Belated Birthday Book Batch

   

Behold The Pile of Pleasure, which I got for my birthday, which was the third of november.
Yes I'm very late this one.

From the top:

After finishing Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell's seminal masterpiece From Hell I decided that Moore had really by now become one of my favourite authors, and that I really should begin gathering more of his stuff. So, quite a few of the things I asked for had Moore's name on them, but, as it turns out, there happen to be more Moores than expected; to whit:

You can forgive me for thinking that Alan Moore is ubiquitous enough that the man has earned the monopoly on the name but apparently there's others going about calling themselves Alan and/or Moore. The From Hell Moore started out writing poetry so I assumed that there had to be a volume collecting those efforts and I thought that Opia was it, as it was under 'similar suggestions' on the Book Depository (good prices, yes, but pretty much everything else about it sucks.)
Obviously Opia wasn't that volume, but that doesn't mean that it was a bad gift.

 I've read over half of the poems in here by now, and though they haven't swayed me towards making poetry a more frequent go-to, reading-habits-wise, I did end up enjoying some of them.
Most touching of these (so far) I found The Taxman poem.

I can't profess to completely understand what it all means, but I found I was quite touched by the sentiments here; the yearning to reacquire something lost.

Alan Moore (not that one) frequently imbues his poetry with a disarming directness bordering on the crass, which can be quite charming.

 If you love poetry, you can do a lot worse than picking this one up.

-----

I gave a list of the Warhammer Chronicles Omnibi I still needed and it's Warlords of Karak Eight-Peaks that I got.

     Before anyone says or asks anything: Yes, I have heard the news concerning the Old World, and all I can say is that despite having pined for it ever since it got destroyed, its return (in a few years) leaves me cold. Though I was excited at first, that excitement swiftly turned to annoyance. There is nothing sacred to Games Workshop, and I don't have much interest in whatever they're going to present us with.

     I was only ever here for the novels, in any case; and unless they do away with the End Times novels entirely, or re-write them to something way less rushed, I won't... hmm. No, I can't say I won't pick anything up, but right now I'm still a little ambivalent about the whole thing.

     In any case, this nonsense is going to involve a whole lot of retconning, and I loathe that type of stuff. Retconning is something that only comes about because of franchise considerations; it's something that is dependent on an audience, and as such, it puts into question the artistic merit of that property. If art is dependent on an audience, and when it is changed to suit that audience's reception, then it's not art any more. In some form or other it will become homogenized, it has to be suited, after all, for mass consumption. Bah, I'm talking bollocks. We'll just have to wait and see what happens.

Anyway, Warlords of Karak Eight-Peaks collects the Skaven heroes novels Skarsnik and Headtaker, and the Dwarven novella Thorgrim plus a few short stories. 

-----

Here are some different editions of novels I've already read in some form or other. They were both on my 'Slow Collecting' Page on the side there *points*, and it was quite a surprise when they came in through the mail.

Someone's been keeping up with the blog. Thanks, mate :)

IDW's Dracula was on the list because it came with Ben Templesmith's art, and it didn't disappoint, at least Art-wise, because IDW has a weird lay-out to their text that dor some reason easily makes me lose track of where I'm at. It's okay though, as this one's not for reading and instead is simply for looking pretty on the shelf.

The Warhound and the World's Pain is here because I simply love the novel, and I wanted to have the edition with Rowena Morril's devil on the cover. I'll be giving the novel a re-read next year, and am looking forward to it.

-----

To Rouse Leviathan is Matt Cardin's second collection of religious horror stories, which in fact also collects all of the fiction from his first collection Dark Awakenings. It doesn't collect Dark Awakenings' essays concerning Isiah, zombies and demonic and angelic history in fiction, so if you want to read those you'll still have to pick that one up.

I still haven't gotten around to finishing off Dark Awakenings, even though I've felt a hankering lately to read some more religion-based fantasy and horror. Reading as a whole has been a really difficult thing to do lately. Been having some problems is all.

