Book Review: The Amazing Screw-On Head

Sometimes you buy a book and decide not to read it yet as you know it will be a special treat for you the day you finally crack it open and peek inside.

Originally published in 2002 and purchased by me as a hardcover book back in 2010, Mike Mignola's The Amazing Screw-On Head is a fun little story about an Abraham Lincoln-era robot who can screw his head (think of a lightbulb) on to a variety of robot bodies in order to best serve the U.S. Administration and save the world from a number of villains set on destroying the world.

The comic is strange, funny, and clearly related thematically to Mignola's much more famous Hellboy, but works to create a strange world in which the fate of existence is left up to a robot and fighting a villain called Emperor Zombie.

All I can say after reading this tasty little gem this morning is "Thanks 2010 Bookmonkey!"

What a delightful little book.

Things I've noticed: I'm a huge fan of Jasper

Not the bear (although I did fill out the costume at a Canadian Library Conference once, but the National Park.  I'm currently in a library course for the School of Library Sciences at the University of Alberta where I'm learning about networking and trend spotting.

This one-credit course is being held at the Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge (pictured left) for the annual Alberta Library Conference.  What this means for me is a few days of some serious work (networking is definitely not my strong suit) and a lot of fun.

What this means for my loyal blog readers is that rather than typing this up at home in Edmonton, I'm doing it up in the Rocky Mountains.

My life is pretty cool.

But don't worry, I'm still working on my genre reading, in addition to the Hellboy stuff I spoke about on Tuesday I'm reading the classic zombie anthology, The Book of the Dead, which helped introduce the sub-genre Splatterpunk to horror fans in the '80s.

Although I know an awful lot of people who are currently making their way to southern Alberta for the Calgary Expo - where you can get your picture taken with the entire cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation, I'm looking forward to a weekend of library-themed sessions on everything from comic books to social media.

Genre Character of the Week: Abe Sapien

Here’s what I love about Abe: for a guy who can sometimes appear more fish than man, he is really relatable to the reader.  As I’ve just about finished up my load of books for April (Just the original zombie anthology, 1989s The Book of the Dead to go), I finally have some time to catch up on some magazines and comics before I start reading my next eight books for May (Most excited about The Keep by F. Paul Wilson, and To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis), which means I get to catch up with the Hellboy Universe.

Since I read my last few Hellboy trades there are actually four I haven’t touched: Hellboy vol. 12: The Storm and the Fury, BPRD: Hell On Earth vol. 2: Gods and Monsters, Edward Grey: Witchfinder vol. 2: Lost and Gone Forever and Abe Sapien vol. 2: The Devil Does not Jest which is the one I’m currently most excited about.

For those of you unfamiliar with the Hellboy Universe, Abe is a member of the Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defence (BPRD), and is also a sort of bizarre amphibian or fish-man (scientifically classified as Icthyo Sapien) who lives naturally underwater but can survive in open air for a limited time (longer with a re-breather).  Found in a state of suspended animation in 1978 in a hidden laboratory beneath a hospital in Washington, D.C. his name comes from a date written on a slip of paper attached to his tube (April 14, 1865, which was the date of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln) hence, Abe and Sapien from the scientific classification.

Abe’s history before he was discovered is shrouded in mystery (actually it is explained but as that is a pretty major spoiler you’ll either have to get reading the series or cheat and look at Wikipedia), and in addition to his amphibious nature he is also telepathic and can perform psychometry (reading a psychic history from a physical object).  For me, it is Abe’s search to understand and better himself that appeals the most.

Top Five Comics I'm still getting around to reading

As I'm sitting here typing away in my study, I'm faced directly by my bookshelf of books to be read and I'm realizing that my comic book and graphic novel collection is starting to pile up. I've been pretty focused on novels and school work for the last year and therefore the important business of comic book reading has fallen to the wayside a little (Interestingly I've read a number of books about comics this year, but that's not quite the same thing).

So here we go - Bookmonkey's top five list of comics I own but still haven't gotten around to reading yet:

5. Tiny Titans - this kid-aimed comic actually belongs to my youngest daughter, but those teeny tiny little versions of the Teen Titans are consistently awesome - I'm about 10 issues behind.

