Todd Klein's Blog, page 236

And Then I Read: G.I. ZOMBIE 2

Image © DC Comics, Inc.

Regular zombies bore me, but this one is no mindless brain-eater, he’s a smart covert operative who happens to be dead. We don’t know much about that yet. I’m enjoying his current operation, shared with a decidedly NOT dead female partner, Carmen. The two are infiltrating a group of militants in a rural U.S. location who are not only involved with dangerous weapons like missiles, but in germ warfare materials. I haven’t read much by writers Palmiotti and Gray, but I like this so far. It has “Mission Impossible” plotting and tension with supernatural overtones. The art by Scott Hampton is as excellent as always, and I’ve just realized he’s coloring as well. The style is watercolor over gray tones, and it serves the story nicely. Looking forward to more.

Recommended.

And Then I Read: LOCKE & KEY Volume 6

Image © Joe Hill & IDW.

This final volume of the LOCKE & KEY series is, if anything, best of all, though of course you have to read the others to get the most out of it. Joe Hill has fashioned a complete story full of appealing detail and intricacy, characters that will stay with you, a plot that is edge-of-your-seat thrilling and terrifying, all in a well-constructed world and setting that I find irresistible.

In a way, it’s built on families. The Locke family, of course, are the central characters, appealing and smart though scarred by tragedy. Then there are the families of high school friends, one in the father’s generation, one in the present, each also scarred and separated by tragedy and infiltrated by demons. Finally, there’s the family of magical keys, each with amazing and wonderful powers, each fraught with pitfalls for the user and powered by dark forces hidden deep beneath Keyhouse, the Locke family mansion. This time the main keys in use are the Alpha and Omega ones, as seen on the cover, and as the number of keys has grown, so has the plot become complicated by them. I lost track of some of the many plot threads that tie up in this volume, but the resolution is so satisfying it didn’t matter. I’m sure reading the entire series together would be even more rewarding.

The art by Gabriel Rodriguez is just as satisfying as the writing, full of intricate detail, but crafted on strong art and design skills that never fail to deliver every nuance of the story brilliantly. The barrier between reality and fantasy is constantly being crossed in the series, but every panel is so grounded in fine drawing that it always feels true and believable. And I should add that the book is greatly aided by excellent coloring and lettering by Jay Fotos and Robbie Robbins respectively.

If you like stories with a strong dark flavor, this one will surely satisfy. Highly recommended.

And Then I Read: ASTRO CITY 14

Image © Juke Box Productions.

The premise of this issue strikes me as one that would fit into a Rod Serling “Twilight Zone” with a really big budget. If you’ve ever driven in the bleaker parts of the western U.S., you might have encountered one or more roadside museums or similar attractions, quirky and odd establishments, usually tired tourist traps barely run by an elderly eccentric or two. Here we have Ellie, a woman who collects robots. Specifically all the comic book robots in Astro City’s world that have been beaten and battered by super-heroes and left to rot. She rescues them, repairs them if she can, and has them on display. Ellie is a sweet soul, and unfortunately rather gullible. She’s being used by her nephew Fred, who has some other plans for her museum and its denizens, if he can get Ellie out of the way. Great story, fine art, excellent comics.

Recommended.

And Then I Read: SAGA Volume 3

Image © Brian K. Vaughan & Fiona Staples.

If you pay attention to the comics world at all, you don’t need me to inform you about this excellent series. It tops best-seller lists (at least when collected in trade paperbacks as here), and wins awards. It’s leading the current resurgence of Image Comics in the marketplace and critical respect. All with good reason.

There are so many entertaining ideas and characters, and the plot is never predictable. At the center are the star-crossed lovers Marko and Alana from two warring races that look humanoid except that one has vestigial wings and the other has horns. Much outrage follows their romance, and they’re being pursued by several bounty hunters, each with interesting back stories and companions. There are family members involved, and supernatural beings, one evil, one helpful. There’s a romance novel author sought out by Marko and Alana because he seems to speak to their problems, but when they find him he’s rather disappointing. There are other creatures and races of various kinds, all fascinating, with my favorite being Honest Cat, who doesn’t speak except when calling out someone in his presence with a single flat accusation: “Lying.” Beyond all that, this is more than an adventure story, it’s full of wisdom about people and the choices they have to make in life. Also quite funny at times, and at others chillingly sad and terrible.

