Books, Henry Northmore

The Beano

27 Nov 2008

As a wee nipper there wasn’t a more exciting day of the week than ‘Beano day’, when your local newsagent would drop a copy of the cartoon compendium onto your doormat alongside your parent’s newspaper. Often rapidly devoured before heading to school…

Batman Black & White Volume 3

(DC/Titan)

9 Aug 2007

Usually at home as a simple back-up slot in the monthly Batman: Gotham Knights, Batman Black & White has taken on a life of its own and has quickly become a jewel in the crown of DC’s myriad caped crusader titles. A creative playground for various…

Ghost Rider

As the new movie roars onto the big screen,

26 Feb 2007

COMICS IIt’s 1972. Evel Knievel was the most famous man in America; films like Blacula, Deep Throat and Deliverance were topping the box-office; events like Watergate and Vietnam meant there was a darker edge in the air. Marvel were running stories…

Pat Mills & Various - Punisher: Eternal War

27 Nov 2008

CRIME During the 80s the Punisher was one of Marvel’s biggest stars, with multiple tiles and a 1989 movie (starring Dolph Lundgren). In Eternal War we get more tales from the archives as The Punisher hits his stride in terms of popularity. The main…

Pat Mills

16 Oct 2008

If you have even a passing interest in British comics, chances are you’ll have read some work by Pat Mills. Despite his legendary status inventing characters like Slaine the Barbarian, Nemesis the Warlock and ABC Warriors, he actually started out…

Garth Ennis & Steve Dillon - The Punisher: Welcome Back Frank

27 Nov 2008

CRIME There couldn’t be a better marriage of writer and character than Irish bad boy Garth Ennis and lone vigilante Frank Castle, teaming up with regular artistic partner Steve Dillon for an often irreverent but always brutal and bloody reboot. This…

Various - The Essential Punisher Volume 1

27 Nov 2008

CRIME With The Punisher: War Zone being released on the big screen in early 2009 now is the perfect time to look back on one of comics darkest heroes. Frank Castle has no superpowers, just sheer grit, a high pain threshold, a formidable arsenal and…

Dave McKean

The comics guy who connects with rock stars and chefs

14 Aug 2008

An illustration masterclass from Dave McKean is a very special thing indeed. As one of the most innovative illustrators in Britain, his association with Neil Gaiman has raised him to a near-deity among comic fans and goths, providing the covers for all…

Jamie Hewlett & Alan Martin - The Cream of Tank Girl

16 Oct 2008

ART For Tank Girl fans, this is the book you’ve been waiting for; a glossy retrospective covering her anarchic antics from 1988 until today, including an honest account of her Hollywood hell (neither writer Alan Martin or artist Jamie Hewlett liked…

No more heroes - graphic novels

Edinburgh International Book Festival

22 Jul 2008

The Book Festival is once again acknowledging the rapid expansion in graphic novels. Henry Northmore chats to a number of comic book guys (and girl) to ask what the future may hold for the superhero While graphic novels may be still be a minority…

Batman: Gotham Knight

DVD Review

17 Jul 2008

Intended to fill the gaps between Batman Begins and Dark Knight, Gotham Knights offers us six animated shorts, much in the same way as The Animatrix did for The Matrix. Each story is self-contained and created by a different writer (including Greg…

Junko Mizuno - comic review

Junko Mizuno

19 Dec 2006

MANGA/SCI-FI This is the debut graphic novel from Japanese illustrator Junko Mizuno, best known for her garish hyper cute art with twisted dark edges, as wide-eyed, sexy Japanese girls are wrapped in the trappings of fetishism, drugs and death (the…

Avengers: The Sentinels Strike

Roy Thomas, Steve Engleheart & various

30 Oct 2008

More reprints from the Marvel archives as the Avengers go up against the Sentinels, the Beast Brood, Magneto and more in these adventures from 1972-73. The Avengers are Marvel's premiere super team, as famed for their relationships as their daring and…

Iron Man: Extremis

Warren Ellis & Adi Granov

24 Apr 2008

SUPERHERO (Marvel) This is perhaps the classic modern Iron Man tale. Warren Ellis gets his grubby hands on Tony Stark and changes him forever. Here the Golden Avenger takes on bio-chemically altered terrorists, who possess more power than even his…

David Kendall

(Robinson)

23 Aug 2007

This really is a weighty tome with over 500 pages of war comics culled from across the world and through the ages (from 1965–2006). Keiji Nakazawa sets the mood with his personal account of the bombing of Hiroshima in I Saw It, a poignant tale that…

