Pages to Panels: Another Bookish Guide to Getting into Comics (5)

It's been awhile since I posted a Pages to Panels, and since I'm so sketchy with reviews right now is a doubly good time to share.

Like my first Pages to Panels post, this one is to help match your (book) reading style with some popular comics. Some of the series are ongoing while others have already been completed. One of the toughest things I find with comics is waiting for new issues (I just want to read them NOW) so if you're like that then I recommend going for some of the options that have already been completed.

So here are another three series I think you should all be reading. If you want to go back to some of my earlier pages to Panels posts, the links are all at the bottom of the page.

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1. Fatale - Ed Brubaker, Sean Philips (5 volumes, completed)

I reviewed the first volume of Fatale awhile ago and was absolutely captivated with the effortless blend between horror and noir. It's astounding how well it was done and it was subsequently added as further proof in my very long "Ed Brubaker is a comics god duh" list. The horror elements of this novel are very Lovecraftian but when I was trying to decide on a single book/story to add to the banner it occurred to me that I felt like threads of The Mist were present in it. Not in any narrative sense but thematically or stylistically? I'd have to reread The Mist to work out why it jumped out at me as an obvious comparative choice, but in my gut it feels right. That said, the horror isn't really present in the graphic novel, at least not in the first few volumes. It's almost more that it's something that's hovering around the corner that keeps catching the corner of your eye when it adjusts its position.

Similar comics you might also like: Neonomicon (Alan Moore), Batman Black and White (various authors), Dead Letters (Christopher Sebela)


2. Doom Patrol - Grant Morrison, Richard Case (6 volumes, completed) 

I've mentioned it before but Grant Morrison is weird. But he's the best kind of weird, he opens up your head and forces in all these absurd and fractured concepts that make you look at things differently. Doom Patrol is a comic for the untraditional. The heroes aren't your standard Supermans or Aquamans, they're a motley crew of damaged and unexpected heroes. There's a sentient street, a schizophrenic, a robot and a lot that can't really be explained with a single word. Similarly, the villains aren't your run of the mill variety. My favourite were probably The Brotherhood of Dada, which features a villain who has every power you haven't thought of. The book does a great job of subverting your superhero expectations and will keep your forever on your toes.

Similar comics you might also like: Animal Man (Grant Morrison), Top 10 (Alan Moore), Deadpool (various authors)


3. The Wicked and the Divine - Kieron Gillen, Jamie McKelvie (1 Volume, on going)

Now before all of you American Gods haters write off this comic, the main reason I used it as a comparison is because of the way it utilises mythology. Where American Gods used myths to reflect on culture and cultural identity, The Wicked and the Divine uses it to look at popular culture and celebrity status. If you didn't like American Gods I think you will still like The Wicked and the Divine, and if you don't I doubt it has anything to do with a Neil Gaiman novel.  In WicDiv 12 Gods from the pantheon (which Gods changes every cycle) return to Earth every 90 years to live again. During that time they inspire and distract and torment and are credited as a critical component of societal progress. In this iteration the Gods have come back as musicians (hence the Bowie comparison above, who Lucifer is directly modeled off) except this time an internal conflict has erupted between the Gods. The art and character design in this comic is exceptionally well done. There's a level of minimalism in the panels which keeps the highly saturated colour choices from becoming overwhelming, as well as keeping the focus on our Gods. I think the second volume has either just been released, or is about to be.

Similar comics you might also like: Unwritten (Mike Carey), Saga (Brian K. Vaughan), ODY-C (Matt Fraction)








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Read my previous Pages to Panels posts: 

Pages to Panels: A Bookish Guide (1)

Pages to Panels: Superheroes (2)
Pages to Panels: Jump Right In (3)
Pages to Panels: Linkage (4)

January in review

Happy first month of 2015!

BOOKS:

What I Read:

Books: 
*Station Eleven by Emily St John Mandel
*Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan (my review)
*Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach (my review)
*A Tale for Time Being by Ruth Ozeki

Comics:
*Saga (2) by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples
*Saga (3) by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples
*Fatale: The Devil's Business by Ed Brubaker and Sean Philips (my review)
*Fables (9) by Bill Willingham and Mark Buckingham
*Princess Ugg (1) by Ted Naifeh, Warren Wucinich

Stats:

Books: 
40% male / 60% female
80% American / 20% International
80%white/ 20%POC
25% ebook / 50% audiobook / 25% physical
75% fiction / 25% non-fiction

