BATMAN: ARKHAM CITY by Paul Dini, Carlos D’Anda and various, DC/ Titan, h/b, £16.99

Reviewed by Jay Eales

From the man behind some of the very best Batman animated stories, Paul Dini, comes the lead-in to one of the biggest computer games of the year: Batman: Arkham City.  Dini has to walk a similar path to Jeph Loeb with his various Batman miniseries projects, and find a way to incorporate all the heavy hitters of the Batman rogues gallery. That he does this in a way that manages to remain fresh is testament to his skill.

Artwise, Carlos D’Anda puts in a workmanlike job, with occasional high points. There’s nothing to particularly dislike about his work, but there are plenty of artists I’d rather see here, such as Ted Naifeh, who illustrates one of several short related pieces at the end of the book.

The only real problem is that it relies on the reader being familiar with the previous Arkham game, Batman: Arkham Asylum, and its job is to move the pieces around to set up the new Arkham City game, so it was always doomed to be the middle bit of a sandwich. Although I don’t know about you, but my favourite bit is the filling. I don’t have a games console capable of playing the Arkham games, so this is the only bite of the sandwich I have to go on.

Storywise, it takes up in the aftermath of Arkham Asylum, where an augmented version of Bane’s venom was used to power up a bunch of other Bat-villains, who run riot. Now, the Asylum’s Chief Warden becomes Gotham’s Mayor, and instigates a new rehabilitation programme where certain sections of Gotham are walled off, Escape from New York style, and criminals are thrown over the wall to fight for supremacy. Sounds like an insane plan? Certainly, but there’s a power behind the throne, and the Mayor is being manipulated by another of Batman’s foes, for reasons that won’t be made clear until the finale in the Arkham City game.

Prelude to Arkham City does exactly what it sets out to do, which is to explain how you get from A to B in a breezy entertaining manner, whetting the appetite for the feast to come. But that’s all there is to it. For fans of the games, that’s mission accomplished. If you’ve no intention of buying the games, you’ll feel as though you’ve had the prawn cocktail and gone home while everyone else tucks into the main course.

ONE MODEL NATION by Courtney Taylor-Taylor and Jim Rugg, Titan Books, h/b, £16.99

Reviewed by Jay Eales

Well, I’m sorry to say that I didn’t like that at all. A heavily fictionalised biography of a Kraftwerk-inspired German electro-pop/rock band during the height of Krautrock, against a backdrop of the Baader-Meinhof Gang’s terrorist activities. Definitely a promising and original scenario, and one I was interested in exploring. It’s an era I have some fondness for, but one I’ve always been meaning to investigate in more depth, so I was hoping that One Model Nation would fill in some of those blanks for me. Unfortunately, the script by Courtney Taylor-Taylor, better known as the lead singer of the Dandy Warhols, takes a lot of liberties with the facts in order to bolster the fiction, but doesn’t serve either well. I found the whole thing muddied and inconsistent, with the characterisation of the band members other than Sebastian as uniform as their stage costumes. I don’t have any clear idea as to what sort of band One Model Nation are. There’s the synthesisers and neat uniformity of Kraftwerk, but coupled with ponytails and shaggy hair, and a frontman who screams and throws himself around like a Damo Suzuki or Iggy Pop. Comics are already at a distinct disadvantage when depicting the music scene, but I have no idea what they sound like, even in my head. In a couple of scenes, just before gigs, they discuss whether one band member or another will show up, but there is not even a hint of panic that they won’t be able to go on with the show, so interchangeable are they! On one hand, Taylor-Taylor is to be applauded for not just trotting out the old tropes of a band biography, but in telling me his truth, I think he skipped a few too many details in the telling.

Taylor-Taylor seems in a rush to leap from event to event, skirting so lightly over everything that I did not feel the importance of anything that was going on, apart from a couple of stand-out scenes. One Model Nation appear on Top of the Pops, and are ushered into the presence of David Bowie, whose likeness is depicted by artist Jim Rugg as though channelling Madman and iZombie artist Mike Allred, who coincidentally wrote the foreword to the book. The other scene which stayed with me was the fictionalised escape of Baader.

