Graphic novel review: Infinite Kung Fu by Kagan Mcleod

Genre: Graphic novels, martial arts.

Infinite Kung Fu is a 464 page, graphic novel about (magical) Kung Fu and zombies. It was created, written and illustrated by Kagan Mcleod. 

The art is black and white and has a painted, water color like, look to it. This style complements the martial arts theme of this book well and is one of the stronger points of the book.

The story itself is nothing special. The plot is very loose and there are many loose ends. The plot in this book is something one would expect to have in a video game or a pulpy movie, where the plot is secondary to the action. Despite this shortcoming, the final product works, mostly because it is written in the spirit of a pulpy kung fu movie. The pace of the book flows quickly and the action in the book is nicely illustrated. The book contains a myriad of characters and the mythology of the book is interesting.

All in all if you don't go into the book expecting a tight plot and the theme interest you, Infinite Kung Fu has plenty to offer.

Rating: 4 / 5, Recommended, if you are looking for a martial art themed pulpy read.

Graphic novel review: Bone: The Complete Cartoon Epic in One Volume by Jeff Smith

Genre: Fantasy

This volume collects all the Bone comics in one fat graphic novel.

Everything about Bone is top-notch. This series is destined to be a classic. The story by Jeff Smith is interesting, well developed and paced very well. The characters are likable and are fleshed out with great care and detail. The story combines humor, suspense and dark fantasy into a tale that will hold your attention till the end, and like any good book is fun to reread too.

The art by Jeff Smith is absolutely excellent. The art is extremely detailed and pretty to look at. It at the same time injects a few characters like the Bones, who are drawn in a much more carton like style. These two looks however blend together very well to create one unique style.

A brilliant book, go get it.

Rating: 5 / 5, Highly recommended. A classic.

Graphic novel review: Batman year 100 by Paul Pope and Jose Villarrubia

Genre: Superhero

The year x books put familiar characters in unfamiliar situations and hope that a good story will result from that. So in this book we have a society where everything is tightly controlled. Every human has been recorded and can be tracked easily by people in power.

Into this world leaps Batman, suddenly the authorities have someone they have no records of and are unable to trace and track. The book creates a bunch of mysteries, unfortunately they are not resolved in satisfactory manner. The main plotline of the book is serviceable, but without some strong and inventive writing it is incapable of raising this book above average.

The art is interesting. Whether you like it or not will be a tossup. I thought it was pretty good and enjoyed the style.

All in all though the book is below average. If you like all things Batman you would enjoy this more than other folks, for the rest there are better choices around

Rating: 2 / 5, Below average, only rabid fans need bother.

Graphic novel review: Predator omnibus vol 1

Genre: Science fiction.

The first predator omnibus collects a bunch of graphic novels which were written around the first Predator movie. While it is not necessary that you see the first movie to follow these stories, it would help put some stuff in context. The first three stories, which actually comprise the bulk of the book (some 300 out of the 400 page book), star the brother of the main character of the first movie.

The writing in this book varies quite a bit. The first 3 stories has some cringe inducing dialogue. This is mainly because the writers try very hard to give the book a Hollywood action movie vibe. Considering that these comics were created in the 80's and 90's, what you have is 80's action movie level of dialogue. Not good.

The last 4 shorter stories have serviceable writing. The final story however is pretty muddled with no explanations given for something that occurs in different era's of time.

The plot of all the stories is poor. It basically boils down to, Predator comes, humans and predator fight, The end.

The art all through the book is very good. However the art cannot rescue this book from the poor writing and non existent plot.

Rating: 2 / 5. Below average. Only rabid predator fans would enjoy this book.

Graphic novel review: Elephantmen vol 1: Wounded animals by Richard Starking, Moritat and others

Genre: Science fiction

This book is scripted by Richard Starkings, with art by Moritat. Besides these two, the book has a whole host of other contributors. This book collects 1 to 7 of the series.

