Supermax: The Max and Angela Trilogy by Ken Bruen & Jason Star - Book Review

 

'THE MOST OUTRAGEOUS CRIME STORY EVER TOLD… IN A SINGLE VOLUME FOR THE FIRST TIME!

'When a small-time businessman who’s a legend in his own mind (that would be Max) hatches a plan with his sexpot secretary (that’s Angela) to murder his wife and live happily ever after, you might think everything would go smoothly – but Max and Angela are in for the ride of their lives, as an escalating series of bad decisions and worse luck plunges them into a tsunami of crime and depravity featuring IRA hitmen, an aspiring serial killer, a wheelchair-bound blackmailer, trigger-happy drug dealers, and the warring factions in one of the world’s deadliest prisons.'

Supermax collects together three Hard Case Crime series books into one bumper omnibus volume that tells the exciting story of Max and Angela and the life of crime that the two of them embark upon.

The first book in the collection is Bust, a black comedy that sees Max Fischer deciding that he can't be married to his wife Deidre anymore. However, rather than taking the normal approach of ending the marriage by telling his wife that he wants a divorce, he hatches a plan to keep all of the assets and money that she'd inevitably get from him, and decides that killing her off is the more practical solution. Being a successful businessman, Max has gotten used to his expensive lifestyle, and doesn't want to lose his sports car or townhouse. Luckily for Max, his secretary Angela, who he's having an affair with, knows someone who can 'take care' of Deidre for him. 

However, things are far from simple when the hired killer turns out to be something of a psychopath, the cops immediately suspect Max, and his running around to continue his affair (complete with bad disguises) end up putting Max on the line to take the fall for his wife's murder. 

Bust proves to be a great introduction to these characters and the style of the trilogy, and is as much about having fun as it is anything else. The characters have flaws that are played up in the best ways, often with comedic effect, and you end up coming to like these rather despicable people even if only because seeing them constantly cock up brings you joy. 

Slide continues the story of Max and Angela, even though they begin the book on opposite sides of the Atlantic, as Max tries to build back a life for himself as a drug dealer, and Angela finds herself becoming the roommate to an Irish serial killer named Slide. Despite living with a killer Angela manages to do well for a while, until Slide gets on the wrong side of the IRA, and the two of them are forced to flee for their lives. This takes them across the ocean to America, where they eventually run into Max and his new drug enterprise.

Slide feels like a strange mix compared to the first story. The narrative is split as it follows our two leads and their own journeys, which are mostly unconnected. It's hard to tell if this is because the two authors split writing duties, with one tackling Angela and the other Max, or if they worked together throughout. Things are definitely a bit darker with this one, and there are some moments where the line between dark comedy and just dark are very thin, and I found it didn't always land as well as Bust.

The final book is The Max, picks up where the previous one left off with (spoilers) Max being arrested by the NYPD for his drug business, and Angela fleeing the country and ending up in a prison on the Greek Island of Lesbos. As with Slide, The Max largely feels like two separate stories that are only included together because Max and Angela began in a shared narrative in Bust, and there's not really a lot that connects them in the final tale collected here. Despite that, their individual stories manage to remain silly and entertaining enough that you often forget that they're not together and just enjoy the tale our two authors are weaving. 

Taking in the entire book as a whole, with the three stories (a fourth is out but not included in this volume) I have trouble deciding how I felt about it all. I took breaks between each of the stories to read something else before coming back to the book, and I think that definitely made my reading experience better, as I felt that there was something of a decline in quality as the book went on. Bust is easily the most enjoyable of the three, and it felt like a silly, dark comedy pastiche of the noir genre that was just out to have fun and maybe include a little cautionary tale about turning to crime. As Max and Angela's adventures went on, however, things got darker, nastier, and the charm started to wear out a little.

I have no proof of this, but part of me feels like it might be one of those situations where the creators came up with a really great one and done type story, but due to popularity it was decided to turn it into an ongoing series, and so new ideas had to be come up with that were never really planned for. Max and Angela having almost nothing to do with each other at the start of both Slide and The Max added to this feeling, like their adventures were put to bed with them going their own ways, only to have to be brought back together in the next story. I have no proof of this, but the book certainly read that way for me, and that coupled with the tone shifting a little darker and less fun with each book just led me to enjoying them a little less each time.

However, all three books have some great stuff in them, and depending on the kind of tone you like you might have the exact opposite experience to me, where you find it gets better and better with each story. I can only speak for myself, and whilst I had fun with the book it wasn't always the easiest journey.

Supermax: The Max and Angela Trilogy is available now from Titan Books.

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The Raven Dark Hero Volume One by Tonkye & Akira Mitsuya - Manga Review

 

'In a world where superpowers are a gift to protect the weak and fight evil, Suou Kouki has always dreamed of becoming a hero. But when his moment of despair awakens a hidden power, his dream quickly turns into a nightmare. Now, armed with a dangerous ability, Suou finds himself on a path he never expected—one where the line between hero and villain is perilously thin. The Raven Dark Hero is a gripping manga that explores the dark side of power, ambition, and morality, as Suou’s journey forces him to confront the consequences of becoming the very thing he once sought to destroy.

'Created by the elusive Tonkye, known for his work in crafting complex, character-driven narratives, and brought to life by artist Akira Mitsuya, The Raven Dark Hero delivers intense battles, emotional depth, and a fresh take on the superhero genre. Mitsuya’s dynamic artwork perfectly captures the raw conflict within Suou as he struggles with his newfound abilities. With stunning visuals and a morally complex story, this manga will keep you questioning: what does it truly mean to be a hero?'

Adapted from the web novel by Tonkye, which has yet to be translated, The Raven Dark Hero takes audiences to a future Japan where super powered beings are now a part of society following a devastating global war, and drops us into the middle of a complex political conflict that will see the young Suou trying desperately to be a hero, but skirting the line of becoming a villain instead.

