Real Lies (2006)

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Quote:
“Robots will surely signal the end of the world for all humans.”

 

Something a bit different this time. Real Lies is a collection of short stories by writer and artist Lee Si Young and is Korean Manhwa. Manwha is obviously a close relation to Japanese Manga as the styles are very similar – or at least they are in this case which is my first exposure to it.

The first story, How Martians conquer the Earth, centres around a young woman, Si-Ra, whose boyfriend has disappeared. Feeling like the world has ended she does her best to carry on  until one day out of the blue he returns. But there is something odd about him as with many other so-called Return Men. Why are the whites of their eyes blue and why do so many of them tell the same story to explain their disappearance?

In the world of Is it really impossible?, a virus has meant that no male children are born naturally only the occasional  female. Naturally born females are known as Goddesses and cloned men are either Dominants (males who can reproduce) or Recessives (men who live as women). Mi-no is a dominant who wants more from his brief relationships with the Goddesses – tired of being treated like a stud he craves female friendship.

The final story, Science Fiction Story, sees Yoon-Kyung taking delivery of a new rental robot. But she is surprised and disconcerted by how human it looks. As they are forced to spend time together, she becomes increasingly curious and frustrated by the robot and it human qualities.

This is a quite interesting collection of stories. They remind me a little of the Vertigo book Demo by Brian Wood and Becky Cloonan. Delicate tales of love and loss but with a slight horrific or science fictional quirk in the background. These stories are more upfront about the science fictional elements but just as interesting.  The art is a bit rough in places but no more so than in some other Manga titles. I took a chance on this book as it was in a sale and it was certainly worth a look. Although she has written other books, from a quick investigation, it does not seem like any others have been translated into English.

The Anonymous Art of the Translation

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My new Nexus Graphica column delivers an interview with Jerome Saincantin, the newly-minted Public Relations Officer and main translator for CineBook. We discuss the invisible craft of translating and even sneak a few words about CineBook.

Quote:
Translating isn’t just swapping words, either. That’s something computers do — and we all know how comprehensible THAT usually turns out. You have to be able to think in both languages, read the sentence/paragraph in one language, let the information enter the brain and… well, magically come out in the other language! You can’t go: “This means that, and this means that, and that word equals this word…” You grab a concept, an image, and you let your fluency transcribe that concept or image into a different language. Sometimes, that involves rewriting whole chunks of text in completely different ways.

The Anonymous Art of the Translation was originally published on The Geek Curmudgeon

Fairest #1-6 (2012)

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Quote:
“I smell a rat! No, I smell whatever sort of vermin a rat smells when he smells a rat!”

 

The recent publication of issue 6 of Fairest marks the end of the first story. Fairest is the latest spinoff from Fables and will focus on the female characters in the original series. This first story was written by the main man himself, Fables creator Bill Willingham. The truly fabulous interior art was pencilled by Phil Jimenez and inked mainly by Andy Lanning with some help along the way from Mark Farmer and Andrew Pepoy. The fantastic covers were by Adam Hughes. The wraparound cover to issue 1 shown above features mainly easily recognisable characters to regular readers of Fables but there were a few I did not recognise.

The story follows on from the abduction of the Snow Queen and Briar Rose by a goblin army from the Empire’s capital city in Fables #107. Ali Baba is looting the city when he comes across a minor bottle imp in a bottle. Although not able to grant him three wishes, the bottle imp promises to use his skills to guide him to vast wealth. He is led to the goblin camp where he frees Briar Rose with a kiss and both find that true love is hard to find and hold on to – even with seven fairy godmothers on your side.

This is an excellent start to the new series. Willingham has produced yet another fabulous tale from his winning formula of retelling classic fairy tales and updating the characters involved. This story focuses on true love and loss but is also a tale of revenge and redemption and is bound to be an instant hit with fans of the main series. It is also the perfect introduction for those who have missed out on Fables and don’t want to play catch-up or commit to the longer story arcs.

