X-Force volume 12: Scar Tissue


By Peter David, Valentine De Landro, Emanuela Lupacchino, Pat Davidson, Guillermo Ortega & various (Marvel)
ISBN: 978-0-7851-4655-1

Since its 1980s debut, X-Factor has been a superbly effective umbrella title for many uniquely off-kilter iterations of Marvel’s mutant phenomena. Indisputably the most impressive and enduring assemblage was created by writer Peter David in 2006; mixing starkly violent suspense with cool detective mystery, laugh-out-loud comedy and fantastic Fights ‘n’ Tights action even whilst slyly and subtly addressing social issues in a regular riot of superbly adult Costumed Drama.

It all began when Jamie Madrox, the Multiple Man – a veteran of the formerly government-sponsored (and controlled) team – appropriated the name for his own to create the specialist metahuman private detective agency X-Factor Investigations.

Setting up shop in the wake of “The Decimation”, which had reduced the world’s mutant population to a couple of hundred empowered individuals and millions of distressingly humanised (ex) Homo Superior, he and a perpetually fluctuating team set out to discover why and how it had happened and, once that was settled, just kept going…

This splendid sampling of strange happenings – written as ever by your man David – collecting X-Factor #213-219 (February-July 2011) commences with ‘Keeping Things’, illustrated by Valentine De Landro, Pat Davidson & Jeromy Cox, as the freshly liberated from Asgardian-hell-Niffleheim heroes recuperate in Las Vegas after a nasty brush with Death Goddess Hela.

Braving damnation to rescue obnoxious oik Pip the Troll, the mutants had faced an eternity of undead combat until Armando “Darwin” Muñoz stretched his hyper-evolving gift to the utmost and became something far more than mortal to secure their release.

Now he finds that he just does not fit on Earth… as a succession of increasingly tense PTSD style confrontations with gamblers, gangsters and even his team-mates proves.

Eventually he takes his leave and walks out into the desert to be alone…

The recently rescued troll is eager to take his place, but X-Factor deftly duck him by matter-shifting back to New York, forgetting that the malodorous little troglodyte can teleport too. Pip is resolute in wanting to reward their deeds by serving them, but he actually has a secret boss and private agenda dictating his actions…

When mystery-powered mutant Layla Miller, Guido “Strong Guy” Carosella, Theresa Rourke Cassidy (AKA Siryn), alien enigmas Longshot and Shatterstar all joined Madrox in his quixotic bid to save the troll, they behind left psionic super-woman Monet St. Croix – who was involved in a private case – and former lovers Rictor and Rahne “Wolfsbane” Sinclair.

The latter pair were dealing with the repercussions of Rahne’s swiftly developing pregnancy but Madrox now believes he has some shocking news for the already shell-shocked father-to-be.

Whilst in Niffleheim, Shatterstar (Rictor’s current lover) clashed with deceased wolf-god Hrimhari, where the vulpine zombie claimed Wolfsbane’s condition was his doing…

Thanks to a prenatal scan Rictor already knows and is dealing with being lied to in an uncharacteristically mature manner…

Issue #214 – with art from Emanuela Lupacchino, Guillermo Ortega & Matt Milla – then focuses on Armando as he wanders the wastelands trying to come to terms with his transformation. His solitary ruminations are derailed when a showgirl appears, chased by a colossal dragon.

Stepping in as any hero would, Darwin soon finds himself trapped in a bizarrely off-kilter ghost town facing down a gun-toting angel of death and herald of biblical Armageddon who calls himself “Tier”. The triggerman is straight out of The Book of Revelations and also claims that Rahne is/will be his mother, but the final climactic showdown only leaves more questions than answers…

De Landro, Davidson &Cox illustrate ‘Stake Out’ as, back in the Big Apple, the detectives are hired to prove that a man’s death-by-vampire attack (the story is set during the crossover event Curse of the Mutants) was more than it appeared. Distraught daughter Adina is convinced that her new stepmother is responsible, but when Layla and Madrox investigate they find a far more complex and chilling scenario in effect: one where all the players are both right and wrong in every aspect of their accusations and suspicions…

The remains of this volume focus on the fallout of the aforementioned solo case undertaken by Monet. When the abrasive telepath had agreed to psi-probe a woman plagued by dreams of atrocity she was rather surprised when her mental recalibrations scored a total success. Now the costs of that victory begin to hurt as mentally healed “Noelle Blanc” tracks down some former army comrades who don’t remember her at all…

Illustrated by Lupacchino, Ortega & Milla the tale begins to unfold as Mayor J. Jonah Jameson calls in a long-promised favour from Madrox and demands the detectives discover who murdered the former publisher’s oldest friend General Sam Ryan…

As Spider-Man nosily tries to find out what JJJ’s up to, in Nebraska Noelle has turned a flamethrower on a meek doctor and awoken the dormant memories of another woman soldier transformed by a top-secret military experiment…

The revelations continue in ‘Deep Scars’ as the cyber-enhanced war-girls go looking for their final comrade – and more revenge – even as Madrox, Rictor, Shatterstar and Longshot investigate the General’s assassination in a graveyard and find a connection to a super-secret project…

Back in NYC increasing civil unrest leaves the remaining team-members stuck on bodyguard detail during a street protest, but it’s Jameson’s troubleshooting clandestine employee Black Cat who first discovers Blanc (nee Ballistique) and now un-deprogrammed allies Sylvius and Rococo as they move in to add Jonah to their lengthy list of successful hits. Strangely, though, despite the human weapons wanting the Mayor dead, that’s clearly not their endgame…

In the ensuing chaotic melee of a manufactured riot Guido goes down and does not get up again…

The drama continues in ‘Man Down!’ as the riot turns into a bloody debacle and the shooters make their escape. Guido dies on the operating table but incredibly revives later, yet only Layla is not overjoyed at the seeming miracle…

The drama concludes in ‘Lies, Damned Lies’ as Monet goes crazy, kidnapping the Mayor and compelling him to reveal the truth about Ryan. Years ago the General and scientist Dr. Young Soo Pock conceived a black ops revision to America’s Super Soldier program.

Strategic Capture And Retrieval (or S.C.A.R.s) gave three female volunteers numerous cybernetic enhancements which turned them into unstoppable killers. Sadly it also made them crazy and they began taking mercenary jobs before being caught, decommissioned and given mind-numbing amnesia.

