Marvel Action: Black Panther #2 – Comic Review

Originally published on Set The Tape

Wakanda faces natural disaster in the second issue of Marvel Action: Black Panther as the nation’s weather spirals out of control, and the people face a deadly disease.

Marvel Action: Black Panther feels very different from the other books in the series. Where books such as Avengers or Spider-Man have a very recognisable setting and feature costumed heroes fighting against villains, this book stands out because despite prominently featuring a major hero, it doesn’t feel like a superhero book.

Over the course of the issue Black Panther rescues people from a fire, which is something that we see quite often from costumed heroes, but following that he kind of moves onto the back foot as he tries to find a way to save his people from things that are outside of his control. Readers really get a sense from this issue that T’Challa is a very reactive hero, one who uses his enhanced strength and dexterity to solve problems, yet here he is facing one where throwing punches aren’t the solution.

It’s because of this that his sister Shuri really gets the spotlight. People who watched the Black Panther movie will know that Shuri is a character who is much smarter than her brother, and this issue highlights that. Whilst T’Challa is running around Wakanda saving people, Shuri is working on several problems at once, communicating with her brother, organising medical assistance, trying to find out what’s going on, and all the while trying to dodge calls from her mother.

The second issue doesn’t move the plot forward in any great ways, and we don’t learn a whole lot new; for example it was pretty obvious who the villain was before Queen Ramonda figured it out. Shuri and T’Challa try to find a way to stop the spread of the malaria that is ravaging the population, but keep getting prevented from doing so, first by a giant sand storm, then alligators, then hippos; it felt a lot like writer Kyle Baker knew where he wanted his characters to be for issue three, and that meant slowing down T’Challa and Shuri so that they don’t get there too soon. However, the almost constant streams of things getting in their way felt a little comical, and silly by the end.

There’s nothing hugely wrong with the issue, but it felt a little lacking. The story doesn’t move forward in any big ways, most of the characters are dull and lacking any agency, and the plot seems to be treading water. Despite this, the artwork by Juan Samu is beautiful, and he makes all of the characters look beautiful, with some amazing design work on the costumes and the buildings in Wakanda. Hopefully the third issue will improve in a number of ways.


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Sherlock Holmes vs. Cthulhu: The Adventure of the Innsmouth Mutations by Lois H. Gresh – Book Review

Originally published on Set The Tape

The final part of the Sherlock Holmes vs. Cthulhu trilogy sees the titular detective leave London and travel across the Atlantic to face the Order of Dagon on their home turf, the town of Innsmouth.

Where the first two volumes felt like a Sherlock Holmes story that featured aspects of the Cthulhu mythos, being principally set in London and featuring characters from Doyle’s original work, Sherlock Holmes vs. Cthulhu: The Adventure of the Innsmouth Mutations is more grounded in the world of Lovecraft. It features locations from his work, such as Innsmouth and Arkham, and has a much bigger focus on the Order of Dagon.

This sudden change in tone is quite surprising and even a little jarring. It made it so that this final volume felt a little out of place with the others. However, whilst this change threw me a little, it didn’t detract from the overall quality of the read at all.

Holmes, Watson, and Watson’s family, travel to the ruined town of Innsmouth at the behest of both the British and American governments, who are desperate for him to do something about the strange creatures appearing off Devil’s Reef, and the giant creature called Cthulhu. Yes, Cthulhu itself appears in this book, and even opens the story as it rises up from its watery depths with a host of otherworldly beings.

The inclusion of Cthulhu, though a long time coming, is still something that is a little surprising. This may be because after everything else that Holmes and Watson have already experienced, encountering a giant elder god just doesn’t phase them much. Cthulhu is treated with almost a casual air that struck me as slightly strange. Yes, the heroes have encountered dozens of monstrous creatures by this point, and their journey through Devil’s Reef is a particularly shocking and horrific moment for them, but I still expected something of a little disbelief at a being such as Cthulhu.

The change in the heroes, having gone from disbelieving that monsters can exist, to accepting them as being real but from a place and time that their science doesn’t yet understand, shows the growth that the two of them have made over the course of the trilogy, and sets these versions of Holmes and Watson aside from the originals. Seeing Holmes willing to not only accept that a giant sea monster is real, but devising a way to banish it back to its own dimension is a little strange, but by this point in the series has been well earned.

What serves to be the biggest surprise in the story, however, is that Holmes and Watson do pretty much nothing in this book. Yes, they end up getting involved in a small mystery with the family that they’re staying with, and shed some light on the history of Innsmouth for the reader, but they do little to nothing to stop the creatures. This honour falls to Professor James Moriarty.

