Godzilla Rivals: Rodan vs Ebirah – Comic Review

 

Originally published on Set The Tape

Godzilla Rivals has been showcasing some of the best monsters in the Godzilla universe, pitting the iconic monster against the various foes that he’s faced over the decades. However, the latest issue does things a little differently, as Godzilla takes a back seat to let some of his friends have the spotlight.

Set in the year 2030,  Godzilla Rivals: Rodan vs Ebirah focuses on Dr. Carole Kincaid, a cryptobotanist who’s been recruited to assist with a special project aboard the orbiting space station, ParaSOL. Taking a space elevator up into orbit, Kincaid is shocked to discover the range of experiments that are happening far above the Earth; experiments that could lead to a better future for humanity now that they’re not constrained by any Earthly laws or regulations. But what do they want with a cryptobotanist? Well, it turns out that the station has a sample of the plant-based Kaiju Biolante, and wants Kinkaid to figure out why it’s not growing properly.

But Biolante isn’t the only Kaiju that they have held prisoner on the station. When the giant pteradon Rodan, and the monstrous lobster Ebirah, break free from their containment and start battling, it puts the entire station at risk. The two creatures fall into the space elevator, hurtling towards Earth at huge speeds, giving the crew of the station only a short time to act in order to save the Earth from the impact.

This issue of the series stands out amongst the others that we’ve had so far, as Godzilla doesn’t get to take on a lead role (he’s pretty much not even in the book). And whilst that might seem like an odd decision for a book with his name on the title it does mean that we get to focus on a couple of other monsters instead. Rodan has always been a big favourite amongst fans, and is one of the few Kaiju to make the leap across to the US Monsterverse in Godzilla: King of the Monsters. He’s one of the more recognisable creatures. But his opponent, Ebirah, is a bit more niche.

Ebirah has only appeared in two films (three if you count the reuse of stock footage), and is a bit less known outside of more dedicated Godzilla fans. He’s basically a giant lobster, and he absolutely rocks. I’ve got a soft spot for lobsters, and his first film Ebirah, Horror of the Deep was a really good one. So I was really pleased to not only see him make an appearance, but to get a focus. Unfortunately, not a huge amount really happens in this issue for him.

For most of the issue the two monsters are falling towards the Earth, leaving the human characters to carry the drama. Whilst this is fine, it does mean that we don’t really get to see either creature used to their full potential. The match-up of a flying creature and a monster who’s at home in the water made for a good mix, but neither one of them really gets to be in either location in this story. It’s an odd choice, and once that I can’t help but feel leaves the comic a bit weaker. There are a couple of other creature appearances that pop up, but I’ll leave those to be a surprise for the reader.

The artwork on the book is decent, and whilst it’s not one of the more detailed or realistic art styles on the series to date, it chooses to go for a more cartoonish look instead. This works for a lot action across the book, with the larger than life giant lobster and huge dinosaur looking pretty good when they’re not being taken completely seriously. Characters like Godzilla can look fantastic in any style, but some of the creatures definitely feel better portrayed as a bit outside of reality, and this issue seems to recognise that.

This was a decent enough issue, though it doesn’t seem to give the featured creatures enough room to really shine, and the situation at the end will never be resolved thanks to each of these issues being set in their own worlds. As such, it’s a fun issue, but one that might leave the reader feeling like it could have been better.

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Carmilla: The First Vampire – Graphic Novel Review

 

Originally published on Set The Tape

If you’re a fan of vampire stories there’s probably a good chance that you’ve heard of Carmilla. A lesbian vampire seductress that pre-dated Dracula, she’s one of the oldest vampires in fiction, although she doesn’t get nearly the same kind of attention as the previously mentioned Count. Perhaps it’s due in part to the fact that whilst Dracula and other vampire stories are rooted in sexual imagery and can sometimes border on being queer, Carmilla is unabashedly a queer story, one where if you try to remove that from the text it ceases to be Carmilla at all. Luckily, this new story about Carmilla from Dark Horse and creators Amy Chu and Soo Lee, not only fully embraces the LGBTQ+ aspects of the character, but also brings in a lot of Chinese culture and history to expand it in new and exciting ways.

Carmilla: The First Vampire is set almost thirty years ago, in 1996 (writing that sentence just gave me physical pain), and takes readers to the cold of winter in New York City. Here, we meet Athena, a young lesbian social worker who’s doing her best to help young people living on the streets. She works at a shelter that takes in vulnerable kids and gives them a place to stay, as well as help with their addictions, mental health, and general life issues. She’s passionate about her work, and making the world better for these people, so is hurt when she learns that another of her clients has fallen victim to a killer that’s stalking the streets, targeting young women.

Unable to just let it go, she ends up looking into the killings, and soon finds herself at a nightclub called Carmilla’s, built in an old converted Chinese Church. It’s here that she first meets Violet, a young woman who Athena finds herself instantly attracted to, despite having a girlfriend already. Initially wanting to help Violet, Athena soon finds her carefully balanced life unravelling as Violet becomes a bigger part of it, and she digs deeper into the killings.

Those coming to this graphic novel expecting a retelling of the original book, even an updated one, will not find that here. This isn’t the original story transplanted to a new time and setting. Instead, the creators tell their own story, one inspired by the original. Though there are some parallels. Violet takes on a role similar to Carmilla in the original book, slowly ingraining herself into the life of our protagonist. There is a vampire hunter present in the book, just like the Baron Vordenburg character, and Carmilla likes to play word games with her name. But that’s about it, and these things are minor parts of the narrative.

