Getting back to the olden days

Most of my non-genre reading (and by that I mean non sci-fi/fantasy, because that is what 'genre' has come to mean in my head, so don't shoot me please) is of the cop/thriller variety. I can't really pinpoint the exact moment that this state of affairs came into being but I do know that it never used to be this way.

In my younger years; for almost the entirety of my school life, in fact; I was all about the history. Naturally, sci-fi/fantasy was my first love, but when I did branch out, it was into the time streams, not onto a beat. Bernard Cornwell is of course the name that immediately springs to mind, so prolific was he; and so beloved of my local library, so never out of reach; but there were others.

Very few names have survived the gradual degradation of my memory cells, which is a shame as I vividly remember the feeling of reading and loving these works, and would dearly love to be able to recommend, and maybe even revisit some of them.

Masters of Rome 1: The First Man In Rome

I do remember one particular series that I was very much into; although I don't think I ever finished it; was the Masters of Rome series, by Colleen McCullough, which charted the Roman Empire over a hundred years or so. That's one I think I'll definitely return to.

  I'm telling you this because having caught up, almost, with the crime series I came late to and had a backlog of (mostly Mark Billingham and Kathy Reichs stuff) I figured rather than the original plan of starting another big haul; contenders were the alphabet books by Sue Grafton or the Alex Cross books by James Patterson; I'd take the opportunity to return to the history books. I just have no idea where to start.

Bernard Cornwell's Grail Quest series. On the shelf.

I have picked up a load of Cornwell books that he's brought out since I stopped reading him; because he apparently never stops writing, ever; but I'm wary of getting sucked into that trap of trying to keep up with a really prolific person and never reading anything else. So I took a plunge and picked up a couple of chunky omnibuses from authors I've never read that, while big in themselves, are at least complete. A trilogy called Viking, by Tim Severin, and a collection of short stories about a guy called McAuslan by Flashman author George MacDonald Fraser. I flipped a coin to see which got read first.

Can't Sleep? Take one chapter before bedtime.

Viking it was. The first of the 3 novels contained in the book is called Odinn's Child. It's dull. It's brain freezingly dull. It is a novel, about Vikings. And it's dull. It has battles and feasts and quests. And it's dull. Reading this novel is legitimately one of the toughest challenges I've ever faced as a reader; the urge to toss it aside being so strong so much of the time. When I finished it, and was faced with the prospect of reading the second novel; Sworn Brother; I cried a little before shaking my head and admitting defeat. It stands neglected now upon my shelf awaiting it's return to my good graces.

I will read book 2. And after a no doubt equally essential sanity break, I will read book 3. But not yet. Oh no.

So the utter tedium of more Viking stories and the, one hopes, slightly more fun McAuslan stories await me in my future. Beyond that, who knows. Maybe I'll bow to the inevitable and sink into another Cornwell series. Anyone who wants to suggest something new, feel free in the old comment box below. I'll try anything once.

Hitman: A Rage In Arkham

COMICS! Because I haven't for a while.

Meet Tommy Monaghan. He kills people for money. It's a living.

Garth Ennis is the only writer to have two series in my graphic novel rotation at the moment; I spoke about current epic The Boys in an earlier post, while DC are currently collecting his 90's classic Hitman for what I believe is the first time; at least in the case of the later issues.

It's fabulous.

Tommy Monaghan is a hired gun, working freelance amongst the various feuding factions of the Gotham City (yes, that Gotham City) underworld. After a chance encounter with a not particularly friendly 'giant alien space vampire parasite' he gains certain powers that come in very handy in his line of work; namely x-ray vision and telepathy. He was already good at his job; now that he can see where you're hiding and hear what you're thinking, he's positively unstoppable. Or so he thinks.

Tommy first appeared in DC's The Demon comic, in it's second annual and then twice more before that title folded. This first volume collects the first of these appearances only, skips the other two, throws in Tommy's appearance in Batman Chronicles 4, and then launches into his own series, Hitman, with the first 3 issue arc. The completist in me might have balked at the two missing stories but in truth, I didn't know about them when I read this book and you'd never notice from the stories. Whatever happened in those missing tales, Ennis does a flawless job of giving you everything you need to know to dive right in.

In fact, even had they omitted Tommy's 'origin' tale from Demon Annual #2 and picked straight up with Hitman #1, this book would have been as accessible a debut volume as I've read. Literally everything you need to know to start following the character is laid out for you in the minimum number of pages, without ever seeming like rushed exposition, and we're propelled straight into Tommy's first 'mission'. Someone has hired him to kill The Joker.

Yes, the Joker. Elements of the Batman mythos are all over this book. The man himself is on the cover, not to mention the story, where he receives less than reverential treatment from Tommy (and Ennis); the title, A Rage In Arkham (the name of the first arc) refers to Arkham Asylum, home away from lair for all of Bats' myriad of foes; and as mentioned, The Joker looms large over events towards the finale. Or does he?

Kill The Joker? Fat Chance Mate

It's a sensible, and most likely editorially mandated, route to take. After all, if you're launching a new comic with an essentially all new cast, it can't help to play up it's links to one of your biggest characters. The assumption the reader makes is that, once the introductions are made and Tommy and friends are established in their own right, the Batman links will be pared back and phased out. These characters are strong enough to stand on their own and tell their own stories.

So what kind of stories are we talking here? Well, by virtue of being published as a Demon issue, the origin story is heavily reliant on the Supernatural, and the Rage in Arkham arc has as it's villains The Arkannone, a group of Lords of Hell, eager to recruit Tommy to their cause. However, there is nothing to suggest that the series will always focus on that aspect. One virtue of being set in the regular DC line is that there is a precedent for books of all genres. Superhero fare, gritty crime drama, war stories, and supernatural horror stand side by side in this world, and Tommy has a foot in all of those worlds. This series could go anywhere, and with Ennis writing, it almost certainly will.

Of course, this being the first book in the series, Tommy comes out on top and walks off into the sunset. None of his enemies are truly defeated though, and he's managed to make a few new ones along the way; it looks like there could be a very complicated road ahead for our hero.

And now for my traditional perfunctory appraisal of the art on offer; prefaced by the equally traditional caveat that no disrespect is intended, I just don't feel qualified to discuss art.

John McCrea is brilliant. His is a very cartoony style, which works wonders when the book is meant to be funny, which is often, but is also strangely well suited to depicting violent, bloody death.

In his introduction, artist Steve Dillon (frequent Ennis collaborator) talks of the 'acting ability' that comic book artists need to imbue in their characters, stressing that McCrea is very good at it. In my humble, unqualified opinion, he's absolutely right,as evidenced by Tommy's cheesy as hell grin when pretending not to know who Batman is. Taking the piss, and loving it.

And there you have my thoughts on the first Hitman collection. Another stonking start to what looks like being another stonking series from the always stonking Mr Ennis. Stonking.

Garth Ennis

John McCrea