Vampire Hunter D - Hideyuki Kikuchi

I found this and a couple of his other books in a bargain bookshop the other day. They were a good  price and despite a general ambivalence towards manga I grabbed them.

It was an odd little read. I'm not sure if the writer has / had an odd style or if it's the translator who is at fault.  Some of the passages are really quite strangely written.  For instance, when D and Rei-Ginsei are fighting and D realises that he shouldn't stab at the heart D yells, "That was close" to which his opponent replies "I can't believe you changed your target at the last second...". So far so naff but then Kikuchi begins and explanation of this with...

'Here's what they meant by "That was close" and "you changed your target.".

It really is quite odd.

The story world was nicely realised though and the whole thing romped along with a vaguely spaghetti western flavour to it.  I must admit I quite enjoyed myself but i think maybe not enough to read the others any time soon.

American Vampire vol.1 - Scott Snyder, Stephen King & Rafael Albuquerque

It took me a little while to get into this one. I had a couple of false starts before I found the vibe of it and really started reading it.

The story is of a newly created vampire. A new type of one that is particularly American.  His story is told in two parts - simultaneously.  One part (written by King) is Skinner Sweets' origin tale, his genesis.  It's set in the old west where Sweet, an outlaw, is captured, tries to escape, is turned, buried, escapes, is buried again and finally gets away.

The second tale set some 16 years later has Sweet acting out some sort of Machiavellian scheme against the old vampires.  He creates a new vamp (an actress) and sits back and watches her tear through the ranks of the old guard.

It was a strange little book this one.  It really never felt like it had any real clout.  The idea felt fuzzy and the two stories were never more than vaguely readable.  I'd check out the second volume should it ever be put in front of me but I'm glad my local library stocked this and I didn't buy it.

Doctor Who: Peacemaker - James Swallow

I really like Swallow's writing. Some of his 40K books have been cracking, especially 'Flight of the Eisenstein' which was top notch. This one though took a while to get going. The setting didn't help - the wild west - as it's maybe got to be a little passe.

The story itself was a fairly typical piece of Who with the Doctor pitched against a couple (then trio) of sentient and psycotic hand guns called The Clade. The story chugs along until about halfway through when it starts to find it's feet a little and is all the better for it.

One of the main problems of these books I think is no-one really knows what to do with Martha. I didn't mind her in the TV show but in print you can feel the personality vacuum of her character. She sits on the page and sucks away any and all life from the scenes she's in.

A bit of an off day for Mr. Swallow this one though.

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.

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.