#IReadsYou Review: MONARCH #1

MONARCH #1

IMAGE COMICS

STORY: Rodney Barnes

ART: Alex Lins

COLORS: Luis Nct

LETTERS: Marshall Dillon

EDITOR: Greg Tumbarello

COVER: Alex Lins

VARIANT COVER ARTIST: Jason Shawn Alexander

32pp, Colors, 3.99 U.S. (February 2023)

Rated “T/ Teen”

“Stranger from Above” Part I: “The Truth Within”

Monarch is a new science fiction-thriller comic book from writer Rodney Barnes.  Published by Image Comics, it is drawn by Alex Lins; colored by Luis Nct; and lettered by Marshall Dillon.  The series focuses on a boy from Compton, CA who leads the resistance to an alien invasion.

Monarch #1 (“The Truth Within”) opens in the city of Compton, CA.  It introduces an African-American teenage boy named Travon.  Growing up in Compton is tough, but it is even tougher when a bitter, young thugs is hunting you every day.

Everyday problems, mundane and otherwise, are about to seem less important.  Alien life has made first contact with Earth and that contact is in the form of a military invasion.  Death, devastation, and mayhem rain down on humanity.  Now, can a single teenage boy rise to the challenge to protect his surrogate family and friends?

THE LOWDOWN:  I think writer Rodney Barnes has previously stated that the science fiction alien invasion films, Independence Day (1996) and Attack the Block (2011), are influences in the creation of Monarch.  The two films are vastly different, but both remain popular long after their respective theatrical releases.

Like Independence Day, Monarch is set in America and teases an intriguing ensemble cast.  In Monarch #1, Barnes offers the internal monologue or thoughts of three of the characters.  Like Attack the Block, Monarch presents a charismatic, young black male hero in Travon, which is an interesting name.

The art and graphical storytelling by Alex Lins conveys the grittiness and rundown quality of the environments in which Travon lives without being slavish to realism.  Lins' art is representational, emotive, and fantastical the way comic book art was before the creep of faux-realism.  Colorist Luis Nct does what he always does, craft mood, atmosphere, and intensity that makes the story pop on the page.  Letterer Marshall Dillon, as usual, creates what seems like a soundtrack to the world (Compton) and the fantastic (the alien invasion) that brings the story to life.

I hope that readers embrace Monarch with the kind of sales that will allow it to run its course.  Monarch is the kind of comic book that keeps me reading new comic books.  It is a great opening chapter of a serial that seems like it is going to thrill me every time.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of science fiction and of alien invasions will want to read Monarch.

A+

10 out of 10

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"

https://twitter.com/TheRodneyBarnes

https://twitter.com/MarshallDillon

https://twitter.com/ImageComics

https://imagecomics.com/

http://rodneybarnes.com/

https://www.instagram.com/imagecomics/

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Image-Comics-Inc/178643148813259

https://www.twitch.tv/imagecomics

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHmaKLo0FXWIPx-3n6qs3vQ

https://www.linkedin.com/company/image-comics/

The text is copyright © 2023 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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#IReadsYou Review: SAGA #1

SAGA #1

IMAGE COMICS

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

WRITER: Brian K. Vaughan

ART/COLORS: Fiona Staples

LETTERS: Fonografiks

44pp, Color, $2.99 U.S. (March 2012)

Rated M / Mature

Chapter One

Saga is an award-winning comic book series created by writer Brian K. Vaughan and artist Fiona Staples.  Vaughan is best known for the comic book series, Y: The Last Man.  Saga follows a husband and wife, each a member of two long-warring extraterrestrial races, fleeing authorities from both sides as they struggle to care for their new-born daughter.

Saga #1 is set against the the backdrop of a ceaseless war between “Landfall,” the largest planet in the galaxy, and its satellite moon, “Wreath,” that has spread across the galaxy.  On Cleave, an ancient planet caught in the war, two people from each side of the war meet.  Private First Class Alana of Landfall and Marko, a foot solider from Wreath who is also known as Prisoner #9763572, are deserters and a married couple.  Alana has just given birth to their first child, a daughter, and now, the forces of their home worlds are arrayed against them.

THE LOWDOWN:  Saga is not the first tale of “star-crossed lovers,” nor is it the most famous.  That would be William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.  Still, Saga may prove to be the most imaginative take on the story of lovers who come from opposite sides in a bloody, endless, and seemingly pointless conflict.  The more people that read it, the more fans Saga will likely gain.

Writer Brian K. Vaughn offers two delightful characters who make up our-lovers-on-the-run; witty and charming, they make their flight seem a romantic romp as much as it is a race for survival.  There are wicked and charming supporting characters like Special Agent Gale (of Secret Intelligence), Prince Robot IV, and The Will and his lying cat.  Also for a narrative that mixes science fiction and low fantasy, Vaughn's dialogue is refreshingly modern and vulgar.

Probably the most striking thing about Saga, the thing that makes it so fresh, snappy, and mesmerizing is Fiona Staples illustrations and graphical storytelling.  It is like Ralph Bakshi meets Eddie Campbell, a screwy blend of trippy animation style and matter of fact comic book design.  Each panel has its own interior graphic design that is ordinary and elegant at the same time.

I originally received a PDF review copy of Saga #1 that Image Comics provided to media outlets, which I never got around to reading.  I found a nice-looking copy of the fifth printing of the first issue on eBay that I could not pass up, so now it is time for me to catch up.  And after one issue, I see why this series has won so many awards.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of Brian K. Vaughn will want to read Saga.

A

9 out of 10

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"

https://twitter.com/ImageComics

https://imagecomics.com/

The text is copyright © 2022 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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#IReadsYou Review: ThoughtScape Comics #1 - Print Edition

THOUGHTSCAPE COMICS #1 (Print Edition)
MATT MAIR LOWERY

[UPDATE: ThoughtScape Comics 2024 Kickstarter campaign is now live.]

STORY: Matt Mair Lowery
ART: Dave Law; Tyrell Cannon; Lisa Naffziger; Karl Slominski
COLORS: Dave Law; Tyrell Cannon; Lisa Naffziger; Karl Slominski
LETTERS: Dave Law; Tyrell Cannon; Lisa Naffziger; Karl Slominski
DESIGN: John Larson
COVER: Jenna Cha
48pp, Color, $8.00 U.S. digital, $12.00 U.S. print (July 2021)

ThoughtScape Comics is new science fiction anthology comic book series from writer Matt Mair Lowery.  Lowery is the writer and co-creator with artist Cassie Anderson of Lifeformed, a YA science fiction graphic novel series published first, by Dark Horse Comics and now, by Scout Comics.

Lowery released a PDF edition of the first issue of ThoughtScape Comics in order to promote the “Kickstarter” crowdfunding campaign for the comic, which was fully funded.  Lowery recently shipped physical copies of ThoughtScape Comics #1 to supporters, of which I am one.

Lowery has stated that each issue of ThoughtScape Comics will contain 44+ pages of content, featuring stories written by Lowery and drawn by up-and-coming comic book artists.  Some of the stories will be self-contained and others will be part of a serial.  Multimedia artist, John Larsen, will provide the graphic design and packaging for each issue.

ThoughtScape Comics #1 contains four stories.  Lowery is joined by artists Dave Law, Tyrell Cannon, Lisa Naffziger, and Karl Slominski.  Two stories are apparently serials, and the other two are standalone stories.

ThoughtScape Comics is set in a world in which humanity's first multi-planet conglomerate, LifeTech, discovered the “ThoughtScape” in the late 21st century.  The ThoughtScape is a fifth dimension where every thought that has ever been thought exists.  Using technology of its own innovation, LifeTech began isolating and monitoring these thoughts (via "ThoughtScape Listening Posts").

