This is a special one-shot featuring the people winning the Top Cow 2013 Talent Hunt.
Creative Team:
Writer: Tiny HowarAn untold tale from the past!
This is a special one-shot featuring the people winning the Top Cow 2013 Talent Hunt.
Creative Team:
Writer: Tiny Howard
Illustrator: Aileen Oracion
Colors: Ross Campbell
Lettering: Troy Peteri
Cover: -ROM- Darness et Folly
SISTER AGATHA'S STORY
I wouldn't be that hard to rate this comic book, but I think that if these people, not matter if they're still amateur at that moment, if they won a Talent Hunt done by Top Cow, well, I thought that the result should be a lot better, however, the comic book is quite raw and something that you find in a Indy comic made by a small company or even financed by the creative team itself...
...and not something produced by a major Indy publisher like Top Cow.
By the way, in the area of artwork, I mean about the inner artwork, and not the cool cover work.
The story is an untold tale about Sister Agatha, part of the past line of The Magdalena and her bloody encounter, in the middle ages, with a paranormal force, in the middle of an abbey.
The ancient tale is told by none other than NYPD Detective Sara Pezzini, making a guest starring in this The Magdalena comic book, to the NY Archbishop.
Obviously, while I expected something better in this one-shot...
...STILL is a comic book of The Magdalena, which is one of my favorite comic book characters, therefore, I am thrilled of having the issue in my collection....more
This book is an giant-size hardcover annotated edition of “Watchmen” graphic novel. Presenting the entire originRe-discovering a known masterpiece
This book is an giant-size hardcover annotated edition of “Watchmen” graphic novel. Presenting the entire original work, in black & white, along with reference notes per page. Also includes a timeline of the events in the story.
Creative Team:
Writer: Alan Moore
Illustrator: Dave Gibbons
Editor of Annotated comments: Leslie S. Klinger
WHO WATCHES THE WATCHMEN?
None of you understand. I'm not locked up in here with YOU. You're locked up in here with ME.
I read Watchmen for the first time in 1998. I couldn’t do it before since getting that kind of graphic novels in my country (Costa Rica) was impossible then, and thanks to a tourist trip to USA, it was that the first thing that I do in a comic book store, it was looking for it and buying it, to read it once back home.
I didn’t know then, but this will be my first “meeting” with my favorite comic book writer (and while I prefer V for Vendetta over Watchmen (yes, I know, it’s not natural, hehe) still I have a high respect for this graphic masterpiece.
Watchmen was a pioneer work that in past decades, when comic books were only avalaible in specialized comic book stores, Watchmen was avalaible in regular book stores, featuring in the Time Magazine Top100 of the best books ever written.
Since Watchmen changed the game, it was one of the first comic books distinguished to be named “graphic novel” since this is without a doubt a work of literature…
…only having drawing along with it.
My favorite character in Watchmen is Rorschach.
Never compromise.
This book is decomposition about the genre of super-heroes and how it was time to “mature” the comic books and making it a writing format not only for kids, but also for adults. Moreover, showing how the super-heroes could impact in the real world, changing it from its original timeline.
Everything begins with a murder. A super-hero is killed and it’s suspected that maybe somebody is starting to assassinate masked heroes. An investigation is soon initiated by one of the few super-heroes still in operations, not matter that US Government already declared it illegal.
What's happened to the American dream?
It came true. You're lookin' at it.
Past & present intermixed to discover the stories of the main characters and how they were pivotal in the new history of the world.
ANNOTATING WATCHMEN? TALL ORDER
We're all puppets, Laurie. I'm just a puppet who can see the strings.
I have read several times Watchmen (along with watching several time also, the film adaptation), and I naively thought I already know everything that I can get to know about this masterpiece story…
…I was wrong!
God doesn't make the world this way. We do.
This annotated edition opened once again my eyes to Watchmen, and realizing many things that they were there, in plain sight, but I wasn’t careful to watch them.
