the tale continues, 04 Nov 2008
Its been about a year since i read the gunslinger born. In the time between reading that ad this, the long road home i have read 5 stephen king novels, and a multitude of marvel graphic novels. They were good, but the are all just a pillar for this.

In my own opinion, surely not everyones, but if your reading this you might agree, that the dark tower series is one of the best fantasy series of all time. The question is what does the long road home add to that?

Without ruining the story, ill say that it adds a considerable amount of knowledge we previously never had about the crimson king, as well as doing what it says on the cover, adding to the gap years between the barony of mejis and jericho hill.

I do have to say the artwork is once again brilliant, with a lot of effort being put into the book. Once again hard bound in leather straight away you are getting value for money. The writing is good, but recognisably comic dialogue rather than novel dialogue. Its snappish, witty, and not a word is ever wasted.

There are 2 bad points about this book though, as happy as i am with it. The first is that the plotline is very thin. not a lot really happens, i can see this being a set-up for another book down the line. The other thing is i dont see it being instantly accessible to those who have never read the novels. There are references to other books than the wizard and glass in here.

One final thing, at the back is a map, which shows the path roland took on his journey in wolves of calla, song of susannah and the dark tower.

Even if you arent a fan of graphic novels in the slightest if you want the dark tower you will enjoy this.

A long road ahead, 10 Oct 2008

"The Gunslinger Born" explored the origins and early struggles of young Roland Deschain, as well as the loss of his first true love, Susan Delgado.

And Stephen King's "Dark Tower: The Long Road Home" picks up right after that, showing us more devastating events that shaped Roland Deschain into the gunslinger anti-hero we know and love. While the first part is rather slow, it has plenty of horrific moments and the haunting quality of a "world that has moved on."

A devastated Roland takes down Susan's charred body, as Alain and Bert argue about whether they should be stopping. But suddenly Roland fires at Maerlyn's Grapefruit -- which suddenly turns into a tentacled eyeball that jumps on Roland's face, and enthralls his very soul before they can peel it off. His ka-tet is chased by a bunch of local thugs, the last Big Coffin Hunter, and a ghastly pack of mutated wolves.

Nearby, a mentally challenged boy named Sheemie was seen climbing into old war machines, only to encounter a strange robot that is somehow still "alive."And inside Maerlyn's Grapefruit, Roland is slowly being driven mad in his own memories -- right before being dragged to the hellish citadel of the Crimson King, who reveals a ghastly secret to the young boy from long ago, which will change him forever...

"The Dark Tower: Long Road Home" isn't quite as gripping as its predecessor, "The Gunslinger Born" -- partly because it's a briefer story, and partly because it's simpler. It's a tribute to Stephen King's original story -- and to the hauntingly vivid artwork -- that it's still such an intense rollercoaster ride.

After the heartbreaking first few pages, the plot speeds into a suitably confusing, desperate chase through a lonely wilderness, with plenty of gunshots and dying creatures. Things actually get rather gory as Roland's pals struggle over rickety bridges and across a red-tinged wilderness, since one of them almost gets his arm bitten off (and announces that he'd rather die than shoot left-handed forever. Hardcore, kid).

And since this is a world made by Stephen King, we have plenty of the eerie and the horrible -- Sheemie's confrontation with a baby-faced robot is just one example. King's rich, old-time narrative translates well into comic form, almost as if he were conversing with the readers ("But don't be laughing at Sheemie, I beg ya, because he's been through considerable trials").

And Jae Lee and Richard Isanove really bring this story to life -- they create a world split between bright bloody red mist and autumnal twilight, filled with shadowy faces, barren lands, and ghastly pursuers. And inside the Grapefruit, we get a full cornucopia of horrors, with Roland defiantly trying to keep his sanity and soul intact in a dusty, hazy landscape full of withered trees, tragic future selves, evil crows, lumpy castles, and the vaguely spidery King with his hellish magic and his suitably evil offers to Roland.

"The Gunslinger Born" introduced Roland as a boy, but "The Long Road Home" has undeniably made him a man. He has the guts and integrity to snarl not just at Marte but at the King himself. And after being in Roland's shadow for so long, Alain and Cuthbert also get to take center stage here -- we get to see just how strong and capable they are.

"Dark Tower: The Long Road Home" is not as tightly-written as its predecessor, but it's filled with a sense of overhanging horror and some solid action for the sidekicks. Definitely worth checking out.

the tale continues, 04 Nov 2008
Its been about a year since i read the gunslinger born. In the time between reading that ad this, the long road home i have read 5 stephen king novels, and a multitude of marvel graphic novels. They were good, but the are all just a pillar for this.

In my own opinion, surely not everyones, but if your reading this you might agree, that the dark tower series is one of the best fantasy series of all time. The question is what does the long road home add to that?

Without ruining the story, ill say that it adds a considerable amount of knowledge we previously never had about the crimson king, as well as doing what it says on the cover, adding to the gap years between the barony of mejis and jericho hill.

I do have to say the artwork is once again brilliant, with a lot of effort being put into the book. Once again hard bound in leather straight away you are getting value for money. The writing is good, but recognisably comic dialogue rather than novel dialogue. Its snappish, witty, and not a word is ever wasted.

There are 2 bad points about this book though, as happy as i am with it. The first is that the plotline is very thin. not a lot really happens, i can see this being a set-up for another book down the line. The other thing is i dont see it being instantly accessible to those who have never read the novels. There are references to other books than the wizard and glass in here.

One final thing, at the back is a map, which shows the path roland took on his journey in wolves of calla, song of susannah and the dark tower.

Even if you arent a fan of graphic novels in the slightest if you want the dark tower you will enjoy this.

A long road ahead, 10 Oct 2008

"The Gunslinger Born" explored the origins and early struggles of young Roland Deschain, as well as the loss of his first true love, Susan Delgado.

And Stephen King's "Dark Tower: The Long Road Home" picks up right after that, showing us more devastating events that shaped Roland Deschain into the gunslinger anti-hero we know and love. While the first part is rather slow, it has plenty of horrific moments and the haunting quality of a "world that has moved on."

A devastated Roland takes down Susan's charred body, as Alain and Bert argue about whether they should be stopping. But suddenly Roland fires at Maerlyn's Grapefruit -- which suddenly turns into a tentacled eyeball that jumps on Roland's face, and enthralls his very soul before they can peel it off. His ka-tet is chased by a bunch of local thugs, the last Big Coffin Hunter, and a ghastly pack of mutated wolves.

Nearby, a mentally challenged boy named Sheemie was seen climbing into old war machines, only to encounter a strange robot that is somehow still "alive."And inside Maerlyn's Grapefruit, Roland is slowly being driven mad in his own memories -- right before being dragged to the hellish citadel of the Crimson King, who reveals a ghastly secret to the young boy from long ago, which will change him forever...

"The Dark Tower: Long Road Home" isn't quite as gripping as its predecessor, "The Gunslinger Born" -- partly because it's a briefer story, and partly because it's simpler. It's a tribute to Stephen King's original story -- and to the hauntingly vivid artwork -- that it's still such an intense rollercoaster ride.

After the heartbreaking first few pages, the plot speeds into a suitably confusing, desperate chase through a lonely wilderness, with plenty of gunshots and dying creatures. Things actually get rather gory as Roland's pals struggle over rickety bridges and across a red-tinged wilderness, since one of them almost gets his arm bitten off (and announces that he'd rather die than shoot left-handed forever. Hardcore, kid).

