I can find comics satirising the art (school) world to be a bit pretentious but this was charming and pretty funny. There were a few creative visual tI can find comics satirising the art (school) world to be a bit pretentious but this was charming and pretty funny. There were a few creative visual tricks thrown in but it was mostly enjoyable as a fun, plot driven short story. ...more
Pretty easy to read and short but insightful book about one of my favourite films. Aside from giving a bit of background about the noir and detective Pretty easy to read and short but insightful book about one of my favourite films. Aside from giving a bit of background about the noir and detective genres, the author goes through the movie pretty much scene by scene and explains what is going on, pointing out the minor details that have a place in the narrative, with a little bit about the production on the way. I didn't love the writing style - too many parentheses at times, and some humor that doesn't really land. There is a new section at the end about the Two Jakes, and I had to quickly go and watch that film before finishing the book, but the section didn't contain too many spoilers it turns out. I'm interested to find out what other books in this series are like - I've picked up Altman's 3 Women so far....more
A started reading this for an extremely minor Animal Man appearance and glad I went back and read this properly from the beginning. Pretty enjoyable aA started reading this for an extremely minor Animal Man appearance and glad I went back and read this properly from the beginning. Pretty enjoyable and short 4 issue-series set in the late 1940s that owes a lot to Watchmen and the dark revisionist superhero fad, with some domestic violence, heroes being bad and insane, and several deaths. The art and script was good, and the plot gripping. A bunch of the blonde-haired male heroes looked similar, but besides that, the characterisation was great - I was familiar with only some heroes, but that didn't matter....more
The found the first chapter a little hard to get into - briefly introducing some characters and scenarios that may or may not appear in the story lateThe found the first chapter a little hard to get into - briefly introducing some characters and scenarios that may or may not appear in the story later on - but once the book started properly it was enjoyable, witty, full of interesting ideas, and inclusive of endearing characters. I’ve never been to London (the closest I've come is Peter Ackroyd’s 'London: A Biography', and having a flight booked and cancelled in 2020) so I likely missed out of lot of references in the streets of the superior London, but it didn’t make my experience of the novel less enjoyable, and I imagine that the kind of references Moore would include would be quite obscure even for the locals. It was an interesting mix of fantasy and real historical events and characters, and I could never really tell where one started and one ended, though I am vaguely acquainted with Austin Osman Spare as a historical figure. The pacing of the whole book was a little off - not enough tension in parts, and the whole story seemed to be resolved about three quarters through before an action packed final quarter seemingly out of nowhere. The last little chapter seems to set up the next book with its reference to Joe Meek, who sounds like an intriguing subject for a book, and I will continue to follow the series. Apparently a TV show is also in the works, with Moore's involvement!
I’m not very good with audiobooks (I can't take in the text with just audio alone) but at several points I tried listening at the same time as reading this. It was useful for parts set in the Great When, which are all printed in italics and are a bit more florid. The speaker had a nice voice, and these otherworldly sections were complemented by some moody ambient rumbles in the background....more
I didn't know a lot about this serial killer going into it but the book had impressive recommendations on the back cover and from my comic dealer. It I didn't know a lot about this serial killer going into it but the book had impressive recommendations on the back cover and from my comic dealer. It primarily follows the life of Tom Jensen (father of the author) who was the lead investigator on the Green River Killer case over about 20 years. It jumps back and forward in time between Tom's life (pre-police force, through the investigation in the 1980s, then to catching the killer much later) and also a time in around 2003 when the cops were cutting a deal with Ridgway to help find additional bodies and bring closure to more families. We mostly see the aftermath of Ridgway's violence from the eyes of the police, and sense its affect on Jensen and the families. Ridgway's perspective is used sparingly and effectively - we see him hunting for victims once or twice, and only see actual violence right at the beginning of the book, and it is SCARY. The depiction of Ridgway in the 2003 scenes is intriguing. He seems - not remorseful - but insecure about it, and maybe a bit embarrassed. It's very different than the usual depiction of serial killers as egomaniacs, taunting the police. Nevertheless, Ridgway was/is very, very bad who did some shocking things, and maybe that's why he felt embarrassment and not exactly guilt. The art was solid but the style wasn't spectacular. It was pretty understated. Maybe it was the absence of colour and the heavy blacks, but it somehow reminded me of Sean Philips and David Mazzucchelli. The layouts weren't anything inventive, but the characters were pretty expressive. This would work pretty well as a TV show or film, but it probably didn't have the action and gore to be a popular entry in the "serial killer" genre in those mediums. That's probably what makes this interesting and, by the end of it, quite sad. 3+ stars...more