Of course, sometimes I wondered why there were some pages without any note at all, since I think that hardly there is one single page where nothing happens. Always is happening something in Watchmen, so while definitely this was a titanic Enterprise, offering insightful comments and information, it was curious to find some pages without something to say about them.
Thanks for this annotated edition, it radically changed my appreciation about Watchmen in its graphic novel format, introducing to me, a lot of details and background information that it’s quite relevant to increase one’s reading experience about this bold tale.
I read a chapter per day, since there were a lot of information to process and also I want to enjoy the new type of reading experience.
I won’t spoil those awesome details, so don’t worry about it. It's better if you get surprised in the same way than me, while passing the pages and reading the priceless background information about what it's displayed on them.
I only can tell you that if you’re fan of Watchmen, and not matter if you already have a regular TPB edition…
…this is a MUST-HAVE edition, and you won’t regret having bought it…
Ivan Turgenev was the first Russian writer to become popular and successful in Europe, eNot my kind of "love" story.
UNUSUAL FIRST RUSSIAN LOVE
Ivan Turgenev was the first Russian writer to become popular and successful in Europe, even way way WAY before of Dostoyevsky and Tolstoy,, thanks to that Turgenev left Russia and he was living several years in different countries of Europe, but still, it’s undeniable that due the impact of his novels and short stories, that European and American readers became interested to read other authors from Russia, getting better the chances to Dostoyevsky, Tolstoy and others.
First Love is one of his most known and popular works, along with one of the most autobigraphicals about Turgenev…
…and with that in mind…
…Yikes! If Turgenev’s adulthood wasn’t an usual one, his childhood neither was!
I guess that due the title of the story and the basic premise, I was expecting a little cute love story between two young persons in the Russia of the 19th Century, but while in the basic thought, that was it…
…also it wasn’t that…
…at all…
A 16-years-old boy falls in love with a 21-years-old girl, in the Russia of the 19th Century. The boy is from a family with a lot of money, and while the girl is from a family with royalty background, it doesn’t have money. He’s quite infatuated by her, however while she got aware since the very first moment that he was in love of her, she keeps teasing him, sometimes even cruel.
However, this isn’t a regular love story, even I questioned myself if it is a love story at all, at least between the two main characters.
There are developments, unexpected twists in this tale that I just couldn't cope about it, they're not just right, in the first twist, and when you think that the worse is over, you meet with yet another twist that it's just too sad.
I can’t detailed more, because I fear to spoil the key angles of the story, that I found awful but still if someone else want to try the book (it’s quite quick to read), well, I won’t be the one to spoil the relevant moments of this hard to digest tale, but I can't deny that it's a bold tale, well written.
This TPB edition collects “Batman: Gotham by Gaslight” and “Batman: Master of the Future”, the two part of the elseworBatman in the Victorian Age!
This TPB edition collects “Batman: Gotham by Gaslight” and “Batman: Master of the Future”, the two part of the elsewords miniseries “Victorian Batman”.
Creative Team:
Writer: Brian Augustyn
Illustrator: Mike Mignola & Eduardo Barreto
Inker: P. Craig Russell
Letterers: John Workman & Willie Schubert
Introduction: Robert Bloch
GOTHAM BY THE GASLIGHT
I’ve known about this story since some years ago, but until now, knowing about the incoming direct-to-video animated movie adaptation is that I pushed myself to read it.
It was a good moment to do it, since last weekend (August 2017), there was a book fair in my country, Costa Rica, so I was able to buy this TPB with a good discount.
I like Batman, and I like to read about Jack, the Ripper topic, so why hadn’t I read it before? Well, so much good books, so little time, I haven’t any better reason to justify myself.
This miniseries is set in an elseworld (parallel dimension) where Batman risen 100 years before, during the Victoriana ge, but still set in Gotham City, USA.
Bruce Wayne suffered the same, with the unfair murder of his parents, BUT I liked a little detail in his origin here, where the bats instead of being something that he fears, it was something that saved his life, since a bunch of bats was the reason that the criminal wasn’t able to shoot him too. It’s wonderful how each new approach to the character of Batman and its themes, allow new angles to ponder about this comic book super-hero.
