Severed: An Ode to Stephen King

The works of Stephen King are a guilty pleasure of mine. No other writer can draw you in with such inventive plots, suspenseful storytelling, and fantastical characters… then crash into a brick wall at 88mph with asinine twists and disappointing endings. And he gets me every time! The Dark Tower, The Stand, Insomnia, Cell; they’re all guilty. When the wolves of the Calla ended up being some Dr. Doom goons with golden snitches, I should have said “ok, enough’s enough asshole.” But it’s like telling your fat friend to stop eating McDonalds’ fish sandwiches; you know it’s going to end with some magical retard “shining” a 100 year old black woman in a corn field while listening to AC/DC, but it just tastes so damn good.

So why am I telling you this? Because, there’s a comic that reminds me of a Stephen King novel without the diarrhea. Severed is a story by Scott Snyder (American Vampire, Detective Comics) and Scott Tuft (I…don’t know) that was put out by Image. It’s about this kid Jack in the early 1900’s who runs away from home and travels across the country in search for his musician father. Along the way he teams up with a ginger tomboy named Sam and the Nightmare… aka some old fart who would be listed as a class B sex offender in modern times. Later you find out the old fart is actually some ancient/immortal dude who feeds off the hopes and dreams of gullible children. Part of his ritual is tattooing their symbol onto his body and saying some messed up shit like “Your dream was so strong. I can see it in every muscle in your body… And it’s gonna taste so damn good.” But yea he eats the shit of kids with gnarly bicuspids. Awesome, right?

And this is why it reminds me of King. Supernatural? Check. Americana horror? Check. Racial and homophobic subtext? Check, check. But it’s really the King-esc suspense that kept me reading. Issue #1 ends with the pedofart eating a nerd who just wanted to be an electrician. And you’re like “SHIT! Any guy who takes off his shirt yet leaves his suspenders on is messed up! Who is he?! What does he want?! Why are Jack and Sam in his apartment?! Drinking beers… and playing with his beartrap… guys stop! He tattoos light bulbs and violins onto his chest! Dude ain’t right!” Yea that’s right, I yell at comics.

So eventually, unbeknownst to Jack, the Nightmare eats Sam and delivers the appropriate one-liner “Only home for you, girly… ‘s in my BELLY.” Genius! Afterwards Jack and Nights hit the road, traveling south on a new lead of his father’s whereabouts. And they have a great time! Drinking more beers, getting laid, off-roading, fried chickening, pimp scalping… you name it! But now it’s at that point in the story (end of issue #5) where Jack finally becomes suspicious. Too late! They get to the house and it turns out his father’s been dead the entire time. Go figure! Jack gets tied up in the basement, loses an arm, and gets saved by his adoptive mother who we almost forgot about. All in all, not a bad ending!

Though one of my few complaints is I feel it could have continued for at least another issue. The finale happened so fast, and I found myself re-reading the last few pages trying to keep the high alive. But with an “Oh shit!” prologue, aesthetically pleasing gritty artwork, and some enjoyable Kingenuity, it gives you something this world needs more of; an original, suspenseful horror story that doesn’t involve vampires or little bald doctors who cut people’s invisible life balloon strings. I’ll give it a 7/10, losing 1pt for the aforementioned ending brevity, 1pt for the death of Sam (I have “a thing” for redheads who dress like boys) and 1pt because I don’t necessarily agree with the negative portrayal of train-hopping hobos.

Noteworthy: The Nightmare’s shirtless monologue in issue #7, and the full page in issue #6 with the Nightmare baring his teeth, about to strike with an axe… Terrifying!

-Chris

Why The Ultimates is the most important comic today

The world is bigger than you are.

This is important to remember. Today it’s very easy to forget that you're not the center of attention. I'm not saying you're irrelevant, your actions do matter, however they don't matter to everyone. In fact in the grand scheme of things chances are your imprint is going to affect your immediate family, friends, and coworkers. If you're lucky maybe your community. Again this doesn't make you unimportant, it just makes you small. Or at least small compared to the world.

There are those whose global impact will be bigger than yours. They may hold public office, serve in the military, work for an international aid group or something along those lines. If you're one of these people, while you work is admirable, the world is still bigger than you. Don't feel bad though; your bosses, the generals, presidents and global icons are still tiny compared to the world. This point is important because if you're ignorant to it, when the world comes crashing through your front door you won't be able to deal with it. Of everything that I'm reading today (traditional literature included) nothing makes this point like the Ultimates.

For those of you who don't know (and if you're on this website I'm imagining you do) the Ultimates is a reimagining of the Avengers mythos. Most of the familiar characters remain (Captain America, Ironman, Thor, and Wasp are all there) but thanks to Mark Millar and the talented authors who followed him The Ultimates is not only a more entertaining comic, it’s a more important one. Because unlike the Avengers, the Ultimates aren't fighting aliens, robots, or time traveling dictators (at least not all the time). While this is often entertaining it doesn't really carry any meaning outside of the story. While I might really enjoy watching the Avengers go to war with the X-Men in a few months, I don't expect my world view to change.

If you're reading the Ultimates there is a good chance it might. Unlike the main Marvel Universe the Ultimates and the Ultimate Universe as a whole doesn't back away from consequence. If something happens in the Ultimates chances are repercussions of that action are going to be lasting and intense. For example, Reed Richards is now a mad scientist who has wiped out Germany and may well just do the same thing the rest of the globe.

But this isn't why the Ultimates are an important book. It’s important because it reminds us that the world is chaotic and it is usually the things we don't see coming that cause the most damage. If you've read Ultimates 2, Grand Theft America, you'll know what I'm talking about. During this story arch certain non western powers create a team of liberators whose objective is to topple the American government and allow their home countries to fill the void left by the "Great Satan" (actually used in the story, a reference to the Ayatollah). The group is even lead by a Middle Eastern version of Captain America who is striking back at the invaders who ruined his family's lives.

Its something you could imagine happening in our world if Iran and North Korea had the guns to do it. The heroes in the story had no way to know this was going to happen. Things were happening too fast, they were spread too thin. The word was too big. The heroes of the story have to react more than they act and are often victims to the chaotic world.

It’s a lesson that carries weight in real life. Chaos is a part of our world, events we have no control over, nor did we have any chance to prevent directly affect us. If we are to survive, we must react quickly and decisively. It’s hard to do that if you're too focused on your own situation, it’s not that you don't matter; it’s just that the world is bigger than you. Don't feel bad it’s bigger than Captain America too.

Rest assured the book is widely entertaining, funny, and makes Hawkeye a cool character after years of being a JV Avenger. It’s rare you get a book that is this entertaining and insightful. My suggestion starts reading at the beginning of Millar's run and don't stop until you get to where we are now. Quick heads up Ultimates 3 isn't up to par with the rest of the series but is still with a look.

Happy reading


-John