Comics: 
**A quick note on stats. I've decided that this year I'm going to include artists in the stats as long as it's a single artist attached to the volume. The comics that tend to cycle through a series of artists within a volume will be left out completely because ugh, too complicated.**

80% male / 20% female
80% American / 20% International
80%white/ 20%POC
20% ebook / 80% physical

I decided to separate my comics from my books in 2015 because while I'm trying to diversify my reading, I'm not really trying as much when it comes to comics.  And since comics are still such a male and American dominated field it's really throwing out my stats and that's just not helpful. I'm feeling pretty good about my efforts to up my diversity though. I still need to work on the non-white/non-American angle, but I'm happy to see so many ladies up above. Also great? That I really loved all of my January reads, except Will Grayson, Will Grayson which was fine but not as shiny and great as the other three. I've almost finished Jason Mott's The Returned, and after that I think I might read The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russel. Feb will be a HUGE month for me uni-wise, I start teaching and I finally submit my PhD to the faculty, so I think aiming for finishing more than two books is probably incredibly unrealistic, so let's just go with those for the time being.

FILMS:

What I saw:

*Birdman - directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu, starring Michael Keaton, Emma Stone, Naomi Watts
*Taken 3 - directed by Olivier Megaton, starring Liam Neeson, Forest Whitaker, Famke Janssen
*Into the Woods - directed by Rob Marshall, starring Anna Kendrick, Meryl Streep, James Corden, Emily Blunt

2015 doesn't hold a lot of excitement for me, movie wise. I'm looking forward to the new Mad Max and Star Wars, but I'm going through a little superhero fatigue, so I'm not as excited for Avengers or Antman as I would have been 2 years ago. Birdman was one of the films I was excited for (ugh Australia and our eternal wait for movies) and it really delivered. I thought Michael Keaton was amazing and Alejandro González Iñárritu is an amazing director. I loved how the use of a single tracking shot translated the chaos of a play backstage, as well as the dysfunctional nature of most of the characters. I'm really pulling for them to win at least a couple of the Oscars, regardless of how pointless the Oscars have actually become. Into the Woods was alright, I thought the performances and staging were pretty good, but cutting Repunzel's story took a lot of the thematic edge out of the film. And while I loved Meryl Streep, I think Bernadette Peters will always be my witch.

LIFE:

Like I mentioned above, I'm getting ready to submit to the faculty. After I present at the end of February they'll provide me with some feedback to implement before my proper submission in May. Here's hoping they like what I've done and done tear it to shreds. To give myself a reason to keep living, I started learning German using the Duolingo app. I'd really wanted to pick up Japanese again, but they don't offer it unfortunately. If you've been thinking of trying to learn a language, or are even travelling overseas and want to pick up some basics it's pretty fantastic. It's free to use and I really like the way it teaches. I feel like I've picked up more in 2 weeks than I did in my first four years of Japanese in school.

Graphic Novel Mini-Review #29

Fatale: The Devil's Business (2)

Written by: Ed Brubaker; illustrated by: Sean Phillips

Published: 2013

My Thoughts: Ah Brubaker, you've done it again. Volume 2 of Fatale takes place in the late 1970s so it isn't quite as noir-ish as the first volume, nor is it quite as mysterious. This volume gives us a much closer look at Jo, our ageless captivating fatale, although she's still as much of a closed book as she was in volume 1. She finds herself caught in a seedy situation when an actor and his ex (now dealer) sneak into her backyard after running away from a crime scene. It turns out that Jo has a past connection to the Mason-esque cult church that the two are running from and as the volume continues it gets messier and murkier and hints at Jo's mysterious past. I loved having a bit more of her perspective this volume even if there is still so much to learn before the series ends. Just as she entrances every man she comes into contact with, I found myself captivated in the sadness that surrounds her. Where has she been? What has she seen? The art beautifully compliments the mood of the comic, although there are times where secondary characters are hard to distinguish from one another.

