House of X / Powers of X

No more. 

That’s what this issue is all about - a pure expression of anger at the events the X-men experience in this storyline.

House of X #4 / 6

Its been a few weeks since I wrote a post. Its an understatement to say the last few weeks have been tough. 

With so much available time I have been revisiting my comic book collection. I never stopped reading comic books, but lately I have been revisiting my physical comics, many of which are 30 years old 

This is Uncanny X-Men #251 - the first X book I ever read

This was the first issue I picked up in a newsagents. That cover - I had to know who this character was and what he had done. (It’s Logan, 10 years before he looked like Hugh Jackman)

These two issues are near perfect examples of the very best X-Men storytelling. They have heroes in costumes but these books are about people. The metaphor in X-Men could apply to any group that isn't the majority, and Uncanny 251, 30 years old, is as relevant today as it was then, perhaps even more so. 

The House of X / Powers of X series rewrote the X-Men mythology with a heavy dose of science fiction, but retained the essential Metaphor. The original dream of Professor X is revisited and the whole continuity reconstructed to include many new elements, some of which were huge surprises. The format of the books is also rather different, with infodumps peppered through the books. 

I read the 12 issues on a weekly basis, the first time in 20 years I had been that engaged with a comic book. Being able to move straight on to the next issue will dampen the surprises somewhat but I highly recommend the series. 

The X-men ongoing books were all reset immediately after the series under the banner Dawn of X. 

Lockdown has caused all the new series to stall publication, but they are now starting to get moving again.

The panel below is probably the best single panel I have ever seen. Its perfect. 

 

A Civil Action by Jonathan Harr

I am on my honeymoon. My wife and I are on our way home from Disneyworld having been there for a little over two weeks. Its Boxing Day and this morning we were at MGM studios and there was a little rain and now we are at the Airport and its all a little surreal.
Orlando airport is an extension of the theme parks and the normal airport shopping mall is a a bit more fun. I find a games store that has a Star Wars classic Trilogy Trivial Pursuit (This is pre-Episode 1 - a world with only 3 Star Wars films) that in subsequent years no one will ever play with me more than once.
Then we get the bad news.
As we check in we find the flight is delayed, and that we can have a $20 voucher for snacks. Each.
We go to Burger king for food, and use the first voucher and they don’t give change. We still have 6 hours to wait.
And a $20 voucher.
I have been trapped in airports on a number of occasions. Occasionally with work, but often with family too. You don’t waste your vouchers.
So we went book shopping.
I had not heard of the author or the book, but knew who John Travolta was, like everyone else. Steven Zaillian had made the movie, so I thought I’d five it a go.
I had finished it before we took off, sitting on a bench in a theme park airport terminal.
Its a harrowing story. A group of small towns decimated by cancer caused by pollutants from a number of local factories. The book explores many of the issues associated with the case, the families  and their medical issues, the attitude of the defence team and the corporations involved.
The book is really about the lawyer who took on the case, pursuing it until bankruptcy and personal ruin, Jan Schlictmann, played by Travolta in the movie. The transformation from a man desperate for success to one who walks away from everything is a visceral journey that I have neverv forgotten.

Goblins Vs Dwarves by Philip Reeve

Philip becomes my first encore author.

I have enjoyed every one of Philip’s books, and the Goblins series is no exception.

Goblins Vs Dwarves is the second book in the Trilogy and the one I enjoyed most. From the cover you’d expect this to be a funny, fantasy story, which it definitely is. It also contains a passage which Is for me one of the most genuinely affecting I have ever read.

Thats what Phillip’s books do to you. The make you laugh with a fantastic British sense of humour. Then they tear your heart out, stamp on it and break you.

No spoilers but here is an extract from page 280 in the original British paperback:

“It seemed to her that she owed it to her ghosts to leave then in that afterworld, beneath the green hill at Clovenstone, where they could taste and smell and touch.”

It’s a thought had by one of the new characters in this book, Zeewa, a hunter who carries the ghost of every kill with her. The descriptions of her ghosts and their characters are drawn beautifully. This scene beautifully foreshadows the death that will occur in the books final battle, though of course things wont go quite as expected. I keep a bookmark on that page with a picture of my kids on it. It one of of the most compelling examples of character I have ever read. And this all comes from a kids series whose main character is a Goblin called Scarper.

In the first book we meet Scarper in a precarious position, and then are quickly introduced to a wonderful location, The Bumwipe Heaps. Its the old Library of the castle and of course the Goblins see no use for books, other than as bumwipe’s.

You have to love a series that can combines such disparate ideas.