And since this is a world made by Stephen King, we have plenty of the eerie and the horrible -- Sheemie's confrontation with a baby-faced robot is just one example. King's rich, old-time narrative translates well into comic form, almost as if he were conversing with the readers ("But don't be laughing at Sheemie, I beg ya, because he's been through considerable trials").

And Jae Lee and Richard Isanove really bring this story to life -- they create a world split between bright bloody red mist and autumnal twilight, filled with shadowy faces, barren lands, and ghastly pursuers. And inside the Grapefruit, we get a full cornucopia of horrors, with Roland defiantly trying to keep his sanity and soul intact in a dusty, hazy landscape full of withered trees, tragic future selves, evil crows, lumpy castles, and the vaguely spidery King with his hellish magic and his suitably evil offers to Roland.

"The Gunslinger Born" introduced Roland as a boy, but "The Long Road Home" has undeniably made him a man. He has the guts and integrity to snarl not just at Marte but at the King himself. And after being in Roland's shadow for so long, Alain and Cuthbert also get to take center stage here -- we get to see just how strong and capable they are.

"Dark Tower: The Long Road Home" is not as tightly-written as its predecessor, but it's filled with a sense of overhanging horror and some solid action for the sidekicks. Definitely worth checking out.

Curiosity Value Only, 16 Feb 2008
The 1970s Spider-Woman comic - one of the first Marvel titles to have a female lead - was a wasted opportunity. The concept was good: a super-powered HYDRA agent who overcomes her brainwashing, trying to forge her own path and rediscover her past. The power-set was good: gliding, wall-crawling, super-agility, and low-level blasts and super-strength gave her a toolkit for getting into and out of all sorts of interesting situations, without making her impossible to threaten or stop. But inspiration was in short supply, and the stories that resulted were a confused mess.

I was prompted to buy this collection for two reasons: firstly because I was curious to see how 70s Marvel would cope with a title centred around a female character, and secondly because I knew that Spider-Woman had only run for about 50 issues total, and I thus hoped for some of the same sense of narrative development and closure I'd seen in the even more short-lived Iron Fist series from the same era, now collected in the brilliant Essential Iron Fist, and found lacking in the more long-running titles. I was disappointed on both counts. Whereas Iron Fist kept itself sharply focussed on its hero's world of martial arts lunacy and dark family secrets, Spider-Woman lurches all over the place, pitting its heroine against random villains-of-the-month as she, like us, wonders what on earth she's actually going to do with her life. She doesn't set out to be a crime-fighter, like Spider-Man; crime just sort of happens to her, and she just sort of fights it, although usually not very efficiently. Towards the end of this collection a new writer takes over, and magically transforms her from an unemployed receptionist into a successful bounty hunter (complete with police contacts, secret base, and a wheelchair-bound criminologist sidekick, although where any of them came from is not explained), which at least gives her adventures some kind of structure. But coming so late in the day, it looks hopelessly contrived, and her overall story still lacks any sort of focus.

And the gender issue? Well, let's put it like this: the authors clearly weren't aiming for a female audience. Spider-Woman spends an inordinate number of panels getting dressed and undressed, getting into and out of showers, and so on; and even when she has her clothes on, the writer and artist lose no opportunities to remind us that, yes, that costume is skin-tight, and, yes, she is rather on the curvaceous side. The authors seem largely unable to credit her with any kind of ability to control her feelings or her life, allowing her instead to be swept up in the wake of whichever male character has most recently crossed her path, including more than one smooth-talking male villain. (Compare her random wanderings to the stalwart stances taken by Marvel's male characters - the idealistic Captain America, the honour-bound Thor, the responsibility-laden Spider-Man, the crusading Daredevil, the enlightened cosmic guardianship of Dr Strange - and her lack of a clear moral centre becomes even more obvious. And can you imagine any silver-tongued undercover terrorist seducing Captain America? I thought not.) The villains don't help; in this collection alone she encounters the likes of The Hangman (who comes out of nowhere, ties her up in various bondage poses, and then inexplicably vanishes), Gypsy Moth (who comes out of nowhere, partially unravels her costume, and then inexplicably vanishes), and Waxman (who comes out of nowhere, tries to seduce her, sprays her with his `obscene goo' - I'm not making this up! - and then either dies or commits suicide), and at one point our poor heroine even wonders to herself if she'll ever get through a week without somebody tying her up. On the evidence of this collection, I rather doubt she ever will.

It's all rather a pity. Carmine Infanto can certainly draw, and there is good material here: Spider-Woman's origins, the Hatros clinic / cult of Kali plotline, and Spider-Woman's search for a man who won't mind her rescuing him all the time, for example. But it could, and should, have been better than it is, especially coming from a company that had already created a number of much better-realised female characters: Rachel Van Helsing, Colleen Wing, and Misty Knight, to name just three of Spider-Woman's near-contemporaries. I'll give it three stars, because you do get a lot for your money, and some of it's pretty good. But I doubt I'll be reading volume two.

To know her is to fear her. , 30 Jan 2008
I had the first issue here, Marvel Spotlight 32 many eons ago on the strength of the cover but most of these tales were new to me.
Spotlight introduced Spider-Woman as an agent of Hydra, gliding in on sleek under-arm wings to attack SHIELD before she becomes aware she has been tricked and before she despatches the Hydra leader she is given a distorted version of her origin.
The next batch of stories are a 5 parter from the Marvel Two-in-One series wherein she is again briefly under Hydra's control before she joins up with The Thing, Invisible Woman and eventually Modred the Mystic as they leave tearing London apart to head for Stonehenge where Modred reveals her true origin.
Staying In London a few issues Jessica Drew, her real identity, becomes conscious of other people's negative reactions to her, she also meets the evil Morgan Le Fay and her puppet Excaliber.
Moving to the states the tales ratchet up a gear or two, accompanied by the old magician Magnus and shortly SHIELD agent Jerry Hunt. First the extremely odd Brother Grimm, most people will have figured out something is strange as this storyline develops by "his" name alone. The excellent, if twisted, vigilante Hangman, Morgan Le Fey again, the very strange Needle and then Gypsy Moth.
The true secret of the Brothers Grimm and their "mother" Madame Doll is a decent tale and has a very interesting tie-in with a very early Iron Man tale from 1963. Then the evil albino Nekra appears before coming unstuck, Nekra is the first villain to be smart enough to grab Spider-Woman's very long hair, it was a girl-fight. The shots of her clinging to a ceiling to stay under cover whilst toting a very long wig do stretch artistic leeway that bit too much though.
There's a couple of guest appearances by Werewolf By Night (one against the Enforcer) and a team-up with the very odd hero The Shroud before the eventual meeting with Spider-Man where the two realise how much they have in common.
It's after that meeting and her desire to earn money, she cannot hold a job down as something about her makes many people feel uncomfortable, she is advised it is her "natural" pheromones. That desire leads her to become a bounty hunter, aided by a wheelchair bound, sports car driving computer whizz sidekick Scotty McDowell, a trick a few more characters have latched onto (Birds of Prey,Steel). As a bounty hunter she takes out the psychotic Clown and eventually the Gamesman but not before being taught a lesson in life or two.
All in all a pretty good start to the series. A few great tales, most of the others are good and a there's a few so-so's. Former DC comics stalwart Carmine Infantino does a pretty fair job on the artwork too, pushing as much visible skin as was possible under the Comics Code Authority.

the tale continues, 04 Nov 2008
Its been about a year since i read the gunslinger born. In the time between reading that ad this, the long road home i have read 5 stephen king novels, and a multitude of marvel graphic novels. They were good, but the are all just a pillar for this.