This Titan Books edition is a revised new edition of a book previously published by Image. Tayor-Taylor has taken the opportunity to revise some parts of the strip, and there is a fair amount of back matter where he describes the genesis of the project, and we see cover designs, thumbnails and pages from Jim Rugg’s sketchbook. I have to say that I found more power in Rugg’s sketches than in many of the finished pages, but some of that may be down to the odd reproduction, with colouring that gives the impression that it has been photocopied a few times before going to print. This may have been a deliberate choice, to reflect the lo-fi retro zines of the period it depicts, but that may just be me reading too much into things. In the background notes, Taylor-Taylor says that the Image edition also featured a prologue and epilogue by another artist, which does not appear in this version. I wonder whether those scenes would have given me a better grip on the narrative.

Overall, I think that One Model Nation is an example of a celebrity from another medium whose talents do not translate well to comics. Compare and contrast with A Chemical Romance’s Gerard Way, with his Umbrella Academy series, for someone who, arguably, turns out to be a better writer than rock star.

CROSSED: Volume 1 by Garth Ennis and Jacen Burrows, Avatar Press/Titan Books, p/b, £18.99

Reviewed by Jay Eales

You can get a pretty good idea as to whether or not Crossed is for you by mulling over the following question: Do you want to read a comic where the antagonists think nothing of lopping off one of your legs and fucking it? If the answer comes back as no, then you’re best to move along now. Nothing to see here for you.

There’s a real 28 Days Later/The Walking Dead vibe here, with Ennis cranking his sickest ideas up to at least eleven, maybe twelve, and published by Avatar, possibly the only high profile American publisher who would consider publishing it. The concept is simple enough: A band of ordinary folks band together after some unknown event happens, causing some folks to become ‘Crossed’, recognisable by an angry red skin condition, looking as though someone has burned a cross across their faces. That, and the sheer insanity on display, tends to give them away.

As Ennis makes clear, the Crossed, for all their blasphemously inventive atrocities, don’t do anything that humans have never thought to do before, without the excuse of some imaginary zombie virus. They’re just the worst of us. And unlike the infected from 28 Days Later, who are rage personified, or your common or garden Romero zombie, semi-braindead but relentless, the Crossed are a varied bunch. Delayed gratification is not something that occurs to any of them. In fact, if they can’t find any normal people to play with, they’re just as likely to attack each other. Hmm… Crossed may just be an exploration of the mindset of the EDL… What makes them particularly dangerous is the way that some are sneaky, and able to plan some outrageous vileness upon our band of intrepid survivors. And then, some of them like nothing more than to beat you with a horse’s cock. As survivalist horror goes, there’s not much bleaker, and yet, Ennis leavens it with some of the trademark gallows humour that used to punctuate his Punisher and Preacher stories. You’ve met The Russian and Arseface. Prepare to meet Horsecock!

BATMAN: HUSH UNWRAPPED by Jeph Loeb & Jim Lee. DC/Titan £29.99

Reviewed by Jay Eales

A deluxe reissue of the 2002 collaboration between Jeph Loeb and Jim Lee, emphasising the artistic side of the partnership. Storywise, it’s very much in the same mould as Loeb’s earlier volumes with Tim Sale: The Long Halloween and Dark Victory. The formula is that of a mystery, conveniently bringing Batman into conflict with most of his rogues gallery. In this case, the character pulling the strings calls himself Hush. A new foe… or is it? Even though Hush is nearly a decade old, I won’t spoil the reveal, as without it, the story would be robbed of its raison d’être.

Why bring out this version? Someone discovered Jim Lee’s original pencil art for the series, and had the idea of putting out a collection stripped of both inks and colouring, to show off Lee’s tight pencil art. So that it can still be read as a comic, they retain Richard Starkings’ lettering, but to be honest, the colour text boxes and special effects look garish on top of line art.

If you want to read Hush, I’d recommend one of the more traditional editions. This one is strictly for the Jim Lee fans, or wannabe artists who can learn from looking at pencil originals, and compare against the finished pages. An oddity rather than an essential purchase.

PROFESSOR MORIARTY: THE HOUND OF THE D’URBERVILLES by Kim Newman

Titan Books p/b £7.99

Reviewed by Mike Chinn

If you can’t guess what you’re in for by the book title, then the seven chapters contained herein aren’t going to give it away, either: A Volume in Vermillion, A Shambles in Belgravia, The Red Planet League, The Hound of the D’Urbervilles, The Adventure of the Six Maledictions, The Greek Invertebrate and The Problem of the Final Adventure. Well of course it’s elementary – they’re all clever plays on the titles of Sherlock Holmes stories. Much as this collection is.