Enough, it’s brilliant, both the art and the writing. Get the collections. Read them. You won’t be sorry.

Highly recommended.

And Then I Read: GREEN LANTERN CORPS 34

Image © DC Comics, Inc.

Writer Van Jensen is given the chance between epic battles to tell a character story in this issue, and it’s a good one, though not so much for John Stewart. His romance with the Star Sapphire Fatality has already been put on shaky ground with the revelation in past issues that the person he thought was Fatality was in fact a Durlan in disguise. Now he’s on the trail of the real Fatality, but when he finds her, he’s due for more shocks. The story’s pretty good, and I continue to be impressed with the art by Bernard Chang. First, it’s all by him, no inker or collaborators. Second, he continues to experiment, now with two graphic variations on his standard art that add diversity and interest to his pages. Very appealing.

Recommended.

And Then I Read: LEGENDERRY 1

Image © Dynamite Characters, LLC.

It’s been a while since I read something written by Bill Willingham that wasn’t in a script I was about to letter. While I’m not a big steam punk fan, I thought this sounded promising. I read the issue without any knowledge of the characters, at first thinking they were all new, though the name Britt Reid rang a bell, and in looking at the indicia afterward, I found lots of licensed characters mentioned, some of which I could identify, some not. On the cover you can see what I missed: the steam punk versions of The Green Hornet and Kato, though neither appear as such in this first issue. The lady on the left is apparently a new version of Vampirella, though that name is only mentioned in passing on the inside cover. Inside she’s named Madam Pendragon, the owner of the night club where most of the story takes place. The other woman has been pursued by some kind of villain corps into the night club, and is rescued by Madam Pendragon. Her name is Magna Spadarossa, and is apparently related to a version of Red Sonja. None of this is made clear in the story itself, but it seems the entire cast is a conglomeration of licensed characters.

The story takes place in The Big City, Willingham’s steam punk version of Victorian New York perhaps, and the opening scene has Britt Reid expounding on the perfect martini before the action begins. The writing is clever and entertaining, if not very enlightening about the characters themselves. The art by Sergio Davila is quite good, and the book looks fine overall. I’m going to read on and see if things become clearer, but at present I can only give this a mild recommendation.

Rereading: I WILL FEAR NO EVIL by Robert Heinlein

Image © estate of Robert Heinlein.

I read this long novel twice, first as serialized in GALAXY magazine, later in this paperback version. I was drawn back to it after reading the second half of the new Heinlein biography by William H. Patterson Jr. I found it pretty odd when I first read it. Quite a good read, but different from other Heinlein books. I remember thinking it was the work of an old man, being the story of Johann Smith, a very old man with many health problems but lots of money to hire the best doctors to keep him alive. A man essentially a prisoner in his own home left to argue with his old friend and lawyer Jake Solomon, and fantasize about his very beautiful and sexy secretary Eunice Branca.

Things turn strange when Johann decides to try a risky operation transplanting his brain into a new young body. Johann has a rare blood type limiting the donor possibilities, but plenty of money is offered and a list of possible donors grows. Abruptly with chapter five, everything changes, as Johann finds himself waking up gradually from the transplant surgery, not remembering how it happened. He’s sedated and restrained, but as he grows stronger he discovers something he hadn’t expected: the donor body is female. More shocks follow when it turns out it’s that of his secretary, Eunice. Johann is devastated, as he cared deeply for Eunice, but something even stranger helps him: Eunice’s spirit or essence begins speaking to him inside his head. It seems they’re going to share her body and his mind with Eunice as an unseen partner, helping him learn to be female with all that entails, from social behavior to sex.

There are interesting twists, as his granddaughters sue, claiming he can’t prove he’s who he says he is. Eunice’s husband gets involved in the story and the life of the new combined person, as do her doctor, nurse, and her four bodyguards. But most of the remaining pages are filled with internal dialogue between Johann (now Joan) and Eunice on every possible topic from their two lives and divergent experiences, philosophies and desires. The book does get bogged down by the sheer amount of this, and it often slows the story to a crawl, though most of what Heinlein has to say is interesting. I did get tired of the back and forth sex talk, though, there’s too much of that.

