Blackest Night In Review Part 1 - Comic Review

 

I love Green Lantern, it's one of my favourite areas in DC Comics, whether it's Hal Jordan in a solo series, or a book focused on the entirety of the Corps, if it's a GL book I'm going to read it. But one of my absolute favourite parts of the Green Lantern canon is Blackest Night, an event that changed the DC Universe.

Blackest Night was the first major event series that I was reading as it came out, and I devoured every part of it. I loved the twists and turns, the heart breaks, and the moments of awe; there was so much in this event across dozens of books. It's been eleven years since it's come out, but it's still one of my most read evetns, and I've gone through it every year or so, but this year I thought why not cover it here.

Now, I'm planning to do more than just read through the graphic novels and talking about what's in them, what I'm planning to do instead is to go through each issue of the event, in the order that they were meant to be read, and cover them in more depth. With more than 75 issues to cover this will take a while, but I hope that you'll all stick with me on this journey, and maybe even get to see some parts of the event that are often overlooked in the graphic novels.

Part 1 - Green Lantern #43

Green Lantern #43 came out later than the first issues of Blackest Night, but falls earliest in the timeline, setting up the changes to the classic villain Black Hand, and how he fits into the event to come.

The issue begins with a brief history of the Guardians of the Universe, delivered by the Guardian who had become known as Scar, a female member of the council who was injured by the Anit-Monitor during the Sinestro Corps War and bore the facial scars of the conflict. Scar tells the readers about the prophecy of The Blackest Night, and how an unknown darkness will rise to devour the universe, a darkness that she is in contact with. Scar informs readers that she will take part in the birth of the first Black Lantern.

After this introduction the comic shifts its focus to Earth, and the villain known as Black Hand. Found sleeping in an open grave with a number of corpses, Black Hand begins to narrate his life, the path that led him to this point. This is one of the first real in-depth looks at the character, who has been around since the 1960's, and Geoff Johns manages to reinvent his backstory in a way that doesn't change what's come before, but connects it to the larger DC Universe.

We learn that Black Hand grew up with a father as a mortician, and from an early age William was fascinated by his fathers work, and by dead bodies. We see that whilst his brothers were outgoing kids, he was quiet, reserved, and always wanted to spend his time with his father; learning the family business. He also spent his childhood making taxidermy animals, and in a really chilling moment we discover that he murdered the family dog, just so he could stuff him.

Over the years William is sent to various psychologists, but learnt to hide his true thoughts and feelings, instead telling them what they wanted to hear. He continued with his fascination and love for the dead, but played at being a dutiful son. That all changed when he came face to face with the alien Atrocitus when he came to Earth, long before he was the first Red Lantern. These moments have been seen before in Green Lantern Secret Origin, and connects Black Hand to one of Hal Jordan's earliest moments.

However, this moment is expanded upon here, and we see that not only was this the moment that made Hand obsessed with Green Lantern, but it was also the first time that the voice of the darkness spoke to him. Having stolen the Cosmic Divining Rod that Atrocitus was wielding, Hand decided to use it to try to shut out the light of the Green Lantern.

We see Hand creating his original costume, and learn some twisted things about him in this moment. We discover that the costume was made from the body bags from his family mortuary, and that the Black Hand logo that would go on to become the symbol of the Black Lanterns was actually that used by William's family. This is a tiny detail that some might miss, but adds a little something special to the character, and potentially raises some interesting questions. Does this symbol represent the Black Lanterns because William Hand becomes their champion, or was the darkness behind the Black Rings at work behind the scenes, feeding this symbol to the Hand family in whispers so that William would one day adopt this symbol, little realising the true meaning behind it? As far as I'm aware, this is never fully explained, but it certainly makes for some interesting theories.

This scene also delivers one of the most disgusting and twisted moments in the book, and in many of DC's books, where William talks about the reason for using the body bags to make his costume, stating it 'reminded me of home. Of my family. Of my first kiss.'. Just do much eww at this moment. This was something about William I really didn't need to know. I mean, we all kind of just assumed he had sexual urges towards dead bodies, but we didn't need it confirmed for us. Thanks for that Geoff.

After this we get more of the history of the character, where he touches upon his first battles with Hal Jordan which happened during the 1960's in the comics, as well as the appearance of several new Lanterns on Earth which happened during the very first run of Green Lantern Corps in the 80's, and the death of Hal Jordan, which happened during Final Night from the 90's. I love whenever Johns touches upon the history of the Green Lantern comics, and brings these moments into the current stories. It makes things feel way more connected than comics sometimes feel, plus it's great to see some of these older moments drawn in much more modern styles.

Hand is then drawn through a graveyard by the voice in the darkness, telling him the names of heroes and villains that have died, that it wants to make into its army. This two page spread features some of the more memorable deaths in DC, and some characters whose loss had a big impact on the universe. There are beloved characters like J'onn J'onss, Ted Kord, and the Dibney's, and some villains like Maxwell Lord, Captain Boomerang, and Doctor light; villains who you really came to hate by the time that they died. Not only is this spread a great reminder of the characters that we've lost over the years, but sneakily reminds you of some key figures that will be coming back as Black Lanterns.

The page following is similar in a lot of ways, as this time William and the voice are talking about those who have escaped death, who have managed to come back after dying. Now, characters coming back after being killed off is something that has become something of a cliche over the years, so it's surprising for this page to only contain nine such characters. Yep, in the entirety of the Dc Universe at this point it had only resurrected nine characters. This double spread not only reminds readers that resurrection is still something of a rarity in the DC Universe, but it also plants these names in the back of readers heads for later on during the event, laying the seeds for things to come.

