A Monday Reading Update and the Science Fiction Novel - Graphic Novels

Jo and I had a nice weekend. We really enjoyed watching the 2020 Brier Curling Championships. Brad Gushue the skip of Team Newfoundland was excellent on Sunday to win the final. Next weekend starts the Women's World Curling Championships. I hope Kerri Einarson plays as well as she did in the Canadian Women's championships. First game for her will be a real challenge against Team Scotland skipped by Eve Muirhead. I hope they aren't cancelled. Indications at the moment is that they won't be.

Now on to books. I finished a book yesterday and have started another. I will update both of those and will also continue with my look at the Sci-Fi novel, today taking a quick look at some graphic novels that might fall into the Sci-Fi genre category.

Just Finished

1. The Girls in 3-B by Valerie Taylor (1959).











"A couple of years ago I discovered The Feminist Press and their Femmes Fatales 'women write pulp' series. It introduced me to writers such as Vera Caspary, Evelyn Piper and Valerie Taylor. I first read Taylor's Stranger on Lesbos. She was noted as an author in the lesbian pulp fiction genre. The Girls in 3-B is my second look at her work.

Annice, Pat and Barby are three friends living in a small farm community. For their own differing reasons, they want to move to the big city, Chicago. Annice is bored with farm living and wants to explore the arts and life in the big city. Barby wants to get away from home from a childhood trauma. Pat wants a career in the big city. The three share an apartment, 3-B, in Chicago. Annice starts as a student trying to improve her poetry. Barby's father, who has a strange relationship with his daughter, gets her a job in a department store. Pat gets a job with a book publisher.

Their lives diverge quite rapidly. Annice, even though she is sort of dating Jackson, a student at the college, gets involved with a 'Beatnik', Alan and begins to explore sex and drugs. Barby is raped by the apartment manager and finds herself stressed and more and more under his control. Pat has a deep crush on the editor of the publishing company.

The story follows the three, developing their characters nicely. Many powerful themes are approached and discussed, child abuse, abortion, incest, lesbian relationships, drugs. Considering the story was originally written in 1959, they must have been more powerful. The pulp publishers seemed to have much more freedom than the movies and TV and more conservative publishing companies. Taylor approaches these themes delicately without too much titillation.

It's an interesting, different story, maybe a gritty Harlequin in some ways but dealing with strong issues. I enjoyed reading it. I liked the Introduction, a description of the pulp authors, and I enjoyed the Afterword, covering Taylor's life. I also liked the ending. (4 stars)"

Currently Reading

1. Inspector Imanishi Investigates by Seicho Matsumoto (1961). I've had this for a couple of years, bought when I first discovered the Soho Crime publisher. Lots of interesting authors there.

"In the wee hours of a 1960s Tokyo morning, a dead body is found under the rails of a train, and the victim’s face is so badly damaged that police have a hard time figuring out the victim’s identity. Only two clues surface: an old man, overheard talking in a distinctive accent to a young man, and the word “kameda.” Inspector Imanishi leaves his beloved bonsai and his haiku and goes off to investigate—and runs up against a blank wall. Months pass in fruitless questioning, in following up leads, until the case is closed, unsolved.

But Imanishi is dissatisfied, and a series of coincidences lead him back to the case. Why did a young woman scatter pieces of white paper out of the window of a train? Why did a bar girl leave for home right after Imanishi spoke to her? Why did an actor, on the verge of telling Imanishi something important, drop dead of a heart attack? What can a group of nouveau young artists possibly have to do with the murder of a quiet and “saintly” provincial old ex-policemen? Inspector Imanishi investigates.But Imanishi is dissatisfied, and a series of coincidences lead him back to the case. Why did a young woman scatter pieces of white paper out of the window of a train? Why did a bar girl leave for home right after Imanishi spoke to her? Why did an actor, on the verge of telling Imanishi something important, drop dead of a heart attack? What can a group of nouveau young artists possibly have to do with the murder of a quiet and “saintly” provincial old ex-policemen? Inspector Imanishi investigates.But Imanishi is dissatisfied, and a series of coincidences lead him back to the case. Why did a young woman scatter pieces of white paper out of the window of a train? Why did a bar girl leave for home right after Imanishi spoke to her? Why did an actor, on the verge of telling Imanishi something important, drop dead of a heart attack? What can a group of nouveau young artists possibly have to do with the murder of a quiet and “saintly” provincial old ex-policemen? Inspector Imanishi investigates."

