The Sienkiewicz Experience

Time was, buying a Sienkiewicz book (preferebly plotted/scripted by Miller) was like getting your hands on that rare rock album with the killer album cover. That was before trade-reprints and hardcover-omnibuses. My first encounter with Sienkiewicz was seeing some of his panels reproduced in magazines and books. I never had any complete book showcasing his artwork. Then one day I was in Pltypus' place in SIN. He showed me "Daredevil: Love And War". The EPIC original (he's fuckin' smug that he still owns this masterpiece). The visuals blew me away. Kingpin drawn not as a human juggernaut (ala Romita) but as a huge mass of something that blends into the rest of the room, swallowing up everything. The feeling was like this was Kingpin's world and we're just living in it. He did not just eat up the scenery. He was the scenery. Daredevil floated over buildings carrying a girl in his arms. You could almost feel the wind in your eyes. Bill's art wasn't about realism (Neal Adams), cartoony (John Byrne) or mere psychedelia (Jim Steranko). Bill's art was all his own. A cornucopia of madness, genius and well, whatever he could get his hands on (many panels looked like he built it from spiderwebs and strings, rather than drawn with pencils!) Pltypus took me to Tower Records and introduced me to the Jimi Hendrix Biography by Bill Sienkiewicz. I picked up the book not long after, along with "Daredevil: In Love And War" (that reprints both "Love And War" and "Elektra: Assassin"). Like I said, it wasn't the usual comix experience. It was like getting a ticket into the coolest rock-festival in the universe. It was like owning a piece of poplorica. It was, for lack of a better word, cool... [read an interview with Bill Sienkiewicz]

Archie Met Elektra In 1986

Archie is dead. Archie lives forever.

Archie was the best editor that anyone could dream of.

Archie had a vision in the 1980s.

He called it "Epic".

One day, Frank and Bill showed up in the office.

They had something in their hands.

Archie asked what it was.

"Elektra: Assassin".

Archie took a step back.

It's great being an editor when you didn't even have to do your job.

There was nothing to edit.

The work was bigger than he was and he knew it.

He took one look at the work and that was enough.

It was the first (and arguably the last) work that lived up to Archie's vision.

"Epic".

Brainless fanboys are lining up for "The Dark Knight" making it the biggest movie of 2008.

We were there first.

This is the real thing.

Archie knew it and said "Yes".

I look back now and say "Amen".

"Epic!". This was it.

The Marriage Of Frank And Bill

Frank and Bill was a marriage made in (comix) heaven.
Perhaps even more than Frank and Lynn or Frank and Klaus.
Bill without Frank was a Neal-Adams-knock-off.
Bill without Frank was famous for a black demon bear.
Bill without Frank was famous for Jimi Hendrix and countless inking chores.
Bill made magic with Frank.
Almost alchemical.
Frank gave Bill a plot.
Political machinations and liberal Anti-Christ.
Wrapped around the love-lust affair of Greek assassin and a toaster.
(I was told that S.H.I.E.L.D.'s LMD's are no more complex than toasters!)
Together they fought The Beast of the Apocalypse and its evil Hand.
Together they snatched "the box" and ruled the world.
Together they fucked up the world from the inside out.
That was the plot Frank gave Bill.
But processed to the insane creative juices of Bill, the whole thing came out different.
Frank huffed, puffed and panted to keep up.
Frank nearly gave up.
Bill's visions made Frank's head explode.
"Where's the fuckin' plot?", Frank screamed.
"What fuckin' plot? Just script the damned thing!" Bill countered.
Frank did his best and nearly died in the process.
The result was a work that nobody understood.
It was not meant to be read.
[Some would argue that it was never meant to be "adapted" into a movie too!]
It was not meant to be analyzed.
It was meant to be *experienced*.
It was a mind-fuck, psychedelic ride into the madness of the world in 1987 with our guides, Frank and Bill.
It was a meditation on evil and a poke into the eye of the Beast.
It was a celebration of the insanity of Reaganomics and a fear of "robot"-liberals ruling the world (literally).
Bill threw in sex and religion while he was at it.
Frank threw in humour and absurdity while trying to keep up with Bill's visions.
Very few people talk about this work today.
Oh yes, they buy it and shelve it religiously.
Some even attempted to review it.
Most people simply revere it.
But very few really dared to talk about it because few understood it.
They simply said two words: "Elektra: Assassin".
Perhaps that was all they had to say.
To those who'd read it, they knew everything contained within those two words.
To those who will read it, I wish you all the best.
To those who will never read it, what do I care?
"Elektra: Assassin"
A once-off, never to be repeated performance from two maestros.

One day, when the Beast is finally revealed, he'll wonder why I knew him all along.

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!