Bruce Wayne trained himself for 15 years, traveling around the world, consulting with several leading people in relevant fields, like Dr. Freud and certain detective from London, to become the costumed vigilante “Bat-Man” on his own city, Gotham.
Once his training is complete and he started his personal war on crime…
…Jack the Ripper arrives to his city!
The Batman vrs Jack, the Ripper!
What else can you ask?!
The terrible path of blood that started in Whitechapel, London, is beginning once again in the dark streets of Gotham City and it’s up to the Bat-Man to face his baptism of fire in his war on crime.
However, thing won’t be easy, since the citizens of Gotham don’t know who inspire them more fear…
…Jack, the Ripper or this mysterious Bat-Man.
MASTER OF THE FUTURE
A year later of the previous events, in the first part of the miniseries…
Bruce Wayne feels that his personal oath to his parents have been fulfilled and even he has now a fiancé, Julie Madison, so the “Bat-Man” costume hasn’t seen action since a while.
However, Gotham City always is in need of its dark protector…
…especially when a lunatic called himself “Master of the Future” (aka Alexandre LeRoi) is threatening the safety of the incoming cultural fair in Gotham City to celebrate the future of the town.
This “Master of the Future” possess too advance technology, so the regular Police force isn’t able to deal in equal term with this strange new villain…
I bought this in its single comic book issues, but I chosen this TPB edition to be able of making a bettA story walking between reality and dream.
I bought this in its single comic book issues, but I chosen this TPB edition to be able of making a better overall review.
This TPB edition collects “Providence” #1-4, BUT the review that I am doing is covering the whole 12 issues of the maxi-series..
Creative Team:
Writer: Alan Moore
Illustrator: Jacen Burrows
Letterer: Kurt Hathaway
UNEXPECTED THINGS
The first thing that I got amazed that I read the first comic book issue of this maxi-series was to find, in the back cover (that it was used on each issue to put quotes along with dates) was to find my “birthday”, May 18th, it was so unexpected and weird to find that the quote in the first issue of this title made by Alan Moore (which I am a huge fan) such coincidence…
…it was destiny.
The other unexpected thing was to find out that the letterer for this work wouldn’t be Todd Klein, that usually it’s the chosen letterer by Alan Moore. Don’t get mistaken, Kurt Hathaway did a superb job. It was just weird that Klein wasn’t the appointed letterer.
IMPORTANT THINGS
Okay, important thing to know is that Providence is a prequel AND sequel to two precious Alan Moore’s works: Neonomicon & The Courtyard…
…Which I haven’t read yet.
And also, Providence does a tribute to the legacy impact of H.P. Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos…
…Which I haven’t read yet neither.
So, you must be wondering…
…why the heck am I read it?!
Well, it was written by Alan Moore and it reached to my local comic book store with issues available to buy, so I began to get the series and I waited until got it complete to read it…
…without knowing that it could useful to have read the mentioned material previous of engaging into this.
That’s why I was less harsh to rate it, since my undeniable ignorance in key material is a revelant factor depriving me of a fully embracing on the whole meaning of the developed story.
Oh! And other important thing to mention is that you will find some nude moments of the characters and graphic sexual situations (where even one could be shocking inappropiate (and a felony) if it wasn’t for Alan Moore’s ingenious paranormal twist management of the situation).
So, this isn’t a cookie for any commensal, since some moments can be hard to digest.
WEIRD (IN A GOOD SENSE) THINGS
While you may think that you’re in the regular 1919 setting of United States…
…definitely you aren’t where you think you are…
…since this is a parallel United States where there are subtle difference like having “Suicide Booths” (that they are rooms where you can have a calm suicide while hearing music of your choice) and other difference is that at least certain big cities have domes to prevent a possible meteorite hit (since one happened in a town of the New England area).
Other thing that won’t help you to know what is really happening is that one of the themes is “the Dream Country” (not exactly like in Neil Gaiman’s Sandman, but certainly you’ll notice ravens here and cats there), a dimension that people can access with the proper preparation, but...
