I've been collecting Bryan Talbot graphic novels for some time now - the Grandville series (Inspector Le Brock the badger), Alice in Sunderland, the Tale of One Bad Rat and The Adventures of Luther Arkwright.
I've also got two of the graphic novels that Bryan and Mary Talbot collaborated on - Sally Heathcote: Suffragette and Dotter of Her Father's Eyes (and Kate Charlesworth for Sally Heathcote: Suffragette).
So I was very pleased with my birthday present, Rain by Mary and Bryan Talbot - and my Young Man had got me a signed copy!
It's about a flood in a Yorkshire town, and the grouse moors above the town, and the clash between environmentalism and profit, as seen through the eyes of a young couple - one of whom lives in Yorkshire, and the other in London. It also brings in the Zone Rouge - battlefields of the First World War in France which are still dangerously contaminated - and the Bronte sisters, and fracking, and climate change protests.
It sets out the facts clearly, and shows the different points of view on the subject, and the story is bookended with scenes from Alexander von Humboldt's life. He's a scientist who should be better known, as he was the first person to look at human activity and its effect on the wider environment - around the year 1800. Even then it was evident how deforestation, irrigation and pollution were affecting the climate.
Highly recommended.
Showing posts with label graphic novels. Show all posts
Showing posts with label graphic novels. Show all posts
Monday, 16 March 2020
Thursday, 28 December 2017
Grandville: Force Majeure
I was very pleased to get this, the last book in the Grandville series, for Christmas - and my Young Man had also managed to get me a signed copy, from Forbidden Planet.
This is a graphic novel series about a badger who is an Inspector at Scotland Yard - the characters are all anthropomorphic animals, like Rupert the Bear, or the Blacksad graphic novels. It's also rather Steampunk in design, with steam carriages and Victorian-style costuming. And big guns.
My Young Man had very carefully read up to the anti-spoiler wrapper around the last 50 pages (so browsers couldn't flick to the back to see how the story ended), so he was very keen to find out what happened next. I had restrained myself when the parcel arrived, until Christmas morning.
I settled down in a comfy chair, with a bottle of good beer (Wiper and True Plum Pudding, since it was Christmas), and took my time over the book, savouring every panel. There are lots of jokes and puns hidden in the background, including characters from old British comics. The book is dedicated to Les Baxendale, comic artist, and Bryan Talbot has used some of his old characters, like Korky the Cat.
There's plenty of room in this book to tell a more complex story - it's twice the length of the previous Grandville books - so we get LeBrock's backstory as he tells Billie about his mentor at Scotland Yard (a thinly disguised Sherlock Holmes) and some of the cases they worked on together, as well as how he rose through the ranks to be an Inspector despite his working class background.
And on top of that, another part of LeBrock's past is catching up with him and Billie, in the shape of crime boss Tiberius Koenig, who is out for revenge for what LeBrock did to his brother in a previous story.
And then there's an Italian badger called Tasso, fresh off the ship from a long voyage....
This will be the last of the Grandville books - they're very time consuming to produce (the art work is gorgeous), and it wraps up all the loose ends from previous stories very nicely.
And now I'm going to binge read all five of them again.
This is a graphic novel series about a badger who is an Inspector at Scotland Yard - the characters are all anthropomorphic animals, like Rupert the Bear, or the Blacksad graphic novels. It's also rather Steampunk in design, with steam carriages and Victorian-style costuming. And big guns.
My Young Man had very carefully read up to the anti-spoiler wrapper around the last 50 pages (so browsers couldn't flick to the back to see how the story ended), so he was very keen to find out what happened next. I had restrained myself when the parcel arrived, until Christmas morning.
I settled down in a comfy chair, with a bottle of good beer (Wiper and True Plum Pudding, since it was Christmas), and took my time over the book, savouring every panel. There are lots of jokes and puns hidden in the background, including characters from old British comics. The book is dedicated to Les Baxendale, comic artist, and Bryan Talbot has used some of his old characters, like Korky the Cat.
