In Her Bones

Hello all. It's been a while. A long while. Fecking ages, in fact. 

Sorry about that.

I haven't been totally idle on here though, oh no! I've changed the title of the blog. Of course, what that means is that the url changed too, which means that the genre tabs at the top of the page there all lead to dead links. Didn't think that through, did I? As of typing this I actually noticed that little problem a few days ago, but, you know...lazy. So it's not fixed yet. Again, sorry.

Anyway, to the business at hand. My first foray into reading self e-published material. I didn't know what kind of standard to expect but I was  pleasantly surprised. So here you are, In Her Bones, by Natasha Kingston; the first in the Bearing Gifts series.

There's not a lot of plot to be had in this book, but you can forgive that because as the first in what I'm given to believe is to be a long series of novella length releases this title is concerning itself, as a beginning should, way more with character. Because no-one cares what is happening if they don't care about the person it's happening too, right?

Oh, there are hints here and there, and intriguing ones at that, as to a wider world waiting in the wings to unfold for us; and a stonking little cliffhanger that should bring you back for number two; but what this book really does is introduce us to, and immerse us in the life of, our heroine.

And she's a doozy. Violet Munoz is the kind of young woman who should be an inspiration to us all; she's hot and she knows it, she enjoys sex for the pure joy of sex, and she has multiple casual relationships going on at the same time, whilst, and this is the important part, making no apologies for any of it. She's unsure where her life is going to take her, but she's living it on her terms and having fun in the process, and in doing so she makes us like her, flaws and all, pretty much from the moment we start reading her story; I mean who can resist that level of infectious enthusiasm for life?

Violets friends and colleagues are sketched out a little less intricately, but I've a feeling that's by design; we'll learn more about them as the story progressses and their place in the  in the grand scheme of things becomes clear, I'm sure. There's one in particular I have my eye on...

Of course, Violets carefree existence can't be allowed to last for long, because that would not a good story make, and as I mentioned above we get plenty of hints of future complications for her; just what are those cold flashes? And what is this compulsion she has to get closer to someone she's really just not that into?; but for now, it's simple;  I love Violet, and I want to read more of her story. So, job done.

Natasha Kingston

In the interests of full disclosure, I should probably point out that I am a huge fan of Natasha Kingston's previous creative endeavour (no not her pornographic short stories, although yes, those too, shut up), the rather wonderful Unspoiled podcast, which she hosts and produces with her husband Brendan (upon whom I have a pretty massive man crush; again, shut up) so, you know...

This in no way invalidates my assertion that In Her Bones is good. No it doesn't. NO IT... How many times do I have to tell you to shut up?

Into The Woods

This past Saturday (the 8th of December) Newcastle City Library, much as it did last year, played host to the 2nd annual Canny Comic Con. I, much as I did last year, attended the event, had a really good time and spent far more money than I should have done.

In this post I shall discuss one of the many titles I bought at CCC, but UNLIKE last year, I'll do it before a month and a half has passed and everyone else has moved on. Never let it be said that I don't learn from my mistakes. Sometimes.

This years pick of the haul; meaning no disrespect to anything else I picked up but I read this first; is Into The Woods: A Fairytale Anthology (ed. Stacey Whittle). This book has actually been out a good while and I had intended to pick it up last year but one thing led to another and life got in the way. I figured, though, that if I went to an event organised in large part by the books editor and still didn't pick up a copy then I had no one to blame but myself. So I did, and I'm glad I did.

First thing you notice about Into The Woods is that it's a very handsome package; card cover (adorned with some rather lovely artwork by the team of Andy Bloor and Steve Howard) with a proper spine and everything, wrapped around good quality glossy paper throughout, which really allows the artwork of the various contributors to look it's best.

With 9 short stories across 46 pages of comic; all from different creative teams and between them spanning as wide a spectrum of styles and tones as the Fairy Tale remit will allow; I would imagine that there is something for pretty much everybody here, with nothing outstaying it's welcome either. In fact, if anything I'd say that a couple of these stories end slightly abruptly; if never unsatisfactorily.

Personal highlights for me were A Time For A Change (Ollie Masters and Valia Kapadai) which sees the deities of old coming to terms with their obsolescence in our age of reason; Changeling (Alexi Conman and Conor Boyle) which is just depressing as hell, in the best possible way (and has a killer panel on page 3 that made me laugh out loud; buy the book and guess which one I mean); and Samhain (Mathew Gibbs and Alice Duke), concerning the consequences for two young lads when they try to cover up a fatal hit and run.

I must confess that I didn't enjoy Samhain quite so much on first reading, and I blamed Duke's art for not doing enough to differentiate between the two protagonists, which made the whole thing confusing. Then I read it again and realised that they were wearing completely different outfits, so... and I wasn't even drunk.

The book is rounded off with an afterword from editor Stacey Whittle which is a trifle gushing; she is a girl after all; but obviously sincere and full of an infectious enthusiasm that makes you cross your fingers that this first excursion into the field will not be her last. Roll on volume two I say.

Just in case there's any doubt, I would absolutely recommend this book to anyone; comics fan, lover of fairy tales or just someone who appreciates a good story. You really can't go wrong.

In the event that I've moved you to want to buy this book, you can do so here. Go on, you'll thank me later.

If you do buy a copy though, I'd advise against visiting the editors blog, whittlewaffle, which is pimped on the back cover; a back cover which also has a beautiful piece of art on it, this time by Vicky Stonebridge, just to round out the package in style; because  I've been a follower of said blog for some time and it's all...pink and...girly and...full of posts about Strictly Come Dancing. *shudder* You have been warned.

House of Mystery: Love Stories For Dead People

Comics! With the pictures and the words and the coming together of the pictures and the words to make the stories happen! Yeah, you know what I'm talking about!

This week, we delve once more into the mysteries surrounding The House of, well, Mystery, funnily enough, to see how new resident Fig is doing, after finding herself trapped there in the first book.

It turns out, she's been moping, with occasional breaks to throw tantrums. Can't blame her though, it must have been an adjustment.