Instead, we get a brand new story, one that has its own themes and goals. This book is created by a team of Chinese American women, and that becomes a big part of the book’s identity. Athena is Chinese American, and that informs her life in a number of ways. The first time we meet her she’s getting yelled at by someone who assumes she can’t speak English. Later in the book we get to see her bonding with her grandfather, and how he’s trying to get her to embrace parts of her heritage that she’s less enthusiastic about. It’s wonderful to see the story written this way, where Athena’s heritage isn’t just a piece of token representation but a part of who she is, and this is the kind of story that you only really get when people who understand that get to play a key creative role.

The book also deals with queer themes, and Athena’s sexuality is another key part of the book. With the story being set in 1996, attitudes towards queer people were different, and the book does reflect this. Whilst there are some characters who know about Athena’s relationship with her girlfriend and fully accept it, there are times where she’s forced to explain that they’re not just roommates. Queer identities are an afterthought for some people in this book, a thing that wouldn’t even enter their mind as a possibility, and when it does get brought up their attitudes shift towards becoming hostile.

The book’s artwork reflects the often dark themes of the book, and has a very gloomy, moody feel to it a lot of the time. The book uses colour carefully throughout to help to shape the tone and to lean into certain emotions. A lot of the book is presented in shades of blue to begin with, to represent both the coldness of the city, and the coldness that surrounds Athena. The first time we get warm colours is when she first enters Carmilla’s, a queer club where people don’t have to hide who they are. The second time we get warmer tones is when she’s with her grandfather, a man who loves and accepts her, and around whom she can feel relaxed. Colour plays a huge part in the presentation of this story, and is worth keeping an eye on whilst reading.

Carmilla: The First Vampire is an interesting adaptation of the original story, taking the themes and the ideas presented there, but transforming it into something new and unique. The queer themes inherent to Carmilla are joined by those that cover experiences for other groups of marginalised people, and helps to expand it in new and interesting directions. This isn’t your typical vampire story, and often feels more like a story about identity and discovering your place in the world, and for that it stands out amongst other vampire tales.

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Terror World, A Zombicide: Invader Novel by Cath Luria - Book Review

 

'Time and space are under threat when a monstrous new alien zombie threat emerges, in this horror thriller from the riotous Zombicide Invader boardgame.

'Scientist Dizzie Drexler is on the mission of a lifetime: exploring a strange planet named Sik-Tar, in the company of a mysterious alien crew. The dig looks like a dud, until they stumble across an ancient spaceship, filled with arcane tech. What could possibly go wrong? Everything: opening the spaceship activates an unimaginable horror: a form of ravenous mold which possesses the skeletons that litter the spaceship with the desire to kill, spread, and consume every living thing. While fighting these undead terrors, Dizzie and their team delve into the spaceship’s mysteries, and soon realise that such monstrosities could only come from one place: the future.'

We've had some great books in the new Zombicide line recently. There have been some good traditional zombie stories set during modern day, Last Resort and All or Nothing, the fun fantasy story Age of the Undead, and the futuristic sci-fi horror Planet Havoc. The latest book returns us to the distant future for another Zombicide: Invader novel, one which sees a small group of explorers heading to a remote planet to investigate an ancient signal.

Terror World follows a handful of new characters, the first of these being Ix-Nix-Six, a Caridian, an insectoid alien from a distant part of the galaxy outside of human controlled space. Having been granted permission to travel into human space by his superiors, Six approaches the human coalition government, requesting the opportunity to investigate a remote world within their borders. This world, Sik-Tar, has been transmitting a signal for the last thousand years, one that Six's people picked up long ago. Even more intriguing, the signal appears to be Caridian in origin. The Coalition agrees to let him investigate the planet, but sends a group with him to keep an eye on him, and investigate the possibility that Sik-Tar might be home to the powerful fuel source Xenium.

The human scientist Dizzie Drexler, and their friend and colleague, the Centauran telepath Corinus, are sent along to lead the expedition and search for any signs of Xenium on the planet. A Thassian mercenary called Divak is assigned to the team for their protection, and a pair of human brothers and theives, Grayson and Mason, are hired to help out thanks to their particular set of skills; and Mason being an incredibly adaptable cyborg.

The small team head to the remote planet and find a huge Caridian ship on the surface, one that's been there for centuries, and has been mining the Xenium deposits on the planet, refining them into a never before encountered liquid form. However, the team's presence on Sik-Tar seems to awaken something, the deadly mould infects and transforms living matter, turning them into the deadly Xenos creatures. With the long dead crew of the ship returning to life as monsters, the team are left fighting for their lives.

I compared the first of the Zombicide: Invader novel to being like Aliens. It featured monstrous alien creatures that were zombies in how it animates the dead and infects the living, but are closer to aliens than traditional zombies. The book also had a base under siege type story, and featured a lot of action. In comparison, this book is a lot smaller in scope, and feels more akin to horror stories like Alien, and Event Horizon more than anything else, thanks to the small group being picked off one by one whilst on a remote mission hoping to discover something amazing. There aren't as many characters, virtually none of them have weapons, so there's not ass much running and gunning happening here. Instead, we have the ever mounting dread of waiting for something awful to happen.

The book doesn't jump straight into the action, it takes its time setting up the characters and the locations, letting the reader get attached to the people before anything bad happens to them. With a small cast of characters it's easier to spend this time with them, to expand upon them and make them more than just stock characters of 'scientist', 'soldier', and 'thief'. Each of them ends up being much more complex than they first appear, with even the bloodthirsty warrior woman ending up being more complex than she really has any right to be.

