The Dancing Plague by Gareth Brookes – Book Review

 

Originally published on Set The Tape

'The Dancing Plague tells a true story, from 1518, when hundreds of inhabitants of Strasbourg were suddenly seized by the strange and unstoppable compulsion to dance, from the imagined perspective of Mary, one of its witnesses. Prone to mystic visions as a child, betrayed in the convent to which she flees, then abused by her loutish husband, Mary endures her life as an oppressed and ultimately scapegoated woman with courage, strength, and inspiring beauty. As difficult to interpret now (as a psychological reaction to social injustice?) as it was then (as a collective demonic possession?), the story of the “Dancing Plague” finds suitably extraordinary expression in the utterly unique mixed-media style Gareth Brookes has devised to tell it. The pioneering blend of his trademark “pyrographic” technique with sumptuously colourful (and literal) embroidery perfectly reflects, in a beautiful work of art, the enduring fragility of our human condition – from “choreomania” to coronavirus.'

The Dancing Plague of 1518 is definitely one of the strangest mysteries to ever exist. One summer’s day the inhabitants of Strasbourg, in what’s today France, began to dance in the streets. This began with a single person who started dancing and wouldn’t stop; not at the behest of their family, not to sleep, not to eat. They just kept on dancing. But then it spread to others, and more and more people began to join in. By the end up to 400 people were taking part, with no obvious reason or cause. They danced until their feet bled and they dropped from exhaustion.

This is what writer Gareth Brookes explores in The Dancing Plague, and delves into possible reasons for the outbreak. The story follows the life of Mary, a woman who has been plagued by strange visions and images her whole life. Mary chooses to flee to a convent in order to banish her visions, but soon comes to see them as a gift from God, allowing her to see demons and wickedness. 

But when she tells those around her about this she is betrayed, her fellow sisters and the priests turning against her. After fleeing the convent Mary settles down with her new husband in Strasbourg, and has a family. But one day she begins to see strange demonic entities in the street, entities that are taking hold of the townspeople and forcing them to dance uncontrollably.

Brookes uses the mystery of the Dancing Plague to tell the story of a woman used as a scapegoat by those around her, who’s blamed for the evil in the world, who’s treated with suspicion for deviating from the expected norm by even a small bit. So it’s pretty historically accurate for how quickly men would turn on women throughout European history.

What really made the book stand out from other graphic novels, however, is the art style; one that I’m pretty confident in saying is unique to this book. Every single page, each and every panel, resembles a tapestry. The book immediately brought to mind the imagery of the Bayeux Tapestry, possibly one of the most famous tapestries in the world, and it really helped to transport me back in time.

Whilst this art style is unique and stands out, it does however have a few negative things about it. The first, and one that most people probably wouldn’t care about, is that the style brings to mind art from a much earlier period than the 1500s, and is more reminiscent of medieval art than it is art of the Renaissance period.

The other thing about the artwork is that it does sometimes become a little difficult to know who everyone is, thanks to the super simplified drawings. It can be hard to know who is in a particular scene unless the characters are addressed by name. Despite this, it’s still one of the most visually unique books around.

The Dancing Plague was an interesting book, one that took one of the strangest phenomenons in history and tried to put a human story in the middle of it, a story that talks about the abuse and suffering women have had to endure over the centuries. It’s not a particularly long read, but if you’re looking for an interesting way to spend an hour or two it will definitely entertain.

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Battle Royale – Limited Edition 4K UHD Blu-ray - Film Review

 

Originally published on Set The Tape

Battle Royale has been a hit since it was first released in 2000, receiving rave reviews around the world. Based upon the book by Koushun Takami, the story has been adapted to manga, western comics, and the big screen. Now both the first and second films are getting a gorgeous 4K Ultra HD release from Arrow Video, allowing audiences the chance to see this genre-defining piece in amazing quality.

Battle Royale tells the story of the children of Third Year Class-B Shiroiwa Junior High School, who are the latest group of teens to be selected to take part in the BR ACT, an initiative passed by the Japanese government to try to combat the growing number of unruly and disruptive young people in their country. Having been selected as this year’s participants, the class are taken to a remote island where they will be forced to fight and kill each other until only one remains. To ensure the kids take part, every student has been fitted with a special collar with an explosive device. If they try to fight back against those behind things, or if they enter any forbidden area the collars will detonate, killing them.

The second film, Battle Royale 2: Requiem, picks up three years after the events of the first movie, where the survivors of previous games have come together to form a resistance group, The Wild Seven, to try and fight against the government. In response, the government has adapted the BR ACT, forcing those chosen to compete to fight together as a strike force against the rebels on their island fortress, pitting innocent children against desperate freedom fighters in a battle to the death. Much like the first film, anyone who refuses to fight will be eliminated by the government.

It’s clear to see how Battle Royale inspired a plethora of dystopian stories, especially things such as The Hunger Games, but it’s also one of the most realistic of these films, presenting a grim future that’s not too different from our own. This isn’t a world where a tyrannical government is using their advanced technology to cow those under them, keeping people in rigid caste systems or anything like that. The world presented in Battle Royale is one where a desperate government put something in place as the only solution they could see, and people went along with it. The first film presents a very bleak story where no one would ever dream of standing up against such a thing, whilst the sequel shows how hard and futile such a rebellion would probably be.

The first two discs of this set are given over to the original film, with a theatrical and director’s cut that have both received 4K transfers from the original film negatives, making these the sharpest quality versions of both films to date. Having seen the film on both DVD and regular Blu-ray I can say that there is a definite difference here, and whilst some of the darker scenes do have a slight bit of grain to them, overall they look fantastic. The sequel doesn’t fare as well as the original in terms of visual quality, but still looks incredibly good, and like the first one comes in both a theatrical and director’s cut.