-----

Then we arrive at the comic books.

The Battle Chasers anthology I asked for mainly because it is Joe Madureira's stab at Swords and Fantasy comics.

     Though you might not recognize the name, the unique art style might be a little more familiar.

Joe Madureira's the artist responsible for the design of the Darksiders franchise, which I used to love. The story of Darksiders is basically that the apocalypse has happened, even though it shouldn't have.

Humanity is now dead and gone, and one of the four Horsemen, War, has been found guilty of bringing this about. Of course, there's more going on here, and we follow around War as he tries to clear his name. It's quite a rocky series, the first game being a bit hit and miss, the second one being basically unfinished, the third one (continued after the publisher went belly-up) being remarkably uninspired, and the latest game going on to become a top-down affair. There's a few books too, though I only read the first Death one.

So, based off of nothing but the art I went and asked for this one.

And. It was pretty crap.

Phenomenal art, as was expected, And almost 2000 Ad style of storytelling, but that could've been forgiven if, it just had been finished. Jep, this one is basically not complete.

I felt a lot of annoyance reading this one.

-----

Next up, extremely pretentious, is Alan Moore's Hypothetical Lizard.

I have no idea what this is going to be about.

All I know is that this one was adapted from one of Moore's short stories and that it is also included in this volume.

Though There's usually too much packed into Moore's work to be able to give a quick opinion on any of it, I'll try to write a little bit when I finish any of his comics. I tend to stall blogging whenever I feel that the book or comic I'm writing about deserves more, and so, nothing gets done. I really need to start remedying this.

-----

Here's the only Bear on the CIA's hitlist:

Shako.

Absolutely ridiculous.

I asked for this one mostly as a joke, trying to upset someone's delicate sensibilities, but the joke was on me as I received this one without a moment's hesitation.

It's not a great, or even is it anything close to being a, good comic book. It's 2000 AD at its most juvenile and silly.

But. I have a thing about bears.

They terrify me. And if there's something good to be said about the comic then it is that it genuinely unsettled me a few times. e.g. when the bear plays with someone before viciously mauling them to death; such an accurate portrayal of nature's most terrifying monsters. This comic would've been a genuine horror experience if they'd depicted Shako as having no fur... What am I talking about? Jesus, get back on track Levi.

-----

Another from the 2000 AD stable.

The Complete Future Shocks Volume 1.

This one I asked because I'm a collector and a 'Complete' edition of anything is immensely appealing, and because of the whole Alan Moore thing.

He started out writing for comics in 2000AD's Future Shocks so I thought it was a good idea to read these.

They're overall a bit hit and miss, but even the bad ones are short enough that you don't really mind them. There's at least always some sort of twist present that'll give you your euro's worth. I since then have picked up the second volume, which I keep on my nightstand so I can finish off a story or two before going to bed.

-----

Completing my Saga Hardcover collection, here's volume three.

I love this series.

That's all I'm gonna say right now.

You could probably subscribe to an online e-comic shop or something and get the first issue for free, that's how I got into it.

Do so. It's probably one of the most emotionally engaging stories in comics right now.

-----

And, lastly, another Alan Moore book, which has the dubious honour of being the first ever out-and-out superhero comic that I own. The Absolute Edition of Alan Moore's Killing Joke.

I had previously seen the cartoon movie of this one, and though it was ok, there's definitely was no need, or even desire, for the whole bat-girl has sex with batman, stuff. What were they thinking with that? 

It's quite a gorgeous edition, oversized, and apart from having the original comic release it also has artist Brian Bolland's preferred colouring, which he did himself for this edition.

He wasn't pleased with the original colouring, which, it must be said, is very very psychedelic, and which you can compare to his own preference below. It's quite a massive difference.