We then discover that the graveyard that Black Hand has been walking through is leading to his family home, and that he's being drawn back to the place he grew up. Hand enters his old home and immediately uses the Cosmic Divining Rod to kill his brothers, before turning it on his mother and father. With his family reduced to smouldering corpses, he sits down at the dinner table and obeys the voice as it asks for one more death. Turning the rod on himself, Hand blows a hole through his head, killing himself.

The book takes its time letting this sink in, with multiple panels just showing the corpse of Black Hand, showing readers that this isn't some kind of fake out, that the villain is indeed dead. But watching over him is Scar, who upon being told the time is ready, vomits up a mass of black goo, and a lone Black Power Ring. The ring finds the finger of Black Hand and commands him to rise. Not only does Hand become the first Black Lantern, but like Parallax, Ion, and The Predator, he becomes host to the embodiment of the Black Lanterns. With this new, empowered Black Hand ready to lead the Black Lantern Crops the issue ends with the chilling promise that J'onn J'onzz of Mars will rise.

This issue doesn't give a whole lot away about what's to come from Blackest Night, but sets a hell of a tone for the series. It's steeped in death and the afterlife, it talks about the desecration of bodies, and it lets readers know that the history of these characters is important. These are all things that will play big parts in the event. Blackest Night is not only going to draw upon the mythology and lore of the Green Lantern comics, but will address the history of the entire universe, and bring back characters from the past, but not in ways that fans would want. 

Part 2 - Blackest Night #0

Blackest Night #0 was the first part of this event for many readers, with this smaller prologue to the main event being given out for free on 2009's Free Comic Book Day. Not only was this a great way to give readers a small tease into the event, and set the stage for what was to come, but it being printed in such huge quantities and given away for free meant that a lot of people who might not have been completely up to date on Green Lantern found themselves interesting in the upcoming event. This issue wasn't the sole reason for the hype around the event, but it certainly added to it.

The book begins with a brief introduction to the concept of the emotional spectrum, as Hal Jordan talks readers through the birth of the universe, and how this unleashed these powers into being. The page transitions to a single unmarked gravestone next to the one that belongs to Thomas and Martha Wayne, and readers instantly know where we are. This issue is setting up Blackest Night, but its also dealing with the fallout of Final Crisis, and the death of Batman.

Hal is soon joined by Barry Allen, the Flash, who recently returned to life during Final Crisis, and is still trying to catch up on everything. We see that straight away in his introduction here, as it takes Hal more than one attempt to get his sentence across to Barry, who's in so much of a hurry he's not really listening to his friend. We see that whilst the loss of Bruce Wayne is one of the major results of the last event, so it the return of Barry, and how he's very much still a man trying to find his place in a world that went on without him.

We see some of that when the two of them discuss the reason for there not having been a funeral for Bruce, when Hal mentions Robin and Barry thinks he means Dick Grayson. The reminder that Dick is no longer Robin, that another has taken up that mantle in the time that he was gone is the first thing that seems to slow Barry down, that grounds him in this moment.

This discussion of funerals allows Hal to bring up the topic of Barry's, something that Barry has confessed he's not had the time to ask about. Using his Power Ring Hal shows Barry the size of his funeral, how people came from across time and universes to pay their respects to the man who gave his life to save reality itself. He then compares it to his own demise, how he died being considered a villain after being possessed by Parallax, and how his own friends desecrated his grave. He tells Barry that the world changed when he died, that it became a more dangerous place. This is an interesting look back at DC's history, and it's actually pretty accurate. Following the events of Crisis on Infinite Earths DC Comics did change, and the 90's led to some much darker story lines. We had the murder of Jason Todd, the death of Superman, the breaking of Batman, just to name a few. Comics got darker over that decade, and Hal doesn't shy away from pointing that fact out.

He uses this to remind Barry of friends that have passed whilst the was gone, of Aquaman and Martian Manhunter, both of whom were founding members of the Justice League, but who tied awful deaths. Not only does this hammer home to Barry how bad some things got, but also reminds readers of these two key figures before the events of Blackest Night really begin in earnest.

The two heroes try to share a moment of hope, where Barry says he won't stop hoping that they'll find their way back. Oh boy does this line have multiple meanings, and foreshadows stuff to come. The most obvious thing is that Barry should really be careful what he wishes for, as their friends will indeed be finding their way back to the world of the living, though not in the way that Barry was hoping for. The other thing is that Barry shows that he's full of hope in this moment, something that will come into play later in the event, but is so easy to miss on first reading. 

The issue ends with the two heroes taking off, and another figure making their way into the graveyard. The new Black Hand has been listening to the two of them talk, to them telling each other how important Bruce was, and what he meant to them, and decides that he wants 'this one'. Tearing into the ground at Bruce's grave and breaking his way into his coffin the undead monster retrieves the skull of Batman whilst reciting the oath of the Black Lanterns. As the skull is wreathed in dark energies, the guardian Scar watches on and smiles.

At first glance there's not much that really happens in this issue to kick off the event, and most of the first half of the book is given over to Barry and Hal talking about death, and what Bruce meant to them. Whilst these scenes on their own are great, especially seeing the evolution of the friendship between Hal and Bruce, there's so much groundwork that's actually laid in this book.

We get reminded once again of fallen heroes, in particular two who will play big roles in Blackest Night, and be two of the Black Lanterns that will get a lot of focus. The importance of Bruce Wayne is also made clear, something that will have a major impact several issues from now, and will be the catalyst for something that changes the course of the book. And then there's the brief mention of Barry and how much hope he has. These are all things that readers won't pick up on during their first read, but are all things that will become important later, so Johns is using his limited page count here to great effect, subtly putting things into readers minds without them realising.

