Image Comics from Diamond Distributors for March 13, 2019

IMAGE COMICS

JAN190122    ASSASSIN NATION #1 (MR)    $3.99
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Marvel Comics from Diamond Distributors for March 13, 2019

MARVEL COMICS

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Comics, Books and Magazines from Diamond Distributors for March 13, 2019

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Book Review: THE BLACK ASCOT

THE BLACK ASCOT (An Inspector Ian Rutledge Mystery)
HARPERCOLLINS/William Morrow – @HarperCollins; @WmMorrowBks

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

AUTHOR: Charles Todd – @CharlesToddBks
ISBN: 978-0-06-267874-4; hardcover (February 5, 2019)
352pp, B&W, $26.99 U.S.

The Black Ascot is a 2019 mystery-detective novel from author Charles Todd, which is the pen name of American authors, Caroline Todd and Charles Todd, a mother-and-son writing team.  The Black Ascot is the twenty-first entry in the “Inspector Ian Rutledge Mysteries.”  The series is set in and around England, post World War I,  and focuses on Inspector Ian Rutledge of Scotland Yard, who is a veteran of the “Great War.”

Rutledge is trying to pick up the pieces of his career with the Yard, but he is hiding a secret.  Rutledge suffers from shell shock, and he lives with a voice in his head, that of Corporal Hamish MacLeod, a young Scots soldier Rutledge killed on a WWI battlefield for refusing an order.  In The Black Ascot, Rutledge seeks a killer who has eluded the Yard for years.

The Black Ascot opens at the Ascot Racecourse, England, June 1910.  This is the time of “The Royal Ascot,” the centerpiece of the racecourse's yearly schedule.  This year, the race is called “the Black Ascot” in remembrance of the recent passing of King Edward VII in May 1910.  However, the Black Ascot will be remembered for a murder that occurred after the race.

Blanche Richmond Thorne Fletcher-Munro is killed and her husband, Harold Fletcher-Munro, is grievously injured in a terrible automobile accident after leaving the Black Ascot.  Police investigators discover that someone tampered with the Fletcher-Munros' car, and the blame falls squarely on Alan Barrington.  Barrington was the best friend of Blanche's late first husband, Mark Howard Edward Thorne.  Barrington believes that Harold Fletcher-Munro financially ruined Mark Thorne, which led to Thorne apparently killing himself.  So was Barrington seeking to kill Harold in an act of revenge, but inadvertently killed Blanche instead?  Feeling the shadow of the gallows, Alan disappears and evades capture for a decade.  Some believe that he is dead.

The story moves to the present day, January 1921.  Inspector Ian Rutledge helps a struggling ex-convict reunite with his spouse.  Grateful, the convict gives Rutledge an astonishing, but seemingly implausible tip; he says that a friend of his has seen Alan Barrington!  Rutledge brings this information to his immediate superior, Chief Inspector Jameson, who promptly puts Rutledge in sole charge of a quiet reopening of the search for Barrington.  After struggling to make headway, Rutledge decides that he must get to known each of the major players in this case:  Barrington, the Fletcher-Munros, and Mark Thorne, much better.  He must delve into the past and into their past connections.  This case, however, will test Rutledge's sanity, threaten his career, and put his life at grave risk.

First, I must say that I am totally crazy about the idea of a mother and her son writing novels, especially mystery novels, together.  How effing cool is that?!

The Black Ascot is somewhat like a “cozy mystery,” a sub-genre of crime fiction associated with the so-called “Golden Age of Detective Fiction” (1920s and 30s).  The Black Ascot is set in the 1920s (1921) and much of the novel's action takes place in the small, socially intimate communities that are the settings of many cozy mysteries.  In fact, Charles Todd's beautiful and richly evocative prose will summon in the reader's imagination numerous small town and villages in glorious detail.  The farm near where the Fletcher-Munro wreck occurs is a place I would like to visit for a summer.

That said, Inspector Ian Rutledge is not really a cozy mystery detective.  He is a constant bloodhound, a relentless law dog in the eight-decade-plus tradition of hard-boiled detectives.  We can start with Dashiell Hammett's Sam Spade and Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe, and move to modern “private dicks” like Robert Towne's Jake Gittes, Walter Mosley's “Eazy” Rawlins, and Sara Paretsky's V.I. Warshawski.