Matt Fraction & Ariel Olivetti - Punisher War Journal: Civil War

27 Nov 2008

CRIME The latest incarnation of the Punisher throws him back into the middle of Marvel continuity. Castle usually operates on the fringes of society but the scale of the Superhero Registration Act is too big for even the Punisher to ignore. Never one…

Mark Millar

14 Feb 2008

Despite being one of the most successful writers of comics ever, Mark Millar still resides in Coatbridge. Like most UK writers he earned his stripes on 2000AD. ‘The older guys like Grant Morrison, Pete Milligan, Alan Grant and John Wagner had all…

Dave Gibbons - Watching the Watchmen

30 Oct 2008

If pushed to name the greatest comic ever, most would say The Watchmen. Aimed at an adults, when writer Alan Moore and artist Dave Gibbons created a hugely detailed world where heroes did exist, they made it so realistic it was almost another genre of…

John Dolmayan

18 Sep 2008

There are plenty of famous faces who love comics: Jonathan Ross, Edward Norton, Sam Raimi, Jon Bon Jovi, Simon Pegg, Jerry Seinfeld, Quentin Tarantino and Nicolas Cage. Even Anthrax wrote ‘I am the Law’ about Judge Dredd. But not many are as passionate…

Jeph Loeb & Tim Sale - Hulk: Gray

5 Jun 2008

SUPERHERO (Marvel) He’s probably as famous for his tough green hide as his anger-management problems but the Hulk has spent several years as a grey goliath (in fact he was grey in his first ever appearance in 1962). Some creative teams work…

Brian K Vaughan & Various - Batman: False Faces

10 Apr 2008

SUPERHERO (DC/Titan) Now better known for his Y: The Last Man, Pride of Baghdad and Ex-Machina titles as well as being one of the keys writers on TV’s Lost, Brian K Vaughan started off as a jobbing writer. With his star now well and truly established…

Frank Miller & John Romita Jr - Daredevil: The Man Without Fear

27 Mar 2008

SUPERHERO CLASSIC (Marvel) There are plenty of classic titles in John Romita Jr’s back catalogue but nothing beats this 1993 collaboration with Frank Miller. In fact, The Man Without Fear is up there with the best comics of all time. Retelling…

Witchblade Volume 1

14 Feb 2008

DVD (15) 100min (MVM Entertainment) The Witchblade is a mysterious ancient artefact, a weapon of immense destructive power that binds itself to the flesh of a living female host. Here the Top Cow comics series is given the anime treatment as the…

Edge presents: The 100 Best Videogames - book review

13 Dec 2007

If you really appreciate the art of videogames there’s only one magazine that matters: Edge, the serious gamer’s magazine that takes a genuinely adult and considered look at gaming culture. So when they produce a top 100 you know it’s likely to be an…

Steve Niles & Ben Templesmith

30 Days of Night (IDW)

18 Oct 2007

Once upon a time uptight Americans thought gruesome moral tales of things that crept and slithered through the world of comics might bring down society. EC Comics and their Tales From the Crypt, Vault of Horror and Haunt of Fear titles caused a moral…

Steve Niles & Various

30 Days of Night: Bloodsucker Tales (IDW)

18 Oct 2007

Here Niles extends his own mythology with more tales of vampires, this time with the loosest connections to the original trilogy. Kody Chamberlain handles the art for ‘Dead Billy Dead’, while in the second story, ‘Juarez’, Templesmith returns on art…

Marvel Masters: The Tales of Chris Claremont

16 Oct 2008

SUPERHERO Chris Claremont is perhaps the main reason for the international success of the X-Men during the 80s and 90s when they outsold pretty much every other title on the shelves. He wrote Uncanny X-Men for a staggering 16 years (from 1975-1991)…

Kurt Busiek & Alex Ross - Marvels

2 Oct 2008

SUPERHERO Comics are often repackaged and reprinted, sometimes seemingly ad infinitum, but when it’s as gorgeous a package as 1994’s Marvels it’s hard to argue with another opportunity for new readers to discover such a wonderfully rounded work of…

Judge Anderson: Shamballa

4 Sep 2008

One of the distinct classes amongst the Judges is the 'PSI Division' a group who use their psychic abilities (mind reading, precognition, telekinesis, etc) to uphold Mega City One's draconian laws, and blonde bombshell Judge Anderson is the most gifted…