My Friend Dahmer

Written and Illustrated by: Derf Backderf

Published: 2012

My Thoughts: I think this might be the first non-comic series comic I've read in awhile. Tom's brother bought it for us for Christmas and I eagerly read through a couple of days later. The subject of the comic is fascinating for a couple of reasons. First and most obviously, it's a look at Jeffrey Dahmer before he was the Jeffrey Dahmer who murdered and raped and ate people. Second, it's fascinating in its complete dullness. Dahmer is a strange guy, for sure, but what high school didn't have the guy who put on weird voices or seemed to be dealing with his own hidden demons? As much as Backderf exclaims over his disbelief that no teachers ever took Dahmer aside or spoke to his parents, I'm not sure there was ever enough, judging off this comic, to really write home about. While Backderf paints a sad tale of a boy who grew up without much love or attention in a tiny town of few distractions and old-fashioned morals which made it difficult to come out as gay, what really hit me was that Dahmer could have been so many people I knew growing up. I knew people who smoked too much pot and drank themselves into comas every weekend. I saw people walk around our high school campus without ever really seeming to fit in or even wanting to. I knew people who struggled with coming out as gay, who battled with their parents or who were hurt by their parents disapproval or oblivion. This comic really hit home that anyone could be a serial killer. Most people won't be, but it's not like they're walking around with a giant sign reading "danger danger, future murderer" while slaughtering kittens in front of you. The book does get a little armchair psychologist-y at times and I think Backderf could have benefited from a little more inward examination but he's done a great deal of work to combine his personal anecdotes from high school with evidence that has since come out about Dahmer's first dalliances with animal mutilation, sexual identity and his first murder. It's sensational without being sensationalist.

Hawkeye: L.A Woman (3)

Written by: Matt Fraction; Illustrated by: Annie Wu, Javier Pulido

Published: 2014

My Thoughts: L.A. Woman is the collection of Hawkeye issues that focus on the lady Hawkeye, Kate Bishop. After being well and truly fed up with Clint/Hawkeye's self-destructive bullshit she decides to make her way to L.A to start fresh and a P.I. Kate felt a little less together in this collection than the previous two and I can't work out if it's just because she doesn't have the human wreck known as Clint Barton to be compared to or if she's actually more of a disaster in these pages. There definitely does seem to be a great deal more of the "she's grown up rich and hasn't ever really had to consider paying for accommodation or food or life" stuff than I think I remember from volumes 1 or 2. These were problems I battled with while reading the volume, but I also fell pretty hard for her almost instantly. Maybe her messy life is a condescending way to make a female superhero appeal more to general readers, but she also felt a bit like a grown up Veronica Mars or Buffy the Vampire Slayer (what with the ass-kicking) which is always okay in my books. David Aja is off art duty this volume, and while I missed his stunning art I quite enjoyed Wu's take on the character. There was a lot more experimentation in terms of the different art styles, and I found the switches into the almost-chibi anime style a nice representation of Kate's arrested development. I am also totally on board for an Elliot Gould look-alike and stories that poke fun at the Hollywood persuit for eternal youth any day of the week.

Graphic Novel mini-reviews #27

Captain America: Winter Soldier (Volume 2)

Written by: Ed Brubaker; Illustrated by: Steve Epting

Published: 2005

My Thoughts: I probably enjoyed the first volume of Winter Solider a bit better than the second. The first was very introspective, something I always dig in my superheroes. This volume is far more action-heavy - whether in the present day assault from the Winter Soldier (and those he works for) or in the WWII flashbacks that feature heavily in this volume. All that being said though, it isn't like this volume completely discounts on character development in favour of action set-pieces. There are some brilliant moments where Cap wrestles with whether the Winter Solider is actually Bucky anymore and if there is even a fraction of Bucky still alive - should Cap do everything in his power to save him?

Kill Shakespeare: Mask of Night (Volume 4)

Written by: Anthony Del Col, Colin McCreery; Illustrated by: Andy Belanger

Published: 2014

My Thoughts: I wasn't sure if I wanted to read any more of Kill Shakespeare after the third volume. It wasn't bad, but I did feel like perhaps the gimmick had played out. But when I saw this was only a four issue volume I figured I'd give it a shot and see if they managed to introduce anything new to the story. The story takes place directly after the third volume, with Shakespeare, Juliet, Hamlet and Othello angry and still slightly mad from Prospero's Island. While they escaped Titus's navy they find themselves in the hands on Cesario and Viola, two dastardly pirates (and lovers) who intend to turn them in to the highest bidder. And yes, you read that correctly - Cesario and Viola are two separate people in this story AND they're together. It actually took a moment to remember that Cesario is Viola's alter-ego in Twelfth Night but I kind of dug that depending on your Shakespeare knowledge their relationship took on very different connotations. And it's moments like that which make these comics interesting. Not the slightly shoe-horned in lines like "parting is such sweet sorrow" when two characters separate, but the much less overt character traits that demonstrate that this team not only know Shakespeare, but know him well enough to experiment based on thematic elements of his plays. If you've enjoyed the other three volumes then you'll probably still enjoy this one - but I definitely feel as though it's weakened a bit with each volume.

