Scott's Take: Klaus by Grant Morrison and illustrated by Dan Mora

 

Klaus by Grant Morrison and illustrated by Dan Mora tells the story of Santa Year One. This is an origin book covering how Klaus became Santa in his first year. Taking classical elements of his backstory, various traditions, and other elements, this tale is set long ago in a medieval world full of magic. It tells a unique origin story of Santa as a revolutionary trying to bring joy to a town being oppressed by a tyrant. It’s hard to talk about the plot without ruining the story, but this Santa is more of an action hero than most Santa depictions.

 

Illustrator Dan Mora provides his wonderful art using bright colors and detailed imagery. Dan Mora is widely considered by many one of the best artists in comics today for a reason. He is really good.

 

The final fight between Santa and the big villain of the tale sees Santa uttering some excellent lines while facing off against a terrifying foe. The final fight might be my favorite part of the graphic novel.

 

I am not a Christmas guy anymore since my mom passed, but this was a really good read.  My one complaint is I wish the epilogue was a bit longer.

 

The second volume in the series is titled, Klaus: The New adventures of Santa Claus, and I look forward to reading it.

Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/42H5iW0  

 

My reading copy came from the Skyline Branch of the Dallas Public Library System.

 

Scott A. Tipple ©2024

Scott's Take: Spider-Man's Bad Connection by Preeti Chhibber

Spider-Man's Bad Connection by Preeti Chhibber is the second book in the series that began with Spider-Man’s Social Dilemma. This review contains at least one spoiler as there is no way to get around the problem. You are warned.

 

Now that Mary Jane knows Peter is Spider-Man, she is playing in active role in being his partner to help protect the city. The Faithless have selected a new ally to help them conqueror the Earth. Their new ally is the teleporting villain, Spot, able to rip teleporting disks off his skin and then to use them to teleport anything to anywhere. This makes him very dangerous. The ability is made more of a threat because he is an emotionally immature former scientist turned villain. His severe emotional issues contrast against Spider-Man’s rather adult perspective despite being a teenager. All this and more is going on in this action packed second novel.

 

Overall, I enjoyed this novel, but once again events are being setup for the third novel instead of being wrapped up here. So, this reader was again annoyed that the book ended abruptly.

 

Additionally, the Mary Jane subplot causes two issues. First, it drags the read as it is designed to help explore Mary Jane and Peter’s relationship since he is a superhero and not a normal boyfriend. They have unique challenges facing the couple. The subplot also does a major portion of the setup for the next book in the series.

 

Despite the aforementioned negatives, the humor, action, and character development is present in this second book in the series that is also a pretty good read. The third book in the series does not have a title or a release date yet.

Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/49syiTG

My reading copy came from the Dallas West Branch of the Dallas Public Library System.

 

Scott A. Tipple © 2023

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Aubrey Nye Hamilton Reviews: Fun & Games by Duane Swierczynski

Duane Swierczynski writes crime fiction and comic books and has also written several works of nonfiction. His Charlie Hardie trilogy follows the former cop as he tries to recover from the death of his former partner and the partner’s family while hiding in fear of meeting the same fate. He decided moving around reduces the likelihood anyone can find him and he’s fallen accidentally into a plush house-sitting job which lets him drink himself senseless and watch movies all day while getting a free place to sleep with a salary.

His last gig in southern California ended when the wind changed direction with little notice and swept a wildfire toward the home he was in, giving him minutes to gather everything he could that he thought the writer owner of the house would value – manuscripts, laptops, folders of research. He bolted as ash was pouring onto his car. After that narrow escape, he worked on the East Coast for awhile.

The new assignment in LA for a sound track composer traveling to Russia seemed straightforward enough. He arrived at the house tucked away in the Hollywood Hills however and found no key waiting for him. Instead he found a minor actress hiding in the house, insisting that a group of people was trying to kill her. He assumed she was whacked out on drugs or alcohol until the same group made it plain that they had expanded their plans to include his demise.

Hardie’s defense against the putative killers is great, it reminded me of the old MacGyver show. Swierczynski’s expertise in comic books and action heroes shows clearly, as Hardie resists every attempt to subdue him. A stab in the chest with a microphone stand doesn’t stop him and a taser merely stuns him for a minute or two. The hysterical babbling of the actress about a murder for hire outfit sounds outlandish at first but it becomes so realistic that the story could easily trigger conspiracy-minded folks.

A fast-moving action-packed thriller with an original premise. Starred review from Publishers Weekly. 

 

·         Publisher: ‎Mulholland Books; 1st edition (June 20, 2011)

·         Language: ‎English

·         Paperback: ‎286 pages

·         ISBN-10: ‎0316133280

·         ISBN-13: ‎978-0316133289

  

The Amazon Associate Link: https://amzn.to/3OfqJI0 

 

Aubrey Nye Hamilton ©2024 

Aubrey Hamilton is a former librarian who works on Federal It projects by day and reads mysteries at night.

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