You can read a review of a prequel to this book here : http://sparrow-reviews.blogspot.com/2010/02/graphic-novel-review-elephantmen-war.html

The elephantmen this book refers to are half human, half animal hybrids created as shock infantry troops. The positives of this book is the art which is very good. Unfortunately the story and plot in this book are sub par. This book wants to tell stories involving racism and other bigotry, but does not manage to convey anything worthwhile.

There might be a overall storyline that Starking wants to convey, but these seven collected issues don't have much of that. The book is just full of filler material instead. The final pirate story is just plain terrible and pointless. Starking seems content with letting the gimmick of the half human, half animal characters carry this book.

Spend your money on something better.

Rating: 2 / 5, Below average. Don't bother.

Graphic novel review: Kingdom come by Mark Waid and Alex Ross

Genre: Superheroes

Kingdom come is part of the Elseworlds series of comics from DC comics. These comics feature alternate history takes on DC's popular characters. The story is by Mark Waid and the art is by Alex Ross.

In this version, certain events have caused Superheroes of old to retire/fade away. The old crop of superheroes have been replaced by a new lot that do not value human life, this in spite of claiming to be defending and protecting humans.

The art and writing in this book is excellent. Both of them combine to build a great atmosphere in the book. The main characters in this book are developed very well as the book progresses. The plot of the book is well constructed and it proceeds at a fairly brisk pace.

The one negative for the book is that the resolution to the crisis in this book was underwhelming after all the build up. However in context of the entire book, I found that this did not bother me too much. The book is a good read and is recommended.

Rating: 4 / 5, Great, Recommended.

Graphic novel review: Savage Dragon, baptism of fire by Erik Larsen

Genre: Superheroes.

This a super hero comic. That entails a lot of beefy men and women with impossible proportions. There is also a lot of fighting and property damage. Erik Larsen, has however managed to construct a pretty interesting tale with engaging characters in this framework.

Larsen does the writing, pencils and inking for this trade paper back. The art throughout the book is very good. The lines are clear and the coloring is vibrant. The writing except for a few exceptions is good. The one exception that stood out for me was the title character giving a lecture about the police abusing their powers, and this whole thing was too preachy and contrived. All in all though, the writing through out the book keeps a pretty high standard.

This book is the miniseries that launches the Savage dragon series, it introduces various characters and lays out the ground work for future plot lines. The characters are developed well, and the pace of the book is brisk. I enjoyed reading this book and will be hunting down the other paper backs to see how the story proceeds.

Rating: 4 / 5, Recommended.

Note: The Amazon listing below is for a older trade paper back.

Graphic novel review: Lost Squad by Chris Kirby and Alan Robinson

Genre: World war 2 / Fantasy / Magic.

Lost squad's premise is pretty interesting. It is 1942 and the Nazi war machine is in full flow around Europe. However in this version of history the Nazi's are using various mystical and magical means to gain a edge. Into this steps the Lost squad, a somewhat clichéd bunch of characters who go around foiling the evil Nazi plans.

This trade paper back contains 3 stories. The art in all 3 stories is black and white and is very good. The writing for the 3 stories is serviceable, with the first 2 stories being the best of the bunch. The character development in the book follows a predictable path there are no surprises. The storyline hints at a more complex back story for a few characters, however those hints are not expanded upon. All 3 stories are very average and it seems like the author is using magic to shore up insipid plot lines.

The final story comes through as a rushed attempt to have some sort of ending for this series. However because of all the unresolved hints from the previous stories, it feels very unsatisfactory.

All in all the book showed promise, but the writing in this book leaves the promises unfulfilled.

Rating: 2.5 / 5; Average, don't bother.

Graphic novel review: Strontium Dog - The final solution by Alan Grant, John Wagner, Simon Harrison and Colin MacNeil

Genre: Science fiction, 2000 A.D. comics

Note: While this book can be read even if you have not read other Strontium Dog stories, there is continuity in the main plot lines of Strontium Dog stories. So reading this book would spoil previous books in the series for you. I recommend you read them in order.

