The Spear, James Herbert

"When Steadman agreed to investigate the disappearance of a young Mossad agent, he had no idea he would be drawn into a malevolent conspiracy of neo-Nazi cultists bent on unleashing an age-old unholy power on an unsuspecting world -- power rising out of a demonic relic from man's dark primal past to threaten humanity with horror from beyond any nightmare"














James Herbert has written a lot of books, and some of them are even passably good fiction, although there's a lot of his ouevre that's perennial charity shop fare, and is as indifferently similar as to count as a single story. These are the stories that as a young teenagers I thrilled to, because they contain lashings of violence, sex and the kind of stupid plotlines that would make most writers wince. At his best, and even in his worst books, Herbert can pack a punch, he creates a crude homonculus of disgust. It's never deep, and it's rarely psychological, but it still has a thrill to it.

Of his better books, I have exceptionally fond memories of '48, a book which has probably been helped by the fact I've never revisited it, even though I have a well thumbed copy. From memory, it features a post-apocalyptic London decimated by Nazi superweapons (this may or may not have included Zombies). Hoping for something similar from a book which promises undead Himmler on the back cover I picked this up cheap in Hay-on-Wye.

Frankly, whichever reviewer picked out undead Himmler as a highlight was probably reading a different book to me. Himmler isn't especially resurrected, so much as his (possessed?) corpse shambles around for the final few pages before collapsing when stabbed with the spear of Longinus. All of this is played out as part of a reworking of Parsifal. To say it's confused is to do it a disservice, it's tightly focussed, but the focus isn't very interesting. Usually a NAZI secret society controlling all levels of British Government to fight Israel with biblical weaponery would be enough, without bringing in Wagnerian Opera sideplots, but here neither the motivational plots of the hero, villains or side characters seem to match the up at all.

Apparently a court ruled that James Herbert based most of this on work from another author (The Spear of Destiny by Trevor Ravenscroft). So now you know.

Also Try:
Trevor Ravenscroft, The Spear of Destiny (only seems fair)
James Herbert, The Rats, The Fog, '48
Stephen King, Different Seasons

Captain America; Hail Hydra, Jonathan Maberry

"From the dark days of World War II to the Heroic Age, witness the brutal battle between Captain America and the immortal evil known as Hydra! How far back has the gruesome group been killing its way to capture the secrets of eternal life? What can Steve Rogers do to halt its sinister spread when the horrific hordes of the undead rise to stop him? Find out as award-winning horror novelist Jonathan Maberry (DOOMWAR) teams with five different artists to capture five different time periods - including Sergio Cariello (Lone Ranger), Tom Scioli (Godland), Phil Winslade (Wonder Woman), Kyle Hotz (ANNIHILATION: CONQUEST - WRAITH) and Graham Nolan (X-MEN FOREVER)! Guest-starring the Falcon, Black Panther, Nomad, Nick Fury and the Avengers! Collecting CAPTAIN AMERICA: HAIL HYDRA #1-5."







Because I've been picking up the Brubaker run of Cap stories I figured I would give this one a shot - the art looked nice and it was about Hydra, who are usually fun to see beaten up. But I definitely wasn't expecting this book to be quite so good.

Let me go further than that. This is the single best Captain America book I've read. Better than Brubaker.

It has everything you could want from a Captain America book - opening with a mission to destroy a Nazi science project reanimating the dead and continuing through the ages, from Classic Avengers, to Cap and Falcon, through the Busiek era and finally to the Heroic Age Cap. Each issue stands as a chapter in the ongoing war against Hydra and their mission to overcome death and create a new race of immortals.

It adds significantly to the Capt Mythos, positing that the Lazarus serum introduced here is what kept Cap alive alongside the Super Soldier Serum. Whilst it conveniently ignores Nick Fury's Infinity Formula, something that one would imagine would be of use to anyone gathering together materials for an elixir of youth, it ties in all sorts of great ideas, such as Thor being a target for his God blood.

But its the art that really makes it - a collection of excellent, but lesser known, artists each take the different ages and its great to see the different styles next to one another. Tom Scioli in particular draws one of the most fascinating versions of the first Avengers team I've ever seen. His art is so atypical of conventional superhero looks, yet so Kirby-esque in its design that it can look almost ridiculous - giants heads and massive smiles leave everyone looking like Puppet Master, but for some reason it works perfectly for a storyline that is all about the boundaries of science. It's made me want to hunt down more stuff by Scioli, because I absolutely love his art here, and that's a pretty fantastic thing for me to find.

If you're at all a fan of Captain America, Marvel or just great comics you need to read this.

Also Try:
Captain America: Winter Soldier, Ed Brubaker
Secret Warriors, Jonathan Hickman
Wolverine: Enemy of the State, Mark Millar

Animorphs: Megamorphs 3 - Elfangor's Secret, K. A. Applegate

"We found out who Visser Four is, And he has found the Time Matrix. The machine Elfangor had hidden in the abandoned construction site. The same place we met him on a night none of us will ever forget. Especially me. Now Visser Four has the Matrix and he plans to use it to become Visser One.

