Happy Birthday, Scott Dunier

IDW Publishing Special Projects Editor celebrates his birthday.

07-Ghost: Xinglu? I Know Him!

I read 07-GHOST, Vol. 6

I posted a review at the ComicBookBin (which has free smart phone apps and comics, which you can also buy).

Book Review: THE ENGLISH GIRL

THE ENGLISH GIRL
HARPER (HarperCollins Publishers) – @HarperCollins

AUTHOR: Daniel Silva
ISBN: 978-0-06-207316-7; hardcover (July 16, 2013)
492pp, B&W, $27.99 U.S.

Number-one New York Times bestselling writer Daniel Silva has a new novel, The English Girl.  In fact, The English Girl debuted at #1 on the New York Times Bestseller List for “Hardcover Fiction” for the week of August 4, 2013.  It debuted at #2 the same week on the Times’ “Combined Print and E-Book Fiction” list where it stayed for two weeks behind the #1 book, The Cuckoo’s Calling, J.K. Rowling’s stunt book that she published under the pseudonym, Robert Galbraith.

The English Girl, a spy and espionage novel, is the thirteenth book in Silva’s “Gabriel Allon series,” which began with The Kill Artist (2000).  Gabriel Allon is a master assassin and spy for the Israeli secret service, and in his downtime, he is an art restorer.  In The English Girl, Allon helps the British Prime Minister after his lover is kidnapped.

The English Girl opens with a tale of 27-year-old Madeline Hart, an English girl on vacation on the island of Corsica.  She is an up-and-coming star in British politics, and she is also having an affair with British Prime Minister Jonathan Lancaster.  And that gets her kidnapped by a shadowy group of French criminals seeking to blackmail Lancaster.  The kidnappers want ten million euros – the cost of getting the safe return of his lover.

Enter Gabriel Allon, an art restorer.  His current restoration project is the painting, Susanna and the Elders by Jacopo Bassano.  He has to put that on hold when an old friend, Graham Seymour, MI5’s counterterrorism officer, calls in a favor.  Now, Gabriel has less than seven days to find Madeline and bring her home safely.  He needs help:  “someone extremely capable, utterly ruthless, and without a shred of conscience.”  Gabriel gets that in former SAS (Special Air Services) officer-turned hired killer, Christopher Keller.  Even with the ruthless Keller at his side, Gabriel may not be able to unravel a mystery in which nothing is what it seems.

Daniel Silva divides The English Girl into three parts:  Part One: The Hostage; Part Two: The Spy; and Part Three: Scandal.  While reading “The Hostage,” I was reminded of director John Frankenheimer’s thoroughly underrated thriller, the film Ronin (starring Robert DeNiro and Jean Reno).  “The Spy” reminded me of the first Tom Cruise Mission: Impossible film and of Ben Affleck’s Oscar-winning, Argo.  “Scandal” reminded me of what it is like to read about a political scandal that dominates the headlines for several weeks, secrets slowly being revealed via countless newspaper and magazine articles that arrive almost daily – each with a shocking new revelation.

So, in a sense, The English Girl is two novels and a short story, and each one offers a different mood or the reading equivalent of a musical note.  The Hostage is a pulse-pounding thriller, and my favorite part of the book.  The Spy is spy fiction as a heist movie with a jazzy score.  Scandal is the wrap-up.  And it is all good reading.

I have to admit that for quite a while, I had trouble warming up to an Israeli assassin who kills people with the ease others use to punch a time clock.  Perhaps, Mr. 007 is the only literary creation that I can accept as a character that kills with impunity.  However, I eventually warmed up to Gabriel Allon, a man haunted not only by his past, but the pasts of many others, and a man who is bothered by present circumstances.

Just in time to give Summer 2013 a roiling end comes an excellent summer potboiler, The English Girl.  Save the money you would spend on a few bad blockbuster movies and buy a copy of The English Girl, instead.

A-

www.danielsilvabooks.com

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux

The text is copyright © 2013 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for syndication rights and fees.

Arata the Legend: Ama No Iwakura

I read Arata: The Legend, Vol. 15

I posted a review at the ComicBookBin (which as free comics).

