DMZ: Body of a Journalist

DMZ Issue #2: Body of a Journalist

Matty Roth is back, and its up to him to stop an invasion of Manhattan. The plot in this issue is very intricate, and it has a few twists and turns, but it is overall pretty satisfying. The artwork is just as gritty, and once again really captures the horrors of war.

This issue shows just how troubled Matty is. He is constantly trying to come to terms with what he witnesses on a daily basis; the dismembered bodies, the horrible destruction, and the constant threat of being killed at any moment are starting to really takes its toll on the young journalist. It will be interesting to see how is coverage and his overall demeanor changes in the next few issues.

While the first issue focused on life in the DMZ, this issue focuses on unveiling the complicated conspiracy between Liberty Press (the news network that Matty works for) and the U.S. government. I wont delve too much into the plot, but it gets a bit heavy. It's not as addictive as the first issue (mainly because it was just so original), but it is still very entertaining. Issue #2 also includes a short origin story on Zee (which is nicely done), and also a "guide book" on life in the DMZ (which despite being rather short, it adds some much needed life and flavor to the neighborhood that Matty calls home). Overall, this issue wasn't as good as the first, but it still incredibly awesome.

Los Angeles Noir

Mystery/Fiction

Style: Anthology of Short Stories

Edited by Denise Hamilton

LA Noire for Xbox 360 is finally out! Honestly, I've been counting down the days for some time now, and I can't wait to don my fedora and do a little sleuthing in a recreated 1940's Los Angeles. To quote the famous Humphrey Bogart: "[It's] the stuff that dreams are made of." 

Okay... Mr. Sam Spade in the Maltese Falcon (classic noir novel and book) may have been referring to a big gold bird, but if he had an Xbox back in the Depression he would've been just as excited as me. 

Anyway, in honor of that oh-so-awesome video game, I picked up a copy of Los Angeles Noir (I think the video game messed up the spelling), which is an excellent anthology of murder mysteries and detective stories that all take place in the City of Angels. Some of the authors include famed crime author Michael Connelly, Janet Fitch, Susan Straight, Tector Tobar, and L.A. Times reporter Denise Hamilton. My personal favorite so far is the short by Janet Fitch, which takes place in Beverly Hills and involves a rather complicated jewelry heist. The anthology reminds us that L.A. is the home of the noir genre (made famous by Hollywood, the gritty narratives usually revolve around a rather dark and intricate mystery), and each story reflects that concept rather potently. Streetwise characters, unethical behavior, and copious amounts of crime all set within icon locales throughout Los Angeles; this anthology is a definite must for any fan of the genre.

Fight Club

Author: Chuck Palahniuk

Fiction

Plot: Come on... do I really need to explain this one? Anyway, the unnamed narrator, who makes a living investigating accidents for a car company to assess their overall liability, is combating his insomnia and very potent anomie by attending a series of support-group meetings for the terminally ill. He meets an apathetic woman named Marla at one of them (testicular cancer), and soon thereafter, he also meets his new best friend -- Tyler Durden. It's with him that he starts a new sort of club: one where young (and equally disenchanted) men can meet come together in total equality... and beat the shit out of one another. Welcome to Fight Club.     

Okay, I've seen the movie version, and like everyone else I know, I loved it. But I was interested in reading the book, and seeing if there were any differences. I also wanted to try my first Chuck Palahniuk book and see how it affected me (my girlfriend is a big fan, and she warned me of the side effects: general apathy, sarcasm, etc). And well, lets just say, it definitely had an affect on me. The book will linger with you, like the way wine or alcohol lingers on your palate. You'll sarcastically joke about the office drones at work. You'll worry that there's pee in your coffee. You'll bash IKEA. And above all, you'll long to knock someone out with a hook to the jaw. Palahniuk's writing is superb, and reads like poetry. If you really want to understand where this whole Fight Club phenomenon began, pick up this book. Oh, and did I mention that the ending is different from the movie? That was a surprising treat. Just remember... the first rule about fight club is: you don't talk about fight club. You've been warned. 