...Robert Black, the protagonist, former newspaper journalist and now looking for info to make his own “Great American Novel” about the occult heritage of the New England’s area’s towns, is crossing without his control with this dream estate during the whole story.
A nightmarish horror came from the stars and it’s trapped in the dream dimension, but…
…it’s manipulating its Redeemer to do propaganda (never underestimate the impact of propaganda) and its Messenger…
…in that way being able to access…
…to us.
But many time you don’t react to weird things in a dream, right?
Weird things are “logical” in a dream, right?
So…
…how we will be able to be aware when the horror is right in front of us?
Gwendy Peterson is a normal teenager in the (not-so normal) Castle Rock town, she is looking to lose some Engaging reading!
THE WEIGHT OF A BOX
Gwendy Peterson is a normal teenager in the (not-so normal) Castle Rock town, she is looking to lose some weight (mainly due the meanness of fellow schoolmates), and to do that she has been running on the “Suicide Stairs”, one of the colorful places in the town, until one day, when she reached the high point of the stairs, she meets a strange man with a black hat which knows too much about Gwendy’s personal life and he gives her a gift, a powerful and enigmatic gift,…
…a button box.
So, Gwendy may lose personal weight but now she is gaining a responsability weight way beyond of her wildest dreams…
…or nightmares.
The button box has various buttons (duh!) and two levers (that I won’t spoil what they do, since it’s part of the fun and thrill of the tale), and Gwendy soon enough will realize that while of the features of the box seem not only harmless but even rewarding in different areas of her life, other features will be without a doubt a burden with tremendous repercussions.
The box is power…
…and there isn’t power without responsibility (ask Peter Parker if you don’t believe me!) and consequences.
And something else about power is that even in the inaction, when you have power and you don't do something about it, there are consequences too.
Trivial gifts are innocent, even pointless in a practical view, but…
…powerful gifts are life-changing, for better or worse, you’ll never be the same after receive them…
This review is bilingual. You will find first the review in English and after that, you will find the review in SpaGreat reading! – ¡Gran lectura!
This review is bilingual. You will find first the review in English and after that, you will find the review in Spanish.
Esta crítica es bilingüe. Usted encontrará primero la crítica en Inglés y luego de esta, usted encontrará la crítica en Español.
REVIEW IN ENGLISH
I was lucky to find this book and I enjoyed a lot its reading, indeed it is a very good book.
I found its premise irresistible…
…a young girl in a town, developed skills to “tell movies”, since the family wasn’t able to buy tickets to all of them, she is eventually chosen to “the movie-teller” of the family. She will go to watch the movie at the town theatre and later gets back to home to tell them the movie to them, developing a versatile technique performing each character, using costumes and making voices. Her fame will reach the whole town, and more and more people will prefer to watch the young girl’s “movie telling” than going to the actual movie at the theatre.
This fictional adorable story happened in the country of Chile, in a non-disclosured town made around a saltpeter mines’ settlement where the movie theatre was the only entertainment option (well, besides booze), in an era before the coming of TV (at least in that remote Chilean pampa), before of the rising to power of Augusto Pinochet, and where the reader is able to perceive the dramatic change in the lives of the families in the whole town when those elements eventually reached the faraway location.
And since the author lived part of his childhood just in a town like the one in the story, you can be sure that he is narrating a tale with a solid knowledge about the presented ambiance, and a deeper detail, developing a whole spectrum of colorful characters, with unpredictable twists.
There are a couple of disgusting events in the middle of the story, that I found them quite shocking since I was laughing and laughing due the tender way of recounting the tale, and without much warning, you are then, in the middle of awful moments that you can barely digest…
…so it was a rollercoaster of feelings, but at the end, I think that the good times and laughing overwhelm the bad times and pain, since you have to admire the strong attitude toward life of this young girl and her singular coming-to-age.
CRITICA EN ESPAÑOL
Tuve la suerte de encontrar este libro y disfruté mucho su lectura, de verdad es un muy buen libro.
