I have certainly gotten my reading mojo back. Ten books in August, and here’s seven more I’ve read in almost my favorite month, September. The start of fall is also the start of “Book Season,” and I have planned a trip to one of my favorite book towns in the U.S. in my favorite month, October, so stay tuned for the books from that little soiree to round out the end of the year, book-wise, for yours truly.
I Am the Night: The Ultimate Unauthorized History of Batman: The Animated Series by Daniel Dockery • 3 Stars on Goodreads
I was thrilled when this book popped up on my radar a few months ago, but to be honest, I found reading it to be a bit of a disappointment. I was hoping for a dishy “oral history” of Batman: The Animated Series, and while author Daniel Dockery did do a whole bunch of new interviews with BTAS creators, the one he didn’t do—for whatever reason—was with Bruce Timm, so every time he’s mentioned, it’s followed by a credit for an article in a magazine or on a website. It’s entirely possible (and probable) that Timm refused to be a part of this project, since he was working on the current Batman: Caped Crusader series for Prime. The book also offers a history of similar superhero-themed cartoon series of the era, along with other WB Animation and Fox Kids projects, but it sadly spends more time on things like Gargoyles and Spawn than on other DC-oriented projects like Superman and the two Justice League series, one of which—Justice League Unlimited—is Timm’s favorite series of all the ones he worked on. The JL series are relegated to two short paragraphs in the Epilogue of the book, as if both the author and the book itself ran out of gas. My review is actually really 2 stars, but I’ve added a star for the excellent cover by Rob Grom, which evokes the BTAS series without crossing any copyright lines, since this book is “unauthorized.” I wouldn’t go so far as to call it “ultimate,” though.
Nightwing: Leaping Into the Light by Tom Taylor and Bruno Redondo • 4 Stars on Goodreads
The Nightwing title has been around for more than 30 years now, starting as a four-issue miniseries written by Denny O’Neil and drawn by Greg Land way back in 1995. This current series started in 2016 and is volume 4, so there’s a lot of Nightwing in DC’s past. Writer Tom Taylor and artist Bruno Redondo brought a refreshing new take to the character with a long story arc concerning Dick Grayson’s (and—by extension—Nightwing’s) efforts to save his adopted city of Bludhaven, located just down the road from Gotham City. Grayson inherits a huge sum of money after the death of Alfred Pennyworth and he decides to give it all away. Taylor and Redondo’s series chronicles that momentous decision along with all the political ramifications, and throws in Batgirl/Barbara Gordon and a cute dog named Haley, alias “Bitewing.” There’s a couple things I don’t like: Main villain Blockbuster is pretty much just a Kingpin knockoff and Redondo has a real penchant for gimmicks in his storytelling, like an entire issue that’s really one continuous page as Nightwing makes his way through the city while fighting some goons. But other than that, this book—for me, at least—is all about the art. This DC Compact Comics edition collects the first two trade paperbacks with issues 78 to 83, and 87 to 91 included, along with an issue of Superman, Son of Kal-El. I pretty much stopped reading it after the first Blockbuster story arc ended, so I’m hoping DC will reprint the rest of the Taylor/Redondo issues in the Compact Comics format.
Batman and Son by Grant Morrison and Andy Kubert. • 3 Stars on Goodreads
I seem to remember this Batman and Son story arc by writer Grant Morrison and artist Andy Kubert as being a bit better, which is why I wanted to read it in this new addition to the DC Compact Comics line. It’s a thin volume, with Batman issues 655-658 and 663-666 included. Morrison’s original depiction of Damian—who, yes, really is Batman’s son—is a bit more blood-thirsty and mean-spirited than what he eventually becomes under the tutelage of the Dark Knight. Andy Kubert’s art is great, but to be honest, Morrison is one of those writers I just don’t get most of the time. (I feel the same way about Jonathan Hickman over at Marvel.) Maybe he’s a bit too cerebral for my old, little brain, but I didn’t enjoy this as much as I thought I would. Morrison’s depiction of Batman/Bruce Wayne feels a little tongue-in-cheek to me, and it’s one of those things that make me feel that Morrison is writing for an audience of one: himself. There’s also a 20-page text story, “The Clown at Midnight,” illustrated by John VanFleet, and nothing screams self-indulgence to me like a 20-page text story in a visual medium. Still, Damian is an interesting take on the whole Robin sidekick thing, and the “son” aspect adds a whole new twist on the Dynamic Duo.
