Free Comic book Month "Graphic Elvis"

Well it is the end of May. It was a good month for free but now I need to go out with a bang. I need the biggest character and slash or comic writer of all time. Hmmm. Well I got nothing, so here is a comic about Elvis written by Stan Lee.

Ok, all joking aside, who doesn’t know Elvis or Stan Lee? One was the greatest rocker of all time and one of the shapers of the 1970’s. The other is a comic book writer who pretty much started what we know today as the Marvel Universe. Well for Free Comic Book Day, there was a book written by Lee about Elvis. So let’s see what Stan the Man gem we got this time, this is Graphic Elvis.

 

The cover is pretty cool. Billy here says his magic word “ELVIS” and magical lightning from the wizard comes out of his comic book to transform him into Captain Presley. Yeah that is not really what is happening but it sure looks like it. I really don’t understand how this works. The ghost of Elvis makes some random kid who might not have heard of Elvis comic books explode? Unless this is something Mr. Presley did in his career, I just don’t get it.

Now before the comic itself, there are some pages of history, both from fact and from personal experience, and some Elvis comic art next to the real life photo used to make that art. Some are cool and some are meh. Since all of them have nothing to do with the comic itself, I did not scan them. 

The comic begins with people standing in line to jump into the sun. All of them turn and look to see that they are standing in the same line as Elvis. Now I know that this is the line to the pearly white gates, which makes all these people dead. But I do have to question some things about these people and the art style they are drawn in. In the second panel, there are two women who died from a mix of a broken neck from huge hair and too much gas from hair spray. The blonde looks down right evil and her costume confuses me. Was she swimming and the weight of her hair pulled her under? As for the red head, look at her eyes. My word her eyes are very derpy. The reason why I focused on these women was that their expressions are the same as everyone else. They all have dead pan and derpy eyes all at the time. All because they are in line with Elvis? 

And now we have an Elvis splash page. With no other reason but to be a pointless splash page. Seriously, in the last panel on page 1, we see Elvis already. It is not some big revel or anything. And the splash page itself, ugh. The art is till par for course here. 

So while Elvis waits in line, the other dead people are worshipping him as a god. I am serious here. Elvis says that he is not expecting anything great but all the other people say that they are surprised that he has to walk the same way people do. Heck, 50’s guy even says that Elvis is ‘just plain nice’ like he only ever had gangsters in his life. Oh right, 50’s guy. Anyway, what are they trying to say? Do they think that Elvis is above God? Are they implying that Elvis is an alien? Who would ever think that? Ha ha ha ha ha.

The numbers get called for these people to come to the gates. Look at panel 3 and 4. Look at Red head’s number and then at Elvis’s number. So either one of them is lying or Elvis and her are one in the same. Plot twist perhaps or just an oversight on the writing? Also, bald guy, shut up. All things are equal in death. Elvis is not Jesus. He is a rock star. So Elvis walks up to Peter to get his life reviewed.

Peter asks Elvis what he did in life. Elvis says that he did nothing but sing and play guitar. Peter says that is not enough to get into heaven. Credit where credit is due, Peter does have a lot more expression on his face than anyone else so far. Elvis is depressed that he did not do more with his life. Of course all the people treating you like a god are meaningless after all.

Elvis says that there must be others who are more deserving to get into heaven then him. And Peter agrees. Dude, Peter. Christian believes state that Jesus died for our sins so that we all are forgiven and all have the same fair chance to get into Heaven. Elvis is just a man who wants his sole to rest, even if he is acting emo right now. But more than the reader, the people are shocked. How could Elvis not get in? What hope do they have? They only have 10 years of community service and personal sacrifice. But as Elvis walks away, Peter stops him.

Peter tells Elvis to really think about what he did in life. What did Elvis do to make people happy? Well seeing how everyone in line is treating him like a god, I think Elvis made many people happy. Elvis says that he did but through his music.

And with that Peter opens the gates to hell, I mean Heaven. Seriously, that looked like Hell to me the first time with all the blazing fire and brimstone. So yeah, Peter tells Elvis that his music made everyone happy and will keep doing so until the end of time.

And that is the end of the comic. Yeah. So what did we learn this week? Well Stan Lee writes Elvis like he is Jesus. Elvis is emo in death. And the line for the pearly white gates takes place right outside the sun, where the souls of the fallen jump in willingly. Not Stan’s best work I feel. The art I talked about before. It is expressionless and dull. The story, if you can call it that, is not much better. Everyone in this comic is either depressed or awe stuck at all times. I know that they are dead but come on, would it kill you to show emotion?

After this there are more pages of art that was drawn from real life pictures and history stories. 

There is one last page of comics that are just two gags with a baby Elvis. These are just song punny and meh. At least the characters are a bit more expressive here.

And with that, Free Comic Book Month is over. It was a fun ride for me and I hope you all enjoyed it as well. Next week though, I’ll take a look at some more comics I like that people might not.

All Images (c) Liquid Comics