As you might expect from book 2 of a series, this is very much a bedding in tale. Having established the premise in the first book; certain lost souls end up trapped in the House of Mystery, serving bar and waiting tables for the clientele who are free to come and go at will; the writers now set out to give us an idea of who some of these characters are, beyond the archetypes they seemed to embody when we first met them.

So, we get a tale of The Pirate, Anne, and how she fell in love with a man who betrayed her, with violent consequences; or The Bartender, Harry, who's been in the house longer than any of them, and had adventures they wouldn't believe with some of the powers and forces behind the House's origins (and who sometimes hears the house talking to him, which is perfectly normal, thank you very much).

Harry meets Abel. Abel is cool.

 and of course The Drama Queen, who believes herself to be under a curse, with the story she tells to prove it having some inspired guest characters.

Writers Bill Willingham and Matthew Sturges aren't new to this game though, and for every tidbit of information they give us, they leave twice as many mysteries still to be revealed. They're also well aware that a series of flashbacks and character monologues; however creepy, violent, intriguing, or combination of all three they may be; do not a narrative make and they tie the whole thing together with a good old fashioned quest, as three of our leads head off on an ill fated escape attempt, into the tunnels in the basement.

This escape, which spans the five issues collected in this book, isn't just a shoehorned in attempt to convince us there is a plot though.

The end of the journey. Miranda is *awesome*

No, it leads slowly and surely to a revelation, to a tragedy, and in the final instance to the introduction of a new character that will be sure to send the series in some very interesting new directions.

What it doesn't lead to (spoiler alert) is anyone getting out. The three intrepid adventurers are right back where they started at the end of the book, along with their new 'friend', but that's ok; this series has a long way to go yet, and they need to be there to play their parts; the time for happy endings will be later.

Maybe.

Fables: Animal Farm

Comics again this week, and I continue my reading of story lines everyone else read 10 years ago with Fables: Animal Farm, the second collection of the ongoing Fables series.

After introducing us to the likes of, among others, Snow White, King Cole, Prince Charming and Beauty and her Beast in first volume Fables in Exile it's now time to meet those Fables who can't really be expected to blend in to a normal New York setting. Yes, it's off to The Farm, to meet giants, dragons, a certain 3 pigs, and of course some porridge loving bears; one of whom has a more than platonic friendship going on with a certain blonde haired petty thief. Yes, they go there.

Following her actions in the first volume, Snow White decides that Rose Red needs straightening out, so it's family outing time as she drags her wayward sister along for the ride on her annual inspection of The Farm. Before they ever arrive though, Snow is convinced that something is wrong, and when they are greeted by a populace acting very strangely indeed her suspicions would seem to be confirmed. But just what is going on with the non-human fables? And will Snow and Rose be able to set aside their differences long enough to sort things out?

It seems that some of the fables confined to the farm are a little fed up of their lot; if they can't live openly in this world, then they want to return to their homelands. The Fable government won't allow this, at least not yet, so there is only one thing for it; armed revolution.

Having the 3 pigs; or 2 of them at least; as revolutionary ring leaders is, one suspects, one of the easier choices Bill Willingham had to make in the writing of this story but his choices of who else to include within the rebel party may surprise. While some are already villains in their original tales, such as Shere Kahn of Jungle Book fame; or, as in the case of the monkey king from that same tale, at the very least mischievous; others are very much the heroes and/or heroines of their stories. Indeed, one such 'heroine' is portrayed as the biggest psychopath of the entire tale, and it is glorious. She comes this close to stealing the show.

For a story that features the 3 little pigs as major players and has Chicken Little as it's comedy relief, this is pretty dark stuff. The revolutionaries are not messing about, with one minor character from the first book being dealt a nasty death early on, to reinforce that fact, and a truly shocking moment at the climax of the penultimate issue contained in this collection that I guarantee will make you sit up and swear at the page. Not to mention the aftermath; we get a reminder that the worlds these characters come from are not the sanitised, whitewashed, Disney-fied worlds of today's fairy tales when the heroes flat out execute the captured rebels. This is harsh reading.

Snow learns the truth. Or some of it.

One of the major villains gets away at the end; and it's my favourite, so I look forward to their future mis-deeds with some glee; but for the most part we see the status quo restored. One suspects this is a temporary measure however, because many seeds are sown that would seem to indicate troubled times ahead.

More to the point, we get a conversation that would indicate that a Fables immortality may well be linked to how powerful a hold they have over the public consciousness; so if your name is on every pre-schoolers lips and Disney are prepping a blu-ray of your animated classic, you can pretty much rest easy but if not... don't go getting into any duels any time soon. This conversation seems designed, at least to my tired and easily confused brain, to let us know someone major is going to die soon, and set us to guessing as to which major characters within the series are 'famous' enough to be safe. We'll see.

All told, this is another fabulous run of issues from the Fables team, and its easy to see from this just why the series has proven so massively popular over the years since; I for one am looking forward to seeing what new avenues will be explored, now that all of the characters, both human and non-human, have been introduced.

Join me here next week for, in a slight change of pace, The Girl Who Kicked The Hornets Nest. No pigs, bears, or beautiful princesses in that one.

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

Vampire Diaries: The Return

Since comparing the Vampire Diaries books to the TV show has become pointless, I have no easy method to disguise my thoughts on them. So, I must bite the bullet and give a straight opinion of the books, in and of themselves. It may not be pretty.

The second series of The Vampire Diaries books, called The Return because there is no lazy cliche to which L. J. Smith will not stoop, is comprised of the novels Nightfall, Shadow Souls, and Midnight. They are none of them very good.

To Smith's credit, she has opted to widen the setting of these books considerably, fleshing out the history and deepening the mythology of her fictional world, when it must have been oh so very tempting to churn out more of the same. Parallel worlds, heavenly 'police', an order of vampire hunters, vicious animal spirits... there is an awful lot going on here, that in the hands of a decent writer could have produced something a bit good. Sadly, in the decades since the first series Smith has not a better writer become. All the annoying little tics that blemished her earlier works are still present and correct, not least the ridiculous need to stop the plot every few pages so the girls can debate the relative 'hotness' of various characters and of course her insistence on using terms no self respecting human would ever utter in real conversation. We know that Meredith and Alaric are 'engaged to be engaged' because characters use that very phrase EVERY SINGLE TIME the couple are mentioned.