The original script is also included as are afterwords by the artist, some notes on the Joker's original origins, an art gallery, a retrospective by John Higgins, an introduction by Tim Sale, but oddly, nowhere is there an actual answer to the last panels of the story, nor is there any commentary from Moore himself to be found.

-----

There were a few more gifts, non-books and such, but as you probably have noticed it appears impossible for me to continue writing right now. Over the past month and more I have seemed to be heading back into depression or something, and I'm having the hardest time to write anything at length.

Either way. Thanks for all the support, the presents and the love.

Take care. I'll be back to writing regularly soon.

Icky October Book Haul

*BOOM*

     Told you this one'd be big, didn't I? Here it is then: The Massive October Book Haul! 

You'll notice that it is (almost) a nice mix between books and comics this time, and that pretty much all of it is horror except for a few fantasy titles and the obligatory Judge Dredd comic book.

-----

Let's start from the top, which is also immediately the book I'm reading right now: Chuck Palahniuk's Haunted, which is technically a collection of (or at least, the back-blurb says these are going to be) 23 short stories connected by an overarching narrative in which 18 or so wannabe writers answer an ad to go to an exclusive writer's retreat and who are then surprisingly locked in a building for three months. They're being treated alright, actually, but most of them wish that the situation was a bit more harrowing, and so pretty much all of them start to sabotage the group's supplies and their surroundings and, as a result, the situation quickly begins to become more dire than anticipated. Or at least I think so. I've only read a fourth of the book at this point.

     Palahniuk might be familiar to some of you. His big mainstream success came when his novel Fight Club got adapted by David Fincher. I watched the movie, became obsessed by it and eventually got around to also giving the novel a go. And honestly it was okay but on the whole I just preferred the movie. Palahniuk's writing style is one of those that goes in one ear and out the other, so to speak; nothing much sticks at the end except the idea that this is one man who doesn't like society much.

     And he's right of course, but that doesn't mean I want to read about it. Palahniuk's stories are infused with grime, with the baser elements of life and sex, and on the whole frequently comes off as mean-spirited. It's good for an outraged chuckle or two, but I still don't believe this is the type of literature that'll stand the test of time. Yuppie-infused capitalist nonsense of yesteryear. Kind of like American Psycho. And realizing that immediately makes me think that I might just be wrong about Palahniuk's books not withstanding the test of time.

At least the cover is glow in the dark, which is something.

I bought this one finally because I had it listed somewhere on the books I'd like to give to a friend, purely on hearsay, as the novel frequently tops best of lists in the horror category. So far it's been both hilarious and annoying, but no scares as of yet. Or even anything that one would constitute as horror reading, though I guess it does have a certain queasiness factor going for it.

-----

Next up, an overpriced novella, which I had to pay import taxes on for more than half the price of the book itself. 20 euros for 'formalities' on top of the 3.50 or so of actual income-tax... Modern Highway Robbery I tells you.

     This one'd better be good, is all I'm saying.

Don't know much about it except what the blurb told me, and that a writer who I still have an entire unread trilogy of lying around was the one who wrote it.

     So, a venture of about 50 euros for a huge big question mark of a story, written by an author you don't know anything about, Levi, what possessed you to do such a thing?

     Well, snooty reader, have a look at the blurb of the thing.

ENTER THE EXECRATION,

WHERE THE DAMNED AND THE DESPERATE

COME TO PRAY TO THE MAD GOD…

It is two hundred years since the deity known as the Absolved went mad and destroyed the Kingdom of Alnachim, transforming it into the Execration, a blasted wasteland filled with nameless terrors. For decades, desperate souls have made pilgrimage to the centre of this cursed land to seek the Mad God’s favour, their fate always unknown. 

Now a veteran warrior known only as Pilgrim, armed with a fabled blade inhabited by the soul of a taunting demon, must join with six others to make the last journey to the heart of the Execration. Allied with a youthful priest, a beast-charmer, a duplicitous scholar, an effete actor and two exiled lovers, Pilgrim must survive madness, malevolent spirits, unnatural monsters and the ever-present risk of treachery, all so that the Mad God might hear his prayer and, perhaps, grant redemption. But can sins such as his ever be forgiven? 