The rest of the issue is taken up by pages given over to each of the different Lantern Corps, giving readers a brief history of who these groups are, as well as their key members. These pages are good reminders for people who have been reading the Lantern books up to this point, but are also invaluable for people coming on to this event cold, who have no idea what a Larfleeze is, or what emotion Blue is tied to. The final page, the one that covers the Black Lantern Corps is also a great tease for the event, and I remember sitting around with my friends at the comic book shop examining the hands rising from the ground, trying to work out which characters they all were, and who would be coming back.

As far as Free Comic Book Day issues go I still think that this is one of the best ones, and it really does add something worthwhile to the upcoming event. That being said, not reading it before the main series won't leave you missing out on much, but it's an issue that definitely shouldn't be overlooked.

Make sure to check out the next part of this series, where I'll be going through Blackest Night #1, and Green Lantern #44.

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The Vigil – Film Review

 

Originally published on Set The Tape

The Vigil takes what could have been a dull concept and manages to inject some fresh energy and a new sense of mythology thanks to its Jewish roots, in this superbly tense horror movie from writer/director Keith Thomas.

We’ve all seen horror films that deal with demonic forces and the themes of possession and trauma. One of the most famous horror films of all time is The Exorcist, and whilst there are lots of films like this, one of the things that they almost always seem to have in common is Christian mythology. Whether it’s seeking answers in the Bible or going to a priest for help, horror films have been using Christian mythology for decades. The Vigil, on the other hand, turns this expectation around, instead taking viewers into lesser known territory with Judaism taking a major place within the story.

The film follows Yakov (Dave Davis), a former Orthodox Jew who has left his old community following a tragic incident in his life. Struggling to get by on his own, he’s turned to a support group to help him through this difficult time. Then one night he’s approached by an old friend who offers to pay him a big chunk of cash to perform Shemira for the night.

Shemira, for those not in the know, is the act of watching over a body from the time of their passing until their burial, something that’s done to protect the body from spirits and demons. Whilst this is usually done by close family, in this case the deceased has no one to watch over him, so Yakov agrees to perform the task. Once he arrives at the small home he finds the deceased waiting for him, along with the man’s frail wife, and settles in to keep vigil over the night. But very soon Yakov begins to experience strange events, and starts to believe that some dark force is at work in the home.

The Vigil makes things very clear from the start that this is a film that will focus heavily not just on Jewish myth and religion, but Jewish culture as well, and director Keith Thomas has spoken in interviews about how his own experience in the Jewish community and with his faith inspired a lot of this film. The story deals not only with dark forces, in this case an entity called a Mazzik, but also what it means to be Jewish. Every character we get to know over the course of the film has had their life influenced by their culture, whether it’s Yakov who’s run away from his faith, his rabbi friend who’s trying to bring him back to his community, or even the deceased Mr Litvak (Ronald Cohen) whose life was shaped by his experience during the Holocaust.

These are all areas rich with story, and explore themes that will be familiar to most, but through a new lens that makes The Vigil instantly stand out. It manages to include the Holocaust in a way that doesn’t feel cheap, as its inclusion in some films feels a bit dicey, but this will largely be due to the fact that this is a film made by the Jewish community, and those are events that have altered the lives of many in that community. Its inclusion here is only peripheral, with an awful event from that time acting as a catalyst for the events of the film. It’s a much more sensitive approach than a lot of films take.

The film has a very claustrophobic feel, with the Litvak house being the main location; a small and confined home shrouded in darkness. The bulk of the film takes place in a handful of dark rooms, with Daivs often being the sole person on screen, but rather than feeling limited or boring it enhances the feeling of dread and fear that haunts the character and the audience. At first you’re not even sure what to expect, and the film relies on lingering shots and tense silences to build the tension, getting you to expect something to be lurking in the shadows behind Yakov to make you afraid.

When the scares come they start small, slowly ramping in their intensity and their disturbing nature, and a few of them will have your skin crawling as you suddenly realise what’s going on a moment before Yakov does. It could have been so easy for the film to feel silly or even failing to frighten thanks to the limitations of the set and cast, but if anything the movie shows how to utilise limitations to heighten the frights.

The Vigil feels fresh and new, despite walking territory that has been explored before. However, thanks to telling its story through the lens of the Jewish community, embracing and celebrating that heritage, and presenting new spins on horror tropes, it becomes a film that not only entertains but fascinates throughout. It drew me in and made me want to learn more, and I was left sad that the film was only 90 minutes long because I wanted more time in that world. This is the directorial debut from Keith Thomas, and it’s a hell of a good start to a career that I’ll be eager to follow.

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The Harrowing of Doom: A Marvel Untold Novel by David Annandale - Book Review

 

'Notorious villain Doctor Victor von Doom has finally found a solution for his oldest obsession: rescuing his mother’s soul from the clutches of Hell. An alliance with the reclusive sage, Maria von Helm, has provided the key to Doom’s latest invention. Fusing their super-science and sorcery, Doom has created the Harrower, a device that will open a rift and wrench his mother’s soul from the netherworld. Back in the human world, however, rebel forces threaten to overrun Latveria and topple its dark leader – and revolution couldn’t come at a more dangerous time than when the gates of Hell itself have been unlocked.'

Whilst I'm not a huge comics reader, and haven't kept up to date with many of the happenings in the current Marvel Universe, I have experienced a number of stories that have featured the character of Doctor Doom over the years, and have come to enjoy the character somewhat. He's the ruler of a country, is able to leverage that to gain diplomatic immunity much of the time, is a genius level scientist and creates amazing technology, and he's a sorcerer able to go toe to toe with some of the most powerful magical users in the Marvel Universe. What's not to love about that?

The Harrowing of Doom presented one of the first real opportunities for me to actually get to know spend time with the character in a scenario where he's not an antagonist, however, and I found this change to be a fascinating one. It's easy to make Doom into an arch villain, just look at his name, but to make him a character that you can understand, whose actions you can agree with, and who you can actually see as a hero, that's not something I think many writers would be able to achieve. It's a level of moral grey that is hard to capture, yet David Annandale not only did that, he made me a major fan of the character.

