Comics Review: CASANOVA III: Avaritia #1

By Ryan J. Grant / September 8, 2011

Book: Casanova III: Avaritia #1 Written By: Matt Fraction Art By: Fábio Moon Publisher: Marvel/Icon Price: $4.99 Pages: 40 It€™s been some time since we€™ve seen Casanova (full color reprints be damned) and our shelves and minds have been poorer for it. Matt Fraction, Fábio Moon and Gabriel Bá are undoubtedly the sci-fi espionage kings. This is the most packed, intelligent and beautiful thing you€™ll find this week, its €˜missgeburt€™ being well worth the pain for it's creators. The crib notes to understand Casanova go as follows: Casanova Quinn was a €˜good-for-nothing thief and a man of refined debauchery€™ until he was abducted from his universe to replace another version of himself, who just happened to be that world€™s greatest spy. We begin this new sin with Casanova at the lowest we€™ve ever seen him. We€™re here to witness a man breakdown as he€™s forced to do the unthinkable to fix the mess his abduction caused, again and again. He€™s a conscious Ender Wiggin with a multiverse of €˜threats€™ stretched out in front of him. That€™s as simple as I can put it and to delve any deeper would only confuse or spoil. Casanova has always been a story in flux; it€™s undergone an almost incalculable amount of changes over the years to twist its narrative and encourage you go back and start again. It€™s a comic you€™ll read actively, hell in the past I€™ve taken notes, made playlists from the chapter titles and one memorable evening even made a recipe it contained. Thankfully this is possibly the most welcoming start so far for new readers. It is the perfect taste of a world filled with science, action and better dialogue something this pulpy usually has the right to possess. This is the kind of comic that makes you want to go out and make comics. Matt Fraction spends parts of the issue experimenting with perception, at points balancing conflicting character dialogue, monologue and thoughts in the same panel. Along with that, thoughts from an unknown and possibly unreliable narrator interrupt the flow with descriptions of the futures of the characters. Be warned; never take anything at face value in this comic. Fábio Moon is again on fire with art that will leave you pausing on panels just to try and take it all in, his visions of different universes being a particular highlight. Chris Peter€™s colours lift the comic€™s style above the previous two-tone stories. Yet it still feels connected to what came before even without the recoloured editions, with tone setting greens and purples that highlight the strong pencil work. There€™s even the use of anaglyphic colouring (that old school red and cyan layering) for Casanova€™s quick actions, the best pseudo use of 3D I€™ve ever seen in a comic. Not to forget Dustin K. Harbin€™s incredible lettering that should earn him an Eisner if people would just sit up and pay attention. Okay, so the comic€™s $4.99 and if there€™s anyone who complains about comic prices on this site it€™s me; we used to just pay $1.99 for a 24 page slimline book (16 story/8 back matter) when the comic was at Image. However, unlike everything else this week, this comic is a true 40 pages, no advertisements. It€™s 32 pages long with 8 pages of insight and letters that will take as long as the comic itself to read. The comic is championing the return of that great style of back matter The Invisibles, Hate and Eightball used to give us. Matt Fraction has gone on record to say that this volume will take us to the point he first imagined Casanova beginning, and if this is just another prequel for him to get us all up to speed, the actual ride is going to blow minds. Dive in, and if you like it, spend the next month immersing yourself in what came before. This will be the comic the entire creative team will be remembered for; don€™t you want to say you read it as it came out? You won€™t regret it. Not in this universe anyway.