Category Archives: Reviews

Frankenstein Mobster: Made Man Review

September 18, 2012   Dr. Monstrosity   No comments
frank-mobster

Frankenstein Mobster: Made Man by Mark Wheatley (2009)
Graphic Novel Review

Do you like bad puns? Do you like Frankenstein? Mobsters?  Monsters?  Mashups? Yes, yes yes?  Well then you ought to love Frankenstein Mobster: Made Man.

Frankenstein Mobster is every bit as wild and crazy over the top as you think it might be.  But it’s more than just wackiness; it’s solid characters, a sense of pathos, humor, and great art work.  The main monster in this tale is Terry Todd, a lone honorable cop in a crooked city where criminal humans suppress the hard working, downtrodden monster population.  The monsters live in a slum nicknamed the Dead End, he he!  Through mystical means, our pariah policeman, ends up a resurrected Frankensteinian monster/mobster.

Mark Wheatley’s artwork really stands out in Frankenstein Mobster.  He creates wonderfully dark and atmospheric settings.  His depiction of Terry as a Frankenstein-looking monster is clever.  The other monsters are fun too.

The overall plot is well done, but there are a few stumbles here and there. The mobsters for one thing are extremely stupid, how do they ever maintain a rule over this city? The ending is a bit off target as well. Despite the flaws, this book is a fun read in a neat package; fat package too, 264 pages! You can get it on amazon for pretty cheap so it’s definitely worth a look.

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Joe Haldeman – Camouflage Review

August 30, 2012   Dr. Monstrosity   No comments
camouflage

Joe Haldeman - Camouflage (2004) Book Review

Joe Haldeman is one of my favorites.  Reading one of his books is like putting on an old well-worn pair of sneakers, it’s familiar and feels great.  I love Haldeman’s style, no words wasted.  His prose is terse, not flowery.  His writing focuses on action, with a minimum of description.  He’s a plot driven writer and expects the reader to fill in all the details.  With a Haldeman book you know you won’t be wading through a lot of wasted words; but you’re still going to get well drawn characters and a satisfying plot.  And ideas.  Interesting ideas.  Haldeman is an original.  His early novels helped define science fiction and an old idea in his hands feels fresh and exciting.

Joe Haldeman

Two of my favorites from Haldeman are his non sf books: War Year and 1968.  Both are Vietnam era stories written by a guy who was actually there.  They are both unflinchingly brilliant.  As far as his science fiction goes he’s written a slew of great ones.  Of course the classic The Forever War comes to mind; but I am also a huge fan of the Worlds trilogy, Mindbridge, Buying Time, and All My Sins Remembered not to mention all of his short story collections.  Camouflage is another terrific one; it even won the Nebula for best novel in 2005 which means some other people liked it too.

Camouflage is an interestingly structured novel with parallel story arcs taking place in different timelines that eventually meet up.  The main character is a shape shifting life form that can emulate just about anything animate or inanimate as subtly suggested by the title.  Its origins are somewhat vague as is its gender.  We meet this changeling in the early 1930s and stay with him for a good many years; apparently he never gets old.  In fact he’s been around since way before the thirties.  In another timeline we follow a group of scientists who have discovered a strange artifact deep in the ocean.  This future timeline is definitely the weaker story arc and its characters are pretty flimsy.  In fact they’re not the least bit interesting until the changeling comes along and starts interacting with them.  The changeling is the real meaty character in this novel and his development is very interesting to read.  To say any more would spoil things, but I can tell you the ending, although abrupt, is a panoply of weird violence and ultimately leaves you with a smile.

Add another Haldeman novel to his list of enjoyable, thought provoking books.  My good old Haldeman sneakers: dependable, functional, smart, fun, no frills, and they still feel warm and fuzzy when I put them on.

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Chronicle: The Best Superhero Movie That’s Not Really a Superhero Movie

August 15, 2012   Dr. Monstrosity   1 Comment
Chronicle-movie

Chronicle (2012)
Movie Review

This might be one of the best superhero movies I’ve ever seen, although it’s not really a superhero movie in the traditional sense with guys in costumes saying pithy things and saving little old ladies.  Like most superhero movies, Chronicle sits comfortably in the science fiction genre; but unlike your typical super hero movie, it’s not over the top and larger than life.  It has realism not present in most superhero movies.

The story reminded me of the Star Trek episode Where No Man Has Gone Before when Kirk’s friend Gary Mitchell gets super powers and continues getting stronger until he can do just about anything.  Nebbish Andrew Detmer, his cousin Matt and popular guy friend Steve encounter a weird artifact and their lives are topsy turvy from then on.  They all end up with strange telekinetic powers.  The changes these characters go through as a result of their new abilities are compelling and believable.  Things are all fun and games at the start, but predictably they go south.  Thankfully, the film’s predictability doesn’t prevent it from being a massively entertaining success.  It has strengths such as well-developed characters, fine acting, and mind blowing action.

Three super friends

Another aspect that may lead you away from this film however is that it’s another of those ‘characters filming themselves with a handheld camera’ movies.  Surprisingly, even though a bit contrived, it works.  The perspective shifts from our main character’s camera to minor character’s camera to security cameras and so on.  It ends up being another one of the entertaining characteristics of the movie.  Another fantastic part of this film is the special effects.  They are flawless.  They are just enough to give you a sense of strange reality, but not excessive to the point of CGI overload.  And the action scenes in the finally are spectacular.  The shifts in perspective due to the different cameras add a sense of realism seldom seen in any superhero type film.

You have to give major kudos to director Josh Trank who co-wrote Chronicle and made the movie for $12 million.  Wow!  And it’s his first feature film.  I have high hopes for this guy.  His future projects, all based on comic books, are rumored to include The Red Star, The Fantastic Four, and Venom.

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