Proctor Valley Road Review (Grant Morrison, Alex Child)

It’s the summer of 1970 in Southern California and four friends need money to get tickets for the upcoming Janis Joplin concert. Luckily, there happens to be a haunted stretch of highway on Proctor Valley Road that they decide to make money off of by offering paid tours of the area to rubes. But, oh no, the ghosties is real - and lotsa people gonna die!

The Second Cut by Louise Welsh Review

Auctioneer Rilke gets a tip from his old friend Jojo of a wealthy old lady wanting to clear her ancestral home, Ballantyne House, and sell up. But then Jojo mysteriously dies and when Rilke goes to visit the old lady he finds her missing and two men, one of them claiming to be her son, in the home instead. And then an acquaintance of Jojo’s dies in similar circumstances and known gangsters are seen in Ballantyne House’s grounds. As much as Rilke’s auction house needs this sale to go ahead after all the covid lockdowns caused economic hardship, he can’t help but look into what’s really going on behind the scenes…

Batman: The Detective Review (Tom Taylor, Andy Kubert)

Someone in Europe is offing everyone Batman’s ever saved. Time for Bats to hop over the pond to find out whasgoinonnnnn!

Before James Tynion IV was announced as Tom King’s successor on Batman, I thought Tom Taylor would’ve made a better replacement. Having read his first standalone Batman story now though… eh… not that he wouldn’t have been worse than Tynion, but his hypothetical Batman run also probably wouldn’t have been good either going by how poor Batman: The Detective turned out.

Fatherland by Nina Bunjevac Review

In Fatherland, Canadian cartoonist Nina Bunjevac relates the short, sad biography of her father, Peter (the Paul Bettany-looking chap on the cover), a Serbian terrorist who made and sent bombs to enemies of his nationalist group, before perishing in 1977 when a bomb he was working on went off and killed him and two collaborators.

Seek You: A Journey Through American Loneliness by Kristen Radtke Review

Kristen Radtke takes a broad look at the subject of loneliness and also specifically how it relates to America in Seek You, in an effort to understand why there’s an epidemic of loneliness today, how we got here, and what can be done about it. Or are humans just naturally lonely creatures…?

Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz Review

Editor Susan Ryeland receives the latest manuscript from her publishing house’s biggest author: Magpie Murders by Alan Conway, featuring his popular Poirot-esque detective Atticus Pund. Set in a small Westcountry village in 1955, aristocrat Magnus Pye is murdered in his house, mere days after his cleaner died and the place was burgled - are these events connected in some way, pointing to whodunit? But Susan is about to discover the manuscript is just the beginning for an even stranger story that bleeds over from the printed page and into her life…

Batman: Reptilian Review (Garth Ennis, Liam Sharp)

Someone - or something - is systematically mutilating Gotham’s supervillains. But who - and why?

Garth Ennis usually only tangentially writes about superheroes in his comics, and often subversively, like in The Boys, The Punisher, Kev, etc. - they’re never the main feature. And, aside from a short run on Ghost Rider, I don’t think he’s ever written a mainstream superhero comic and has only written Batman as a side-character in books like Hitman and Section Eight.

Clyde Fans by Seth Review

Clyde Fans is the story of two brothers, Abe and Simon Matchcard, and their fraught relationship over the years, as well as their father’s fan manufacturing company, Clyde Fans, and its rise and fall from the post-war years to its eventual bankruptcy a few decades later.

Murakami T: The T-Shirts I Love by Haruki Murakami Review

Haruki Murakami wrote a series of short essays about his t-shirt collection for the Japanese men’s fashion magazine, Popeye, over the course of a year and a half and these are all collected here in Blatant Stocking Stuffer For The Murakami Fan In Your Family Murakami T: The T-Shirts I Love.

Shiver by Junji Ito Review

A cursed record that dooms its listeners. A mysterious jade carving that bestows a horrific disease on those who possess it. A monstrous fashion model. Ghostly blimps of the dead. A crazed puppeteer who turns his family into marionettes. A muse that drives painters mad. A man whose dreams distort time and, eventually, his body. A man determined to carry on his family’s lineage, no matter what. And a nightmarishly greasy house and the poor family the grease envelopes.

Catwoman, Volume 5: Valley of the Shadow of Death Review (Ram V, Fernando Blanco)

Gangsters is using Poison Ivy to make drugs somehow - Catwoman to the rescue! Meanwhile, her rule of Alleytown has made her a target and two new assassins are after her: Wight Witch, who has a honeycomb mask for no reason, and Valley, a steampunk dude whose name is in the title.

