Review: Long Gone Don by The Etherington Brothers

Ten-year-old DON SKELTON never imagined a school day could get any worse than drowning face down in a bowl of oxtail soup. BUT HE WAS WRONG! Transported to the spooky underworld of BROILERDOOM, Don is soon forced to fight for his life-after-death against a host of villainous monstrosities. Prepare to enter the hilarious and dangerous world of LONG GONE DON, where one boy's END is just he BEGINNING of the adventure...

Like many others who have a passion for encouraging young people to read for enjoyment the news of the launch of The Phoenix comic back in 2012 filled me with excitement. Doubly so because I am also a huge lover of comics and graphic novels. Trebly so because among the artists and writers lined up for The Phoenix were the totally completely utterly brilliant Etherington Brothers. I love the work of these guys! Seriously, I would change my breakfast cereal if another came along with a serialised (cerealised... hahaha) Etherington Brothers comic inside it (and I am so set in my ways that I've not touched a cereal other than Frosties since I was in my teens). Are you listening Kellogg's? Forget asking your consumers to collect codes in order to get a personalised spoon - start giving away comics in your cereal boxes and do something for literacy whilst you are at it!

Since the launch of The Phoenix my love for the Etherington Brothers' Long Gone Don has come second only to the superb The Pirates of Pangaea (it takes a hell of a lot to beat a pirates and dinosaur mash-up), and now Don is here in his first collected volume. I have been a fan of the work of Robin (writer) and Lorenzo (artist) ever since I was sent a copy of Monkey Nuts back in 2010 (another must-buy for comic-loving kids), and I fell instantly in love with the addictive mix of Robin's off-the-wall-bonkers story-telling combined with Lorenzo's insanely detailed, vibrantly coloured artwork, and I am so happy to be able to add the first volume of Long Gone Don to my collection.

If you have not yet discovered Long Gone Don through The Phoenix then you are in for one hell of a treat. The eponymous 'hero' of the story, schoolboy Don Skelton, dies on the very first page of the book. A strangely dark start to a comic for kids, you may think, but his death is funny (very, very funny and a tad unfortunate) rather than gruesome, and it is the kick start for the craziness that follows. Having drowned in his bowl of Oxtail soup, Don 'awakes' to find himself in the after-life, but it is an after-life that could only be born from the unique imaginations of the brothers Etherington. And he also finds that his hair has gone white, and it's not entirely clear which bother him more - death or white hair.

This review is going to be severely lacking in details regarding Broilerdoom, the underworld type place that Don finds himself in post-drowning, as one of the real joys of reading this (and any other Etherington brothers) book is in the detail that Lorenzo puts into interpreting his brother's story. I can just picture the two 'boys', giggling with tears of mirth pouring from their eyes, as they come up with zany idea after zany idea - I would love to see a video of their collaborative process (brothers - if you're reading this and are interested in filming one for Middle Grade Strikes Back, please get in touch). Suffice to say, that Don makes enemies almost as quickly as he makes friends following his arrival in Broilerdoom, and he soon finds himself a wanted boy, with the rather horrible and totally despotic General Spode rather keen to inflict all kinds of nastiness on Don for a supposedly treasonous act.

Back in 2010, not long after I had read Monkey Nuts, I had the good fortune to meet Robin and Lorenzo after an event they did as part of the Crystal Palace Book Festival. We briefly chatted about our shared love for the Asterix books of Goscinny and Uderzo, and the brothers' passion for these books has never been more evident than in Long Gone Don, which visually is an obvious homage to the classic and world famous illustration work of Albert Uderzo. The (many) fight scenes in particular took me back to the incalculable number of hours I spent as a child (ok, yes, and as a teen, and yes, as an adult too) reading and re-reading the Asterix books, and the parallels do not end with the artwork - the humour in Long Gone Don is also at times just as tongue-in-cheek, with puns aplenty, although given the post-death subject matter there is also a subtle darkness to it in places.

Like their previous books Long Gone Don is the kind of comic that merits many reads - the first for the story, and the second, immediately after finishing it, to go back through and spot any missed details in the images. I've now read it four times, and even on that fourth visit I was still spotting things I had missed before. What's more, there is a big fat 'Book 1' printed on the front cover which hopefully means, sales figures permitting, that those wonderful people at David Fickling books will continue to publish these just-as-wonderful collected editions. 

Review: The Pirates of Pangaea by Daniel Hartwell and Neill Cameron

The year is 1717. The newly discovered island of Pangaea is the most dangerous place on Earth, where dinosaurs still walk the land - Sophie Delacourt has been sent to Pangaea to stay with her uncle. But little does she know its perils - for Pangaea is a lawless wilderness, teeming with cut-throat pirates! Kidnapped and imprisoned, Sophie must escape from the ruthless Captain Brookes and embark upon an epic journey, to find her way home.

It's nothing more than simple maths where this book is concerned:

Yes, Daniel Hartwell (no relation) and Neill Cameron's brilliant The Pirates of Pangaea, first seen in The Phoenix comic has finally been given its first collected edition, courtesy of those wonderful people at David Fickling books. Seriously, if you have kids who love comics (or kids who you would love it if they loved comics) then The Pirates of Pangaea is a must-buy book. I was a weekly purchaser of The Phoenix in its early days (and I still would be if I had kids), and although I adored the zany and madcap work of the Etherington Brothers, my favourite part of the comic by far was Hartwell and Cameron's dinosaurs and pirates mash-up.

The story follows the adventures of Sophie Delacourt, who, following the death of her parents, has been sent to live with her uncle, the governor of the remote tropical island continent of Pangaea. What Sophie doesn't realise until the voyage is almost at its end, is that Pangaea is not like the other islands she has heard of as it is still home to many species of dinosaur. 

The interior of Pangaea consists of vast areas of long grass that hide deadly predators, much the same as a quite and serene ocean may hide a school (or is it a shiver?) of vicious killer sharks. In order to travel throughout the interior, ships arriving at the port are craned onto the backs of huge sauropods, which then proceed to transport said vessels across the land. However, as this is set in the early 18th Century, there have to be pirates a plenty as well (of course), and they lie in wait for passing vessels, ready to attack with their own sauropod-mounted ships. Poor Sophie has barely made landfall when her own ship is attacked by a bloodthirsty band of cutthroats, and she is the only survivor.

Sophie is not your typical demure and retiring 18th Century young lady - she is quick to leap into the fray and the incredible creatures that inhabit Pangaea do not faze her at all. In fact, she quickly discovers that she might have a gift similar to that of a horse whisperer, something that will come in very handy as she attempts to escape captivity.