Encontré su premisa irresistible...
...una jovencita en un pueblo, desarrolló sus habilidades para "contar películas", ya que la familia no podía comprar entradas para todos, eventualmente es elegida "la contadora de películas" de la familia. Ella irá a ver la película en el teatro del pueblo y luego regresa a la casa para contarles la película a ellos, desarrollando una técnica versátil interpretando cada personaje, usando vestuarios y haciendo voces. Su fama llegará a toda el pueblo, y más y más personas prefieren ver el "cuento de la película" de la joven que ir a la verdadera película en el teatro.
Esta historia adorable de ficción ocurrió en el país de Chile, en una ciudad no definida, construida alrededor de un asentamiento de minas de salitre donde el cine era la única opción de entretenimiento (bueno, además del guaro), en una era antes de la llegada de la televisión (al menos en esa remota pampa Chilena), antes del ascenso al poder de Augusto Pinochet, y donde el lector es capaz de percibir el dramático cambio en las vidas de las familias de todo el pueblo cuando esos elementos finalmente llegaron a la lejana ubicación.
Y como el autor vivió parte de su infancia en un pueblo como el de la historia, puede estar seguro de que está narrando una historia con un sólido conocimiento del ambiente presentado, y un detalle más profundo, desarrollando todo un espectro de coloridos personajes, con giros impredecibles.
Hay un par de repugnantes acontecimientos en medio de la historia, que me parecieron bastante chocantes ya que me reía y reía debido a la tierna manera de contar la historia, y sin mucha advertencia, usted está entonces, en medio de momentos horribles que apenas puedes digerir...
...por lo que fué una montaña rusa de sentimientos, pero al final, creo que los buenos momentos y la risa abruman los malos momentos y el dolor, ya que hay que admirar la fuerte actitud hacia la vida de esta jovencita y su singular crecimiento.
This is the screenplay of the film of the same title, don’t confuse with the previously published reference book sharing the saMagical Experience!
This is the screenplay of the film of the same title, don’t confuse with the previously published reference book sharing the same title, and also by J.K. Rowling.
A NEW(T) HERO IN THE WIZARDING WORLD
If I am dreaming, please don’t wake me! Two new books by J.K. Rowling (this one and Harry Potter and the Cursed Child) plus three digital short stories, expanding the Wizarding World of Harry Potter in the same year! Oh, yeah! Wicked! I couldn’t ask for something better!
The Wizarding World of J.K. Rowling comes to the Americas finally, using New York City as the scenario of the adventure at hand,…
…and I guess that it was something to be happen, sooner or later, but reading in the web about the intentions of using Paris as the next location in this new prequel series, it seems that Harry Potter Magical Universe isn’t only coming to USA, but it will reach eventually the whole world!
But, meanwhile, let me tell you about the adventure of this book…
…set in 1926, about 70 years before the beginning of the events of the original Harry Potter literary saga.
Harry Potter was the central character of the previous book series,…
…but now the new central character is Newt Scamander, a young adult British Magizoologist (a wizard with a specialization handling magical creatures), who has been traveling around the whole world, saving magical beasts and keeping them with him, thanks to a magical suitcase (who it's bigger on the inside… British pop culture pun intended!), that it could use better locks…
…since soon enough, some of Newt’s magical animals escape into the big city of New York and mayhem will happen…
…but there is a secret darkness already in New York, an evil force looking for a powerful being to weaponize it against the whole wizarding community!
MUGGLE V. NO-MAJ: DAWN OF NON-MAGIC PEOPLE
In this magical adventure, Newt Scamander will find some allies, a couple of witch sisters and…
…a muggle!!! Sorry, a No-Maj (well, at least that’s how the American wizards call to the non-magical people there).
I think that it’s wonderful to have a Muggle (sorry, habits die hard) as one of the main characters since in the original Harry Potter series, all the main characters were wizards (in the worse case, Squibs (people without magic but still born from wizards)) and the non-magical people were basically tertiary characters with hardly any relevance or dialogues, but here you have…
…Jacob Kowalski, potential baker! Oh, yeah!