In my own opinion, surely not everyones, but if your reading this you might agree, that the dark tower series is one of the best fantasy series of all time. The question is what does the long road home add to that?

Without ruining the story, ill say that it adds a considerable amount of knowledge we previously never had about the crimson king, as well as doing what it says on the cover, adding to the gap years between the barony of mejis and jericho hill.

I do have to say the artwork is once again brilliant, with a lot of effort being put into the book. Once again hard bound in leather straight away you are getting value for money. The writing is good, but recognisably comic dialogue rather than novel dialogue. Its snappish, witty, and not a word is ever wasted.

There are 2 bad points about this book though, as happy as i am with it. The first is that the plotline is very thin. not a lot really happens, i can see this being a set-up for another book down the line. The other thing is i dont see it being instantly accessible to those who have never read the novels. There are references to other books than the wizard and glass in here.

One final thing, at the back is a map, which shows the path roland took on his journey in wolves of calla, song of susannah and the dark tower.

Even if you arent a fan of graphic novels in the slightest if you want the dark tower you will enjoy this.

A long road ahead, 10 Oct 2008

"The Gunslinger Born" explored the origins and early struggles of young Roland Deschain, as well as the loss of his first true love, Susan Delgado.

And Stephen King's "Dark Tower: The Long Road Home" picks up right after that, showing us more devastating events that shaped Roland Deschain into the gunslinger anti-hero we know and love. While the first part is rather slow, it has plenty of horrific moments and the haunting quality of a "world that has moved on."

A devastated Roland takes down Susan's charred body, as Alain and Bert argue about whether they should be stopping. But suddenly Roland fires at Maerlyn's Grapefruit -- which suddenly turns into a tentacled eyeball that jumps on Roland's face, and enthralls his very soul before they can peel it off. His ka-tet is chased by a bunch of local thugs, the last Big Coffin Hunter, and a ghastly pack of mutated wolves.

Nearby, a mentally challenged boy named Sheemie was seen climbing into old war machines, only to encounter a strange robot that is somehow still "alive."And inside Maerlyn's Grapefruit, Roland is slowly being driven mad in his own memories -- right before being dragged to the hellish citadel of the Crimson King, who reveals a ghastly secret to the young boy from long ago, which will change him forever...

"The Dark Tower: Long Road Home" isn't quite as gripping as its predecessor, "The Gunslinger Born" -- partly because it's a briefer story, and partly because it's simpler. It's a tribute to Stephen King's original story -- and to the hauntingly vivid artwork -- that it's still such an intense rollercoaster ride.

After the heartbreaking first few pages, the plot speeds into a suitably confusing, desperate chase through a lonely wilderness, with plenty of gunshots and dying creatures. Things actually get rather gory as Roland's pals struggle over rickety bridges and across a red-tinged wilderness, since one of them almost gets his arm bitten off (and announces that he'd rather die than shoot left-handed forever. Hardcore, kid).

And since this is a world made by Stephen King, we have plenty of the eerie and the horrible -- Sheemie's confrontation with a baby-faced robot is just one example. King's rich, old-time narrative translates well into comic form, almost as if he were conversing with the readers ("But don't be laughing at Sheemie, I beg ya, because he's been through considerable trials").

And Jae Lee and Richard Isanove really bring this story to life -- they create a world split between bright bloody red mist and autumnal twilight, filled with shadowy faces, barren lands, and ghastly pursuers. And inside the Grapefruit, we get a full cornucopia of horrors, with Roland defiantly trying to keep his sanity and soul intact in a dusty, hazy landscape full of withered trees, tragic future selves, evil crows, lumpy castles, and the vaguely spidery King with his hellish magic and his suitably evil offers to Roland.

"The Gunslinger Born" introduced Roland as a boy, but "The Long Road Home" has undeniably made him a man. He has the guts and integrity to snarl not just at Marte but at the King himself. And after being in Roland's shadow for so long, Alain and Cuthbert also get to take center stage here -- we get to see just how strong and capable they are.

"Dark Tower: The Long Road Home" is not as tightly-written as its predecessor, but it's filled with a sense of overhanging horror and some solid action for the sidekicks. Definitely worth checking out.

Curiosity Value Only, 16 Feb 2008
The 1970s Spider-Woman comic - one of the first Marvel titles to have a female lead - was a wasted opportunity. The concept was good: a super-powered HYDRA agent who overcomes her brainwashing, trying to forge her own path and rediscover her past. The power-set was good: gliding, wall-crawling, super-agility, and low-level blasts and super-strength gave her a toolkit for getting into and out of all sorts of interesting situations, without making her impossible to threaten or stop. But inspiration was in short supply, and the stories that resulted were a confused mess.

I was prompted to buy this collection for two reasons: firstly because I was curious to see how 70s Marvel would cope with a title centred around a female character, and secondly because I knew that Spider-Woman had only run for about 50 issues total, and I thus hoped for some of the same sense of narrative development and closure I'd seen in the even more short-lived Iron Fist series from the same era, now collected in the brilliant Essential Iron Fist, and found lacking in the more long-running titles. I was disappointed on both counts. Whereas Iron Fist kept itself sharply focussed on its hero's world of martial arts lunacy and dark family secrets, Spider-Woman lurches all over the place, pitting its heroine against random villains-of-the-month as she, like us, wonders what on earth she's actually going to do with her life. She doesn't set out to be a crime-fighter, like Spider-Man; crime just sort of happens to her, and she just sort of fights it, although usually not very efficiently. Towards the end of this collection a new writer takes over, and magically transforms her from an unemployed receptionist into a successful bounty hunter (complete with police contacts, secret base, and a wheelchair-bound criminologist sidekick, although where any of them came from is not explained), which at least gives her adventures some kind of structure. But coming so late in the day, it looks hopelessly contrived, and her overall story still lacks any sort of focus.

And the gender issue? Well, let's put it like this: the authors clearly weren't aiming for a female audience. Spider-Woman spends an inordinate number of panels getting dressed and undressed, getting into and out of showers, and so on; and even when she has her clothes on, the writer and artist lose no opportunities to remind us that, yes, that costume is skin-tight, and, yes, she is rather on the curvaceous side. The authors seem largely unable to credit her with any kind of ability to control her feelings or her life, allowing her instead to be swept up in the wake of whichever male character has most recently crossed her path, including more than one smooth-talking male villain. (Compare her random wanderings to the stalwart stances taken by Marvel's male characters - the idealistic Captain America, the honour-bound Thor, the responsibility-laden Spider-Man, the crusading Daredevil, the enlightened cosmic guardianship of Dr Strange - and her lack of a clear moral centre becomes even more obvious. And can you imagine any silver-tongued undercover terrorist seducing Captain America? I thought not.) The villains don't help; in this collection alone she encounters the likes of The Hangman (who comes out of nowhere, ties her up in various bondage poses, and then inexplicably vanishes), Gypsy Moth (who comes out of nowhere, partially unravels her costume, and then inexplicably vanishes), and Waxman (who comes out of nowhere, tries to seduce her, sprays her with his `obscene goo' - I'm not making this up! - and then either dies or commits suicide), and at one point our poor heroine even wonders to herself if she'll ever get through a week without somebody tying her up. On the evidence of this collection, I rather doubt she ever will.

