Shhhhhhhhh!

Batman: Hush saw two giants of the comic industry coming together to create a truely memorable Batman story. Writer Jeph Loeb and artist Jim Lee have created a masterpiece that was released in 2003 and went for twelve issues.

Batman finds himself being targeted by an unknown foe who has studied his movements and tactics and is using this knowledge to foil him. Not only that but other adversaries of Batman are being given this knowledge and are attacking Batman. Bats is also distracted by the fact that he and Catwomen have begun a relationship. Soon Batman realises that he is being set up but he doesn't know by who, and this leads to a violent showdown that leaves Batman searching for answers. To say more would be to give the game away.

Loeb is a great writer and his version of Batman hits all the right notes, menacing, intelligent, and tormented by inner demons. Lee needs no introduction, one of the greats since he broke onto the scene in the early nineties, anything drawn by this man is going to be good. With Chris Claremont he still holds the record for the best selling comic book of all time X-Men #1 which sold 8 million copies. (Yes I own a copy as well) Lee is famous for not meeting deadlines, his current project with Frank Miller called All Star Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder has had a gap of a year between issues.

Do yourself a favour and get a hold of Batman: Hush and enjoy this well told tale, I know I did.

1602

Marvel 1602 by Neil Gaiman and Andy Kubert is a re-imagining of classic 1960s marvel characters as if they existed in the year 1602. Caught up in the intrigue of the times Gaiman does a good job of placing the characters in context and making them fit.

The story went for eight issues and led to various spin-offs which explored other areas of the world of 1602 that includes Marvel's superheroes.

I don't think this is Gaiman's best work, Sandman will always hold that place for me, but Marvel 1602 is interesting, though a little too talky at times. Gaiman likes long scripts and this is reflected in this piece. Kubert like his brother Adam (and father Joe) is an amazing artist and has been drawing Marvel heroes for a long time so the art work is outstanding. (Both Kubert brothers now work for DC)

A fun read but you need to know the Marvel Universe to get the most out of it.

WWII

The bombing campaign the Allies undertook during the Second World War has been coming under scrutiny lately. A recent example of this was Keith Lowe's book Inferno. The Devastation of Hamburg 1943, which tells the tragic story of what happened when this port became a target for American and British bombers.

In the summer of 1943 the allies raided this city for ten days and dropped 9,000 tons of bombs on it, causing fires that burnt for a month and could be seen 200 miles away.

This book is full of first hand accounts from both sides and deals with the tragedy in an even handed way. Lowe is willing to let the facts speak for themselves and they are so bad that they do not need unnecessary commentary.

Read this book and be reminded that the Axis side wasn't the only one to commit atrocities.

WW1

World War One has a certain senselessness that World War Two lacks. Defeating Hitler and fascism is noteworthy, but massacres in trenches about not very much are difficult to explain. It would be hard to describe to an alien visitor why it was important to fight in the Great War, but people did and some of the bloodiest battles were fought for the smallest gains.

One such battle was the Battle of the Somme, when the British and French Armies attacked the Germans. The battle opened on the 1st of July 1916 and ended in October of the same year. On the first day 20,000 British soldiers and 60% of the officers that led them were killed with 40,000 injured. It is still the single bloodiest day in the history of the British Army. A statement issued by the British Army at the end of the day stated that "the first day of the offensive is very satisfactory." This battle also saw the first usage of tanks in modern warfare, they didn't really change anything. By the end of the battle the Allies had advanced 12 kilometres at huge cost. There were 420,000 British casualties and 200,000 French. The Germans lost around half a million men, which the allied High Command claimed was the point of the offensive, to destroy German manpower.

I mention this because Pat Mills and Joe Colquhoun created one of the greatest series of stories dealing with this period. Called Charley's War the comic strip was published between 1979 and 1985 it dealt with life in the trenches in amazing detail. Mills was also quite clear when writing this series to show his very strong anti-war stance, sure people do heroic things but all the characters are quite ordinary and suffer various problems of their own. Colquhoun was an amazing artist and the black and white art he produced for this strip was simply amazing.

Read this amazing series and discover what life in the trenches meant for millions of soldiers who fought a largely senseless war they thought was going to end all wars. As Wilfred Owen once stated "The old lie: Dulce et Decorum est Pro patria mori." (It is sweet and fitting to die for one's country.)

Science Fiction Samba

Brasyl by Ian MacDonald lives up to the quote on the front by fellow writer Richard Morgan. Morgan says "F**king brilliant. I'm as jealous as all hell - it's a beauty.' I couldn't agree more. OK I'm not jealous but this book is great.

MacDonald weaves the story around three strands set in 2006, 2032 and 1732 in Brazil, and Brazil is the main character. This tightly plotted story takes the reader on a ride through the backstreets of this magnificent country as we follow the protagonists around. MacDonald has an ear for dialogue which translates well onto the page.

Be warned though there is a lot going on within the pages of this book, but once you start the momentum will speed you along.