4. Jack of Fables - I got up to volume 5 (I think), to just about where the Great Fables Crossover occurs and haven't gotten back to the series since - I own them, I just haven't read them yet - I'm about 4 trade paperback collections behind.

3. Fables - Same story as above, only I'm about 5 trade paperback collections behind ( I did read Peter & Max, however, and it was awesome).

2. Hellboy - This one is a little embarrassing, although I'm only one trade paperback collection behind (and it only came out about a week ago), I'm usually so good about reading this title that a new collection doesn't spend a night in my house without me checking it out.

1. Starman - This one is actually the worst (not the series, I haven't read it yet), I mean this is my worst offender, as I own all six Starman Omnibus collections in hardcover, have heard nothing but praise from my friends who have read it, and it has a Hellboy crossover and I still haven't gotten past issue one! The series looks so good, but I just haven't had the time to begin!

So there you go - the comics I own that I still need to get around to reading. I've just got a few more books to read this month and then I'm totally going to start (only next month is happening in just over a week and then I have seven more books to read...

Book Review - Mouse Guard: Fall 1152

When it comes to trying out new comic books, I'm always a little nervous. In a perfect world I'll get a copy from a friend or the library before I make a purchase, but every once in a while you see a title that demands immediate purchase. Last month this happened to me with the book Mouse Guard: Fall 1152.

For starters the artwork is simply beautiful. I don't think I can remember being this affected by comic artwork since the first time I saw Mike Mignola's Hellboy. Like Hellboy, Mouse Guard has a visual style all of its own and is also written and drawn by the same person, David Petersen.

A lot like the fantasy series Redwall, Mouse Guard follows little medieval mice as they try to survive and protect their own lands. We follow a small group of mice, members of the Mouse Guard whose job it is to protect their lands and cities. The first volume follows the actions of three specific mice Saxon, Kenzie and Lieam who discover a possible treasonous plot that may lead to war.

I've got to say that some of the most amazing things about this series for me are the action sequences. In perhaps the most striking one in the first volume two mice battle giant (to the mice anyway) crabs (pictured right).

If you like medieval fantasy, or simply amazing artwork and story, I would definitely try out Mouse Guard, it is simply amazing.

Book Review: The Wolf's Hour

I've been reading Robert R. McCammon for years now and he's delivered some of the creepiest horror and most wonderful fantasy I've ever read. Right now I'm working my way through his complete works in publishing order and after reading his 1989 novel The Wolf's Hour, I knew that I had to share this book with as many people as I could.

The novel, at it's core, is a World War II espionage story wherein an Allied agent must travel across Germany to discover what the Axis has planned to counter D Day. The agent is clever, passionate, dangerous, and a werewolf. The novel works a lot like Richard Mathesons "The Incredible Shrinking Man" in that it switches back and forth from the current conflict to the characters history, showing us how he got in this predicament in the first place.

The hero of the novel, Michael Gallatin, is a British citizen who originally emigrated from Russia. The story of how he became a werewolf fills about half of the novel and the mission to figure out and prevent the German plan code-named "Iron Fist" fills the rest. The book is filled with action, almost to an Indiana Jones level, although I will say that the violence and sex is described explicitly enough that I might not recommond it for kids. The pacing of the book is incredible. Although the book is a thicker one, it was a quick and action-paced read.

The novel feels a lot like some of the bigger Hellboy stories, in that villains are doing some sort of giant plan and our hero has to do everything he can to stop it, after all, the world is depending on him. Some of the violence is extreme, but usually the more gruesome things happen to the more terrible people in the novel, so it feels justified.

I started reading Robert McCammon (pictured right) ages ago with his novel "Swan Song," an end-of-the-world book that rates as one of my favourites to this day. A lot of his earlier fiction is horror, but this book comes across more as adventure, and I loved that fact that although the hero is a literal monster, the villains (Nazis) are shown to be so monstrous that they definitely deserve what's coming to them.