Unfortunately even the US Military had turned the project down from the outset and Ryan had asked his old fried Jameson to fund it. The patriotic fool did and now the S.C.A.R.s girls have their memories back and they want revenge on everybody who messed with them…

As Layla apologizes to the bewildered Guido for what’s she “done to him” Madrox and the team have tracked down Young Soo Pock, arriving just as the cyber killers are extracting their revenge. A monumental battle ensues, but although Monet mercilessly deals with Ballistique for killing Guido she’s quite happy to let the others go…

To Be Continued…

With covers by David Yardin & Sonia Oback and ‘Opening the Sketchbook’ – an original-art crammed biography feature on artist Emanuela Lupacchino by John Rhett Thomas – this volume continues a superb run of challenging, compelling, compulsive and supremely scary funny tales, making this iteration of X-Factor the ideal example of mature Fights ‘n’ Tights fiction: utterly indispensable for everyone who needs wit to underpin their superhero soap opera shenanigans.
© 2011, 2012 Marvel Characters, Inc. All rights reserved.

Yuletide Treat Time… Now Give This!

We’re all sick as dogs with the Christmas Cold today so I’m inflicting another batch of cheesy, cop out re-hashed links to previous reviews to tide you over until tomorrow.

Just remember, we might be snot-filled cough-monkeys but these books are still brilliant and deserve to live in your houses…

An Age of License – a Travelogue
By Lucy Knisley (Fantagraphics Books)
ISBN: 978-1-60699-768-0
Win’s Christmas Gift Recommendation: Food and Family Favourites… 9/10

The Phoenix Presents… Bunny vs. Monkey Book One
By Jamie Smart (David Fickling Books)
ISBN: 978-1-910200-07-0
Win’s Christmas Gift Recommendation: A year’s Worth of Mirth… 9/10

Violent Cases Hardcover
By Neil Gaiman & Dave McKean (Titan Books)
ISBN: 978-1-78329-360-5
Win’s Christmas Gift Recommendation: Memorable and Meaningful… 10/10

Hilarious Consequences
By Babak Ganjei (Records Records Records Books)
ISBN: 978-0-9566330-0-2
Win’s Christmas Gift Recommendation: Mature Everyday Wit and Invention… 9/10

Mitch O’Connell: World’s Best Artist
By Mitch O’Connell (Last Gasp)
ISBN: 978-0-86719-773-0
Win’s Christmas Gift Recommendation: World’s Best Present for Artists… 10/10

Invincible Iron Man: World’s Most Wanted volume 2


By Matt Fraction, Salvador Larroca & various (Marvel)
ISBN: 978-0-7851-3685-9

Supreme survivor Tony Stark has changed his profile many times since his 1963 debut when, as a VIP visitor in a conflict zone observing the efficacy of weaponry he had designed, the arch-technocrat wünderkind was critically wounded and captured by a local warlord.

Put to work with the spurious promise of medical assistance upon completion, Stark instead built a prototype Iron Man suit to keep his heart beating and deliver him from his oppressors. From there it was a small jump into a second career as a high-tech Knight in Shining Armour…

Ever since then the former armaments manufacturer has been a liberal capitalist, eco-warrior, space pioneer, civil servant, Statesman, and even spy-chief: Director of the world’s most scientifically advanced spy agency, the Strategic Hazard Intervention Espionage Logistics Directorate.

During the time when the Federal initiative known as the Super-Human Registration Act led to Civil War between costumed heroes, Stark was appointed the US government’s Security Czar: – a “top cop” in sole charge of a beleaguered nation’s defence and freedom, tasked with overseeing every aspect of the legislation’s enactment. He became the absolute last word in all matters involving the USA’s vast metahuman community…

However his mismanagement of a succession of crises led to the arrest and assassination of Captain America and an unimaginable escalation of global tension and destruction, culminating in a so-nearly successful Secret Invasion by shape-shifting alien Skrulls.

Discredited and ostracised, Stark was replaced by ostensibly rehabilitated super-villain Norman Osborn (the original Green Goblin), who assumed full control of America’s covert agencies and paramilitary resources. The ultimate control freak disbanded S.H.I.E.L.D. and placed the nation under the aegis of his new umbrella organisation H.A.M.M.E.R.

Publicly acclaimed as a recovering schizophrenic, Osborn was still a deranged monster at his core and craved total power. Intending to appropriate all Stark’s resources, the “reformed” villain began stripping all of the ex-Avenger assets; financial, technological and even psychological.

Terrified that not only his weaponry but also the files containing the secret identities of almost all of Earth’s heroes would fall into a ruthless maniac’s hands, Stark systematically erased all his databases and began the process of doing the same with his own memories, effectively lobotomising himself to save everything before going on the run in a hopeless but valiant attempt to give his few remaining allies time to pull off a miracle…

Concluding the Dark Reign saga ‘World’s Most Wanted’ from Invincible Iron Man #14-19 (August to December 2009), the culmination of the global hunt for the fallen technocrat is crafted by Matt Fraction & Salvador Larroca (plus colourist Frank D’Armata) and opens here with ‘The Shape of the World These Days’ as the fugitive’s flight to his chain of long-hidden “Armories” across the planet sees him reverting to ever-earlier iterations of his fabled Iron Man suits as his ability to think diminishes.

Entering Russia clad in his first upgrade of the original mobile iron lung built to save his life, Stark is targeted by missile defences and shot down only to be confronted by old comrade Dmitri Bukharin wearing the Soviet-era war-suit known as Crimson Dynamo.

Over in New Jersey, S.H.I.E.L.D.’s last deputy director Maria Hill is on the run from H.A.M.M.E.R. forces and not that far away Stark’s trusted CEO Pepper Potts – using her own Osborn-embargoed armour codenamed Rescue – detects the use of StarkTech and heads for Russia…

Tony needs to get to Kirensk but knows he would be easily spotted by H.A.M.M.E.R. satellite surveillance and thus trades armour with Dmitri even as Pepper breaks her Cease-&-Desist order and jets to Eastern Europe. As expected Osborn easily spots her and demands that Russia grant his forces leave to enter their territory. High-ranking Colonel Dmitri Bukharin gleefully refuses…

In New York, Hill has made contact with another trusted ally of Iron Man, even as Stark heads deeper inland. High above the snowy wastes Rescue intercepts him, unaware that, his memory riddled with holes, her friend, employer and occasional lover does not recognise her.

