Zombo - Al Ewing & Henry Flint

A nice little 2000AD obscurity that I'd never heard of until a friend handed it to me on my birthday. Zombo is a genetically engineered zombie built to kill the other zombies created by the sentient worlds that humans are attempting to colonise - yes you did read that right.

Both the creators are names I'm familiar with but the only thing I can think of by either of them that I've read is Ewings 'El Sombra' steampunk novel that he did for the Pax Britannia series.

Zombo is typical 2000AD - completely gonzo and full of uber-violence. The book features several stories starting with Zombo and the passengers of a government flight crashing onto a deathworld. Most barely make it past the fifth page with the survivors soon being picked off by the local fauna and, strangely, a clan of mutated hillbillies and their game of Twister.

The second story is a silly little Xmas story with the third and final one being an all out zombie romp across an entertainment satellite (a la 5th Element) that riffs on Disney, the Rat Pack and Ocean's Eleven amongst others along the way.

All three tales are a laugh but it's the final one that was the winner for me. I was unsure of the book at first glance but I ended up thoroughly enjoying. Not vintage 2000AD but a good approximation.

Usagi Yojimbo vol 24: Return of the Black Soul - Stan Sakai

Obviously volume 24 of a series was always going to be a problematic jumping on point. I'd known abut Usagi Yojimbo for years but the opportunity to read anything had never materialised until now when this volume turned up in the library.

Usagi is a roaming samurai rabbit who through these volumes is stalking the demon Jei. There's an obvious Lone Wolf & Cub vibe going on but UY is a much lighter affair. The art is nice, clean and b&W with a lovely fluidity of movement between panels. Too many of the books characters look alike though and the brutal jump cuts between, especially perspective but also, to a lesser extent, between characters is disconcerting and kicks you out of the narrative.

I'm glad I finally got the chance to check some of this stuff out. It wasn't really my cup of tea but I'm intrigued enough to rent another should one appear.

Spider-man: Secret Wars - Paul Tobin & Patrick Scherberger

I remember getting to finally read the Secret War saga in my late teens and not really digging it too much. I was never much of a Marvel fan which didn't help but it all seemed just too clunky daft for words - which is going some for comics at that time.

This re-look at that story is by the writer and artist of the Marvel Adventures line but unlike those others from that line it hasn't been made specifically for kids. It is pretty much of that ilk though and probably should have been.

Scherbergers art is nice. Bold, striking, cartoony and with a logical flow to it. Tobin's writing is functional although the story is barely so as it relies far too much on prior knowledge of the Secret Wars narrative. He's got a good way with dialogue though and the decision to write it from Spidey's perspective was an astute move as you're guaranteed an everyman take on proceedings. There's not a lot else going for it though.

Indiana Jones & the Tomb of the Gods - Rob Williams

A light and fluffy Indy comic. Very much of the flavour of the films with some spot on dialogue - you can hear Ford's voice at times.

There's nothing really of note here story or art wise. It's competent at best but I've read worse and it passed an idle 30 minutes without too much complaint.

Powers vol 6: The Sellouts - Brian Michael Bendis & Michael Avon Oeming

Now this was great fun. After the fairly low-key fifth volume this was a real change of pace.

When a member of a famous powers team is caught with his pants down and killed. Walker and Pilgrim's investigation leads them to New York to the groups headquarters and an encounter with several ex-members. At this point all hell breaks loose as one of the most powerful heroes in the world finally starts believing that he's god and takes the world by the throat. The book suddenly takes on a global perspective but we remain with W & P and experience events from where they are without the usual comic book god's eye view of events.

The book is beautifully paced with as much happening off the page as does on. It's nice to see Cutter get a chance to do something good and his vice cop friend was fun. There's a lovely little reference to a teeny little event of few volumes ago too in the big bad's stilted speech patterns. The ending opens up a whole new dimension of shit for the next few books.

Doctor Who: Planet of the Daleks - Terrance Dicks

A novelisaton of one of the 3rd Doctor series from 1972 read by Jon Pertwee in 1995 which meant that on the whole this was a pretty strange experience. Pertwee easily slips into the Doctor's shoes again but sounds really odd when he does a dalek voice.

The book itself was quite poorly written and often came across as sounding like a schoolkids essay. This aside, the plot was a giggle and moved along at a cracking pace as the Doctor and Jo bump into a group of Thals out to destroy a massive Dalek army on the planet Spiridon.

