Divided States of Hysteria - Howard Chay...

Howard Chaykin tells a serious and pessimistic tale about terrorist attacks on the US and the consequences of such an attack. Using a “Dirty Dozen” type theme, he depicts an awful society with no redeeming or sympathetic characters. With much violence, blood-letting, swearing and sexual scenes, this comic collection will not be for everyone!

The plot is wordy with a lot to read and it's well-illustrated in Chaykin's unique square-jawed style. Recommended to his fans and to anyone who has an already-jaded view of American society.

I'm not sure what the difference is between the Helix imprint and the Vertigo imprint at DC comics, but this is put out by Helix.   And I remembered it fondly, but don't think I fully understood this when I read it as a teen.   

I'm astounded by just how much this packs into one issue.   Set in a dystopian future in which corporations have taken over the world, and people live almost all their lives in a virtual reality that is promised to be not only better than real life, but easier and cleaner than real life. 

There are bubbles of thought that at first seem to be conspiracy theories, and then seem to be sent to and from those who are trying to keep the population under their thumb, perhaps even by spreading these conspiracy theories.   That's right: control through fear, and alternative facts, in fact an alternative history where people never lived without virtual reality, are pushed on the population as a whole. 

Cyberella's history itself - starting as a real life child star, and then mutating into a virtual reality avatar in a video game - presents just how money and fear can be used to exert people, coercing them into their own version of reality.   

Chilling and timely.   I'm not sure I want to read issue two immediately, but over the next couple of weeks?  I will be devouring this series.   (Although I only have nine issues of the twelve; I'm missing five and the last two, but I got these in a cheap set knowing that this was the case a decade or more ago.   I may try to track down five once I finish four, though.)

Joel, a WWII war veteran suffering from PTSD after the liberation for the concentration camps, has spent five years trying to become a writer and discovers that his wife has been leading a double life.

As he pursues her across the city, bloodshed and death ensue.

Beautifully-produced by Howard Chaykin, this tale is well-told and nicely-illustrated. Well worth a look.

3 stories about Wolverine and Nick Fury, two involving Scorpio (in this case, Nick Fury's nephew, Mikel) and the other about as gangland boss. The Scorpio stories are about Mikel seeking revenge for the death of his father and about his return to foil a coup in his native country.

The stories are quite well-told although I am starting to get bored by too many fighting scenes (inevitable, I suppose) Some great artwork, particularly from John Buscema in the middle story.

Despite all my former protests that I wouldn't buy more of this series, I ended up falling so head-over-heels over the Jughead series that, yeah, I bought the rest of this on sale.  I'm loving that Archie is not only a total klutz, but that he's completely lost with cars.   Betty, despite her long blond hair, is a total tomboy: more into gaming than dating, able to fix a dead car with ease - and behind her friend's back since Betty is no longer seeing Archie, so why would she fix his car, and since her friend is glaming Betty up for her very own birthday party. 

While a lot of this episode focuses on the titular character, a fair amount is devoted to Betty, especially since she's at a precarious position with Archie.   And Veronica, unbeknownst to Betty, has just been spotted by Archie.  It's a little neat, knowing how that'll turn out, but knowing the characters have no clue...

But my favorite part of all this?   Fiona Staples does the art.   It's lush, it's gorgeous, it's a reason in itself to come back.  Onto issue three.