Thursday, June 25, 2015

Review: FRAGMENTS OF HORROR

FRAGMENTS OF HORROR
VIZ MEDIA – @VIZMedia

CARTONIST: Junji Ito
TRANSLATION & ENGLISH ADAPTATION: Jocelyn Allen
LETTERS: Eric Erbes
EDITORS: Masumi Washington, Nick Mamatas
ISBN: 978-1-4215-8079-1; hardcover with dust jacket (June 2015); Rated “T+” for “Older Teen”
224pp, B&W, $17.99 U.S., $21.00 CAN, £10.99 UK

After an eight-year absence from the genre that made his famous, mangaka Junji Ito returned with Fragments of Horror, a collection of macabre manga short stories.  Ito is the creator of such stellar horror manga as Uzumaki and Gyo, as well as numerous short manga.

Fragments of Horror contains eight short stories and an “Afterword” written by Ito in 2014.  VIZ Media recently published an English edition of Fragments of Horror under its VIZ Signature imprint.  The release is a deluxe, hardcover print edition carrying a MSRP of $17.99 U.S. and $21.00 CAN, and it is rated “T+” for “Older Teens.”

Fragments of Horror opens with the story, “Futon.”  The story focuses on a young couple who eloped and are currently living together.  However, Madoka discovers that her boyfriend, Tomio, has basically sealed himself inside a futon.  He blames “dark nature spirits” as the reason for his current predicament.  Madoka is getting tired of this nonsense, but what if Tomio is telling the truth?  Madoka and Tomio return in another story, the neck-traumatizing “Tomio · Red Turtleneck.”

In “Wooden Spirit,” a beautiful and historic wooden house turns crazy-creepy after a new tenant moves in with the current owners.  Feeding and eating turn gruesome and bizarre in the tale, “Blackbird.”

In previous reviews of Junji Ito's manga, I have basically revealed myself to be an acolyte of this modern master of horror.  There have been many adaptations of the work of famed horror and dark fantasy author, H.P. Lovecraft.  There have also been countless comics inspired by Lovecraft.  Junji Ito has named Lovecraft as an influence on his work.  I will take that one step further and say that Ito is the true comics descendant of Lovecraft, and the stories in the Fragments of Horror manga convinces me that I am right.

I will say that not all of the eight stories contained in this volume are exceptional or great.  The stories, “Futon” and “Magami Nanakuse,” are good ideas that fall somewhat flat in execution.  “Whispering Woman” is a classic Gothic tale of troubled and haunted unions, but the ending snatches defeat from the jaws of literary, short story victory.

“Dissection-chan” is creepy and ultimately chilling.  In this volume, the macabre “Blackbird” follows it, and together, the two stories make a blood-curdling one-two punch that might have made even Lovecraft gasp.  Like a Sam Rami movie, “Tomio · Red Turtleneck” is gleefully gruesome.  “Gentle Goodbye” is a masterpiece; it is one of the best short comics that I have ever read.  Every short story collection needs one truly great story that alone can make that collection memorable.  The beautifully haunting “Gentle Goodbye,” with its creepy poignancy, is that story.  Fans of Junji Ito and of horror/dark fantasy comics must have Fragments of Horror on their shelves.

A


Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux; support me on Patreon.


The text is copyright © 2015 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for syndication rights and fees.



Wednesday, June 24, 2015

Review: NATCHEZ BURNING

NATCHEZ BURNING
HARPERCOLLINS – @HarperCollins

AUTHOR: Greg Iles
ISBN: 978-0-06-231109-2; mass market paperback (March 31, 2015)
880pp, B&W, $9.99 U.S., $12.50 CAN

Natchez Burning is a 2014 novel written by author Greg Iles.  It is the first book in Iles' Natchez Burning Trilogy and the fourth book in his “Penn Cage Series.”  Harper recently reprinted Natchez Burning in a mass market paperback edition, after originally publishing the novel in the spring of 2014.

Natchez Burning covers a wide variety of genres and sub-genres, including mystery, thriller, suspense, crime, and family and local history.  The novel centers on Mayor Penn Cage, as he tries to discover the truth about his father who is accused of murdering a former employee.

