On The Vortex: A Review of Sandman, Vol. 2: The Doll's House by Neil Gaiman

One of the things that I knew I wanted to accomplish in 2013 is to read more graphic novels. This is not only because there are so many good series out there in the fantasy/sci-fi genre, but also because it's a sometimes underrated story-telling medium. Like romance novels, people seem to have a fixed stereotypical understanding of the type of person who enjoys reading graphic novels, and (like the stereotypical image of the romance reader), it's not very flattering. Consequently, I think a lot of readers tell themselves that they can't or won't like a graphic novel series, and so they never give any a try. It seems like a good year to try new things, though, doesn't it?

Sandman is a good series to kick the year off with, because I find that the story and characters are very accessible to the fantasy reader. Sandman is a dark urban fantasy-ish tale where dreams are real and nightmares have substance.

The Doll's House centers largely around Rose, who turns out to be a rare being called a Vortex--a potentially world ending destructive force in the dream world. Rose is unaware of her connection to the dream world, and instead is focused on  the turmoil of her waking life--she's just met her maternal grandmother for the first time, and now she's on a quest to find her long lost little brother. She moves into a house full of unusual residents while she conducts her search, unaware of the escaped nightmares that stalk her.

Neil Gaiman's writing is very clever in a lot of tiny ways. Never laugh-out-load funny, but worthy of a smile. The details are there to reward those who pay attention, while the larger story expands the world building. I find myself very intrigued by the endless, and what they are and who they are.

Where the book fell short for me was in terms of the explanation and logic of the central conflict...That is, what the heck is a vortex and why do I care? The reveal comes late in the story and the explanation is ill placed at the climax. I felt that I would have been more invested in what was going on with Rose in the dreaming world if I understood her significance, sometime before the resolution came about. But perhaps the novel reader in me just really likes exposition that pays off later.

Anyway, if you're a fantasy fan, you should read this series. It's very spooky, very cool, very well written. 4 stars.

Review of Fables Vol. 6 Homelands

Reviewing these is starting to feel redundant. What else can I possibly say to recommend this series, other than that it's awesome and you should read it. Graphic novel fans should read it. Fantasy fans should read it. Fairy tale fans should read it. Even if you don't think  you like fairy tales, you should read this--you might change your mind.

But, okay, what is this particular volume about? For one thing, it includes the all to amusing story of Jack, who leaves Fabletown and travels to Hollywood to make movies about himself. It's fun, and it's hilarious. I can't even say that I care for Jack as a character, but I think part of me enjoys his schemes, and enjoys seeing him suffer.

Then, as the title suggests, we take a detour to the Homelands, where Boy Blue has traveled to take down The Adversary. Boy Blue has, in fact, become one of my favorite characters within the series. He's surprisingly bad ass. This portion of the story is great, too, in that it took a turn that I did not entirely guess at.

Ultimately, I felt this was one of the strongest (if not the strongest) volume in the series that I've read thus far. It has action, adventure, and the most when written of the Fable characters right at the center of it all. I highly recommend it. 4.5 stars. 

Review of The Sandman, Vol. 1: Preludes and Nocturnes

The Sandman series is probably Neil Gaiman's most talked about work, with it's dark fantasy and horror themes.

Volume One tells the tale of how Dream was captured by a mysterious cult, who meant to capture Death and gain immortality. When at last he breaks free, years after the fact, it is to discover that the tools of his trade--a helmet, an amulet, and a bag of sand, have gone missing. Weakened and vulnerable, he must get them back as soon as possible.

 The Dream/Morpheus character is only just being established in this volume, and it's quite obvious that there is more to him than this book let's you see. Equally obvious is the fact that the author had not quite settled on what tone he wanted to go for, and each chapter of the book has a very different feel to it--so it feels a bit disconnected.

Most of the book is a McGuffin Get sort of story, where Morpheus goes to various places and talks to various people in order to get his tools back. For me, the best sequence was when he traveled to hell, and we see demons of all shapes and sizes. Morpheus engages in a kind of duel of imagination with the demon who possesses his helmet, and it is as creative as it is unexpected. The weaker part of the story, for me, came in the sudden appearance of the Justice League characters. As a non-DC reader, they really don't mean much to me, and they're just kind of there. Who are they? I haven't the foggiest...

Overall, while not the strongest of stories by any means, it still stands apart from the usual comic book fair, and it's undeniably entertaining. I highly recommend it. 4 stars.

Review of Saga by Brian K. Vaughan

Hey, it's me! Remember me? Your friendly neighborhood reading penguin? Yeah, I'm still reading, I've just kind of let the reviews pile up in a big heap because finding time to post is a little like finding the Holy Grail these days. But oh well, here's a nice short review of a graphic novel I read recentishly.

Saga is a science fiction tale about two lovers from opposite sides of an old and bloody war, who have a baby together. The tale of their quest for survival is delightful in it's unusual tone and slightly bizarre characters. The baby, Hazael, often jumps in with points of narration and insights into her parent's tale. I found this clever, because she anchors the story and makes everything that's going on seem vital and precious.

