Dead Boy Detectives: Vol 2: Ghost Snow (2015)

Author: Toby Litt  |  Illustrators: Mark Buckingham / Gary Erskine  |  Page Count: 160

'I saw my best friend, Rosa, taken by an evil ghost. I was eight.

No one believed me.'

Vol 1: Schoolboy Terrors (2014) left some pretty fantastical threads in need of gathering at its climax. Volume 2 picks them all up and weaves them into a tapestry that has the present represented on one side and the past on the other; Charles’ past, to be specific. I said last time that the boys love a mystery; that’s still true, but for Charles the feeling has gotten more complicated because it’s his family that is the mystery and he’s a piece of the puzzle. He fears what he’ll discover if he starts the digging process, and he fears what he’ll become if he doesn't. The truth can hurt even when you’re dead.

One of the most significant of the aforementioned threads was the one that connected to the Neitherlands. Events there run concurrently with events back on Earth as Charles and Edwin make some new friends. The new characters have a significant role to play, and even though they're dropped into a story that's already under way, they're well-rounded (i.e. well-written) enough to hold their own, even the two feuding philosopher kittens.

I enjoyed Ghost Snow a little more than I did Schoolboy Terrors, but it was largely due to having a solid background already in place, and I suspect that when I go back and re-read them both in one sitting then the collective score will be at least equal the one given below, or perhaps even higher.

Sadly, it concludes the short run of the revived series. Like many of the Sandman offshoots it didn't outstay its welcome, it left me wanting more. (Shut up, wallet!)

The book collects together Dead Boy Detectives issues 7-12 (The End... for now?).

4 faithful poppets out of 5

Dead Boy Detectives: Vol 1: Schoolboy Terrors (2014)

Author: Toby Litt | Illustrators: Mark Buckingham / Gary Erskine | Page Count: 160

'...He always treats us like royalty, it's just... sometimes it's the red carpet... and sometimes it's the guillotine.'

Of all The Sandman secondary characters that could've been revived for an ongoing series the Dead Boy Detectives wasn't high on my list of wants, but Toby Litt has changed that. The previous incarnation (2001) is acknowledged and respected but Litt has taken a different approach to the storytelling. He doesn't reinvent what's already in existence, he rejuvenates it, making everything feel more vital and a lot more entertaining.

The two boys, Charles Rowland and Edwin Paine, were born decades apart but they share a passion for solving mysteries. Where there’s a mystery it follows that there’s almost always danger; doubly so if the occult is involved. When the two friends decide to help a young girl they find themselves in the deep end of personal history, surrounded by terrors unique to them. It's a place where being already dead is no guarantee of safety.

Something I don’t think I've mentioned before is the work of Todd Klein, the finest letterer in the business. If you're new to comics you might think that it’s just text and any fool can do it, but no, not like Todd. His text boxes, bubbles, etc, complement Litt's dialogue by being written in different fonts and presented via different mediums, each one chosen specifically to accentuate the traits and unique personalities of the character from which they originate. Edwin was born in the 1900s, so you'd expect his vernacular to reflect that, but so too does his lettering. Likewise, Charles is a child of the 1990s, his analytical approach to things is more hard-boiled and so his lettering reflects that.

If you pay attention not just to what you read but to how it's written then you'll discover many more examples. Hopefully it'll open the way for you to appreciate the other unsung heroes in comics, such as inkers and colourists, too.

The book collects together Dead Boy Detectives issues 1-6; and stories from Witching Hour issue 1; Ghosts issue 1; and Time Warp issue 1.

3½ French exchanges out of 5

Dream Fossil (2015)

Author: Satoshi Kon  |  Illustrator: Satoshi Kon  |  Page Count: 426

"Ten years from now, you'll look good holding manilla envelopes."

Fifteen short mangas by Satoshi Kon arranged mostly chronologically from the years 1984-89. Having them presented that way enables a reader to chart the evolution and clarity of vision that bordered the path to peculiarity he walked, a path that led the author into the role of revered anime director.*

Of the fifteen, only about one third of them are what I'd call memorable. Furthermore, with the exception of an opening story that could make a really interesting short film, the better stories don't come until halfway into the book.

Fans of Kon's films will recognise seeds of ideas that he'd develop further and more successfully later in his career. My favourite story, Joyful Bell (1989), reminds me very much of his Tokyo Godfathers (2003) anime, ironically my least favourite of his films and the only one I'm not sad isn't available on blu-ray.

