Wednesday 9 February 2011

Paradise Lost



Next up in my binge of graphic novels: Strangers in Paradise Volume 19: Ever After by Terry Moore. This is the last volume in a long-running series published (mainly) by Abstract Studios. Except that's not the whole story: Terry Moore wrote, drew, lettered and published every issue of this black and white comic himself. That's an impressive feat for anyone, but when you take into consideration that Strangers ran monthly for 14 years and 90 issues... well, hats off to Mr Moore.

This was the first volume I'd read and although it's not advisable to plunge into a story in its final chapter, I still loved Ever After. I think it's testament to Moore's writing that I can read a volume of stories that resolves the fates of several characters that I have no prior perspective on, and still find it really enjoyable. It's easy enough to pick up bits of the backstory, or at least enough to enjoy the events of this volume without realising the full significance of the events.

So... this book begins in the wake of the death of a major character and an affair revealed. The issues collected here are all concerned with how the death (which I presume is shown in Volume 18) affects the lives of those who remain, as well as detailling the last days of David, whose life is slowly consumed by his cancer.

I don't want to reveal too many details of the plot, but Francine, Katchoo and David are forced to make some hard decisions here that redefine their relationships with one another. Apart from that, you'll have to seek this book out yourself to see if they all manage to live happily ever after!

Overall, Ever After is a very humane story with believable characters and witty writing. The issues in this volume really pack an emotional punch and I'm looking forward to going back to the start to find out how it all began.

Monday 7 February 2011

Vimanarama!

After finishing one novel a week for the first few weeks of 2011 (reviews up soon), I've taken a break from reading novels this past week or so. For the first time in a while, I've taken time out to just read graphic novels and comics.


Now to those who know me, that may not sound like such a break from my usual schedule. But I've usually got a novel (or two) on the go whilst I read other stuff. This is the first time I've really just plunged into graphic novels for a little while. And in the past week, I've read 3 very different books.


And not a cape or a spandex outfit in sight...

First up is Vimanarama, by Grant Morrison with art from Philip Bond. This title, easier to type than to pronounce, collects a 3-issue mini-series published by Vertigo comics. The story
centres on Ali, a young man from Bradford fretting over his upcoming arranged marriage and the tribulations of running his father's grocery shop. This is Grant Morrison's script though, and it doesn't take long for Ali to discover a bizarre underworld beneath the shop and re-awaken 5,000 year old Indian demons that threaten to destroy the world as we know it. Worst still, they've completely disrupted business at the grocery store. Ali's only chance to save everything he loves is to call upon a strange team of Indian superheroes, the Ultra-Hadeen.


Vimanarama is a strange mix of everyday, human drama and off-the-wall mythology. I'm not very knowledgeable about Indian folklore, so it's hard for me to comment on how well Morrison transforms the legends of the Ultra-Hadeen, the Ramas and the vimanas. To be honest, I couldn't tell you how much he's made up himself and what was already extant.


The artwork by Philip Bond is fantastically clear: he's at ease depicting Ali on his bicycle as much as drawing the race of evil demons. The writing is very sharp and witty, but ultimately I found this book a bit dissatisfying. Morrison's work is notoriously hard to follow, and I spent a lot of my time scratching my head and wondering why things were happening. Perhaps it would've worked better if it had been expanded into another issue. In the end, Vimanarama is a bit dissatisfying, but not without its charm.