Having travelled to Innsmouth in order to further his greedy schemes, Moriarty finds himself in a situation well out of his control, and it’s a shock turn to see a character like Moriarty, who is usually so in control and so confident, reduced to living in the dirt, trying desperately to survive. This speaks volumes to the arrogance of the character, that he’d never expected to be so bested even by forces from another world.

Whilst the book is well written and the story is filled with twists and turns that will keep you guessing, the sudden change in tone, the fact that Cthulhu is treated as almost an everyday thing, and the very little that Holmes and Watson do to save the day make this a conclusion that felt a little flat in comparison to the second part. A good story, though not what I was expecting as the conclusion.

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Sherlock Holmes vs. Cthulhu: The Adventure of the Neural Psychoses by Lois H. Gresh – Book Review

Originally published on Set The Tape

In my review for the first book in the Sherlock Holmes vs. Cthulhu series, The Adventure of the Deadly Dimensions, I spoke about issues with the pacing of the story, that it at times felt a little too slow and overly long. Well, this is a criticism that I cannot place on Sherlock Holmes vs. Cthulhu: The Adventure of the Neural Psychoses.

The book opens with Holmes and Watson enjoying a ship ride along the Thames, investigating reports that some of the strange creatures they encountered in the climax of the previous book have escaped into the river. With little to no warning the ship is attacked by one of these creatures, but one that has now turned into a giant, tentacled monster that rips the ship apart and kills dozens of people. This is within the first twenty pages! Lois H. Gresh has really hit the ground running in this second volume, and is delivering so much of what I had hoped to have read in the first book.

Instead of a slowly unfolding mystery that hints at the existence of other worlds and monsters, Holmes and Watson are actively searching for a way to combat these monsters. Added into this a mysterious illness that is spreading throughout London, one that has even infected Watson, and the stakes for this book seem so much higher than the first volume.

The book has a much better pace than the first part, and despite having to introduce several new characters and story elements it never feels as bogged down as the first book. It’s only about 50 pages shorter, but due to the improved pacing I was able to read it in about half the time, and enjoyed it a whole lot more.

Another addition to the story that really helps to change things up and makes it a lot more entertaining is the introduction of Sherlock Holmes’ iconic foe, Professor James Moriarty. Instead of acting as a villain to Holmes, however, we get to see Moriarty having his own adventure, though one that ties into the main story. Obsessed with accumulating wealth and power, he tries to gain control of the tram machine that produces gold that was a central part of the first book, whilst also playing a part in the new addiction that is sweeping the capital, as well as trying to kidnap two of the central figures in the Cult of Dagon.

Moriarty takes a very active part in this volume, and his chapters are some of the best in the whole book. We get to see the other side of the seedy underworld of London that Holmes and Watson occasionally visit, getting to know the inner workings of the criminal gangs.

A lot more happens in this book, thanks in part to it not having to establish so much of the characters and the world, but due to this being a middle part there are a number of plot threads left hanging come the final pages. Some of these, such as what will happen to Maria Fitzgerald and Amelia Scarcliffe, are more nebulous, with Gresh able to take them in any direction she wants for the final volume. There are others, however, that make it very clear the direction the last book will be taking, and its final revelation sets up a very exciting prospect.

Sherlock Holmes vs. Cthulhu: The Adventure of the Neural Psychoses is a big improvement on what was already a good first entry in the series; one that moves with a much better pace, and with a sense of excitement. The returning characters continue to entertain, whilst new characters, both original and from the Sherlock Holmes universe, fit in perfectly and add more to this shared universe. A brilliant second act to the story, it sets up some incredibly exciting things to come in the final part of the trilogy.

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Sherlock Holmes vs. Cthulhu: The Adventure of the Deadly Dimensions by Lois H. Gresh – Book Review

Originally published on Set The Tape

I feel that I need to make a small confession before getting into this review. I have the complete works of H.P. Lovecraft on my shelf, but haven’t read anything set in the Cthulhu universe. Whilst I’m disappointed that I’ve yet to delve into the world of Cthulhu, part of me is glad that Sherlock Holmes Vs Cthulhu: The Adventure of the Deadly Dimension is my first experience with the Old Ones.

When a tram engineer dies in mysterious circumstances, Holmes and Watson are brought in to investigate what they first assume is a fairly straightforward mystery. However, when they learn that more people are dying in similar circumstances, apparently torn apart in an instant, their bones stacked in a pile, and find a strange orb-like bone with mysterious symbols, they realise they’ve stumbled upon something that will challenge their beliefs in what is possible.

