Dr. Dinosaur’s Time Travel Through the Back Door. Brian Clevinger (Writer), Eric Trautmann/Fedora Monkey Studio (Art& Design). Tesladyne LLc (2019)

Laugh out loud, perfectly balanced explanation of the perils and possibilities if time travel from Dr Dinosaur, villain from the Atomic Robo books.

This is the About the Author page as it does the work perfectly, “ Doctor H’sssk Dinosaur is a handsome brain genius from the K-T extinction event that was caused when you jerks activated your Large Hadron Collider and unwittingly sent stupid energies 65,000,003 years backwards through time thus perturbing the orbit of an otherwise perfectly stable and harmless asteroid not that he’s bitter about it.

He is the author of the autobiography I’VE BEEN EVERYWHEN ,MAN, and numerous doomsday plots”

The mix of the wonderfully ridiculous, science and supervillain threats that are indicated in the above are wonderfully expanded upon in the book.

Dr. Dinosaur has a grudge against humanity and is determined to deliver on it via a mas extension event of his own, failing that capturing and killing anyone he can, will have to suffice in the meantime. He is also fantastically vain and wants his human audience to recognise and appreciate as much as our stupid monkey brains can. The book is trying to serve this agenda and it does so with flair, humour and a sharp balance between stupid villainy and genuine threat.

The book is dictated by Dr Dinosaur to a terrified hostage Gary whose frantic message throughout the text, inserted when he can, are funny and horrifying in exactly the correct proportions.

The discussions Dr Dinosaur makes about time travel include the clearest explanation of why time travel does not change the future that I have ever read. Time Travel stories are sometimes confusing as there is an need to balance current and future events in a coherent whole, having neatly solved the problem Dr. Dinosaur is free to deliver his thoughts of time travel tourism and the problems encountered by the only groups of humans to successfully develop time travel.

No knowledge of Atomic Robo continuity is needed to enjoy this book, it is happily self-contained and inviting to all. Funny science fiction is very hard to do successfully, Brian Clevinger makes it appear natural, unforced, and easy.

 

The Crimson Deathbringer. Sean Robins. Creativia (2019)

Hugely enjoyable and engaging space opera. Alien invasion of Earth with a twist sounds like a lot of other stories, the execution makes all the difference. Sean Robbins has the confidence to have big ideas and a huge cast as well as the craft to balance them. The narrative shifts across aliens and humans and to give each the space to engage the reader, everyone has a motive and a context and when they clash the action has weight and consequence. The plot mechanics are ruthlessly efficient, Sean Robbins pushes the story at a considerable pace and no one gets to escape unscathed. Victory for anyone is hard won and harder to maintain, everyone learns from their mistakes and has to make new ones to keep alive and in the struggle. The action is intense and beautifully staged, the reveals are cunningly timed and move the story forward with force and increasing momentum. The cast are hugely engaging, the leading characters are determined and individual, they drive the plot and are driven by the plot in a wholly satisfactory way. The walk on cast give depth and flavour to the story, Sean has a gift for very quickly introducing a character who is fully fledged in a short space, there is nothing impersonal about this conflict. Aliens and humans are given scope and motive so that the struggle between them has depth and engagement. 

Sean Robins' control of the narrative is impressive, there are a huge number of shifting viewpoints, including a first person narrative, none it is is confusing. The structure gives the room for a widespread look at the conflict and moves from the global to the specific with ease and impact. It opens the scope of the story very nicely, placing Earth in the middle of a galactic struggle naturally and effectively. You do need a high tolerance for pop culture references and jokes, they never get in the way of the story, they do not quite come off cumulatively as Sean Robbins might have intended. They hide the character who indulges in them the most a little more than they reveal him.

I do have a concern with the attrition rate in the cast. Not the fact that it is high, rather that it does not bend the story the way it should. The reader is encouraged to have an investment in some of the cast, they take up enough story space to become significant and their demise does not have the following impact that I would have expected. 

I bought this book to support a colleague, I read it because I love science fiction, I greatly enjoyed it because Sean Robbins has delivered a great story that pulls the reader into the action with tremendous skill and confidence. I strongly recommend it because the benefits of reading excellent science fiction are clinically proven to improve your joy in living. Do yourself a favour, get the benefits of first rate space opera that The Crimson Deathbringer so happily delivers.

