A reprint is a reprint is a reprint, right?
No.
No, it’s not.
Certainly not when something is out of print. And certainly not when that out of print book is a great work by a great, if indie, voice.
Thank goodness for Image Comics, then, a publisher often cited in this very column as one who takes chances on emerging comic book talent as well as those beloved professionals who are somehow less mainstream than the ones we get on a monthly basis from Marvel or DC.
And that’s where writer/artist Farel Dalrymple and his newly revisited (read: re-printed) Pop Gun War: Gift trade paperback come into focus.
Follow me after the jump for all the page-turning info!
Pop Gun War: Gift
Written and Illustrated by: Farel Dalrymple
Published by: Image Comics
I was first introduced to the work of Farel Dalrymple through his brilliant artistry on the Jonathan Letham written Omega the Unknown series from Marvel Comics in 2007. I was immediately taken by his somewhat cartoony slant on life, a vision that was striking: visuals that were both surreal and assured, and, most importantly, always emotional.
Four years earlier, however, Dark Horse Comics had published his Xeric Foundation Grant series, Pop Gun War as a collection to some acclaim. The Xeric Foundation Grant, established by Peter Laird, the co-creator of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, was bestowed upon those creating fantastic comic books – at their own expense. Self-publishing. It’s really the meaning behind the term “indie”. Pop Gun War, and Dalrymple, it must be said, is the epitome of independent thinking in independent comics.
That first mass-market release, however, has since gone out of print.
But today, publisher Image Comics releases it again for a new and larger audience as Dalrymple’s name, hot off the heels of last year’s publication of The Wrenchies (from First Second books), is more widely known today than it was twelve years ago. As well, the comic book reading market is more sophisticated, more accepting of different art styles, stories, genres and visions than it has ever been before.
Pop Gun War: Gift is a story about childhood and self-discovery where inner city kid Sinclair discovers a discarded pair of angel wings and puts them for use in his adventures with a set of some of the most surreal characters you’ll ever discover as a reader! This new edition includes some new pages (as well as a new cover) and is a great introduction to the continuing series, currently published in small excerpts within the pages of the Image Comics anthology magazine, Island.
Make the run to your local comic book shop and pick up Farel Dalrymple’s Pop Gun War: Gift today! Find out why he’s one of my favourite creators currently working in the comic book medium!
