One of the many prestigious publications that Tom Gauld is the resident cartoonist at is New Scientist magazine and Physics for Cats is the latest collection of his cartoons for that magazine. And, having read everything Gauld’s put out over the years, and enjoyed much of it, I’d say Physics for Cats is the best book he’s made so far!
The Last Wolf is two short stories - the title story and a two-parter called Herman - by Hungarian writer, and this year’s winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature, Laszlo Krasznahorkai who’s famous for being extremely prejudicial against full-stops. But I wanted to sample this author without having to read a nearly 600 page sentence like Baron Wenckheim's Homecoming so I opted for this shorter piece.
The Android Davids have made it their mission to wipe out all life in the universe using the perfect weapon: Xenomorphs. But when they discover alternate universes, their mission changes to wipe out all life in all universes - including the Marvel Universe! Aww yee, it’s time for Aliens Vs. Avengers!
Erik Satie was a late 19th/early 20th century French composer whose work you almost certainly have heard without knowing who it was by (a constant for me who doesn’t know much about classical music) - if you listen to his Gymnopedies or Gnossiennes (nonsense words that he made up), you’ll probably recognise them from a thousand adverts selling anything from coffee to package holidays.
I want to talk about the book’s finale so, even though it’s not really a spoiler, I know the internet is full of people who don’t understand what that word means and thinks any detail of a story qualifies, so here’s the pointless but seemingly necessary fair warning at the top of the review:SPOILERS
Frank “Dolly” Dillon is a down-on-his-luck door-to-door salesman who happens across an even more desperate young woman who tells him a life-changing secret: her horrible aunt has a hundred grand in cash stashed away in their house! All Dolly has to do is murder the aunt and take the girl away with him - a helluva easy payday for a scumbag like him! But where did the money come from…
Some evil magical dude who thinks he owns Gotham is coming to Gotham to take ownership of Gotham with some other evil magical dudes. Guess Batman’s gonna punch some evil magical dudes? Buh huh.Not all Batman comics are slop but unfortunately quite a few are, including this one.
There isn’t really a story to Hunchback. A middle-aged woman with severe spinal curvature and a muscle disorder, who has to use a wheelchair and ventilator as a result, writes erotic fiction under a pseudonym online and posts provocative tweets like “I’d like to know what it’s like to have an abortion”. After we get to know what her day-to-day is like at the care home, something happens to her towards the end of the novella and then it’s over.
Robbers successfully knock over a bank and make it away with the loot - but the getaway doesn’t go as smoothly. Will they make it across the border down Mexico way or die trying?
