Gloom Cookie v2 - Serena Valentino

The follow up to the first collection sees a new illustrator, John Gebbs. Overall his illustrations were not quite up to Ted's (volume 1) apart from the first chapter which was stunning with a beautiful boarder around each page. The whole gang are back and some more of the plot is revealed. More of Damian and Lex's past is shared, we learn more about Sebastian and Chrys including the monster and Vermilion is back with more terrible gothic poetry.

I liked that we learn more of Isabella and her reasons for being the way she is. You come to pity her up to a point and understand why she treats Lex as she does. It is also now out of her control, the curse being so old. Vermilion has also decided that Lex is his true love, but he has other problems with rival Lord Delchi in town who is dating Lex and Chrys' friend Lyndi.

My favourite gothic soap opera. I look forward to getting some more free time so I can have my next fix. Another stunning collection.

Gloom Cookie v1 - Serena Valentino

The first Gloom Cookie collection by Serena Valentino (Nightmares and Fairy Tales) is illustrated by the wonderful Ted Naifeh (Kin with Holly Black). It introduces a whole cast of gothic and fantastical characters. You have Lex (a petite and pretty goth) who is in love with Max (a tall cyber goth type). He does not love her sadly, but the evil Isabella who doesn't even notice him. Isabella has a history with Damion who in turn has a thing for Lex. Then there are Lex's friends Sebastian and Chrys who make a lovely couple. Things are not all they seem here either. Sebastian sees monsters everywhere and Chrys, well you will have to read the collection to know more about her.

There are also some great secondary characters like Vermilion who writes terrible gothic poetry and Sebastian's monster. The story of Lex and Damian starts to be explained and we delve into Isabella's past as well as Sebastian's parentage. I loved all the Vampire the Masquerade references, Valentino really knows her goth culture!

The stories blend elements of fairy tale, fantasy and gothic culture in a spell binding mix. Ted was just the right person to illustrate this collection as the artwork is stunning. It is just the right blend of hunour and seriousness, poking fun at itself and the goth culture it portrays in a loveing and endeering way. I look forward to more in this series.

Y the Last Man v1: Unmanned - Brian K Vaughan

Yorick (his father was a drama teacher) is feeling left behind since his friends all went off travelling. His girlfriend Beth is no exception and is off exploring Australia. For company he has a helped money he is supposed to be training he names Ampersand. As he proposes to his girlfriend over a long distance phone call something terrible happens. A mysterious plague sweeps the world killing everything male. Yorick and Ampersand are now the last males of their species.

They set out to try and find out what makes them different to all the other males who have been left for dead. The world is in choas wondering how life will continue without male sperm donors. A group of women nicknamed Amazons are destroying sperm banks and monuments to malesas they believe it is divine justice for all the rapings, seriel killers and abusers. The Amazons burn off one of their breasts when they join up and are particularly violent to the other women.

Yorick is looking for his sister Hero as well as a scientist who may be able to clone him and tell him why him and Ampersand survived. Coming to his aid is the mysterious secret agent called 355 who is part of the Cupler Ring. Alongside that is the wish of some women for him to propogate the species in the usual fashion when all he wants to do is find a way to get to Australia and find Beth.

An adult set of comics published by Vertigo (the home of Fables and The Sandman among many others), this was a fantastic beginning to the series. Apocolyptic but set oin a world not very far away from our own, it looks at the realities of a world of women only (besides Yorick and Ampersand of course). The choices the women make along the way were dealt with very well (eg a former top model becomming a garbage truck driver and rgretting her boob job) and it seemed very realistic. Highly recommended, expecially to those who enjoy darker graphic novels that make you think like Fables and The Sandman.

Nightmares and Fairy Tales v3: 1140 Rue Royale - Serena Valentino

The third in the series by Serena Valentino. It is set out in a slighlty different format to the first two. This collection follows one storyline throughout with doll Annabelle very much in the background (she appears to those who have read the first two and recognise her). Rebecca and her aging aunt Victoria move into a house reputed to be hauntet in New Orleans.

Former owner Delphine Lalaurie was found to have killed her slaves in the house after torturing them and suffering them. One woman was chained to the stove and at least two men were operated on alive and well in horrendous ways. In the house Rebecca is beset by the spirits of the dead who are able to possess her in order to get their revenge. The story also links back to one from the first collection about a group of nuns in New Orleans who sacrifice Dominique's illegitimate son to amonster locked away in the attic.