Newman stands the Holmes/Watson relationship on its head: Professor James Moriarty is the genius at the centre of each tale, Colonel Sebastian Moran his Boswell. Each of the above tales has echoes of Conan Doyle’s originals but he’s not the only author to get the treatment. HG Wells, William Hope Hodgson, Anthony Hope and Thomas Hardy are just a few of the authors whose characters are drafted in. Watson is name-checked but neither Sherlock nor Mycroft Holmes is actually named. Moran’s insolent writing style has far more interesting sobriquets for them both. Irene Adler does the dirty on the Professor just as she did Holmes – this time messing about with the aristocracy of Ruritania – but she’s by far a less ladylike creation here. Or at least, that’s how Moran’s jottings portray her.

As in Newman’s Anno Dracula books, characters whose literary pedigree make them  contemporaries of Moriarty and Holmes flit by often in cameos so fast you can miss them, leaving you wondering: “Wasn’t that…?” This is half the fun, of course. Some – like the Holmes brothers – aren’t actually mentioned by name, so it’s all the more delightful when you work it out.

There are several pages of footnotes at the end of the book, expanding on terminology, characters and sources; as well as three more pages of notes and acknowledgements. Fun and scholarly – two words you don’t normally expect to see in the same sentence.

STAR WARS THE OLD REPUBLIC: REVAN by Drew Karpyshyn

Titan Books, h/b, £17.99

Reviewed by Craig Knight

Set nearly 4,000 years before the events of Star Wars: A New Hope, Star Wars: Revan describes the fate of the eponymous Sith Lord turned Jedi. Players of Bioware’s Knights of the Old Republic computer games will be familiar with the character of Revan and this book bridges the gap between the events of those games and the new online role-playing game Star Wars: The Old Republic.

As something of a Star Wars fanboy and a recent addict to the aforementioned online game, I was eager to read this book and on the whole I wasn’t disappointed. Karpyshyn is a veteran of the Star Wars universe having penned several novels before this and his familiarity is evident in this book. The setting is spot on and the Star Wars atmosphere hits you as soon as you begin reading.

Fans of the character of Revan may be a little disappointed, however. As the book is entitled Revan, I expected this to be a detailed description of his fate but Karpyshyn concentrates more on the amusingly named Sith Lord Scourge. Don’t get me wrong, Scourge is a great character, fascinating and well written, but the amount of story time given to him effectively relegates Revan to second place. This has the unfortunate effect of making Revan’s character a little flat. Bioware went to great lengths in the games to create a huge backstory for Revan and to see it barely used was disappointing. Even Revan’s wife, Bastilla, such a huge part of Revan’s life, is cast aside with only a couple of cameo appearances.

Karpyshyn redeems himself somewhat by creating an Emperor just as dark and wickedly evil as Palpatine ever was – this is one person you really don’t want to annoy. The ending is thrilling and there’s also an interesting twist that I didn’t see coming.

Karpyshyn no doubt had some very strict parameters to work within, setting up the scene for The Old Republic, and he mostly succeeds. Although Revan himself is underused, the story is a worthy addition to the Star Wars universe and is one of those books that you want to keep picking up until it’s finished.

STARK’S WAR · STARK’S COMMAND · STARK’S CRUSADE by Jack Campbell

Titan Books, p/b, £7.99 each

Reviewed by Craig Knight

The USA reigns supreme on Earth as the only remaining economic and military superpower. The other countries of the world turn to the Moon in search of a place away from American dominance. America, not happy with this, sends a military force to Earth’s satellite in order to establish a colony and wrest control of the Moon away from the foreign states.

Stark’s War is the first of the trilogy of novels describing America’s fight for the Moon in this rather unsettling universe. The first thing that stands out in this book is the dialogue. There’s a lot; really, an awful lot. It takes a while to get used to Campbell’s style of having the plot presented to the reader through copious amounts of talking. Does it work? Yes and no. The upside is that it effectively illustrates the various characters’ personalities and allows for a detailed narrative on the story’s events. The downside is that it becomes tiring after a while and the story feels as though it is being told rather than shown; I frequently wanted to see the events the characters were alluding to rather than just have them chat about them. That said, the dialogue is well written and gets deep into the story.

