Why Fantasy Football Matters: (And Our Lives Do Not)

Shhhhh, don't tell your wife that!

You would think a book based off of a fantasy football league, which is also an attempt to educate people on what 27 million fanatics obsess over on a yearly basis, would be right up my alley. As I obsess over sports almost as much as I do stories. Yet this book did not really interest me in the least little bit. Why would I want to read a book based on a fictional league trying to teach the game I have been playing for years?

I can tell you that was 4 years ago. How things have changed. The pages are stained, the cover is bent and contorting away from the pages, the binding is slowly unravelling. This has become my bible, at least in a football sense. Reading Why Fantasy Football Matters: (And Our Lives Do Not) before each season helps me prepare, get in that mental mindset, for the long gruelling haul of arthritic fingers (and strained bloodshot eyes) required for scouting my next championship team (at least I’m hoping it is).

Written by Max Handelman and Erik Barmack, who run the weblog Beyond Bowie about the Portland Trailblazers, Why Fantasy Football Matters is loosely based off their own experience playing in a fantasy football league. They break down a single season of the “Bush League” from beginning to end. We follow a few of the team’s owners as they start their yearly rituals.

This book is not just for fantasy football fanatics. If you ever wanted to understand why so many people have this obsession to crunch statistics they can not control, this book explains that. Through a comedic year, from draft to championship, the writers also introduce many habits and aspects of fantasy football that make it so much fun.

Not styled like a typical novel, Handelman and Barmack help us look through the narrator’s eyes as if he is one of the unnamed owners of the Bush League. We are privy to read the email chains created from smack talk, the banter of two owners attempting a trade and the camaraderie of the Sunday (and sometimes Monday) night get together, to watch one team dominate the another.

Creating (or maybe modeling) the characters after the many different personalities you encounter in fantasy football leagues really separate the viewpoints of each character. Intriguing as they may be, each character seemingly reminds you of certain owners that could be in your own fantasy football league. If you have never been in a fantasy football league then this gives you a distinct perspective of what to expect when joining your first league.

Handelman and Barmack write this book with the love for the sport and display their own experiences with great knowledge of football. The history aspect of the sport of football (and a few other sports as well) add another element to the book that is already loaded to the brim with information.

A well crafted story based around a single season creates a comedic tale that informs the reader (be it a fantasy football player or not), not only about the obsession but why it has become such an obsession. If you are part of the many fantasy football alumni, then you may regale in past glories as this book, at times, feels like it is reminiscing about your past. I warn all the fantasy football fanatics, if you pick this book up, expect to have a new “bible”, to read before each upcoming season.

5 out of 5

Issue One Quick Review: Days Missing

Phil Hester takes a Roddenberry idea from a napkin!

BY COLIN ENQUIST

0.99 cents for issue number one of most comics I will buy. Most of the time I actually know what I am picking up though, today I had no idea. I saw Roddenberry presents (creator of Star Trek) and Phil Hester. Figured it had to be worth my one dollar. Especially once I heard that the idea sprouted from something on a napkin.

The story for Days Missing seems basic at first. Just another apocalyptic plague ready to destroy mankind (think Ebola virus but more contagious). A little sci fi twist though and we have an immortal who seems to have been around since, well that is never explained, but before the dinosaurs roamed Earth.

A self contained story about the mystical immortal that makes days go "missing" as we find out in the issue with a flashback that describes surreal events that could have destroyed humanity but do not because of our "savoir". This unique ability to make the days vanish in our minds is not yet explained but we know he wants to save us. Phil Hester is creating a world where anything could happen (or it already did and you don't know about it!).

Art by Frazer Irving does not set the benchmark too high for the next artist to come aboard. Not entirely sure if the book will have a rotation of artists for each issue or not but next issue is drawn by Chris Burnham. Irving's art in this book is almost basic in detail but his ability to tell the story is apparent in the way he uses the panels, really having each panel play off the previous one perfectly. My main problem was the colouring did not suit my taste. The painted style has never been my thing as I feel it takes away from the art itself too much.

Possibilities are endless for this 5 issue mini series with a wide array of stories that could be created from any time in human history. Hester has my money for the next issue for sure. This one was definitely worth 0.99 cents!

4 out of 5

Joker Review

I just recently purchased and read the original graphic novel titled Joker, written by Brian Azzarello and art by Lee Bermejo. Brian Azzarello writes the grizzled crime series 100 Bullets and has collaborated with Bermejo in the past with Lex Luthor: Man of Steel. This is arguably the best take on the Joker since Alan Moore’s The Killing Joke. The Joker in this sways a little from the in-continuity Joker and merging it with Heath Ledger’s version of the character. Although the book was more than likely written before Azzarello saw The Dark Knight but he may have used some influence from the trailers.

Joker reads pretty much like I expected a point of view from his side of things would read. A messed up, psychotic, twisted and sadistic way of life that the Joker lives. To say this is a Joker only story though would be a misstep as new character, Johnny Frost, is created to be the narrator. This is the problem with the book, as Frost isn’t a character that matters but just a subplot that is intersecting with the Joker’s. Frost is a way for us to view the Joker during this story but Azzarello doesn’t just use him as a narrative tool but incorporates his story as well. As we follow the Joker from his unexplained release from Arkham Asylum to his rise back to reacquire “his city”. Joker shows us the Gotham underground and its dirty, grim nature as he shoots and slices his way back to the top. Not knowing if the Joker is insane all the time or just when he feels like it is part of the allure he brings to the pages.