Also notable are the stories Kidnappers (1987), Guests (1987), and Beyond the Sun (1988). The latter is the one where I most felt the music of Susumu Hirasawa as an influence. Coincidently, the book includes a short interview with the musician. Far from being filler, it offers an insightful glimpse into the simpatico the two men shared as it refers to their frequent, creative collaborations.

It’s published by Vertical, who also handled Kon’s Tropic of the Sea (2013) manga. You’d think they’d have had the good sense to make it the same size so that the two can be comfortably shelved next to each other. But no; Dream Fossil is bigger. They did the same with their Makoto Shinkai books. That pisses me off.

The increase in size wasn't accompanied by an increase in paper quality. Looking at Fossil and Tropic side by side I'm half-convinced that it's even lower grade than before. I'm extremely grateful and supportive of Vertical taking a chance on this type of thing, sincerely, but please don't skimp on the presentation. Strive to be the best you can be and I'll happily give you my money time and again.

2½ weathered serials out of 5

*You can find short reviews of Satoshi Kon's films on our sister site, In a Nutshell.

The Dreaming: Beyond the Shores of Night (1998)

Authors: Terry LaBan / Peter Hogan / Alisa Kwitney | Illustrators: Peter Snejbjerg / Steve Parkhouse / Michael Zulli  |  Page Count: 208

“The likeliest hypothesis we’ve come up with is that we're dead.  Everything else seems too far-fetched.”

The first regular offshoot of The Sandman.  It lasted an impressive 60 issues, most of which have unfortunately never been reprinted.  Besides the one you’re reading about, the only other available TPB is Through the Gates of Horn and Ivory (1999), and there’s a single issue included in The Sandman Presents: Taller Tales (2003).  The rest are only obtainable by seeking out the original single issue publications and that’ll likely cost a lot more than they were originally worth.  I wish I could say that I have them already, but I don't.

Beyond the Shores of Night contains three stories all set in or around elements of the Dreaming.  Does it have any Sandman characters?  Yes.  It’s much too difficult to skirt around which ones exactly because they’re prominent in all three, so I'm just going to go ahead and say.  It’s what most people want to know, anyhow.  If you’re not one of those people, then please don’t read any further.

01. The Goldie Factor:
A three-part tale about Abel’s pet gargoyle, Goldie, whose origins have hitherto been shrouded in mystery.  All we'd been told previously is that, in an uncharacteristic gesture of niceness, Cain gave her to Abel while she was still an egg.  Even the little winged creature doesn't know where she came from.  But all that is about the change.  It’s not the most exciting adventure and some of it's clearly filler to get it across three issues, but the ending is memorable and it’s good to see the sad-faced gargoyle get something meaningful to do.

02. The Lost Boy:
A four-part story featuring a returning Sandman secondary character that I don’t have to name.  Yay.  Unfortunately the person speaks with an accent and is written to reflect that, meaning it’s as irritating to read as Abel’s dialogue was in the previous work.  Again, the story is longer than it ought to have been.

03. His Brother’s Keeper:
A one issue tale that’s much closer to the kind of storytelling found in the original Sandman series.  Perhaps the previous two stories were an attempt to get away from it—it is a separate title after all—but it doesn't change the fact that His Brother’s Keeper is by far the best of the three.  It begins as an unscheduled meeting in the House of Mystery and develops into something much darker.

Overall, it could be a lot better than it is, but revisiting the Dreaming, even in a lesser way, is still an enjoyable way to spend some waking time.

The book collects together The Dreaming, issues 1 - 8.

3 personal hells out of 5

Dredd: Urban Warfare (2015)

Authors: Arthur Wyatt / Matt Smith  |  Illustrators: Henry Flint / Paul Davidson  |  Page Count: 96

'From the gleaming tower, he watches the sector burn.'

I rated Underbelly (2014) less than average on a comic book Dredd scale, but I was still planning on buying the second tie-in, a two-parter titled Uprise (2014), simply to show support for the franchise and keep hope alive for a second film. However, by the time I was ready to pony up the cash, details of Urban Warfare had already appeared online. Seeing as how it collects both the previously mentioned works and adds a third story, telling of Ma-Ma’s origins, it seemed the more logical choice to go for. Plus, it’s a hardcover. The three stories are:

01. Top of the World, Ma-Ma (2012)
A violent prologue to the Dredd movie (2012) that shows us a little of Ma-Ma's past, most of which was mentioned briefly in the film's script. It foreshadows certain events, too, which was a nice touch. It really is just a prologue, so don't expect anything more than that and it'll deliver the goods.