A terrifying and gothic tale that Valentino begins saying "there is a truth embedded within the layers of fiction that fill this volume" and it is "inspired by historical events". How people can treat each other like this is disgraceful. However, it is beautifully drawn and a gripping tale that really leaves an impression on the reader. This is a great series and highly recommended.

Emily the Strange: Lost, Dark and Bored v1 - Rob Reger

A series of three comics about Emily the Strange and her many black cats. It is filled with lots of short tales filled with her usual attitude centering around being lost, in the dark and bored essentially! There are "interviews" with The Damned, Elvira Mistress of the Dark and Marilyn Manson. There are some fun fake advert pages too. Silly fun if you are in need of cheering up, or should that be glooming down.

The Complete Maus - Art Spiegelman

Art Spiegelman tells his fathers story as a Jew in Poland during the Second World War in comic book format. The Jews are drawn as mice, the Germans as cats, the American's as dogs and the Polish as pigs. This is a truely harrowing story with lots of cross roads and choices made along the way with Spiegelman showing what happened to the familes who chose the alternative along the way.

His mother and father against all the odds managed to survive the war as well as being POWs in Auschwitz seeing many of their friends and family die in the camps and by Germans along the way. They are dehumanised, starved, beaten and betrayed along the way. Sadly his mother later killed herself in 1968 after suffering for depression for many years (since before the war) and writing this brings on a bout of depression also for the author who includes sections from his life whilst writing this comic.

Art and his father have a very strained relationship and he is often conflicted with how to write about him. He wants to remain true to their relationship whilst not living up the to the Jewish sterotypes. This is shown very well in the panels below.

His father is also racist and anti-communist which Art struggles with after knowing what he lived through at Hitler's persecution. He can't understand how someone who has been on the recieving end of such abuse and violence can perpetuate the same against another. The main thing is though that he cannot image the horrors his mother and father lived through. It is one thing to have them described, but it can never be the same.

Defintely a tale that sticks in the readers mind. Very personal and filled with tragedy and sadness, it is difficult to remember at times that this is a story of courage and survival. That anyone Jewish in Poland and Germany managed to survivie the war is a miracle and I hope one that is never forgotten. This is essential reading.

This is an extra I read for this challenge.

Fables v4 : March of the Wooden Soldiers - Bill WIllingham

Continuing straight after volume three, Storybook Love, the prologue opens with Boy Blue's story. So far he hasn't been in the series much, merely working for the Major and Snow White. Here we learn about the Fables last stand in their homelands against the Adversary and how the final survirors escaped. Turns out however, that the Fables are not safe from the Adversary in the mundane world. Despite living secretly in New York for centuries, agents from the Adversary finally appear asking them to surrender.

Meanwhile Red Riding Hood manages to escape from the Adversary for the second time and actually crosses over to the mundane world. It has been many years since anyone last crossed over and Bigby Wolf is naturally suspicious. She wants to join their community and learn about their new lives, but Bibgy and some other Fables are determined to find out if she is a spy first.

Other plot twists include Snow still being pregnant and beginning to come to terms with her real feelings, Prince Charming begins his campaign to become the new Major, Pinnochio discovers his father Gepetto may still be alive after all this time working as a slave for the Adversary and Rose Red and some of the Fables from the farm visit for the showdown with the enemy soldiers. There are some casulties like in any war, but there are also some great new additions to the ever expanding cast.

A great addition to the series, this won an Eisner Award for Best Serialized Story (Legends in Exile and Homelands also did). The artwork is up to the standards of the previous in the series and I really enjoyed how the story was advanced. I can't wait to read the next volume, The Mean Seasons.

Fables 3: Storybook Love - Bill Willingham

This third graphic novel in the series collects comics 11-18 and the focus is love between the fables. The First story "Bag O' Bones" follows Jack as he wins a magic bag from the Devil playing poker and being a better cheat than he was! The bag never fills and Jack knows the magic words to trap things inside it. He traps Death one day when trying to save a fair lady, but he has to release him when nothing is able to die. "A Sharp Operation" covers 2 comics where a mundy journalist tracks the fables believing them to be vampires threatening to expose them. They use Briar Rose's finger pricking trick to teach him a lesson, but they have problems trying to wake her up again. Prince Charming is a cad and loves the thrill of the chase. He no longer loves Briar (his second ex-wife) and so a stand in prince needs to be found to give her loves kiss.