Rat Queens: Sass and Sorcery (Volume 1)

Written by: Kurtis J. Wiebe; illustrated by: Roc Upchurch

Published: 2014

My Thoughts: I've been wanting to read this for soooo long but I wanted to wait until a trade volume was released and luck would have it that Comixology had it on sale. Score! This comic is everything. I can't even tell you how much I adore it. It's a D&D player's dream. There are four gorgeous, sassy, kickass female protagonists - Hannah the Elven Mage (with an excellent rockabilly vibe), Violet the Dwarven warrior, Dee the human cleric and Betty the Goblin (Smidgen) thief. They're all heavily, heavily flawed but loveable characters with a penchant for quests, bar fights and sex. Betty considers candy and drugs a perfect meal, Dee is overcome with social anxiety, Hannah is reckless and Violet was beardless before it was cool. They're joined by a motley crew of enemies, frenemies and lovers, of which Orc Dave is my absolute favourite. He's a cleric who has magical bluebirds settle in his beard after healing. BIRDS IN HIS BEARD, SO FREAKING CUTE. The art style is cute and colourful, the writing is fun and (at times) vulgar. It's basically like being back in one of my D&D campaigns which is the most wonderful thing ever because I miss D&D like crazy. So this is helping fill that gaping, ridiculous hole.

Graphic Novel mini-reviews #25 - Heroes of the Past, Heroes of the Future

Guardians of the Galaxy: Realm of Kings (Volume 4)

Written by:  Dan Abnett; Illustrated by: Andy Lanning, Brad Walker

Published: 2010

My Thoughts: And so ends the original run of the Guardians of the Galaxy, not with a bang but an even BIGGER bang. Everything that's been building up in the previous volumes, the wars and the tender, fragile universe, the threats coming from every possible antagonist, explodes in a messy pile of bodies and gunk. There is a bit of a flip flop that I wish they hadn't gone with, it leads them down an interesting path but it does feel a bit like hand-wringing and not wanting to make any serious permanent commitments. It's like modern (like the last 2/3 seasons) Doctor Who, they do something devastating and then wave their wibbley wobbley timey wimey magic wand and make everything go back to normal. It's not a huge flaw in the narrative, more a disappointment*. I saw a comic comparing the Guardians with the team of Firefly and that's such a true comparison. They are these brilliant, absurd characters who care about each other and mean well but they are constantly making everything worse. They are ruled by emotion and stubbornness and they want to do the right thing and they usually do, but sometimes an old enemy or a powerful love throws a wrench in the plan. It's a pleasure to finish out the run of comics, now onto The Thanos Imperative, the Annihilation comics and the latest run of GotG!

1602

Written by: Neil Gaiman; Illustrated by: Andy Kubert

Published: 2003

My Thoughts: 1602 re-imagines the Marvel universe as though it existed in 1602. It basically takes the fear and confusion of this particular era and replaces well known events or historical characters with Marvel characters. So we have Doctor Strange as the physician to the ailing Queen Elizabeth while Nicholas (Nick) Fury is the Queen's enforcer/head of intelligence. There's a sub-plot about the troubled Roanoke colony in the 'new world', and the Spanish Inquisition is hunting witchbreeds (X-Men). The facet of the inquisition that we witness is led by a rather well known character who I won't name for fear of spoilers (although I picked it straight away). There's Doom and the Fantastic Four and Captain America and while some are very clearly identifiable (Peter Parquagh for instance), others are much harder to pick and are mostly identifiable through certain skills, clothing choices and the groups they travel with. The actual plot is quite meta, but I'll hold back to leave you something to discover for yourself. Broad picture though, there are a series of storms and weird occurrences which are plaguing London and the rest of Europe and which Strange believes are signs that the world is ending. The key to saving the world apparently lies with a weapon that is being delivered to London by one of the few remaining Knights Templar - but getting it across Europe will require the help of a certain redheaded feller. The story itself is a lot of fun, part action and part mystery, although it does seem to get needlessly complicated from time to time. But truly, the real fun is in working out which characters are which and seeing the inventive careers some of them are given.

