Lucky Luke 1 & 2

Recently i have tended to go for European comics of the more serious and clear line style though Asterix is my first love and Lucky Luke is very much in that vein and the first 2 Cinebook released Lucky Luke volumes "Billy The Kid" and "Ghost Town" were even written by the co-creator of Asterix the unsurpassed René Goscinny and drawn by the equally talented Morris.

Drawn in a similar style to Asterix and also similarly humorous yet intelligent Lucky Luke does differ quite a bit from the famous ancient Gaul. Luke is a drifter cowboy who can draw his sixgun faster than his shadow. Luke wanders the Wild West sorting out unfairness and wrongdoing where ever he finds it. Unlike Asterix Luke doesn't have a sidekick unless you count his horse who occasionally talks and delivers Snowy like sarcasm where needed.

I enjoyed both of these volumes and as Cinebook have published over 20 more to date (and in French the series is in the 70s by now) there will be plenty more to enjoy in the years to come. Goscinny and Morris pack a lot of story into each volume and the humour is often subtle and multi-layered. The only question is over Luke himself, i found it not that easy to warm to his character and would probably like a bit of back story. Maybe that will come after reading further volumes...

• A Lucky Luke Adventure : Billy the Kid (Lucky Luke) (Amazon)
• A Lucky Luke Adventure : Ghost Town (Lucky Luke) (Amazon)

Asterix : The Mansions Of The Gods

A highpoint in the Asterix series, a book that takes a look at the rural-urban divide, environmental destruction (in the name of progress and urbanisation) and the corruption of "civilisation" on traditional cultures with typically sharp satire. A book like this truly shows the magic of Asterix and other European comics of the same quality, its a multi-layed story with slapstick and humour, irony and social comment that can be enjoyed on many levels and by all ages.

Caesar decides the way to defeat the indomitable Gauls is not by military might but to force them to accept Roman civilisation by cutting down the forest around their village and building a Roman town in its place.

At first the Roman attempts to do so are opposed by Gaulish strength and Getafix's magic but then the Gauls decide to let the Romans build a little in order to get the slave workforce released. Thats when the trouble starts, the Gauls begin to be seduced by the trappings of Roman civilisation and the capitalist opportunies that arise, old friendships begin to be soured by the taint of wealth. Can the fabric of the village be restored before it all falls apart and the forest is gone?

The book is very cleverly written and beautifully drawn. The "evils" of urbanisation, capitalism and progress are slightly overblown (and it is one of the most politicial Asterix books, maybe matched only by the capitalist satire Obelix & Co.) but i am sure will strike a chord with many of us.

Orbital (1) : Scars

Its always nice to discover a new comic series, "Scars" is volume 1 of the Orbital series which presents an intriguing future where Earth has joined the intergalactic confederation but humans are seen as still rather primitive and dangerous and are being held back by the other alien races.

In truth this is a similar idea to how humans were held back by the Vulcans in the 22nd century in the Star Trek universe though in Orbital humans are relegated to being bartenders and security guards until one finally makes the elite diplomatic corps who keep the peace. Such a selection is controversial, especially as his partner is from an alien race with whom the humans have already had a bloody war.

This is a well written and illustrated story and is very entertaining. The artwork really evoked an incredibly varied and impressive future galactic civilisation. There maybe isn't a huge amount of action but I feel that's because there is a lot of back story to establish. This book really set up the rest of the series for what looks to be a very interesting ride.

Pandora's Box (1) : Pride

The Pandora's Box series by Alcante is really one worth taking notice of, each book takes one of the seven deadly sins as its theme but presents a modern and intelligent story of the folly of mankind and the misuse of technology. There is also an eighth book in the series which looks like it brings all the themes together but we'll get to that another day (not been published in English yet!)

This first book focuses on Pride via a story on human cloning, vanity and the ruthless quest for power no matter the consequences that takes place during a US Presidential election. Its a dark book with an involved yet fast paced plot.

A lot of ethical questions are raised by the book, something which features across all of the series. Makes you think huh? Can't complain about that!

The Golden Age Of DC Comics - 365 Days

If you are not familiar with these kinds of books, 365 Days volumes, they have an entry for every day of the year (natch) on a specific subject, the daily subject often having a tie in with what the relevant date is. The Golden Age of DC Comics: 365 Days is on DC comics, home of the iconic Superman, Batman and a galaxy of other heroes, this book covers DC from its pre-costumed hero days (when it literally was Detective Comics) to the post-war when westerns and sci-fi periodically knocked the men (and women) in tights off their perches.

Most people will have heard of the main characters like Superman of course and they feature heavily here, though what is particularly enjoyable is some of the lesser-known and maybe forgotten heroes like Air Wave who apparently combated villains by roller-skating along telegraph wires and Fatman who wore a lampshade as his mask. To be honest i think some of these guys would make for better films than some of the recent subjects like the Green Lantern (but considering the rate of which Hollywood is plundering the comics universe i suspect films about Air Wave and the like are probably only a few years off).

Each entry has a subject reproduction from an old DC comic and a brief accompanying paragraph of text. Some of the images are quite surreal, especially some of the pre-war ones with elements of Art Deco. I also really love the start of this horror story, i'd love to read the rest of this!

In fact that is the only criticism of this excellent volume, i wish there was an easy way to read the rest of some of the stories featured in here! Its a huge thick volume you will be dipping into all the time, superb piece of work!

