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| 1534303499
| 9781534303492
| 1534303499
| 4.46
| 37,325
| Dec 27, 2017
| Dec 27, 2017
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really liked it
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Saga, Vol. 8: Unafraid to mix space adventure with difficult topics Originally posted at Fantasy Literature It’s been six months since I read Vol 7 of S Saga, Vol. 8: Unafraid to mix space adventure with difficult topics Originally posted at Fantasy Literature It’s been six months since I read Vol 7 of SAGA, and after moving to London last summer we recently popped into Forbidden Planet in Soho, and that store is an absolute treasure trove of SF comics, books, and other fan goodies. There are so many enticing comics on offer there, you could spend your entire salary in one wild shopping spree. When I saw Vol 8 of SAGA with Wild West cover art among the new releases, I knew I had to have it. SAGA is my favorite comic series, because it is always pushing the envelope in terms of content, themes, gorgeously assured and sometimes shocking artwork, and characters so charming, honest and flawed that you can’t help but cheer for them. If you like intelligent, snarky, sometimes profane space opera with a vast cast of star-crossed lovers, bounty-hunters, humanoid robots, tabloid reporters, terrifying monsters, and oddball creatures all caught up in a galactic war between the technology-based Wings and magic-wielding Horns of Wreath and Landfall, this series is guaranteed to captivate. In Vol 8, Marko, Alana, Hazel, Prince Robot, and Petrichor find themselves on a remote Wild West planet. The traumatic events on planet Phang are still lingering, and they are in desperate need of an emergency medical procedure (any more details would be a spoiler). Once again writer Vaughan is unafraid to tackle a sensitive subject with the opening panel. And while I thought this time the story sometimes felt like it was purely a vehicle for political debate and hurt the story’s momentum, I applaud his willingness to put his characters in contentious moral situations. It’s a trademark of the entire series, love it or hate it. While Petrichor encounters some Wild West outlaws, Alana, Marko, and Hazel hitch a ride on a train and meet up a very unexpected new character that quickly bonds with Hazel. In fact, Alana has discovered some surprising new powers that may be connected to this. Finally Alana and Marko reach their destination and the doctor they’ve been seeking. The dialogue sounds like something from a TV talk show debate, but then that’s what Vaughan wants to talk about, so that’s what we get. I thought this part of Vol 8 dragged, as the characters debate the merits of their actions. Likewise, Petrichor and Prince Robot are another odd partnership and have many arguments over gender, war, and politics. I liked the story of Hazel and her new friend Kurti better. There were a number of poignant moments as they innocently discuss the world of adults, and this section will appeal to parents, siblings, and those aspiring to become one. Again, this part is very well-written and didn’t feel as forced as their earlier parts. In the next chapter, we once again see what The Will has been up to, and he’s not in a good place. Seems that one of the many individuals he’s casually killed during his illustrious freelance bounty hunter career had a loved one who has tracked him down to exact revenge. This person has decided to really torture him by going through his old memories. We get to see some scenes from The Will’s childhood and early days as a bounty hunter with The Stalk. Artist Fiona Staples treats us to the ultra-violent action that the series generally features. I’m sometimes unsure if Vaughan & Staples show gruesome violence for the vicarious thrills, or as a technique to highlight that killing is not clean and anonymous like storm-troopers in Star Wars. Considering that his old sins are now catching up with The Will, I would hazard a guess its’ the latter. Eventually, his tormentor unearths a very valuable secret from his memories, though it’s no secret to readers. In the final chapter, we rejoin Upsher, the gay tabloid journalist, Ghus the little prairie-dog warrior with a sense of justice, and the innocent young son of Prince Robot, Squire. They have an adventure in the forest, seeking the fearsome Dread Naught, and Ghus and the young robot have some interesting discussions about what situations justify fighting and killing to protect yourself. Vol 8 ends on an upbeat note, quite the opposite of the dark final panels of Vol 7. Now that the series has reached 48 episodes and eight volumes, it has settled down to a more thoughtful pace, and while I think it does lack the intensity of the first four volumes and over-indulges in overt political themes that didn’t really carry the story forward much, I think Vaughan feels that he’s earned the loyalty of readers enough to be able to explore such themes with less propulsive action and more discourse. Again, I really appreciate that SAGA is not about escapism, its about our messy world, war, injustice, intolerance, innocence and cruelty, and most importantly the decisions we must make each day to get to the next day. That’s what keeps the series relevant and fresh – it’s real and funny and heartbreaking, often in rapid succession. Give it a try if you haven’t yet. Merged review: Saga, Vol. 8: Unafraid to mix space adventure with difficult topics Originally posted at Fantasy Literature It’s been six months since I read Vol 7 of SAGA, and after moving to London last summer we recently popped into Forbidden Planet in Soho, and that store is an absolute treasure trove of SF comics, books, and other fan goodies. There are so many enticing comics on offer there, you could spend your entire salary in one wild shopping spree. When I saw Vol 8 of SAGA with Wild West cover art among the new releases, I knew I had to have it. SAGA is my favorite comic series, because it is always pushing the envelope in terms of content, themes, gorgeously assured and sometimes shocking artwork, and characters so charming, honest and flawed that you can’t help but cheer for them. If you like intelligent, snarky, sometimes profane space opera with a vast cast of star-crossed lovers, bounty-hunters, humanoid robots, tabloid reporters, terrifying monsters, and oddball creatures all caught up in a galactic war between the technology-based Wings and magic-wielding Horns of Wreath and Landfall, this series is guaranteed to captivate. In Vol 8, Marko, Alana, Hazel, Prince Robot, and Petrichor find themselves on a remote Wild West planet. The traumatic events on planet Phang are still lingering, and they are in desperate need of an emergency medical procedure (any more details would be a spoiler). Once again writer Vaughan is unafraid to tackle a sensitive subject with the opening panel. And while I thought this time the story sometimes felt like it was purely a vehicle for political debate and hurt the story’s momentum, I applaud his willingness to put his characters in contentious moral situations. It’s a trademark of the entire series, love it or hate it. While Petrichor encounters some Wild West outlaws, Alana, Marko, and Hazel hitch a ride on a train and meet up a very unexpected new character that quickly bonds with Hazel. In fact, Alana has discovered some surprising new powers that may be connected to this. Finally Alana and Marko reach their destination and the doctor they’ve been seeking. The dialogue sounds like something from a TV talk show debate, but then that’s what Vaughan wants to talk about, so that’s what we get. I thought this part of Vol 8 dragged, as the characters debate the merits of their actions. Likewise, Petrichor and Prince Robot are another odd partnership and have many arguments over gender, war, and politics. I liked the story of Hazel and her new friend Kurti better. There were a number of poignant moments as they innocently discuss the world of adults, and this section will appeal to parents, siblings, and those aspiring to become one. Again, this part is very well-written and didn’t feel as forced as their earlier parts. In the next chapter, we once again see what The Will has been up to, and he’s not in a good place. Seems that one of the many individuals he’s casually killed during his illustrious freelance bounty hunter career had a loved one who has tracked him down to exact revenge. This person has decided to really torture him by going through his old memories. We get to see some scenes from The Will’s childhood and early days as a bounty hunter with The Stalk. Artist Fiona Staples treats us to the ultra-violent action that the series generally features. I’m sometimes unsure if Vaughan & Staples show gruesome violence for the vicarious thrills, or as a technique to highlight that killing is not clean and anonymous like storm-troopers in Star Wars. Considering that his old sins are now catching up with The Will, I would hazard a guess its’ the latter. Eventually, his tormentor unearths a very valuable secret from his memories, though it’s no secret to readers. In the final chapter, we rejoin Upsher, the gay tabloid journalist, Ghus the little prairie-dog warrior with a sense of justice, and the innocent young son of Prince Robot, Squire. They have an adventure in the forest, seeking the fearsome Dread Naught, and Ghus and the young robot have some interesting discussions about what situations justify fighting and killing to protect yourself. Vol 8 ends on an upbeat note, quite the opposite of the dark final panels of Vol 7. Now that the series has reached 48 episodes and eight volumes, it has settled down to a more thoughtful pace, and while I think it does lack the intensity of the first four volumes and over-indulges in overt political themes that didn’t really carry the story forward much, I think Vaughan feels that he’s earned the loyalty of readers enough to be able to explore such themes with less propulsive action and more discourse. Again, I really appreciate that SAGA is not about escapism, its about our messy world, war, injustice, intolerance, innocence and cruelty, and most importantly the decisions we must make each day to get to the next day. That’s what keeps the series relevant and fresh – it’s real and funny and heartbreaking, often in rapid succession. Give it a try if you haven’t yet. ...more |
Notes are private!
