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All posts for the month March, 2014

THE OCEAN AT THE END OF THE LANE – Neil Gaiman

Posted by Daniel on March 13, 2014

Posted in: MAGIC, SF/FANTASY, Uncategorized, YA. Tagged: Book Reviews, Books, Magic, Reviews, SF/Fantasy, Young Adult. Leave a comment

If there is a better writer working today, please let me know who it is, because I think Neil Gaiman might be the best fiction writer alive.

Mr. Gaiman doesn’t need a review on a book review blog, nor another review on Goodreads … this book has almost 17, 000 reviews — seventeen THOUSAND — and it is averaging 4.02 out of 5 stars … but I just read it, and it’s fairly new, so I’ll add it to the blogroll.

Gaiman perfectly captures the innocence and, wonder, and imagination of a child and shares it with the reader in such a way that we feel we are reliving that same innocence, wonder and imagination — when a pond was an ocean, a strange nanny was a dark creature of another realm in disguise, and a patch of lawn might be a sacred location for good fairies. We can’t help but feel as if we are reliving those best moments from our own childhood … moments we, like the man recalling the events of the book (a man whose name I don’t think we ever learn), perhaps don’t want to ever forget.

For many writers, being able to capture this sense of nostalgia is enough of a fait accompli, but Gaiman’s ability takes us even further. Gaiman manages to infuse the story with philosophy; a moral code.

Some might even make reference to the obvious Judeo-Christian allegory. In this book we have someone sacrificing their life, warding off evil, to protect an innocent youth. That sacrificer dies. Or maybe doesn’t die. It is suggested that the person will return some day, though just when no one really knows. But the baptism of a new life in water is also a strong element in the allegory.

But this isn’t overt. Unlike too many writers, Gaiman doesn’t hit us over the head with the ideas. He suggests them. He plants them for the reader to nurture if we want. He actually gives his readers credit for being smart enough to pick up on what he’s sharing. More writers should learn from this example.

This book is tender and frightening and sweet and horrifying. It is utter fantasy and all-together real. It will fill the reader with longing, dread, melancholy, and passion. The reader will once again see the world through the eyes of a seven year-old, when anything and everything is still possible, yet there is an awakening to bad things that can happen. Those bad things happen first in a shocking, sudden way, such as a fatal car accident, and a youth learns to deal with it through fantasy evil.

It is difficult to say just what sort of book this is, because Neil Gaiman has created his own genre of fiction. And if you read through the reviews on Goodreads or Amazon or Barnes and Noble, you will see that what he’s done is brought out the best in people because they write their reviews, concentrating on the feelings that were invoked from the reading.

This is powerful mojo that Gaiman has applied!

Looking for a good book? This might be the best thing out there!

* * * * * *

The Ocean at the End of the Lane

author: Neil Gaiman

publisher: William Morrow Books

ISBN: 0062255657

hardcover, 181 pages

CYBORG 009 – graphic novel

Posted by Daniel on March 12, 2014

Posted in: GRAPHIC NOVEL, SF/FANTASY, Uncategorized. Tagged: Book Reviews, Books, Graphic Novels, Reviews, SF/Fantasy. Leave a comment

I’ve never been a fan of ‘manga’ so I’m not sure what drew me to this particular book. Perhaps it’s because it’s not quite ‘manga’ but it definitely has hints of the manga-style of artwork. And yet it’s not completely that manga-style. This is hard to define, and I suspect that’s what’s drawn me in.

Cyborg 009 is actually a re-boot of a comic by Shotaro Ishinomori from the 1960’s (which had what I consider the typical ‘manga’ look) with a more ‘modern’ look to the artwork and story-telling. This is a very attractively illustrated book. The art (by Marcus To and Ian Herring) really is a beautiful homage to the original works while managing to be contemporary in appearance.