With the conclusion of the first arc, the series is being opened out to other creators for their take on these characters. The proposed format reminds me of the Legends of the Dark Knight comic that also featured standalone tales from different creative teams. Issue 7 is to be a single issue story by Matthew Sturges and Shawn McManus which is to be followed by another six issue story featuring Rapunzel by Lauren Beukes and Inaki Miranda. While I am excited about some of the new writers and artists involved – I am looking forward to seeing more of Inaki Miranda’s work after Fables #99 – I am slightly worried that the quality may vary with the introduction of writers new to the characters.

Having said that, this first arc has left me excited for the future of the series and it is worth picking up when it is collected – sometime after the publication of issue 7 which will also be included in the TPB.

Jonny Double (2002)

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Quote:
“You kids’re talkin’ about robbing a bank!”

“No, we’re talkin’ about goin’ to get a dead guy’s money.”

 

This book collects the four issue mini-series that was the first collaboration between writer Brian Azzarello and artist Eduardo Risso. This was the start of a successful partnership that has since produced 100 Bullets, the current Spaceman and some Batman stories.

Jonny Double is an ex-cop turned private investigator whose latest client has just turned up dead. The down on his luck Jonny is then hired by a mysterious Mr. Hart to find out what crowd his daughter, Faith, is running with and to keep her out of trouble. Everything seems fine until he is persuaded to impersonate the son of Al Brown (AKA Al Capone) to close out his daddy’s inactive bank account. However, the account is not as inactive as the Faith’s crew think and instead of scoring $300,000 they lift $7 million. Jonny’s world goes downhill fast as the kids start turning up dead and Jonny has to protect Faith from a legendary hit man.

This is an excellent book from Azzarello and Risso. A modern day noir crime caper with all the elements one might expect including a dumb PI falling for deadly femme fatale. Some of the parts of the story might be a bit too clichéd but the quality of the writing and art is such that you drawn along into the twisted narrative completely. There are enough red herrings to keep you guessing throughout the story and the ending neatly wraps up all the threads from Jonny’s past and present. The only thing that slightly jarred for me was Jonny’s speech patterns which were infused with 60s beatnik/hipster figures of speech. But otherwise this fabulous book should appeal to fans of 100 Bullets if they haven’t read it already.

Steve Niles’ Cellar of Nastiness (2005)

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This book is a collection of one-shots from writer Steve Niles, who is probably best known for co-creating the 30 Days of Night series.

 

The first story, Hyde is a modern reworking of the Jekyll and Hyde story. In this version, two brothers are close to creating a new anti-depressant drug but when their funding gets cut they decide to test the latest batch of the drug on themselves. After they awake from a blackout, they discover that the man responsible for shutting them down has been brutally murdered along with his family. The drug proves addictive but each use results in a trail of bloody mayhem – but who is too blame?

This first story was pretty good but, even as one of the longest in the book, was too short for me. I would have liked more on the relationship between the brothers and their transformed characters. The art by Nick Stakal was OK on this story. It reminded me a lot of Ted McKeever but not quite as good and the quality of the art varied quite a lot from page to page.

The second story is called The Very Big Monster Show. Theo is a boy who loves the classic movie monsters but in his father’s costume shop the children are all going wild for the newer horror movie monsters. Just at Hallowe’en, Theo stumbles across an old house inhabited by the classic monsters – Dracula, Frankenstein, Wolfman, the Mummy and the creature from the Black Lagoon – who are sitting around moping about how no-one finds them scary anymore. But Theo’s belief in them encourages them to have one more go at being frightening.

This is quite a heartwarming tale of belief and courage with faith being rewarded in the end. It is also nostalgic for the lost era of movie monsters and the thrills they caused rather than than the easy gore laden shocks of the modern monsters. It could almost be a children’s tale if it wasn’t for the content. The illustrations by Butch Adams are very nice and are in a children’s picture book style.

The third part of the book was originally published by IDW as Horrorcide and features four short horror tales. The first two are stories in the same vein as the Future Shock tales from 2000AD. But the best one is a tale of revenge from beyond the grave where a repentant gang member is not forgiven by the family he helped murder. It also features some nice black and white art from Josh Medors.

As with most compilation books this is a mixed bag but I think it has enough goodies to make it worth a read.

