LITERATURE

SUPERMAN: RED SON

2010-01-19T18:00:43Z

It can be easily assumed that the vast majority of people know the origin story for the man of steel, even individuals that would not classify themselves as DC readers or even as comic book fans, but what about in Superman: Red Son?

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: MATTHEW STURGES

2010-01-04T20:53:59Z

What with the Eisner-award nominated Jack of Fables under his belt, and a menagerie of other greats like House of Mystery, Blue Beetle, Final Crisis and now JSA, Matthew Sturges really is one of the greatest comic book writers today.

SHARP OBJEX was lucky enough to catch up with the man himself to talk inspiration, imagination, and even a little bit about his novels, Midwinter and The Office of Shadow.

HAVANT LITERARY FESTIVAL: A REFLECTION

2009-12-24T01:10:05Z

Ten days, twenty three venues, one hundred and one events. This past autumn saw one of the best literary festivals to grace the South of England take place in Havant, bringing a variety of entertainment organised by a clearly creative and dedicated team. This is definitely a cultural event that should be noted. Something that fans of fact, fiction, and indeed writing, will need to look out for in 2010.

BOOK REVIEW: WHERE MADNESS REIGNS - THE ART OF GRIS GRIMLY

2009-10-23T00:12:58Z

Art books are inherently odd. I mean, what exactly do you do with them? I do have a fondness of collecting them, but that may be because I quite enjoy the pretentiousness of flaunting them nonchalantly on coffee tables, and next to leather bound volumes of Blake and Plath. Nonetheless, they are quite beautiful when you really appreciate the artist, and they can contain more insight into their work than you would get scouring the net blinking at bleary pixelated images. This is one such example of a collection of artwork that tells a story. Each image is a tale in itself, and each page leads on to the next stage of Grimly's world, with his developments in style, explorations in media, and choices of inspiration.

BOOK REVIEW: MASTERS OF DOOM

2009-10-10T22:27:18Z

At the age of twelve, my dreams were filled with brown furry fireball spewing monsters. I longed to fire the BFG (Not “BIG FREAKING GUN” as my Dad led me to believe) at a floating one eyed inside out abomination. I craved Doom.

BOOK REVIEW: WEETZIE BAT

2009-09-07T18:39:29Z

By the time I’d finished the first page of Francesca Lia Block’s 1989 novel, Weetzie Bat, I desperately wanted to move to its fictional city of Shangri-L.A., to know the story’s enchanting characters and share in their wild lifestyles. It is as though Francesca Lia Block has managed to tap into the dazzling and surreal fantasies not only of myself, but of most of her young adult audience. The result is an enthralling read adored by all ages.

COMIC BOOK REVIEW: THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY - APOCALYPSE SUITE

2009-08-19T15:10:26Z

"It starts with an an atomic flying elbow, and ends with a peanut butter sandwich...."

Upon hearing this I began an adventure of my own. To the bookstore. It was there I proceeded to do what I usually do, suss out the artwork and scan the synopsis on the back. Suddenly, in a fit of despair, I let out a howl of disbelief and threw the offending item to the floor.

BOOK REVIEW: PIGS AT THE TROUGH

2009-08-12T19:02:41Z

Arianna Huffington, of internet newspaper HuffingtonPost.com, has just re-released Pigs at the Trough, her 2003 expose on the greed of American corporate CEOs. Yes, that's right, re-released. Citing the press needed for the information in the book to be more widely understood, especially as "the system was left unchanged"(A. Huffington on CBS's The Early Show), Huffington has been on a whirlwind tour of the pseudo-news circuit (talk shows and comedy shows, including Real Time with Bill Maher and The Colbert Report) to promote the new paperback version of the book. In the newest version, she has added another section regarding the incidents which have happened since the first release of Pigs at the Trough.

BOOK REVIEW: THE CANON: A WHIRLIGIG TOUR OF THE BEAUTIFUL BASICS OF SCIENCE

2009-08-09T16:58:24Z

The singular world that is math and science is one which deserves much more study that is currently afforded. There are far too many basic concepts that fill our daily lives - How does a table stay together? Why do we become more energetic with sugar? - that we simply do not understand, thus depriving ourselves of experiencing the universe fully. These are the points I gleaned from Angier. The Canon commands the reader's attention not in order to push its own ideas or even agenda, but rather to provide readers with an impetus to think for themselves and create their own desire to discover.

COMIC BOOK REVIEW: Y: THE LAST MAN

2009-08-02T19:11:58Z

Y: The Last Man is a comic book series by Brian K. Vaughan, that chronicles the outbreak of a gender specific plague that causes the death of all living creatures that possess a Y chromosome, except one man named Yorick Brown and his Capuchin monkey, Ampersand. The series was originally released as sixty issues by Vertigo, but it has been collected into a series of 10 paperback volumes.