Set decades after the Phenom, grotesque creatures with amazing powers, appeared and wiped out most of the world's population, we meet Suou Kouki, a depressed and withdrawn teenager at a Tokyo high school. Following the appearance of the Phenom, humans began to exhibit amazing powers and abilities, and were named Specialists. Most Specialists live normal lives, using their gifts to better society, and some joined the National Defence Force. However, those who skirt the law, who use their powers for cruel and terrible ends are outlaws of the state called Firz. Suou, who has yet to develop any powers, dreams of one day joining the National Defence Force and serving his home.

Despite this dream, Suou has almost resigned himself to the idea that he will never develop an ability, and that he will live a normal, uneventful life; something that has caused him to become withdrawn and quiet. It doesn't help that his best friend, Hiro, is outgoing and popular, surrounded by pretty girls, and that he seems to achieve in every way that Suou wishes he could. Then the day comes when Hiro tells him a secret, that his powers activated, and that he's secretly been training with the National Defence Force as an exceptionally young recruit. Now that Hiro is living Suou's ideal life, yet again, the angsty Suou falls deeper into despair.

He doesn't have long to fallow in this, however, as that same night Suou gets attacked by a Firz after Suou beats up a few thugs. The Firz uses his powers to punch Suou through the chest, killing him. It's then that Suou's powers activate, a resurrection ability that not only brings him back to life, but gifts his the powers of the person who killed him. Suou is overjoyed by this, believing that his perfect life might be able to finally begin, until he's attacked by a murderous member of the National Defence Force. 

Now Suou learns that despite their public image, the National Defence Force are little more than murderers, killing anyone whose powers aren't registered with the government, even if they've done nothing wrong. With his view on life shaken, Suou makes the choice to forge his own path, becoming a rogue super hero, helping the people of Tokyo; but will this make Suou a hero, or will he find himself becoming a villain?

The Raven Dark Hero is not the lightest read, though not because it's particularly dense or long. The book's got a very depressing tone for the most part. There's very few moments of light to be found here, with the majority of the book having readers hear Suou lament over how awful his life is, how many of his dreams he's failed to achieve (whilst still a teenager of course, so end of the world), and how he has no future worth a damn. Suou is all edge, he's angsty and angry and if I'm honest not hugely enjoyable to follow around even if there are some parts of this world that are interesting. 

That brings us to the other thing that makes this a bit of a dour read, there's practically no good people. The revelation that the National Defence Force, who have been made out to be super heroes, are little more than a government sanctioned gang of killers and lunatics isn't as shocking or surprising as perhaps the creators were hoping for, as it fits the tone the book had created up to that point. Readers get nothing to give us hope that there's a whole lot of good during the early parts of the book that when the revelation comes that the heroes are bad it just feels like the logical next step, rather than some kind of twist or surprise. 

This is something that bothers me in these kinds of 'super hero deconstruction' type stories, things like The Boys, or Injustice where the main question is 'but what happens when the heroes are awful people?', and the result is just violence, gore, and nastiness. These kinds of stories tend to offer very little hope, it doesn't posit that if the heroes aren't good an actual good person would come along and do better, it instead goes with the notion that everyone is terrible, that being awful is something that every person is in some way. And it feels like The Raven Dark Hero is kind of falling into this trap too. 

Yes, Suou is trying to be a hero in this volume, trying to be better, but considering the book ends with him being taken by a terrorist group with them welcoming him, it seems like this is going to be yet another story of a world of terrible people pretending to be good, and a good person trying to be better but ending up just as bad. And I'm kind of tired of that story. Yes, I'm going on assumptions that the story is going to continue down this route, but so far it's done nothing to suggest it's not going to do this, and so I'm meeting it with some scepticism that it's going to do otherwise.

The art on the book is pretty decent, though there are times when it's not the easiest to understand during fight scenes. The book is visually very dark, often set at night, either on dark rooftops, alleys, or old buildings, and when things get frantic and frenetic it's not the easiest to follow. Character design seems fairly basic so far, with only a few characters who stand out. Most of the characters are either regular looking people, or they wear military uniforms, and so there's not a whole lot visually interesting about them. The big 'villain' presented towards the end of the book stands out because they look like some kind of knight, but they're so dark that it's not the easiest design to read. There's a weird werewolf who at least stands out, but looks like kind of a mess most of the time. And whilst there's a couple of women in the book the only one who stands out, or is given any real time, is given the biggest breasts possible, and looks more like a teenage boys lust fantasy than a real human being. 

The Raven Dark Hero isn't a terrible book, but there's nothing here that makes it stand out to me amongst other books with the same themes and ideas. It's dark and dour, it's practically all edge with no substance presented yet, and whilst I'm sure it will appeal to teenage boys who think Edge Lord is a complement I think that it's not going to appeal to a hugely broad audience. This is only the first volume, so this might change as the story progresses, and it could end up doing a great bait and switch on us, but at the moment there's nothing here that makes it stand out to me, or that really encourages me to read more.

The Raven Dark Hero Volume One is out now from Titan Manga.

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The Space Between the Trees by Norm Konyu - Graphic Novel Tour

 

'Meera and Mark's search for a new home turns into a chilling descent into the unknown when and accident leaves them stranded in a forest that twists time and defies logic... where they are watched, hunted, and manipulated by a presence deep within the trees. As ancient forces stirs and fractures reality, the couple must escape the forest's grip before they're lost forever.'

Norm Konyu has very quickly become a name that I instantly trust when I see on a graphic novel. So far I've read three of their books, and each one has been one of the more enjoyable and better crafted horror reads I've seen in comic form. All too often horror comics rely on monsters leaping out at characters, or gore splashed around the page to sell it as a 'scary adult' book. Norm Konyu's work, on the other hand, not only tells its horror in subtly, in atmosphere and slowly unfolding storytelling, but the books are accessible to most age groups.