Powers vol 5: Anarchy - Brian Michael Bendis & Michael Avon Oeming

Set a year after the bean spilling of vol 4 and Walker is called back to talk to a cape killer. It turns out to be a ruse to find out where he is so the killers can get to him. He survives, some cop brutality ensues and he's back on the force.

There's another little teaser line dropped in - 'No-one walks away' - to keep the suspense up in terms of the unfolding big picture. The book itself is a very light entrant into the series but certainly not a bad one.

Powers vol 4: Supergroup - Brian Michael Bendis & Michael Avon Oeming

I'm going to say up front here that I think the Brit writers (Moore / Millar / Ellis / Ennis / Morrison) do superheroes way, way, way better than the Americans. I know I'm biased but I'm of a similar age with most of these guys, grew up reading the same sort of stuff and so share some of the aesthetic. For the most part I think American superhero comics are crap, regardless of who their written by but the ones these fellas do are generally (not always) worth searching out.

Obviously there are exceptions to my pocket theory and right at the top of that exceptions list is Brian Bendis. I first (deliberately) read his stuff - New Avengers: Breakout - having snuck it into the Starbucks upstairs in the Borders store here in Swansea and thoroughly enjoyed it. It had the feel of supe stuff I read as a kid but the story had a bit of presence. There was none of the glorious irreverence or the disdain you get from the Brits. It was pure supes but done with heart and with style. I later realised that this was the same guy who had written the Ultimate Spidey book that I'd been lent a couple of years before and been impressed with. Following on from this I picked up a couple of his Avengers trades and his Goldfish collection which I really dug.

I'd been planning to dip into Powers for a while. I'd tried reading it online but the reader frustrated me so I stopped. The other month I found someone selling the set on eBay pretty cheap and so I grabbed them. I was outbid on vols 4 & 10 but got the rest. I read the initial three and pretty much enjoyed them but it took a few months to finally track down a number 4. It was well worth the wait. Walker is a great character and it's great to see him finally come out from the background in this volume. The previous ones really did have Deena as the focus - which was cool, she's great fun - but it was good to see Walker finally step into the spotlight. The story is obviously both and ending and a beginning as it sends Walker off into the great unknown whilst also dropping a giant teaser right at the end.

I'm going to be working my way through the next five volumes over the next couple of days so expect a few entries along this theme.

The Murder of King Tut - James Patterson

A graphic novel adaption of Patterson's 'non-fiction thriller' tells the stories of both Tutankhamen and Howard Carter. It was a light and pretty fast read that gives a very vague version of both stories with the Tut aspect of the book being simplified to the point of idiocy.

Tut's tale tells of his father - Akhenaten - and his (non-biological) mother - Nefertiti - who both preceded him as Pharaoh. Tut's rule is short and it's not long before Patterson makes the claim that the royal scribe - Ay - was responsible for Tut's death, after he had fallen from his horse and broken his leg, by suffocating him. His evidence for this seems to be that Tut's broken leg and cracked skull were neither serious enough to cause his death and suffocation was undetectable. It all seems a bit to pat for my mind.

The Carter sections deal with his employment as an artist in Egypt before becoming a tomb-hunter himself. Everything else is glossed over and ignored so really you don't get to know anything about the man other than his obsession with finding tombs in the Valley of the Kings.

There are two artists involved. Christopher Mitten has a lovely unorthodox style which is used to great effect on the Tut sequences. The Carter section is by Ron Randall and is less pretty, certainly not bad but nothing to get you wet. The nicest surprise on the art front was the discovery on the back of several Darwyn Cooke pieces that look an awful lot like Samurai Jack.

Deeply flawed but it passed some time.

Doctor Who Unbound: Sympathy for the Devil - Jonathan Clements

A way beyond canon Doctor story starring David Warner as the Doctor and Mark Gatiss as the Master. The tale describes the arrival of a very different 3rd Doctor arriving on earth some thirty years later for his exile on Earth and finding a world that was very different from what was expected. The world has been changed irrevocably by the Doctor's absence during events such as the Auton invasion that he wasn't there to stop.

The Brigadier is living in disgrace after having been drummed out of UNIT and has bought a pub in Hong Kong. The Doctor arrives on the verge of the handover to China and just in time to foil the Master's plan to make use of some sort of mind control parasite (from the 'Mind of Evil' episode).