Alongside these updated versions of the movie are a whole host of fascinating extra features, including some new ones just for this set. The first film gets a new audio commentary from film critics Tom Mes and Jasper Sharpe, who are able to offer a lot of insights that are unique to these kind of retrospective commentaries from film critics and historians. There are also a number of behind the scenes features for both movies, showing how the films were made, and the impact that they had. The fifth disc in the set is also a soundtrack CD, so you can pretend that you’re being hunted by your classmates if you listen to it whilst out for a run.

The new set also comes with a 120 page book, a booklet filled with essays and articles, a set of cards, and a reversible poster, just to give you a little extra bang for your buck. Whilst these items didn’t come included with our review copy, I know that Arrow put a lot of care and attention into these little extras, so I’m sure that they’ll be great quality too.

As someone who’s been a fan of this film since it first came out, and has owned multiple copies of the book, it’s a set that I’ve been excited about for a while. And it didn’t disappoint. Even though I’ve got other special edition versions and limited sets for this film this one is able to offer something new and exciting, and I loved every minute of it.

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Counter Histories: Rock Hill – Film Review

 

Originally published on Set The Tape

The Friendship Nine are one of the lesser known groups to have made a stand during the fight for equal rights in the United States during the 1960s, with a story that shows the varying methods of protests employed to raise awareness and push for equality. Now their story is brought to the screen by director Frederick Taylor (credited here as Fr3deR1ck), alongside interviews with the members of this pioneering group.

The film tells the story of nine young Black men who, on the morning of January 31st 1961, entered McCrory’s diner in Rock Hill, North Carolina, and sat at the counter. Whilst this might not seem to be a particularly bold move at first, the film soon makes it clear that this action was taken at a time where Black people were not allowed to sit at restaurant counters, where they had to attend Black schools, drink from separate water fountains, and when Black people were being lynched by bigots and racists.

What made the Friendship Nine different was that they went into this knowing that they were going to get trouble, and that they would be arrested. They chose to put themselves at risk, making the decision that none of them would fight back, be rude, or attempt to resist in any way. Their aim was to be arrested but to refuse bail, something that was costing the NAACP (The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) a lot of money. Their strategy of ‘Jail, No Bail’ saw the nine of them face a month in jail, forced to perform hard labour.

Over the course of Counter Histories: Rock Hill we get to know some of the members of the Friendship Nine, with several of them speaking openly and candidly not just about that day in 1961, but the entire fight for equality for Black people in the US. These interviews are interspersed with recreations of the sit in, as well as television and radio footage from the time.

Whilst the content of the film is incredibly interesting, and the story of the Friendship Nine is one that needs more recognition and acknowledgement, some of the way it’s presented makes it less impactful than it could be. The film has no narration, and it’s down to the members of the Friendship Nine to talk us through what happened in their own words, alongside a handful of other people involved, and related media. Whilst this is a good approach, as it makes the topic feel a lot more personal, like the audience is learning it from those there rather than just being lectured about the incident, the way it’s assembled here left me feeling less informed than I wanted to be.

The film tends to jump around a lot, with many of the people talking on camera going on to talk about things outside of the event itself. Now, this is always informative, and they cover things such as how some of them came to be involved in the protest, or what they would go on to do after it, and the continued racism they had to face; however, they’re presented in a way where we’re jumping back and forth to the actual event. The lack of clear chronology means that you’re sometimes feeling like you’re going off topic a bit, and having to come back round to the main point. It feels less like a planned out documentary, and more a conversation with the people involved, complete with asides and tangents.

This feeling of disconnect is further fed with the continued use of reenactments of the event. Half a dozen scenes seem to have been shot, but the film goes back to them time and time again, with the film slowed down to enable the shots to last longer. Whilst there’s nothing wrong with these moments in themselves, after seeing the young actors enter the diner and sit at the counter for the tenth time it had very much lost its impact.

The film isn’t bad though, and the footage included, both of the interviews with the Friendship Nine members and from old news reels, in incredibly informative and educational. The film taught me a lot, and elicited strong emotions in me more than once. It made me angry that such injustices were allowed to take place, but it also made me feel hope that things could be better thanks to the actions of activists like the Friendship Nine and others who fought for equality. The film also showed that so many of the arguments from those standing against progress haven’t changed in six decades, with so many of the speeches from segregationists being eerily similar to those being made today about marginalised groups.

Counter Histories: Rock Hill shows one of the lesser known moments from the US civil rights movement, of brave and defiant action taken by ordinary men who stood up and did something extraordinary. It showed that the fight for equality was fought on so many fronts, in so many ways, and whilst there’s still so much work still to be done, not just in the US but the entire world, positive change is possible.

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The Beast of Harwood Forest - Dan Smith Interview

 

After reading the new novel The Beast of Harwood Forest I spoke to author Dan Smith and asked him a few questions about the project. The full review for The Beast of Harwood Forest can be found here.

The Beast of Harwood Forest is a follow-up to The Invasion of Crooked Oak, was it easier to write as a second book, or was there an extra degree of pressure because of how well received the first book was?

The truth is, I was just excited to be writing about Pete, Nancy, and Krish again. The books are a joy to write! I have always loved a creepy mystery, so it’s great fun to write some of my own, and it’s a pleasure to work with Barrington Stoke. It’s very kind of you to say that The Invasion of Crooked Oak was well-received, and I hope readers enjoy the new adventure.