About the witch sisters, the Goldstein sisters, Porpentina aka “Tina”, demoted Auror in MACUSA (Magical Congress of the United States of America), and Queenie, who is a Legilimens (a witch able to read minds).
This unlikely quartet is the best chance for New York against dark menaces from different angles, colliding at the same time, in the city that never sleeps…
…but a deathly power is awakens…
…and nobody will be safe, wizards and mug…mmh…no-majs alike!
The Wizarding World of J.K. Rowling just got larger!
This hardcover edition collects the entire graphic novel “Lost Girls”, preA very complicated review to make.
Warning: This book is for adults only.
This hardcover edition collects the entire graphic novel “Lost Girls”, presenting the three volumes, with its thirty chapters
Creative Team:
Writer: Alan Moore
Illustrator: Melinda Gebbie
Letterer: Todd Klein
WE’RE ALL MAD HERE
I’m Alice.
Oh, well. M-my name’s Wendy.
And I’m Dorothy. Y’know, ain’t it just perfect we should all be friends?
Alan Moore is the writer with more balls in the comic books’ business and the only comic book writer that can come out with such polemic book and not being attacked as a “dirty pornographer” but a “witty artist”.
Alan Moore, only Alan Moore.
Because after reading Lost Girls with all its greatness but also all its controversy, you can’t deny its artistic virtues.
There are chapters, such like, “The Mirror” & “Shaking and Waking”, that they are indeed crafty pieces of art, merging narrative with drawing. Also, the book has a faultless format with chapters where each is made of exactly 8 pages, with 10 chapters per volume, in 3 volumes. I always like symmetry in a work. And talking about the materials of the the book: hardcover, paper, size, inks, etc… I have to admit that it’s easily one of the most gorgeous books ever published, in the genre of comic books (no wonder why it’s $45, but the resulted presentation is worthy).
Lost Girls initially was serialized in the comic book Taboo (edited by Stephen R. Bissette (old friend of Moore since their days in Swamp Thing) and where, in that title, From Hell (also by Alan Moore) was serialized too. However, Lost Girls never was completed in Taboo and the collaborative team of Moore and Gebbie to finish Lost Girls was prolonged for 16 years (and resulted in the marriage of Moore and Gebbie, after he was left by his first wife and their mutual lover (yes, a complicated life). So, you can say that Lost Girls wasn’t just a work of sex, but also a work of love.
Lady Alice Fairchild (adult version of Alice in Wonderland’s Alice, in her 50s), Dorothy Gale (adult version of Wizard of Oz’s Dorothy, in her 20s) and Wendy Darling (adult version of Peter Pan’s Wendy, in her 30s) meet in a hotel at Austria, a year before World War I. The three women recognized themselves as soulmates, having experienced unusual experiences in their teenage years, so they open themselves with each other in these threesome, to know everything about them.
I think that my major complains about Lost Girls is its lack of point (beside the basic concept of portraiting classic children’s books’ characters from different tales, in their adult age, and interacting with each other) and its unnecesary lenght.
You know, I read that Watchmen supposed to be only 6 issues (I figured more centered in the investigation of Rorschach (my favorite character there)) but DC wanted a maxi-series, so Moore had to include the heroes’ origins to be to expand the work to 12 issues, and while, obviously Watchmen is a masterpiece, I think that it’s felt that it’s longer that initially intended.
And while Lost Girls may be possess its intended extension, I don’t think that it was needed so many chapters to point out such basic concept, since beyond that, the narrative hasn’t any other purpose, goal or (ironically) climax. In fact, there is a moment where this turned to be just uneventful chapters filled with sex scenes, unlike the initial chapters where you feel more ingenious interaction between the characters.
And, of course, the main reason of all the controversy about this graphic novel, is due that the three main characters tell their own sex experiences while they are still teenagers.
