Comics Bulletin logo
Search
  • Columns
    Random
    • Manly Cartoons Hanna-Barbera Style!

      Danny Djeljosevic
      November 29, 2005
      Busted Knuckles
    Recent
    • The Full Run: Usagi Yojimbo – The Wanderer’s Road Part 2

      Daniel Gehen
      December 4, 2020
    • The Full Run: Usagi Yojimbo – The Wanderer’s Road Part 1

      Daniel Gehen
      October 30, 2020
    • Comictober 2020: DRACULA MOTHERF**KER

      Daniel Gehen
      October 27, 2020
    • What Looks Good
    • Comics Bulletin Soapbox
    • The Full Run
    • Leading Question
    • Top 10
    • The Long-Form
    • Jumping On
    • Comics in Color
    • Slouches Towards Comics
  • Big Two
    Random
    • The Full Run: Final Crisis – Prologue

      Danny Djeljosevic
      July 23, 2019
      Big Two, Columns, DC Comics, The Full Run
    Recent
    • Retro Review: Detective Comics #826 Remains a Holiday Classic

      Daniel Gehen
      December 3, 2020
    • Stan Lee

      nguyen ly
      November 7, 2020
    • Collecting Profile: Jack O’ Lantern

      nguyen ly
      October 31, 2020
    • DC Comics
    • Big Two Reviews
    • Marvel Comics
  • Indie
    Random
    • Monday Morning Pick 'Em April 10, 2019 - Gotta Have Faith Edition

      Danny Djeljosevic
      April 8, 2019
      AfterShock Comics, Boom! Studios, DC Comics, Image, Marvel Comics, Monday Morning Pick 'Em, What Looks Good
    Recent
    • Review: The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Cartoonist

      Daniel Gehen
      December 14, 2020
    • The Full Run: Usagi Yojimbo – The Wanderer’s Road Part 2

      Daniel Gehen
      December 4, 2020
    • 4.5

      TMNT: The Last Ronin #1 Lives Up to the Hype (Review)

      Daniel Gehen
      October 29, 2020
    • Reviews
    • Archie Comics
    • Boom! Studios
    • Dark Horse
    • IDW
    • Image
    • Oni Press
    • Valiant
  • Reviews
    Random
    • 4.5

      31 Days of Halloween: Day 17 – Sightseers

      Danny Djeljosevic
      October 17, 2013
      Reviews
    Recent
    • Review: The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Cartoonist

      Daniel Gehen
      December 14, 2020
    • Retro Review: Detective Comics #826 Remains a Holiday Classic

      Daniel Gehen
      December 3, 2020
    • 4.5

      TMNT: The Last Ronin #1 Lives Up to the Hype (Review)

      Daniel Gehen
      October 29, 2020
    • Singles Going Steady
    • Slugfest
    • Manga
      • Reviews
    • Small Press
      • Reviews
      • ICYMI
      • Tiny Pages Made of Ashes
  • Interviews
    Random
    • Interview: Howie Noel from Tara Normal

      Danny Djeljosevic
      June 20, 2015
      Interviews
    Recent
    • Interview: Jon Davis-Hunt Talks SHADOWMAN

      Daniel Gehen
      June 8, 2020
    • Interview: Becky Cloonan talks DARK AGNES and Her Personal Influences

      Mike Nickells
      March 4, 2020
    • Simon Roy

      Interview: Simon Roy on His Inspirations and Collaborations on PROTECTOR

      Mike Nickells
      January 29, 2020
    • Audio Interview
    • Video Interview
  • Classic Comics
    Random
    • Classic Comix Cavalcade: The Best of Comix Book

      Danny Djeljosevic
      March 6, 2014
      Classic Comics Cavalcade, Columns
    Recent
    • Countdown to the King: Marvel’s Godzilla

      Daniel Gehen
      May 29, 2019
    • Honoring A Legend: Fantagraphics To Resurrect Tomi Ungerer Classics

      Daniel Gehen
      February 15, 2019
    • Reliving the Craziest Decade in Comics History: An interview with Jason Sacks

      Mark Stack
      January 2, 2019
    • Classic Comics Cavalcade
    • Classic Interviews
  • News
    Random
    • Special Advance Teaser: Scarlett Couture by Des Taylor

      Danny Djeljosevic
      December 5, 2014
      News, Previews
    Recent
    • 2020 Ringo Awards Winners Announced

