Events
Events are listed by date, then city. Submit listings at least ten days before publication to suzanne.black@list.co.uk. Listings are compiled by Suzanne Black.
Edinbur h Beatnix
performance poetry and
singer/songvvriters. hosted by Anita (iovan. (’all (I796: UIZS‘X) tor details.
COITIICS MANGA CRIME ARON
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TSUCHIYA 8- NOBUAKI MINEGISHI Old Boy Volume 1 Dark Horser 0000
This is the crime manga that inspired South Korean director Chan- wook Park's élC(Zl£l!.’l‘.(—3(l Cannes Grand Jury prr/e-vtrrnning firm 0‘ the same name. Translated into English for the first time since it was published in 1997. Dark Horse have othery-rise retained the original format: sguat paperback. black and white art on newsprint and reading back cover to front and right to left across the page.
This layout takes a little getting used to. but writer Garon Tsuchiya's spare storytelling and artist Nobuaki tvlrnegishi's Clear line art makes for an easy introduction to Japanese comics. For those who haven't see". the film i‘-.‘./lll(;l‘ fork ws the comic closelyr. Old Boy begins v-rith a man being let out of a privately run prison after it) years of incarceration. V‘Jith no idea who locked him up or why. Old Boy sets out to find the person s responsible and dish out some much merited vengeance. The plot twists are shockers. so if you intend reading the multiple volumes in this series. you might want to
"Mill"
32 THE LIST t‘. 18 Jan Ptii’ir‘
oetry Nite The Jan Bar. I (‘hambers Street. 320 4290. 7.30 ttlpm. £4 (£3; poets tree). A mix ol'open mic.
Edinburgh
A People, a Song, a (hi)Story: An introduction to the French epic. lnstitut l’rancais d’licossc. 13 Randolph (’resccnt. 225 5306. (3.30pm. l‘ree. Dr Sara James invites its to discover
('Iiuriwn (/r' eerie and Romance
literature. The event \\ ill be conducted in liiiglish or French. at the pi'elei'ence
ol‘ the audience. Booking is
recommended. The School of Poets Scottish Poetry
library. 5 ('richton's (lose. (‘anongatc.
557 2876. 7.30pm. Annual subscription:
hold off ‘-Nélt(2litllg the film. iMiIes Fielderi
SUPEI-tl-IER‘O STEVE NILES, SCOTT HAMPTON & JOSE VILLARRUBIA Batman: Gotham County Line
{DC Trtarii OOO
BATMAN
(,0 arm (or'N‘i’r W
Location. Location. Location. Or how to bring a neat twist to Batman by sending him to the 'burbs. Asked to investigate a spate of mysterious killings in Gotham City's su >urbs by a retired Commissioner Gordon. the story shifts from Marifiunter-estrue serial killer plot to a journey into the varorld of the undead.
Niles' zombies-with-a-~ grudge is an appealing concept but Hariiptons artwork and Villarrubia's colouring is the real star of this graphic novel. Bold and bloody it draws a fine line between conveying the horror of the zombies rand handful of murders. actually) ‘."-.’|lll()tll descending into gore.
There are some nice ouches at play: new rarisport for our hero. he return of some old riends and a strong iiiotrvation for the xoiiibie's hatred of ol' Bats. But you can't help but feel that the book's conclusron is compromised by Niles' efforts to Justify it all Without disrupting
t t t t
L' It) (£5 I. This monthly workshop-type poetry session aims to encourage and
continuity. Interesting but not essential. iAndrew Borthwrcki
SCI-Fl WARREN ELLIS & JH WILLIAMS III Desolation Jones 'WridStorni Titani
0.0
This is Just what Warren Ellis revels in. dark sci-ti Wllll a nasty twist. And while Desolation Jones isn't up to the standards of the blackly coriirc Trans/7retropoi'itan. it starts with a hang and is tar bleaker than most of Ellis' output. Used as a human test subiect by the British military. Jones has been left a hollow shell of a man. He spends his t.me policing the washed Out special services. military experiments gone wrong and retired undercover operatives all now
secretly roaming the streets of LA ~ a huge. open prison. that none of the more ‘noriiial' inhabitants are even aware of.
