continues to cultivate his standing as one of the most talented and prolific graphic novelists in the world, and his latest book collects the first eight issues of the -illustrated Gravel. The series' main character, William Gravel, has appeared in previous Ellis miniseries Strange Kiss, Stranger Kisses and Strange Killings, all published by Avatar Press.
Bill Gravel is a combat magician. In the tradition of Vertigo's Hellblazer hero John Constantine, he is a crude, violent, grumpy soul. But, unlike Constantine, who can be charming when the right (or wrong) writer gets hold of him, Gravel appears to have no redeeming features as a character, murdering his magician colleagues to obtain a magical manuscript he's not even sure he wants. Fans of the aforementioned Hellblazer will love the nihilistic , world-weary hero, and Bloody Liars contains the ultra-detailed violence and explicit language that is a pre-requisite of Ellis's indie comics work. Get yourself a fistful of Gravel!
Categories: Reviews, Staff Pick, New Releases, Graphic Novels
Postsingular is far and away one of the strangest books I have ever read. Sci-fi veteran , also a mathematician and computer scientist, has created a work that combines the suspense of an action pot-boiler with the latest in reality-warping string/quantum theory.
Categories: Reviews, Staff Pick, SciFi & Fantasy
is probably best-known for his dense, complex, book-length graphic novels Watchmen and V For Vendetta, both published in the 1980s. He has lately been much less prolific, and his most recent effort, scripted by and released through Avatar Press, is wafer-thin in comparison to those thick volumes. The Courtyard, coming in at a modest 55 pages, is completely devoid of superheroes, and instead presents a hallucinatory urban crime story illustrated by industry up-and-comer (who has worked with both and recently). Moore's current obsession with "chaos magic" or "neo-shamanism" (he fancies himself a bit of a modern mage) has clearly influenced his latest story. The Courtyard is a strangely beautiful psychedelic swirl of dirty streets, underground rock, designer drugs, and paranoia. Of all of Moore's work, it has the least number of words, but revels in the terrifying and transcendent power of those words. A weird, worthwhile tale!
Categories: Reviews