Mark Millar & JG Jones - Wanted

3 Jul 2008

THRILLER/SUPER VILLIAN (Top Cow/Titan) As yet another comics-based blockbuster hits the big screen, Titan brings us this timely repackaged re-release. Wanted was written by one of the comics world’s leading lights, Scotland’s own Mark Millar, a…

Bruce Jones & John Romita Jr - The Incredible Hulk: Return of the Monster

5 Jun 2008

SUPERHERO (Marvel) This year’s blockbuster roster is jam packed with comic adaptations, and Marvel’s second big hitter of the year, The Incredible Hulk (after the considerable success of Iron Man) smashes it’s way onto the big screen this…

Various - The Definitive Iron Man

22 May 2008

SUPERHERO (Marvel UK) With Iron Man proving to be the first genuine blockbuster of the summer season (and a fantastic adaptation of the source material) Marvel UK presents the ultimate introduction to ol’ Shellhead. The collection offers slices of…

Iron Man: Demon in a Bottle

David Michelinie, Bob Layton & John Romita Jr

24 Apr 2008

SUPERHERO (Marvel) In the world of comics Iron Man is one of the main players in the Marvel Universe. As provisional leader of the Avengers for many, many years, he’s helped shape the fictional world more than most. However Iron Man hasn’t crossed…

The Invincible Iron Man

24 Apr 2008

DVD (12) 80 mins (Lionsgate) The new big budget feature isn’t the first Iron Man movie as this 2007 animated feature from Marvel proves. The film revisits Iron Man’s first showdown with the Mandarin. The animation is fine but overall the film…

Jeff Smith - Shazam!: Monster Society of Evil

17 Jan 2008

SUPER HERO (DC) Jeff Smith will forever be known for his wonderful, self-published, multi-award-winning Bone series, a whimsical fantasy tale that got the balance of childish wonder and compelling storytelling just right. Here he takes on Captain…

Weird Websites - book review

John Blake

13 Dec 2007

WEB GUIDE JESSICA ASHBY Weird Websites (John Blake) A good few years back, when the web was in its infancy there were tons of books, magazines and guides to the internet. But these seem to have slipped into the shadows of late. Split into topics…

Letters to eBay - book review

Hodder

13 Dec 2007

Subtitled ‘antics of a virtual prankster’, Letters to eBay is a prime example of a man with way too much time on his hands and ‘obsessive-compulsive tendencies’. A school teacher by day and internet time waster Art Farkas by night, the author scours…

Justin Gray, Jimmy Paliotti & Adam Archer - Friday the 13th

29 Nov 2007

HORROR Friday the 13th (Wildstorm) Movie spin-offs are often pretty ropey affairs, desperately trying to wheedle a few bucks from fans clamouring for more product while the hype is still clouding their judgement. Which is why Wildstorm’s tribute…

The Saga of the Blood Benders

Rick Geary

20 Sep 2007

Rick Geary has produced stories and art for everyone from Heavy Metal and National Lampoon to Disney. However, recently he’s been focusing on his ‘Treasury of Victorian Murder’, which has covered Jack the Ripper through to The Murder of Abraham Lincoln…

Silverfish

David Lapham

16 Aug 2007

CRIME DRAMA Comics can be amazingly astute when it comes to capturing the teen experience. Charles Burns’ sublime Black Hole (surely one of the greatest comics of all time) and last year’s Sloth by Gilbert Hernandez offered strange and distorted…

Pat Mills, Kevin O'Neil, Jesus Redondo & Bryan Talbot

The Complete Nemesis the Warlock Book 1 (Rebellion

12 Feb 2007

SCI-FI Rebellion continues its gorgeous repackaging of classic 2000AD stories. And Nemesis the Warlock is perhaps one of the greatest stories to ever grace the pages of the erstwhile sci-fi compendium, being a biting satire of racial intolerance and…

Warren Ellis & JH Willliams III - comic review

Warren Ellis & JH Willliams III

19 Dec 2006

SCI-FI This is just what Warren Ellis revels in, dark sci-fi with a nasty twist. And while Desolation Jones isn’t up to the standards of the blackly comic Transmetropolitan, it starts with a bang and is far bleaker than most of Ellis’ output. Used as…

Judge Death: Young Death Boyhood of a Super-fiend

4 Sep 2008

Every hero needs an arch-nemesis. For Dredd that nemesis is Judge Death. In many ways he's taken Dredd's morality to the ultimate extreme with the idea that all crime is caused by the living, so life itself should be a crime. Unfortunately there has…

Judge Dredd: The Henry Flint Collection

4 Sep 2008

More Mega City mayhem, this time showcasing the art of Henry Flint. Written by John Wagner and Robbie Morrison, some are great, some average and one is a waste of space, but they all help flesh out Dredd's world. But this is mainly about the art.