The story was excellent and both Warner and Gatiss are perfectly cast. It's fun to hear the Brigadier again as he must be a fair old age by now (and indeed has since passed on between the time I wrote this and now). One of the strangest things here though is the presence of David Tennant as the new head of UNIT. He's in full scenery chewing mode here with Scottish accent fully intact as a very gung-ho colonel.

The only problem I had with the whole thing was the ambiguous ending which seemed to have the Doctor behaving against type by leaving quite a major loose end behind by not knowing whether or not the parasites had gone for ever in the Chinese nuke tests or whether or not the Masters newly unbrainwashed minions had gone nuts or not - they had.

A poor ending to a fairly cracking listen and I fully intend to track down some more of these.

Battlefields: Happy Valley - Garth Ennis & P.J. Holden

This is the fourth volume of the series but the first I've read. Wierdly I only found out it existed about a fortnight before I found this copy on New Years eve in Cheltenham.

I can't comment on the other volumes but this one pretty much carries on where his 'War Stories' books left off. It's very much in the tradition of the British war comics I used to love as a kid but with the swearing and the futility left in.

'Happy Valley' concerns the crew of a Wellington bomber who have just received their hot shot new kiddie pilot with only 3 sorties of their stint remaining. It's pretty formulaic stuff plot-wise but Ennis is always readable even when, like here, he's not firing on all cylinders (horrible cliche there - shame on me).

The art is nice - nothing amazing but I really don't dig the colouring - everyone's exactly the same colour. It's not going to stop me keeping an eye out for the others though.

The Horus Heresy: Garro - Oath of Moment - James Swallow

The Black Library seems to have gotten bang into audiobooks of late. This is the most recent and also one of the better ones.

Garro is the Death Guard marine who escaped from Istvaan on board the Eisentstein to warn the Emperor of Horus' rebellion.

I loved Swallow's Flight of the Eisenstein. It was a proper sci-fi romp full of ott battles and ridiculosly huge guns and it's good to see them bringing Garro back. Here he seems to be on a recruiting mission - probably for the Grey Knights - and finds himself on Calth looking for an Ultramarine Librarian. It's a short listen but fun nonetheless. The writing is solid and the dialogue is, as ever, stilted and pompous but that's part of the appeal. I've read a few of Swallow's books now and he usually delivers the goods.

Zombie Spaceship Wasteland - Patton Oswalt

I don't get the appeal of this fella at all. I know he's a big(ish) deal in the states but his fame hasn't spread over here and to me he's just not funny.

This book managed to contain not even a single solitary smile let alone a laugh. His tales are self-indulgent and inane. They go nowhere and provide nothing more than a tedious ego wank and a large empty space where some trees once lived.

Doctor Who: Sick Buildings - Paul Magrs

The 10th Doctor & Martha head for Tiermann's World to warn the inhabitants about the approaching Voracious Craw which intends to eat the planet - which is pretty voracious. Once there he meets the egotistical and bonkersProfessor Tiermann and his wife and son along with a whole menagerie of household appliance robots all controlled by the equally bonkers computer in the basement called the Domovoi.

This really wasn't one of the better Who books. It wasn't badly written and the basic concept was ok but it just didn't fly. I really can't put my finger on what it was that was wrong - if there even was anything - it just didn't grab me and I found myself quite looking forward to finishing it.

Fallen Angel: Reborn - Peter David & J.K. Woodward

A couple of months ago I read the first of the IDK Fallen Angel omnibuses (or should that be omnibi?). It was a competent but unremarkable read concerning the guardian angel of a city called Bete Noire, which apparently is a mirror to the world. Whatever happens in the city is reflected in the real world. The angel was a fairly typical angsty superheroine and the books tracked her travails against the hierarchy that ran the place.

This new book is obviously from much later in the run and is an excuse for a pointless crossover with a character from the Angel (as in Buffy) comic.

I can't really be bothered to go into the 'plot' but suffice it to say there were too many be-tentacled gods and way too many Lovecraft style apostrophe riddled names. In all it was p'rett'y mu'ch c'om'ple'te shi't. '

The Ultimates: Tomorrow Men - Michael Jan Friedman

This is the first of these Marvel spin-off books I've read although I've checked out a couple from other publishers like Hellboy.