"Storybook Love" is a 4 part tale. Bluebeard and Goldilocks plan on killing the still recovering Snow White and Bibgy Wolf. They use magic to fuddle their minds and send them away together where Goldilocks can kill them without any of the other fables guessing it was her. Prince Charming (Snow White is his first ex-wife) is more than he seems and steps in to fight Bluebeard to the death and the tale ends up with a big surprise for Snow. "Barleycorn Bride" is the final comic and tells how the Lillipututian men got brides like Thumbalina when none of their women folk crossed over into Fabletown with them.

This was a great collection of stories. I am realy becomming fond of some of the characters and caught up in their storylines. The art was great as usual and there were some great references to fairy tales lurking in the background. Bring on the next in the series...

Nightmares and Fairy Tales: Beautiful Beasts - Serena Valentino

Ragdoll Annabelle is back for another installment of stories tinged with horror and fairy tale elements in the second graphic novel in the series. She is still with Gwen who seems to be the first girl to actually be able to hear her and they spend their nights telling each other stories about her previous female owners. The first is about the first owner Annabelle can remember from the modern world. Paige is a lovely 1920's flapper who keeps seeing a strange man named August. She gets frustrated when other people don't seem to be able to see him and it turns out he is a ghost. They find a way to be together that is perhaps not the most desirable. The second story is a reworking Little Red Riding Hood with Luna trying to stop her father from killing wolves. Her mother sends her to live with her grandmother after a wolf kills her father and she befriends one of the local young men on the way. A mixture of fairy tale and werewolf mythology. The third tale concerns Gwen herself as she makes a new friend at school. She isn't quite what she seems and it takes the fairies help to save Gwen from being trapped forever in a mirror in a haunted house.

Next is a different take on Beauty and the Beast. Belle is in love with Rose, but her father finds out and bannishes Rose chaining his daughter Belle in a room alone. One day he travels from home and meets the Beast, offering Belle's life instead of his own. She goes to live with the Beast and finds much more than she bargained for. The final tale is in two parts about Catherine. She is a nurse to a particularly delusional and poisonous woman Vivianne who is convinced Catherine is having an affair with her husband. She passes on this view to their daughter after her death and Catherine is haunted by the ghost of Vivanne after she does end up marrying her widowed husband. She is taken to the brink of insanity and left alone in an assylum stuck with her visions and nightmares.

Beautifully drawn again, I preferred this one over the first installment. I think the tales were a little bit better crafted and I enjoyed the subjects and personalities more. I look forward to reading more in the series and learning about where Annabelle came from and seeing what else happens to the lovely little Gwen.

Nightmares and Fairy Tales: Once Upon a Time... - Serena Valentino

A collection of six dark comics telling the stories of life seen through the eyes of Annabell, a little rag doll as she changes owners. After witnessing the gruesome demise and violence surrounding her owners, Annabell believes herself to be cursed. Later owners begin to be able to hear her warnings and she discovers she may be able to help the innocent after all.

The first two tales are about Morgan who is dating Dominique who claimes to be a vampire. She stays with a friend when things start to get creepy, but wakes up to find him dead next to her along with his housemate. She is taken to a mental institution when it turns out Dominique is dead and branded insane, all because she refused Dominique's gift of immortality. The third tale shows Dominique in a nunnery giving birth. Her son is taken to his adoptive parents, but has possibly been sacrificed to monsters in the attic. It shows Dominiques origins and the truth behind her earlier claimes. Annabelle then meets Snow in the fourth tale with a look at Snow White before helping Gwen in the fifth tale. Gwen is moving to a new house with her parents that seems haunted. There are monsters in her closet and her neighbour gives her Annabell to protect her. The real monsters aren't in her closet however, and Annabell is able to protect her from her parents until her neighbour rescues her. It seems Gwen is the first to hear Annabelle. The final tale looks at Annabelle's role in Cinderella's life.

This was a beautiful collection. The tales were quite short and simple, but chilling and stuck in the mind afterwards. The illustrations by FSc are beautiful and it is worth reading for those alone. It leans more towards horror than fairy tale and is possibly more suited to female readers as it is always woman who seem to own Annabelle.