The Space Between the Trees opens in 1902, deep in winter as two woodsmen search for a pair of missing loggers after a heavy storm. They discover a huge, ancient tree that one of the loggers had started to cut into, leaving a long gash in its side, but no sign of the two missing brothers. Their packs and equipment have been left in the snow, raising further concerns about their safety. As the two men investigate the area one of them vanishes, his dropped rifle the only sign that he was there. As his companion tries to figure out what's happened, he disappears too.

Jumping forward in time to the summer of 2022 we meet Meera and Mark, a young couple who are looking for a home together. They're trying to find a place right for them in the old forest area where Mark grew up, but find boring, simple homes that all look the same. The beautiful old forest is being cut down, and the wonder of nature turned into housing complexes. Disappointed with the houses on offer, the two of them leave, driving along the forest roads where they can see more and more of the lush trees being cut down. Mark laments the changes, but also talks about the old stories his great aunt would tell him of the woods being dangerous, and how something terrible happened to her when she was just a girl; something so bad that she would never walk out amongst the trees.

As they're driving, the road in front of them seems to vanish, and their car goes off the side of a hill, crashing down into the forest beneath them. Coming too in the remains of their car, Mark and Meera gather their wits and try to find their way back to the road. However, the forest seems to shift and change around them, leading them in circles, and to impossible places. Then they discover an ancient tree, massive in size, and with a scar running across it. Then things start to get truly frightening for them.

The Space Between the Trees is a relatively short read, and the story moves at a very brisk pace that actually serves the narrative really well. Apart from an opening and closing scene, the majority of the book is all one long sequence as we stay with Meera and Mark through their ordeal in the woods, following them on their journey and watching as they try to find a way back to safety and civilisation. I found that reading it in a single sitting to not only be really easy, but it also kept you in the narrative, allowing you to feel the mounting tension, to understand their fears and their panic, and in some ways put you in the characters shoes.

Because everything was told from the point of view of the lead characters there were few answers given as to what was going on, or what was behind things. There was some information, because Mark and Meera figured some stuff out, but there was no grand reveal. And I really liked this. The book leaves you trying to figure out the answers for yourself, and the lingering mystery is a big part of the horror too. I don't know if this will be to everyone's tastes, but as a short horror story this really satisfied me.

Konyu's art style lends itself well to the horror genre, despite it at first not seeming to be the kind of art you'd expect to see used for the genre. Konyu has a pretty simple style, using very easy to understand shapes. The characters aren't packed with detail, the forest is pretty easy to understand as most of the trees are straight blocks of brown rising up out of the ground. Where Knoyu's work really stands out is in the colouring. Colour plays a huge part in giving the art life and flavour, and something as simple as a colour change lets you know that something spooky is coming, or when the characters are safe. Konyu doesn't use flat colours though, and multi layered colours and splashes of motion that are are conveyed as various colours mix give the work a vibrancy that works brilliantly with the more simplified art. It's hard for me to really describe Konyu's art style in a way that doesn't sound like I'm stumbling over my words or not doing it justice enough, but trust me, it just works.

Whilst The Space Between the Trees might not be the longest read, it more than makes up for its brevity by being a wonderfully fun cosmic horror story. There  are just enough answers to leave you feeling like you understand things, without knowing too much, and thanks to the structure of the book you'll find yourself wanting to go back and re-read it again once you understand one of the main conceits, just to see if Konyu managed to make it all work (spoilers, it does!). A perfect spooky read for the Halloween season; just maybe not one to read in the woods.

The Space Between the Trees is available from 21st October 2025 from Titan Comics.

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Isekai Metaller Volume One by Kasuga Ryo - Manga Review

 

'In Isekai Metaller Volume 1, meet Alexi: a die-hard metalhead who, after getting electrocuted during his band’s farewell gig, wakes up in a world full of dragons, werewolves, and monsters that are just begging for a guitar solo. And no, the “shock” he gets entering this new world isn’t from the electrocution at his gig—it’s from realizing that, somehow, the afterlife isn’t quite as he imagined. Instead of a peaceful resting place, he’s been dropped into a land where metalheads would literally die for the chance to live in.

'With his trusty “Flying V” guitar, a level 999 power boost, and a heart full of rock ‘n’ roll, Alexi decides it’s time to crank the volume up to eleven and save this crazy new world. Dragons? Perfect for a shredding solo. Werewolves? Time to headbang into battle. This isn’t just any isekai—but one where the magic flows like electric riffs and every battle feels like a rock concert. 

'Kasuga Ryo combines hilarious comedy, epic fantasy, and metal madness into a totally unique adventure. If you love high-energy action, laugh-out-loud moments, and a protagonist who’s just as ready to throw down with a dragon as he is to rock out on stage, Isekai Metaller Volume 1 is your new go-to read!'

The isekai genre, in which a character is reborn into another world, usually as some kind of super powered being or chosen one, has become a staple of manga, to the point where there's an isekai that can cover just about any kind of character or theme that you can imagine. The popularity of the genre also means that there's going to be an isekai out there that is absolutely going to suit your particular tastes, even the really wild ones. Isekai Metaller feels like the kind of book that comes along when a genre gets so big, when the market becomes so saturated, that it feels like the creator is throwing a wild card into the mix to stand out, and to have a bit of fun with things.

Isekai Metaller tells the story of Alexi, a heavy metal rocker who fell in love with the music genre as a child as a way of escaping from his worries and trauma, who dreams that one day he might be able to use heavy metal to unite the world and bring about world peace by showing people that heavy metal music is the ultimate uniting force. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem like many people share his views as we see him being harassed in the street by police simply because he stands out in his leather gear, and the other members of his band tell him they want to quit because they think it's time they move on from heavy metal now that they're getting older.

Frustrated that others can't see heavy metal the way he does, Alexi plays his heart out on stage on his own, a final gig to show his detractors how wrong they are. During his performance, Alexi is electrocuted and killed whilst on stage, and whilst this may be something he'd consider metal as hell, it does end his existence. Fortunately, it seems that death is not the end for Alexi, as he wakes up in another world, one filled with monsters, magic, and adventure.