For the parents in question, Marko and Alana, things seem extremely tenuous and it's hard to imagine how they got to the point of having a baby at all. They are hunted from all sides. And yet, in the midst of it, the dialogue and the character's attitudes toward one another gave me the very real feeling that they are a well suited couple. They have chemistry and they have affection. Marko is now a sworn pacifist, with a vow not to draw his sword. Alana is crass and somewhat reckless, and less inclined to forgo violence in the face of danger. The combination of these two, along with a cast of wholly unexpected secondary characters, made this book a winner for me.

If I had to name a flaw, it would be that this is definitely the beginning of a much larger story, rather than a self contained episode, so your going to get roped into buying more comics to finish the story...but oh well, right? The humor, hope, and fantastical science fictiony goodness is well worth it. 4.5 stars

Review of Fables, Vol. 4: March of the Wooden Soldiers

This volume of Fables marks a lot of changes for our fairy tale characters. We are, of course, familiar with the adversary and the fact that our characters are in exile in the mundane world because of the destruction that this mysterious enemy wrought. This, however, is the first time that we experience the adversary as an active threat in more than a flash-back capacity.

To begin with, I really enjoyed learning of Boy Blue's tragic and romantic back story. I think what makes Fables special is it's ability to take characters who most of us feel that we know, since we've heard since childhood, and cast them in an entirely different light--for better or worse. So seeing a romance for  Boy Blue and Red Riding Hood.

Snow White is continuously fantastic. She basically organizes a defense against an army that marches on Fabletown, and she does so while pregnant and piled down with worries. I'm deeply invested in he story, at this point, and I would love for her and Bigby to find some shred of happiness.

I thought the wooden soldiers, and the way that they are introduced with their connection to Pinocchio, were very clever indeed. They're very much like the Mr. Smiths of the Matrix, with their frightening one track minds and utter disposability. But more importantly, they seem to represent a larger danger that I'm sure we'll see more of in future books.

Finally, in this book we begin to see Prince Charming campaigning for mayor against King Cole. This entire subplot is pathetically hilarious, with the prince making ridiculous promises that you know will land him far in over his head. When I actually read this, the US was in the midst of our election and...it definitely reflected reality.

My final conclusion on this book is that, it is perhaps not my favorite story arc yet, but it was still quite strong. I didn't feel that it had the emotional impact of some of the previous installments, but it had a lot of cleverness and humor that left me wanting more. 4 stars.

Review of Fables, Vol. 2: Animal Farm, by Bill Willingham

Today I continue my discussion the Fables series with a brief review of Volume 2, which is the story arc known as Animal Farm.

To briefly recap volume one, we had all of our fairy tale characters living in a secret community in New York City, after they were forced to flee their homelands centuries ago. Snow White is essentially in charge, Bigby (the wolf) is now in human form and is sheriff. Snow White's lesser known sister, Rose Red, fakes her own death and is now (in volume 2) being punished with community service. Snow drags Rose with her on a trip to the farm, an upstate chunk of land where non-human looking fables hide from the mundane world. There they find discontent among the farms inhabitants, with a revolution being plotted against the human fables, perceived now as jailors and overlords.

Positive Comments

Now, at no time in my academic career was I actually made to read Animal Farm by George Orwell. At one point, we did read a summary and watch part of the movie for the purpose of knowing something about it, should it show up on one of our AP tests. I know the general idea, but not necessarily the details. However, I did find recognizable and humorous nods to the original story in this book, and I felt that was very smart.

I found the entire plot of the book engaging. It seemed realistic to me that the farm dwellers would ultimately feel underprivileged and restless, and that this might lead to violence. The real kicker for me was when Goldilocks turns up as a vocal ring leader on the side of the rebellion, she being sympathetic to the animals in light of her history. It was so shocking and so hilarious to see her grown up and wielding a gun--a serious stroke of genius.

We are given more ideas on what it is that makes fables tick, in terms of immortality and power. We are basically told that human belief helps to keep them alive. Not a new idea in the fantasy realm, but still one worth exploring in this world.

Critical Comments

 

Once the revolution comes to it's conclusion, we become removed from the story as it's now told second hand. I was a little disappointed, as I thought they could have shown a lot more in terms of the aftermath. It would have provided an opportunity to see more of the nonhuman fables, many of whom were glossed over so very briefly.

Recommendation

 

All I can really say is that you have to try the series to know if you'll like it. It's a great take on twisted fairy tales, and it's a lot of fun--it's humorous, smart, and quirky. I liked the plot of volume 2 perhaps a hair more than that of volume 1, which was more of a murder mystery and therefor not my cup of tea. So I will say that if you've read the first installment and felt kind of "meh" about it, it's worth trying this one to know for sure. 4 stars.  

The Things I Read For Love: Captain America: Winter Soldier

Have I mentioned that I SUCK at reading graphic novels. It takes me hours and hours to get through books that your average reader can kill in one sitting. I'm a slow reader anyway, but graphic novels just kill me. All the pretty pictures activate some kind of latent ADD in my brain and I just space the heck out looking at them and I lose track of dialogue...So anyway, knowing how painful it is for me to read these things, you should never take a graphic novel recommendation from me lightly. I spent a lot of time with this book, and if I can still honestly type the words "I liked it," that means it's a good book.