The Crimson Dynamo’s attack brings them both explosively to earth even as another ex-lover surreptitiously lines up her sniper rifle. International criminal Madam Masque is Osborn’s willing ally, ready to end Stark as soon as America’s Chief of Homeland Security gives her the word…

‘The Danger We’re All In’ sees Hill rendezvousing with the Black Widow in New York, desperately trying to pass on the enigmatic computer drive Stark begged her to get to new Captain America Bucky Barnes whilst in Russia Tony and Pepper’s enforced romantic interlude is interrupted by Masque. As H.A.M.M.E.R. agents ambush the frantic spies in America, half a world away Masque works out some major unresolved issues by torturing Tony’s new girlfriend while he’s out getting firewood…

When Stark returns Masque’s passions switch from hatred to something else, giving Pepper time to activate the Rescue suit in ‘Titan of the Nuclear Age’. Osborn meanwhile is starting to come unglued waiting for news, but he’s probably better off not knowing how his agent’s obsession has resulted in a cataclysmic battle and shattering detonation in Kirensk…

In New York the Widow has stashed her exhausted companion in a safe place whilst she tries to discover what’s so important about the Stark drive, but H.A.M.M.E.R.’s influence is everywhere and even her most secure contacts can no longer be trusted…

Clad once again in his archaic Mark 4 suit, ‘Ashes and Snow’ finds Tony Stark flying towards Afghanistan and the site of his original iron apotheosis. His mind is all but gone and he’s running on instinct and sheer determination now. He’s completely unaware that Madame Masque has crawled out of the wreckage of his penultimate Armory and is informing Osborn that she will be returning to America. Potts is dead and the Rescue armour is now a much prized spoil of war…

Sensing victory, Osborn despatches a H.A.M.M.E.R. Helicarrier to Russia to pick up his agent, smugly brushing aside Russian protests even as his stateside operatives close in on Hill and the Widow. However their arrest catches the attention of a certain Star Spangled Avenger…

As the once brilliant and mighty Stark enters the war-torn region he’s been so eager to reach, the nearly completely mind-wiped Iron Man is blasted from the sky by a rocket propelled grenade…

‘Kids with Guns vs. the Eternal Angel of Death’ begins with the diminished inventor staggering into the cave lab where he and Chinese scientist Ho Yinsen first built the Iron Man so many years ago. As he reviews the original suit cached there he is interrupted by the boy warriors who shot him down and forced to brutally confront his many sins as a red-handed weaponsmith…

Meanwhile, deep in the bowels of H.A.M.M.E.R., Mariah Hill and Black Widow discover they have a most unexpected ally as they make a concerted break for freedom, whilst elsewhere in the organisation Osborn’s rollercoaster mental state is forcing more than one dedicated agent to reconsider their own loyalties…

As part of his takeover Osborn co-opted all Stark’s incredible war-suits, even repurposing one for his own use as the “Iron Patriot”, but as Hill and Widow break out a devastating virus attacks all the confiscated StarkTech…

‘Into the White (Einstein on the Beach)’ details the conclusion of Stark’s quest and his greatest triumph as the former genius, now little more than an animated vegetable clad in his very first iron suit, faces Osborn wearing the most sophisticated armour Tony has ever designed.

He engages his merciless adversary in pointless, futile battle, being brutally smashed to bloody smears, whilst back in America his faithful allies have retrieved the drive from Osborn’s citadel and laid the groundwork for the exultant maniac’s ultimate defeat…

Of course Stark will never know. Before he was battered into a Persistent Vegetative State by Osborn, his last memories faded, leaving nothing of his former self…

To Be Continued…

The tumultuous tome is rounded out with covers & variants by Larocca and Christopher Jones plus a number of the former’s unfinished pencil/ink art pages from this stunning, astoundingly engrossing thriller which will equally delight those seeking more cinema-style spectacle as well as print-based Fights ‘n’ Tights fans of the comic incarnation.
© 2009, 2010 Marvel Characters Inc. All rights reserved.

Brightest Day volume 1


By Geoff Johns, Peter J. Tomasi, Ivan Reis, Patrick Gleason, Fernando Pasarin, Ardian Syaf, Scott Clark, Joe Prado & various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-4012-3276-4

Following the intergalactic Zombie Apocalypse of The Blackest Night, Earth’s profound importance to the nature and make-up of Reality was finally revealed and a select number of deceased heroes and villains were resurrected by a strange white energy force.

As the world slowly recovered from a horrific undead invasion, these newly resurrected and unaccountably different beings began seeking their own places and purpose in the bright new tomorrow, unaware that incredible and subtle forces were still manipulating them like meat puppets.

Scripted by Geoff Johns and Peter J. Tomasi, this first compilation of the extended mega braided-crossover series Brightest Day collects issue #0-7 of the sequel event (spanning June to October 2010) and begins here with ‘Carpe Diem’ illustrated by Fernando Pasarin, John Dell, Cam Smith, Prentis Rollins, Dexter Vines & Art Thibert.

In the shining light of day, former disembodied spirit Boston Brand – nee Deadman – finds himself disconcertingly corporeal again, yet still utterly invisible to the teeming masses of humanity. He now wears a white-glowing power ring which advises him “live” and demonstrates the ex-ghost’s new gifts by resurrecting a dead bird. The voice then screams “help me” and Brand is teleported away…

Aquatic warrior-queen Mera is luxuriating in the return of her husband Arthur Curry but Aquaman broods, disturbed by the changes he perceives in himself, even as Boston reappears in the depths of super-penitentiary Iron Heights, where both the Reverse Flash and Captain Boomerang have been held since their unfathomable and unwelcome reanimations.

In Louisiana Carter and Shiera Hall discuss their present situation. The eternal lovers have been reincarnated hundreds of times since they were murdered in Ancient Egypt, but his time is somehow different. Meanwhile, at the top of the world a team of ruthless men are recovering the bones the Hawks inhabited in one of those previous existences… After a glowing Zamaron power-gem smashes through the ceiling to embed itself in Nth metal super-weapon the Claw of Horus, the mystically alerted Winged Wonders furiously set off after them…

In a hidden hideaway, with only Boston Brand imperceptibly watching, fully restored mental manipulator Maxwell Lord takes the biggest risk of his fresh new life, overloading his psychic power to make (almost) everybody on Earth forget he ever existed, whilst on the Red Planet revived Martian Manhunter J’onn J’onzz exerts all his mighty powers in an attempt to make the dead world bloom again. He is glad to see again Green Lanterns Hal Jordan and Guy Gardner and promises to visit Earth soon…

On far distant Oa, home of the Guardians of the Universe, Jennifer-Lynn Hayden discusses her former boyfriend with GL doctor Natu as the medic subjects her to numerous tests. Emerald revenant Jade knows that since she came back Green Lantern Kyle Rayner just doesn’t look at her the same way anymore…