Picked up by a band of mercenaries and adventurers, including the young mage Lizzy, and the beastman Tyro, who see something special in him. When Alexi discovers that his rebirth in this new world has granted him amazing powers (with a power level of 999!) he decides to use his magical guitar to solve the worlds problems by putting on a concert to convince the Demon King to calm down and stop using monsters to hurt people. Joined by Lizzy, Tyro, and the young thief Tuck, the motley crew of adventurers set out to find the Demon King, and save the land. 

I'm not a big music person, I do listen to a wide variety as I've got something of an eclectic taste, but I'm not really into one particular genre or artist, and would likely struggle to name many artists I like if asked because I tend not to think about music much. As such, I was a little unsure what to expect with a manga so centred around one particular musical genre. Would I be able to understand all of the references? Would it make much sense? Luckily, Kasuga Ryo doesn't seem to rely on the reader having extensive knowledge in order to engage with the book, and whenever references are made they tend to be explained in the moment. It also helps that a lot of the named bands and artists will include very well known people such as Ozzy Osborne, Kiss, or Iron Maiden, so even someone who knows as little as me can get something out of it.

Isekai Metaller includes a number of tropes of the genre, with Alexi having a power level so much higher than everyone else, and setting out on a quest to save the world over returning home. The group he builds around him feel very archetypical too, with the magic user, warrior, and thief classes. Whilst the book refers to Alexi as a Metaller, he's more like a bard, or a wizard who uses a magic guitar rather than a staff or wand, so even he feels understandable even if the aesthetics are very different. For those who are coming to the book with little music knowledge but a love of the fantasy genre it'll feel very relatable; and the use of levels on characters and monsters gives it an RPG flavour that will appeal to the gamers too.

The plot is silly yet enjoyable, with a simple mission and characters with broad archetypes that feel like they can be fleshed out in later volumes to give us something a bit meatier if Ryo wanted to, or they could remain the rather simple versions we have here and still be enjoyable to read. Whilst the plot is fairly easy and fun it's the art where the book really stands out, with some amazing moments throughout. Once Alexi is in the fantasy world the book comes to life, and it's delightfully odd to see a leather clad heavy metal musician in a world with cartoonish monsters, magical witch girls, and talking animal people. 

But this mismatch isn't jarring. If anything, it gives the book its own unique flavour that a pure fantasy manga might be missing. The weird seriousness of Alexi when combined with monsters that look like they're from a Saturday morning cartoon makes for a delightful combination, especially when we get full page splashes of Alexi unleashing some powerful attack by playing his guitar.

The first volume of Isekai Metaller does a great job at setting up the world, introducing us to our core group of protagonists, and even introduces a fun evil villain that feels like they're going to be a continuous threat for Alexi to deal with. It manages to pack a lot in without feeling bloated, and is never boring. It's a delightful mashup that I didn't know I wanted, and one that might get some readers listening to some new artists. 

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She's the He - Film Review

 

There is a very long history of trans people, and general deviation from cisnormative societal expectations, being used in fiction, especially in film. These are often done without the involvement of trans people, and with little research into trans identities. It's why the most common depictions of trans people have been as sex workers, murder victims, or killers. Some of the most famous 'trans' people in film are Norman Bates from Psycho, and Buffalo Bill from The Silence of the Lambs, both twisted murderers who are not actually trans even in those stories, but who the public have come to see as transgender. And these negative, incorrect depictions have affected the very real lives of trans and gender non-conforming people the world over as anti-trans laws, restrictions, and hate campaigns are more prevalent now then ever. So it's not only a wonderful thing to see a story about transness created by a trans cast and crew, but using a transphobic bogeyman as the main conceit of the story and showing it for the ridiculous scenario it is.

She's the He tells the story of two life long friends, Alex (Nico Carney) and Ethan (Misha Osherovich), teen boys who go to what seems to be a fairly queer-accepting if odd school (some of the staff's attitude towards the LGBTQ+ students are wonderfully ridiculous). The problem they have is that because they're such good friends, people think that they're a gay couple. Whilst neither of them have an issue with being seen as gay from a homophobic stance, it's hurting their ability to date girls. And so they come up with a plan to help the girls in the school see them as potential matches, they pretend to come out as trans in order to gain access to the girls spaces.

This is where the film plays into the anti-trans scaremongering scenario of cis men pretending to be trans that's used to try and justify banning trans women from women's spaces. But instead of going the same direction as the awful Daily Wire anti-trans film Lady Ballers, it actually becomes a rather sweet story of self discovery as Ethan is surprised to find that she actually connects with the femineity she was at first emulating, and comes to realise that she is in fact a girl.

She's the He ends up taking this fake scenario that has been used to affect real world harm and flipped in on its head to become the basis for a coming of age teen comedy that ends up feeling more genuine, more heartfelt, and more important than most of the big name films in that genre. I think that this largely due to the fact that the film is being created by trans and queer people, people who understand how to handle these themes with more nuance and delicacy, whilst still being able to poke some fun at it and not being preachy; there's still an opportunity to laugh at guys in drag trying to be predatory without painting anyone who doesn't fall into a rigid gender binary as a villain.

The film also stands out for how it uses its cast to subvert gender. There has for a very long time been film and television where a trans woman would be played by a man in drag at worse, or by a cisgender woman at best, for example. Far too often trans people are excluded from taking part in stories that centre us, and when we are included it tends to be as someone who has already come out and transitioned. So to see a film using a trans man to play a cis man pretending to be a trans woman, and a non-binary person playing a closeted trans woman discovering her identity both are both amazing to see. 

The film feels very bright and almost cartoonish at times. The colours are bold and saturated, and there will be bold, neon coloured words and drawings thrown onto the screen for emphasis and to shape the feel of the moment. The film also feels kind of nebulous as to when it's set, and almost feels like it could be set anytime over the last 30 years thanks to a lack of obvious technology and social media, and to the fashion. These elements give She's the He a quality that makes it feel a little removed from reality, one that creates its own kind of world, but one that I think will allow the film to endure a bit more as its not really tying itself down to any one time or place.