Set in a world where demons and gods walk the earth, A Pilgrimage of Swords is a dark and exciting fantasy adventure from the New York Times bestselling author of the Raven’s Shadow and Draconis Memoria trilogies. 

     Yeah, exactly.

I don't know about you, but I got some serious Hyperion-vibes from that.

     Mad Gods, a pilgrimage-type quest, demons, religion, darkness... Sounds bloody awesome!

And to be fair to the book's price tag: It does look quite nice. And it's limited too!

-----

     Yes, in the Book-Pile photo at the top you'll see that there's a few more books in there than I'm actually giving attention to, which in every case is because those individual books and comic books all have already had their time to shine in another of this month's posts. To whit: after I had read The Light is The Darkness, by Laird Barron, And which is in the picture up above, I immediately went ahead and ordered the short story collection I really should've picked up ages ago by now: The Imago Sequence.

     It arrived pretty quickly too, and I have begun reading it already, as I had a bit of waiting time at the doctor's today. It's immediately become clear that Barron's work is more inter-connected than I thought. Bare pages in, there are already organizations and names intimately connected with some of the elements in The Light is the Darkness novella. His protagonists also come across as pretty bad-ass, which is very much to my liking. Apparently this is called Hard-boiled.

The book  itself is actually the winner of the 2007 Shirley Jackson Awards for Best Short Story Collection, so, you know, that sounds pretty cool. Even though I'm not one to put much stock in popular opinions, or jury-based decisions of any kind.

What an odd thing to say, no?

Almost as if there's more to say there...

-----

Next up; the latest Michael Fletcher novel.

I haven't read anything by him since Beyond Redemption, though I compulsively buy everything he puts out.

     I've said it before, and I'll say it again. I'm a compulsive reader, and a slow reader.

Which means that if the story isn't finished by the time I've read the first book in the series, I'm very likely to be side-tracked by other stuff, and in the end I usually don't go back to the series at all.

     Reading takes a lot of time for me. Which is why I just purchase the stuff I know I'll like when it comes out, and then wait for the series to be finished before I dive in.

It's a problematic and selfish position to take maybe. But I've been burned a few times too many to look further than my own capabilities on this one.

     The one idea that informs all of my thinking on this is that there is so much good stuff to read still, and 95 percent of which has been finished decades ago, if not generations ago, and it's whole and complete and guaranteed to satisfy.

     Read the world's classics, for God's sake people. Stop diving into the very next buzz-worthy thing. Half the stuff you're reading right now will not last a decade. There's too many writers out there right now, and most of them don't add much to the art.

But if you find one you really like, you should stick with them.

Michael Fletcher is my one thing.

-----

So then, on to comics!

First up is the latest Junji Ito manga hardback, which now completes my Junji ito Horror Library.

Though I guess I could still buy the Dissolving Class Room manga, if I really crave some horror manga, but it isn't likely.

Manga is very miss with me, and barring Berserk and 2 of Ito's stories, almost never a hit.

I loved Uzumaki, or at least the concept of the thing itself, but there were elements that just couldn't help coming across as silly, the whirlwind-flyers for one (boy, was that stupid...), but there is a certain draw to these things anyway. And I'm of the opinion that one should probably go and explore the top of each art form one comes across. And the top in Horror Manga is Junji Ito.

But if I'm very honest, I'm happy that I can close this particular chapter of Manga exploration quite soon. It might just not be my thing entirely.

-----

Here's the last Hellboy trade ever.

Hopefully.

What can I say about this one that won't drip with annoyance and ill will?