True, Ian Rutledge is not a private detective; he is an employee of the Metropolitan Police Service (also known as Scotland Yard).  Like the above-mentioned American private detective, Inspector Ian Rutledge is a big swinging dick with a fidelity to his vocation even in the face of an existential crisis.

We are always told about how important well-developed characters are to “great writing.”  Charles Todd makes Rutledge's career his character, and the harder Todd depicts Rutledge working a case, the more alluring a character Rutledge is.  The thrill in reading The Black Ascot is the story, and the story is Rutledge's investigation of the case of the missing Alan Barrington.  Charles Todd is so good at telling the story of Rutledge's investigation that I would follow Rutledge even if his case was finding clean socks.  The Black Ascot is a mystery lover's delight.

www.charlestodd.com

9 out of 10

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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Review: XERXES: The Fall of the House of Darius #1

XERXES: THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF DARIUS AND THE RISE OF ALEXANDER #1 (OF 5)
DARK HORSE COMICS – @DarkHorseComics

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

STORY: Frank Miller
ART: Frank Miller
COLORS: Alex Sinclair
EDITOR: Freddye Miller
MISC. ART: Paula Andrade
COVER: Frank Miller
36pp, Color, $4.99 (April 2018)

Xerxes: The Fall of the House of Darius and the Rise of Alexander is a five-issue miniseries written and drawn by Frank Miller with colors by Alex Sinclair.  Xerxes: The Fall of the House of Darius and the Rise of Alexander is a companion series to Miller's 1998, five-issue miniseries, 300.

Historically inspired, 300 is Frank Miller’s fictional retelling of the Battle of Thermopylae and the events leading up to it.  Miller tells the story from the perspective of a fictional version of the king, Leonidas of Sparta.  Xerxes: The Fall of the House of Darius and the Rise of Alexander (Xerxes, for short) focuses on Persian King Xerxes, who sets out to conquer the world to avenge his father, Darius's defeat.  Xerxes, a “god king,” wants to create an empire unlike anything the world has ever seen, but soon faces his adversaries, The Greeks' own “god king,” Alexander the Great.

Xerxes: The Fall of the House of Darius and the Rise of Alexander #1 opens in 499 B.C. with the sacking of a city which turns into a grudge on the part of emperor of the Persian Empire, Darius.  490 B.C., the Persians return with a vengeance, but this time they will face Themistokles and the forces of Athens.  Later, General Miltiades leads the Greeks in an epic battle at Marathon.  Will Greek “democracy” survive Persian “tyranny?”

I find Xerxes to be far less racist than 300, with its historically simplistic and strident “war of civilizations.”  Frank Miller has been one of the most influential creators of American comic books over the last four decades.  Publishers fawn over him and throw money at him, yet you would not know it by Miller's publicly displayed persecution complex.  Comic book stores generally stock his publications in copious amounts.  Miller writes and draws practically anything he wants, yet he complains about the censorship of his work, which has happened... when?

300 was the creative culmination of a prince of the realm so blessed with privilege that such an embarrassment of riches made him think that he was THE persecuted comic book creator of the late twentieth century.  Yet 300, with its beautiful color renderings by Miller's then-wife, Lynn Varley, was a huge success in a decade, the 1990s, that saw Frank Miller reach his high-point as a comic book artist, illustrator, and graphics artist.

Xerxes #1 recalls the graphical design and graphics tour de force of both 300 and Miller's Sin City (also published by Dark Horse).  That is on display in the costumes (especially the uniforms of the Persian archers), in the weapons and tools (Greek blades and shields), and in the staging of action sequences (when the Persians climb Hephaistos).  Xerxes #1 is a graphics, design, and illustrative, visual feast for the comic book reading eyes and imagination.

The more you can set aside and ignore the Greek democracy vs. Persian tyranny tripe, the more you can enjoy Xerxes #1.  Xerxes' soliloquies about Greek democracy ring as hollow as Obi-Wan Kenobi telling Anakin Skywalker that his (Kenobi's) allegiance is to democracy and to the Republic before their epic duel to the death or grievous bodily injury (in Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith).

Alex Sinclair, known for coloring Jim Lee and Scott Williams' comic book art at DC Comics and for coloring Andy Kubert and Klaus Janson's art on Dark Knight III: The Master Race, is Xerxes' colorist.  Sinclair is one of the best colorist of this still young twenty-first century, but he does not hold a proverbial candle to Lynn Varley.

