Review: Ultimate Comics Avengers Vol. 1: The Next Generation

Ultimate Comics Avengers Vol. 1: The Next Generation by Mark Millar
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book confused me at first. When I picked it up in the charity shop, I just saw Mark Millar’s name and Avengers. I failed to spot the “Ultimate” bit and, having not encountered any previous work from the Ultimate universe, it didn’t really mean anything to me anyway. Hence my confusion. Tony Stark is a useless, untrustworthy drunk... with an obnoxious big brother? Nerd Hulk? Hawkeye with guns? Hmm!? Once I relaxed, I kind of enjoyed it. (Apart from Tony Stark big brother. He remained annoying throughout.)

Worst thing? Some ill judged attempts at humour at the expense of the French. I suspect Millar was aiming for irony but, in my opinion, he missed. (The Hawkeye of humour he is not.)

Best thing? Seeing Captain America in action; taking on The Avengers (and the bad guys) and winning! (Not really a spoiler - good guy wins in the end. Surprise!) We see him really living up to the name “Super Soldier”. Super not just in terms of his fighting ability but as super planner and super tactician. Excellent.

For letting me see Captain America in this new light, I’m willing to forgive everything that rankled.

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Review: Daredevil by Mark Waid, Vol. 1

Daredevil by Mark Waid, Vol. 1 by Mark Waid
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I think I first encountered Daredevil through Marvel UK reprints in the late 70s (or early 80s). At the time, it was not easy to source American comics in the UK and Marvel UK was my main source. As far as I remember, I liked Daredevil but somehow, never picked up on him even once American titles became easier to find. But I saw this book in a charity shop, and even though I didn’t know anything about Waid, Rivera and Martin (the creative team), I decided to give it a go.

I’m glad I did.

First, the artwork. Interesting page layouts (like all the little frames introducing his origin story on the first page) and fascinating drawings of what Daredevil would “see” (from the cover with pigeons drawn using the word “flap” to a double page spread of a walk through the city with sounds, smells and dangers highlighted. Brilliant.

And the writing was equally creative. From the opening pages with Daredevil crashing a wedding, stopping a hit and stealing a kiss from the bride, to the way he defeated Bruiser. Outstanding. I also loved the way he dealt with the reveal of Daredevil’s secret identity - flat out denial.

By far and away my favourite section though was his fight with another superhero (no spoiler/reveal of who he was fighting). The way the two opponents not only used each other’s weapons, but used them with great skill, showed just how good these two hero’s are at what they do.

Loved this. I will be on the lookout for more Daredevil and more from Waid, Rivera and Martin.

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Review: The Secret Service: Kingsman

The Secret Service: Kingsman by Mark Millar
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I thought the film was good... I think the graphic novel is better.

The people in the film seemed almost super-human in their abilities which was good fun in the movie. In the graphic novel though, although there are some unbelievably high-tech gadgets being produced by a supposedly cash-strapped British Secret Service, the people seem more... human. For example, the book makes the iconic "Manners maketh the man" fight in the pub seem real; you could believe that the numpties were taken out by a well trained street-fighter.

There were a couple of things that jarred, that makes it 4 rather than 5 stars; mostly connected to the depiction of women. In its defence, the book is spoofing James Bond and it could be argued that it is sending up the sexist attitudes of the source material.

I've not read much of Millar's work but I'm more than happy to seek out more. He has a good balance between grittiness and humour. As for Dave Gibbons (artist), I first became aware of him through 2000AD. I like his clean, simple artwork. Not that he is without subtlety. For example, when Eggsy goes with his uncle to get kitted out and is pictured with the suit, tie and Oxfords, he is hard to tell apart from his uncle. I do not believe this is because Dave Gibbons has drawn them badly (there is certainly no problem telling them apart elsewhere). Rather, I think he is making the point that Eggsy has now finally committed to his new lifestyle; he has become his uncle and moved from super chav to super spy.

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Review: The Trellis and the Vine

The Trellis and the Vine by Colin Marshall
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

First: a confession... I haven't read the appendices. I might go back eventually but I've had enough for now.

