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: 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 The old crop of superheroes have been replaced by a new lot that do not value human life, this in spite of claiming to be defending and protecting humans.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.