Claw marks in the frozen peas

Alan’s War: The Memories of GI Alan Cope by Emmanuel Guibert

This graphic novel came about from a chance encounter by its creator while traveling. Alan Cope described his adventures to the author in French, which was later translated to English. The story of Cope’s life from World War II to post-war America and Europe deeply touching. He hardly sees any battles in Europe, and most of his stories involve the different characters he meets along the way, all of whom have influenced his path in life.

I found myself unable to put the book down as I was reading it. However, by the end of the book I actually felt strong resentment for Cope. I determined that he was an uninteresting person that lived an interesting life. He never seemed to make the most of every situation he found himself in, it seemed as though he took everything for granted. It wasn’t until later in life that Cope took the time to analyze his life and had some regrets about some of the decisions he had made.

I really enjoyed this quiet and quirky memoir that had classic cartooning and a style of storytelling that seemed as though Cope was telling me his stories directly. When I read books, I have a tendency to flip the pages to smell the scent of the paper and ink that wafts towards me. Alan’s War is one of the better smelling books I’ve read recently, and if that won’t convince you to pick up a copy, then I don’t know what will.

Asterios Polyp by David Mazzucchelli

Essex County vol. 2: Ghost Stories by Jeff Lemire

I’ve been looking forward to picking this book up since it was first announced. The Collected Essex County is comprised of the trilogy of Essex County graphic novels, Tales from the Farm, Ghost Stories and the Country Nurse. These stories take place in an imaginary version of the Ontario county where author Jeff Lemire was born. The Nobody, a new graphic novel, also came out recently, which I highly recommend. He also has a new monthly series called Sweet Tooth that is set to begin in September - a preview can be found here.

I love the smell of new books, comics or otherwise. I almost skipped buying the new League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Century: 1910 because of how bad Black Dossier was, but I’ve heard nothing but good things.

I Kill Giants TPB

The Goon concept art (click to embiggen)

Wooden Rivers: Rain Slickers by Rad Sechrist

The Surrogates by Robert Venditti

The year is 2054, and life is reduced to a data feed. The fusing of virtual reality and cybernetics has ushered in the era of the personal surrogate, android substitutes that let users interact with the world without ever leaving their homes. It’s a perfect world, and it’s up to Detectives Harvey Greer and Pete Ford of the Metro Police Department to keep it that way. But to do so they’ll need to stop a techno-terrorist bent on returning society to a time when people lived their lives instead of merely experiencing them.

The Surrogates is a story about progress and whether there exists a tipping point at which technological advancement will stop enhancing and start hindering our lives. It is also a commentary on identity, the Western obsession with physical appearance, and the growing trend to use science as a means of providing consumers with beauty on demand.

Batman Year 100 by Paul Pope

Wormwood: Gentleman Corpse by Ben Templesmith

Locke & Key is an ongoing limited series written by bestselling novelist and award-winning short story writer Joe Hill and illustrated by Gabriel Rodriguez. Hill also happens to be the son of novelist Stephen King, and much like his father, he has an intriguing mind and a unique way of looking at life.

The story contained within the first 6 issues, Welcome to Lovecraft, tells a tale of the Locke family, who relocate to Key House after an unspeakable tragedy. The New England mansion is home to doorways that transform those that walk through them, and a hate-filled and relentless creature that won’t rest until it opens the most terrible door of them all. The macabre story has plenty of suspense and mystery throughout that leaves you wanting more. This first arc is a prologue to 3 twelve issue acts that will follow beginning in January of this year. It’s really tough describing this book without giving away major plot points. All I can say is that you won’t regret reading this.

Spider-man: Blue by Tim Sale

The night’s as hot as hell. It’s a lousy room in a lousy part of a lousy town - I’m staring at a goddess. She’s telling me she wants me. I’m not going to waste one more minute wondering how I’ve gotten this lucky. She smells like angels ought to smell, the perfect woman… the Goddess. Goldie. She says her name is Goldie.

It would be nice if the government had subsidies that helped pay for my comics.