The story (by F. J. DeSanto and Bradley Cramp) is a bit simplistic — a very sappy, 1960’s sci-fi romanticism: Joe wakes up on an operating table to discover that he is a cyborg. Number 009. His first assigned task is to destroy all the attempted cyborgs before him (001-008). Unfortunately, those other cyborgs have banded together and kidnap Joe and help him find the human part of himself. Of course we discover that the cyborgs are ‘good’ but the reason for their creation is evil, so a battle is likely. And somehow, despite Joe’s so recent awakening and task, there are already other cyborgs being created to combat the first nine.

There is a strong internal struggle, in the writing, with an adolescent simplicity of characters: we have a stereotyped variety of cultures trying to be represented, and a relationship triangle that is hinted at but not defined on either side (boy likes girl ‘A’, girl ‘A’ ignores boy, girl ‘B’ likes boy, boy doesn’t seem to notice girl ‘B’s’ interest). This has a great sense of a 1960’s innocence that feels almost quaint today.

It also amazes me that no one ever questions the obvious… if the cyborgs are created to be soldiers, why do they all have different capabilities. Is it not possible to be fast and strong and shoot rockets and flame? Why does everyone have to have a different capability? Of course it makes for more interesting story-telling and the need for a team to work together, but it doesn’t make practical sense.

Although relatively simple, the themes of understanding what it means to be human, to love, and to fear, as well as the greater theme of good versus evil, are all nicely delivered.

Although I can’t say that I’m hooked on reading more Cyborg 009 stories, I will say that I really enjoyed my diversion here.

Looking for a good book? This re-booted graphic novel has wonderful art and a sweet, well-told story.

* * * * * *

Cyborg 009

authors: F.J. DeSanto, Bradley Cramp, Shotaro Ishinomori

artists: Marcus To, Ian Herring

publisher: Archaia

ISBN: 1936393948

hardcover, 120 pages

STALK ME – Richard Parker

Posted by Daniel on March 11, 2014

Posted in: MYSTERY, Uncategorized. Tagged: Book Reviews, Books, Mystery, Reviews, Thriller. Leave a comment

**WARNING: POTENTIAL SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW**

If what makes a great thriller the sense that someone is always watching you, that every choice you make, every thing that you will do, will be shut down by someone and there’s nothing you can do about it — then this is a great thriller.

Stalk Me starts with a car accident. Beth Jordan has survived, just barely, and when she sees legs coming toward her, she thinks she is on her way to being rescued. Instead, feet stamp her already battered body into unconsciousness. Somehow, Beth manages to survive, which only begins a reign of terror for her.

In our modern age of cell phone videos and immediate uplink to sites like Facebook and YouTube, the accident scene is recorded by many, as a tour bus happens on the scene. Beth is revived by ambulance workers and begins assaulting people, concerned for her own safety after being stamped upon. The videos go online, which Beth watches after her hospital recovery, but slowly, the videos, and the people who posted them, disappear.

When Beth discovers that someone is systematically killing everyone who posted a video of her accident scene, she makes it her mission to warn these strangers that their lives may be in danger. She also wants to know what is in the videos that is so compromising that it’s worth killing for.

The book builds beautifully to the denouement which is a wonderfully tense scene in the middle of nowhere. If the book itself isn’t a ‘can’t-put-down’ thriller, this confrontation is, with flip-flopping roles, plenty of action, and a rising sense of fear and doom. The conclusion comes, just as you might expect with a thriller, with a quick breath of relief, and then another heart-stopping moment.

This is a thriller in the classic vein of thrillers. It is almost formulaic in its construction and delivery.

But … yes, there is a ‘but’ … this book also relies on another formulaic trait that I don’t care for. A trait that appears too often in thrillers.

The stupidity of the main character.

Beth makes wrong choice after wrong choice. Two incidents stick with me as simply being stupid. First, Beth has been trying to get ahold of the paramedic who reacts shocked in the videos, at the last words from Beth’s dying husband. Beth is told that the paramedic had died. But when she receives a phone call from the ‘dead’ woman, who insists that she remain ‘dead’ to everyone else and lets it be known that she’s taking a real risk in contacting Beth, Beth wants to know more. Every time the phone rings after that call, she answers by calling the paramedic by name and “Is that you?” You know someone is after you. You know someone wants to remain ‘dead’ but you let anyone who calls you know that you’ve spoken to the ‘dead’ person? Is this smart?