It was pretty much what I expected it to be. Mark Millar's original run on the Ultimates was a revelation. A subtle and invigorating reinvention of an outmoded concept. This novel is an attempt to cash in on that success but unfortunately has been written by someone too straitjacketed by their knowledge and familiarity with the old Avengers and also perhaps by their own lack of imagination.

It didn't suck, which is the best I can say. It provided a passable distraction between work responsibilities but that's all it was. It read like a typical 80s / 90s Avengers storyline. It didn't go anywhere and nothing particularly interesting, exciting or even fun happened along the way to help to pass the time.

Jennifer Love Hewitt's Music Box - Jennifer Love-Hewitt & Scott Lobdell

I got this on the same library run as that last waste of paper. This one wasn't anywhere near as bad but was to all (and I do mean all) intents and purposes a straight Twilight Zone and Hellraiser rip. Here though the puzzle box is replaced with a music box (see what she did there? Clever yeah? Yeah? No!) that gives you your hearts desire but takes your sanity.

The first story about the cop was probably my favourite and the art by Michael Gaydos was lovely - kinda reminded me of Ed Brubaker's Criminal series but with hints of Bill Sienkewicz. Most of the others were piss poor 'freaky' tales.

I'm glad I didn't buy it.

Green Lantern Corps: Recharge - Geoff Johns & Dave Gibbons

Look I knew this was going to be awful when I got it out of the library but oh dear god but it's bad. Gibbons really is a shocking writer and I'm not sure about Johns either but I've not read much by him.

How in the second decade of the 21st century can people - so called professional writer type people - be writing lines like, 'Let's stay bright out there' and feature characters called Bolphunga the Unrelenting!

Anyway, the plot was shit, the characters were hackneyed, the dialogue was mediocre (at best) and the whole thing was generally a massive bring down. Companies like DC should be making better comics than this. I know I'm not in their target demographic but c'mon, this was dreadful.

Gus & his Gang - Chris Blain

A nifty little cowboy graphic novel with absolutely none of the cliches you usually get.

Gus is a long nosed outlaw & lothario - he's very successful at the former, less so at the latter - who also has a soft spot for interior decoration and an eventual hankering to be a writer. His gang consist of the hapless but loyal Gratt who is Gus' foil for most of the book. The majority of the narrative though is concerned with the life of Clem who bounces back and forth between his authoress wife Aja and his daughter Jaime and his photographer girlfriend Isabella and her rampant ways.

The storytelling is spacious and the characters human. Each chapter is a tiny snapshot and often manages to be both funny and a little teeny bit sad sometimes too. Clem is a fabulous creation though, as is Isabella and her reaction to her bank robbery was very funny indeed. I loved how Blain managed to find the balance with wife and mistress. Both are good people and you wish and hope that Clem will continue to love them both equally.

It's never going to be top of my comic list but this was a great fun read. First Second press are producing so much good stuff with two Eddie Campbell books so far and now this too.

Revenge of the Lawn - Richard Brautigan

62 small tales of giant stature take root in fertile soil and bloom.

The Three Doctors - Terrance Dicks

The first audiobook to make an appearance in these pages but certainly not the last.

This is the dramatisation of the episode featuring the first, second and third doctors.

The three have been drawn into conflict against the rogue Callifraean Omega in his anti-matter universe where he has been trapped since he kick started the whole Time Lord dealy.

It really was great fun and the second and third Doctors make a great double act. Hartnell is hardly in it as he was too ill to appear in anything more than a cameo but he is perfectly portrayed and is treated with great reverence.

It's a 70s Doctor Who so it's not overly concerned with complexity of plot or depth of characterisation but it's hugely entertaining nonetheless. Top book. A good way to pass a couple of hours while driving and cooking.

The Boondocks: Because I Know You Don't Read The Newspaper - Aaron McGruder

I'd read most of the strips that make up this anthology online a year or so ago but it was good to see they stood up well to a re-read.

It's a solid compilation of the first couple of years worth of newspaper strips and is full of slick characterisation that you just slip right into. The art is beautiful and it's good to see how much they kept of his design when they transferred it to TV.

There's and extra character in these books. A white girl called Cindy who begins the book being a friend to Jazmine but soon transitions into an annoyance for Huey. The mains are all as expected with Huey very much taking centre stage for most stories.