     Hellboy was such a great character and had some really damn good stories, and it all went to shit when the BPRD went and became their own thing. Storylines that would've worked fine in the hands of Mignola himself went to other writers and artists, and it almost never worked. This is my opinion of course. I'm sure most people love the BPRD storylines but I have come to actively loathe them.

     And here then, in Ragna Rok, is the story that's supposed to end 25 years of storytelling, and a whole universe worth of comics and properties. And it just sucks.

It's all so rushed that it actively pissed me off.

     What's bizarre though is that it does get really really good there at the end, you know, when Mignola's the one doing the drawing. And even I have to admit that it's really one hell of a way to end the series. I'm not sure if I've ever seen anything done like this before.

     But does it work though?

I really liked those 5 final pages. But when they were done, I felt just kind of deflated, and disinterested. Some of these characters got such a raw deal, and the landscape is just unrecognizable.

     I suppose the name of the game is that this really has become an almost alien world now, and that humanity's day has drawn to a close. And my beef isn't that 'I can't identify with this' or something, no. Hell no. Fuck humanity, kill them all.

     No, I loved the fact that this was an unstoppable apocalypse and all. But it felt just so hollow, so rushed and poorly executed. You gave the annoying plague of Frogs 14 trade paperbacks of story, Hell on Earth got 15, and the Apocalypse itself only gets 3 trades, and when Hellboy shows up to finally do the thing he's been having to do since issue 1 and then you don't even make him feel like Hellboy?

     No. My guess is that somebody got tired of the whole thing, and it all needed to be wrapped up as soon as possible.

     The problem with this is that there's no desire for pre-quels or spin-offs either. I was reading Crimson Lotus and I was wondering why I was doing so. There was build up here for the grand finale, and it annoyed me, because the grand finale itself ultimately had proved itself to be disappointing. It was all pointless. Ugh.

Man, I have a lot of annoyance and anger on this one. Might eventually come back to it, but on the whole, I'd rather just forget about Hellboy right now.

 Moving on.

-----

     Here is one I am very much curious about. 

There's something abstract about these covers, something that teases without even showing anything.

There's black, blue and 3 spots of red in a scene that just screams that there's something going on here, but because we're so far away there's also a sense of peace and quiet about it. Some sort of hidden darkness.

     And then the highly suggestive title, somehow connected with that pitch black warehouse door... this one looks very, very enticing.

     Somehow I've been able to keep completely spoiler-free on this one. I solely picked it up based on the name of the comic itself, the writer associated with it and the kind of art-style that the cover has. There's no guarantee that this one'll be good, but at the very least the whole series, 12 issues in total, has been collected between these two trades.

I'm itching to dive in.

-----

Here it is finally.

Terminal Diagnosis.

This is likely Harry Absalom's final outing.

He'll likely die here, though I hope not, but if he can give a good poke in the eye of the powers that be I'll be more than happy either way. Hopefully there'll also be some more hints to Gordon Rennie's Cabbalistics universe, which there was a playful reference to in one of the earlier Absalom volumes.

The story's one that the groundwork's been laid for in the previous Absalom stories:

To keep him in line, the forces of Hell have kidnapped and imprisoned Harry's grandchildren and put them in 'The Mills', and now, with Harry's final days approaching as his much-stalled cancer is taking the last chunks out of his system, he's putting a team together to get his grandchildren back.

I'm gonna miss the old bugger.

-----

Another one from the pages of 2000AD.

Tales of Telguuth collects the comic adaptations of Steve Moore's Telguuth short stories, and as I've read about a third of it now I can already say that I'm going to go and get the Tales of Telguuth collection from Strange Attractor Press as well. These tales are dark, and nasty, and pretty unique as well. Sorcery, Gods and monsters, and some tits thrown in for good measure. The artwork is gorgeous and pretty similar across all the tales in here, which is perfect for someone like me who can't stand it if the art veers between too different styles. 