In New York Ronnie Raymond feels unwelcome at the funeral of Jason Rusch‘s girlfriend Gehenna. When he was dead and dominating the energy-matrix composite dubbed Firestorm, Ron commanded their shared body to turn her to salt but the grieving Jason won’t listen and refuses to believe it was the Black Lantern Ring then animating him which gave the orders. When he again tries to apologise Jason hits him, triggering an unwanted fusion which traps them both in the form of the Nuclear Man…

Meanwhile in Kahndaq, reborn mystic superman Amon Tomaz is greeted as a god by the astounded peasantry. Their shining Osiris swears to them that he will usher in a golden age of prosperity and power whilst at the Arlington National Cemetery returned Avatar of War Hank “Hawk” Hall picks up just where he left off, brutally smashing bad guys whilst partner and Peace Avatar Dove – AKA Dawn Granger – tries to ameliorate the carnage he inflicts. Being dead has done nothing to improve his temperament…

All such things Deadman secretly observes as the power of the voice bounces him unseen around creation, but when it unceremoniously dumps him in the ravaged heart of what was once Star City the power urgently demands that Brand now help it and all of the “returned”. In a flare of white energy it then turns the devastated city centre into a miles wide star-shaped primeval forest…

And in Silver City, New Mexico, ordinary people – exploring a huge crater with an immovable white lantern at its bottom – look up to see intergalactic conqueror Sinestro flying towards them…

Scenes set, the drama truly begins with ‘Second Chances’ (art by Ivan Reis, Patrick Gleason, Ardian Syaf, Scott Clark, Joe Prado Vicente Cifuentes, Mark Irwin, Oclair Albert & David Beaty) as the renegade former Green Lantern is joined by Hal Jordan and Star Sapphire, but none of them can lift the tantalising white power lamp…

Assuming some kind of Sword in the Stone riff is in play, Jordan voices the question everybody is thinking… “Where’s King Arthur?”

Sea King Arthur Curry is half a word away, routing a band of pirates/human traffickers. However his righteous fury gives way to shock and horror when he telepathically summons the aquatic creatures he controls. The only thing which answers is a colossal, half devoured squid. Somehow his power now only affects and compels dead sea life…

At the same time on the Massachusetts coast, a restaurateur stops gutting fish and begins knifing people after seeing a broadcast on Aquaman’s return. Black Manta retired when his greatest foe died but now he has to go and kill him again…

At Pittsburgh University, inside the head of Firestorm, Ronnie and Jason are psychically tearing each other apart, whilst on Mars an agonising suppressed memory resurfaces, driving J’onn J’onzz to Earth to confirm the shocking recollection. In the Peruvian Andes Hawkman and Hawkwoman smash into the mercenaries stealing the bones of their former incarnations and get a chilling inkling of the ancient enemy who has been acting against them…

‘Nuclear Options’ (with additional inks by Tom Nguyen & Rebecca Buchman) opens to find the two component parts of Firestorm still railing against each other but unable to escape the body they spitefully share. Relief only comes after size-changing physicist Ray “The Atom” Palmer invades their conjoined nuclear form and forcibly disrupts the atomic matrix. But before the two separate into their human forms Ronnie detects another presence in the mental mix…

In New York a happy housewife, after years in hiding, learns of Martian Manhunter’s resurrection and slaughters hubby and the kids before resuming her ghastly true shape, whilst in the Andes Carter and Shiera learn that sorcerer Hath-Set – the third side of an ever-reincarnating Eternal Triangle – has been collecting the bones of each and every doom-drenched conjunction, and vow that this time they will end their curse by killing him before he can kill them…

In Colorado J’onn J’onzz visits the dementia-ridden daughter of the scientist who first transported him to Earth and learns the truth of his origins and of the beast Saul Erdel tragically teleported to earth before the Manhunter arrived from Mars…

Still being unwillingly shuttled around the globe, Boston Brand now finds himself transported to the antimatter universe to confront an appalling horror…

Discovering the white ring’s unsuspected offensive capabilities, Brand narrowly escapes an attack by the terrifying Anti-Monitor in ‘Revelations’ (inks by Vicente Cifuentes, Beaty & Irwin) before falling back into our cosmos, whilst in a hospital bed Ronnie Raymond realises the vile mentality of the Black Lantern Firestorm is still with him and hundreds of miles away J’onn J’onzz examines a New York atrocity and realises the beast Erdel summoned him to Earth to destroy now knows he’s coming…

As the White Lantern begins to pulse in Silver City, in Peru the Hawks find the extra-dimensional portal Hath-Set has built from millennia of their bleached bones and follow their nemesis into a bizarre new universe…

‘Thresholds’ then sees them stumble into a fantastic war between incredible beast species on a ferocious and fantastic Hawkworld where Hath-Set is making his final play for ultimate power, whilst back home Boston Brand’s life changes forever after he materialises in Dawn Granger’s bedroom. Both Dove and her maniacally over-protective “big brother” Hawk can see and – quite painfully – touch him…

In Silver City the situation is escalating as an entire lake mysteriously vanishes, whilst in the Bermuda Triangle, a phalanx of eerily familiar aquatic warriors begin to slaughter humans and in Pittsburgh Ron Raymond experiences a ghostly visitation…

‘Under Pressure’ opens with Aquaman and Mera investigating the bloodbath in Bermuda whilst in Georgetown Hawk has dragged Deadman to the grave of Don Hall, determined that his brother will also be revived by Brand’s touch.

As the Sea monarchs work they are attacked by the band of sea soldiers led by Mera’s twin Siren, even as on Hawkworld a furious attack by beastmen separates Carter and Shiera. In a Georgetown cemetery a White Voice admonishes Deadman and refuses to return the at-peace Don Hall. His subsequent attempt to bring back Dawn’s murdered sister is even more of a terrifying travesty…

In Bermuda, having narrowly escaped utter destruction, Mera is compelled to explain to her husband her true origins and the lie they have been living all their married lives…

The Martian Manhunter’s investigations bring him to a shocking conclusion in ‘Dead Zone’ (art from Reis, Clark, Prado, Cifuentes, Beaty, Irwin & extra inks by Christian Alamy) as he realises his mere presence is toxic to terrestrial flora, but whilst Hawk and Dove take the shellshocked Brand for his first meal in decades, in Pittsburgh a construction disaster compels Jason Rusch to summon the Firestorm Matrix, only to find his despised partner has been drowning his sorrows and the resultant merger has left the Nuclear Man dangerously intoxicated. As they struggle to save lives Jason too discovers a third – malevolent – personality in their mind-mix…

After consulting with the Justice League J’onn J’onzz determines to seek out fellow Martian survivor M’gann M’orzz but on arrival at her place of hermitage finds his brutally merciless foe has already found her…

This initial offering concludes with ‘The Secret of Life as Boston, Hawk and Dove are peremptorily teleported to Silver City where the former Deadman lifts the White Lantern and a wave of blinding energy blazes out, transforming all the other returnees and imparting unto all of them – in highly ambiguous terms – the specific reasons for each revivification…

To Be Continued…

Also included is a monumental gallery of 28 covers-&-variants from the series and numerous tie-in titles by David Finch, Scott Williams, Peter Steigerwald, Reis, Chuck Pires, Nei Ruffino, Dave McCaig, Ryan Sook, Pasarin, Joel Gomez, Randy Mayor and Carrie Strachan, with input by Jim Lee.