The story focuses on one of the biggest driving forces in Doom's life, his desire to free his mother from the forces of Hell. Having made a deal with the extra-dimensional demon Mephisto, Cynthia von Doom gained the power to try and give her people a home free from tyranny, but fell in battle and her soul was sent into the bowels of Hell. Now, every year Doom has one chance to free his mother, where every summer solstice night a champion of Hell is sent to challenge him in single combat. If Doom can beat this champion, his mother will be freed. Doom know this will never happen, however, that he will never be able to beat Hell in this contest, so hatches a plan of his own, one that will bring the fight to Hell itself.

Recruiting a number of allies to his cause, including the powerful sorceress and former friend of his mother, Maria von Helm; and Zargo, a priest who used to study the occult and the nature of lay lines, yet harbours a hidden power even unknown to himself that Doom needs. Using all of the forces at his command, Doom spends an entire year building a device of mystical and technological perfection named The Harrower, which he intends to use to storm Hell and free his mothers soul. Not only is this a risky plan, one that will push Doom to his limits, but he also has to contend with Prince Rudolfo Fortunov, the son of the former king of Latveria, who wants to take his kingdom back from Doom with a guerrilla war.

The Harrowing of Doom really does focus on its lead character a lot, and I don't think I've ever spent more time with him. Not only does the book give you a great deal of insight into him, into what drives a man of such power, but also how he fits into the larger Marvel Universe, especially in regards to Latveria. I honestly don't know if many comics have gone into the details of Latveria, at least none I've read have, but I know that he's a character that's supposed to be loved a great deal by the populace. This book really shines a light onto why.

There's a passage in the book where a character is questioning why people would follow Doom, and they're given a pretty convincing response. Latveria has free healthcare for all citizens, free education to any level a person could want, they have more than enough food and power and resources to make life comfortable for all. Homelessness and petty crime are non-existent. It's a country where people have been given a chance at the best in life, and after coming out of a fairly brutal dictatorship under the former king too. 

There was a moment in the book that really took me back, it was when we learnt that the leader of Doom's forces, his right hand woman, was married to another woman. I thought, cool, Latveria is pretty good for queer people. Then it's revealed that her wife is also trans, and that she had to flee Latveria because of this under the former king, and it was only Doom's rule that allowed her to return and live her life openly and without fear. This absolutely floored me. Doom is seen as a villain in the Marvel comics, yet his country is a safe and fair country where trans people can not only live without fear of prejudice but also excel in their fields. Fuck yeah. I want to move to Latveria now. Doctor Dooms says Trans Rights!

There are so many moments in this book where readers get to see how much of a good, and fair ruler Doom is. He cares about his nation, and the people in it, and this love for his people shows through more than once; and even results in an amazingly selfless moment towards the end of the book. I went into this story expecting to come out liking Doctor Doom a little more, I never expected to end up seeing him as a hero.

The story has a lot of twists and turns in it, especially in relation to the story involving Prince Rudolfo and his mission to overthrow Doom, which means that you never have a chance to get bored or think that the story isn't moving fast enough. Yes, it takes Doom a year to build his machine, but there's so much that goes on during that time, so many characters that get to take the spotlight and to develop that the book never feels like it's not doing something interesting.

The Harrowing of Doom not only sheds light onto the character of Doctor Doom, but the nation of Latveria as a whole, and gives readers valuable insight into one of the more interesting corners of the Marvel Universe, one that I can't help but feel is often misunderstood. 

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The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air Reunion – TV Review

 

Originally published on Set The Tape

2020 has been a difficult year for television (well, for everyone really), with many shows having to take long breaks because of Covid-19, or having to change the way that they create their shows to manage the new situation. Because of this, networks and studios have ended up digging into their back catalogues to fill schedule gaps, resulting in a resurgence of older, popular programmes.

There have been many franchises that have benefited from this, and thanks to Skype and other web chat services a lot of these old shows have been getting their casts back together to celebrate their long history. This has been great for fans, but even the best of these felt like sitting in on a video chat, rather than a proper reunion. However, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air Reunion is a show that feels like a real reunion special, one that doesn’t just get the cast together, but does something truly special with it that honours the show.

The show sees the iconic home of the Banks family recreated in great detail, instantly transporting viewers back to the beloved 90’s show. The room begins to fill with the core group of actors from the series: Will Smith, Alfonso Ribeiro who played Carlton, Karyn Parsons (Hilary), Tatyana M. Ali (Ashley), Joseph Marcell (Geoffrey), Daphne Maxwell Reed (Aunt Viv from season four onwards), and DJ Jazzy Jeff.

The cast come together on the set and you can tell that this is the first time they’re meeting together here, as their expressions and reactions are filled with joy at not only seeing each other, but being on this set again. It instantly sets a tone for the whole show; it shows the audience that these are people who love each other dearly, and whose time working together meant a lot to them.

Over the course of the episode the group reminisce about their time together, about how working on this series not only changed their career as actors, but how it would go on to change television as a whole, putting a wealthy Black family in the spotlight, where they were able to entertain millions as well as telling stories that touched on important issues. We get to learn how Will came to land the role, in a story that’s so crazy that it’s hard to believe, and we get to see audition tapes from some of the other cast members and find out what it was like getting a part that would forever change them.

“Calling a Black woman difficult in Hollywood is the kiss of death and its hard enough being a dark-skinned Black woman in this business.” – Janet Hubert

It’s not all happiness though, as there’s one very obvious person missing from the set. The cast talk about the late James Avery, who played Uncle Phil, and this is when the tears start, both on screen and for those watching. The stories they tell about James are wonderful. They’re moving, and they hammer home how much of a caring, passionate, and impressive man he was, and the montage of clips of some of his best moments will have you reaching for the tissues.