Now, I've read a bunch of sword and sorcery stuff but there's a very strange taste to these stories, and I can very well understand why the most often used adjective to describe them is 'perverse'. It isn't exactly that but the word does seem to sum it up best, as they all seem to end badly for their main characters, and pretty much every time there's a sick delight in watching this unfold. 

I recommend you pick this one up.

-----

Dreddy's number 24 outing.

It's been pretty good. Not much to say though.

-----

I do have a lot to say about this one.

Note the paws?

     I've already read three chapters, and though the edition featured above is gorgeous of course, and quite hefty, though not heavy, I was a bit on the fence about recommending the Top Shelf edition of From Hell as I thought there wasn't any introduction or explanatory piece in here, but last night I discovered the appendices at the back of the book and: ehh... maybe there's not even a need for an introduction?

     Well, let me put it this way.

There's this bit in BBC's Luther where a girl is reading a comic book, and Luther asks her what she's doing, and she responds with, "I'm reading a Graphic Novel", and Luther scoffs and says, "Call it what is, it is a comic book, I don't know why the youth always have to pretend that things are bigger than what they are. Go read a real book, might do you some good", or something. There's a lot of disdain there for this idea of wanting to call comic books graphic novels, as if that can 'legitimize' an art form that's pretty much just dumb entertainment to the people that love reading actual novels.

     This pretty much was my position as well, for the longest time, and when I began reading comics I always called them comics, but From Hell has made me realize that you just can't call this thing a comic book; In some ways it IS a novel, and if you go into this one expecting to breeze through it you're gonna fall flat on your face. And the funny thing is that when I tried to think of other comic books one should be calling graphic novels the only ones I could come up with (and that I'd read) were those that had also been written by Alan Moore: V for Vendetta, Providence (though not Neonomicon), and From Hell.

     So what's the difference, why are some of these 'higher' than others?

I guess it's about what's in it, behind it, what brought the thing about.

Anyone can tell a story (though not really), but what I'm trying to say is that this one is of a different class than anything else in comics. When I look at it, I just can't understand that anyone crafted it. It is whole and complete, exactingly pre-determined and then meticulously executed. It's laborious and perfect. There's so much that's in it, that it can not have done anything other than consume the artists working on it, and From Hell did do that of course. Moore came out of this one a changed man.

     Anyway There's over 40 pages of notes in here, indicating which elements have been fictionalized and which elements came about by research and speculation, and it's dense and quite heavy to read. And it almost obviates the need for an introduction.

Here's the girl that those paws belong to.

Saffy's got a good home, let me tell you, and she knows.

Oh yeah, I can recommend the Top Shelf edition.

I'm going to take it slow reading this one, as it really is quite a lot to digest.

-----

And here's the last book on the pile: the American Vampire Omnibus.

Strangely, there's no news on omnibus 2 even though the story isn't completely collected in here.

There simply might not be enough issues to constitute a new volume but I'd like one anyway, even if it's half the size of this one.

Nothing to say about this one either really, as I'm going to hold off reading until at the very least I have the whole series in one form or another.

Oofh, I'm exhausted now.

September Book Haul

Late, as usual, but take a look anyway at what arrived last month.

Jon Sullivan art in the background isn't new, but I'll take any chance I get to show it off.

You'll notice that most of these are comic books. This is a side-product of me still not having finished the Grendel post. You see, I made a commitment that I wouldn't start reading a new novel before I had shared my thoughts on Grendel. And so, instead of doing what I'm supposed to do I am actually spending my time devouring the comics I had left on my shelves, buying a heap of new ones (and just you wait till next month's book haul!), and making way too long posts on a comic that's pretty good, but maybe not worth the massive amount of time that I spent on it. But the time of prevaricating has passed, damnit! This month is the Horror month, and I need to read horror books! So I better get Grendel done pronto.

-----

We kick off with volumes 1 to 4 of the Sixth Gun oversized Deluxe editions which are crazy expensive, and which for that reason I had always held off on buying. They're written by Cullen Bunn, whose stories I really like, and who wove a saga around westerns and the apocalypse... 

