'Judge Dredd, Day of Chaos: Fallout' - Various (Rebellion)

Over the years, I've become used to Mega City One being trampled all over and millions of citizens dying. It's like an extra season in a way; 'Spring', 'Summer', 'Autumn', 'Winter' and 'Mega City One being beaten to within an inch of its crime-ridden life'. It's always fun to be a spectator when 'Catastrophe Season' rolls round and 2000AD outdid themselves with the 'Day of Chaos' storyline; the Mega City skyline in flames, 350 million dead citizens and Justice Department struggling to mount any kind of resistance to the anarchy that the city is sliding into. 'The Fourth Faction' and 'Endgame' were awesome reads but where do you go from there? How can you top such a powerful story?

The answer is that you can't really top it but there is still a wealth of stories to be told in the shattered remains of the city. And that's what 'Fallout' is all about, an exploration of the aftermath of 'Chaos Day' and, I suspect, seeds being sown for future tales.

Dredd's actions, thirty years ago, led to the viral attack on Mega City One so it's only fitting that the bulk of this volume concentrates on how he is bearing up under the strain. Dredd is a fairly one dimensional character, from what I've seen, so it is interesting to see cracks starting to show in the façade at the same time as he is busting perps. Stories like 'Wolves' and 'Save Him' force Dredd to face up to his actions in really intense ways (some incredible artwork from Currie backs this up) and the fact that you know Dredd will pull through is besides the point; it's all about internal conflict and in more ways than one, *COUGH*'Save Him'*COUGH!* Dredd knows where the responsibility for Chaos Day ultimately lies but he still has a job to do and he's going to get it done. It's an interesting dynamic that I wouldn't mind following further. Would it go to the logical conclusion or would the writers decide that Dredd is made of sterner stuff? Like I said, just the fact that you can see those cracks at all is really telling… 

There's fifty million other people, than Dredd, in the Big Meg though and 'Fallout' also chronicles the attempts of the 'Chaos Day' survivors to make something of themselves, generally involving varying degrees of illegal activity from breaking and entering ('Sealed', a moving tale that had me getting a piece of dust out of my eye, ahem…) to grave robbing ('The Pits') to seceding from Mega City One entirely ('Debris', superb artwork from PJ Holden and a story to match). The theme just about stays on the right side of being too repetitive, built only just, luckily for the writers there are a million different ways to break the law in the Big Meg. The only stories that didn't work for me were 'Wastelands' and 'Power Struggle'; the switch to the machinations of the rich/big corporations came at the expense of the raw emotion of the survivors at ground level and these stories felt a little detached as a result.The art was a little bit lacklustre too...

'Fallout' is one of those books that you're only really likely to read if you've already read the preceding volumes but, as far as I'm concerned, it's still a worthy follow up (albeit with a couple of misses amongst all the hits) to possibly one of the biggest events in the history of Mega City One. Nothing will ever be the same again and 'Fallout' leaves you in no doubt as to just why that is.

Catching up with some comics, 'Attention span of a Goldfish' Edition!

Even my eight month old daughter has a greater attention span than I do at the moment. Seriously, once she sees something on the floor it will be hers (especially if we don't want her to have it) no matter what distractions we put in her way. Me on the other hand… I'm still trying to read 'She Who Waits', a book that came through the door over a year ago. This would be the time to make an amusing attention span comparison but I can't even focus enough to do that… :o)

Thank the reading gods for comics then! And thank the gods of technology for a phone that I can read comics on! And thank the comic book writers… Well, my comic book reading was a tiny bit hit and miss, this time round, so maybe the thanks need to be a little more specific…

'X' #16 - Swierczynski/Nguyen (Dark Horse)

 

It looks like I missed an issue somewhere along the line but that's never a huge deal with X; a comic where the story is increasingly sidelined by huge amounts of violence and people dying messily. Issue 16 is no different with Nguyen (welcome back!) really conveying the gritty noir of Arcadia and lending the violence the impact that it needs to make you wince. And it does… More Nguyen in future please!

As far as the story goes… Well, there isn't really much of one; just a steady progression of fights and explosions. Just what I needed to keep me occupied but a little too lightweight for those who want some plot with their action (even if there is a nice little twist at the end). What does concern me a little bit, about the series, is how the villains are being repeatedly ramped up in terms of what they can dish out. I just wonder if Swierczynski has peaked too early with Archon, a man who can shrug off a burst of acid to the face and a shotgun blast to the chest. Where do you go after that? Can you go anywhere after that? I'll be around to see what happens next but I can't help but feel a little worried about the direction 'X' is going in…

'Ghost' #7 - Sebela, Duursema (Dark Horse)

 

I never thought I'd find myself non-plussed by an issue of 'Ghost' but this issue was the one that had me feeling, well… Meh. Jan Duursema does some great work in the larger frames (really captures Elisa's internal conflict) but the smaller frames suffer in that they merely recount events rather than capturing a sense of, well… anything really.

The story itself seems to suffer from a slight malaise as well with a little too much attention paid to the aforementioned internal conflict. Things are set up in the background but it all seems a little too vague to actually mean anything. The plot drifts when it really needs to be more forceful and direct… I've followed 'Ghost' too long now to give up but I'm not eagerly awaiting the next issue like I have in the past. Hopefully next month will see a return to form.

Catching Up With Some Comics.

And the week of 'hardly any sleep' begins to draw to a close with a faint hope that things might improve now the weather is starting to cool off a little bit (or maybe it's just wishful thinking on my part) I've run out of films to watch on Youtube (well I haven't but you know what I mean…) so I thought I'd catch up on some of the comics that I have waiting patiently on my phone.

Me and comics have been going through a bit of a sticky patch just recently; it's either a case of nothing new catching my eye or old favourites feeling like they are running out of steam. It was really good then to see Eric Powell returning to the form we all know he is capable of with 'Goon: Occasion of Revenge #1' (Dark Horse). While the Zombie Priest may no longer be a threat, his brethren want to take over the town and the Goon and his friends may be the only people who can stop them.That is, of course, if past secrets don't come to the surface and destroy them first… 'Occasion of Revenge' is a real return to what Powell does best, coarse humour with an edge of horror, to unsettle readers, and moments of pure pathos. If that wasn't enough, Powell's artwork offers up a bleak dreamscape where it's all too easy to see where the nightmares might lurk (the first sight we get of Mudd in particular, this is what Powell is all about). I read this issue on my phone but I can see myself buying the comic as well, just so I can really appreciate the full affect of what Powell has done. I feel like I've come home with 'Occasion of Revenge', it's glorious.