Complex, convoluted and compelling, this is epic and impressive fare for fans but probably impenetrable to casual readers, but I suspect even the most devout DC disciple will be best served by rereading the assorted volumes of Blackest Night before attempting this wonderful example of tight continuity, cosmic Costumed Drama.
© 2010 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

Yuletide Treat Time… Now Give This!

All year round we review books that would make ideal seasonal presents but believe nobody should be bombarded with gift suggestions before mid-November at least.

This year we’re doing something about it…

Therefore from now until the Big Blow-out we’ll be posting occasional reminders/links to older posts that might just solve any last-minute gift-giving quandaries for the youngsters and merely young at heart in your home.

Here’s a not-so-Seasonal dozen to kick things off…

The Phoenix Presents… Star Cat book 01
By James Turner (David Fickling Books)
ISBN: 978-1-910200-06-3
Win’s Christmas Gift Recommendation: outrageous and hilarious fun for all the family… 9/10

Charley’s War – A Boy Soldier in the Great War
By Pat Mills & Joe Colquhoun (Titan Books)
ISBN: 978-1-78116-914-8
Win’s Christmas Gift Recommendation: A Stunning Masterpiece… 10/10

Showcase Presents Super Friends volume 1
By E. Nelson Bridwell, Denny O’Neil, Ric Estrada, Joe Orlando, Ramona Fradon, Kurt Schaffenberger, Bob Smith & Vince Colletta (DC Comics
ISBN: 978-1-4012-4757-7
Win’s Christmas Gift Recommendation: Delirious All-Ages Super-Fun… 10/10

Starling
By Sage Stossel (Penguin/InkLit)
ISBN: 978-0-42526-631-1
Win’s Christmas Gift Recommendation: A Charming Affirming Delight For Girls All Who Don’t Like Princess Parties… 9/10

Garth Ennis Presents Battle Classics
By John Wagner, Alan Hebden, David Hunt, Mike Western, John Cooper, Cam Kennedy & various (Titan Books)
ISBN: 978-1-78116-741-0
Win’s Christmas Gift Recommendation: Proper Blockbuster Afternoon Entertainment… 9/10

Madison Square Tragedy
By strong>Rick Geary (NBM/ComicsLit)
ISBN: 978-1-56163-762-1
Win’s Christmas Gift Recommendation: Masterful Murder Mystery, Classic Cartooning Confection … 1010

Moomin: the Complete Tove Jansson Comic Strip volume 2
By Tove Jansson (Drawn & Quarterly)
ISBN: 978-1-897299-19-7
Win’s Christmas Gift Recommendation: Perfect Poetic Pictorial Paradise… 10/10

The Phoenix Presents Gary’s Garden book 1
By Gary Northfield (David Fickling Books)
ISBN: 978-1-910200-09-4
Win’s Christmas Gift Recommendation: Anarchic Green Fingered Fun For All… 9/10

Sock Monkey Treasury – A Tony Millionaire’s Sock Monkey Collection
By Tony Millionaire (Fantagraphics Books)
ISBN: 978-1-60699-696-6
Win’s Christmas Gift Recommendation: Utter Ineffable Magic… 10/10

The Phoenix Presents How to Make Awesome Comics (With Professor Panels & Art Monkey!)
By Neill Cameron (David Fickling Books)
ISBN: 978-1-910200-03-2
Win’s Christmas Gift Recommendation: Captivating Activity And Amusement… 9/10

Superman: – The Silver Age Dailies 1959-1961
By Jerry Siegel, Curt Swan, Wayne Boring & Stan Kaye with Otto Binder, Robert Bernstein & Jerry Coleman (IDW Publishing Library of American Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-6137-7666-7
Win’s Christmas Gift Recommendation: Sheer Nostalgic Comicbook Gold … 10/10

Tarzan in the City of Gold (The Complete Burne Hogarth Comic Strip Library volume 1)
By Burne Hogarth and Don Garden (Titan Books)
ISBN: 978-1-78116-317-7
Win’s Christmas Gift Recommendation: Incomparable Cartoon Adventure… 10/10

…And For Older Readers…

Hunger House
By Loka Kanarp & C/M Edenborg, translated by C/M Edenborg & Martin Tistedt (Borderline Press)
ISBN: 978-0-99269-724-2
Win’s Christmas Gift Recommendation: Spooky And Unforgettable Scary Story … 10/10

Blackout volume 1: Into the Dark


By Frank J. Barbiere, Colin Lorimer, Micah Kaneshiro & various (Dark Horse)
ISBN: 978-1-61655-555-9

During the speculation-fuelled 1990s even the normally restrained and aesthetically broad ranging Dark Horse Comics was seduced into creating its own proprietary shared-universe of superhero characters.

Some like Ghost and X were very good and others – such as Barb Wire – even made the then incredibly difficult jump from print to silver screen.

Ever since the company has only cautiously dabbled with the genre; generally preferring to put their unique gloss and on previously well-established (Doc Savage, Captain Midnight, The Shadow), creator-owned (Hellboy, B.P.R.D.) or cachet-laden stars from outside the company (Buffy, The Umbrella Factory).

Now they’re rethinking the policy and creating a new pantheon of home-grown mystery men to join venerable heroic ancients for the ongoing “Project Black Sky” and, with the introduction of Blackout, seem to have found their first sleeper hit…

Written and lettered by Frank J. Barbiere, Into the Dark collects a trio of short introductory tales from the anthological Dark Horse Presents volume 2 #24-26 (May to July 2013) and the first four issues of Blackout from March to July 2014, dropping us into the middle of an ongoing and rapidly escalating crisis for a most unlikely hero…

Illustrated by Micah Kaneshiro and comprising a Chapter 0, the three opening yarns find dull lab assistant and extreme sports devotee Scott Travers in well over his head as he invades extremely hinky corporate science facility Mechatonics in search of his best friend and mentor “Uncle” Bob…

Robert Marshal was the top genius at Avenir Microanalytics, the ideas factory where Travers wastes his days as an underachieving, low-level techie, but the old guy simply vanished one day after a confrontation with some suits from Mechatronics.