This time spent setting things up and slowly introducing small elements doesn't just mean that we get the chance to know the characters though, as it also slowly increases the tension. This is a Zombicide book, we know something awful is going to happen. It's not a question of if, but one of when. As such, as the characters are slowly exploring the ancient ship, searching around for answers as to how it got there and what happened to it, the reader is waiting for the other shoe to drop. You know that the monsters are coming, and that wait is a horrible one. By the time the monsters do arrive it feels like something of a relief; though the characters then end up in incredible danger, and the tension begins to increase in different ways.

One of the things that I really liked about the book was that this wasn't a group of soldiers or mercenaries or bounty hunters armed to the teeth and ready for action. These are mostly scientists, they're people who aren't used to having to fight, and who don't have weapons. The situations aren't going to be resolved by shooting your way through Xenos or blowing things up, and requires the characters to start thinking smart, to have to come up with plans and strategies to just keep their lives going a few more hours.

Cath Luria manages to keep things tense throughout without it ever feeling completely overwhelming, and part of that is by having smaller character moments scattered throughout the narrative. Things get to slow down for a moment and we get to really see how the characters are reacting to this and how its effecting them. This focus on the characters ended up greatly improving the book for me, and allowed the horror of what was happening to really hit home.

Overall, this ended up being a very different kind of book from any of the other Zombicide novels we've had, not just the other Zombicide: Invader entry. The book ends with a mystery, one that's partially answered, and yet still has a ton of room for it to be able to mess with your head a little. It makes you wish that the book continued on, and that all of the answers were given; which for me is a sign of a really great read, where you don't really want it to end and you just want more. Hopefully we'll get more book in this series by Cath Lauria, even if they don't continue on from this one, as this was such an enjoyable reading experience.

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The Collector: Unit 731 – Graphic Novel Review

 

Originally published on Set The Tape

Using real world horrors and atrocities in entertainment is a very, very dangerous thing to do. You need to make sure that you handle the situation with care, otherwise the project can come across as crass and exploitative. There have been times when such things have been done well, when they serve the story in ways that don’t feel like the real life tragedy is being used without careful thought. Examples like Magneto’s origins in the concentration camps of Nazi Germany, and how it informs his entire character. But there are a lot of creators who seem to expect to be able to use tragedy for their own profit; just look at the recent push back against comedic ‘girl bossing’ true crime podcasts that treat victims and their families like toys.

One subject that is rarely covered in fictitious work is the Japanese research centre and prison camp Unit 731. Everyone has heard of the concentration camps in Nazi Germany, which were run at the same time as Unit 731, in part due to the sheer numbers of people who were killed at them. Auschwitz alone was responsible for 1.1 million deaths. But not as many people have heard of Unit 731. Whilst Unit 731 was not responsible for as many deaths, with it believed to have seen 300,000 people killed it should not be forgotten, nor the events there downplayed.

Unit 731 was responsible for some of the most gruesome and horrific war crimes perpetrated by Japan during World War II. Its prisoners were dehumanised, referred to as ‘logs’, and were treated as objects rather than living people. The camp conducted disease experiments; testing of biological weapons; performed frostbite testing where they’d freeze and beat living victim; performed vivisections on people; dehydration experiments; hypobaric chamber experiments; amputations; and standard weapons testing where they would shoot, stab, and beat prisoners just to see what would happen. And those they did this to included children, babies, and pregnant people. It was a horrific place that rivalled any atrocity at the time (and since), and it’s impossible to even go and read the Wikipedia article about Unit 731 without feeling feeling your faith in humanity die a little. If you’re anything like myself, you’ll end up in tears before the end.

So with that in mind, writing a story set there would have to be handled with extreme care. Does The Collector: Unit 731 do that? No. Not at all. The story is about a man named Michael Smith, an apparently immortal man who in the present day learns of the death of someone he once knew. This begins his tale of his time in Unit 731, where he and his friend were detained by Japanese forces and sent to the camp as prisoners. The depiction of the camp in the book barely reflects the reality of what it was. We follow Michael as he is infected with a virus to see what will happen, but other than that we don’t really see much.

The tight focus on Michael and his small group makes it seem like Unit 731 is a tiny operation, where they’re doing virus research on around twenty men. There is one section where we see an escaped prisoner purposely shot and then vivisected, and one time we see one panel of a frostbite experiment on a woman, but that’s it as far as expanding the camp and acknowledging the reality of it goes. The book does an incredibly poor job at depicting Unit 731, to the point where it might as well have been called something else. I understand that creating a comic that covers the events of that place accurately would be a very hard read, but glossing over it all like this to concentrate on the story of an immortal white man who breaks out and escapes feels kind of gross.

And the fact that this super special man is apparently the only person to have ever escaped this place (there were none known to have done so in real life), and that he basically punches and fights his way out, again feels kind of awful. And it once again feels like its downplaying the horrors of the camp and the things that the people there went through. If this story was set anywhere else – literally any other research camp – it would be fine, because the story itself is fine; the characters whilst not particularly fleshed out still work, and it would have made an interesting enough story. But setting it here and handling it the way it does just doesn’t work. Especially as it ends with the main scientist who was experimenting on Michael still alive and trying to chase him down in the modern day. It makes these very real monsters feel like cartoon villains.

I wanted to read this book because I knew about Unit 731; I’d read about it years ago and have never been able to forget about it. I was hoping to see a book that would perhaps try to tell this story in a way that respected the victims and introduced this dark part of history to new people. Instead, it’s perhaps the worst piece of exploitation I’ve read, that honestly left me angry. Zero stars.

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Lair of the Crystal Fang - S.A. Sidor Interview

 

S.A. Sidor is the author of four dark crime thrillers and more recently two splendid supernatural-pulp adventures, Fury From the Tomb and The Beast of Nightfall Lodge. He has written a number of Arkham Horror titles for Aconyte books, including Cult of the Spider Queen, and The Last Ritual. I got the chance to ask him a few questions about his latest book, Lair of the Crystal Fang.