Uncle Phil was the kind of parent you watched on TV during the 90s who not only entertained you, but made you feel like you learnt something. The lessons he taught his kids on the show were taught to children around the world for thirty years, and it made him one of the greatest TV dads of all time, and it makes him not being at this reunion all the more painful.

Eagle-eyed fans may have noticed that there’s another key figure missing from the reunion too: Janet Hubert, who played Aunt Viv for the first three seasons of the show. There have been lots of rumours about why she left halfway through the show, stories about her and Will fighting, some stories that said she was awful to work with, but this reunion finally clears things up when Will and Janet meet to see each other for the first time in 27 years. It’s during this meeting that we finally learn that during the third season, when Janet was pregnant in real life, she was going through an extremely painful home life, and was in an abusive relationship.

This of course changed how she was at work, and Will being a young star on the rise made things worse, despite not knowing what was happening in her personal life. We see here Janet finally make Will face the fact that he acted stupidly, and it damaged her career and personal life.

It’s an emotional, heavy scene as the two of them work through this, but the resolution is so worth it. Not only do Janet and Will finally bury the hatchet, and tell each other they love each other, but she comes to the reunion, meeting Daphne Maxwell Reed for the first time. Viewers get to see both Aunt Vivs together, and see this family finally restored after almost three decades.

The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air Reunion is a celebration of a beloved show, but it’s also a celebration of the cast. It made me remember how much I loved these people, it made me laugh, it made me cry, and it kept me entertained throughout. But more importantly, this reunion was the chance for these people to finally come together, to repair rifts and share their love for each other; for that alone, it’s easily one of the best pieces of television this year, and for many years.

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The Plot Against Heaven by Mark Kirkbride - Book Tour

 

'Death doesn’t stand a chance against love.

'Hell-bent on confronting God after the death of wife Kate, Paul gate-crashes heaven. With immigration problems and a wall, heaven turns out to be nowhere near as welcoming as expected. Both heaven and hell are modern, militarised, and the cold war that exists between them is about to heat up, with him in the middle of it. Caught on the wrong side of heaven, Paul faces an impossible choice if he’s to have any hope of seeing Kate again.'

I'm going to get my big criticism of The Plot Against Heaven out of the way first before delving into the rest of the book. I don't like that this was a novella, because it wasn't long enough for me. I've read countless novellas and short stories that have satisfied me, and have really benefited from their short length, but there are a few that I read that leave me wanting more, that have me cursing the author for not having written it as a full length novel so that I could have spent longer with the story, and this book definitely falls into that category. I just wanted more.

The book follows Paul, a man who was in a car crash with his wife, where he watched her bleeding to death in the wreckage. Angry that God would do this, that he'd been able to live through his own illness and recover, find and marry the woman he loves, only for her to be snatched away from him, he sets out to make things right by confronting God and getting her back.

Paul does this by managing to make his way into heaven, but rather than it being the paradise that myth has made it out to be it's more akin to a dystopian state, where soldiers walk the street, giant walls keep people separated, and a military presence runs everything. This was something that immediately grabbed my attention, as I'd never seen something tackle heaven in this way. It presented the ultimate reward as a harsh, dull place, one with rigid rules and fierce punishments. It made Heaven into the place that you'd never actually want to end up.

Unfortunately for Paul, he's unable to achieve his audience with God after attempting it a number of times, and is cast out of heaven when he tries to force his way in to confront the deity himself. Sent to Hell, Paul is shocked to find that not only did religion get Heaven wrong, but Hell too. Instead of the scores of demons, lakes of fire, and torture for all eternity, he finds what's basically Vegas, a place where souls can relax, kick back and enjoy themselves.

It's also in Hell that Paul meets the other 'bug man', and this version of the devil is pretty nice. He takes the time to listen to Paul, to ask him his problems, and what it is he's trying to achieve. It's here that Paul gets drawn into the devil's plan, his plot against Heaven. Now working for the devil to try and help his public image, Paul feels that the only way to get his wife back is to side with the forces of Hell against God, in a mission that will change everything for him.

I really enjoyed the way that Mark Kirkbride went against expectations in this book, how he altered Heaven and Hell from biblical depictions into things that barely resembled what people expect, yet managed to make them feel true to the bible. God is a figure that demands worship, that sets strict rules, and meets out harsh punishment when their will is broken, so a somewhat fascist dictatorship and military state kind of does make a lot of sense. Angels are the warriors of God, beings designed to fight, so why wouldn't Heaven be filled with soldiers? The version of Hell presented here also acts as a good counterpoint to this version of Heaven. If Heaven is a place based on strict rules and oppression then the opposite of that being a place about enjoyment, decadence, and feeding desires makes perfect sense.

Obviously, things in this book aren't all what they first appear, and there are things about both realms that aren't first apparent that are revealed as the story unfolds, things that will change your views on the story and the characters, so I can't go into huge amount of details without spoiling, but I will say that Kirkbride manages to create a world that feels interesting and keeps your attention, one that subverts your expectations, and goes in some directions that you're not expecting. 

Like I said earlier, I was annoyed that the book wasn't longer, because I felt like there was so much here that could have been given more time, with the story, characters, and world all strong enough to have been able to fill an entire novel. Whilst we don't get that in this book, I'm left hoping by the end that this might be a place that he could revisit in the future, with other short stories and novellas. I hope that proves to be the case, as I want to spend more time with Paul, to see what comes next for him and the realms of the afterlife.