Later, LifeTech began capturing and recording these thoughts through Thought & Information Service Collection Officers (TISCOs).  Eventually technological advancements allowed that the entire “ThoughtLives” of both living individuals and of the long-dead could be virtually reconstructed and played back through a variety of media formats.  The stories of ThoughtScape Comics will focus on the designs and intentions of LifeTech; the nature of ThoughtScape; and how people and beings connect, react, and exist with both.

THE LOWDOWN:  For the review of ThoughtScape Comics #1, I will offer comments on each of the four stories individually.

The first story is “Thoughtscape 2319: Parish, The Thought . Part 1,” the first part of a serial.  It is written by Lowery and drawn by Dave Law.  The story takes place at the edges of the galactic frontier in the year 2319.  Week 32.4, Thought & Information Service Collection Officer (TISCO) Odessa Query patrols her beat, currently the Hen 3-593 Di Chamaelontis System – 700 light years from Earth.

Her TISCO ship collects thoughts from ThoughtScape Listening Post Di.Cha.036, while she entertains her ship's neurocorder, Feyla.  Query prepares to move on to her next assigned Listening Post when she is diverted to an ongoing disaster.

Because of its cliffhanger ending, I am excited to read more of this story, especially because Lowery teases something awesome and awful coming to scare us, dear readers.  Dave Law's drawing style is perfect for science fiction comic books, and the design of the characters and the technology are convincing.  I also like Law's impressive title page drawing (for which I wouldn't mind having the original art).

The second story is “A Spy Without A face,” illustrated by Tyrell Cannon.  The story pits a mysterious “spy without a face” against a pack of assassins who have broken into a mysterious LifeTech facility.  Both sides get more than they bargained for in this black and white tale.

Cannon's graphical storytelling is high-speed and hyper-kinetic with the graphic design sensibilities of science fiction anime and manga.  Lowery's story allows Cannon to draw an explosive tale that is visceral and thrilling.  I'd like to see another Lowery-Cannon creation, and this story also made me seek out more information about Tyrell Cannon.

The third story is “Adorable Orphans,” written by Lowery and drawn and colored by Lisa Naffziger.  Sally, an elementary school-age girl, loves her “Grammie,” her grandmother.  Her parents seem to despise the old woman, and they are particular about the things to which Grammie exposes Sally.

One day, Sally gets a package from Grammie.  Inside is the season’s hottest toy trend, one of LifeTech’s “Adorable Orphan android dolls” (also called a “DollDroid”).  The girl DollDroid's name is Betty, and she is a great friend for Sally, but everyone else better watch out.

“Adorable Orphans” is by far the best story in ThoughtScape Comics #1.  It is straight-forward, but Lowery is sly and sneaky in the way he surprises the readers in unexpected ways.  For instance, Sally's parents are both snobby and vulgar.  What's going on with Grammie?  And there is certainly more to Sally than what appears on the surface.

Lisa Naffziger's compositions and coloring are more alt-comics than children's comics, although I can understand why some people would see her work as the latter.  Lowery and Naffziger have created in “Adorable Orphans” a concept that could live on its own outside the world of ThoughtScape Comics.  If I were in Hollywood film and television production, I'd swoop in and buy the media rights for “Adorable Orphans” away from the rest of this package.

The fourth and final story is “Ex Post Facto: A Dash Varrick Misadventure . Part 1.”  A press release from Lowery describes the story in the following way:

XXXX#$%@&*!(AGAIN)))...Murder and music at the fringes of the revolution! he’s just a drop in the Co- maXYxXc o p y X > P A S T E Y # % Z o n e , - - h e ’ s - - y o u & M E m e M E . h e ’ s d - d - d a s h D A S H .tooLATEagaFILEretrieveERRORERR.accessing…

The art by Karl Slominski has elements that remind me of David Mack, especially, and of Bill Sienkiewiz, a little.  Otherwise, I have no idea what's going on with this story.

Overall, I like ThoughtScape Comics #1.  It presents such an expansive science fiction concept with a universe of possibilities as big as anything offered by the Star Wars and Star Trek franchises.  The print edition makes it much easier to engage the story and to enjoy the in-narrative adds.  It will also be easier for readers to appreciate what an impressive graphics package this comic book is and to also recognize the work of designer John Larson.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of science fiction anthology comic books (such as 2000 AD) will want to try ThoughtScape Comics.

A
8 of 10

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"

 

You can order ThoughtScape Comics #1 - print or digital - here.

https://twitter.com/mattmlpdx
https://www.mmlcomics.com/thoughtscape-comics
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/mattmlpdx/thoughtscape-comics-1
https://twitter.com/TCannonComics
https://twitter.com/lisanaffziger
https://twitter.com/KarlSlominski
https://www.instagram.com/itsdavelaw/
https://twitter.com/kale_satan
https://johnlarsen.net/


The text is copyright © 2021 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

---------------------

#IReadsYou Review: ThoughtScape Comics #1 - Digital Edition

THOUGHTSCAPE COMICS #1
MATT MAIR LOWERY

[UPDATE: ThoughtScape Comics 2024 Kickstarter campaign is now live.]

STORY: Matt Mair Lowery
ART: Dave Law; Tyrell Cannon; Lisa Naffziger; Karl Slominski
COLORS: Dave Law; Tyrell Cannon; Lisa Naffziger; Karl Slominski
LETTERS: Dave Law; Tyrell Cannon; Lisa Naffziger; Karl Slominski
DESIGN: John Larson
COVER: Jenna Cha
44pp, Color, $8.00 U.S. (digital), $15.00 U.S. (print)

ThoughtScape Comics is new science fiction anthology comic book series from writer Matt Mair Lowery.  Lowery is the writer and co-creator with artist Cassie Anderson of Lifeformed, a YA science fiction graphic novel series published by Dark Horse Comics.

Lowery has stated that each issue of ThoughtScape Comics will contain 44+ pages of content, featuring stories written by Lowery and drawn by up-and-coming comic book artists.  Some of the stories will be self-contained and others will be part of a serial.  Multimedia artist, John Larsen, will provide the graphic design and packaging for each issue.

ThoughtScape Comics #1 contains four stories.  Lowery is joined by artists Dave Law, Tyrell Cannon, Lisa Naffziger, and Karl Slominski.  Two stories are apparently serials, and the other two are standalone stories.

ThoughtScape Comics is set in a world in which humanity's first multi-planet conglomerate, LifeTech, discovered the “ThoughtScape” in the late 21st century.  The ThoughtScape is a fifth dimension where every thought that has ever been thought exists.  Using technology of its own innovation, LifeTech began isolating and monitoring these thoughts (via “ThoughtScape Listening Posts").

Later, LifeTech began capturing and recording these thoughts through Thought & Information Service Collection Officers (TISCOs).  Eventually technological advancements allowed that the entire “ThoughtLives” of both living individuals and of the long-dead could be virtually reconstructed and played back through a variety of media formats.  The stories of ThoughtScape Comics will focus on the designs and intentions of LifeTech; the nature of ThoughtScape; and how people and beings connect, react, and exist with both.

THE LOWDOWN:  For the review of ThoughtScape Comics #1, I will offer comments on each of the four stories individually.

The first story is “Thoughtscape 2319: Parish, The Thought . Part 1,” the first part of a serial.  It is written by Lowery and drawn by Dave Law.  The story takes place at the edges of the galactic frontier in the year 2319.  Week 32.4, Thought & Information Service Collection Officer (TISCO) Odessa Query patrols her beat, currently the Hen 3-593 Di Chamaelontis System – 700 light years from Earth.