"Did you hear about thingy and wotsit?"

"No, what about them?"

"Oh, they're engaged to be engaged! It's ever so romantic."

"Engaged to be engaged, you say? That's ever such big news!"

"I know! Engaged to be engaged!"

You think I'm mocking. There are numerous conversations, exactly as banal as that, throughout these books. It's annoying as hell.

Terrible writing aside though, there is actually a lot to like in the story. Certainly, if the TV show writers were looking for new villains to displace the increasingly tired Originals they could do a lot worse than check out the Kitsune demons seen here. Petty and spiteful their motives may seem at first glance but that doesn't stop the effects of their actions from being truly horrific in places. Indeed, some of the acts of self-mutilation they inspire in those they influence are nothing short of disgusting. Make no mistake, there is some really nasty stuff in here.

Of course, tradition dictates that the story must end on a pathetic cop-out, and sure enough Smith doesn't disappoint. The out of nowhere resurrection of Elena at the end of the first series, which occurs without any explanation and essentially renders the drama of the climax meaningless is actually beaten here by the lead characters essentially asking an angel for a do-over and the angel saying yes. So NOTHING BAD THAT HAS HAPPENED IN THE LAST 7! BOOKS MATTERS! It's couched in slightly more complicated terms than that, but the bottom line is, angels fix all the boo-boos. It's an insult, ladies and gentlemen.

So, the story is an improvement over the first, at least until the end, but the writing is as crappy as ever. The question now becomes, how will the third series compare? Smith herself has been fired from the series by the publishers, though you'd never know it from the covers, and a ghost writer is penning them. Can we expect to see an improvement, or will this new pen be even worse, as difficult as that is to conceive? We'll have to wait and see, won't we?

Buffy The Vampire Slayer: The Long Way Home

And so it came to pass that several decades after Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Season 9 launched, I didst sit upon mine writing stool and pour forth upon the page mine thoughts as to the worth of Volume One of... Season 8.

Yeah, I'm slow. What of it?

First things first, let's just get out of the way the fact that a) I'm an unapologetic gusher of superlatives (or I would be if I knew any; my thesaurus has disappeared) when it comes to the writing of Joss Whedon, and b) Buffy The Vampire Slayer is, in my opinion, one of the greatest television shows of it's, or any other, era. That said, I'd like to think I can put aside any lingering hero worship and read this material with my critical faculties intact.

IT WAS AWESOME! Ahem.

 Season 8, for those who don't know, is; or was, since it's long ended and it's successor is in full flow; an official, canonical continuation of Buffy The Vampire Slayer, picking up shortly after the events at the end of the 7th and final season of the TV show. Clue's in the name really.

The worry was that, for all the protestations from the publisher and Joss Whedon, who was on board to plot the 'season' and write pivotal issues, it wouldn't be real Buffy. Tie in comics rarely, at least in my opinion, achieve the true feel of the source material, and there is always the stigma of, 'if it's not on TV it doesn't count.' Hopefully Whedon's involvement would counter the first point, but the second would be harder to tackle; being, as it was, a perception ingrained in the reader for many years. Just ask the Star Trek TV writers how much they worried about contradicting the print stuff.

Luckily, we needn't have worried. At least as far as the first five issues are concerned; that being the material collected in this first volume; the feel is pretty much spot on. Characters sound like their TV counterparts, with all the laugh out loud moments of dialogue that come along with that, and while the storyline is on a much bigger scale to that of the TV show, it's in a way that makes perfect sense, given the way the show ended. After all, when last we waved farewell to Buffy, she'd just saved the world at the head of what was essentially a Slayer Army.

The events depicted in this book could never have happened onscreen. Casting logistics alone; a lot of old faces show up in rapid succession; would cause them problems but the budget... The very first scene in the book is of Buffy leading an assault team of Slayers, by sky diving from a helicopter. Yeah. Oh, and it also features dialogue about Nick Fury, which made me chuckle, given a certain modest little movie Whedon has just released.

We get a lot of plot in amongst the witty dialogue and the action scenes. A couple of old villains show up to cause trouble, another old villain cashes in his chips, the US military make their presence known in a much more overt way than The Initiative ever did and we get a few hints that none of them are  going to be the main villains of the piece, when all is said and done. Because that would just be too easy, wouldn't it?

Oh, and Dawn is a giant. Just because.

Artwise, the interiors (by Georges Jeanty) offer work in which you always know who it is you're meant to be looking at, without ever seeming like exact likenesses of the actors. I'm sure there's probably  a name for that, but I know nothing about this stuff so... The covers of the individual issues, though (by Jo Chen), all of which are included, are incredibly lifelike paintings, very obviously based on the cast's likenesses and in some cases creepily accurate.

Madame Xanadu: Disenchanted

Comics again this week, as once again we look at Vol.1 of an ongoing series. This week the focus is on Madame Xanadu; a long time minor character, apparently, in the DC Universe, Xanadu's time to shine has arrived as she gets her own series, penned by Matt Wagner, with art by Amy Reeder Hadley, coloured by Guy Major.

This first volume, entitled Disenchanted, collects the story first published in issues 1-10 of the monthly comic, published by DC's 'mature readers' arm, Vertigo.


Usual comics discussion caveats apply here; I'm not the most widely read when it comes to the big mainstream comics universes of Marvel and DC, and have next to zero interest in the seemingly endless Superhero titles that throng the shelves, choosing to mainly concentrate on self contained, often creator owned, serials. My DC consumption is almost entirely limited to Vertigo titles, because they are more likely to fit those criteria, and when they do tie in to DC continuity, as is the case here, they're on the periphery, and don't require a huge commitment to buying 97 titles a month. All of which is just to say, I've not read anything else featuring this character. And it didn't matter in the slightest.

