Fall is always new book season for me. I’m looking forward to the new Michael Connelly Ballard & Bosch novel, The Waiting (due October 15th), among others, and numerous graphic novels and collections, including the launch of DC’s new line of reprints, DC Finest. While I’m a bit sad I’m not taking a longer book-hunting trip to NYC or London, I have high hopes of still keeping on top of things, with a short trip to the mothership—Powell’s—in Portland.
Storm Child by Michael Robotham
Michael Robotham’s Storm Child is the fourth in the Cyrus Haven/Evie Cormac series, which features the police forensic psychologist—keeper of his own private demons—and his protege, Evie, a young woman discovered living in the walls of a dilapidated house, fending for herself, dubbed “Angel Face” by the British press. (By the way, Evie can tell when a person is lying; it’s her super-power.) Over the course of these four books, the bond between Cyrus and Evie grows, and finally in Storm Child, we learn Evie’s origins. I wasn’t really into this book at first, and it took me a while to read it; it’s a tad slow-moving, starting with a plot about dead migrants killed in the English Channel while crossing illegally into the UK, but, it quickly becomes about something else, and I will tell you that the last ten chapters or so are amongst the best Robotham has written in this series and have a real emotional impact, without—hopefully—giving anything away. The other books—in order—are Good Girl, Bad Girl, When She Was Good, and Lying Beside You; I strongly suggest you read them in that order, ending with this latest one, Storm Child, if you plan on tackling them, which I wholeheartedly recommend.
Worst Case Scenario by T.J. Newman
This is the third plane crash novel by author T.J. Newman, a former flight attendant (and, more importantly, bookseller). I thought her first novel, Falling, was over-hyped as a first-time author and didn’t quite live up to that hype; it had more of a thriller edge to it and it will make a great movie, if handled correctly. Her second, Drowning: The Rescue of Flight 1421, had more of a disaster movie vibe, and it’s my favorite, telling the story of a plane that crashes into the ocean and the effort to save the survivors still on board, caught in an air pocket. This one, Worst Case Scenario, continues the disaster movie theme when a passenger jet crashes after the pilot suffers a heart attack (while the co-pilot is in the toilet) and the plane just about takes out an almost decommissioned nuclear power plant in Waketa, a small town in Michigan. Newman gets right down to business with her harrowing first chapter, chronicling the plane’s crash, but after that the book gets a bit bogged down introducing way too many characters and trying overly hard to make us care about them. Yes, it’s very suspenseful—and emotional—at times, but it’s also a bit maudlin and trite, too. Still, it’s an enjoyable read and it will pull on your heartstrings. She really needed a one-word title to go with the first two books, though … gotta stay on brand (like the cover designs do).
Ashes Never Lie by Lee Goldberg
This is the second book in Goldberg’s Sharpe and Walker series, chronicling the adventures of two LA County arson investigators, and I’m sad to say it pales in comparison to the first book, Malibu Burning. While it’s an enjoyable read and even brings in Goldberg’s LA County Sheriff Department detectives Eve Ronin and Duncan Pavone, thus creating a kind of Ronin Universe, this one just does not have the thrills of the first one. It’s also a bit too humorous, at least for me. The relationship between Sharpe and Walker has always been a bit contentious, with a lot of ribbing. Sharpe is the grizzled, veteran investigator who goes by the book and Walker is a former US Marshal who took a “calmer” job to satisfy his wife’s safety concern, but still longs for the chase. This time the duo is involved in two cases: A series of arson fires in a new housing development that feature an unwanted built-in—incendiary bombs that go off once the house’s power comes on for the first time. The other involves a couple of scientists who disappear when the lab they work in is infected by the deadly virus they were experimenting on … or was it? Neither of these stories have the narrative thrust of the first book, unfortunately, but I’ll continue to read this series; the third book, Hidden in Smoke, is due out in just six short months, followed by a new Eve Ronin tale next fall, Fallen Star.
Don Heck: A Work of Art by John Coates
Late to the party on this one; it was originally published in 2014 by TwoMorrows, almost 20 years after Don Heck’s death. It’s a great compilation of art and interviews with the Marvel/DC artist, who often gets a bad rap as “Don Hack.” I wasn’t much of a fan growing up Marvel in the 1960s, but you have to admit Heck was a part of the House of Ideas, doing yeoman’s work on Ant-Man/Giant Man, Iron Man, and the Avengers for many years. John Coates does a nice job of compiling both art and vintage interviews with the artist, while offering an honest appraisal of his work. I like his 1950s through the ‘60s stuff the best, including his early Marvel Age of Comics art; his later DC stuff on titles like Wonder Woman … well, not so much. Still, this is a very nice package of Heck’s career. that you can find on the TwoMorrows website at a bargain price.
