Category Archives: Books

J.E. Locke, Hunting A Predator. Book Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7/10

The world is full of evil men who grab the headlines and place terror into the hearts of those too young to understand the reasons why they have been chosen, a target for the sick, an objective for the gruesome, it is the actions of the tasteless and the humanly revolting. Yet, somehow we find ourselves in the nightmare they create, we wish to see order restored but we are fascinated, intrigued, by how their brain works, what makes a person do such depraved acts, the methods they employ and how the police become involved in Hunting A Predator. 

J.E. Locke, Hunting A Predator. Book Review. full post

(442 words, estimated 1:46 mins reading time)

David Hine & Mark Stafford, Lip Hook. Graphic Novel Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

In the small corners of the society we live in, there are stories of the old ways that have persisted, overcoming the likes of religious dogma, the sense of so- called Christian integrity that have gained a foothold on the country’s psyche, the Calvinist ethic, the Methodist belief, the Catholic doctrine, all shrouded in the rituals and observance that allows in many ways the rampaging evil of Capitalism to stoke the furnaces and lay waste to millions of people’s souls every year.

David Hine & Mark Stafford, Lip Hook. Graphic Novel Review. full post

(574 words, estimated 2:18 mins reading time)

Rachael Ball, Wolf. Graphic Novel Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Our childhood memories are made of the real and the imagined and quite often the lines of both worlds are blurred, become merged with each other, what we believe we may have experienced, what we may have seen, is something we may be told later by well-meaning relatives, that didn’t happen, or imagination out-ran our senses. That the snarling Wolf we followed one day through a thick and unnerving forest, was in actual fact a small puppy caught in the brambles and small thicket that was on the other side of the fence, just a few feet from the bottom of the garden.

Rachael Ball, Wolf. Graphic Novel Review. full post

(440 words, 1 image, estimated 1:46 mins reading time)

Various Artists, I Feel Machine. Graphic Novel Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

The future is a manner of all possibilities perhaps forgotten, the imaginations of some of the greatest minds in literature having spelled out utopia and dystopia in equal measure, the threat of alien incursion, of disease, of technology gone awry a finer spark on the human soul it seems than the chance of peace and harmony across the world and the Universe beyond. Utopia is a cradle in which boredom festers, the human mind finds ways to look upon this sanitised creation and knows that it is an unrealistic venture, better to try and create a space in the disarray and confusion, the one bright spot in a world of darkness; it is after all why films such as Blade Runner, The Terminator, 2001 A Space Odyssey and Alien sell more than the idea of overall tranquillity.

Various Artists, I Feel Machine. Graphic Novel Review. full post

(593 words, estimated 2:22 mins reading time)

Seasons Of Love, Book Review. Beaten Track Publishing Anthology.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Love, it is the greatest thing, the poets and the pop stars agree on that at least, even if their view points on the rest of life and existence differ wildly. Love is like a beast, it is the slow caress by Time. It can hurt, confuse and exhilarate and almost never in equal terms, never as if the times or the beat of the heart were in synch; but then Seasons of Love rarely do come together with the idea of the ever-lasting, it is only in the anthology that we see the potential of the relationship, no matter the form, no matter the aspiration, all that matters is love.

Seasons Of Love, Book Review. Beaten Track Publishing Anthology. full post

(514 words, estimated 2:03 mins reading time)

Davy Edge, Poems From The Midnight. Book Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Every poet must understand that their craft is an extension of their soul, that the darkness and the light are to be seen in equal measure lest they find themselves on a road in which their chosen mode of transport will, if not let them down, then get bogged down in the intricacy of finding the right word, the shape or rhythm in which to convey their feelings, their thoughts, and the passion which can become too often, overwhelming.

Davy Edge, Poems From The Midnight. Book Review. full post

(606 words, estimated 2:25 mins reading time)

Chaos War: Avengers. Graphic Novel Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision * * * *

The dead shall rise, for in the land of darkness, heroes never truly rest easy, their bodies may be still, slowly fading from our view but in the chaos of war, nothing truly ever sleeps easy, the eyes, ever vigilant, will always be sense that death commands sacrifice; humanity will always require saving, protecting. For the Marvel graphic novel fan, as with the other large publishing house in which such wars are the staple diet of intrigue and perspective, death is rarely ever forever, death is just the deep inhale between states of consciousness.

Chaos War: Avengers. Graphic Novel Review. full post

(505 words, estimated 2:01 mins reading time)

Fantastic Four: Civil War. Graphic Novel Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

The cost of Civil War is not one that can be solved by simply adding up the numbers and marking a line underneath where the money comes from to rectify the problem; it is a dangerous attitude to believe that wounds can heal with the introduction of a cash injection to make the public gracious to those on the opposing side of the conflict. War is war, be it a personal spat between once former friends, through to the disease of global destruction but a Civil War in the family, in the country, always seems more devastating, more personal, and as we find we cannot take a side, the fallout infects us to the point of decay.

Fantastic Four: Civil War. Graphic Novel Review. full post

(517 words, estimated 2:04 mins reading time)

Harley Quinn: Surprise, Surprise. Graphic Novel Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

In all the character additions to the D.C. Universe since both Batman and Superman first had the duopoly of the public’s sense of change in the way that comic strips could intrigue, entertain and have the possibility beyond the realm of existence of the two dimension, no time world that lived in the heart of the funny pages, the shorts and the one joke barbed laugh, then surely The Joker is the one that has captivated the minds of the reader and film lover the most.

Harley Quinn: Surprise, Surprise. Graphic Novel Review. full post

(435 words, estimated 1:44 mins reading time)

John Harris Dunning And Michael Kennedy, Tumult. Graphic Novel Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

There is arguably no man to have ever walk the Earth who didn’t see himself as the hero in somebody’s eyes at one point in his life, or at least hope that he could be, to play out in his mind the actions of assisting personally in the healing of the soul that has been damaged, to exact revenge on behalf of the injured party, or at least destroy himself in the process. It is the basis of the storm that rages inside, the young man’s belief that to die nobly for a cause is a far greater reward than to live ignobly forever writing of other’s success.

John Harris Dunning And Michael Kennedy, Tumult. Graphic Novel Review. full post

(450 words, estimated 1:48 mins reading time)