Kick-Ass 2 (2012)

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Quote:
“Again with the f-bombs! What is it with young people these days?”

 

This book collects the second seven part mini-series from the same creative team of Mark Millar and John Romita, Jr. The thing to say straight up is that the back of this book has an infographic that states that this is book 3 of a projected 5 book Kick-Ass arc. Well thanks for the heads up on that Mark and Millarworld – the only other place it is mentioned is on the facing page to the last page in the story.

The actual book 2 of the arc is the current, and so currently uncollected, Hit-Girl mini-series. This will now have to be treated by me as a flashback. Any dramatic tension created in that story could now well be compromised since there is a likelihood that it will be spoiled by knowing the events in Kick-Ass 2. Hopefully this will not be the case but you, dear reader, may wish to hold off reading this book until after the collection of Hit-Girl.

As for the book itself, it carries on in the same vein as book one with more extreme, bloody violence and foul language. In the aftermath of the events in book one, Dave and Mindy’s lives have gone separate ways. While Dave is living the dream as Kick-Ass, Mindy has retired Hit-Girl under the watchful eye of her cop step-father. Millar cranks up the tension with the introduction of super-teams and super-villains – not everyone wants to do good. While the cops seemed content to stand back in the first book when only gangs were getting whacked, the situation changes in this book when a team of super-villains cause a massacre in a quiet suburban district.

If you liked the first book then you will probably like this as it is more of the same. The depth of Dave’s obsession with being Kick-Ass is tested to the full by the events in this book. Perhaps his actions are being dictated by the things that happen around him but how he must wish that he had hung up his costume after his first patrol. I look forward to seeing what Millar has planned for Dave and Mindy now.

Books received 8/2/12 Mass Market pb edition

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Let’s take a quick look to see what’s arrived at the Geek Compound.

The Passage
by Justin Cronin
Cover by Tom Hallman

Promo copy:

MED ONE OF THE TEN BEST NOVELS OF THE YEAR BY TIME AND LIBRARY JOURNAL—AND ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The Washington Post • Esquire • U.S. News & World Report • NPR/On Point • St. Louis Post-Dispatch • BookPage

An epic and gripping tale of catastrophe and survival, The Passage is the story of Amy—abandoned by her mother at the age of six, pursued and then imprisoned by the shadowy figures behind a government experiment of apocalyptic proportions. But Special Agent Brad Wolgast, the lawman sent to track her down, is disarmed by the curiously quiet girl and risks everything to save her. As the experiment goes nightmarishly wrong, Wolgast secures her escape—but he can’t stop society’s collapse. And as Amy walks alone, across miles and decades, into a future dark with violence and despair, she is filled with the mysterious and terrifying knowledge that only she has the power to save the ruined world.

Chasing Magic
by Stacia Kane
Cover by Ipatov and Andrew C. Mace

Promo copy:

A DEADLY HIGH

Magic-wielding Churchwitch and secret addict Chess Putnam knows better than anyone just how high a price people are willing to pay for a chemical rush. But when someone with money to burn and a penchant for black magic starts tampering with Downside’s drug supply, Chess realizes that the unlucky customers are paying with their souls—and taking the innocent with them, as the magic-infused speed compels them to kill in the most gruesome ways possible.

As if the streets weren’t scary enough, the looming war between the two men in her life explodes, taking even more casualties and putting Chess squarely in the middle. Downside could become a literal ghost town if Chess doesn’t find a way to stop both the war and the dark wave of death-magic, and the only way to do that is to use both her addiction and her power to enter the spell and chase the magic all the way back to its malevolent source. Too bad that doing so will probably kill Chess—if the war doesn’t first destroy the man who’s become her reason for living.