The Complete Web of Horror, edited by Dana Marie Andra
I remember finding Web of Horror #2 on my local newsstand back in 1969 or so and immediately wondering if there was an issue #1, or like Warren Publications’ similarly-themed Eerie magazine, if the numbering just started with #2. I also found #3, and a little while later—probably at a comic convention—issue #1. The art in all three issues was a bit amateurish, but it was exciting to see all these new artists—Berni (aka Bernie) Wrightson, Jeff Jones, Frank Brunner, Ralph Reese, Michael Wm. Kaluta, and Wayne Howard—suddenly appearing on the scene or “graduating” from fanzines. And then, just as suddenly as it appeared, it was gone. No issue #4 … until now. Dana Marie Andra has done a great job in this hardcover collection of telling the history of Web of Horror, and including reprints of not only all three issues, but also a first-ever look at the contents of #4, plus enough other finished stories for issues 5 and 6, probably, and a look at fanzines that contained possible WoH art, like Scream Door and Reality. Publisher Fantagraphics Books has done another beautiful job in the design and production of this book, a worthy addition to stand side-by-side with their great EC Comics artists compilations and their Atlas Comics Library editions.
Batman Vol. 2: The Bat-Man of Gotham by Chip Zdarsky and Mike Hawthorne
I really like Chip Zdarsky’s run on Batman, but there are days when I wish I could never, ever hear the word “Multiverse” again. This goes for both DC and Marvel, and their comics and movies. It’s become such a trope (I accidentally typed “tripe” at first, which I guess is true) and a crutch for writers these days.
Anyway, after Zdarsky’s bravura debut on Batman with “Failsafe,” this volume is a little bit of a disappointment to be honest, but still enjoyable. I like Mike Hawthorne’s art a lot, and the story—of Batman trapped in yet another different Multiverse version of Gotham City where Bruce Wayne is dead, with another Catwoman, Alfred, and a nutjob villain (Red Mask) who wants desperately to become the Joker—is a little hard to follow at times. Batman has to conquer the bad guy, save this Gotham, and make it back home (does anyone really know where home is these days in the DCU?). Batman is definitely DC’s best book right now because of Zdarsky, and I prefer his version of the Dark Knight to Scott Snyder, Tom King, and James Tynion IV’s versions. The art is also exemplary each issue, with both Hawthorne and Jorge Jiminez alternating in story arcs. This is also a nicely designed volume, with all the variant covers (sigh … don’t get me started on that, too!), including Artgerm’s ones back-to-back with Jimenez’s main covers. Definitely worth a read, but not up to the five-star level of Failsafe, Volume 1 in this series.
Batman Vol. 3: Joker: Year One by Chip Zdarsky, Jorge Jiminez, Guiseppe Camuncoli, and Andrea Sorrentino
DC has evidently inaugrated a same day release for both their hardcover and paperback releases (at least on some books), so the TPB of Batman Vol. 3 has come out pretty hot on the heels of Vol. 2. And like that book, this one is a bit of a disappointment. Don’t get me wrong; Jiminez, Camuncoli, and Sorrentino’s art is amazing; the latter’s depiction of Joker especially nightmarish (are they photos?), but Zdarsky is all in on the whole Zur En Arrh persona of Batman, who exists in a partitioned part of his mind, put there as a personality within, to be used as needed. I really liked Failsafe, the Batman creation designed to take him out if he crosses the line and kills someone, but the whole ZEA thing has run its course and is getting pretty tiresome by this point, about 12-18 issues into Zdarsky’s run. We meet a couple of Batman’s mentor/trainers again (both from Zdarsky’s first Batman mini-series, Batman: The Knight), and one of them, the self-styled “smartest man in the world,” decides to train the Joker just like he did young Bruce Wayne. I don’t buy into the whole “three (or is it four) Jokers” thing that seems to be prevalent in Batman books these days, and this journey back into how he came to be is kind of tedious. But … once again, like Vol. 2, this is still a decent read, with great art, and I’m grateful to have Zdarsky continuing to write Batman. He’s so much better than some of his Bat-contemporaries.
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