This book collects stories from 2000 AD progs 600-606, 615-621, 636-641, 645-647 and 682-687 (1988-90). It has one long story following the Strontium Dog Johnny Alpha and about 4 shorter stories at the end.

The art in the book is simply fantastic. 90 % of the pages are in black and white with some pages colored. The details and clarity in the art is stunning.

The writing in the book is good. It has a sarcastic, cynical tone throughout the book which fits in with a world devastated by radioactivity and one that has a persecuted class of mutants born due to the radioactivity.

The story in this book is serviceable, the tale told is entertaining enough. It is not however good or great. The art plus the story make this into a above average package.

Rating: 3 / 5; Above average, recommended if you like Strontium Dog stories.

Graphic novel review: Elephantmen: War toys - Volume 1: No surrender by Richard Starkings and Moritat

Genre: War / Science fiction.

This trade paper collects Elephantmen: War Toys #1-3. This is also a prequel to Image's Elephantmen series.

The Elephantmen are animal-human hybrid soldiers created to fight in a futuristic war between China and Africa. The fight takes place in a Europe that has been decimated by a virus. The hybrids are made not only from fusion with elephants but also Rhinos, Hipppos, Crocodiles etc.

The art in this book is black and White and is pretty good. The scale of things seems inconsistent from time to time with the Elephantmen sometime seeming to be 25 feet tall and some time 10 feet tall. But all in all it is nice.

The writing is largely average. There is not much of a story told in this collection and what story is present, is predictable and largely uninteresting. This book feels like the team is milking its fan base.

Rating: 2.5 / 5, Average, Only recommended for the rabid fans.

Graphic novel review: Cairo by G. Willow Wilson and M. K. Perker

Genre: Fantasy

Cairo starts very brightly. The black and white art is good. The characters we are introduced to, seem interesting and the writing leads us to believe that there is a good story to be told. The book remains strong till the mid point as the various plots and sub plots are laid out.

Midway through it starts to fizzle out. This starts with the characters, one finds it hard to have a connection with them. Their motivation's and the decisions that they take are too simplistic. Their break through 'a-ha' movements are childish. The author starts to touch on the current middle east conflicts between the Israelis and Arabs but does no justice to the complexities of the conflict.

The resolution to the various sub-plot and quandaries that the characters find themselves in is arbitrary. Magic is used as a convenient hammer to bang the plot lines closed. What starts out as a promising book ends up as a average book.

Rating: 2.5 / 5; Average, don't bother there are better books around.

Graphic novel review: Inferno by Mike Carey and Michael Gaydos

Genre: Fantasy

Note that this book is supposed to be written by Mike Carey. However in the book, the story credits list Gary Reed and James Pruett.

The first 4 pages of Inferno attempt to be mysterious and ends up being tedious. The first 4 pages are luckily not indicative of the rest of the book which feature good writing and a interesting story. Featuring a version of hell that is very different from the traditional sulphur and pitchfork version, the book follows the adventures of Travis who suddenly finds himself in this hell.

Travis doesn't know why he is in hell and the mystery about hell and Travis is built up nicely as the book progresses.

The introduction warns that the original run of the book was cancelled before its time and assures us that the ending is still good. That is absolute bollocks. When I reached the end I did a double take and thought that the book had some missing pages. There is no ending, most of the narrative threads are left hanging in the air. The book feels like a prelude to a greater story about this hell that was going to unfold.

This is a fatal flaw and turns what was going to be a good story into a average one. The black and white art by Michael Gaydos is good throughout the book.

Rating: 2.5 / 5, Average, only get if you don't mind that this book does not have a proper ending.

Graphic novel review: Just a Pilgrim by Garth Ennis and Carlos Ezquerra

Genre: Post apocalyptic science fiction.

This trade paper back collects the original miniseries that introduced the character and the sequel to that. The book is set in a world where the sun has expanded and killed a large part of the population and turned the world into a dry, arid place.