It's all rather a pity. Carmine Infanto can certainly draw, and there is good material here: Spider-Woman's origins, the Hatros clinic / cult of Kali plotline, and Spider-Woman's search for a man who won't mind her rescuing him all the time, for example. But it could, and should, have been better than it is, especially coming from a company that had already created a number of much better-realised female characters: Rachel Van Helsing, Colleen Wing, and Misty Knight, to name just three of Spider-Woman's near-contemporaries. I'll give it three stars, because you do get a lot for your money, and some of it's pretty good. But I doubt I'll be reading volume two.

To know her is to fear her. , 30 Jan 2008
I had the first issue here, Marvel Spotlight 32 many eons ago on the strength of the cover but most of these tales were new to me.
Spotlight introduced Spider-Woman as an agent of Hydra, gliding in on sleek under-arm wings to attack SHIELD before she becomes aware she has been tricked and before she despatches the Hydra leader she is given a distorted version of her origin.
The next batch of stories are a 5 parter from the Marvel Two-in-One series wherein she is again briefly under Hydra's control before she joins up with The Thing, Invisible Woman and eventually Modred the Mystic as they leave tearing London apart to head for Stonehenge where Modred reveals her true origin.
Staying In London a few issues Jessica Drew, her real identity, becomes conscious of other people's negative reactions to her, she also meets the evil Morgan Le Fay and her puppet Excaliber.
Moving to the states the tales ratchet up a gear or two, accompanied by the old magician Magnus and shortly SHIELD agent Jerry Hunt. First the extremely odd Brother Grimm, most people will have figured out something is strange as this storyline develops by "his" name alone. The excellent, if twisted, vigilante Hangman, Morgan Le Fey again, the very strange Needle and then Gypsy Moth.
The true secret of the Brothers Grimm and their "mother" Madame Doll is a decent tale and has a very interesting tie-in with a very early Iron Man tale from 1963. Then the evil albino Nekra appears before coming unstuck, Nekra is the first villain to be smart enough to grab Spider-Woman's very long hair, it was a girl-fight. The shots of her clinging to a ceiling to stay under cover whilst toting a very long wig do stretch artistic leeway that bit too much though.
There's a couple of guest appearances by Werewolf By Night (one against the Enforcer) and a team-up with the very odd hero The Shroud before the eventual meeting with Spider-Man where the two realise how much they have in common.
It's after that meeting and her desire to earn money, she cannot hold a job down as something about her makes many people feel uncomfortable, she is advised it is her "natural" pheromones. That desire leads her to become a bounty hunter, aided by a wheelchair bound, sports car driving computer whizz sidekick Scotty McDowell, a trick a few more characters have latched onto (Birds of Prey,Steel). As a bounty hunter she takes out the psychotic Clown and eventually the Gamesman but not before being taught a lesson in life or two.
All in all a pretty good start to the series. A few great tales, most of the others are good and a there's a few so-so's. Former DC comics stalwart Carmine Infantino does a pretty fair job on the artwork too, pushing as much visible skin as was possible under the Comics Code Authority.

A Big Dipper, 04 Jul 2007
I have to admit, I don't like Marvel comics. Having spent a good twenty years reading comics, I'm a DC man through and through. However, I'm a sucker for the sort of books that entertains and engages a dipper - the reader who has a couple of minutes to spare and nothing more. When you don't have time to consume a chapter of your latest book or thumb through a comic, few things match up to the potential of this book. Riffle the pages and read about a classic hero or villain, alive or dead; or a few alien races; or a nice piece of super-equipment; or details of an expansive and well-equipped headquarters. Yes, it's twenty years out of date and yes, it's in black-and-white; but pound for pound, the worth of this volume when compared to the hours, days, weeks... years of pleasure I'll get out of it - it's massive value for money. The only downside for me... those snatched minutes I wanted to fill can sometimes turn into hours if I get caught up in an interesting thread of interlinked heroes... Ah well.

the tale continues, 04 Nov 2008
Its been about a year since i read the gunslinger born. In the time between reading that ad this, the long road home i have read 5 stephen king novels, and a multitude of marvel graphic novels. They were good, but the are all just a pillar for this.

In my own opinion, surely not everyones, but if your reading this you might agree, that the dark tower series is one of the best fantasy series of all time. The question is what does the long road home add to that?

Without ruining the story, ill say that it adds a considerable amount of knowledge we previously never had about the crimson king, as well as doing what it says on the cover, adding to the gap years between the barony of mejis and jericho hill.

I do have to say the artwork is once again brilliant, with a lot of effort being put into the book. Once again hard bound in leather straight away you are getting value for money. The writing is good, but recognisably comic dialogue rather than novel dialogue. Its snappish, witty, and not a word is ever wasted.

There are 2 bad points about this book though, as happy as i am with it. The first is that the plotline is very thin. not a lot really happens, i can see this being a set-up for another book down the line. The other thing is i dont see it being instantly accessible to those who have never read the novels. There are references to other books than the wizard and glass in here.

One final thing, at the back is a map, which shows the path roland took on his journey in wolves of calla, song of susannah and the dark tower.

Even if you arent a fan of graphic novels in the slightest if you want the dark tower you will enjoy this.

A long road ahead, 10 Oct 2008

"The Gunslinger Born" explored the origins and early struggles of young Roland Deschain, as well as the loss of his first true love, Susan Delgado.

And Stephen King's "Dark Tower: The Long Road Home" picks up right after that, showing us more devastating events that shaped Roland Deschain into the gunslinger anti-hero we know and love. While the first part is rather slow, it has plenty of horrific moments and the haunting quality of a "world that has moved on."

A devastated Roland takes down Susan's charred body, as Alain and Bert argue about whether they should be stopping. But suddenly Roland fires at Maerlyn's Grapefruit -- which suddenly turns into a tentacled eyeball that jumps on Roland's face, and enthralls his very soul before they can peel it off. His ka-tet is chased by a bunch of local thugs, the last Big Coffin Hunter, and a ghastly pack of mutated wolves.

Nearby, a mentally challenged boy named Sheemie was seen climbing into old war machines, only to encounter a strange robot that is somehow still "alive."And inside Maerlyn's Grapefruit, Roland is slowly being driven mad in his own memories -- right before being dragged to the hellish citadel of the Crimson King, who reveals a ghastly secret to the young boy from long ago, which will change him forever...

"The Dark Tower: Long Road Home" isn't quite as gripping as its predecessor, "The Gunslinger Born" -- partly because it's a briefer story, and partly because it's simpler. It's a tribute to Stephen King's original story -- and to the hauntingly vivid artwork -- that it's still such an intense rollercoaster ride.