I've read a few back issues of 'Groo', enough to know that teaming him and Conan up has the potential to be very funny indeed, if not quite classic comic book fare. 'Groo Vs Conan #1' (Dark Horse) is all about setting the scene but already we can see how that inevitable confrontation is going to pan out and I will be there if the humour in #1 is anything to go by, loads of wry chuckles from me while reading :o)

What I really liked about this book was how well each of the artists work dovetailed together; really well handled when you consider how different each artists work is.

I've been going off Conan a little just recently (too much of the same thing I think) but 'Groo Vs Conan' looks like it could be just different enough to prove a refreshing diversion from Conan's normal fare. Like I said, not quite classic comic book reading but I'll see how the next issue goes and then take it from there.

I'm always looking for new comics to try (especially right now when nothing really stands out and begs to be read) so… Any recommendations? Comments please :o)

'Occasion for Revenge' or 'The Goon' just got good again...

Remember what I was saying, the other day, about 'The Goon' looking like it will only be worth reading when Eric Powell gets back to the main storyline? Well, 'Occasion for Revenge' is Powell doing just that and, all of a sudden, I'm excited again. There is nothing better in comics than 'The Goon' playing to its strengths and I just want to get stuck in now.

Dark Horse sent out a little preview of the first issue (this is a three part mini-series, I think) and said it was okay to share so I thought I would. I've been playing around with the file but can't seem to resize it so it looks good here. It's a tiddly little image then but double click on it and you should be able to see an enlarged version. It's worth the effort to enlarge, trust me.
Enjoy :o)

'Occasion for Revenge' kicks off on July 23rd.

‘The Goon’ & ‘Ghost’ (or, ‘a couple of comic books that I’ve picked up)

‘The Goon’ used to be a big part of my comic book reading and for very good reason. It was a book that could make me laugh on one page and then quickly have to pretend that there was something in my eye when I went on to the next. ‘The Goon’ had everything so I was understandably a bit sad when things were scaled back and the comics stopped coming quite so regularly (scheduling issues and so on).

It was a huge deal for me then when I found ‘One For The Road’, nestled amongst the advance reading from Dark Horse, my phone downloaded it all very quickly and I was very grateful for that.

It was a shame then that ‘One For The Road’ didn’t match up to expectations.

I’ve come to realise that Powell is a lot more suited to telling longer ‘Goon’ tales than he is with ‘one offs’ like ‘One For The Road’; the plot has room to breathe and grow and the humour is a lot more organic. Things felt quite contrived and forced here and there didn’t seem to be a lot of point to what was going on other than to rehash a few tired old laughs. The artwork is as gorgeous as ever though; Powell and Stewart combine to form a landscape and characters that are totally unique yet fit the story just right. It was the art rather than the tale that kept me going this time.

For me, ‘One For The Road’ was like visiting old friends only to realise that I don’t actually have that much in common with them anymore; my comic book reading has moved on. I’ll keep half an eye open for longer ‘Goon’ tales but I think I’ll be giving the one-shots a miss from now on.

  

  

‘Ghost’ #5 marks the beginning of Chris Sebella and Jan Duursema’s stint as the creative team on ‘Ghost’ and the early signs are that they’re not going to do a bad job at all. #5 may be all about setting the scene, for a tale to unfold, but there’s a really smooth transition from #4 that I appreciated. Things just flow and that’s the sign of a tale well told, especially when a new team is picking up the baton.

As for the story itself, it’s a well balanced mix of Elisa trying to bring order to her life and the streets of Chicago while a major new player gears up to really make his presence felt. Each theme raises enough questions to hold my interest and Duursema presents it all very well, with a hard edge to proceedings that typifies what ‘Ghost’ is all about. More of that please, now I want to read #6.

So It looks like there’s now a bit of a gap in my comic book reading that needs to be filled (sorry ‘Goon’ but I’m feeling a bit let down). Any recommendations from you guys? 

‘Ghost #4’ – DeConnick, Borges (Dark Horse Comics)

One story arc comes to an end and so another begins. This is the way of comic books everywhere and no less so with ‘Ghost #4’, a book that doesn’t have a lot to say for itself (which is going to result in a very short and to the point post today…) but is laying the foundations for something to play out over the next few issues. I don’t know quite what but it looks interesting.

Elisa Cameron has defeated the threats of Dr. October, the White City Butcher and also the demon Beleth. Ghost can now start to protect the city of Chicago from itself while her friends start to piece together Elisa’s past life from the effects of a dead friend…

‘Ghost #4’ is essentially a chance to take a break from the frenetic events of previous issues and start to see what Elisa herself is really all about, both in her past and the path she is choosing to take right now. There isn’t a lot of difference between the two to be honest; you could say that as Ghost, Elisa is just continuing to be the person she always was, only with added power and purpose. The parallels are cleverly drawn and aren’t too obvious; I like a bit of subtlety so appreciate the approach taken here.

What does this mean for the future? It’s clear that Elisa’s past isn’t ready to let her go just yet and that there are questions still to be answered. Nothing major at the moment, these are the kind of questions that lead to even bigger questions I think. We’ll see how that goes.

One final word on the art though. I’d love to see a little more consistency with the artists; Noto, Sook and now Borges are all good but I would love to see this title pick an artist and then stick with them for an extended run; give them time to really make the character and setting their own and complement DeConnick’s excellent writing. Just a thought guys. ‘Ghost’ is starting to look really good in terms of moving away from the original and becoming its own tale; a little consistency with the art could really make all the difference as far as I’m concerned.

Catching Up With My Comic Book Reading…

There hasn’t been a lot of comic book reading just recently but a couple of crowded commutes gave me the chance to catch up with some stuff on my phone (because there was just enough room on the train to hold my phone at eye level)… One regular title then and a comic that I always mean to read more of…

‘X’ #13 – Swierczynski, Atkins (Dark Horse).

When you reach rock bottom, the only way you can go is right back up. That’s the direction X is headed in (after taking a severe beating in the last couple of issues) and Swierczynski tackles this move with his customary brutal aplomb along with more insights into who X actually is (raising more questions but that’s cool). There are no punches pulled but the impact is slightly lessened with the introduction of Robert Atkins on art duties. Not that he doesn’t do a good job but Maia is far better at capturing the violence in what X does. Atkins work is eye-catching but it doesn’t make you wince in the same way that Maia’s does. I’m still here for the long term so am hoping to see Maia back soon.