The military scenes are written very well and are superbly atmospheric with a mental image painted effortlessly by Campbell’s expertise in this area. The enemy – the rest of the world, really – is completely faceless though, with not even a single character portrayed. We’re told how formidable the enemy is but whenever they engage Stark’s forces, they seem woefully inept and capitulate with seemingly little resistance. This tends to siphon any tension and intrigue out of the story.

Stark’s War is an interesting story if you like military SF. The military scenes are well done but they lack depth as there’s never any doubt that Stark will win. However, the conclusion is gripping and the final assault against the enemy frontlines won’t let you put the book down until it’s read.

Stark’s Command continues immediately after the events of Stark’s War and the effect his decision will have on the American forces stationed on the Moon. Stark now has to rally his troops against the enemy’s counterattack and prepare for the American response to his actions.

The opening to Stark’s Command is explosive, throwing the reader right into the thick of battle with the enemy surging against the US forces after the devastating events of Stark’s War. This action doesn’t last, however, and it soon returns to the dialogue-heavy style that dominated the previous book. This is disappointing as the feeling of being told what is going on in the story is even stronger in this book than in the previous one. By the second half of the book I was screaming at the pages for something to actually happen and it does… in places. Like Stark’s War, the military scenes are superbly portrayed but there’s just no tension here. Stark never seems capable of putting a foot wrong and you have to wonder why he hasn’t single-handedly conquered the lunar colonies.

The characterisation is still great and Stark’s personality does shine through well. He makes a great double act with Sergeant Vic Reynolds who arguably steals the story whenever she is present.

Stark’s Command seems to suffer from being the middle book of the trilogy as it doesn’t do much more than discuss the actions of Stark’s War and prepare for Stark’s Crusade. I wasn’t even sure I would be able to continue onto the final book but I’m glad I did.

Stark’s Crusade is the last book in the trilogy and manages to go out with something of a bang. Facing the US Government’s increasingly desperate attempts to regain control of the lunar colony, Stark must look to the safety of his own troops and the growing unrest on Earth.

After the soporific nature of the previous book, Stark’s Crusade is a welcome change in pace as the events rapidly head to a conclusion. The story is still swamped in dialogue but there is more action this time and it seems to dilute the incessant chatting somewhat.

The main characters are portrayed as well as ever and we get to see more of the Colony Commander Campbell (any relation to the author, I wonder?) which is an interesting switch. Stark and Reynolds are still the highlight of the book with their banter often bringing a smile. Stark himself seems to head towards being a paragon of virtue by the end which defies believability a little but this is a minor criticism.

Campbell ramps up his discussion of what a military’s responsibility and purpose is and this often raises some fascinating insights. The author’s experience continues to shine through in the action scenes and is one of the points that make this book stand out. Overall, this is a worthy conclusion to the trilogy and has a satisfying, if predictable, ending.

The Stark’s War trilogy has a lot going for it: great action scenes, interesting characters and an original concept. However, it’s hard to get past the overwhelming amount of dialogue that drains the story of life and this turns what could have been a great story into just a fairly good story. It’s worth a read but be prepared for a lot of speech marks.

CAPTAIN NEMO: THE FANTASTIC ADVENTURES OF A DARK GENIUS by Kevin J Anderson. Titan Books £7.99

Reviewed by Mike Chinn

Imagine that the infamous Captain Nemo was not only real – but a childhood friend of Jules Verne. Imagine also that the scientific romances that made the adult Verne a household name were actually the true adventures of Nemo as he grew from an idealistic youth to an embittered adult – waging his war against war. That’s the basis of Anderson’s old-fashioned adventure novel – and a pretty good one it is, too.

André Nemo is the son of a shipwright; Verne’s father’s a dull, unimaginative lawyer. Against the odds both boys are close friends, growing up together in the costal town of Île Feydeau. Nemo is the adventurer, the doer; Verne always fighting shy at the last moment: even then living vicariously through his friend. Their adventures are often shared by the beautiful Caroline Aronnax; both boys love her – but Verne is never able to articulate his feelings.

When André’s father is killed in a tragic accident, Caroline’s father arranges for him to join a British scientific voyage (since there’s no future for him in Île Feydeau as a penniless orphan) – and the adventure begins. Kept back from joining his friend, all the younger Verne can look forward to is a future as a lawyer with his father – though he dreams of adventure and becoming a famous author and playwright. Caroline dreams of André.

Nemo’s ship is attacked by pirates and he alone survives, making his way to a mysterious island where he becomes a real Robinson Crusoe, utilising his innate engineering genius to make life palatable.

