Graphic Novel Review: Zombies Calling by Faith Erin Hicks

Zombies Calling by Faith Erin Hicks

Zombies Calling by Faith Erin Hicks is the Shaun of the Dead of zombie comics.  If you like zombies, and haven’t read it, you are missing out.

At a university in Canada, a trio of students comes face to face with a zombie outbreak.  Luckily, Joss knows all about the “rules” of surviving zombie attacks from watching way too many zombie movies while she should have been studying for exams.  The dastardly source of the outbreak is fantastic (and like all good zombie stories contains its own form of social commentary) and the tidy, happy, coincidence filled, resolution fits in with all good B-movie plots. 

This is fast-paced humorous zombie mayhem with likeable characters and cutesy zombies and jokes that play with stereotypical zombie plots and commentary about popular zombie and non-zombie movies .  The latter provides one of my favorite moments in the book.  After watching a fast zombie crash headlong into a group of regular, shambling, zombies, Joss comments “HAHAHA!  Take that!  Fast zombies suck!” which leads into an aside about pandering to the short attention span of modern audiences and the debate over 28 Days Later.  Is it actually a zombie movie? Joss, like myself, says no.

The black and white art is great, cartoonish but not overly so, but the story and characters really drive this graphic novel.  I’d love to see a cartoon series featuring these characters, or at least more books.

In addition to her website above, check out Faith Erin Hicks blog or follow her on Twitter.

Graphic Novel Review: Wolverine: Prodigal Son (vol. 1)

 

Wolverine: Prodigal Son (vol. 1)

You think you know him.  The guy who’s “the best there is at what I do, but what I do isn’t very nice.”  The angry, conflicted, raging amnesiac.  The super-cool, bad boy antihero who deep down has his own morals and code of ethics.  The vertically challenged mutant with a healing factor, a chip on his shoulder, and admantium steel on his bones.  

Logan.  Weapon X.  Wolverine.

You think you know him.  Think again.

As the tagline for Johnston and Tortosa’s manga re-invention of Wolverine states, “This is not the Wolverine you know.”  Instead of being filled with over thirty years of convoluted back-story, this first volume of a new series provides a version of the character which is a breath of fresh air.  The basics of the Wolverine history are kept – Canadian, no memory of earlier life, crazy hair (which is absolutely perfect in the manga style!), retractable claws.  That, however, is about as close to the regular Marvel U’s Wolverine as Prodigal Son gets, and that makes it all the more awesome.  I just hope this doesn’t get cancelled early and we can get a chance to see just how awesome it can be (with a Del Rey Manga / Marvel version of the X-Men coming out this summer, perhaps the odds are better that it will make it for a while?).

Logan, now a teenager, was as a young child found on the doorstep of a martial arts school for misfits and troubled youth in backwoods Canada.  He quickly proved to be a natural fighter, so much so that now his ego is as strong as his muscles, both of which get a workout in this volume.  There is an undercurrent of learning self-control and self-awareness, themes that have long been part of the Wolverine mystique, which I hope continues and is capitalized upon.  They are wonderfully realized in the student/teenager aspect of Logan, who sees himself as too good to be tested against the other students, goes into beserker rage when bested in a match, rails against the smallness of his world and confinement in his Canadian dojo, and ultimately exclaims in frustration, “You think I don’t want to know who I am, what I am, every single day?  You think I don’t wonder why I’m a freak?”

Tortosa’s artwork is a brilliant interpretation of Japanese manga design through a Western lens, and perfectly matches the fast-paced, hard hitting story. And speaking of the story, Johnston’s writing combines teenage angst, action-packed martial arts action, humor, budding romance, revenge, foreboding danger, conspiracy, and, of course, plenty of opportunities for Wolverine’s claws to pop.

SNKT!

Book Review: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

I reviewed The Hunger Games recently in the Utica Observer-Dispatch:

“Suzanne Collins, known for her series The Underland Chronicles, stuns with her first work written for teens.

Sixteen-year-old Katniss lives in the 12th District of Panem, a harsh dystopian nation which rose from the ashes of North America. Voluntarily taking the place of her younger sister, Katniss must take part in the Hunger Games, an annual televised competition among twenty-four teen representatives of the Districts of Panem. The winner gains food, wealth and supplies for their District; the losers die.

Combining social commentary, a strong heroine, fantastic writing, and a sci-fi action movie plot, Collins has created one of the most compulsively readable novels of the year. Gripping and fast-paced, The Hunger Games will have you eagerly awaiting September 2009 when Catching Fire, the next installment in what is a planned trilogy, is published.”