02. Underbelly (2014)
I read it again, but even with adjusted expectations my feelings towards it are unchanged. You can read the previous post HERE. The page size is returned to what it should've been, not the US comic size, and for that I'm grateful.

03. Uprise (2014)
Yes!  The best of the bunch. The story is less of a rehash of the film and more like something that would fit snugly into the comic. I realise they're two different aspects and should remain as such, but there's nothing wrong with attempting to meet the Megazine's standards.
There's a declaration of ownership from a sector within the Big Meg, a direct defiance of the system that Dredd represents. It's a threat that needs put to rest fast, lest it spread virus-like to other areas, so Dredd rolls in and busts heads.
It uses the 'riot happening alongside clue-uncovering' scenario, but it's done well and it doesn't wimp out. It also places itself firmly after the film by referencing something from it. It feels like an ongoing story, not just an adapted one.

I'm disappointed they chose to reuse the cover art of Underbelly. There’s no shortage of artists waiting in line, willing to draw Dredd. They could've at least used one of the lesser-known variant covers that were featured on the Uprise single issues. Grud knows variants aren't of use for anything else.

3 pacification units out of 5

Dune Messiah (1969)

Author: Frank Herbert  |  Page Count: 222

'Between depriving a man of one hour from his life and depriving him of his life there exists only a difference of degree.'

-Addenda to Orders in Council, The Emperor Paul Muad'dib

The first sequel to Dune (1965) is almost half as thick as the one that came before, but that's not the only difference. When you begin reading you'll discover a significant shift in reader-sympathies. Herbert didn't lay a lengthy groundwork, because he already had the characters where he needed them to be. Instead, he jumped straight into an exploration of what happens after the war is won and the tyrant vanquished. When the new order has replaced the old, what then?

He also studies what happens when a thing is set in motion—a thing that takes on an impetus of its own and branches into other avenues. The one who set the ball rolling from a historic perspective gets blamed for every nuance, more so when the beliefs of the people who act in the name dictate that it be deified and that the religion should spread as far as possible throughout the stars.

The sects and orders that Muad'Dib subjugated were forced to publicly shuffle to their respective corners with their heads bowed, but pride demands redress, so the enemy of my enemy scenario becomes an option. Of course, when you consider that the most powerful players in that wounded collective include the likes of the Bene Gesserit and the Spacing Guild, then you have to also factor in the secret goals of each and acknowledge them in every decision made.

For Muad'Dib there's compensation for the hard choices he must make, but the balance is cruel. Being aware that the crutch of prescience his every waking hour relies upon is both what he needs and what he fears doesn't help. Life is hard.

In some ways Messiah feels like a belated epilogue to the first book set twelve years after. Likewise, the second half feels like a lengthy prelude to the third book, Children of Dune (1976). Knowing that doesn't lessen the enjoyment of a reading, but it could help prepare you for being assailed by an overpowering need to go direct to the following volume upon reaching the final page.

5 honest answers to difficult questions out of 5

Dune (1965)

Author: Frank Herbert  |  Page Count: 562 (605 inc. Appendices)

"What do you despise? By this are you truly known."

-From 'Manual of Muad’Dib' by the Princess Irulan

Frank Herbert's Dune Saga is the story of the planet Arrakis, also known as Dune, upon which is found a rare and valuable resource that every Great House in existence depends upon. Without it, interstellar trade would end. Even the Emperor of the Known Universe would be rendered mostly powerless in all but name. Whosoever controls the retrieval and distribution of that specific resource will be a formidable foe in a never-ending, far-reaching power struggle.

The first book concentrates on the rise of a reluctant messianic figure from not-quite-humble beginnings towards something he never expected to be.

The two things are connected but are each only a small part of what the novel contains. There's a staggering amount of depth beneath the surface, exploring everything from petty feuds and familial concerns to the basic needs of evolution, ecology, society, and the intersection of religion, politics and power.

Don't expect to find what’s great about Dune solely by reading the words on the page. Doing so may lead to disappointment, especially in the early stages when the descriptive language is sometimes stiff and the dialogue unnatural. No, the real treasure only reveals itself if you delve between the lines and identify the nuances and implications of the situations that Frank engineers.

He calls upon the reader to recognise what's required of them, to engage with the layers of meaning. Character responses are tailored to the person making the enquiry, dictated by the speaker's relationship to the recipient and the calculated balancing of full or limited disclosure. How they behave in different situations or in the presence of different people is itself a guide that teaches how we as readers ought to be analysing it. New ways of seeing are gradually revealed to the protagonists and we must adopt the same approach or be left behind.