But Jake, Rachel, Cassie, Marco, Ax and I can't let that happen. We can't let him alter time so that the Yeerks will win this invasion. So we're prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice.   And, ultimately, one of us will lose this fight ..."









Animorphs is hands down my favourite series of books of all time, an epic set of young adult books detailing the war between five shapeshifting teenagers and their alien ally battling a massive invasion of brain-occupying slugs. It was the second biggest selling childrens series of the 90s (after Goosebumps) and had probably the best story arc of any childrens book series ever written.

Seriously. Because whilst Harry Potter may have killed off a lot of its supporting cast, it didn't have the chutzpah to kill of one of six main characters from the 50 books and then end the series with the implied death of all but one of the others as they go out against unbeatable odds for no benefit whatsoever.

Oh, and the romantic subplot was upended when one half of the ongoing will-they-won't-they became a war criminal responsible for the genocidal slaughter of thousands of prisoners in a last ditch attempt to stop the conflict dragging on for years more.

Years after I read them (they were first published from 1996) I still try and bore people with a full run down of individual stories and why I loved them. At some point, I will get round to blogging the whole series I'm sure, but suffice it to say that you should read them.

The holes in my collection of the physical books I'm always on the lookout to fill, and I picked this up in a charity shop. It's a short book - even the extended 'Megamorphs' won't stretch you more than an hour, but it's well worth a read, because this is a book that veers into my other favourite genre: Alternate History.

The idea is this; the war isn't going as smoothly as anticipated (mainly because of the guerrilla tactics of the Animorphs) so the Yeerks, the alien brain slugs, have decided to break up the course of human history. And they succeeded. So now the world is a fascist dystopia, slavery and genocide are accepted as normal and the war against the Yeerks will be over in a matter of months.

In an attempt to stop it the Animorphs are given the chance to pursure the agent responsible for changing the past back through time, encountering him at Agincourt, Trafalger, the crossing of the Delaware and the Normandy Landings. most of which end up being changed, to disasterous (and lethal) effect.

So you get a bit of information about each of these major historical turning points (Napoleon wins, America never breaks way from England, British Empire ends up going to war with a united Europe in World War Two) with little of the usual battles between aliens and people. It's a great introduction to history, and the idea of time travel and its repurcussions.

It's also the second Megamorphs in a row that deals with time travel, as Megamorphs 2 is about the Animorphs fighting aliens in the Time of the Dinosaurs. It's like these books were written for me.

Also Try:
K A Applegate, the entire Animorphs series - http://animorphsforum.com/ebooks/
K A Applegate, Everworld
Michael Grant, Gone
R L Stine, Goosebumps (or a review of all the Goosebumps books - http://www.bloggerbeware.com/)

Man's Search for Meaning, Viktor Frankl

"Psychiatrist Viktor Frankl's memoir has riveted generations of readers with its descriptions of life in Nazi death camps and its lessons for spiritual survival. Between 1942 and 1945 Frankl labored in four different camps, including Auschwitz, while his parents, brother, and pregnant wife perished. Based on his own experience and the experiences of those he treated in his practice, Frankl argues that we cannot avoid suffering but we can choose how to cope with it, find meaning in it, and move forward with renewed purpose. Frankl's theory—known as logotherapy, from the Greek word logos ("meaning")—holds that our primary drive in life is not pleasure, as Freud maintained, but the discovery and pursuit of what we personally find meaningful."



JJ and I had a disagreement about this book, based on the fact that I think it's a too psychology heavy history book, and she thinks it's just a psychology book. Admittedly, Frankl is setting out his 'lifes work', an explanation of his theory of Logotherapy, and illustrating it with examples and anecdotes from his time in a concentration camp.

Weirdly, reading it now the book is a victim of its own success - too much of it reads as common sense, and it was hard to take it seriously because it seemed far too simple. Presumably when first released the insights Frankl brings from his own experiences had a larger impact on the field of psychology and therapy (certainly the quotes and back-ups would suggest so).

Whilst it was enjoyable in its own way it never seemed to be able to set the tone - not quite historical enough to captivate my interest (and the wartime stories are the most powerful pieces, never failing to shock) and not quite revolutionary enough to make me want to know more.

The back up on Logotherapy again serves as a simple primer - interesting in its own way but not memorable and far too brief to constitute anything other than an introduction to ideas, something already covered in the main section.

(I have no idea what you could also try, sorry).

Death of Captain America: The Complete Collection, Ed Brubaker

"Captain America was a hero to millions, an inspiration to America's armed services and the representative of his nation's greatest ideals. He lived for his country - and now, he has given his last final measure for the nation he loved. In the aftermath of the superhuman Civil War, Captain America was shot down in cold blood. Those closest to him must come to terms with his death, finding new roles for themselves that will shock readers. Collecting: Captain America (2005) 22-42, Winter Soldier: Winter Kills"







This one is a mixture of stuff that I've read before plus some that I haven't culminating in my last reviewed book (Captain America Reborn), this is pretty much what you can guarantee from a Brubaker Cap book. It's well told, complex and hugely enjoyable, with great art and plotting that rewards a careful reader.