Madame Xanadu is a mystic, a fortune teller, and a guide to those who need aid when supernatural threats come knocking at their door. But why did she decide to dedicate her life to helping others? More to the point, what are the origins of the powers she uses to do so?


With this, suitably epic, opening storyline, Wagner gives us as thorough an origin story for the character as anyone could ask for. In 2 issue jumps we get snapshots of Xanadu's life over the centuries, from the fall of Camelot (you'll never guess who she was in Arthurian myth), through the court of Kublai Khan, Paris in the days of the revolution, and London at the height of Jack the Ripper's spree, to New York City in the 1930's.


Along the way we see Xanadu at the highest peaks of her powers and at her lowest, near death ebb, and come to understand how she became the person she is today, and presumably will continue to be as the series continues. She has lived a long time, and has made a lot of mistakes over that time, many in regards to an equally long lived Phantom Stranger, and it would seem destiny requires her to make amends.


Hadley, ably assisted by Major, produces some absolutely stunning artwork here, and shows a remarkable range, given the wide scope of the settings. The contrast could not be more apparent than in the lush green of her woodland home pre-camelot, and the seedy, dark underbelly of London, as Jack stalks the fogbound alleyways; these disparate settings never derail the book, always managing to feel, for all their differences, like part of the same world. I sometimes struggle to discuss the art in comics, but as the cliche says, I know what I like. And I love this.


The story features a number of references to the wider DC world, but they're very subtle, never once intruding on the story or leaving me feeling that I lacked some obscure piece of canon required to understand the tale at hand. It actually would not surprise me to learn that many other references existed which I'd missed entirely; they are there for the faithful, but the uninitiated are welcome too. Indeed, if you are a relative newcomer to comics, looking for a place to start but put off by decades of continuity, you could do worse than heed the words painted on Madame Xanadu's shopfront; Enter Freely And Be Unafraid.

House Of Mystery: Room and Boredom

Well it's been about a month since I said I'd be back 'next week' with a post about House of Mystery, so I figured the time was about right to deliver.

Taking it's name and basic premise from a long running DC Comics horror anthology title from the 50's thru 80's, House of Mystery was launched by DC imprint Vertigo in 2008. The first collection, Room and Boredom, collects issues 1-5 of this new series, written by Bill Willingham and Mathew Sturges with art by Luca Rossi.


Cain; he of 'and Abel' fame; has long been established as the owner of the House of Mystery, acting as 'host' or narrator during the titles anthology years. This series opens with him returning from one of his regular visits to his Brother's House of Secrets, for a spot of tea and homicide, to find that the House of Mystery has disappeared. It's a fairly radical departure, beautifully handled in just two pages, that allows the writers to take the series, well, pretty much anywhere they want to.

We rejoin the house an indeterminate time later to find it operating as an inn; a resting place for weary travelers from many realms and realities. Most can come and go as their needs dictate, taking refuge and succor before moving on. Others however, cannot, and it is these souls, trapped in the house for reasons beyond their knowledge or control, who will be our 'heroes' and 'heroines' as he series progresses.

Why are they trapped? Who are the mysterious figures who arrive, without warning, to take them away one at a time, seemingly chosen at random, to an unknown fate? And what effect will the latest addition to their number, young Fig Keele, have on all their lives, not to mention the future of the house itself?

The mysteries are heaped on us in this opening book, and they serve to whet the readers appetite admirably for what may lay ahead. It's abundantly clear that all of the characters; The Bartender, The Poet, The Pirate and The Drama Queen, as the book jacket would have them named; have secrets, agendas, and divided loyalties of their own, and some might be far more interested in them, than the shared goal of escaping the house. Only time will tell which of them Fig can trust. Or indeed, whether they can trust Fig.

As engaging as the ongoing mysteries are, Sturges and Willingham have not forgotten the titles anthology roots, either. The 'sole coin of the realm' is the telling of a story, and each issue takes a brief pause as one of the bar patrons regales us with a short tale from their lives. From the process server who relates his assignment to deliver papers to a deep sea monster, to the mobster who can weasel out of any situation, and the wonderful little slice of life that is 'Jordan's Tale', the stories are as varied as they are twisted. I would venture, however, that the one most likely to stay with you beyond the closing of the book is the gruesome and heartbreaking tale of Hungry Sally and her less than blissful marriage.

Even if the identity of one 'mystery' character is all too obvious, that doesn't detract from what is, over all, a masterclass in hooking a reader, guaranteeing that they'll be back for more. And what more can you ask for from a Book One?

Snuff

Hello and welcome to the third and final of my video blogs this week. For the book portion of the project, I bring you my erudite and insightful thoughts on the latest from Terry Pratchett.


After the frankly epic MoaN and Quest entries, I've endeavoured to keep this one down to a manageable length. In the process, I've ballsed it up completely.

Yes, I waffle and jump about all over the place and forget what I wanted to say and in the end I give up and apologise for it having been shit and pointless. So click play to watch me embarrass myself. Go on, you know you want to.



For the record, I did love the book; more, actually, than I think I've loved any Vimes book since Guards, Guards. It comes highly recommended. If for no other reason than for Sam Jr, a little lad that you will fall in love with.

Anyway, I'll sign off now, because I think I've embarrassed myself enough for one week. Join me next time for some comics goodness from Bill Willingham, Matt Sturges and Luca Rossi.

Fables: Legends In Exile

The Big Bad Wolf teams up with Snow White, both under the employ of Old King Cole, to investigate the disappearance and possible murder of Rose Red.


Suspects include Bluebeard and Jack (of Beanstalk fame, amongst other things). Oh, and Snow White herself, for a while.

The pair are distracted by; the return to town of Snow's ex-husband Prince Charming, her having to deal with the marital problems of Beauty and the Beast and him having his sofa invaded by one of the Three Little Pigs; and numerous other bumps in the road.

