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Still on the Shelf #55 - Dave Crosland Week? Originally published April 19th, 2004 on www.ComiXtreme.com. This work is, of course, © Craig Reade. So what is heaven like? Is it a beautiful place filled with clouds and angels, where pure souls exist for all eternity after they are gone – with a big pearly gate manned by an ancient saint who is stricter than any nightclub doorman you have ever encountered, where God himself sits on a golden throne high above it all, casting a stern but loving eye down on his creation?Or is it like a corporation, with a CEO more like Bill Clinton than an actual creator, with a Board filled with those who despise the “boss,” but know that the company couldn’t exist without him? That is the premise of Heaven, LLC, a graphic novel from Image Comics that is due out this Wednesday, April 21st. The basic premise is simple – God goes missing, and it is up to the Board of Heaven, who would just assume see him stay missing to find him, or else their company may crumble. Be warned, this book is not for the little ones, nor is it a good pick if you are the type of person that would be offended by an extremely irreverent take on the Christian God. Personally, I think God would get a good laugh at it, but then again, I am probably going to hell. Cast of Characters God is still the omniscient and omnipotent deity that we all know, but he is a complete scatterbrain. He is highly charismatic, and can gain followers with great ease, unfortunately, the more people who follow Him, the more his mind wanders while trying to pay attention to them all. To help him maintain order in his company, he established Heaven, LLC, and appointed several board members to help with the day to day operations of the company. Dividing 49% of the stock between them to keep control of the company himself, of course. As you might expect, the Board members under him helped to contribute to his flighty nature – the more people he had to help him with things, the less dependable he became. Over the centuries, he has become the classic ADD case- unable to focus on anything for any period of time. As such, he tends to focus inward, and spends most of his time attending to his personal wants, and sometimes “carnal” needs, rather than his company, which seems to be suffering as a result. John the Baptist, well, his head on a silver platter, is the first member of the board. As many of you may no, John’s head was cut off by Herod, because he refused the advances of Herod’s daughter Salomé. John does blame God in part for his demise, because it was God’s law that Men of the Cloth remain chaste, and as such, it was impossible for him to give into Salomé’s advances. Lucifer, though a surprising choice for the Board, actually is a logical choice. Lucifer heads up the subsidiary of Heaven, LLC, Hell, Inc., and realized that without Heaven, there can be no hell. By extension, without God, there can be no Lucifer. Lucifer is quite like I would have always pictured- very suave and well dressed, and extremely intelligent. He is also very egotistical, and will do nothing to make himself look foolish. He is even not above making a deal with God if it serves his purposes. Adam and Eve, Joseph, Jesus, The Holy Spirit (a hard core femi-nazi), Abraham, Christopherthe Pope round out the Board. Each of them, as well, have some reason to despise God. Of course, there is no way they would betray him, being God and all, and work to make the company a success despite of its CEO. Finally, there is Maise, God’s personal secretary. She works extremely hard to keep the ever flighty God on the task of running Heaven, LLC, and finds the job to be much more difficult than you might imagine. Thoughts This book really, really is hilarious. I know many people really have no sense of humor when it comes to theology, and for those people, this book is highly blasphemous. Personally, I think that while it does poke a great deal at traditional Christian conventions, it still ends up painting a pretty accurate picture of religion (in general), particularly in how a lot of tenants of theology have to work in concert for Christianity to really work. Dave Crosland’s art is certainly noteworthy. The book is in black and white, which often has the unintended side effect of making character recognition a bit troublesome. There are many main characters in this book, and Crossland’s cartoonist style really goes a long way towards making each character very distinct and recognizable. His style really fits the humorous tone of the book, and is a perfect compliment. Chinsang really put together a well structured story here, that succeeds in its first goal of making you laugh. Silly is easy – but real humor requires a certain touch that Chinsang seems to have. Pacing is everything in humor, and this book chugs along at a nice clip. I have to hand it to him for a job well done – the concept he used for Heaven, LLC is something that could have failed so easily, but he managed to pull off something that was both entertaining, and to a point thought provoking. When it comes to touchy religious topics like this one, I am the first to be open towards a little religious comedy. However, I am extremely reserved when it comes to giving my “stamp of approval” to such projects that are less entertaining, rather than appropriately humorous. Chinsang has danced this line to perfection, and I appreciate that. Bottom Line Heaven, LLC is a 144 page, black and white graphic novel that carries a cover price of $12.95. It will be on shelves this Wednesday at your local comic shop. I have to say that this is the most entertaining graphic novel I have read in some time, and I hope that each of you give it a look. Coinciding with the launch of the book will be the Heaven, LLC homepage. You can also check out Dave Crosland and Debbie’s homepage at HiredMeat.com. Credit Where Credit is Due – Heaven, LLC is Written by Wayne Cinsang, Art by Dave Crosland, and Cover by Debbie. Still on the Shelf Extra – Puffed I thought, this week, that I would share with you another title with art by Dave Crosland – Image’s Puffed. Puffed is a story about Aaron Owens, who works at Story View Park as one of several costumed characters. one unfortunate day, arriving late to work, he is stripped of his usual “Big Bad Wolf” assignment, and given the cumbersome, gruesome role of the dragon Puff. Now, the reason this assignment is so terrible is that the Puff costume is ancient – requiring outside assistance to remove and sweltering hot for the person inside. Seaton, a deranged fellow employee, takes issue with Aaron for “looking” at Trish (the girl they both have an eye for) in a way he does not like. Mind you, Trish has no interest in Seaton, though he has made it his personal mission in life to look out after her interests. He finally decides that enough is enough, assaulting Aaron with a two-by-four, and dumping him into the worst possible part of town, while still in his Puff suit. There Aaron awakes, trapped in a dragon costume, trying not only to get home, but to find someone to help him out of his costume just so he can go to the bathroom. And thus- hilarity ensues. Though still somewhat cartoony, the art in Puffed is much more detailed than that in Heaven, LLC, and is equally appropriate to the story. The art accounts for so many gags in this series it is impossible to count- the ridiculous smile on the face of Puff alone in the strangest of situations is enough to make you die laughing. John Layman’s story is sound, and extremely enjoyable. Aside from a little political grandstanding (mostly outside of the story, and in Stay Puffed, the “sequel”), he takes a really clever concept and makes it work (I am sorry – everyone has a right to their opinion, but there is a time and place for politicking, and comics just ain’t it, if you dig me!). The story is just farfetched enough to be believable, the sheer hopelessness of Aaron throughout the story really makes you feel for the situation he is in. Stay Puffed, the “sequel” follows the story of Seaton, and his tour in Iraq. In Puffed, on the day he beat Aaron, he left his shift without even clocking out and enlisted in the marines to go and fight in the war. Though the issue mainly focuses on him, it occasionally flashes to what is going on in Aaron’s life after his horrific experience. The story is interesting, but it is something that only a reader of the previous Puffed 3-issue series would appreciate. Though Puffed has come and gone from the comic shelves, it is still available. You can buy the complete set over at HiredMeat.com for a mere $15 (including shipping). Puffed #3 and Stay Puffed are still available over at X-World as well, and I am sure you can find most of these issues at your local comic shop. It, too, was a real fun read, and a good series to hunt down for anyone. Credit Where Credit is Due – Puffed and Stay Puffed are Written by John Layman, and Art by Dave Crosland. |
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