As comic book heroes command more and more screen time at our local cinemas, and it now seems cool to be a “comic book nerd”,- I have been spending some time recently reading through the source material…proper comic books.

I have been reading comics for over 30 years and I am loving seeing the heroes I grew up with suddenly finding their way into so many new households. As a book blogger it would be remiss of me not to showcase some of the great graphic novels I have enjoyed (mainly) recently.

JAMES BOND – VARGR

After a mission of vengeance in Helsinki, James Bond returns to London and assumes the workload of a fallen 00 Section agent. His new mission takes him to Berlin, presumably to break up an agile drug-trafficking operation. But Bond has no idea of the forces gathered in secret against him, the full scope of an operation that’s much scarier and more lethal than he could possibly imagine. Berlin is about to catch fire… and James Bond is trapped inside. Dynamite Entertainment proudly presents VARGR, the debut storyline in the all-new James Bond comic book series, as crafted by masterful writer Warren Ellis (Transmetropolitan, The Authority) and artist Jason Masters (Batman Incorporated, Guardians of the Galaxy).

If a good story on audiobook can be ruined by the narrator then the equivalent issue for graphic novels is that the art can let down a book.  Here we are with Vargr.  It is a James Bond story from the talented Warren Ellis and I really liked his take on Bond (darker and edgy).  The bad guys were perfectly pitched, the danger Bond faces felt very appropriate within the franchise and I liked how the peril shifts as the books develop.

Unfortunately I did not enjoy the artwork in the book and this tainted the reading experience for me.  If a story is going to rely upon images revealing some of the twists and surprises and is not dialogue driven then the pictures need to be sufficiently clear to appreciate these twists.

Good story, not a great book, but I would read more in this series.

JUSTICE LEAGUE VS SUICIDE SQUAD

The members of the Justice League are Earth’s most powerful and famous superheroes…but they aren’t the only team in town.

The Suicide Squad strikes from the shadows and does the jobs too dirty for superheroes to handle. Under the iron fist of Director Amanda Waller, these monsters and maniacs have operated in total secrecy…until now. Batman is on their trail and the Squad’s existence isn’t something he or the Justice League can tolerate. It must be shut down.

But while the heroes and antiheroes are distracted fighting each other, twisted mastermind Maxwell Lord assembles a nightmarish army of DC’s deadliest villains to take out both teams!

I love a big “event” and when DC bring together the Justice League and the Suicide Squad that can certainly be considered a BIG story to get to grips with. Full credit to writer Joshua Williamson as he does a great job with a large cast and he keeps the story zipping along.

Action happens after the recent DC Rebirth events (to allow you to place the timing) and despite being billed as Justice League vs Suicide Squad there is a lot more going on in this book than a simple head to head smackdown.

We do get the expected confrontation quite early into the book, however, once the dust settles we have a significant story flip and some of the dynamic changes between characters. I really enjoyed the opportunity to see some of these DC characters put into this spotlight.

Artwork is a boost to the book too. Colourful, clear and with reader enjoyment put to the fore it was a gorgeous reading experience, no squinting at shaded sketches to try decipher what was happening!

The story collects Justice League vs Suicide Squad 1-6, Suicide Squad 8,9 and 10 and also Justice League 12 and 13…a good number of issues which makes this a longer read for us to enjoy.

SPIDER-MAN: TORMENT

Collects Spider-Man #1-5. Webs, fangs and voodoo drums! A vengeance-seeking villain binds another Spider-Man foe to her will, but can they really resurrect a third to triple-team the wall-crawler?

Torment was the story which flipped me from occasional comic book reader to serious comic collector. I remember being blown away by Todd McFarlane’s artwork and this story of The Lizard on a relentless drive to kill Spider-man was not like any story I had encountered before.

Has time been kind to Torment?  It was 1990 when I first read it and Spidey has gone through some major changes since then but I was happy to find that I enjoyed revisiting this story.

A series of brutal murders in New York leads Peter Parker to suspect that a monster is stalking the city. The Lizard appears the most likely suspect, however, the brutality of the killings is not typical of his old foe.

Readers see that The Lizard is being influenced by a witch using blood and voodoo rituals to control her “pet”.  Her motives become clear as the story develops but her magic is powerful and Spider-man is weakened and vulnerable as his battles with The Lizard have drained him – can Spider-man overcome the ferocity of these foes and get home to Mary Jane?

Art is distinctive. The story a powerful introduction to a new title and as a single volume it was a great read.