I've just been looking at some pictures of the cast of Neverwhere, the Neil Gaiman story set mostly in the parallel world of London Below. There's the climactic scene where Hunter goes after the Great Beast of London, and is gored, leaving Richard Mayhew to finish the job. It had always reminded me of something....
One of the great Cretan bulls, bred for the bull leaping arena, where teams of young men and women danced around them, risking death - you can see the frescos at Knossos - has been shipwrecked on the Greek coast near Athens, and is terrorising the area. Mary Renault brings the scene vividly to life in her book The Bull from the Sea.
She was using the legends of Theseus as her inspiration. In the first book, The King Must Die, he goes to Crete as part of the Athenian tribute, and becomes the leader of a bull leaping team. At the start of the second book, he is back in Athens, as King, and the team has broken up and gone back to their families.
And then this bull appears, and only a bull leaper can deal with it. Two girls from the team go to try, and Theseus arrives just in time to see them fail.
"He gores to the right...." are the last words of Thebe, warning Theseus before he finishes the job of capturing the bull.
The audio book version has the magnificent Michael York reading the story (I shall always think of Theseus with his voice, now) but of course it was abridged, and the bull girls are left out - which is a pity, because it is one of my favourite scenes from the book.
Showing posts with label Neil Gaiman. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Neil Gaiman. Show all posts
Friday, 4 July 2014
Sunday, 21 April 2013
Daredevil
I came to graphic novels in a strange and roundabout way. I love the work of Neil Gaiman, who started in comics and moved on to novels - I'm aware of his Sandman stories, but I don't think I've ever sat down and read one all the way through. However, he came back to comics with his friend Dave McKean to do a re-imagining of the Marvel universe in a story called 1602.
In this parallel universe, the year is 1602, and many superheroes familiar to comic readers are being born early - so the story includes the X-men and Fantastic Four and Nick Fury and lots of others. One of the characters is a blind Irish minstrel called Matt Murdoch, who had a devil-may-care attitude that I rather liked. I discovered that he was based on Daredevil (who I'd never heard of) so I went off and found a Daredevil story to see what he was like in the present day.
The graphic novel that I found was by Mark Waid, and deals with Matt Murdoch's return to his lawyer's practice in New York, where he is also a costumed vigilante. Fortunately, enjoyment of the story doesn't depend on knowing too much back story! I found the depiction of Daredevil's echo location skills and his super sensitive hearing fascinating, and I liked the way other superheroes made guest appearances. Captain America turns up, and the Fantastic Four are mentioned - and so are Latveria and various super villain organisations. I also liked the way that Daredevil can talk his way out of a difficult situation because he is clever, rather than just hitting people very hard (though he can do that too).
I think I'll be looking out for more Daredevil stories.
In this parallel universe, the year is 1602, and many superheroes familiar to comic readers are being born early - so the story includes the X-men and Fantastic Four and Nick Fury and lots of others. One of the characters is a blind Irish minstrel called Matt Murdoch, who had a devil-may-care attitude that I rather liked. I discovered that he was based on Daredevil (who I'd never heard of) so I went off and found a Daredevil story to see what he was like in the present day.
The graphic novel that I found was by Mark Waid, and deals with Matt Murdoch's return to his lawyer's practice in New York, where he is also a costumed vigilante. Fortunately, enjoyment of the story doesn't depend on knowing too much back story! I found the depiction of Daredevil's echo location skills and his super sensitive hearing fascinating, and I liked the way other superheroes made guest appearances. Captain America turns up, and the Fantastic Four are mentioned - and so are Latveria and various super villain organisations. I also liked the way that Daredevil can talk his way out of a difficult situation because he is clever, rather than just hitting people very hard (though he can do that too).
I think I'll be looking out for more Daredevil stories.
Friday, 5 April 2013
The Black Orchid
What a pity this only ever ran to three issues!
It's a complete story in itself, of course, but I don't think there's ever been a sequel featuring purple plant ladies from the Amazon jungle!
In 1988, Neil Gaiman took the character of Black Orchid, a costumed super hero, and made her into something rich and strange, as only he can.
