Ben's Books

Speculative Fiction

Jesse is walking down the street one day, when he sees a band of creatures chasing a rather large gentleman in a red suit down the street. Jesse, in an attempt to offer assistance to this Claus-like figure, runs after them. Santa reaches his sleigh and the moment the reindeer kick off, the demons pounce; Santa, reindeer, and creatures all, take off into the sky.

What follows makes this first scene seem like a commonplace event. There are some far away screams before a large red sack falls at Jesse's feet - inside is Krampus, the anti-Claus. Jesse finds himself enslaved to Krampus as he learns of an age old battle for control of power between Krampus and Santa that blurs the lines between good and evil.

One thing that we learned from Brom in Child Thief is that there is no good and no evil, just selfish people and selfish gains. Brom runs with this realistic psychological theme and slams it into our beloved children's stories. And he does it masterfully. The renowned artist uses both his story-telling and painting skills to bring a vivid beauty to this strange tale (even though it's really a messed up story). So if you have Lovecraft and John Lindqvist fans in your family, this is their holiday story.

- Ben

Most of us only get to die once. This truth is not entirely true for Brás de Oliva Domingos. When I started this graphic novel, I knew nothing about it other than the blurbs one this inside cover, so the basis came as a huge surprise. Brás spends his day writing obituaries for the local newspaper, while working on his first novel. It starts out, Chapter 32, with Brás sitting in the park, with narrative panels floating over his head explaining how much he was dreading today. Today is Brás’ birthday, is over shadowed by his father, Benedito, a world famous Brazilian author who being honored for his 40 year career. That night Brás steps into a bar for a quick drink before his father’s ceremony, where a armed gun-man shoots him through the head, the bottom of the page is his own obituary.

Flash backward, Chapter 21, Brás and a friend from college are traveling the world. He meets a girl, knockout really, at least a 10 maybe 11, falls in love, falls off a boat and drowns. Flash forward, Chapter 28, the aforementioned 10 maybe 11 is sick of him and leaves him. While shopping for groceries, Brás sees a woman who will become his wife later on in life. While crossing the street, distracted by love at first sight, he’s hit by a truck. Daytripper flops back and forth through Brás’ life, showing how the world view one man in different stages of his life through his obituaries.

New comers to comics, the twins, Fábio Moon and Gabriel Bá are staging themselves to be at the top of the game. Daytripper is one of the most beautifully original works to come out of Vertigo this and last year. Vertigo. $19.99.

—BEN

The Nightside in the one place in the universe that lives outside the influences of both Heaven and Hell. It’s nestled in a pocket universe inside the heart of downtown London. For John Taylor it’s home, and the only thing that could trump his previous epic battles with unseen enemies or the massive throw down with his mother Lilith (the living embodiment of an abstract concept that existed because it could) is his wedding.

That’s right, just like the title The Bride Wore Black suggests, the Nightside’s only PI is getting married to the most dangerous and seriously damaged women inside and outside of the Nightside, Suzie Shooter. She would more than likely shoot him in the back, again, if he were to not show at the altar. So it’s really bad timing when Taylor’s new gig as the voice of the Authorities that manage this city, calls on him for a quick job. It would also help if Suzie weren’t trying to collect the bounty on Taylor’s head. Some women…say what you want, she’s dedicated to her job.

As we have come to expect from Simon R. Green, he outdoes himself at every turn, calling on the weird and obscure to build his macabre world. The Bride Wore Black ranks up very high on the list as one of the best in the series.

Sitting next to China Miéville at the International ComicCon 2010, I noticed something about him; aside from being British and downright gorgeous, he is your standard Star Wars watching, comic book reading nerd. He is a completely normal, polite guy. But the more I read his works, the more I feel that the approachability is all just a front to hide the fact that he is a wicked genius.

With the exception of his Perdido Street Station, and the two not-really-sequels that followed, Miéville never does the same thing twice, keeping his fans on the edge of their seats, wondering what in the world he will plant us in next.

Embassytown is no different. Miéville, with the use of brilliant word play from several different laungues, sets the stage in the far future when mankind has colonized distant worlds. This story follows Advice Benner Cho. She returns to Embassytown famous for her name, which has become a figure of speech to the Ariekei, one of the few alien races, and by far the oldest, that mankind has discovered, whose language is so unique in the universe that only a handful of genetically altered human beings can speak it. Cho is not one of them. Before man’s arrival, the Ariekei where blind to the concept of lies, and now view mankind as a fall from innocence. With a possible war on the horizon, Cho is torn between the world she is a part of and the world she is destined for. Embassytown is just more evidence supporting Miéville’s genius.

--BEN

John Constantine has always been one of my favorite characters, and no, I am not talking about the movie version, I mean the British one in his original comic incarnation. Many huge names in comics from have been associated with the Hellblazer since his conception in the mid-80s: Neil Gaiman, Warren Ellis, Alan Moore, Ian Rankin, Mike Carey, and so many more. Add to that list Si Spencer, who does not disappoint with his City of Demons, with Sean Murphy illustrating. Si takes old forgotten mythologies in the Hellblazer continuum and brings them to light in the epic fashion that we expect for John Constantine.

Constantine, London’s street sorcerer, is facing down a plague of monsters caused by a demonic virus, following a horrific traffic accident. Because of a blood transfusion from a demon that save his life years ago, Constantine finds that it’s entirely his fault – he is patient zero. The metamorphic virus courses through his own blood, along with enough gin and nicotine to kill an elephant or two. He suspects that the accident was an intentional part of a conspiracy to bring hell on earth to London.

The City of Demons trade collects all five issues of Spencer’s miniseries, as well as Another Bloody Christmas, by Watchmen author Dave Gibbons. Vertigo tpo, $14.99.

--BEN