Pathfinder Tales: Blood of the City
by Robin D. Laws
Cover by Adam Danger Cook

Promo copy:

Luma is a cobblestone druid, a canny fighter and spellcaster who can read the chaos of Magnimar’s city streets like a scholar reads books. Together, she and her siblings in the powerful Derexhi family form one of the most infamous and effective mercenary companies in the city, solving problems for the city’s wealthy elite. Yet despite being the oldest child, Luma gets little respect – perhaps due to her half-elven heritage. When a job gone wrong lands Luma in the fearsome prison called the Hells, it’s only the start of Luma’s problems. For a new web of bloody power politics is growing in Magnimar, and it may be that those Luma trusts most have become her deadliest enemies! From visionary game designer and author Robin D. Laws comes a new urban fantasy adventure of murder, betrayal, and political intrigue set in the award-winning world of the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game.

Whispers Under Ground
by Ben Aaronovitch
Cover by Stephen Walter

Promo copy:

A WHOLE NEW REASON TO MIND THE GAP

It begins with a dead body at the far end of Baker Street tube station, all that remains of American exchange student James Gallagher—and the victim’s wealthy, politically powerful family is understandably eager to get to the bottom of the gruesome murder. The trouble is, the bottom—if it exists at all—is deeper and more unnatural than anyone suspects … except, that is, for London constable and sorcerer’s apprentice Peter Grant. With Inspector Nightingale, the last registered wizard in England, tied up in the hunt for the rogue magician known as “the Faceless Man,” it’s up to Peter to plumb the haunted depths of the oldest, largest, and—as of now—deadliest subway system in the world.

At least he won’t be alone. No, the FBI has sent over a crack agent to help. She’s young, ambitious, beautiful … and a born-again Christian apt to view any magic as the work of the devil. Oh yeah—that’s going to go well.

Books received 8/2/12 Mass Market pb edition was originally published on The Geek Curmudgeon

Kick-Ass (2010)

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Quote:
“Would you give me a hug? My daddy just died.”

 

This book collects the first eight part mini-series and was written by Mark Millar, the Scottish writer probably best known for the Ultimates or the Civil War event for Marvel. The art was by John Romita, Jr. who has mostly worked on various Marvel characters.

Kick-Ass tells the story of Dave Lizewski, a high school kid who dreams of becoming a superhero like the ones he reads about in his comic books. Dave decides to act on his desires and roams the streets looking for action but soon regrets it when he ends up stabbed, beaten and the victim of a hit and run. Several months and operations later and Dave can’t keep away from the streets but small successes only bring him to the attention of larger predators.

This book features some of the trademark excesses of language and violence that Millar is known for in his creator owned work and so won’t be for everyone. It is a brutal examination of the reality of vigilantism where the criminal underclass are not a superstitious and cowardly lot to be frightened by a man in a suit and the crime lords will move quickly to end anything that is interrupting their business activities. Dave finds that the high ideals held by the comic book heroes are soon abandoned in real life when he becomes associated with another pair of well trained vigilantes targeting crime boss John Genovese. The tipping point for most people I suppose will be the character Hit-Girl – a well trained 10 year old girl who wields deadly katanas to dish out bloody violence while spouting foul language. Even given the comic book nature of the story it is hard to imagine any father turning a young girl into the violent figure of revenge that is presented in this book. But if you can accept that then this is an excellent book.

JLA: Tower of Babel (2001)

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Quote:
“And as for the most persistent thorn in our side, the Detective … well … distracting him was so obvious a matter, I cannot believe I never thought of it before.”

 

This book collects JLA #42-46 and material from JLA Secret Files 3 and JLA 80-page Giant 1. The main story was by Mark Waid who has worked as a writer on most of the major characters from both DC and Marvel. The book also features a host of pencillers and inkers but the principle story was drawn by Howard Porter and Drew Geraci, in the main.

The main story has Batman investigating the disappearance of his parents after their graves were desecrated by Ra’s al Ghul who implements Batman’s contingency plan to incapacitate the other members of the Justice League. With the Justice League incapacitated or distracted Ra’s is free to pursue his agenda to escalate tensions in the Middle East.

The other stories in this book feature a gang trying to frame Superman for a murder in Gotham, Aquaman inadvertently revealing too much about his feelings for Wonder Woman on a rescue mission and the Atom discovering a bacterial civilisation manifesting as a tumour in a boy’s brain – a civilisation doomed to self-destruction that has a deep resonance for Superman.