Back in 1988, I was almost as innocent of the Gotham City universe as Black Orchid's recently woken sister, though that didn't spoil my enjoyment of the story. Reading it now, I find that the story has a lot more depth to it that I didn't appreciate the first time round - because now I know about Arkham Asylum, and Swamp Thing, and some of the other little touches that were put into the story.
And now I'm wondering about reading some of Alan Moore's Swamp Thing stories....
It's a complete story in itself, of course, but I don't think there's ever been a sequel featuring purple plant ladies from the Amazon jungle!
In 1988, Neil Gaiman took the character of Black Orchid, a costumed super hero, and made her into something rich and strange, as only he can.
Back in 1988, I was almost as innocent of the Gotham City universe as Black Orchid's recently woken sister, though that didn't spoil my enjoyment of the story. Reading it now, I find that the story has a lot more depth to it that I didn't appreciate the first time round - because now I know about Arkham Asylum, and Swamp Thing, and some of the other little touches that were put into the story.
And now I'm wondering about reading some of Alan Moore's Swamp Thing stories....
Friday, 29 March 2013
Neil Gaiman Delights
Hereford is not, it has to be said, at the cutting edge of modern culture (or much of anything else, really!). There used to be a comic shop - Demon Comics, I think - but that was before I started getting interested in comics and graphic novels, and it's long gone now. The only places I've found that stock graphic novels are Waterstones and WH Smiths, and it's a pretty thin selection. Waterstones have quite a bit of manga, but that's a whole new alien world for me which I haven't looked at yet.
However, I was very pleased to come up with one gem last week - the de luxe version of Black Orchid, by Neil Gaiman, hiding at the back of the stand.
I first read Black Orchid when I lived down in London. According to the notes in the book, that was in 1988, and there were only ever three issues to tell the story. Which I didn't keep, because I'd never heard of Neil Gaiman and I really didn't know how special those comics were.
So now I've got the hardback version, with all the notes, letters and scripts at the back. I took it out of my bag to look at it while I was waiting for the bus back to Hay. A lady in the queue spotted it, and remarked on what a beautiful front cover it is, with the purple lady and the brightly coloured birds. She then started chatting about the Alpha course she'd just been on, and how wonderful it was to be a new Christian, which was actually quite sweet - it seems to be making her happy.
Later this evening, I shall be settling down with a good beer to savour the Black Orchid, and see if it is as good as I remember it (or if I remember it clearly at all, after all this time!)
This has come hot on the heels of the wonderful Neverwhere on Radio 4, of course. We listened to it every evening over the week, and it was brilliantly done. The cast is amazing, of course, and each episode was introduced and discussed afterwards by the man who had directed it, with Nick Briggs the radio presenter for Radio 4 extra. He talked about making layers of sound, starting in the background, with the voices over the top so there was plenty of depth and texture in the sounds.
They managed to describe their surroundings without sounding artificial. Richard, being un-used to these things, really would comment on the fact that he's just gone from a tube train carriage into a stone walled library when he hasn't left the train, for instance. The sound of the Angel Islington's wings flapping was very impressive, too. I've seen the TV series version of Neverwhere, so I remember what that looked like in that - but if you were coming to it fresh, you would be able to imagine what everything looked like very clearly because it is so well done.
Neil Gaiman even got to take part himself! We giggled helplessly as the Fop with No Name cried "You cad!" during the fight at the Floating Market.
Neil Gaiman wrote recently that he had been terrified of appearing on stage only a few years ago - but then he met Amanda Palmer, and appeared in some of her stage shows, and then when Gerry Anderson died he performed the song Fireball XL5 on stage with the band (which Amanda Palmer commented was probably the weirdest thing they had ever done!). And now he's on radio with James MacAvoy and Natalie Dormer (as Door) and Sophie Okonedo as Hunter, not to mention the magnificent Marquis de Carabas (David Harewood being just as good as Paterson Joseph in the TV version) and Benedict Cumberbatch as the Angel Islington.