Captain America: Winter Soldier (Volume 1)

Written by: Ed Brubaker; Illustrated by: Steve Epting

Published: 2005

My Thoughts: While I quite like the Captain America films I've never really had much desire to delve into the comics. Since Cap is one of the earlier incarnations of superheroes it's a pretty tough choice to work out where to even start. But Winter Soldier came up in a related search and since I have an affinity for Ed Brubaker's darker take on realism I figured I'd give it a shot. This Captain America is far, far darker than the one you see in the Marvel movies. Since waking up after half a century frozen in ice the world the Cap knew has changed into something unrecognisable and he finds himself doing the same. He's disillusioned and unsure and as a result he's getting angrier and tougher and more violent. It's bound to cause irreparable damage somewhere down the line, something Agent 13 (Sharon Carter) is more than a little aware on. Throw in Red Skull, a power cube and the haunting re-emergence of some old memories and you've got a rollicking good comic. On to part 2!


*sorry for the vagueness, I don't want to out and out spoil anything from this or the previous volume.

September in Review Or, the month I DNF every book in existence and dressed up as Wonder Woman

September was not my month guys. Between travelling for my best friend's wedding, my birthday and the ever present life-destroyer that is a PhD I barely read anything. I mean I tried, but god damn if I didn't pick a bunch of crappy books. So since my list of read books is going to be like 2 items long and I haven't really got any films or tv shows to discuss, I thought I'd introduce a new little section called "Books I DNF and why they suck". My time is precious, so, so precious.

Take us away Paul

Books I DNF and why they suck

Wild by Cheryl Strayed (60% completed)

While I wasn't particularly enjoying this book the main reason I decided to DNF this biatch was the awful quality of the digital copy I downloaded onto my phone. I nixxed the kindle option after a sample because it was an "Oprah Book Club" pick which basically means anything even vaguely inspiration was underlined. And I do not need that shit. I enjoy marginalia when I borrow a friend's book but seriously, it was absurd how by the book the underlining was. PASS. So I downloaded one of the Android reader app and it was even worse. It was obviously made an e-book without a proper editing sweep as every comma was removed and the space between the word before and after the comma (or where it would have been) was stuck together. So it made reading a very inorganic experience. Not to mention I did not think her story was inspirational nor did I enjoy her writing. But the editing (or lack of it) definitely didn't help the matter.

GIF rating*:

Portrait of a Killer: Jack the Ripper -- Case Closed by Patricia Cornwell (71% completed)

This might actually be the worst book I've ever read. After the case was apparently solved a month ago (again) I decided to finally grab this book off my shelf and give it a read. If you've ever wanted to read a perfect example for how not to conduct research, write a book or structure an argument then this is the book for you. Cornwell is convinced she knows who the killer is and so that none of her readers gives any other theory weight she discredits them all as flimsy and weak and unlikely while then going on to set her scenes by saying things like "while there's no proof he was in London at this time, there also isn't proof he wasn't" and started every sentence with "I imagine" "It could be presumed" "it may have happened like". Because her argument is literally "this guy did it because I find his paintings squicky" there are huge chunks of the book that have nothing to do with the case. Either she's discussing the state of  medicine and police strategy at the time (which was actually quite interesting) or she's randomly waffling on about the autopsy procedures in modern day USA. Yes, that happens. I was going to try and finish this so I could write a detailed review about all the inaccuracies, biases and padding but once I put it down I could not motivate myself to pick it back up. I shifted from laughing hysterically to actually clenching my fists in rage. This book is awful, absolutely the worst.

GIF rating:

BOOKS:

What I Read:

*Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory McGuire
*Wonder Woman: Iron by Brian Azzarello, Cliff Chiang (my review)
*Wonder Woman: War by Brian Azzarello, Cliff Chiang
*The Maze Runner by James Dashner (my review)
*1602 by Neil Gaiman, Andy Kubert
*Guardians of the Galaxy: Angela by Brian Michael Bendis, Sarah Pichelli, Francesco Francavilla (my review)
*Captain America: Winter Soldier by Ed Brubaker, Steve Epting

Book Stats:

100% male / 0% female (ooof)
100% American / 0% International
86% ebook / 0% audiobook / 14% physical
100% fiction / 0% non-fiction
72% graphic novels / 28% novels

Well this was a bit of a rubbish month for books wasn't it! But while I haven't finished much (other than lots and lots of graphic novels) I have started a whole lot of other books. I am currently juggling Haruki Murakami's new book Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage with Gregory Maguire's Wicked. I'm also still slowly slogging away with Cheryl Strayed's Wild. Note to anyone interested in reading it, do not download either the Kindle or Google play editions. The Kindle version is an Oprah edition which basically means every second line is underlined because it's supposedly inspirational (ugh) and the Google play book has removed every comma as well as the space between the words that bracketed the comma. Shame on the editors or whatever the digital equivalent is, it's ridiculous and makes a book that I'm not particularly enjoying even harder to read.