Soon after, Scott received a package containing a bizarre science fiction bodysuit and a note which simply said “find me”…

Donning the all-enclosing apparel Scott discovered it could somehow shift him into a kind of parallel dimension: a ‘Strange Terrain’ from which he see and bypass the real world. It even allowed him pass through solid objects here in living world…

Suspecting foul play and with no preparation at all, Scott infiltrates the Mechatronics citadel, easily evading the rent-a-cops by zipping in and out of the chilling silent otherworld. It all goes pretty great until he encounters a beautiful woman with a gun who recognises the clothes, if not the man…

She clearly knows something about Bob and calls the bizarre bodysuit “Blackout”…

Although she gets the drop on him, a quickly opened dark portal plunges them both into the shadow world which Scott only then discovers is deathly cold, pitch black and practically a vacuum for anyone not garbed in a strange spacesuit like him…

Swiftly popping them both back to Earth before she expires, Scott begins to question her about Bob but is interrupted by another newcomer… a giant killer robot…

The ray-gun toting automaton almost destroys him until he manages to chop it in half with a portal, only to discover the thing was actually manned and he might now be a murderer…

As more security moves in, the slowly recovering woman shakes him out of his shocked stupor and urges him to get out…

Illustrated by Colin Lorimer, ‘Into the Dark’ opens with Scott plagued by nightmares that girlfriend Ash can’t console him out of. Stumped for answers – or even clues – Scott decides to show up for work (for a change) and see what a civilian approach can glean.

As police swarm all over, Mechatronics’ big boss Mr. Cassius is quietly interviewing the still shaken Dr. Alexis Luca. She is nowhere near recovered from her brief sojourn in another dimension but Cassius loses all interest when he gets a distressing call from his ominous backers. He anxiously steels himself for more trouble…

Later, when Scott again dons the suit for more covert reconnaissance, he interrupts a band of armed invaders not at all surprised or daunted by his abilities and busy stripping the lab of its databases. Soon he’s in the fight of his life, but once more panic, quick thinking and the suit’s dimension-rending capabilities allow him to prevail.

Elsewhere Cassius’ terrifying Ãœbermensch masters are making demands, insisting he hand over the robotic super-suits they commissioned and paid for…

Having claimed the stolen databases, Scott gets Ash to break into them and what he sees makes him keen to get back to Mechatronics.

This time, however, he’s going in fully prepared so takes time out to test the Blackout’s capabilities…

And that’s when the thing runs out of juice, leaving him stuck in the dark dimension…

Tightly plotted, sharply scripted and superbly illustrated, the first outing for this reluctant shadow warrior is a superb blend of corporate chicanery, sinister secret societies, moody menace, weird science and frantic action that will delight fans of fast-paced conspiracy thrillers and looks set to become a fast favourite of Fight ‘n’ Tights fans who love a smooth veneer of plausibility over the fantasy fiction.

This slim scintillating chronicle also includes a covers and pin-up gallery by Raymond Swanland, Kanashiro and Paulo Rivera.
© 2013, 2014 Dark Horse Inc. All rights reserved. Blackout is ™ Dark Horse Inc.

Amazing Spider-Man: The Parker Luck


By Dan Slott, Christos Gage, Joe Caramagna, Humberto Ramos, Javier Rodriguez, Giuseppe Camuncoli, Chris Eliopoulos, Victor Olazaba & various (Marvel/Panini UK)

ISBN: 978-1-84653-612-0
Win’s Christmas Gift Recommendation: a classic return and reinvention … 8/10

Outcast, geeky school kid Peter Parker was bitten by a radioactive spider and, after seeking to cash-in on the astonishing abilities he’d developed, suffered an irreconcilable personal tragedy. Due to the teenager’s neglect his beloved guardian Uncle Ben was murdered and the traumatised boy determined henceforward to always use his powers to help those in dire need.

For years the brilliant young hero suffered privation and travail in his domestic situation, whilst his heroic alter ego endured public condemnation and mistrust as he valiantly battled all manner of threat and foe…

In 2013 Amazing Spider-Man #700 saw all that was Peter die when Otto Octavius took over his body. The hero’s mind was locked into the villain’s expiring body where, despite his every effort, at the last apparently Parker perished with and within that decrepit frame.

Installed in a strong and vital body, the coldly calculating Doctor Octopus began living his enemy’s life, albeit with some minor but most necessary alterations, upgrades and improvements: arguably becoming a wholly Superior Spider-Man…

Octavius’ monomania proved hard to suppress and the overwritten webspinner was driven to prove himself a better man: augmenting Parker’s paltry gadgets and methodology with millions of spying “Spiderbots” to patrol “his” city, adding advanced tech and new weaponry to his uniform and, most importantly, acting pre-emptively rather than merely reacting to crises as his predecessor had…

Arrogant Otto went back to college because he refused to live his stolen life without a doctorate and even briefly tried to rekindle his new body’s old relationship with Mary Jane Watson. The ultra-efficient new Spider-Man became New York’s darling and even Mayor J. Jonah Jameson embraced the hero – all but adopting the Astounding Arachnid as his deputy – but the situation could not last.

As Spider-Man ambitiously extended his campaign of 21st century crime-fighting “Parker” won a doctorate and opened his own tech company whilst entering into a romance with brilliant college Teaching Assistant Anna Maria Marconi.

The self-appointed guardian increasingly monitored his metropolis through the electronic eyes of millions of spiderbots from his citadel on the renamed Spider Island II, but when resurgent criminal mastermind Goblin King (former Green Goblin Norman Osborn) tried to take over the city with his Goblin Army Cult the resultant clash gave the dormant but indomitable personality of Peter Parker a chance to fight free.

Dramatically reclaiming his body and place in the world he ended the Goblin threat but not before the immense destruction trashed his good name and reputation with the people he had saved…

Moreover, now that he’s back Peter still he has to deal with all the incredible changes in his personal life created by his gone-but-not-forgotten foe…

Scripted by Dan Slott and illustrated by Humberto Ramos & Victor Olazaba, The Parker Luck collects issues #1-6 of Amazing Spider-Man volume 3 (cover-dated June-November 2014), delivering a bold fresh start that begins with a revised view of the hero’s origin in ‘Lucky to be Alive’.