Are you laughing yet, shaking your head in disbelief at the notion that this story was ever written? I'm sure that was the reaction of many people when the Vertigo comic series Fables was first launched, all those years ago; I know I certainly had less than positive expectations when I first heard about it. Happily though, I am a terrible 'trade-waiter' when it comes to comics and not even a particularly efficient one either so by the time I came to thinking about adding a new series to my reading list Fables had been around a good while and the almost universal praise being thrown it's way convinced me to give it a go. I adored it from the off.

SNOW WHITE
All of these characters, and many more, are being forced to co-exist in a small immigrant community in New York because they have been forced from their respective homelands by a fearsome all-conquering enemy known only as 'The Adversary'. Far from a cohesive race, they are constantly dealing with a lot of old tensions, that no amount of general amnesties can expunge. This means that despite his working as the Sheriff, 'Bigby' Wolf is still mistrusted by many of those he wronged in his days as 'Big Bad Wolf'; the thought of Rose Red having a relationship with Bluebeard (he of the unfortunate wives) rubs Snow White up the wrong way; and the wicked old witch of yore is questioned, lest she have 'grown tired of the taste of gingerbread'. As who-dunnits go, it's a doozy.

BIGBY WOLF
The key to the whole thing is that it is played totally straight. We all know, as readers, that the premise is ridiculous, but this series works because the creators say "yes, it is a ridiculous premise but if it weren't; if these characters were real, what would they be like and if they were forced to live in secret among normal folk, what effect would that have on them? Personally, I'm a big fan of taking the ridiculous seriously; two of my favourite TV shows had premises which, when you read them on paper seemed like something you'd see in a half hour kids slot but when produced, by a team that took them seriously, became fantastic mature drama. I speak of 'the college student who is really a secret agent for the Government' (Alias) and 'the High School student who is actually a crack PI' (Veronica Mars). With that in mind, I probably should have given the creators of Fables more of the benefit of the doubt from the get-go but, you know, we all have our lines in the sand.

This 1st storyline, which comprised issues 1-5 of the ongoing comic, and is collected in the trade paperback Legends In Exile, is a pretty much textbook example of how to kickstart a 'hopefully' long running series, the who-dunnit aspect allowing the reader to be introduced to all (or most; my personal favourite makes her debut in the 2nd arc) of the major players because they are all investigated at one point or another. That aside, it also works as a standalone story. The who-dunnit works as precisely that, with a mystery to be solved, a cast of characters to choose from and a 'while I have you all here' denouement that is not only funny and charming, but also makes perfect sense. All the clues were there (some of them on page 1, you'll kick yourself), the story hangs together nicely, and it's clear that this is a writer who knew exactly what he was doing from the outset.

So, if you can put aside any anti-comics prejudice, and put aside any anti-fairytale prejudice, you could do an awful lot worse than check out Fables: Legends In Exile, for a proper, meaty, clever thriller. And do stick around, because things only get wilder in the 2nd arc.

Vampire Diaries. Whats changed? Pt2

So, I waffled, at great length and to no real point, about how the Vampire Diaries of the books differed from the Vampire Diaries of television, over on my TV blog a couple of days ago. It be here Now, because absolutely no-one demanded it it, I'm going to waffle a bit more. Not about the differences in content this time, but rather about the differences in quality.

I could just save us all a lot of time and say that the books are rotten while the show is great. I won't though, because quite aside from the fact that to do so would be irredeemably rude I do actually quite like to waffle on. Hey, no-ones forcing you to read it. (But please do read it.)

In this day and age, it would take the most militant of literary snobs to say that there is not a great deal of original and - more importantly - enjoyable material to be found in the teen (sorry, Young Adult) section of your friendly neighbourhood bookshop or library. (Kids reading this after 2012 can ask their parents what a library is.) Lovers of fantasy are especially well served in this regard, with such series as Lemony Snicket, Skullduggery Pleasant and of course Harry Potter bringing me much pleasure over the years; not to mention Darren Shan for when you're in a more gruesome frame of mind. All of which, coupled with the fact that the show based on them is so good, led me to go into the enterprise of reading the Vampire Diaries books by L. J. Smith with slightly less trepidation than I probably should have done.

I knew going in that I wasn't the target audience for these books. Unfortunately, the target audience which I don't belong to is not that of teenage girls looking for some horror tinged romance. No, it's easily pleased, pseudo-goth hormone factories, all too eager to spew their squee all over anything with the slightest hint of 'brooding bad boy who's also smoking hot' and desperate for reassurance that yes, even if you are a vacuous tart with morals in the gutter and no ambition to rise any higher in life than someones trophy floozy, you too can find true love with a good looking guy willing to overlook your borderline sociopathic character flaws because you're hot and you put out. Because the protagonist (and presumably the audience identification figure) of these novels really is that unpleasant.

Don't get me wrong though, the books aren't without merit. If you forget about the hideous central character - and the horrible writing as Smith desperately tries to convince you that this girl deserves happiness, despite treating all about her like turds on her shoe - then the main storyline that runs through these first 4 novels is actually fairly decent. Not great, mind you, and hardly original, but decent. Decent enough in fact that it formed the spine of the main story arc of the TV show for it's first 2 seasons.

Beyond the central story there are moments. Moments that make you think that there is something deeper here, some much better book trying desperately to claw it's way free. Stefan and Matt, for example; the brief glimpses we get of their friendship feels real, in a way that none of the other relationships do. If only that had translated onto the screen, then maybe the Matt of TV wouldn't have become such an insignificance on the show. There's the casual menace exuded by Klaus, so convinced is he of his superiority. Or the moment when we find out that Damon stood by and allowed a girl to be killed, not because he didn't care, as the others had assumed and accused him of, but because he couldn't save her as no-one had thought to invite him into the house. This side of Damon; the conflicted man who wants to be good but is too proud to admit it and so just lets people assume he's bad; is very much something which the producers of the TV show have run with and it has served to make Damon one of the most intriguing characters on the show.