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Animal by Colo - Book Review

 

'Animal is a mirror. A story that aims to ask questions about who we are rather than offering us answers about who he is. Thus, portraits of ordinary people in turn reflect a tired and silent man who seems to want to live without finding the world in which to do so. Is he the one that's broken or is it the world? And what can you hold on to to keep going? Through the different testimonies we will discover the project that he is willing to carry out to its last consequences. To do this, he resorts to several lawyers, until he finally finds one who agrees to bring a strange petition to the UN: his client wishes to renounce the status of Human Being.'

Animal is a book about man, a man we never get to meet during the story, one who has struggled to find his place in the world, one who doesn't know what he's supposed to do in life and who makes an extreme decision. He wants to renounce his status as a human being, and become an animal.

Whilst this concept is pretty interesting, and raises some big questions about what it means to be human, and what it means to exist in a world you don't feel that you belong in, it never really felt like it reached the point where it was really able to address any of these issues. This is largely because it felt like Colo, the writer and artist on the book, was trying to keep the central plot a mystery.

The book is written in a way that reminds me of a documentary film, with much of it given over to talking heads, as some unseen person is talking to people that have interacted with the central character at some point. These range from family, lovers, friends, to people who only have a passing familiarity with the man. They talk about how he seemed like a quiet man, one who kept to himself a lot, but one they never saw doing what he did.

This is how much of the book talks about this man, 'what he did', 'what he chose', 'what he wanted'. It's not until the final pages that the book even spells out that this man is trying to legally denounce his humanity, to be stripped of his human rights. The book either expects you to know this coming into it, or is revealing it in the final pages in an attempt at a shock revelation, but sadly, by then this 'mystery' had become so dull that I really didn't care too much.

The book seemed so intent on talking about the mans mission without saying what it was that it quickly became quite old, and any sense of mystery was quickly replaced with annoyance. I wanted the book to really go into this subject, to look at things from a bigger scope, to question what it means to be human, but it never really did. The fact that the book ends as a cliffhanger, without revealing if this man gets his wish or not, and what the effect of his case was on the rest of the world, resulted in me feeling like I'd wasted my time somewhat.

Okay, we do get a small sense of what this man was like, and his life, but by the end it felt like much of what this book covered could have been done in a fraction of the pages, and that the real bulk of the story, the part that piqued my interest has been relegated to a second volume. Whilst this might encourage some people to go and buy the second book, make them eager to read more, it did the opposite to me, and I found myself bored with the story. I'd love to pick up the next volume of Animal and get into the rest of the story, but I honestly don't know if it'll only cover another fraction of the narrative before stretching things out for another volume.

Whilst the central story of Animal is an interesting one, I felt like it never quite met the heights it could have, that it never lived up to its promise. Sadly, this means that I'm not sure I want to carry on with the book or not. I think a larger volume, one that encompasses more of the story, would serve the authors vision better than what we have here.

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Warhammer Adventures: Warped Galaxies - Attack of the Necron by Cavan Scott - Book Review

'Brave champions and the forces of the Imperium battle alien beasts and mechanical tyrants accross the gulf of space.

'On the hive world of Targian, Zelia Lor helps her mother search for ancient tech, digging up treasures of the past on the wind-blown plains. They are happy. They are safe. All that changes when the Necrons attack. Without warning, a host of robotic ships appear in the skies above Targian and rip the planet apart. Separated from her mother, Zelia must escape the doomed world, her only hope a scrambled transmission promising safety at a mysterious place known only as the Emperor’s Seat. Launched in an escape pod, she crashes on an icy wasteland far, far from home. But Zelia is not alone. She is joined by a rag-tag group of survivors – the street-tough juve Talen, gadget-obsessed Martian boy Mekki and super-intelligent alien-ape, Fleapit.'

Kids fiction probably isn't the firs thing that you'll think of when someone talks about Games Workshop literature, with the majority of the Black Library publications being aimed at older audiences, big tomes full of horror, gore, and universe spanning stories. So when the Warhammer Adventures stories were first announced I was very intrigued. I wanted to know how they were going to translate the grim darkness of the 41st millennium into something that would be appropriate for kids, yet still felt like it could be part of the Warhammer universe.

One of the things that the series really has going for it, that made me realise that they were probably going to pull off this difficult task well, was the fact that the Warhammer 40,000 series was going to be written by Cavan Scott. Scott has a lot of experience writing fiction aimed at younger readers, and his work on the Star Wars: Adventures in Wild Space series was stuff that I found particularly enjoyable, where he was able to craft a more kid friendly version of that universe without it feeling like it lost anything from the more 'adult' material. If he could do that with Star Wars, why not Warhammer?

Attack of the Necron begins of the hive world of Targian, where Zelia Lor and her mother have travelled for their latest archaeological expedition. Travelling around the Imperium, Zelia and her mother, along with the martian boy Mekki, and Lexmechanic Erasmus, move from world to world excavating ancient ruins to find old tech and secrets from the past. Unfortunately, it's during their latest dig that the planet comes under attack from the ancient and mysterious living machine race, the Necrons.

After the Necrons appear on the planet things quickly descend into chaos, with the skeletal machines bringing death and destruction with them. Zelia and her companions, along with everyone on the planet, begin a desperate journey to get off world, running from the hordes of nigh unkillable alien machines that stalk the streets of the Hive City, killing all in their wake. This is where Scott really shows how he's able to marry the more child focused storytelling with darker nature of the Warhammer universe, as he's able to bring the death and destruction of the Necrons into the story without having to water them down.

The Necrons kill a lot of people, not just in large, mass scale destruction that feels detached from things, but on a one to one level, and readers see characters killed, sometimes in front of the child heroes of book. Now, the fact that the Necrons use weapons that disintegrate their enemies does mean that this is a bit more sanitised than say if it were Tyranids ripping people to bloody pieces, but this is still a story where thousands, perhaps even millions or more, are killed, and the readers aren't shielded away from those facts. 

