Marvel: THREE New Wolverine Titles…?

Last year, I had a chat with the President of a comics company in the US, and we joked about Marvel’s addiction to Wolverine and how he features in an ever-increasing number of their titles. With the roll-out of the Marvel NOW not-a-reboot-honest, readers will (of course) be offered some more titles that are all about Wolverine: Wolverine, Savage Wolverine and the soon-to-be-launched Ultimate Comics – Wolverine. Can there be too much of a great character? After all, he is a member of the Avengers, too…

Interview with PAUL CORNELL

Paul Cornell has written some great comics (Demon Knights and Saucer Country most recently, but also Action Comics and more), as well as for Dr Who and other fiction. With the release of his latest novel, London Falling, I thought it would be a perfect time to ask him about some of his recent work. In this interview, we learn more about Paul’s writing, his thoughts on genre, and I also discover that he’s no longer writing one of my favourite series…

Saucer Country, Vol.1 – “Run” (Vertigo)

Writer: Paul Cornell | Artists: Ryan Kelly, Jimmy Braxton (pp.117-136), Goran Sudzuka (pp.138-143) | Colors: Giulia Brusco, Lee Loughridge, Cris Peter

Arcadia Alvarado, the leading Democratic candidate for President of the United States, says she was “abducted by aliens.” As the Mexican-American Governor of New Mexico, she’s dealing with immigration, budget cuts and an alcoholic ex. She’s about to toss her hat into the ring as a candidate for President in the most volatile political climate ever. But then... a lonely road and a nightmarish encounter have left her with terrible, half-glimpsed memories. And now she has to become President. To expose the truth – and maybe, to save the world. With the help of her quirky staff, Arcadia will pursue the truth of her abduction into danger, mystery and awe.

Collects: Saucer Country #1-6

Saucer Country, one of Vertigo’s late-2012 new series, is a brilliant, dark thriller that blends UFO mythology with American political intrigue. The series started shortly before the 2012 Presidential election, which was very nicely timed. Gripping and very well-produced, this is a great read. Saucer Country is one of my favorite new series.

Free eBook: “Some of the best from Tor.com 2012”

Tor.com, that great hub for all things SFF, has released a free eBook anthology! The book collects (as the name should suggest) some of the best short stories from the past year (10 of them, to be exact).

Now, these stories are still available for free on the website itself, but if you find yourself wanting to read them while away from your computer or internet connection, then this eBook will help you out.

The roster of authors is impressive, too: Gene Wolfe, Rachel Swirsky, Michael Swanwick, Charles Stross, Paul Cornell, Brit Mandelo, Katheryn Cramer, Pat Murphy, Adam-Troy Castro, Elizabeth Bear.

Kindle US | Kindle UK | Apple | Nook

Recent Acquisitions (November/December)

A pre-Christmas selection of books that I’ve received or purchased over the last few weeks. A very nice selection, all told – only one book probably won’t be reviewed, and that’s because it’s the fifth book in a series I’ve never read. [See below – I’m offering it to a US/Canadian in return for a guest review.]

Upcoming: WOLVERINE (Marvel Now)

There are jokes about the sheer breadth of titles that feature Wolverine – he’s in a number of Avengers titles, and there are even multiple Wolverine-centric titles. In the re-booted Marvel NOW initiative, coming in the wake of the universe-spanning Avengers vs. X-Men event, there is of course a new Wolverine #1. The pre-AvX Wolverine was ably helmed by Jason Aaron.

Post-AvX, however, the title has become even more intriguing: it will be written by Paul Cornell.

Cornell is a masterful British writer, who has written in the Dr. Who universe and also, most recently and familiarly for me, DC’s New 52 Demon Knights and Stormwatch, as well as Saucer Country for Vertigo. (A review of the first collected edition of the latter to come very soon.)

Art duties for Wolverine will be handled by Alan Davies.

Here’s what Paul Cornell had to say about the series:

“This is the series that gets into what makes James Logan tick, that shows him being, as he puts it, ‘a regular guy’, interacting with civilian friends of his in New York City… The most amazing thing about James is that he’s been alive so long, gone through so many extraordinary things, is such a strange being, but holds on – very hard – to being a guy who likes to hang out in bars with good company, who can run a school, who’s a decent, civilized man. Most of the time. No vampire alienation and boredom for him. He’s a man of the people. I’m going to poke that and see what happens.”

Needless to say, I’m really looking forward to this. Wolverine #1 will be published some time in March 2013.

In semi-related Paul Cornell news: his latest novel, London Falling, will be published in December 2012 (UK) and April 2013 (US), by Tor Books in both territories.

“Stormwatch, Vol.1: The Dark Side” (DC)

Bold, brash, and ballsy – an intriguing sci-fi comic series

Writer: Paul Cornell | Artist: Miguel Sepulveda & Al Barrionuevo, | Colours: Allen Passalaqua, Alex Sinclair, Peter Pantazis & Chris Burnham

Jack Hawksmoor, Midnighter, Apollo, The Engineer and Martian Manhunter comprise a dangerous super human police force whose existence is kept secret from the world.

This covert team of sci-fi super heroes must battle the Earth’s moon itself and find a way to hide its monstrous metamorphosis from the rest of the Earth!

I only picked up these issues because I was enjoying Demon Knights so much, and this series is also written by Paul Cornell (who is now also writing the superb Saucer Country, published by Vertigo). I didn’t know anything about Stormwatch, except that it had connections with some of the other New 52 titles and who wrote it. As it turns out, it’s pretty good, and quite fun. However, I think I prefer the two aforementioned other series of Cornell’s over this one.

