Category: Vertigo

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Crossing Midnight book 2:


By Mike Carey, Jim Fern, Eric Nguyen & Mark Pennington (Vertigo)
ISBN: 978-1-84576-726-6

Lots of westerners are fascinated with the myths and culture of Japan, but superbly sinister storyteller Mike Carey (his work, not him; he’s a thoroughly decent and upright young fellow) has taken it to a staggering new level of wit and sophistication, blending elegant fantasy with contemporary horror and crime cinema in this tale of a magical quest through the darkest lands of the of the Rising Sun both fabulously mythic and brutally, bewilderingly raw and modern.

Kai and Toshi Hara are twins born either side of the Witching Hour in Nagasaki, and that crucial time difference has shaped and blighted their lives. Born seven minutes after midnight Toshi is no ordinary girl: bold, energetic and utterly immune to all harm from edges and points. No blade will cut her; butt her 14 minute older brother seems painfully weak and mortal.

Their loving parents have problems too. Their mother was killed by Aratsu, celestial Lord of the Knives and restored without a soul whilst their father has been sucked into the deadly world of the Yakuza…

This second volume (collecting issues #6-12 of the impressive and stylish Vertigo comic book) finds Kai still hunting for his missing sister through the darkest, nastiest places of the city, whilst his sister undergoes an esoteric training period before she can become a full – if reluctant – servant to her divine master.

Kai finds an unlikely ally among the police and discovers the utterly mundane horrors of the Enjokosai when a trio of schoolgirls aid him in the hunt for his sister, much to their short-lived regret, as a dreadful supernatural beast comes hunting in those places where innocence is unashamedly for sale.

Enjokosai: “reward” or “compensated dating” is a publicly acknowledged and generally accepted phenomenon and common practice that sees Japanese schoolgirls flirt and accompany men for gifts, and although the girl is nominally dominant and dictates how far she will – or won’t – go, the dangers of openly eroticized children bargaining with sexually predatory men is one that thankfully just isn’t tolerated in many places outside Japan.

Kai’s search brings the vindictive world of the Kami directly to these thoroughly modern ladies with horrific consequences, but they’re just more collateral damage in a millennial struggle that is swiftly approaching a bloody climax.

With war brewing in the realm of spirits and shadows, rebellious Toshi is working to her own agenda but against creatures so ancient and diabolically experienced how can she possibly succeed or escape?

Split into two story-arcs, ‘A Map of Midnight’ and the intensely disturbing ‘Bedtime Stories’ Carey, Jim Fern, Eric Nguyen and Mark Pennington have truly pushed the boundaries of horror fiction, interweaving legendary Nippon and modern Japan with dystopian culture clashes, childhood terrors, gangster action and even social politics into a dazzling and very adult fairytale epic that nearly defies categorisation. It really is a series no mature fantasy fan should miss…
© 2007 Mike Carey and Jim Fern. All Rights Reserved.

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Crossing Midnight book 1: Cut Here


By Mike Carey, Jim Fern, Rob Hunter & Mark Pennington (Vertigo)
ISBN: 978-1-84576-666-5

The variety and power of mythology is the greatest gift of our convoluted collective history as a species and for the imaginative amongst us it works twice. As children we absorb tales of magic and love and heroism with open-mouthed, unblinking wonder and they become part of our day-to-day existence: “fairy-tale romance”, “evil stepmother”, “Prince Charming” and a hundred other phrases are part of a verbal short-hand we all share without thinking. And when we’re older we seek out modern rehashings of those tales in our preferred media of fictional entertainment.

What horror-movie can’t be reduced to Hansel and Gretel or Little Red Riding Hood, and which action blockbuster hasn’t got an indomitable Jack overcoming all obstacles? And Rom-Coms?: c’mon!

For some there are also tales from other cultures which can be ingested in pure form such as the various interpretations of China’s Monkey King (see Journey to the West, Monkey Subdues the White Bone Demon or Havoc in Heaven for example) or even the triumphant Fables revising our childhood landscape with all the scary, salacious bits restored…

And then there’s synthesis…

Lots of westerners are fascinated with the myths and culture of Japan, but scary storyteller Mike Carey has taken it to a captivating new level, blending elegant fantasy with contemporary horror stories and gangster cinema in this tale (comprising issues #1-5 of the much-missed Vertigo comic book) of a magical quest through the darkest parts of the modern lands of the Rising Sun.