Daniel Hartwell's exciting, dinosaur-laden, swash-buckling adventure story is perfectly complemented by Neill Cameron's stunning graphic work. Neill was the talent behind the brilliant and visually stunning Mo-Bot High, but in Pirates of the Pangaea he has taken his artwork to a new level. Everything about his art in this comic is right: the sprawling Pangaea landscapes; the details of the dinosaurs and their ships; the depictions of the characters (especially the evil pirates); and the great colour palette used throughout (just feast your eyes on the image below, a promo poster that Neill Cameron produced for the launch of the comic). 

The Pirates of Pangaea is due to be published by David Fickling books on 5th February and it is well worth every penny of the £8.99 cover price. My thanks got to the wonderful people at David Fickling Books for sending me a copy to read and review.

(Pirates of Pangaea, all images and concepts ©2011 Daniel Hartwell & Neill Cameron)

Thunderbirds Are Go!

A thrilling, futuristic volume of 1960s Thunderbirds comic strips. It features The Earthquake Maker, Visitor from Space and The Antarctic Menace. This is the first book in a five volume set of Thunderbirds comic strips.

As I child I was a huge fan of all things Gerry Anderson. Along with Smallfilms (more about this in a future post), Gerry Anderson had a significant impact on me as a child. Fireball XL5 and Stingray were often repeated on mid-morning TV during the school holidays, back in the days when we only had three or four channels to choose from. Captain Scarlet, Joe 90, Space 1999 and then later, Terrahawks on a Saturday morning, were also firm favourites. As a teen I loved watching repeats of UFO, and now own the DVD boxsets. But my favourite of the lot was and still is Thunderbirds. If memory serves me correctly, I even managed to persuade my parents to open the double doors between the lounge and the dining room so I could watch its mid-70s repeat run on TV whilst we ate Sunday lunch! 

Next year is going to be a big year for Gerry Anderson fans. 2015 is the 50th anniversary year of the first screening of Thunderbirds and ITV are currently producing a brand new series. 2015 will also see the release of the first book in the new Gemini Force One series, written by M.G. Harris and based on a concept that Gerry himself was unable to develop fully due to his suffering from Alzheimer's Disease and his untimely death in 2012. It's a great time to be a fan of Gerry Anderson's work.

Egmont currently own the publishing rights to the classic 1960s Thunderbirds comic strips. Last Christmas, my great friend Carol from Windsor Waterstones gave me a copy of Thunderbirds: The Comic Collection, a hefty book of almost 300 pages of the classic comic strips, also published by Egmont. Of course, such a hefty book came with an equally hefty price tag (rrp £25) which some parents may have thought too excessive for what could be a purchase that may not interest their 21st century child, even though it is a fantastic set of comic stories. I was therefore pleasantly surprised when a thin, softback edition arrived in the post a while back (rrp £6.99). It would now appear that Egmont are publishing those same stories from the hardback Comic Collection, but over five softback volumes that are each pretty much the same size as a Tintin book. Bought together, the price will exceed that being asked for the hardback collected edition, but it is a much more manageable layout for parents who are not sure whether their children will like it or not. I would imagine that most kids will also prefer this format.

All three of the strips in this first volume are illustrated by the brilliant Frank Bellamy. If your children are fans of modern, full-colour comics then they are in for a treat here. Bellamy was an incredibly talented comic illustrator, with immense skill at producing vivid and imaginative action scenes for his characters. Eschewing the more formal, even grid format that was popular in other UK comics at the time, Bellamy preferred a layout of panels with cut-outs, zigzag edges and asymmetrical shapes, all of which added greatly to the dynamism of the artwork. The stories themselves are great escapist fun, featuring incredibly daring and exciting rescues; in fact, the writers and artist went to town with the comics, producing scenarios that were either too expensive or impossible to film for the 1960s TV show.

These new softback editions sadly do not contain the fabulous vehicle cutaways from the 1990s Thunderbirds comics that Egmont included in Thunderbirds: The Comic Collection (at least, Volume 1 doesn't). However, I have this morning spotted that Egmont have just published Inside the World of Gerry Anderson, a "complete definitive collection of Graham Bleathman's cutaways includes detailed images from Thunderbirds, Fireball XL5, Stingray, Captain Scarlet and Joe 90, plus less well known craft and locations seen only in the comic strips". I think this may have just found its way onto my Christmas wishlist!

Use The Avengers To Get Your Son Reading

Last year I wrote a blog post about how I had gone to see Batman Live at the O2 Arena, and how I thought that it was a great way to get boys into reading. Now The Avengers movie is here (Avengers Assemble in the UK), and it can be used in a similar way. All the kids at school are talking about this film, boys and girls from Year 7 all the way up to Sixth Form, and I have not yet come across one that didn't love it. Since the film's release we have seen boys who rarely set foot in the library coming in to read the various Marvel books we stock, and even reserving them if they are already out on loan. I have therefore put an order in with the local School Library Service for another pile of Marvel books, hoping to capitalise on the film's success, and I strongly suggest you do similarly, especially if you have a boy who is not keen on reading.

Starting tomorrow with a review of a brilliant book from Dorling Kindersley, and then over the next fortnight I intend to post a handful of reviews of books that tie in with the film, directly or indirectly. Books that could ignite that spark in a boy's mind and lead to them wanting to read comics and graphic novels, and hopefully one day novels and non-fiction, so please watch this space.

Review: Frontier: Dealing With Demons by Jason Cobley and Andrew Wildman

The Wild West... and Daisy Adams is suddenly all alone, living on the plains, left with her father's old coat and a catapult. Then Mitch Seeker, the son of a sheriff, runs into her life. And they've been running ever since, chasing werewolves, ghosts and demons, on a quest to track down the man who turned them both into orphans and unleashed weirdness into the Wild West.

In 1866, out on the Frontier, things got Weird. History failed to record everything that happened, but Daisy wrote it all down in her diaries. In Frontier, we follow Mitch and Daisy as they seek justice but end up finding more adventure and danger than they counted on. It's weird. It's wild. It happened out west!

If there are any awards being given for Best New Publisher this year then based on their early output I would like to nominate Print Media Productions. I really shouldn't need much more evidence than their second publication, the totally brilliant Mirabilis - Year Of Wonders: Winter Volume 1 (one of my favourite books of 2011, as reviewed here). The company's debut publication (The Iron Moon by Stephen Walsh and Keith Page) makes another great piece of evidence for this nomination, but if the prize wasn't already in the bag then surely it must be now, following the January release of their third book, Frontier: Dealing With Demons by Jason Cobley and Andrew Wildman.