Upcoming: “LONDON FALLING” by Paul Cornell (Tor)

Some of you may know Paul Cornell through his comics work (Demon Knights, Saucer Country, Stormwatch to name but three of his most recent), but you may not know that he has a novel coming out in December 2012:

Here’s the synopsis, to further whet your appetite:

Detective Inspector James Quill is about to complete the drugs bust of his career. Then his prize suspect Rob Toshack is murdered in custody. Furious, Quill pursues the investigation, co-opting intelligence analyst Lisa Ross and undercover cops Costain and Sefton. But nothing about Toshack’s murder is normal.

Toshack had struck a bargain with a vindictive entity, whose occult powers kept Toshack one step ahead of the law – until his luck ran out. Now, the team must find a ‘suspect’ who can bend space and time and alter memory itself. And they will kill again.

As the group starts to see London’s ancient magic for themselves, they have two choices: panic or use their new abilities. Then they must hunt a terrifying supernatural force the only way they know how: using police methods, equipment and tactics. But they must all learn the rules of this new game – and quickly. More than their lives will depend on it.

It looks like it should appeal to fans of Ben Aaronovitch, China Mieville, Benedict Jacka, and pretty much any other Urban Fantasy author you could name. I’m rather looking forward to this. Here’s what the aforementioned Ben Aaronovitch has to say about the novel:

“An irresistible blend of guns, gangsters, cops and monsters that grabs you by the eyeballs and never lets go. Start this book early in the day people, because you ain’t going to get no sleep until it’s done.”

Comics Round-Up (Mar.14) the Third

Now that I’ve caught up with DC’s New 52, a few of them will start popping up in these post-release round-ups again. I should, therefore, be able to start offering more diverse and less DC-heavy round-ups and reviews in the future. That being said, they still release a lot of great titles and some of my favourites. And this week’s releases – DC and otherwise – were pretty awesome on the whole. A very happy reader, here.

Reviewed Herein: Batgirl #7, Batman & Robin #7, Batwoman #7, Demon Knights #7, Grifter #7, The Ray #4, Resurrection Man #7, Saga #1, Saucer Country #1, Star Wars: Agent of the Empire #4, Suicide Squad #7, Thief of Thieves #2

[Demon Knights & The Ray were last-minute additions to the round-up.]

DC New 52 Catch-Up: The Dark

I’ve decided to split the ‘Dark’ and ‘Edge’ review into two (otherwise, it would be a review of 21 comics, and that could end up being a bit unwieldy). These titles are, with the exception of Justice League Dark (a late addition to my pull-list), the ones that originally attracted my attention when I first started reading about the New 52. They promised more gothic, twisted and (excuse me) darker stories. I was not at all disappointed, and in fact these are some of my favourite comics full-stop, not just from the New 52.

Reviewed herein: Demon Knights #4-6, I Vampire #4-6, Justice League Dark #4-6, Resurrection Man #4-6

[While on the subject of The Dark, a reminder that I’ll be reviewing Swamp Thing #1-6 in an all-in-one, separate review.]

Upcoming: March 2012 Previews from Vertigo

If you’ve been in a comic store this past week, you may have either seen or received a new preview sampler issue that includes tastes of four new titles coming from Vertigo next month.

All four titles sound pretty cool, so I thought I’d just share some information on the blog to help generate some interest. I’m quite familiar with two of the series’ writers already, aware of a third, and one of them is an entirely new name to me.

So, read on for some information and quick thoughts on Dominique Laveau: Voodoo Child, Fairest, New Deadwardians and Saucer Country.

Artwork: “Demon Knights #4”

I’m not going to be able to review this one for a little while, but I just loved the cover artwork, by Mike Choi, so I thought I’d share it here:

Demon Knights is one of my favourite comics, part of DC’s New 52 reboot. Issue 4 is in stores tomorrow.

DC New 52: This Week’s Chosen Four

Strong second issues for four of DC’s rebooted titles

Taking a different approach to the previous DC New 52 reviews I’ve posted up here, I’ll now review them by week of release, I think. This will mean for less clutter on the website and hopefully more streamlined reviews. Also, assume that there are minor spoilers after the break – so if you don’t want anything spoiled, just pay attention to the pre-break stuff.

This week: Demon Knights, Grifter, Resurrection Man, and Suicide Squad – all four of which continue the stories started in their debut issues very well, and actually improve! Resurrection Man and Demon Knights are probably the strongest of the four, and only Suicide Squad has left me wondering about how long I’ll be sticking with it.

[I intend to stick with all the titles I’ve enjoyed until they lose my interest. It’ll be interesting – probably only for me – to see how far I get with some of them.]

DC New 52: “Demon Knights” #1

Demonic Possession & Invading Armies

Writer: Paul Cornell

Artists: Diogenes Neves & Oclair Albert

In the dark ages of the DC Universe, a barbarian horde is massing to crush civilization. It’s fallen to Madame Xanadu and Jason Blood, the man with a monster inside him, to stand in their way – though the demon Etrigan has no interest in protecting anyone or anything other than himself! It’ll take more than their own power to stop an army fuelled by bloodlust and dark sorcery, and some very surprising heroes – and villains – will have no choice but to join the fray!

Another title I knew nothing about, but came recommended by a number of people whose opinion I trust. An interesting premise, and it will be interesting to see where it’s headed.