Kai and Toshi Hara are twins born in Nagasaki, one either side of the Witching Hour, and that crucial time difference will forever blight their lives… Born seven minutes after midnight Toshi is no ordinary girl: bold, energetic and utterly immune to any and all harm from edges and points; no blade will touch; but her older brother seems painfully weak and mortal. Unknown to all when they were little kids they accidentally slipped into a spirit world, and although they came back their friend Saburo was never seen again.

Their loving parents have problems too. When father asks the wrong question about shipments at the office he falls foul of the Yakuza, and always Toshi is becoming more difficult, more rebellious…

One night when they are barely into their teens a figure appears in her room: Aratsu, celestial Lord of the Knives has come to claim her as his new servant, and unless she complies her family will suffer. Suddenly discovering his own supernatural ability Kai drives Aratsu away but he will return and if she goes it will be as if she never existed…

Seemingly helpless the twins are inexorably drawn into the world of the Kami, spirits and shadows real and hungry who shed no tears when their mortal pawns die in horrendous ways. As the real and unreal increasingly weave together Kai finds himself in the unusual role of protector, saving his father and rescuing Toshi from a life of immortal servitude and unending horror

Burt eventually Aratsu gets his way and Kai determines to get his sister back at all costs…

Carey, Fern, Hunter and Pennington have crafted a superb blend of legendary Nippon and modern Japan with dystopian culture clashes, childhood nightmares and gangster action swirling together in this compelling horror, mystery fairytale epic that almost defies categorisation. I define it as a book no adult fantasy fan should miss…
© 2007 Mike Carey and Jim Fern. All Rights Reserved.

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Books of Magick: Life During Wartime

Books of Magic: Life During Wartime 

By Si Spencer & Dean Ormston (DC Comics)
ISBN 1-84576-005-0

Neil Gaiman is a big name in comics. He’s one of those guys who’s “made it” in the realer world but hasn’t completely turned his back on comics. He is also one of a small creative elite whose name liberally spread out on a book cover can bring non-comic clientele to a package, which is a long-winded way of saying that no comic title he’s been involved with will long stay in Limbo.

The latest return of The Books of Magick and super magician Tim Hunter features yet another revamp of the young, guileless innocent that Gaiman, John Bolton and a small band of painterly superstars tasked with a journey of self-discovery through all the Mystic Realms of the DC Universe back in the 1990s. Unfortunately a lot of pages have been published since then and the scrofulous young yob starring here is no kin to that waif.

This in itself is no bad thing. The adventures begin in another universe where humanity and demons are at war, a supernatural global conflict that has pushed Man to the brink of extinction. One last bastion lies besieged and Vertigo stalwart John Constantine is their embattled leader, as they await the return of their all-powerful deity, The Hunter.

The echoes of William Hope Hodgeson and C. S. Lewis are interrupted with a segue to a young adult Tim in what looks like our reality, dossing about after graduating university, doing drugs, swilling beer and shagging totty, just like anybody. As the story progresses long-time readers will realise that something is amiss, though. This life is just as out of whack as the demon war-scape and events lead to the inevitable conclusion that a deadly congruence of circumstance will catapult Tim and his coterie of reprobates into an alien Armageddon.

My poncey locution aside, this is quite an enjoyable fantasy ride. Si Spencer brings his television writing (Grange Hill, Eastenders) into the mix of earthly and unreal to great effect – let’s face it, most comics are soap-operas these days – and Dean Ormston manages to be grungy and stylish at the same time. My quibble stems from what I said earlier.

Although a re-interpretation, much of the narrative depends on a more than passing knowledge of the DC Universe (Hellblazer, Zatanna etc.) and especially the characters such as idealised girl friend Molly, from the long previous runs of Books of Magick. If those comics had sold well enough to garner a solid readership, we wouldn’t be discussing this new version at all, and to ask new readers to muddle along knowing there’s a subtext but not getting it seems at best harsh and at worst a recipe for yet another early bath.