Her TISCO ship collects thoughts from ThoughtScape Listening Post Di.Cha.036, while she entertains her ship's neurocorder, Feyla.  Query prepares to move on to her next assigned Listening Post when she is diverted to an ongoing disaster.

Because of its cliffhanger ending, I am excited to read more of this story, especially because Lowery teases something awesome and awful coming to scare us, dear readers.  Dave Law's drawing style is perfect for science fiction comic books, and the design of the characters and the technology are convincing.  I also like Law's impressive title page drawing (for which I wouldn't mind having the original art).

The second story is “A Spy Without A face,” illustrated by Tyrell Cannon.  The story pits a mysterious “spy without a face” against a pack of assassins who have broken into a mysterious LifeTech facility.  Both sides get more than they bargained for in this black and white tale.

Cannon's graphical storytelling is high-speed and hyper-kinetic with the graphic design sensibilities of science fiction anime and manga.  Lowery's story allows Cannon to draw an explosive tale that is visceral and thrilling.  I'd like to see another Lowery-Cannon creation, and this story also made me seek out more information about Tyrell Cannon.

[Art by Tyrell Cannon for the story, "A Spy Without A face."]

The third story is “Adorable Orphans,” written by Lowery and drawn and colored by Lisa Naffziger.  Sally, an elementary school-age girl, loves her “Grammie,” her grandmother.  Her parents seem to despise the old woman, and they are particular about the things to which Grammie exposes Sally.

One day, Sally gets a package from Grammie.  Inside is the season’s hottest toy trend, one of LifeTech’s “Adorable Orphan android dolls” (also called a “DollDroid”).  The girl DollDroid's name is Betty, and she is a great friend for Sally, but everyone else better watch out.

“Adorable Orphans” is by far the best story in ThoughtScape Comics #1.  It is straight-forward, but Lowery is sly and sneaky in the way he surprises the readers in unexpected ways.  For instance, Sally's parents are both snobby and vulgar.  What's going on with Grammie?  And there is certainly more to Sally than what appears on the surface.

Lisa Naffziger's compositions and coloring are more alt-comics than children's comics, although I can understand why some people would see her work as the latter.  Lowery and Naffziger have created in “Adorable Orphans” a concept that could live on its own outside the world of ThoughtScape Comics.  If I were in Hollywood film and television production, I'd swoop in and buy the media rights for “Adorable Orphans” away from the rest of this package.

The fourth and final story is “Ex Post Facto: A Dash Varrick Misadventure . Part 1.”  A press release from Lowery describes the story in the following way:

XXXX#$%@&*!(AGAIN)))...Murder and music at the fringes of the revolution! he’s just a drop in the Co- maXYxXc o p y X > P A S T E Y # % Z o n e , - - h e ’ s - - y o u & M E m e M E . h e ’ s d - d - d a s h D A S H .tooLATEagaFILEretrieveERRORERR.accessing…

The art by Karl Slominski has elements that remind me of David Mack, especially, and of Bill Sienkiewiz, a little.  Otherwise, I have no idea what's going on with this story.

Overall, I like ThoughtScape Comics #1.  It presents such an expansive science fiction concept with a universe of possibilities as big as anything offered by the Star Wars and Star Trek franchises.  I hope a lot of comic book readers get behind the project and financially support it.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of science fiction anthology comic books (such as 2000 AD) will want to try ThoughtScape Comics.

A-

7.5 out of 10

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


https://twitter.com/mattmlpdx
https://www.mmlcomics.com/thoughtscape-comics
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/mattmlpdx/thoughtscape-comics-1
https://twitter.com/TCannonComics
https://twitter.com/lisanaffziger
https://twitter.com/KarlSlominski
https://www.instagram.com/itsdavelaw/
https://twitter.com/kale_satan
https://johnlarsen.net/


The text is copyright © 2021 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

-------------------------

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).  But that ad is for a graphic novel you might want to give a try.

#IReadsYou Book Review: AFTER THE FLOOD: A Novel

AFTER THE FLOOD: A NOVEL
HARPERCOLLINS/William Morrow – @HarperCollins @WmMorrowBks

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

AUTHOR: Kassandra Montag
ISBN: 978-0-06-288936-2; hardcover; 5 in x 9 in; (September 3, 2019)
432pp, B&W, $27.99 U.S., $34.99 CAN

After the Flood is the debut novel from poet Kassandra Montag.  A post-apocalyptic drama and sea-faring novel, After the Flood is set on an Earth almost entirely covered by water.

After the Flood opens a little more than a century from now, and the Earth has been utterly transformed.  It began with the so-called “Hundred Year Flood,” in which rising floodwaters slowly overtook the North American continent.  Then, the so-called “Six Year Flood” obliterated America’s great coastal cities and then its heartland.  After which, all that was left was an archipelago of mountaintop colonies surrounded by a deep expanse of open water.  [That may also be the situation with all the other continents.]

Sailing what is left of the United States is a stubbornly independent woman, Myra, and her precocious seven-year-old daughter, Pearl.  They fish from their small boat, “the Bird,” and only visit the dry land of the mountaintop colonies when they need to trade for supplies and information on those few remaining outposts of civilization.  For seven years, Myra has grieved the loss of her elder daughter, Row.  She was stolen by her father, Myra's husband, Jacob, after a monstrous deluge overtook their home in Nebraska, an event that occurred before Pearl was born.  During a violent confrontation with a stranger, Myra suddenly discovers that the man has seen Row in a place called “the Valley,” which is located on the Eastern coast of what had been Greenland.

Throwing aside her usual caution, Myra plots a perilous voyage to those icy northern seas to recover her daughter.  Myra and Pearl find an ally in a mysterious man named Daniel, a cartographer and navigator.  Eventually, the three of them join another ship, “the Sedna,” and Myra tries to convince “the Sedna's” captain, Abran, and his crew to travel to “the Valley.”  However, the secrets that Myra, Daniel, and Abran hold may derail the voyage and lead to everyone's death.

If you, dear readers, peruse After the Flood's book jacket, you will find other authors praising this novel, including bestselling author, Karin Slaughter, one of America's best writers of thrillers and crime novels.  You can take all these authors' praise for After the Flood to heart; author Kassandra Montag's novel is indeed an excellent read.

After the Flood pushes against being pegged as belonging to one or two genres.  It is a sea-faring novel, full of adventure and gripping sea battles.  As post-apocalyptic fiction, After the Flood offers a frightening and implausible scenario for the destruction of civilization as we know it.  In this novel, we find humans basically reduced to dog-eat-dog survivalists, killers, thieves, rapists, and wannabe leaders engaging in biological warfare.

However, I think that After the Flood is, at its heart, a work of modern fiction, and it focuses on the lead character, Myra's personal journey, from trauma and grief to discovering the nature of hope.  In that sense, After the Flood is about characters, conflicts, and personalities, while also offering strong genre trappings and elements.  It is an irresistible read because Myra is an endlessly fascinating character.  Once you start reading this novel, dear readers, it will be hard to stop reading.  When you do, you will find yourself wondering about Myra and perhaps, even being concerned about her.

As a bonus, Myra's daughter Pearl is an equally endlessly fascinating character.  I think Kassandra Montag could write another version of this novel that focuses on Pearl, and it would be just as gripping and engaging... dare I say an even better novel?  For now, I will highly recommend After the Flood to readers looking for something different and also for something familiar in novels that deal with troubling futures for mankind.  Readers looking to delve into the interior and exterior lives of the characters that must survive these future shocks will want After the Flood.