There's plenty of room in this book to tell a more complex story - it's twice the length of the previous Grandville books - so we get LeBrock's backstory as he tells Billie about his mentor at Scotland Yard (a thinly disguised Sherlock Holmes) and some of the cases they worked on together, as well as how he rose through the ranks to be an Inspector despite his working class background.
And on top of that, another part of LeBrock's past is catching up with him and Billie, in the shape of crime boss Tiberius Koenig, who is out for revenge for what LeBrock did to his brother in a previous story.
And then there's an Italian badger called Tasso, fresh off the ship from a long voyage....
This will be the last of the Grandville books - they're very time consuming to produce (the art work is gorgeous), and it wraps up all the loose ends from previous stories very nicely.
And now I'm going to binge read all five of them again.
Tuesday, 23 December 2014
Luther Arkwright and the Knights of God
When I first picked up Grandville, and got enthused about the adventures of a badger Inspector at Scotland Yard, I had no idea how influential Bryan Talbot was as a comic artist.
I'm starting to get an inkling now.
Bryan Talbot's ground-breaking work, back in the 1970s and 80s, was The Adventures of Luther Arkwright. I was vaguely aware of it, but the price of copies secondhand made me think twice about looking any closer, while at the same time showing how desirable they were.
This year, The Adventures of Luther Arkwright were re-published in a huge volume along with the sequel Heart of Empire. It seemed like a good chance to see what all the fuss was about.
At the same time, I noticed that Big Finish had produced an audio version of Luther Arkwright, with David Tennant as Luther and Paul Darrow as Cromwell (and what a voice that man has for a good villain!). I sent off for that, too. I thought that if I listened to the story first, I might have a better idea of what was happening, as the hero jumped between parallel worlds, and if I had a grasp of the story, I could take more notice of what was happening in the background of the comic panels.
And what a treat it is! I can highly recommend the 3CD set.
I'm now about halfway through the graphic novel, savouring it slowly.
I've also been reading the interviews in the new volume, and getting a feel for just how influential the story, and the way the story is told, was when it first came out. People like Alan Moore and Michael Moorcock talk about the influence it had on their work.
I've just recently been revisiting that obscure children's series from the 1980s, Knights of God, so it struck me very strongly that Luther Arkwright influenced this series, too. Both have a religious military order, with an autocratic leader - you could swap Cromwell for the Father Abbot of the Knights of God and never notice the difference, including the descent of both of them into madness (though without the sexual perversions of Nathaniel Cromwell - it was a children's TV series, after all). In each case, a big military rally is planned (though the one in Knights of God never takes place) and both organisations are big on black uniforms and motorcycles. There's even talk of an uprising in Wales in Luther Arkwright, which is an important part of Knights of God, and in both the rebels are trying to put the original Royal family back on the throne.
There's a plot against both Cromwell and the Abbot by high ranking members of their organisations, though in Cromwell's case it's more like the failed coup against Hitler in the latter days of the Second World War. In Knights of God, it's all about Brother Hugo's personal ambition. Knights of God swaps the dimension-jumping between parallel worlds for Arthurian myth, but otherwise I think there are very close similarities indeed.
I'm starting to get an inkling now.
Bryan Talbot's ground-breaking work, back in the 1970s and 80s, was The Adventures of Luther Arkwright. I was vaguely aware of it, but the price of copies secondhand made me think twice about looking any closer, while at the same time showing how desirable they were.
This year, The Adventures of Luther Arkwright were re-published in a huge volume along with the sequel Heart of Empire. It seemed like a good chance to see what all the fuss was about.
At the same time, I noticed that Big Finish had produced an audio version of Luther Arkwright, with David Tennant as Luther and Paul Darrow as Cromwell (and what a voice that man has for a good villain!). I sent off for that, too. I thought that if I listened to the story first, I might have a better idea of what was happening, as the hero jumped between parallel worlds, and if I had a grasp of the story, I could take more notice of what was happening in the background of the comic panels.
And what a treat it is! I can highly recommend the 3CD set.
I'm now about halfway through the graphic novel, savouring it slowly.