I was blown away by this book.  My only regret was that I read it when I did, without the sequels in hand to continue the story. It is with some trepidation, however, that I look forward to the rest of the trilogy.  The plot could easily delve into the familiar, the “teens fight against dystopian society,” seen elsewhere in Scott Westerfeld’s Uglies trilogy.  My gut feeling, though, is that Collins has some great things planned, what with the surprising twists and turns found in the first novel.

As I read, I completely envisioned the book as a movie, and lo and behold, Lionsgate has acquired the rights for distribution and Collins is working on the screenplay. Fantastic!  Now, if they really work on some cool cinematography, working the “reality TV” angle and the idea of cameras everywhere, recording everything, this will be awesome.  I see it as not only an action-packed scifi movie, but also potentially experimetal visually.  Let’s hope.  Check out the Scholastic site for the novel. I like what they are doing visually and conceptually to promote the book.

Read the book, and I know you will be looking forward to seeing Katniss and The Hunger Games on the big screen as much as I am.

Music Review: No Line on the Horizon by U2 (for real this time)

U2 - No Line on the Horizon Cover

Now that it is officially their seventh No. 1 on the Billboard Top 200, forget what I said in my last post about Tweeting my responses to each individual track on No Line on the Horizon.  I doubt it’s going to happen.  First, I would need more than 140 characters per song, and I just don’t feel like it.    I’m going to sum up some things, and then I’d like to know what others think.

It is a good album, and I love most of the songs.  Just not together.

Tracks 1-4 are fantastic.  There’s something bizarrely wonderful about the title track, I think it’s that low end bouncy whirring sound, that’s kind of like some Australian instrument.   “Magnificent” is quintessential U2.  It is parts of all of their work up until now, from the electronic-tinged opening, to the “Pride (In the Name of Love)”-esque echo-delayed guitar licks, and more.  It’s awesome.  However, it is also derivative.  Therein lies my major complaint with this collection of tunes. As great as they are, it seems like they’re cribbing from themselves, only with Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois in on it.   At many times I find parts of songs to be too similar to parts of prior U2 songs (actually the only time I don’t feel like this is “Get On Your Boots”). “I’ll Go Crazy if I Don’t Go Crazy Tonight,” for instance, while I absolutely dig it, really feels like it should have been on All That You Can’t Leave Behind, replete with a bit of “Beautiful Day”’s note progressions, and also just something about the vocals, and the overall feel of the song.  In general, there’s a sort of The Unforgettable Fire meets Zooropa aspect to the album, though unlike Passengers this still sounds like a U2 album.  They claim to have hit a “rich vein” of songwriting, but if rumors going into this album were right, some of these songs have been around for a while, and frankly, sound it, only with some added touches.

“Moment of Surrender” has been stuck in my head for days.  The vocals are great.  They lyrics fantastic.  And it features The Edge doing some cool slide guitar work.  I have a great idea for a video of this song, by the way.  It involves MacPhisto wandering the streets of NYC.  The band, including Bono as Bono, sort of follows him around, unbeknownst to him.  When he sees a “reflection” in the ATM, it’s a reflection of Bono (sort of a play on the famous MacPhisto picture), singing and the band playing.  Then on the subway the devilish figure goes unnoticed by the crowds of people of all walks of life, gives up the battle with God, finds some redemption, and Bono is the one left sitting on the subway, MacPhisto gone (hey listening U2??, let me direct!).

“Unknown Caller” brings to mind Zooropa the most to me, and I love it.  The technology-references in the somewhat off-putting, but wholly addictive, shouted choruses especially seem to reference that period of songwriting.  Though, it might be the Eno/Lanois showing.  One of my favorite songs on the album.

Tracks 5-7 are all cool on their own, but should have been on other albums.  “I’ll Go Crazy if I Don’t Go Crazy Tonight” and “Stand Up Comedy” are both just fun, rock songs.  “Boots”…it’s a dirty, swanky, rock song.  It’s fun, and powerful, though the lyrics are Bono at his most throwaway.  Listening to the album straight through, if I hit skip on “Get On Your Boots” I am much happier with the way the album plays out. It should have been a B-side.

And speaking of B-sides?  Where are they?  Where are the interesting covers that U2 has a habit of doing as B-sides?  “Neon Lights”, “Dancing Barefoot”, “Satellite of Love”, “Unchained Melody”, etc. (though NOT “Paint it Black” or “Fortunate Son”, ugh).  Or perhaps, some oddity, that is acutally good, but not album appropriate?  Can you imagine if “Big Girls Are Best”  which was released with “Stuck in a Moment You Can’t Get Out Of” was on All That You Can’t Leave Behind?  Totally groovy fuzzed out rock action, and lots of fun, but it would have been a disaster in the context of that album.  As a note, “Big Girls” will be following “Boots” on my new U2 mix I’m planning with earlier tracks, B-sides and unreleased songs  (”Mercy” why oh why weren’t you on the album?  There’s always Songs of Ascent, I suppose), and then probably “Holy Joe (the Garage Mix)”.