9 out of 10

https://kassandramontag.com/
https://www.facebook.com/AuthorKassandraMontag

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


The text is copyright © 2019 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for syndication rights and fees.

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Amazon Announces "Forward" Sci-Fi Short Story Collection

Amazon Publishing Brings Together Bestselling and Award-Winning Authors Blake Crouch, N. K. Jemisin, Veronica Roth, Amor Towles, Paul Tremblay, and Andy Weir for a Sci-Fi Short Story Collection

Coming from Amazon Original Stories in September 2019, Forward will offer readers mind-bending, binge-worthy short stories from some of today’s most acclaimed authors

SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--(NASDAQ: AMZN)—Amazon Original Stories, an imprint of Amazon Publishing, announced the forthcoming six-part science-fiction collection, Forward, featuring original short stories from some of today’s most celebrated voices in fiction, including Blake Crouch, N. K. Jemisin, Veronica Roth, Amor Towles, Paul Tremblay, and Andy Weir. Forward will be available for free on September 17th, 2019 to Prime and Kindle Unlimited customers. Readers can download the collection as a Kindle eBook or Audible audiobook.

    “We think of our story collections as reading’s answer to podcasts, and are proud to offer our readers—and listeners—fresh ways to fit binge-worthy narratives into their lives.”

Forward explores a central theme: the resounding effects of a pivotal technological moment. While each author started with this same prompt, readers will discover that each story unearths a unique corner of the sci-fi genre, ranging from intimate to epic, grounded to far future, hopeful to harrowing.

Andy Weir (Artemis, The Martian) imagines a high-tech Las Vegas casino heist; Paul Tremblay (The Cabin at the End of the World) immerses readers in a patient’s mysteriously slow healing process; Amor Towles (A Gentleman in Moscow) explores a fertility clinic’s god-like abilities to alter an unborn child’s life path; Veronica Roth (Divergent trilogy) spins a story of finding connection in the face of our world’s certain destruction; N.K. Jemisin (The Broken Earth series) subverts all expectations when an explorer returns to the ravaged Earth his ancestors fled; and Blake Crouch (Dark Matter) follows a video game designer whose character Maxine unexpectedly “wakes up.”

“Each story in the Forward collection stands alone as a singular achievement in science fiction, imagined by a storyteller at the top of their game,” said Mikyla Bruder, Publisher, Amazon Publishing. “In this ambitious collection, these writers deliver a formidable reading experience that will delight their fans and thrill readers new to their work.”

“I find the theme of the Forward collection particularly exciting,” said Veronica Roth, New York Times bestselling author of the Divergent trilogy. “Sci-fi often skews toward wariness of the future, for good reason, but this collection prompted me to tap into the other side of it, into wonder and imagination. It was a welcome challenge!”

“The short story is one of the hardest, most rewarding forms in fiction, and with Amazon Original Stories, we had the tools to gather together the best of the best in sci-fi, fantasy, YA, horror, and historical and bring these groundbreaking stories to a true mass audience,” said Blake Crouch, bestselling author of Dark Matter and the curator of Forward. Crouch’s Wayward Pines trilogy and his novel Good Behavior, both of which were adapted for television, were also published by Amazon Publishing, under the Thomas & Mercer imprint.

“Amazon Original Stories is all about innovating on what storytelling looks like today, and Forward’s all-star cast of beloved authors is helping us do just that,” said Julia Sommerfeld, Editorial Director, Amazon Original Stories. “We think of our story collections as reading’s answer to podcasts, and are proud to offer our readers—and listeners—fresh ways to fit binge-worthy narratives into their lives.”

Launched in 2017, Amazon Original Stories brings unforgettable short fiction and nonfiction to Kindle. Past collections include the Amazon Original Stories and Amazon Studios joint acquisition The Fairer Sex by Michelle Miller, Warmer by Lauren Groff, Jane Smiley, Jess Walter, and more, and Dark Corners, which features Lisa Unger’s Edgar Award-nominated short The Sleep Tight Motel. Each story is available free to Prime members, as well as Kindle Unlimited subscribers, and is available for download for non-subscribers beginning at $1.99.

www.amazon.com/amazonoriginalstories


About Amazon Publishing
Amazon Publishing is a leading publisher of trade fiction, nonfiction, and children’s books with a mission to empower outstanding storytellers and connect them with readers worldwide. The Amazon Publishing teams based in Seattle, New York, Grand Haven, Luxembourg, London, Paris, Madrid, Milan, and Munich publish emerging, bestselling and critically-acclaimed authors in digital, print, and audio formats. For more information, visit apub.com.

About Amazon
Amazon is guided by four principles: customer obsession rather than competitor focus, passion for invention, commitment to operational excellence, and long-term thinking. Customer reviews, 1-Click shopping, personalized recommendations, Prime, Fulfillment by Amazon, AWS, Kindle Direct Publishing, Kindle, Fire tablets, Fire TV, Amazon Echo, and Alexa are some of the products and services pioneered by Amazon. For more information, visit www.amazon.com/about and follow @AmazonNews.

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Book Review: John Byrne's STOWAWAY TO THE STARS

JOHN BYRNE'S STOWAWAY TO THE STARS
IDW PUBLISHING – @IDWPublishing

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

AUTHOR: John Byrne
ILLUSTRATOR: John Byrne
COLORS: Leonard O'Grady
EDITOR: Chris Ryall
COVER: John Byrne with Leonard O'Grady
Paperback: 8” x 10” (May 2018 – first print)
48pp, Color, $7.99 U.S., $10.99 CAN (June 6, 2018 – DIAMOND CODE: MAR180559)

John Byrne's Stowaway to the Stars is an adult coloring book featuring all-new art by legendary comic book writer, artist, writer-artist, and creator, John Byrne (Fantastic Four, X-Men, Star Trek).  IDW Publishing originally released this coloring book in 2016.  Several months later, IDW published John Byrne’s Stowaway to the Stars as an over-sized art book (June 2017) with Byrne's art colored by Leonard O'Grady.  Sixteen images were printed with perforated edges, enabling readers to easily remove them for framing.

John Byrne's Stowaway to the Stars the adult coloring book not only included Byrne's art, but also a story written by Byrne.  This is the tale of a spunky teenaged girl, of robots, of aliens, and of space travel.  This month (June 2018) IDW published Stowaway to the Stars as a paperback, graphic album, which is similar to the paperback graphic novel format that many American comic book publishers used throughout the 1980s and into the 1990s.  The trim size was 8.5” x 11” or around that.

This new version of John Byrne's Stowaway to the Stars features 23 illustrations, each one in a two-page spread.  On the left side is a section of text, written by Byrne, that is part of a larger story.  On the right side is a Byrne Stowaway illustration presented in full-color, executed by Leonard O'Grady.

The text of John Byrne's Stowaway to the Stars is a short, short story, a science fiction tale that evokes classic sci-fi adventure tales of children escaping into the far-flung reaches of outer space.  In this case, the child is 14-year-old Eliza Smith.  On her home world, Capella 4-G (one of Earth's oldest colonies), Eliza lives close enough to a spaceport to watch one hundred ships come and go everyday.  Now, Eliza is taking control of her fate, but will this stowaway to the stars live to regret her decision far, far away from home.

First, John Byrne's Stowaway to the Stars the graphic album (or illustrated book?) is beautiful.  Obviously, John Byrne is known for his comic book storytelling.  His work on X-Men/Uncanny X-Men with writer Chris Claremont is literally legendary, and truthfully, every X-Men comic book Marvel has published since the last Byrne-Claremont's issue (Uncanny X-Men #143) lives in the shadow of Byrne-Claremont's work.  Byrne revitalized Fantastic Four, and he basically reinvented Superman for DC Comics in 1986.