Second…after a direct attack on her person, she gets police protection. She has struggled to get anyone to believe that she was attacked at the car accident, but finally has convincing evidence of an attack, protection, and most likely the ability to convince the police that there’s something serious going on. And what does she do…? She tricks her police protection and goes off on her own. This, more than any other action in the book, defies logic and common sense and actually made me think “You deserve whatever happens to you now.”

Looking for a good book? This has wonderful, exciting, heart-pounding writing that relies just a little too much of formulaic characters for my taste.

* * * * * *

Stalk Me

author: Richard Parker

publisher: Exhibit A

ISBN: 1909223042

paperback, 384 pages

ROACHKILLER AND OTHER STORIES – R. Narvaez

Posted by Daniel on March 7, 2014

Posted in: MYSTERY, OTHER, SF/FANTASY, SHORT FICTION, Uncategorized. Tagged: Book Reviews, Books, Horror/Dark Fantasy, Mystery, Reviews, Thriller. 1 Comment

From urban noir, to urban dark fantasy, to simple, urban gut fiction (that fiction which shows us the underbelly of society), R. Narvaez’s collection, Roachkiller and other Stories, is simply good writing.

Two things struck me as I read this collection: 1) Narvaez is a really good writer, and 2) there’s a very strong ‘street’ element to most of the works here, which generally would have me feeling like a complete outsider, but Narvaez writes it in such a way that it pulls the reader in and makes him feel at home (a dirty roach-infested, stale-beer-smelling, coke-in-the-carpet home, but home none-the-less).

In most short story collections that I’ve read, I tend to know what I’m going to get … some awesome sci-fi or some dark horror or some great mysteries or some slice-of-life fiction … but Narvaez manages to pull the rug out from under us and surprise us with each passing story. This is both attractive to the collection, and a distraction. Attractive, because who doesn’t like a good surprise (and these are good). But a distraction because after two or three stories that are so urban…filled with street talk and the plight of those who inhabit this lifestyle…to suddenly read something so noir-ish, takes the reader back a bit. Or, as was my case, I recall thinking…’wait a minute…did he…is this…? When did this become a sci-fi/Phil Dick type of collection?’ and then I had to start the story over.

I typically won’t quote from another reviewer here on this blog, but I read a review on Goodreads that is really eloquent and describes exactly what I was thinking as I read this collection. With permission from Craig Terlson (himself a Goodreads author) here is how another reviewer sees this collection:

…the work is very fresh, inventive, full of touches of humour, brooding violence, suspense, and damn if he doesn’t sneak some satire in there. Basically, this guy is the real deal ….

The first chunk of stories start on the streets of Brooklyn, with a pregnant numbers running housewife, and move down into Puerto Rico with the superb “Juracan” – a Maltese Falconesque story …. Later in the collection, the stories jump into the near future for some dystopian hard-boiled tales that bring up memories of Bladerunner, Oryx and Crake, and somehow even A Canticle For Leibowitz.

… I only came up with these comparisons when I started this review – in the midst of the stories, I was too lost in the characters. … What amazed me about Narvaez’s writing, story after story he came up with compelling characters that hooked me from the first page. Sometimes he did it with an interesting POV – as in the title story. “Roachkiller” is in first person, but the lead character (recently released con and hired killer), refers to himself in the third person.

“Roachkiller knows what you’re thinking. But there was a time Roachkiller would have killed a man for a six-pack.”

… I also loved the diversity in the stories – “Unsynchronicity” and “Ibarra Goes Down” are shaggy dog noirs that play with the idea of when bad things happen to good people (which so often happens in noir). I have to admit in delighting in watching these characters spiral downward.