I've also been reading the interviews in the new volume, and getting a feel for just how influential the story, and the way the story is told, was when it first came out. People like Alan Moore and Michael Moorcock talk about the influence it had on their work.
I've just recently been revisiting that obscure children's series from the 1980s, Knights of God, so it struck me very strongly that Luther Arkwright influenced this series, too. Both have a religious military order, with an autocratic leader - you could swap Cromwell for the Father Abbot of the Knights of God and never notice the difference, including the descent of both of them into madness (though without the sexual perversions of Nathaniel Cromwell - it was a children's TV series, after all). In each case, a big military rally is planned (though the one in Knights of God never takes place) and both organisations are big on black uniforms and motorcycles. There's even talk of an uprising in Wales in Luther Arkwright, which is an important part of Knights of God, and in both the rebels are trying to put the original Royal family back on the throne.
There's a plot against both Cromwell and the Abbot by high ranking members of their organisations, though in Cromwell's case it's more like the failed coup against Hitler in the latter days of the Second World War. In Knights of God, it's all about Brother Hugo's personal ambition. Knights of God swaps the dimension-jumping between parallel worlds for Arthurian myth, but otherwise I think there are very close similarities indeed.
Tuesday, 15 July 2014
Sally Heathcote, Suffragette
Google tells me it's Emmeline Pankhurst's birthday today (she would have been 156), so it seemed appropriate to talk about Sally Heathcote, the heroine of the graphic novel by Mary Talbot, Kate Charlesworth (the illustrator) and Bryan Talbot.
The first thing to say is that I've learned a lot about my own local history from this book. I grew up in Manchester, and that's where the story starts, in the household of Mrs Pankhurst. Sally is in service there, and later moves to London where the headquarters of the Votes for Women movement were.
I'm about half way through the book at the moment, and enjoying it immensely. It includes leaders of the movement I'd never heard of (it wasn't all the Pankhursts, though they are the most famous suffragettes), like the Pethick-Lawrences, and Emily Wilding Davison, the woman who threw herself under the King's race horse, who Sally meets when she goes up to Edinburgh for a demonstration.
It's very good at showing the gradual hardening of attitudes among the politicians of the time. First, women asked questions at public meetings about votes for women - and were thrown out. Then they were banned from attending the public meetings, so they protested outside. Then they started getting arrested. When they demanded the status of political prisoners they were refused, so they went on hunger strike - which led to force feeding, and the notorious Cat and Mouse Act, by which a woman would be released from prison when she was weak from her hunger strike, and re-arrested as soon as she had recovered.
But the women didn't go away, and they didn't stop asking the Establishment for the vote.
The first thing to say is that I've learned a lot about my own local history from this book. I grew up in Manchester, and that's where the story starts, in the household of Mrs Pankhurst. Sally is in service there, and later moves to London where the headquarters of the Votes for Women movement were.
I'm about half way through the book at the moment, and enjoying it immensely. It includes leaders of the movement I'd never heard of (it wasn't all the Pankhursts, though they are the most famous suffragettes), like the Pethick-Lawrences, and Emily Wilding Davison, the woman who threw herself under the King's race horse, who Sally meets when she goes up to Edinburgh for a demonstration.
It's very good at showing the gradual hardening of attitudes among the politicians of the time. First, women asked questions at public meetings about votes for women - and were thrown out. Then they were banned from attending the public meetings, so they protested outside. Then they started getting arrested. When they demanded the status of political prisoners they were refused, so they went on hunger strike - which led to force feeding, and the notorious Cat and Mouse Act, by which a woman would be released from prison when she was weak from her hunger strike, and re-arrested as soon as she had recovered.
But the women didn't go away, and they didn't stop asking the Establishment for the vote.
Sunday, 13 July 2014
Iron Man and Captain Britain
I picked up a copy of the new Marvel comic yesterday - with Guardians of the Galaxy, Daredevil and Avengers Arena in it. With the film coming out shortly, I wanted to see what the Guardians are like in the comics. On the whole, I really enjoyed the story, but there was one moment....