8 and 9 go back to what I think is the “vibe” the album started off with.  “Fez – Being Born”…man, that intro.  How disconcerting that must sound to the casual listener?  Totally a Passengers moment, but totally cool.  I love the use of the “let me in the sound” from “Get On Your Boots.”   This somewhat “Passengers Lite” aspect of the album leaves me surprised that Larry is so happy with what they’ve done here.

10 – “Breathe” – might be one of my all out favorite rockers they’ve done, but could have gone on the “other album” with 5-7.  There’s something Oasis-esque to the song when I listen to it, especially the latter half.

11, “Cedars of Lebanon,” is a great song for this album, but maybe not what I would have ended with (I would have ended with “FEZ – Being Born”).

iTunes bonus tracks included “No Line on the Horizon (ver. 2)” and “Get On Your Boots (Crookers remix)”.  The second version of the title track is cool, and I like it a lot.  It’s got more guitar, drops the brilliant deep thrumming found in the album version, though, and basically sounds like a song born of the void between Rattle & Hum and Achtung Baby.   The “Boots” remix… Ick.  U2 remixes are hit (Trent Reznor’s “Vertigo” remix) or miss (nearly all the rest of the remixes), and this is a big miss.  Don’t even listen to it.  It’s that bad.

I sound like I hate the album.  So untrue.  I love it.  It’s that I love it and can see these flaws that ticks me off because I don’t want those flaws in a U2 album.  Like many fans, I expect much more than what is realistic.  There will never be a perfect U2 album, the band is so ultimatley human.  It’s like how the songs from POP that were re-edited for the second greatest hits collection, were generally better edits of the songs, or how when you hear “Lady with the Spinning Head” you can see how that became much better songs on Achtung Baby.  Perhaps, they needed (gasp), more time?  To rethink the song choice for the album?  Something?  Maybe they are right, despite my initial reactions, to go back and revisit their earliest works and see what they come up with, making some of those songs better?

Some links:

Great interview from Canadian press with Daniel Lanois about the album.

If you don’t follow Neil McCormick or know who he is, it’s worth finding out.  He wrote a great book called Killing Bono:  I was Bono’s Doppelganger, which whether or not you like U2, is a great look at the music industry and documents how he grew up with Bono, wanted to become a rock star, and unlike Bono, failed.  He also was also, other than the band itself, the major writing component of the nice coffee table book U2 by U2.  Anyway, his music blog for Telegraph.co.uk frequently mentions sort off-kilter U2 things, and other music news.

Music Review: No Line on the Horizon by U2 (or actually about Bono)

Well, there are many things to be said about this album, but if I don’t end up saying anything else, I will say this:

There are some great songs, some good songs, and then there’s “Get On Your Boots,” but above all else, Bono seems to have rediscovered his voice.

There’s been something missing from Bono’s vocals for quite some time.   From Boy through Rattle and Hum there was a quality that seemed to disappear in the 90s.  A certain weight, depth, or gravity, existed in his vocals prior to Achtung Baby.  I don’t know, maybe the move from “American immigrants” to “European citizens” had an effect on him.  Maybe it was all the electronics and dancefloor experimentation.  Perhaps his vocal weight became lost behind the heavy handed messages he’s been preaching (which is not to say that I am decrying his activist work or his message).

Or, perhaps this…gravitas…didn’t actually disappear, but was lost admist the characters and personas he began to adopt with Achtung Baby which added their own voice to the songs.   MacPhisto or The Fly became the vocalist, not necessarily Bono.  Perhaps the frivolity, the POP, the “poking a hole in superstardom by embracing it,” quelled the substance in Bono’s voice.

It’s sounded over the past two albums like he was seeking to reclaim his own voice, struggling against the other voices that he’s sung with over the past decade, but was at times at a loss because there was still that certain something missing.  It’s as if he has been rediscovering himself as a singer, frontman, and rockstar after posing as a rockstar and a popstar, among the many other personas he’s worn or embraced, including missionary, activist, and savior.     On All That You Can’t Leave Behind and How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb there were moments were he found that heaviness:  “Kite,” “Sometimes You Can’t Make It On Your Own,” “Original of the Species.”

In “Elevation” he claimed “I can’t sing, but I’ve got soul,” but there’s been a lacking in his vocals that has made that statement backwards.  It’s not that Bono can’t sing, because he can, but instead he hasn’t seemed to have the soul, which might be the perfect term for that certain something he once had, in his voice.  He’s been known to say that the “goal is soul” and with No Line on the Horizon Bono has ended his long scoring drought.

Check me out on Twitter for upcoming individual track reviews.