John Carter of Mars, Volume One. Edgar Rice Burroughs. Disney Editions (2012)

A classic of romantic science fiction, Edgar Rice Burroughs Mars novels are feast to read. This collection includes the first three books in the series, A Princess of Mars, The Gods of Mars and The Warlord of Mars which are effectively one extended story. John Carter, a ex-Confederate soldier from Virginia finds himself transported to Mars after a weird encounter in an Arizona cave. Mars, Barsoom as its natives call it, is a dying planet filled with different races all constantly fighting each other for the scarce resources of the planet. John Carter finds that the lighter gravity of Mars gives him exceptional agility and strength, which would be useless if not backed up by his sheer joy in combat. Carter finds himself caught up at first in the unceasing wars of the Martians, then falling in love with Dejah Thoris, a princess of the  human like Red Martians starts to take a more active role. He find himself shunted back to Earth and then returned to Mars which has become his true home.
The engine of the story is the efforts by John Carter to rescue Dejah Thoris from danger as she is kidnapped by his enemies. The heart of the story is the progression he makes across the red planet, fighting a wonderfully vivid series of opponents to get Dejah Thoris back and enjoy the rush of battle.
The construction of the books is simple and extremely effective, John Carter find himself moving from one dangerous situation to another with little rest or respite. This could easily become repetitive and contrived , that it is neither is a glowing tribute to the energy and inventiveness of Edgar Rice Burroughs writing. One of the striking aspects to the stories is the solid context that Edgar Rice Burroughs creates with Barsoom. He uses the fact that the planet is dying to create the basic conflict that underlies the series, everyone on Mars is in direct competition with everyone else all the time for resources of life. This is translated into the constant conflict between all the races of Barsoom and within them as well. In this conflict John Carter shines like a star, with his extra agility and love of fighting he fits in very naturally into the context.
Using this as a springboard  Edgar Rice Burroughs introduces continually inventive new situations which add new twists to the conflicts. In particular the second book, The Gods of Mars, has a very clever structure of predators that John Carter must battle to regain his bride. 
One of the great pleasures of the series is that there are no easy victories, every step is a struggle, John Carter has to use his brains and his sword arm to win through and victory is as likely to be snatched away at the last moment as not. The compelling vigour and breakneck pacing of the action pushes the reader along nicely past the occasional  clunky piece of exposition or dangling plot thread. Reading the three stories back to back makes the short cuts used a bit more obvious, they are very minor flaws in a great flood of superbly realised action.
This is muscular, romantic science fiction at its most pulpy glorious and it is an enduring treasure and a joy.

Runners, Book 1: Bad Goods. Sean Wang (Writer & Artist) Serve Man Press (2005)

A superb space opera with a solid plot, great action, a superb context and a very engaging cast. Roka Nostaco and his crew are smugglers-for-hire, runners, en route to make a collection when they find that the space ship they are due to meet is under attack. They beat off the attack and rescue the ship and most of the cargo. Complications follow when that take a woman they found on the cargo ship on board and find that they have a bounty on their heads. A visit to a huge space station for repairs and rest proves to be very difficult. The action is sharp and fast, carefully balanced with information, back story and dry humour. The conclusion is satisfying and open ended enough to provide a platform for new stories.
Sean Wang has taken a very familiar template of footloose adventurers getting caught up in action that pulls at their wallets as well as their residual sense of right and wrong and gives it fresh and focused momentum. He is faithful to the genre requirements for a diverse, bickering crew, very competent in action if preferring to avoid it with a nice slice of back story to give them hard knock experience. The quality of his writing means that the requirements do not slide into cliche, the cast are lively, individual and very engaging. The situations they find themselves in are superbly set up, logically sequenced and give the cast a opportunity to shine individually and collectively.
The art is equal to the writing, it strongly expresses the story and provides a glorious space opera context. The cast are expressive and individual, the space ship hardware is given enough detail and functional thought to ground the action very firmly. The big scenes of space conflict are loud and impressive, close quarter combat is fast and intense. This is a very thoughtfully constructed comic that wearing its considerable craft lightly, it is so good it makes it look easy. A pleasure to read, re-read and savour, wonderful.

