, and occasionally shifts to include comic book sequences – sometimes of things that happened to Kate, sometimes of things she was never present for, such as the scheming of the Lanky Man. Kate can read these sequences herself, and the Lanky Man uses them to his benefit as well. The result is that the very book you, the reader, hold in your hands is in fact a plot device in the story. I won’t say this sort of thing has never been done before, but I certainly can’t think of any instance with such a device being used so effectively.

It goes without saying that the story and artwork in the first two Abadazad novels, The Road to Inconceivable and The Dream Thief, are absolutely superb. I wouldn’t devote two whole columns two years apart to get people to read these books if I thought they were crap. But there’s a potential here that goes beyond just the great writing and the great artwork. This new form of book, this hybrid of the graphic novel and the traditional novel, may be a great tool to recruit new readers into comics as a whole. These books are being heavily promoted and displayed in the children’s books sections of bookstores, a section where they’ll appeal to the fans of J.K. Rowling and Eoin Colfer. Now it’s great that these kids are reading – like I always say, a book is mankind’s greatest invention with the possible exception of the bacon cheeseburger. But the sad truth is, in this day and age, a lot of these very literate kids may never have seen a comic book before.

So what do we do? We sneak ‘em in. They may pick up Abadazad because it makes them think of Artemis Fowl or Harry Potter, and they’ll certainly enjoy the story on that level, but when they see the comic book segments – something totally new to them – it just may be the impetus they need to seek out more comics.

Here’s where the onus falls on the comic book publishers. Abadazad is a great read. If a comic company wants to use that book to lure a kid over into reading comics, they have to have equally great comics available for them. Abadazad and DeMatteis’s other fantasy comic, The Stardust Kid, were birthed from an idea he had years ago to launch a line of comics he described as “Vertigo for kids.” In other words, a line of comic books with the same high-quality writing and art as DC’s mature readers line, but written on a level that they would appeal to children. To me, this is a blindingly obvious idea. If you make great comic books that kids will love, eventually they’ll grow up into adults that love comics. Simple, right?

But DeMatteis’s pitch never took off and, to this day, most “kids comics” are just adaptations of popular cartoons or recycled stories from decades ago. Don’t get me wrong, you can tell some really good stories with cartoon comics – we all know what a devotee I am of the Disney comics from Gemstone, and to this day I enjoy picking up an Archie comic here and there. But there’s no real sustained effort out there to craft a real line of high-quality comics intended specifically for children, and that’s a shame.

But you know, that’s on the other publishers. DeMatteis and Ploog are more than doing their part. If you’ve got a kid who loves to read, if you’ve got a kid who loves comics, if you’ve got a kid you want to love comics, pick up the first two Abadazad tomes. Heck, if you just want a great read yourself, pick them up. But while you’re reading, see if there’s someone else you might be able to share them with.

Spotlight Comic

This is the feature I used to call “New Comic of the Week.” I’ve decided “Spotlight Comic” is more accurate, as I’m not doing it every week and not all of the titles will be new, just new to me. And this installment is the horror tale from Devil’s Due, Tim Seeley’s Hack/Slash. I’ve heard a lot of interesting things about this comic, but I never tried it until last week’s Hack/Slash: Hard Slice 25-cent special. (Note to all publishers out there: if you’ve got a comic I haven’t read that you want me to try out, put out a 25-cent special. I’m a sucker for those things.) The basic premise behind this series is that the daughter of a slasher killer (you know, of the Freddy Krueger/Jason Voorhees ilk) grows up to become a hunter of those monsters. This issue had a quick origin for our heroine, Cassie Hack, and a prologue for an upcoming story. I enjoyed it quite a bit – it seems to be a story that appeals to fans of slasher movies, but also holds up as a parody of the genre. I’ve added the first paperback in the series to my “wish list.”

Favorite of the Week: July 5, 2006

Man I’m miffed at Marvel Comics. From its first issue, I loved the new Thing series – my favorite Marvel character, my (current) favorite Marvel writer, and a whole lot of fun. Of course it couldn’t last. But still, the final issue, #8, still scores as my favorite comic for the week. On one of the biggest days of his life, Benjamin J. Grimm invites a slew of his buddies over for the first ever superhero poker tournament. This comic is a blast to read – tons of heroes, a big development for the title character and loads of fun. It’s also a standalone issue, so everybody who hasn’t read it yet, go out there and get a copy. Then get off your duff and send in your letters to Joe Quesada begging to give this excellent title another chance. Nobody deserves it more than the ever-lovin’, blue-eyed Thing.

Blake M. Petit is the author of the superhero comedy novel, Other People's Heroes, the suspense novel The Beginner - which is now available at Amazon.com-- and the weekly “Think About It” humor column at Think About It Central. It’s going to be a long wait before Abadazad Vol. 3 comes out in February. E-mail him at Blake@comixtreme.com and visit him on the web at Evertime Realms.

[Dalarsco]

I would run out and buy The Thing #8, but I don't want to get just that one issue when I'm getting the TPB of the entire series soon enough. And don't anyone get on my case about how I shouldn't have waited for the trade. I don't like starting comics mid arc, and I only recently started reading comics. By the time I was going to start it, it was already cancelled so I decided to wait for the trade then and hope that it becomes the Family Guy of comics.

[B. Schatz]

Abadazad was my first try at CrossGen, (to this day, I don't know if I was spared a bigger heartbreak of more unfinished stories, or just saved a wad of cash) and I was so sad when it went away.

And then happy that the property was salvaged.

And then sad that it would take to long to start.

And then happy when I opened that box at the book store with copies of Abadazad inside.

And then sad that the new one won't come out until early next year.

This title will be the death of me.

I can't wait for the rest.

[Blake Petit]

Originally Posted by Dalarsco

I don't like starting comics mid arc, and I only recently started reading comics. By the time I was going to start it, it was already cancelled so I decided to wait for the trade then and hope that it becomes the Family Guy of comics.

Now that's no excuse -- there was no arc longer than three issues and most of them were standalone. :P I'll give you a pass since you're a new comic reader, but you're still beholden to voice your displeasure with the cancellation to Marvel with the rest of us!

[Blake Petit]

Originally Posted by B. Schatz

Abadazad was my first try at CrossGen, (to this day, I don't know if I was spared a bigger heartbreak of more unfinished stories, or just saved a wad of cash) and I was so sad when it went away.

And then happy that the property was salvaged.

And then sad that it would take to long to start.

And then happy when I opened that box at the book store with copies of Abadazad inside.

And then sad that the new one won't come out until early next year.

This title will be the death of me.

I can't wait for the rest.

I know the feeling.

According to DeMatteis, it's going to be about 12 volumes, all told. I hope they put out more than two a year...