Guns, religion and mythology and one of my favourite writers of horror comics. Yeah. I can tell you, you've no idea how frustrating it was to have to pass up on these again and again just because I couldn't afford them.

But then to make it worse (or now: better), the art in the 6 volumes of the Sixth Gun series, about 50 issues worth + spin-offs, was all done by one artist, Brian Hurtt. That's a pretty rare thing and immensely appealing to my european comic sensibilities. To top it all off, the packaging of these things! Sixth Gun Deluxe is absolutely oversize and the whole thing'll look very striking on any book shelf, provided those shelves are big enough.

So now, with the release of the 6th and final oversize Deluxe volume in sight I was trying to make myself purchase these things already in preparation to finally also begin reading the series, but the pricing was just plain out of my budget.

So I went on Ebay, had a short browse and found the first four volumes for a very low price, which amounted, together with shipping, to less than half of what you'd have to pay for these books if you're going through the Book Depository. Hurrah!

But unless I manage to get myself a discount or something I would have to pay just as much again for the last two volumes... Hmmm, I'll think of something.

-----

Yes indeed, can you believe it? The Book Depository, which previously stated that I would have to wait for my Pre-ordered Beehive Books for still more than 6 months, only went and sent me the last of the three books over to me last week.

This one'll get its own post, as it once again really is a beautiful edition.

But I guess there's no harm in already revealing that there are 9 short stories in here, with some very nice illustrations.

-----

You know how it is, a long drought of buying nothing 2000 ad related and then 6 show up at once. Judge Dredd Volumes 21, 22, 23 and 27. I waited until they were cheaper than normal, though number 23 was still pretty almost full price.

I've already read 21 and 22 and, which, together, deliver the conclusion to the Chief Judge Mcgruder long-running, low-key story line, which also resolves the Mechanismo storyline. Though it goes very, very sci-fi (like, a new planet in our solar system), it's a very good and engaging story. Mcgruder had been growing stranger and stranger as some writers just didn't seem to get what she was about.

There's a few between-issue inconsistencies: for instance, Mcgruder being in a coma since the events of Case Files 19's Inferno, while an issue or 2 before she can be seen to be healthy and well. But on the whole, I do believe that this is the most satisfying arc since Necropolis. 

What also happens is that in these volumes there's an almost exponential increase, or rather; reveal of how many Mega-cities there still are in the world. The most arresting of these is Vatican City, which has iconography immensely appealing to my tastes and the most bad-ass looking judges since Oz's the Judda, it's the judge on the cover of Case Files 22 if you're wondering. Shame that the story they're introduced in happens to be so Sub-Par. Great art, just boring and jumpy storytelling.

Anderson 3 and 4, even though I haven't read or even have, period, Anderson volume 2.

Anderson Psi Files 2 is consistently out of stock, and the second hand prices on Ebay and other sites are regularly obscene, going as high as 500 pounds. Ridiculous.

The pages themselves must be made out of cocaine or something. It's a conspiracy.

It's a bit of a shame, because as long as I don't have Psi Files 2 I can't continue Anderson's story, which looked promising in volume 1, and managed to stand head and shoulders above the bulk of Dredd stories in sheer emotional storytelling. I'm thinking of Leviathan's Farewell in particular, which sees a friend of Anderson come into contact with the earth's last living humpback whale as it dies. It's a powerful little story with a heartbreaking ending.

-----

Here's one I shouldn't have bought, probably.

I'm reading Deadman right now, as he's such a prominent side-character in Swamp Thing, and I like him as a character, even though he looked ridiculous in Swamp Thing, but the story so far is just... uninspired. It should tell you enough when the artist gets first credit on the book cover.