The first book is great fun, and the second takes things a little darker and more complex, and of course more emotional.

I had followed the process of Philip writing these books over a couple of years on his old blog, as they had started out as a story he told his son Sam at bedtime. If I remember correctly Philip had intended them to be a little more Tolkienesque, and that much was inspired by the rocks and fields of Dartmoor. I think Phillip posted lost of drawings and photos he had taken as inspiration along the way. I am also sure I found my copy of Goblins Vs Dwarves in WHSmiths in Glasgow airport, and that I read it on the flight back, but I could be wrong.
I will always remember reading the chapter ‘The Bumwipe Heaps’ to my son, who was very young at the time. He laughed, and so did I.

You have to make people laugh first, because thats how they start to care for the characters.

The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion

There are some books that make you laugh, some that make you cry. This one often does both in the same sentence. 

The story of Don Tillman, a slightly awkward but highly intelligent geneticist who believes he has discovered a solution for his search for the perfect companion. He initiates the wife project.

As a good scientist he devises a questionnaire designed to give him a data source from which to evaluate a identify a life partner. Some of the questions are a little odd, some of them are slightly inappropriate and quite a few are downright offensive. Early on Don recalls a number of dates he has been on in the past. You will cringe. 

In the first chapter Don has been asked to substitute for his friend Gene in giving a group of parents and children with Asperger syndrome a talk on the condition and the scene quickly devolves as Don attempts to answer questions from the audience. Don quickly causes a situation, completely oblivious to his role in chaos.

We are never told explicitly that Don himself is autistic, although many of his behaviours will be familiar to anyone with experience of autism. I vaguely remember the author Graeme being non-committal when asked is Don himself is autistic. It doesn’t really matter because Don is a fascinating character who has many flaws, yet has to overcome them. 

His views on art, the standardised meal system and his ability to engage with a small number of others in a meaningful way are all captured well. Whether you like Don or not probably depends on how much you can cope with some of his behaviours. 

I haven’t even mentioned the titular Rosie yet. 

Its Don’s story, but as in all romantic comedies he only really starts to live when confronted by the wholly incompatible Rosie, who manages to turn his word upside down in all the ways you would expect. They aren't quite opposites, she likes cocktails as well, but in many ways she challenges him so much that he realises that many of his existing beliefs are a really a complex series of shields that he has built around himself. 

There are two follow up books which are both very good, but lack some of the surprising originality of this first book. We know Don quite well by the second book and the changes that happen to him and Rosie (sorry spoilers, yes she will be in the second and third books) tend to focus on more dramatic elements than humorous. Many of Don’s relationships are explored in more depth, but you wont laugh as much, but you will laugh. 

A film version was announced way back in 2014. I cannot picture anyone playing Don & Rosie other than the versions I have in my head. I want to keep them that way.

The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates

I realised yesterday that so far I have posted books by four white men, so today with everything happening in the world I deliberately choose a book by an African-american.

Ta-Nehisi writes Black Panther and Captain America for Marvel comics at the moment. That’s where I first encountered him. He has also been a journalist and has written several non-fiction books.

This is his first fiction book, the story of a man who has a photographic memory but no memory of his mother. He grows up on a plantation pre-civil war, and is property. His people are known as ‘the tasked’ and the story considerately shows the humanity and the horrific travesties that are inflicted on them, by the white ‘quality’. He also has some extra abilities, but I wont spoil them here.

There is much in the story that is horrific, but the story is told poetically. I enjoyed Ta-Nehesi’s Captain America run and I am so glad I read this because he is a powerful storyteller.

I listened to the Audiobook version, which is read by an incredible actor called Joe Morton. He was Miles Bennet Dyson in T2, and has been a supporting actor in many other movies. His performance here is sublime. I listened to the book on the way to and from work back in January, usually with darkness outside.

If you haven’t heard of Ta-Nehisi before please give this a try

Mortal Engines by Philip Reeve

I bought Mortal Engines as soon as I saw that cover. 

A Darkling Plain had just been released and there was a display table for its launch, with its three predecessors surrounding it. 

I didn’t hesitate, but I only bought the first book just in case. I went back for the rest the following Saturday. 

The opening chapter is a fantastic introduction to the world.  The roving city of London chasing and catching the smaller town of Salthook. Its exciting, visual and fun. The movie version extends this sequence significantly chucking in lots of physically doubtful CGI. In the book its all about Tom Natsworthy wanting to see the action and works so much better.