The supporting cast is just as fantastic, with Bernard Cribbins as Old Bailey, Christopher Lee as the Earl of Earl's Court, and Anthony Head chewing his lines deliciously as Mr Croup.
And then there are the Black Friars, who all have West Indian accents, and the rat speakers, and the sewer folk, and the stall holders of the Floating Market selling cat ("leg or breast?" "Um, that'll be two veg curries, please....").
Listen to this version - your ears will love you for it.
However, I was very pleased to come up with one gem last week - the de luxe version of Black Orchid, by Neil Gaiman, hiding at the back of the stand.
I first read Black Orchid when I lived down in London. According to the notes in the book, that was in 1988, and there were only ever three issues to tell the story. Which I didn't keep, because I'd never heard of Neil Gaiman and I really didn't know how special those comics were.
So now I've got the hardback version, with all the notes, letters and scripts at the back. I took it out of my bag to look at it while I was waiting for the bus back to Hay. A lady in the queue spotted it, and remarked on what a beautiful front cover it is, with the purple lady and the brightly coloured birds. She then started chatting about the Alpha course she'd just been on, and how wonderful it was to be a new Christian, which was actually quite sweet - it seems to be making her happy.
Later this evening, I shall be settling down with a good beer to savour the Black Orchid, and see if it is as good as I remember it (or if I remember it clearly at all, after all this time!)
This has come hot on the heels of the wonderful Neverwhere on Radio 4, of course. We listened to it every evening over the week, and it was brilliantly done. The cast is amazing, of course, and each episode was introduced and discussed afterwards by the man who had directed it, with Nick Briggs the radio presenter for Radio 4 extra. He talked about making layers of sound, starting in the background, with the voices over the top so there was plenty of depth and texture in the sounds.
They managed to describe their surroundings without sounding artificial. Richard, being un-used to these things, really would comment on the fact that he's just gone from a tube train carriage into a stone walled library when he hasn't left the train, for instance. The sound of the Angel Islington's wings flapping was very impressive, too. I've seen the TV series version of Neverwhere, so I remember what that looked like in that - but if you were coming to it fresh, you would be able to imagine what everything looked like very clearly because it is so well done.
Neil Gaiman even got to take part himself! We giggled helplessly as the Fop with No Name cried "You cad!" during the fight at the Floating Market.
Neil Gaiman wrote recently that he had been terrified of appearing on stage only a few years ago - but then he met Amanda Palmer, and appeared in some of her stage shows, and then when Gerry Anderson died he performed the song Fireball XL5 on stage with the band (which Amanda Palmer commented was probably the weirdest thing they had ever done!). And now he's on radio with James MacAvoy and Natalie Dormer (as Door) and Sophie Okonedo as Hunter, not to mention the magnificent Marquis de Carabas (David Harewood being just as good as Paterson Joseph in the TV version) and Benedict Cumberbatch as the Angel Islington.
The supporting cast is just as fantastic, with Bernard Cribbins as Old Bailey, Christopher Lee as the Earl of Earl's Court, and Anthony Head chewing his lines deliciously as Mr Croup.
And then there are the Black Friars, who all have West Indian accents, and the rat speakers, and the sewer folk, and the stall holders of the Floating Market selling cat ("leg or breast?" "Um, that'll be two veg curries, please....").
Listen to this version - your ears will love you for it.
Sunday, 17 February 2013
Marvel 1602
It's a wonderful idea - to take the Marvel superheroes and place them in the year 1602 - because something has gone wrong with time and they are needed 400 years early.
I'm pretty much a novice when it comes to the Marvel universe, but I have seen Avengers Assemble, so Sir Nicholas Fury, spymaster to Queen Elizabeth I, was familiar, even down to the eyepatch - and he had an apprentice with a fascination for spiders who was called Peter....
The X-men are there, in a School for Young Gentlemen somewhere near Warwick - I'm not so familiar with them, though I do know about the bald professor in a wheelchair. There was no wheelchair here, of course, but he was still bald, and renamed Javier, as the X-men were renamed witchbreed.