Captain America: Winter Soldier is essentially the story of a prisoner of war. It's about how Cap's partner/sidekick, Bucky, was thought dead but was really captured by the enemy. The KGB finds him frozen, revives him, and decides to use him as a weapon against America and it's allies. They continually brainwash him and keep him on ice between missions so that he doesn't remember his previous life and loyalties...Except little things keep creeping back in, and he does start to question his orders. Then, Cap discovers the truth--that his old friend might be alive in some capacity--and he wants to save him.

Positive Comments

Captain America happens to be one of the super heroes that I really, really like, for a number of reasons. He represents, in my mind, that ridiculous overblown surge of patriotism that existed once upon a time (now seen only in brief glimpses), and to me there's a certain romance in that. I liked the movie, for example, because it had this hilariously uncomplex plot where Cap represents all that is good and American, and he fights the clearly evil Nazis and he wins. This book asks the question of how that exact character would fair in the modern world, having faced multitudes of personal tragedies. Suddenly the politics are more complex and things are less black and white. I liked the switch up.

This book really made me care about Bucky, if only for Cap's sake. It does a good job of convincing you that these two men were great friends, and that the loss of that friendship was devastating. With that in place, when Cap starts to realize that Bucky could be alive, but may have done some horrible things, you feel his conflicted emotions and his desire to fix everything.

Negative Comments

The art is kind of a mixed bag. There are times when the characters look too old and too rough. But I'm not expert in art, so take that with a grain of salt.

I really wanted more from the ending. I understand that this is part of a series, and not the complete story, but I was taken aback by the abrupt cut off.

The villain. God, I really can't seem to get behind comic book villains. Lukin comes across as a one dimensional guy who is already pretty evil, and then he gets kind of brainwashed into acting even less rational..yep, seen that before. And possessions and split personalities and all that crap. Bleh, boring, whatever.

Recommendation

So, yes, I would recommend this book. Even if you aren't too familiar with Captain America, there is enough of an intro to give context to the story, and the plot is interesting by itself. I found the entire story very engaging. 4 stars.

Things I Read for Love: The Young Avengers by Allan Heinburg

First of all, for those of you who are thinking "Why the hell is she reviewing comic books, and why should I care?" Please click here for an explanation. This is me stepping further outside my comfort zone, and it's freaking scary out here. Too many BOOOM!s

Young Avengers apparently serves as the origin story for a group of teenage heroes with various powers, who want to live up to their idols and save people. And blow things up. The knowledge I had of this world prior to reading the book came from watching Marvel movies, and one sentence of explanation from Fiance stating "The Avengers have split up. Just read it." But I was still reasonably able to follow what was going on. A kid who now calls himself Iron Lad comes to the present from the 30th century, finds a robot fellow named Vision, and uses him to track down other young heroes for the new Avengers team. They get together and start training themselves and fighting crime as best they can, but the minute former Avengers Captain America and Iron Man hear about it, they want to shut them down. There's time travel and there are aliens and it's very comic bookish, but surprisingly entertaining.

Positive Comments

The moment that I realized I might actually like this book came when Kate Bishop was introduced. After more or less rescuing herself from a hostage situation at a wedding, Kate follows the Young Avengers back to the old Avengers mansion, and proceeds to go through the bedrooms and find weapons to strap on over her bridesmaid dress. That is awesome.

There are a lot of great character moments like that. I really loved how the art and the story combined to portray these guys as both heroes and realistic teenagers with typical teenage problems.

I loved the casual yet positive portrayal of gay characters. Once it's revealed that Billy and Teddy (Hulkling and Wiccan) are a couple, everyone is cool with it and happy for them. Even their parents are quick to adopt the attitude of "We love you and we're proud of you." Very cool of you, Marvel.

The dialogue is fun and snappy. I laughed out loud several times.

I both loved and hated the somewhat convoluted nature of the plot. It definitely kept me interested. At the same time, my brain will always rebel at the task of figuring out time travel and time streams and alternate realities and possible futures. I refuse to even contemplate that sort of non-logic. But other than that, the plot is good.

Critical Comments

Cassie Lang, (daughter of the Ant Man, I guess), is profoundly annoying. I couldn't fathom why, in a book with so few female characters, you would have one of them be a whiny and immature fourteen year old with Daddy Issues. Did the team really need her? No.

The other character arc, involving the use Mutant Growth Hormone to give normal people super powers, was weak and pointless. It kind of seemed like they were trying to portray drug use as a bad thing, but truthfully in this universe, drugs save the day. The super soldier serum that makes Captain America a super hero is more or less a drug. Sure, it's a one time use, non-addictive, no side affects drug. The way things turn out in this book, it's a little hard to see the difference between that and constant MGH use. Are we saying that drugs are okay, for a good cause?

Recommendation

I was surprised to like this book. I don't have the time, or necessarily the inclination, to get sucked into the larger universe. But if I were curious enough, this seemed like a good book to start with. It stands alone well and is an entertaining story in it's own right. 4 stars.

Buy from Amazon: Young Avengers