It took me a long time to finish this book, not, I hasten to add, because it was a bad book. It was an interesting read but I found it a bit repetitive and slow. The central idea is simple and powerful: the primary goal of the church is to make disciples, i.e. allow the vine to grow and flourish. All to often though, the church gets caught up in organising meetings and committees, i.e. tending to the trellis. The trellis is a means to an end but, in the church, looking after the metaphorical trellis can end up taking all our time and effort. That simple idea is at the heart of the book's message. It is easy to grasp but the implications are challenging. My problem was that the book plodded very slowly through all the angles when I just wanted to cut the chase: I get the idea but what does it look like in practice?

The authors work hard to relate their ideas to Biblical principles, especially in the early chapters, but towards the end of the book it begins to feel a bit like a sales pitch for the Matthias Media training materials. This also highlights the tension inherent in their idea as, towards the end of the book, there is a greater concentration on training programmes and structures. The focus should be on the vine but the trellis is important too and finding the balance is more than a little tricky!

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Review: The Midnight Line

The Midnight Line by Lee Child
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I've read a couple of Jack Reacher books. But don't actively seek them out. Generally I enjoy them. Short sentences. Short chapters. But not a short protagonist! (That's the movie version - try not to think of Tom Cruise!) Entertaining.

I started reading Midnight Line in a hotel lobby. I was sufficiently intrigued to want to know where the story went but not engrossed enough to actually spend money to buy the book. Thankfully, my local library came to the rescue and I was able borrow it to find out what happened. I'm glad I finished it because it turned out to be about something slightly different than I expected. I like trying to out-guess authors, but I enjoy it when they do something different in an interesting way.

From the other Jack Reacher books I've read, there were a number of set pieces that were kind of expected. (Such as, Jack takes on multiple opponents simultaneously and beats them all with apparent ease. Sorry if that's a spoiler.) But there were a couple of twists that were satisfyingly surprising.

Glad I finished it. Apart from anything else, it provided me with a new favourite joke which I'll wrap in a spoiler alert because I know some people get twitchy about revealing anything from a book...

***Spoiler Alert***
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I want to die peacefully in my sleep like Grandpa. Not screaming in terror like his passengers.

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Review: New X-Men By Grant Morrison Book 2

New X-Men By Grant Morrison Book 2 by Grant Morrison
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The four stars are for Grant Morrison's writing. The artwork is worth two stars at best. The second installment is particulary poor with an almost unrecognisable Wolverine rendered inconsitently. In contrast to the messy artwork, the dialog and interplay between Wolverine and Angel Salvadore is crisp and clean. Thank you Mr Morrison

I like the U-Men as villans. They present an interesting third way (Third Species?). They are an alternative to welcoming mutants as the next stage in evolution, or hating and reviling them for their difference. The U-Men take a much more pragmatic approach! (Was I alone in singing "I Want To Be Like You" King Louie style as the Third Species approach was expounded?)

The final, largely wordless, section was interesting. My only criticism is the strange neon icon things that appeared to represent telepathic communication between Jean and Emma. I found them unhelpful and confusing. It was, however, a bold concept to rely almost entirely on the pictures to tell the story and it pretty much worked.

Final comment: given Emma Frost's, for want of a better word, "costume", where did the hip flask come from?

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Review: Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch

Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch by Terry Pratchett
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Kind of a three and a half stars as the ending let it down. (I think I could have done without the Sunday section at the end.) Went for four in the end because generally I found it interesting and funny in roughly equal measure.

Pratchett's stamp was all over the book but, if the appendix that details of the writing process is to be believed, it was a truly collaborative process. (I'm probably just not familiar enough with Gaiman to spot his fingerprints.) The writers claim they worked hard to make each other laugh and I laughed along with them, for example where they describe a hellhound's first appearance:

"It was already growling, and the growl was a low rumbling snarl of spring-coiled menace, the sort of growl that starts in the back of one throat and ends up in someone else's."

I also liked the "explanation" of the M25!

Now, clearly it is not a work of theology but it does raise interesting theological (and indeed philosophical) issues albeit wrapped in a comic fantasy. Not a great work but definitely great fun.

I'm labelling my final observation as a spoiler because I know some people get a bit twitchy about revealing plot details - not much of a spoiler in my opinion but better safe than spoiler!

***SPOILER ALERT!***
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I read in an appendix that the book started off as a parody of Richmal Crompton's Just William books called William the Antichrist. Adam and the Them, along with Tadfield, suddenly made a lot more sense.

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