Moments like these are few and far between though, and the books have just as many that would make any rational man throw them down and run screaming for his sanity to the nearest Terry Pratchett stockist. Most of the these come from the aforementioned horrible lead but we also get the one where said lead dies and within days her best friend is fantasising about her boyfriend. She's grieving of course, but he's just so hot! You have to get your priorities right in this life. Then there is the situation with Meredith and Alaric. The sexual tension leading to full on romance. Between the schoolgirl and her teacher. That is barely remarked upon, and never scathingly. As mentioned in part one, I can recognise the irony of being okay with a schoolgirl having an affair with a guy hundred of years her senior but calling foul with a few years age difference but here's the thing; HE'S HER TEACHER! IT'S A BOOK AIMED AT TEENAGERS! Sorry, and maybe this makes me a prude, but I'm very glad that the Alaric love shifted to Jenna in the show. You have to draw the line somewhere.

The real plus point of these books, and the first time I found myself actively enjoying them, was the build up to the big final confrontation between the 'good guys' and 'Big Bad' Klaus. He's massively outnumbered - even if you count his little understudy Tyler, who is properly a villain in the books, if a naff one - but it never feels like he's the underdog. It's a long held maxim that heroes should never outnumber villains because no matter how bad the bad guy is, ganging up on him doesn't feel fair. This rule is broken here, and to brilliant effect, because a large part of his menace; of what makes him so chilling, is that Klaus knows he's outnumbered, knows he's facing two centuries old vengeance crazed vampires and a very powerful witch, amongst others, and he just doesn't care. He's going to win. That's all there is to it as far as he's concerned. This lot are just flies to be swatted.

Sadly the good work that Smith does in these finishing stages is then thrown away when she chooses to tack on the end one of the most blatant "this makes absolutely no f***ing sense!" cop-out endings I've ever read in my entire life, and I've read a lot of books over the years. A dead character comes back to life and everyone has a dance. This is literally how the book ends. After a big part of the good guys winning was down to this dead person using up the last of her ability to affect this plane, and one last excruciatingly bad romance scene was forced on us, this character seemed pretty much dead and gone for good but apparently not. Smith wants a happy ending so she's back, making a total mockery of the sacrifice made to defeat Klaus. I read it 3 times and I have no clue how she came back but she's back. I actually swore at the book, it was that bad. From what I can gather, there may well be some repercussions from this in the new trilogy but that's no excuse. The new books have come about because of the success of the show. The ending we get here was how the story ended originally. Fixing it 20years later doesn't change what a nonsense it was.

So, the books aren't all bad, but they're bad enough that I feel no qualms about calling them bad books. That Kevin Williamson, Julie Plec and their team have managed to make a show as good as the one they have, with source material as weak as this is, is a real testimony to their skill, talent and hard graft. I may complain from time to time that it is a little too densely plotted but I know that that's just down to the gaps in scheduling caused by being so close behind the US screenings (I don't know how American audiences put up with it, although I understand they get pertinent re-runs during the gaps, to help them remember what's going on).

I hope this hasn't been overly negative. I've tried really hard to get away from the 'these books are rubbish' tone that early drafts had. I hate to slag off anyones work too badly, when they've poured their sweat into it.

Warcraft and Starcraft

Death Note aside, I've not read a lot of Manga. In fact, I'm so ambivalent toward the entire concept that I'm not really at all fussed whether or not I'm correct in my use of the actual term 'Manga'. Have I fallen into some trap of the "Oh my God, they're not ALL Manga, that's a brand name/publishing house/mis-translation/etc." persuasion? If I have, I don't care. Which is not meant as a slight or disrespect or anything like that; it's just that the whole 'scene' is so far below my radar that I don't need to know the terminology. I have far more important things to worry about, like the correct reading order of the Tom Thorne books, or whether DC are ever going to publish a complete Hellblazer run (signs are promising, I'm told), or remembering the status of the major players in the decades between Song of Ice and Fire books.

Anyway, Death Note aside, I've not read a lot of Manga. Until now. Well, sort of. TokyoPop, publishers of various Manga titles, released, a number of years ago, a series of books based around the worlds, histories and legends of Warcraft and Starcraft. These being, of course, very popular online role-playing games. (I think. I know less about role playing games than I do about Manga.) Warcraft is a fantasy sword and sorcery type thing and Starcraft is a space opera.

Amongst other titles based on these properties, TokyoPop produced a couple of anthology series. They gave us Warcraft:Legends and Starcraft:Frontline, with each entry in the series comprising four stories by different writers and artists, most of whom I'd never heard of. (My inexperience with Manga or they were all unknowns? Who can tell?) Simon Furman is in there,and of course I recognised his name, and it was this (faint reason though it may be), coupled with the fact that I am pathologically incapable of saying no to a recommendation from a pretty lady, that convinced me to give these books a go. Sadly, it is my duty to report that both are fairly standard, uninspired and uninspiring examples of their respective genres.

I picked up Volumes 1 + 2 of each series. Trust me, never have 16 short stories (and they are short, ranging between about 20 and 50 pages of comic each) taken so long for me to trawl through. It's not that they are bad, per se. It's just that they aren't especially good, either, so when you reach the end of one there is no real motivation to delve into the next. It's all a bit (horrible unqualified criticism alert) meh.

I'm not sure how many of the stories originated with the writers, and how many were outlines assigned to the writers by the range editor. I can't imagine professional writers offering these up as their best work for the big launch of a new range. Certainly, there is little you could call original here. Already I've read one about the village laughing stock saving the day in a bumbling manner, while around him were losing their heads; a hotshot young pilot having to face off against his legendary mentor in a duel; a naive reporter discovering a dark truth while embedded with a military she had fiercely championed; and of course the old, "let me tell you a story about a man on a quest for vengeance" tale that shockingly, shockingly I say, reveals that the storyteller is the man on a mission and the guy he's talking to is his intended victim. Blew my mind, that one.

I'm not sure how long these series lasted; it's entirely possible that they are still ongoing, but I doubt very much that I'll be proceeding past the two of each I've already endured. Simply put, there is better material available, in large quantities, in both of these genres - even if you limit yourself to similar tie-in properties - and these needed to be of a much higher quality from the outset to compete.