Natchez Burning opens with former prosecutor, bestselling author, and current mayor of Natchez, Mississippi, Penn Cage, describing his father.  Growing up in the rural Southern hamlet of Natchez, Mississippi, Penn learned everything he knows about honor and duty from his father, Tom Cage, a family doctor beloved by the poor for how he helped and continues to help them.  It is 2005, just months after Hurricane Katrina stuck, and Dr. Cage is accused of murdering Viola Turner, the beautiful nurse with whom he worked in the 1960s.

Penn has been a fighter who has always stood for justice, so he is going to fight for his father, of course.  However, Penn's quest for answers sends him deep into the past—into the turbulent 1960s of Natchez, Mississippi and of Concordia Parish, Louisiana.  Here, Penn discovers a conspiracy of murder, greed, and racial hate that involves a vicious KKK offshoot, the Double Eagles, financed and directed by one of the wealthiest and most powerful men in Louisiana.  Determined to save his father, Penn's goes on a journey that spans forty years and discovers that the truth will endanger everyone – black and white and young and old.

I think that Natchez Burning is probably the best 862-page novel that I have ever read.  If, somewhere along the way, I discover a better one, then, it will almost certainly be a work of art and it will certainly leave me astounded.  It won't be easy to top Natchez Burning, although the second book of the trilogy, The Bone Tree, is already out in hardcover.

There is a blurb on the paperback cover of Natchez Burning.  It contains two lines of praise from bestselling author Stephen King that says:  “Extraordinarily entertaining and fiendishly suspenseful. I defy you to start it and find a way to put it down.”  If you are a fan of King, would you suspect him of lying?  How can you defy him?  Read this book.

Seriously, several times, personal and professional obligations demanded that I stop reading Natchez Burning.  When I could read it, however, I did not want to stop.  Every page is practically a cliffhanger, and many pages offer a cliffhanger, of sorts.  Holding this book is like holding a small package of literary dynamite, and I didn't mind how many times it exploded in my hands and in my face.

Natchez Burning is our dark, racist, Jim Crow, segregation, church-bombing, black man-assassinating past turned into the proverbial must-read, potboiler novel.  This is the Southern-fried humdinger that John Grisham wishes he could write.

A+

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux; support me on Patreon.


The text is copyright © 2015 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for syndication rights and fees.



Tuesday, June 23, 2015

DC Comics from Diamond Distributors for June 24, 2015

DC COMICS

APR150217     AQUAMAN #41     $2.99
MAR150265     AQUAMAN AND THE OTHERS TP VOL 02 ALIGNMENT EARTH (N52)     $16.99
APR150256     BATGIRL #41     $2.99
FEB150248     BATMAN & ROBIN HC VOL 06 THE HUNT FOR ROBIN (N52)     $24.99
MAR150266     BATMAN & ROBIN TP VOL 05 THE BIG BURN (N52)     $16.99
APR150259     BATMAN 66 #24     $2.99
APR150220     DEATHSTROKE #7     $2.99
APR150320     EFFIGY #6 (MR)     $3.99
APR150225     FLASH #41     $2.99
APR150267     GOTHAM BY MIDNIGHT #6     $2.99
APR150269     GRAYSON #9     $2.99
APR150193     GREEN LANTERN THE LOST ARMY #1     $2.99
APR150232     INJUSTICE GODS AMONG US YEAR FOUR #4     $2.99
FEB150261     JSA OMNIBUS HC VOL 03     $125.00
APR150197     JUSTICE LEAGUE 3001 #1     $2.99
APR158428     MAD MAX FURY ROAD NUX & IMMORTAN JOE #1 2ND PTG (MR)     $4.99
MAR150283     SECRET SIX TP VOL 02     $19.99
APR150323     SUICIDERS #5 (MR)     $3.99
APR150252     SUPERMAN #41     $3.99
APR150240     TEEN TITANS #9     $2.99
APR150215     WE ARE ROBIN #1     $3.99