Bryan Talbot

Graphic detail in the finest strips

21 Aug 2008

Bryan Talbot is a bit of a legend in the UK comics industry. He’s provided art for the likes of 2000AD, Sandman and Batman but you can still see the influence of underground comix artists such as Robert Crumb and Gilbert Shelton even in his most…

Alan Moore & Brian Bolland - Batman: The Killing Joke

17 Jul 2008

SUPER VILLAIN (DC) New blockbuster Dark Knight is all about the Joker. At first glance he’s almost a comedy character, but in the right hands he can be genuinely terrifying. As a character, The Joker represents insanity at it’s worst; a gibbering…

Michael Green & Denys Cowan - Batman: Lovers and Madmen

17 Jul 2008

SUPER VILLAIN ( DC ) The main problem with Lovers and Madmen is that in many ways it is contradictory to the events in The Killing Joke (which have become accepted as the origin story to the Joker over the years). It depicts the Joker as far…

John Whalen & Mike Hawthorne - The Un-Men: Get Your Freak On

3 Jul 2008

MURDER MYSTERY (DC/Vertigo) The Un-Men were deformed approximations of man brewed up with a mix of science and sorcery by Swamp Thing’s arch-nemesis Anton Arcane back in 1972. They’ve cropped up several times through the years, and now launch their…

Greg Pak, Carlo Pagulayan & Aaron Lopresti - Planet Hulk

5 Jun 2008

SUPERHERO (Marvel) We reviewed World War Hulk in issue 599 ( ••• ) but let’s go back to the story that launched Hulk on his revenge fuelled tirade against planet earth. The Illuminati (a secretive cabal of superheroes that includes Iron Man, Mr…

John Romita Jr & Various - Marvel Masterworks: John Romita Jr

27 Mar 2008

SUPERHERO ANTHOLOGY (Marvel UK) With the release of World War Hulk, Kick-Ass and this retrospective it’s a great time to look back at the career of one of comics’ best-loved artists. Nepotism may be an ugly word but in the case of the great John…

Reginald Hudlin, Larry Stroman & Ken Lashley - Black Panther: Black to the Future

13 Mar 2008

SUPERHERO (Marvel) Marvel celebrates Black History Month with this double-sized one shot focusing on two of the highest profile black characters in comics: The Black Panther and his wife Storm (of X-Men fame). The tale is set in the fictional African…

Alan Grant

17 Jan 2008

We’ve passed several science fiction milestones in the last 25 years with George Orwell’s 1984, Arthur C Clarke’s 2001 and the speculative 1997 proposed in Predator 2. And, while the exact facts within these fictions may not have come to pass, there are…

Steve Niles & Ben Templesmith

30 Days of Night: Return to Barrow (IDW)

18 Oct 2007

We’re back in Alaska for this outing, as a new sheriff takes over the unenviable task of keeping law in Barrow, three years after the events of the first book. As soon as we touch down in Barrow the claustrophobic edge reappears as the month of darkness…

Brad Meltzer & Ed Benes

(DC/Titan)

23 Aug 2007

Novelist Brad Meltzer proved he has a knack for comics with the gripping Identity Crisis, perfecting a style of weaving human feelings into tales of world shattering superpowers. This is no mean feat given that it’s often near impossible to anchor the…

Denise Mina & Leonardo Manco - comic review

Denise Mina & Leonardo Manco

29 Jan 2007

HORROR Bitter mage John Constantine makes his way to Scotland, as crime writer Denise Mina (Field of Blood/The Dead Hour) makes her first foray into comics, bringing Constantine onto her home territory, Glasgow, the setting for most of her mystery…

Ed Brubaker & Trevor Hairsine - comic review

Ed Brubaker & Trevor Hairsine

9 Jan 2007

SUPERHERO Comics have embraced and pioneered the ret-con more that any other artistic medium. For the less geeky amongst us, a ret-con is ‘retro continuity’, the art of going back and retelling the past so it vaguely makes sense with what’s gone…