The book has some really creepy moments in it, is it difficult writing spooky stories for children because there’s the need to not make it too scary for younger readers?

There’s something exciting about having a bit of a scare, isn’t there? When I read excerpts to groups of children, I can see the excitement in their eyes, and lots of teachers and librarians tell me that children are asking them for creepy stories. You’re right that it’s important for the stories not to be too creepy, but I also think it’s important not to hold back too much. I wouldn’t write anything too horrifying, but it’s good to make your reader’s pulse quicken just a bit … isn’t it?

There’s a campfire story early in the book about a ghostly Grey Lady, it’s really spooky and I loved that part of the book. Were you ever tempted to have the kids investigate something ghostly like that? And could we possibly hope to see more of this story in a future book?

I love that part too! It’s my nod to the classic moment in ‘80’s slasher films when the kids are sitting by the campfire, hearing the legend of Jason, or Cropsy, or whatever monster we’re going to see. I have thought about having the kids investigate something ghostly, but one of the themes of the Crooked Oak stories is that there is always some kind of real-world explanation for what is happening, no matter how strange that explanation is. I would never want to do a Scooby-Doo style unmasking (that was always a disappointment to me) so a ghostly story would have to have exactly the right idea.

Both Crooked Oak books are available from
Barrington Stoke now!

The main part of the story is about the Harwood Institute, an old MOD facility from World War 2 where secret experiments went on. What was a chief inspiration for this part of the story?

I wanted there to be a real-world explanation for The Beast, and for the reader to believe that there really could be something like that. Bizarre science experiments are a great way to create all manner of horrors, so it fit really well. I’m a big fan of horror films, especially from the 1980’s, and in many of those stories we find monsters created through experimentation, so I had lots of inspiration to draw on. Scientific experimentation is also a key element of one of my favourite videogame series – Resident Evil – so that may have played a part too.

One of the characters compares the experiments to Resident Evil, and one of the scientists is called W. Birkin. Please tell me this is a nod to Resident Evil 2?

Yes, it definitely is. I’ve been playing and re-playing Resident Evil games for years, and I love them. I’m actually a bit of a horror geek and if you look closely at the Crooked Oak stories, you’ll find lots of secret shout-outs to some of my favourite horror films, books, and videogames. I wonder if anyone will spot them?

How did you go about designing the Grendel creature, what was that process like?

Mainly, I had a lot of fun researching pictures of monsters and different interpretations of Grendel. I love the Beowulf story, so that was always going to be an influence, but mostly I put together the elements that I thought would make the beast look scary. When I saw Chris King’s initial concept, I was blown away! He did an amazing job of turning my words into a terrifying creature.

What’s the process like with Chris King working on the book? Do you pick out key moments that you think should be illustrated, or is that something that is down to Chris or the publisher?

I don’t really have much involvement in that side of things. My publisher, Barrington Stoke, briefs the illustrator, Chris, so I really have no idea what scenes they have chosen until I see the first rough illustrations. I’m always in awe when I see the different stages as the roughs become finalised. We look over them very carefully, and Barrington Stoke is very strict about the presentation of the scenes. The books are designed with a particular type of reader in mind so it’s important that the illustrations inform the text in the right way. The details have to be right. If Nancy is holding her phone in the text, she has to be holding it in the illustration too.

Dan's adult thriller novel,
'Red Winter'.

Are you planning to write any more books with Pete, Krish, and Nancy, and if so what kind of spooky things can we look forward to next?

I’m working on another Crooked Oak story right now. I think I’m allowed to tell you that. I don’t want to give too much away but I can tell you that this one is going to be horrifying! It will make your skin crawl. In fact, you’ll be banging out your shoes and checking under the bed after this one!

As well as writing children’s fiction you’ve also written a number of adult thriller books. Is the process different when you come to write these different types of books?

The thrillers I wrote for adults are very heavily researched stories, so yes there’s a big difference between those and a Crooked Oak story. I do research for the Crooked Oak stories, but it’s not such a long and detailed process. Obviously, I write the Crooked Oak stories with a much younger audience in mind, but one of the biggest differences between these and any other stories I write is that Barrington Stoke has an additional step in the publication process – one which ensures that the stories are accessible to as many young readers as possible.

You’ve travelled around the world a lot over the course of your life, would you say that this has helped to inspire your writing in any ways?

Yes, it has definitely influenced some of my writing, but not all of it. And it’s important for me to add that it’s not essential for a writer to have had life like mine. There is no exclusivity on imagination – anyone can make up and write stories.

What can people look forward to seeing from you in the future?

I’m currently working on another Crooked Oak story, so I’ll be trying to scare a few readers with that. I also have a book coming out next year called The Weeping Tree, which is a longer novel featuring a bleak windswept island, a dangerous causeway, an otherworldly pact, and a search for three mysterious treasures. I’m really proud of it, so I hope everyone likes it.

Anyone interested in seeing more of Dan's work can head over to his website to find more on his back catalogue.

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The Beast of Harwood Forest by Dan Smith - Book Review

 

'What’s hiding in Harwood Forest?

'When Pete, Nancy and Krish arrive at Heathland Camp for a school trip, they’re in for an adventure – just not the kind they were expecting. Nearby sits the abandoned Harwood Institute. The crumbling buildings are out of bounds but strange screams come from the surrounding forest at night. Mystery shrouds the events that took place at the institute during the war, so Pete and his friends make it their mission to find out the truth. But the forest is hiding a sinister secret, and the trio could be in real danger ... Are some mysteries best left undisturbed?'

The Beast of Harwood Forest is the spooky follow-up to last years The Invasion of Crooked Oak, and proves to be a creepy and tense monster caper.

