Graphic Novel mini-reviews #18

Fables: Wolves (Volume #8)

Written by: Bill Willingham; Illustrated by: Mark Buckingham, Steve Leialoha, Shawn McManus, Andrew Pepoy

Published: 2006

My Thoughts: There was a lot to like about this volume but it also had a few issues I just can't quite get past. After being exiled from Fabletown Bigby went on the run and since then Mowgli has been trying to find him with little luck. Mowgli finally finds Bigby and convinces him to come back to perform a secret agent style mission back in the Homelands in exhange for being able to reunite with Snow and their children. But when Mowgli finds Bigby he's shacked up with another woman. Why? Is this going to play into it somehow, will she be coming back? We know that Snow has been waiting for Bigby's return, so is this just to show us that he's a pretty shitty dude or is it about something else? He's supposedly loved Snow since they first met and he's always been a bit of a loner so why did he need companionship? I just don't understand what this serves and it felt kind of hacky. As for the actual mission he goes on - that I liked. It's pushing the story into an interesting direction and I think there'll be some action-heavy volumes coming up. I also really liked Cinderella's story arc in here, secret agent/assassin  is a much better career than Stepmother's cleaner or Prince Charming's wife. She actually reminds me a bit of Buffy minus the vampires which could never be a bad thing right?

The Strain (Volume 1)

Written by: David Lapham; Illustrated by: Mike Huddleston

Published: 2012

My Thoughts: While I wasn't wowed by the book, there were elements I really loved. The vampires for one. The medical investigation for another. The graphic novel streamlines the book; it cuts out some of the unnecessary waste, reshuffles the plot order, places some reveals earlier (where it holds much more weight) and visually depicts the nightmarish vampires Del Toro created. The art style is dark and frenetic, perfectly representing the chaos and panic of the narrative. The vampires are horrific, gory and terrifying. Eph and Nora are much better with less time spent on unnecessary characterisation, and Setrakians flashbacks work beautifully in this medium. It's a much tighter and successful story, and I think I might stick to the graphic novel from now on.

Batman - Streets of Gotham: The House of Hush (Volume 3)

Written by: Paul Dini; Illustrated by: Dustin Nguyen, Derek Fridolfs

Published: 2011

My Thoughts: I haven't read the previous two volumes but I decided to pick this one up when I was at the library and realised how long it'd been since I'd read some Batman. I don't know how this went in concluding the story set up in the previous two volumes, but I thought it was interesting - and easy to get on top of considering I was coming in for the final act. There's a side-along story about a small time crook named The Carpenter who builds traps and hide-outs for Gotham's villains that was fun but went way too far in the pun department. The main story was typical for a Batman comic, vengeance, mistaken identities, double and triple crossing. I like the illustration style but did find that the tall, handsome, dark haired dudes got pretty hard to tell apart by the end. A problem exacerbated by the fact that there are two Bruce Waynes featured in this story. Not bad though, might go back and read the first two.

Monday Links

*It's my birthday in less than a month and I am EXCITED! It's funny how friends and family seem to get steadily less excited the older they get, I guess the increasing numbers is scary, but I love birthdays and I start to get excited at around the 6 week mark. And it's not even the presents thing, or at least, it's not just the presents thing that I love. It's a day for *me* and me alone (shhhh other x million people born on September 15) and I can do whatever I want, and I can do it with the people I love and care about and it's all just wonderful. Just felt like sharing this rather useless tidbit with you all before launching into the regular Links post.

*Here are a bunch of famous artistic works created in exile. Some are more self-imposed than others *cough cough* The Rolling Stones avoiding taxes *cough cough* but still. (Via Mental Floss)

*I found this Book Riot article on framing devices in WW2 books to be really interesting, and something I'd never really noticed before - or at least not consciously. (Via Book Riot)

*True Blood is the silliest show on TV, but I still love it. Here's a delightful little article about how Jason Stackhouse is actually the show's greatest creation. (Via Flavorwire)

*Bryan Cranston has been cast as Lex Luther in the next Superman movie!! I totally called this on Facebook a month ago! I'm really excited, especially since we already know he can do menacing bald guy. (Via News)

*Speaking of acting and superheroes. Here's Simon Pegg having a cheeky poke at the people who went crazy when he posted a picture of himself next to an Ant Man standee. (Via Uproxx)

*HP Lovecraft's birthday was last week - here's a nice little celebration of some of his creepiest book covers (Via Flavorwire)

Mini-Graphic Novel Reviews #11

Chew Volume #1

Written by: John Layman, Illustrated by: Rob Guillory

Published: 2009

My Thoughts: Chew is brilliant in its ridiculousness. Tony Chu is a Chibopathic, meaning that if he eats something he can see it's entire past, which provides him with a unique skill to solve crimes with. Right there you have a premise which you know is going to make you squirm, giggle and gag continuously. Throw in a blanket ban on chicken after a world wide epidemic of bird flu, mobsters controlling a chicken black market (which is my kind of black market) and a food reviewer with a special talent of her own and you have a funny, bizarre and completely unpredictable comic.

