Review: Fire & Blood

Fire & Blood by George R.R. Martin
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

Oh dear. Boring history. Worse, boring fictitious history. Even worse, boring fictitious history with naughty bits. Bah! Mr Martin should have kept them as unpublished background notes.

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Review: Jessica Jones, Vol. 1: Uncaged!

Jessica Jones, Vol. 1: Uncaged! by Brian Michael Bendis
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I had never read any Jessica Jones comics but I very much enjoyed the TV series. I was therefore very pleased to come across this volume of stories but the three star rating on this review indicates I was less pleased after I read it!

The story was confused (why was she hiding their child from Luke?) and the artwork was worse (at times, I couldn't tell who was who). Despite that, it was not so bad that I wouldn't give her another go if I find another Jessica Jones book.

Not exactly a ringing endorsement but the best I can do.

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Review: Howard the Duck

Howard the Duck by Steve Gerber
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I had a complete run of the original Howard The Duck comics that I lost (along with others) in the "The Great Roof Leak" of the 1980's. I was therefore very pleased to find this collection in a charity shop. Annoyingly, however, it only has issues 1 to 8 and (bizarrely) issue 16.

Issue 16 is a particular weird choice since it is an essay rather than a comic... but Gerber was always a wordy writer; see for example the almost solid page of text in issue 2. More annoying is the absence of the Kiss storyline but since it does contain the election attempt for the "All Night" party I am willing to forgive it!

Get Down America!

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Review: Adolf Hitler: My Part In His Downfall

Adolf Hitler: My Part In His Downfall by Spike Milligan
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I came across The Goon Show as a young boy by accident (as far as I remember) when I heard it on Radio 4 in a Sunday afternoon comedy slot. I subsequently found a book of Goon Show scripts in the local library. I read and re-read it, committing large chunks to memory, and would recite sections at length to anyone unfortunate enough to get cornered by me.

Having discovered Milligan, I went looking for more. The local library also produced a copy of this book. I thought it was the funniest thing I'd ever read! Reading it again, many years later, it still made me laugh out loud but this time I was much more aware of the sadness and melancholy in his tale.

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Review: The Otterbury Incident

The Otterbury Incident by C. Day-Lewis
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I first read this when I was a schoolboy. I loved. I wanted to be the boys in the story. I wanted to have the adventures they had. I went as far as creating a game based on one of their japes.

I was slightly worried about re-reading it as a grown-up. What if it wasn't as good as I remembered? As an adult: I loved it. I wanted to be the boys in the story. I wanted to have the adventures they had.

It is, however, very much of its time. Set just after the War, the boys play on a bombsite (the "Incident" of the title) and play at wars. When they take on the bad guys, they get weapons: stones, air rifles, fireworks (which they fire at a baddie!) and... a grenade. Kids, eh!? I dithered about making it four stars because some of the language is particularly unfortunate to modern ears but, in the end, I enjoyed it so much that I went for the full bhoona.

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Review: Shazam!

Shazam! by Geoff Johns
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

It was fun but not entirely satisfying.

It was somewhat clichéd with: a smart Alec orphan (who was clearly going to turn out to have a heart of gold); a pantomime grumpy neighbour (who bizarrely looks like Richard Branson) and a family of ultra-cute foster children (who ticked just about every diversity box going). Add to that a clumsily handled mystical origin (made all the more naff in comparison to Alan Moore's handling of similar themes in Miracleman, Book One: A Dream of Flying and Captain Britain: A Crooked World). Naff dialog in places too (for example one character describing his foster sister as, "Hot!" felt more than a little icky!).

The artwork, however, was good and, mostly, I enjoyed the story. So, overall, fun!

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Review: The Case for Easter: A Journalist Investigates the Evidence for the Resurrection

The Case for Easter: A Journalist Investigates the Evidence for the Resurrection by Lee Strobel
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I read this over the Easter weekend. It is billed as a hard-hitting journalist's investigation into the resurrection. Unfortunately, it doesn't live up to the hype.

I found the style somewhat annoying. It is structured around a series of interviews with experts but the questions he pitches are hardly Paxman-like in tone. Too often the conversation between author and expert reads something like this:

But what about this difficult thing?

Ah, that is difficult but actually there is this which makes it all better.

Hmm! So, that means bananas aren't really yellow?

Exactly.

If this is an accurate description of how Strobel came to faith, I can't help but feel he was too easily convinced. To be fair though, I believe it is extracted from a longer version of his conversion experience. It is possible it has been over-simplified to make it an easier read.

I think I would have been happier if it had been described as a tract that concisely rehearses the main arguments for the resurrection rather than an investigation by a sceptical journalist. I don't mean this as faint praise; I think the book does a good job of sketching out the main arguments, for example by defending the gospels as historical accounts rather Christian myth.

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