The closing stories with the Philp K. Dick vibe might seem out of place within the collection. I am guessing there could be another collection with just these stories. It was a risk to push the genre into sci-fi dystopia here – but I think it works. In fact, “Rough Night in Toronto,” might be the best story – a clever satire of men trying to live with (or under) machines that not only have AI, but basically run the earth. At one point a character is on an “integrated train” across from a pair of robots (known as “arties”) — “The male had a copper mohawk and a huge scarf wrapped around his neck. The female had long, copper metal tresses and had spray-painted her face pink. Liberal hipster arties. The worst.”

I don’t know why Narvaez isn’t a house-hold name. Anyone who likes good fiction, or well-defined characters, or strong writing, should have this author on their bookshelves. To keep with the sci-fi/Philip K. Dick theme, Narvaez’s work compares to the rawness and originality of Harlan Ellison, but perhaps with broader appeal.

I look forward to reading more Narvaez.

Looking for a good book? Read this collection of short stories now!

* * * * * *

Roachkiller and Other Stories

author: R. Narvaez

publisher: Beyond the Page Publishing

ASIN: B007P6L8J4

ebook, 141 pages

THE BALLAD OF MILA – Matteo Strukul

Posted by Daniel on March 6, 2014

Posted in: MYSTERY, OTHER, Uncategorized. Tagged: Book Reviews, Books, Mystery, Reviews, Thriller. Leave a comment

I am totally in love with the character of Mila Zago from The Ballad of Mila. She is calm, cool, confident, and capable. From the moment she first appears, walking head-long into a volatile situation, taking charge, and then throwing the results down in the police officers’ faces, I was hooked. I wouldn’t want to meet her — she is singularly focussed and you are either a target, or in her way.

This book reads so smoothly. I read it in two sittings, but only because I had spent time finishing up another book on the first day of reading this.

Mila is on a mission to join a brotherhood of bounty hunters, but first she needs to clean up her community of two rival mob gangs, one which was responsible for the slaughter of her dedicated cop father. She withdraws from ordinary life and trains and trains and trains to become a killing machine. People will compare this to the film Kill Bill for the obvious reason: she’s a cool, killing, femme fatale. But Mila is so much smoother than Uma Thurman.

But Mila is pretty much the only thing that makes this story work. Our bad guys, and there are plenty of them, are not smart. In fact, they seem so dim-witted that we can’t help wonder how they got to be criminal leaders? And because they are so dim, we know there will be no problems for Mila along the way — we almost wish they’d be capable of putting up a fight just so we could see what she’s really able to do.

Mila keeps a journal, which is almost a very long, detailed letter to a police officer/prosecutor, of her plans and jobs. She also records the things she does, to have an accurate record of the events.

This journal at first seemed like a real cop-out on author Matteo Strukul’s part. It was a convenient way to tell us Mila’s back story but I do think Strukul could have worked it in to the story a little more naturally, rather than just dumping a bunch of information on us in one sitting. Some of the latter journal entries were a little more interesting because they hinted at what was to come, rather than just telling us some history.

There is blood. Plenty of blood. And there is everything gruesome and cringe-worthy that you can imagine: Decapitation. Animal mauling. Torture. Rape. Slaughter. It made me think that we need a “grindhouse” category for splatter-fiction such as this.

One of the things that really made Mila so attractive (beside the description of her physical beauty) was that despite the very calm, cool exterior, we do get to look at her thoughts and on more than one occasion she questions whether or not she can continue or perform the violent action. This humanizes her to the reader and lets us see her as a person rather than just a killing machine. I felt is was a really smart move.

We are clearly set up for more Mila Zago stories, and believe me…I’ll bite! I want to see her in action again, though I hope she’ll be challenged a little more the next time.

Looking for a good book? This fast-paced, bloody, action-thriller has a heroine that you can rally behind and root on from the safety of your easy chair.