Still, for illustrative work – on comic books, magazines, and book covers; for portfolios; and on art commissioned by fans, Byrne has produced some of his most beautiful and distinctive work.  I think John Byrne's Stowaway to the Stars contains some of Byrne's best art ever.  The line work here reveals Byrne as a master draftsman, and the composition informs the viewer that each illustration tells a story and that it is not just a drawing.

Leonard O'Grady's coloring brings Byrne's illustrations fully to life.  O'Grady's colors shimmer and glow, giving each illustration a sense of possibility and storytelling potential.  O'Grady basically makes the illustrations pop off the page.

As for the story, which IDW has sometimes described as “story fragments,” John Byrne's Stowaway to the Stars recalls juvenile science fiction, the kids-in-space sub-genre probably best exemplified by Robert A. Heinlein's “juvenile” novels (like Farmer in the Sky).  Part of me loves the dystopias of Philip K. Dick and the near-future worlds of books like A Clockwork Orange and Fahrenheit 451.  Another part of me wants to be “Lost in Space,” whether it be with the Robinsons or aboard the “Astra” of Kenta Shinohara.  Eliza's adventure recalls a sense of wonder, of adventure, and of mystery evoked by the promise and potential of space exploration.

You don't have to live far, far away on an Earth colony to wonder what it would be like to be in space.  You can sit in tall grass on Earth and look up at the stars and feel almost exactly as Eliza feels.  John Byrne's Stowaway to the Stars may be a fragment, but even in its smallness it reaches for something that is probably universal.  I want to read it again.

9 out of 10

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


The text is copyright © 2018 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for syndication rights and fees.

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I Reads You Review: OLD MAN'S WAR

OLD MAN'S WAR
TOR/Tom Doherty Associates – @torbooks

AUTHOR: John Scalzi
ISBN: 978-0765309402; hardcover (2005)
320pp, B&W, $. U.S.

Old Man's War is the debut novel from blogger and science fiction writer, John Scalzi.  The book was first published in 2005 (although there may have been a Science Fiction Book Club edition of the book published in late 2004).  It was nominated for one of science fiction literature's top honors, the Hugo Award for Best Novel, in 2006.

Old Man's War is a military science fiction novel in the tradition of Starship Troopers, the novel by the late author, Robert A. Heinlein, which was first published in hardcover in December 1959 (after being serialized in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction).  Old Man's War is the story of an old man who enlists in the human interstellar military force, which wages a constant war against aliens for the planets that humans colonize and the ones humans want to colonize.

Old Man's War is told as a first-person narrative by the novel's central character, John Nicholas Perry, a retired advertising writer.  Perry does two things on his 75th birthday:  (1) visit his wife, Kathy's grave and (2) join the army.  Ten years earlier, Perry and his wife had signed a letter of intent to join the Colonial Defense Forces.

You see, the good news about the future is that humanity finally made it into interstellar space.  The bad news is that planets fit to live on (or support complex life) are scarce.  The other races (or aliens) willing to fight for these scare planets are common, so the universe is a hostile place.  The Colonial Defense Forces (CDF) protects human interplanetary colonists.

Now, Perry takes the space elevator to CDF station.  It is the first step to training to fight in battles in ways that are totally different from how anyone or any military has ever fought on earth.  He travels to new planets, where he must sometimes kill the inhabitants, or kill other races that also want to colonize those planets.  Perry meets new people and new kinds of people and discovers things that are just new.  But before a 75-year-old man can fight for the CDF, he has to undergo a shocking change.

I don't like Old Man's War.  I love it; yes, “love” is the word that I want to use.  There were times that I stopped reading this book for a few days just to delay getting to the last page.  Of course, I later learned that Old Man's War is the first in a book series.

Old Man's War does remind me of Starship Troopers, which I read some time in the past ten years – I can't remember exactly when.  So this book is what Starship Troopers is, a military science fiction novel that is also philosophical about war and about why we (humans) fight wars – against ourselves and others.  Apparently, Robert Heinlein originally wrote Starship Troopers as an installment in his line juvenile science fiction novels.  With that in mind, Old Man's War came across to me as a boy's adventure novel with the boy being an old man who gets to have a great big old adventure thanks to war and future science.

I do not want to dismiss Old Man's War by genre or thematically, but sometimes, it is good enough that a novel is a great story.  And Old Man's War is a great story, a rousing adventure that captures the imagination. I read a lot of science fiction until my early 20s.  Since then, I have read it sporadically, occasionally seeking out books generally considered science fiction and fantasy classics.  Old Man's War feels like classic science fiction – a great yarn about strange aliens and strange places and about the science that can take us to those aliens and places.

Old Man's War is eternally youthful and fresh.  It is an ode to the best of science fiction, but told in a new voice so that the familiar still seems captivating.

A+

http://scalzi.com/
http://whatever.scalzi.com/

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux


The text is copyright © 2014 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for syndication rights and fees.

Review: THE BATTLE ROYALE SLAM BOOK

THE BATTLE ROYALE SLAM BOOK
VIZ MEDIA/Haikasoru – @VIZMedia; @haikasoru

EDITORS: Nick Mamatas and Masumi Washington
COVER: Tomer Hanuka
ISBN: 978-1-4215-6599-6; paperback, (April 2014)
192pp, B&W, $14.99 U.S., $19.99 CAN, £9.99 U.K.

The Battle Royale Slam Book: Essays on the Cult Classic by Koushun Takami is a collection of essays about the world of Battle Royale.  Battle Royale is a Japanese horror novel written by Koushun Takami.  Originally completed in 1996, Battle Royale was not published until 1999 by Ohta Shuppan, but it went on to become a surprise bestseller.  In 2000, the novel became a manga which Koushun Takami co-wrote with artist Masayuki Taguchi, who drew the manga.  A controversial film adaptation directed by Kinji Fukasaku was also released in 2000.

To celebrate the 15th anniversary of the publication of Battle Royale the novel, Haikasoru (the fiction imprint of VIZ Media) published The Battle Royale Slam Book.  This original paperback release is a collection of essays by writers of popular fiction on the impact of the novel, the two film adaptations, and the Battle Royale manga on pop culture.  The essays also discuss the controversy and continuing social debate that has surrounded the novel ever since its first release.  The Battle Royale Slam Book is offered in print and also in digital editions as an eBook for $7.99 (U.S. / CAN), available for the Amazon Kindle and through Apple’s iBooks Store, Barnes & Noble’s Nook Book Store, and the Kobo eBooks Store.

Nick Mamatas, co-editor of The Battle Royale Slam Book, and 16 other authors offer an array of opinions on Battle Royale and about the enduring power of the acknowledged cult classic.  New York Times best-selling author John Skipp (The Light at the End) connects the novel to his childhood.  Cassie Cuinn talks about girl power.  Sam Hamm, who wrote the screenplay for the 1989 film, Batman (directed by Tim Burton), speculates on the survival chances of Hollywood cinema’s leading teen icons in a battle royale.  Jason S. Riddler (Blood and Sawdust) discusses the novel in the context of the popularity of professional wrestling.  Douglas F. Warrick closes out the book with an essay on Zen.

In order to enjoy and understand The Battle Royale Slam Book, the reader needs to be familiar with Battle Royale the novel or its adaptations.  I saw the film six years ago via a DVD available through Netflix.  The manga adaptation was collected in 15 graphic novel volumes, which were published by TOKYOPOP during the middle of the previous decade.  I read TOKYOPOP’s Battle Royale Ultimate Edition Vol. 1, which collected the first three manga volumes in one hardcover edition.  So I understand much of the context or what is being discussed in The Battle Royale Slam Book, although I have not as yet read the novel.