It eases you into the concept slowly. The structured opening sets the base level and then builds upon it until you're second-guessing every action and wondering at more than just the moral implications of every decision. If you're able to get into that mindset then reality can get swept away; nothing exists except the book and its world. Texts are supposed to do that, but Dune consumes me, utterly.

A word of caution if you have the 40th Anniversary Edition: Frank's son Brian mentions in his afterword that he's aware for some people the book they're holding is their first experience with Dune, and yet he deems it acceptable to put in spoilers for Books II and III. If you want to avoid those, either don't read the afterword at all, or wait until after you've read Children of Dune (1976).

5 plans within plans within plans out of 5

Note: The book was adapted into a feature film and a TV miniseries, neither of which were wholly successful but deserve praise for making the attempt. You can read about the miniseries HERE on one of our sister sites, Nut Box.

Death Note: Black Edition: Vols I - VI (2011)

Author: Tsugumi Ohba  |  Illustrator: Takeshi Obata  |  Page Count: Approx 400 in each volume (2424 in total)

“We’re both using them as bait to lure each other out...

and we’re both well aware of that…”

At its most basic level, Death Note is the story of two determined individuals, each of whom have people that support them in various ways.

The first is Light Yagami, a seventeen-year-old high school student with a high IQ, an elevated sense of superiority and a tendency to get bored easily. He wants to make the world a better place and doesn't care who he has to step on to achieve it.

The second is his nemesis, the mysteriously named L, a young, reclusive detective with a sharp, analytical and overly-suspicious mind. L never fails in anything he does but he’s never been up against anyone as merciless as Light Yagami before.

What unfolds is a battle of skills, wills and wits between a pair of evenly matched masters of second-guessing and deductive reasoning. When the line between who’s the protagonist and who’s the antagonist begins to blur, the question of what's right and what's wrong grows more and more difficult to answer.

Revelling in the chaos caused by the actions and reactions of the two main characters is Ryuk, a Shinigami. Ryuk’s not the sharpest tool in the box but that trait makes him arguably more interesting: there’s the possibility of a false sense of security being devolved between the Shinigami and the human it attaches to.

Obata’s artwork is amazing. He gives every detail full attention, from the smallest car headlight to the largest building. I could fill an entire post about just it.

I must mention Misa Amane. The story doesn't have many female characters, but even if it had Misa would eclipse them all. For a time she’s one of the most fascinating, tragic additions to any manga I've ever read. It’s a shame that she gets shuffled to the side as the story goes on.

Note: There are six volumes in the Black Edition that when collected together contain all twelve of the original mangas. Alternatively, you can buy a box set for only a few notes more that collects the same twelve books as individual editions. The box also includes a thirteenth volume of character profiles and production art, etc. The reason I chose the Black Editions is because they're slightly larger than the usual manga format (the same as a Viz Big) and seeing the art presented as beautifully as possible is more important to me than shelf-busting packaging.

5 distinctions out of 5

Doctor Who and the Loch Ness Monster (2012)

Author: Terrance Dicks | Page Count: 162

‘A hand came down on Sarah’s shoulder.  But it wasn’t a human hand.  It was orange-green in colour, claw-like and alien.’

There’s something rotten in Scotland and it isn't just haggis.  In the village of Tulloch, located in the South highlands, strange happenings warrant the attention of no one’s favourite military organisation, UNIT, and everyone’s favourite time-hopping eccentric, the Doctor (fourth incarnation).  He’s going to need that scarf.

Sarah Jane Smith provides commentary on the Doctor’s actions and draws attention to his quirks when needed, for those readers not familiar with them already.  She gets some investigative scenes of her own; she was a journalist after all, so that makes sense.  With Sarah being useful the plot needed a bitch to be kidnapped. i.e. Harry Sullivan, the third wheel.  Poor Harry wasn't cut out for adventure.  And finally Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart is… well… he just is.

It’s a reprint of the original Target edition (Doctor Who Library #40) published in 1976 that was itself based on a four episode arc of the Doctor Who TV series (Terror of the Zygons) originally broadcast from August to September 1975.  I admit to not having seen the original episodes but familiarly with the production values of the show during that era and with Tom Baker’s inimitable style made it easy to visualise the happenings.