Everybody discover sex in his/her teenage years, but I guess that presenting that in such open way in an illustrated story, is one heck of fuzz. And playing Devil’s Advocate, I can’t blame those who may find awful those parts of the narrative, since after all, some of those scenes aren’t free of abhorrent acts that they are clearly legal offenses, and that's not good, not matter the reason, if there is any.
PIXIE DUST
Like shoes, we try our fantasies on, yes? Sometimes they are too big for us, sometimes we outgrow them; they become too small. Too confining. Or perhaps they wear out; become dull, familiar, merely comfortable.
I guess that while there are a lot of scholar studies analyzing the sexual allegories in classic children’s tales, one thing is reading about those hidden devices, in hypothetical scenarios; and quite other to have them in open way, without subterfuges, and with illustrations included.
We read the tales when we were kids, and when we grow up, we want to get back to those stories, and that’s why those re-tellings are so popular since you can read about your favorite characters but with an adult-oriented angle.
However, when the story turned to be too real, when the pixie dust is depleted, when the characters turned to be too adult, with needs too adult, well, no one can be blame if they feel that it was just a little too much.
We want to know what happened with the characters after their original books ended, when the characters got older, beyond the yellow-brick roads, but sometimes you aren’t prepared for what you may find there.
They are fiction characters for a reason. They aren’t real people. Characters are idealized, to the point to be put in pedestals. They became perfect in our minds. However, when fiction characters got too real, too human, they stopped to be characters and become people. And people aren’t perfect. You aren’t watching a reflection in a mirror anymore, but the true nature of people. So, you have to ask yourself if you really want to read about people or fiction characters.
That’s why fantasy is such appealing, while reality can be awful sometimes.
NOT KANSAS ANYMORE
War’s such a frightful perversion. It turns everything contrariwise.
Make love, not war.
If there is some way to simplify this massive work of Lost Girls, I think that’s that.
Maybe you find having promiscuous sex like something dirty or wrong, we aren’t here to judge anyone (that’s God’s job), but definitely having war is far, far worse.
And since this review has been quite challenging to write, I think that it’s better to leave it here.
Janni Dakkar, daughter of the original Captain Nemo, follows the legacy and she continues as the second Captain Nemo commanding the incredible submarine Nautilus.
Janni fell in love with Broad Arrow Jack (from old British penny dreadful novelletes) that he is part of her crew. They had a daughter, Hira, that now she is fifteen years old (and since at those old times, it was usual to be married quite young), Hira is married to Armand Robur (from Jules Verne’s Robur the Conqueror).
The Earth is suffering with the Second World War but you can guess that in a planet devised by Alan Moore, even the WWII won’t occur as it was in our own Earth, specially if he has the entire old films and classic literature at his hands…
…the Nazi Party is lead by Adenoid Hynkel!!! (Charles Chaplin’s version of Hitler in The Great Dictator).
But that’s not all!
Berlin, under the supervised work of C.A. Rotwang (from Fritz Lang’s Metropolis), it’s now a futuristic-look city, with vast technological advances, and thanks to Dr. Caligari (from Robert Wiene’s film The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari) now they have trustful Sleep Troopers (hypnotized sleepwalking soldiers). Even Berlin’s criminal underground is managed by Dr. Mabuse (from Norbert Jacques’s Dr. Mabuse, the Gambler).
Watch out, Allied Forces!!!
Good thing that Janni and the Nautilus, along with Hira and Robur and their mighty “lighter-than-air” ship The Terror, are fighthing against Nazi forces.
However, Ayesha (from H. Rider Haggard’s She), the enigmatic African Queen, is still pissed off about that Janni’s crew robbed some of her valuable stuff, sixteen years ago. And since Hynkel needs an influence in Africa, to secure Nazi settlement there. Well, it’s easy to know what are Ayesha’s demands to help the Nazis that suits them just fine since they’d need to deal with the Nautilus and The Terror eventually. So, why delaying the fun?
Berlin, the new metropolis never was more dangerous!!! The worse place to fall in a deadly trap!!!
And I didn’t approach about the deadliest menace there!!!