As I said before, I’m not well versed in the Cthulhu mythology, so getting slowly introduced to this world through the experiences of Holmes and Watson is a good way to become acclimatised to it. Whilst this might be a good way to learn more about the world of the Old Ones and Elder Things there is one drawback to seeing a lot of the story from Holmes’ point of view. We know more than he does.

In the majority of Sherlock Holmes stories he’s the smartest man around (though if Mycroft and Moriarty are around that might not be the case), but here he’s trying to find logical, real world answers to what’s happening: answers that just don’t exist. Holmes is dealing with actual magic, ancient entities, and creatures that he doesn’t believe can exist.

This is what the majority of the book is given over to, our heroes having to face the possibility that the supernatural actually exists. Whilst this is an interesting struggle for the two of them, and the world of Cthulhu is incredibly interesting, it does feel like the book takes a long time getting where it’s going. The plot takes time to reach its conclusion, and even then it’s not a real ending as this is the first part of a trilogy. The book would probably have flowed better if it was shorter by a few chapters. Thankfully, this is something that seems to remedied in the second book.

Lois H. Gresh writes the story well, and manages to capture the characters from Conan Doyle’s work well, and whilst they do possess some differences from the source material (as would be expected) they’re still very recognisable in the ways that matter. Where Gresh seems to really shine, however, is when it comes to the Cthulhu side of the story. The chapters that follow the mysterious Cult of Dagon are some of the best, and the insight that we get to their ways are thoroughly fascinating. This isn’t surprising as Gresh has a lot of experience in writing Cthulhu stories, with her work appearing in a number of Cthulhu anthologies.

Sherlock Holmes vs Cthulhu: The Adventure of the Deadly Dimensions is a good foundation for the trilogy of books, and sets up a world that feels like it belongs in the Holmes mythology, whilst slowly introducing him to the horrors of Cthulhu. However, as a book on its own it isn’t completely satisfying. It can feel slow in places, and the fact that we know there’s no rational explanation whilst we watch Holmes and Watson try to find scientific evidence time and time again can be a little frustrating; but read as the first part of a series it works well. The first part of a mystery that pits the worlds greatest detective against forces of cosmic horror, this series could go on to be one of the best Sherlock Homes crossovers yet.

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The Edge by Tim Lebbon – Book Review

Originally published on Set The Tape

The Edge, the third and final part of the Relics trilogy, returns readers to the world of the Kin in a much smaller, creepier tale where the stakes have never been higher.

The thing that took me most by surprise with The Edge, is just how different it feels from the other books. Relics was very much an urban fantasy story, set in the twisting streets and tunnels of London; The Folded Land was a sweeping chase story set across the countryside of the United States; and The Edge is a very small, focused story in comparison to these. There isn’t much more learnt about the world of the Kin, no big reveals or revelations, no shock changes to the status quo. Instead it centres on the characters and tells the most personal story yet.

Set two years after the events of The Folded Land, we find that Angela and her niece Sammy are still hiding from law enforcement, living in a cabin in the middle of the woods. Trying to come to terms with not only how their lives have both changed so dramatically, and the losses they’ve both suffered, the two of them are drawn back into the world of the Kin when the town of Longford reappears from beneath the surface of a reservoir.

Longford is one of the best locations yet in the Relics series, a town infected with a deadly contagion, where the residents were all killed, and sunk beneath a lake for decades; it is a haunting place that makes for the perfect location of this final confrontation. The deserted town, falling to ruin and rotting away but surrounded by lush forests makes for a truly striking visual, one that feels very appropriate for this final fight to save the world.

As with the rest of the series the character moments make for some of the best parts of this book, and the reunion of Angela and Vince, who was trapped inside the folded land for two years, makes for one of the best moments. It’s such a huge moment for both characters, and has such an impact, but manages to not become too big a thing as they are forced straight back into the fight rather than focusing on each other. It’s these important characterisations and personal moments, spread out through a story where the fate of the world hangs in the balance that makes the book work so well. You want to spend time with the two of them, seeing them reconnect, but you also want the main plot to move forward, and Lebbon gives the reader both of these in spades.

Despite The Edge being the final part of the series, and bringing back many of the older characters, it also introduces several new people, two of whom quickly became some of my favourites of the series. Dastion the dwarf needs a book of his own. Coming in towards the end of the story, he’s brilliant back-up for Angela and Vince, fighting by their side with his big metal pike, taking on Kin in hand to hand combat; he’s completely bad-arse yet gruffly lovable at the same time. I need more time with this character!