DMZ: On the Ground

Type: Graphic Novel
Author: Brian Wood
Illustrator: Riccardo Burchielli (it's his first American comic!)
Plot: In the not-so-distant-future (a bit of a cliché, I know), America is engulfed in chaos. Occupied with expensive wars abroad, the U.S. government ignored dissent at home. Left unchecked, it resulted in an armed uprising led by Middle America. These “Free States” pushed the U.S. government back to the coasts, eventually coming to a standstill in New York — in particular, Manhattan, or as the rest of the world knows it, the DMZ.

This is where Matty Roth comes in. He's a phototech intern who is working as a lowly assistant to a famous photojournalist. When his boss is assigned to cover the living conditions in Manhattan, Roth goes with him. It's supposed to be a straightforward assignment, but as soon as they land in the city, everything goes completely wrong. Their helicopter is attacked, and Roth is the only one that survives. Now he has a choice: try and escape Manhattan, or stay and cover the DMZ as the only embedded journalist in the entire city.

Verdict: Excellent. This graphic novel is incredible. The story and illustrations have natural grit that (at least in my opinion) really captures the brutal nature of war. Couple that with the fact that the fighting is going on in one of the most famous cities in the world, and you have an engaging setting to say the least. Folks that are little unfamiliar with journalism may not identify with Roth, but anyone who has dreamed of seeing their name in print and lived the life of a menial intern can really appreciate the character. Overall, this shit is addictive. Pick it up ASAP.

The Enterprise of Death

Author: Jesse Bullington

Genre(s): Historical, Fantasy, Horror
Publisher: Orbit
Available Formats: Trade paperback
Description: As the witch-pyres of the Spanish Inquisition blanket Renaissance Europe in a moral haze, a young African slave finds herself the unwilling apprentice of an ancient necromancer. Unfortunately, quitting his company proves even more hazardous than remaining his pupil when she is afflicted with a terrible curse. Yet salvation may lie in a mysterious tome her tutor has hidden somewhere on the war-torn continent.

She sets out on a seemingly impossible journey to find the book, never suspecting her fate is tied to three strangers: the artist Niklaus Manuel Deutsch, the alchemist Dr. Paracelsus, and a gun-slinging Dutch mercenary. As Manuel paints her macabre story on canvas, plank, and church wall, the young apprentice becomes increasingly aware that death might be the least of her concerns.

Review:

I was a huge fan of Bullington's previous book, The Sad Tale of the Brothers Grossbart, (the story follows two sadistic brothers as they murder and pillage their way through medieval Europe), because his use of brutality, humor, and sheer unadulterated perversion was throughly addictive. It spent nearly a month on my bedside table, and I'm pretty sure I must've read it at least two or three times. Sure, the bashed in skulls, roving cannibals, f-bombs, and copious amounts of sex and vomit (yep, Bullington finds a way to combine the two) may not be for everyone, but I honestly fell in love with those two dastardly bastards after reading the first few pages.  

So with that said, I was very excited when The Enterprise of Death finally came out. I honestly thought that it would be somewhat similar murderous romp through Europe (one that would give me plenty of nightmares), but instead it was a meandering collection of flashbacks that left me feeling rather unattached. I never felt as connected with Awa (the African Slave) as I did with the Brothers Grossbart, and Bullington honestly had difficulty with his timing. The beginning (or what feels like it) stretches on for nearly 250 pages, despite the fact that the book is only around 470 pages long. After that point, I expected the story to progress a little more quickly, but it never did. There were no interesting plot twists and no unique character developments--it actually felt like Bullington wanted this story to be much longer, but his publishers pushed him to cut it drastically. The ending just suddenly pops up, and is rather unexpected (and not in a satisfying way either). 

Overall, I was disappointed. And although I will still give Bullington the benefit of the doubt on his next book, The Enterprise of Death gets pretty low marks from me. 

The Half-Made World

I love the idea of the Old West. The gunslingers, the shootouts, the gut-drilling combination of whiskey and baked beans—I love it all. Felix Gilman’s “The Half-Made World” plays on everything I love about the Wild West, and then injects it with some much-needed originality: namely, dark magic and steam punk. Gunmen with possessed revolvers roam a seemingly never-ending frontier, battling locomotive monsters that live and breathe industrialization. The gunmen belong to the order of the Gun (they didn’t put much thought in their organization’s title) and they fight the engines and machines of the Line (another short and sweet title), whom are vying to bring civilization and technology to the lawless west by any means necessary.