* * * * * *

The Ballad of Mila

original title: La ballata di Mila

author: Matteo Strukul

series: Mila Zago #1

publisher: Exhibit A

ISBN: 1909223735

paperback, 416 pages

LAST GOD STANDING – Michael Boatman

Posted by Daniel on March 5, 2014

Posted in: HUMOR, SF/FANTASY, Uncategorized. Tagged: Book Reviews, Books, Humor, Reviews, SF/Fantasy. Leave a comment

It can be difficult to sustain a sense of humor in a four-hundred page novel, but that’s precisely what author Michael Boatman sets out to do in Last God Standing.

The story follows God, who has decided to join the human race … as a stand-up comic. A bevy of other, oft forgotten gods, vie for the throne (when they’re not too busy partying). Lucifer has also become mortal, and God — who now goes by the name Lando Calrissian Darnell Cooper — has to keep an eye out for any potential surprise attacks. But despite attacks from other gods and fallen angels, Lando’s greatest threat is the conservative father of his girlfriend.

The story seemed somewhat clever, though not particularly original. There appears to be a fair amount of Neil Gaiman’s American Gods and Good Omens here, although this is significantly more ‘grounded’ — it doesn’t have the air or power of gods who can bring about the end of all times at a moment’s notice.

Which, of course, is not a good thing.

Perhaps because it is shadowed behind the veil of being a humorous novel, but there’s no punch here. This doesn’t reach out and grab the reader and make us want to root for Lando/God. I never felt a sense of impending doom, for anyone, with the exception of the opening sequence in which God is attacked. There is death, destruction, and perhaps the beginning of the apocalypse, but when it’s safe to raise our heads and look around, God reverses time to avoid the confrontation and the death of the innocents. I admit I raised my eyebrows a little — reversing time? — but I was excited and ready to dive in to the work.

One of the struggles with writing a good comic novel, is the dialog. How can you write ‘funny’ and be realistic or true to the voice of the character. So often, humor relies on inflection and facial expressions. I groaned (and not in a good way) at some early dialog. It feels like ‘low’ writing to have gods refer to one-another as “boy-o” and “missy” just to be funny. Fortunately, that sort of humor wasn’t too wide-spread, but it did cast an early pall over the tone of the book for me.

The number and types of gods to make an appearance here (almost as if they were guest shots) was fun, but in some ways unnecessary. If they don’t really have anything to do with the story, we don’t need to muck it all up with the extraneous appearances.

What works well are the scenes with Lando and Surabhi. Boatman can clearly tell a story well when he is focussed not so much on the big picture, but on the ordinary. The stand-up comic routines that are filtered throughout are also quite well done. They are funny, and often poignant, and read well. It was easy to visualize a comedian performing the routines as presented.

All in all…a nice attempt, with some great moments, but not a strong, cohesive novel.

Looking for a good book? This comic, fantasy novel by veteran actor, Michael Boatman, is a bit of fluff that you might or might not enjoy. Maybe wait for the television movie of the week version.

* * * * * *

Last God Standing

author: Michael Boatman

publisher: Angry Robot

ISBN: 085766395X

paperback, 400 pages

HELLBOY: THE MIDNIGHT CIRCUS – graphic novel

Posted by Daniel on March 4, 2014

Posted in: Dark Fantasy/Horror, GRAPHIC NOVEL, Uncategorized. Tagged: Book Reviews, Books, Graphic Novels, Horror/Dark Fantasy, Reviews. Leave a comment

I think that Hellboy is one of the most unique and creative comic book characters to have appeared in a very, very long time.

Hellboy: The Midnight Circus is a nice little allegorical tale, not unlike that of Pinocchio, in which a young Hellboy runs away from the safety of his home and visits a circus that appears just for him. Like Pinocchio, Hellboy learns a quick lesson in trust – trusting the wrong people and how difficult life can be without a parent or parent/authority figure. Thinking that he’s not wanted, Hellboy runs off after over-hearing a heated conversation about his potentially being trouble. On the surface, the circus appears to offer everything he wants: excitement, family, even a pretty mother/lover figure. But the reality is that he’s caught and damned until his parent/authority figure comes to his rescue.

In case we are clever enough to figure out the Pinocchio comparison for ourselves, even with the scene of his being swallowed by a whale, we actually have a moment when Hellboy reads Pinocchio. This felt a little like being hit over the head to make sure we got the symbolism.