You can see where it’s all heading – but that’s half the fun. Names that Verne will later use in his work are scattered throughout the book: Aronnax, Captain Grant, Ned Land, Arne Saknussemm, Phileas Fogg, Conseil, Cyrus Harding, to name just a few. And the various sections are given familiar titles: 20,000 Leagues, A Journey to the Centre, Robur the Conqueror, Master of the World, The Mysterious Island, etc. Nemo encounters dinosaurs, vast guns designed to send men to the moon, balloons of revolutionary design, and underwater boats; whilst throughout his journeys, he always gets word back to Verne who will one day, encouraged by Alexandre Dumas and a new publisher, turn the reports into his Extraordinary Voyages.

Interestingly, although the book is inspired by literary works, it’s pretty clear Anderson’s own influences are the movies. From his description it’s obvious that his Ned Land is Kirk Douglas from Disney’s 1954 adaptaion of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Conseil is Peter Lorre from the same film, as is the spiky, steam-punk Nautilus. By the time Nemo is in his forties, he’s turned into James Mason (complete with decorative white quiff). And Phileas Fogg is David Niven at his most stiff-upper lipped. I’m sure there are many I’ve missed.

On the negative side, I spotted several basic typos – and two real howlers. The noble Mohican from Fennimore Cooper’s novels is Chingachgook, not Chinganook; whilst the French for gentlemen is ‘messieurs’, not ‘monsieurs’ – basic schoolboy French. These really should have been picked up during editing.

Overall though a great read: a deliberate ripping yarn. Even if Jules Verne comes across as a big of a prig: jealous, insecure – often quite shallow – the real hero is undoubtedly Nemo: dark, driven, unstoppable. As Verne often wonders throughout the book: What is it about the man?

THE LOST FLEET: BEYOND THE FRONTIER – DREADNAUGHT by Jack Campbell. Titan Books £7.99

Reviewed by Craig Knight

Beyond The Frontier: Dreadnaught is set shortly after Admiral ‘Black Jack’ Geary proved his place in history by defeating the Syndicate Worlds. Geary is given command of the First Fleet and ordered to investigate the enigmatic aliens that have been discovered on the edge of human space. Geary begins to wonder if someone in the Government wants him dead and whether he and the entire fleet have been sent on a suicide mission.

There is a lot of talking in Dreadnaught. In fact, the first half of the story is almost entirely dialogue. However, it is well-written dialogue and is used to subtly advance the plot and set-up the characters. The political machinations of the Alliance Government are not shown directly but rather alluded to by discussions between the main characters. It might have been interesting to have seen more of this first-hand rather than through dialogue but Campbell’s method is effective in creating a possible and as yet unseen foe at home.

The second half of the story really ramps up the action as Geary and the fleet enter the territory of the aliens. Campbell’s military background shines through in the narrative and his portrayal of battles and military life are amazingly rich and fascinating.

Campbell’s narrative is easy-flowing and absorbing from the outset. He manages to create a believable setting with ease and the story draws you in immediately. Dreadnaught comes across as building up the plot for subsequent novels but it is thoroughly enjoyable in its own right. This was the first book I’ve read by Jack Campbell but it won’t be the last.

STAR WARS: THE JEDI PATH by Daniel Wallace. Titan Books £12.99

Reviewed by Matthew Johns

Billed as ‘a manual for students of The Force’, this beautifully bound and presented book is a must have for any Star Wars fan, young or old. This book has purportedly been owned by such luminaries of The Force as Yoda, Dooku (before he turned to the dark side), Qui-Gon Jinn, Obi-Wan Kenobi and even Luke Skywalker amongst others.  It instructs students on the Jedi code, history of the order and the stages of being a Jedi – from Initiate, to Padawan, to Knight. Readers can learn about the fighting styles of the Jedi, the various orders within the Jedi and the trials that Initiates will face as they train to become a fully fledged Jedi Knight.

Throughout the book, annotations have been added to the pages by some of the previous owners. These remarks, ranging from sarcastic to caustic, give context to some of the book and also fill in some gaps in the mythology of the Jedi.

This is a fascinating work, beautifully illustrated by many acclaimed Star Wars illustrators and created in collaboration with Lucasfilm so you can be assured of its authenticity. This gem makes a wonderful addition to anyone’s collection – if you like Star Wars, you should seek out a copy. Use The Force if you must…