The main story is an examination of the paranoia of Batman and the schemes he is prepared to consider, against his friends and colleagues, to ensure that each member of the JLA can be held accountable for their actions and brought to justice if necessary. When his schemes are turned into actions against the members of the Justice League, they must consider how far they can trust a man that does not have faith in them and whether they can continue to work with him knowing that he is constantly judging them. The only slight niggle I have with an otherwise great book is that there are a lot of artists used and even the main story has an interlude with guest artists as does the final chapter of the story – is it too much to hope that a creative team can see out a four or five page story without chopping and changing. A good story that would seem to have ripples that affect not only Batman’s relationship with the JLA but also those of his close companions within their respective teams.

Graphic novels received 7/29/12

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Let’s take a quick look to see what’s arrived at the Geek Compound.

League of Extraordinary Gentleman Century Volume III: 2009
Written by Alan Moore
Art by Kevin O’Neill

Promo copy:

In Chapter Three, the narrative draws to its cataclysmic close in London 2008. The magical child whose ominous coming has been foretold for the past hundred years has now been born and has grown up to claim his dreadful heritage. His promised aeon of unending terror can commence, the world can now be ended starting with North London, and there is no League, extraordinary or otherwise, that now stands in his way. The bitter, intractable war of attrition in Q’umar crawls bloodily to its fifth year, away in Kashmir a Sikh terrorist with a now-nuclear-armed submarine wages a holy war against Islam that might push the whole world into atomic holocaust, and in a London mental institution there’s a patient who insists that she has all the answers.

Atares Episode 2
by Leo

Promo copy:

The Antares mission is underway. Kim, her daughter and her companions are on board the interstellar ship that carries the would-be colonists. Conditions are far from ideal, though. The fanaticism and bigotry of a large number of the passengers, all members of the project leader’s sect, are putting everyone on edge. As well, there are rumours of substandard equipment for the expedition. By the time they reach Antares, Kim and her friends are already disillusioned… and the worst is yet to come.

Fever Moon
by Karen Marie Moning
Adapted by David Lawrence
Art by Al Rio and Cliff Richards

Promo copy:

An all-new Mac & Barrons story by #1 New York Times bestselling author Karen Marie Moning, marvelously adapted into a full-color graphic novel by writer David Lawrence and illustrator Al Rio

In Fever Moon, we meet the most ancient and deadly Unseelie ever created, the Fear Dorcha. For eons, he’s traveled worlds with the Unseelie king, leaving behind him a path of mutilation and destruction. Now he’s hunting Dublin, and no one Mac loves is safe.

Dublin is a war zone. The walls between humans and Fae are down. A third of the world’s population is dead and chaos reigns. Imprisoned over half a million years ago, the Unseelie are free and each one Mac meets is worse than the last. Human weapons don’t stand a chance against them.

With a blood moon hanging low over the city, something dark and sinister begins to hunt the streets of Temple Bar, choosing its victims by targeting those closest to Mac. Armed only with the Spear of Destiny and Jericho Barrons, she must face her most terrifying enemy yet.

The Lovely Horrible Stuff
by Eddie Campbell

Promo copy:

Money makes the world go round, as they say… but HOW, exactly? Award-winning graphic novelist Eddie Campbell (From Hell, Alec) presents a fascinating journey into the wilderness of personal finance. With his trademark blend of research, anecdote, autobiography, and fantasy, Campbell explores how money underwrites human relationships, flowing all around us like the air we breathe – or the water we drown in. The result is a whimsical graphic essay, deeply grounded in Eddie’s personal experiences with “the lovely horrible stuff,” ranging from the imaginary wealth of Ponzi schemes and television pilots to the all-too-tangible stone currency of the Micronesian island of Yap. In a world where drawing corporate superheroes requires literally transforming oneself into a corporation (which is kept in a shoebox under the bed), we are in strange territory, indeed. Fortunately, Campbell’s wry eye and vivid full-color artwork imbue the proceedings with real humanity, making The Lovely Horrible Stuff an investment that’s worth every penny.

Graphic novels received 7/29/12 was originally published on The Geek Curmudgeon