‘2000AD Prog 1880’ – Various (Rebellion)

I love 2000AD when I pick it up but somehow am never able to string my reading into consecutive issues… Prog 1880 sees me dumped into the middle of an ongoing ‘Dredd’ storyline then but also handily deposits me at the beginning of a new ‘Indigo Prime’ story (which looks very promising albeit yet another variation on Hitler winning the war…)and at a decent jumping on point with ‘Slaine’ (loving Simon Davis’ artwork here)

‘Colony’ looks like it could turn out to be a lot of fun (potential for aliens or zombies here, I like the fact that it’s not clear cut) and Vince Locke’s art makes the read flow really smoothly. I’ve got no interest in reading ‘Outlier’ at all (a little too much catching up to do there), anyone else read it?

‘Ghost Omnibus, Volume 3’ – Various (Dark Horse)

If you were around for the last blog then you probably heard the story of how I got into reading ‘Ghost’ and many other comics when I went to college (roughly half a lifetime ago now but who’s counting?) If you weren't around for the last blog, ‘Ghost’ was a relatively new comic that offered me the chance to jump on board without having to know the minutiae of what happened in #960 etc, you know how it is.

What kept me reading though was the mystery of Elisa Cameron; who she was and why someone had killed her. There was a real depth of characterization that really made me care about finding out the answers to those questions (set against the glorious backdrop of Arcadia, grimy noir if ever I saw it).

I read along for a bit but then life went down different paths and I left ‘Ghost’ behind, until now that is. Thanks to the collected volumes (unwieldy phrasing I know but I still need to find out the plural of ‘omnibus’…) I’ve been catching up, two more volumes to go after this one. Volume Three it is then…

We've now reached the point with ‘Ghost’ where we’re not quite ready for the answers but we’re being prepared to receive them in Volume Four. Things start to become a little clearer then and, amongst all the regular stuff that Ghost does so well, I found myself strangely reluctant to continue. The mystery is the whole point of ‘Ghost’ and when that’s gone there’s nothing left, the story has to finish. I guess I’m not ready for that to happen just yet.

In the meantime though, there is plenty to read with Arcadia still trying to tear itself apart and Elisa trying to get her head round what happens next now that she has rid herself of a major threat. Eric Luke and a team of artists all combine well to show us the battles that Elisa must face in Arcadia as well as within herself. Sometimes these two themes merge and the introduction of the villain Silhouette makes Elisa really face up to who, and what, she is. It’s a compelling read, albeit tinged with a little sadness that the end is coming. The big ‘3’ on the cover is a not so subtle clue that this isn't the place to start if you’re a newcomer to the series; long term readers will find a lot to enjoy though. On to Volume Four…

‘A Game of Thrones, The Graphic Novel – Vol. 2’ – Daniel Abraham, Tommy Patterson (Bantam)

After a long time away from this series, I find myself coming back to ‘A Song of Ice and Fire’ with fresh interest. If it’s not the TV series, that I still need to get round to watching (buying the box set is only the first step) it’s the books on the shelf that are gently reminding me that it has been a while since I picked them up.

Given that I’ve developed a habit of falling asleep in the bath most evenings and I have other books that I’d like to read first, reading the graphic novels seemed like a good compromise. If you scroll down a bit, you’ll see what I thought of the first book; I read the second volume over Easter and it was as engaging a read as the first one. We all know the story already but here’s the blurb anyway, just in case you need to jog your memory a little. It was amazing how all the plot came flooding back to me, even though it’s been a long time (years) since I picked the first book up. But yeah, sorry, blurb…

The sweeping action moves from the icy north, where the bastard Jon Snow seeks to carve out a place for himself among bitter outcasts and hardened criminals sworn to service upon the Wall . . . to the decadent south and the capital city of King’s Landing, where Jon’s father, Lord Eddard Stark, serves as the Hand of King Robert Baratheon amid a nest of courtly vipers . . . to the barbarian lands across the Narrow Sea, where the young princess Daenerys Targaryen has found the unexpected in her forced marriage to the Dothraki warlord Khal Drogo: love—and with it, for the first time in her life, power.

Meanwhile, the dwarf Tyrion Lannister, accused by Lady Catelyn Stark of the attempted murder of her now-crippled youngest son, must call upon all his cunning and wit to survive when he is captured and imprisoned in the lofty dungeons of the Eyrie, where Lady Stark’s sister—a woman obsessed with vengeance against all Lannisters—rules. But Catelyn’s impulsive arrest of the Imp will set in motion a series of violent events whose outcome is fated to shake the world at the worst possible moment. For now is not the time for private feuds and bloodthirsty ambitions.

Winter is coming . . . and with it, terrors beyond imagining.

So, counting volume one that’s four hundred and eighty pages of graphic novel to get through two thirds of one book (although it could end up being more, I haven’t read the third volume yet). Not only am I interested to see how Abraham tackles later books (‘A Feast for Crows’ and ‘A Dance with Dragons’ in particular), if that is the intention, but I also find myself wondering how long a graphic novel adaptation of a series can be dragged out at this pace. Three, maybe four, graphic novels to a book; it will look great on the bookshelf but will people remain interested for that long? I guess we’ll have to wait and see on that score.

That’s one for the future though. Right now, we have a story that Daniel Abraham is handling with customary aplomb. He has a very good feel for what needs to stay in the book and what can be merely hinted at; the end result being a tightly plotted tale that takes in the original book as a whole. It could have been a rambling mess if Abraham had stuck to the book but he clearly appreciates the limitations of the graphic novel format and it really pays off.

All I wanted from Tommy Patterson, after reading volume one, was a little more variety in character’s facial expressions (he does everything else superbly). This is ‘A Song of Ice and Fire’ after all, no-one really smiles here. I’m pleased to say that Patterson delivers here and captures just what events mean for the characters with some really touching expressions. If I can have more of that in volume three then I’ll be a happy man.

It’s hard to write anything about the actual story that hasn’t been said already but as far as the adaptation goes, Abraham and Patterson have got it spot on here with a book that really draws you into Martin’s world. The more I read these books, the more I want to go back and read the originals and that can’t be a bad thing at all.

