Todd Klein's Blog, page 113

Incoming: JACK OF FABLES BOOK 3, BATMAN WHITE KNIGHT DELUXE

Images © DC Comics.

Two deluxe hardcovers arrived together, one holding material from the recent past, the other a few years ago.

The Jack of Fables book is the final third of the series, issues 36-50. It was a fun ride, though I have to admit I never warmed to Jack as a character. I enjoy tricksters usually, but Jack had some unpleasant traits. Mostly I liked the writing and art, and it’s hard to beat those Brian Bolland covers.

This seems like at least the third collection of White Knight in the last year. This one has the deluxe treatment, so the art is a little larger. It’s a fine story, and fine art.

I don’t know when these hit stores, it it should be soon.

And Then I Read: THE DREAMING #18

Image © DC Comics. Written by Simon Spurrier, art and colors by Marguerite Sauvage,
letters by Simon Bowland, cover by Yanick Paquette & Nathan Fairbairn.

The plots of comics that are continuing series tend to run in large loops that return to about the same spot, like a boomerang. So far this relaunch of THE DREAMING hasn’t done that, but this issue feels like it might be about to. Two main plotlines here. In one, Dora and Abel are in a new kind of House of Mystery on Earth, where Cain is part of the electronic surveillance system. The man he was supposed to be protecting has just died, and Dora comes under attack from someone she thought was a friend. In the other, we see Rose Walker riding on a bus in California dreaming of strange things, and on the verge of understanding them, but not quite succeeding. Her mother has died and is in a box, and Rose tells us she can’t feel anything. These stories are about to collide, literally.

I love the art and coloring this time, the lettering is fine (sorry I couldn’t hand over that Desire font, Simon), and the writing is always intriguing if sometimes hard to follow. Dreamlike, I suppose. Still, a good read and recommended.

Incoming: CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS: GREEN LANTERN

Image © DC Comics

I’ve often wondered if DC would ever reprint the OMEGA MEN comics I wrote, and here they’ve reprinted numbers 31 and 33, the two issues that were slightly involved in the vast “Crisis on Infinite Earths” storyline that affected all the DC titles in 1985 and 1986, along with the similarly involved LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES #16 and #18 as well as GREEN LANTERN #194-198. I don’t know how well this will read as part of the whole event today, at the time it was kind of annoying to insert Crisis elements in my storyline, but on the other hand I and the rest of the team knew it would boost sales, and the book was sliding downward toward cancellation, so that made it worth doing, and we gave it our best shot. I suspect the longer Green Lantern storyline written by Steve Englehart and the Legion issues by Paul Levitz will hold up better. Not sure when this hardcover is due out, look for it soon if it’s not already.

And Then I Read: THE RED JOURNEY BACK by John Keir Cross

Cover and interior illustrations by Robin Jacques.

Sometimes an old book is fun to read even when it’s not written all that well, and this is one of those. It’s the sequel to “The Angry Planet,” which I reread and reviewed here last week, and it was new to me.

Once again the story is told by multiple authors recounting events, at least until the last third of the book. We learn that The Albatross, the rocket designed and built by Dr. McGillivray has returned to Mars with him and his friend Stephen MacFarlane. No stowaways this time. Another scientist begins receiving messages from the pair on Mars, and they seem to be in a lot of trouble. Their final message is to send a rescue mission and to bring back “the children,” in other words, the three stowaways on the first flight, Paul, Jacqueline and Mike. A new expedition is prepared on a larger ship built in America by Dr. Kalkenbrenner, and this time more people will be going. There’s even another stowaway.

The author has made a bit more of an effort with the science of space flight this time, but it’s still wildly inaccurate. The real story begins when the new ship, The Comet, lands on the Red Planet. The new expedition finds McGillivray and MacFarlane, but they are acting strangely, and their ship is surrounded by a wall of plants that are controlled by an ancient being who means the Earthlings no good. This time the new Martians are much more dangerous than the ones in the first book, and the story of rescue and escape from them is a harrowing and thrilling one.

I have to also say that the illustrations by Robin Jacques are a major addition to these books. All his work is excellent, and here they are a great help to the storytelling.

A good read for fans of old-time space adventure books for young readers, and worth a try if you can find it.

And Then I Read: THE WINTER OF THE WITCH by Katherine Arden

The third book of the Winternight Trilogy is a satisfying finale to what came before and also an engrossing exploration of Russian medieval history, religion and folklore. Vasya, the witch of the title, has saved Moscow once, and must do so again in this book, now from the threat of war with the tatars, the one-time invaders from the Far East who hold power among the divided fiefdoms known as The Rus. They are marching on Moscow, and only the combined efforts of its human warriors and the magical beings all around them can possibly save Moscow from destruction. But after centuries of neglect and dismissal, can Vasya possibly get those arcane forces on her side? Only a quest deep into the Midnight lands and bargaining with the immortal beings who live there can provide an answer. And somehow she must gain the help of both the Winter King and his equally powerful brother, mortal enemies. Plus she must deal with her first tormenter, Brother Konstantin, a holy man seduced by evil. It all comes together on the battlefield in a grand finale that is exciting and terrifying, and the conclusion is well worth the journey. What I liked best about this series is the things I learned about the magic and history of a part of the world I knew so little about before, but the characters, ideas, and storyline are all excellent.

Recommended.

Rereading: THE ANGRY PLANET by John Keir Cross

Cover and interior illustrations by Robin Jacques.