After the heartbreaking first few pages, the plot speeds into a suitably confusing, desperate chase through a lonely wilderness, with plenty of gunshots and dying creatures. Things actually get rather gory as Roland's pals struggle over rickety bridges and across a red-tinged wilderness, since one of them almost gets his arm bitten off (and announces that he'd rather die than shoot left-handed forever. Hardcore, kid).

And since this is a world made by Stephen King, we have plenty of the eerie and the horrible -- Sheemie's confrontation with a baby-faced robot is just one example. King's rich, old-time narrative translates well into comic form, almost as if he were conversing with the readers ("But don't be laughing at Sheemie, I beg ya, because he's been through considerable trials").

And Jae Lee and Richard Isanove really bring this story to life -- they create a world split between bright bloody red mist and autumnal twilight, filled with shadowy faces, barren lands, and ghastly pursuers. And inside the Grapefruit, we get a full cornucopia of horrors, with Roland defiantly trying to keep his sanity and soul intact in a dusty, hazy landscape full of withered trees, tragic future selves, evil crows, lumpy castles, and the vaguely spidery King with his hellish magic and his suitably evil offers to Roland.

"The Gunslinger Born" introduced Roland as a boy, but "The Long Road Home" has undeniably made him a man. He has the guts and integrity to snarl not just at Marte but at the King himself. And after being in Roland's shadow for so long, Alain and Cuthbert also get to take center stage here -- we get to see just how strong and capable they are.

"Dark Tower: The Long Road Home" is not as tightly-written as its predecessor, but it's filled with a sense of overhanging horror and some solid action for the sidekicks. Definitely worth checking out.

Curiosity Value Only, 16 Feb 2008
The 1970s Spider-Woman comic - one of the first Marvel titles to have a female lead - was a wasted opportunity. The concept was good: a super-powered HYDRA agent who overcomes her brainwashing, trying to forge her own path and rediscover her past. The power-set was good: gliding, wall-crawling, super-agility, and low-level blasts and super-strength gave her a toolkit for getting into and out of all sorts of interesting situations, without making her impossible to threaten or stop. But inspiration was in short supply, and the stories that resulted were a confused mess.

I was prompted to buy this collection for two reasons: firstly because I was curious to see how 70s Marvel would cope with a title centred around a female character, and secondly because I knew that Spider-Woman had only run for about 50 issues total, and I thus hoped for some of the same sense of narrative development and closure I'd seen in the even more short-lived Iron Fist series from the same era, now collected in the brilliant Essential Iron Fist, and found lacking in the more long-running titles. I was disappointed on both counts. Whereas Iron Fist kept itself sharply focussed on its hero's world of martial arts lunacy and dark family secrets, Spider-Woman lurches all over the place, pitting its heroine against random villains-of-the-month as she, like us, wonders what on earth she's actually going to do with her life. She doesn't set out to be a crime-fighter, like Spider-Man; crime just sort of happens to her, and she just sort of fights it, although usually not very efficiently. Towards the end of this collection a new writer takes over, and magically transforms her from an unemployed receptionist into a successful bounty hunter (complete with police contacts, secret base, and a wheelchair-bound criminologist sidekick, although where any of them came from is not explained), which at least gives her adventures some kind of structure. But coming so late in the day, it looks hopelessly contrived, and her overall story still lacks any sort of focus.

And the gender issue? Well, let's put it like this: the authors clearly weren't aiming for a female audience. Spider-Woman spends an inordinate number of panels getting dressed and undressed, getting into and out of showers, and so on; and even when she has her clothes on, the writer and artist lose no opportunities to remind us that, yes, that costume is skin-tight, and, yes, she is rather on the curvaceous side. The authors seem largely unable to credit her with any kind of ability to control her feelings or her life, allowing her instead to be swept up in the wake of whichever male character has most recently crossed her path, including more than one smooth-talking male villain. (Compare her random wanderings to the stalwart stances taken by Marvel's male characters - the idealistic Captain America, the honour-bound Thor, the responsibility-laden Spider-Man, the crusading Daredevil, the enlightened cosmic guardianship of Dr Strange - and her lack of a clear moral centre becomes even more obvious. And can you imagine any silver-tongued undercover terrorist seducing Captain America? I thought not.) The villains don't help; in this collection alone she encounters the likes of The Hangman (who comes out of nowhere, ties her up in various bondage poses, and then inexplicably vanishes), Gypsy Moth (who comes out of nowhere, partially unravels her costume, and then inexplicably vanishes), and Waxman (who comes out of nowhere, tries to seduce her, sprays her with his `obscene goo' - I'm not making this up! - and then either dies or commits suicide), and at one point our poor heroine even wonders to herself if she'll ever get through a week without somebody tying her up. On the evidence of this collection, I rather doubt she ever will.

It's all rather a pity. Carmine Infanto can certainly draw, and there is good material here: Spider-Woman's origins, the Hatros clinic / cult of Kali plotline, and Spider-Woman's search for a man who won't mind her rescuing him all the time, for example. But it could, and should, have been better than it is, especially coming from a company that had already created a number of much better-realised female characters: Rachel Van Helsing, Colleen Wing, and Misty Knight, to name just three of Spider-Woman's near-contemporaries. I'll give it three stars, because you do get a lot for your money, and some of it's pretty good. But I doubt I'll be reading volume two.

To know her is to fear her. , 30 Jan 2008
I had the first issue here, Marvel Spotlight 32 many eons ago on the strength of the cover but most of these tales were new to me.
Spotlight introduced Spider-Woman as an agent of Hydra, gliding in on sleek under-arm wings to attack SHIELD before she becomes aware she has been tricked and before she despatches the Hydra leader she is given a distorted version of her origin.
The next batch of stories are a 5 parter from the Marvel Two-in-One series wherein she is again briefly under Hydra's control before she joins up with The Thing, Invisible Woman and eventually Modred the Mystic as they leave tearing London apart to head for Stonehenge where Modred reveals her true origin.
Staying In London a few issues Jessica Drew, her real identity, becomes conscious of other people's negative reactions to her, she also meets the evil Morgan Le Fay and her puppet Excaliber.
Moving to the states the tales ratchet up a gear or two, accompanied by the old magician Magnus and shortly SHIELD agent Jerry Hunt. First the extremely odd Brother Grimm, most people will have figured out something is strange as this storyline develops by "his" name alone. The excellent, if twisted, vigilante Hangman, Morgan Le Fey again, the very strange Needle and then Gypsy Moth.
The true secret of the Brothers Grimm and their "mother" Madame Doll is a decent tale and has a very interesting tie-in with a very early Iron Man tale from 1963. Then the evil albino Nekra appears before coming unstuck, Nekra is the first villain to be smart enough to grab Spider-Woman's very long hair, it was a girl-fight. The shots of her clinging to a ceiling to stay under cover whilst toting a very long wig do stretch artistic leeway that bit too much though.
There's a couple of guest appearances by Werewolf By Night (one against the Enforcer) and a team-up with the very odd hero The Shroud before the eventual meeting with Spider-Man where the two realise how much they have in common.
It's after that meeting and her desire to earn money, she cannot hold a job down as something about her makes many people feel uncomfortable, she is advised it is her "natural" pheromones. That desire leads her to become a bounty hunter, aided by a wheelchair bound, sports car driving computer whizz sidekick Scotty McDowell, a trick a few more characters have latched onto (Birds of Prey,Steel). As a bounty hunter she takes out the psychotic Clown and eventually the Gamesman but not before being taught a lesson in life or two.
All in all a pretty good start to the series. A few great tales, most of the others are good and a there's a few so-so's. Former DC comics stalwart Carmine Infantino does a pretty fair job on the artwork too, pushing as much visible skin as was possible under the Comics Code Authority.