This isn’t your first Arkham Horror title, and you’ve written some fantastic stories for the series. Were you a fan of the work of Lovecraft before coming on to write for the series, and did you have much experience with the games?

I was a reader of Lovecraft, but more often I prefer tales and writers inspired by the Cthulhu mythos rather than the original tales themselves, although I do have a soft spot for At the Mountains of Madness. Lovecraft has an odd appeal compared to most writers of the pulp era. His characters and plots are not what resonate the most with readers, I think. It’s the eerie weird vibe, the creeping dread of cosmic terror, and the ornate prose which is often hypnotic. Our family played Arkham Horror games (Arkham Horror, Eldritch Horror, Mansions of Madness, and Elder Sign) before I ever dreamed of writing stories in the game universe. But I found an old note I wrote to myself years ago about looking into the prospect of writing novels based on the AH games. A premonition? It freaked me out when I found it.

The Lair of the Crystal Fang is a sequel of sorts to Cult of the Spider Queen, did you always know that you were going to be telling another story with those characters, or was it a decision that came about later on?

When I originally pitched the idea for Cult of the Spider Queen to Aconyte, they asked me to consider writing a duology. I liked the idea. I knew some characters would return for Lair of the Crystal Fang, but the setting would be different. After an adventure in the Amazon jungle, a horror visiting the characters back in New England made sense to me. I wanted to show the team of investigators dealing with the traumatic aftermath of their first encounter with the Ancient Ones while they were confronted with a new cosmic terror. How would they react?

Your story brings back three of the characters from your last Arkham Horror novel, and it shows that they’ve not really been having too good a time of things. Was it tough to figure out what happened to them after the book ended and where they’d be when this one started?

I wanted to place the action soon after their return to Arkham while their physical, psychic, and career wounds were still healing. I wanted to present them with another challenge before they’d had a chance to rebound fully. That’s how life is. You get hit with things all at once, and you must fix yourself as best you can while you try and move forward. Life doesn’t play fair.  We’re all headed into the next battle nursing old wounds. I took each of the returning characters and challenged them where they were most vulnerable. Andy loses his job, Jake is physically challenged in a way he never imagined, and Maude is lost in her nightmarish dreams.

The story also brings in some characters that have appeared in the games, as well as in some other Arkham Horror stories from Aconyte, who were your favourite of the new characters to write, and were there any that you considered including in addition to them?

I envisioned a citywide threat that had the possibility of spiralling out of control, imperilling the whole planet. At first, my imagination wanted to include as many investigators as possible. But I soon realized cameo appearances by the games’ characters wasn’t the way to go. If an investigator from the game showed up, they needed to play an essential role. Rex Murphy was a lot of fun to write. Dr Carolyn Fern added great psychological depth and insights, especially into the subject of The Dreamlands. Surprisingly, Mayor Charlie Kane was my favourite to write. I hadn’t expected that. But looking at Arkham’s problems from his perspective opened previously hidden imaginative doors for me. Likewise, Wendy Adams observes the city, and its monsters, from a completely different viewpoint. Diversity is what makes these games great.

Your previous story took the action far away from Arkham, and put readers in an extremely different environment. In this story you return to the city, what was it like returning to Arkham, and was it a different kind of writing experience because of that?

It was good to return to Arkham. I wanted to tap into Arkham history a bit, and I liked the idea of a growing threat underneath the city itself. Setting part of the action of the story in subterranean Arkham was a way to bring the story home but also to enter a hidden world. The setting proved just as complex as the Amazon. In the beginning, it was a challenge to keep all the characters and locations sorted out so the reader might follow things without trouble. The plot tightened up in the editing phase. The result is twisty but always propulsive.

Cult of the Spider Queen had a pulpy adventure kind of vibe to it, and reminded me of stories like Creature From The Black Lagoon. Lair of the Crystal Fang has a much more claustrophobic kind of feel to it, and the horror of being trapped in the dark tunnels was quite intense at times. Did you choose to make the books thematically different that way to change things up, or are these kinds of stories and themes that appeal to you?

It's funny that you mention Creature From The Black Lagoon. I’ve always loved that film. Creature From The Black Lagoon and The Mummy are the two old Universal horror films that scared me the most as a child. It’s no mystery that they influenced my imagination. Being trapped in a confined space is a recurring motif in horror because it’s a basic fear that works on an animal level, but it also has many symbolic levels of interpretation. I’m not particularly claustrophobic; in fact, I happen to enjoy snug little spaces. I spent a great deal of time as a child playing in boxes and making little forts where I acted out my imaginary fantasies, travelling in time machines, hiding from monsters, rationing my supplies and scanning for voices on a staticky old walkie-talkie. I live in my head and that’s a dark, tight spot most days. 

This story delves into some of the history of Arkham, and introduces another mysterious group into the novels with the inclusion of the witch coven and their ties to the city’s past. Is it ever daunting to start digging into to the past when it comes to a franchise like Arkham Horror, or is that something that you enjoy?

One of the great things about working with Aconyte and Arkham Horror is the amount of collaboration that goes into planning and vetting the stories as they move from the idea stage to the final product. The smart folks at Fantasy Flight Games have oversight and input while the book is in development. They steer people like me away from dangerous or complicated elements that might conflict with the games and their long history spanning many storytelling formats. The editors at Aconyte know what territory other Aconyte writers have covered, or will be covering, so everything is well-coordinated. Short answer: it is daunting to dig into Arkham’s past, but I know I’m not going into the dark alone. My teammates look out for me. 