She's the He is marketed as a comedy, and it certainly is one, but there's a lot more depth to be found. There are some wonderfully toughing moments as we follow Ethan's journey of self discovery and coming out that I think a lot of trans people will be able to connect with, and that a lot of cis people will be sorely lacking from mainstream entertainment. She's the He manages to do way more than I was expecting, and ended up being an absolute delight.

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System Preference by Ugo Bienvenu - Graphic Novel Review

 

'Information is the future, history is the past. Where data storage is scarce and social media reigns supreme, history is simply deleted. An archivist risks everything to save humanity's greatest works, hiding them inside the memory of the surrogate robot carrying his unborn child. But when he is discovered, the cost of preserving the past may be his family's future.'

We live in a time where we have more access to information than at any other point in human history, though we are seeing restrictions and rollbacks on our rights to access certain things in many places now. There's simply more entertainment, history, and academic texts than a single person could experience in their entire lifetime if that was all they did. But what happens when that ever expanding information reaches a breaking point, when our ability to store and record that can't keep up with its production? This is one of the key questions of System Preference a graphic novel that creates an interesting, and often morally grey future.

We're introduced to this world through Yves Mathon, a young man with a beautiful wife, a child on the way, and a well paying job. However, he's recently gone though the loss of his father, and he's come to hate his work. Yves is an archivist, whose job it is to go through huge data stores, select historical works, and evaluate if they need to be deleted to make more storage space. Whilst this doesn't sound bad on the surface, it means he has to destroy great works of fiction, pieces of art that have inspired and shaped the world to make space for people's fashion photos, and their vlogs about their daily lives. Yves feels like he's destroying the vital pieces of our past so that the inane, almost pointless slop of the modern day can be saved.

Going against regulations, Yves has been stealing copies of these works and sneaking them out of work, uploading them into Mikki, the family robot who also happens to be carrying his unborn daughter; a piece of tech that allows his wife to forgo being pregnant. However, this decision is putting his family at risk, as those who've done similar in the past have simply vanished. So when the powers that be discover what Yves is doing he and his family must go on the run; a choice that leads to shocking consequences for them.

In a lot of ways System Preference feels like a story of two halves, two narratives that could have easily carried their own books, but who work wonderfully here to produce a finished piece that manages to explore some interesting themes.

The first half of the book follows Yves as he puts everything on the line to save pieces of the past, and shows us how sterile the world has become in a lot of ways. Whilst this world isn't as cold and controlled as some dystopian tech futures we've seen in fiction it has a lack of any real hope. We see that the entertainment being produced in this time is soulless, made to order where hairstyles, faces, and actions can be changed in post at the direction of the studios. It's made for no one and everyone at the same time, with no vision behind it, no aim other than to be made. At the same time we see that what would still be considered art, pieces in galleries and shows, are being made simply for money, with the artists themselves admitting they know their work won't last, won't make an impact or inspire. It feels like people are going through the motions of creativity without any real passion or reason to do so.

In this way it feels like System Preference is a piece that's in part taking aim at AI 'art', even if that was perhaps not the intention of Ugo Bienvenu. We live in a time where resources are being used and destroyed so that people who have never wanted to create art, who have never cared to explore learning to do so, to develop those skills can type some commands into a machine and have it spit out flat, fake, soulless 'art' for them. Whether it be still images or videos, this fake art takes from what's come before, what's been created by others who had that passion, who were trying to make something special, and has been recycled into something no one wants. And the internet is being swamped with it, real human art is being pushed aside for this slop, and it's leading to a future like the one Bienvenu has created here.

This half of the book has the most drama, the looming threat that Yves is going to have people come for him, to steal him away in the middle of the night. There's an underlying sense of dread to these scenes, and you can't help but see this future as a sanitised hell, one where any non-conformity, any act of love is seen as other and wrong. And when that hammer does drop the book almost becomes a thriller, with Yves and his family having to vanish, running from pursuers, staying off the grid in order to survive.

However, at the halfway point disaster strikes, and the entire tone of the novel changes. Due to tragedy, Mikki and the baby he's carrying, Isi, are the only survivors, forced to run into the forest to survive. Finding an old home off the grid and long forgotten, Mikki begins the task of raising young Isi, being the parents she's lost.

Things slow down in this half of the book, and whilst we know that the two of them are still in danger that threat moves into the background as we focus on the relationship between this girl and her robot guardian. Mikki does his best to raise Isi, teaching her how to survive in the world, how to cook, hunt for food, care for her body, and to love the wonders of nature. He also shares with her her fathers love of the art that he stole away from deletion, sharing films with Isi, reciting poetry and stories to her. It's a beautiful section, one that continues the theme of saving our history so that it can be imparted to future generations, but also examining if machines, robots may some day be human enough to be able to care for us.

The book doesn't outright say that Mikki loves Isi, and based on earlier conversations in the book it seems like Mikki goes out of his way to tell the reader that he's incapable of love, but if that's true it's hard to lay all of his actions and choices squarely on programming. The bond that forms between this machine and girl feels like love, it feels parental, and you come to care for the two of them greatly.

System Preference is a fairly layered and complex narrative, but it's balanced out with some simple, elegant artwork. Bienvenu keeps things straightforward, with fairly flat, large blocks of colour with minimal use of colours for shading or layering. People and environments are largely big blocks of single colours, and it creates a sense of simplicity, of functionality without passion that fits the tone of the world that Bienvenu has made. This changes in the second half of the book, when we enter the countryside. Here, the trees have multiple shades of green in them, rocks are more than one simple colour, and animals have life to them. Mikki and Isi are still coloured simply, showing how out of place they are, how they've brought some of that sterility of the human world with them. It's a subtle detail, but once you notice it it becomes very obvious, and I think it further adds to Bienvenu's theme of how humanity has lost something of itself.

System Preference is a fantastic read, one that has a lot more to say then you first think, and is a book that even though you can ready pretty quickly in a single sitting, it invites you to go back and read it again, to dive deeper into it and examine what it's trying to say.