I think the best essay is the introduction to the book, “Blood in the Classroom, Blood on the Page: Will ‘Battle Royale’ Ever Be on the Test,” written by Nick Mamatas.  Basically, this piece is “what becomes a cult novel most.”  Mamatas discusses other controversial novels (such as Catcher in the Rye and Lord of the Flies) that eventually end up on high school and collegiate reading lists, which, in a way, serves to take away the edginess these works originally had.  I agree with a terrific instructor I had in college:  controversial novels with something meaningful to say about the human condition end up becoming children’s literature.  It is almost as if adults believe that turning such books into juvenile fiction can rob these works of their power to affect change.  I liked how much Mamatas’ essay engaged me and made me think, rather than just be passive, reading for amusement; I read the essay twice and picked through it a third time.

Two other essays also grappled with my imagination.  John Skipp’s “Death for Kids” uses his experience as the child of a U.S. government employee in late 1960s Argentina as the launching point for his essay.  The harrowing personal tale he tells should already be a memoir.

Before it was published, Battle Royale was entered into the 1997 Japan Grand Prix Horror Novel competition.  It did not win any prizes, as it was eventually rejected in the final round due to its content.  Japanese literary critic and editor, Masao Higashi, was there in the competition as a judge.  Higashi’s essay “‘Battle Royale:’ The Fight the Night Before” talks about his thoughts on the novel and why he voted the way he did.

Anyone who has experienced Battle Royale and/or its adaptations will find that The Battle Royale Slam Book is a collection of insightful essays.  Even those who normally don’t read essays will find the essays here worth reading.

A-

www.haikasoru.com

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux


The text is copyright © 2014 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for syndication rights and fees.

Graphic Novel Review ALL YOU NEED IS KILL (OGN)

ALL YOU NEED IS KILL GN
VIZ MEDIA/Haikasoru – @VIZMedia; @haikasoru

STORY: Hiroshi Sakurazaka
SCRIPT ADAPTATION: Nick Mamatas
ART: Lee Ferguson
COLORS: Fajar Buana
LETTERS: Zack Turner
EDITOR: Joel Enos
ISBN: 978-1-4215-6081-6; paperback, (May 2014)
96pp, Color, $14.99 U.S., $17.99 CAN

There is a new Tom Cruise movie arriving in theatres in the coming weeks.  This movie is entitled Edge of Tomorrow, and it is based on the novel, All You Need is Kill. Bestselling author John Scalzi (author of Old Man’s War), called All You Need is Kill “science fiction for the adrenaline junkie.” 

First published in 2004, All You Need is Kill is a Japanese science fiction novel written by author Hiroshi Sakurazaka.  Back in July 2009, All You Need is Kill and The Lord of the Sands of Time (by author Issui Ogawa) were the first two novels published by Haikasoru, a science fiction imprint of North American manga publisher, VIZ Media.

In the past few years, VIZ Media has been producing original graphic novels based on various media properties (Hello Kitty, Ben 10 – for example).  Now, its Haikasoru imprint is publishing an original English-language graphic novel of Hiroshi Sakurazaka’s All You Need is Kill.

All You Need is Kill: Official Graphic Novel Adaptation is created by Nick Mamatas (script adaptation of the novel), Lee Ferguson (artist), Fajar Buana (colors), and Zack Turner (letters).  The story focuses on Keiji Kiriya, a Japanese soldier of the 301st division of the United Defense Forces (UDF).  Kiriya is just one of many recruits shoved into a suit of battle armor, which is called a “Jacket,” and then, sent out to kill the alien invaders called “Mimics.”

Keiji dies on the battlefield, only to be reborn each morning to fight and die again and again.  However, he is not only starting to remember the previous iterations of his fight, but he is also learning more about the enemy and how to fight them.  After one particular rebirth, Keiji gets a message from a mysterious ally, Rita Vrataski – the American female soldier known only as the Full Metal Bitch.  And she may have a way to stop the Mimics.

Of course, All You Need is Kill is a fantastic title for a book, for a manga, and even for a movie.  Yes, producers of the Tom Cruise movie, All You Need is Kill is an even better title than Edge of Tomorrow, which is itself a cool title.

What about the quality of this original graphic novel?  It is a fantastic read.  When VIZ Media first sent me a copy for review, I did not expect much from it, after giving the book a cursory glance.  What surprised me the most is that the graphic novel is not like any other comic book on the market and shelves today.  And it is not Groundhog Day meets Starship Troopers.  If I had to compare it to anything I would compare it to Stanley Kubrick’s 1987 film, Full Metal Jacket.

Like Full Metal Jacket, All You Need is Kill the graphic novel tackles the absurdity of the war machine – from training soldiers and equipping them to sending them into battle.  At the same time, writer Nick Mamatas finds space in cutting the original text to present Keiji’s training method for survival as something that is plausible.  Basically Mamatas has adapted the novel into a graphic novel that does not seem like a collection of plot points and a narrative stream of the original novel’s best action scenes.  It is a complete comic book story with a good plot and well-developed characters and settings.

Artist Lee Ferguson draws the story in a spare style that establishes mood, captures the sense of desperation, highlights the absurdities, and clearly tells the story.  Fajar Buana’s colors depict the bloody horror of war, and some of the coloring also captures that otherworldly sense which classic science fiction has.

After enjoying this truly fine science fiction original graphic novel, I really want to read the original prose novel.  Readers looking for imaginative alien invasion science fiction will realize All You Need is Kill.

A

www.haikasoru.com

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux


The text is copyright © 2014 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for syndication rights and fees.

Review: The Adventures of Nikki Harris the Cybermation Witch Omnibus Vol. 1

THE ADVENTURES OF NIKKI HARRIS THE CYBERMATION WITCH OMNIBUS VOL. 1
CANDLE LIGHT PRESS/Warning Comics – @candlelightpres

CARTOONIST: Carter Allen
ISBN:  978-0-9895371-0-0; paperback (June 21, 2013)
160pp, Color, $14.95 U.S.

Carter Allen, prolific cartoonist, comic book artist, and graphic novelist, presents the first trade collection of his comic book series, The Adventures of Nikki Harris the Cybermation Witch.  Nikki Harris is a comic book character who has made annual appearances in her own comic book series for the last seven years.

The latest Nikki Harris publication is The Adventures of Nikki Harris the Cybermation Witch Omnibus Vol. 1.  This full color paperback book reprints The Adventures of Nikki Harris the Cybermation Witch 2.0 #1-2, and The Adventures of Nikki Harris the Cybermation Witch #3-5.  This includes five stories, several pages of pin-up art, and some character profiles.

In these five comic books, Nikki faces a sci-fi rogue’s gallery of weirdo adversaries.  First, Nikki battles an old Voyd war machine (#1).  Then, she faces Lady Opulent Red in Old Europe (#2).  In the ersatz, Disney World-like Candy Citadel, she smacks sweets with Citizen Cane (#3).  Nikki returns to her alma mater, Grantham Academy, and gets grief from both the bitchy Headmistress and the “mirror image” or a villain from her first issue (#4).  Finally, on the planet, Qua, the “Love Boat” becomes “Die Hard-on-a-boat” when Nikki faces Nautilie (#5).

As a fan of Nikki Harris comic books, I am happy for The Adventures of Nikki Harris the Cybermation Witch Omnibus Vol. 1.  It is the best way to read the series, which is still ongoing.  One handy edition, this omnibus captures the graphical, visual, and storytelling elements that make Nikki Harris’ adventures a unique comic book reading experience.