We open with a grim case involving Hitler's porn. the NSA and exploding snakes. Williams Ill's art is fluid switching from stark monochrome to fully painted panels to fit the mood and emphasise the action while Ellis has created an intriguing new world that can orin become richer as more volumes are published. (Henry Nor'thmorel
develop writing skills with both beginners and even more experienced \vritet‘s equally welcome to come along.
Wednesday 1 7
Edinburgh
>3: Storytelling Cafe: Burns and A’That Scottish Storytelling (’cntrc.
43 45 High Street. 550 957‘). 7pm. [3. .\.s the annual haggis-munching test looins on the calendar. here is an alternative Rabble Burns night. \\ hich comes as part of a series of monthly storytelling events. The writer. musician and storyteller Stuart .\lcllardy hosts the evening. “here you can get stuck in yourselt or just sit back and enjoy the
tales as they unravel.
Thursday 18
Glasgow Book Group \\';itei'stoiie's tl‘ormerly ()ttakar'si. Buchanan (ialleries.
Buchanan Street. 353 l5()(). (rpm. l’rec.
-- wily/1:22))»; I
CLASSIC COMIC STRIPS
EC SEGAR Popeye: I Yam What I Yam (Fantagraphicsi COO
Mainly remembered for his eating habi s rather than his comic prowess. Popeye has been about since 1929. as a character in the cast of Thimble Theatre. EC Segar's farcical. vaudevrlliari comic saga that was initially published Ill American newspapers a decade earlier. Popeye and hrs on off beau Olive 0in became the real stars of the show from then on and the strip survrved in this form until Segar's death in 1938.
'I'llifl’K “\\\\\\\\\\‘f, , ‘ “' . . . - - -
This huge and nan: some hardback tome draws together strips culled from newspapers from 1928- 1930 and coming (lots/n soiiiewl‘ere between the Marx Brothers for patter and Tom and Jerry's knockabout capers for action.
Fret“. riiagic hens to boxrng schemes to deceitful suitors. it is trippy. verbose and complex at po:nts — thanks mostly to the riiassive cast — and published as it was. at a time when comic strips were beginning to genuinely evoive and be radical, this was fairly sophisticated even if a lot of the slapstick has lost it's dynariiism over the years.
IMai'k Robertsorr
MANGA SCI l l JUNKO MIZUNO Pure Trance
iLast Gasp‘i O...
This is the debut graphic
novel from Japanese illustrator Junko tvli/uno. best known for her garish hyper cute art
l'p for discussion at this meeting “ill be Arthur (lllr/ (it'm'cr'. Julian Bar'ncs‘ postmodern take on the historical ligurcs ol' Sir Arthur (‘onan Doyle and (icorgc lidalji. While viewed as being a clcy er clogs literati. Barnes has alysays been a tan ol‘ dovvn the line detective novels and ex en wrote some in the 80s about a bisexual cop in Soho on the trail of \ ice and murder. All ol‘ which was done under the pseudonym l)an Kavanagh.
with twisted dark edges. as wide-eyed. sexy Japanese girls are rev/rapped in the trappings of fetishism. drugs and death athe so called kanvarr iioir styltn. Originally created to accompany the techno CD series Pi/r‘e Trance. MI/tillO has up date-d and expanded the story to a full length edition. a warped sci-f. packed wrth sadistic nurses. gore. 88M and chronic oyer eating. Admittedly the tale is simplistzc and the script feels stilted at times. but Mr/uno's bold cartoon:in art is so enticing you'll forgive all misgivings. Achrngly Japanese but beautiful to behold in it's own uriigue stvle.
iHenry Northiiiorel