I Reads You Review: TRILLIUM #1

TRILLIUM #1
DC COMICS/VERTIGO – @DCComics and @vertigo_comics

CARTOONIST: Jeff Lemire
COLORS: Jeff Lemire and Jose Villarrubia
LETTERS: Carlos M. Mangual
COVER: Jeff Lemire
32pp, Color, $2.99 (October 2013)

Trillium is a new eight-issue comic book miniseries created, written, and drawn by cartoonist and graphic novelist, Jeff Lemire.  Lemire has described Trillium as “a time-spanning science fiction love story…” (Defy 2013 Preview – DC Comics)

So I’ll tread as lightly as I can, concerning spoilers:  Trillium #1 is a flip book, with Chapter 1 divided into two stories.  Flip Trillium #1 to the back cover, and it has another cover and opens to the second part of the story.

“Chapter 1: 3797 – The Scientist” is set in the year 3797, when a smart virus is poised to annihilate humanity.  Scientist Dr. Nika Temsmith (xeniology – a kind of archeology, maybe) knows that Trillium, a miracle flower, can possibly save mankind.  However, obtaining Trillium will require negotiations with restless natives.  In “Chapter 1.2: 1921 – The Soldier,” British World War I vet, William Pike goes into the jungle looking for “the Forbidden Temple of the Incas.”  He finds restless natives and strange doings.

Sometimes, I am reluctant to grade or pass judgment on a first issue, but I’m not afraid in the case of Trillium.  I friggin’ love this comic book, so I wonder if I’m missing something.  Is Trillium #1 really as good as I think, I ask myself?

I find the structure of the story, especially the use of the “flip book” format, really forces me to engage both sides of Chapter 1.  “The Scientist” is riveting, with its sense of desperation and doom, but also with a sense of wonder and exploration.  I don’t want to reveal anymore than I already have, but Jeff Lemire may have just presented us with the best science fiction comic book in a long time.

A

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux


The text is copyright © 2013 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for syndication rights and fees.

#IReadsYou Review: SWEET TOOTH #1

SWEET TOOTH #1
DC COMICS/VERTIGO – @DCComics and @vertigo_comics

CARTOONIST: Jeff Lemire
COLORS: Jose Villarrubia
LETTERS: Pat Brosseau
32pp, Color, $1.00 (November 2009)

Sweet Tooth was a comic book series created, written, and drawn by cartoonist and graphic novelist, Jeff Lemire.  At that time of Sweet Tooth’s debut, Lemire was best known for his Essex County Trilogy:  Tales from the Farm, Ghost Stories, and The Country Nurse, which were all published Top Shelf Productions.

Sweet Tooth was Lemire’s first ongoing series.  Published by Vertigo (the publisher of Lemire’s graphic novel, The Nobody), Sweet Tooth is a post-apocalyptic series that focuses on a human/animal hybrid child who pals around with a dangerous friend.  The series concluded with the publication of issue #40.

Sweet Tooth #1 opens ten years after a still mysterious pandemic ravaged America.  A boy named Gus is part of a rare new breed of human/animal hybrid that emerged from the devastation.  This breed is also apparently immune to the infection that still continues to kill.  Gus lives with his ailing father in a Nebraska state wilderness sanctuary.  Gus’ father is determined to keep his son living in isolation.  After his father dies, Gus is left to fend for himself, but not for long, as the hunters arrive.

In his “On the Ledge” essay, which appears in Sweet Tooth #1 (and all September 2009-dated Vertigo books), Jeff Lemire writes that “there are no tired, played-out stories – just tired and played-out ways of telling them.”  This is a frank admission from a distinctive voice in comic books that his latest work is – plot, characters, and setting – firmly rooted in the familiar subgenre of post-apocalyptic America.  Lemire, however, is correct about tired stories, and didn’t someone recently win a Pulitzer Prize for his post-Apocalyptic-set novel?

Lemire tells stories in a voice most comic book characters avoid.  His stories are both disquieting and alluring in the tranquil way in which Lemire weaves tales of a rural folk, a breed of people who are not often seen in comics, compared to other types.  There is beauty in the way Lemire depicts desperation; it is desperation that is as serene as the landscape of wide open farms, small towns, and woodland areas where much of the Essex County stories set.  Lemire’s stories aren’t so much forlorn or even melancholy as they are calm and settled.  No matter how sad the life of a particular Lemire character may be, the reader is drawn into the stillness of contemplation, introspection, and self-observation.