From the exotic quality of the presentation to the quirky, but sparkling sci-fi, Nikki Harris is an ode to the joy of reading a comic book.  This series is the traditional fashioned with the tools of a new medium.  Nikki’s brash personality and cowboy-hero persona are now in one volume, which may (or may not) be enough to hold Nikki fans between issues.

A

www.candlelightpress.com
www.nikkithewitch.com

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux

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

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).

Vertigo Review - SPACEMAN: The Deluxe Edition

SPACEMAN THE DELUXE EDITION
DC COMICS/VERTIGO – @vertigo_comics

WRITER: Brian Azzarello
ARTIST: Eduardo Risso
COLORS: Patricia Mulvihill with Giula Brusco
LETTERS: Clem Robins
COVER: Dave Johnson (also series cover art)
ISBN: 978-1-4012-3552-9; hardcover
224pp, $24.99 U.S., $28.99 CAN

The comic book creative team of writer Brian Azzarello and artist Eduardo Risso is best known for the Eisner Award-winning comic book series, 100 Bullets, which was published from 1999 to 2009. The most recent Azzarello-Risso “collabo” is Spaceman, a nine-issue, science fiction comic book miniseries. Published by DC Comics’ imprint, Vertigo (also the home of 100 Bullets), Spaceman is set in a future in which the rising seas leave a significant portion of the planet a drowned world. In this time, an outcast tries to be a hero and finds fame a very dangerous thing.

Vertigo has collected all nine issues of Spaceman, plus a short story that appeared in Strange Adventures #1 (the 2011 Vertigo anthology one-shot) in the hardcover collection, Spaceman: The Deluxe Edition. The new book also includes sketches and preliminary art that Eduardo Risso executed for the series, and there are also samples of Risso’s final art for the series in pencil form.

Spaceman’s title character is Orson, a simian-like man. He was born as the result of the Spacemen program, NASA’s attempt to biogenetically engineer humans that could withstand space travel. Orson and his Spacemen “brudahs” (as he calls them) were born with expanded bone mass and flesh density so that they could withstand the zero gravity of prolonged space travel. Orson and a few of the Spacemen did travel in space, but once the public became aware of the program, the Spacemen were basically tossed aside.

Now, a hulking, lonely loser, Orson lives in “the Rises,” a Venice-like community of broken buildings still standing in areas flooded by seawater. Orson spends his days in a small boat, trawling for scrap metal and dreaming of a better life. Meanwhile, like the rest of the country, Orson finds entertainment in “realtee” (reality television shows), and the most popular one in the world is “The Ark.” This realtee focuses on wealthy couple, Marc and April, and the orphaned children who compete for a place in Marc and April’s adopted clan.

One of the children, Tara, a Filipino girl, is kidnapped. Fate brings Orson and Tara together, but money and fame bring together a coalition of self-serving factions, all vying to retrieve Tara. Suddenly, Orson’s need to save Tara has put his life in danger and also dug up a dark part of his past, which goes by the name of Carter.

Brian Azzarello has some good ideas in this series. Some may seem obvious, such as the notion that the Internet and hand-held devices will be the engines that drive television entertainment and not televisions and broadcast signals. Azzarello creates a future English language full of strange colloquialisms and slang. It is as if a Jamaican, a black kid from the streets, and Anthony Burgess formed a poetry-slam/rap trio. Spaceman is a richly conceived world, but I do question the series as a whole. In terms of the execution of this concept as script (or series of scripts), it is probably three issues too long, which hampers the overall narrative development. Spaceman is interesting, intriguing, and thoughtful, but somewhat flawed.

You can make an argument that the star in Spaceman is artist Eduardo Risso. Practically every page is a narrative painting, with panels imbedded in the pages like bejeweled drawings in a tapestry. Risso makes Azzarello’s gaggle of ideas practical as a graphical narrative. Suddenly, the theoretical and eccentric are actual, and the unique voice Azzarello designed is given full throat through Risso’s pencils and lush inking.

Of course, Spaceman: The Deluxe Edition is the best way to read this original science fiction vision. It is the best way to see this unique, but surprisingly possible future.

B+

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux

Book Review: Metal Gear Solid: Guns of the Patriots

METAL GEAR SOLID: GUNS OF THE PATRIOTS
VIZ MEDIA/Haikasoru - @VIZMedia; @haikasoru

AUTHOR: Project Itoh
TRANSLATION: Nathan Collins
COVER: Yoji Shinkawa with Kam Li (designer)
ISBN: 978-1-4215-4001-6; paperback, Rated “T” for “Teen”
364pp, B&W, $15.99 U.S., $18.99 CAN, £9.99 UK

Metal Gear Solid: Guns of the Patriots is a novel tie-in to the 2004 Playstation 3 video game, Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots. Guns of the Patriots is an entry in the stealth video games series, Metal Gear, which was created by Hideo Kojima and developed and published by Konami. The novel is written by Project Itoh, which was the penname of the late Japanese science fiction author, Satoshi Ito (Genocidal Organ).

Metal Gear Solid: Guns of the Patriots is the latest episode in the bullet-ridden adventures of Solid Snake, the legendary infiltrator and saboteur. A crack soldier, Solid Snake (or simply, “Snake”) is part of a worldwide nanotechnology network known as the Sons of the Patriots (SOP). The SOP system is a network that controls soldiers via the nanomachines inside their bodies. Time is running out for Snake because he is a clone, and he will soon succumb to the FOXDIE virus (which is programmed to selectively kill specific people). Before he dies, however, Snake will end up spreading the disease to nearly everyone he encounters, in essence becoming a walking biological weapon.

Metal Gear Solid: Guns of the Patriots is set in a time when the world economy relies on continuous war. This war is fought by private military corporations (PMCs), which outnumber government military forces. PMC soldiers are equipped with nanomachines that enhance their abilities on the battlefield, and are thus controlled by the SOP system. Snake’s enemy, Liquid Ocelot (or simply “Liquid”), is preparing to hijack the SOP network, and whoever controls SOP controls the world. With the help of Dr. Hal “Otacon” Emmerich (who is also this story’s narrator) and a host of old friends and “frenemies,” Snakes races around the world from jungle to desert and from the frozen tundra to the ocean to stop Liquid.

Metal Gear Solid: Guns of the Patriots is a light novel, a style of Japanese novel apparently aimed at middle school and high school students, but Guns of the Patriots will interest older readers. This video game tie-in is military science fiction and alternate history fiction. At least as far as I can remember, it’s the best military science fiction combination alternate history book that I’ve read to date. I certainly enjoyed it more than my first military/alternate history sci-fi experience, S.M. Stirling’s perplexing Marching Through Georgia.

Rather than offering some mere action novel, author Project Itoh presents a blend of character drama and political commentary. The author even explains why the idea of equality is actually the cause of war, death, and destruction. Don’t get me wrong: there are some good action set pieces here, and Nathan Collins’ translation deftly captures Itoh’s multiple flavors of battle action. However, Itoh’s novel is a critical look at war, from the perspectives of global economics, international politics, history, technology, culture, and society. This is all played out as character drama with a group of characters in the present and with another group of characters that only exist in the back story or in the novel’s past (many of them dead) whose actions are of perpetual consequence.

When I asked my VIZ Media representative for a copy of this book for review, I did so because something told me that it would be an interesting read. Maybe, it was just a lucky guess, but I was right. Metal Gear Solid: Guns of the Patriots is solid, indeed.

A-

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux

Short Story Review: “We Can Remember It for You Wholesale”

WE CAN REMEMBER IT FOR YOU WHOLESALE
A short story by Philip K. Dick - Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux on Patreon.

