Catching Up With Some Comic Books…
The last few weeks have actually been better, for reading, than I thought. Go me :o) Scroll back and you’ll see that I’ve managed to get a few books, and short stories etc, under my belt. What I haven’t done though, is mention the comic books that I’ve also read in that time. This post will be where I remedy that ;o)
Just some quick thoughts today though. I’ve got a bit of a day to get through and I need to save a little energy for ‘Walking Dead Night’ with my eldest daughter (seriously, the chemotherapy has me falling asleep at the drop of a hat, don’t want to do that tonight!) Also, a couple of these books didn’t exactly leave me with a lot to say about them, see if you can guess which ones they are…
‘Everything Dead & Dying’ – Brombal, Phillips, Martin, Bidikar (Image)
Page Count: 176 Pages
Jack Chandler is the sole survivor of the zombie apocalypse in his rural farming community, but rather than eliminate them, he has chosen to continue living alongside the undead ― including the husband and adopted daughter he fought so hard to have. But when his town is discovered by outsiders, Jack suddenly becomes the one thing standing in the way of his family and those who hope to kill them for good.
You know the score… If there’s a zombie movie, book or comic that I haven’t got accquainted with, it’s only a matter of time before I get round to it. I wasn’t aware of ‘Everything Dead & Dying’, until I saw it in Waterstones, but the sight of Jack milking a zombie cow caught my eye and that was that. See? Cover art is important ;o)
I’m always interested to see how people cope with the zombie apocalypse, and what it asks of them, and Tate Brombal’s tale is especially poignant in this regard. Jack Chandler may be mad with grief or just plain mad but either way, his rigid adherence to maintaining ‘normality’ makes tragedy inevitable and when it comes, it hits hard. I’m not a hundred percent sold on the art but on the whole, ‘Everything Dead & Dying’ is an extremely compelling tale that drew me in without me even realising. Zombie fans should be all over this book.
‘I Hate Fairyland Vol.8: Happy End Game’ – Young, Bean (Image)
Page Count: 128 Pages
I’ve got mixed feelings about ‘Happy End Game’… Everything I wanted, from an ‘I Hate Fairyland’ book was there; the energy, spiky humour and Gert being, well… Gert. I couldn’t help but laugh along with it but the laughs grew a little hollow as I slowly realised that ‘Happy End Game’ was continuing to rehash the original books. And that’s all well and good, to a point, but I was hoping for something new, to see ‘what Gert did next’ and whether it advanced her character at all. It didn’t really, just kept her the way she is. And that’s ok, up to a point, but the last thing I want is to see the joke wear thin.
‘Untold Tales of I Hate Fairyland’ – Young et al (Image)
Page Count: 144 Pages
‘Untold Tales of I Hate Fairyland’ was a step in the right direction though; choosing to give us a series of ‘one-off’ tales instead of continuing the main thread (and potentially starting all over again, for a second time…) Maybe that’s the direction this series needs to take in the future? I’ll be giving the books a break, for now, but there’s no doubt that I’ll be back to read more.
‘The Boys’ Omnibus Volume One – Ennis, Robertson, Snejbjerg (Dynamite)
Page Count: 344 Pages
I kept meaning to post about the ‘Boys’ TV show but never got round to it. Lets just say that I enjoyed it, probably not a surprise to you guys ;o) Anyway… I’d read the first couple of volumes, almost twenty years ago (damn I’m old…), but never finished the series. It felt like the right time then to go back and have another go.
As you’d expect, this first Omnibus is very much about ‘setting the scene’; introductions are made and missions taken that open up this new world of superheroes who are very much not in control, and need to be managed… It’s a lot of fun to follow but if you’re after the ‘big picture’, Ennis is taking things very slowly so you’ll have to wait for a bit.