It turns out that when that fateful radioactive spider attacked the nerdy science student thirteen years previously it didn’t die immediately. In fact it managed to sink its fangs into another youngster before expiring…

Back in the present the reinvigorated Spider-Man is back in the swing of things and having the most embarrassing day of his life. Attempting to capture The Menagerie (a gang of fauna-themed thieves comprising White Rabbit, Hippo, Pandamania and Skein) the hero barely manages to incapacitate them before the fabric-dissolving felon previously known as Gypsy Moth disintegrates his costume…

Although he is quick enough to rescue his identity-shielding mask he’s far too late to save his dignity, and the world – thanks to the magic of camera phones and the internet – gets to see far more of the hero than they might have wanted. Luckily he had presence of mind enough to use his webbing to whip up a pair of modesty preserving (sort of) silk pants…

Heading back to the apartment he doesn’t remember buying, Parker finds Anna Marie waiting. He’s been trying to find a way to end their engagement but although she’s already found his “dump the girlfriend” notes she has other things on her mind now.

Watching the battle against the Menagerie online she saw something only she might recognise and realised her boyfriend was Spider-Man.

She was still at this point utterly unaware that she had actually fallen for Otto Octavius in that distinctive if borrowed body, and the man currently in her life quite sensibly considered her to be a complete stranger.

Unable to dissuade her from her conclusions, Peter comes clean and gains a new – if now strictly platonic – ally.

Barely in time too, as the webbing he used to save the world’s blushes had been previously improved by Ock and just won’t dissolve like his old formulation used to…

Immediately prior to his cascade of crises, Peter had held his first press conference as the boss of a major tech company and officially severed the outfit’s previously-trumpeted association with Spider-Man, but couldn’t understand why all his employees were terrified of him.

It was already turning into that kind of day whilst elsewhere more trouble brewed…

Super-menace Electro is currently (get it?) on a rampage. Thanks to the Superior Spider-Man monkeying with his brain, high-voltage villain Max Dillon had lost control of his powers and become an uncontrollable danger to himself and everyone around him.

Elsewhere former Mayor Jameson reels in fury. Thanks to his association with the Superior Spider-Man and resultant destruction to the city he has had to resign and even his beloved Daily Bugle now wants nothing to do with him…

The first of a selection of sidebar shorts returns to Electro’s dilemma in ‘Recapturing That Old Spark’ (Slott with Christos Gage, illustrated by Javier Rodriguez & Álvaro López) as fugitive felon Max Dillon, stung by the taunts of a new generation of costumed criminals, attempts to reclaim his fearsome reputation by springing every super-villain held in an upstate maximum security prison.

Unfortunately, thanks to the illicit brain surgery of “Spider-Man”, he can no longer control his power and, in the resultant meltdown, fries the entire institution. In the horrific aftermath fully half the staff and inmates are dead and Electro swears to make the Wallcrawler pay…

The first consequence of his actions is seen in ‘Crossed Paths’ (Slott, Gage, Giuseppe Camuncoli, John Dell & Cam Smith) as the botched break allows inmate Felicia Hardy to escape incarceration. The Black Cat was a high end thief who had an on-again, off-again affair with the original Spider-Man, but the Octavius iteration betrayed her, outed her and jailed her.

With her identity exposed she lost everything, especially her anonymity and aura of infallibility so she too wants revenge…

Wrapping up all the extra features is humorous vignette ‘How My Stuff Works’ by Joe Caramagna & Chris Eliopoulos; providing a deceptively sharp, palate-cleansing glimpse at the webslinger’s powers and gimmicks before more fresh hells start unfolding…

The drama continues with a teasing prelude set in an opulent bunker where a young woman with all Spider-Man’s powers and more whiles away her days before segueing back to Peter’s apartment where he and Anna Maria have reached an unconventional, cards-on-the-table accommodation…

Elsewhere in the city Dillon visits his last friend with tragic repercussions and sometime later Spider-Man, still suffering the embarrassing after-effects of super-webbing underpants, finally has something go his way when The Avengers – after corroborating his incredible explanation – readmit him to the team…

Later however at Parker Industries, a new problem arises when unscrupulous colleague Sajani Jaffrey informs him that the company’s most promising line of research is going down the tubes. Peter’s problem is that robotic nanites were the speciality of Octavius and young Doctor Parker is completely out of his depth. Thankfully Anna Maria has a way of fixing the problem whilst saving the kid’s face.

Too soon, though, things get very dark when Electro goes on a Spider-hunting rampage. After a destructive but inconclusive clash with the bad guy and subsequent sobering pep talk with old frenemy Johnny Storm, Parker then announces that his company is shifting priorities and will put all its efforts into creating super-villain containment facilities and perhaps even cures…

Whilst in her secret bunker Cindy Moon once again fails to escape back to the real world, on the Upper West Side the Black Cat luxuriates in her return to criminality and, in a grimy building in Alphabet City, Electro fumes, flares and goes even more mad…

Parker’s old and new worlds collide when he takes a team of boffins to the site of Electro’s latest trauma and meets again fireman Pedro Olivera – the new boyfriend of his old flame Mary Jane Watson.

The situation in Alphabet City escalates and as buildings burns Spidey and Pedro become fast friends: a sight missed by Jonah Jameson who has been forced to swallow both pride and principles and start work as a presenter on infotainment network The Fact Channel.

As the Wallcrawler and Pedro clear a blazing warehouse, Black Cat ambushes her former lover using her “bad luck powers” and the heroes barely escape with their lives.

In her smug retreat however Felicia stumbles over the mentally unstable Dillon and recruits a dangerous but determined ally…

Days pass and as Parker increasingly creeps out his bewildered employees trying to be their friend, Sanjani realises she has to do something drastic. When he’s not harassing the peons, her formerly manically focused boss is frequently missing and she’s fed up with Marconi covering for him…

This fourth issue and the next one are part of the monumental Original Sin crossover event and finds our hero desperately trying to convince every costumed crusader he knows that all his recent behaviours were caused by Doc Ock when the world changes forever…

Spider-Man is at ground zero when rapidly mutating maniac The Orb detonates a bomb full of all humanity’s deepest secrets and thus suddenly knows everything about Cindy Moon…

Hurtling across town to the bunker she’s been pent in for thirteen years, Peter runs into a recorded message from deceased Spider-Shaman Ezekiel Sims (see Amazing Spider-Man: Coming Home)…

He first met the frustratingly enigmatic old man with spider-powers whilst being stalked by an immortal, man-shaped beast named Morlun. The supernal horror fed on superheroes but far preferred the ancient and totemic animal spirits which forced or enabled the creation of so many champions and monsters throughout Earth’s long history. Exactly like the one which had actually given Parker his own iteration of the eternal Spider force, in fact…

Breaking into the bunker Peter is promptly attacked by the half-crazed Cindy, who was incarcerated unhappily but more or less willingly. When she first developed her own powers Ezekiel sought her out her and convinced her she could only be safe behind the cloaking defences of his technological hideaway.