Into this world steps the Pilgrim. The Pilgrim is a religious fanatic who goes around doing what he believes is god's work. Ennis attempts to use the Pilgrim and other characters who exist in this world to debate about the existence of god. However these debates are not particularly clever or anything new and don't add any value to this book.

The 2 stories are pretty simple and straightforward. There is some humour throughout the book but nothing that would cause you to chuckle. The art of the book is very well done. Carlos Ezquerra's work complements Ennis's writing very well and helps set the dark and cynical tone of the book.

All in all the book has nothing new to offer and is pretty average.

Rating: 2.5 / 5, Average, only for the fans of Ennis's work.

Graphic novel review: Steve Niles Omnibus

Genre: Horror

This Omnibus contains the following stories:
1. Aleister Arcane
2. Wake the dead
3. Secret skull
4. The lurkers

All stories are written by Steve Niles and each of the story has a different set of artist for them. The art style for all 4 stories varies quite a bit. The first one has a painted look. The second one is a more traditional comic book style. The third one is a gritty comic book style art. The final story's art style is hard to describe, best I can do is a stylised comic book style.

All the art is good however and is a strong positive for this book. Being a classic style horror book there is a lot of gore present.

The stories themselves are well written and contain good dialogue. However none of the stories are ground breaking or present anything new. The plot lines are predictable and there are very little surprises. Horror fans will get good entertainment from this book, for everyone else, this book is above average.

Rating: 3 / 5, Above average, horror fans will enjoy it.

Graphic novel review: The walking man by Jiro Taniguchi

Genre: Relaxing explorations of nothing in particular. / Slice of life.

This book has very little plot, so if you need that in your book then this is not for you. That being said, if you are open for something unconventional then this book is a real treasure. The book is composed of a guy walking around urban Japan just observing things. There is very little dialog throughout the book and focus is really on the visuals.

The art in this book is excellent. The art is black and white and is basically pens with some shading. Each panel is constructed meticulously and is extremely detailed. The lines are crisp and everything is beautifully proportioned.

For a book that contains no plot the book flows really well. Not one page was boring. You can return to this book again and again and feel relaxed and happy.

Rating: 5 / 5, Highly recommended.

Graphic novel review: Britten and Brulightly by Hannah Berry

Genre: Crime / Murder mystery

This is a moody graphic novel, with some dark humor and some noir trappings. The book focusses on Fernandez Britten the sombre detective and his well, lets say unusual partner. Britten has had a very successful career carrying out investigations for jealous and/or jilted lovers. In fact he has been so successful that he had earned the nickname heart-breaker.

Now he is fed up with taking these kind of cases and will only accept a case if it involves murder. And so this mystery starts with Britten being asked to investigate a suicide that might actually be a murder.

The art has a stylised hand painted water color look to it. That and the dark palette help establish the sombre mood in the book. The art style fits in very well with the writing and plot.

The writing is intelligent and written in noir style. The plot itself is very good and entertaining. The surprises and plot twist are well planned and executed.

All in all a great book, definitely recommended.

Ratings: 5 / 5, Great, Highly recommended.

Graphic novel review: Northlanders book 2 - The cross and the hammer by Brian Wood and Ryan Kelly

Genre: Historical fiction

This book is a standalone story in the Northlanders series. This book is set in Ireland in 1014 A.D. and set during the Viking occupation of that land.

The book focuses on 2 people, Magnus a Irishman who is going around killing Viking officials and settlers and Ragnar a Viking nobleman who is sent by his King to track down and bring Magnus to justice.

And thats it, the plot is simply Magnus going around killing folks and Ragnar and his men running after him. There is no story to speak off. There is a plot twist at the end that is simply lazy and uninspired. The dialogue ranges from serviceable to bad.

The art is average, with everybody grimacing.

Rating: 2 / 5, Below average, skip it unless you are a huge Northlanders fan.

Graphic novel review: The V.C.s - Back in action by Dan Abnett, Henry Flint and Anthony Williams

Genre: Sci fi action.