Marvel Comics from Diamond Distributors for June 24, 2015

MARVEL COMICS

APR150721     AGE OF ULTRON VS MARVEL ZOMBIES #1 SWA     $3.99
MAR150789     ALL NEW CAPTAIN AMERICA PREM HC VOL 01 HYDRA ASCENDANT     $24.99
MAR150790     ALL NEW CAPTAIN AMERICA PREM HC VOL 01 HYDRA ASCENDANT DM VA     $24.99
MAR150792     ALL NEW CAPTAIN AMERICA TP FEAR HIM TP     $17.99
APR150910     ANT-MAN GIANT-MAN EPIC COLLECTION TP MAN IN ANT HILL     $34.99
APR150872     ANT-MAN LARGER THAN LIFE #1     $3.99
MAR150797     ANT-MAN NATURAL ENEMY PROSE NOVEL HC     $24.99
MAR150796     ANT-MAN TP VOL 01 SECOND CHANCE MAN     $15.99
APR150706     BLACK WIDOW #19 SWA     $3.99
APR150930     CYCLOPS TP VOL 02 PIRATES LIFE FOR ME     $19.99
MAR150717     DAREDEVIL #16     $3.99
APR158273     DARTH VADER #2 GRANOV 4TH PTG VAR     $3.99
APR158274     DARTH VADER #3 GRANOV 3RD PTG VAR     $3.99
APR158275     DARTH VADER #4 GRANOV 3RD PTG VAR     $3.99
APR150825     E IS FOR EXTINCTION #1 SWA     $4.99
APR150865     HOWARD THE DUCK #4     $3.99
APR150918     HOWARD THE DUCK TP VOL 01 COMPLETE COLLECTION     $34.99
APR150843     INFINITY GAUNTLET #2 SWA     $3.99
APR150828     KORVAC SAGA #1 SWA     $3.99
APR150713     LOKI AGENT OF ASGARD #15 SWA     $3.99
APR150881     MARVEL UNIVERSE ULT SPIDER-MAN WEB WARRIORS #8     $2.99
MAR150788     MARVELS AGENT CARTER SEASON ONE DECLASSIFIED SLIPCASE HC     $49.99
APR150839     MODOK ASSASSIN #2 SWA     $3.99
APR150848     PLANET HULK #2 SWA     $3.99
APR150708     PUNISHER #19 SWA     $3.99
APR150932     SECRET AVENGERS TP VOL 03 GOD LEVEL     $16.99
APR158248     SECRET WARS #2 ROSS 2ND PTG VAR     $4.99
APR150885     SHIELD #7     $3.99
APR158276     SPIDER-GWEN #1 RODRIGUEZ 3RD PTG VAR     $3.99
APR158277     SPIDER-GWEN #2 RODRIGUEZ 3RD PTG VAR     $3.99
APR158278     STAR WARS #2 CASSADAY 5TH PTG VAR     $3.99
APR158249     UNBEATABLE SQUIRREL GIRL #5 HENDERSON 2ND PTG VAR     $3.99
MAR150698     UNCANNY AVENGERS #5     $3.99
APR150847     WHERE MONSTERS DWELL #2 SWA     $3.99
APR150797     X-MEN 92 #1 SWA     $4.99

IDW Publishing from Diamond Distributors for June 24, 2015

IDW PUBLISHING

APR150493     DEAD SQUAD AYALA TAL (ONE SHOT)     $3.99
JAN150495     DON ROSA LIFE & TIMES SCROOGE MCDUCK ARTIST ED HC VOL 01     PI
APR150428     DONALD DUCK #2     $3.99
APR150439     EMPIRE UPRISING #3     $3.99
APR150358     GARBAGE PAIL KIDS GROSS ENCOUNTERS (ONE SHOT)     $3.99
APR150361     GARBAGE PAIL KIDS GROSS ENCOUNTERS DLX ED (ONE SHOT)     $4.99
APR150385     GI JOE A REAL AMERICAN HERO #215     $3.99
APR150421     JEM & THE HOLOGRAMS #4     $3.99
MAY150437     JUDGE DREDD TP VOL 07     $19.99
MAR150429     ORPHAN BLACK #4     $3.99
APR150434     SKYLANDERS #10 LIGHT IN THE DARK     $3.99
APR150403     TMNT NEW ANIMATED ADVENTURES #24     $3.99
APR150381     TRANSFORMERS MORE THAN MEETS EYE #42     $3.99
APR150378     TRANSFORMERS WINDBLADE COMBINER WARS #4     $3.99