Following the return of the Winter Soldier, this book collects the death of Captain America after Civil War through to the point of his return. It's an interesting period in the life of the book, as for much of the time it's a book wholly lacking in Captain America. Bucky's step up from Winter Soldier to new Cap, juggling his anger about Steve's death, the guilt of his own crimes and the desire to kick Tony Stark in his shiny metal behind.

Split between a number of artists over the course of 21 issues, there's a consistently high quality, whether illustrating wet World War II missions, brutal one-on-one combat or giant brawls.

It's hard to talk about Captain America under Brubaker without at least mentioning the tone of the book.
This is essentially SHIELD book, pretty much an even split between Agent 13, Nick Fury and Bucky (with very little Captain America-ing). It's not until the last few issues that Bucky takes up the shield to take the fight to the Red Skull.

But it's the maturity of the work that's the biggest difference. This isn't the Red Skull of Uncanny Avengers, using a telepathic brain to control the world. This is a Red Skull who mainpulates stock markets, crashes the American Economy, bribes senators and congressmen and engineers a shoot-out between law enforcement and protesters.

The Red Skull is an incredibly Political villain (most of Captain America's enemies are), and it's nice to see this side of him played up, just as it was in Geoff Johns' Avengers: Red Zone. He works best as the anti-Cap, and positioning him as the architect of the actual threats to real people is a neat touch. It also means Bucky has to face the recession, something he can't punch in the face.

In amongst all that smart stuff though we still get some great action sequences, notably the takedown of a SHIELD team by Bucky's detached arm, and his first pistol packing fight with AIM.

Again, not a great starting point (go back and pick up Winter Soldier), but brilliant if you love Captain America, or comics.

Also Try:

Geoff Johns, Avengers; Red Zone

Rick Remender, Uncanny Avengers

Mark Millar, Old Man Logan

Captain America Reborn, Brubaker

"Steve Rogers was Captain America, the world's greatest hero since the days of WWII, a champion for all citizens of the world. One fateful day, the Sentinel of Liberty was struck down - and how the American Dream died that day. But now there may be a way to bring back the world's greatest hero! Collects Captain America #600 and Captain America: Reborn #1-5."







The sad thing about Captain America Reborn is that it was released so close to that other superhero battles through time to return from the dead epic, Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne. They're totally incomparable, mostly because Batman is utterly insane (although CAR takes a good stab at equalling it). The thing that's always great to read Brubaker on Cap for is that he grounds the character in a more recognisable world than most. Here, that's a problem: it's somehow too serious (I hesitate to say Realistic) a setting for a tale about a man unhinged in time, whose fate is controlled by the brain of his worst enemy, in the body of a robot.

When I say that this ends with Captain America (reborn) and his sidekick, (also) Captain America, fighting a giant robot Nazi on the steps of the Lincoln memorial, it's because I want you to understand that this is a pretty crazy book. But it never really embraces that concept. The best 'thrown through time' stories can go anywhere, but this sticks to Cap's life from WWII through to the present - hardly boring, but not actually all that bizarre by the standards of most Marvel comics.

The main thing about Captain America, and the reason why Reborn works less well than Bruce Wayne does, is that he's better as a symbol than an actual character. One of the most interesting things about the Brubaker Captain America books is that Captain America (the person) transitions from a character to an ideal. Cap (the person) is constantly held up as Captain America (the myth), until his death creates a void that is filled by Bucky Barnes, former sidekick and now the new Captain America.

So the previous stories have been the passing of the torch, just as how Batman has Dick Grayson take up the mantle of Bruce Wayne. But what always felt like a place holding for Batman's inevitable return actually felt natural in Captain America. It felt right that Cap's sacrifice should inspire his friend to become more than just a man.

And in undoing that it lessens Bucky's growth. He's no longer the man struggling to fill the shoes of his mentor. He's the other Captain America. The less good one.

Cap should be an ideal, an icon. He works better that way. It's one of the many reasons why Civil War was so ill conceived. Pitting the very spirit of America ( Marvel's Superman, the embodiment of Truth, Justice and the American Way, who inspires all around him to strive harder) against an alcoholic with a metal suit ran into the brick wall that even in a post-9/11 world fans didn't want to support the 'realism' of Iron Man over the 'idealism' of Captain America.

In a war between the humble patriotism of the past and the hardheaded pragmatism of the present, the only side the audience would ever choose is the one that's less like their own. Why ruin your escapist fantasy with a slice of real life?

The story itself is good, and Brubaker has a handle on all of the characters that works well. The opening #600 issue is by far the best part (it features Rikki Barnes!) but nobody draws people fighting giants as well as Bryan Hitch.

This is worth checking out, but try Batman first. That book is AMAZING!

Also Try:
Batman; The Return of Bruce Wayne, Grant Morrison
The Ultimates, Mark Millar
Thunderbolts: The Geat Escape, Jeff Parker