Published in 1946, this adventure story about a trip to Mars has more of the feel of Jules Verne than post World War Two fiction. It was one of only a few science fiction books in my grade school library, though, and I liked it a lot then. In rereading it now, I see that the science aspect is greatly lacking, and author Cross does much worse than Verne in his space voyage books despite this one being written many decades later, but as an adventure story for children it’s not bad. The excellent illustrations by Robin Jacques help.

Professor Andrew McGillivray in Scotland has been building rockets, and has finally made one big enough to travel through space. His neighbor and friend, writer Stephen MacFarlane, helps when he can, and the two men plan a voyage to Mars. Things get complicated when Stephen is forced to take charge of his nephew Mike Mallone and Mike’s cousins Paul and Jacqueline Adam for a few weeks. Unknown to the Professor and Stephen, the children stow away on their rocket just before it leaves for Mars, and the five travelers arrive there unharmed. What they find is superficially like other versions of Mars:—the dry, red, sandy landscape for instance—but the Martians that greet them and bring them to their city are quite different, as seen in the cover illustration above. These Martians, who call themselves The Beautiful People, communicate through telepathy, and are friendly once they realize the travelers mean them no harm, and the group enjoys exploring their city and their way of life.

Not long after they arrive, though, the space ship Albatross is attacked by a different, malevolent type of Martians who succeed in capturing young Mike. Soon the two Martian races are preparing for war, with the travelers caught in the middle. When that war begins, even more danger comes from a volcanic eruption. Will they be able to escape in their ship and return to Earth? Of course the reader knows they will, as the book is told in a series of chapters and reports by the five travelers after they’re home, but it’s an exciting adventure all the same, and I liked the characters. This is not as interesting a Mars as those written by Edgar Rice Burroughs or C.S. Lewis, but it has its moments. Looking online I found there was a sequel, which I’ve never seen. I’ve ordered it.

Mildly recommended.

And Then I Read: JIMMY OLSEN #7

Image © DC Comics. Written by Matt Fraction, art by Steve Lieber,
colors by Nathan Fairbairn, letters by Clayton Cowles

This comic is fun for me, as I remember the goofiness of Jimmy Olsen comics in the 1950s, and a lot of that is here. I can’t say I was a fan of those comics, though I did like Jimmy Olsen on the “Adventures of Superman” TV show of the same era. Then Jimmy’s title became part of Jack Kirby’s Fourth World in the 1970s. I loved those comics, even if Jimmy wasn’t a big part of them really. The current series doesn’t have much of that influence, maybe a little in the outer space/inner space storyline. This issue we visit Jimmy’s psychiatrist who discusses the many Olsen personalities, see Jimmy and his siblings as small kids in a sequence not unlike “Li’l Archie,” follow current day Jimmy and his sister to Opal City (I didn’t get that one), find out what’s happening at Jimmy’s Gotham City apartment rental (a lot!), and perhaps most fun of all, we see Jimmy’s job interview at the Daily Planet that landed him his job. If that’s not enough, there’s another piece of the Olsen and Luthor families feud. The writing, art, colors and lettering are all excellent. And the story is so fragmented in this series, it almost doesn’t matter where you start.

Recommended. Make that highly.

Incoming: BATMAN THE DARK KNIGHT DETECTIVE Vol. 3

Image © DC Comics.

Arrived today, a collection of DETECTIVE COMICS #592-600, of which I lettered all but one. The big deal was the story “Blind Justice” written by screenwriter Sam Hamm, pencils by Denys Cowan in issues 598-600. I remember really liking it when I worked on it. I’ve just had a look on Wikipedia and found no credits from Hamm since 2006, and most of his work is screenplays, including two Batman movies. Also from DETECTIVE #600 is a tribute section with text pieces and art by a stellar group of creators. Fun to see it again. This should be available soon if it isn’t already.

And Then I Read: SOURCERY by Terry Pratchett

After reading this fifth book in the Discword series, I’ve decided that if I had read them in order as they came out, I might have dropped out here, and missed some great reads later. “Sourcery” is very much like the first two books except that Rincewind the hapless, cowardly magician is even more annoying than in the first two books. The Luggage is here as well, but doesn’t have many good moments. The simian librarian of The Unseen University, the college of magic, is here, and is perhaps the best of the returning characters, though limited in dialogue mostly to “Oook.” Death appears a few times, but doesn’t have much to do either.

The new threat to Discworld is a young sourcerer, Coin, who has enough power to easily take control of the much older wizards of Unseen University, and he begins to remake the world to suit his plans, with the usual chaos ensuing. Rincewind, Conina (the daughter of Cohen the Barbarian) and would-be hero Nijel attempt to stop him, and the usual disasters occur with occasional triumphs. I found this book to be mostly a retread of the first two in spirit and design, and was often tempted to stop reading it, but persevered. It’s not a bad book, just too much of the same thing, very plot driven, and too light-weight for my taste.

Only mildly recommended.

And Then I Read: THE DREAMING #17

Image © DC Comics. Written by Simon Spurrier, art by Bilquis Evely, colors by Mat Lopes, letters by Simon Bowland, covers by Yanick Paquette and Nathan Fairbairn.

Simon Spurrier’s writing on this title in this storyline is dreamlike itself, in that it vacillates between things that seem to make sense and things that don’t, as the dreaming mind struggles to tie together unrelated images and events into a story. There are many parts to it, and those parts are interesting, but I struggle to see the whole picture. Things that happen are gripping at times: the opening scene between Abel and Lucien is one. Others drift by like colored balloons that make little impact on me. The motivations of many events and characters are murky and unclear to me, even as I marvel at the visuals and the display of interesting ideas and clever language. I suppose it’s the perfect representation of a story you might tell yourself in a dream, even if I don’t connect with all of it. Worth the trip, for sure.

Recommended.