So, Iron Man has teamed up with the Guardians of the Galaxy, and they are thwarting an alien invasion over London. Communications are out, so Tony Stark can't summon the other American Avengers to help.
"Hey, Stark," Starlord says, in the middle of the battle, "are there any London-based superhero initiatives? Any British X-men?"
"There is a Captain Britain," says Tony.
"Is he any good?"
"Not really."
Cheeky beggar! Or at least, the writer Brian Michael Bendis is, for putting those words in Iron Man's mouth!
So, Iron Man has teamed up with the Guardians of the Galaxy, and they are thwarting an alien invasion over London. Communications are out, so Tony Stark can't summon the other American Avengers to help.
"Hey, Stark," Starlord says, in the middle of the battle, "are there any London-based superhero initiatives? Any British X-men?"
"There is a Captain Britain," says Tony.
"Is he any good?"
"Not really."
Cheeky beggar! Or at least, the writer Brian Michael Bendis is, for putting those words in Iron Man's mouth!
Tuesday, 15 October 2013
Alice in Sunderland
I first came across Bryan Talbot as the author and artist of the Grandville graphic novels, about Inspector LeBrock of Scotland Yard (who is a badger - one of the influences on the stories is the Rupert Bear Annuals).
Alice in Sunderland is rather different. It starts with the idea that Lewis Carroll and Alice Liddell (who was the real Alice in Wonderland) are just as firmly associated with Sunderland and the surrounding area as they are with Oxford. As Bryan Talbot puts forward the evidence for this, based on a book by Michael Bute called A Town Like Alice's, he also tells the story of the Sunderland Empire theatre, which is where the story opens. This is, among other things, the place where Sid James of the Carry On films died on stage during a play, and Sid as a ghost turns up to make comments on the action throughout the book. I'd known about Sid James' death, but not that it had happened there. I was also aware, through a blog about Victorian life I came across some time ago (I think it was Cats Meat Shop), of the disaster in which nearly two hundred children at a Christmas show were killed in a crush caused partly by badly designed doors - and that happened at the Sunderland Empire, too.
But that's only a small portion of what the book contains. It also takes in the entire history of Sunderland back to prehistoric times, including local heroes like Jack Crawford, the Hero of Camperdown (a sailor in Nelson's navy - done in the style of the Boys Own comic). Doctor Who passes through - the first police boxes were made in Sunderland, and the ancient rivalry between Sunderland and Newcastle-upon-Tyne is explained.
There are white rabbits, and rabbit holes, and the building of Sunderland docks, and - all human life, almost. He also manages to cover the history of comics, the history of his own house, Jack the Ripper (who never came to Sunderland, as far as anyone knows), the Corn Laws, the legend of the Lambton Worm - and manages to include his own views on fascism and immigration (he's against the first and in favour of the second).
In fact, immigration is something of a theme throughout the book, as he chronicles all the different peoples who have come to Sunderland to settle, all the way from Roman times to the present.
It's the sort of rich mixture that cannot be taken in completely on one reading - and the artwork is fantastic as well, in a variety of styles, including photography.
And one little extra pleasure for me is that the acknowledgements at the end of the book mention someone I know - he consulted Edward Wakeling, who is a renowned expert on Alice, and who comes into the shop where I work regularly.
Alice in Sunderland is rather different. It starts with the idea that Lewis Carroll and Alice Liddell (who was the real Alice in Wonderland) are just as firmly associated with Sunderland and the surrounding area as they are with Oxford. As Bryan Talbot puts forward the evidence for this, based on a book by Michael Bute called A Town Like Alice's, he also tells the story of the Sunderland Empire theatre, which is where the story opens. This is, among other things, the place where Sid James of the Carry On films died on stage during a play, and Sid as a ghost turns up to make comments on the action throughout the book. I'd known about Sid James' death, but not that it had happened there. I was also aware, through a blog about Victorian life I came across some time ago (I think it was Cats Meat Shop), of the disaster in which nearly two hundred children at a Christmas show were killed in a crush caused partly by badly designed doors - and that happened at the Sunderland Empire, too.