Weaveworld

So a few weeks back I read Weaveworld. I've read a fair few other things since then; things which, quite honestly, would be easier for me to write about, but I think I'd be remiss if I didn't at least try to put something up on here about this book.It won't be a long piece though; I'll leave the in-depth analysis to someone more qualified than I.

The problem is that nothing I write is going to do justice to what can only be described as a masterpiece. It almost seems wrong to sully it with my witless ramblings. I don't like to gush, because I can come over all teenage girl at a Jonas concert if I let myself but this novel (shamefully, the only Clive Barker novel I've ever read although that is going to change) really is one of the most beautiful pieces of fiction, fantasy or otherwise, that I've ever had the great fortune to read.

It's one of those big books (clocking in at over 700 pages) that nevertheless manages to be over far to soon. Characters like Cal and Suzanna, Shadwell and Immacolata, even Gluck, who arrives late and has only a small, if pivotal part to play, all seem to exist fully formed on the page within sentences of their introductions and as I neared end of the book they had become so much a part of my life that the thought of saying goodbye to them left me genuinely saddened.

"Nothing ever begins", Barker tells us at the outset (in an opening line that ranks up there with 'Call me Ishmael' and 'It was the best of times...') and as the book draws to it's close we are told that neither shall this story have an ending. With characters as glorious as these, with a world so richly imagined and populated with such wonders, it would be a tragedy if it did.

Just read it. Youll see.

The Borribles

The Borribles books were unlike anything I'd ever encountered when I first read them at the age of 11. Dark, uncompromising, and very very bloody, they are nevertheless full of likable characters, loyalty, friendship and a way of life that every kid reading them would have loved to emulate.

The trilogy comprises The Borribles, The Borribles Go For Broke and Borribles : Across The Dark Metropolis. All three are available in a nice big chunky omnibus.

Basic not-too-spoilery plot is that the Borribles (street urchin types who steal to eat and squat in abandoned buildings) learn that the Rumbles (rat creatures that live on parks and commons, obvious Womble analogues) are planning to invade the urban territories. A pre-emptive strike is launched.

Said strike is the basis of the first book. Books 2 and 3, which need to be read back to back for the full effect, concern the repercussions on the Borrible way of life of one minor (but pivotal) event in the first book. These repercussions are large, and they are unpleasant.

You know how JK Rowling casually culled her characters in the last couple of Harry Potter books? Remember how everyone was all, "Oh, that's a bit nasty, that's a bit grim, that's a bit shocking for the little ones"? Well, The Borribles is like that, all of the time. The difference with this story though, (and I mean no disrespect to Rowling here, whose books I genuinely love) these characters are much better drawn, in a much shorter space of time, so each and every death ( and a couple of fates that are literally worse than death, in the context of the books) hit you like sledgehammer blows.

There are some very complex shifting moralities at play here too, with the closest thing the books have to a hero acting like anything but on a number of occasions whilst redemption (if not always rescue) is afforded the most unpleasant of people. It's a cliche, but the best villains don't see themselves as such and in these novels everyone has a motive for what they do, everyone believes themselves to be on the 'right' side. You'll often find yourself agreeing with them.

It seems the violence and ant-establishment themes (the Police don't come off particularly well) rubbed a few people up the wrong way (perhaps understandable in books aimed at children) and author Michael de Larrabeiti struggled to find a publisher for the third book. Whether this convinced him to wind up the series as a trilogy or whether that was the intention all along I don't know. I'm not entirely sure how I feel about it, because while the Borribles and their culture were ripe for exploration, and might perhaps have had a much larger cultural influence had they appeared more often, the fact is that the ending we get, while not exactly fairytale, is a fitting and memorable cap to a sometimes harrowing, always worthwhile tale.

I could write page after page about these books but if I do I'll not be able to resist mentioning my favourite moments, all of which constitute massive spoilers so I'll leave it at this : a happy ending for the few, paid for with the blood of the many. If that sounds like your cup of tea, read The Borribles now.

Retromancer

It is a fact well known to those that know it well, that pseudo-cosmic antimatter, (properly transperambulated of course) will solve most any quantum conundrum, or if not solve then cause. It works best when judiciously applied in the presence of an observer, preferably female and if at all possible wearing a straw hat.

And who can argue with that.

This is just one of many cosmic truths that I have learned from my many years reading the works of one Robert Rankin. Who may be very well be a genius. Or certifiable. Or possibly both, I'm not sure.

I've never tried to explain a Rankin book to anyone before. I've turned people on to his work, but that has usually just been a case of throwing one of his books at them and saying "read the first chapter and tell me what you think". Something which it is impossible to do, because either you share his sense of humour, in which case there is no way you're stopping at one chapter, or you don't, in which case I guarantee you will keep reading, if only to reassure yourself that you didn't dream the first bit.

Retromancer features the lad himself, Hugo Rune (Hugo Artemis Solon Saturnicus Reginald Arthur Rune to be precise. And I can't tell you how nerdy I feel whenever it pops into my head that I know that, months or even years after I last read it. It's one of those things that just sticks, you know?), who enlists the aid of his Acolyte, Rizla, to travel back from Rizlas native 60's to the bombwracked streets of London at the height of the blitz. Their mission? To prevent Count Otto Black (The Most Evil Man Who Ever Lived) from using futuristic technology to help Hitler win the war.

Along the way we visit The Ministry of Serendipity (the real brains behind Britains military strategy), learn the shocking truth about Winston Churchill, find out what the emergency services were really up to while people were huddled in shelters and of course find out the secret origin of the Steel Pan, as played by Trinidadians in the Notting Hill Carnival. (Or more accurately the Mark Seven fully chromatic/acoustic metallic idiophone. Which is an improvement on the Mark Six in that it doesn't give you spots.)

Pirates get involved at one point, as do a couple of werewolves. The Statue of Liberty is destroyed, a bottomless pit is discovered in a newsagents and much of the now legendary old toot is talked. By, amongst others, Fangio the barman, who is not yet a fatboy although he has already taken to the chewing of the fat.