I remember reading at the time the book came out that Heinlein was very ill, and I always thought that must have affected the writing. Certainly there’s lots of preoccupation with illness. But in the Patterson bio I learned it was only after he had turned this manuscript in to his editor that he fell ill, and remained so for long enough that he wasn’t able to do his usual copy editing of the galleys. Heinlein’s publishers always seemed to feel his books were too long, and he normally did a lot of cutting, but did not trust others to do it, so the final contract for this book stipulated it would be published as written, no cutting. That’s enlightening, and I can see where cutting might well have helped the story.

But there are plenty of details that must come from Heinlein’s own life and experiences that would have been cut, and for that reason I’m glad to have it all here. And this book was the beginning of Heinlein’s drift away from the usual tropes of science fiction to concentrate on what interested him most: people and the things they cared most about like sex, death, and money. There are still some fine ideas in the book, but the characters and their lives are the real focus.

I WILL FEAR NO EVIL is not a Heinlein book I would give someone to try if they hadn’t read much by him yet, but it’s well worth reading all the same.

And Then I Read: LITTLE NEMO, RETURN TO SLUMBERLAND 1

Image © Eric Shanower, Gabriel Rodriguez & IDW.

Little Nemo is certainly in the air these days, with several Nemo-related projects in print or upcoming. This one is an original series based on the Winsor McCay original Sunday comic strip known for its brilliant surrealistic visuals. McCay’s strip usually had no continuity, it was something different every time, ending at the last panel with the sleeping Nemo falling out of bed and waking up from his strange dream journey. Writer Eric Shanower follows the same idea here, sort of. The issue begins in the throne room of King Morpheus of Slumberland as a new playmate is being chosen from the children of the waking world for the king’s daughter. The original Little Nemo filled that role, and this time the Princess is taken with another boy whose middle name is conveniently also Nemo. A series of dream emissaries are sent to bring the new Nemo to Slumberland, and each attempt gets a little farther, but fails with the falling-out-of-bed gag. But by issue’s end, Nemo reaches Slumberland, which is presented in a magnificent two-page spread by artist Gabriel Rodriguez. This book is an interesting choice for Rodriguez after his previous series, LOCKE & KEY, a chilling horror masterpiece written by Joe Hill. Rodriguez’s style here is an effective blend of McCay style and characters with his own style, most evident in the character’s faces and body language. There’s not much drama here, but plenty of wonder and enchantment. I’m looking forward to more.

Recommended.

And Then I Read: JUSTICE LEAGUE 33

Image © DC Comics, Inc.

A young woman, Jessica Cruz, has put on a very evil version of Green Lantern’s power ring, and it now controls her mind, though she’s fighting that. The energy available to the ring makes it a powerful threat, and two super-groups are trying to contain the problem and capture the ring: the Justice League and the Doom Patrol. Naturally this leads to lots of in-fighting, as the two groups do not get along. (It’s comics, after all.) Lex Luthor shows up with a plan to help the Justice League, but he’s opposed by another brilliant mind, scientist Niles Caulder, head of the Doom Patrol. There are all kinds of struggles going on here beyond the main conflict, and one is a contest between Batman and Luthor over who’s in charge of the situation and who will save the day. When the struggle is resolved, an even more interesting conflict arises between Justice League mainstays Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman over what to do about Lex Luthor. Geoff Johns does a fine job with the script, making it about much more than fighting. The art by Doug Mahnke and Keith Champagne is excellent, as always. DC’s flagship team book continues to shine in my opinion.

Recommended.

And Then I Read: AQUAMAN AND THE OTHERS 5

Image © DC Comics, Inc.

This issue wraps up the initial storyline of this new title in a satisfactory if not spectacular way. We have “The Others,” a team introduced in Aquaman’s own title by Geoff Johns with an interesting mix of heroes and anti-heroes versus an ancient family wronged by equally ancient Atlanteans, who stole their sacred treasure. They fight a lot. I read this some weeks ago, and looking through it now there’s nothing that stands out about it other than an impressive double-page splash in the middle. The writing by Dan Jurgens is professional and competent, he handles the characters well, but it’s just not memorable. The art by Lan Medina is quite good, at times excellent. I can’t put my finger on any flaw in this book, I can only say it didn’t wow me. Not sure if I’ll keep reading or not.

Mildly recommended.