When Peter explains that he’s already killed Morlun she calms down and exultantly creates a new identity for herself. Within moments Spider-Man and Silk are swinging joyously from the rooftops.

…And on the other side of the world, a patient monster smiles, having finally scented the “spider-bride” he’s been waiting so long for…

As they speed across town Peter realises that not only is his companion faster and stronger than he is with a far more effective Spider sense, but she can also generate webbing from within her body naturally…

His idle speculations end when they arrive at her parent’s place only to discover that the Moons are long gone. In trying to console Cindy Pete then lets slip that Morlun has died twice and she explodes in terror and anger. Furiously pointing out that it only proves that the beast can come back from the dead, she concludes correctly that the horror is probably already coming for them…

Their argument escalates into savage combat but at the height of the battle a different passion overwhelms them both…

Part five begins as vengeance-obsessed Felicia makes her next move by viciously ousting super thug The Eel and taking over his gang and rackets. As she carves out a place in New York’s criminal hierarchy, at the Fact Channel Jonah is ignominiously and incestuously arranging his first scoop by investigating on air the plans of his “brother-in-law” Peter Parker (Aunt May having recently married Jonah’s father, of course…).

Barely able to keep their sticky hands off each other, Cindy and Peter are fortuitously interrupted by Anna Maria who promptly drags him off to the studio in hopes that he can salvage the plummeting reputation of Parker Industries, but that possibility seems shot all to hell when Black Cat and Electro attack the set. Sadly for them they weren’t expecting two spectacular Spider people…

Driven away, the crazed outlaws regroup for one final attempt at revenge but their shattering ambush is turned against them in the blockbusting, battle-frenzied finale which sees Silk and Spider-Man triumph over impossible odds and start to take control of their fatefully intertwined lives…

This astoundingly absorbing chronicle tome includes a monolithic covers-&-variants gallery of 60 stunning images (including many preproduction sketches and pencil/ink art examples) by Ramos, Edgar Delgado, Alex Ross, Terry Dodson, Mike Perkins, John Romita Sr., Marcos Martin, Pop Mahn, Neal Adams, Jerome Ope̱a, John Cassaday, Kevin Maguire, J. Scott Campbell, Barry Bradfield, Adi Granov, Chris Samnee, Dale Keown, Kevin Nowlan, Mico Suayan, Greg Horn, Ed McGuinness, Simone Bianchi, Mike Deodato, Tim Sale, Frank Cho, Stephanie Hans, Skottie Young, Nick Bradshaw, Steve Epting, Luke Ross and John Tyler Christopher, and come with AR icon sections РMarvel Augmented Reality App pages providing access to story bonuses and content on your smart-phone or Android-enabled tablet.

Sensational, spectacular and indeed amazing, The Parker Luck brilliantly mixes outrageous fun and bombastic action with irresistible soap opera tension to recharge the batteries of comics’ most misunderstood hero and lay the groundwork for further enticing and unmissable perils, tragedies and triumphs in the days to come.

To Be Continued…
™ & © 2014 Marvel & Subs. Licensed by Marvel Characters B.V. through Panini S.p.A. All rights reserved. A British Edition published by Panini Publishing, a division of Panini UK, Ltd.

The Squickerwonkers volume 1


By Evangeline Lilly & Johnny Fraser-Allen (Titan Books)
ISBN: 978-1-78329-545-6

Win’s Christmas Gift Recommendation: Beguiling fun for kids of all ages… 9/10

In the good old days children used to be exposed to literature both entertaining and at the same time morally edifying. Generally that meant frontloading wonderful tales of adventure and imagination with scarcely concealed threats of dire retribution for acts of rebellion of minor malfeasance – and a good thing too, say I.

Coming from that first generation of kids who grew up watching Doctor Who from behind the sofa, we all know the value of thrills, chills and spectacle safely experienced from a base of comfortable security. The stuff we read – such as the unexpurgated Fairytales of the Brothers Grimm – gave us all a thorough grounding in wonder and responsibility and a deep loathing of sanitised modern pablum masquerading as entertainment for youngsters.

Happily, recent times have thrown up an increasing number of tomes for tots that tantalisingly re-embrace the wild, dark and deliciously dangerous realms of fantasy and wonder and such is definitely the case with this delirious original comic romp from actress and author Evangeline Lilly (Lost, The Hobbit, The Hurt Locker).

Delivered in vivacious, vivid verse, this splendid picture book is astoundingly and lavishly illustrated by Johnny Fraser-Allen (senior sculptor and conceptual designer at WETA Workshop with works like The Hobbit trilogy, Narnia Chronicles and Spielberg’s Tintin to his credit): an introductory bestiary to a band of particularly peculiar creatures with their own rigorously enforced code of conduct…

Simply stuffed to overflowing with utterly entrancing painterly images of the rough-carved and close-cut cast, the rhythmic revelations commence following a glowing and emphatic Introduction from Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens, after which the curtain rises on obnoxiously tantrum-addicted little Selma, supercilious scion of the Rin-Run Royals.

On this occasion the haughty tyke pokes her over-privileged nose into a fascinating travelling circus wagon and encounters a family of eerie animated puppets and macabre marionettes who are uniformly unimpressed by her credentials and uncouth demands to see the incredible “Squickershow”…

Taking umbrage at her boorish manners the dauntingly garish Papa the Proud parades his bizarre band of brothers and sisters before “inviting” Selma to join their creepy capering crowd. Her tantrums are all to no avail and soon she is literally enchanted to become just one of the gang…

As well as the laconic epic of leery limericks and arcane etchings, this stunning book also includes luxurious biographies of the creative crew involved and ends with a fabulous no-strings attached feature giving each of The Squickerwonkers their moment in the limelight.

The roguish retinue of delightful dummies includes the aforementioned Papa the Proud, Mama the Mean, Gilligan the Guilty, Meghan the Mute, Greer the Greedy, Gillis the Gluttonous, Sparky the Spectacle, Lorna the Lazy, Andy the Arrogant and, making her travelling stage puppet show debut, Selma the Spoiled…

Clearly conceived with one wise eye towards an animated feature in the future, this slim cautionary comedy of manners highlights a coterie of unsettling stars in a rousing fable your kids will want to read over and over again. And so will you.
© 2013 Evangeline Lilly.