- Rumble, Volume 1: What Color of Darkness – John Arcudi, James Harren & Dave Stewart. An ordinary guy stumbles upon the ancient gods and monsters that still live amongst us, and it’s actually quite decent. I found the humorous side of this better that the mythological side, but they come together into a fairly satisfying whole. At first, I wasn’t sure about the artwork, but once I got into it, it really brought the oddball nature of the comic to life.
- Rumble, Volume 2: A Woe That Is Madness – John Arcudi, James Harren & Dave Stewart. The background of the gods is fleshed out a lot in this volume, and humour continues to make itself know on almost every page. I liked this volume more than the first and, overall, was pleasantly surprised by them both.
- Nailbiter, Volume 4: Blood Lust – Joshua Williamson & Mike Henderson. Moving away a bit from the conspiracy theory discovered in the last volume, Blood Lust brings us back to horror and confusion. Does Buckaroo have a new serial killer, is Agent Barker okay, and just what has Warren been up to in the big city? This continues to be a twisty-turny, enjoyable read.
- Miracleman, Book 1: The Golden Age – Neil Gaiman & Mark Buckingham. Possibly not the best entry point to the Miraclemen universe, but still a good read. It’s very Gaiman-y, with each issue telling the story of a more-or-less ordinary person in the new world order created by Miracleman. The stories differ wildly, but the sense that something isn’t quite right builds with each one. There are some cracking covers in there too.
- Nod – Adrian Barnes. Without warning, the vast majority of the population finds themselves unable to sleep. What happens next? I was ready to love this book. The concept is simple, but brilliant, and the cover is gorgeous. Sadly, it was a bit of a ‘meh’ read for me. I never warmed to the narrative voice (or, I suppose, the narrator), and that made it difficult to connect with what was going on. Some people have complained that we never learn the cause of the sleeplessness, but I would argue that that’s really not the point of the book. The book explores what it means to be human, what connects us and pushes us apart, and what we can be capable of when driven past our usual limits. I half recommend it, and half don’t, if you get what I mean…
- Sleeping Giants – Sylvain Neuvel. I was a bit wary of this when I realised it’s told through a series of interviews (I’ve not had great luck with books like that in the past), but I needn’t have been because the format works really well for the story. A little girl accidentally discovers what looks like the hand of a giant robot. She grows up to lead a research project into finding the rest of the parts of what seems to be an alien device. The beauty of the interview format here is that you never get the full picture. You get an idea, a version, of what’s going on, but you’re always left with a feeling that you’re missing something. Which is why you’ll never see the ending coming ;D
- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire – J.K. Rowling. This is a book that is unnecessarily long. It also doesn’t make a great deal of sense. Why does Quidditch have to be cancelled? And why is it okay for the Champions to skip their exams? Surely the older students need their exams to secure jobs and whatnot? All of that said, it’s a lot of fun, but my god, so loooooong.
- Dark Orbit – Carolyn Ives Gilman. I picked this up from the library because it had a nice cover, and was pleased to discover that it was actually quite good. A crew is sent to a distant uninhabited planet to carry out tests, but the situation begins to unravel very quickly. Dark Orbit is a very philosophical read, looking at our perceptions of reality and how they may limit us. It’s not, I feel, for everyone, but once I’d started it, I couldn’t put it down.
- The Lover’s Dictionary – David Levithan. A love story told in an experimental form. A book blogger recommended this to me really recently and I can’t remember who it was – identify yourself mystery book blogger! This was a great little read, jumping back and forth, highlighting the little moments that both make and have the potential to destroy the relationship between two people.
- Imperium, Volume 1: Collecting Monsters – Joshua Dysart & Doug Braithwaite. A man with super-powers wants to remake the world in the image he thinks is best. Pretty cliched, but this was a good read. Neither side seems to be wholly in the right, and as things progress, they get just that bit more unsettling. I’m interested to see where this title goes.