Originally published in 1999 it is getting a little old now but happily it isn't even slightly dated.

ps - the first series of the cartoon is amongst the funniest and best written TV it's ever been my pleasure to watch. Do yourself a favour and hunt it down post haste.

Technicolour Time Machine - Harry Harrison

It's been decades since I read this book for the first time, I was a young teenager I think. It's strange how your memory plays tricks on you too. I remembered it as a comedy but it isn't. It's quietly amusing in parts and mildly frivolous in it's treatment of the film industry but not particularly funny.

I think because I was expecting laughs I didn't really enjoy this as much as I could have done. It was a good solid tale though and sitting here all insomnia'd up at 2:10am it was suitable companionship as I got to read the last 80 pages.

I'm glad I took another look at it as it'd been a while since I'd read any H.H. books (Deathworld 1 about 10 years ago was the last). Not as good as I remembered but a nice way to while away some time.

Inferno #30: Gaunts Ghosts Special - Dan Abnett

I don't intend to put magazines in here - not that I read very many - but this one is an exception. One issue crammed with Ghost stories. Two short stories, one interview with Abnett, a background of the Tanith First's battles and a run through of all the Ghosts.

The first short story was repeated in the 1st Ghost anthology and I'd read it before whilst leaning against a bookshelf in Borders before it went bust - presumably from too many people reading their books lening against their bookshelves. It tells the story of a sculptor visiting the Ghosts in the ruin of Vervunhive. It's a nifty little tale that I enjoyed second time around as much as I did the first.

The interview and the background info is ok but nothing that ever needs re-reading.

The comic was fun. A quick romp through the different characters as they attacka chaos base. It's got no content to speak of and the art is slightly too macho with none of the characters looking anything like they do in my head but thast was always going to be the case.

The second short astory was the previously unpublished short that was grown into the first of the novels. It really was like reading a synopsis of half the novel. I've not read First & Only for a while now though so it was a fun little nostalgia trip.

Tales of the Dead Man - John Wagner & John Ridgway

I was completely taken in by this when I first read it years ago. This time all the clues are there, the 'Have you seen his eyes?' part in particular. It's beautifully written and paced to perfection. More happens in one two page Wagner spread than in most writers entire issues. He is the master of the 5 page 2000ad format. There's just no-one to touch him, Pat Mills included.

It's also good to be able to say that after all thease years since it was published Wagner is still nailing it. I've picked uip a few Dredds lately and they've all been good. The only slightly duff one was vol 14 (I think) of the Complete Dredd books. It had the first Ennis stories in it and it was pretty poor in places.

Ridgway I have a strange relationship with. At first glance I find his style quite a turn-off but once I'm into the story his artwork is the perfect place to be.

I'm so glad I picked this up. I remembered it as being proper good and 20 odd years later it's still a real fucking ride.

Death Will Have Your Eyes - James Sallis

I can probably count the number of spy novels I've ever read on the fingers of one hand. In fact, I can probably count the number of spy novels I've read on the index finger of one hand. I know nothing about them except exploding pens, ejector seats and butlers with killer-frisbee bowler hats. To be fair, to both myself and the genre, the tagline of this book is, 'A novel about spies', not '...about spying' you notice. This is a very important distinction. Sallis' book is primarily about the people not the situations they find themselves in. The protagonist, David, is a re-activated sleeper agent fighting against the comfort of his current life and the demands and duties his former life is now making of him. James Bond this isn't. David is an utterly human character. Sure, he can do 'spy' type things but that really isn't the point here, the point is what's happening inside his head more than outside it.

Sallis cut his teeth writing science fiction in the 1960's for 'New Worlds' magazine but is deservedly noted for his 4 (to my knowledge) Lew Griffin pulp-noir novels. Evidence of both of these can be found here. His theories on spying (given voice here by David's memories of his training) are pure sci fi (so much so they're probably true) whereas his noir roots show in a writing style that is slow and meandering through a plot that is airtight and beautifully paced, peopled with characters that you become genuinely fond of.

Starman vol 1: Sins of the Father - James Robinson

I was given this as a Xmas present by a friend. I'd read it a few years ago when another friend had leant me the set. I remembered quite enjoying it at the time. I think though it must have got better as it went along because this first volume was pretty feeble.

It really felt like a first volume. Too much clearing out of old mythos and too much clumsy world building. Also, and rather annoyingly, he still keeps too much of the backstory like retaining a couple of the clunky old characters such as The Shade, who appears all spooky-like, says something enigmatic before fading back into the shadows.