‘Revival Volume One: You’re Among Friends’ – Tim Seeley & Mike Norton (Image)

As far as comic books go, the old blog was all about following ‘The Walking Dead’, ‘The Goon’ and whatever Conan books I could get my hands on. Times change though; ‘The Walking Dead’ got a little too brutal (and possibly repetitious) for me, work on ‘The Goon’ has slowed down to a crawl (and I didn’t really enjoy the last book anyway…) and as much as I love Conan as a character, I wasn’t a hundred percent sure about some of the stories he was showing up in. I don’t really read any of those books now.

It’s a whole new blog now though and I realised that I needed a new series to follow along with the occasional forays into the worlds of ‘Judge Dredd’ and ‘Ghost’. If there’s one thing that I’ve learnt it’s never to look too hard for a new favourite series, it will find you sooner or later and it did when I came across volumes two and three of ‘Revival’ the other week. You can read what I thought over Here and there was no doubt in my mind that I’d be searching out the first volume to see how it all began. I read ‘You’re Among Friends’ on the way into work this morning and the commute just flew by.

If you read my post the other day then you’ll know about the story. If you’re one of those people who like to start from the beginning then ‘Revival’ is the story of rural Wausau and how, for one day, the dead return to life and have to readjust to being back in the world of the living. Some handle it better than others and that’s where Officer Dana Cypress comes in, dealing with crimes involving the revived against a backdrop of the world’s media  focussing all its attention on the town. The most difficult crime to solve though is the one that’s closest to home and it will take all of Dana’s detective skills to even know where to start.

‘You’re Among Friends’ is such an apt title in many ways, not least because Seeley’s gift for characterisation really does make you feel like you’re amongst friends; a small town where everyone knows each other’s business, a town where a night drinking in the bar will feel like the reader’s own local until one of the Revived starts raising hell in order to make a point to… That would be telling. A lot of questions are raised in these opening pages and, again, it’s credit to Seeley that he manages to make all of them fresh and intriguing. This is all down to that characterisation again (you can really get behind these people as they deal with the situation that they’re in) as well as everything playing out against a backdrop that is almost deliberately designed to let these events stand out; nice work again from Mike Norton. It’s all understated but that just seems to make the plot all the more gripping. And if that wasn’t enough, Seeley and Norton combine to give us an opening page (well, the second page but you know what I mean…) that is guaranteed to hook the reader… You might want to click on the picture to enlarge it.

 ‘You’re Among Friends’ sets the scene for future volumes by posing these questions along with a couple of nice moments where you think you have a handle on the plot only to find that you’ve been led neatly into a dead end. The series as a whole has it all and has pretty much cemented my opinion that ‘Revival’ is just the story that people (like me) who are tired of zombies will get a lot out of. People still have to deal with the dead coming back to life but what makes this series stand out is that the dead have to deal with it too.

Highly recommended.

‘A Game of Thrones, The Graphic Novel – Vol. 1’ – Daniel Abraham, Tommy Patterson (Bantam)

Every so often I come up against a review that is incredibly difficult to write and for any number of reasons;  a negative reading experience, trying to temper my positive feelings and be objective, really should be doing something far more productive… You know how it is.

I’d actually read this volume a couple of years ago but wanted to go back and revisit it before I got started on the next two volumes which have only come out fairly recently. And here’s the thing, I found that my opinions on the book hadn’t actually changed at all in those two years. Not one little bit. See what I mean about this being a hard one to write?

I wanted something posted here though (because I’m a bit of a completist at heart when it comes to reviewing series all in one place, that is going to come back and haunt me…) so I’m going to sum up what I thought with a few handy quotes from my review way back in 2012. The whole review is Here if you want it. This post isn't so much a review as it is confirmation of what I already thought in the first place, a placeholder if you like… ;o)

What Abraham does then is to take the more important moments in the book, dress these up with some of the minor details and present this to the reader as a fait accompli. It’s an approach that worked very well as far as I was concerned. I felt like I was getting a clearly defined tale that worked very well within the parameters of the format. There may have been plenty missing but it didn’t feel like there was anything missing out and that was the main thing for me.

It was also interesting to see that Abraham was able to do this by taking the focus off individual characters and merging everything into one ongoing tale rather than the approach that Martin himself takes (with each chapter devoted to one particular character). Maybe I’ve been out of the ‘Reading ASOIAF Game’ a little too long but things seemed to flow much more smoothly here with a story that gradually unfolds rather than jumping to and fro across continents and even timelines.

I suspect that Tommy Patterson’s artwork will come to grow on me more as the series progresses. Not that there’s anything wrong with it, Patterson really brings the world of Westeros to life (aided and abetted by Ivan Nunes’ colours) but the facial expressions he lends to his characters don’t seem to back up the whole ‘gritty, harsh and Machiavellian’ thing that Martin wants his reader to be a part of. It feels like they’re all smiling at the most inopportune times!  It’s a small complaint though and I think that, as the story progresses, Patterson should be more than up to conveying some of the darker moments to come.

I was up for the long haul two years ago and that’s still very much the case now, look for proper reviews of the next two volumes soon.

‘Judge Dredd: Trifecta’ – Various (Rebellion)

Mega-City One, 2134 AD. Fresh from the devastating events caused by the Chaos virus, Dredd becomes aware of a potential power grab from within the Justice Department. Wally Squad gumshoe Jack Point is given a mysterious doll to safeguard. Dirty Frank wakes up on Luna-1 as a board member of Overdrive, Inc. All three Judges soon find themselves embroiled in the same case in which allegiances and grudges form in equal measure! And who is the mysterious figure who loves his tea and biscuits…?

Where does Mega City One go next after Chaos Day? Where do the writers go come to think of it? The Chaos Bug has laid waste to the largest Mega City on earth and left it a smoking ruin; are there any stories left to be told in the rubble. Yes, yes there are while the Justice Department is still fighting to uphold the law and keep the city together in the face of new threats. One the these new threats plays out over the course of ‘Trifecta’; an ambitious experiment in storytelling that loses its impact a little bit with its transition into this collection.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s an amazing read with separate stories gradually coalescing into the one major storyline that they were all along. By themselves, the ‘Judge Dredd’, ‘Simping Detective’ and ‘Lowlife’ stories have a lot going for them with a heady dose of action and intrigue. No-one is safe and no-one can be trusted (in the case of Dirty Frank possibly not even himself, he’s not sure). Take those three intricate, tightly plotted stories and merge them all together, the result is exactly as you would expect – all of the above times three.