New Hope for the Dead by Charles Willeford Review

Hoke Moseley’s latest case is the suspicious death of a junkie who’s overdosed after swiping a large chunk of change from drug dealers. But then he’s put on a special assignment to solve a stack of cold cases in two months to make his boss look good enough to be promoted and also bring new hope of justice for the (possibly) dead. Then, suddenly, his ex-wife dumps their two teenage daughters in his lap and takes off for the west coast! Now, Hoke’s not only gotta find a new place to live soon but he’s gotta find a place big enough for his kids too. It never rains but it pours, eh…

Superman: Action Comics, Volume 3: Leviathan Hunt Review (Brian Michael Bendis, Szymon Kudranski)

The Invisible Mafia are still having clandestine meetings to discuss… nothing… while The Red Cloud still continues to fight Superman for… nothing… Elsewhere, Rose and Thorn punch Leviathan to no effect and Lex is pointlessly doing an Emperor Palpatine impression. Also Naomi cameos to help Superman punch Red Cloud again. Riveting stuff.

Did You Hear What Eddie Gein Done? Review (Eric Powell, Harold Schechter)

Ed Gein was a wee bit coo coo for cocoa puffs. He murdered two women (though it’s likely the number is much higher) and robbed the graves of several other recently-deceased elderly women so that he could flay the corpses, turn the skin to turn into clothes and wear it so that he could “be” a woman/his mother. He also made furniture out of human remains, as well as other clothing items, like a belt made of nipples! He was eventually caught in 1957 and spent the rest of his life in a nuthouse.

Seven Secrets, Volume 2 Review (Tom Taylor, Daniele Di Nicuolo)

It’s all change in the leadership of both the Keepers and the Seekers, revelations fly about various characters, a deadly secret exposed leads to the annihilation of Switzerland, and there’s a traitor in the Keepers’ ranks - but who is it? Also, discover Caspar’s cosmic origins and Canto’s sad backstory, all in Seven Secrets, Volume 2!

Forever and a Day by Anthony Horowitz Review

World War 2 is over for most - but not all. For those in the Secret Service, the war continues in the shadows. It’s the 1950s and secret agent 007 is killed in the Marseilles docks. Head of the 00 unit, M, decides to trial a promising young candidate for 007’s replacement: James Bond. Bond’s mission: find out why the Corsican mob in the south of France have stopped drug trafficking, why notorious double agent Madame 16 is involved, and avenge the fallen agent’s death. Bond has his licence to kill in… Forever and a Day!

Far Sector Review (NK Jemisin, Jamal Campbell)

The City Enduring has a population of 20 billion people, all of whose emotions are suppressed by a biocybernetic virus called the Emotion Exploit, in order for the city’s three different alien races to live in peace and harmony. Except it turns out that more and more of its citizens are using an illegal drug called Switchoff that, you got it, switches off the Emotion Exploit which leads to conflict between the races and the city’s first murder in 500 years. Unsure of how to deal with it, the City Enduring’s Council reaches out to the Guardians who dispatch a Green Lantern to the furthest of their sectors to investigate.

Robin & Batman #1 Review (Jeff Lemire, Dustin Nguyen)

Robin & Batman #1 is the beginning of yet another retelling of Robin/Dick Grayson’s origin story. Jeff Lemire and Dustin Nguyen’s miniseries picks up shortly after Bruce Wayne has taken in Dick after his parents’ deaths and is training him to be Batman’s famous sidekick. See how Robin gets his iconic outfit! And… that’s about it for this first issue. Hmm.

Born to Run by Christopher McDougall Review

Christopher McDougall hurt his legs running which sent him down a rabbit hole where he learned about ultrarunning (veeeeery long marathons), running barefoot and human physiology, and a mysterious tribe of Mexican running shamans called the Tarahumara. All of that information culminates in this book: Born to Run.

Eternals, Volume 1: Only Death is Eternal Review (Kieron Gillen, Esad Ribic)

Ready for some dull sci-fi and generic superhero shenanigans? Heeeeere’s Eternals, Volume 1: Marvel Needed a Book Because They Has a Movie Out About These Characters and Not Because They Had an Inspired Story to Tell!

A Life Turned Upside Down: My Dad's an Alcoholic by Mariko Kikuchi Review

Mariko Kikuchi’s had a tough life. Her dad was an alcoholic and physically abusive while her mother was physically and emotionally abusive before she committed suicide when Mariko and her little sister were still kids. Then, in her 20s, she became involved with a man who was also a heavy drinker and who beat her up constantly - for 9 years!

The Human Target #1 Review (Tom King, Greg Smallwood)

Christopher Chance is The Human Target. Hired to be you, he takes the hit, dies, then gets up and takes out the killer. Except, after his latest job impersonating Lex Luthor, Chance discovers he’s been fatally poisoned and will die - for good - in 12 days. Can he find out who killed him in that time?