The main story was great and followed the developments onboard a spaceship of colonisers terrorised by a xenomorph, from the perspective of their andrThe main story was great and followed the developments onboard a spaceship of colonisers terrorised by a xenomorph, from the perspective of their android. The people are originally organised as socialists (they are the Union of Progressive Peoples from William Gibson's Alien 3 script) but the social structure rapidly devolves into a military dictatorship when they find that consensus decision making is not going to be effective in the rapidly changing situation. The art was also great, and worthy of this Treasury-sized format. This main text is broken up with shorter, unrelated stories that were all fine - mostly just slight variations on Aliens killing a bunch of people. That the main storyline was broken up like this didn't really bother me as each chapter/issue was set 50+ years apart....more
A picked this up for cheap, maybe based on the cover art and Dave Gibbons name attached to it. I haven’t really read any Rogue Trooper but it didn’t mA picked this up for cheap, maybe based on the cover art and Dave Gibbons name attached to it. I haven’t really read any Rogue Trooper but it didn’t matter as this one-shot is fairly self contained. Reading about it afterwards, it’s the first appearance of a rebooted character and this version became a longer series through the 90s. Anyway, this was cool to read in an hour or so and I didn’t really know where this was heading, beginning as a war story and turning into a sci-fi survival and revenge situation. The art was sometimes impressionistic and I couldn’t tell what was going on but I liked it. ...more
This was beautiful. Many times it felt like a slow meandering immersive Wim Wenders film. Other times it was chaotic, busy, and full of life like a puThis was beautiful. Many times it felt like a slow meandering immersive Wim Wenders film. Other times it was chaotic, busy, and full of life like a punk version of a Brecht Evens book, and set 1000 km to the east. 4+ stars....more
Very very good but very disturbing. A great little story. I don’t know if the anthropomorphic animals made it more sickening because there was such a Very very good but very disturbing. A great little story. I don’t know if the anthropomorphic animals made it more sickening because there was such a sharp disconnect between their cute Sylvanian Families world and the brutality of the violence. It may have been worse to watch humans getting cut up, and maybe Samantha would have been even less sympathetic of a character. I found it very interesting that other domesticated and wild animals existed in this anthropomorphic animal town, and that they were all OK with eating meat. There is a scene with Samantha encountering some “real� bears and I’m not sure what it all meant but it loved it, and the dream sequences. Really interested to see what else Patrick Horvath does. Recommended to all sickos....more
Every time I read Chris Ware, I'm in awe all over again. I didn't think anything else could get close to Building Stories in terms of storytelling, arEvery time I read Chris Ware, I'm in awe all over again. I didn't think anything else could get close to Building Stories in terms of storytelling, art, and grand concepts but he constantly surprises me. The first section was about a school and, while I always enjoy the art, it didn't grab me. The narrative suddenly turns into a pulp sci-fi story, and this was gripping. It turns out that this was written by William Brown, whose real (love) life we learn was pretty sad and pathetic. Next the story follows one of the teen bullies from the school, from birth (a baby piecing together shapes and faces) to death, with a lot of awful behaviour on the way, and this was really amazing. I forgot that some of the tiny text somewhere on the packaging mentioned that this story takes places at about the pace of one page per year, and I don't know how accurate that was, but it probably would've helped me make more sense of it. The final story is about one of the teachers, who seems the most goodhearted character in the book but no less downtrodden. The only gripes I had with the whole thing was that, aside from the story being unfinished, much of the writing/art was tiny. The tiny panels and pictographs are impressive but tiny words do get a tiring after hundreds of pages. Perhaps I need to arm myself with a magnifying glass the next time I read this....more
I received a used copy as a present and glad I got a chance to check this out as I probably wouldn’t gave picked this up based on the interior art. ItI received a used copy as a present and glad I got a chance to check this out as I probably wouldn’t gave picked this up based on the interior art. It's a confusingly put together collection. There were 3 'Hip Flask' books/issues released before this, which I hadn't read. This trade then collects Elephantmen #1-7 plus #0 (which was published between #4 and #5 and includes pages from the first Hip Flask issue), but none of this is very clear when reading the collection. The first few tales were like short stories involving different characters (who we would have presumably been introduced to earlier) but the vignettes soon start fitting together into a fuller universe.
It's a noir-y sci-fi story with a horrific backstory about animal experimentation - a bit of a cross between Blacksad and We3 with cool character design. A lot of the art in this does not appeal to me though. I think it's the digital colouring and clunky lighting effects. Many of the women are overly sexualised. The final issue contains a story-within-a-story about pirates and the art is murky and the layouts confusing. However, the art jumps up several notches for the Hip Flash reprint story when Ladrönn is the artist.
The end of the book includes a bunch of comic artist profiles that I guess were included in the original issues. That’s cool, if a bit odd, but there's not much need for these to be included here. According to these pages, Dave Gibbons was approached about doing art for the Elephantmen series, and that really would have been something to behold.