A Big Dipper, 04 Jul 2007
I have to admit, I don't like Marvel comics. Having spent a good twenty years reading comics, I'm a DC man through and through. However, I'm a sucker for the sort of books that entertains and engages a dipper - the reader who has a couple of minutes to spare and nothing more. When you don't have time to consume a chapter of your latest book or thumb through a comic, few things match up to the potential of this book. Riffle the pages and read about a classic hero or villain, alive or dead; or a few alien races; or a nice piece of super-equipment; or details of an expansive and well-equipped headquarters. Yes, it's twenty years out of date and yes, it's in black-and-white; but pound for pound, the worth of this volume when compared to the hours, days, weeks... years of pleasure I'll get out of it - it's massive value for money. The only downside for me... those snatched minutes I wanted to fill can sometimes turn into hours if I get caught up in an interesting thread of interlinked heroes... Ah well.

Fallible humans with superpowers try to change the world., 11 Mar 2001
This collection of a limited series produced in 1985-6 has a split personality. Open it at random and you see the art style and 4-colour printing typical of the period - but the story is something entirely different. In most comics it's perfectly clear who the good guys and bad guys are, and the story consists of fight scenes linked by brief flashes of soul-searching and character development. Here, the world's premier superteam decide to use their powers to really change the world for the better, but at the expense of individual freedoms. Each time they do so, the next decision becomes easier to make. One of their members quits in protest and seeks to stop them, bringing together a group of supervillains to stop the heroes for moral reasons. "Right" and "wrong" become increasingly blurred. The Squadron's aim is noble, but it's being implemented by human beings. Cracks appear early on, and there's a mounting sense that it's all going to go horribly wrong. It does. There are few fight scenes - the focus is on the decisions characters make. People get ill and fall in love, characters die, and using superpowers can have serious consequences. In the end, the most important things can't be fixed by super-speed or atomic vision.

The core members of the team clearly *are* the Justice League of America, duplicating the powers and even origin stories of Superman, Wonder Woman, et al. There's no attempt to hide this, and it doesn't matter - what's *done* with the characters is the important thing (allowing author Gruenwald to experiment with ideas that would wreck mainstream continuity), and plenty of original ones are introduced along the way. Downsides? The view of America as the only important place on the planet jarred in a couple of places. Aiming at a family audience may have tamed the presentation a little, leading to such memorable dialogue as, "You sons of fishes!" It's not a cheap book, but you are getting 12 issues of 'Squadron Supreme' plus a crossover issue of 'Captain America'. Overall, a gem of comics history, introducing ideas that are still being explored in books like 'The Authority' fifteen years later.

It belongs with Dark Knight Returns and the Watchman, 15 May 1999
When Mark Gruenwald passed away in 1996, the comic book industry lost one of it's most hard working writers. Mark loved writing comics and this series was one he was most proud of. It deals with how far superheroes can go to solve the world's problems and even if they have the best of intentions, it can still end with tragic results. That's what happens here. This was the first time that such ethical/moral issues were discussed in comic book writing. If you like Dark Knight returns and the Watchman, then read Squadron Supreme, it really makes you stop and think.

A Grand Comic Book Epic, 16 Nov 1998
This graphic novel reprints the amazing epic comics written by Mark Gruenwald. The 'Squadron Supreme' was a group of unknown heroes I've never heard of before this book. But it made the reading even more exciting by figuring out who everyone is, what they think, and how they get along with each other.

The members of the 'Squadron Supreme' decide to create a utopia for mankind. This idea slowly divides the team against each other. At first they do good by getting food for the hungry and finding job opportunities for the out-of-work. However their deeds become more and more controversial, albeit well-meaning, such as banning guns and criminal reform via mind altering.

The story progresses to a final deadly conflict. In the end you question to what limit your own morals extend. ... This is highly recommended for comic book fans. A must-read for those who enjoyed 'Marvels' and 'Kingdom Come'.

the tale continues, 04 Nov 2008
Its been about a year since i read the gunslinger born. In the time between reading that ad this, the long road home i have read 5 stephen king novels, and a multitude of marvel graphic novels. They were good, but the are all just a pillar for this.

In my own opinion, surely not everyones, but if your reading this you might agree, that the dark tower series is one of the best fantasy series of all time. The question is what does the long road home add to that?

Without ruining the story, ill say that it adds a considerable amount of knowledge we previously never had about the crimson king, as well as doing what it says on the cover, adding to the gap years between the barony of mejis and jericho hill.

I do have to say the artwork is once again brilliant, with a lot of effort being put into the book. Once again hard bound in leather straight away you are getting value for money. The writing is good, but recognisably comic dialogue rather than novel dialogue. Its snappish, witty, and not a word is ever wasted.

There are 2 bad points about this book though, as happy as i am with it. The first is that the plotline is very thin. not a lot really happens, i can see this being a set-up for another book down the line. The other thing is i dont see it being instantly accessible to those who have never read the novels. There are references to other books than the wizard and glass in here.

One final thing, at the back is a map, which shows the path roland took on his journey in wolves of calla, song of susannah and the dark tower.

Even if you arent a fan of graphic novels in the slightest if you want the dark tower you will enjoy this.

A long road ahead, 10 Oct 2008

"The Gunslinger Born" explored the origins and early struggles of young Roland Deschain, as well as the loss of his first true love, Susan Delgado.

And Stephen King's "Dark Tower: The Long Road Home" picks up right after that, showing us more devastating events that shaped Roland Deschain into the gunslinger anti-hero we know and love. While the first part is rather slow, it has plenty of horrific moments and the haunting quality of a "world that has moved on."

A devastated Roland takes down Susan's charred body, as Alain and Bert argue about whether they should be stopping. But suddenly Roland fires at Maerlyn's Grapefruit -- which suddenly turns into a tentacled eyeball that jumps on Roland's face, and enthralls his very soul before they can peel it off. His ka-tet is chased by a bunch of local thugs, the last Big Coffin Hunter, and a ghastly pack of mutated wolves.

Nearby, a mentally challenged boy named Sheemie was seen climbing into old war machines, only to encounter a strange robot that is somehow still "alive."And inside Maerlyn's Grapefruit, Roland is slowly being driven mad in his own memories -- right before being dragged to the hellish citadel of the Crimson King, who reveals a ghastly secret to the young boy from long ago, which will change him forever...

"The Dark Tower: Long Road Home" isn't quite as gripping as its predecessor, "The Gunslinger Born" -- partly because it's a briefer story, and partly because it's simpler. It's a tribute to Stephen King's original story -- and to the hauntingly vivid artwork -- that it's still such an intense rollercoaster ride.

After the heartbreaking first few pages, the plot speeds into a suitably confusing, desperate chase through a lonely wilderness, with plenty of gunshots and dying creatures. Things actually get rather gory as Roland's pals struggle over rickety bridges and across a red-tinged wilderness, since one of them almost gets his arm bitten off (and announces that he'd rather die than shoot left-handed forever. Hardcore, kid).