Bone is another new character who proves to be very interesting, and I wish more of the book was given over to him and his story. I would have gladly read another 100 pages if he was given more of a focus. Someone with a strong connection to the town of Longford, he weaves in and out of the narrative at times, with his own mission that intersects with that of our heroes. He proved to be fascinating throughout, yet I never quite connected with him as much as I wanted to, and can’t help but feel this would have happened if he had more of a presence. However, his final moments in the story were very good, and gave me strong Game of Thrones vibes (though I won’t allude to how as it may spoil a big moment from both stories).

The Edge is a brilliant conclusion to Lebbon’s trilogy. It takes the grand world established in the first two books and brings a satisfying conclusion to this world-threatening plot, yet manages to do so in a very small and personal way, where the characters are the bigger focus. A brilliant melding of character driven storytelling and epic fantasy.

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Godzilla: King of the Monsters by Greg Keyes – Book Review

Originally published on Set The Tape

Godzilla: King of the Monsters, or as a friend of mine recently referred to it, Godzilla: This Time We’re Not Fucking Around, gets its official novel treatment by Greg Keyes and Titan books, charting the destructive events of the film as titans battle for supremacy across the globe.

One of the criticisms I saw of the film was that there was too much focus on monster battles and not enough time with the human cast. A complaint that I think is absolutely ridiculous, especially as people said the opposite thing about the first film. Luckily, for those that enjoyed the story of the film but want more focus on the human characters – the book has you covered.

Whilst the novel follows the plot of the film, the narrative always follows one of the human characters, meaning that the Kaiju battles are always observed from a distance by someone such as Mark Russell or one of the G Squad soldiers. The larger than life fights and the city wide destruction is secondary to how the people experience this. The reader doesn’t bask in the spectacle of Ghidorah and Godzilla battling in Boston, but stays with Madison Russell as she flees through the streets towards her childhood home, getting to experience the fear that she’s feeling.

These character insights extend beyond the action sequences, however, and actually gave me a better understanding as to character motivations from the film. A lot of the backstory to the Russell family was only given in brief pieces of dialogue, and left to the viewers to draw their own conclusions. The book actually goes a lot more into this, not just explaining more of how the family fell apart following the events of the first film, but showing how Mark’s feelings towards the creature he deemed responsible for his son’s death changes over time.

The book also adds some additional scenes to the narrative that were not included in the film. Some of these are scenes that provide more information on the titans that come out of hibernation thanks to Ghidorah, giving not only more information on the creatures, such as their names, places in mythology, and their abilities, but also throws some human characters into their emergence scenes too. It’s no longer just the spider-like Scylla breaking free of an oil field, but a scene where we get to know about Rick, the geologist that works there, and how his final thoughts before dying are of his family. We get something similar in Munich when Methusaleh breaks free of its mountain, observing the action from the point of view of a young couple on a romantic picnic.

For myself, though, the best new scenes in the book are the small conversations that take place where the events of the comics are acknowledged. There’s the mention of Godzilla fighting Shinomura in the the 1940s, events that were observed by Dr. Serizawa’s father in Godzilla: Awakening. The book also makes a point of including Emma Russell’s previous work on the ORCA device to help Godzilla combat another MUTO creature following the events of the first film in Godzilla: Aftershock.

Whether it’s the inclusion of the larger Monsterverse outside of the films that casual fans would be familiar with, or the focus on the human characters, Godzilla: King of the Monsters proves to be a competent companion piece to the movie. It adds depth and characterisation without having to stray from the narrative, and creates a version of the film’s events that feel even more connected to the wider universe. Not only is it a great read, but it’s the perfect place to direct those who wanted more of a human connection from the film. as this provides a decent alternative.

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The Folded Land by Tim Lebbon – Book Review

Originally published on Set The Tape

Tim Lebbon continues to impress with the second instalment in the Relics trilogy. Once again returning to the lives of Angela and Vince, now on the run from the authorities following the dramatic conclusion to the previous book, The Folded Land shifts the focus away from the familiar, cramped streets of London to the expansive countryside of the United States.

Trying to keep away from the notice of police and law enforcement, Angela Gough, the former criminology student, is once again drawn into the mystical and frightening world of the Kin when her niece Sammi goes missing.

After being struck by lightning twice, Sammi is whisked away by a mysterious wraith-like figure and guided across north America towards what she is told is her deceased mother, but is actually a creature of ancient and unimaginable power. Trying to find her niece before something worse happens to her, Angela and her fiance Vince are once again joined by the alluring Lilou and gangster Frederick Meloy, who are on the trail of a vicious Kin killer, who may also have Sammi in his sights.

The Folded Land is a sequel in the truest of terms. It takes the world created in the first book, Relics, and keeps on building, showing readers new and wondrous parts of the universe that weren’t even hinted at before. We learn of the various factions of Kin, and that they are not all working together. We discover that America has its own Kin that are unique to that continent and part of their mythology, such as the Mothman and a Kooshdakhaa. And we learn the shocking news that some Kin have become human over the centuries, and even bred with regular people.