‘Trifecta’ is an enthralling read that plays out against an evocatively drawn city on a downward spiral into more chaos. If Dredd didn’t have enough to deal with already he’s also dealing with the knowledge that it was his actions during the Apocalypse War that have left the city in this state and have cost the lives of 350 million citizens. Dredd has been through a lot but Ewing does leave you wondering if this will be the final straw that sees Dredd crack. That one could go either way, it really could.

I’m a little less (ok, a lot less) familiar with Dirty Frank and the Simping Detective but that didn’t stop those two stories being a lot of fun albeit not as engaging. Williams' 'Lowlife' is a little too cartoonish for my tastes but made me chuckle and Spurrier's 'The Simping Detective' is a delicious slice of noir. If I had to pick a favourite artist from those on duty it would have to go to Henry Flint who strikes a perfect balance between spectacle and tone (something that neither of the others quite manage).

I always have an issue with 2000AD stories not transitioning all that well to collections and ‘Trifecta’ is no different. I never read the comics at the time but the concept underpinning the whole thing (three stories actually being one) already feels a little bit worn here, although done very well. I can’t help but imagine how it must have felt in each issue, seeing stories flow into each other for the first time and you’re not going to get that here.

It’s a (very) small niggle though. ‘Trifecta’ remains a gripping read and I’m going to call it as an essential part of the whole ‘Chaos Day’ storyline; fans will love it (they have probably all read it already, I am so behind…)

‘Revival’, Volume Two and Volume Three – Tim Seeley and Mike Norton (Image)

The dead have come back to life… again? That’s not exactly news any more, more often than not that’s exactly what the dead do in genre fiction. Whether it’s zombies eating the living or the latest Marvel hero coming back from the grave, it sometimes feels like it would be more of a shock if the dead stayed exactly where they were and just let the living get on with, well… living. You can see then that when I saw these two volumes of ‘Revival’, I wasn’t exactly all that intrigued. If you've seen someone come back to life once then you don’t really need to see it again to see what happens. It’s the same thing over and over again and I’m not mad keen on trop re-cycling right now.

I picked the two books up though, I never turn my nose up at free comic books (yep, the phone box again) and I’ll try almost anything once as far as genre fiction goes. Having torn through the two volumes, last night and this morning, it looks very much like I was wrong and there is life in the old trope yet. Once I get paid, I’ll be searching out the first volume just so I can get all caught up with myself; after seeing a few ‘old favourite series’ kind of tail off I think I’ve found a new one to follow.

For one day, in the town of Wausau, the dead have returned to life and are just trying to make sense of things really (as you would do if you suddenly woke up in the middle of being cremated!) None of the ‘revived’ are interested in eating the living, they just want to get back to normal and start over. Is this possible though? Wausau has been quarantined and is surrounded by media and religious zealots all eager to see what happens next. Inside the town, the arrival of the revived sees dramas play out that are smaller but no less intense. And what are the strange glowing creatures that lurk in the woods? Officer Dana Cypress has a lot on her hands; not least trying to solve the mystery surrounding the death of her revived sister (who cannot remember what happened at all).

Starting to read at Volume Two, ‘Live like you mean it’, isn’t such a big leap as it looks at first. Everything has been introduced already but it’s still fresh enough for the townspeople that you don’t feel like you’re catching up. The news broadcast, on the very first pages, is a big help as well :o) ‘Live like you mean it’ is all about how the townspeople react to what is happening; the quarantine has people feeling a touch of cabin fever but the revival itself is also an outlet for some of the less salubrious townspeople to make some quick money and this makes for a plot all the more gripping because of how understated life in Wausau is. When it all kicks off it’s like a shot of adrenaline to the system; this climax also raises a lot of questions (others are quietly introduced earlier) that had me keen to move onto Volume Two. ‘Live like you mean it’ is all about people trying to live their lives in the middle of something extraordinary and some of the resulting imagery (Cooper playing superheroes with the strange glowing creature) is all the more chilling for how low key Mike Norton keeps the art. The plot switches between characters a lot, giving things a choppy feel, but Tim Seeley really has a keen eye for characterisation and I swiftly found myself reading through the choppiness just to get to favourite characters (Em in particular). A tale well told then and one that raises a lot of intriguing questions for the future.

Volume Three, ‘A Faraway Place’, takes a little step back from the human drama (although doesn’t ignore it completely) to ask questions about the wider phenomenon; questions that are expanded upon through Dana’s search for answers around the death of Em. Don’t expect any answers about anything by the way, it’s far too early in the story for anything like that (I think that certain hints should be taken with a pinch of salt personally). What you get instead are questions upon questions and they’re all good ones, especially where Dana is about to find stuff out and then… That would be telling but the range of emotion on display here (from both Seeley and Norton’s work) is astonishing, really has to be experienced. There isn’t the sense of closure here, plot-wise, but what you come away with instead is that things are beginning to fall into place, slowly but surely, even though there are questions still to be answered. Seeley does a superb job of taking something half formed and making it look tantalising instead of opaque and like I said, this is a story that I’ll definitely be following (just need to catch up with Volume One first).

Has anyone else here read ‘Revival’?

‘Deadpool: Dead Presidents’ – Posehn, Duggan & Moore (Marvel)

Like I said yesterday, the micro-library up the road had a handful of comic books so I just grabbed them and ran off home for a read :o)

Not that you really want to know about my week but it’s been a bit crappy, what with one thing and another, so I was in the mood for something utterly brainless and fun. I knew ‘Deadpool’ would be a good bet to satisfy this need, having picked up a few of the comics over the years. This was the first time that I’d read anything full length though; thanks to the whole ‘Marvel Now’ thing I was able to jump into a Marvel series and not have to worry about what happened years ago in issue whatever etc. Not that continuity seems to be a big deal with ‘Deadpool’; a quick look at Wikipedia shows that writers on the series tend to just go with whatever is entertaining and works. Like I said, just what I was after.

Dead American Presidents are rising from the grave and attacking the living. Regular superheroes aren’t going to get involved (it’s a public image thing) so the authorities turn to the only man who can get the job done and is totally expendable at the same time; Wade Wilson is on the case!