Some of the other writers on the Arkham Horror series have spoke about the huge wealth of characters and stories that the game has created that you’re able to draw upon when writing the books; what’s it like working in a pre-established universe like that?

It’s both a challenge and a source of inspiration. I want to make sure my work measures up to the legacy of stories that have come before me. I hope readers have an experience that is familiar but surprising. I want readers who play the games to feel as if they are diving into another form of the same immersive universe. The books ideally work two ways: readers will want to play more games, and gamers will want to read more books. As the Arkham universe deepens, it becomes a fountain of new possibilities. I never felt limited in what I might write.

You definitely seem to be a big fan of horror, and you write it very well. What horror stories have been some of your favourites and might have had some influence upon your own work?

As I mentioned earlier, I’ve read Lovecraft and many writers influenced by the Cthulhu mythos. It’s a rich legacy to explore because it’s shrouded in ambiguity and strangeness. It’s hard for me to pick favourites, because my answer would change every day. I’m a big fan of the stories of Clark Ashton Smith, Fritz Leiber, T.E.D. Klein, Robert Bloch, Michael Shea, Ramsey Campbell, Caitlin Kiernan, Stephen King, and Thomas Ligotti. Other writers whose work I find myself returning to include: Daphne du Maurier, Shirley Jackson, Elizabeth Hand, Sarah Waters, Margaret Atwood, Anne Rice, and Octavia Butler. I could go on and on.

If people enjoyed this book is there anything you can tell us about to expect in the future, or any upcoming projects that you might be able to tease us with?

I think I’ll always work with an element of horror. I like blending genres. In the past, I’ve mixed historical and westerns with horror. In the future, I’d like to try science fiction horror.

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A Venom Dark and Sweet by Judy I. Lin - Book Review

 

'A great evil has come to the kingdom of Dàxi. The Banished Prince has returned to seize power, his rise to the dragon throne aided by the mass poisonings that have kept the people bound in fear and distrust.

'Ning, a young but powerful shénnóng-shi—a wielder of magic using the ancient and delicate art of tea-making—has escorted Princess Zhen into exile. Joining them is the princess' loyal bodyguard, Ruyi, and Ning's newly healed sister, Shu. Together the four young women travel throughout the kingdom in search of allies to help oust the invaders and take back Zhen's rightful throne.

'But the golden serpent still haunts Ning's nightmares with visions of war and bloodshed. An evil far more ancient than the petty conflicts of men has awoken, and all the magic in the land may not be enough to stop it from consuming the world...'

I really enjoyed A Magic Steeped in Poison, the first part of this duology, and the book featured on my list of best books for 2022. As such, I was really looking forward to seeing what Judy I. Lin would do with the second part of the story; especially as the first book seemed to indicate that what was coming next would be quite different.

The first book saw Ning, a young woman from a remote rural village, travelling to the capital city to take part in a competition to find the next shénnóng-shi, a magic user that uses tea making to craft their powers, that will advise the royal family. Ning, who had faked her credentials to get in, simply wanted to win in order to help find help for her younger sister, who had been poisoned in a series of attacks that are threatening people across the kingdom. Knowing that if she wins she can get whatever help she needs, she enters a dangerous world of lies, intrigue, and double crosses.

And whilst she does well during the competition, even coming to form something of a friendship and mutual respect with the princess, things go horribly wrong when an exiled general performs a coup, and ousts the princess from her throne. Worse still, Ning is framed for multiple crimes. Forced to go on the run, Ning, the princess, and the princess' lover and bodyguard flee the capital. Travelling home, Ning uses the magic she's learned to cure her sister, and the four young women set out to find a solution to the issues facing the kingdom.

And this is where this second book begins. Where the first seemed to be something of a fantasy take on competitions like The Apprentice, with a group of young hopefuls competing for power and position, slowly whittling down the competition and impressing the judges, this book has none of that. The tone changes dramatically. Instead of court intrigue and mystery we have a quest to save the kingdom; one that involves searching for mysterious figures, gathering ancient relics, and preparing to fight an evil god. Despite sounding like this book should have nothing in common with the first, it feels like the perfect continuation. Things have changed, dramatically so, but it absolutely feels right for the story.

One of the things that's really wonderful about this second book is that is expands the world Lin has created. The first book was pretty much set in one city, and mostly in one area of that city (the royal palace). And whilst we got to meet people from all over the country, and learned a lot about the rest of Dàxi from conversations and small pieces of lore dropped throughout the book, we never really got to see it or experience it. This book changes that, as Ning and her companions travel to several new locations; some of which border of the fantastical.

Much of the first book felt like a story that could take place in the real world too, with the magic existing in what seemed to be a fairly fantasy light environment. The second book, in contrast, has magic possession, alternate planes, a living forest, ancient warriors, and evil gods trying to return to corporeal form. It goes hard on the fantastical parts, and because so long was spent on getting readers used to the more recognisable and realistic parts, as well as the characters, it became a lot easier to accept the wilder elements.

But even through all of these new developments, changes, and fantastical moments, it's still a story about Ning; and she's still very much at the heart of the book. Her mission has changed, but she's still finding herself caught up in something that she never wanted. She's pushed in ways that she never expected, and one of the best things about this book is her learning that she's much more powerful, more intelligent, and more important than she ever really gave herself credit for. She spends much of the first book doubting herself, unsure if she's doing the right thing, but here she's really come into her own, she's taking an active role, and proves why she's the best choice to be the royal shénnóng-shi.

This proves to be a pleasant, enjoyable conclusion to the story that goes in directions I honestly couldn't have predicted. Lin seemed to be creating a certain kind of story with the first book, and manages to completely subvert my expectations at every turn with this one. And whilst the book is very different, it proves to be a fantastic conclusion to the story.