The world of the Kin in the first book was like the setting. It was old and full of history, but it was also small. One tiny location, with dark alleys and hidden tunnels. But The Folded Land expands its horizons significantly, and has grander goals in its storytelling. The change of setting and the bigger threat to our heroes reflects this well. The story moves with a much faster pace than the first book, and conveys the sense of urgency that the characters are feeling, and the race that they are in.

That’s not to say that the story doesn’t have the same attention to characters that Relics had. Instead of focusing the majority of the narrative on Angel with a few jumps over to other characters The Folded Land feels much more like an ensemble piece, where many more characters are given moments of focus and time in the spotlight.

Several new characters join returning favourites this time around, both human and Kin. The Kin killer Gregor is particularly fascinating, and is given plenty of time in the limelight. He’s remorseless and evil, willing to kill anyone or anything that gets between him and his goals. Whilst there are many creatures in the book that would be considered monsters, Gregor is probably the closest to being one, despite being human. This is a trait that Lebbon has visited before in the series, where the criminal Mary Rock proved to be the worst character in the book – no small feat considering she was competing with a psychotic Nephilim and a Satyr that tortures people with the bones of its victims.

The Folded Land is a great follow on to Relics. It takes the characters on a bigger, more dangerous quest. It expands the world and presents the readers with wonders. The characters evolve in new and interesting ways, and the new additions to the cast are a joy, even those with relatively small page time. The perfect sequel to the first book that is sure to keep fans delighted.

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Relics by Tim Lebbon – Book Review

Originally published on Set The Tape

Tim Lebbon is always great at creating new and interesting worlds, and that’s something that always draws the reader into his work, whether it’s a novel or just a short story. One of the main things that is so compelling is the way that he creates his worlds around his characters.

Relics is no exception to this, as we slowly discover a hidden, magical world beneath our own by following Angela, a young woman who has moved to London to get her doctorate in criminology. On the surface Angela and her fiance, Vince, are perfectly average people. She studies most of the day, working on her dissertation, whilst he goes to work travelling around London evaluating houses. However, when Vince fails to respond to any calls or messages and doesn’t come home from work, Angela goes looking for him, and discovers a whole world that she didn’t know existed.

Using some detective skills that she has picked up from studying criminology, Angela finds out that Vince has been living a lie, that he has a whole other life that he hadn’t told her about. Worse than having a second secret family, a thought that briefly crosses her mind, she enters a world of criminals and London gangsters as she learns of the Kin. Creatures long thought to be myth and legend, the Kin walked the earth thousands of years ago but are now all but extinct. Fairies, Nymphs, Satyrs, and Angels, things that are so alien and mysterious they shatter Angela’s view of the world. And these are just the tip of the iceberg.

Whilst there are a lot of Urban Fantasy novels on the market, stories that merge the magical and the mundane, Relics stands out from a lot of these for just how well it slowly introduces these elements, and for how grounded it feels. There’s no ‘magic’ in the traditional sense, there’s no flying around, or ancient forces, the Kin are simply people. Yes, they might have wings, or blue skin, or be twice the size of a human, but their mystical nature isn’t what’s important in this book. It’s their personalities, their drives. Each one, even those who have a relatively short appearance, feel like well thought out individuals, with their own quirks and flaws, their own goals and desires.

Angela and Vince don’t feel out of place interacting with these creatures, because Lebbon has gone out of his way to make them understandable. Even one of the villains of the book isn’t really a ‘monster’. They’re clearly mad, and they’re not human, but you can see their warped logic, you can understand their desires. If anything, it’s some of the human characters in the book that prove to be the most monstrous.

Despite all of this wonder and spectacle the book is kept grounded by the central story of Angela’s love of Vince, and her willingness to confront wonders and horrors both in order to find him and save his life. Their love isn’t cheesy or over the top, and it’s not played out like a stereotype. It’s believable, largely thanks to the time that is given over to setting up this relationship in the early parts of the book, rather than jumping straight into telling a story of monsters and mad men.

Relics proves to be a delight to read: a book that manages to tease out its world and story at a steady and entertaining pace; a book that isn’t afraid to hold back on the fantastical until it has already drawn you in. The characters are real and believable, and you find your opinions on who is and isn’t a good person shift over the course of the narrative, and even come to care about some people that take you by surprise.

With a whole new world cleverly set up, characters that are worth learning more about, and the promise of bigger things to come, Relics is a near perfect start to Angela and Vince’s story, and it is pleasing to know that there’s more to come.

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