Sgt. Rock by Joe Kubert Deluxe Edition • 5 Stars on Goodreads
This gorgeous hardcover collection of stories drawn by Joe Kubert features his signature DC War comics character, the man known as Sgt. Rock. Timed to celebrate the artist’s 100th birthday (he passed away in 2012), it includes 20 stories, plus Rock and Easy Company pages from Who’s Who: The Definite Directory of DC Comics, and 35 pages of original art, all in a beautifully designed, larger format book. Kubert is known for his War work at DC, especially on Sgt. Rock and Enemy Ace (the latter is a good candidate for a similar book, if you ask me). The book also includes a reprint of three issues of Rock, 302 through 304, with a rare three-part story on Anzio. Those stories are not inked by Kubert, so I’m a little confused as to why they’re included, since they stick out like a sore thumb. Frank Springer inks issue 302 and it’s awful; Al Milgrom does a slightly better job on 303 and 304, but all three issues prove one thing: Only Kubert can ink Kubert. One other small drawback: Five of the stories reprinted in this volume also appeared in the recent DC Finest Sgt. Rock volume, but that’s a small quibble when included in such a great book, a fitting tribute to an amazing artist.
Criminal Vol. 6: The Last of the Innocent by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips • 4 Stars on Goodreads
It seems like Criminal has been in the works as an Amazon Prime series for years now, and it’s debut is supposedly imminent. I got curious about re-reading this particular volume, which is a standalone story in the ongoing Criminal saga, all about Riley Richards, a sociopath who likes being married to his rich wife, but also has steep gambling debts to pay off. You can figure out what happens next … I don’t want to give too much away, but the alliterative Mr. Richards is an obvious stand-in for one Archie Andrews and at times in this very short story (it reprints only four issues in the ongoing series), Phillips’ art slips into Archie mode, although the characters are doing very unArchie-like things. I enjoyed re-reading this and the simple design of this newer volume makes me want to go back and maybe get the previous ones, but we’ll see. Phillips’ art is a little rough in this one, but it’s a compelling story, intricately plotted by Brubaker. It will be interesting to see if this story makes the streaming series, since it’s tangential to the Lawless family characters that I think the series will focus on. I guess we’ll have to wait and see, but this would make a great standalone neo-noir movie.
Death at the White Hart by Chris Chibnall • 5 Stars on Goodreads
This engrossing (albeit slow moving) British police procedural is by Broadchurch creator and showrunner Chris Chibnall, who also had a hand in Doctor Who and Torchwood. DS Nicola Bridge has just moved back to her hometown, Fleetcombe, after a setback in her personal life. She was a top copper in Liverpool, but has now taken a new job and moved her family back home. She’s immediately confronted with a bizarre murder case: A local pub owner is found dead on a highway, strapped to a chair with a pair of deer antlers fastened to his head. The small town has no shortage of suspects and as DS Bridge settles into her new life, she has to figure out a confounding case while operating with far less support than she had in the big city. Chibnall does an excellent job at both characterization and plot, and this sure seems like it might have been a fleshed-out treatment for a new show; I certainly hope it is. There is already a published sequel (The Parkwood Murders), so whether or not DS Nicola Bridge makes the leap from page to screen (or stream), she at least has a future. Bonus: This is the first book I bought on my last trip to London, a year ago. It took me a while to get around to actually reading it, but I always love a book that has a memory attached to it, and this one is a good one.
Slow Horses by Mick Herron • 3.5 Stars on Goodreads
Third time’s the charm I guess. It took me three tries to get into this book, and even when I finally did, it took about 100 pages until I was looking forward to finishing it. I know a lot of people adore this series about a group of outcast MI5 British intelligence agents shunted off to Slough House under the direction of that often times gross and unhygienic spy-guy genius, Jackson Lamb. And while I am a huge fan of the Apple TV series, about to launch its sixth season as I write this review, I just had a hard time with Herron’s writing style and his endless introductions of characters in this first book in his series (I believe there are currently nine). I will say the TV show—or at least the first season—is incredibly faithful to this book and nails the characters, especially, of course, Gary Oldman as Jackson Lamb. I’m currently rewatching all five seasons in anticipation of the sixth, and enjoying them all over again. And if they want to make Jack Lowdon the new James Bond, I certainly won’t have a problem with that, other than I like him a lot as Slow Horse agent River Cartwright. I’m not sure at this point if I’ll continue on with the series and I did move on to the second book (titled Dead Lions), but I’m glad I reclaimed my British heritage granted stiff upper lip and finished this first one. One other problem that I had with this book is the way it was formatted for Kindle. The paragraph indentations are one or two letter-spaces at most and the space between breaks within the only TWO chapters in the entire book (Herron evidently doesn’t like chapters) is one line at best, making it seem like each page is just a mass of text without any kind of air on the page. But that could just be me …
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