I’m intrigued by where the story goes next but not sure I’m willing to suffer through the aspects of this I don’t like, so I might just pick up Ladrönn's earlier Hip Flask issues and stick with those. ...more
A great book. It was very informative and engaging, which is what I was looking for in a biography of DOOM, and I learned a lot. The first section is A great book. It was very informative and engaging, which is what I was looking for in a biography of DOOM, and I learned a lot. The first section is about DOOM’s childhood and introduction to all the elements of hip hop, his early experience with the industry through KMD, and the other groups and rappers that were part of his orbit. The turning point in his life comes with the tragic death of his brother. DOOM then goes into the wilderness for several years before emerging with some unique concepts, a stack of beats, and a new vocal style. The next little section of the book goes into the cultural origins of the villain/trickster character and provides further details about the Marvel character Doctor Doom and about King Ghidorah the kaiju, as well as detailing the evolution of the iconic mask. All this broader pop-cultural background information is more interesting and important context for DOOM’s approach over the next decade. The next section is about all the recordings that were made between around 1999-2018. DOOM worked with a lot of different people under a lot of different aliases and things were not always released in the same order that they were recorded. This books straightens all of that out, going into detail about the small labels that released his material, the cast of characters involved behind the scenes, his musical collaborators, and what DOOM was responsible for in each release. There is a good amount of detail about some of my favourite releases (the King Geedorah and Viktor Vaughn albums, and MM.. Food), with a deep, track-by-track dive into Madvillany, but only a short section about his very enjoyable collab with Czarface. The final little section is about his final years, death, and legacy. As I mentioned, there was a lot I didn’t know that was probably basic knowledge for DOOM fans (e.g. the DOOMbots, and his exile to the UK) but I’m sure there were revelations here even for the DOOM diehard. That said, the author and the interview subjects were still respectful of DOOM’s privacy, glossing over some of his shadier dealings and those of his colleagues, keeping some of DOOM's myth alive as a mysterious villain with a heart of gold. I can't imagine a better biography being written about this subject and it inspires the reader to go through all of DOOM's extensive back catalogue and marvel at his work as both a lyricist and producer....more
Very cinematic, action packed, and easy to read, much like my favourite Wagner book Button Man. Unlike Button Man, the art was much looser, more akin Very cinematic, action packed, and easy to read, much like my favourite Wagner book Button Man. Unlike Button Man, the art was much looser, more akin to Eddie Campbell, but effective enough. I haven't seen the film for a long time but this was more disturbing than I remembered? ...more
Pretty easy to read but it also felt quite shallow. It explained his upbringing and where he was at different times of his life, but he still felt aloPretty easy to read but it also felt quite shallow. It explained his upbringing and where he was at different times of his life, but he still felt aloof to me by the end of the book. You get a little sense of who he was from his peers, but many accounts seem to also be shallow, overly complimentary and repetitive. I thought some of this may be due to the author being Grant’s daughter-in-law at the time, and the musicians may have been protective of Grant’s sons. I also thought that maybe Grant’s life actually wasn’t all that exciting, though tidbits are mentioned (like Grant being a founder of one of the Nation of Islam temples) that suggest otherwise. I think that some of the anecdotes could have been edited down. Some of the quotes are a little dull - even the transcription of a radio interview with Green himself. The recollections of his later manager, Jay Glover, seem very unreliable. Some of the best moments come from Grant’s sons talking about him, and it’s Sharony Green’s access to the people close to Grant that would make this unique, even if another biography is eventually produced. There are a couple of appendices written by a teenage Swiss guitar player, TJ, that are quite informative - using musical terminology to explain Grant’s technique and approach, and detailing the equipment he used. TJ also reviews a number of Grant Green recordings as leader and sideman and gives a good sense of what these sound like and what makes them interesting. There’s not a lot of info around about Green - even his Wikipedia page is short - so I will take what I can get but I didn’t find this particularly moving.
My favourite recordings? Matador, Solid, and Lee Morgan’s Search For The New Land (all recorded in the first half of 1964)....more
I got this to check out the cool art and cool art is what I got. I didn't care very much for the story but it had enough going on to drive some changeI got this to check out the cool art and cool art is what I got. I didn't care very much for the story but it had enough going on to drive some changes of scenery and generate more nice art. It's a really bizarre mix of hyperrealism and weird proportions and occasionally some elements that look flat and cartoony, so altogether it can look a bit AI generated, which is very interesting. The book is great quality, with thick pages and quality bonus content (more art). Having seen some scans of the original published versions, Villarrubia has done an incredible job restoring this for maximum impact while staying faithful to what Corben produced. I really really wish Villarrubia had been responsible for more of the Swamp Thing Absolute editions because everything other than the Wein/Wrightson collection is hard to look at. Anyway, will probably pick up the second volume of Den when it's released very soon, though not sure how deep into the series I can be bothered going....more
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