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Wolf Manor – Film Review

Originally published on Set The Tape

Werewolf movies seem to have one of two approaches: they either play things completely seriously, and make things dark, distressing, and gory, or they inject a little bit of humour into things to try and lighten the mood somewhat.

Films like An American Werewolf in London manage this second option perfectly, giving the film moments of genuine humour and levity, whilst also making it truly terrifying at times. Sometimes it can skew a bit too far into comedy, giving us films like Werewolves Within, which felt like a comedy film with some monsters thrown into the mix. The new British-made horror film Wolf Manor is trying to create a werewolf movie with some fun, but seems to play it a bit too safe, and never really veers far enough into horror, or comedy, to really excel at either.

Wolf Manor drops viewers into the final days of a film shoot, where a small team of people have stayed on at an old manor house in the middle of nowhere, past their agreed upon time, in order to get the final few pick-up shots to finish their Gothic vampire movie. The crew are tired and ready to go home, with the past month of shooting having drained many of them. It doesn’t help that the film is the final hurrah of old horror legend Oliver (James Fleet), who seems to find it difficult to get into character, has problems with his fake teeth, and keeps sneaking off for a drink whenever he’s not being supervised.

Determined to make the film a success, a couple of horror magazine reporters are stopping by the shoot to try and promote the movie. However, the locals warn them that they shouldn’t go up to the isolated manor house on the full moon. As the moon rises the bodies begin to mount, and the cast and crew discover that they’re under siege from a creature right out of their nightmares.

Wolf Manor knows it’s a bit of a campy, silly film. It makes it clear straight away when the film begins with classic horror credits, with a model plane flying around a spinning globe, and old style titles appearing on the screen. The movie within the movie is a love letter to old films from Hammer and Universal, and the rest of the movie seems to embrace many of the tropes and references that fill most werewolf films.

There are comments about the pub nearby being like The Slaughtered Lamb from An American Werewolf in London, and the locals inside all go silent and creepy when outsiders come in. There’s the wolf head cane from the old Lon Chaney movie, and warnings to stay on the road when out at night. If you’ve watched a few werewolf movies you’re going to recognise the trappings of the genre here, and will probably appreciate their inclusion.

As mentioned before though, the film isn’t just a horror movie, and it tries to inject quite a bit of humour into things. Whilst some of it works well, such as a visual gag of an ever expanding pile of balls every time the camera comes back onto a certain character, other times it feels a bit too forced, like the contents of the old wooden chest the pub landlord brings out. Comedy is always a difficult area, as you can never guarantee just what is going to make people laugh, and can end up with a film that people hate. It’s perhaps because of this that Wolf Manor never quite seems to be comfortable to push the comedy too much, relying on giving the audience a smile and a small chuckle, rather than going for out and out laughs.

On the horror side of things the film does pretty good, with some gory, surprising moments when the werewolf attacks. Some of it is a bit predictable, and you know that the character carefully sneaking outside to try and escape is going to get grabbed by the beast, but it’s always done well enough that the moments feel frightening and awful for the characters. The film doesn’t skimp on the blood, guts, and dismembered body parts, and every time a character gets snatched you know that something terrible is happening to them.

The werewolf design is pretty decent too. Rather than going more wolf-like, the film almost goes for a bestial, ape-like wolf, and the face brought to mind the vampires from From Dusk Till Dawn or the hellhounds in Buffy the Vampire Slayer more than it did something from The Wolfman. Whilst I’m sure there are some who would want to see a more classic wolf-like look, the design felt different and interesting enough to stand out, and showed that the design team put some effort into their creature effects.

Wolf Manor is an interesting and entertaining horror film that doesn’t really do anything new or different, and seems more focused on just having a bit of fun. The people who made the film are clearly fans of the genre, and that love comes across in the film. Wolf Manor doesn’t take itself seriously, and if you’re looking for a film that’s a bit of decent fun that will keep you entertained for a few hours you could pick a lot worse than this.

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The Ward: Welcome To The Madhouse – Graphic Novel Review

 

Originally published on Set The Tape

Medical dramas are a genre of stories that do extremely well. Shows like Casualty, ER, and Greys Anatomy go on for literal decades, with just those three shows alone having nearly 2,000 episodes between them. Folks who couldn’t tell you what the difference between an EEG and an EKG, or what it means when a patient is in tachycardia, love watching capable, competent medical professionals rush around, shouting out instructions, and saving lives. There’s something about watching medics at work, literally saving lives, that feels bigger than life and awe inspiring. So it’s something of a surprise that the genre has never really made much headway into the realm of comics.

This gap in the market seems to have been filled, however, with the release of the graphic novel The Ward: Welcome To The Madhouse, which collects together each of the four-issue limited series into one book. But, this isn’t just a book about an ordinary emergency room – as the cover makes clear. This is the story of St. Lilith’s, a hospital hidden away from the prying eyes of the general public, where monsters, mythical creatures, and the supernatural go to get themselves patched up.

The book begins by introducing us to the hospital in the most appropriate way: with an emergency. Natalie Reeves works in insurance, and has a nice normal life until she finds her neighbour at her doorstep with a bleeding woman. The woman, who Nat knows, was knocking on her door looking for help when she collapsed. This drags Nat back into a world that she thought she’d left behind, as she’s forced to use her medical training to stabilise the woman whilst a special ambulance arrives to take them to St. Lilith’s. Going with the injured woman, Nat finds herself back in the hospital she once worked in, helping to save lives, and realises that she made a mistake in having walked away from it before.