This is how Lemire will make Sweet Tooth such a unique take on the post-apocalyptic world.  Lemire’s unobtrusive way is not Mad Max, but he offers the reader the chance to find insight in every panel.  Each panel is a moment in time, not to be taken for granted.  In this way, perhaps, Lemire will show us the profound even in a hopeless world, where there just might be hope.

A-

[This comic book also contained an 8-page preview of the hardcover prose novel, Peter & Max: A Fables Novel by Bill Willingham with illustrations by Steve Leiahola.]

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux

The text is copyright © 2013 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for syndication rights and fees.

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Amazon wants me to inform you that the link below is a PAID AD, but I technically only get paid (eventually) if you click on the ad below AND buy something(s).

2013 Top Shelf Massive $3 Sale is On!

Once again, it is that time of year when we have football, a chance to buy great comic books and graphic novels at bargain basement prices, and an opportunity to keep one of the best publishers in America from going in the basement:

The 2013 Top Shelf Massive $3 Sale

Welcome to the 2013 Top Shelf Massive $3 Graphic Novel Sale, where you can pick up the year's greatest graphic novels at incredibly low prices by ordering direct from Top Shelf!

For the next two weeks — through Friday, September 27th — Top Shelf is having our annual $3 web sale. When you visit our site, you'll find 150+ critically acclaimed graphic novels and comics on sale — with over 100 titles marked down to just $3 & $1!

Each year Top Shelf uses this sale to help spread the word about our incredible new releases, and raise funds to “kick start” a full rollout for next year. With your help, we'll keep publishing some of the most beloved graphic novels on earth — from award-winning masters and exciting new talents (and yes, even Members of Congress!). Now's your chance to support a great independent publisher and expand your graphic novel collection at the same time.

To go directly to the list of items on sale at the Top Shelf website, just click here:

Buy here or http://www.topshelfcomix.com/specialdeals

But here are a few examples to get you started:

Slashed prices on brand-new releases and beloved perennials!
-- Slashed Prices: March, A Matter of Life, Monster on the Hill, and more!
-- Slashed Prices: Nemo: Heart of Ice, God is Disappointed in You, and more!
-- Slashed Prices: Lost Girls, From Hell, League Century 1910/1969/2009, and more!
-- Slashed Prices: Blankets, The Underwater Welder, Any Empire, and more!
-- Slashed Prices: We Can Fix It, Blue, August Moon, Infinite Kung Fu, and more!
-- Slashed Prices: Unearthing (HC), Super Spy, Crater XV, Heck, and more!

Acclaimed graphic novels from world-class talents for $3!
-- $3 Titles: The From Hell Companion, Unearthing (SC), and more!
-- $3 Titles: The Lovely Horrible Stuff, Upside Down, The Ticking, and more!
-- $3 Titles: Ax, Voice of the Fire, The Homeland Directive, and more!
-- $3 Titles: Gingerbread Girl, Liar’s Kiss, Undeleted Scenes, and more!
-- $3 Titles: Incredible Change-Bots, Night Animals, Underwire, and more!
-- $3 Titles: Lucille, BB Wolf, Pirate Penguin, and more!

Discover a new favorite with these great $1 books!
-- $1 Titles: The Playwright,Tales of Woodsman Pete, Sulk (Vols 1/2/3), and more!
-- $1 Titles: Regards from Serbia, Lone Racer, Van Helsing's Night Off, and more!
-- $1 Titles: SuperF*ckers #1-#4, The Surrogates #1-#5, Beach Safari, and more!
-- $1 Titles: Hutch Owen, Hello Again, Okie Dokie Donuts, Yam, and more!
-- $1 Titles: The Octopi & the Ocean, Conversations #1 & #2, and more!
-- $1 Titles: Comic Diorama, The Man Who Loved Breasts, Hey Mister, and more!

Please note that Top Shelf accepts PayPal, as well as Visa, MasterCard, Amex, and Discover — all secure — and that this sale is good for retailers as well (and comic book shops will get their wholesale discount on top of these sale prices):

Buy here or http://www.topshelfcomix.com/specialdeals

And please feel free to share & re-post this announcement, so your friends can find out about it as well!  

Your friend thru comics,
Chris Staros

Top Shelf Productions
PO Box 1282
Marietta GA 30061-1282
USA