The main character is personable enough but I'm not feeling much desire to pick up the others after reading this one as I really didn't connect with him or the horribly cliched O'Dare family of cops.

It was an interesting place to go back to revisit - if only to see how much my tastes had changed - but probably not again.

Electropolis: Infernal Machine - Dean Motter

Motter is the guy who invented Mister X which being a Hernandez brothers fan means I've come across his work before. This time though he's illustrating it himself which means no Jaime or Gilbert to make my eyes go 'ooh purty'.

Motter is a solid artist and some of it is lovely to look at but he's not really doing a great deal for me. Story wise it's a bit of a jumble. A pulp detective story that exists in a metallic future world and concerns the investigations of a robotic gumshoe as he looks into the 'suicide' of his ex-owner / partner. There's also a side story detailing the search for an astolabe that does something or other but to be honest I soon tuned out all the blah and just thumbed it to the end as I'd bought the damn thing from a shop too far away to take it back to.

Doctor Who: Forever Autumn - Mark Morris

A Halloween adventure for the Doctor and Martha set in a New England town (shades of Stephen King perhaps) that pits them against an alien race called the Hervoken. These tree like aliens use magic-like technology and fear to power their crashed ship.

As is the case with all these BBC books it was a pretty fluffy read very much based on the the tone of the TV series. The characterisation was spot on but the plot was nothing to really recommend.

Witchfinder: In the Service of Angels - Mike Mignola & Ben Steinbeck

At this point I've not read much Hellboy, one GN, two BPRD GNs and a novel, but the ones I had read I really dug, Sure it gets a bit Lovecraft in places but I can forgive that if the rest is up to scratch. Witchfinder is a spin-off featuring Victorian occult detective to the Queen Sir Edward Grey.

The story deals with Grey investigating a series of deaths that are linioed with a bag of bonesfound on an archeological expedition. The investigation leads Grey and his new found friends through a deliciously grimey and inhospitable London full of violent and raggedy people and strange occultist and religious groups. The story's competent enough for an evenings read, I think I'm always going to prefer Mignola as an artist as opposed to as a writer.

The art by Steinbeck is very nice when it comes to scenery but he seems to struggle occasionally with the people, I do mean occasionally though.

In all it was all good outlandish fun. Lovecraft as reimagined by Hammer studios.

I am Legend - Richard Mattheson

I've wanted to read this novel for years. For those that don't know, it was filmed as 'The Omega Man' starring, that well known humanitarian, Charlton Heston. The basic premise of this book is that the worlds population has been turned into vampires (zombies in the movie) with the exception of one, lone, increasingly deranged / lonely / drunk man.

Unlike the movies' sanitised 'military man searching for a cure' premise the book's is a tale of an everyman trapped not only inside the walls of his, fortress like, home where he sits and drinks himself unconscious every night raging against his memories and desires, but also of a man trapped by his own fears and ignorance.

With this truly unique take on the vampire genre Mattheson takes us on a ride that is compelling and thrilling, culminating in a finale that's as unexpected as it is breathtaking.

Jar of Fools - Jason Lutes

Story about a conjuror on the verge of a breakdown, his senile mentor, estranged girlfriend and the homeless father and daughter con artists they befriend. It's a brave attempt at a Harry Crews style cavalcade of freaks style story that almost succeeds. It's let down only by the slightly contrived and rushed feel to the ending.

The art is clean, clear and concise. Not my preferred style (i like a more scratchy look to my art (Eddie Campbell is the man as far as I'm concerned)) but it flows nicely and suits the tale very much. A good read and one that I think warrants a re-read but probably not for a while.

Samurai Executioner vols 1-10 - Kazuo Koike & Goseki Kojima

Having completed it's mammoth task of publishing the entire 28 volume run of 'Lone Wolf & Cub' (incidentally the single greatest piece of storytelling in the history of words and I don't care if you disagree because you're wrong). Dark Horse Comics turns it's attention to the precursor to that work, the story of Asaemon, the decapitator of prisoners and tester of the shogun's swords.

As anyone who has read LW&C would expect this is a beautifully researched and realised excursion into the world of Edo period Japan. Koike's painstaking research, flawless characterisation and monolithic plot building mix seamlessly with the power and clarity of Kojima's lines to enable the reader to feel, to smell, to hear, to taste and to touch, and be touched by, the stories. The one flaw to this series lies in the fact that unlike LW&C there is no over-arching storyline to power it along, instead we simply have a collection of loosely related storylines that are simply wonderful to read.