With the book not being in-continuity we are treated to new takes on existing characters. Killer Croc is now just a big strong thug living in a meat locker. The Penguin is illegitimate business man “running the city” while the Joker is away. Harley Quinn is shown briefly throughout the book as the Joker’s girlfriend. The Riddler is the very different in this story. His cane serves a purpose as his right leg is limp, while clothing is a completely different style. You don’t know what his purpose is but he steals things, whether it is for himself and sells them or is commissioned by others to steal certain items we do not know. He is shown selling something to the Joker that was “impossible” to get, but we are never privy to find out what it was. Two Face is living or at least looks like he is trying to live a somewhat normal life. We don’t know if he is evil or good but has cops on his payroll who are working for him to try to keep the Joker out of power.

The art in this book is fantastic and at first I didn’t think that was the case when I was just a few pages in. Bermejo changes his style throughout the book from his main pencil and inks to a combination of semi-painted panels and then to dark tones with lots of black. At first I was turned off by this shift in art styles but then I realized the reason for this was to show the nature of the Joker and how he sees everything differently. Not just different but a constant change from one minute to the next. Bermejo also uses the differing art styles and storytelling perfectly to focus on certain moments in the story

Not a perfect look, but a gaze into the Joker’s mind and character. This book is gorgeous in an ugly sort of way and should sit on your shelf next to The Killing Joke and Arkham Asylum. Any fan of the Batman mythos, crime stories or psychological thrillers would enjoy this book.

4 out of 5 stars
Colin Enquist

January Comic of the Month

Incognito #1

Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips put their cult hit Criminal on hold to premier a 5 issue mini series titled Incognito. It has that noir feel that Brubaker’s writing and Phillips’ pencils mesh perfectly to create another surreal world. We follow Zack Overkill, an ex-super villain who is hiding out in the witness protection program. All Zack wants is to get back to the days when he roamed free and could be the badass he wants to be.


Brubaker presents us with the ending first, slowly working his way backwards and giving us Zack’s origin story. Capturing Zack’s “file clerk” job in a paperless world is exactly how desk jobs really are. Making us have sympathy for a super villain isn’t easy and right away you have a hard time pulling for Zack. But Brubaker does make it work with ease by presenting the world and everyone in it as complete pricks. Why should Zack care about anything when he attempts to lead a some what normal life only to be harassed and spit on by the world? Zack is frustrated with his place in society and eventually turns to drug use. While using, Zack realizes that these “fun” drugs are causing a reaction with his medication from the Feds. More importantly they cause the drugs which inhibit his powers to stop working. Now that Zack is free we find ourselves back at page one. With the story completed and now we can jump head first into issue two Brubaker doesn’t just leave us without a cliff hanger. That final page alone brings many possibilities of where the story can go. The only thing I didn’t really like was the story telling Brubaker used, it felt like if you read it in chronological order it would have worked just as well if not better.

Sean Phillips’ art is meshed wonderfully with the Val Staples colours, bringing a sense of realism and mood to the comic. While never using bright colours to offset the tone of the book, Phillips’ stark contrast brings a beautiful shade of grey throughout the entire book.

And a bonus is the back matter material, which many people know from Brubaker and Phillips’ Criminal. It is a quick history lesson on pulp magazines, written in an essay form accompanied by a Phillips art relating to it. We are treated to “The Shadow” by Jess Nevins.

4 out of 5
Colin Enquist

Joe Hill Writes a Fantastic Comic Book

and that is, Locke & Key: Welcome to Lovecraft

BY COLIN ENQUIST

I was never aware of Joe Hill’s work until this mini series. Hill wrote a collection of short stories titled 20th Century Ghosts and the novel Heart-Shaped Box both with critical acclaim. After reading the plot summary before issue one was released I wasn’t completely sold but thought it could be interesting. With this being Hill’s first time writing a comic book I planned on waiting for the story to be collected in one volume. I am glad I did, as the presentation of the hardcover version is gorgeous.

The main enjoyment for me on any horror film or book is the atmosphere. You can scare a person with the moments of blood splatter and random killing. Or making you jump with a quick scare tactic that isn’t really making you frightened but just caught off guard. But if you are actually making a person quiver while they are reading it takes some talent. At times I feel Hill has that talent, but other times not so much as Locke & Key doesn’t quite deliver consistent atmosphere. Now that does not mean the book was a failure. The pace of the story worked well like any great story. Jumping from each characters perspective over each issue brought us more details towards the big picture and helps bring the story together.

Gabriel Rodriguez pencils are good and very descriptive of catching the characters emotions from panel to panel. Jay Fotos who provides the colours really helps sell certain pages. When Bode first walks through the magical door that “kills” him you see a colour change in his skin which was very creepy. We see Bode’s skin change become its natural colour as he “lives” again. The panel layout made the book very easy and quick to read, never getting confused on what panel comes next.

The book does tell a complete story but it leaves lots of questions for future volumes (which Hill has stated this is the prologue to a three act story with act one and two being 24 issues total and the final act will be an original graphic novel). I would recommend this book but knowing that the next mini series is just around the corner means more reading in your future.

3 out of 5 stars