The first issue of the book introduces readers to St. Lilith’s, and the existence of supernatural beings, through Nat’s neighbour, Wilfred. Despite Nat being our main character, and Wilfred not being in the book past this first issue, he’s the audience cipher. He, like us, knows nothing about Nat’s secret life, he’s not aware of the secret world beneath the carefully maintained facade, and he doesn’t know squat about medicine. As such, when he’s taken into St Lilith’s and shown the barely contained chaos there, he’s us. And much like most medical dramas, it’s chaotic, complex, and awe inspiring to see it all play out. Cavan Scott does an amazing job at capturing the feel and the drama of what we’ve come to expect from these kinds of stories, and has translated it incredibly well to the written page.

Over the course of the book we get to see the St. Lilith’s staff dealing with stabbings, overdoses, births, building collapses, and a plague sweeping through the city. There’s a lot going on at all times, and it feels like there’s very little time to stand still and take stock of things because one emergency is quickly followed by another (though sometimes they happen at the same time). Despite the fast paced nature of the book, Scott manages to squeeze some character focused stories into the mix too, and we get to know Nat quite well over the course of the book, and get to discover her past, and watch fraught family drama unfold.

The cast of The Ward: Welcome To The Madhouse is fairly small, focusing on several core characters, but all of them manage to have something to do across the book, and most of them have interesting character traits that would be easily explorable in future instalments of the series, if they ever decide to make more. The head physician for the hospital is Dr Kumasaka, a faceless ghost woman from Japan, who seems to be an interesting choice for a doctor as she doesn’t seem able to touch much. Lydia Black is the main nurse for the ward, and thanks to her abilities is able to split herself into multiple people (each with their own fancy hair colour), which makes her a pretty handy person to have in a busy emergency room. There’s also Luis Cervantes, a hot shot new doctor who, like Nat, is a human, and much like Nat he gets a pretty interesting personal journey throughout the book. There’s a wisecracking ambulance driver who’s also a Welsh swan nymph, and a troll security guard named Earl who make a few appearances.

Despite only being four issues long the book seems to really pack in the drama; there’s always something happening and the result is a book that feels a lot denser than most four issue runs. And the artwork plays a part in this too. Drawn and coloured by Andres Ponce, The Ward: Welcome To The Madhouse is a book where there are very few panels that aren’t filled to the brim. Whether it’s the ward itself filled with rushing doctors and injured patients, or close-up shots of the doctors working their hardest to save a life, almost every part of the book is packed with energy and drama. It’s so easy to get caught up in the drama that you’ll find yourself rushing through the book along with the characters, almost glossing over everything else that’s going on, so it’s worth going back and looking through everything a second time. It’s worth the time to just sit and look at the pages where you can see the emergency room filled with amazing creatures, and just spend some time taking it all in and seeing how much effort Ponce put into creating a fully realised world.

Whether you’re a fan of fast paced medical dramas, or of urban fantasy stories of hidden worlds filled with supernatural creatures, The Ward: Welcome To The Madhouse will tick your boxes. It’s a wonderful mixture of genres that hasn’t really been seen in comics before, and one that immediately stands out as a series that not only works fantastically well, but deserves to have a lot more than just four issues. If you’re looking for something a little different to the normal comic fare, this book is one that you definitely need to have on your radar.

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Frankenstein: New World #4 – Comic Review

 

Originally published on Set The Tape

Frankenstein: New World has returned readers to the world of Hellboy and the B.P.R.D. in the distant future, long after our world has ended and been reborn, and this final issue in the limited series run highlights perhaps the biggest flaw in many of these four part series from Dark Horse – they’re not long enough. The story comes to something of a close here, yet readers are left wanting more as it just doesn’t feel like enough.

Previous entries in the series spent a good deal of time introducing this new, evolved world; a world where humanity and most other life on the planet was destroyed millennia ago (check out the events of B.P.R.D. The Devil You Know to see how all that went down). We spent a while with Lilja, one of the few humans left alive living in the centre of the Earth, watched over by their Oracle, the ageless Frankenstein. Since then the two of them have set out for the surface, and we’ve gone along with them as they’ve explored this new paradise, and made new friends.

Last issue things went badly for their allies, the frog-like Bonji, when their village came under attack from their vicious rivals, the Varsu. This issue picks up where that left off, with Frankenstein and most of the Bonji prisoners of the Varsu, brought in chains to their sacred space to answer for the crime of one of the Bonji having looked upon their god. Not only has this act condemned the entire village, but it also transformed the man who looked upon the god, Bih’tak, into a monster. Whilst Frankenstein is forced to fight against the transformed Bhi-tak, Lilja and the village children try to mount a rescue, and something evil lurks in the shadows, watching it all.

Despite this being the end of this series it really feels like we’ve only just scratched the surface of this story. The end brings this particular chapter to a close, but there are still several important plot threads left hanging that means there surely has to be more coming. Which is a good thing, because as enjoyable as this issue is it would be a bit disappointing if this is how it all ends. Going off past Hellboy books, however, and the popularity of the series, I think it’s pretty safe to say that there’ll be more coming in the future. But how does this opening chapter stack up?

Overall, this is a decent start to the story, and the main focus is Lilja and Frankenstein, and the relationship that they’ve built. This issue really shows that off, as when everyone else is either cowering or running away, Lilja is the one running towards the danger in hopes of helping her friend. We get to see Frankenstein go from a mythical, inhuman figure for her, into someone that she genuinely cares about, and is willing to put her life of the line for. And this issue bonds the two of them in an important way, in a way that could change their dynamic a great deal going into later stories. Whilst discovering this new world and its mysteries has been an enjoyable part of the mini-series, it’s these two characters that make it a comic worth reading month after month.