I feel I need to admit that I've not read the previous book in this series, which I know is bad of me, but that being said, I was able to jump straight into this book without any difficulty as Dan Smith has managed to make it very easy for new readers to get to know the characters. The book could have very easily been a stand-alone adventure, and for that it's very accessible for those, like myself, who missed out on the first book.

The story follows Pete, Nancy, and Krish, three friends who love to investigate the creepy and the supernatural. On a school residential trip, they expect to spend the week taking part in zip-line activities, campfire cookouts, and if they're lucky a spooky story or two. However, when Pete sees an abandoned building set deep in the nearby Harwood Forest he feels like it's the perfect kind of place to check out.

Unfortunately, the camp staff won't tell him much about it, other than the kids aren't supposed to go there. With no other way to find out what the place is about he, Krish, and Nancy decide to sneak out of their dorms one night and go and explore. The plan sounds easy, but when they discover some dark, secret experiments from the war, and something stalking them through the darkness their night of fun becomes a race to escape.

Dan Smith is really, really good at building atmosphere, and despite the relatively short length of the book (only 110 pages) he manages to pack it full of creepy location and tense moments. From the very start, when Pete sees the distant Harwood Institute, things begin to build towards their inevitable conclusion, as Pete becomes almost obsessed with the strange buildings. They're a constant thing, always on the edge of the scene, or the focus of Pete's thoughts that they almost take on a life of their own.

The book doesn't just rely on this, however, and once the trio head out into the woods they quickly find some creepy things hidden inside them; strange offerings hanging in the trees, ruined buildings, and a batch of files that hold some disturbing secrets. 

The thing to remember about the book though is that it's for kids, and as such whilst it does have a lot of tense and scary moments it never pushes too far into full blown horror, and manages to walk that very fine line where kids will get some scares reading it but hopefully won't end up having nightmares.

There's also a bunch of great illustrations throughout by Chris King, who really manages to bring the story to life. Whilst the gorgeous cover art is presented in full colour the interior work is done in black and white, and this just adds to the atmosphere of the story. The dark and moody nature of the grey-scale images means that even those moments set during the daytime have an air of foreboding, and the times where we get to actually see the creature that haunts the woods is brilliant. The artwork goes so well with the story that I found myself wanting more, and hoping that perhaps one day the creative team would come together to turn it into a full graphic novel.

The Beast of Harwood Forest is the perfect story for young readers who like to get a little scared, who are like our three heroes and have a fascination with the spooky and supernatural. But it's also a story that older readers will get a kick out of, as Dan Smith is able to craft a tale that's interesting an engaging enough to span all ages.

Make sure to check back later today for an interview with Dan Smith.

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Rogue: Untouched - Alisa Kwitney Interview

 

After reading the new Marvel Heroines novel, Rogue: Untouched, I had a chat with author Alisa Kwitney about what it was like writing for one of the most iconic X-Men. Full review for Rogue: Untouched can be found here.

How long have you been a fan of the X-Men, and what is it about them that appeals to you?

I was an X-Men reader back in college, in the eighties, so I met them in their original Chris Claremont incarnation. I immediately fell in love with the romantic soap opera element, combined with all these weighty philosophical and psychological ingredients. In the nineties I was also reading Alpha Flight and the New Mutants.

What made you pick Rogue for this story, what about her character and story that drew you to her?

I’ve always wanted to write Rogue. I love that she’s so snarky and vulnerable and powerful. A lot of female superhero characters are more emotionally balanced than their male counterparts, and I’ve always been drawn to characters that are weird and charismatic and a little neurotic. I love watching TV shows like Fleabag and Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, and my goal is to write characters that feel emotionally authentic, but to write them with as much humour as possible.

Was it hard to delve into the backstory of such an established character, one who has sometimes some very conflicting background and origins, or were you given a lot of free reign to do what you wanted?

Well, I had a lot of free reign, but yet still I accidentally broke from my approved outline like a runaway horse. I blame the pandemic. My Aconyte editor was incredibly kind, and allowed me to write Marvel a letter explaining why I had deviated from the outline and asking for retroactive approval. But I would definitely not recommend any writers try this at home with their Marvel prose novels.

Chris Claremont's X-Men

The story brings in some other characters from the Marvel Universe, some very niche and not very well known ones too, were there any characters that you wanted to use but couldn’t find a way of fitting them into the story?

Not really. I would love to write other X-Men, like Kitty Pryde, but I was very focused here on choosing characters who would serve the story. I was just so happy that I was able to write a Rogue and Gambit love story with full-on secrets and jealousy and weird twists. In retro 80’s terms, I got to write a glam Dynasty meets body horror Reanimator—with some celebrity Love Boat cameos thrown in.

Your book takes some characters that have often been used as villains in the X-Men lore and have given them a more heroic or at least nuanced take, showing them to have motivations beyond ‘being evil’. Was it important to you that these characters be more than just one dimensional bad guys?

I don’t believe in Pure Good against Unadulterated Evil, so I can’t really write it. Even my favourite horror novels, like Rosemary’s Baby, have nuanced villains. (I’m not talking about Satan here, I’m talking about Rosemary’s hubsand, who is the real villain of the story.) The X-Men also lend themselves to nuanced storytelling, because one of the central conflicts is the question of how mutants should respond to human prejudice. Some mutants want to prove that they are allies, and others feel that humans will always view mutants as a threat, so there is no way to co-exist without mutants asserting their power and claiming the upper hand. No one is just moustache twirling and seeking wealth and power. 

