Rivers of London Vol. 12: Stray Cat Blues by Ben Aaronovitch, Andrew Cartmel, José María Beroy (artist)
This is a beautifully drawn book but nothing like the artist’s previous work. This is a tiny book that packs a wallop in the black and white drawings and spare narrative. Certainly one to check out and revisit.
When an old roadie sees dragons in London the Folly gets called in. The only problem is most people can’t see them and they are also attacking helicopters. The Fey are trying to get them back at the same time Peter is trying to fix the issue. A good story overall and builds on what has come before in the comics.
Just what the title says. Hellboy seems to be smitten in this series of stories with meeting Anastasia, an archaeologist who is working on discovering the secrets to a previous unknown group of magic users that were around the globe. This is certainly a new side to Hellboy for the fans and I’ll be interested to see if they will be doing more stories in this setting since there is so much more to explore.
Digital review copy provided by the publisher through Edelweiss
Digital review copy provided by the published through Edelweiss
Young Hellboy: Assault on Castle Death by Mike Mignola, Craig Rousseau (Illustrator), Dave Stewart (Illustrator), Clem Robins (Illustrator), Tom Sniegoski
This second collection is just as fun as the first one. Hellboy is coming down with a fever while settling into his new home. In his fevered state Lobster Johnson appears to him and asks for his help on a mission. Hellboy jumps at the chance to help his hero but while this is happening there is someone planning on murdering the child to prevent the end of the world. The story is good and has a strong ending. And the details work great so you can see how Hellboy would see how things happen as he is in a fevered delusional state.
Digital review copy provided by the publisher through Edelweiss
Rivers Of London: Deadly Ever After by Ben Aaronovitch, Celeste Bronfman, Andrew Cartmel, José María Beroy
Olympia and Chelsea are the young twin daughters of Mama Thames and they are all about having a good time. When on a camping trip they break a ward on a mulberry tree and accidently free a painter that has been there for over a hundred years. Jeter finds his one descendant and with the magic he has learned during his captivity is using it to change the people around his descendant. With the help of the foxes the twins have to fix what is going on and get Jeter under control and break the magic he has done. Peter and Nightingale are not in this much except for some cameos but Abigail does give the twins some help but is not the focus of the story. This isn’t my favorite of the comics since it doesn’t feature Peter or Nightingale.
The look of the comic mirrors the movie perfectly and the tone of the story hits all the marks. Ash is Blade Runner but she has a secret she keeps from her coworkers in order to keep her job. She is given a job she can’t refuse, to find the wife and daughter of a corporate executive. Of course, it isn’t easy and there are facts missing but Ash keeps hunting even after she is pulled from the case. A good story and you are left wanting more by the end.
When an always detail oriented lady lawyer finally decides to do something spontaneous things get really out of hand. She buys a storage locker and instead of a jinn in a bottle she finds the fairy King Oberon who grants her three wishes but he will take every wish literally. Kelly decides to wish for world peace and has six main clauses and thirty-four subclauses. Of course lots of people are unhappy with this outcome and come after her. Now she has two more wishes and is in hiding and has to make sure she doesn’t use the word wish anymore. And Oberon is learning more about the modern world he has missed out on.
Digital review copy provided by the publisher through NetGalley
This collection has Hellboy briefly framing each story as his friend’s uncle recounts in in a pub. Only the last issue has more of him in it when one of the old stories sheds light on the case that Hellboy and his friend are working on. There isn’t a lot of Hellboy action until the end, but the stories are entertaining.
Digital review copy provided by the publisher through Edelweiss
The third book in this series is just as lovely as the other two. Characters from the previous collections make an appearance in this one. Greta is working to create something that will impress a master metalworker to take her on as an apprentice while she is still caring for a grieving tea dragon. Minette is also coming to terms with her decision to leave the monastery. Yet with the unknown featuring in the book there really is a lot of happiness and these stories leave the reader with a warm and cozy feeling.
This is a gorgeously illustrated version of a short story of Neil Gaiman’s that has been collected multiple times. Colleen Doran’s watercolor work brings it to life and makes it luminous. The story has a old woman finding the Grail in a charity shop and then having Galahad show up and offer her many treasures for the Grail. This isn’t the first time they have collaborated together and I can’t wait to see if they do more.
Digital review copy provided by the publisher through Edelweiss
Digital review copy provided by the publisher through Edelweiss
I really like this comic and as usual there are some real gems among the pages. The downside is that I had seen about half of these before since I follow her son social media. The upside was seeing all that I missed. The nice thing about her collections is that they are all great for gift giving since they don’t have to be read in order.
Digital review copy provided by the publisher through NetGalley
Digital review copy provided by the publisher through Edelweiss
This is the story of young Hellboy and his father heading to South America to some digs. Their plane crashes due to someone trying to kill Hellboy before he brings about the end of the world. As they are recued from giant crabs by an even larger ape they are separated on the shore. The action is over the top much like the comic book young Hellboy was telling his father about on the plane. By the end of their adventure their memory is erased, and they are rescued. I was almost waiting for it was all a dream to be said on the last page. This is very much a collection for a younger fan or a Hellboy reader completest.
Digital review copy provided by the publisher through Edelweiss
This is exactly what it says on the cover, essential stories to try out Hellboy without committing yourself to reading all the books. As a fan there is some great stuff in here and the pancake story always makes me smile. This is a great intro book for someone to get as a gift that only knows Hellboy from the movies but is a bit daunted by all the titles that are out there.
Digital review copy provided by the publisher through Edelweiss
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timeasmymeasure
