BOOK AND PODCAST REVIEWS - FICTION

The Sandman: The Dream Country (Volume 3) (1990) American Gods (2001) Interworld (2007) - With Michael Reaves Neil Gaiman The Dream Country is third volume of the acclaimed The Sandman series but is stand-alone. This edition also contains the original script for the first of its four stories, Calliope, which might be of interest to students of illustration. Much of The Dream Country has been translated to film very effectively as part of a Sandman TV series shown on Netflix. If we are to be honest here, Neil Gaiman was engaged in a project to bring Tales from the Cryp t up the literary and artistic food chain. There is no doubt that he succeeds admirably in his task, aided by a series of excellent illustrators, but the stories, with the exception of his re-thinking of the origins of Shakespeare's 'Midsummer Night's Dream', are not complex - poetic and suggestive perhaps but not complex. The first story, Calliop e, tells of a writer's abuse of an incar

Skizz (1983) [ with Jim Baikie ]     Captain Britain Omnibus (1985-1987) [ Various Contributors, notably Dave Thorpe, Chris Claremont and Grant Morrison ]     Lost Girls (2006) [ with Melinda Gebbie ]     The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen [ with Kevin O'Neill ]        Black Dossier (2007 ) [ also with Ray Zone ]        Century 1910 (2009)      Century 1969 (2011)     Neonomicon (2010) [ with Anthony Johnston and Jacen Burrow s]     Fashion Beast (2013 originally from a 1985 film script) [ with Anthony Johnston and Facundo Percio ]   Skizz , first published in 1983 for British comic series 2000AD (originator of Judge Dredd and many other iconic comic figures), is a rather heart-warming tale. Yet the tale is told without losing an ounce of the dystopianism for which the British are so well known. Set on the Planet Burmy-Gam, it helps to read the text in a Brummy accent to get a real feel for it. Alan Moore is very good with linguistic clues – his brutal and unhinged

Tintin in Tibet (Tintin #20) (1959) Herge   Dream  Country (Sandman #3) (1990) Neil Gaiman/Kelley Jones/Charles Vess Blade of the Immortal: Volume 1 Blood of a Thousand (1994, Japan) Hiroaki Samura   The Invisibles: Volume 1 You Say You Want a Revolution (1994)  Grant Morrison/Steve Yeowell/Jill Thompson   Batman: Hush Volume 1 (2002) Jeph Loev/Scott Williams    Fables: Vol 1 Legends in Exile (2002)  Bill Willingham/Lan Medina/Steve Leialoha Manga: 60 Years of Japanese Comics (2004) Paul Gravett A Warning To Parents : Manga: 60 Years of Japanese Comics is a serious introduction to Manga and includes a few references to and examples of graphic sexual and violent works. It is almost certainly not suitable for children under the age of 15.   Alice in Sunderland (2007) Bryan Talbot   All-Star Superman Volume 1 (2007) Grant Morrison/Frank Quiteley   Batman: Noel (2011)   Lee Bermejo/Jim Lee Herge's Adventures of Tintin are classic 'ligne claire' comic books, representing a C