Books
Reviews
‘ ' mail it... r5. . '.i'il'l.’:l,W ’ SUPERHERO COMIC
ROBERT KIRKMAN & SEAN PHILLIPS
Marvel Zombies (Marvel) .0.
A bit of a leftfield success for the folk at Marvel, its original single issue format kept selling out, raking up several reprints. And you can see why fanboys (‘Marvel zombies’ is also a derisory term used for Marvel Obsessives) have latched on to the concept, a vague spin-off from Ultimate Fantastic Four with this stand-alone series reimagining the Marvel Universe as populated by flesh-eating zombies in a parallel dimension. So, heroes, like Captain America, Spider-Man and the Hulk spend their days relentlessly pursuing the few human survivors (in this case Black Panther, Magneto, Silver Surfer and eventually the Devourer of Worlds, Galactus) desperately trying to satisfy their hunger for live flesh. It may well be the most graphically violent and gory mainstream comic Marvel have ever produced, with close-ups as guts are chewed and eyeballs crunched.
In many ways, this is a throwaway story packed with plenty of cheap thrills, as your favourite heroes take on an undead cannibalistic form. It’s fast paced and bloody with a hefty dash of black comedy, and it’s gooey and goofy rather than horrific. But the real draw has to be Arthur Suydam's gorgeous painted cover art, which takes classic Marvel covers through the years and reworks them with added zombies, gore and humour (and with all the reprints, there’s room for loads of variant covers). Non-essential but fun. And doesn’t everyone love a zombie? (Henry Northmore)
SHORT STORIES DEBORAH EISENBERG Twilight of the Superheroes (Picador) 0000
A native of New York City and a professor of creative writing at the University of Virginia. each of Deborah Eisenberg's situations seem to emerge from that particular social strata which translates to the UK as middle class. Her characters have names like Otto and Melinda. yet where
the comfy traditions of such families (and each tale is about family in one way) meet the
12 THE LIST 3—10 Aug 2006
questioning, unsure nature of the protagonists is where a real moral tension ensues. One half of a gay couple. for example. rebels against his biological need to procreate. while a dutiful wife and mother re- evaluates her role in life. Eisenberg's prose is elusive. hard to dip into but demanding that you read it carefully; not least in the show- stealing title story. a Jewish family saga about post-9H 1 New
York simmering from a city of liberty to one of paranoia. Each tale proves as densely constructed and indiyidually rewarding as a novel iDavid Poliock;
SOCIAL BlOGRAPHY DAVID KUSHNER Jonny Magic and the Card Shark Kids (William Heinemannl 0..
it's possmly a common dream among mathematically gifted but sOCially challenged high school outcasts that traits for which they were shunned WI” someday emerge as acclaimed talents. Jonny Magic and the Card Shark Kids is the tale of one Such transformation. Dismissed as the weird fat kid, Jon Finkel discovers the card game, Magic: The Gathering. and quickly becomes world champion before turning to blackpack and poker. Re-named Jonny Magic,
. a couple of hundred
pounds lighter and a few million better off. he's still doing the rounds of card-playing
glgS.
MON Ii GAIG 0‘ MUS llll ill! 0003 All) SIOIMIC tAS “GAS
Dmd Instinct
His tale has enough troughs. breezy feel— good episodes. and moments of tension and excitement to make a good story. but DaVid Kushner has a habit of slowing the pace by IabOuring the misfit- loner-turned-superstar point with repeated references to Finkel‘s former state. I was hoping to pick up some tips. but don't think my days of playing poker for matchsticks are over
just yet. (Katie Gould)
LITERARY FICTION
l WILL A
MCILVANNEY
Weekend
(Sceptre) 00” r 7
1' William Mcllvanney’s first
novel in a decade
seems to be something of a departure from the lyrical but hard-edged portrayal of Scottish working class life which made his name. Instead. Weekend features a collection of lecturers ialI male) and students (mostly female) who get involved in a variety of lll-JlllkS during a study weekend on a remote Scottish island. But what sounds like a slightly frivolous plot is anything but in Mcllvanney's skilled hands.
Dettly SWIIChIllg the narration between characters. Mcllvanney examines the frailties of human nature. and the underlying motives that drive the often- inexplicable behaViour we all indulge in when it
comes to sexual
relationships. Adeptly he also makes us
empathise With several
difficult. sell-involved characters. and
juxtaposes the highbrow
literary theory of the weekend's study with the base human deSires wonderfully. pulling the two together in a climax which is conSidered yet surprisingly movmg. A subtly thrilling return. (Doug Johnstone)
CRIME CAPER HUGO RIFKIND
Over Exposure (Canongate) 000
Some books are iust made for holiday reading and Journalist Hugo Rifkind's first literary foray falls perfectly into this category. This is not to say that the son of politician Malcolm has created something completely vacuous. because. rather like his central character Macaulay Lewis. there is more to this book than the superficial opening would have you believe. Lewis is a misplaced celebrity columnist on
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Dooflny Glullano Revolver It‘s “The Secret History of the Beatles.‘ Not for the first time. it feels. John Blake.
Paul Danton Star People A fictional tale about how easier it is to be a killer in Hollywood than it is to be gay. Time Warner. Ashley Kuhn The House that Trane Built A celebration of Impulse! Records and the artists who graced it: Max Roach, Coleman Hawkins. Count Basie and John Coltrane. Granta. Jonathan Randall Garden Hopping The true story of being adopted in the 19603. Canongate
The Gazette, a struggling newspaper recently bought out by a RUSSian husmessman and populated by an odd Jumble of characters. It all kicks off when a 'gentleman thief'
called Fingers starts
plucking iewels from hapless celebrities and desperate LeWis champions the story in an effon to keep his got), but his erratic lifestyle makes pulling a credible story together somewhat tricky. Beneath all the far- fetched explons there is an intelligent. sensitive character whose
investigations unearth a rather Sinister stOry
where much more than 1 Just his career is at stake. (Rachael Street)