Sadly, “Shane” could never live up to that sort of action. (And just so you know, for Western aficionados, that’s like saying John Wayne was pansy. So, I’m living on the edge here.)

The plot is original and exciting. It’s a unique twist on a well-worn concept, and it shows. Gilman spends most of the book highlighting his characters and the setting. The three main characters (John Creedmore the gunmen, Officer Lowry of the Line, and Liv the innocent psychologist) are all fleshed out completely, and reader is left with an in-depth understanding of their motives, goals, and fears.

The setting, however, is the main star of the story. Gilman loves to describe the mountains, prairies, and deserts that the characters trek through with the utmost detail—and he does a great job. The scenery really does come to life, and when the characters venture out into the maddening and undiscovered realms of the West, Gilman makes sure that the readers are well aware of why the land is truly insane—time seems to stand still, violent creatures roam about, and reality begins to slip into the realm of fantasy and the impossible. It’s exciting stuff.

Yet, the big bummer is that the book is set up for a sequel, and it feels like a let down. Gilman drones on and on about certain key world-changing facets in the plot (I wont give anything away), raises tons of questions, and then doesn’t answer them. Characters are dropped off quickly (and after spending dozens of pages through their POV while witnessing the world around them, it feels kind of hollow to leave them so quickly), things start to feel a little too hopeless in the plot, and then quicker then you can say “multi-book deal,” the story just ends.  Honestly, at times it feels like Gilman was more focused on the setting then the actual plot, and it shows by the fact that the reader is left feeling rather unfulfilled by the events in the story.

Overall, though, it’s a great book and well worth the read. 

No Man’s World: Black Hand Gang by Pat Kelleher

Take a battalion of World War I British soldiers (a.k.a Tommies), and put them on a hostile alien jungle planet. Then, add several dozen ravenous monsters, and a race of talking bugs with a superiority complex. Next, sprinkle a shortage of ammunition, and a psychopathic murderer that makes Jack the Riper look like Mr. Rogers, and you’ve got the general premise for Pat Kelleher’s No Man’s World: Black Hand Gang. The end result is unique sci fi story that makes for a very entertaining read, and will keep you hooked for the possible sequel.

On November 1st 1916, the nine hundred men of the 13th Battalion of “The Pennine Fusiliers” are dug in on the Somme, waiting for the order to “go over the top” into an inevitable bloodbath. Without any warning, the entire battlefield (along with most the Pennines) is suddenly and unexpectedly transported to another world. The Pennnines emerge from their muddy trenches to find that their tiny section of the Western Front is smack in the middle of a primordial jungle. It isn’t long before the new arrivals attract some of the curious and rather vicious wildlife, and a bloody battle ensues.

The book is very well researched, and the reader will feel privy to the everyday going-ons of the average British Tommie in World War One. From insulting slang, to different types of trenches, as well as the uses and operations of various WWI-era weapons, Kelleher appears to have done his homework, as his British Tommies seem to be as close to the real deal as possible. 

Much of the first portion of the book is set aside to build up the situation, as well as identify the numerous characters. Readers of war narratives will be familiar to this set up, as Kelleher spends a good deal of time establishing the “brothers in arms” mentality. The characters are unfortunately not very unique – there’s the good guy soldier that everyone admires, the despicable corporal that seems to hate everyone in his unit, and the Lieutenant that doesn’t want any responsibility – the characters aren’t really what the book is about, as it is more so about the absurd setting, and how on earth (no pun intended) they got there. His description of the planet is wonderful, and for most of the book, the reader will wonder how any of these men will be able to survive. How they got there is somewhat explained during the side story of the treacherous Lieutenant named Jefferies (who displays his Manson-like characteristics early in the book), and so the theme of the occult and black magic carries on through out the story.

What readers may not like though, is that No Man’s World is set up for a sequel; so do not expect any immediate answers. In addition, the author states that his story is based on a historical occurrence, although as far as I know, there aren’t any records of anything like this ever occurring. I give No Man’s World: Black Hand Gang 7 out of 10 ray guns.