      Daniel Gehen
      October 26, 2020
    • BAD IDEA Announces 2021 Publishing Slate

      Daniel Gehen
      September 29, 2020
    • A Full Replay of NCSFest 2020 is now Available

      Daniel Gehen
      September 15, 2020
    • Press Release
    • Kickstarter Spotlight
  • Books
    Random
    • Review: 'Out of Nothing' is the Antidote to Our Sick Times

      Danny Djeljosevic
      July 23, 2018
      Books
    Recent
    • Collecting Profile: Disney Frozen

      CB Staff
      November 22, 2019
    • Collecting Profile: NFL Superpro

      CB Staff
      August 31, 2019
    • “THE BEST OF WITZEND” is a Wonderful Celebration of Artistic Freedom

      Daniel Gehen
      September 15, 2018
    • Review: ‘Machete Squad’ is a Disappointing Afghan Memoir

      Jason Sacks
      July 31, 2018
    • Review: ‘Out of Nothing’ is the Antidote to Our Sick Times

      Jason Sacks
      July 23, 2018
    • Review: ‘Bizarre Romance’ Shows Rough Edges in the Early Days of a New Marriage

      Jason Sacks
      July 10, 2018
What's New
  • Collecting Profile: Batwoman
  • Collecting Profile: Daredevil
  • Collecting Profile: Floronic Man
  • Review of Cheetah in Wonder Woman 1984
  • Review: The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Cartoonist
  • Collecting Profile: Transformers
  • RSS Feed
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Google+
  • Contact Us
  • Write for us!
  • Visit Video Game Break!
Home
Reviews

Casanova: Gula #1

Danny Djeljosevic
January 15, 2011
Reviews

How hopeless it seems, as the opening of Gula is heartbreakingly distressing. Asunken-eyed Casanova Quinn, seemingly dying in a mostly deserted hospital, rendered in cool but depressing blues and long-haired Fábio Moon variations on Gabriel Bá. There’s a man in the next room, strapped down to a gurney after his wife’s been killed in a car wreck. Crows everywhere. Casanova hitting a guy with an I.V. Remember when Casanova had lots of sex and a robot?

Originally published by Image as Casanova #8 and #9, Casanova: Gula #1 shows a remarkable shift in the ongoing saga of the eponymous sexy-thief-turned-sexy-superspy. Not only is the artist different (though genetically the same), but Fraction writes the book differently from his first volume. The first ten pages of the first story, “In Medias Res,” play like some decadent parody of Luxuria, complete with the all-girl pop band, now pregnant and writhing about in their latest music video, while Cass himself sullenly remarks how he’s “tired of feeling like I’m dying all the time” instead of declaring how much he loves his job. Then there’s another mission briefing and that’s the last we see of him as the big refrain of Gula becomes, “When is Casanova Quinn?”

And, while it sounds like Fraction’s drunk some of that Watchmen Kool-Aid in penning his second volume, let me point out that “In Medias Res” ends with a six-armed, blue-skinned blonde emerging from a spaceship, raygun in hand and Converse sneakers on feet. So worry not, this is still Casanova.

The second story in the issue, “When the Wolf Comes Home,” is more typical of the rest of Gula, alternating between the E.M.P.I.R.E. agents trying to figure out what the hell happened to Casanova and his evil twin sister, Zephyr, works with the bad guys of X.S.M. on various assassination missions, effectively replacing her brother as the operative taking on the mission of the month.

By the way, Fraction does this all while while retaining the psychedlic, post-modern Casanova-ness of the book and its sense of humor. There’s a hilarious faux-movie poster that just interrupts a scene, and the goddamn issue ends with a villain delivering his own dramatic musical sting. Let no one ever say that Casanova isn’t fun.

Taking over from his twin brother, Fábio Moon’s turn at art for this new story is–Christ, it’s always been impossible for me to characterize their art, but it’s sort of a laid back, relaxed variation on Bá’s work. It’s always been amazing how the twins’ art is similar but very, very different, and using Moon to continue a comic that Bá started further underlines the same-but-different feel of this new volume.

Cris Peter’s colors alone make this book delicious eye-porn. Like the olive greens of Luxuria she retains the original blue tones of the original run while adding exciting new elements to make the book colorful without making it a traditionally full-color comic. Magentas! Purples! Pinks! Oranges!