The V.C.s is a revival of a old series from the British publisher 2000 A.D. In the introduction the author Dan Abnett states that this is not a re imagining but rather a continuation of the lives of characters from the old series. I have not read any of the old V.C.s stories and I do not believe that there is a need to read them to enjoy this book.

The previous V.C.s dealt with a war between the humans and a alien species called Geeks. This graphic novel focuses on a veteran from that war - Smith. There has been peace between humans and Geeks for some 50 years now and Smith we are introduced to is a old washed up relic facing a bunch of issues due to his war experiences.

All this changes when the Geeks launch a surprise attack on the humans and the veterans are suddenly thrust into war again. Now Smith needs to get his squad of Rookies combat ready to take on the Geeks.

The books plot proceeds at what appears to be a predictable direction. However the author slowly inserts a few intrigues that look to make the story interesting. For eg. there is a collective of extremely powerful aliens called the Polity who seem to be observing the humans and Geeks. What is their agenda ? There are a couple of other intrigues which I would not like to spoil.

The writing and dialogues are above average in the book. The story does start slow but shows promise of being good. I feel the art ranges from functional to being above average. All in all this is a decent beginning for this series.

Rating: 3 / 5, Above average, the series has potential.

Graphic novel review: Strontium dog - The Kreeler conspiracy by John Wagner and Carlos Ezquerra

Genre: Sci fi / Adventure, British comic from publisher 2000 A.D.

This book collects 3 Strontium dog adventures from the 2000 A.D. comic series. The progs are 1174-1180, 1195-1199 (1999-2000). The subtitle of this collection, The Kreeler conspiracy is the first of three stories in the collection. The middle story is in black and white while the rest are colored.

The first story - The Kreeler conspiracy has a functional story, nothing innovative or new here. The art is above average.

The second story - Roadhouse has a pretty loopy story which I find is kind off a trade mark of 2000 A.D. stories. The story is again pretty average. I liked the black and white art in the story which I thought was excellent.

The third story - The tax dodge is again typically loopy and I think it is the best of this collection. It is not great but is above average. The art in this story is good.

All in all the collection is pretty average. If you are a Strontium dog fan, get it. For the rest of the folks I don't think its a good enough introduction to the Character.

Rating: 2.5 / 5, Average - Only fans of Strontium dog should consider getting it. Everyone else skip it.

Graphic novel review: Y, The last man complete series

Genre: All male mammals are dead except for one man and his monkey. Drama and suspense.

Writer: Brain K Vaughan
Pencillers: Pia Guerra, Goran Sudzuka and Paul Chadwick
Inker: Jose Maran Jr.

Series details: Total of 60 issues, collected as 10 trade paperbacks.

With a premise of only one surviving male, this book generated a lot of positive hype. After reading through the entire series, I don't think it lives up to its hype. At the start of the series we are introduced to the end of all males, all but one Yorick and his pet monkey. Yorick is not a likable character to start with, nor does he grow into a likable character as the series progresses. A large amount of the drama in the series ends up being Yorick or some other character doing something stupid, getting into trouble and having to be rescued.

The story elements in the series are the mystery surrounding this plague and how women would deal with a world without men. The origins of the plague which should have been the driving point for this book is not revealed and we are given several possible causes, none of which seem plausible. The plot lines involving the women are pretty insipid. While you have the token women jock characters in this book, some diversity among the women for example strong and inspiring leaders would have been welcome. Lacking a true story the writer tries to inject some emotion and drama using some cheap shots, like killing characters for no particular reason.

This series is too long, there isn't enough story to be told for 60 issues. There is some humor and plenty of pop culture references. The dialogues and writing in this book is pretty average. The art of the book is functional, not bad in any way but nothing noteworthy.

All in all I would not recommend this series. If you do want to try it however, here is the Amazon link for the series. I suggest you only try the first trade paperback, and note that while it does get a bit better in the latter issues, the improvement is not enough to redeem the series.

Rating: 2.5 / 5, Not recommended, there are better series around.