But that's only a small portion of what the book contains. It also takes in the entire history of Sunderland back to prehistoric times, including local heroes like Jack Crawford, the Hero of Camperdown (a sailor in Nelson's navy - done in the style of the Boys Own comic). Doctor Who passes through - the first police boxes were made in Sunderland, and the ancient rivalry between Sunderland and Newcastle-upon-Tyne is explained.
There are white rabbits, and rabbit holes, and the building of Sunderland docks, and - all human life, almost. He also manages to cover the history of comics, the history of his own house, Jack the Ripper (who never came to Sunderland, as far as anyone knows), the Corn Laws, the legend of the Lambton Worm - and manages to include his own views on fascism and immigration (he's against the first and in favour of the second).
In fact, immigration is something of a theme throughout the book, as he chronicles all the different peoples who have come to Sunderland to settle, all the way from Roman times to the present.
It's the sort of rich mixture that cannot be taken in completely on one reading - and the artwork is fantastic as well, in a variety of styles, including photography.
And one little extra pleasure for me is that the acknowledgements at the end of the book mention someone I know - he consulted Edward Wakeling, who is a renowned expert on Alice, and who comes into the shop where I work regularly.
Friday, 5 July 2013
Captain Marvel
I think I've found someone else that I want to be when I grow up!
(The first choice is Sarah Jane Smilth, obviously.)
Today I picked up a copy of Captain Marvel: In Pursuit of Flight in Hereford, and I read it in the sunshine on the banks of the Wye while sipping some of the best beers the Beer on the Wye Festival could provide.
And Carol Danvers is awesome!
First of all, she has a sensible costume now, instead of flashing bare skin all over the place. She is (or was), after all, a Colonel in USAF - outranking Captain America, as she reminds him in the opening fight sequence.
It's a timeslip story - and it takes in some of the real heroic women pilots of the past - the women who ferried planes for the RAF and USAF in the Second World War, (at this point, the story suddenly becomes Commando Weekly for a while - and none the worse for that!) and the Mercury 13, who passed all the tests the men did who were training to be astronauts, but were still denied the opportunity to join the programme because this was 1961 - and they didn't have any experience in flying jets. Since only men got the opportunity to fly jets - well, they were cheated, and they should have been up there.
These are sensible women characters who have goals and desires well beyond being someone's girlfriend - they want to help the war effort (despite their lack of training), and they want to fly into space.
This is a wonderful comic book, and I will be looking out for more work by Kelly Sue DeConnick and the various artists who worked with her - principally Dexter Soy and Emma Rios, I think.
(The first choice is Sarah Jane Smilth, obviously.)
Today I picked up a copy of Captain Marvel: In Pursuit of Flight in Hereford, and I read it in the sunshine on the banks of the Wye while sipping some of the best beers the Beer on the Wye Festival could provide.
And Carol Danvers is awesome!
First of all, she has a sensible costume now, instead of flashing bare skin all over the place. She is (or was), after all, a Colonel in USAF - outranking Captain America, as she reminds him in the opening fight sequence.
It's a timeslip story - and it takes in some of the real heroic women pilots of the past - the women who ferried planes for the RAF and USAF in the Second World War, (at this point, the story suddenly becomes Commando Weekly for a while - and none the worse for that!) and the Mercury 13, who passed all the tests the men did who were training to be astronauts, but were still denied the opportunity to join the programme because this was 1961 - and they didn't have any experience in flying jets. Since only men got the opportunity to fly jets - well, they were cheated, and they should have been up there.
These are sensible women characters who have goals and desires well beyond being someone's girlfriend - they want to help the war effort (despite their lack of training), and they want to fly into space.
This is a wonderful comic book, and I will be looking out for more work by Kelly Sue DeConnick and the various artists who worked with her - principally Dexter Soy and Emma Rios, I think.
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.
Saturday, 13 April 2013
Serenity's Shepherd
I may not have a brown coat in my wardrobe, but I loved Firefly - and I was always intrigued by the mystery surrounding Shepherd Book.