PERSONAL:

Like I said above, this month was pretty busy. I had my best friend's wedding (which was beautiful), my birthday (which was relaxing), my birthday dinner (which was delicious) and my birthday party (which rocked). And snice my friend's wedding was back home in Cairns on a Friday and since my birthday was on the following Monday Tom and I decided to spend a week in Cairns enjoying the beautiful weather and pretty outdoors. We spent a lot of time next to water, without actually ever going swimming. So yeah. Busy. I figured I might share a couple of photos from the month for those of you who don't follow me on Instagram or aren't friends with me on facebook. I wish I'd gotten a proper picture of my costume for my birthday party (I was punk/rocker Wonder Woman) but alas all I have to share are 3am battle photos between me and sell-out Superman.

Morning of the big day. How is that for a wedding location!

Bridesmaids

Taking in the sights

Port Douglas - How's the serenity?

Wonder Woman V Superman: Late night brawls 

Kicking ass and taking names

* Stealing this from you Alley! SORRY NOT SORRY

Graphic Novel Mini-Review #19

Hawkeye: My Life As a Weapon (Volume 1)

Written by: Matt Fraction; Illustrated by: David Aja, Javier Paludo, Alan Davis

Published: 2013

My Thoughts: Okay, confession time. I'm one of those assholes that scoffs at the Avengers and pokes fun at Hawkeye and Black Wids. But it's mostly a fun ribbing, since it's SO easy to do. Matt Fraction was at Brisbane's Writers Festival last September and he was so interesting that I decided I'd put aside my teasing and get to know Hawkeye a little better. I love this series. Hawkeye, a.k.a Clint, is not really your typical Avenger. He's basically Archer, which is awesome. It's funny and action packed and A LOT silly. I'm less interested in Kate - the Young Avenger incarnation of Hawkeye - but that's mostly because I don't really enjoy the Young Avengers (and the additional crossover issue of Young Avengers/Hawkeye really proved that). If you're looking for a new series to follow and you're a fan of sharp, sarcastic and brilliantly writing and illustrations, then Hawkeye is the one for you.

Guardians of the Galaxy: Legacy (Volume 1)

Written by: Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning; Illustrated by: Paul Pelletier

Published: 2008

My Thoughts: I don't know about everyone else, but my most anticipated blockbuster for 2014 is most definitely Guardians of the Galaxy. James Gunn, Chris Pratt, Blue Swede 'Hooked on a Feeling'? Yes, yes 1000x yes. So before the movie comes out I thought I'd check out some of the comics because even though I know a lot about the misfit gang, I haven't actually read many of their escapades. Legacy is recommended as the modern-era place to start because it introduces you to the characters and their formation into the world-saving-but-still-completely-inept team that you can't help but adore. And while all superhero comics have a level of WTF to them, GotG really ramps that up to 11. Their security chief is a soviet dog that was blasted into space and can communicate telepathically, their base is located in a severed celestial head floating around outside of space and time and for superheroes there are an awful lot of murderers amid their numbers. It's fun and tongue-in-cheek, but the action still packs a wallop and will explode your mind-grapes. Definitely one to check out before going to the cinema.

Fatale: Death Chases me (Volume 1)

Written by: Ed Brubaker; Illustrated by: Sean Phillips

Published: 2012

My Thoughts: And now for something completely different. Brubaker is perhaps best known for his work for Daredevil and Captain America (in the fact the current Cap A film is based on his graphic novel) and while his quality of work has always been high, this is something else all together. Set between the 1930s, 1950s and now Fatale is a modern noir tale, except without technically being a noir story. There is no gruff detective but there is a mystery, and that mystery surrounds the beautiful Jo, Fatale's fatale, capable of ensnaring men and wholly incapable of aging. There's an element of fantasy to the story and a huge heap of horror, but the balance between them has been perfected so carefully that it seems absolutely natural that Lovecraftian horror should co-exist alongside James Cainesque noir and it's almost shocking to think it hasn't been done more often. The way the story progresses makes me think this will eventually tip more towards Lovecraft than Cain in influence, but for now even people wary of horror-lite should find themselves utterly entangled in the gorgeous writing and even gorgeouser* art.

*totally a word, just trust me.