It’s not the most exciting Doctor Who book I've ever read but I never expect high art when I sit down to this kind of thing.  I expect hurried advancements and convenient turns that get me from point A: danger and mystery, to point B: happy resolution.  It delivers that with some cheapo 70s charm.  Job done.

2 hullabaloos out of 5

Dredd: The Illustrated Movie Script and Visuals (2014)

Author: Alex Garland | Illustrator: Jock | Page Count: 240

“You were shit out of luck when you ran into the Ma-Ma clan.”

If there’d been a poll asking what people would like to see in a book titled 'Illustrated Movie Script and Visuals,' everything that’s already included would be on my list.  As someone who enjoys Dredd comics, screenplays and can happily waste an hour studying concept art, it seems almost tailor-made.

On the left hand pages is Garland’s script, laid out in the usual format.  It’s also where you’ll find trivia, concept art depicting various stages of evolution and full colour production stills, not all of which were used in the final version (unused hall of justice, judge badges, etc), with brief passages of text describing what each one is and how it fits into the overall structure.  It’s the ‘Visuals’ half of the book.

The right hand pages display the ‘Illustrated Movie Script’ half.  Jock’s sketches give life to the scene as written on the left.  The monochrome art is somewhere between traditional storyboards (minus the giant arrows) and a regular panelled comic.  It's filled in places with black and white screen tones (repeating dot patterns often seen in manga).  Dialogue is included.  It’s the best of both worlds.

Had it been created after the film I’d have said there’s a vibrancy and urgency to the lines that capture and communicate the gritty, uncompromising and violent aspect well.  But it was made first, so it’s fair to say that the film captured those aspects of Jock’s sketches.  Had a non-comic artist been responsible, someone without a history of Dredd, the film might not have felt so authentic.

I found it more enjoyable to read the comic part in one sitting, and go back afterwards to concentrate on the left hand pages.  Doing that spilt the book into two distinct halves but the alternative was disruptive to the flow of the story.

People who bought Dredd: The Screenplay (2012) as an ebook might be a little sore double-dipping but if any of the additional content mentioned above is to your liking, there’s likely enough to warrant a repurchase.

5 Munce Box Meals out of 5

.hack//Alcor (2009)

Author: Kanami Amou | Illustrator: Rena Izumibara | Page Count: 176

“…do you have any quests where you don’t have to fight?”

The .hack// world can accommodate many kinds of stories within its virtual bordered structure. Alcor is just one of the possibilities. It’s a one-shot about Nanase, a young girl who wants to progress in life but is afraid of taking risks and of failure. She uses the game world as an escape, but brings into it her anxieties and failings, making her online world as complicated as her offline one.

Except it’s not complicated at all. The book could easily be summed up in one sentence. I won't do that, so don't worry.

It’s fair to say, though, hopefully without seeming too harsh that it's wishy-washy, angsty, early-teen drama. So if you're an irritating, self-absorbed, angsty teen with troubles of your own making, Alcor might just be for you.

Most everyone else will have trouble connecting because the other characters, of which there are many, are loosely written and two-dimensional. It’s only Nanase who provides any kind of solid gateway into the work. That may have been the author's plan from the outset, because it's clearly targeting a younger, less emotionally discerning demographic. If so. then the book successfully explores another aspect of the hack// versatility that I mentioned previously.

2 lucky animals out of 5

.hack//4Koma (2010)

Author: Koichi Sumimaru | Illustrator: Various |  Page Count: 192

“Your morals as a protagonist are being challenged, aren't they?”

A yonkoma, often shortened to 4koma, is a four-panel manga similar to the kind of thing you’d see in a Sunday newspaper, except that most yonkoma are read from top to bottom, not left to right horizontal.

The .hack yonkoma parodies Project .hack and .hack Conglomerate.  The comedy is derived mostly from non-canon meetings, rivalries, awkward social situations and typically friendly people being dicks to other characters.  As such, in-jokes are definitely the order of the day, so if you're not very familiar with each person's usual demeanour, or the .hack world, you'll miss most of the situational humour.

There are a lot of familiar faces, such as BlackRose, Balmung, Mistral, Shino and Atoli (even Lios the system admin gets some page time!), but it’s mostly about Kite and moody Haseo—both of whom are perfect targets for the kind of piss-takes and rebuttals that the format is best used for.  But Haseo’s troubles don’t stop with Kite's frequent slights.  He also has women to deal with, and that gives rise to an entirely different kind of anguish for the G.U hero.