When I went into Waterstones in Hereford yesterday, I found that the graphic novel section had got bigger - and they had The Shepherd's Tale.
I had to treat myself.
It's always nice to see a character in fiction, especially SF, who takes religion seriously, but is not a caricature. Book has a real faith and takes it seriously in the series (and it's not often you see the St Francis prayer "Lord, make me an instrument of your peace" in a comic book).
The story has an odd structure. It starts with what we know, from the film Serenity, right at the end of Book's life, and gradually works backwards, scene by scene. Of course, he lived through the war - and he wasn't always a priest (was he ever actually a priest at all? Devoutly Christian, certainly, and he'd come from a monastery when Kaylee persuaded him to travel with the Serenity crew), but what had he done with the rest of his life?
Well, this story tells all - everything that led up to the appearance of Book in the series, anyway.
Zack Whedon tells the story, from an outline by Joss Whedon, and Chris Samnee is the artist - and I shall be looking out for more of their work.
When I went into Waterstones in Hereford yesterday, I found that the graphic novel section had got bigger - and they had The Shepherd's Tale.
I had to treat myself.
It's always nice to see a character in fiction, especially SF, who takes religion seriously, but is not a caricature. Book has a real faith and takes it seriously in the series (and it's not often you see the St Francis prayer "Lord, make me an instrument of your peace" in a comic book).
The story has an odd structure. It starts with what we know, from the film Serenity, right at the end of Book's life, and gradually works backwards, scene by scene. Of course, he lived through the war - and he wasn't always a priest (was he ever actually a priest at all? Devoutly Christian, certainly, and he'd come from a monastery when Kaylee persuaded him to travel with the Serenity crew), but what had he done with the rest of his life?
Well, this story tells all - everything that led up to the appearance of Book in the series, anyway.
Zack Whedon tells the story, from an outline by Joss Whedon, and Chris Samnee is the artist - and I shall be looking out for more of their work.
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.
Saturday, 9 March 2013
Follow the Badger!
It's not often you hear Rupert the Bear mentioned in the same sentence as Quentin Tarantino - but those are two of the influences on Grandville, the graphic novel series starring Inspector LeBrock of Scotland Yard (who is a badger).
Mary Tourtel started the Rupert Bear comic strip in the Daily Express newspaper, but it really reached its glory days under the artistry of Alfred Bestall, who also introduced some of the more surreal elements into it. Rupert is basically a boy with a bear's head, and his friends are all sorts of other animals, including Bill the Badger, Edward Trunk the elephant, and others. Also living in the village of Nutwood is a human Chinese conjuror (who built himself a pagoda by the village green) and his pretty daughter Tiger Lily, one of the few female characters. Alfred Bestall worked on the strip, and the Annuals, for 38 years, up until 1973, and was succeeded by Alex Cubie, John Harrold and the present illustrator, Stuart Trotter.
In Grandille, too, most of the characters are basically human shaped, but with the heads of different animals, and their names reflect what kind of animal they are - so LeBrock the badger is assisted by Detective Ratzi, a rat, and the squirrel police sergeant at the beginning of the book is called Nutkin. Rather charmingly, Rupert Bear's father appears in the background of one picture, clipping his garden hedge - and the village is called Nutwood.
Inspector LeBrock is called in to investigate the murder of a diplomat, and his investigations soon lead him to Paris, the Grandville of the title. This is a reference to the French caricaturist Jean Ignace Isidore Gerard, who died in 1847, who worked under the nom-de-plume of JJ Grandville (according to the note at the front of the book). Bryan Talbot's other main influence is the French science fiction illustrator Albert Robida, who died in 1926.
In this alternate universe, Napoleon won his war with Britain, and the French Empire is the supreme power in Europe, with Britain reduced to a provincial backwater. Anglophobia is rife in France, ever since English anarchists blew up a great tower in the middle of Paris. There are quite a few clever political allusions in the story. I particularly liked the French prime minister, previously head of a small far-right wing party, called Jean-Marie Lapin (he's a rabbit, of course). There's also a lot of violence, which is where the reference to Quentin Tarantino comes in.
