By Dunke 
| Image: Eric Zawadzki | Whenever I’m late to the party on praising something popular, the first thought I tend to have is: “what can I even add to this conversation that hasn’t already been said?”
Which is a silly thought process, but I imagine it’s more common than we might think. And it’s not like we always have to add something to a certain topic. We always can, and probably should! The more perspectives the better. To keep peace in my own mind however, I look at that one Idris Elba image for inspiration. I’ve long foregone my habit of forcing even a short, one sentence review on my Letterboxd profile for example. But what’s fun about certain works of art, is that they can speak to you on such a level that every thought you have about it, feels like a worthwhile one. Again, I think every thought anyone has about anything is worthwhile, but for it to feel that way? At least to me, that’s rare.
Enter: Assorted Crisis Events.
Writer Deniz Camp has been making a name for himself writing on two Big Two comic books, those being Marvels The Ultimates, and DC’s Absolute Martian Manhunter. They’re both tremendous books, that I’ve been reading with great enjoyment. Every one of the issues in this run feels grand and important, and Camp is consistently tackling bizarre and relevant real-world elements in a larger-than-life or highly fantastical way. His work on Martian Manhunter is outstanding, Ultimates consistently delivers on high-concept and meaningful, yet more ‘traditional’ capeshit… but having finished the first volume yesterday, it’s clear that the pinnacle of his work is found in Assorted Crisis Events.
The creator-owned, Image Comics published anthology story features stories by Camp, with artwork by Eric Zawadzki, colours by Jordie Bellaire and lettering by Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou. Every single one of these people is responsible for this books success. They’re all part of the sum that makes up ASE’s parts.
Assorted Crisis Events is a collection of anthological stories – with some connective tissue in the form of an old man with a jetpack – set in a version earth where time is messed up in all kinds of ways. Every issues focusses on a new individual or group, who have to deal with the effects of this temporal catastophre. Some folks perceive time differently, chunks of the world will simply change on a whim – replacing what was once there, never to be found again. It’s very relevant on a societal level, crafting potent allegories for trauma, the rise of fascism and the conversations surrounding immigration.
The conversation
While the concepts are seemingly very out there, they still hit the nail on the head, and in turn hit a certain knob of my emotions. It’s comic writing in a similar style as what Grant Morrison described for their All-Star Superman run:
“Superman is a metaphor. If Superman walks the dog, he walks it around the asteroid belt. When Superman’s relatives visit, they come from the 31st century and bring some hellish monster. But it’s still a story about your relatives visiting.“
But I think what I would like to add the conversation is how much Assorted Crisis Events does, in fact, let you say something that hasn’t been said before. After all, you as the reader get to really interact with the contents of the comic. There’s a story being told, but the way you take it in will ultimately shape your thoughts. This book – the entire sum of its parts: writing, art, lettering, colours – elicits an emotional response from me that I can’t quite explain. Reading every issue, I can feel my eyes getting watery. The book isn’t telling you how to feel, rather to feel, and I think it’s quite impossible not to. But I might be wrong. Depends on the person, probably. And that’s okay too.
One additional reading I have of Assorted Crisis Events goes to the books very core: time. But specifically the past, and how us humans deal with it, how we’re maybe doomed to repeat it, even if the troubles seem so out of our world or chronal stream. ASE is certainly a bleak book, never quite telling you that “now you can be happy again”, instead trusting the reader to take away from it what matters most to them and hopefully bring a little bit of change to our world.
Tied up
I’ve been trying to become more aware of the issues that surround us every day. Both for becoming more aware about… well, life in general, but it’s also something that comes with the coursework I’ve been doing at university. Getting challenged to find the flaws in the systems that surround us, and most of all learning how to ethically build something from scratch, has been an incredibly gratifying experience.
It also keeps selling me more on the importance of empathy in our day to day lives. I’ve talked about this at length before, so not to sound like a broken record: but I genuinely believe so many things would be better if we were more considerate. There’s a powerful moment in issue five of Assorted Crisis Events, where a father who in some points of view could be considered part of the problems root, do something for his daughter to try and help her. Up until that point we had seen little of him, but it’s a little moment of empathy he shows that instantly enriches the entire scenario, make it more… real. I haven’t been able to get it out of my head.
So yeah, broken record. But I think kindness and empathy will be what helps us. And I think you should read Assorted Crisis Events, if anything for the purpose of letting your mind be taken by the waves of its storytelling – both visual and written.