Uncanny X-Men #462–465 and Secrets of House of M by Chris Claremont, Alan Davis and Chris Bachalo My comic book reading is inherently linked to the writing of Chris Claremont – my development in the world of mainstream superhero comic books is The Uncanny X-Men, The New Mutants, Excalibur, Classic…
By Ian Rankin and Werther Dell'edera Ian Rankin's Inspector Rebus novels are a great series of detective fiction set in Edinburgh around a strong central character. They are great books and Rankin is a really good writer, so it was a bit of a surprise when the news was announced…
Action Comics #866–870 and Superman: New Krypton Special #1 by Geoff Johns and Gary Frank I really enjoyed the previous storyline (Superman and the Legion of Super-Heroes) by the same creative team, so I had to give this a try. It's a very enjoyable story, although not as good as…
Batman: The Man Who Laughs (Ed Brubaker and Doug Mahnke) and Detective Comics #784–786 (Ed Brubaker and Patrick Zircher) This is a very strange collection – The Man Who Laughs is a one-off special, and is interesting and well executed, with a good story about the early Joker getting revenge…
By Neil Gaiman There's a quote on the front of the book from Diana Wynne Jones – 'The best book Neil Gaiman has ever written' – and she may have a point. Gaiman has written some great comic books, excellent short stories (as well as not so good ones) and…
Ultimate Origins #1–5 by Brian Michael Bendis and Jackson Guice The basis of this story is at the heart of a big problem in comic books: EVERYTHING has to be connected. Despite having the scope of the Ultimate universe to do anything, there is still the urge to have the…
By Steven T Seagle and Teddy Kristiansen I'll get to the point: this is a quite beautiful graphic novel that you should read. Seagle uses a semiautobiographical tone to tell a story that is about the creative process, the analysis of Superman and what he means (this is a Vertigo…
Uncanny X-Men: Lovelorn (Uncanny X-Men #504–507 + Annual #2) by Matt Fraction, Terry Dodson (Mitch Bruweiser/Daniel Acuna) Can my thoughts on a book be considered unbiased if I got the book cheap in a sale? I’m not sure, but it’s a factor in the discussion. I read some of Ed…
The Punisher #55–60 by Garth Ennis and Goran Parlov I started reading Garth Ennis' Punisher Max series in the comic books but I stopped after a year when I realised it would read better in trade form, especially as Ennis seemed to be deliberately writing six-issue arcs. I still haven't…
I like the work of Ed Brubaker. I enjoyed reading the X-Men books growing up. Brubaker has written some X-Men stories. Therefore, I decided to read them. That makes sense, doesn't it? Let's have a look (with thanks to the library for providing all the TPBs). Uncanny X-Men: Rise and…