The Unwritten pt. 2

I finally read up to The Unwritten: Apocalypse #5. Up until issue #50 (where Fables gets involved), the story was so interesting I couldn't wait to read every issue again. The characters travel around the world, through fiction, through time, and encounter strange beings (including, but not limited to vampires and zombies -- which they handle in a non-cheesy way). To put it mildly: this series is The Shit.

So we've got a great story, interesting characters (although Tom annoys me pretty badly, the other characters more than make up for it), and gorgeous artwork. The ending has to be spectacular, right?

What?

In comes Fables, an already established comic book series that's making a crossover appearance. While I haven't read this series, other reviewers stated you get caught up to speed pretty quickly. I already knew a little about Fables (fairy tale characters living in the modern world, trying to keep anyone from learning who they are), so I jumped on in. What followed was the weirdest jumble of war and chaos I'd ever witnessed. So much was going on in the panels I sometimes couldn't make sense of it. And these "new" characters? Not my favorites. Skim. Get the gist. Next issue.

I mean, anyone who knows me knows I take the Scarlet O'Hara approach to war: If anyone talks about it one more time, I'm going to scream.

And the Orcs trod unto with their veritable swords and axes and lo! came upon an army of --*

ARGHHH!!!!

*not an actual quote

I liked this story because it followed a small group of characters. They interacted with each other, discovered, solved, and got into bigger things, and occasionally fought off a bad guy. That's awesome! It's what I want in every story. War, on the other hand, is the reason I skimmed most of The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. Sorry, Tolkien.

In conclusion, I haven't read the last remaining issues of :Apocalypse. I believe it's running until December. I'll more than likely finish the whole thing, but I've gotta say with a title like "Apocalypse" I just know there's an epic war coming up and I'm not keen to go.

Do check out the cover artist Yuko Shimizu's work. It's absolutely stunning.

Southern Flavor

There's a big difference between going somewhere and reading about it. For example, I watched a superhero movie the other day in which Park Ave near Grand Central Terminal got totally destroyed. That hasn't happened ONCE since I got here. Monsters and storms are always wrecking this city, yet the only thing I have to complain about is being crushed by the mass of humanity that is 8+ million people on my daily commute (that's actually a big deal to me and I'll be leaving as soon as possible).

Memphis was almost the opposite. It was so boring there (nothing happening in the suburbs, nothing happening downtown -- unless you were a tourist who wanted to walk down the 2 blocks that is Beale Street) that I left when I was adult enough not to have my parents follow me. But when I write, I like to include Memphis as one of my settings (in The Silent Treatment I definitely did, and I've hinted at it in others). Why? Because Memphis is more interesting on paper, as any of my hair clients will mention when I tell them where I'm from.

Sleeping with the Crawfish* by Don J. Donaldson is set a little bit in Memphis. Not so much that I felt like I was sitting in morning rush hour traffic on I-40, but enough to make me glance away from the text occasionally and think, "Yeah. I miss it." And the author didn't only focus on the cliche touristy places (such as the aforementioned Beale Street), he takes the characters into a lived-in city.

The bulk of the book is set in New Orleans and surrounding areas. (Question: does everyone in New Orleans have a French last name?) While the author does write a bit in dialect (mostly in the form of leavin' a G off the ends of words), it doesn't distract from the story.

This book surprised me. The writing was fluid and nearly invisible. The story kept me going (in the whole "one more chapter... and one more..." vein) and kept me guessing.

For the squeamish, there's loads of information about how a body is cremated. I found this fascinating, but some might be weirded out. You know what, though? This is a murder mystery with shootings and cars in the bayou and foot chases (with guns) and people getting locked in giant freezers. Grizzly stuff is all part of the genre, and it's why I love mysteries so much.

While the plot did involve a web of deceit I kind of got confused with (especially with the lengthy "here's how it happened" at the end), the story was exciting and ended in a satisfying way.

Though this book appears late in the series, it wasn't difficult to get to know (and love) the characters. Hints at past plots make me want to go back and read the other books.

Don J. Donaldson, you have a new fan.

*I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.