That the original issues were only (intentionally) 16-page stories made for some dense, tightly packed comics. That these reprints collect two 16-page stories make for a regular-sized comic that’s about to burst with ideas and content. This is the best use of paper, the greatest way to spend four bucks.

But the best reason to check out the single issues instead of trade-waiting is the backmatter, which never gets reprinted in the collected editions. The original run had lots of commentary from Fraction and his artists on the story that just finished pages before as well as surprisingly open revelations of what was going on in Fraction’s life at the time, but this time it’s about directing readers to Casanova’s influences as well as bringing in outsiders and having a chat (and, still, some surprisingly open revelations). Gula #1 has the loosest backmatter yet, featuring casual emails between Fraction and Scott Pilgrim creator Bryan Lee O’Malley. It’s not focused as the talks in previous issues, but it’s fun and a little inspiring to see these creators relate to one another, especially since both guys’ main transmissions to the world (besides comics) are tweets.

Of the two story arcs so far, Gula is my favorite, not only because of the amazing near-cerulean color tones of the original printings, but because of the way Fraction changes what the book is, turning it from a solo book about this protagonist doing counter-missions for the bad guys into a book into an ensemble book about said protagonist’s absence. The amazing bit of Gula is how the story its has its own feel, one distinct from Luxuria, which, on one level, is an amazing exploration of what a story is, how you can take a collection of characters and scenarios and ideas and milieu and remix them into something. Same instruments, different sound, making for the follow-up effort that punches the very concept of “sophomore slump” in its stupid face. This is the best pop album you’ll listen to all year. And it’s a comic book.

Cris PeterDanny DjeljosevicDustin K. HarbinFábio MoonIcon / MarvelMatt Fraction

Share On:
Tweet
Heroes For Hire #2
Comics Industry and Today’s Transitions

About The Author

Danny Djeljosevic

Danny Djeljosevic is a comic book creator, award-winning filmmaker (assuming you have absolutely no follow-up questions), film/music critic for Spectrum Culture and Co-Managing Editor of Comics Bulletin. Follow him on Twitter at @djeljosevic or find him somewhere in San Diego, often wearing a hat. Read his comic with Mike Prezzato, "Sgt. Death and his Metachromatic Men," over at Champion City Comics and check out his other comics at his Tumblr, Sequential Fuckery. His webcomic The Ghost Engine, with artist Eric Zawadzki, updates twice a week.

Related Posts

  • 3.5

    Review: ADVENTUREMAN #1 is A Love Letter to Pulp

    Daniel Gehen
    June 15, 2020
  • Singles Going Steady 7/17/2019 – Silver Age Bliss Starring Jimmy Olsen

    Daniel Gehen, Jason Jeffords Jr.
    July 23, 2019

Latest Reviews

  • Review: The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Cartoonist

    Daniel Gehen
    December 14, 2020
  • Retro Review: Detective Comics #826 Remains a Holiday Classic

    Daniel Gehen
    December 3, 2020
  • 4.5

    TMNT: The Last Ronin #1 Lives Up to the Hype (Review)

    Daniel Gehen
    October 29, 2020
  • 4.5

    Micro Review: Commanders in Crisis #1

    Jason Jeffords Jr.
    October 12, 2020
  • 3.0

    Review: GHOST WRITER Fights the Spectre of Unevenness

    Daniel Gehen
    September 3, 2020
  • 3.5

    Review: Strange Skies Over East Berlin

    Yavi Mohan
    August 11, 2020
  • DRAWING BLOOD: A Hyper-Stylized, Fictional Autobiography

    Ben Bishop, Brittany Peer, David Avallone, Drawing Blood, Kevin Eastman, Tomi Varga
    August 9, 2020
  • 3.0

    Alien: The Original Script #1 – This One’s For The Fans

    Jason Jeffords Jr.
    August 7, 2020
  • Singles Going Steady: Why? Lettering!

    Daniel Gehen
    July 28, 2020
  • 4.5

    X-MEN/FANTASTIC FOUR #4 is a Finale of Moral Questions

    Daniel Gehen
    July 22, 2020
RSSTwitterFacebookgoogleplusinstagramtumblr

Comics Bulletin is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for website owners to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com, audible.com, and any other website that may be affiliated with Amazon Service LLC Associates Program. As an Amazon Associate, Comics Bulletin earns from qualifying purchases.

All content on this site (c) 2018 The Respective Copyright Holders