Volume One also makes it very clear that the depths the TV show ‘sunk to’ are, in some cases, only shallows compared to what Ennis and Robertson are prepared to show us on the page. I was very cool with that, you might be not be, just bear that in mind. I’ll be continuing to read through the series, I’ll let you know how it goes.
Just some quick thoughts today though. I’ve got a bit of a day to get through and I need to save a little energy for ‘Walking Dead Night’ with my eldest daughter (seriously, the chemotherapy has me falling asleep at the drop of a hat, don’t want to do that tonight!) Also, a couple of these books didn’t exactly leave me with a lot to say about them, see if you can guess which ones they are…
‘Everything Dead & Dying’ – Brombal, Phillips, Martin, Bidikar (Image)
Page Count: 176 Pages
Jack Chandler is the sole survivor of the zombie apocalypse in his rural farming community, but rather than eliminate them, he has chosen to continue living alongside the undead ― including the husband and adopted daughter he fought so hard to have. But when his town is discovered by outsiders, Jack suddenly becomes the one thing standing in the way of his family and those who hope to kill them for good.
You know the score… If there’s a zombie movie, book or comic that I haven’t got accquainted with, it’s only a matter of time before I get round to it. I wasn’t aware of ‘Everything Dead & Dying’, until I saw it in Waterstones, but the sight of Jack milking a zombie cow caught my eye and that was that. See? Cover art is important ;o)
I’m always interested to see how people cope with the zombie apocalypse, and what it asks of them, and Tate Brombal’s tale is especially poignant in this regard. Jack Chandler may be mad with grief or just plain mad but either way, his rigid adherence to maintaining ‘normality’ makes tragedy inevitable and when it comes, it hits hard. I’m not a hundred percent sold on the art but on the whole, ‘Everything Dead & Dying’ is an extremely compelling tale that drew me in without me even realising. Zombie fans should be all over this book.
‘I Hate Fairyland Vol.8: Happy End Game’ – Young, Bean (Image)
Page Count: 128 Pages
I’ve got mixed feelings about ‘Happy End Game’… Everything I wanted, from an ‘I Hate Fairyland’ book was there; the energy, spiky humour and Gert being, well… Gert. I couldn’t help but laugh along with it but the laughs grew a little hollow as I slowly realised that ‘Happy End Game’ was continuing to rehash the original books. And that’s all well and good, to a point, but I was hoping for something new, to see ‘what Gert did next’ and whether it advanced her character at all. It didn’t really, just kept her the way she is. And that’s ok, up to a point, but the last thing I want is to see the joke wear thin.
‘Untold Tales of I Hate Fairyland’ – Young et al (Image)
Page Count: 144 Pages
‘Untold Tales of I Hate Fairyland’ was a step in the right direction though; choosing to give us a series of ‘one-off’ tales instead of continuing the main thread (and potentially starting all over again, for a second time…) Maybe that’s the direction this series needs to take in the future? I’ll be giving the books a break, for now, but there’s no doubt that I’ll be back to read more.
‘The Boys’ Omnibus Volume One – Ennis, Robertson, Snejbjerg (Dynamite)
Page Count: 344 Pages
I kept meaning to post about the ‘Boys’ TV show but never got round to it. Lets just say that I enjoyed it, probably not a surprise to you guys ;o) Anyway… I’d read the first couple of volumes, almost twenty years ago (damn I’m old…), but never finished the series. It felt like the right time then to go back and have another go.
As you’d expect, this first Omnibus is very much about ‘setting the scene’; introductions are made and missions taken that open up this new world of superheroes who are very much not in control, and need to be managed… It’s a lot of fun to follow but if you’re after the ‘big picture’, Ennis is taking things very slowly so you’ll have to wait for a bit.
Volume One also makes it very clear that the depths the TV show ‘sunk to’ are, in some cases, only shallows compared to what Ennis and Robertson are prepared to show us on the page. I was very cool with that, you might be not be, just bear that in mind. I’ll be continuing to read through the series, I’ll let you know how it goes.
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