A Line to Kill by Anthony Horowitz Review

Anthony Horowitz and the subject of his book The Word is Murder, Private Investigator Daniel Hawthorne, are invited to a literary festival on the Channel Island of Alderney, in preparation for their upcoming follow-up, The Sentence is Death. But what the pair don’t expect to find is an island divided by conflict and become embroiled in a nefarious country house homicide…

Dark Knights of Steel #1 Review (Tom Taylor, Yasmine Putri)

Tom Taylor specialises in DC alternate worlds. First there was the fighting game-inspired Injustice, then zombie apocalypse DCeased, and now his latest one is a Game of Thrones-y flavoured story: Dark Knights of Steel. A young prince Superman rules the land with his parents and the help of bastard enforcer, the Bat-prince. But, in a rival kingdom, King Jefferson plots to take the throne of El and magical assassins have been dispatched…

The Every by Dave Eggers Review

The Every is the biggest tech company in the world, controlling more and more of people’s everyday lives. But two young idealists, Delaney and Wes, believe things have gone too far and plan to join the company to bring it down from the inside...

Superman & The Authority Review (Grant Morrison, Mikel Janin)

In an alternate future where the Justice League aren’t around for some reason, a sexy older dad Superman, whose own powers are nearly gone, must assemble a new team to meet imminent threats: The Authority! Only this time, joining Authority regulars Midnighter and Apollo are some unusual additions: Manchester Black, Enchantress and Steel’s daughter.

The Tale of the Tailor and the Three Dead Kings by Dan Jones Review

In the 12th century, monks transcribing texts by Cicero and various Christian theologists left some blank pages at the end of their transcript. These blank pages were filled with 12 medieval ghost stories by an unnamed monk in the 15th century. Most were a few lines long and the longest was the story of Snowball the tailor.

Frankenstein by Junji Ito Review

Junji Ito adapts Mary Shelley’s classic horror novel Frankenstein in this book, which also includes a number of short stories, most of them featuring a creepy kid called Oshikiri. I wasn’t that taken with the Frankenstein adaptation but the short stories were pretty decent.

Sweet Tooth: The Return by Jeff Lemire Review

The remnants of humanity have been forced underground while the hybrids rule the surface. But a mad holy man plots to alter the virus that nearly wiped out humanity by placing it in an unsuspecting hybrid and sending them to the surface world. That hybrid is a little boy called Gus…

Batman: The Imposter #1 Review (Mattson Tomlin, Andrea Sorrentino)

The Batman is a new vigilante that seems to be cleaning up crime in Gotham City - but at the expense of big business. As the rich elite grumble about lost revenue, footage emerges of Batman seemingly executing prisoners on a rooftop - but is it the real Batman… or an imposter?

Strange Adventures Review (Tom King, Mitch Gerads)

Adam Strange is the hero of two worlds: Earth and his adopted homeworld Rann, which he saved from alien invaders, the Pykkts. Following the publication of his memoir, allegations of war crimes surface about Adam’s actions during the Pykkt war and his squeaky-clean hero image is called into question. Adam’s life is strange… but is it fiction?

The Invention of Sound by Chuck Palahniuk Review

Foster’s daughter has been missing for years and it’s driven him near crazy. He sees her and her kidnappers everywhere - but he finally has a possible clue of her whereabouts. Mitzi is a foley artist in search of the perfect scream ever to be captured on film. Somehow these two character’s destinies are entwined as they hurtle to their own personal oblivions.

The River at Night by Kevin Huizenga Review

Glenn Ganges drinks coffee at night and then can’t get to sleep. His racing mind contemplates time. Time. Woah. So vast. And… woah. He also recounts his time at a dot com startup and tries to tire out his mind by reading dull books on philosophy.

A Bag of Marbles Review (Kris, Vincent Bailly)

This is a comics adaptation of Joseph Joffo’s memoir recounting the incredible story of his Jewish family’s escape from Nazi-occupied Paris in 1941 to the relatively safer south of France. It’s all the more impressive given that Jo and his brother Maurice were young teens when they made the journey by themselves (going in pairs was easier than going as an entire family).

The Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon Review

I’ve been curious about Thomas Pynchon for some time now. I know his books are held in the highest esteem, they’ve won the biggest awards, and he’s a famously reclusive writer, having not been seen in public for decades now. And I was also informed that his most accessible book is also his shortest: The Crying of Lot 49.

Haha Review (W. Maxwell Prince, Martin Morazzo)

A clown has a terrible day - but manages to stay upbeat. A clown stripper remembers a doomed road trip with her crazy clown mother. A mime makes a friend - in a robot! Another clown floats, a kid attempts to steal from an old lady clown, and a clown stumbles into the world of the Ice Cream Man...

