On Tuesday, September 1, I finished off Red Sonja and Vampirella Meet Betty and Veronica, which may sound interesting but felt more like the early Buffy comics than any of their own titles. Amy Cho and Maria Sanapo are the principal writer and artist, but all their work is outshone by half a dozen alternate covers by Dan Parent in the traditional Archie style that give a glimpse of the project this could have been. That another 40 or so alternate covers are also included feels like overkill. The story? Red Sonja and Vampirella go undercover as students at Riverdale High to investigate some murders. ***, and that’s being generous.
On Wednesday, September 2, I read Justice League Dark, Vol. 5: Paradise Lost. *** Seeing that this was mostly written by J.M. DeMatteis led me to expect amorphous, intangible enemies and that’s exactly what I got, as the supernatural friends and their spooky house get stuck in the Between. Andreas Guinaldo’s art is very pretty, reminding me of Phil Jimenez. There are some nice character interactions and I’ll never totally hate any comic that features John Constantine, but it’s weird to see him flying around like a particularly dowdy superhero. Len Wein co-writes the final story in the book, which frustratingly turns out to be the only one not featuring his creation Swamp Thing.
On Thursday, September 3, I read Blood Squad Seven, Vol. 1: Perilous Relaunch *** by Joe Casey and Paul Fry. It’s a curious book: it’s a continuity implant, plugging the hole left when Rob Liefeld and his characters left Image Comics. So we see a new version of an old team getting together in the present, and flashbacks to when they (instead of Liefeld’s Youngblood cast, as previously seen) encountered characters like Spawn and the (Savage) Dragon. It feels a bit redundant, given that Image continuity was never the tightest, but we’re only four issues in at this point and it sounds like the creators have ambitious plans, so I’ll certainly read more – especially since volumes 2 and 3 are in the same Humble Bundle.
On Friday, September 4, I read Hollow Girl, Vol. 14: Blunt by Luke Cooper. *** I got this entire series in a Fanatical bundle and they have been my emergency ripcord this year whenever it’s got too close to midnight without me finishing a book or audiobook yet – I have to keep the run going! They are short, quick reads with lots of violence and a more-or-less self- contained story in each book. I don’t know how Cooper produces the art, but it got me thinking about ways I could use 3D modelling software to produce artwork for TQF, and you may see the results of that in future issues. In this book the original hollow girl cores back in spirit to protect her successor and the guilt-ridden librarian who looks after her comatose body when vengeful ghosts aren’t taking it out for a spin.
On Saturday, September 5 I was informed that we needed the ingredients for making home-made pizzas, so I took the tram and rode it back and forth a bit first, reading a nice little Penguin 70, Mirror of Ink ***** by Jorge Luis Borges. It’s a collection of seven short stories, some of which, like “The Library of Babel”, I have read before, and more than once. The story that grabbed my attention this time was “Blue Tigers”, about a man who ignores instructions to go up a sacred hill in India and comes back down with a selection of self-replicating pebbles. It’s more of a traditional horror story than the others I’ve read by Borges, and I loved it. I should really read more by him.
On Sunday, September 6 I read The Witcher, Vol. 7: The Ballad of Two Wolves by Bartosz Sztybor and Miki Montlló. *** I’ve quite enjoyed this series from Dark Horse Comics, although the fact they are licensed from the company that makes the videogame rather than the author seems ethically dodgy, even if it is legally sound. This volume is a bit better than the last couple. Geralt is travelling with his pet bard, Dandelion, and looking for work, and something for his pal to sing about. But no one in the village agrees on who or what he should be killing – the werewolf tearing up the town at night, the three sisters buying up cheap property, or something else entirely? The exaggerated art style works quite well for a story that has a humorous tone, despite some very dark and unpleasant incidents.
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