The book features the first meeting between Rogue and Gambit, and sows the seeds for their romance. Was it hard creating the start of one of the more iconic comic romances but making it feel fresh and new to your own story?

I love writing the spark and dance of early courtship, so it wasn’t hard at all. There’s a lot of rom com in both my superhero prose stories, but it’s umami rom com. I’ve written a lot of courtship stories in prose, but getting to try my hand at Rogue and Gambit was definitely a bucket list wish.

After this would you want to continue Rogues story, or do you feel like you’ve told the story you wanted to tell with her?

I’m not sure. I loved writing Rogue, but I do have a fun idea for what happens next. On the other hand, I’ve got a lot of other projects I’m eager to do as well, and there’s never enough time to write them all!

Alisa's DC graphic novel,
Mystic U.

Are there any other X-Women you’d like to write for other than Rogue, any heroes or villains that you’d like to give the same treatment to?

Off the top of my head, I would love write to Kitty Pryde. I’d also love to write new versions of Shanna the She Devil and the Cat, feminist icons from my childhood. After WandaVision, I’d also love to do an Agatha Harkness book.

If people enjoyed this book what else of yours can they check out to give them a similar experience?

My Avengers prose novel, which is also a full cast audio book, has some similar feels. I’ve also been told that all my books, no matter the genre, are recognizably mine because of the voice. Mystik U, which is a DC Comics graphic novel featuring Zatanna, might also be fun for readers who enjoyed Rogue.

What can we expect to see from you next?

I’m currently working on a humorous time travel comic book mini-series with the artist Alain Mauricet for AHOY comics. I’m also starting Endless, a new podcast about the Sandman comics, with my friend, story expert Lani Diane Rich. The podcast will be a good preparation for the upcoming Netflix Sandman TV series. 

Anyone interested in seeing more of Alisa's work can head over to her website to find more on her back catalogue.

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Rogue: Untouched by Alisa Kwitney - Book Review

 

'Mutant powers are a curse for Rogue, but two strangers will change her life forever, in this explosive superhero novel, the first title in the Marvel Heroines series

'Rogue’s life sucks: she lives alone in an abandoned cabin, works a terrible diner job and hides from everyone. When your first kiss almost kills a guy, it’s hard to trust anyone – even yourself. Then two people arrive in town who could change her life, and she finally gets a choice: follow a mysterious billionaire who says she’s scouting for gifted interns, or the handsome card shark with eerie red eyes. Except they’re not the only ones watching her… Rogue will have to trust in herself and accept the powers she’s suppressed, to decide her own fate – before someone else does.'

Let's be honest, the X-Men have some strange and often conflicting stories, and have been through so many tweaks, retcons, and re-tellings that trying to keep a cohesive understanding of the characters and the universe can be a bit of a challenge at times. As such, getting the chance to forget everything I've seen before and just taking some of the characters I know and love as they come in a brand new setting was a wonderful treat; and it also means that readers can come to Rogue: Untouched without any prior knowledge of the X-Men and still have a hell of a good time.

The book follows young Anna Marie, though she prefers just Marie, a nineteen-year-old living in a tiny apartment in an old plantation house, trying to work enough shifts at the small town's diner until she can get enough cash to head to New Orleans and try to make a fresh start. Marie dropped out of school when her boyfriend, the star footballer, fell into a coma after she kissed him, and she became the focus of local gossip and scorn. Having fallen out with her overly religious aunt, Marie feels like her life isn't going anywhere and just wants out.

Her life takes a dramatic turn, however, when a smooth talking Cajun named Remy show up in her diner one day. After upsetting a couple of the local bullies Remy is on the receiving end of a beat-down until Marie steps in and saves him. Unsure what to do, she takes the handsome stranger back to her place and fixes him up the best she can. Marie quickly finds herself attracted to the handsome gentleman, but won't let herself get too close. Determined to get him out of her apartment and out off her life she's shocked to discover that not only is he a mutant, but that he claims she is too.

Now Marie begins to explore her potentially dangerous new powers, whilst also balancing her life and the possibility of getting a scholarship from the impressive Borgia School, the owner of which has been coming into her diner lately. If this wasn't hard enough, Remy's on the run from some very dangerous people; and they may have tracked him back to Marie.

Rogue: Untouched definitely introduces readers to the world of mutants in a slow way, having them being something on the fringes of the story. Rather than dropping readers into a world filled with brightly costumed heroes they're shown a world much like our own. The mutants are something that 'regular' folk talk about in the abstract, 'how would you react to one', and 'should they be given rights' and it very clearly mirrors real world issues like racial equality, and queer rights. It's mostly background flavour at first, allowing us to get to know Marie before it introduces explosive powers and people who don't look human.

I think this was not only a very clever choice from Alisa Kwitney, but one that made the most sense. Whilst there are a lot of X-Men in the Marvel Universe mutants are still pretty rare, and most people would probably not be aware of knowing any. It's something that would be talked about, but that most people wouldn't have much first hand experience in. The book realises that, and very much crafts a world that feels like ours rather than one with brightly coloured heroes flying around.

It also means that for a good portion of the book we get to put our focus on Marie, and we get to know her really well. Even in comics where she's a focus I feel like I've not really gotten to know Rogue very well. She's often portrayed as an outgoing and confident woman, though one who uses that to hide her true feelings. There are occasional moments of insight into her, normally focused on her being unable to touch people and how that causes her pain, but that't about it. Here we get to know her as a real person. We get to learn about her past, her hopes and dreams for the future. We get to see what makes her tick, and it might be one of the best depictions of Rogue because of that.