The characters are real immediately. Tom is an orphan of the big tilt (A level of the city collapsed on the family home killing his parents) and has to deal with dust in the museum, bullies and his superior Chudleigh Pomeroy. Tom quickly finds himself embroiled in the machinations of Thaddeus Valentine, the city’s official pirate, Valentine’s daughter Katharine and the mysterious Hester Shaw. Hester is the centre of the story. Her actions impact Tom, and the two of them set of on an adventure that will change London forever.

The tone of the book is carefully balanced between classic British humour, and some quite dark material. This is a post apocalyptic world, Earth as we know it having been destroyed in an event called the Sixty minute war, and yet the museum of London contains statues to the old gods, Mickey and Minnie (Minions in the film) and many of the characters of London feel drawn from the wealth of character actors Britain produces. 

Hester drives the plot forward and in many ways Tom is there for the ride, simply wanting to get home and discover why he was betrayed. Hester wants revenge, and their discovery of a much larger plot leads them on a quest. They encounter many obstacles all richly drawn from science fiction tropes from across the world which always feel original. I have a particular soft spot for Anna Fang and her airship. She walks onto the page impressive and engaging.  

Chudleigh and Pomeroy are both villages near the home of the author Philip Reeve, and as a former resident in the area myself its fun to spot many other names throughout the series.

Phillip Reeve is a rare author where I will buy instantly any new book published. 

This shelf is one of my absolute pleasures, and I can re-read these books time and again. You may have to look for them in the Children’s section. Thats how good they are.

Sourcery by Terry Pratchett

I shall probably cover a number of Sir Terry’s books, but I shall be starting with this one.

I met Sir Terry once, for about 11 seconds. He was appearing at the Waterstones in Plymouth signing Thief of Time I think.. I had not read and did not own any of his books back then though I knew who he was. This was 1994, and there were usually a couple of his books in the WHSmith bestseller lists.

I felt a bit guilty but went along anyway. When I arrived, foolishly at the time advertised, I discovered the line trailing around the store, out onto the street and around the corner. And they wouldn’t let anyone else in the line. So I just hung out in the store, and he walked past me and I said hello and he said hello back, from under his hat. He must have been signing for hours, chatting and joking with everyone. So I swore I would give his books a try.

Embarrassingly it took me a long time to get to it. I read a few over the years but never really dived in.

And then he died.

After that I decided to start at the beginning and read them in order.

I lasted 5 books, then started jumping around. I still haven’t read Pyramids or Eric. Yet.

Back to Sourcery.

I was in a Hotel in Paris. We had chosen Paris for our summer holiday. 5 nights in the city of lights. Or as we discovered, 5 nights in the city of muggings, closed train stations, and general unpleasantness. Around the Eiffel tower the government were installing anti-terror screens, which meant that all the traders who try to sell you light up towers and other tat had moves out to the surrounding streets, making them impassable. There was also a significant homeless problem, far worse than I had ever seen in Paris before. Everywhere you went there were posters advertising the Paris bid for the Olympics. On television a Politician claimed the needed to win the Olympics to clean up the city. They won. I hope it helps.

We had chosen Paris because we had planned to go to New York, but the dollar to pound exchange rate was making it expensive. So instead we booked a hotel with a view of the original statue of Liberty, that sits on an island in the Seine. On the second day, as we were walking to the Louvre a group of youths tried to snatch our bags and wallets, which was not a great way to introduce the family to the streets of Paris. We had a great day in the Musee D’orsay (Highly recommended)  then had a free day.

What did everyone want to do?

No-one wanted to leave the Hotel room. The affect of the attempted mugging had had an impact on my son, who has autism. He had a stack of Sudoku books and a pencil, and he wasn’t leaving.

So I went and bought snacks and read Sourcery.

I had finished The Light Fantastic on the flight out, and Mort in the first couple of evenings.  Sourcery was for the return trip.

I read it in one sitting, in that hotel room in Paris.

The appearance of Death early on, and the classic line “Cats” he said eventually, “Cats are nice”. Poor Ipslore, I’m not sure thats what he was looking for.

I think Sourcery has a tough time, because it comes just after what is arguably the first masterpiece, Mort.

It has a strong plot, quite a lot of action, and a lot of the elements that are going to be expanded on over the next 30+ books.

It was also the last one I read in order.  This was mainly because I had found the first 5, all original pocket sized paperbacks, in a charity shop. I wouldn’t read Wyrd Sisters for a couple of years.

And its Death’s fault.

I’d loved him so much in Sourcery and Mort that I then jumped to Reaper Man and read all the Death books, ending with Hogfather, which I put off for a long time because I didn’t want it to end.

And of course then I fell in love with the Death of Rats. A great idea and a wonderful relationship between the two deaths.

But I’ll come back to that later....