Miami Blues by Charles Willeford Review

Recently released psychopath Freddy Frenger’s arrived in Miami and kicked off his latest crime spree with the murder of a Hare Krishna. It’s up to Detective Sergeant Hoke Mosely to take Freddy off the streets!

BRZRKR, Volume 1 Review (Keanu Reeves, Ron Garney)

Keanu Reeves plays a character so tough he killed all the vowels in his book’s title! Want to read a comic that rips out the spine of good taste and murderizes subtlety with it before dancing in the blood of restraint? Disappointed that no comic out there caters to the FBI watch list crowd for deranged psychopaths? Worry not, my soon-to-be-suicided-by-cop friend - BRZRKR is here for YOU!

A Righteous Thirst for Vengeance #1 Review (Rick Remender, André Lima Araújo)

A man catches a bus out of the city to a rich person’s house - and finds himself in an unthinkably horrific scenario…

Nothing But Blackened Teeth by Cassandra Khaw Review

Five friends rent out a haunted old Japanese house for a spooky wedding - but turns out them advertised ghosts is real and ghosty is getting revengey!

Paul at Home by Michel Rabagliati Review

Michel Rabagliati’s latest book in his semi-autobiographical Paul series, Paul at Home, is his darkest book to date with the protagonist in his early 50s and having a bit of a miserable time of things. He’s got toothache and sleep apnea, he’s divorced and struggling to get to grips with online dating, his 19 year old daughter is leaving Canada for England, and his elderly mother is slowly dying.

Rorschach Review (Tom King, Jorge Fornes)

2020, and President Robert Redford is seeking re-election. But his four-term tenure looks to come to an end as Turley, the Republican nominee, is picking up steam. And then an assassination attempt is made on Turley’s life, almost twarting his campaign. The would-be assassin? An unrecognisable old man in a Rorschach mask with Walter Kovacs’ prints. But Kovacs (the original Rorschach) died nearly 35 years ago - didn’t he…?

Good Night, Hem by Jason Review

Jason’s immortal musketeer Athos finds himself in 1925 Paris where he meets a young Hemingway. Off they go to see the bulls run in Pamplona! In the second story, it’s 1944 Paris and Hemingway leads a team to assassinate Hitler and end the war. And finally in 1959 Cuba, an elderly Hemingway reminisces about his time with Athos.

Barcelona Dreaming by Rupert Thomson Review

A middle-aged woman begins a relationship with a young Moroccan immigrant but their love must contend with a nosy, racist neighbour. An alcoholic jazz pianist’s relationship with his younger Brazilian girlfriend and her son falls apart - could football star Ronaldinho save him? A translator meets a shady, wealthy neighbour who has a unique wardrobe - but who is the man who created it?

Swamp Thing: New Roots Review (Mark Russell, Marco Santucci)

Big agriculture is putting out genetically modified seeds that’s harming the natural environment - not on Swamp Thing’s watch!

Beautiful World, Where Are You by Sally Rooney Review

Bestselling young Irish author Sally Rooney Alice Kelleher has a nervous breakdown, escapes to the countryside for some R&R, and embarks on a relationship with a local fella called Felix. Meanwhile, Alice’s mate Eileen has an on-again/off-again relationship with her childhood friend Simon - but where will they land, on or off?! Welcome to Conversations with Friends 2: Out of Things to Say!

Taxi! Stories from the Back Seat by Aimee de Jongh Review

Aimee de Jongh travels in taxis in LA, Paris, Jakarta and Washington DC and relates those experiences in Taxi! Stories from the Back Seat.

Once & Future, Volume 3: The Parliament of Magpies Review (Kieron Gillen, Dan Mora)

Duncan, Rose and Granny Bridgette face more nightmarishly warped Arthurian legends - it’s the Green Knight, Lancelot and Galahad’s turns - as Merlin continues his plan to take the Grail and return Arthur to the throne of England… with bloody consequences!

Friday, Book One: The First Day of Christmas Review (Ed Brubaker, Marcos Martin)

Whenever a mystery needed solving in the small coastal town of King’s Hill, kid detectives Friday Fitzhugh and Lancelot Jones were always on hand. Then they grew up and Friday admitted her feelings to Lancelot - and inadvertently ruined their friendship. Now she’s back on Christmas vacay from college and a supernatural mystery is plaguing the town - but will the two be able to get past their awkwardness to find out who the White Lady is?

Emanon, Volume 1: Memories of Emanon Review (Shinji Kajio, Kenji Tsuruta)

A 33 year old man in 1980 reminisces about the time in 1967 when he spent an unforgettable evening with a mysterious young woman on the overnight ferry to Kyushu. Despite being a fan of sci-fi, he finds her story difficult to swallow: though she looks 17 years old, she’s actually 3 billion years old! But is she yanking his chain - or is she really the embodiment of living memory of all life on Earth…?