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2
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Jan 15, 2018
not set
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Jan 18, 2018
not set
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Mar 03, 2023
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Paperback
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| 1534313249
| 9781534313248
| 1534313249
| 4.20
| 13,738
| Sep 25, 2019
| Oct 01, 2019
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it was ok
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A Big Let-down to End the Series I have to admit there has been a 3 year gap between me reading the first 6 volumes and this final one. In fact, I esse A Big Let-down to End the Series I have to admit there has been a 3 year gap between me reading the first 6 volumes and this final one. In fact, I essentially forgot about the series as I had moved onto so many other books and audiobooks, and only realized there was a new (and final) volume by accident. I was (and remain) a massive fan of Brian K Vaughan's SAGA series, absolutely brilliant, which is why I gave this series a try. I certainly enjoyed the early volumes, though the story was very disorienting, thanks to the characters and the artwork in particular. But the more complicated the time-travel permutations became, the more I wondered 1) how this storyline can wrap up properly without a deus ex-machina, or 2) would this end with the dreaded "it was all a dream" reveal that has ruined many a book and drama series and pissed off so many fans (I'm looking straight at you LOST). Now to be fair I personally think time travel and altering the past/present/future is so patently absurd and impossible that I have to just suspend my disbelief to begin with. Having said that, there are many time-travel stories I've enjoyed, such as Time and Again by Jack Finney, Replay by Ken Grimwood, Bring the Jubilee by Ward Moore, and The Door to Summer by Robert Heinlein, but those are all books where time-travel is on a very limited scale or even one-way basis. Once an author decides that characters (and storylines) can travel between multiple time-lines and dimensions, altering this, that, and the other in an endless succession of causal loops and paradoxes, the basic absurdity of the concept gets exposed, and the more they try to explain it rationally, the more ridiculous it seems. That's exactly what this volume felt like. A very earnest effort to have it all make sense, and then the worst cop-out of all at the end. Both left me deeply disappointed. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Dec 25, 2021
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Dec 26, 2021
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Dec 25, 2021
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Paperback
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| 0958578346
| 9780958578349
| 0958578346
| 4.19
| 41,956
| 1999
| May 01, 2004
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it was amazing
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Victorian England in all its Grandeur and Squalor, Masonic Occult Rituals, and Vicious, Bloody Murders - A Complex and Enthralling Tapestry A graphic n Victorian England in all its Grandeur and Squalor, Masonic Occult Rituals, and Vicious, Bloody Murders - A Complex and Enthralling Tapestry A graphic novel about Jack the Ripper and Victorian England. Certainly doesn't should like appealing reading, and given the subject matter, is frequently stomach-churning visually. And yet the stark black-and-white, often roughly-sketched and yet surprisingly visualization of the Whitechapel part of Victorian London becomes the most compelling character of this sprawling, complex, and disturbing portrait of a Victorian era of colonial wealth, hubris, arrogance, contrasted with the working class squalor of the East End, full of manual laborers, petty criminals, and prostitutes, all crammed cheek-to-jowl in boisterous and rough pubs, tenement housing, dark alleys full of thieves and short, tawdry bodily transactions between whores and their marks. It's a fascinating and revolting milieu, captured with incredible precision by written Alan Moore and artist Eddie Campbell. Moore then ambitiously overlays a very elaborate serious of speculations based on prodigiously-researched details of the morass of Jack the Ripper mythology, stories, amorphous details, and then creates an intricate conspiracy of an illegitimate royal birth that the Crown seeks to cover up through murder and deceit, and whose vessel of delivery is a brilliant but utterly insane surgeon and Freemason whose obsession with the pagan mysteries of bygone eras gets twisted by his hatred of matriarchal power, to the point that he considers his eviscerating murders of prostitutes to be a means to suppress feminine power and ensure male dominance over them continues in the waning years of the 19th century. He links these rites to the secretly pagan-inspired churches of London built by Nicholas Hawksmoor, and this connection is both bizarre and fascinating. I was happy to have read Peter Ackroyd’s book Hawksmoor which has a lot of thematic overlap with this. There is even more to this story, as Alan Moore is also fascinated by what he speculates is the illusory nature of time, namely that it could be a fourth dimension in which all time periods coexist, and we only perceive it as progressing due to our lack of ability to see this greater reality. There are some really mind-bending moments in the story that truly transcend the Jack the Ripper narrative, which either detracts from or adds to the story depending on the reader's predilections. The graphic novel is followed by a very extensive index that discusses the historical background sources that the author used, discussing his artistic choices chapter by chapter and page by page, including the artwork choices, which I find just as interesting as the story itself. The voice and thought process of the author comes across very directly and thoughtfully, and is well worth reading for those with the time. All in all, this does deserve its status as one of the three graphic novel masterpieces of Alan Moore and a high-water mark in the genre (along with Watchmen and V for Vendetta), though the subject matter and density of storylines will not appeal to everyone. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Dec 10, 2021
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Dec 27, 2021
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Dec 23, 2021
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Paperback
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| 1910593273
| 9781910593271
| 1910593273
| 3.80
| 319
| Apr 06, 2016
| Mar 14, 2017
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it was amazing
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A fantastic visual portrait of Gauguin, inspired by his artistic style This is a visually sumptuous graphic novel depicting the life of the infamous re A fantastic visual portrait of Gauguin, inspired by his artistic style This is a visually sumptuous graphic novel depicting the life of the infamous rebel painter and champion of the "primitive" in art and rejection of tawdry Western civilization. His symbolic escape to Tahiti and haunting paintings of Tahitian women and simple island life are a direct rejection of the materialistic and soul-less world of Western civilization. It explores the spiritual struggles, megalomania, and single-minded pursuit of his art that Gauguin was eager to project to the larger world - his life was a form of protest against bourgeois thinking and formalist art, and his paintings were his tools to challenge the status quo. If you are even slightly interested in him as a person, more dramatic than life, you will be entranced by this visually-brilliant dive into his complex mental and spiritual landscape. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Aug 09, 2021
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Aug 09, 2021
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Aug 09, 2021
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Paperback
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| 1563896672
| 9781563896675
| 1563896672
| 3.91
| 12,668
| Mar 2000
| Jul 01, 2000
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None
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Notes are private!
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0
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not set
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not set
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Apr 08, 2020
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| 1632158698
| 9781632158697
| 1632158698
| 4.03
| 1,139
| unknown
| Nov 22, 2016
|
really liked it
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Alex + Ada: A romantic fable exploring AI sentience and the human condition I gave this a try as the clean and understated artwork caught my eye and th Alex + Ada: A romantic fable exploring AI sentience and the human condition I gave this a try as the clean and understated artwork caught my eye and the first two volumes were available on Comixology Unlimited. Much like Her, Ex Machina, Westworld, and of course Blade Runner, the story explores what it means to be sentient in the context of a human/AI romance. Alex is given an X5 humanoid female robot by his grandmother who senses his loneliness and unhappiness. His friends are creeped out by the idea of him having a robot companion, as this is often a substitute for human relationships, but Alex is not keen to simply have a glorified sex toy. Rather, he wants her to be more human-like and have agency and the ability to have opinions and make decisions for herself. As the near-future they live in is very distrustful of this, this sets of a series of crises with his friends and the authorities. I thought the first two-thirds of the story was really well conceived and the issues were explored with humor, pathos, and some very thoughtful discussions of what humans really want from AIs, and what AIs might think of human social rules. However, the third and final volume really drops the ball in terms of dramatic tension as it comes to an abrupt climax in the early going and then skips forward in time to a very understated ending that I found unsatisfying. The story is good in its ideas and characters, but the future society didn't quite right true for him. It seemed far too comfortable and plentiful for a near future world, with no real hint as to how so many of the world's problems had been resolved enough to reach this level of advanced robotics and yet still live in suburban communities and have parties much like today. All in all, though, I did enjoy its approach to AI romance that refused to trivialize it and presented all the problems that would likely arise. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Jan 31, 2019
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Feb 06, 2019
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Feb 06, 2019
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Hardcover
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| 1534308679
| 9781534308671
| 1534308679
| 4.20
| 16,071
| Dec 11, 2018
| Dec 11, 2018
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it was amazing
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Paper Girls (Vol 5): Story gaining momentum and richness This is the fifth volume of Brian K. Vaughan’s PAPER GIRLS, and the larger story is really sta Paper Girls (Vol 5): Story gaining momentum and richness This is the fifth volume of Brian K. Vaughan’s PAPER GIRLS, and the larger story is really starting to take shape. The early volumes were quite elliptical and disorienting, so it’s great to be able to understand the various storylines and the larger world-building that is revealed, and get to know and like the four main protagonists even more as they are thrown into a series of tense adventures across time. Finally we get to delve into the far-future world inhabited by the old-timers, with the sleek and beautifully-colored futuristic cityscapes that were just hinted at in previous volumes. The girls find themselves in a far future city that is surprisingly close to home, on a mission to seek out answers and help as they are being pursued by multiple factions, since for some reason the outcome of this time-traveling battle apparently rests on their fates. The story addresses the familiar time-travel contradictions of how the past and future can be altered when it should already have happened, taking a fresh tack by denying the common quantum explanation for multiple time-lines. It’s an interesting approach, and central to the entire story structure, so it’s good to see that Vaughan is thinking through his story carefully. We learn much more about the back-stories of Wari and Grandfather, with some surprising reveals, and once again Vaughan refuses to use the simplistic dichotomy of “good” and “bad” for his characters. They each have their own motives to pursue the girls for different ends, and both seem to believe in the justness of their actions. This level of moral complexity is something that distinguishes the entire series. While the reasons for why the old-timers are after the girls is unveiled, its still unclear whether they or their rebellious younger rivals are right or wrong. The narrative weaves between different groups, times, and adds color to some of the events of the past volumes. Things are certainly easier to follow now, and the plot is really gaining urgency. What is more, the interactions between the girls and their older selves are both funny and moving at times. The artwork by Cliff Chiang remains precise, clean and skillful, and the coloring by Matt Wilson and letter by Jared K. Fletcher are also distinctive and add to the visual feast. It’s a pleasure to read and the full-page panels are always used as dramatic reveals. Much like Vol 4, I found this volume to be a lot of fun to read and am now eagerly awaiting the next installment. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Jan 05, 2019
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Jan 13, 2019
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Jan 13, 2019
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Paperback
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| 1534305106
| 9781534305106
| 1534305106
| 4.13
| 19,530
| Apr 04, 2018
| Apr 10, 2018
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it was amazing
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Paper Girls Vol 4: Finally revealing the bigger picture This is the fourth volume of Brian K. Vaughan’s PAPER GIRLS, and we are finally given enough Paper Girls Vol 4: Finally revealing the bigger picture This is the fourth volume of Brian K. Vaughan’s PAPER GIRLS, and we are finally given enough glimpses of the larger plot to make sense of what’s happened until this point. [SPOILER TERRITORY AHEAD - DON’T READ UNLESS YOU’VE READ VOLUMES ONE-THREE] After being thrown into the distant past and battling cavemen and befriending fierce natives, the girls once again in their future (and our past), namely during Y2K before the millenium. There are all kinds of strange things happening, not least of which are giant robots duking it out like Transformers in the streets of quiet Stony Stream, but for some reason only one of the girls can see them. We also get far more details on who the old-timers and young ones are, and why they are fighting a war across multiple timelines. What made little sense and was totally disorienting in the earlier volumes now becomes more clear in hindsight, and Vaughn is having fun peeling back the curtains a bit but also implying that the larger tapestry is vast and complex indeed, enough to justify a long and fascinating run. So that early teasing is finally starting to pay off. We also get more encounters betweens the girls and their older selves, which is always a fun opportunity for introspective and surprise/dismay at how things turned out. There are also some interesting developments in the relationships among the girls, but the less said the better. Finally, I found the action sequences involving the old-timers and young ones to be quite intense and dramatic. Vaughan has been careful to not reveal which sides are “good” or “bad”, as they both have their own agendas and rationales for fighting this multi-timeline conflict. The girls of course are caught in the middle and sometimes have to follow their gut instincts in who to believe and side with, which changes as the story progresses. The artwork by Ted Chiang remains precise, clean and skillful, and the coloring by Matt Wilson and letter by Jared K. Fletcher are also distinctive and add to enjoyment of this story. It’s a pleasure to read and the full-page panels are always used as dramatic reveals. I found this volume to be the most satisfying of the series so far, and feel like things are starting to pay off finally. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Apr 05, 2018
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Apr 20, 2018
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Jan 02, 2019
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Paperback
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| B07GL6ZJLF
| 4.56
| 32,479
| Sep 26, 2018
| Sep 26, 2018
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it was amazing
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Originally posted at Fantasy Literature The Most Shattering Volume to Date It’s been nine months since I read Vol 8 of Saga, and ages since I've had tim Originally posted at Fantasy Literature The Most Shattering Volume to Date It’s been nine months since I read Vol 8 of Saga, and ages since I've had time to write any reviews since moving to London last fall. It’s one of the only comic series that I follow (the other being Vaughan's Paper Girls), and the characters are as vivid, complicated, lovable, despicable, cruel, and conflicted as any I know. This is a space opera that tackles the most difficult and relevant topics of our own society, doesn’t hesitate to shock readers, flip the script, and most frightening of all, doesn’t hold back from killing off major characters that we are deeply invested in. It’s a cruel message, that even the best people trying to just live their lives and maintain their ideals can be snuffed out by those with less scruples, and that those that have used violence in the past can rarely escape the consequences, even after having turned to a peaceful path. This volume will leave you stunned, gutted, and struggling to recover. Not only that, but writer Brian K. Vaughan and artist Fiona Staples have said they will be taking an extended hiatus after this volume. It may be a good time to re-read the entire series and consider the first nine volumes as a major story arc that comes to a stunning ending here. In Vol 9, Marko & Alana, their daughter Hazel, Prince Robot, his son Squire, Petrichor, Ghus, Upsher & Doff, The Will, and Ianthe continue their tense cat & mouse chase. While the “good guys” are taking a breather, Upsher & Doff pitch the idea of sharing Marko & Alana’s story to their tabloid in exchange for a big payout that will let them (possibly) escape from all their pursuers and enemies and just be a “normal” family, one not under the constant threat of death from rival galactic empires that both have an interest in extinguishing them. At the same time, Prince Robot has his own plans on how to achieve happiness for himself, Squire, and Petrichor. This extremely unlikely trio makes for a fascinating family unit, and the whole series is so good at mixing up very different characters and forcing them to face brutally-difficult decisions in the midst of harrowing circumstances. How Vaughan manages to keep the banter clever, humorous, and yet completely honest is an amazing accomplishment. There are no false notes, just a continuously shifting tone as we go from quiet moments of brief happiness to sudden, wrenching, and violent deaths. It’s quite an emotional roller-coaster, so be prepared to be thrown for six and put through the wringer – it’s hard to imagine any fan of the series getting through this volume unscathed, and I was once again so impressed by how Vaughan and Staples use the story panels to create unbearable tension. I use Comixology and have it set so you read each panel without seeing the next, so there were moments in the story when I just didn’t want to move to the next panel, knowing something awful was waiting, but being unable to stop myself. It’s a perfect use of the medium, and the artwork is clean, expressive, and gorgeous as always. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Oct 28, 2018
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Nov 05, 2018
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Nov 04, 2018
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Kindle Edition
| ||||||||||||||||
| 1534302239
| 9781534302235
| 1534302239
| 4.06
| 24,750
| Aug 02, 2017
| Aug 08, 2017
|
really liked it
|
Paper Girls, Vol. 3: Story Shifts to A New Direction Entirely Originally posted at Fantasy Literature This is the third volume of Brian K. Vaughan’s Pap Paper Girls, Vol. 3: Story Shifts to A New Direction Entirely Originally posted at Fantasy Literature This is the third volume of Brian K. Vaughan’s Paper Girls, and if you thought you were starting to get a handle on where the story was headed, think again… [SPOILER TERRITORY AHEAD – DON’T READ UNLESS YOU’VE READ VOLUMES ONE AND TWO] The four paper girls are reunited in a completely new place somewhere far off in the future or past, and run into a savage young women who looks vaguely native American except for the technojunk strung around her neck. She is a fierce warrior, but despite her youth is carrying a baby on her back, and thanks to an interpreting device the girls brought with them, they can communicate. In all three volumes, characters from different time periods speak unintelligible languages, enhanced by the creative lettering, and the future oldsters use an evolved form of English as you would imagine would happen over the centuries. Then a new character from the future named Doctor Quanta Braunstein shows up in a fancy suit and cool hairstyle, while Tiffany and Erin start to bond with the primitive girl Wari and her baby Jahpo. It turns out that three men are after Wari for her baby, and somehow they all claim fatherhood. They look a bit like Uruk-Hai covered with mud, and they too have some technological flotsam to go with their stone axes. Anachronisms abound is this volume, as the theme of crossed time streams comes to the fore. These three cave-men run into and capture Doctor Braunstein, while the girls try to come up with a plan to get back to 1988. Meanwhile, KJ and Mac spend some time having typical tween chats…in the distant prehistoric past. But when they encounter a weird futuristic construct and KJ touches it…she sees some disturbing things. Once again, Vaughn is very good at using varying panel sizes to build anticipation and delivery of the big reveals, just like in Saga. The four girls finally reunite in the forest, and inevitably they encounter the three cave-men and the future woman being held prisoner. Lots more happens, and we learn a little about what is happening in the grander scheme of things, but it’s just tidbits of story breadcrumbs that Vaughan is doling out to keep us going. The story is interesting enough that I don’t mind, but this could potentially be a very long and involved series indeed. In the final chapter of volume three, Doctor Braunstein and the girls discuss the merits of meddling with the ancient past, but then the three cave-men show up and force the issue. The episode ends with some climactic events likely to have major repercussions, and the girls are thrown into yet another time period with another unexpected and dramatic final image…TO BE CONTINUED. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Mar 16, 2018
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Mar 20, 2018
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Mar 25, 2018
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Paperback
| ||||||||||||||
| 1632158957
| 9781632158956
| 1632158957
| 4.10
| 33,743
| Nov 30, 2016
| Dec 06, 2016
|
really liked it
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Paper Girls: If you thought things were weird before… Originally posted at Fantasy Literature This is the second volume of Brian K. Vaughan’s Paper Girl Paper Girls: If you thought things were weird before… Originally posted at Fantasy Literature This is the second volume of Brian K. Vaughan’s Paper Girls, and takes up the story right where it left off in volume one. The four paper girls from 1988 have found themselves in 2016, but still in the sleepy suburb of Stony Stream. And they are about encounter more weirdness and sinister characters that the first volume… Paper Girls has been likened to a female version of Stranger Things, and while they both center on a group of suburban kids growing up in the 1980s who start to encounter strange and occult happenings in their town and have to take things into their own hands, with copious 80s pop references, Paper Girls is a lot edgier and intense, which is just what you’d expect from the creator of Saga. Once again, Vaughan spins off new plot elements and characters without letting either the reader or the characters know who are the good guys or the bad guys, so it makes you wonder if he really can pull it all together over time eventually, or if he’s just winging it along the way. Considering that there are folds to other dimensions and time travel in the story, pretty much anything can happen and he can back-engineer things to make some kind of sense. Only time will tell. [ENTERING SPOILER TERRITORY – DON’T READ UNLESS YOU’VE READ VOLUME ONE] In the meantime, Volume Two focuses on Erin meeting her future self in 2016, which presents lots of fun moments for the girls to marvel over the advances in technology since 1988, and for 12-year old Erin to meet her older self and vice-versa. It isn’t all happy times – young Erin probably didn’t see herself as a small-town journalist, and older Erin is torn between feeling responsible for these young girls in her charge, and seeing their youth and enthusiasm that she has since lost. The whole situation is pretty stressful for the older Erin. Still, as KJ has disappeared along with the mysterious cloaked time-travelers from the previous volume, the girls convince older Eric to help them track her down, using the mysterious device with the apple symbol. It directs them to the “First Folding” at the old Stony Gate Mall. Meanwhile, a mysterious new character in a futuristic red suit shows up in a parking lot, and when they remove their helmet things get even more disorienting. It’s quite a WTF moment, and I happen to like those quite a lot, which is why I enjoy Vaughan’s stories so much. With hardly a pause to catch our breath, a giant creature shows up in the parking lot, which looks very alien but is actually of terrestrial origin and if you’ve watched the new version of Cosmos hosted by Neil De Grasse Tyson, you will recognize it. The new character is also heading for Stony Gate Mall, so we know they will all cross paths soon. Once again, we’re kept in the dark as to whether they are good or bad, though they claim to be on the girls’ side. The new character saves Mac and Tiffany from a nasty creature, while the old and new Erin have some bittersweet conversations about life, before they discover a mysterious field hockey stick dangling from a patch of nothing with a cryptic note. Then the interloper (see, I’m trying extra hard not to spoil too much) starts to reveal a bunch of info to the girls and older Eric, but if anything its just enough to create more questions in their minds (and the readers’). When the interloper offers to take them all to a future sanctuary and gives them a glimpse, its very tempting indeed. Our protagonists make a gutsy decision on who to trust… Then things get even more bizarre, as the Oldsters start to get involved with a giant airship, some pteradactyls, and even more crazy stuff that clearly belongs in the future. Older Eric calls in unexpected help, and more exciting mayhem ensues. There are some great larger panels here, and the artwork by Cliff Chiang and coloring by Matt Wilson are truly excellent. Despite all the new plot details and fleshing out of the world Vaughan has created, you’ll likely feel like your head is spinning from all the possibilities, but if you are comfortable being kept in suspense, then this series remains intriguing and unexpected. ...more |
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Mar 06, 2018
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Mar 11, 2018
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Mar 11, 2018
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Paperback
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| 1632156741
| 9781632156747
| 1632156741
| 3.89
| 104,054
| Mar 30, 2016
| Apr 05, 2016
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really liked it
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Paper Girls: Four 80s Teens get Entangled in Serious Weirdness Originally posted at Fantasy Literature If you are a fan of Brian K. Vaughan’s amazing Sa Paper Girls: Four 80s Teens get Entangled in Serious Weirdness Originally posted at Fantasy Literature If you are a fan of Brian K. Vaughan’s amazing Saga comic series, you are likely to want to check out some of his other series as well. In addition to writing many stories for Marvel and DC comics’s well-known franchises, he has also written a number of original series, including Y: The Last Man, Ex Machine, Runaways, and Paper Girls. For Paper Girls, I rally liked the cover artwork by Cliff Chiang, coloring by Matt Wilson, and lettering by Jared Fletcher. Paper Girls has been likened to a female version of Stranger Things, and while there is some superficial resemblance as they both center around a group of suburban kids growing up in the 1980s who start to encounter strange and occult happenings in their town and have to take things into their own hands, with copious 80s pop references, Paper Girls goes into far weirder and most outlandish territory, and while things start out out on a small scale about four 12-year old girls doing a paper route in Cleveland, Ohio, things don’t stay that way for long. During her early-morning paper delivery route, Erin Tieng is accosted by some bullying teen boys who are chased off by three other female paper girls, Mac, Tiffany, and KJ. Mac is a tough-talking, cigarette-smoking tomboy who doesn’t back down from anyone while Tiffany and KJ are a bit more typical kids. Erin is the new girl, but gets thrust into their group when they get jumped by some mysterious cloaked individuals and have their walkie-talkie stolen. The early morning pre-dawn blue colors and artwork are done really well, as are the 80s period details of clothing, hairstyles, manner of speech, and pop-culture references. However, these girls are a bit more street-saavy than their male Stranger Things counterparts, and when they discover a mysterious device in an under-construction house, you know things are going to get weird. If you’d rather discover the rest for yourself, stop reading and get yourself a copy right now! Anyway, the girls get transported to a different version of their sleepy suburb of Stony Streams, and run into the mysterious cloaked figures, who speak a mystery language depicted with alien-looking lettering. They acquire a tiny device with an apple symbol on it, try to figure out what is going on, and very soon we’ve got winged pteradactyls with futuristic armored riders with power lances, weird light formations in the sky, and then things get very chaotic. The girls end up with the mysterious hooded characters, people get injured, and they end up on the run from some very bizarre alien constructs, and get conflicting details and snippets of information just enough to confuse and tantalize us. Again, it’s not clear what’s going on and where the story is going, but compared to all the stories out there that are painfully predictable, I found this refreshing. Vaughan throws in a steady flood of new plot elements and characters without letting either the reader or the characters know who are the good guys or the bad guys, so if you like your stories crystal-clear from the outset you may find it frustrating. I myself enjoy the disorientation of a new stories where nothing is yet clear, so I don’t mind. If you trust the creators of the story, you’ll be willing to go along for the ride. Much like in Saga, he likes to have smaller panels lead to larger reveal panels that build anticipation in the story. It’s a good visual technique and gets you trained to look ahead to the next one, very Pavlovian! Because the events of Volume 1 are still so preliminary and confusing, I read the first three volumes before even attempting to write a review, but I can honestly say that while I’ve got a more detailed view of the larger plot and more details, I remain in the dark about where this story is going, but it remains very entertaining. ...more |
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Feb 25, 2018
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Mar 03, 2018
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Mar 03, 2018
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| 1534300600
| 9781534300606
| 1534300600
| 4.48
| 46,075
| Apr 04, 2017
| Apr 04, 2017
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really liked it
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Saga, Vol 7: Explores painful real-world conflicts via space opera Originally posted in Fantasy Literature I had to wait nine months for Vol 7 of Brian Saga, Vol 7: Explores painful real-world conflicts via space opera Originally posted in Fantasy Literature I had to wait nine months for Vol 7 of Brian Vaughan’s Saga, and about a year for Vol 6, after reading the first 5 volumes back-to-back. Saga is my favorite current comic series (actually, the only one I am following at the moment), and if you haven’t read it then go out and read Vol 1 right now. If you like intelligent, snarky, sometimes profane space opera centered on a pair of star-crossed lovers who have a little girl named Hazel and an amazing supporting cast of bounty-hunters, humanoid robots, reporters, and various others all caught up in a galactic war between Wreath and Landfall, you will not be disappointed. In Saga Vol 7, the story resumes as Marko and Alana are finally back together and Hazel is growing up quickly. Being from opposite sides of the conflict, they are an affront to both and their mixed child is considered an abomination that could undermine the biases that keep the two sides hating each other. They remain on the run from both sides, allied with a former enemy and a former prisoner who harbors a secret. When their ship runs low on fuel, they find they need to make an emergency stop on a comet called Phang. Much of the action takes place on this giant rock, “an exotic land of boundless diversity, home to thousands of different tribes, sects, and species…almost all of whom despited each other.” Phang has long been a battleground mainly because of its rich fuel resources, and much of its local populace lives a precarious existence while civil conflict continues. The parallels to certain geopolitical regions in the real world are painfully obvious, down to the stream of refugees produced by the fighting. Saga has never held back from making strong statements about war, racial prejudice, sexual orientations, and uses its violent content in part to push a strong anti-war sentiment, a recurring theme of the series. As always, the story is carried along with multiple narrative threads, including that of Alana, Marko, Prince Robot, Petrichor, and Izabel on Phang, where they encounter a group of refugees who look like harmless prairie dogs. They are surprisingly innocent but devoutly religious, living in the ruins, and the overlays with images of adults and children living in the rubble of Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq are certainly deliberate. After all, most civilians just want to live a decent life and avoid getting killed by either side, right? So why do they always end up caught in the crossfire. Our protagonists end up forming familial bonds with them, and Hazel forms a particularly close friendship with a young prairie dog male named Kurti. They’re just two kids growing up in a hostile and cruel world, but like all children they retain an innocent and accepting view of the world around them. A separate storyline follows bounty hunter Gwendolyn, a little girl named Sophie rescued from slavery, Lying Cat, and even The Will makes a cameo. They are seeking to make an alliance between elements of both sides, but this storyline is fairly underdeveloped and feels more like a placeholder for events likely to happen in future volumes. Meanwhile, Marko and the gang have to deal with a ruthless new bounty-hunter named The March, who seems to getting more work since The Will has been on sick leave. And the comet is quickly approaching a very lethal celestial object that is certain to lead to doom unless they find a means of escape… I flew through the chapters of Vol 7 just as quickly as previous volumes, but as I said in my reviews for Saga Vols 5 & 6, the pace of the story has slowed a bit and the new characters are not quite as fresh and the twists and shocks that were so effective in Vols 1-4 have also lost a bit of their impact. Once again, the series remains very intelligent is not content just to provide escapism. Vaughan clearly cares very much about the often harsh cruelties of the real world and has found a way to explore them in a quirky and action-filled space opera format unlike any other, so I will continue to follow the fates of his characters, and will be moved when not all of them survive. The ending of this volume is quite tragic and fades to black in a way only possible in comics. ...more |
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Jun 25, 2017
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Jul 02, 2017
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Jul 01, 2017
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Paperback
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| 1401235484
| 9781401235482
| 1401235484
| 4.47
| 8,440
| 2012
| Oct 09, 2012
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really liked it
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Death: The Deluxe Edition: That perky goth-punk girl named Death Originally posted at Fantasy Literature I’ve loved rediscovering the world of mature co Death: The Deluxe Edition: That perky goth-punk girl named Death Originally posted at Fantasy Literature I’ve loved rediscovering the world of mature comics thanks to one of its most beloved and well-respected series, Neil Gaiman’s 75-volume SANDMAN epic. What to do when done, though? When I first picked up Sandman: Overture in Deluxe Hardcover last Christmas, I noticed an understated volume next to it simply called Death. Sounds fairly grim, I thought. But the cover artwork (by Dave McKean) was intriguing, muted colors, a dark-haired women in profile, with the hint of a dark wing behind her, some blue roses superimposed, and other unidentifiable but haunting images. On the back it simply said “You’ll See Her Again,” with a white ankh symbol floating in darkness. Since there was a 3-for-2 sale going on, I grabbed this just to make 3 (the other one was Alan Moore’s Watchmen), knowing only that Gaiman wrote it and guessing it had some relation to the SANDMAN series. I’m really glad I got it. It turns out to be a collection of stories that focus on perhaps the most popular member of the Endless other than Dream. Normally people think Grim Reaper, black cloak and hood, skeleton face, and sickle in hand. Well, hand it to Gaiman to come up with something more original, and much more fun. After all, Death is generally a serious subject and we shouldn’t be flippant about it. Most people don’t want to think about or confront death, other than the cheap thrills of horror films or the guilty relief that we feel hearing news reports of car accidents, terrorist attacks, and natural disasters. How tragic, we think. How terrible for the victims’ friends and families. And thank goodness it wasn’t us or anyone we know. That last thought is rarely vocalized, but I think it’s generally there. In any case, Death of the Endless is hardly what any of us expect to meet when our time comes. First off, she is a woman. Second, she is young, spiky-haired, attractive in a punk/goth way, and has a knowing and wistful smile. Initially those she encounters try to pretend they don’t recognize her, but they know. And despite having an extremely busy schedule, she doesn’t seem to be rushing at all. Just a gentle insistence, given with a glance, that your time is up, as you look at your prone body, and her outstretched hand. She will listen to the usual questions, like “Why now?”, “Can’t I have more time?”, “What Happens Next?”, “Am I going to Heaven or Hell?”, etc. But don’t expect a detailed answer. You have to punch your ticket to find that out, folks. This collection contains a number of well-known stories about Death that have previously appeared in the main SANDMAN series, such as “The Sound of Her Wings” (from Volume One: Preludes and Nocturnes), “Facade” (from Volume Four: Dream Country), and “Death and Venice” (from Sandman: Endless Nights). But it also includes two major independent story arcs, “The High Cost of Living” and “The Time of Your Life” that feature characters from SANDMAN. They are definitely of interest to anyone who is a fan of either Death or SANDMAN. It even contains a very extensive gallery of different artists’ renditions of Death — she sure is popular! And last but not least, a little sex education from Death with a cameo by Constantine. A bit awkward, but better safe than sorry! Read as a whole, our cute goth-punk goddess represents a very different philosophical view of Death. After all, all living things die at some point, and most of us do not control the timing or circumstances of our death. But Gaiman is keen to explore the varied responses of people, both mortal and slightly more, when their number is called. Some are upset, some accepting, most anxious and uncertain, but what unites them all is that, deep down, although they think they know what is coming, actually they don’t. Sure, all the religions of the world claim to know about the afterlife (if there is one), and generally teach that your behavior and beliefs during life will determine if you get a deluxe room for eternity or perhaps something a bit less comfy. Some people live their lives in trepidation of this, many millions have been terrorized with images of burning hell-fires and tortures for the sinners and damned. Others believe they will re-enter the cycle of reincarnation, with karma from the most recent life determining your position in the next. And yet others think that’s end of the line. Finito. Done. I don’t pretend to have the faintest idea, but I certainly wouldn’t have pictured such a sweet and understanding escort to the Sunless Lands. Because it seems that Lady Death is mainly in charge of coming to fetch you and escorting you there, but after that it’s still a big question mark. The 60 million dollar question. And the answer is probably not 42, I’m afraid. You’ll have to read this volume to draw your own conclusions, but all I will say is that maybe we’re asking the wrong question. Instead of worrying about death and what happens afterward, perhaps we should spend more time thinking about living a meaningful life instead. I’m just sayin’. ...more |
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Aug 20, 2016
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Sep 04, 2016
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Aug 20, 2016
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Hardcover
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| 1401248969
| 9781401248963
| 1401248969
| 4.04
| 66,044
| Sep 2015
| Nov 10, 2015
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it was amazing
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Sandman: Overture: Stunning artwork enhances an excellent story I re-entered the world of comics after a 30-year hiatus thanks to fellow FanLit review Sandman: Overture: Stunning artwork enhances an excellent story I re-entered the world of comics after a 30-year hiatus thanks to fellow FanLit reviewer Brad Hawley’s impassioned Why You Should Read Comics: A Manifesto! and his 10-part essay on Reading Comics. It was clear that Neil Gaiman’s SANDMAN series was the gold standard for sophisticated, intelligent comics for adults. Having read Brad’s review of the entire series, Welcome to The Dreaming: An Introduction to THE SANDMAN, I embarked on the 76-volume epic. At that time, my only dilemma was whether to read it in hardcopy or digital. There are plenty of purists who would insist that comics must be read in physical form as originally intended. But having discovered Comixology, I learned that comics could be enjoyed anytime and anyplace on an iPad or iPhone, whether on lunch break or even while clothing shopping with the family (it saved my sanity many times over), with the ability to focus on each panel separately using Guided View. In the end, convenience won out. But last Christmas in Hawaii, my daughter and I were enjoying the rare privilege of shopping at Barnes & Noble, the only English bookstore still surviving in Hawaii, which we can visit once a year since we live in Tokyo. We spent much of our time in the comics section, and when my eyes lit on the Deluxe Hardcover Edition of Sandman: Overture and opened it to a few random pages, the artwork just stunned me with its incredible richness and detail. I wanted to read more, but at the same time I didn’t want to spoil the story. In the end I bought this beautiful volume but carefully saved it until I had finished the entire 76-volume series, because I knew that I would appreciate the story more if I knew all about Morpheus before reading this prequel. I’m glad I waited - this comic is an amazing achievement, one of the most impressive stories I’ve read in a long time. The story centers on why Morpheus found himself so weakened at the beginning of Volume 1: Preludes & Nocturnes that he could be captured by mere humans casting ancient spells. What takes shape is an epic adventure that goes well beyond anything that occurs in the 10 volumes that come afterward. The scope is huge, ranging throughout the universe, time, space, and numerous dimensions. There are very few mortal characters other than a little girl named Hope Beautiful Lost Nebula. The majority consist of immortals like Morpheus (quite a few of him, in fact), his siblings, various alien beings, and even stars themselves. Most interestingly, we meet the parents of the Endless - it didn’t even occur to me that was possible. But these parents are fairly distant from their children - the disfunctionality runs deep here. The plot gets going properly as we learn that a star has gone mad and is disrupting the balance of the universe. Furthermore, the reasons for this have to do with Morpheus and the decisions that he did and did not make. Once again the theme of duties and responsibilities take center stage. It also sheds much light on Morpheus’ dogged insistence on doing his duty later in the series. Decisions, consequences, and sacrifices - these ideas drive the characters of this big-canvas morality play. The artwork is so luxurious and hypnotic that it may overshadow the story somewhat, or make it seem better than it really is. I would prefer to think that Gaiman crafted his story to take full advantage of the amazing skills of J.H. Williams III and Dave Stewart. There are so many fantastic things that happen in the story, it’s clear that Gaiman wanted to push them to their artistic limits, and the results are truly awesome. I don’t think I’ve ever spent so much time simply poring over each page and panel of any comic before. It’s a visual feast with a color palette so rich it can be overwhelming. This could not have been done without advanced digital software like Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator. In fact, the Deluxe Edition includes a treasure-trove of extras at the back of the book in which the artistic process is discussed in detail by J.H. Williams III, Dave Stewart, Todd Klein, and Neil Gaiman. It’s like magicians revealing their secrets, and is really fascinating for anyone who may be considering a career in comic book illustration and design. It’s truly a collaborative effort, much more than novel writing. In writing this review, I thought I would just page through the chapters to choose particular parts worth noting, but the pictures and story were so enthralling that I actually ended up reading the entire book again. In fact, this is one comic I can see myself reading again and again since the artwork and story complement each other so well. It might be my favorite Christmas book purchase ever. ...more |
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1
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Aug 13, 2016
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Aug 22, 2016
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Aug 13, 2016
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Hardcover
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| 140120113X
| 9781401201135
| 140120113X
| 4.33
| 29,561
| 2003
| Sep 01, 2004
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really liked it
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Sandman, Vol 11: Endless Nights: Individual tales of the Endless Having just finished the 10-volume epic SANDMAN saga, it’s hard to imagine anything t Sandman, Vol 11: Endless Nights: Individual tales of the Endless Having just finished the 10-volume epic SANDMAN saga, it’s hard to imagine anything that can top this achievement. In aggregate, it is certainly the most ambitious comic of its time, and having depicted the character arc of Dream, also known as Morpheus and the Sandman, there is isn’t much to add to that. At the same time, since the Endless have lived for the lifetime of the current universe (and perhaps previous iterations), there are an infinite number of side-stories that Gaiman could conceive. So it was inevitable that he would choose to pen some stories that featured each of the Endless - this project itself could be endless, if there’s enough demand from Sandman fans. Endless Nights has a story about each of the Endless, each penned by different artists who Gaiman chose to best represent the unique aspects of each Endless sibling and their stories. As such, your impressions of the story will be greatly affected by the artists, and in the case of Despair (“Fifteen Portraits of Despair”) and Delirium (“Going Inside”), the stories are suitably grim and disorienting, respectively. The writing is also fragmented into poetic and cryptic snippets, so their stories are not so much stories as montages. In the case of Delirium, it makes perfect sense the the images and worlds are chaotic, disturbing, and somewhat crazed. It doesn’t make for easy reading. In the case of Despair, I just couldn’t understand what the story was about, but the artwork is suitably creepy. My favorite stories were about Death (“Death and Venice”), Desire (“What I’ve Tasted of Desire”), and Destruction (“On the Peninsula”). The story of Death is a haunting one set on an island off the coast of Venice, where a disillusioned soldier on leave recalls his brief encounter with Death as a child, and his second encounter with her as they crash the idyllic party of some decadent immortals who think themselves immune to death. The artwork by P. Craig Russell is precise, evocative, and pleasing, which is no surprise as he also did the legendary “Ramadan”. Desire’s tale is definitely the most sexually-charged, a fable of a young woman in early Britain who desires the handsome but playboy son of the village leader. She cuts a deal with Desire, but in typical fashion, the passions that are ignited do not conform to expectations. It reminded me a bit of the Wildlings of the North in Game of Thrones. The story about Destruction features my favorite, by Glen Fabry, and is a mysterious story about a remote island in the Mediterranean, where some archaeologists have unearthed some strange objects apparently from the future. The story actually features both Destruction and Delirium, and just like in previous Sandman stories, Destruction is a deeply thoughtful being, nothing like what you might expect, and is always ambivalent about his past life. The final story about Destiny (“Endless Nights”) is more of a brief coda or book end, and hardly counts, thought that is understandable considering that Destiny is a passive figure who knows the life of all people based on the book he carries, but he does not create or affect these life paths but merely observes. It always struck me that his role was fairly pointless, for that reason. ...more |
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1
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Aug 06, 2016
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Aug 15, 2016
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Aug 06, 2016
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Paperback
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| 1401236537
| B0064W6746
| 4.52
| 50,684
| 1996
| Oct 08, 2013
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it was amazing
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Sandman, Vol 10: The Wake: Incredible artwork and a moving coda Don't read this unless you've already read the previous volumes. It's the last volume o Sandman, Vol 10: The Wake: Incredible artwork and a moving coda Don't read this unless you've already read the previous volumes. It's the last volume of the epic SANDMAN saga, and one of my favorites. You’d think that it being a wake, a celebration and remembrance of the passing of someone, I found it filled with not only with melancholy, but an equal amount of empathy and gentle humor at the lives of all beings both mortal and immortal, god or faithful companion. It also has, by far, the most radiant and evocative artwork of the entire series, courtesy of Michael Zulli, which really blew me away with its incredible range of detail in both character expressions and background. Why was he not asked to participate earlier? It almost made up for the dreadful artwork done by Marc Hempel in Vol 9: The Kindly Ones, which almost ruined my enjoyment of that climactic story arc. If you have read all the previous volumes, you know by know who this wake is for. It has been foreshadowed throughout the series, especially at the end of Vol 8: Worlds’ End, and explored in detail in Vol 9. So what is left to tell? A lot, as it turns out. With the passing of one aspect of Dream, namely Morpheus, a new aspect takes on the duties of Dream, the young child Daniel. He declines the name of Morpheus, content to be called Dream, and this volume details his experiences as he deals with the aftermath of Morpheus’ passing, the huge host of mourners and well-wishes, reviving many of Morpheus’ loyal servants, and finally meeting his siblings for the first time, if that makes sense. As he says, “This is very new to me, Matthew. This place, this world. I have existed since the beginning of time. This is a true thing. I am older than worlds and suns and gods. But tomorrow I will meet my brother and sisters for the first time. And I am afraid.” One of the best relationships is between Matthew, who is still deeply upset that Morpheus chose to face his death at the Furies’ hands alone, and the new Dream, who is just getting his bearings. Matthew does not feel he owes anything to Dream, and wishes to have died along with Morpheus, but when he sees how much help the new Dream will need to assume his duties, his attitude changes. The young Dream is so vulnerable and unsure of himself, which is beautifully conveyed by the artwork of Michael Zulli, who gives him a younger appearance but the same deep black pools of eternity for eyes, with that spark of life and intelligence. Each time he speak with someone known from his former aspect, he pauses as if to retrieve their info from his inherited memories, and then act accordingly. The tone of the story has shifted completely, as all the beings and former lovers of dream who bore grudges have gotten what they wished for. Now everyone seems contrite and solemn, as it it was all done in a pique of madness. And yet we know just how inevitable those events were, as did Morpheus and the Furies themselves, along with his brother Destiny. The question arises, why is there a wake if Dream lives on. Cain answers, “Nobody died. How can you kill an idea? How can you kill the personification of an an action?” During the wake we again meet so many of the people touched by Morpheus, including former lovers like Calliope, the mother of Orpheus, the faerie Nuala, even Queen Titania of Faerie. Then there is Lyta Hall, the mother of Daniel who triggered the whole crisis in her mistaken quest for vengeance, as well as Rose Walker whose story was told in Vol 2: The Doll’s House. We even get some surprising revelations from the witch Thessaly. Finally Morpheus’ siblings speak of him at the wake, each in their own unique way, and their behavior is quite funny. The new Dream is not allowed to attend the ceremony, but receives a very unexpected visitor to his castle instead. I loved their conversation, it just opens up so many interesting possibilities. Matthew the raven and Death, Morpheus’ sister, give some very touching tributes. It really feels like a proper remembrance. And there is a final meeting between Lyta and the new Dream, who was her son Daniel, and much of import is discussed. But this last volume contains more. The next segment is on my favorites, called “An Epilogue - Sunday Morning”. This is one of the most humorous sequences in the whole series, centered on the seemingly immortal man Hob Gadling, who is attending a Renaissance Fair with his black girlfriend Gwen. He goes by Robbie, and having actually lived through those dirty, grim, and altogether barbaric times, the whole cheapness and lack of authenticity puts him in a foul and antagonistic mood. There is nothing worse than a foul-tempered Englishman who gets deep in his cups, which is exactly what happens. His comments to the fair participants are priceless, especially with the server wench. But when he takes a brief break in an abandoned building, he encounters someone who suddenly puts it all in perspective for him. It’s quite a chilling sequence, not least because the artwork is absolutely incredible, conveying complex emotions via the characters’ expressions with a subtlety I have rarely seen before. The dialogue too is filled with deep insights delivered with such ease - some of Gaiman’s best work, in my opinion. Then Gaiman gives us a little gem called “Exiles”, about a Chinese elder who has served as advisor to the Emperor and enjoyed great success, only to lose it all and face exile across a desert at the far corner of the empire. This happens because of the actions of his son, which enraged the emperor. Astute Sandman fans will recognize this desert from “Soft Places” in Vol 6: Fables and Reflections. He encounters a certain gothic figure in the desert, and they have a long-ranging and fascinating conversation that subtly references many of the climactic events of The Kindly Ones and The Wake. It’s a very illuminating window into the thoughts of both Dream and Morpheus, and the artwork by Jon J. Muth is truly dream-like and haunting. The final story is called “The Tempest”, and follows up his brilliant story “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”, as William Shakespeare confronts writer’s block in his later years, but must finish a final play as part of his bargain with Dream in exchange for artistic inspiration. Much like the previous story, there are many levels to the story as it explores the sacrifices that writers make in terms of family life, artistic integrity, and also celebrates the difficult creative process that writers must struggle with. It’s also a tribute to the genius of Shakespeare’s skills with the English language, and a form of meta-commentary by Gaiman the writer. Like “Exiles”, the main character engages in a meaningful conversation with Morpheus, both his benefactor and tormentor. Overall, the quality of writing throughout this volume is very high, and the two extra stories at the end demonstrate that Gaiman can craft stories from almost any subject matter and seamlessly weave in his mythology of the Endless to make thought-provoking stories. Complemented by excellent artwork, this is definitely one of the highlights of the series. There is another volume called Endless Nights featuring a story about each of the Endless, along with stand-alone companion pieces like The Dream Hunters, Death, and Sandman: Overture, so there is still more to look forward to. If I had one complaint, it’s that Gaiman never explains why the Endless came about, who the Creator is, what the purpose of the Silver City is, or any of the unseen forces that have established all the rules that bind even the most powerful immortal beings. I basically figured that he would not go there, but waited until the full sequence before passing judgement. In some sense it’s disappointing, but I think Gaiman’s main point is that it is humankind who can created its own mythologies and explanations for the universe, so any answers can only come from our own imaginations. ...more |
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Jul 23, 2016
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Aug 08, 2016
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Jul 23, 2016
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Kindle Edition
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| 4.59
| 51,445
| 1995
| May 08, 2012
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really liked it
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Sandman, Vol 9: The Kindly Ones: The climax we all saw coming If you are reading this review, I’ll assume you’ve read and liked the previous eight volu Sandman, Vol 9: The Kindly Ones: The climax we all saw coming If you are reading this review, I’ll assume you’ve read and liked the previous eight volumes. If you haven’t read them, I suggest you start with Volume 1 and go from there. Otherwise, this review will be full of spoilers and I don’t want the Furies or Corinthian to visit me in my dreams in retribution. The entire series shifts between collections of short stories and single longer narratives, and some of my favorite Sandman stories have been the stand-alone stories such as “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”, “Three Septembers and a January”, “The Song of Orpheus”, “Ramadan”, “Hob’s Leviathan”, and “The Golden Boy”. Sometimes I think Gaiman does his best work here, as some of the full-length Sandman story arcs were not as satisfying, particularly “A Game of You”. At the risk of being pilloried by Sandman fans, I felt that “The Kindly Ones” was a bit too long and tried to tie together too many disparate story threads and characters to be a cohesive and effective story. I also have to say that having really admired most of the artwork in the series, the drawings of Marc Hempel that dominate this volume were amateurish and distracting, to the point where I couldn’t recognize the characters even if they appeared in previous volumes. It made it hard to follow and was far below the high standards of the many other Sandman artists. I’ve read other views and there are a lot of Sandman fans who feel similarly. It’s unfortunate since this is probably the most important volume in the series, and it’s the reason I gave it a 4-star rating. The other key point about The Kindly Ones is that any astute reader will know what inevitable end the story is leading towards. This had been foreshadowed throughout the series in more subtle terms, but explicitly at the end of Vol 8 during the reality storm outside the Inn at Worlds’ End. That was a very poignant and powerful moment in the series. The sense of impending and unavoidable doom and tragedy infuse almost every moment of this volume, not least of which being the fatalistic and passive attitude of Morpheus himself. Despite his seeming immortality and dream powers, he seems fairly helpless and resigned to his fate as a host of different characters with grudges against him for past offenses line up to take shots at him. And when one of the them enlists the vengeance of the Furies, the Kindly Ones of the title who are anything but, events have been set in motion that can only end with one outcome. The buildup to this is fairly slow, as Gaiman visits almost every human, faerie, and immortal character who has been affected by Morpheus and might have an axe to grind. Morpheus, with his dogged insistence on carrying out the responsibilities of his office, sanctimonious attitude toward his fellow Endless siblings, callous treatment of lovers, and repeated snubs of other immortal beings, has made a surprising number of enemies, and it seems they all choose the same timing to deliver payback to him. The only ones on his side are his loyal servants, especially Lucien the librarian, Matthew the raven, Merv the pumpkin handyman, the guardians of his castle, and most unexpectedly a resurrected figure from Vol 2: The Doll’s House. Arrayed against them are certain pranksters, Norse gods, witches, fallen angels, and plenty of jilted lovers. It hardly seems a fair fight, especially when Dream is not inclined to fight back. He seems almost to court this informal judgement against him, as if he deserves their censure. So the dramatic tension is sometimes lacking. As the Furies close in on Dream’s realm and his servants, he seems to hardly be making an effort to thwart them. In response to queries by the faerie Nuala of why he does nothing, he replies “There are old rules, Nuala. Rules that were old when time was young. The [Furies] have power to avenge blood-crimes…And I killed my son. The [Furies] are empowered to hound those who spill family blood. I have Orpheus’ blood on my hands, Nuala.” In a sense, he may feel that he deserves punishment at their hands. Again, when questioned by Lucien as why he did not protect his other faithful servants, he replies, “Rules and responsibilities: these are the ties that bind us. We do what we do, because of who we are. If we did otherwise, we would not be ourselves. I will do what I have to do. And I will do what I must.” The whole story is modeled on the ancient Greek tragedies, but this attitude most reminded me of King Arthur in The Once and Future King as he goes to confront Mordred and certain death. The climactic confrontation between Morpheus and the Furies is not a battle in the usual sense of epic fantasy, with blasts of magic, armies clashing, and the final clash between the hero and arch-villain. In fact, it is more a battle of attitudes and moral stances, with both sides bound by their natures and those ancient rules we keep hearing about. So who made the rules? The Creator, yes, but why? And will he intercede in such conflicts? What does this say about the free will of the Endless? Destruction chose to exercise that free will and walk away from everything, but Dream is woven from different cloth. Again, much to contemplate, and still a final volume awaits… ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Jul 18, 2016
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Jul 24, 2016
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Jul 18, 2016
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Paperback
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| 1401236421
| B0064W64HQ
| 4.44
| 53,180
| 1993
| Oct 08, 2013
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it was amazing
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Sandman: Vol 8: Worlds' End: "The Golden Boy" is a bittersweet fable of leadership After Vol 7: Brief Lives, which focused on Morpheus’ dysfunctional f Sandman: Vol 8: Worlds' End: "The Golden Boy" is a bittersweet fable of leadership After Vol 7: Brief Lives, which focused on Morpheus’ dysfunctional family and a road trip in search of Destruction, Vol 8: Worlds’ End is another stand-alone story collection similar to Vol 4: Dream Country and Vol 6: Fables and Reflections. Once again the Endless retreat to the corners of the stage, making way for a cast of characters gathered at the Inn at Worlds’ End to tell tales to while away the time during a fierce storm. The initial characters we meet are two young co-workers from our world who are driving to Chicago to save money. Suddenly it begins to snow in June (!) and the man swerves to avoid a strange beast in the road, and after crashing the car makes his way to the Worlds’ Inn. The Inn is filled with a motley assortment of guests, including mythical creatures like centaurs and some desiccated-looking types who aren’t very human in appearance. But they are all amiable travelers, and decide to trade stories to pass the time. This provides the Chaucer-like framing narrative for Gaiman’s stories, and he delivers some very memorable ones. As has been the case before, in additions to sprinkling allusions to various fantastic stories from literature and history, his favorite game is to embed stories within stories, tell stories about story-tellers telling stories, with those stories often featuring or critiquing the art of story-telling itself. This self-referential moebius strip-approach seems designed to make us more conscious of the story-telling process, and to highlight people’s desire (compulsion?) to tell stories that point to greater, more profound truths and ideas than we encounter in our daily lives. The first story, “A Tale of Two Cities”, is an allegorical story of a man in a nameless city, working a dreary office job, living a solitary life, commuting from the suburbs each morning, then heading home in the evening in order to do it again the next day. The only distinguishing behavior for him is that during his lunch break he explores the city alone, observing other people in the city, and this makes him happy. Gaiman captures his feeling elegantly in the following passage: “All these sights, and many others, he treasured and collected. Robert saw the city as a huge jewel, and the tiny moments of reality he found in his lunch-hours as facets, cut and glittering, of the whole.” One day Robert takes a different train and finds he has been decoupled from his drab reality and placed in an empty, unfamiliar city. This existential moment becomes his new reality, as he is trapped in the new place and explores it as much as possible. Eventually he does encounters some other people, which reveals more about his reality, but I’ll leave that for you to discover. The next story is a fable about the lost city of Aurelia, one of the greatest cities of the plains in ancient times. The story is told by Cluracan, the faerie man who gave his sister Nuala to Morpheus in a previous volume. He is a bit of a knave, and has been sent to the city by Queen Titania on a mission to interfere with a corrupt ruler who has seized control of both government and church. This story is a lot of fun, as Cluracan initially underestimates his opponent, but eventually with some help finds ways to undermine the Psychopomp (what a great title!), who is quite odious in his power-mad quest. This harks back to other stories about various rulers in Fables and Reflections, especially “Thermidor”, “August”, and “Ramadan”. Following more discussion amongst the travelers in the Worlds’ End, we begin the next story “Hob’s Leviathan”. Its a very beautifully-illustrated tale of adventure on the high seas, with many sailing ships and even a sea serpent, but the story is more about the secrets that people conceal from each other. We even have a cameo from a man granted a powerful gift by Morpheus in a previous volume. I liked this one quite a lot. The next tale is my favorite one, a bittersweet story, called “The Golden Boy”. It’s about an alternate America where an ambitious but idealistic young man named Prez Rickard is determined to make the world a better place via the presidency. Thanks to his efforts, he is elected president at the incredibly-young age of 19. Before that, he encounters two sinister figures who take an interest in his meteoric rise, Boss Smiley (whose face is a smiley face like the iconic symbol, but who reminded me more of Yellow Bastard from SIN CITY) and Tricky Dick himself, Richard Nixon. They want some influence on Prez, but the young phenom is confident of his own abilities to make a real difference and rebuffs their approaches. There is a classic exchange with Nixon in which the latter extols the virtues of pure power, at which point Prez simply says, “Sir, what about making the world a better place?”, to which Nixon replies, “I, uh…I’m not following you.” Prez does miraculously transform America into a utopian place, negotiating a Middle East peace treaty, avoiding the Oil Shocks, and ushering in prosperity and equality for all. It’s all very moving, as I was thinking how wonderful a world that would be, and how incredibly far away we seem to be in this world, our own reality, especially in light of the endless series of tragic, senseless terrorist attacks and racial conflict in the US, Europe, the Middle East, Bangladesh, and Africa. Sometimes it takes a seemingly-simple fable to make us question why we can’t have this glorious dream of peace and equality. The story itself has a very ambiguous and tragic final act, as Prez retires after 8 incredibly successful years. Gaiman is interested in what happens to leaders when the reach the end of their tenure, especially successful ones. However, I couldn’t help thinking, when is the last time the world has truly seen a successful leader who has made the world a better place for everyone? Thinking back to the enormous enthusiasm and swell of popular support for Barack Obama, and seeing all the tribulations and opposition he has faced during his presidency, along with the worsening geopolitical climate of the world, it makes me wonder, if he can’t achieve his aims and policies, who can? And have people truly become so ignorant or mean-spirited that they would choose to support a monstrous personality like Donald Trump? It just makes me despair for humankind. The last story is “Cerements”, a very complex tale with stories within stories, ostensibly about a Necropolis called Letharge and some of the dutiful servants who tend to all the ‘clients’ who need to be properly disposed by one of the five proscribed methods: earth burial, burning, mummification, water burial, or air burial (that was a new one for me). There is much discussion of death and giving proper tribute to those who have died. We even have a very unexpected appearance from one of the Endless, who provides some insight into the history of Letharge before leaving. At the end of the embedded stories, we are brought back to the Worlds’ End, where the travelers are treated to a sublime spectacle in the sky, which illuminates the previous discussion of death and commemoration in unexpected ways and really highlights the skills which Gaiman applies to this complex story. After this cathartic event, the travelers discover that the storm is past and they are free to return to their respective worlds, but not all of them choose to do so. Once again Gaiman brings us closer to the final stages of his meta-story, with subtle foreshadowing and hints (some very tantalizing talk of watchmakers in “The Golden Boy”, for instance), whetting our appetite to know more about the Endless. When I initially heard all the hype surrounding the SANDMAN series and how amazing it was, I was skeptical at first, but I’ve come to understand the level of craftsmanship and love of storytelling that Gaiman has brought to bear, and it is worthy of the praise. Now on to the final two volumes. ...more |
Notes are private!
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Jul 02, 2016
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Jul 11, 2016
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Jul 02, 2016
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Kindle Edition
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| 1401236464
| B0064W66Q0
| 4.55
| 59,945
| 1993
| Nov 21, 2011
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it was amazing
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Sandman, Vol 7: Brief Lives: Even the Endless must change Originally posted at Fantasy Literature After the stand-alone story collection Vol 6: Fables a Sandman, Vol 7: Brief Lives: Even the Endless must change Originally posted at Fantasy Literature After the stand-alone story collection Vol 6: Fables and Reflections, Vol 7: Brief Lives brings the focus back on Morpheus’ dysfunctional family, the Endless. For a group of avatars representing some fundamental concepts that underpin human existence (but only those that start with ‘D’), they can’t seem to get along or understand each other much of the time. So it’s no surprise they also have trouble empathizing with mere mortals and their brief lives. In fact, as we learn from Death in this volume, each of us is only allotted a single lifetime, and whether we consider it brief or long in human terms, it is less than the blink of an eye for the Endless, who fulfill their duties according to higher rules than we can fathom, in a strange relationship with humans in which neither is ruled or ruler, master or slave, and yet they are inextricably linked. In Brief Lives, the youngest and most unstable of the Endless, Delirium (who was once Delight) decides that she must seek after her long-lost brother Destruction, who left his duties for whereabouts unknown 300 years ago. She tries to enlist the aid of Desire and Despair with no success, and finally approaches her elder brother Dream, who is very much the opposite of her scattered madness, a cool, aloof, and overly-proud individual who takes his duties very seriously (unless he is entangled in another troubled romantic relationship). Dream agrees to help her out, but his reasons are not made clear. What ensures is a very strange road-trip indeed, in which Delirium and Dream track down a strange list of long-lived beings, some previously divinities of note now facing hard times, who might know the whereabouts of Destruction. However, not only do they discover no viable leads, but bad things seem to happen to those around them. Eventually Death abruptly decides to end the quest, putting Delirium in a sulk, and it falls to Death to set Morpheus straight and on the path to reconciliation with his emotionally fragile younger sister. They resume their quest, but the only viable source of information is one that Morpheus is loathe to pursue, since it will require that he face up to some harsh decisions he made in the past (see “The Song of Orpheus” in Vol 6). Nonetheless, Morpheus does soldier on, and in the process we see that even the Endless can change, for “Endless” is not the same as “Unchanging”. Throughout the series we have seen Dream being forced by various circumstances and people to face up to his rigid and inflexible attitudes and brittle pride, and admit fault. This idea that even the Endless can change is perfectly illustrated by Destruction, who abandoned his duties three centuries previous, and now leads a quite and secluded existence painting, cooking, sculpting, and various other forms of creation. Is it a surprise that the Lord of Destruction also takes such a keen interest in creation? It’s a nice literal reminder of the dual nature of creation and destruction. Who would have though he was such an agreeable character. It’s interesting that we never really see him ‘on the job’ on the battlefield, triggering natural disasters, etc. Even when he is briefly seen on the Earth during the Black Plague, his feelings seem subdued. Is he a classic case of burnout, perhaps? In any case, the volume ends with the fateful meeting of Dream, Delirium, and prodigal brother Destruction. His reasons for abandoning his duties are quite compelling, and her reveals a number of insights on what the Endless themselves are, though he again dances around the topic of why they exist and who created them. This is true throughout the series - it plays fairly coy when it comes to mentioning the Creator of the Universe, though his presence is indirectly felt. And the climactic decision of Destruction leaves plenty of room for further reflection, if not directly answering those questions. However, there is a sense that we are approaching the resolution of some major plot elements in the coming three volumes. ...more |
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Jun 25, 2016
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Jul 04, 2016
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| 4.46
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really liked it
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Jan 18, 2018
not set
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Mar 03, 2023
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| 4.20
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it was ok
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Dec 26, 2021
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Dec 25, 2021
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| 4.19
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it was amazing
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Dec 27, 2021
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Dec 23, 2021
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| 3.80
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it was amazing
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Aug 09, 2021
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Aug 09, 2021
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| 3.91
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not set
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Apr 08, 2020
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| 4.03
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really liked it
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Feb 06, 2019
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Feb 06, 2019
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| 4.20
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it was amazing
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Jan 13, 2019
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Jan 13, 2019
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| 4.13
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it was amazing
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Apr 20, 2018
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Jan 02, 2019
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| 4.56
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it was amazing
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Nov 05, 2018
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Nov 04, 2018
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| 4.06
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really liked it
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Mar 20, 2018
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Mar 25, 2018
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| 4.10
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really liked it
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Mar 11, 2018
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Mar 11, 2018
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| 3.89
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really liked it
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Mar 03, 2018
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Mar 03, 2018
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| 4.48
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really liked it
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Jul 02, 2017
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Jul 01, 2017
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| 4.47
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really liked it
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Sep 04, 2016
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Aug 20, 2016
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| 4.04
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it was amazing
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Aug 22, 2016
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Aug 13, 2016
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| 4.33
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really liked it
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Aug 15, 2016
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Aug 06, 2016
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| 4.52
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it was amazing
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Aug 08, 2016
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Jul 23, 2016
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| 4.59
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really liked it
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Jul 24, 2016
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Jul 18, 2016
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| 4.44
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it was amazing
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Jul 11, 2016
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Jul 02, 2016
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| 4.55
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it was amazing
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Jul 04, 2016
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Jun 25, 2016
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