AUFMERKSAMKEIT LESER
An interesting thing is that when German people talks in their native language, well, you read German language! Of course, I hadn’t the slightest idea what the heck the characters were saying, (while my international favorite soccer club is Bayern Munich and my favorite national team (besides obviously the one of my own country, Costa Rica) is the German National Soccer Team), still I don’t know much German language, but it’s not vital to understand the story.
I think that it was cool detail, but not unusual in Moore’s work, since in From Hell you found some pages in German language too.
In my humble opinion, Moore’s intention is to celebrate German culture and to make people to remember that Germany has a lot of wonderful things to offer to humanity, that they are more than just the Nazi era, that they have contribute a lot, before and after that time.
And in this book, The Roses of Berlin, there are even some dialogues in French.
So, if you don’t know German or French, you’ll deal with the same language barriers that you may face, if you were in same situation of the heroes of the story.
But again, don’t worry about it, since you will be able to understand what is going on, in the adventure, since English is still the main language used in the book.
This TPB is the original prose novella written by Neil Gaiman with illustrations of Yoshitaka Amano. Don’t get it confused wiA dreamy masterpiece!
This TPB is the original prose novella written by Neil Gaiman with illustrations of Yoshitaka Amano. Don’t get it confused with the comic book format version featuring artwork of P. Craig Russell.
DREAM TEAM
You would not seek to question a poem, or a falling leaf, or the mist on the mountaintop,… …Why, then, do you question me?
You may be aware of who is Neil Gaiman, the renowed British writer that got fame precisely with The Sandman comic book series, but also he has written several prose novels like American Gods, Stardust, Coraline, The Graveyard Book and The Ocean at the End of the Lane, just to mention some of the most popular ones.
However, you may haven’t heard of Yoshitaka Amano, at least not for his name, but it’s very likely that you know his work if you’re into anime & manga. Amano is a Japanese illustrator, with wide successful experience in character design. He has worked with anime companies such as Tatsunoko, collaborating with the character design of iconic anime series like Gatchaman (also known as “Battle of the Planets” or “G-Force”), Speed Racer and Tekkaman (also known as “Teknoman”). Also he has been involved in illustrations of the Vampire Hunter D prose novel series.
You put together those two talents and you only can get without a question, a truly dreamy masterpiece!
So, just to make it clear, once again, this book isn’t a comic book as the other volumes in The Sandman series but a prose novella featuring illustrations.
NOTHING IS REALLY FAIR IN LOVE… BUT VENGEANCE?
But you swore to help me!
And I helped you.
It is not fair,
No,… …It is not.
This story, The Dream Hunter, is a wonderful Japanese-style folk tale, conceived by Neil Gaiman using his known characters of The Sandman, and while you’ll enjoy to recognize the used characters here, you really don’t need have read previously the series to understand and appreciate this stand-alone book.
A monk, a fox and a warlock walk into a bar… oops! No, wrong story!
In reality, you won’t find many humor (if not at all) in this remarable romantic tragedy. (But you can't blame to try to put a smile in your faces!)
A small wager between a he-badger spirit and a she-fox spirit would lead into an epic whirlwind where the lives of a reserved monk, an intense she-fox spirit, and a wicked warlock, never will be the same.
You should be honest with yourself.
True love will be willing to do anything.
Despicable actions found reckoning.
In the middle of all that, you’ll meet those mysterious three women, that Neil Gaiman cleverly often used, like “The Kindly Ones” (The Sandman) or “The Hempstocks” (The Ocean at the End of the Lane), where you never know if they are the same ones or not, BUT that’s part of their charm.
Morpheus, Lord of the Dreams, will have to intervene in this tragedy since their actions put them right in Morpheus’ realm. With cool cameos of Cain and Abel, and one of Morpheus’ ravens, but the real identity of this particular raven isn’t clear, definitely isn’t Matthew or Lucien, but due a clue in the narrative and the time period of the story, I supposed that it must be Aristeas.
What is certain is that this is magnificent reading.
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