Tuesday, 5 April 2011

Book Reviews

Comics Corner

2000AD #1728
Available from Wednesday 6th April

Review by Brad Harmer

Two brand new stories start this week, with the much anticipated return of The Red Seas and a brand new Judge Dredd series.

The new Judge Dredd story, What the Hitler Saw, hits the ground running and has a lot of promise as an actor portraying Hitler in a living waxwork museum begins to question whether or not he's becoming as evil as the man he pretends to be...and then he's witness to a true evil. It's a great idea, with just enough Judge Dredd flavour to raise a smile. This one has a lot of potential.

Flesh feels somewhat disjointed this week, although still enjoyable. There's a lot of great ideas and scenes here, but it's a little too much all at one go to really process. The artwork has taken on a slight Manga framing style occasionally. So, yes, it can keep getting worse.

Dandridge really is a great little series. Sure, it's just Doctor Strange set in the Scottish Highlands, but it's enjoyable nonetheless. I like Scotland and I love Doctor Strange. Bite me.

I've never really been a fan of The Red Seas before, but this new series seems really rather good so far. Of course, the appearance of various cantankerous Viking deities probably helps.

This is a great issue and a really strong jumping on point. Let's hope this is a sign of things to come after a relatively crappy March. 8/10

WHEN HITLER BEGINS TO RAISE THE DEAD, ALL HELL BEGINS TO BREAK LOOSE

Legendary vampire hunter Bloodrayne faces her darkest hour in an epic, blood-soaked battle with a horde of Nazi vampires.

Fighting against the Germans in an attempt to rid Europe of their evil menace, a freak accident infects a Nazi officer with Bloodrayne's vampiric curse. Discovering his newfound power the officer begins a campaign of immense destruction before turning his sights on the beloved Führer...

Battling vampires, Nazis and time to stop him infecting Hitler with the vampire's serum, Bloodrayne must call upon all her strength, courage and blade-wielding skills if she is to stop this catastrophic event and save the world from the deadliest adversary of all... vampire Hitler!



TRACKMAN COMING TO DVD

Horror lurks underground in this new, twisted Russian horror film. The makers of 30 Days of Night and The Grudge present Trackman, available to own on DVD from the 16th May (RRP £9.99).

A perfect bank heist turns deadly when the criminals and their hostages flee to an abandoned underground subway station to escape the authorities. Searching for a way out, they don’t realise that they are being hunted by the Trackman; a madman that prowls the darkness, looking for potential victims.

Exisiting in the dark, dank tunnels of an abandoned subway system and preying on those who venture from the safety of the streets above, the Trackman is a lone serial killer who specialises in collecting eyeballs…

Trackman is released on DVD from 16th May.

AN ANCIENT EVIL IN WAITING...

The Thing on the Shore takes place in a call-centre in Whitehaven, just a short hop from Sellafield along Cumbria's grim western coastline. When Artemis Black (from The Leaping) is assigned to manage the centre on behalf of a mysterious multinational corporation called Interext, the isolation and remoteness of the place encourage him to implement a decidedly unhinged personal project, installing what purports to be cutting-edge AI technology, with a real, human' voice, on the automated answering systems. As a result of Artemis' actions, one of his employees, Arthur, becomes aware of an intangible landscape inside the labyrinthine systems of the call-centre - a landscape in which he can feel some kind of otherworldly consciousness stirring and in which, perhaps as a result of his father's increasingly alarming eccentricities, he feels that he could find his recently deceased mother.

Arthur takes refuge in this belief as his father, his job, and his house slowly deteriorate around him. He begins to conflate the mysterious, interstitial region that exists down the phonelines with the sea, as that was where his mother drowned. In a way he is right - Artemis' meddlings have attracted something, it is just not as benevolent as he thinks...

Thanks to our friends at Quercus Publishing we've got five copies of The Thing on the Shore to give away! For your chance of winning, send your name and full postal address to emotionally14@hotmail.co.uk before midday on Tuesday 12th April, making sure to put "The Thing on the Shore" as the subject. The first five names out of the electronic hat after the competition closes will receive a free copy!

Don't forget to put "The Thing on the Shore" in the subject line. Incorrectly labelled or blank entries will be discarded.

The Thing on the Shore is available now.

Entries limited to one per household. Offer open only to postal addresses in the UK and Ireland.

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