2½ brands of crazy out of 5

Dredd: Underbelly (2014)

Author: Arthur Wyatt | Illustrator: Henry Flint | Page Count: 36

‘…Mega-City One eats hope alive…’

Underbelly is 2000 AD’s first publication designed specifically for an American audience. That means it’s the size of a typical American comic, which is smaller than either 2000 AD or the Judge Dredd Megazine.  Reducing Dredd in size doesn't mean he need also be reduced in stature, but the one-shot story, a sequel set in Mega-City One a year after the Dredd (2012) film that I absolutely adored, fails to capture the power or the authority that the future lawman commands.  It resembles a typical 2000 AD single-issue Dredd story; the kind that acts as filler between the more exciting multipart epics.  If Rebellion had hoped to use it as a means to encourage more support for a proper film sequel they ought to have commissioned something really special, something unforgettable.

Aesthetically it attempts to capture the look of the film.  The Tower of Justice is the same version and Anderson looks a little like Olivia Thirlby if you squint with one eye and wedge a fork in the other.  Dredd, however, looks nothing like Karl Urban.  All we get to see of the man beneath the suit is the lower half of his face, so it wouldn't have been hard to achieve.  I can only assume that the shift towards a style closer to Carlos Ezquerra's Dredd of old was a conscious decision.  Perhaps it was to make the transition easier for readers of Underbelly to the existing Judge Dredd books that Rebellion repackaged for the American market?

I'm not going to go into a synopsis of the story, because it’s very short and knowing even the smallest detail before reading will rob it of what little depth it has.  I will say, however, that if you missed out on picking it up, either on first print run or as reprint (with different cover art), then don’t feel too disappointed, you can still get it from the official site as a digital DL if you really want it.

2 dead muties out of 5

2000 AD have made an official petition for a film sequel (link below).  History has shown that such petitions DO occasionally work, so if you want it to happen you know what to do, creep!

OFFICIAL 2000 AD PETITION FOR A DREDD SEQUEL.

The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger Born (2007)

Author: Peter David / Robin Furth | Artist: Jae Lee | Page Count: 240

‘See the gunslinger now, in his youth, with the shades of young men who have little concept of their mortality.’

The first collection (issues 1-7) that brought the life of Roland Deschain to the comic book medium. It was researched and plotted by Robin Furth, and then turned into a comic script by Peter David. It uses Stephen King's language as much as possible but it's been streamlined to fit the format. It's no lazy cash-cow milking session of an existing IP with an inbuilt audience. It's a genuine work of art in its own right deserving separate appraisal.

Much of The Gunslinger Born is taken from events revealed in Book IV: Wizard and Glass (1997). It's possible to read the comic without having read the novels, but I view them more as a companion piece to be read afterwards. If, however, you are entering Mid-World for the first time, and may someday want to delve into the source novels, I recommended you skip Ralph Macchio's written introduction in the book because he drops a very real spoiler of something that didn't (or won't) happen until book VI: Song of Susannah (2004).

For the first time ever, Roland's story is presented in chronological order. He’s fourteen-years-old at the beginning, not yet a gunslinger, still under the tutelage of the brutish but experienced Cort. His personality is already well-defined but his long, arduous journey toward the Tower has yet to begin.

The events that push him into his coming-of-age trial are detailed beautifully. It depicts and explains his anger and feelings of abandonment. We're introduced to the people that played an instrumental role in shaping him: his parents; his tormentor; and the original ka-tet of Roland, Alain and Cuthbert. It was a joy to see the latter two get the attention they deserved.

Jae Lee's art is masterful. There's a collection of sketches at the back of the book that show just how amazing it was before being coloured. His lines have a real beauty of their own, even in their non-inked form. Richard Isanove's colouring is flawless. It's almost too perfect, like an airbrushed celebrity magazine cover, but it's steeped in deep blacks that throw everything into a terrifying contrast.

5 bullets that hit true out of 5

Doctor Who: Houdini and the Space Cuckoos (2013)

Author: Joseph Lidster | Page Count: 22

'…the dark metal back wall of the safe had exploded into light.  And beyond that light, a whole new world of metal and circles and machines…'

This is one of a series of Dr Who short stories for younger readers that were given out free on the BBC website.  It employs a clever literary technique whereby the absence of an ancillary companion for the Doctor to converse with is filled by having him invent one.  He talks directly to a creation in his head, which, as it happens, is closely related to what the reader is doing in his/her head.  The result is that it seems as if the Doctor is talking directly to the reader—we become the companion!  The narrative even anticipates and responds to the kind of questions a reader would ask.  Kids’ll love that.  Hell, I loved that!  Good job, Joseph Lidster.