And since this is a world made by Stephen King, we have plenty of the eerie and the horrible -- Sheemie's confrontation with a baby-faced robot is just one example. King's rich, old-time narrative translates well into comic form, almost as if he were conversing with the readers ("But don't be laughing at Sheemie, I beg ya, because he's been through considerable trials").

And Jae Lee and Richard Isanove really bring this story to life -- they create a world split between bright bloody red mist and autumnal twilight, filled with shadowy faces, barren lands, and ghastly pursuers. And inside the Grapefruit, we get a full cornucopia of horrors, with Roland defiantly trying to keep his sanity and soul intact in a dusty, hazy landscape full of withered trees, tragic future selves, evil crows, lumpy castles, and the vaguely spidery King with his hellish magic and his suitably evil offers to Roland.

"The Gunslinger Born" introduced Roland as a boy, but "The Long Road Home" has undeniably made him a man. He has the guts and integrity to snarl not just at Marte but at the King himself. And after being in Roland's shadow for so long, Alain and Cuthbert also get to take center stage here -- we get to see just how strong and capable they are.

"Dark Tower: The Long Road Home" is not as tightly-written as its predecessor, but it's filled with a sense of overhanging horror and some solid action for the sidekicks. Definitely worth checking out.

Curiosity Value Only, 16 Feb 2008
The 1970s Spider-Woman comic - one of the first Marvel titles to have a female lead - was a wasted opportunity. The concept was good: a super-powered HYDRA agent who overcomes her brainwashing, trying to forge her own path and rediscover her past. The power-set was good: gliding, wall-crawling, super-agility, and low-level blasts and super-strength gave her a toolkit for getting into and out of all sorts of interesting situations, without making her impossible to threaten or stop. But inspiration was in short supply, and the stories that resulted were a confused mess.

I was prompted to buy this collection for two reasons: firstly because I was curious to see how 70s Marvel would cope with a title centred around a female character, and secondly because I knew that Spider-Woman had only run for about 50 issues total, and I thus hoped for some of the same sense of narrative development and closure I'd seen in the even more short-lived Iron Fist series from the same era, now collected in the brilliant Essential Iron Fist, and found lacking in the more long-running titles. I was disappointed on both counts. Whereas Iron Fist kept itself sharply focussed on its hero's world of martial arts lunacy and dark family secrets, Spider-Woman lurches all over the place, pitting its heroine against random villains-of-the-month as she, like us, wonders what on earth she's actually going to do with her life. She doesn't set out to be a crime-fighter, like Spider-Man; crime just sort of happens to her, and she just sort of fights it, although usually not very efficiently. Towards the end of this collection a new writer takes over, and magically transforms her from an unemployed receptionist into a successful bounty hunter (complete with police contacts, secret base, and a wheelchair-bound criminologist sidekick, although where any of them came from is not explained), which at least gives her adventures some kind of structure. But coming so late in the day, it looks hopelessly contrived, and her overall story still lacks any sort of focus.

And the gender issue? Well, let's put it like this: the authors clearly weren't aiming for a female audience. Spider-Woman spends an inordinate number of panels getting dressed and undressed, getting into and out of showers, and so on; and even when she has her clothes on, the writer and artist lose no opportunities to remind us that, yes, that costume is skin-tight, and, yes, she is rather on the curvaceous side. The authors seem largely unable to credit her with any kind of ability to control her feelings or her life, allowing her instead to be swept up in the wake of whichever male character has most recently crossed her path, including more than one smooth-talking male villain. (Compare her random wanderings to the stalwart stances taken by Marvel's male characters - the idealistic Captain America, the honour-bound Thor, the responsibility-laden Spider-Man, the crusading Daredevil, the enlightened cosmic guardianship of Dr Strange - and her lack of a clear moral centre becomes even more obvious. And can you imagine any silver-tongued undercover terrorist seducing Captain America? I thought not.) The villains don't help; in this collection alone she encounters the likes of The Hangman (who comes out of nowhere, ties her up in various bondage poses, and then inexplicably vanishes), Gypsy Moth (who comes out of nowhere, partially unravels her costume, and then inexplicably vanishes), and Waxman (who comes out of nowhere, tries to seduce her, sprays her with his `obscene goo' - I'm not making this up! - and then either dies or commits suicide), and at one point our poor heroine even wonders to herself if she'll ever get through a week without somebody tying her up. On the evidence of this collection, I rather doubt she ever will.

It's all rather a pity. Carmine Infanto can certainly draw, and there is good material here: Spider-Woman's origins, the Hatros clinic / cult of Kali plotline, and Spider-Woman's search for a man who won't mind her rescuing him all the time, for example. But it could, and should, have been better than it is, especially coming from a company that had already created a number of much better-realised female characters: Rachel Van Helsing, Colleen Wing, and Misty Knight, to name just three of Spider-Woman's near-contemporaries. I'll give it three stars, because you do get a lot for your money, and some of it's pretty good. But I doubt I'll be reading volume two.

To know her is to fear her. , 30 Jan 2008
I had the first issue here, Marvel Spotlight 32 many eons ago on the strength of the cover but most of these tales were new to me.
Spotlight introduced Spider-Woman as an agent of Hydra, gliding in on sleek under-arm wings to attack SHIELD before she becomes aware she has been tricked and before she despatches the Hydra leader she is given a distorted version of her origin.
The next batch of stories are a 5 parter from the Marvel Two-in-One series wherein she is again briefly under Hydra's control before she joins up with The Thing, Invisible Woman and eventually Modred the Mystic as they leave tearing London apart to head for Stonehenge where Modred reveals her true origin.
Staying In London a few issues Jessica Drew, her real identity, becomes conscious of other people's negative reactions to her, she also meets the evil Morgan Le Fay and her puppet Excaliber.
Moving to the states the tales ratchet up a gear or two, accompanied by the old magician Magnus and shortly SHIELD agent Jerry Hunt. First the extremely odd Brother Grimm, most people will have figured out something is strange as this storyline develops by "his" name alone. The excellent, if twisted, vigilante Hangman, Morgan Le Fey again, the very strange Needle and then Gypsy Moth.
The true secret of the Brothers Grimm and their "mother" Madame Doll is a decent tale and has a very interesting tie-in with a very early Iron Man tale from 1963. Then the evil albino Nekra appears before coming unstuck, Nekra is the first villain to be smart enough to grab Spider-Woman's very long hair, it was a girl-fight. The shots of her clinging to a ceiling to stay under cover whilst toting a very long wig do stretch artistic leeway that bit too much though.
There's a couple of guest appearances by Werewolf By Night (one against the Enforcer) and a team-up with the very odd hero The Shroud before the eventual meeting with Spider-Man where the two realise how much they have in common.
It's after that meeting and her desire to earn money, she cannot hold a job down as something about her makes many people feel uncomfortable, she is advised it is her "natural" pheromones. That desire leads her to become a bounty hunter, aided by a wheelchair bound, sports car driving computer whizz sidekick Scotty McDowell, a trick a few more characters have latched onto (Birds of Prey,Steel). As a bounty hunter she takes out the psychotic Clown and eventually the Gamesman but not before being taught a lesson in life or two.
All in all a pretty good start to the series. A few great tales, most of the others are good and a there's a few so-so's. Former DC comics stalwart Carmine Infantino does a pretty fair job on the artwork too, pushing as much visible skin as was possible under the Comics Code Authority.