Dark Horse Comics from Diamond Distributors for June 24, 2015

DARK HORSE COMICS

APR150021     CAPTAIN MIDNIGHT #24     $2.99
FEB150097     CHRONICLES OF KING CONAN TP VOL 11 NIGHTMARE     $19.99
APR150052     CONAN THE AVENGER #15     $3.50
APR150011     FIGHT CLUB 2 #2 MAIN CVR     $3.99
APR150068     FRANKENSTEIN UNDERGROUND #4     $3.50
APR150069     GRINDHOUSE DRIVE IN BLEED OUT #6(MR)     $3.99
APR150054     HALO ESCALATION #19     $3.99
FEB150117     KUROSAGI CORPSE DELIVERY SERVICE TP VOL 14 (MR)     $12.99
FEB150009     MASSIVE TP VOL 05 RAGNAROK     $19.99
APR150051     MULAN REVELATIONS #1     $3.99
APR150014     ORDER OF THE FORGE #3 (MR)     $3.99
APR150017     PASTAWAYS #4     $3.99
APR150022     RESIDENT ALIEN SAM HAIN MYSTERY #2     $3.99
FEB150044     REXODUS TP     $12.99
APR150055     TOMB RAIDER #17     $3.99

Image Comics from Diamond Distributors for June 24, 2015

IMAGE COMICS

FEB150606     FADE OUT #7 (MR)     $3.50
MAR150531     FIVE GHOSTS DELUXE ED HC VOL 01     $34.99
APR150590     GODLAND CELESTIAL ED HC VOL 03     $34.99
APR150593     INVINCIBLE TP VOL 21     $16.99
APR150646     INVISIBLE REPUBLIC #4 (MR)     $2.99
APR150648     KAPTARA #3     $3.50
MAR150573     LEGACY OF LUTHER STRODE #2 (MR)     $3.50
APR150655     MATERIAL #2 (MR)     $3.50
APR150658     MYTHIC #2 (MR)     $2.99
APR158496     MYTHIC #2 CVR B SHALVEY (MR)     $2.99
JAN150697     PENNY DORA & THE WISHING BOX #5     $2.99
APR150614     POSTAL TP VOL 01     $9.99
APR150544     RASPUTIN #6 CVR A ROSSMO (MR)     $3.50
APR150545     RASPUTIN #6 CVR B HAUN (MR)     $3.50
APR150546     RASPUTIN TP VOL 01     $14.99
APR150618     RUMBLE TP VOL 01 WHAT COLOR OF DARKNESS (MR)     $9.99
APR150672     SEX #22 (MR)     $2.99
APR150673     SONS OF THE DEVIL #2 (MR)     $2.99
APR158437     SONS OF THE DEVIL #2 CVR B SIENKIEWICZ (MR)     $2.99
APR158438     SONS OF THE DEVIL #2 CVR C REIS (MR)     $2.99
APR150674     SOUTHERN CROSS #4     $2.99
MAR150600     SPAWN #253     $2.99
MAR150601     SPREAD #8 (MR)     $3.50
MAR150606     THIEF OF THIEVES #29 (MR)     $2.99
APR150679     TITHE #3 CVR A EKEDAL     $3.99
APR150680     TITHE #3 CVR B EKEDAL     $3.99
APR150685     WALKING DEAD #143 (MR)     $2.99
APR150686     WAYWARD #9 CVR A CUMMINGS & BONVILLAIN (MR)     $3.50
APR150687     WAYWARD #9 CVR B GURIHIRU (MR)     $3.50
MAR150524     WYTCHES TP VOL 01 (MR)     $9.99