It's not just political allusions, either. There's a scene referencing Tin Tin, too - and all I can say about that is "Poor Snowy!"
It's also a popular story in Steampunk circles, thanks to the pseudo-Victorian fashions and things like the Channel railway bridge and the dirigibles.
But it's the character of LeBrock himself who makes the story so enjoyable - the scene where he asks for a full English breakfast in a posh French hotel for instance, is a delight.
Looking at the credits on the back pages, I found that I'd seen some of Bryan Talbot's work before. He was responsible, with Pat Mills, for Nemesis the Warlock in 2000AD, and I rather liked Nemesis, and his living starship the Blitzspear. It's quite refreshing to have a demonic alien as the good guy and the human Torquemada ("Be Pure! Be Vigilant! Behave!") as the bad guy.
Bryan Talbot has also worked on Sandman (Neil Gaiman's comic series), and The Adventures of Luther Arkwright, and Alice in Sunderland, among others.
There are sequels to Grandville - Grandville Mon Amour, and Bete Noir - and we wants them, my precious!
Mary Tourtel started the Rupert Bear comic strip in the Daily Express newspaper, but it really reached its glory days under the artistry of Alfred Bestall, who also introduced some of the more surreal elements into it. Rupert is basically a boy with a bear's head, and his friends are all sorts of other animals, including Bill the Badger, Edward Trunk the elephant, and others. Also living in the village of Nutwood is a human Chinese conjuror (who built himself a pagoda by the village green) and his pretty daughter Tiger Lily, one of the few female characters. Alfred Bestall worked on the strip, and the Annuals, for 38 years, up until 1973, and was succeeded by Alex Cubie, John Harrold and the present illustrator, Stuart Trotter.
In Grandille, too, most of the characters are basically human shaped, but with the heads of different animals, and their names reflect what kind of animal they are - so LeBrock the badger is assisted by Detective Ratzi, a rat, and the squirrel police sergeant at the beginning of the book is called Nutkin. Rather charmingly, Rupert Bear's father appears in the background of one picture, clipping his garden hedge - and the village is called Nutwood.
Inspector LeBrock is called in to investigate the murder of a diplomat, and his investigations soon lead him to Paris, the Grandville of the title. This is a reference to the French caricaturist Jean Ignace Isidore Gerard, who died in 1847, who worked under the nom-de-plume of JJ Grandville (according to the note at the front of the book). Bryan Talbot's other main influence is the French science fiction illustrator Albert Robida, who died in 1926.
In this alternate universe, Napoleon won his war with Britain, and the French Empire is the supreme power in Europe, with Britain reduced to a provincial backwater. Anglophobia is rife in France, ever since English anarchists blew up a great tower in the middle of Paris. There are quite a few clever political allusions in the story. I particularly liked the French prime minister, previously head of a small far-right wing party, called Jean-Marie Lapin (he's a rabbit, of course). There's also a lot of violence, which is where the reference to Quentin Tarantino comes in.
It's not just political allusions, either. There's a scene referencing Tin Tin, too - and all I can say about that is "Poor Snowy!"
It's also a popular story in Steampunk circles, thanks to the pseudo-Victorian fashions and things like the Channel railway bridge and the dirigibles.
But it's the character of LeBrock himself who makes the story so enjoyable - the scene where he asks for a full English breakfast in a posh French hotel for instance, is a delight.
Looking at the credits on the back pages, I found that I'd seen some of Bryan Talbot's work before. He was responsible, with Pat Mills, for Nemesis the Warlock in 2000AD, and I rather liked Nemesis, and his living starship the Blitzspear. It's quite refreshing to have a demonic alien as the good guy and the human Torquemada ("Be Pure! Be Vigilant! Behave!") as the bad guy.
Bryan Talbot has also worked on Sandman (Neil Gaiman's comic series), and The Adventures of Luther Arkwright, and Alice in Sunderland, among others.
There are sequels to Grandville - Grandville Mon Amour, and Bete Noir - and we wants them, my precious!
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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