Unfortunately it doesn’t last long and the format soon breaks into a regular hoppity-skippity Doctor adventure.  He’s having trouble with an alien race that’s really good at creating locks.  If the Sonic Screwdriver can’t open it, then what or who can?  Or to put it another way, if you’re a Time Lord who can go to any point in history and meet with any human that ever lived, who would you recruit to open a lock?  (There's no prizes for getting the answer to that question.)

Lidster’s version of the Doctor is faithful to TV version, as is the structure of the story despite being so short.  It would've been challenging to pack in as much as he was able to and still make it feel like it had run its course sufficiently.

It’s difficult to judge the merits of a kid’s story when you’re an adult reader but there’s a conflicting greyness to the situation that might spark debate in a young mind, so I’ll give it bonus points for that.

2½ purple eyes out of 5

Doctor Who and the Tenth Planet (2012)

Author: Gerry Davis | Page Count: 167

‘They lived by the inexorable laws of pure logic.  Love, hate, anger, even fear, were eliminated from their lives when the last flesh was replaced by plastic.’

A new planet appears in the heavens, and threatens the safety of Earth.  But it’s not new at all—it’s very, very old, and very familiar to the travelling Time Lord.

The text is a reprint of the original Target edition (Doctor Who Library #62) published in 1976, that was itself based on an actual four episode arc of the TV series originally broadcast in October 1966.

It’s notable for a number of reasons:
-It was the first Hartnell-era serial novelization ever commissioned by Target.
-It’s the final story to feature the first Doctor (not counting the cameo appearances and stock footage used in some later episodes).
-It’s the first story to feature Hartnell’s successor, Patrick Troughton.
-And finally, it’s the first time we encounter one of the Doctor’s most famous recurring foes (the shiny bondage people with the headlamp on the cover).

I’d like to say that it’s an exciting adventure worthy of all that but it’s lacking something crucial.  The Doctor doesn't do very much because he’s hardly in it, even when he’s present in the room in which the action happens.  It’s left to travelling companions Ben (the Cockney sailor) and occasionally Polly (the “Duchess”) to carry the story along to its inevitable conclusion.

The oddest thing happened while reading; I pictured it all happening in black and white because that’s how I remember the Hartnell years.

2½ energy drains out of 5

Daredevil: Born Again (1987)

Author: Frank Miller | Illustrator: David Mazzucchelli | Page Count: 176

'I shouldn't call him Matt.  Give the man his due.  He's wearing the tights.
He's Daredevil.  The man without fear.'

Frank Miller returned to the series that he’d worked on years before to give Daredevil a new perspective.  To do that he dragged Matt Murdock through a hellish descent into paranoia and destitution, stripping the character of everything that was important to him so that he could be born anew.

If your only experience of Daredevil is the steaming turd filmed version then you won’t know how deeply profound his struggles can be.  Murdock exists in a world of darkness, literally.  Daredevil strives to combat the evil that arises from the darkness in men’s hearts.  The religious aspect of the light at the end of the hero's struggle plays a key role in his journey through hardship.

Even though it’s mostly self-contained the Born Again storyline isn't the best place to jump on board because it’s really the ending of a larger story, a longer string of events that are all now meeting in one place.
It’s more akin to a crime novel than a superhero comic.  Outside of Miller’s own Sin City his affectatious hard-boiled dialogue can seem awkward and ill-fitting but not so with Daredevil; it fits beautifully (except for his usual excessive use of dashes and unnecessary ellipsis points that drive me crazy).

It’s a well crafted story with only minor flaws, the most prominent being the themes that Miller wants to comment on tend to overshadow the characters.  With the exception of Matt, the story isn't happening to the characters; instead, the characters are shuffled around within a rigid framework to advance the writer’s goal, and when it comes to the crunch Miller backs down a little.  Perhaps he was unsure of the answer to the problem and hoped the act of writing would clarify it for both him and us?  Unfortunately it doesn't, at least not in the way I'd hoped for.
You can view it from the other perceptive and say that what he did was shift from the personal to the public but either way it robs DD of the intimate resolution I craved.  If the ending had been as gripping and as satisfying as the build-up I’d have scored this a perfect 5 out of 5; it misses out on that narrowly.

The book collects together Daredevil issues 227 - 231.