For those Gaiman groupies, it might be an actual turn off from an otherwise useful addition to comics’ adult fantasy stable, and even comics in general.

© 2005 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

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100 Bullets: The Hard Way

100 Bullets: The Hard Way 

By Brian Azzarello & Eduardo Risso (Vertigo)
ISBN 1-84576-041-7

After a frankly spectacular beginning, this brilliantly stylish crime/conspiracy thriller could only decline in quality, and such was indeed the case. When as sleek and glossy a story-hook as “what if you were given an untraceable gun, one hundred bullets and a damned good reason”, is in the creative hands of talents like Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso you know the resultant drama is going to start big, but after 50+ issues can they maintain the adrenaline and the pace?

Until recently, the answer seemed to be “No”. However, with the eighth volume The Hard Way (collecting issues #50-58 of the monthly comic) there is a welcome return to form and the muddled shufflings of the previous volume now appear as nothing more than scene settings for another major charge.

The centre piece for the latest book is the true history of the United States of America and the origins of the Trust – an illicit organisation that actually controls the country. We get further insight into the workings of Agent Graves and the lethal team of gangsters called The Minutemen, through the usual quota of blood, sex, guns, intrigue and the harshest of harsh language.

As members of the Trust plan to rewrite their 400 year old accord, the scattered members of Grave’s old team circle in the wings. Wylie Times takes a bloody sabbatical in New Orleans, and becomes involved in a couple of nasty domestic vendettas, which in turn leads to the removal of a major player in the drama.

This return to form provides gripping thrills and promises an incredible future climax to what may be the best crime-comic ever published.

© 2005 Brian Azzarello, Eduardo Risso & DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

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Hellblazer: Black Flowers

Hellblazer: Black Flowers

By Mike Carey & various (Vertigo)
ISBN 1-84576-186-3

This Constantine collection (reprinting issues #181-186) sees Carey setting his own skewed stamp on the iconic street wizard with a collection of tales that gently move the series towards a spectacular climax to celebrate the comic’s then impending bi-centenary. Carey’s greatest strength is his meticulous forward planning and many seeds are planted here to compliment those already scattered in the previous volume Red Sepulchre.

First up is The Game of Cat and Mouse, illustrated by Jock, which sees Constantine running for so much more than his life from Spectral ‘messengers’ through the secret parts of London. Lee Bermejo provides chilling art for the eponymous Black Flowers as the wizard gathers allies and information whilst purging a sleepy hamlet of some unwelcome dead visitors who’ve broken out of the local insane asylum. Fan favourite Marcelo Frusin provides pictures for the final tale Third Worlds as Constantine and his companion go travelling, encountering some old acquaintances – most notably the Swamp Thing – whilst preparing themselves for the latest Armageddon Hammer to fall.

Hellblazer is consistently terrifying and hilarious by turn, and John Constantine is probably the best anti-hero ever written. Carey and friends are consistently creating a grim, chilling, engrossing and uproarious horror romp. The least you can do is consistently own these collections. A vote with your wallet just means they’ll keep on doing it, right?

© 2003 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

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Hellblazer: Red Sepulchre

Hellblazer: Red Sepulchre

By Mike Carey, Marcelo Frusin, Steve Dillon & Jimmy Palmiotti
ISBN 1-84576-068-9

The first post-movie Hellblazer collection should take the bad taste out of fans’ mouths as Mike (Lucifer) Carey takes over the writing and immediately re-establishes the essential post-punk Englishness and milieu of the character.

Arriving illegally back in Liverpool after his American adventures, the coolest sod in comics visits his sister to discover a necromantic blight affecting the block of flats she lives in. After tackling that particular evil (High on Life from Hellblazer # 175-176, illustrated by veteran Vertigoer Steve Dillon), he returns to London to track down his missing niece Gemma, who has become an unwitting pawn in a vicious bidding war for The Red Sepulchre, a mystical artefact of legendary and unquantifiable power (issues # 177-180).