Genre Character of the Week: Hellboy

When it comes to demon-fighting characters in genre fiction, film and television, you have your priests (Father Callahan in the novel Salem's Lot), your teens (Buffy Summers in the film and television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer), and your various Vampires hunting down their own kind and hoping, one day, to become human again (Nick Knight in the Canadian Television series Forever Knight), and then you have Hellboy.

Mixing together the best parts of pulp, horror, fantasy and action, you need one heck of main character for the reader to connect with, and creator Mike Mignola definitely delivered.

For the purposes of this post I'm going to stick with the character as portrayed in the comic series - I love the movies, but the comics are my personal favourite. Most of the stories in the Hellboy series involving him solving a problem created by some creepy creature from folklore either with a clever bit of thought, or failing that, by beating the everlasting crap out of the thing.

As a character, Hellboy is just about the perfect mix of horror (he is a demon), and a blue-collar mind-set, he might not love his job, but he is the best at it there is and the job needs to get done. Unlike the first film, the entire world in the comics already knows about him (the United Nations granted him honourary human status in 1952).

What I love the most about Hellboy is pretty simple, for a guy who is red, horned, mistaken for some kind of ape, and has a stone hand/key to the destruction of the world, he is one of the more human characters I've ever had the pleasure read, he just resonates with me, and as you read further and further into the comics, you start to understand just how decent a guy he is.

Bookmonkey's Top 5 Current Comic Series

I'm one of those people who likes to wait until a comic, novel, or television series are finished before I start buying them. I want to see where the story ends before I decide that it needs to be on my shelf, but certain comics are so good I can't wait. Although I love reading super hero comics, they make up a pretty small part of my overall collection.

Here are my top five currently published comic series that I'm snapping up as they come out (in graphic novel format).

5. The Dark Tower

Okay, this is the one I actually buy issue by issue but the reasons are pretty simple. The Dark Tower series of novels by Stephen King is possibly my favourite genre series of all time (Sorry LOTR, but you come a very close second). The series is written by Peter David and illustrated by Jae Lee. It works to fill in the gaps between the novel series and although I've had a problem with Lee's art in the past - it fits this series so well I am consistently blown away by it. If your a fan of the novels, check out the comics, they are simply that good.

4. Fables

You have to read this series. Bill Willingham is simply an amazing storyteller. Take all of your common knowledge of nursery rhymes, fairy tales, fantasy books and myths, then turn it into a series that is by turns violent, wonderful, epic, sensual, urban, hilarious, and a war story and you begin to get the idea of how good this series is. In addition, the spin-off series Jack of Fables, is also incredible. I'm not even sure why you are still reading my recommendation, go and read this now.

3. The Walking Dead

Last week I talked about how the protagonist of this series is one of my favourites in horror fiction. The series does exactly what I want to know after every zombie film - What next? Where does this go? What happens six months later. This series is pretty grim, what with all the zombies, but there is also a lot of hope in it, and for me hope is a pretty big part of what I like in any story. I just read that the series is being made into a TV show for AMC next year, and as I'm a fan of both of their other big shows (Mad Men and Breaking Bad), I am really jazzed about how they will adapt this amazing series.

2. Hellboy / BPRD

In a way, part of why I like these series is the same as why I'm a fan of Fables - they take classic folklore and give it a modern twist. Hellboy is simply an incredible character. I think I decided on loving this series when I read the two-page story, Pancakes, which shows a defining moment in the characters life, when he chose good over evil. The stories are incredible, the artwork is amazing (although BPRD's takes a little getting used to), and the graphic novels are actually decently priced (thanks Dark Horse!). The movie adaptations are great, but the original material is fan-freaking-tastic.

1. Scott Pilgrim

All right, I'll admit it, a huge part of why I love this series is because I'm Canadian. It takes a basic story (young man growing into adulthood and finding his first love) and then adds in the fact that in this world, if you date a girl you must battle each of her evil ex-boyfriends - in seriously awesome, martial arts battles. The series owes a lot to manga for its style and is incredibly funny. Scott's world is so well developed you end up caring for all of his friends and their stories too. Simply put, this is my current favourite comic book.