But, she's not the only character to fill the pages, and readers get some other well known mutants showing up too. There are a handful that make smaller appearances towards the latter half of the book, and one who has a big connection to Rogue, but I'm not really going to talk about them too much so as not to spoil anything. What I will say is that these characters were a lot of fun, and whilst I suspected who one of them was the first time we saw them it was still a lot of fun waiting for that reveal, and seeing how they formed a relationship with Marie.

The one I will talk about, however, is Remy. Gambit is a character I've never really liked a whole lot if I'm being honest. There's a lot about him to like, his outfit looks cool, he's got awesome eyes, his power is neat, and he's got a lot of charm. But I think a lot of writers push a little too hard to make Gambit the 'cool' character, and this only makes me struggle to enjoy him. He becomes a caricature rather than a real person. Kwitney, however, removes a lot these expectations for the character. He's no longer being made into the 'cool' person on the team, as there is no team. Instead he's allowed a chance to breathe and be his own person.

The Gambit presented in this book has a lot of charm, sure, but he's not just spending all of his time flirting with Rogue and trying to get in her pants. He actually seems to care about her as a person, and treats her as more than just his latest conquest; a trap that some writers seem to fall into. Watching him and Marie get close, and form a very real friendship was such a fresh take on the two of them. I got to see him as someone gently introducing someone to their newly discovered powers, acting as a mentor. It's a dynamic I can't remember the two of them ever really having before, but it works so well here.

Alisa Kwitney has experience writing young adult books, and it really shows here. This isn't a story about a super heroine going off on an adventure and using her powers to take down a villain, it's the story of a young woman learning about herself, of discovering new things and learning to embrace who she is. The story works so well not because of the powers or the action, but because it's a story about people. Not only is this approach something that feels fresh and new to these characters, but it's one that I hope to see again with other comic book heroes.

Make sure to check back later today for an interview with Alisa Kwitney.

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Across the Tracks: Remembering Greenwood, Black Wall Street, and the Tulsa Race Massacre by Alverne Ball - Book Review

 

'One hundred years after the Tulsa Race Massacre, Across the Tracks is a celebration and memorial of Greenwood, Oklahoma

'In Across the Tracks: Remembering Greenwood, Black Wall Street, and the Tulsa Race Massacre, author Alverne Ball and illustrator Stacey Robinson have crafted a love letter to Greenwood, Oklahoma. Also known as Black Wall Street, Greenwood was a community whose importance is often overshadowed by the atrocious massacre that took place there in 1921.

'Across the Tracks introduces the reader to the businesses and townsfolk who flourished in this unprecedented time of prosperity for Black Americans. We learn about Greenwood and why it is essential to remember the great achievements of the community as well as the tragedy which nearly erased it. However, Ball is careful to recount the eventual recovery of Greenwood. With additional supplementary materials including a detailed preface, timeline, and historical essay, Across the Tracks offers a thorough examination of the rise, fall, and rebirth of Black Wall Street.'

I knew a little about the Tulsa Race Massacre before reading this book, I knew that it happened in a Black neighbourhood, that the white population came in and destroyed everything and killed hundreds, simply for the crime of being Black, but I never knew much more than that; and I knew that I was in a minority of people who knew about it, mainly due to my fascination with history, and those parts of it that are often overlooked. The fact that this isn't something that's more widely known, however, and that some people only found out that this event happened thanks to the Watchmen television series is absolutely appalling. Hopefully this book will help to further educate people about this awful event.

This book focuses on not just the events of the massacre, but the history of Greenwood, and helps to make it clear to readers just how amazing and rare this place was. Alverne Ball goes into the history of this town, they describe how O. W. Gurley ought the land in 1905, how he would go on to sell portions of it to Black families to allow them not only a place to live, but a place that was their own, that belonged to them. The book goes on to describe how the building of this community wasn't just important for the Black population, but how it became a pioneer of Black owned businesses, and how in a system that was supposed to keep Black people poor the citizens of Tulsa flourished.

The book hammers home how Greenwood not just beat the odds, but smashed them. It became a town that was in a lot of ways strides ahead of many others, and it's a story that's incredibly inspirational. Sadly, the reason that Greenwood is so infamous isn't because of how much its citizens achieved, but how much they were forced to endure. On the 31st of May 1921 a young Black man called Dick Rowland was arrested under suspicion of assaulting a white woman. This suspicion was all that was needed for the white population to justify a lynching, and this would be the beginning of the event that would make Greenwood infamous.

Trying to prevent the lynching the Black members of the community tried to disrupt the white men gathered around the courthouse, hoping to get hold of Rowland. Unfortunately, this resulted in a confrontation that would lead to the white mob being deputised, and unleashed against Greenwood. With armed gangs in the street, and planes dropping bombs on homes, Greenwood was destroyed, and over 300 people lost their lives.

The book doesn't sugarcoat these events. It shows the brutality of what went on, and makes it clear that the Black community were the victims of racial hatred, that Greenwood and its population was almost destroyed because of the prejudice that was rampant in America at the time. Despite this, the book manages to end on a note of hope, going on to show readers how the population rebuilt, and how they didn't let this event beat them. 

Across the Tracks shows the awfulness of what happened at Tulsa, the brutality that the Black population faced, yet managed to fight through. It shows an awful, ugly side of humanity, yet an amazingly beautiful one too. It shows that even when being held back people can still achieve amazing things, and that communities can come together to rebuild in the face of tragedy. The Tulsa Race Massacre should not be forgotten, it should not be something that people learn about for the first time as adults watching a comic book show. This should be something that people are taught in schools, it should be a lesson on how racism and discrimination are awful, destructive forces, and things that should never be repeated.