System Preference is available now from Titan Comics.

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Night of the Living Dead by John A. Russo - Book Review

 

'The classic film that changed cinema by redefining horror and zombies forever. George A. Romero’s hit movie is reimagined in this novel by John Russo, the co-screenwriter of the beloved flick.

'While visiting their father’s grave, Barbara and Johnny see a man slowly approaching them. Grotesque and ghost-pale, the man kills Johnny. Barbara manages to flee to a nearby farmhouse, where six other strangers have gathered to escape an outbreak of the unburied dead returning to life and attacking the living. This ragtag group struggle to fend off the horde of flesh-eating ghouls. Will any of them make it out alive?'

Night of the Living Dead was a gamechanger in many ways. Not only was it the beginning of the career of one of the most respected names in the horror genre in George A. Romero, but it forever forged a new type of monster in Romero's undead. Instead of the more ghoul-like slave zombies resurrected with magic audiences were given the shambling, flesh eating corpses that most people would think of when hearing the word zombie nowadays. Whilst not every aspect of the creature was locked in yet, and these features tend to change from story to story, you cannot deny that Night of the Living Dead forever changed the horror landscape and created one of the most used monsters to date.

The film became one of the most shown horror films of all time, thanks to a mistake that put the film into public domain immediately. Instead of being a bad thing, this made it so any movie theatre, drive-in, or television station in the world could show it; and this 'mistake' did more to help the film and the careers of those involved in it than anything the filmmakers could have done. With the film coming close to its 60th anniversary, and with zombies being the go to monster in film, TV, and video games for decades now, it feels like a perfect time to dive into the novelisation of the film written by the co-creator of the film John A. Russo.

The book is immediately striking, with a beautiful cover that features the image of the infected Karen Cooper, a character whose shocking turn into one of the undead is one of the more memorable moments from the original film. The black and white image is accompanied by the books title in big, red letters that stand out on the mostly white cover, evoking the black and white imagery of the film itself wonderfully. The back cover is also more than worth pouring over, with some imagery from the film and bold text that feel more like a movie poster then a normal back cover. 

The story itself stays very true to the events of the film, and those hoping to see something new in the pages of this book might be a little dissappointed as there's no alternate scenes or new events and characters added to the narrative. However, Russo does go out of his way to try and add more context to what we have on the screen. The opening scene in particular stands out for this as we get some time inside Johnny's head before he dies, seeing from his perspective and building on what was only really suggested in the film in regards to his relationship with his sister. As the story progresses, however, these moments aren't always found, and there are times where things feel a little light in comparison; which is a shame as the novel format would allow us a much better opportunity to find out how characters are handling things and the thoughts that they don't openly share.

For myself, the book slows down where the film didn't. The opening scene in the graveyard is translated wonderfully, and it's a delight to follow Barbara as her world is shattered and she's forced to run for her life. However, once she reaches the farmhouse and Ben enters the story Barbara is reduced to much more of a background figure, passive and unreactive a lot of the time. I understand that this is because the character is in shock, but the pace shudders to a crawl when this happens, and it almost feels like Russo is just describing what's happening rather than making the moment feel alive a lot of the time. I can't also help but feel that this might be part of why the book is as short as it is, at around 180 pages, as there's little meat on the bones; perhaps because the dead got to it first?

As someone who really enjoys the film though, I couldn't hate the book for simply retelling the movie's events as even with very basic, quick to read prose it's still a great story. Is it as good as the film though? Well, I'd have to say no, as unless you've seen the film a lot, or have a photographic memory, your imagination isn't going to be framing or pacing things the same way that Romero did, and much of the punch and creativity of the final piece is missing here; kind of showing that even a strong story and script can be given more in the hands of a competent director. Weirdly, however, no matter how much I tried I couldn't picture it in colour, and my imagination presented me with the story in black and white, possibly yet another testament to the iconic nature of the movie being so good that even my brain tried to recreate it without colour.

I enjoyed Night of the Living Dead, and thanks to its short length it didn't take long to finish. It made for a fun way to start the Halloween season, ushering in October with the book, and for those who are fans of the work it'll make for a nice read. The new edition from Titan Books is also gorgeous, and if you're looking to get a copy you should definitely grab the hardcover while you're able.

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Scottish Government Betrays Transgender Students

 

The Scottish government has given new instructions to its schools that say that transgender students must be banned from the correct toilet facilities, either forcing them into the incorrect toilets that could put them at risk of harm, or to provide them with separate facilities that segregate them from cisgender students.

Holyrood ministers has issued new guidance that say that pupils can only access toilets that correspond with their 'biological sex', a reversal on their previous stance that trans students can use the facilities that match their gender identity, or that they feel most comfortable in. 

As with other guidance given across the UK following the UK Supreme Court Ruling on sex as outlined in the Equality Act 2010, this new guidance tries to reduce trans students (and everyone) to 'biological sex', yet does not lay out what it means by that.

There are probably some people reading this who are going to jump in with their very simple 'but it's easy, male and female!' response, but sex is neither binary, nor simple, no matter how much anti-trans bigots want it to be. As they like to say, facts don't care about their feelings.

Without clear definitions on what sex is from the government issuing these guidance's there is very little to enforce this. Are they referring to genotypic sex, the type of chromosomes someone has? If so, they need to address the fact that there are more than two groupings of chromosomes, and that there are masculine presenting people who are physically male with XX chromosomes, as well as women with XY chromosomes; so what are they and the variety of people who fall outside the supposed XX/XY binary?

Transphobes celebrating the loss of trans rights outside court

Are they referring to only genitals, and if so how will this be enforced in schools? Are they suggesting that someone needs to be present at the toilets to check what students have in their underwear before they're allowed to go inside? This hardly seems practical, nor decent, and I don't think sexually abusing every student who wants to take a piss is a good policy. Or are they talking about phenotypic sex attributes, which in itself is a whole slew of physical characteristics that can vary, can be modified, and mean different things in different cultures? 

