Going strong so far (an hour and a half in), but I can see that I’ll need to do something to speed things up, or be more efficient, or something. This is just taking too long to get through each book.
Hmmmm …
Review code format (ranked 1-5, blah to faboo): [writing / art / new reader? / non-comics reader?]
Conan: The Frost-Giant’s Daughter (Vol. 1) (Dark Horse) [4/4/5/3] (collects #0-7)
w. Kurt Busiek; a. Cary Nord
I grew up on Thomas/Buscema’s “Savage Sword of Conan,” and read most of the actual Howard books — and what Busiek and Nord are doing here is simply terrific. These retellings and fleshing out of Conan’s career, starting as a kid in Cimmeria, never miss a beat, being appropriately brutal and inspiring as they go along. Nord’s artwork evokes Frazetta but with its own verve, and Busiek has a solid appreciation of the canon without being a slave to it. Conan has, I’ll say, never looked or sounded better. A classic in the making.
Bone: The Crown of Horns (Vol. 9) (Cartoon Books) [4/4/1/5]
w/a. Jeff Smith
The wrap-up of arguably the best long-term comic book fantasy series of all time is a mixed blessing and a mixed bag. On the one hand, Smith’s work stands as a classic in the field, and its upcoming reprinting by Scholastic Books ensures a serious mainstream following. On the other hand, somewhere along the way the fantasy drama of the series began to overcome the madcap fun of the early issues, rendering it marginally less charming, if just as enthralling. And, to be fair, the story sort of … ends. The actions complete, the plotline wraps, and then folks head on with their lives with little sign of having actually grown or changed over the course of the story. It’s a bit bittersweet, and to that degree disappointing — only insofar as the Bone saga falls just short of the mark of brilliance, to instead be simply marvelous. Don’t let that put you off. Buy it. Read it. Give it to your kids. Enjoy.
The Book of Balads (Tor) [5/5/5/5]
w. Trad and various; a. Charles Vess
An enchanting collection of traditional British ballads and tales, retold by some top-knotch fatasists (Gaiman, De Lint, Bull, etc.) and illustrated gorgeously by Charles Vess. Nobody does fantasy better than Vess, and this book is both a delight to the eye and a glimpse into the dark world of the “comic books” of their day, the tales of the bards and balladeers, where dallying with elfinkind could lead to magic, romance, and/or a painful death, depending on your luck. This deserves to be on anyone’s bookshelf, comic book lover or not, and that gives me an idea for some Christmas gifts …
You might consider dropping down to two book reviews or something. Keep it comin’ though!
I’ll probably have to do that. I’m a bit irked.