Sadly, I don't see this being a subject that schools will cover, and I think it will continue to be a well hidden secret of America's past; so it's down to books like this, to creators like Alverne Ball and Stacey Robinson to spread this story, to teach people about this dark moment from American history. I just sincerely hope that this book will be given that chance to educate, enlighten, and enrich.

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Elsa Bloodstone: Bequest - Cath Lauria Interview

 

After reading the new Marvel Heroines novel from Aconyte Books, Elsa Bloodstone: Bequest, I had a quick chat with author Cath Lauria about the book, and why Elsa Bloodstone is such a cool character. The full review of Elsa Bloodstone: Bequest can be found here.

Are you a big fan of comics, and how did you discover the character of Elsa Bloodstone?

I was a huge fan of comics in my teens and early twenties, then had to cut back as things like working a job and paying bills on time took over my life, ha. I started as an Uncanny X-Men fan, then branched out into other Marvel properties and some Top Cow. I didn’t become aware of Elsa Bloodstone as a character until the chance to pitch for her appeared. Then I became OBSESSED!

How did you get involved in writing for Elsa?

This is one of those “gritty determination” combined with “dumb luck” stories 😉 I got my foot through the door with Aconyte Publishing when I saw a chance to write in an anthology of theirs. I didn’t have any previous IP experience, but I’d published lots of genre fiction with small presses over the past decade, and my sample was good enough that they welcomed me on board. Then they made a deal with Marvel to produce novels, and I almost died because WHAT!? As soon as I saw the Marvel Heroines line, I knew I had to try for it. I looked over the list of potential Heroines and when I saw Elsa, I was hooked. I wrote a few pitches, this one got chosen, and then I dove in and wrote the heck out of it.

What is it about Elsa that appeals to you over the more recognisable, mainstream heroes in the Marvel Universe?

Part of the appeal of Elsa, for me, was the fact that she was a little less mainstream. A character with a lot of lore and history is, well, intimidating, and this was only my second attempt at IP, so I didn’t mind having that backstory cut down a bit. That said, Elsa is a fabulous character who SHOULD be more of a recognisable hero in the Marvel Universe, because she combines badassery and hilarity in a way few others do. She reminds me of some of my favourite urban fantasy heroines: highly competent, wise-cracking, with an exciting job that she carries off with style. How could I resist her?

Elsa Bloodstone in Marvel Comics.

The story has a few recognisable characters make appearances, or are mentioned in passing, were there any characters that you were tempted to include in the story but didn’t quite make the cut?

I really, really wanted to put the actual Tony Stark in this book instead of my girls just hitching rides on his jets. I toyed with the idea, I touched the edges of it, but in the end I didn’t do it because I didn’t write him into the first pitch, and he’s one of those big, complicated characters that you’ve got to tread lightly with in a project that’s not directly related to him. Same with Blade—how cool would that cameo have been? As it is, though, I love that I got to include a brief glimpse of Doctor Strange 😊

The book features a lot of different monsters, some that you’ve created just for the story, and a few that people will recognise from mythology. How did you go about choosing what creatures were going to make an appearance?

One of the most entertaining things about writing this book, for me, was figuring out the monsters. Partly my choices are based on location, like utilising a popobawa in Mombasa, while others took place in completely made-up locations and gave me the kick I needed to come up with my own monsters, like the oozing sentient radiation on Bloodstone Isle. Any Elsa Bloodstone story has to have interesting monsters, so this part of putting things together was basically like me being in a candy store going “Oooh, some of this, one of these, definitely some of that—and heck, sure, let’s throw in some dinosaurs!”

You’ve made the story feel very accessible, I myself have never actually read any comics featuring Elsa, but you made it really easy to get to know who she is, as well as a number of her supporting cast. Was it a challenge writing for an established character but making it easy for people who’ve never encountered her before to get along with the book?

I came from a place of discovering Elsa as I wrote this story, so for me, writing her in a way that was accessible was part of the process of writing her, period. This is the result I was hoping for, too—that she would be fun to read about without throwing too much information at the reader, while maybe making people interested in finding out more. Like, don’t we all want to know about Jeff the Land Shark, or the work Elsa did with Misty Knight? I hope so.

Cath's next book with Aconyte,
Arkham Horror: The Devourer Below

The story has a lot of action sequences in them, with Elsa fighting with a variety of weapons against a mixture of foes. How do you approach scenes like that, is it difficult to do?

I’m pretty lucky when it comes to the fight scenes, because I’ve got a long-running personal interest in fight choreography, and I know a number of people who are experts in knife- and gun-work. That’s not to say that the fight scenes are realistic for anyone who isn’t a superpowered badass like Elsa, but I had a lot of opportunity to talk things out and make sure it was all exciting and, at least, not completely physically impossible. 

Are there any other Marvel characters that you’d want to write for in the future?

Oh boy. Heck yeah, I would love to write more Marvel characters, including revisiting Elsa Bloodstone if that were in the cards. Never say never! And I’m actively pursuing a few different avenues with Aconyte when it comes to Marvel characters, so hopefully I’ll have good news to report there soon.

Your next book is ‘The Devourer Below’, a part of the Arkham Horror series, with Elsa Bloodstone dealing with monsters is it safe to say you’re a fan of horror? And if so, what is it about horror that appeals to you?

I started off as a real fan of thrillers, and thriller and horror are kissing cousins in genre writing. I love the suspense, I love the fear and the fight, and I love being able to work with creatures that exist in a world outside the character’s normal experience, and how wrong it feels when they start to infiltrate the character’s world. I think horror can be worked into almost any kind of story, but I’m enjoying tightening my focus and really delving into the horror realm.