I would not call Xerxes publication late, not by two decades or by ten years.  Still, without Varley's colors, Xerxes does come across as something, if not late, then, too long in coming to be relevant to anything.  Maybe not having Lynn Varley could discourage comparing Xerxes to 300, which is a good thing.  300 came at the end of Frank Miller's peak period, and it is best not to think about what was anymore.  Xerxes is good enough and helps us accept what is, now.

7 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 reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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

Review: BUBBA HO-TEP AND THE COSMIC BLOODSUCKERS #1

BUBBA HO-TEP AND THE COSMIC BLOODSUCKERS No. 1
IDW PUBLISHING – @IDWPublishing

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

STORY: Joshua Jabcuga (based on the novel by Joe R. Lansdale)
ART: Tadd Galusha
COLORS: Ryan Hill
LETTERS: Tom B. Long
EDITOR: Joe Hughes
COVER: Baldemar Rivas
VARIANT COVER ARTISTS: Tim Truman; Baldemar Rivas; Tadd Galusha
28pp, Color, $3.99 U.S. (March 2018)

“Bubba Ho-Tep” is a 1994 novella written by short story author, novelist, and comic book writer, Joe R. Lansdale.  An “alternate history” tale, “Bubba Ho-Tep” was first published in, The King is Dead: Tales of Elvis Post-Mortem, an Elvis Presley themed anthology.

Filmmaker Don Coscarelli (Phantasm) wrote and directed a film adaptation of the novella, which earned a cult following.  Also entitled Bubba Ho-Tep, the film starred Bruce Campbell as Elvis and the late Ossie Davis as “Jack,” a black man who claimed to be the President John F. Kennedy.

Lansdale wrote a novel, Bubba and the Cosmic Bloodsuckers (2017, Subterranean Press), that was a prequel or background story to “Bubba Ho-Tep.”  IDW Publishing is currently publishing a comic book adaptation of the 2017 novel.  Entitled Bubba Ho-Tep and the Cosmic Bloodsuckers, the comic book is adapted by writer Joshua Jabcuga; drawn by Tadd Galusha; colored by Ryan Hill; and lettered by Tom B. Long.  The comic book follows Elvis who works for a secret government organization, fighting monsters along with a team of operatives.

Bubba Ho-Tep and the Cosmic Bloodsuckers #1 opens in the penthouse suite of a Las Vegas Hotel.  It introduces Johnny Smack, a bodyguard for Elvis Presley.  Smack narrates the story, claiming that Elvis retired from being a recording artist and music performer.  An “Elvis impersonator” now pretends to be the “real Elvis,” while the real Elvis pretends to be one of many Elvis impersonators.

Elvis works for a secret government agency, with his activities overseen by his manager, “The Colonel” (based on the real-world Presley's manager, Colonel Tom Parker).  President Richard Nixon calls “The Colonel” into his secret lair where he informs him about an alien threat that must be stopped.  However, this threat is unlike anything Elvis and company have ever faced.

Bubba Ho-Tep and the Cosmic Bloodsuckers #1 is one of the best first issues that I have read this year.  It is already one of my favorite comic books of the last several years, so I hope that this first issue is not a fluke.  A blend of B-movies, weird fiction, Southern Gothic, monster movies, horror, and Elvis Presley subculture, Bubba Ho-Tep and the Cosmic Bloodsuckers #1 offers a lot of background information and action for a first issue, especially since so many current first issue comic books amount to teaser trailers or vague prologues.  Bubba Ho-Tep and the Cosmic Bloodsuckers #1 is only 20 pages long, but it reads like a 32-page tale.

I have not read Lansdale's original novel, but Joshua Jabcuga's adaptation delivers a superb first issue.  He made me immediately want to read the second issue.  Tadd Galusha's art has a funky vibe that reminds me of the art in alt-comics and Underground Comix that were homages to classic EC Comics.  Think the late Rand Holmes and underrated genius, Rick Altergott.  Ryan Hill's garish, day-glo and back-lit colors are perfect for the Bubba Ho-Tep concept.  Tom B. Long packs the thick dialogue and heavy exposition into neat boxes and balloons in a way that helps the weirdness of this comic book go down smoothly with southern fried aftertaste.

I highly recommend Bubba Ho-Tep and the Cosmic Bloodsuckers #1.  I already hope that this team produces more Bubba Ho-Tep comic books series.

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 reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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