I’ve read a few Marvel comics in my time (college was great for that) and a lot of comics in general. I don’t think I’ve read anything as irreverent as ‘Dead Presidents’ though. It is fantastic; nothing is sacred and when that involves a whole load of bad jokes, and a grudge match between Deadpool and Abe Lincoln, then it’s pretty much guaranteed that I’m there for the ride. I was sniggering like a school boy for most of the book; when I wasn’t sniggering I was quietly in awe of Tony Moore’s ability to cover a panel in Deadpool’s innards (or monster innards for that matter, they all look the same spilt all over the pavement…) The action is right in your face and nicely over the top, I’ll quite happily read more ‘Deadpool’ if Moore is on art duty.

There’s not really a plot as such, more a series of encounters between Deadpool and various presidents that are fuelled by violence and bad jokes. To be honest, not a lot more than that is needed to make this book work (although you do get intriguing flashes of Deadpool as a character on the outside who just wants to be a part of something bigger) and it’s clear that Posehn and Duggan are having a lot of fun here throwing Deadpool out of helicopters accompanied by bad puns. I had a lot of fun too, just what the doctor ordered in fact.

If you’re after something deep and meaningful then this is the wrong comic book for you; sorry but that’s just the way it is. However, if you want to read a comic book where a zombie Roosevelt punches out a bear then ‘Dead Presidents’ is very much the comic book for you. It was for me too :o)

The 'Library in a Phone Box' Comic Book Post!

It’s another one of those days where I’ve found myself in the middle of two books (‘The Godwhale’ and ‘The King in Yellow’) and eager to get going with another one (‘The Goblin Emperor’, I’ve heard loads of good things about it). If that wasn’t enough, I’ve found my commute taken up with an overwhelming need to beat my top score on ‘Subway Surfers’ (137740 just in case you were wondering). It’s times like this when you have to take a step back from the reading pile (or it will grind you down) and the games on my phone to read some comics instead :o) Today sees a regular on this blog and a newcomer that I’m kind of half and half on. Which one should I go for first? I know, lets go for…

‘X’ #12 – Swierczynski, Maia (Dark Horse)

X faces his greatest challenge of the series as four villains—suicidal maniac Deathwish, stargazing supercriminal Carmine Tango, risk-taking assassin Gamble, and a new threat no one suspected—converge on Arcadia’s lone vigilante . . . but the cruelest stab of all comes from a friend!

I said this before with #11 but it’s worth saying again because… bloody hell, ‘X’ is a particularly brutal read. Every time I think that Swierczynski and Maia have taken ‘X’ as far as they can they never fail to surprise me by ramping things up an extra notch. #12 is no exception with the fight from #11 being ramped up by adding three more villains to the mix. There’s only so much that one vigilante can take, especially when another betrayal is playing out off-screen (so to speak). X may be down but the last panels show that he is by no means out; it’s a long way back to the top and I have a feeling that X will be climbing over the bodies of several enemies on the way back up. Swierczynski and Maia have come with up a comic that is essential reading as far as I’m concerned, read it for yourself and see. #13 cannot come soon enough as far as I’m concerned.

‘Chew Volume 7: Bad Apples’ – John Layman, Rob Guillory (Image)

Just up the road from us is an old phone box that people have turned into a micro-library. It’s great, not only do I have another place to get rid of unwanted books but every now and then I come back home with a couple of books for myself. This explains why I have started reading ‘Chew’ at volume 7; not the best place to start reading a series (although it could have been worse, could have been volume 8…) but you have start somewhere and it was a free book after all.

‘Bad Apples’ was a quick, fun read (is it me or are trades getting slimmer…?) that I enjoyed more for the art than the story. Not that the story was bad in itself, it just felt like it was bridging a gap between two plots that I didn’t know anything about. Not the books fault at all and there is a lot of stuff going on that a newcomer can get straight into (like Tony Chu’s relationship with his daughter). It was Rob Guillory’s artwork that did it for me, very dynamic and with a lot of sly humour in the details; I liked the touch of anime in the characters as well.

Would I read the rest of the series? Maybe… If I do I’ll be going along the ‘old fashioned route’ of starting with volume 1, it also depends if I come across any more volumes in the micro-library :o) I’ll definitely be keeping an eye open.

Weekends and Comic Books...

How was your weekend? Mine was great thanks for asking :o) It mostly involved eating good food, drinking a little too much red wine and having Elana fall asleep on me – three of my favourite things. It also involved me reading comic books, on my phone, when everyone had gone to bed, another of my favourite things :o) Here’s what I thought of them all; it’s all ongoing stuff that I’m into (for the most part) and my feelings about the artwork haven’t changed so this is just going to be about plot and things like that. Here goes then…

‘Edgar Allan Poe’s The Premature Burial’ -  Richard Corben (Dark Horse)

I’ve said this before but if there was ever an artist born to illustrate Poe’s tales it is Richard Corben. Corben doesn’t let us down here with some appropriately gloomy gothic depictions of both ‘The Premature Burial’ and ‘The Cask of Amontillado’; I could just sit and stare at Corben’s art, it captures the tone perfectly. Both tales are slight adaptations but not so much that they detract from the power of the original stories; what you get is a bit of a fresh spin that helps you re-live the horror all over again.

‘Grindhouse – Flesh Feast of the Devil Doll: Part One’ – Alex De Campi, Gary Erskine (Dark Horse)

Pre-Colonial zombies take on a camp full of hockey playing teenage girls and a gang of teenage boys. Erm… and that’s it :o) ‘Flesh Feast of the Devil Doll’ is possibly the most shallow and exploitative comic since ‘Clown Fatale’ but I came to it after watching ‘Piranha 3D’ so I was in just the right mood for what it had to offer. This is a comic that is pulp fun at its pulpiest (nice little twist at the end)with art to match by Gary Erskine. I’ll be back for part 2.