What can people look forward from seeing from you going forward?

I hope that people can look forward to a lot! I’ve got several pitches in for novels in a couple of different IP properties, as well as some for anthologies. I’ve also got a few original novels in the works, and my romance pen name is writing faster than ever. I think there’s a lot on the horizon!

Anyone interested in seeing more of Cath's work can head over to her website to find more on her back catalogue.

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Elsa Bloodstone: Bequest by Cath Lauria - Book Reveiew

 

'Smart-mouthed monster hunter extraordinaire, Elsa Bloodstone isn’t easily fazed, but a shocking family revelation sends her down a bloody path, in this witty and action-soaked Marvel Heroines adventure

'Elsa Bloodstone just can’t catch a break. She’s barely finished shutting down a hive of ratmen when a special ops squad turns up guns blazing – and they’re shooting at her! It’s nothing a good grenade can’t sort out though. When Elsa returns home, she discovers an unexpected guest claiming to be her long-lost sister, seeking her own stolen Bloodstone shard. The Bloodstone is the secret to Elsa’s superhuman powers, and a shard in villainous hands is seriously bad news. Cue globetrotting adventures full of monster-smashing. But danger stays one step ahead of them as Elsa realises her sister isn’t quite what she seems, and an old enemy with a secret about her family’s past could overturn everything Elsa’s ever believed.'

Elsa Boodstone: Bequest was my first experience with the character of Elsa Bloodstone, and as such I had no idea what to expect from this book. Instead of the usual super hero fare readers get presented with a kick-ass action heroine fighting monsters and the creatures of the night in a story that feels more like Urban Fantasy than a Marvel story; and because of that it stands out as a truly unique and exciting addition the the Marvel Heroines line.

The story follows Elsa Bloodstone, daughter of the immortal monster hunter Ulysses Bloodstone. Thanks to her father's genes, and the powers of the mystical Bloodstone shard she wears around her neck, Elsa has gained superhuman powers of super strength and regeneration; allowing her to follow in her father's footsteps and fight the creatures of the night that haunt the Marvel Universe.

When dealing with what should have been a relatively easy case in Glasgow Elsa is attacked by a group of armed assailants after her Bloodstone shard. After defeating them and making her way back home to Boston Elsa learns that there's another person in the world with a Bloodstone shard, who's just had it stolen; and what's even more surprising, the person who just had their shard stolen is her sister, Mihaela. 

Despite not wanting anything to do with this sister she never even knew existed, and doesn't really like much, she agrees that it's dangerous for anyone to possess a piece of the Bloodstone, and sets out on a journey across the globe with Mihaela that will see the two of them seeking out their fathers hidden bases. Their journey will take them to New York, Mombasa, and the Arctic, and will see them having to confront a bevy of monsters, traps, and armed men as they fight to find out who's behind the theft.

From the very first moments of the book it's clear that this isn't going to be like most comic stories. There's no brightly costumed heroes, no villains with odd gimmicks. Instead we meet Elsa as she enters a Glasgow cemetery armed with a variety of weapons and a shovel as she tries to clear out an infestation of rat men. The book feels much more down to earth at time, which is odd considering Elsa jumps around the globe fighting monsters, but this certainly feels like a more street level story; and fans of characters like Blade or Jessica Jones will definitely find something to like here.

Elsa isn't really in this for the adventure, she doesn't really hang out with big name heroes, or fights flashy villains. Instead, she sees herself as more of a pest controller, going around killing monsters in the shadows, unseen and unthanked because it's the right thing to do. In a lot of ways she feels like a more moral hero that most, despite the fact that she kills a lot, because she's never in the public light, and has committed herself to a cause that will never see her showered in praise like people like Iron-Man or the Avengers.

That being said, Elsa isn't perfect, and at times she comes across as a bit of a bitch. And I loved it. Cath Luria manages to make Elsa into the kind of person you'd want at your back in a fight, but one who you might not get on with. She's catty and judgemental, and she's flawed. It makes her all the more relatable, and means that she gets a lot of opportunity to grow across the book; something that's really used in regards to her relationship with her new sister.

The sisters and the way they evolve with each other over the course of the book is one of the best parts of the story. It's nice to get to see how these two people who clearly hate each other and don't want to be friends at the start slowly come to respect each other, and even begin to care. Both of the characters come with a lot of baggage, and seeing them work through that is at times even better than the monster killing action. Mihaela's backstory is particularly interesting, and discovering her secrets across the narrative is a highlight.

The book is also packed with action, and instead of it just being flashy characters punching each other and throwing villains through buildings things have a much more realistic edge to them. Despite her enhanced strength Elsa has to rely on weapons to help her fight her foes, and it's great seeing her having to figure out the best methods of dispatching the strange monsters she comes across in the book. Elsa never feels overly powerful, and despite being able to do things that no human ever could she always feels just a rung or two under her foes, meaning that she really has to struggle to survive some of these encounters.

Cath Lauria has managed to craft an engaging super hero story that's made for people who have probably never picked up a comic before in their lives. Yes, some big named heroes get mentioned here and there, and a few recognisable names make an appearance, but this is a book that could easily exist outside of the Marvel Universe with a couple of tiny tweaks and still stand on it's own. It has great character focus, leads who are able to change and evolve, interesting monsters, and a plot that will go in directions that you'll not be expecting. Thanks to this book I've discovered an awesome new hero, one that I hope I get to see Lauria write again for one day.

Make sure to check back later today for an interview with author Cath Lauria!

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