The UK Supreme Court and government officials have said over and over again that these new segregationist, bigoted guidance and laws 'bring clarity', yet have not once been clear on what they mean. 'Biological sex' is a broad phrase with dozens of variables, none of which define someone's sex individually. This is why these rulings have been called unscientific and biologically illiterate by medical professionals and biologists. Yet here we are, yet again seeing parts of the UK government charging ahead with policies that are only designed to harm people, with no grounding in reality or science.

In making the declaration that trans students in Scotland must be singled out like this, outed to their peers, forced into unsafe environments, or removed completely, it is only furthering harm towards children. Literal fucking children. What happens when a child is outed as trans and is bullied? What happens when bigoted kids wait outside the special trans only toilets to jump any kid who comes out? What happens when cisgender kids are accused of being trans and attacked? What happens with children are so bullied and abused in large part to these policies that they take their own lives? How many dead and hurt children will be enough before people see that these policies aren't just stupid, but cruel?

The Scottish government has turned its back on its children. It's given in to the loud, cruel screams of awful bigots who have made it clear that they want trans people gone, whether that be legalised out of public life or just dead. Everyone who has backed this should feel shame, they should feel guilt when children end up hurt, and they shouldn't be anywhere near decision making power like this, because they've demonstrated that they don't care about science, they don't care about children, and they aren't worthy of respect.

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Sanda vol. 1 by Paru Itagaki - Blog Tour

 

'In a future where youth is preserved as a means of survival, there is no time for trivial celebrations like Christmas - until Kazushige Sanda awakens the legendary power of Santa Claus. He teams up with Shiori Fuyumura and Hitoshi Amaya to find their missing classmate, but they must keep his powers and their investigation a secret, all while navigating the terrors of middle school.'

In the UK Santa is something that most of us would take for granted. He's been a part of the mythology of Christmas for so long that it would be hard to think about the Christmas season without him; he's become so central a figure to the holiday that losing him would destroy Christmas more than losing the religious side of it. And this seems to be one of the key plot points in Paru Itagaki's Sanda. 

Set in the year 2080, we meet a group of young teens at the Daikoku Welfare Academy, a huge boarding school in Japan. In this future something has happened to decimate the birth rate, and we learn that there are less than 50,000 children under the age of fifteen, and that as such kids are kept in huge educational facilities to be kept safe, and are treated with so much care and concern that adults will pretty much let them do whatever they want. The reasons for this change aren't revealed in the first volume, but based on some other facts we could perhaps make some theories.

Another unusual thing about this future is that despite it being the middle of December there are no Christmas decorations, that the weather is warm instead of cold, and that the kids are at school as normal on December 25th. Christmas seems to be a thing of the past, a long forgotten thing that some of the kids are only vaguely aware of as a story passed down over the years. 

In the middle of this we're introduced to Sanda, a teenage boy who's one of his class reps, and has a crush on Fuyumura, the slightly odd, very tall girl in his class with some pretty spooky looking eyes. We're introduced to the two of them as Fuyumura is chasing Sanda around their classroom with a kitchen knife, threatening to stab him. It seems that Fuyumura is a bit unstable, and perhaps her creepy exterior is a sign that there's something a bit darker to this girl. However, she has a valid reason to try and kill Sanda; you see, she's convinced that Sanda is a descendent of the legendary Santa Claus, and that she needs Santa's help to find her missing best friend, Ono.

Through some schenanigans, Fuyumura is able to prove her suspicions correct, and reveals to Sanda that he is indeed a descendent of Santa, and when the young teen wears something red it transforms him in the huge, buff, bearded form of Santa (or Santa by way of a fighting game character). With Sanda's new power to transform into Santa unlocked, Fuyumura must try to convince the freaked out boy that helping her is the right thing to do. This proves easier said than done as Sanda has to contend with figuring out all of his strange powers, a terrifying old principal who may be sucking life out of students, and a shadowy conspiracy to hunt Santa.

Sanda is a hard book to describe. It's part high school drama, part dark comedy, with a mystery story focus, and transformation shenanigans and bizarre super powers thrown into the mix, all with a Christmas theme. It's the kind of book that when you hear it described sounds like some kind of fever dream, or a plot created by throwing random words together; and this was a big part of why I wanted to pick up a copy of the book because I had to see just how it all actually works. And despite how weird it sounds, Sanda is an incredibly charming, funny, and enjoyable book.

One of the things that instantly stands out about Sanda is just how different it looks. There is a lot of variety in manga art, and different artists produce some varied and beautiful work, but there's something about Sanda that stood out as different to others I'd read almost straight away. The first thing that made me feel that way was the eyes. Itagaki has a way of drawing eyes that gives the characters a spooky, sometimes crazy look to them that feels different to other manga characters. This slightly off kilter quality is present in other ways too, such as the overly creepy school principal, and the way that Santa is always presented on the page, looking over everyone, drawn as if the reader is looking up at him, with proportions feeling skewed and off. Sanda has a vibe to it that I think could be described as 'manga by way of Tim Burton'.

The tone of the story works wonderfully with this strange art, and there's a very dark edge to the events in the book. There's a violent stabbing, a classroom gets blown up, someone's face gets slashed, and there's an almost constant feeling of danger and unease, yet the book never goes into horror territory, and thanks to its humour lands more as quirky. Things are dark, but not made to frighten, it's silly but not slapstick. To make another comparison to a piece of western media, Sanda has something of an Addams Family kind of flavour to it where it has those darker trappings, but designed in a way to delight rather than to offput. 

The books central characters definitely create this feeling too. Sanda himself is a pretty normal kid for the most part. He has a crush on a girl, he enjoys sweets, and he's just trying to navigate school the best he can. He's a nice kid who finds himself in a weird situation. Fuyumura on the other hand is absolutely weird. She's always intense, she's fairly withdrawn, and she's quick to violence. She's the complete opposite to Sanda, and the two of them make a wonderful double act because of this. Introduced a little later in the first volume is Hitoshi, one of the other boys in their class who comes into the narrative somewhat antagonistic, but ends up a part of the team as we learn he's not all that bad, and that actual villains are around too. I think it's a bit too early to really know what kind of character he is and what his dynamic with the other two is like, but he's a pretty enjoyable character too.