A Big Dipper, 04 Jul 2007
I have to admit, I don't like Marvel comics. Having spent a good twenty years reading comics, I'm a DC man through and through. However, I'm a sucker for the sort of books that entertains and engages a dipper - the reader who has a couple of minutes to spare and nothing more. When you don't have time to consume a chapter of your latest book or thumb through a comic, few things match up to the potential of this book. Riffle the pages and read about a classic hero or villain, alive or dead; or a few alien races; or a nice piece of super-equipment; or details of an expansive and well-equipped headquarters. Yes, it's twenty years out of date and yes, it's in black-and-white; but pound for pound, the worth of this volume when compared to the hours, days, weeks... years of pleasure I'll get out of it - it's massive value for money. The only downside for me... those snatched minutes I wanted to fill can sometimes turn into hours if I get caught up in an interesting thread of interlinked heroes... Ah well.

Fallible humans with superpowers try to change the world., 11 Mar 2001
This collection of a limited series produced in 1985-6 has a split personality. Open it at random and you see the art style and 4-colour printing typical of the period - but the story is something entirely different. In most comics it's perfectly clear who the good guys and bad guys are, and the story consists of fight scenes linked by brief flashes of soul-searching and character development. Here, the world's premier superteam decide to use their powers to really change the world for the better, but at the expense of individual freedoms. Each time they do so, the next decision becomes easier to make. One of their members quits in protest and seeks to stop them, bringing together a group of supervillains to stop the heroes for moral reasons. "Right" and "wrong" become increasingly blurred. The Squadron's aim is noble, but it's being implemented by human beings. Cracks appear early on, and there's a mounting sense that it's all going to go horribly wrong. It does. There are few fight scenes - the focus is on the decisions characters make. People get ill and fall in love, characters die, and using superpowers can have serious consequences. In the end, the most important things can't be fixed by super-speed or atomic vision.

The core members of the team clearly *are* the Justice League of America, duplicating the powers and even origin stories of Superman, Wonder Woman, et al. There's no attempt to hide this, and it doesn't matter - what's *done* with the characters is the important thing (allowing author Gruenwald to experiment with ideas that would wreck mainstream continuity), and plenty of original ones are introduced along the way. Downsides? The view of America as the only important place on the planet jarred in a couple of places. Aiming at a family audience may have tamed the presentation a little, leading to such memorable dialogue as, "You sons of fishes!" It's not a cheap book, but you are getting 12 issues of 'Squadron Supreme' plus a crossover issue of 'Captain America'. Overall, a gem of comics history, introducing ideas that are still being explored in books like 'The Authority' fifteen years later.

It belongs with Dark Knight Returns and the Watchman, 15 May 1999
When Mark Gruenwald passed away in 1996, the comic book industry lost one of it's most hard working writers. Mark loved writing comics and this series was one he was most proud of. It deals with how far superheroes can go to solve the world's problems and even if they have the best of intentions, it can still end with tragic results. That's what happens here. This was the first time that such ethical/moral issues were discussed in comic book writing. If you like Dark Knight returns and the Watchman, then read Squadron Supreme, it really makes you stop and think.

A Grand Comic Book Epic, 16 Nov 1998
This graphic novel reprints the amazing epic comics written by Mark Gruenwald. The 'Squadron Supreme' was a group of unknown heroes I've never heard of before this book. But it made the reading even more exciting by figuring out who everyone is, what they think, and how they get along with each other.

The members of the 'Squadron Supreme' decide to create a utopia for mankind. This idea slowly divides the team against each other. At first they do good by getting food for the hungry and finding job opportunities for the out-of-work. However their deeds become more and more controversial, albeit well-meaning, such as banning guns and criminal reform via mind altering.

The story progresses to a final deadly conflict. In the end you question to what limit your own morals extend. ... This is highly recommended for comic book fans. A must-read for those who enjoyed 'Marvels' and 'Kingdom Come'.

To fans of Marvel's latest series..., 30 Dec 2007
...well, all I can say is that Daniel Raven's review (below) is brilliant and right on the money, with little that anyone could add to further paint what this collection achieves.

However, if you're looking at coming to this book after reading Marvel's latest series of Omega: The Unknown (an outstandingly effective re-imagining of the story by Jonathan Lethem and illustrator Farel Dalrymple) I just wanted to add that the original comics don't dissapoint.

While at times the original's overly verbose narration can get a little grating, it still adds a lot of background to the gentle charm of the new iteration.

Plus, in an unexpected manner that the new series hasn't yet explored, the original's script really tries to challenge some Marvel conventions. For one, the vocabulary used here is way more demanding than anything printed in Marvel's mainstream titles of the time.

But, more interestingly, in one instance Omega lets a villain get away who's only robbing a bank to get money for his son's future; he saves a woman committing suicide and is then racked with guilt about the idea that maybe he had no right to stop her if that was what she, or our planet's laws really meant for. And, with the day to day life of the residents' of Hell's Kitchen being of such importance in the series, it really deals with the notion of the "downfall of Western Society" in quite a mature way for its time.

I loved these characters after only discovering them in the new series, and it's quickly grown to be the one comic book I'd buy regularly if I couldn't afford the 20 or so I'm currently hooked on; this book only compounds my beliefs that they're some of the most criminally overlooked characters in Marvel's canon.

Buy it; you won't regret it.

One day, you'll think you only DREAMT it...!, 26 Mar 2007
For Marvel Comics the 1970s were characterised by unchecked expansion and mad-as-a-box-of-frogs experimentation, but even in the context of a company working on titles like HOWARD THE DUCK and DEVIL DINOSAUR FEATURING MOON BOY, OMEGA THE UNKNOWN looks well weird. The story of a mysterious young boy whose parents are killed in a car accident (actually, `destroyed' would be more to the point as it soon transpires they were robots all along) and his mysterious psionic link to an even more mysterious (mute, in fact) super-guy from some other world comes on like a hippyfied update of SHAZAM! but quickly develops into something considerably darker, as the lad finds himself living in an almost absurdly undesirable area of New York where life is cheap, the streets are paved with broken dreams, etc., etc. Meanwhile, and in stark contrast to the prevailing mood of gritty social realism, Omega (the super-guy) battles a series of standard issue supervillains, including an unusually articulate Electro (`We've struck a bargain, your lead-headed friend and I!') and Nitro the Exploding Man. The best/ weirdest thing about these fights is the style of the captions, which often seek to reflect the conflict in purely abstract terms; the results are absurdly pretentious at times (`Singularity of focus... detrimental on a world with so diverse a catalogue of hazards!' = Omega getting zapped in the back by Electro after being distracted by the Hulk), but occasionally - like in issue 10, where the captions for a fight between Omega and a purple demon appear to be describing the breakdown of a romance - it is disconertingly (if inexplicably) effective.
Omega's regular monthly series ended with that issue, but all the loose ends were tied up in a two-part DEFENDERS story, also included here. The explanations, when they come, are brilliant and baffling in equal measure, but the helpful inclusion of Omega's entry from the Marvel Universe Handbook clears up a lot of the grey areas. This is definitely one for the `selective appeal' pile, but any reader with an interest in just how off-message a mainstream superhero series can get should have a good time with it.