By Alex Ness
February 7, 2021
SABLE BY MIKE GRELL: OR, WHY I LOVE MIKE
Readers of any length of time here know that Mike Grell is a friend of mine, but beyond that friendship, I was a fan of Mike's work since the 1970s. I am likely in the minority of people, but I prefer his writing to his art, but realize, I love his art as well.
When I was newly married and a voracious reader of comics, my wife was a voracious reader, but of all sorts of materials. She is a very bright and beautiful person, who took all forms of entertainment for what they are, rather than have any sort of bias against comic books. She was drawn to three color comics and one black and white. At the time (1988-1989) she enjoyed Jon Sable, Green Arrow, and Dreadstar. And she also liked Cerebus but with a different sort of enjoyment of the reading, as she thought Dave Sim was great writer but more, a very smart man who wrote differently than any other comic book writer. And she is Canadian and liked that aspect of Dave Sim.
Her enjoyment of these series taught me how people outside of the normal target range of comics see them, but, her love of Green Arrow and Jon Sable, both written by Mike Grell allowed me to understand why his work was particularly good, it was mature, and was written assuming the reader was intelligent and able to accept very hard realities. He is said by some to write violent action stories. But if you read his work it has none of the cliche that comics have, despite bias in various critical eyes. That is, he knows the consequences of the action he writes, the violence is neither excessive nor prurient, it belongs in the story. His written women have intelligence and worth. In Green Arrow there are characters you believe are in love, and do what mature adults do. In Jon Sable there were heroics, but you enjoy them however you might, because they are not why you read it, you are reading about the life of real characters, and they have "adventures".
In SABLE Mike Grell paints a panorama of violence in, and the tragedy of, modern Africa. The realities of big game hunts, poaching, the management of game as a source of revenue leads to the murder of a family, and thereafter a life in a dangerous world by the protagonist. Sable lost his paradise on earth by the acts of others, was nearly killed, and has to create a new life. It leads to a search for the murderers, the use by Sable of tracking and hunting skills, and the dealing with the madness of his enormous personal loss.
He goes through the very real life circumstance of starting over, from burnt ground, to rebuilding his life. I found this a rewarding read for the fact that I grieved the loss of my mother and friend who died from suicide from 2012 to 2014 and had to myself learn how to live without two people I loved deeply. The violence in this work might offend empty brained weasels who don't understand the reason for violence or are offended by it, but in certain settings, there are real and permanent consequences to life.
Still Available on AMAZON
THE BATMAN BOOKS
Following the Dark Knight by Frank Miller comic book fans had been treated to a newly mature and dark hero, rescued from years of comic book banality. When the movie came out, however different from the Dark Knight by Frank Miller, utilized the newly accepted dystopic world that Batman existed within, and was a creature born from. He was no longer an Adam West Batman tv character, he was a vigilante who was dealing with the loss of his parents by punishing the criminals he encountered, and prevented more tragedies than the major one he suffered. When Timothy Burton's Batman 1989 was a smashing success, DC Comics tried to harvest the good will and renewed interest in the character by the general public. I had Batman t-shirts, a Batman coffee mug, all sorts of stuff I stockpiled for the eventual arrival of my son.
I am not going to go into detail here about any of these works, the best of which I thought was the work of Joe R. Lansdale BATMAN: CAPTURED BY THE ENGINES also worth noting, Lansdale was the creator of the best of the short stories in the two anthologies. If you are looking for 30 year old fun reads these all qualify. If you are looking for modern minded Batman stories, well, these are the works that allowed that kind of character to evolve.
CAPTAIN AMERICA IN PROSE
I love the comic book hero Captain America. I don't always love how he has been written or what others see him as being. But that is a result of the perception of difference in ideals of what is good about America. For if a hero bears the flag upon his being as a symbol of what is good about America, he has a great burden to bear.
I won't consider the other books shown, they represent other prose novels featuring Captain America. But for my money you should seek out CAPTAIN AMERICA: LIBERTY'S TORCH by Tony Isabella and Bob Ingersoll. This writer team wrote a book that is modern and speaks volumes to the very edge of the present day. The America of the present of the book finds America divided. Small but powerful and well armed militias lay claim to be THE patriotic and representative of who America is in reality. Captain America fights them, is captured by them, and is made to address them in a form of court, a kangaroo court but a court nonetheless. There are people who are offended by the concept of a Captain America who embraces the many who have different views of the good possible in America. It is a book worth seeking out, and as I love the character I recognize that some people are not fans, or think there should be one particular politically "correct" version of the character. But if this version of the character doesn't ring true to you, I think your views are askew. Some people who are on one side of the divide might like it more than others, but that is part of life, we all have the views we have.
ABOUT GETTING REVIEWS FROM ME
First off, I can be found on Facebook, Twitter or through email at Alexanderness63@gmail.com. I accept hard copies, so when you inquire at any of these places, I'll follow through by telling you my street address. I no longer have a post box, although I regret that. It was a crushing defeat to no longer have a p.o. box, when I came to realize I was getting so little product it made no sense to pay for the privilege to not receive mail at both my home and at the post office. If you send hard copies for review I will always review them, but if you prefer to send pdf or ebooks to my email, I will review these at my discretion. I don't share my pdf/ebooks, so you can avoid worry that I'd dispense them for free to others.
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Jean de La Bruyère "Life is a tragedy for those who feel, and a comedy for those who think".
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