The artwork is beautiful and appropriately dark and moody. The story, despite its relative simplicity, is well told. Author Mike Mignola understands the comic/graphic novel medium and how to write for it (not everyone who writes in this medium really ‘gets’ it).

But … really …? What’s the purpose here? This feels so much like a side-track story. Like a time-out. As if there was something really big going on and we needed a breather so we get this little short allegorical fluff piece as filler. At fifty-six pages, it is the shortest graphic novel I’ve read yet. And while length isn’t everything, it feels short. I wouldn’t likely shell out $15 for this (recommended retail price), and I couldn’t, in good conscience, recommend it for that, either. I would much rather have seen this as an ‘extra’ on a longer, deeper story. Those kinds of graphic novels do so well (or at least they appeal to me), and then I feel as though I got a nice bonus when I see that short story of the character as a kid added at the end.

Looking for a good book? This is a nicely written and drawn story of a great character, but it’s really just a short story passing itself off as a full-length book.

* * * * * *

Hellboy: The Midnight Circus

author: Mike Mignola

artists: Duncan Fegredo and Dave Stewart

publisher: Dark Horse Comics

ISBN: 1616552387

hardcover, 56 pages

A FRIEND IN THE MUSIC BUSINESS: THE ASCAP STORY — Bruce Pollock

Posted by Daniel on March 3, 2014

Posted in: ENTERTAINMENT, NON-FICTION, Uncategorized. Tagged: Book Reviews, Books, Entertainment, Music, non-fiction, Reviews. Leave a comment

Consider it my naïveté, but I always thought of ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers) as a union, and I suppose it is, but then I guess I never imagined one could have a choice in their unions. If you are a stage actor, you either belong to Actors Equity Association, or you don’t. If you are a film actor, you either belong to Screen Actors Guild, or you don’t. If you are a playwright, you belong to Dramatists Guild, or you don’t. There aren’t, generally speaking, multiple options. But in the music business, there are options — the two main ones being ASCAP and BMI. This is the main, surprising point that I picked up from this book (though I don’t think that was the intent).

Actually, I don’t mean this opening paragraph to come across as negative. I really found the book quite informative. As a member of a couple of different artist unions myself, and as someone with a tremendous amount of respect for musical artists, this look at the formation and struggles of a major musical union was really fascinating. What we see here is that an organization which proposes to look out for all its members requires a great amount of dedication by its founders, presidents, and ‘super-stars’ willing to go that extra mile for everyone. It is safe to say that ASCAP has survived because of those dedicated few.

Unions, such as ASCAP, face a difficult journey in our age of the internet. I was glad to see a chapter on this, though probably they could write a whole book in and of itself on the topic. For those of us who simply like to listen to music, we don’t often think about the effects a Pandora or a Spotify or a Live365 or any of the myriad of music broadcasters have on the composers. How does an artist get paid for their work? It takes an ASCAP to fight those battles.

One of the surprises in here was look at how royalties are figured. I can’t imagine the days when ASCAP had audio tapes of radio broadcasts delivered and someone would have to listen to each tape, long enough to determine the title/artist of a song, then fast forward to the next song! In today’s era of apps such as SoundHound, which can determine the title/artist/album title/release date of a song in an instant it is just unfathomable to me that there really would be work done on such a primitive level, just to figure out a few pennies worth of royalties! Fortunately there are better, automated ways, though the number of broadcasting formats and venues has also significantly increased.

In many ways, this book is simply a pat on the back for those involved, and a call to musicians and composers to consider ASCAP as their representative. On their (ASCAP’s) 100 year anniversary, both are important. It is good to look back at the struggles to fight for the artists, as well as the importance of sticking together for the fight’s ahead.

Note that more than 1/3 of this book is a compilation of appendices, end-notes, bibliography, and index. The most useful of these is the listing of the variety of programming and awards that ASCAP offers its members and potential members.