Whilst Zelia and Mekki seem to be shielded from the more brutal parts of this, seeing much of the destruction from a distance, Talen, the young gang member who joins them, is confronted with the brutality of these events, watching people killed right in front of him. This isn't something that just gets brushed aside either, as Talen spends time during the story a sobbing mess, near traumatised from knowing that everyone he's ever known and cared for is probably dead, and having seen the brutality of the Necrons up close and personal. It would have been easy for this kind of thing to be made light or, or even ignored all together, so showing how these events are a serious trauma is a surprising inclusion; one that I'm hoping will be explored in more detail over subsequent books in the series.

Despite packing a lot of action and story in the relatively short book, Scott was also able to develop the core group of characters pretty well, and by the end of the book you're left with a pretty good sense of what each of the kids are like, and what they bring to the team. Perhaps the least developed is Flegan-Pala, also called Fleapit, the Jokaero who joins the story towards the end. He's an interesting character, especially due to the fact that he's not human, and because of his very different nature he remains one of the more mysterious members of the group. By the end of the book I got the sense that he was only tolerating the young teens, rather than liking them, and am definitely interested to see how this strained relationship grows over subsequent books, and if he will come to genuinely warm to them or not.

The book leaves a lot of story elements hanging, with a central quest for the teens to make their mission in the next book, but also introduces a mysterious element in the final pages that could lead to some very interesting and possibly dangerous things for the group in the future; and finding out if this new figure will be an enemy or ally is something that's very exciting.

Attack of the Necron is a great start to this series, one that not only sets the tone for what readers are to expect, but also clearly establishes the main characters and the central quest for the upcoming instalments. 

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Sylvia and Marsha Start A Revolution by Joy Ellison - Book Review

"Someday girls like us will be able to wear whatever we want. People will call us by the names we choose. They'll respect that we are women. The cops will leave us alone and no one will go hungry."

'Sylvia and Marsha are closer than sisters. They are kind and brave and not afraid to speak their truth, even when it makes other people angry.

'This illustrated book introduces children to the story of Sylvia Rivera and Marsha P. Johnson, the two transgender women of colour who helped kickstart the Stonewall Riots and dedicated their lives to fighting for LGBTQ+ equality. It introduces children to issues surrounding gender identity and diversity, accompanied by a reading guide and teaching materials to further the conversation. '

In today's world LGBTQ+ rights and representations are still being fought for, and remain a 'hot button topic' for a lot of people. There are hate groups that will bombard television networks or movie studios for any queer inclusion in their entertainment, and here in the UK there's an incredibly vocal movement of transphobes who are actively fighting to have trans rights removed. 

In this kind of environment it's incredibly important that children are introduced to the queer community from a young age, to show them that we exist, but that we're also just regular people. Not only will this help to stigmatise the existence of the LGBTQ+ community, but will also help any child who is questioning their own gender or sexuality.

Sylvia and Marsha Start A Revolution is a book designed for younger children, and aims to introduce them to the transgender community, as well as two of the women who helped to birth the entire queer movement, Sylvia Rivera and Marsha P. Johnson. 

The book isn't very text heavy, but it manages to get the information across really well, and is accompanied by beautiful and bold illustrations by Teshika Silver. It shows the basics of who the women are, and what it meant to be trans at that time, and how the police were against anyone who was a part of the LGBTQ+ community. However, I do get the sense that whoever is reading the book to the child would need to know a little about the events too, as I imagine there would be a few questions asked as the story unfolded.

Whilst the book gives a very sanitised version of events, and hardly even brings up the riots, it could be used as a starting block. This is a way of introducing a child to this history and these events, but you'll definitely want to explain more to them as it does paint a somewhat unrealistic version of history. But then I don't think a book aimed at such young children could really do the history of Sylvia, Marsha, and the Stonewall Riots justice as it's too deep, and frankly upsetting, thing to convey to a child. But as an introduction to the concept of trans people, of the queer community having to fight to be seen as human beings, it's really good.

The back of the book also contains a glossary of terms that are used, explaining what it means to be trans, or some of the slang that was used as code words for police. This is useful to both the children, and a parent that might not completely know everything on the subject too.

I'm sure that there will be some angry transphobes who will be foaming at the mouth at the mere existence of book for children that acknowledges that trans people exist, but those are outliers. This book is sure to be a welcome and useful addition to any home library or school, where it can educate, and tell children about a moment in history that went on to change the world.

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Star Trek: Deep Space Nine – Too Long A Sacrifice #4 – Comic Review

 

Originally published on Set The Tape

The final issue of IDW’s new Star Trek: Deep Space Nine series comes to a close with an issue that not only brings a satisfying conclusion to the mystery that has been plaguing readers for months, but also gives some deeper insight into the Star Trek universe.

Set during the height of the Dominion War, this story has put Deep Space Nine into a precarious position; whilst trying to stabilise alliances with other species to help with the fight against the invaders from the Gamma Quadrant, the station has been host to a number of attacks that have claimed the lives of innocent civilians, and important delegations.

As such, the security of the entire federation has been at risk, rather than just that of one station. The stakes have been high throughout, especially when the Federation sent in a special investigator, Retlaw, to assist with the case. Because of all this, any resolution was going to have a difficult job. Not only would it need to provide a satisfying conclusion to this mystery, but it would also need to tie into wider events across the Star Trek universe.

I’m going to have to talk about the resolution in order to put my feelings on not just this issue, but the series as a whole, into words, so if you don’t want things spoilt for you click away now. It turns out that the whole series of attacks, this big plot to possibly destabilise the Federations war efforts was all down to one woman wanting personal revenge. The culprit was Lavin, a Bajoran woman whose business was bombed in the very first issue.