 ‘Get The Lobster: Part 3 of 5’ - Mignola, Arcudi, Zonjic (Dark Horse Comics)

You know those bits, halfway through a series, where everything has been set up and it’s not quite time for the big finale? Those moments where there’s nothing really to do apart from let the plot plod along until it’s time to really get going? That’s exactly what we’re looking at here. There are some nice action moments to be had (with a grenade toting Chief of Police amongst them) but the impression I ended up coming away with was of a comic just marking time until the big stuff. A comic that’s sole purpose was to be #3 because you can’t just jump for #2 to #4. I’m still going to be around to see what happens next but was a little disappointed here…

‘Terminator Salvation: The Final Battle’ #5 - Straczynski, Woods (Dark Horse)

I’m still very much of the opinion that the Terminator franchise is going to end up time-travelling up its own bottom, if it insists on playing to the same old tropes every single time, and #5 hasn’t done anything to change my mind. This is an issue where events are being set up so the first issues can play out as well as the first two Terminator films; I liked the sense of things playing out in reverse but I wouldn’t have minded seeing some actual story instead. I did enjoy the whole ‘Terminators being controlled by a serial killer’ thing though as it gives Woods licence to be really creative with his battle field scenes. As before, I’m sticking with this series (duh, it’s the Terminator…) but I’m not holding out much hope for it at all now.

‘Veil’ #2 - Rucka, Fejzula (Dark Horse)

I think ‘Veil’ could well become my new favourite comic with intriguing new questions arising out of every answer given as we find out a little more about the mysterious Veil and where she might have come from. Veil herself is also a very intriguing character, the reader is torn between her vulnerability and what she is able to do to people who threaten her. I’m kind of half rooting for her but ever so slightly scared of her at the same time…

Two issues in and ‘Veil’ has become required reading as far as I’m concerned. I’m in for the long haul with this one and I’d recommend that you get in early as well.

‘The Complete Accident Man’ – Pat Mills et al (Titan Comics)

Mike Fallon is a hitman who can make 'death by chocolate' a reality...

As sexy as James Bond; lethal and discrete as an air bubble to the heart, Mike Fallon is a genius at the art of making assassination look like an unfortunate accident.

The Complete Accident Man collects, for the first time ever four tales of sex, revenge and violence written by legendary comics author Pat Mills together with Tony Skinner and artwork by an outstanding selection of international stars.

Sometimes titles can be so misleading can’t they? Having never read ‘Toxic’ back in the day, ‘Accident Man’ sounded like something a little bit slapstick and that sounded like just what I was after (rough week and all that). It turned out that I was half right; Mike Fallon doesn’t have accidents, he creates them to hide his handiwork and this makes for a collection of tales that perhaps aren’t best suited to being collected in one volume. It’s not that they’re not entertaining; it’s just that they all follow the same line – Mike has a hit to carry out and he makes it look like a tragic accident every single time. It did feel like if you read one then you’ve read them all, you certainly end up knowing how the latter stories are going to turn out (although, to be fair, a lot of the deaths are very cleverly planned).

It’s still a very entertaining read though; not least down to Mike Fallon himself, a professional hit man who somehow manages to endear himself to the reader by being amazingly shallow. Every life ended is nothing more than perhaps a new motorbike or Ferrari to buy with the proceeds; Mike embodies the worst excesses of the eighties then (a yuppie hitman?) but his easy smile lets him get away with an awful lot. You can’t help but root for Mike because of his sheer honesty funnily enough.

Reading ‘The Complete Accident Man’ is like listening to the same song over and over again but Mills’ approach (a dash of sly humour coupled with a lot of action and intrigue) just about pulls it off. Don’t expect anything too deep and meaningful here (listening to Mike hold forth on saving the environment puts paid to that!), just a fun way to kill an hour or so… A shorter review than normal then but, sometimes, a book doesn't leave you with much to say (nice cover art though...)

‘Uber’ Vol.1 – Kieron Gillen, Caanan White (Avatar Press)

April 24, 1945. The world holds its collective breath as the war is only days away from ending. Russian troops move through Germany to the final objective... Hitler himself. As those around the mad dictator crumble, the much ridiculed threats of the "Wunderwafen" materialize. A new weapon is delivered, one with unstoppable power - a weapon like no other and with a madman pulling the trigger. The Ubers change the direction of World War II, providing a dark and uncompromising alternative history in a way that you've never seen.

I’ve never really been one for alternative histories in genre fiction; I’d much rather see something brand new than a reimagining of something that has already happened. This would explain why I’ve read very little by Harry Turtledove…
If you’re going to do some ‘history reimagining’ though, there isn’t a much better place to do it than the Second World War. A time of great upheaval where events were finely balanced and could go either way; there’s a lot of potential there for history to branch out in all sorts of directions. From a genre point of view, there’s also a lot of potential there to see how the rumoured Nazi occultism and experiments could have affected the outcome of the war.
I’ve got a bit of a soft spot for ‘super soldiers’ (from reading ‘Zenith’ as a kid) so had half an eye on ‘Uber’ anyway (amongst everything else I look out for in Forbidden Planet) but this was the first chance I’d actually had to really get to grips with the plot. I say ‘get to grips’, this first volume of ‘Uber’ ended up getting to grips with me and left me in a traumatised huddle. ‘Brutal’ is a word that I like to use to describe some of the books that I read but ‘Uber’ is the first book I’ve read that actually deserves the title…

Kieron Gillen is clearly of the school that says a Second World War fought by super soldiers will involve buildings falling down almost unnoticed amidst all the super powered violence perpetuated by the Ubers and their Allied counterparts. Gillen doesn’t pull a single punch and is very lucky to have someone like Caanan White along for artwork duties as he doesn’t pull any punches either (and is it any co-incidence that O’Connor looks like Captain America…?) The end result takes your breath away as Gillen and White combine to raise the intensity of super powered combat and leave it covered in the viscera that we’re all expecting. It’s gripping stuff and if you’re anything like me then you won’t be able to take your eyes off the page. ‘Hard hitting’ doesn’t even begin to cover what ‘Uber’ does to the reader.
Reading this far, you’d be forgiven for thinking that ‘Uber’ is just one big ‘super-soldier smack down’ (and to be fair, that’s the bulk of it) but there’s more to it than that. Gillen explores the resonations caused by what the Ubers do (atrocities and lots of them) and you get a real feeling of an alternate history starting to branch out from the stuff that really happened. Questions are raised and they’re good ones; that’s enough for me to make a note to come back and see what happens next. I mean, I know what’s mostly going to happen (bucket loads of wince inducing violence) but I do want to see where the plot goes at the same time.

I know it’s only March but I think I’ve found the best comic book I’m likely to read this year and I cannot wait to see where Gillen takes the plot next. If you were a fan of Ian Tregillis’ ‘Milkweed Triptych’ then you really need to be reading ‘Uber’ as well; that’s all there is to it.