Power Girl

Geoff Johns, Amanda Conner, Jimmy Palmiotti (DC)

11 Nov 2006

SUPERHERO Power Girl lies at the crux of the events and concepts that Infinite Crisis deals with. The character has been retconned more than most, her origins obscured within various parallel universes. This compilation looks back through the years…

Paul Jenkins & Paolo Rivera

Mythos: Hulk (Marvel)

28 Sep 2006

SUPERHERO The second in Paul Jenkins’ irregular Mythos series, which retells key events in the history of Marvel’s greatest creations. Here The Hulk gets the revamp treatment, going back to that initial gamma explosion that turned Bruce Banner into…

Mike Mignola & Cary Nord

Conan No 31 (Dark Horse)

1 Sep 2006

FANTASY There was a time when artist Mike Mignola wasn’t very sure of his own writing skills. In the early days of Hellboy he handed John Byrne a plot to be fleshed out fully by the far more established writer. Now Mignola feels confident enough to…

Mat Johnson & Warren Pleece - Incognegro

18 Sep 2008

DRAMA Comics of course can tackle any subject matter – it’s a medium not a genre after all (despite the predominance of superhero titles), and Vertigo at DC has been pushing leftfield stories into the mainstream since its inception in 1993. Set…

Judge Dredd: The Complete Case Files 10

4 Sep 2008

Judge Dredd is surely the greatest British comic character. He's graced the pages of 2000AD since in 1977, and in 2008 his maxim 'I Am the Law' still rings true. The ultimate judge, jury and executioner. It's a distopian future where the radioactive…

Richard Blandford - Flying Saucer Rock & Roll

21 Aug 2008

For men of a certain age, Richard Blandford’s second novel will strike a (power) chord. The plot details Chris Hurry’s final years at school where the bands you align yourself with can make or destroy your social status. Chris discovers heavy metal and…

Paul Gravett

Fighting the anti-comics brigade

7 Aug 2008

Paul Gravett is an acknowledged expert on comics, who started off with comic-marts, before moving into publishing (with titles including Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean’s Violent Cases in the 80s) and writing hundreds of books, articles and columns on…

Aleksandar Hemon - The Lazarus Project

31 Jul 2008

FICTIONAL TRAVELOGUE (Picador) Aleksandar Hemon draws on his Bosnian heritage to weave two narratives into one startling insight of a nation wracked with war, poverty and pogroms. There are obvious parallels to his own life, as Vladimir Brik travels…

Andy Diggle & Jock - Green Arrow: Year One

31 Jul 2008

SUPERHERO (DC/Titan) Former 2000AD editor Andy Diggle is another Brit making a name for himself in the world of US comics with stints on ‘Batman’, ‘Hellblazer’ and ‘Swamp Thing’ under his belt. Once again teaming up with frequent collaborator Jock…

Various - Superman: Emperor Joker

17 Jul 2008

SUPER VILLAIN (DC) Despite an impressive writing team – including Jeph Loeb, JM DeMatteis and Ed McGuinness – Emperor Joker is a mess. This time, Superman takes on the harlequin of hate in a reality-warping tale as the Joker takes on God-like…

Steven Deighan & Terry Cooper - Feels Like Stephen King

19 Jun 2008

HORROR (Steven Deighan Publications) Small press printing of young Edinburgh horror author Steven Deighan's short story adapted to comic format. Telling a morbid tale of the publishing industry as a young writer is approached by a jaded publisher with…

Dan Slott & Juan Bobillo - She-Hulk: Single Green Female

5 Jun 2008

SUPERHERO (Marvel) Finally how could we ignore She-Hulk? After receiving an irradiated blood transfusion from her cousin, Bruce Banner, Jennifer Walters inherited some of his powers and strength. However, she’s in control of her emotions and isn’t…

Civil War: Iron Man

24 Apr 2008

He’s an Avenger; he’s been Secretary of Defence; he’s a member of the shadowy Illuminati. But nothing exemplifies Iron Man’s key position in the world of comics more than his role in Marvel’s huge crossover event of 2006, Civil War. Mark Millar’s…

Greg Pak & John Romita Jr - World War Hulk

27 Mar 2008

SUPERHERO RAMMY (Marvel UK) The Hulk works best when written as a rampaging force of nature, a destructive power on the scale of an atomic bomb. He is, after all, a being of immeasurable strength, an angry behemoth with the power to crush all before…

