This week

over at GeeksUnleashed.Me content included, but was not limited to, 

• Alan Moore's reasoning for attending NICE 2012, "an accident" apparently
• A obituary for the latest death of Professor Charles Francis Xavier
• News of the British Comics Awards, The Young People's Comic Award 2012
• Image Comics' Exclusives at NYCC 2012
• A review of The Walking Dead #102 - SPOILER ALERT
• News that Amazing Spider-Man is to end at #700
• An advanced review of Near Death volume 2
• Our 'Comic of the Week' - The New Deadwardians #7
• Aspen's Exclusives at Las Vegas Comic Expo 2012
• Grant Morrison's Multiversity
• A review of Pulp Detective
• And a look at the iPhone 5, plus UK deals

So...

...my output is about to dramatically dip. However, this is due to relocation. I’ve been invited to contribute as a staff writer to geeksunleashed.me. So far I’ve written three advanced reviews, namely for The Creep #1, Conan The Barbarian #8 and Tomorrow Jones #1, as well as a review of Tempest by Bob Dylan and a possible S.H.I.E.L.D. TV series - all in my first week. It’s incredible exciting; I’m hoping for a long and fruitful relationship. This week I shall pick the Comic of the Week, which I can reveal as Mind MGMT #5. See you there. 

All the Pretty Horses

- Cormac McCarthy

Part one of Cormac McCarthy’s The Border Trilogy is the tale of John Grady Cole, a man of few words but with a strong moral code (much like those good ol’boys of Hemmingway’s), who heads ‘down Mexico way’ with his friend Rawlins on horseback after eviction from the Texas ranch where he grew up; spoiling the life he had imagined for himself. McCarthy explores this loss and that of innocence. Whilst not as grim as The Road, long pallid and rambling sentences detract from possible enjoyment and the overwrought patriotism was difficult to bear. I shan’t read Parts two and three.

Rating **

Roadside Picnic

Arkady & Boris Strugatsky

The inspiration for Tarkovsky’s film Stalker (1979), Roadside Picnic eschews the classical sci-fi alien encounter. It tackles the aftermath of an alien visitation – the results of which are “Zones”, where strange and dangerous phenomena occur (“witches’ jelly” anyone?). All of which we learn through Redrick Schuhart’s adventures, collecting alien detritus for human knowledge, profit and weaponry. It’s possibly an allegory for the living conditions of Soviet Russia (where publication was delayed for a number of years). And whilst enticing, Roadside Picnic frustrates and ultimately disappoints; the tone of the conclusion (fairy tale-esque) is at odds with the books’ overall impression.

Rating ** (bust)