Ghost Money: Death in Dubai by Thierry Smolderen

 

Ghost Money: Death in Dubai by Thierry Smolderen is one of those rare graphic novels that reads like a suspense novel that could have been written by John Le Carre or Frederick Forsyth. Timely and relevant, there is intrigue and suspense that would have the most jaded reader appreciated the art and writing.

Lindsey is a young student in London who is rescued by Chamza from a riot in the streets. They begin a relationship and before she knows it, Lindsey finds herself in a world of wealth and intrigue.
Chamza has ties to political and revolutionary movements throughout the Islamic world. But it is not clear what her agenda truly is and what side her loyalties lay.

A group of US contractors have taken notice of Chamza and believe her vast wealth is a threat to the world economy. These contractors are veterans of the war in Iraq and begin to believe that Chamza’s wealth may be the legendary lost treasure of Al-Qaeda, which was supposedly amassed through insider trading prior to 9/11.

Now they have set their sights on Chamza and Lindsey and can the two women survive the next series of events to unfold. Or is this what Chamza has been expecting all along?

This is the cold war for a new generation. While the Middle East and its instability has always played a huge role on the world stage, the actual Arab countries involved has played a minor role. Pawns to be moved about the chess board by the Western countries, those countries that that the Arab countries and their revolutionaries to be weak and too backward to run the table. 9/11 has changed all that and now the world itself has gotten even smaller.

A tense and well scripted thriller with stunning artwork.

A very good read.

Atomic Blonde: The Coldest City by Antony Johnston

Atomic Blonde: The Coldest City by Antony Johnston is the graphic novel that the movie is based on and though I have yet to watch the movie, I cannot believe that the movie is much like the book. There is no nudity and sex and gratuitous violence in this book. There is no…”let’s make a female Bond because the political correctness of our time demands it and we will make money on it!!!” Which by the way, the movie absolutely did not do.

Though I happen to think that Charlize Theron is one of the better actresses of our generation and her incredible hotness is only an asset to her obvious talents; she is not the choice for the character of Lorraine Broughton. No this should have been Olivia Munn or even an unknown British actress given the seriousness of the role of espionage and betrayal. This is not Bond, at least not the Bond that movies offer us. No this a British spy that is far more Le Carre than Fleming. Which is why the graphic novel would not make a good American movie. It is simply, too smart.

It is November of 1989 and the world is changing. Berlin, at one time, the center of the cold war is now the symbol of freedom as the wall that divided communism from the rest of the world is coming down. But for M16, there is something happening in Berlin and the death of a M16 agent only complicates matters.

Into this fragile world M16 spy Lorraine Broughton is sent to investigate. But there are challenges to her entering this secretive and untrusting world. She is new to Berlin and she is not a true field agent and even more, she is a woman. But her handlers believe this may actually work in her favor. Lorraine is an unknown. She is not threatening and even more, she is easily expendable.

What she finds is a world of betrayal and murder in the junction of the world where the English and the French and the Russian and even the Germans wage a cold and quiet war that no one outside of the world of spies ever knows.

Now, in the sterile dark rooms of M16, Lorraine must tell the story of what happened in Berlin that November of 1989. And hope she is believed.

This is a terrific black and white graphic novel that could have been told just as well in a regular novel format. It is a well researched and plotted tale of spies and politics that fans of John Le Carre would devour is they knew about it.

A very good read with wonderful twists and turns.

Superman: Red Son

Superman: Red Son – Mark Millar

What if?

Some of the most awesome things in the comic book world started with one guy/gal looking at another guy/gal and saying, “What if?”

Marvel even had a run of comics for a time called “What if…”. But for the most part those were pretty lame and with a few exceptions had little to any impact on the comic book world.

DC, though not the cinematic triumph currently that Marvel is, came up with a group of comics called Elseworlds. Comics that were by their nature darker and more mature than their regular line. These comics not only questioned moments in the DC Universe, they had the audacity to turn the entire Universe on its head. Often bloodier and bolder, they were the DC Universe answer to their squeaky clean image. Remember DC was also running a line of Vertigo comics as well that were definitely not meant for the mainstream comic book culture.

Superman: Red Son is one such book.

The premise is a rather simple one, but like the pebble tossed into the pond, the ripple effect is tremendous.

What if; instead of landing in Smallville, Kansas, USA. The Krytonian infant Kal-El lands during the era of Joseph Stalin, in the USSR. The symbol of the red, white and blue is simply red. A socialist. A communist. The champion of the common worker, Stalin and the expansion of the Warsaw Pact. Emblazoned on his chest is not the S we all know but the hammer and sickle of his adopted homeland.

   

The books cover the rise of the Russian Superman, whose inherit good is twisted by Stalin and America is seen as an immature unrepentant child of a nation. Wonder Woman falls in love with him and while he unknowingly adds to the oppression of his people, he also gives rise to anarchist called the Batman.

Superman soon realizes after the death of Stalin, that he alone has the power and intelligence to run the USSR and by default the entire planet. With Wonder Woman at his side he begins his global domination, not realizing that in doing so he is contradicting all he has believed and stood for. He truly believes that what he does, he does for the greater good and to protect mankind; from themselves. The United States, with Lex Luthor and his wife Lois Lane leading the country fight back with a special corps of pilots known as the Green Lantern Corps. It is important to note here that this very solution to capturing and stopping a megalomaniac Superman turned dictator that will be used in the release of the DC comics; Injustice: Gods Among Us. Which was based on a popular video game. Ten years after it appeared in Superman: Red Son.

I won’t give any more of the story away and certainly not the ending. But I will say that this is a very smart comic, as most of the Elseworlds are. They force the reader to think. Elseworlds has the ability to transcend the genre and step with authority and a sense of belonging, into the written short story and novel stage. They just happen to be illustrated, and often extremely well. Superman: Red Son raises questions about Socialism and Democracy and shows both in a flattering and very dark light. As it also brings forward the old saying; power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

A terrific book and read. Very much worth hunting down and enjoying.