Slowed a bit down in October for a number of reasons, but I did enjoy everything I read.
Dead Lions by Mick Herron • 4 Stars on Goodreads
This is the second book in the Slough House series by author Mick Herron, which form the basis for the the Apple TV show Slow Horses which I really love. After numerous attempts to read the first book (Slow Horses), I finally warmed up to Herron’s writing style (and got used to the plain awful Kindle formatting, not to mention Herron’s disdain for chapters) in this second novel, which was adapted as the second season of Slow Horses. There are some significant changes in its translation from page to screen, but all the essentials of the story are still there. To be honest, I think the TV version is better and all the changes that were made make a lot more sense to me. Still, I enjoyed this second book. Herron’s writing gives the reader a larger glimpse into each character and even though he shows absolutely no favorites when it comes to killing some of them off, I welcome the extra time I get to spend with all of them, including Jackson Lamb, River Cartwright, Louisa Guy, and my personal fave, Shirley Dander, the pint-sized killing machine who’s introduced in this book (although she doesn’t kill anyone in this one). I will be moving ahead with the series with book three, Real Tigers; that season was my favorite so far of the TV series, even though they’re all great.
Real Tigers by Mick Herron • 4.5 Stars on Goodreads
Okay, I’m all in on the Slough House/Slow Horses series by author Mick Herron now. I read the first three novels back-to-back-to-back, and while I’m taking a little break now for other things, I definitely will return for the other books in this series. Real Tigers is the basis for the third season on Apple TV, which is my favorite season so far. There are some significant differences between this book and that season, and across the board, I think the way the TV writers (primarily show runner Will Smith—no, not THAT Will Smith) handle the translation to live action is superior to the book, but the original Herron novel is still great. The main things the series changes is the motivation of Sean Donovan in breaking into the secure location of the “Macguffin” of the season, and making him a much more sympathetic character, and the inclusion of “Spider” Webb as part of the Tiger Squad who vexes both the Slow Horses and the Park. I’m really gaining appreciation for Herron’s writing style (he’s a wonderfully descriptive and often times humorous writer), and this book FINALLY has occasional actual chapter breaks, instead of just the two big sections of the first two novels … that makes a big difference in making the reading experience more enjoyable, especially on a Kindle, for me at least.
DC Finest Batman: The Demon Lives Again! by Dennis O’Neil, Neal Adams, Frank Robbins, Irv Novick • 5 Stars on Goodreads
This latest DC Finest Batman volume contains prime Bronze Age stories from 1971 and 1972. The 600-page book reprints Batman 231 through 245 and Detective Comics from 410 to 429. The Batman run includes the first appearances of Ra’s Al Ghul and his daughter Talia, by writer Denny O’Neil and penciller Neal Adams and inker Dick Giordano (in fact, Giordano inks just about every story in this volume, except for the five Detective Comics stories pencilled and inked by Frank Robbins, whose’ syndicated comic strip character, Johnny Hazard, makes an appearance as a disguise for Batman in Detective 426, a cool little wink to the writer-artist’s longtime daily gig.) All the Batman issues have covers by Neal Adams and a number of other stories are also by the artist, including the return of Two-Face in 234 and the famous Halloween story, “Night of the Reaper,” in 237. The bulk of the Detective stories are written by Frank Robbins (some also by O’Neil) and illustrated by Bob Brown or Irv Novick. This is the era were Batman really pulled away from his Silver Age/TV show silliness and the character was reinvigorated mainly by O’Neil and Adams. The ongoing Ra’s Al Ghul storyline, which winds through the book in various issues, is the real draw though, definitely setting up the Caped Crusader as an international figure of intrigue and adventure.
The Phantom of the Opera by Tyler Boss and Martin Simmonds • 3 Stars on Goodreads
Probably my least favorite of the Universal Monsters series published by Skybound/Image. Written by Tyler Boss and with painted art by Martin Simmonds, I’m totally unfamiliar with the source material—the almost-ancient original novel and the 100-year old movie starring Lon Chaney—so I have little knowledge of what Boss has changed in his story, except for one major thing, which I won’t reveal here. Simmonds art is mostly great, but I don’t like the look of his pages, which almost seem like paste-ups of each panel with sloppy white borders and word balloons that also look like they were pasted right on the original art (I know they weren’t). It’s just not an appealing look, even though some of Simmonds full-page and two-page spreads are, at times, breathtaking. Next up is the Blood of the Wolfman, and then The Bride of Frankenstein, and I’m looking forward to both of them. All-in-all, this is still a great series and a wonderful tribute to the Universal Monsters.
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