Mark Millar & John Romita Jr - Kick-Ass No 1

27 Mar 2008

MODERN DAY SUPERHERO (Marvel) It’s certainly not all about the past with Romita Jr as this new collaboration with Mark Millar proves. The two artists’ styles complemented each other so well on Wolverine: Enemy of the State that it’s not surprising…

Doctor Strange

14 Feb 2008

DVD (12) 74min (Lionsgate) This is the latest instalment in Marvel’s series of animated features. One of Marvel’s more out-there characters with more than a hint of 60s psychedelia about him, Doctor Strange is the world’s master of the occult and…

Various - 52 (Books 1-4)

DC

31 Jan 2008

The most complex and ambitious project in comics gets the graphic novel treatment printed across four books. Taking its cue from the real-time adventures of television thriller 24, each issue of 52, which was printed weekly for a full year, covered one…

Various

15 Nov 2007

SUPERHERO Marvel Europa (Marvel UK) Last fortnight we had a collection of the UK’s best writers and artists. This issue we look at Europa a collection bringing together a selection of European creators as they tackle Marvel’s roster of superheroes.

Denise Mina & Leonardo Manco - review

Horror

1 Nov 2007

While Ian Rankin is writing his own Hellblazer story, due in 2008, the current scribe bringing occult anti-hero John Constantine to life is fellow Scots crime author Denise Mina. In this direct sequel to her Empathy is the Enemy collection, the Empathy…

Steve Niles & Scott Hampton - review

Horror

1 Nov 2007

Steve Niles is probably the biggest name in horror comics at the moment. The man who brought us the gothic vampires of 30 Days of Night (now a big budget horror flick) is now launching his first big monthly title with DC, Simon Dark, starring ‘Gotham…

Steve Niles & Ben Templesmith

30 Days of Night: Dark Days (IDW)

18 Oct 2007

After reading 30 Days of Night it’s hard to think where Niles could take the characters he’d created next. Here he moves the action from Alaska to LA, where one of the survivors of the initial assault continues her war on the vampires and her campaign…

Alan Moore & Various

6 Sep 2007

SUPERHEROES A lot is made of the genius of Alan Moore, and we can never discredit the man who gave us The Watchmen and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen or took Swamp Thing to new celestial heights. But that doesn't mean his every utterance is…

The Other Side

Jason Aaron & Cameron Stewart

16 Aug 2007

WAR Traditionally, comics that deal in war have been of the GI Joe/Commando camp, revelling in the glory of battle and the heroics of the average man on the frontline. The Other Side, on the other hand, deals with the Vietnam War and the moral…

Soon I Will Be Invincible

Austin Grossman

1 Aug 2007

While many comics tackle serious subjects from Hitler’s Germany (Art Spiegelman’s Maus) to disability (Pete Milligan’s Skin), few serious novels have taken their inspiration from the world of comics.

Life & Style - Play - Reviews

THE BOOK OF GAMES (VOLUME 1)

12 Mar 2007

BOOK (gameXplore, 3 stars) Given how popular videogames are, there’s a strange lack of books on the subject. Indeed, it’s hard to think of a bookshop with a gaming section. Beyond the walkthroughs and gaming guides that proliferate at…

Antony Johnston

Dreams of Inan: Stealing Life (Abaddon)

12 Feb 2007

SCI-FI DRAMA Antony Johnston The publishers behind British sci-fi comic 2000AD continue their new imprint Abaddon Books, where prose takes centre stage over the words and pictures of their core title. Abaddon specialises in large scale series’…

Comic - Brian K Vaugh & Niko Henrichon

Brian K Vaugh & Niko Henrichon

22 Nov 2006

WAR Taking inspiration from the real fate of the animals at Baghdad Zoo during the recent US invasion (sorry ‘liberation’) of Iraq, a pride of lions escape after a round of bombing destroys much of the zoo. They set off across the man-made wasteland…

Geoff Johns & Phil Jimenez

Infinite Crisis (DC)

11 Nov 2006

SUPERHERO Finally we get to the meat in the seemingly endless build up to DC’s earth shattering Infinite Crisis mega crossover. Comic fans will know that every now and then (usually once a summer) some huge calamity will threaten the universe our…

Guy Delisle

Shenzhen (Jonathan Cape)

10 Oct 2006

TRAVELOGUE Canadian animator Guy Delisle spends a lot of time in the far east overseeing animation projects. In his first travelogue he visited North Korea; this time around he spends interminably dull days, weeks and months in china’s economic…