This is a welcome return to vintage form for John Constantine. Rife with double-cross and manipulation, the magician inveigles and connives his way through all sorts of Hells, with his customary Game-Face grin and plot-within-plot strategy, seemingly taking hit after hit but always most assuredly in absolute control of the field.

Marcelo Frusin’s sparse storytelling and his fearfully disciplined drawing whips the reader from page to page like fat kids down a water-slide for a completely unvarnished thrill-ride, and Carey’s essential grasp of Constantine makes for some of the best urban horror since Garth Ennis’s run on the title. Long-time fans should also appreciate the wonderfully subtle foreshadowings hidden herein when later issues are collected. Here is quality stuff that starts strong and gets better, and new readers can safely jump on for a truly spooky time.

© 2005 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

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Y The Last Man: Girl on Girl

Y The Last Man: Girl on Girl 

By Brian K. Vaughan, Pia Guerra, Goran Sudžuka & José Marzán Jr.

(Vertigo)  ISBN 1-84576-179-0

I’m finally warming to these travails of Yorick Brown as he lives out the supposed daydream of every man, namely being the only guy on a planet full of chicks. Naturally, life is never so simple nor, luckily, quite so crass, and the horrors which this nondescript young hero has to endure are as much of his own making as the result of cosmic catastrophe.

When every male creature on Earth expired, Beth, Yorick’s true love, and dedicated anthropology student, was on a field trip in the Australian Outback, and all his previous adventures have been geared to reuniting with her, despite the collapse of civilisation, and ultimately all higher life on Earth. This volume, reprints issues #32-36, with Yorick aboard a ship bound for Japan.

He and his long time-retinue, bodyguard Agent 355 and biochemist Dr Allison Mann, who have been tasked by the surviving US government (coincidentally his mum) with the twin tasks of ensuring our boy’s survival and finding out why he’s still breathing, are all in pursuit of Ampersand, his pet monkey, the only other male alive, who has been ape-napped by a mysterious ninja. Apparently the monkey holds the secret to the mystery of the plague which killed all us mouth-breathing, unsanitary louts.

Whilst aboard ship, Yorick’s drag disguise yet again fails and his concomitant and somewhat unwilling liaison with the lusty ship’s Captain is only thwarted by a torpedo fired by the Australian Navy. It seems that the lad is going to Oz after all, despite the depredations of pirates, drug runners, ninja-assassins and the imminent return of old foe General Alter Tse’elon and her renegade cadre of Israeli commandos, but naturally life – and comic-books – ain’t that simple. Yorick might not be absolutely sure that Beth is actually alive, but we are, and the last chapter tells her story, and hints that when her man comes for her, she might not actually be there anymore…

By sticking with this overused premise but by carefully building strong, credible characters and situations, Vaughan has crafted an intellectually seductive fantasy soap-opera of memorable power, and the narrative thread has consistently advanced to the point that this less than avid original reader is actually keen to see where we go from here. The quality of writing and art have won this series many fans since it began and if I can become one, then so might you.

© 2005 Brian K.Vaughan & Pia Guerra. All Rights Reserved.

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Hellblazer: Staring at the Wall

Hellblazer: Staring at the Wall 

By Mike Carey, Marcelo Frusin & Doug Alexander Gregory

(Vertigo)  ISBN 1-84576-233-9

This collection of the adventures of the world’s cockiest mystical bad-ass (from Hellblazer issues #187-193) sees an on-his-uppers John Constantine gathering what feeble allies he can muster as the un-nameable supernatural horror that has been waiting to devour humanity since the dawn of time (and for the previous two volumes) finally gets its snout in the door.

The chills begin with his niece Gemma having her own grisly adventure as the dupe of an old acquaintance of her uncle, who lures her to a seemingly deserted Scottish Island to complete a old mission and a new magical machine in Bred in the Bone, illustrated by Doug Alexander Gregory, before she eventually, and reluctantly joins Constantine in London for the main event, drawn with creepy and economical effectiveness by regular artist Marcelo Frusin.