The Tragical Comedy or Comical Tragedy of Mr Punch - Neil Gaiman & Dave McKean

This is another alternative I am adding to my challenge list as it was really good and I wanted to share it!

The tale follows a grown man as he looks back and remembers his childhood and various family members who are no longer alive. He remembers his grandfather who sold his grocery business and opening an amusement arcade in the town. It has a mermaid (a lady in a costume and wig who sings on a rock), a ghost train, hall of mirrors and a Punch and Judy show. Sadly no one comes to it as it is not on the main pier and even when it is raining the people stay away so sadly it has to close.

It looks at the story of Punch and Judy as well as a couple of characters no longer in the show like Punch's girlfriend. I had forgotten how grim the tale is. Punch starts by throwing the baby out of the window and then beating Judt to death when she shouts at him. He then beats the polieman to death who tries to arrest him, a physician, a crocodile, a hangman (he tricks him into the hangmans noose in his place) and finally the devil himself. At the end Punch is happy as everyone is now free to do what they want with the devil having been killed. The adult narrating the story remembers how he was frigtened of the tale as a child and it is easy to see why.

It is also a look at the innocence and naivety of childhood. There is a secret past concerning his grandfather that he never picked up on as a child as well as an unexplained tale about his uncle. There are various references throughout the story saying that he now thinks differently. It did enjoy this graphic novel with the range of different illustrations by Dave McKean. A dark trip back down memory lane.

Black Orchid - Neil Gaiman & Dave McKean

I decided to add this to my list of extra graphic novels read for this challenge as it was so good and I wanted to share it here!

Black Orchid is a plant woman created by Doctor Phil Sylvian who fights crime in Gotham City. On the night she is killed one of the other plant women Sylvian is growing reaches maturity and wakes up not understanding who she is and what she is. She has the tangled memories of Susan Linden who Phil grew up with and was in love with. It is her DNA and RNA that makes up the plant women, but as she is no longer around Black Orchid is still no closer to knowing about herself and her origins.

As more and more people she is close to are killed, she goes on a journey which takes her to Arkham Asylum and Louisiana meeting comic book heros and villians in her quest. All the time is is running from Susan's ex-husband who has just been released from jail who is trying to kill her for Susan leaving him, as well as Lex Luthor who wants to own her and dissect her.

It is beautifully drawn and is possibly the best looking comic book I have ever read. This series of three comics dispels the comic book sterotypes and turns superhero battles upside down. It is so much more than others in it's genre, much more than a superhero comic and is more about a voyage of self discovery. Highly recommended to all comic, superhero and fantasy fans.

The Sandman v2: The Doll's House - Neil Gaiman

Collecting comics 9-16 in The Sandman series. Dream continues to look for what is missing from his realm after recovering his artifacts in the first collection. This time what is missing is four of the major arcana. Brute and Glob he searches for first and finds hiding in the mind and dreams of a child. They have captured a ghost who they have set up as "The Sandman", a superhero who keeps the abused and mistreated child company along with his pregnant wife. The Corinthian is a nightmare with teeth for eyes who is found at a "Cereal" convention. He has inspired many serial killers throughout the world and is there as a guest of honour before Dream captures him. The fourth is Fiddlers Green who is a place and not a person in the land of Dream. He is trying out life in the human world, taking on human form for a time.

Desire of the Endless has a hand in things, trying to manipulate Dream using human girl Rose Walker to further his/her/it's own ends with the help of Despair. Rose has no idea what she and her family are caught up in as the truth is slowly revealed tying in nicely with the first collection. She is a vortex in the dream world and is somehow pulling the major arcana towards her helping Dream and his raven sidekick Matthew track them down by following her.

Gripping and deeply disturbing, it introduces some more of Dreams family and explains more of their role in our realm. They are not supposed to manipulate humans, it is the other way around but some seem to forget this. It will be itneresting to see what Dream does now that his realm seems to finally be in order.

The Sandman v1: Preludes & Nocturnes - Neil Gaiman

A collection of the first eight comics in the series; Sleep of the Just, Imperfect Hosts, Dream a Little Dream of Me, A Hope in Hell, Passengers, 24 Hours, Sounds and Fury and The Sound of Her Wings. It begins with Morpheus the Lord of Dreams and King of Stories being trapped by a group of humans trying to capture Death. In the human world people start to suffer from a sleeping sickness while he is away only waking briefly throughout his capture which lasts a human lifetime. He is finally able to free himself and has to track down his sacred objects which contain parts of himself to regain his power. These are a pouch of sand held by a human, a mask an unknown demon has and a ruby last seen in the possession of one of the Justice League.