And Kelley Jones' art is pretty cool though, it must be said. He moved away from the superhero aesthetic that Deadman had in Swamp Thing, and made him all creepy, elongated and very defined. What I mean with that is that with every muscle standing out, and the elongation, Deadman really looks like a ghost or something. It's pretty cool.

Reading Deadman made me realize that I now can not say I haven't read any superhero comics, so I guess that opens up the playing field a little. We'll see what happens, and with next month my birthday coming up too.

-----

Next up is IDW's ridiculously glossy edtion of Steve Niles' October Faction.

I don't like IDW editions much because all their comic books are so damn reflective, making it annoying to read them when you like reading your stuff under a fixed lamp.

Either way, I'm a huge fan of Niles' 30 days of Night and I'm a fan of horror investigative teams in general and so I had been keeping an eye out for when October Faction would be collected in one volume. As there are at least 28 issues at the moment and Open Season collects only the first 12 of those it's safe to say there'll at least be one other collection yet to come. Hmm, Odd. I just noticed that the cover doesn't actually have the sub-title "Open Season" on it, even though the spine and back do mention it. What the cover does manage to mention is that this one is getting a Netflix adaptation, so keep your eyes peeled for that. It's not available right now, but given its title it'll probably be here before the end of the month.

Strangely enough when I bought this one I thought the art duty was by Ben Templesmith, who collaborated with Niles on 30 Days of Night, but apperently the art is done by someone called Damien Worm. Their styles are very similar, though Worm seems less geared to make his characters outrageous, making them more grounded in reality than Templesmith.

Either way, it's probably going to be good as Niles' stories tend to be quite fun to read, frequently also packing some good emotional payoff at the end. I've read the complete 30 Days of night, his Aleister Arcane, and a bunch of short stuff by him, so I know what I'm talking about.

-----

Next up is Berserk Deluxe Volume 2 which I had to purchase yet again from a different site other than The Book Depository as their pricing was simply too damn high. That being said, Dark Horse is firing on all cylinders with this one as it looks absolutely awesome to have on the shelf.

You can see how big these Deluxe editions are below, where I've put them with the rest of my manga. As you can see I only have the Junji Ito stuff and Berserk, and I'm getting some more Ito next month. 

Berserk deluxe volume 2 collects volumes 4 to 6 of the ongoing Berserk saga. I've already read it, pretty much as soon as it came in, and though I was less than impressed with the Golden Age Arc, the Nosferatu Zodd arc then definitely made up for that. The assassin arc was another winner, although I would have thought there to be a lot more fallout and consequences from the actions Guts takes.

Anyway, so far Berserk is turning out to be quite a well-planned saga, with seeds of the things to come planted liberally in its opening chapters, and enough time spent to flesh out its principal characters to be some pretty absorbing reading. The pages fly by though, which is down to the manga format itself I think. It's showing itself to be a medium where whole pages can pass without anyone saying a damn thing and with the art just focusing on combat or characters faces to tell the story. It's odd but I don't think this makes it lesser than other types of media. It's just very different.

-----

And lastly we have a book that when I saw it online I just couldn't resist immediately snatching up.

I had been eyeing several different editions of the Melmoth the Wanderer hardbacks over the years but I never was completely satisfied with what I was seeing.

And when I saw the 1993 Folio edition I was sold in a second.

Very surprisingly the price was more than fair.

Melmoth the Wanderer is one of the quintessential 'man sells his soul to the devil' tales, and it casts a very long shadow. I've been wanting to read it mainly because Karl Edward Wagner cited it as one of the big inspirations for his Kane saga.

The edition comes with a few pieces of interior art, and while I was browsing through them and came upon the last one, I realized that it gave away the ending. *sigh*. Was this really my fault though, I ask you? Isn't it natural to want to talk a look at the extras your edition have brought you?

Either way, now that I've finally got it, I'll of course not begin to read it any time soon.

Because I'm weird like that.

And that's it for September, but October's books are already starting to stack up. But, first things first: Grendel.