The art on this issue, provided by Peter Bergting and Michelle Madsen, continues the signature look of this universe, and continues to make the new world both beautiful and creepy. This issue really shows off that balance well, particularly with Murk and his minions having a much larger presence throughout. The art team are able to make a setting that felt wondrous and awe-inspiring a few issues ago into something sinister without really doing much different, and these subtle shifts are deftly done. This is also one of the more action packed issues of the series, and the artwork when Frankenstein is left to fight the huge monster that was once Bih’tak are filled with energy, and are easy to understand.

Frankenstein: New World has been an enjoyable return to this universe, a great continuation for long time fans, and an easy, interesting jumping on point for new readers. There’s a great character focused story at the centre, tons of new things to discover, and some interesting mysteries and a looming threat still to be resolved. Hopefully readers won’t have to wait too long for the next part of this story.

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Saint by Adrienne Young - Book Review

 

'As a boy, Elias learned the hard way what happens when you don’t heed the old tales. Nine years after his lack of superstition got his father killed, he’s grown into a young man of piety, with a deep reverence for the hallowed sea and her fickle favour. As stories of the fisherman’s son who has managed to escape the most deadly of storms spreads from port to port, his devotion to the myths and creeds has given him the reputation of the luckiest bastard to sail the Narrows.

'Now, he’s mere days away from getting everything his father ever dreamed for him: a ship of his own, a crew, and a license that names him as one of the first Narrows-born traders. But when a young dredger from the Unnamed Sea with more than one secret crosses his path, Elias’ faith will be tested like never before. The greater the pull he feels toward her, the farther he drifts from the things he’s spent the last three years working for.

'He is dangerously close to repeating his mistakes and he’s seen first hand how vicious the jealous sea can be. If he’s going to survive her retribution, he will have to decide which he wants more, the love of the girl who could change their shifting world, or the sacred beliefs that earned him the name that he’s known for - Saint.'

There are a few authors that I've discovered over the last few years whose work is so fantastic that I will pick up any book with their name on it, without even needing to read what it's about. Adrienne Young is one of these writers. From her first book, Sky in the Deep, and it's sequel The Girl the Sea Gave Back, I knew she was a writer that I needed to keep her eye on, and with the Fable universe, Fable, Nanesake,and The Last Legacy, she's created a series of books that never fails to disappoint. Saint is the latest entry in that series, and takes readers backwards in time to witness the origin of one of the more important characters that exists within it; as well as showing us how many of the plots and characters started off.

Despite having his name on the cover, this book isn't just about Saint, and the book begins by introducing us to another character that fans will instantly be familiar with, Isolde. Having fled from her mother, with one of the rarest and most expensive jewels in the world in her possession, she seeks to get away from her mother's reach and heads for Narrows. However, the captain of the ship she's on, Zola, has plans for her that could lead her into even more danger. But when she crosses paths with the dashing young helmsman, Saint, who's secretly smuggling fake gems in order to raise the money he needs for a traders license and a new ship, Isolde thinks that she might have found her way to freedom. But as Saint and Isolde's fates intertwine it brings them both into danger.

This being a prequel novel there's a lot here that fans of the series are going to love. From the first few pages it's clear that the events of this book are going to be referencing important people, places, and events. And whilst the book absolutely works on its own, and you don't need to know who everyone is or the importance of the things that are happening for future events, it definitely adds to the enjoyment. Those coming to this universe fresh will understand that Isolde has an expensive jewel in her possession, but for those that have read the other three books, as soon as the midnight is mentioned there'll be a moment of 'oh shit!' as you realise the implications of that and how important a thing it is.

And this is something that happens multiple times across the course of the book. It relies on you having read the other books to go from enjoying the novel to loving it on another level. And it's honestly a really great experience. Another thing in the book that instantly feels like it means more is the relationship between Saint and his best friend, Clove. Coming to this without any other knowledge they're two friends whose lives are so intertwined, so tied together they seem more like brothers. But those who've read the other books will know where their stories will ultimately end up, and so seeing them here in this way changes it from a good background relationship into one of the better parts of the book. I wanted to see more of them together, I needed to see what they were like at this stage of their life because it gives what comes after so much more impact and importance.

I'm making it sound like Saint plays upon fan service, and that you need to have read three other novels to get something from this, but that's not the case. The book absolutely does stand on its own. It has its own story that works within the confines of its book and doesn't rely on anything else to reach a satisfactory conclusion. The world is clear enough, and it makes sense and feels interesting without any knowledge of things beyond this story. And that feels like a very impressive line for Adrienne Young to have walked. It could have been easy to make this purely for the fans of the other books, and she certainly goes include a ton of stuff for those readers, but she doesn't forget that this could be someone's introduction to this series, and makes sure that that's taken into account.

The one thing about this book that does give me some slight pause, that leaves me unsure how I feel, is the ending. This book ends in a great way, the story it wants to tell her gets told and the characters end up in a good position for this to be it. And if this is the only time that Young goes backwards in time to play with these characters then it's absolutely fine. But I do also kind of want more. I want there to be another prequel. I want more from these characters. And yes, I know that that's nothing to do with the book or the author and is all down to me, but now that I've finished it I'm just left yearning for more of it. Though that does speak to the quality of the writing that even when its come to a satisfying conclusion my reaction is to turn around and demand more.

Whether this is the only time that we'll get to go back in time and play in this era or not, and whether this is your first introduction to the Fable universe, Saint is an incredibly addictive and engrossing novel filled with interesting and engaging characters, and a world that's incredibly well realised. Young continues to be one of my favourite authors thanks to this book; and I can't wait to see what she does next.

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