Day 15, Holiday Reviewarama Button Man by Rebellion UK

BUTTON MAN
John Wagner & Frazer Irving
"Book IV: The Hitman's Daughter"
2000 AD #1551-1566, 2007

The Publisher

Harry Exton is a Button Man. One of a number of them. These "Button Men"are part of a dangerous, deadly, violent game. A voice directs them to the others, and the hunt begins. The object of the game is to kill your opponent obviously, but if they capture the opponent they take a finger, or joint. Once three have been taken, the result is death. But while Harry Exton is a Button Man, he is not altogether like the others. He isn't totally crushed by the work he does. He still has some ethics, if not, altogether, morals. This volume of the overall story follows a double cross between friends, alliances between otherwise enemies, and personal decisions that make this a wild ride and violent game.

This book was very well written and illustrated. It was a cinematic work, with very able story telling. Very impressive. But, for the great quality of it, it has an expensive cover price. But, for anyone enjoying the spy genre, or action films, this is one very fun ride.

Day 14, Holiday Reviewarama Judge Dredd the complete case files volume 15

Judge Dredd: Complete Case Files v. 15
John Wagner, Garth Ennis, Steve Dillon

The Publisher REBELLION UK


Writing about each story would be rather impossible for me, not because they weren't good, but rather because there were so many of them, and so many aspects of them that make that consideration a book unto itself. When the publisher calls this the complete case files, they mean COMPLETE.

Judge Dredd goes back a long way, and there are various works collecting his appearances, and this is devoted to his self titled series, and the Judge Dredd Megazine. When you think vigilante you think Batman. When you think protector of everyone you think Spider-Man. When you think keeper of the law, you either think of Superman or Judge Dredd. As such you need to keep in context the world of Judge Dredd as it does affect the law he lays down. Mega-City is as violent and crazed as possible, being a satirical version of future New York, with the odd takes of culture from the perspective of writers and artists from the UK.

This is fun book, it is violent and humorous, and goes way beyond entertaining, but, in buying it for yourself or others you still should take into account the audience. If you like violent stories this is good. If you prefer more cerebral work, this is not your series.

The art and story both are incredible, and again Rebellion kicks much butt with their standards of production.

Day 4, Holiday Reviewarama Robo Hunter Volume 2

ROBO HUNTER
THE DROID FILES Volume 2
John Wagner, Alan Grant, Ian Gibson, Rian Hughes, Chris Weston, Simon Jacob

Rebellion


Sam Slade the Robo Hunter of title is a bitter, matured, cigar-smoking hunter of robots that have gone rogue. Homage and satire in parts, literate, cinema, politics and 1980s culture, Robo Hunter is a work that endures, but, has lost some of the shine that made me read it in the 1980s.

This work collects a series of stories wherein the future is filled with strange orders from robot Prime Ministers and his being is refused Heaven at his death, for the fact of a naughty clone of his flesh being upon the earth. Ultimately, although dressed in Science Fiction clothing, this is pure comedy.

Maybe because the concept is less serious we are left with something that has to be entertaining on the strength of the dialogue and the very nice art. Without the strength of an overall powerful story we are left with some characters that are fun, and some stories that are mostly cute but, the work is not altogether satisfying. The work by some of the talent is good, certainly the writing, and art by Ian Gibson, but, overall it was uneven.

The production and packaging of this work is great. No question with Rebellion you get your money’s worth. But in this case, the work and concepts within reveal their age more than the previously reviewed works from Rebellion.

Day 2, Holiday Reviewarama SLAINE: DEMON HUNTER

Slaine: DEMON HUNTER
Written by Pat Mills.
Art by Glenn Fabry, Cam Kennedy, and Greg Staples.
Softcover, 160 pages, full color. Cover price $25.99.
Rebellion UK

Slaine is summoned by the Earth Goddess to travel through time and defend the Britons from Caesar's legions at the side of warrior queen Boudicca. But the Romans are not to be underestimated, especially with Slaine's old foe, the demon Elfric, at their side!

It would be true to say that I am a sucker for pretty pictures, and fine art. I am moved by beauty and there is no real point in denying that. As such, Slaine: DEMON HUNTER scores well with me. It has fantastic art with incredibly good standards of reproduction. The cover is both intense and speaks well to the standards of work within the pages. As to the story, well there is the real gem here. Slaine is a barbarian, he loves to be wild, kills with some glee, but he is a lover too. He cries for the things he will never see again. He worries that being moved through time to fight Caesar's Legions that he will never see home and his love again. The emotional content here is a major part of the success of the story telling, because while it is clever, it is also dark, and there is little to do but cringe at some of the bloodletting.

This is not for everyone. It borders upon an R rated film, but has real content, it is not explicit simply for the sake of that, but rather, to tell the story. So I give it a hearty recommendation, but with a caveat that some might think it excessive, in areas of violence, and even nudity.

QUICK HIT AND NEWS FOR NOVEMBER

As you’ve read or seen here I have committed to delivering to you 31 Days of Horror through the month of October. I am doing a similar effort by trying to write a review a day for the month of November. This will be offering products for consideration as presents at Christmas, Hanukah, Kwanze, Solstice and/or all of the above.

I am not reviewing product from every company out there, and some of the works are older than others on the shelf or new for the season. I am to blame for that. When I was still writing over at CBG/Trouble with comics I assumed life would cooperate. During the last year I have dealt with two terrible losses, and much more work on my own creative work than ever before. I apologize here, publicly to the publishers who had faith in me to produce reviews in a timely manner, and hope by doing this monthly series, I will pay my debt back to them.

Expect reviews and product discussions from Archaia, Top Shelf, various smaller publishers, and a number of single issues from creative talents. Depending on how well it goes, perhaps I will write a small number of profiles of creators to consider as well.

Stick with me, I promise to do my best.

Here is a first review, consider it an early opportunity to seek it out as a gift, to give or receive.

ROGUE TROOPER
Rogue Trooper: Tales of Nu-earth v. 1
Gerry Finley-Day and Chris Weston
From Rebellion UK

Nu-Earth was a beautiful world. Until the wars came, unlimited war, war without concern for toll or civilian lives, much less the world itself. Nu-Earth was a place that could have been called perfect, but it was ruined by chemical warfare. There isn’t much left to fight over, and this earth has been divided between two groups, Norts who appear far more malicious, and Southers who seem at least, in look more like the good guys. This story is an analogue for various real earth events and the Southers and Norts are code words for the American Civil war, but, there is so much more than straight analogues and allegorical content.

Rogue Troopers are GIs (Genetic Infantrymen) and fight for the Souther Confederacy. They are soldiers who by science were created by the state to fight, and are immune to various poisons and acids, and harmful actions and issues that would harm normal humans on the battlefield. They are a higher form of human with programed intelligence and skills. The Rogue Trooper who’s eyes you see the world through, is the lone survivor of a massive slaughter of the Rogues, and he is seeking the Souther General thought to have betrayed them.

What a wonderful work this is... Rebellion UK which is putting out 2000 AD product score a massive victory with this book. It is perfectly put together, very beautiful to look at, and the stories are greatly told gems, deserving of being collected.

For its commercial value alone the work is worth the money, by far. But this is an example of something being really good, worth having, and wonderful for sharing with others.