The Science Fiction Novel - Graphic Novels (AKA Comic Books 😏)

Supergirl

As I've worked through my bookshelves checking out my Science Fiction novel collection (this is an online bookshelf by the way, on Goodreads. I will say that I still have many of the books I've highlighted in the course of this ongoing thread), I've come across a few graphic novels. Up until today I've avoided them but in reality, the comic book / graphic novel has always been a leader in the Sci-Fi genre. I can remember when I was a kid enjoying the Supergirl comics, the alien on earth Sci-Fi storyline. There were so many others, Spiderman gaining his powers from a radioactive spider, etc. 

Jack Kirby's New Gods

I enjoyed the New Gods in the late 60s and 70s, a fantasy / Sci-Fi storyline following a fictional race battling to protect Earth. These are just a few but today I'll take a look at some comics I've enjoyed more recently all that provide varying looks at the Sci-Fi genre. 

League of Extraordinary Gentlemen by Alan Moore

1. The League of Ordinary Gentlemen (Alan Moore). This is a comic book series featuring many of the classic Sci-fi / horror fiction characters, put together as a team to battle the Martian invaders and other enemies. You have Mina Murray, a vampire from Stokers stories, Alan Quartermain from H. Rider Haggard's stories, Captain Nemo from Jules Verne's 20000 League Under the Sea, Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (R.L. Stevenson's book), and the Invisible Man from H.G. Wells' story. 

It's an often surreal series of books, honoring H.G. Wells, H.P. Lovecraft, government intrigue, alien invaders. It's well worth reading, more than just your average comic book. It's filled with comics, stories, advertisements of the particular time-frame featured in the particular story. Moore has an amazing imagination and has written many more comics than just this series. They are all worth trying.

2 of 3 books in the Rising Stars series

2. Rising Stars (J. Michael Straczynski). Consider John Wyndham's The Midwich Cuckoos (also written as Village of the Damned). In that story, a series of comets affects townspeople around the world. Women in the vicinity of the comets become pregnant and their children display special powers, a hive mentality. This story follows a similar thread. 113 people are born with special powers after a mysterious light appears above the skies of a small town in Illinois. 

The comics follow how these 'specials' are taken by a government agency, displays their powers and how they use these powers to benefit (or not) mankind and how mankind treats them. Another fascinating comic series.

Aphrodite IX by David Wohl

3. Aphrodite IX (David Wohl). In a futuristic world, Aphrodite IX is an assassin. What makes her unique is that after each job, she loses her memory of herself and any missions she is assigned. The problem is that gradually memories begin to creep back into her conscious mind. I readily admit that I first tried the series because of the cover picture but it turned out to be an excellent, well-drawn, fascinating series. 

Lady Mechanika by David Wohl

4. Lady Mechanika (Joe Benitez). Interesting entry in the 'steampunk' sub-genre. I've only read a few so far and may get back into it as I enjoyed it very much. The stories are set at the turn of the 20th Century, Lady Mechanika is a detective with unique abilities. Excellent art work, interesting stories.

Tank Girl by Jamie Hewlett & Alan Martin

5. Tank Girl (Jamie Hewlett and Alan Martin). My new favorite series. Written and drawn by two British blokes (from Worthing) it features a dystopian future, set where else but in Australia. Heck they've already got Mad Max, right? You've got a girl and her tank, her mutant kangaroo boyfriend, her friend Jet Girl and Sub Girl and beer drinking, sex, adventures against kangaroo gangs, weird scientists, etc. It was made into a movie way back when with Lori Petty as Tank Girl. The comics are excellent, funny and a joy to read.

I could go on, but maybe these will pique your interest. Enjoy your week!
Whydidanactor,onthevergeoftellingImanishisomethingimportant,dropdeadofaheartattack?Whatcanagroupofnouveauyoungartistspossiblyhavetodowiththemurderofaquietand“saintly”provincialoldex-policemen?InspectorImanishiinvestigates.