And anyone who knows a bit of Tudor and Stuart history would know that James I and VI, who succeeded Elizabeth, was pretty anti-witches. In short, this was not a safe time for people with unusual powers to be living. In Spain, of course, there was the Inquisition, and the Grand Inquisitor plays a part in the story too, with his unusual assistants, a red nun and a boy who can run very fast.
And then there's the Roanoake colony, and a young girl called Virginia Dare, the first European child to be born in the Americas, coming back to England with her native American protector. Both of them are more than they seem at first glance.
As if that weren't enough, we also have the Four of the Fantastick and Count Otto von Doom - and a blind Irish minstrel with amazing acrobatic abilities (I'd never heard of Daredevil, but I really like this Matt Murdoch). Matt teams up with a mysterious widow called Natasha (I think I've met her before, too!).
And if that weren't enough, the Court physician is Dr. Strange, and Thor gets in there, too.
This being a Neil Gaiman story, all these many characters work seamlessly into a plot that makes perfect sense. And, this being a Neil Gaiman story, he gets the feeling of the early seventeenth century, with the very different ideas about science that they had then, too. It's amazing what can be done with oil of vitriol and water, a rod of copper and a rod of Chinese zinc....
So much for the script, but what brings it to life, of course, are the artists. Andy Kubert and Richard Isanove do a magnificent job of bringing the characters to life, in the clothes of the period, and the ships and the buildings. "For reference, I'd suggest Shakespeare in Love," Neil Gaiman says in his notes (some of which are reproduced at the back of the book, along with some of the character sketches). The cover art for each comic is by Scott McKowen, based on woodcuts of the period, and it all looks marvellous!
There is a sequel, written by Peter David, who wrote quite a few Star Trek novels among other things - and I think I will have to look out for it.
I'm pretty much a novice when it comes to the Marvel universe, but I have seen Avengers Assemble, so Sir Nicholas Fury, spymaster to Queen Elizabeth I, was familiar, even down to the eyepatch - and he had an apprentice with a fascination for spiders who was called Peter....
The X-men are there, in a School for Young Gentlemen somewhere near Warwick - I'm not so familiar with them, though I do know about the bald professor in a wheelchair. There was no wheelchair here, of course, but he was still bald, and renamed Javier, as the X-men were renamed witchbreed.
And anyone who knows a bit of Tudor and Stuart history would know that James I and VI, who succeeded Elizabeth, was pretty anti-witches. In short, this was not a safe time for people with unusual powers to be living. In Spain, of course, there was the Inquisition, and the Grand Inquisitor plays a part in the story too, with his unusual assistants, a red nun and a boy who can run very fast.
And then there's the Roanoake colony, and a young girl called Virginia Dare, the first European child to be born in the Americas, coming back to England with her native American protector. Both of them are more than they seem at first glance.
As if that weren't enough, we also have the Four of the Fantastick and Count Otto von Doom - and a blind Irish minstrel with amazing acrobatic abilities (I'd never heard of Daredevil, but I really like this Matt Murdoch). Matt teams up with a mysterious widow called Natasha (I think I've met her before, too!).
And if that weren't enough, the Court physician is Dr. Strange, and Thor gets in there, too.
This being a Neil Gaiman story, all these many characters work seamlessly into a plot that makes perfect sense. And, this being a Neil Gaiman story, he gets the feeling of the early seventeenth century, with the very different ideas about science that they had then, too. It's amazing what can be done with oil of vitriol and water, a rod of copper and a rod of Chinese zinc....
So much for the script, but what brings it to life, of course, are the artists. Andy Kubert and Richard Isanove do a magnificent job of bringing the characters to life, in the clothes of the period, and the ships and the buildings. "For reference, I'd suggest Shakespeare in Love," Neil Gaiman says in his notes (some of which are reproduced at the back of the book, along with some of the character sketches). The cover art for each comic is by Scott McKowen, based on woodcuts of the period, and it all looks marvellous!
There is a sequel, written by Peter David, who wrote quite a few Star Trek novels among other things - and I think I will have to look out for it.