Volume one very much feels like set-up, of introducing us to this odd future and establishing the rules for the Santa transformation, as well as setting up the pieces of the the initial mystery. There are hints at a bigger narrative to come that makes it feel like things could get even weirder, and definitely make me interesting in seeing what comes next. I also love that despite Sanda having a crush on Fuyumura in the beginning the book doesn't make anything creepy with that, especially when Sanda transforms into an adult, but also heavily hints at a queer romance dynamic in the series too.

Sanda is a weird book. Half the time reading it I had to make sure I was actually seeing what I was seeing because it felt so bizarre, but there wasn't a single time when I was bored with it. Paru Itagaki has created something that feels pretty unique, with some artwork that I find genuinely delightful in how boldly different it is. I'm looking forward to seeing the series continue, and to seeing buff, shirtless Santa Clause fight some villains.

Sanda volume 1 is available now from Titan Manga.

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Yan: Vol 2 by Chang Sheng - Manga Review

 

'Winner of the prestigious Golden Comic Award, Yan Volume 2 cements its place as a standout title in Taiwan’s rapidly growing manga and graphic novel scene. Acclaimed creator Chang Sheng continues his genre-defying series with even higher stakes, transporting readers between modern-day Taiwan and a bleak dystopian future.

'What began as a personal vendetta has become a race to save the world from an A.I.-ruled apocalypse. As the group leaps through time, they must uncover buried secrets from Taiwan’s past to alter a chilling future that looms just ahead. The resurrected Peking Opera performer Tieh-Hua—as deadly as she is enigmatic—is joined by a disgraced detective, a missing Go prodigy with visions of the future, and a suspicious time-traveller, each playing a role in this tangled narrative.

'Chang Sheng masterfully fuses science fiction with Taiwanese cultural heritage and supernatural mystery, accompanied by his opulently detailed artwork and worlds. Yan Volume 2 is a bold, visually stunning exploration of identity, justice, and fate—blending high-octane action with philosophical intrigue. For fans of Baby and The Hidden Level, this is Chang Sheng at his most inventive yet.'

The first volume of Yan was easily one of the most impressive books that I've read this year, and my excitement for the second volume was pretty high; and I find that this can sometimes be a negative thing as your expectations for what comes next can become too high for the final product to meet. It's why we can see fans of things complain about the latest instalment of a franchise if they've had too long to build it up in their mind. Thankfully, I didn't have too long to wait for the second volume of Yan, and that there was no way my mind could have exceeded what Chang Sheng manages to deliver with this brilliant second part.

The first volume of Yan very much felt like a mystery story. A young woman accused of murdering her entire family gets locked away for twenty years, but the place she's being held is destroyed in a massive explosion with no survivors. She shows up a decade later, having not aged, and begins a quest of revenge to find out who really killed her family and why. A retired cop comes back to work to try and solve the case. It's fairly simple, even with the hints at something larger moving the pieces from the background, and even with the introduction of a teenage girl capable of seeing five minutes into the future. The sci-fi elements were definitely there, but the book felt fairly grounded whilst being fantastical.

This shifts quite dramatically in the second volume, which opens with Yan Tieh-Hua running into a fight with a huge laser beam shooting robot in the opening pages. Where the first volume slowly introduces you to the story this one throws you into the thick of it, and gives you some of the best choreographed comic book action I've seen in a long while. Sheng understands how to make the images on the page feel full of motion and power, and a sense of urgency that makes each panel flow into the next. The action scenes scattered throughout the book are fantastic, and as the story builds and we get new, powerful players enter the conflict it really sells the idea that even this volume is just a preview of even bigger things to come. 

The story also opens up in some pretty interesting ways, and shifts the narrative away from focusing purely on Yan Tieh-Hua, and gives us instead a story that spans time, universes, and possibly even leads to the apocalypse. The narrative doesn't abandon Yan Tieh-Hua's tale to bring these new elements in, however, and instead makes her past a more important piece in the overall puzzle, introducing a tech mogul whose own tragic past and motivations to creating a deadly weapon might be connected to our central heroine in terrible ways. 

We also get a new ally added to the rag-tag band of heroes in the form of Herlock, who was seen briefly in the first volume as a helmet wearing portal hopper who seemed to be travelling through time. Introduced fully here, we discover that his actual origin and abilities are much bigger than you could have theorised, and his addition brings some pretty cool new abilities to the team. All of this comes in handy as volume two seems to introduce the big bad for the story (at least I hope it is because it's already pretty scary and powerful) in the form of Thirteen, an AI that might just bring about the end of the world.

Thirteen makes for an amazing antagonist in the latter parts of this volume, posing a physical threat that's able to push our band of heroes to their limits, which considering the group consists of someone with super strength, someone who can teleport and has a gun that erases things from existence, and a girl who can see the future to predict all your moves, is a hell of a thing. This volume ups the ante in such a way that I have no idea how our protagonists are going to manage to come out on top; which makes things incredibly exciting.

Yan volume two answers a load of questions, it provides new pieces of the puzzle, and explains some big questions from the first book; but it also poses way more questions than it answers. The book ends in such a way that you're going to struggle to predict what comes next, where you feel no closer to solving the mystery, and you've got less of an understanding of our heroine than when it began. But, the experience is so damn good that none of that detracts from the quality, and just makes you want to see what comes next even more.

Yan has managed to not only keep its quality into this second volume, but has upped it. I gave the last book a five star rating, and this gets the same because that's the maximum I go to, but in truth this one is even better. If you're missing out on this series you're going to regret it some day, so do yourself a favour and jump on board now.

Yan: Vol 2 is out now from Titan Manga.

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