Blake & Mortimer (2) : The Mystery Of The Great Pyramid Part 1

This is an opulent book, beautiful rich artwork telling a wonderfully retro and exciting adventure involving sinister criminals and the mysterious powers of the occult. Blake & Mortimer stories so often have the air of a 1930s adventure serial and transport you to that wonderful noir world of detectives and cult dabblings, probably none more so than this volume which is the first part of a 2 part story set in Egypt (natch).

Professor Mortimer is in Egypt studying ancient papyri but a shadowy group led by Mortimer's arch nemesis Olrik (who else?!) is also there and also eager to discover what secrets the papyri hold, as they are a key to the secret of the Great Pyramid and the riches that are supposed to lie within...

A terrific plot, though as with most Blake & Mortimer books sometimes the plot does get a little too intricate and everything is accompanied by masses of text! You certainly get your money's worth with Blake & Mortimer words wise. I like the denseness of the story personally though if you are used to the more fluid plot of, say, Tintin then it can take some getting used to. Highly recommended, this really is a high point of the Blake & Mortimer series but you will desperately want to read part 2 as soon as you finish this!

Tintin in the Congo

A controversial book, this is one of the earliest Tintin stories from the early 1930s (though this edition had coloured artwork done in 1946). When originally created this story depicted the colonial racist attitudes of the time towards Africa, plus a rather bloodthirsty approach to dealing with wildlife. Later editions toned down both, Herge feeling embarrassed by what he originally drew, but enough remains of both to mean this edition of Tintin was not published in English until 2005 (the original black and white edition published in 1931). When it was finally published there were attempts to ban it but if you actually read this story it does seem rather like an over reaction.

Tintin goes to the Congo, then a Belgian colony, and soon begins a break neck series of adventures including various battles with wild animals and native people though most of the story involves a criminal white man who is finally unveiled as part of Al Capone's operation and aiming to help the Chicago gangster boss take over diamond smuggling in Africa...

The story lacks the depth of plot of later Tintin stories, being more a series of subplots vaguely linked (and mostly by geography) and of course has a patronising attitude to African people who are largely depicted as being childlike and needing direction from the white man. The book reflected the attitude of Europeans to Africans at the time (1930s) and should be viewed in that light, its not much more offensive than say Carry On Up The Jungle, Africans are still patronised in the media these days in any event, just differently.

Some events in the book are rather cringe worthy like Tintin being revered as an idol by an African tribe but to be honest you can still see similar attitudes and visions of Africa these days on TV. The slaughter of wildlife i personally found more of a problem but it does date from when the natural world had what appeared to be a limitless abundance of fauna so accidentally slaughtering a herd of antelope maybe was not quite so big a deal!

The book is what it is, and to be honest i quite enjoyed it, view it like that and you might too. Its nowhere near as good as most later Tintin books but is interesting on a number of levels including as a historical document of 1930s colonial attitudes.

Star Wars Omnibus - A Long Time Ago 1

Over the last few weeks and months i have reread my sole surviving Marvel Star Wars comic from the early 1980s and also bought another one on Ebay. I did ask myself though at the time if these had been republished in collected form and indeed they have so instead of wasting 5 pounds on a faded tatty comic why not spend just twice that on a big thick (oo-er) volume?

This collection begins with the Marvel comic adaptation of the film of course, but interesting as that is i was more interested in seeing how they continued the storyline after the destruction of the Death Star while waiting to adapt Empire Strikes Back a few years down the line. To be honest the original stories do not begin that well...

The first story is a retelling of the Magnificent Seven in all but name (at least that is kind of apt considering the Kurosawa influence on Star Wars in general) with Han Solo assembling a motley crew of mercenaries to fight off some alien hoards to defend some poor villagers. All seems fine though the story is very unlike Star Wars, apart from Solo and Chewie all the characters seem rather Marvel generic and it just doesn't feel Star Wars...

Things begin to improve later on when Darth Vader makes a reappearance and the Empire in general becomes the focus for the storyline, an interesting new universe begins to emerge involving the Empire's allies the House of Tagge.

Of course the problem for the comic's creators was that they only had the first film to play with for background, nowadays there is a much more expanded universe. Thus some events and characterizations in these stories are a bit off and the later films do contradict some of the events which take place here (yes Luke and Leia get some lovey dovey action... FTW!)

Despite these niggles overall these are a great set of comics and well worth the money.

The Wicked Wiles of Iznogoud

Even if you didn't know this was written by René Goscinny who also wrote Asterix of course you would feel there is something very familiar about Iznogoud. Like Asterix it is a cleverly written comic rammed full of madcap adventures, satire and puns and clever word play in a world heavily based on Arabian Nights and similar legends. Unlike Asterix however Iznogoud is no hero.

Instead, and rather refreshingly, Iznogoud is a villain. As Grand Vizer he is endlessly scheming to remove the Caliph in the ancient Baghdad in which they both live and rule himself ("become Caliph instead of the Caliph"). Unfortunately for himself (but fortunately for the rather useless Caliph) he is too evil for his own good and often gets carried away with his schemes. Thus his cunning plans (which make Blackadder look like a beginner) always fail but that doesn't stop him trying again.

Reading Iznogoud made me laugh out loud several times, sometimes the puns and names are just have to be seen to be believed and score highly on the cheese and corn-ometer (once i'm sure there was something about the Kurds being "a-whey"). On occasion it does feel like too many puns are being crammed in and it does mess with the flow a bit, you can sometimes have too much of a good thing.

A minor niggle, its a very entertaining read.