'Monster Massacre Vol.2' - Dave Elliott (Titan)

It takes a lot for me to cover up what I’m reading on the train; you’re talking to a passionate fan of all things genre related who thinks that the morning commute would be a lot more eye catching if people were honest about what they like to read. I know there are people out there who like reading ‘Roman Gladiator’ books but I’m pretty sure that most of the middle aged guys I see reading them want to read about men with swords but don’t want a dragon on the cover… I’m not like that and will happily read whatever the hell I want on the train, until today.

It wasn’t just the front cover either, when the stern looking elderly lady sat next to me I found myself automatically hiding the pages involving the scantily clad bounty hunter facing off against the even more scantily clad Yakuza lady (‘Queen’s Pet’, a very funny tale where things build up to a violent climax and then you can’t help but laugh at what comes next…). Maybe I’m just not as brazen about my ‘train reading’ as I thought I was. It’s safe to say that ‘Monster Massacre 2’ is a book that you should think twice about opening on a crowded train ;o)

As was the case with its predecessor though, ‘Monster Massacre 2’ is a lot of fun to read; basically a whole bunch of comic book creators going ‘no holds barred’ nuts on the page. This time round there is more of an emphasis on ‘gallery work’ over stories and visually stunning though it all was, I couldn’t help but wish that they’d used the space for more stories instead. There is some good stuff going on here and the collection as a whole could have really benefitted from more stories along the same lines. Well, that’s what I thought anyway; somewhere, another reviewer is probably bemoaning the number of stories crowding out all the really cool gallery stuff ;o) There’s probably enough of each to suit all tastes.

In terms of the stories on offer; when they work it’s incredible but when they don’t it swiftly becomes a bit of a mess. ‘Amplified’ looked promising but needed a couple more pages (that it didn’t have) so that we could actually see what the point of it was. ‘Bounty Journal’ spent a lot of the time looking good but with no discernible plot whatsoever.

When ‘Monster Massacre’ was good though, it was amazing. Highlights for me included Jennyson Robero’s ‘Turn Me On’ was chilling and very effectively drawn at the same time. ‘The Weirding Willows’ was clearly one for longer term fans (who would get a lot more out of it) but had enough of the surreal about it (a dinosaur that loves honey!) to engage me and I wouldn’t mind reading more. Reza Ilyasa’s ‘Hell-O-Kitty’ looked amazing with a hint of tragedy that nicely balanced out the action (as well as making the concept of gun toting cats taking down mechanoids seem totally plausible). The real highlight for me though was Basri and Gho’s ‘Rule My World’, absolutely beautifully drawn and a real lesson that you don’t need a lot of words to tell a story. The look on the lady’s face, right at the very end, meant there was no need for any words. Glorious stuff.

‘Monster Massacre 2’ is very definitely a mixed bag then but, for me, the good in it outweighed the bad. I wouldn’t mind seeing more stories next time though; there’s clearly a lot of good shorter work out there so why not include it?

'Big Books' and Comic Books...

I can’t remember the last time I read a ‘fat fantasy’, years ago I reckon and it was probably written by Steven Erikson (feel free to have a look and check for me, I have no inclination to do that right now or at all actually!) I used to love reading these books when I was a lot younger, nothing better than getting lost in a massive book for hours at a time, but I ended up reading much shorter books as, well… I love blogging and wanted to post about books as much as possible. Short books were the way forward here :o)

No longer though, I’m about a hundred and something pages into Anthony Ryan’s ‘Blood Song’ (a beast of a book at just over seven hundred pages long) and really enjoying myself with it. Am I gearing myself up for another crack at the ‘Malazan’ series? Maybe one day, I’m enjoying myself too much now to worry about that. Why didn’t I read ‘Blood Song’ sooner? I don’t know but I’m glad that I’m reading it now, that’s all that matters. All other books are having to wait this week so you might see a few more short stories than normal, it’s all good though :o)
To kick this week off then, here’s a couple of comics that I was reading on my phone last night whilst trying to get Elana to sleep on my shoulder… I’ve stopped buying trades just recently but might just have to start again if these two issues are anything to go by.

‘X’ #11 – Swierczynski, Maia (Dark Horse)

X’s hands were already full with Carmine Tango . . . Then Gamble reappeared! X thought he killed this suave assassin years ago, but the luck-obsessed murderer is still a player, taking his chances on revenge! Welcome to Arcadia, where the odds are bad . . . and the bads are odd!

Every time I think that Swierczynski and Maia have gone as brutal as they can they never fail to surprise me by ramping things up an extra notch. This issue, this means a stand up fight between X and Gamble where you feel every punch and kick land home. I couldn’t help but wince (a lot) but Maia’s handling of the fight scenes meant that I couldn’t take my eyes off it. There’s a real honesty to these scenes that makes you feel like you almost owe it to the characters to see it out with them. Brutal? Yes but also a very necessary depiction that leaves you in no doubt how the characters are feeling (very, very sore…)

The actual plot feels like it meanders a little (there is a big fight going on after all) but Swierczynski makes it clear that the payoff is almost here. Just wait one more issue and the game will completely change… He’d better not be messing me around because I will be there for that next issue.

If you like vigilante comics where the ‘hero’ pulls no punches then I’d be very surprised if you weren’t reading ‘X’ already.

‘Ghost’ #2 – DeConnick, Sook (Dark Horse)

An unlikely ally sneaks Ghost into a secret meeting, where a legion of disguised demons gather around Dr. October—until her cover is blown! Meanwhile, the very human serial killer prowling the streets of Chicago takes a personal interest in Sloane and Tommy!

Wow, it’s all happening here and it’s all good (albeit again, a tiny bit too drawn out for my tastes) . A human serial killer who drinks all your milk before killing you, demons running the city who seem quite content to wait for some kind of signal to engage the ‘masterplan’… Unless they are attacked that is and then it’s a big ol’ fight to the death between Ghost and a nightclub full of well-drawn monstrosities.

Ryan Sook is the standout creative type in this issue for me. Not that there’s anything wrong with Kelly Sue DeConnick’s plot and writing but there’s clearly a long game being played there and Ryan Sook is about the here and now. I’m talking about the moments where Ghost goes on the offensive in the nightclub or the moment, right at the beginning, where you realise just who is in the house. As a team, DeConnick and Sook really work well together but this issue, for me, is all about Sook and what he can do. It’s all good with a couple of moments that will make you gasp if I was anything to go by.