Along the way he meets a range of comic book heros and villians including John Constantine, John Dee, Doctor Crane (The Scarecrow), Scott Free, Cain and Abel from The Bible and the Morning Star Lucifer among others. He also spends a chapter meeting up with his sister, a perky goth girl who just happens to be Death. I enjyoed the mythological references and how Morpheus gains his freedom from Hell. Lucifer has his army arrayed and tells Morpheus he has no power in Hell. The response is "What power would Hell have is those imprisoned were not able to dream of Heaven?", very powerful stuff.

A good introduction to the series. Lots of horror in 24 Hours and you can really start to hear Gaiman's unique voice coming through in The Sound of Her Wings. I loved the artwork, some of the attention to detail is amazing. I am looking forward to reading the second collection in the series.

Persepolis - Marjane Satrapi

A graphic novel that serves as the autobiography of author Marjane Saptrapi. I read the complete edition which contains "The story of a childhood" and "The story of a return". Marjane Satrapi was born in 1969 in Iran during the Shah's reign. During her lifetime she has witnessed first hand the takeovwe by the Revolution, the war between Iran and Iraq and the compulsary wearing of the veil by all woman in Iran. Her parents were very liberal and she grew up with an immense curiosity and drive to speak her mind which often got her into trouble in such a strict society. At the age of 14 her parents send her alone to Austria where she goes to school but doesn't fit in. She associates with punks and nihilists where she experiments with drugs and has her first relationship which sadly doesn't end well. After spending some time living on the streets and nearly dying she decides to return home, but starts to suffer from depression when she is back. In Iran she feels like a Westener and in the Western world she feels like an Iranian so struggles to find her place.

This was an excellent novel beautifully illustrated and told with warmth and humour despite the often tragic subjects. I am not really one for politics and don't know more than the basics, but this has given me a thorough grounding in Iranian culture and the wars going on in and near by Iran. The Western view of Iran is of oppression, particularly of woman, and it was lovely to see that behind closed doors there are parties, make-up, relationships (both straight and gay) and everything pretty much the same as over here. The only difference is if caught the penalty can range from interrogation to whipping to death.

If you don't read graphic novels, I urge you not to be put off reading this as you will miss a great story and a great piece work of politics too.

The Complete Ballad of Halo Jones - Alan Moore (writer) and Ian Gibson (artist)

This isn't one of my official picks for this challenge, but as I read it and it is a graphic novel I thought I would cross post my review of it here if that's ok.

Halo Jones is an ordinary girl living in The Hoop. The Hoop is where the poor are put so that anyone with money doesn't have to look at them. It is no solution to poverty and unemployment, it is just a place to be. Nothing is really known of Halo's parents and it is assumed she was born on The Hoop and that they died when she was very young. She lives in the house of Brinna (considered to be a wealthy woman), Ludy a musician, Rodice another girl similar to her and Toby an animatronic dog who belongs to Brinna. Halo has always dreamt of leaving The Hoop and when Ludy becomes one of the Drummers and Brinna is murdered she siezes her chance to board a space ship as a hostess and travel to other planets.

She has became something of a legend in the future. She was supposed to be a war criminal who aided in the slaughter of millions and that she met many of the famous people of her time. The reality is somewhat different, she was more in the wrong place at the wrong time (or the right place depending on your viewpoint). Her real story sees her losing many of her friends and fighting in a strange war at super slow speed due to a different gravity on the planet Moab.

I really enjoyed this graphic novel. The heroine Halo was most interesting as she was so ordinary. She "could have been anyone" (her most famous quote). It had many elements of more male based comics like spaceships, guns, war etc, but she was strong in her own right and didn't succumb to many of the female stereotypes like taking her clothes off and fainting a lot which was something Moore and Gibson felt important. The ending saw some earlier storylines tied up nicely and there may even someday be a fourth book (this collection is made up of the three books previsuly published) to continue her story which I would definitely read. I also liked that dolphins ended up taking over the earth, being more intelligent and sensitive, very Douglas Adams.