Author Bruce Pollock does an incredible amount of research and clearly has an interest and passion for music and those active in the music industry. His writing is crisp and the book never bogs down despite the amount of history and business information that is relayed. Targeted for a rather specific market, the book does a nice job of informing and welcoming. I have to admit, though, that I’d now like to read the story on ASCAP’s biggest competitor, BMI.

Looking for a good book? If you are interested in music, music business, or music composition, this needs to be on your reading list.

* * * * * *

A Friend in the Business: The ASCAP Story

author: Bruce Pollock

publisher: Hal Leonard Publishing Corporation

ISBN: 1423492218

hardcover, 320 pages

MASKS Volume 1 — graphic novel

Posted by Daniel on March 1, 2014

Posted in: GRAPHIC NOVEL, Uncategorized. Tagged: Book Reviews, Books, Graphic Novels, Reviews. 4 Comments

It’s taken me a little bit, but I’ve actually really started to enjoy the variety of graphic novels that I’ve been reviewing lately.

Masks, by author Chris Roberson and artists Alex Ross and Dennis Calero is part superhero, part mystery, part urban noir. The book is vintage superhero — from a time when the only super power was the Shadow’s ability to cloud men’s minds. The book brings together an unlikely assortment of vintage, pulp heroes: The Green Hornet and Kato, The Shadow, The Green Lama, Miss Fury, Black Terror, The Spider, Zorro, and Black Bat. If you’re not familiar with all these characters, you are not alone. I have a bit of a penchant for old pulp stories, and other than a passing reference, many of these I were not familiar to me. However, this definitely does not detract from the book. Rather, it makes me want more. I would love to see these vintage heroes more often.

Our set-up: it is the late 1930’s and a master criminal has worked his way into the political scene and has created The Justice Party … his own rogue, vigilante police force. He claims that justice can’t truly be served when there are lawyers and courts and other ways for the criminals to go free. It is not lost on this reader that our master villain is doing precisely what our costumed heroes do… mete out justice by their own means. It all comes down to the viewpoint of those handing out the ‘justice.’

In typical pulp fashion, the take-over of New York City by our shadowy thug is only the beginning. He’s hoping to take over the state, and then the country. And of course we presume, ultimately the world. But our odd menagerie of heroes discovers a secret that the mastermind had been trying to hide from them.

It’s certainly a classic pulp story, complete with fascism, but in the hands of a strong storyteller such as Chris Roberson, it works quite well. It helps that, sadly, this sort of political thuggery hasn’t gone away. While reading this book, the national news was full of reports on New Jersey’s Governor, Chris Christie’s political shenanigans with creating lane closures on the George Washington Bridge, and for his ‘shakedown’ of local mayors looking for hurricane relief money. It’s a little scary that fiction such as this has such strong non-fiction ties to the modern world.

This is a graphic novel, so of course there is artwork here. Beautiful artwork. It’s almost impossible to go wrong with the reigning king of comic book art, Alex Ross. his panels don’t appear to be pen, ink, and computer-generated color art, but complete, multi-paneled paintings. Ross is only responsible for the first issue of the comic series that is compiled for this graphic novel, as well as a few covers. The rest of the series is drawn by Dennis Calero. It would be a difficult task to follow Alex Ross on any series, but Calero holds his own quite well and his art is fitting to the period, noir look for the book.

The ‘down’-side to this book is that there are so many characters with whom most readers are likely not familiar, that we don’t really get to know them. I’m not deeply aware of the graphic novel/comic book community. Perhaps each of these characters already have their own titles? In any event, I just don’t know the Green Lama or Black Bat or Miss Fury, and their inclusion here has me wanting a little more from them.

My advance reading copy included a bonus of the original script for the first issue of the comic, along with panel sketches by Ross. I always enjoy seeing the creative process behind a finished work, so this was a nice treat.

If there will be a Volume 2 and beyond, count me interested!

Looking for a good book? This period, noir graphic novel with a gathering of pulp heroes is a wonderful throwback to an era when heroes where men and women of conviction rather than just mutant powers.