Carey’s writing smoulders with a steady and overwhelming oppressiveness as his rag-tag band of desperate and self-serving mystics are forced to combine their talents in a desperate and inevitably futile attempt to thwart a truly unstoppable opponent who (which? what?) not only out-powers them, but has also achieved the inconceivable by out-foxing the arch-trickster Constantine.

How the wily con-man defeats a Thing that has won it all, and what the genuinely terrible cost is, provides a masterful horror tour-de-force that is compelling and eminently satisfying. Mike Carey’s tenure on this series is going to be one that will always rank as the highest of high points.

© 2003, 2004 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

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Fables: Homelands

Fables: Homelands

By Bill Willingham, Mark Buckingham, David Hahn, Lan Medina & Steve Leialoha

(Vertigo)  ISBN 1-84576-124-3

Vertigo’s best title just keeps getting better. As well as the long anticipated revelation of the identity of the Adversary, this volume (collecting issues # 34-41 of the monthly comic) also contains concurrent adventures featuring the fate of the morally ambivalent Jack (the Giant-Killer, and the Bean-stalk, et al) plus a foreboding, foreshadowing tale featuring Mowgli’s (of Kipling’s Jungle Books) return from a mystery mission.

Fables deals with refugee fairytale characters who all fled to mundane Earth from their various mythic realms to escape conquest by a mysterious and unbeatable adversary. Keeping their true nature hidden from humanity they have created enclaves where their immortality, magic and sheer strangeness (all the talking animals are sequestered on a remote farm in upstate New York, for example) keep them luxuriously safe. Many characters wander the human world, but always under an injunction not to draw attention to themselves.

This volume begins with a revelation that the always ‘difficult’ Jack has gone to Hollywood with stolen Fable funds and created a new studio solely to create a trilogy of fantasy films detailing his own exploits, absolutely counter to Fabletown edicts. His fate (illustrated by David Hahn) serves as a lead in to the true meat of the book: Little Boy Blue’s return to the lands of Fable on a mission of revenge and a search for his lost love. Following this, Jack will be starring in his own spin-off series, of which more at a future date…

In many ways this is the most traditional story – in comic book terms – that this series has ever produced, as the heroic Blue, with the aid of plundered magic weapons taken from the Fabletown Armoury, battles his way to the adversary’s very throne room before he is defeated by the Snow Queen, the tyrant’s number two.

Compounding cliff-hanger with teaser, Willingham then switches the story back to Earth for a glimpse at the lives of the other escaped story-people. Meanwhile drawn by Lan Medina, updates the continuity with a series of vignettes that serves to set up the next major storyline as well as lay the groundwork for the eventual return of the long missing – and popular – Bigby Wolf.

Returning to the Homelands opus Willingham and Buckingham complete their tale with stirring panache, revealing the identity of the arch-foe, delivering a memorable climax, and even then managing to pull a surprise rug out from under the feet of we weary, worldly-wise funnybook veterans.

This series just keeps on improving. A wild and savvy exploration of traditional story-telling leavened with acerbic wit and cynical street-smarts, always beautifully drawn. You must read this series (but only if you’re over eighteen, or nobody in authority is watching).

© 2005 Bill Willingham & DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

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Sebastian O

Sebastian O 

By Grant Morrison and Steve Yeowell

(Vertigo)  ISBN 1-84023-996-4

The mini-series was one of the earliest Vertigo outings and sadly doesn’t stand so well against later work by the writer or publisher. Blending Michael Moorcock’s alternative spy Jerry Cornelius with steampunk standbys, the myth of Oscar Wilde and the author’s fascination with higher dimensions, this is the tale of effete aesthete and super assassin Sebastian O’Leary, who escapes from Bedlam to wreak vengeance on the man who betrayed him — and inadvertently save the Empire from a cyber-space invasion.

It is well scripted, if a little forced, but the pretentious need to show off one’s cleverness obscures the narrative flow, don’tcha know, and were it not for the spectacularly underplayed drawings of Steve Yeowell, one might be forced to conclude that it’s all a bit of a bore.

©1993 Grant Morrison and Steve Yeowell. All Rights Reserved.
Cover and compilation © 2004 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.