Chapel of Extreme Experience - John Geiger

Subtitled 'A short history of stroboscopic light and the dream machine'. John Geiger's fascinating and informative history of the use of flicker in scientific and visionary research traces this phenomenon from the first recorded observations in 1823 by Jan E. Purkinje through psychedelic and hallucinogenic research of the middle of the century up to the work of the triumverate of Brion Gysin, William Burroughs and Ian Sommerville and onto recent(ish) flicker related incidents with the Pokemon cartoon. The focus of the book lies with the above three psychonauts and their use and development of flicker and in particular their 'Dream Machine'.

Geigers fascinating book offers an insight into an overlooked part of the legacy Gysin, the very marginal Sommerville (even though it was he who designed and built it) and Burroughs have left us. The 'dream machine' was very much Gysin's baby and so it's through him that the tale unfolds chronicling his many attempts to popularise and commercially exploit the machine although frequent sidetrips are made to check in on those researchers in the field whose circle wasn't quite so hip, such as W. Grey Walter and John Smythies and then over time to include other avant-artists like Tony Conrad and Genesis P. Orridge.

Within this book Geiger has achieved that most difficult of balances, that of the scientific and the artistic. Neither side of the research is neglected, an impressive feat in a book so short, and indeed it is stressed how interlinked they were. A case of marginal figures within each of their respective disciplines finding kindred spirits outside of those disciplines. Geiger has produced what is an enjoyable, if slightly dry, read that in years to come, when the rest of the world catches up with the ideas of the book's core-figures, will be regarded as essential reading.

Horus Heresy: The First Heretic - Aaron Dembski-Bowden

The 14th of the Warhammer Horus Heresy books.

Thoroughly enjoyed this one though truth be told this series has been great fun almost throughout. The only duff ones were the two Dark Angels ones, especially the first.

This was about the fall of the Word Bearer legion, written mostly from the perspective of a captain named Argel Tal. It had a nice balance of 40k style WAAAAAARGH! and some pretty solid story-telling. It was exciting when it needed to be and intriguing when that was called for. Plus, and this is a big plus, lot's of Custodes stuff which I love.

The writer has definitely got some chops. I'd not read much by him before. He's done 3 Night Lords 40k books which I'd not bothered with and an imperial guard book called 'Cadian Blood' which I've read but can't remember - not much of a recommendation really. This one was good though.

Lud-In-The-Mist - Hope Mirrlees

This turned out to be a proper windbag of a novel. Endlessly impressed by it's own intelligence without ever really putting that intelligence to work in a meaningful way. By the halfway point i found myself referring to it as Lud-In-The-Mud as a result of the effort involved in wading through the sticky morass of the authors prose. I think there was a pretty nifty little tale in there somewhere but her writing style was distinctly lacking in any sort of wit or melody and as such it never ceased being an effort to keep my attention on the page.

Hellblazer: Hooked - Peter Milligan

This is the first of Milligan's run on this title that I've read. I've never been much of a fan - some of his Shade stuff was fun but on the whole his writing leaves me cold.

I'm distinctly unimpressed by his take on Constantine. Instead of the rogueish but comitted anarchist we have here what is generally known as a complete prick. He's just utterly unlikeable. Constantine is protrayed as in love but jilted so he send her wine laced with a love potion which is ridiculously out of character. There's a demon (left over from a previous book) roaming around, who JC also fucks over with the love potion and who subsequently off the love interest by which time I'd stopped caring. Finally there's another girl (the potioneer) who eventually ends up in a zombie induced coma much to the chagrin of her psycho gangster dad.

Garth Ennis wrote all this stuff years ago and way, way better. Only a couple of years ago Mike Carey did it better too. This is just weak.

The art in the first half is by 2 guys I've never heard of called Guiseppe Camuncoli & Stefano Landini. It's quite nice if a bit cartoony. The 2nd half is drawn by Simon Bisely. It's been a while since I saw anything new by him (Heavy Metal Dredd being the last) and this is OK but he typically does JC like some giant musclebound type which is simpy wrong.

On the whole this was poor bordering on piss poor or maybe even so far as 'pretty shit really'.