Nylon Angel. Marianne De Pierres. Orbit (2004)

A very engaging science fiction adventure story. Parrish Plessis lives in the Tert, a giant slum on the coast of Australia situated on the outskirts of the supercity, Vivacity. Parrish works for one of the gangsters who control the Tert, Jamon Mondo, as a bodyguard. She is trapped in the job, Jamon does not let people leave his service and she is desperate to break free. She agrees to look after two fugitives accused of murdering a media star and also takes a job from another Tert gangster which promises her freedom from Jamon. Parrish soon finds that she knows far to little about what is really going on and has no choice but to forge ahead and rely on her wits and strength to stay alive. The breakneck pace never flags, the reveals are very well staged, the action is furious and the conclusion is sharp and satisfying.
Marianne De Pierres has created a very believable and nicely detailed context, a dystopian future that has a nice plausible feel to it. Parrish Plessis is a great charachter, tough, uncompromising and really good in a fight, she is also thouroughaly confused and trying not to be stupid. She has the drive required to push the story forward and the depth of personality to be consistently engaging. The plot threads that wind about her are very well constructed and are balanced very carefully with opportunities for the cast and context to come to the fore.
The supporting cast are credible and full of life, there is a strong sense of the pulsing competing life in the Tert, it crowds the page and frames the action very well. Great fun.

Ghost in the Shell Stand Alone Complex. White Maze. Junichi Fujisaku. DH Press (2006)

This is a very enjoyable science fiction adventure story set in an information saturated future Japan. A number of savage killings, dubbed "vampire murders" have taken place and there is a suspicion of a political element to the attacks so Public Security Section 9 become involved. When Major Motoko Kusanagi finds a connection to the Anti-China faction and the ruined and partially sunken city of Tokyo, she has to undertake a very dangerous investigation. The plot coils nicely through political skulduggery, war time scientific experiments and revenge. The action is staged with great skill, the cast are lively and very engaging, the reveals are very well timed and the conclusion very satisfying.
The context of a post war society that is so saturated with information that everyone is fitted with cyberbrains in addition to their organic ones to allow them function is more than just an overlay. The story is woven out of this context and the implications it brings for what being human means as well as the hugely expanded range of ways of creating problems. Junichi Fujisaku is a skillful writer who manages to provide all the information required without having the reader feel that they are being force fed.
The cast are well developed and very engaging, in particular Major Kusanagi. She is essentially an organic brain in a robot body, blurring the lines of where humanity lies and what it means. She is a tremendous action hero, fast acting, decisive and coolly intelligent. In spite of having a wholly artificial body that could in theory have any shape or sex required, she is a striking female character. This is a nice piece of writing that underscores the overall quality of the book. The translation by Camellia Nieh is invisible, the book is clearly from a non-Western imagination while reading as if written directly in English. Excellent science fiction

Rick Random, Space Detective. Steve Holland (Editor). Prion (2008)

This is a collection of ten stories featuring Rick Random, investigator for the Interplanetary Bureau of Investigations. These stories are great romantic science fiction where the future is full of far flung planets, intergalactic travel and intrigue and naturally murder most foul. The stories take the world of post war Britain and dress it up in futuristic clothes and buildings, add lashings of technology to create a hugely enjoyable mix. The adventures are full of action, the settings are varied and art is wonderful.
The limited number of panels per page and the extensive text takes a little getting used to, it slows down the momentum of the stories and there is frequently too much explanation provided. This is simply a feature of comics of the time and you adjust very quickly and take the stories at their own pace. The fewer and usually larger panels do give the art work a chance to shine and it does so. The visions of the future are wonderful, they are full of sleek space ships and robots. The details of the royal court on the Moon from the story Emperor of the Moon are simply astonishing. The level of detail is extraordinary, the panels are never crowded or busy.
The stories themselves are models of compression, there is a significant level of action and plot development crammed into each one. Rick Random is a little too clean cut a hero, he is consistently surrounded by very interesting villains and supporters who add great zest and flavour to the stories. Like a lot of science fiction the stories strongly reflect prevailing social attitudes which shine out clearly today and for the most part add to the charm of the stories. This is a great value collection of very enjoyable science fiction from a time when the future could be imagined with a sincerely romantic fervour.