4½ foetal positions out of 5

Doctor Who: The Three Doctors (2012)

Author: Terrance Dicks | Page Count: 192

‘A quivering line of faceless horrors marched steadily towards him.  Too astonished to challenge them, or even to give the alarm, he simply opened fire…’

A mysterious black hole has appeared.  Elsewhere a small number of people have disappeared.  Are the two events connected?  Of course they are.  Don’t be expecting a great work of literature.  It’s pulp that moves at a lighting pace, and should be enjoyed as such.  It even has menacing blobs of jelly (that’s UK jelly, not the American kind) running around terrorising innocent people; pure pulp.

It’s based on an actual four episode arc of the Doctor Who TV series that was originally broadcast from December 1972 to January 1973.  It didn't take 39 years to appear, it’s a reprint of the original Target edition (Doctor Who Library #64) published in 1975 .  The text is exactly as it was before; including some awkward grammar that would give a modern editor worry lines.

Like the title and the artwork reveal, it features three incarnations of the Doctor, the first three: William Hartnell, Patrick Troughton and Jon Pertwee.  If they can quit squabbling like children for a minute or three they might just be able to stop Mr derpy helmet, who's even more dangerous than the Master.

3 anomalies within impossibilities out of 5

The Dark Tower: Book I: The Gunslinger (1982)

Author: Stephen King | Page Count: 212

'No one ever really pays for it in silver, he thought. The price of any evil – necessary or otherwise – comes due in flesh.'

Book One is your introduction to Roland Deschain, also known as Roland of Gilead, the titular gunslinger. Roland is a man obsessed. His obsession carries him across Mid-World, the land of his birth. Mid-World is a familiar amalgamation of our own recorded history and a romanticised version of the same. It's the type of fictional reality that fans of King's other works will feel right at home in.

Now would be a good time to say that this isn't a Horror novel. It's Fantasy merged with the old-fashioned Western, but it's still populated with the kind of well-defined characters that the author is so very good at. Love him or loathe him, you can't deny his strengths.

Later books in the series take too damn long to get to where they're going (some could do with at least 100 pages trimmed off the beginning), but this one is more focused. There's no unnecessary waffle. There are flashbacks to earlier times at opportune moments but they aren't whimsical, they offer a deeper insight into the present situation and help explain why Roland acts like he does. You may find him hard to connect with initially, but as his story deepens so too does his depth of character and his principles become less obtuse.

The book was written over a period of twelve years (when time allowed between other projects) and originally published as five short stories before being collected together. The progression in the writing is clear to see. If you compare the earliest part with the later parts, you'll see a huge difference in quality.

You should know before you even begin that the series, originally planned to reach approx 3000 pages in length, swelled to eight books that if collected together would be a whopping 4250 pages long.* Also, that's assuming King has finished with the series. I suspect he's got some more Dark Tower in him, so that figure could increase in the future. That's not to say it's unfinished. It did get an ending, but there are stories that could be told within the existing framework, as evidenced by the interquel, The Wind Through the Keyhole (2012).

3½ gateways out of 5

*That figure is obtained from my own copies, which are a mix of paperback and hardback. King revised the first book in 2003. The listing on amazon gives a 304 page count for it. That would add another 92 pages to the tally.

Death in Five Boxes (1938)

Author: John Dickson Carr | Page Count: 310

"After inspecting the wreckage, he sat down on the running-board of the car, picked up a banana, peeled it, and malevolently began to eat it."

Death in Five Boxes is the seventh of Carr's Sir Henry Merrivale stories, and although it's one of the weakest, it still has some lovely riddles. It's an entertaining, borderline comical murder mystery with a cast of characters who almost feel like they've come out of a board game. In fact, there's much that feels game like about this tale. Characters bounce theories off each other like players trying their hardest to put together a solution to a complicated brainteaser.

The appeal of Carr's mysteries lies largely in his impossible crimes and intricate puzzles, and unfortunately, this might be this tale's biggest flaw. The main trick is a great one, but it's so good that it's been lifted and reused time and time again. The minor mysteries aren't as satisfying to solve, and one solution in particular feels rather cheap. Still, the mystery itself is fairly solid, and an intrepid detective should be able to solve it before Merrivale makes his grand reveal.

This is a story only for mystery die hards. The writing and characters are nothing special, and there's not much to recommend aside from the thrill of puzzle solving. Still, it's a quick read, and if you'd like to work your way up to the best Carr has to offer, it's not a bad read.

 2 suspicious uncles chucking flowerpots at constables out of 5.