Comics Round-Up (June 6)

A bit more of a targeted selection of comics. A lot of fun ones, too: a great reinterpretation of a classic villain; two “heroes” fighting in the face of an alien invasion; zombies want to eat the braaainz of geeks; clandestine military outfits; some weirdness; and the families of super-heroes deal with a post-battle situation. I’ve been pretty busy and distracted all week, so I’ve only written short reviews – this is probably advisable, actually, as some of these are now a good way into their runs, so I don’t want to spoil too much.

Reviewed: Batman Annual #1, Extermination #1, Fanboys vs. Zombies #3, G.I.Joe #14, Monocyte #4, Supurbia #4

BEA Day the First

This is a big event. Rather bigger than I could reasonably cope with on my own (I’m delicate in massive crowds…), but what a blast! Also, perhaps the most insanely generous place I’ve ever been to. I was there from just after 9am until 2:30pm, and people forced on me 14 books! Ok, “forced” is probably pushing it, but still – they were more than happy to give them to me, and in seven instances, also sign them! So, below is just a quick run-down of the day, and some info on the books I picked up – all of which should feature on the blog at some point in the near future, and obviously some sooner than others. It was also nice to bump into some friendly faces – Myke Cole, Joshua Bilmes, Michael “Mad Hatter” and Jennie from Fantasy Faction, and a handful of other drive-by hello-enjoy-goodbye moments.

Anyway, here’s the pile of awesome:

“Stormwatch, Vol.1: The Dark Side” (DC)

Bold, brash, and ballsy – an intriguing sci-fi comic series

Writer: Paul Cornell | Artist: Miguel Sepulveda & Al Barrionuevo, | Colours: Allen Passalaqua, Alex Sinclair, Peter Pantazis & Chris Burnham

Jack Hawksmoor, Midnighter, Apollo, The Engineer and Martian Manhunter comprise a dangerous super human police force whose existence is kept secret from the world.

This covert team of sci-fi super heroes must battle the Earth’s moon itself and find a way to hide its monstrous metamorphosis from the rest of the Earth!

I only picked up these issues because I was enjoying Demon Knights so much, and this series is also written by Paul Cornell (who is now also writing the superb Saucer Country, published by Vertigo). I didn’t know anything about Stormwatch, except that it had connections with some of the other New 52 titles and who wrote it. As it turns out, it’s pretty good, and quite fun. However, I think I prefer the two aforementioned other series of Cornell’s over this one.

“Supreme Justice” by Phillip Margolin (Harper)

Intrigue & Corruption at the Supreme Court

Sarah Woodruff, on death row in Oregon for murdering her lover, John Finley, has appealed her case to the Supreme Court just when a prominent justice resigns, leaving a vacancy.

Then, for no apparent reason, another justice is mysteriously attacked. Dana Cutler – one of the heroes from Margolin’s bestselling Executive Privilege – is quietly called in to investigate. She looks for links between the Woodruff appeal and the ominous incidents in the justices' chambers, which eventually lead her to a shoot-out that took place years ago on a small freighter docked upriver in Shelby, Oregon, containing a dead crew and illegal drugs. The only survivor on board? John Finley.

With the help of Brad Miller and Keith Evans, Dana uncovers a plot by a rogue element in the American intelligence community involving the president's nominee to the Supreme Court, and soon the trio is thrown back into the grips of a deadly, executive danger.

This is the second novel in Margolin’s Washington Trilogy (the first was Executive Privilege), and it continues the series in very fine form. The novel reunites us with Brad Miller and Dana Cutler – the former is now a clerk at the Supreme Court, while Dana continues to work as a private investigator and also some-time reporter for Exposed, the supermarket tabloid our protagonists turned to in their previous novel. Supreme Justice has a couple of great twists and red herrings, as well as political and courtroom intrigue. This is a pretty solid, entertaining and gripping political/legal thriller.

“American Vampire” Vol.1 (Vertigo)

Vampirism Comes to America. And Evolves…

Writer: Scott Snyder & Stephen King | Artist: Rafael Albuquerque | Colours: McCaig

Introducing a new strain of vampire – a more vicious species, this series traces the creatures’ bloodline through decades of American history.

This book follows two inter-linked stories: one written by Snyder and one written by King. The first tale follows Pearl, a young woman living in 1920s Los Angeles, who is brutally turned into a vampire and sets out on a path of vengeance against the European monsters who tortured and abused her. The second story, set in the days of America’s Wild West, tells of the origin of Skinner Sweet, the original American vampire – a stronger, faster creature than any vampire ever seen before, with unique powers all his own, which set him not only apart from his European forebears, but maybe above them in the food-chain as well... I really enjoyed this.

“Helion Rain” by George Mann (Black Library)

Performed by: Peter Longworth

The world of Idos is on the verge of destruction, wracked by catastrophic storms and plagued by ravening tyranids. Into this maelstrom come the Raven Guard 4th Company, the warzone perfectly suited to their lightning-strike methods of combat.

