Penguin / DeLillo Comic

I’ve never read Don DeLillo’s White Noise. I did read Libra during a university module once and quite enjoyed it, although I tend to find when you have to read something it’s never as enjoyable as when you want to read something. The prospect of writing an essay on it immediately afterwards is also not a great incentive to finish.

Penguin are bringing out a comic book version of the novel to coincide with the 25^th year since the release of White Noise. The artwork has been be done by a one Michael Cho who I know nothing about, Google his name though and you come up with, slightly disconcertingly, a report about a Korean American artist shot dead by the police in 2007 Clearly it’s not the same guy unless Cho’s ghost is updating his Penguin blog regularly. Or some space / time continuum thing is happening… I hadn’t thought of that before…hmmmm.

This is the third post in a row about an anniversary of some kind. How strange.

Online / Downloadable Graphic Novels

This post first appeared a loooong time ago (Jan 2008 I think) so I’m not entirely sure how many of the links are still working / comics are still available, but I’ve only just found it and most of the comics look awsome, and they should help you while away a good few hours if you’re so inclined.

Thanks to Daily Bits for organising the list, that’s what a real website should do, give people content they’ve created, not just regurgitate what they find. I’m in awe, and maybe one day I’ll do the same. Until then this is the link for the 17 comics…. www.dailybits.com/17-sensational-free-and-downloadable-graphic-novels/

 

NB. A lot of the comics that say Vol 1 in the title are from Vertigo’s website, where you can download the first volume of a graphic novel as a taster.

Fahrenheit 451 Reimagined

It seems that this blog is becoming more and more devoted to graphic novels. Perhaps it’s just because at the moment they’re what’s grabbing my attention, and there’s a lot of stuff on the internet about them, and they look damn good.

Fahrenheit 451 is one of those books that I’m slightly miffed that I still haven’t read. I know I’ll like it and I can’t quite work out why I haven’t read it, I just haven’t (Huxley’s Brave New World is another like that).

I was reading some interesting stuff online about graphic novels and Disney and the links between the two and somehow I moved on to a page about Fahrenheit 451 being re-imagined as a graphic novel by artist Tim Hamilton (the book was released July 21 of this year).

Normally the idea of a book being transposed into another medium doesn’t really do it for me. Book to film is different in that it’s a big enough leap and completely different way of experiencing the story, book to comic book I’m not convinced by as it’s essentially the same medium (you’ve got to turn the pages) and it always seems to me that the original is weakened by any additions, no matter how well intentioned or skilled they are.

Maybe because I haven’t read this sci-fi classic yet, or maybe it’s just the image above that caught me imagination but I like the idea of the Fahrenheit 451 graphic novel. I want to read the original first, but if I can get hold of a copy easily and cheaply I will do.

Razorjack

Artist of Judge Dredd, colourist of Watchmen and Killing Joke, and geneal imcumbent at 2000AD, John Higgins is well known within the comic book world.

Razorjack is his own project, begun 15 years ago and continued with this latest collection.

“I wanted to mix genres — detective fiction, murder mystery, science fiction and fantasy. All the people I’ve enjoyed reading in the past, I just tried to cram them into one story. If Razorjack could be described as anything it would hard-boiled SF noir. It touches on elements loved by 14-year-old fanboys — excitement and adventure — but also has some adult themes: the story is about a serial killer and deals with twisted sexuality.” Times Interview 2009

You can read the first 23 pages of the collection here… http://www.timesonline.co.uk/multimedia/archive/00578/razorjack_578163a.pdf

Neil Gaiman’s Bookshelf

Neil Gaiman’s (American Gods, Anasi Boys, Sandman, Stardust and plenty more) bookshelf is pretty masssive. You can click through on the page to close ups of the shelves to make out the individual titles.

http://blog.shelfari.com/my_weblog/2009/09/neil.html

Comics

I never knew much about comics growing up. I read the Beano religiously for years and kept every issue I bought (I think they’re in the attic somewhere), and I liked the X-Men cartoon that played on TV (Gambit was especially cool), but I never got into the comic domain that I now see was floating just over the horizon. Since every second film produced by Hollywood since 2000 has been a based on a comic book character (30 Days of Night (2007), 300 (2007), American Splendor (2003), Batman Begins (2005), The Dark Knight (2008), Blade II (2002), Blade: Trinity (2004), Constantine (2005), Daredevil (2003), Elektra (2005), Fantastic Four (2005), Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007), Ghost Rider (2007), Hellboy (2004), Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008), A History of Violence (2005). Hulk (2003, The Incredible Hulk (2008), Iron Man (2008), Iron Man 2 (2009/2010?), The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003), The Punisher (2004), Road to Perdition (2002), Sin City (2005), Spider-Man 2 (2004), Spider-Man 3 (2007), The Spirit (2008), Superman Returns (2006), V for Vendetta (2006), Wanted (2008), Watchmen (2009), X-Men (2000), X2 (2003), X-Men: The Last Stand (2006), X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009) – and this isn’t even a complete list) I got to know a little bit more about comics, but even then I didn’t pay much attention to them.

Then before Watchmen was released I thought I should read the comic (or graphic novel) before I saw the film in case the film ruined it for me. This is a publication that has won HUGE acclaim, as I’m sure you know, (people wouldn’t shut up about it for months, years, before the release of the film) from just about every reputable reviewer and publication out there. I bought the graphic novel, wasn’t disappointed, in fact was blown away, so much so that I’ve read it twice and still haven’t seen the film yet.

So, long, slightly boring, story short, I’ve been getting into my comics. Watchmen, Maus, From Hell, LXG 1 & 2 etc I’ve bought them, read them, loved them. And I don’t care that they tend to be more expensive than other books because when you open them it feels, not like you have a work of art in your hand, but like you have something better than a work of art. The colouring, the imagination, the styling, the construction of each page is magnificent enough to be hung on a gallery wall, but as well as that you get plot, characterization, pop culture references and dialogue so sharp you bleed onto the page. It’s fantastic.

All of this is by way of an introduction to the fact that my burgeoning love of comic books will be translated onto the blog along with the more regular fare (white pages, text, no pictures).

I begin with this, a comic with a title that makes you smile even before you’ve seen any artwork, Cowboys and Aliens.

Read it online here….

http://www.drunkduck.com/CowboysAndAliens/