Saturday, March 12, 2011

Mad Hatters, Graphic Novel appreciation day and American Vampires with Stephen King

Here's the final page in the "Sent from Marseilles" scene of Tomb of the Undead. There's an awful lot of dialogue in some of these pages and I felt that it wasn't worth spending more than three pages on a scene of exposition and introduction like this. So, I hope you were able to get a good feel for the new guys, and bear with all the dialogue. There are certainly some scenes coming up that will tell the story through drawing and action instead of through dialogue.



Of course you can read more at Tomb of the Undead.
Graphic novel news

Graphic Novel Mini-reviews
Bahnree
bahnree.blogspot.com


The Mad Hatter seems like a great idea for a character - Id' be neat to see more about whaere they would go with a character like this.


Hatter M Volume 2: Mad With Wonder

This is the second in Frank Beddor's graphic novel versions of his "The Looking Glass Wars" YA trilogy, which is a reimagining of Alice in Wonderland. From what I've gathered, Princess Alyss is the main character in the trilogy, but here, her bodyguard, Hatter Madigan, is the hero. He's on a quest in our world to find Princess Alyss, who has disappeared. Meanwhile the imposter Queen Redd is ruling Wonderland and trying to kill Hatter.

The artist is different from the artist for the first volume, but I didn't really notice. The art is still the same bizarre weird that sometimes comes out as beautiful and fantastic and MAD, and sometimes just looks butt-ugly. The writing seemed worse to me this time around. There was a lot of awkward dialog, a lot of cheesy dialog, and a lot of dialog that made me want to head-desk. Hatter Madigan is still a madly intriguing character, and the bonus art they include in these volumes are GORGEOUS. I want prints.

I thought the story wasn't as interesting in this volume, because it didn't include as much of the Wonderland plotlines or the fun stuff about the Imagination. I loved the arc in the first volume at the orphanage where everything was dark and gray except for when they used their imaginations, and then the color was promptly stolen away by the baddies. There wasn't anything close to that awesome in this volume; mostly it was just dark and gray and historical. The plots centered on the Civil War, insane asylums, etc, and didn't have enough fantasy and Wonder for me. I may continue reading this series for Hatter and the occasional gorgeous panel, but with even more unflagging indifference to its content.
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Graphic novel appreciation day
Worlds'StrongestLibrarian.com
Josh Hanagarne


I don’t think this is a real holiday, but today, on World’s Strongest Librarian at least, it is graphic novel appreciation day. I decided to write this post because I have never been a big fan of graphic novels. I’ve begged and pleaded for people to give me suggestions on what I should read, and now I’m back with a few that I have actually loved. And then, when the post is over, I’ll beg and plead some more for additional recommendations.

I don’t think this is a real holiday, but today, on World’s Strongest Librarian at least, it is graphic novel appreciation day. I decided to write this post because I have never been a big fan of graphic novels. I’ve begged and pleaded for people to give me suggestions on what I should read, and now I’m back with a few that I have actually loved. And then, when the post is over, I’ll beg and plead some more for additional recommendations.
Click to read more.

Graphic novel review: American Vampire by Scott Snyder, Rafael Albuquerque and Stephen King
Marilla Mulwane
Helium.com


It's pretty common knowledge that Stephen King does not like the way vampires are portrayed today. So, when he was asked to write a blurb for a new graphic novel, "American Vampire", he instead decided to write part of it. Together with writer Scott Snyder and artist Rafael Albuquerque, "American Vampire" was created and King promised that there would be no "dewey-eyed" and "love-lorn" vampires. That sounded great to this vampire fan, but instead found nothing but disappointment.

I don't pretend to like King as a writer or a human being. I don't buy every book he writes because they've become repetitive. Just because something has the King stamp doesn't make it any good. "American Vampire" is not a bad graphic novel; it just isn't what King so boldly promised.

He promised, "killers, honey. Stone killers who never get enough of that tasty Type-A." That's what the forward reads. Who is this great killer? The first "American Vampire" who can beat out all those European creations that have grown old and stale? His name is Skinner Sweet, and he's the only character in the story that really fits that description of cold-hearted, blood-sucking, and murdering vampire. He started out as a brutal killer of the Old West and kept that personality after becoming a vampire. He spends years getting his revenge on the people who made him that way.
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Hey there, I am glad you have taken the time to leave a comment. Thanks - I am looking forward to reading it.