I bought this massive (1,320 pages, 4.75 pounds) book when it first came out February 1, 2022. And I've been reading on it steadily ever since, but for various reasons * I've only finished the first 491 pages as of this writing. And I was intending to do a write-up on it when I finished--and will--but I find myself unable to wait. Because I just finishing reading (re-reading, actually) Xombi issues 1 through 6,
Yowza.
I remember really liking this series when it first appeared in January of 1994, but the details had grown vague. Re-reading it was quite the gobsmack.
Xombi was a bit of an anomaly in the Milestone Universe. For one thing, the titular hero, David Kim, was Korean-American, while most (and perhaps all) of the other Milestone heroes were Black or Brown. For another thing, John Rozum, the writer, was a white guy, whereas most of the writers and artists who worked for Milestone were Black. (It was created as a place where Black comic book writers and artists could be given a voice, since mainstream comic books didn't do much in the way of that, either on or behind the page.) I don't know about J. J. Birch (Joseph Brozowski), the artist, as I haven't been able to find a picture of him online, but I'm guessing that he was a white guy as well.
But that's just the surface stuff. What really made Xombi an anomaly is that it was just so fuckin' weird. Like early Grant Morrison at his best (Animal Man, Doom Patrol) weird. I mean...in the six issues that I just finished reading, David Kim teams up with a super-powered Catholic Girl, a rabbi accompanied by two golems, an 800 year old knight who is temporarily inhabiting the body of a dead guy, and a very strange nun, to fight a giant creature who has an exhaust pipe coming out of his ass. See, this giant creature escaped from the underground cathedral that he'd been imprisoned in...oh, what's the use. If you're not hooked by now and jonesing for a fix, nothing else I can say about Xombi is going to get you there.
And the art...oh, my. It is just exquisite. J. J. Birch's work is so strange, so not like the other comic books' art, that it's very hard to describe. There's a lightness to it...as if it were penciled, not inked, and then water colored. But it's not just that. It's also the way Birch proceeds from one panel to the next. There's a sequence where David Kim is talking to a funeral home director wherein the only action in three panels is the clicking of a ball point pen. There's a three panel sequence wherein a face is seen, zoomed in on, then seen from a slightly different angle. I suppose cinematic is the best word to describe it, but not in the usual sense of the word. It's cinematic because it works the way that subtle camera work works. Think Bela Tarr or someone of like ilk.
And another thing. After all of the hectic action in Xombi #1 through 5, Rozum and Birch bring it way down with #6, wherein (without spoilers) David Kim tries to reconcile himself to the death of his friend and assistant, Kelly. No monsters. No fights. Almost no action...beyond a clicking ballpoint pen and a bit of skydiving.
I can't think of too many comic book writers who have the cojones to write that story. Or, for that matter, that many comic book writers who could pull it off. Or, for another matter, too many comic book publishers who would print such a thing. But Rozum and Birch did. And Milestone did.
And that's just one of the many reasons why I love Milestone Comics, why I've bought as many of the old books as I could find, why I'm buying every Compendium they publish, and why I'm reading all of the new books that have been coming out. If you love comics but are tired of the same old shit, this is definitely the stuff for you.
This compendium also contains Xombi 7 through 11, so there'll be more in the near future...and the series ran to 21 issues (and then there was a six issue reboot later on, but let's not speak of that), so no doubt Compendium Two will bring us more of that. Hmmm?
Yes, that's the other reason I had to stop for a write up. I just saw that Milestone Compendium Two has been slated for release on January 31, 2023. A mere $60 ** will bring you 1336 pages, which include Blood Syndicate #13-23; Hardware #13-21; Icon #11 -21; Static # 9 - 20; Shadow Cabinet #1-4; Steel #6-7, Superboy #6-7, Superman: The Man of Steel # 35-36 and Worlds Collide # 1. Yeah, unless someone dropped the ball, it looks like we'll have to wait for Compendium Three to get more Xombi...but all of the Milestone titles are worth your while, and if you really can't wait, back issues are readily available at reasonable prices. (Mycomicsshop.com is a good place to check.) Alas, it doesn't look like there are e-versions of these books anywhere.
* (1) This book is heavy. I mean actually PHYSically heavy. So heavy that the only way I've found that I can comfortably read it is to lie on my sofa with this book on my chest. (2) And unfortunately, my eyes are not great, so if I don't do this in the a.m. when the sun is shining full force through my living room windows, it's hard for me to focus (PHYSically focus) on the words. And unfortunately I don't often have time to lie on the sofa and read in the morning or early afternoon, because I'm usually driving one of my kids somewhere. Also, (3) when I lie on my sofa my cat, Burl Ives, likes to hop on my chest and bash my chin with her skull, then try to suck on my ear lobe. Fighting her off is kind of a full time job.
** And that's just from Amazon (hu-OOK) and Barnes & Noble and Target. I haven't been able to confirm it yet, but it looks like my old pals at Thrift Books might be offering it for around $50.
Which looks like a slam dunk, I know, but when you click on the link it is a dead end. But I'd buy this book from Thrift Books for even a bit more than Amazon sells it if it does become available there. That's how much I love Thrift Books. And how much I don't like Amazon. News as it happens.
AS IT HAPPENS: Well that didn't take long. Checked in on the Thrift Books website and there it was:
And yes, ten bucks CHEAPER than the Amazon price. So a double win there. Buy Thrift Books!
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