The Killing Joke
Written by: Alan Moore, Illustrated by: Brian Bolland

Published: 1995

My Thoughts: This graphic novel is a must read. It's extremely short, but in such a small amount of pages it manages to reveal a great deal about Batman and one of the greatest Batman villains, The Joker. The book contains two entwined stories, the events that lead to a failed comedian becoming The Joker and an attack by The Joker on Commissioner Gordon and his daughter which is 100 shades of depraved. Fundamentally this story is about how easily a 'bad day' can flick that switch in your brain and make you into someone like The Joker, and that's his end goal with Gordon. How can you  hunt down a man when it is so easy to become just like him? Can you really judge him as harshly once you know the capacity we all have of turning 'bad'? I won't spoil the result, but this was a hell of a stand-alone graphic novel that went on to change Batman continuity so yeah, read it.

Eternals
Written by: Neil Gaiman, Illustrated by: John Romita Jr

Published: 2007

My Thoughts: So it turns out that "gods" exist, are walking among us, but don't remember the powers they hold or the history they've witnessed.I went into this small collection not knowing that it was tied to an original series by Jack Kirby, and that meant that the whole time I felt like I was missing some important information, but I never knew what it was.  The premise is intriguing, the writing is good (it is Gaiman after all), the art is solid but the story gets a little weird and confusing. Until I read the original Kirby story I can't really say whether I think this story is patchy, successful or a bit of both, but to be honest it didn't interest me enough to send me out looking for the rest, so let's just leave it with a resounding MEH.

Mini-graphic novel review #8 Batman edition!

Batman: The Dark Knight Returns
Written by: Frank Miller, Illustrated by: Klaus Janson and Lynn Varley

Published: 1986

My Thoughts: Imagine if Batman wasn't the young, fit vigilante we're used to, but an old, cynical and retired man who has decided to return to his previous life when crime in Gotham reaches dangerous new heights. Batman was never infallible, but old age and lack of practice increasingly causes Batman problems as he attempts to round up Gotham's criminals. I really enjoyed the approach this comic took, and the art is quite good, but it wasn't as amazing as people had told me it was. Maybe that's just to do with expectations, or because I'm not a big Frank Miller fan in general, but I've enjoyed other Batman comics more than this one. Still one to read if you're wanting to read the iconic Batman comics though.

Batman: Knightfall (Volume one)
Written by: Doug Moench, Chuck Dixon, Illustrated by: Jim Aparo, Norm Breyfogle, Graham Nolan and Jim Balent

Published: 1993

My Thoughts: Holy shit you guys! THIS COMIC IS AMAZING! I know I throw that around sometimes, but seriously, this comic is all awesomeness and then some. The (loose) source material for Dark Knight Rises this comic takes place after Batman's experienced great emotional, physical and psychological pain and is not at the top of his game. As he struggles to round up the gang of Batman villains that have escaped the asylum, Batman comes up against the monstrous Bane, a criminal with only one desire: to kill the Batman. The pathos of this comic is astounding. I'm a huge Batman fan from way back, but this comic hit me right in the feels. It humanises Batman and adds about a million levels of complexity to his story. Batman is one of the greatest superheroes for a number of reasons, and this is the best vehicle for demonstrating that.

Batman: The Long Halloween
Written by: Jeph Loeb, illustrated by: Tim Sale

Published: 1999

My Thoughts: Spanning 13 issues, The Long Halloween covers the mystery of Holiday - a serial killer who kills a different member of Gotham's criminal underworld each holiday. Each issues focuses on one of these murders, and the attempts made to solve the case by Batman, Harvey Dent and Commissioner Gordon. It's a fun collection which reintroduces some of the more well-known Batman villains (think Joker, Riddler, Poison Ivy etc) and themes each issue around the holiday in question - Valentine's Day, April Fool's Day, Christmas and so forth.Perhaps most interestingly though is the focus on relationships, whether business i.e. between Batman, Dent and Gordon, mob bosses Falcone and Maroni  or The Scarecrow and the Mad Hatter, or personal i.e. between Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle, Dent and his wife, Gilda, Falcone and his sister. Also, the art in this one is sensational. Very moody and dark - a little noir-ish, perfectly depicting everything that makes Batman, Batman.

Batman/Planetary: Night on Earth
Written by: Warren Ellis, Illustrated by: John Cassaday

Published: 2003

My Thoughts: Seriously one of the greatest crossover comics ever! Planetary is a Warren Ellis series about a trio of "archaeologists of the unknown" who solve weird crimes/are generally pretty badass. This volume has the team head to a Batman-less Gotham City to investigate a killer named John Black who they believe was once experimented on at 'Science City Zero'. When they track him down (after a neat little cameo from Dick Grayson and the Joker -who's a good guy!) it turns out he has the ability to distort reality, and the Planetary team find themselves face to face with various iterations of Batman. The camp 1960s Batman, the Frank Miller bad-ass Batman, the "classic" Batman and a couple of others. It's amazing to see how much Batman has changed as different writers/artists have taken him on, especially considering how much Batman I've been reading lately. Worth it just for this neat little premise, but the writing and illustrations are solid too!