I love Robert Rankin. A review of one of his earlier books compared his writing to hard drugs, in that it will make you feel sick at first but is extremely addictive. It certainly was in my case. The reason for my love of his work though is that no matter how many plot holes there are, how many loose ends dangling, how many unexplained anachronisms, how little overall sense it all seems to make, he knows exactly what he is doing at all times and it all makes sense come the denouement.Except the bits that don't, which he'll point out to you with a cocky grin and a "I don't care and you don't either, because we're all having so much fun." You find yourself chuckling at the audacity as the author basically sits and says "I bet you thought I'd forgotten that bit" and "see, that does make sense, you just weren't paying attention". His finales are scarily tightly plotted, making the seemingly random, stream of consciousness nonsense all the more impressive. Genius? Certifiable? Definitely both.

Age of the Wolf

Setting a dangerous precedent here, having comics on the blog two weeks in a row (a novel next week, honest guv) but a couple of factors forced the decision. The first being I've barely read anything this week (I am suitably ashamed) and the second is that the story I'm going to write about today ended a week ago in 2000AD and to wait any longer would make me even later to the party than I already am.

The story in question is Age Of The Wolf by Alec Worley (writer) and Jon Davis-Hunt (artist). It follows a young woman in her attempts to survive a werewolf outbreak, whose efforts are mde more difficult by the revelation that according to an ancient prophecy she is inextricably linked to this apocalypse and the head werewolf is personally out to get her. There is a cute heroine, a twisty plot and a fresh new spin on werewolf mythology. Does it work though?

I'll talk about the art first because, without wishing to dismiss the contributions of Jon Davis-Hunt (I mean that, truly) the reason I was so keen to discuss this series is really down to the writer. So, Davis-Hunt has worked for 2000AD before, most famously on the infamous strip Stalag 666, which did not go down particularly well with the readers and caused something of a stink (if you'll pardon the pun) when one disgruntled reader chose to express his displeasure to the writer in a somewhat, shall we say, unique (if not psychotic) fashion. Anyway, I remember liking the art on Stalag, if not particularly loving it, and I even had a beautiful cover from the series as my desktop wallpaper for a little while.


Age... is even better. It's far from perfect and there is the occasional panel or two where it's a little difficult to tell exactly what is going on but on the whole it works for me as classic, 'proper' comics art. No flashy effects or photoshopped models looking one step removed from a photo-strip (I'm looking at you Clint Langley), this is proper comics and if he continues to improve at this rate Davis-Hunt is welcome in my prog any time.



On to Alec Worley then.

2000AD has long had an informal apprenticeship system in place. Future Shocks (sci-fi) and the less iconic Terror Tales (horror) Time Twisters/Past Imperfects (time travel/alt history) are 5page one-shots with twist endings and they are used as the testing ground for aspiring writers trying to break into the hallowed pages of The Galaxies Greatest Comic. Get a few accepted, get a good reaction to them, and maybe you will be invited to pitch ideas for serials. This has been the accepted route into 2000AD since pretty much the year dot, just ask Alan Moore.

Let me tell you something, these things are bloody hard to write. I've been trying for years to put together something I wouldn't be embarrassed to submit and I long ago realised that even if I managed to get one accepted, the chances of my being able to churn them out with any kind of frquency were essentially nil. Which is why I am so fascinated by those who can do it, and do it well.

Alec Worly has been turning in these one-shots at a very prolific pace, and getting pretty much universal praise for them, for the last year or so and it was just a question of when, rather than if, he was going to get a series commissioned. Age... was that series. I was watching it very closely. How would he cope with the extra page count, not to mention the much higher quality threshold, series generally being held to a higher standard than the one-shots, partly because the reader knows they are written by newbies but also because if a one-shot is rubbish it at least won't wear out it's welcome? Would he hit a six or would rain stop play?*

Truthfully, it's a mixed bag. The central concept is sound, (who doesn't like werewolves, and in London no less?), the lead character is likeable enough after a slightly unsympathetic first couple of episodes and the sudden shift into Norse mythology is one of those rug pulling wtf moments that 2000AD does so well. The extended chase sequence involving a motorbike in a blizzard (depicted in the cover for prog 1703 shown above) is crying out to be put on film and the cliffhanger at the end of the penultimate episode was an absolute blinder that demands you read the conclusion. On the other hand, the expositional captions can be a wee bit overbearing at times, the supporting cast are a little underdeveloped and one particular piece of the story (involving a severed hand and a bunch of flowers) left me scratching my head a little, as it seemed slightly superflous, although that may just be me not quite getting it.

A qualified success then, but a success nonetheless. At 9 episodes Age Of The Wolf was significantly longer than the usual first serial from a writer breaking out of the Future Shock system, so it represented a pretty hefty vote of confidence from the powers that be. The fact that Worley has another series starting in the very near future (meaning that it was commissioned well before any feedback could have been gathered about Age...) is another sign that the editor is confident in the guy, and rightly so in my opinion. 2000AD has nurtured many a promising youngster who would go on to bigger things and if I'm any judge (debatable, but still...) Worley is most definitely on that same path. I just hope 2000AD manages to get a few classics out of him before he moves on to bigger (not better, never that) things.

Age Of The Wolf is too recent, and possibly too short without a second series, to be available in Graphic Novel format so short of tracking down back issues you're out of luck for the time being but if you want to get in on the ground floor of a very promising writers career, now is the time to check out 2000AD, because his second series, Dandridge, is due to start in the very near future and is almost certainly gonna be a cracker.





*I'm trying out sport metaphors, but I don't think it'll stick. I'm not even entirely sure I know which sport I'm referencing there.

Age of the Wolf and Stalag 666 covers shamelessly stolen from Pete Wells 2000AD covers uncovered blog which is all kinds of cool and full to bursting with beautiful artwork and well worth a look. There's a link over there on the right somewhere, give it a click. The Dandridge image is from Alec Worleys blog and is by Warren Pleece.