Led by Veteran Sergeant Grayvus, their mission is simple – to rescue the planet’s last survivors. But in the midst of this nightmare, they receive new orders to locate and destroy a power station. The station is built upon a fault line, and the resulting quake would swallow thousands of tyranids and turn the war in the Imperium’s favour. Grayvus and his company must fight their way through genestealers, acid spore mines and a deadly biomorph if they are to succeed and reclaim Idos for the Imperium.

Just a really quick review. I thought this was a pretty good audio-book. I enjoyed it, certainly, but I don’t know why I don’t rate it as highly as some others do. It’s not that it’s bad, by any stretch of the imagination – the story itself is pretty good. It just didn’t stick with me as much as some of the others have.

The story is packed with intense, brutal, and detailed warfare between the Raven Guard and the ravening hordes of Tyranids. I liked that Grayvus strategizes about how best to take out a lictor (at the beginning), and plenty of other beasties, giving this story a little more than just hack-and-slash, bolter-filled battles.

I would have preferred a little more character-building and character-development. While there was plenty of detail on how the Raven Guard prosecute a war, and a couple of their idiosyncratic customs, there were moments when I felt I hadn’t really got to know the characters themselves particularly well, or as well as I have in other audio-dramas from Black Library. Perhaps some battles were a tad over-described, as well.

The story is well performed, though – far less melodramatic, and with calmer expressions than in some other performances. On that score, it’s much better than the earlier offerings from Black Library.

So, in sum, Helion Rain is sure to please fans of Space Marine stories, who are after a short, action-packed fix. But, it is not quite as good as some of the other audio-dramas the publisher has released.

“Batman: Death by Design” (DC)

An artistic, original graphic novel

Writer: Chip Kidd | Artist: Dave Taylor

Gotham City is undergoing one of the most expansive construction booms in its history. The most prestigious architects from across the globe have buildings in various phases of completion all over town. As chairman of the Gotham Landmarks Commission, Bruce Wayne has been a key part of this boom, which signals a golden age of architectural ingenuity for the city. And then, the explosions begin.All manner of design-related malfunctions – faulty crane calculations, sturdy materials suddenly collapsing, software glitches, walkways giving way and more – cause casualties across the city. This bizarre string of seemingly random catastrophes threatens to bring down the whole construction industry. Fingers are pointed as Batman must somehow solve the problem and find whoever is behind it all.

Before picking this up, I had only seen one preview page, and I was really intrigued by the style and story – it looked gloomy and atmospheric, which are two things I’ve always associated with Batman. As it turns out, my initial impressions wer right on the money, and I’m really glad I bought this – this is a great detective/investigative story, rendered in some truly wonderful artwork. Very impressive.

Week in Review (June 2)

It’s been another good week around the book-blogosphere, and here are a few of the articles, interviews and so forth that stood out for me. We have Robert Jackson Bennett writing about characters; a two-part interview with China Mieville; Myke Cole shares 18 rules learned from his first year writing; Michael J. Sullivan reminisces about the last week’s Balticon; Chuck Wendig re-addresses self-publishing; and The Nation publishes its Amazon-&-Publishing special issue, with three key articles of note.

“Fables” Deluxe Volume 3 (Vertigo)

Writer: Bill Willingham | Artists: Mark Buckingham, Steve Leialoha, Tony Atkins & Jimmy Palmiotti | Colours: Daniel Vozzo

When Little Red Riding Hood suddenly reappears, she’s welcomed as a miraculous survivor by nearly everyone except her old nemesis, Bigby Wolf, who smells espionage and subversion. But will he be able to prove his case before disaster strikes?

Coming back for a third Deluxe collection of Willingham’s Fables, and I am once again impressed, entertained and hooked throughout. The book wasn’t quite as good as the first or second collection, but it was still very strong. This series goes from strength to strength, and I really love the world Willingham et al have created. Another great addition to the series.

“Redshirts” by John Scalzi (Tor/Gollancz)

You’re an Extra. You are not long for this universe… [Or: “All your lives are belong to us…”]

Ensign Andrew Dahl has just been assigned to the Universal Union Capital Ship Intrepid, flagship of the Universal Union since the year 2456. It’s a prestige posting, and Andrew is thrilled all the more to be assigned to the ship’s Xenobiology laboratory.

Life couldn’t be better… until Andrew begins to pick up on the fact that (1) every Away Mission involves some kind of lethal confrontation with alien forces, (2) the ship’s captain, its chief science officer, and the handsome Lieutenant Kerensky always survive these confrontations, and (3) at least one low-ranked crew member is, sadly, always killed.

Not surprisingly, a great deal of energy below decks is expended on avoiding, at all costs, being assigned to an Away Mission. Then Andrew stumbles on information that completely transforms his and his colleagues’ understanding of what the starship Intrepid really is…and offers them a crazy, high-risk chance to save their own lives.

I really have no idea how to review this novel… The potential for spoilers is just too great. Which is a pity, as the novel is filled with quotable passages. I’d been really looking forward to this ever since it was first announced – it sounded like an endearing parody of the tropes of old sci-fi movies and fiction. As it turned out, that is exactly what a lot of this novel is. I certainly enjoyed it, and read it at near-record speed (for me), but I do have mixed feelings about the book as a whole.