RED - Warren Ellis & Cully Hammer

Warren's stuff is always worth a read and this was fun. It's got hardly anything to do with the movie. It's only got 4 characters with speaking roles; Moses, Sally (the girl he phones) an the two CIA guys.

Essentially he's marked for death by the new CIA director and comes straight for them after offing the hit team that they send his way. There's nothing else to it ereally. Lots of killing, lots of explosions and some typically nifty dialogue. It's not the most advanced thing Warren has written but it's not measnt to be.

The art is solid and reminds me of the Hellblazer I read yesterday (Hooked). 3 issues of mayhem and madness and carnage. A hell of a way to start a sunday.

Global Frequency: Planet Ablaze & Detonation Radio - Warren Ellis & Various Artists

Two graphic novels, by writer Warren Ellis and featuring some of the most distinctive artists in comics, based around the exploits of the Global Frequency rescue organisation. Think Thunderbirds for the X-Files generation and you're there. This isn't Ellis at his best (for that see Transmetropolitan) but it is a thoroughly enjoyable romp through the black-ops conspiracy nuts handook that manages to combine magick, le parkour, an alien 'meme' virus, biofeedback and bionics. As always it's deftly-handled and it really is a fun read but only a few of the stories really grabbed me as much as some of his other work. I was never much of a fan of Thunderbirds or the X-Files.
In tone these reminded me of a book by James Sallis that I reviewed (previously) called 'Death Will Have Your Eyes' - if you've not read this by the way then do, you won't regret it. Plot and conceptually it's nothing like it but it did have a similar vibe. Where the absolute joy of these volumes lie is in the decision to use a different, top, artist for each issue. Glenn Fabry, Steve Dillon, Simon Bisley, (the wonderful) David Lloyd and several others all contribute their distinctive styles to the proceedings giving each seperate story it's own unique visual identity.

The Fate of the Artist - Eddie Campbell

Between 1988 and 1993 I worked in a comic shop. 4 days a week surrounded by garish depictions of overly muscled costumed superheroes. Comics were having one of their periodic resurgences and there were lots of very good writers and artists crashing through into the mainstream or at least as close to the mainstream as they were comfortable getting. British writers and artists were leading the pack - Alan Moore (Swamp Thing), Neil Gaiman (Sandman), Jamie Delano & John Ridgeway (Hellblazer), Grant Morrison (Doom Patrol), Brian Talbot (Luther Arkwright) and many more were amongst our biggest sellers. Most were still pursuing the American idea of comics of the fantastical and the amazing but they were doing it really well so that was cool. In amongst all this horror and violence I one day chanced upon a graphic novel that was to move my reading habits permanently, it seems, to the slightly left of centre - for which I am eternally grateful. It was called 'The Complete Alec' and was written and drawn by Eddie Campbell.

Within it's sketchily drawn black and white pages were stories of love, loss, birth, death, childhood, adulthood, sex, incontinence, holidays, work, alcohol, philosophy and most of all the realities of friendship. 17 years later I still have my copy it gets reread every year or so. and it still makes me laugh and sigh in equal measures.
When I left the comic shop I parted company with comics - they were getting really bad by this point - and so fell out of touch with what was going on. Now and again curiosity would drag me into a comic shop. If I saw that beautiful scratchy art I would always buy it and so I had read some of Campbell's work since - the most famous being 'From Hell' - it's all been good, some of it very good ('The Cheque Mate!') but nothing has come close to replicating that original impact. Until, that is, I read 'The Fate of the Artist.' A detective story without a detective. The story of a missing person who is present throughout. An analysis of one man's life and it's impact on those around him. A peak behind the curtain and a dissection of fears, foibles, fantasies and family. As a narrative it's exemplary, as a piece of art it's sublime. A truly stunning read that doesn't so much demand your attention as deserve it.

The Hawkline Monster - Richard Brautigan

I love Brautigan. I read his In Watermelon Sugar way back in my stoned youth and loved the unrepentant hippie utopianism of it. Trout Fishing in America (probably his most famous) came next and was also wonderful but in a more poetical Beat manner.

The Hawkline Monster is on the surface a more straightforward novel where two killers are hired by Miss Hawkline to kill the monster that lives in the caves under the house. Such a mundane plot was never going to satisfy Brautigan though and things soon take a side-step. For me though it's the gracefulness and the dance of his prose that is the real joy.