Frontier is another story that first saw the light of day as part of The DFC, the weekly comic that was published by Random House back in 2008/2009. David Fickling Books has since published some of those stories in hardcover collections (Mezolith, Monkey Nuts, Mo-Bot High, etc) and now Print Media are joining them. Both companies are treating these stories with the reverence they deserve - beautifully presented hardcover large-format editions, with high quality printing on high quality stock. My heart pretty much leapt when I first opened Frontier and my eyes took in the stunning artwork of Andrew Wildman.

Set in the Wild West (and this West is wilder than many you will have seen before) Frontier: Dealing With Demons introduces us to Sheriff Mitch Seeker and Daisy Adams, a young orphan girl. In an ideal world their paths would never have crossed, but a bandit called Hallam Brook shattered their respective worlds by murdering Daisy's parents and Mitch's father, and now both are hunting him down in order to get their revenge. The back story of how the duo first met is presented in the form of a diary (supposedly found amongst a hoard of old documents discovered in an old shack in a ghost town), and straight away we are given a sense that this is not the Old West that we know from John Wayne or Sergio Leone films (at least I don;t remember a glowing, moving skeleton in any of those movies). 

The strangeness of their world becomes even more apparent as the comic format part of the story starts, with Mitch and Daisy pursuing a member of the Brooks Gang into a corn field that suddenly comes to life, a snippet of Daisy's diary telling us "The year is 1866. We're in Kansas, in the middle of what I call the Weird Wild West". It seems that every time that the pair get close to catching a member of the Brooks Gang something weird happens, as if the gang, or Hallam Brooks is somehow leaving a trail of supernatural weirdness behind them. As a result of this, as Daisy and Mitch continue their journey they find themselves up against werewolves, cave spirits (that consume human fat), and even a walking, talking cactus-monster-thing. This is True Grit meets Supernatural, and given the right amount of exposure Frontier could be the thing that makes Westerns cool again.

As the wordsmith, Jason Cobley masterfully spins a story that will have readers of all ages thirsting for more, and it is perfectly complimented by Wildman's stunning artwork. This is certainly not the case of the story being the poor relation to the illustrations as can happen in comics from time to time. Yes, it is the artwork that first caught my eye and made my heart soar, but the story is so good that an immediate second reading was called for. It has everything - great characters, a fast-paced plot, some cracking set pieces and a particularly nasty villain. I challenge anyone who reads this not to immediately pre-order the sequel (we are informed that Book 2, The Infernal Express, is coming soon).

My thanks go to the good people at Gazelle for sending me a copy to review. Frontier: Dealing With Demons was published on 28th January and the UK price is £14.99 (worth every penny). If you can't find this book in your local book store (shame on them) you should ask them to get it in (ISBN is 978-0956712134) or it can be obtained direct from Gazelle (01524 68765). Jason Cobley and Andrew Wildman also have their own blogs here and here respectively, and if you are lucky and can afford to buy some of Andrew Wildman's original artwork then you really should have a look at his shop, and even more so if you are a fan of Marvel comics or Transformers.

Review: Mirabilis - Year of Wonders: Winter Volume One by Dave Morris and Leo Hartas

There is a green comet in the sky and things are getting strange. Every day, fantasy and reality are getting harder to tell apart. Witches in bottles, warmongering cabbages from the planet Pluto, and a pterandon roosting on the Eiffel Tower. Or is it a pterodactyl? Jack Ember is caught between two very unreliable mentors. Talisin is a two-thousand year old wizard or an escaped madman - or possibly both. The Kind Gentleman is the sort of fairy godfather who will grant you three wishes you can't refuse. Both of them have plans for Jack, who's spent his life dreaming of adventure and now is about to get rather more of it than he bargained for.

Last year David Fickling Books started to release a number of books featuring work that had originally appeared in The DFC, a weekly comic that ran back in 2008/2009. Whilst researching The DFC I stumbled across this website, and instantly fell in love with the gorgeous artwork and the intriguing story concept. From that moment Mirabilis - Year of Wonders became a graphic novel that I had to lay my hands on. When I spotted that it had been published in a softcover edition over in the US I was sorely tempted to splash out, but decided instead to wait for the hardcover edition that was scheduled for release by Print Media. The wait was a little longer than had been originally suggested as the books were printed abroad, but it was worth every single impatient minute and every penny. This is a stunning book, published in a large format hardback, and printed on a good quality glossy paper that lets the artwork really shine.

Mirabilis: Winter starts on 1st January of an undisclosed year that is very soon to be christened the Year of Wonders. The first panels introduce us to Lieutenant Jack Ember, a young man who has had the misfortune to be challenged to a duel over a girl he had barely met, by an arrogant young officer called Dougie McNab. As the duel is about to start a green comet streaks across the night sky, heralding the start of the Year of wonders, a time when magic and other strange happenings start to become commonplace. Jack survives the duel but is stung on the face by a wasp, sending him into a deep fever. Whilst he is incapacitated his regiment ships out for India, and jack awakes to find he is to "run fool's errands for a bunch of old fogeys". Little does he realise that these "fool's errands" will see Jack embarking on a quest that is loaded with action, adventure and many, many more fantastical mysteries.

To say any more about the story would be to spoil it for you. There is a new surprise on almost every page, and one of the best elements of this story for me was not knowing at all what was going to happen next. What I will say is that Jack finds himself travelling across Europe on the Orient Express in the company of Estelle Meadowvane (the girl he fought the duel over) and his fellow duellist, McNab (if I describe him as a prig, you will know exactly what I mean if you are of a certain age). As their quest progresses they encounter vampires, a demon known as The Kind Gentleman, a pteranodon roosting on the Eiffel Tower (or it could be a pterodactyl), and even a Doctor Jeckyll (this one is called Gertrude, but she still comes with that certain potion).

Dave Morris's story is at times a little strange (butin a very good way), and it is also truly enchanting. This is in no small part due to Leo Hartas's incredible artwork. Every new page brings another series of beautifully drawn panels, with every one of the characters and strange creatures realised in stunning detail. Added to the mix is the colour work of Nikos Koutsis, who renders Hartas's images with a palette that perfectly matches the tone of the story.

This is one of my favourite books of the year, and I believe it is a graphic novel that will have cross-generational appeal. Adults who love the graphic form of storytelling will, like me, want to linger on every page, soaking up the detail and smorgasbord of colour. Younger readers will delight at following the fantastic story, and then want to come back to the book again and again. I am certainly looking forward to the next volume, and the other volumes that I believe will eventually follow.

Review: The Baker Street Irregulars in The Adventure of the Missing Detective by Tony Lee and Dan Boultwood

With Sherlock Holmes missing, and the fair city of London ravaged by crime, the Baker Street Irregulars move into 221B Baker Street. When the Lord Mayor's daughter goes missing and they agree to help Eliza Mayhew find her grandfather, the Irregulars embark on their first case - and quickly discover that they are up against a sinister villain...

Back at the beginning of October I had the pleasure of meeting someone I have followed on Twitter for some time, writer Tony Lee, at another author's book launch in London. If you don't recognise the name then shame on you: Tony is a new York Times best selling writer, and has written for most of the big name comic publishers in the US and UK. He is also something of an expert at adapting other author's work for the graphic novel format, examples that immediately spring to mind including Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, and the first in Anthony Hororwitz's Power of Five books, Raven's Gate. More exciting than anything for me though, he is currently working on a comic version of one of my all time favourite 80s TV shows - MacGyver.

During our conversation, we briefly touched on what was at that point the forthcoming release of Anthony Horowitz's new Sherlock Holmes novel, The House of Silk. During that conversation we touched on Tony's own Sherlock Holmes related work, a series of four graphic novels for Franklin Watts' Edge, an imprint that specialises in books for reluctant readers. Tony's series does not focus on the activities of the great sleuth himself, but instead it follows  the adventures of the infamous Baker Street Irregulars. For those of you who are not au fait with some of the plot details of the original Holmes stories, the Irregulars were a bunch of street urchins who Holmes occasionally employed to help him out.

The books, with illustrations by long-time Tony Lee collaborator Dan Boultwood, had been idling on my Amazon wishlist ever since I had first read about them here on the Geek Syndicate website, so on the way home on the train after the launch I used an app on my phone to treat myself to the first in this series, The Adventure of the Missing Detective. The story kicks off shortly after the events of the Sherlock Holmes short story, The Final Problem. Holmes is presumed dead, following his fight with Professor Moriarty, both seeming to have fallen to their death's at the Reichenbach Falls. There seems like there is nobody to take his place, neither Doctor Watson or Inspector Lestrade capable of filling those huge shoes. Nobody, that is, until Wiggins and his team of Irregulars step forward as volunteers, convinced that the great man isn't dead, and determined to carry on with his work in his absence. However, before they get a chance to investigate Holmes' disappearance, they are thrown headfirst into a case of their own.

At 46 pages, the uninitiated might assume that there is little meat to Tony Lake's story. They would, however, be sorely wrong. Dan Boultwood's illustrations are beautifully rendered, and perfectly portray the grimy atmosphere of the period, but I found myself so engrossed in following the words of Lee's story that I had to go back through them again once I had finished the book, to savour each panel one by one. I agree, 46 pages does not seem a great deal when the thin volume is placed next to some of the thick hardcover graphic novels that are published these days, but look instead towards the Asterix books. These are stories rich with plot and detailed graphics, and yet most of these only weight in at 48 pages, just showing that a book should not be judged by its thickness.

We have had a handful of Edge graphic novel adaptations of classic horror books (Frankenstein, Dracula, etc) on the school library shelves for some time and they ahve always been popular with the reluctant reader boys. I hope that these will soon be joined by the four Baker Street Irregulars books, whilst I will be digging into my pockets to complete by own personal collection - if the rest are as good as this first book then they are too good to miss.

Using Comics To Get Your Son Reading

At the end of August I went to watch Batman Live at London's O2 Arena. Although the show was quite obviously aimed at the younger end of the market both my wife and I loved it, and I got the feeling that most of the rest of the audience did as well. The character costumes based on Jim Lee's character designs looked amazing on the big stage, and I only wish I could have been a little nearer to see them in close-up. However, a very small part of my enjoyment was marred by an observation I had made relating to the merchandise that was on sale pretty much everywhere you looked both inside and outside the Arena. Programmes were being shifted by the truckload at £15 a copy, with pretty much every child there trying to badger their accompanying adult into buying them a copy. A quick glance through showed that these programmes, attractive though they were, were very image heavy and light on the text, and this got me thinking. If I had been one of those parents I would have told my child that I would not buy them a programme but would instead, on our return home, buy them a batman graphic novel or one of the DC New 52 comics. 


From this one thought my mind started making more connections. 2011 has been a year that has seen a string of super-hero films in the cinemas, and I imagine that the likes of Green Lantern, Thor, Captain America and X-Men: First Class have had audiences chock-full of younger viewers who could be classified as reluctant readers. At school we have tried to capitalise on the appeal and success of these films by making sure we are well stocked with a variety of DC and Marvel books, thanks in no small part to our local Education Library Service, and so I thought I would share some of these titles with you. That way, if your son says reading is boring but loved one of these super-hero films you could surprise him with a related graphic novel that might just be the catalyst that has him wanting more.


Batman: Year One by Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli


Not as 'glossy' as some Batman stories this is a gritty and hard-hitting look at the origins of Batman and his mission to rid Gotham City of its plague of crime. We are introduced to a Bruce Wayne before he dons his disguise for the first time, as well as a Lieutenant Jim Gordon, newly assigned to Gotham City and quickly discovering that corruption is rife amongst the ranks of its police force. Both men have what appears to be an impossible task ahead of them and it isn't long before their paths begin to cross. Classic Batman villains are not present in this story, and it is all the better for this, although the ending leaves us with Gordon pondering on reports of somebody threatening to poison the Gotham reservoir with the words "Calls himself the Joker". Batman: Year One is probably going to have more appeal to slightly older teens as its dark storyline may be a little much for the under 13s.


Batman: Hush by Jeph Loeb and Jim Lee


Fans of the Dark Knight are sometimes divided over this story, but it remains one of my all-time favourites and I know a number of boys at school who have read it share my love of it. The first thing that grabs the reader on first opening this book are the truly stunning images created by Jim Lee to accompany Jeph Loeb's story; many of the classic villains are present including Riddler, Joker, Harley Quinn and Catwoman and in my opinion they have never been so beautifully drawn as they are by Jim Lee in this book (although I hasten to add that my experience is still rather limited and should any Batman fan wish to point me to even better images then I will gladly go there).


Green Lantern: Secret Origin by Geoff Johns ans Ivan Reis


My experience of Green Lantern stories is rather limited and this may be why I quite enjoyed the film earlier this year where long-time fans of the character found it more than a little disappointing. Green Lantern: Secret Origin is, however, a great trade paperback collection for those seeking an introduction to Hal Jordan and the retelling of his becoming a Green Lantern. Another popular title since we introduced it to the school libary.


Ultimate X-Men by Mark Millar 


Started back in 2001 Mark Millar's Ultimate X-Men is the perfect entry point to the Marvel mutant universe for young readers. I have said before that as someone who has not grown up buying a lot of Marvel comics I have sometimes found it difficult to 'break in' to the Marvel universe. In this series author Mark Millar, more than ably assisted by a host of incredibly talented artists, completely reimagines the X-Men story, starting from their beginnings as a band of mutants fighting for good. Familiar characters like Professor Charles Xavier, Cyclops, Storm and Wolverine are all present, and the stories are all exciting and guaranteed to have boys turning pages excitedly to find out what happens next, and then going back though the books to gaze longingly at the stunning artwork. There are now four volumes, titled "Ultimate X-Men: Ultimate Collection", each with more than 300 pages, and I highly recommend them.


Ultimate Spider-Man by Brian Michael Bendis and Mark Bagley


If your son is more of a spider-man fan then why not try the Ultimate Spider-Man series instead? In a similar way to Ultimate X-Men, these volumes (of which there are more than twenty) go right back to the origins of how Peter Parker becomes the webslinging super-hero and well-loved characters like Mary Jane Watson, Aunt May, Green Goblin and Doc Octopus are all present.

~~~

This list is far from being exhaustive and I know that there will be some DC and Marvel fans reading this who will shout "What about....?" As I have said many a time on The Book Zone, this is an area that I am still slowly learning about for myself and I am therefore more than happy to hear from readers about any entry-level recommendations they might have. This also explains the absence of Superman from this list, although having enjoyed the recent DC New 52 #1 issue of Action Comics then this is something that may change in the future.

#edit: Following my tweeting of this post one of my Twitter followers mentioned the DC and Marvel comic apps that are available, and that are a great way of engaging boys with reading, possibly without them even realising it. I will endeavour to find out more about these and create a post of this subject in the future.

Review: The Kite Runner Graphic Novel by Khaled Hosseini, Fabio Celoni and Mirka Andolfo

1970s Afghanistan: Twelve-year-old Amir is desperate to win the local kite-fighting tournament and his loyal friend Hassan promises to help him. But neither of the boys can foresee what will happen to Hassan that afternoon, an event that is to shatter their lives...Since its publication in 2003, The Kite Runner has sold twenty one million copies worldwide. Through Khaled Hosseini's brilliant writing, a previously unknown part of the world was brought to life. Now in this beautifully illustrated, four-colour graphic novel adaptation, The Kite Runner is given a vibrant new life which is sure to compel a new generation of readers.

I loved Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner when I read it some time ago, it is one of the books from the past ten years that still stands out in my mind years after reading it. I have only read it once, for fear that it would lose its impact on a second reading. I have also never watched the film adaptation as Hosseini's writing was so vivid in its descriptions of its characters and setting that I did not want my own mental images altered. So when this graphic novelisation of The Kite Runner arrived in the post from the good people at Bloomsbury was really was in two minds as to whether I would read it or not. Obviously in the end I did, or this review would not exist.

I was persuaded into reading this book by other reading memories I have: discovering for the first time Art Spiegelman's Maus, Joe Sacco's Palestine and Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis, and to a slightly lesser extent Will Eisner's To The Heart Of The Storm, all graphic novels that deal with some pretty massive issues in a way that really touched me. I also have first-hand experience of seeing a disaffected male student at school, with no interest in politics or events outside of his immediate environment, let alone in another country, become much more engaged in Citizenship lessons and posing some pretty searching questions, after I had encouraged him to read Maus and then Palestine. The Kite Runner is another such story that when read and understood could help open the minds of students like this to important issues in a country that they hear a great deal about in the news, but I know for a fact that most would struggle with the original novel format. And so I decided to dive in and go for it, and I am really glad I did.

This is a visually stunning retelling of Hosseini's story and is already on the list as a definite purchase for the school library come the new academic year. Fabio Celoni and Mirka Andolfo have done a masterful job with the artwork, the illustrations perfectly capturing the settings and characters that I have held in my mind for the last few years. Andolfo's colouring brings Celoni's drawings, and with them the story, to life in a way that had me lingering over every panel as I slowly made my way through the story. The text has been adapted by Hosseini himself, and as such sticks very faithfully to the original novel's story. This does include some of the elements of The Kite Runner that caused controversy on its release and the subsequent attempts to have it banned in some libraries in the US. However, although present, the scenes in question are not as explicit in this adaptation and I would have no qualms in recommending it to 14+ teens who are mature enough to understand the background of intolerance and bigotry that lead Assef into behaving the way he does towards Amir and Hassan.

The press release from Bloomsbury states that "In this new stunning form, The Kite Runner is sure to compel a new generation of readers to discover a story of a boy and his country in a journey of love, loyalty, secrets and vengeance." and I am very much inclined to agree with them. I find that in the school where I teach, which is in a very white middle-class area, even the more able students have a scarily poor understanding of the issues affecting the people of Afghanistan, the Palestinian people and problems in other parts of the world, and at times this lack of understanding can make their opinions sound somewhat intolerant, especially where Moslems are concerned. Books like The Kite Runner are perfect for sparking off discussion and helping them develop a greater understanding of other faiths and cultures, and this graphic novelisation will hopefully encourage the less able readers or more disaffected students to do the same.

The Kite Runner graphic novel is published by Bloomsbury and is scheduled to be released on 5th September in paperback format.

       

Review: Pinocchio Vampire Slayer and the Great Puppet Theater by Dusty Higgins & Van Jensen

Pinocchio is back, continuing his quest to rid the world of vampires. Still haunted by Geppetto’s death and in an uneasy alliance with an undead friend, Pinocchio is in danger of letting his anger consume him.

Fortunately, the actors of the Great Puppet Theater arrive on the scene to aid their brother-in-wood. Soon, they’re journeying across Italy to the sea in a high-stakes pursuit of the source of the vampire scourge.

Back at the start of the year I started a Tumblr blog, with a view to it running alongside The Book Zone, with one post each day for a year highlighting some of the cool books in my collection. I managed to get to the end of January, by which point I realised that I was never going to keep it going as I was only just managing to keep on top of this blog. One of the first books I mini-reviewed on that Tumblr effort was Pinocchio Vampire Slayer, a small graphic novel that was something of an impulse buy based purely on its title. In that post I wrote the following about the book:

Story-wise I have read far better in graphic novels, but I am not sure Jensen and Higgins set out to create a richly plotted tale; this book should be enjoyed for what it is: an irreverent and crazy horror story based on the characters created by Carlo Collodi. Sure, the hero of this book is no Buffy Summers, but how many times did we see her have to hunt around for an improvised weapon? This vampire slayer simply has to lie to make his nose grow and voila - instant slayer stake! As for the illustrations I guess you may love or hate them, depending on your tastes. I grew up adoring the black and white images in 2000AD, and can still appreciate the power of monochromatic artwork, but lovers of rich colour and detail may find the style in this book a little brutal for their tastes. Definitely a remedy for the Disney-fied version of the story, and far more in keeping with the dark content of Collodi’s original, and many of the other classic fairytales that have been sanitised by Disney Corp.

In fact, I liked it so much that as I wrote that review I had just put in my order for the sequel, Pinocchio Vampire Slayer and the Great Puppet Theater. Be warned, reader, that the following may contain spoilers for the first book!

Whilst the first book was something of a lone wolf adventure, with Pinocchio on a one-puppet mission to avenge the death of his father Geppetto (albeit with carpenter Master Cherry and The Blue Fairy as support), the second book is much more of a team affair, with the eponymous hero joined by the equally wooden actors of the Great Puppet Theater. They have been hunting for Pinocchio for some time, keen to join up with him and together rid their world of the vampire menace. Their appearance on the scene brings even more dark humour to the sequel, especially in the banter that goes on between the various puppets, with Van Jansen really getting his teeth into writing the sarcasm-rich dialogue that goes on between them. It also means that this second volume is a good fifty pages longer than the first, and this can only be a good thing.

It is a good job that these puppets can really kick butt as there are none of your wimpy Edward Cullen-type vampires in this book, they are all mean, nasty, bloodsucking mankillers, and even if you are feeling a little jaded by all the vampire stories that have been flying around in recent years you will probably find this to be a fresh and engaging take on the vampire myth. I think that these books would go down a storm with 11+ boys, and I hope to get copies for the school library next term. I am definitely looking forward to reading the final book in this trilogy, due out next year and titled Pinocchio Vampire Slayer, Of Wood and Blood, although a I am a little sad that it will be the final PVS book. A Pixar adapation would be fantastic, though given the body count perhaps a little unlikely, so perhaps Higgins and Jensen could turn their immense talents to re-writing another classic fairy tale in the future?

The books are published by SLG Publishing and you can find out more about Pinocchio Vampire Slayer at http://pinocchiovampireslayer.com/

Review: At The Mountains of Madness by H.P. Lovecraft and I.N.J. Culbard

A tale of terror unlike any other: The barren, windswept interior of the Antarctic plateau was lifeless, or so the expedition from Miskatonic University thought. Then they found strange fossils of unheard-of creatures, carved stones tens of millions of years old and, finally, the unspeakable, mind-twisting terror of the City of the Old Ones.

I first discovered Ian Culbard's work through the brilliant graphic novel adaptations of the Sherlock Holmes novels he has done with Ian Edginton. What struck me the most about these books was how Culbard managed to capture perfectly the atmosphere of these stories, and how he portrays the famous lead characters of these stories better than anyone has on film. So last year when I discovered that he was publishing a graphic novelisation of At The Mountains of Madness, a story by horror writer H.P. Lovecraft I was intrigued. Since I started writing this blog I have done Q and A's with quite a few horror writers and many of them have mentioned Lovecraft either as a major influence in their work, or simply that they are hige fans of his writing. I read one or two of his short stories many years ago, but looking back I think I needed to a good few years more before I could really appreciate them. I had been intending to give them a try and decided that Ian Culbard's volume would make the perfect starting point (especially as I had spotted, and managed to get, the limited bookplate edition from the brilliant Gosh Comics in London).

The premise of the story is a familiar one and has been imitated a number of times since the original novella was written: members of a scientific expedition to the Antarctic discover an alien creature. The story is set in the 1930s, giving Mr Culbard another chance to do what he does so well: produce atmospheric artwork that truly reflects the pulp origins of the story. The book opens with a scientist from an earlier expedition discovering, to his horror, a newspaper article about a new venture to the Antarctic. What follows is the recounting of the events that took place several years earlier during the original expedition, where the team discovered remains dating back more than five hundred million years. Despite objections from some members of the party a decision is made to investigate further using their small fleet of light aircraft (stunningly realised by Ian Culbard), with the occupants of one such craft reporting excitedly about: "Mountains surpassing anything in imagination.It's like a land of mystery in a dream, or a gateway to a forbidden world of wonder". 

As readers we are crying out "Noooo! Don't go!" as the scientists take off in their planes on their quest for more evidence, but then again, thanks to the atmospheric artwork, as readers we have also been experiencing a sense of creeping dread from the moment the characters set foot on the barren continent.These explorers go on to discover the remains of something truly amazing, but with this wonder also comes the discovery of something so horrible and that feeling of growing dread increased exponentially the moment that one of the characters, young Darnforth, uttered the words "Those thing, Professor... they weren't dead, were they? They were only sleeping."

Ian Culbard's retelling of the story is worth buying for the artwork alone (his depictions of what we would assume to be a barren land of ice and snow are breathtakingly gorgoues), but coupled as it is with such a great story this is well worth spending your hard earned money on. Since reading this graphic novel I have had bought for me a copy of Necronomicon: The Best Weird Tales of H.P. Lovecraft and I have read the original story as written by the author. It is hard going at times as Lovecraft was not the most economical user of words, and due to this at times the pace can really drag in what is in essence a very exciting science fiction horror story. However, I persevered and I am truly glad that I did so, although I have to admit that a small part of me really did prefer Ian Culbard's version. Sorry Lovecraft fans! 

Review: Mo-Bot High by Neill Cameron

Asha’s new school is insane. Everyone has giant robots that launch out of their mobile phones! She’s only been there five minutes when the school bully challenges her to a fight. So now it’s not just about figuring out who’s cool and who isn’t. She has to learn to pilot her Mo-bot. And fast. But while Asha gets to grips with her Mo-bot’s moves and customises her DMC, she’s being watched… Her piloting skills are about to be put to the ultimate test, and there’s nothing her new friends can do to help.

This is a pretty rare thing on The Book Zone - a review for a book where the main character and all the key secondary characters are female, and there is hardly a boy in sight. And yet it is still nothing short of brilliant and a must-read for any graphic novel-loving boys of aged 9+, especially if they love manga and have grown up watching any of a variety of made-for-kids anime on TV. Add to that the fact that this is another release from the brilliant DFC Library and you know you have a quality publication in your hands.

Asha is the new girl at school, having moved with her father from London to small-town-Britain Middleford. She has the same worries that any new student at a school has - will she fit in? Will she make friends? Will she be bullied? But many of these concerns get pushed to the back of her mind within minutes of her first walking through the school gates when she witnesses her first Digital Mobile Combat (DMC) bout, i.e. two big digital robots beating the crud out of each other in the school playground. And these robots come out of any regular mobile phone. A little weird, yes? But not to all the other students at Midford High who just take it all as the norm. Asha, with jaw still almost touching the ground, is then rudely reminded of her earlier concerns as she comes face to face with the school bullies, a group of girls determined to assert their authority over the newbie, but obviously they do this Midford way - by challenging her to a Mo-Bot duel. Asha has to very quickly learn how to control the digital mechanoid that leaps out of her phone, but it very quickly becomes apparent that Asha is something of a natural.

Behind the day-to-day scenes at the school there is something else more sinister seeming going on. The dinner ladies and cleaners are very obviously linked to the software that is sent to the students' phones, and they very quickly have their eye on the new girl, proclaiming her to be "the anomaly they've been preparing for, all this time" .... "the Harbinger". The use of the school's domestic staff as insiders to an as yet unknown plot, whilst the Headteacher runs around trying to sort out the everyday goings on of a typical high school (whilst totally unaware of all the Mo-Bot stuff) is both very clever and also adds a delightful touch of humour to the proceedings (I shall certainly be keeping an closer eye on our school dining room staff in the future).

In this book we find out little more regarding the so-called Harbinger as this is only the first instalment in the Mo-Bot series, and is very much about setting the scene for what is still to come. This worries me a little, as The DFC Library is still in its infancy and there is no guarantee that it will continue so will we see more from Neill Cameron's Mo-Bots in the future? I really do hope so as this is hi-octane stuff and I would love to see where Neil takes the story in the future. That said, even if we never see a continuation of the series this is still a book that sits nicely on my shelf along with my other DFC Library favourites and is well worth buying for the set-up story and the artwork alone.

Yes, the artwork - I haven't mentioned this yet. Heavily influenced by manga and anime Mr Cameron's work is incredibly dynamic and bursting with colour during the superb robot fight action sequences, and then suitably toned down for the day-to-day school scenes. He also brings a great sense of menace to his pages whenever the story shifts its focus to the machinations of the sinister dinner ladies. As the books has very few male main characters the palette is occasionally a little more feminine than some graphic novels, but that is so much the case with a lot of the Japanese output where incredibly popular and long-running series often feature female main characters. The focus on girls also means that between the robo-battle scenes they occasionally discuss the 'fashion' of their Mob-Bots, and what makes a good colour scheme, etc. This should not put off many boy readers as it somehow just makes those quieter moments more true-to-life.

In Mo-Bot High Neill Cameron has delivered a modern comic book that has strong appeal to both boys and girls and he should be commended for this - I hope we see much more from this series in the future, but that will only happen if fans of this method of storytelling go out and buy copies of the various DFC Library releases. Believe me, they are well worth it. The book was released on the 28th October and should therefore be in many good book stores by now. My thanks go to the kind people at David Fickling Books for sending me a copy of this to review.

Review - Monkey Nuts: The Diamond Egg of Wonders by The Etherington Brothers

Welcome to the Isla de Monstera, home of the world's only tap-dancing, banana-loving, rust-fighting, coconut-talking, crime-busting organisation... MONKEY NUTS! In their very first adventure, Sid, Rivet and Chief Tuft are forced to do battle against a horde of random oddballs and weirdos. When a mysterious signal begins to drive the local loonies into a crazy rage, the Monkey Nuts team have no choice but to grab their masks and get heroic!

A few days ago I reviewed the quirky and totally fab Verne and Lettuce by Sarah McIntyre, and in that review I promised that I would soon be posting about another recent release from The DFC Library, Monkey Nuts by the Etherington Brothers. They say that variety is the spice of life and the people at The DFC sure know how to keep their fans' lives spiced to the limit. So far their releases have included the beautiful and atmospheric Mezolith, a stunning book that was very different to the funny noir-inspired Good Dog, Bad Dog, itself different from Sarah McIntyre's pastel-coloured, chilled (though equally funny) creation. And now in Monkey Nuts we have even more variety to add to the mix - a book that is totally crazy, fun, frantic and exciting - sort of like the 'Dick and Dom' of the comic book world.

The first thing that you notice about Monkey Nuts are the colours - you have no option but to notice them as they are so gloriously vibrant. Look closer though (once your eyes have got used to the rich kaleidoscope of colour) and you will then notice the exquisite detail that Lorenzo Etherington puts into his illustrations; detail that is always very clear despite the vibrancy of the colours and the business of his panels. For busy they are although on first reading the temptation to just bathe in the colours was so overwhelming that I missed a lot of the many less obvious elements in some of the panels, and especially on the occasional splash pages. This book is made to be read again and again: I have now been through it three times and I was still spotting new things.

The appeal of this book is far more than just aesthetic though: Robin Etherington is a skilled writer and his text is the perfect accompaniment to his brother's artwork. The story revolves around the mad-cap antics of Sid the monkey and his new crime-fighting partner Rivet (a robot). 'Thrown' together at the beginning of the story they soon find themselves up against monster after monster, aided by boss of the Serious Crime Squad, Chief Tuft (who just happens to be a coconut...... see, told you it was pretty crazy). The monsters have been drawn to the duo's island paradise home of Isla De Monstera by a Monster Magnet, which has been activated by the dastardly Lord Terra (somewhat un-villainously aka Eric). Lord Terra is after the Diamond Egg of Wonders, a valuable and mystical artefact, yet during a food-poisoning induced Vision he sees the two 'warriors of good' who could foil his plan, warriors who just happen to look like Sid and Rivet. His only hope is that the legion of monsters that feel drawn to the island will destroy the duo and leave the way open for him to get his hands on the Egg.

Young readers will love Monkey Nuts as it has everything they could ask for in a comic book. It is action packed, with great characters, and amazing illustrations. It is also very, very funny: how's this for an opening 'speech bubble': "Deep underground, directly below the strange area of Earth known as The Bermuda Triangle, stands a fortress so evil-looking that it sometimes scares itself! This monstrosity is called Tabitha, and within her stone nostril lives a being even more evil than she!". Brilliant!

Monkey Nuts - The Diamond Egg of Wonders was published at the beginning of September as part of The DFC Library. My thanks go to the generous people at David Fickling Books for sending me a copy to review.

Review: Vern and Lettuce by Sarah McIntyre

Welcome to Pickle Rye, home of best friends Lettuce the rabbit and Vern the sheep. Join them for baking, birthdays, bunny-sitting and a quest for fame in the big city! Vern and Lettuce reach for the stars, but danger is lurking just beneath their feet...


Earlier this year I reviewed Good Dog, Bad Dog and MeZolith, the first two books released under the DFC Library banner. Around the same time the same publisher also released The Spider Moon, a stunningly illustrated book, but with a story that I felt was more appropriate for girls so I did not post a review. Now the DFC Library is back, with three new releases and I have been incredibly fortunate to have received these from the ever generous Lauren at David Fickling Books. I intend to review all of these over the next week or so, but I thought I would kick off with this little beauty - Vern and Lettuce.


Vern and Lettuce is more comic book than graphic novel, but I certainly do not mean this in any negative way. As with its predecessors it is packaged in a glorious hardcover, which is as vividly coloured as all of the pages within. The reason I say it is more like a comic book than the graphic novels I usually read is the way that the early pages of the book are short one-page vignettes; I was not a reader of the DFC in its original format but I imagine these stories are reproduced in the book just as they were in the original comic. This format works very well as it introduces the characters and their lives to the reader in brief, laugh-out-loud short stories before taking them off on an adventure story arc that spans the last two thirds of the book.


And so for some introductions: firstly there is Vern the sheep. Vern lives in a  tower block in the South London suburb of Pickle Rye, where he works tirelessly  as a groundskeeper at Pickle Rye Park, desperately trying to keep the grass free from some rather persistent moles. Lettuce is a rabbit living in the apartment above Vern's, with a rather large litter of playful  bunnies. As we progress through the book we are introduced to a number of supporting characters who come and go, including an elderly Granny Goat who recycles paper by chewing it; a host of different mole characters; and Gerard, a pigeon with a devious plan.


If you're sat there reading this and thinking that this sounds quite different from the graphic novels I have reviewed in the past then you would be very right, and this isn't the kind of book I would have picked up in a book store. And this is why I feel I am so fortunate to have been sent a copy by the publisher as my day was made so much the better for having read the comic adventures of Vern and Lettuce. The illustrations with their pastel colour tones have a beautiful simplicity to them, yet a closer look hows just how much each panel has been lovingly detailed. And unlike some books in this genre, the appeal of this book is not purely aesthetic as Sarah McIntyre also possesses a great deal of skill with words; her chuckle-inducing writing fits the images perfectly and makes this a book that will put a smile on the face of all its readers, from young children to grumpy old men and women.    

Review: DC Comics - The 75th Anniversary Poster Book

Featuring a collection of the most memorable DC comic covers from their history, this collects an amazing variety and wealth of comic art in one book. From the first appearance of Superman – much copied, and the most expensive comic ever sold at auction – in Action Comics # 1, 1938, to Batman’s first swooping appearance in Detective Comics, and further ‘tights and capes’ character introductions, to the relative innocence of Falling In Love, the creepy House of Mystery, Mr District Attourney, up to 100 Bullets, Ronin, and the Vertigo titles, this covers the evolution of artwork, characters, development of themes, introduction of ‘social comment', the taboo-breaking Swamp-Thing and Abby falling in love, and much more, for 500 comic covers.

Wow! As books go this has to be the most stunning looking book I have received since I started this blog, and at 36cm by 28 cm it is certainly the biggest. Whether you are a DC fan, a Marvel fan, or just a fan of comics in general then this is a book that you could spend many hours looking through, admiring the quality of the various comic covers within.

I came quite late to US comics. As I mentioned back in March when I had a graphic novel themed month on the blog, I grew up reading The Beano, then moved on to Marvel's Star Wars Weekly and then the re-launched Eagle. Comics from the DC and Marvel stables were only read whilst waiting to have my hair cut at the barber and the occasional Spiderman or Batman annual received as Christmas presents. I was always aware of the rivalry between the two companies, and also enjoyed the various cartoons and TV series such as Wonder Woman, Batman and Spiderman (which as they were made in the 1970s were all very high camp). I honestly couldn't tell you who my favourite superhero was back then, although I do remember that I always favoured Batman over Superman.

And then....... in 1989 Tim Burton released his movie version of Batman and not long after I discovered Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns, and then many years later the incredibly awesome Hush (still my favourite Batman story to date) and from that moment on I knew exactly who my favourite 'superhero' was. However, this did not bring with it a sudden conversion to DC devotion and even today I do not takes sides in the seemingly neverending DC vs Marcel debate, but I do tend to read a lot more of DC's output than that of Marvel, either in comic or graphic novel form. I think my main concern is that when I pick up a Marvel publication I always feel that I am jumping into the middle of a story, and that I am disadvantaged by not having been buying the comics for years; a little like discovering Lost on TV part of the way into season two I guess.

Since this defining Batman moment I have definitely read far more publications from DC than from Marvel. I love the Hellblazer series and the cynical John Constantine, and Neil Gaiman's The Sandman stories have become a firm favourite since I discovered them. Add Watchmen to the list and Marvel doesn't really get a look in. I know this may cause no small amount of upset for all the Marvel devotees out there, but c'est la vie. I may as well also upset DC fabs whilst I am at it though, just to retain impartiality - I am still not a Superman fan at all.

This book contains the covers of all of these and many, many more. There are covers of the first issues of The Sandman, Hellblazer, Watchmen and V for Vendetta. There is the cover of Swamp Thing #34 (showing Swamp Thing embracing Abigail Arcane), The Dark Knight #1, and the very different Batman: Year 100 #1 cover. With 100 larged sized poster pages there are far too many to mention them all individually and so far I have just focused on some of my favourite stories, but with 75 years of output there are obviously far more. The images are arranged in chronological order, so start with the likes of the now legendary Action Comics #1 and then progress through the decades, including less well known publications such as The House of Mystery, Strange Adventures and Weird Western Tales. On a personal note, as a teacher of graphic design it is also fascinating to see how the styles have changed over the years as fashions changed or new and innovative artists joined the DC role of honour.

If you were so inclined you could also remove each of these poster sized pages as they all have perforations to aid this, but I just couldn't bring myself to do such a thing to this stunning book. It would also rob me of the brief commentary on the rear of each of these 'posters', where comic expert Robert Schnakenberg discusses the historical importance of the cover in question or the story it packaged. Many of these brief commentaries are also accompanied by anecdotal comments from the artists themselves, as well as smaller images of related comic covers.

This book will have huge appeal to fans of comics old and young, and I know it will go down well in the school library (despite all my efforts the boys seem to prefer looking at pictures during their break times). Even die hard Marvel fans may find this an attractive addition to their collection, if only for its stunning portrayal of the art form, rather than the characters that are depicted within it. My huge thanks go to the publisher, Quirk Books, who very generously sent me a copy for review - I almost feel like buying a second copy so I can frame some of the posters. The book is due to be released on 18th August.