Monday, 28 January 2013
Starting out with Graphic Novels
It's an unfamiliar area for me - graphic novels. I know very little about Marvel or DC or the tangled continuities of the superheroes, and it's difficult to know where to start, with such a wide variety of graphic novels out there.
When I was an archaeologist, though, one of the diggers used to buy a 2000AD comic for everyone in the site hut to pass around (yes, we were that poor!), so I've known about Judge Dredd and Strontium Dog and Nemesis the Warlock and so on for a long time. My favourite, though, was Slaine, and as archaeologists with an interest in the Celtic Iron Age we were all impressed with the amount of research that had gone on to write that one.
So when I was in Manchester over the weekend, we stumbled across a Forbidden Planet - and kind of couldn't pass the door until we'd explored the SF and Fantasy goodness within. Down in the comic section, we came across Slaine, the Books of Invasions - wonderful artwork by Clint Langley, with the story by Pat Mills.
And then I went a little mad.
Another comic I had come across in my youth was Green Arrow - I used to get that from a little comic shop near Scotland Yard when I worked in London, and I'm aware of the new US TV series, though I haven't seen any episodes of it yet. There was The Longbow Hunters, with Oliver Queen looking just as I remember him, with the yellow beard and the Robin Hood hat. And the longbow, obviously.
Neil Gaiman is one of my favourite authors, and I knew he'd started off in comics. In fact, back when I was reading Green Arrow, I also picked up Black Orchid - I had no idea of who the writer was at the time, because I'd never heard the name before, and it didn't stick in my memory. Then I started reading books like Neverwhere and American Gods, and did some reading about Neil Gaiman's career - and remembered how much I'd enjoyed Black Orchid. I didn't find that this weekend, but I did find Marvel 1602 - in the hands of such a master, how can I go wrong?
And finally, I'm dabbling at the edges of Steampunk. I love the costumes, and the alternative realities, and I had heard of a character called Inspector LeBrock of Scotland Yard. Who is a badger. In an alternative 'Victorian' London. They had Grandville, the first in the series, in which the Inspector goes to Paris.
I have the feeling there is a whole new world opening up before me....
When I was an archaeologist, though, one of the diggers used to buy a 2000AD comic for everyone in the site hut to pass around (yes, we were that poor!), so I've known about Judge Dredd and Strontium Dog and Nemesis the Warlock and so on for a long time. My favourite, though, was Slaine, and as archaeologists with an interest in the Celtic Iron Age we were all impressed with the amount of research that had gone on to write that one.
So when I was in Manchester over the weekend, we stumbled across a Forbidden Planet - and kind of couldn't pass the door until we'd explored the SF and Fantasy goodness within. Down in the comic section, we came across Slaine, the Books of Invasions - wonderful artwork by Clint Langley, with the story by Pat Mills.
And then I went a little mad.
Another comic I had come across in my youth was Green Arrow - I used to get that from a little comic shop near Scotland Yard when I worked in London, and I'm aware of the new US TV series, though I haven't seen any episodes of it yet. There was The Longbow Hunters, with Oliver Queen looking just as I remember him, with the yellow beard and the Robin Hood hat. And the longbow, obviously.
Neil Gaiman is one of my favourite authors, and I knew he'd started off in comics. In fact, back when I was reading Green Arrow, I also picked up Black Orchid - I had no idea of who the writer was at the time, because I'd never heard the name before, and it didn't stick in my memory. Then I started reading books like Neverwhere and American Gods, and did some reading about Neil Gaiman's career - and remembered how much I'd enjoyed Black Orchid. I didn't find that this weekend, but I did find Marvel 1602 - in the hands of such a master, how can I go wrong?
And finally, I'm dabbling at the edges of Steampunk. I love the costumes, and the alternative realities, and I had heard of a character called Inspector LeBrock of Scotland Yard. Who is a badger. In an alternative 'Victorian' London. They had Grandville, the first in the series, in which the Inspector goes to Paris.
I have the feeling there is a whole new world opening up before me....
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