It turns out that Lavin, like many of the Bajorans, suffered horrifically under the rule of the Cardassian occupation, and that her entire series of attacks was her trying to get even with those that hurt her and her family. Lavin had been so broken down and abused by the Cardassians that she was consumed by thought of hate and vengeance, which led her down this murderous path, where innocents were caught in the crossfire.

Not only does this story go back to many of the plots and themes that were a big part of what made Deep Space Nine great, but it also built up the universe a bit more, especially in regards to the occupation of Batezed by the Dominion, something that we saw briefly in this series thanks to the inclusion of Retlaw. This was a plot element that was never included in the show, though did feature in a few of the novels, so it’s nice to see it expanded upon here.

The character of Lavin and her struggles are used to highlight how bad it would be on Batezed, and how an occupation by such a brutal force could potentially change a planet of empaths and telepaths, a planet where the population are not only subjected to physical end psychological torture like any species would be, but have their very souls tainted by the presence of their occupiers. The show was always described as one of the darker series in the franchise, and this comic embraces that to make the reader think about the longer lasting impact of the Dominon War, and the scars it would have left on billions of people.

The issue is one of the better ones of the series, giving not only a satisfying answer to the mystery, but some action too as Odo and Retlawy chase Lavin through the station. Not only does this make this one issue great, but it also means that the series as a whole gets a bold conclusion that will leave readers satisfied.

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Escape Pod: The Science Fiction Anthology by Mur Lafferty & S.B. Divya – Book Review

 

Originally published on Set The Tape

'Celebrate the fifteenth anniversary of cutting-edge science fiction from the hit podcast, Escape Pod. Escape Pod has been bringing the finest short fiction to millions of ears all over the world, at the forefront of a new fiction revolution.

'This anthology gathers together fifteen stories, including new and exclusive work from writers such as from Cory Doctorow, Ken Liu, Mary Robinette Kowal, T. Kingfisher and more. From editors Mur Laffterty and S.B. Divya comes the science fiction collection of the year, bringing together bestselling authors in celebration of the publishing phenomenon that is, Escape Pod.'

Escape Pod began life as a science fiction anthology series fifteen years ago, created by Steve (now Sarah) Eley, a fan of science fiction short stories who wanted to share some great tales with the world.

Over the years the podcast grew, gaining more and more contributors and vocal talent, as well as winning awards and spawning spin-offs that would do the same thing in other genres. To celebrate the success of the podcast, as well as the talent featured on it, Escape Pod: The Science Fiction Anthology brings together a number of stories that have featured on the podcast, as well as a host of brand new tales.

The line-up of authors for the book is amazing, and features some names I was already familiar with, as well as a load of new authors I’d never come across before. Despite all falling under the umbrella of science fiction, the stories presented in this new collection cover a huge variety in themes and content, ranging from the surreal to steampunk, involving multiverses, cloning, time travel, and amazing alien creatures.

There are stories that will make you laugh out loud at their absurdity, and others that take the time to comment on very real world issues, such as racism in the world today and the importance of the Black Lives Matter movement. This is one of the things that’s wonderful about science fiction, that this book takes the time to celebrate: that it’s a genre of almost infinite diversity, and one that allows readers and writers to look at important issues in new ways.

‘Citizens of Elsewhen’ by Kameron Hurley is the first story in the book, and deals with the complexities and intricate nature of time travel, and how difficult it would be to meddle in time. It follows a group of people who are sent backwards in time to assist with births. This team of midwives are sent to select times and places, tasked with saving either the mother or child, sometimes both, who would otherwise die in childbirth, shifting the course of history ever so slightly.

If the team fails, they try again to get it right, getting do overs until they succeed and move on to the next assignment. The idea of travelling around time saving mothers and babies is an interesting one, but the way that Hurley plays with time is even more engaging. The team get to try different tactics if their last attempt failed, having an almost Groundhog Day approach to things until they get things perfect, but because there are other teams out in time saving others, sometimes in earlier time periods, it means that sometimes the timeline can change around them whilst they’re there, further complicating things. It’s a novel approach to time travel, and I’d love to see more happen with this story.

A story with something of a lighter tone is John Scalzi’s ‘Alien Animal Encounters’, which is presented like a reporter on the street talking to the public about the different alien animals that they’ve come across and how strange it is for them. Not only do readers get introduced to some funky new alien species, some of which are fascinating, but they also get to experience it from the other side, when an alien talks about their experiences with a dog; something that injects a little bit of wonder and newness to an animal that we’re intimately familiar with, and might take for granted. It’s a charming story, and one that has a few laughs in it.

The book doesn’t just deal with aliens and time travel though, and incorporates some interesting ideas from other genres too. One story that does this in an interesting way is ‘A Consideration of Trees’ by Beth Cato, which sees a portion of woodland from Earth transplanted to a space station, and the strange things that begin to occur. The first indication that there might be something different is when the narrator starts to talk about La Llorona, a ghostly woman from Hispanic folklore. Over the course of the book we come to realise that this isn’t just a science fiction story, but one that incorporates aspects from myths and legends, introducing supernatural elements to a genre that normally shies away from ghosts and ghouls.

The biggest story in the collection is ‘Clockwork Fagin’ by Cory Doctorow, which as the name suggests, takes inspiration from the works of Dickens to create a steampunk story of disabled and disfigured children forced to live in a home for children, run by a brutal taskmaster who allows them to live in squalor and beats them for his own enjoyment. The story chronicles what happens when a new child enters the home, and the revolution that he leads against their oppressor, and a society that sees them as nothing more than broken children that are good for nothing.

Escape Pod: The Science Fiction Anthology has a lot more stories to offer, stories that have a huge range of appeal and will keep any reader entertained for hours. Not only is it a book that shows the beauty and versatility of the science fiction genre, but it’s one that will leave you wanting to read more, as well as checking out the podcast that brought this book together.

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