“We Can Remember It for You Wholesale” is a science fiction short story written by the late author Philip K. Dick and first published in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction (April 1966 issue). The story has been republished several times in book collections, most recently in Selected Stories of Philip K. Dick (2002), which is where I read it (although I first read this story in another book collection back in the 1990s).

“We Can Remember It for You Wholesale” was loosely adapted into the 1990 Arnold Schwarzenegger film, Total Recall, which was directed by Paul Verhoeven. That film is the subject of a 2012 remake starring Colin Farrell and directed by Len Wiseman.

“We Can Remember It for You Wholesale” takes place sometime in an indeterminate future in which humans have traveled to Mars and colonized the planet. The story hints or suggests that some of the rest of the solar system has also been visited by humans and perhaps colonized.

The story focuses on Douglas Quail, a nobody clerk and salaried employee. Quail yearns to travel to Mars the way other men might yearn to bed a pageant queen. His wife, a harpy-type named Kirsten, is not interested in traveling to Mars, but does agree that her wimpy husband needs adventure. Quail knows that he cannot afford a trip to Mars, which is expensive, not to mention that few people are even allowed to visit the planet.

Quail visits Rekal Incorporated, a company that offers “extra-factual memory implants.” These memories, which are implanted into the customer’s brain, are more real than real memories because implanted memories don’t fade away. Quail’s extra-factual memory package includes an adventure on Mars in which he is an agent for the Interplan Police Agency. However, something goes wrong during the memory implant, when Rekal discovers that there is more to Quail’s memories than they or even he realized.

I’ve found Philip K. Dick to be one of the most imaginative science fiction authors (and one of the most imaginative authors, in general) that I have ever encountered. I think his best work is found in his novels, but in his short stories, Dick presented seemingly countless inventive scenarios.

“We Can Remember It for You Wholesale” presents a familiar theme in Dick’s work: how the human mind struggles with shifting realities. Usually, a lead character will find himself trying to discern which is the real reality or which is his reality. Another familiar theme is man vs. bureaucracy or man vs. man (individual or organized) that act in opposition to the protagonist. In this story, Quail’s desires and yearnings to both visit Mars and to have a more fulfilling life runs up against the reality of a disapproving wife, his finances, Rekal, and Interplan.

I don’t want to spoil this story for anyone who has not yet read it or who have read it and don’t remember the details. However, I must say that the scenes in which the Rekal operatives find themselves confronted by the secrets Quail’s memories hold make this story worth reading. It is classic Philip K. Dick – the little guy fighting and even striking back at the forces gathered against him.

B+

Ray Bradbury Has Died

American science fiction and fantasy author, Ray Bradbury, died Tuesday, June 5 2012, at the age of 91.  I first encountered his work in the late 1970s in the form of a film based upon his book, The Illustrated Man, and a television miniseries based another book, The Martian Chronicles.  Over time, I encountered more films, television, and even comic books based upon Bradbury's work.  His novel, Fahrenheit 451, is one of my favorite novels.

This Associated Press article (via the Seattle Post-Intelligencer) has details on his life and career, including this tidbit:

Bradbury was so poor during those years that he didn't have an office or even a telephone. He wrote "Fahrenheit 451" at the UCLA library, on typewriters that rented for 10 cents a half hour. He said he carried a sack full of dimes and completed the book in nine days, at a cost of $9.80.

Although some academics doubted that account, saying he could not have created such a masterpiece in such a rapid, seemingly cavalier fashion, Bradbury maintained in several interviews with the AP over the years that that was exactly how he did it.

I won't put into words what his work meant to me, but I will say Rest in Peace, Mr. Bradbury.

Book Review: MM9

MM9
VIZ MEDIA/Haikasoru

AUTHOR: Hiroshi Yamamoto
TRANSLATION: Nathan Collins
COVER: Izumi Evers
ISBN: 978-1-4215-4089-4; paperback, Rated “T” for “Teen”
256pp, B&W, $14.99 U.S., $16.99 CAN, £9.99 UK

Hiroshi Yamamoto began his career as a video game writer, designer, and developer. As a fiction writer, he created the Ghost Hunter series and gained acclaim for his science fiction novel, God Never Sleeps. 2010 saw the publication of his novel, The Stories of Ibis, in English. In January 2012, Haikasoru, an imprint of VIZ Media, published a second Yamamoto novel in English.

Originally released in Japan in 2007, MM9 is a science fiction novel composed of five interconnected short stories. MM9 follows the challenging labor of a Japanese unit that fights giant monsters called “kaiju.” The kaiju are monsters/creatures of the Godzilla, 50-Foot Woman, and giant plant variety.

MMD is an acronym for Monsterological Measures Department, a special unit under the Meteorological Agency. The MMD is a special anti-monster unit in Japan that deals with “natural disasters of a high ‘monster magnitude.’” “Monster magnitude” is a measure and designation related to the size of a monster and how much damage it can cause with MM9 being the most powerful and most dangerous kaiju.

The stories follow the members of the MMD as they fight various kaiju. There is Ryo Haida, a top member of the MMD’s Mobile Unit, and Sakura Fujisawa, a soft-hearted young woman and a specialist of Mobile Unit, Vehicles and Transportation, and she’s actually a whiz at driving to avoid monsters. Yojiro Muromachi, Mobile Unit, Director, keeps these two in line and on the job. Yuri Anno is the resident astrophysicist, but she sometimes feels out of place. Department Chief Shoichi Kurihama sweats the details and the small stuff, but when he really needs to be in control, he’s the ultimate take-charge guy who can manage a crisis as well as anyone.

In the opening story, “Crisis! Kaiju Alert!,” a sea-based kaiju threatens Japan, but nothing about the way this kaiju moves or its composition makes sense. The MMD will have to solve this mystery in time to save the coast of Japan. In “Danger! Girl at Large!,” meet Princess, the girl who is taller than a five-story building… and growing. Is she really a kaiju or a science experiment? Sakura will put her life on the line to get all the answers. In “Menace! Attack of the Flying Kaiju,” Ryo Haida and his date, Eiko Hamaguchi, find their night-out interrupted by a radioactive, flying kaiju with Tokyo on its mind.

A TV camera crew follows the MMD in “Scoop! Twenty-Four Hours with the MMD!.” All is quite, but a plant menace may turn a documentary special into a disaster movie. In “Arrival! The Colossal Kaiju of the Apocalypse!,” meet the kaiju with an ages-old mystery of history behind it. And it may also be the end of the world as we know it.

In the eight years that I have written reviews for the Comic Book Bin, publishers have sent me copies of their manga titles for review. Sometimes, they also send copies of the light novels they publish.

I was surprised to find that the MM9 novel is not like other light novels, if it can be labeled a light novel, at all. Middle and high school students that already read novels can comprehend this, but while MM9’s subject matter is light (giant monsters), Yamamoto executes it in an inventive manner, which shows that he clearly intends on engaging adult readers.

Hiroshi Yamamoto’s novel shares elements and ideas similar to the Men in Black film franchise and Warren Ellis and John Cassaday’s Planetary. MM9 is a high concept like the former and a deeper excursion into subgenres like the latter. This is not just a novel about giant monsters and the characters that fight them. This is also science fantasy; in the sense that Yamamoto takes fantasy, mythology, and real-life faith and belief systems and builds a scientific structure in which the natural and supernatural are not opposites, but are related. They are part of the human condition and part of our history.

MM9 is smarter than you think, because you might think an author would not put so much thought into a novel about a special agency that fights giant monsters. On a scale of 1 to 10, MM9 won’t even settle for 9.

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux