Category Archives: Comics

Book Reviews, Comics

A Peanuts Thanksgiving Weekend

17 Comments

The Complete Peanuts: 1957-1958 ~Charles Schulz

–published October 2005
–Fantagraphics Books
–346 pages
–4.75/5 stars

The Complete Peanuts: 1959-1960 ~Charles Schulz

–published May 2006
–Fantagraphics Books
–346 pages
–5/5 stars

The Complete Peanuts: 1961-1962 ~Charles Schulz

–published October 2006
–Fantagraphics Books
–346 pages
–5/5 stars

From as far back as I can remember, Peanuts has been synonymous with the holidays, thanks in large part to the television specials that I looked forward to every year (and still do), beginning with It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown and ending with A Charlie Brown Christmas. In those pre-video-rental/pre-dvd days you scanned the TV Guide and listened carefully to commercials so that you could pinpoint the exact night that the Dolly-Madison-sponsored Peanuts specials would air, because if you missed it, that was it until next year.

Those specials prompted visits to the local library where I would check out hard-bound copies of the paperback collections to read, and re-read, whenever the mood struck.

Continue reading A Peanuts Thanksgiving Weekend →

Book Reviews, Comics, Science Fiction

Ministry of Space ~Warren Ellis, Chris Weston

13 Comments

Ministry of Space ~Warren Ellis, Chris Weston

–published in graphic novel format December 2004
–Image Comics
–96 pages
–4.5/5 stars

Warren Ellis is something of a phenomenon in the comic book industry, consistently putting together series that garner well deserved attention. That being said, I hadn’t read any of his work until a year or so ago when I got caught up in his excellent series, Freakangels. His more well known work, Planetary and Transmetropolitan, are works that I had never gotten into when they began and have yet to read. More and more, however, I am discovering that Warren Ellis is a name synonymous with quality storytelling, and he seems to have a particular talent for being able to tell a good story in a very brief amount of space.

Continue reading Ministry of Space ~Warren Ellis, Chris Weston →

Book Reviews, Comics

Hellboy: The Wild Hunt

19 Comments

Hellboy: The Wild Hunt ~Mike Mignola, Duncan Fegredo

–published 2010
–Dark Horse Comics
–192 pages
–4.75/5 stars

For more than a decade Mike Mignola has been crafting a solid mythology that rivals any of the ‘true’ folk tales and myths that he mines for his tales of the Big Red Guy, with his infamous Right Hand of Doom. For many, the only exposure you have had to Hellboy is through the cinematic eyes of Guillermo del Toro. And that is a real shame. Please don’t misunderstand. There is no other director I would rather have at the helm of one of my favorite characters, and I think he has done a masterful job with the series thus far. But as fun as both films are, they barely scratch the surface of the deep, rich mythos contained in the many volumes of Mike Mignola’s comic book series.

Hellboy’s stories have taken a back seat over the last several years as the excellent spin-off series, B.P.R.D., has seen more of the limelight. Yet Mignola knows his fan base and every so often he has come back to his most famous creation, giving us a story or two to tide us over. In this, the ninth graphic novel of the Hellboy series, Mignola comes back with a story telling vengeance that makes this one of the strongest story arcs to date.

Continue reading Hellboy: The Wild Hunt →

Book Reviews, Comics, Fantasy

Peter and Max: A Fables Novel ~Bill Willingham

19 Comments

Peter and Max: A Fables Novel ~Bill Willingham, illustrated by Steve Leialoha

–published 2009
–Vertigo, 400 pages
–4.75/5 stars

For those of you who are not reading the award-winning comic book series, Fables…and you really should be…here is a brief synopsis:

The creatures inhabiting the many familiar, and not-so-familiar, fairy tales are real. Their worlds were taken over by an evil Empire and as many as could fled to our world for Sanctuary, where they now live and slowly but surely plot the retaking of their realms.

Wow, that was a very, very simplistic, and rather boring synopsis of what is a fascinating, rich, deep and engaging world rendered in wonderfully creative ways both by the artists involved and by Bill Willingham’s mastery of storytelling.

In this stand-alone novel set in the Fables universe, Willingham once again uses his mastery of the English language to craft an attention-grabbing, sleep stealing, ‘I-have-got-to-keep-reading’ adventure that not only proves that great fairy tales for adults can be written but that they should be written, and written more often.

Continue reading Peter and Max: A Fables Novel ~Bill Willingham →

Comics

Richard Stark’s Parker: The Hunted ~Darwyn Cooke

14 Comments

Parker: The Hunted ~Darwyn Cooke

–July 2009, IDW
–144 pages
–3.5/5 stars

Although I have lived with myself for a little over 40 years now, my reading whims seem to take very curious turns that surprise even me. Earlier this year I read an as-yet-to-be-reviewed mystery novel that sent me down a summer reading path of noir/pulp crime fiction and mystery. The universe seems to have picked up on this trend and has been placing books in my path that have been keeping this trend going, for example, this recently released adaptation of Richard Stark’s (aka Donald Westlake) novel The Hunter, featuring his character Parker.

Being a fan of Darwyn Cooke, who I reviewed back in 2005, this was a no-brainer order for me when I saw it in the Previews order catalog many, many months ago.

Years ago Berkley put out Richard Stark’s Parker novels in a series entitled “The Violent World of Parker”. After reading Cooke’s illustrated, graphic novel presentation of the work, it is easy to see why.

Continue reading Richard Stark’s Parker: The Hunted ~Darwyn Cooke →