Happy glorious Tuesday! OK, it’s perhaps not as glorious since the kids are going back to school and the adults go back to work after a long weekend. But is a good day since we’re gonna look at the crossover between two of my favorite things: comics and novels!
Today marks the release of Brad Meltzer’s latest novel, “The Book of Lies.” His stint living in the area some years ago helped with the Washington connection in some of his previous works, but this new one makes a connection between two murders: the killing of Abel by his brother Cain in the Bible, and the shooting death of Mitchell Siegel in 1932, which led his son to create Superman. The murder weapon wasn’t found in either case, and at the center of the novel is a Florida man whose own father has been shot with a gun traced back to the 1932 crime and is attacked by someone with the ancient markings of Cain. Intriguing stuff, definitely, yet not a surprise for those of us who love his comic works as well. His 2004 miniseries “Identity Crisis” was a masterwork, throwing the biggest of the DC Comics superheroes into a murder mystery that is as riveting as it is emotional, and his recent run on “Justice League of America” has been excellent as well.
He is just one of many comics icons who also delve into the “mainstream” literary world. Another is British writer Warren Ellis. His first novel, “Crooked Little Vein,” came out last year and contains the same stuff that make his comic work so exceptional: multidimensional characters (the shadier, the better), great stories, a wonderful attention to detail and a hefty amount of foul language that would cause the most vulgar sailor to hide in the ammunition basement. That will come as no shocker if you’re familiar with his runs on “Hellblazer,” “Transmetropolitan,” “The Authority,” “Planetary” and “Desolation Jones.” (He also can write one heck of a blog.) His fellow countryman and “Hellblazer” scribe, Mike Carey has put out a lot of comics in the last two year or so, from a notable run on “X-Men” to “Ultimate Fantastic Four” to Vertigo’s “Crossing Midnight” and “God Save the Queen.” However, he has somehow also found the time to get his prose jones on with his Felix Castor novels – last year’s “The Devil You Know” and the recent release “Vicious Circle” – that follow a reluctant exorcist on supernatural adventures.
Of course, the true icon of straddling both worlds is Neil Gaiman, the man who Time only last year called a “geek god.” His Vertigo series “The Sandman” was seminal in the goth world and is one of the most popular comics of the 1990s, and is now being collected in neat-o “Absolute” volumes (with the fourth coming in November). And books such as “American Gods,” “Neverwhere” and “Anansi Boys” are hits in the sci-fi community. His upcoming release is symbolic of his popularity in both genres: “The Graveyard Book,” a children’s book and ghostly take on Rudyard Kipling’s “The Jungle Book” illustrated by his “Sandman” partner, Dave McKean.
What are you reading these days? Tell us in the comments or send me an email at novapoppin@gmail.com.