Star Risk. Chris Bunch. Orbit (2002)

Excellent space opera. M'chel Riss, ex Alliance Marine, Friedrich von Baldur, a man with a varied background, Jasmine King, who may be a robot and Amsnandrah Grookonomonslf , a non-human known as Grok, form Star Risk, a mercenary company with a view to profiting from trouble. They hatch a plan to spring a prisoner from Death Row as part of a business pitch to a mining company suffering a lot of trouble. The escape and the pitch go well and they are hired, they also find that the trouble is being created by a very well organised and funded opponent. The action is fast, smart and very well paced, the cast are tremendous fun and thoroughly engaging and memorable, there is a solid plot and very nicely judged deadpan humour.

Chris Bunch has created a credible and expansive universe with tremendous economy and skill, there is no time wasted setting up the situation, the details are revealed through the actions of the cast. The cheerfully pragmatic approach the Star Risk team take to the risks and practicalities of providing a armed security service is handled with great humour. It gives a very nice flavour to the book, everyone is competent and thoughtfully so, it gives a lot of weight to the plot and the action.

This is a fun story, that takes a grubby view of the future, seeing that it will be humans being human in a different context, industrial processes will still be dirty, money will still be a very powerful motive and loyalty will remain a potent force. Sharp, clever and great fun.

Ghost in the Shell SAC. Revenge Of The Cold Machines. Junichi Fujisaku. Dark Horse Press (2006)

Three short stories set in a future , post World War III Japan where cybernetics are common and prosthetic body enhancements are frequent. The three stories are concerned with the activities of Public Security Section 9, an anti-terrorist group that deals with cybernetic related terrorist threats and activities. The first story is about a plot to kill the leader of Section 9, the second is about and incident that one of Section 9, Artificial Intelligence equipped mobile tanks, a Tachikoma has, the final story is about an assault on a leading cybernetics company. The three stories are all very tightly woven and complete in themselves, they are also ultimately all tied into a bigger plot. The writing is sharp, clear, informative and brings the cast and context to life.

The stories delve further into the context and cast from the Ghost in the Shell continuity created by Shrrow Masamune, specifically the animated series, Ghost in the Shell "Stand Alone Complex". Junichi Fujisaku, who is a writer on the series, develops these stories with enough inherent information that they can be read without any prior knowledge of any of the continuity. The stories are enjoyably laced with political intrigue as the background in which Section 9 operate is made clear. This gives a nice extra dimension to the actions and decisions of the cast and gives weight to the plot.

The stories are well structured, the reveals are nicely paced and the action is fast and enjoyable with a large and lively cast. Anyone interested in science fiction would enjoy these stories, be they fans of the Ghost in the Shell continuity or not, they are excellent.

Ghost in the Shell Stand Alone Complex. The Lost Memory. Junichi Fujisaku. DH Press (2006)

This is an enjoyable science fiction thriller set in a credible and well developed context with an engaging cast. The story is set in a future Japan in a world where replacing body partially or completely with prosthetic limbs or full bodies is commonplace and having a cyberbrain, a computer addition to your brain is virtually required to manage in an information saturated society.

A seemingly unrelated series of terrorist incidents carried out by teenage boys with no previous history or discernible motive, called the "Good Morning Terrorists", attracts the attention of Section 9, a Public Security group with responsibility for combating terrorism. Led by Major Motoko Kusanagi, who has had a full body replacement, the team from Section 9 investigate the incidents as well as the threat from a criminal gang to a visiting diplomat. The plot moves nicely, the reveals are well staged and the conclusion is enjoyably paranoid and explosive.

The writer manages to translate the context of the literal information society that is presented in very visual terms in the the animated series in a very unforced way. A lot of context and explanation has to be provided to ensure that the reader can understand the actions and choices of the cast and it is do in a very natural fashion. The cast are well developed, the Major is an engaging and professional security officer, the rest of her team are varied and lively. The story itself has a very enjoyable flavour of conspiracy thriller films of the late 1970's, as the plot unfolds it becomes clear that there is something very nasty lurking in the background.

While the story is set within the continuity from Ghost in the Shell Stand Alone Complex 1st Gig, it is written by one of the writers of the animated series, no previous knowledge of any of the Ghost in the Shell comic books, films or the SAC series is required to enjoy it.