Artemis Fowl and the Time Paradox: 6 (Artemis Fowl) by Eoin Colfer

Artemis Fowl and the Time Paradox: 6 (Artemis Fowl) by Eoin Colfer is As an ardent fan of Artemis Fowl from the first book onward, I was more than just a little excited to find out that THE TIME PARADOX was in the works. The previous book in the series, THE LOST COLONY, was one of my favorites, and it opened so many doors that I wanted desperately to see explored. After reading THE TIME PARADOX over the course of a single day, my reactions are mixed, but one thing's for sure: with Artemis Fowl in the mix, there's never a dull moment.

The storyline opens only a short while after the end of the previous book. Fourteen-year-old genius Artemis Fowl has been out of his home time for nearly three years as the result of the events of THE LOST COLONY, and the world has changed around him. But the presence of younger twin brothers at Fowl Manor is not nearly as surprising as the fact that Artemis has managed to retain some of the fairy magic that he stole while in the time tunnel, making himself part magical in turn. Early on in the story, the readers find out that Artemis has used this small magic to mesmerize his parents into forgetting all about his three-year disappearance, and is learning how to control it for specific purposes.

So when Artemis's mother develops symptoms of several deadly illnesses overnight, Artemis's first instinct is to use his fairy magic to save her. When that fails, draining all of the magic out of Artemis, his first call is to Holly Short, reinstated Captain in the Lower Elements Police. Holly arrives and diagnoses Artemis's mother with a rare disease known as spelltropy, usually passed between magic users by the use of power. The only cure is the brain fluid of a silky sifaka lemur--a species that became extinct nearly eight years ago, thanks to the work of a younger Artemis Fowl desperate for money to fuel the search for his then-missing father.

Artemis is convinced there's a simple solution to this problem: go back in time using the magic of demon warlock No. 1 and steal the lemur from his younger self before returning to his own time. Of course, with Artemis involved, nothing could ever really be that simple. Nonetheless, he and Holly both make the journey almost eight years back in time to outsmart the ten-year-old Artemis and a group of Extinctionists bent upon getting their hands on the lemur--not to mention a mysterious third player who may be manipulating everyone from behind the scenes.

The storytelling is vivid, the jokes are always funny, the puns are horrendous in the best of ways. The repartee between Artemis and Holly gets better in every book. But for whatever reason, I didn't enjoy this Fowl adventure as much as I did previous ones. It seemed somehow like there was less at stake. It was an interesting ploy, since the "villain" Artemis faces off against for the first half of the story is himself, but a lot of the major weight of the story felt psychological.

Of course, there were the requisite explosions and high-speed cross-country chases, but the focus of this book seemed to be more upon the minds of the characters involved, particularly Artemis and Holly, and their relationships to their own pasts. That's not to say the book wasn't good--it just had a different kind of depth from the others, one that I probably couldn't fully appreciate on a first reading. Some of the doors opened in THE LOST COLONY were closed rather suddenly, in my opinion, or led down passageways I hadn't thought they would explore, so that the main developments of this book were not what I thought they would be at all. But then, what would be the fun of a predictable book?

If Colfer is one thing consistently as a writer, it's unpredictable, and this book is no exception.

Watchmen

Watchmen (Paperback) by Alan Moore is It's hard to categorize The Watchmen. It's a graphic novel, to be sure, but it's got many layers to it. It's a period piece, set in the Cold War. It's an ethical treatise, pitting rival versions of morality against one another. It's an explication of human nature. It's a postmodernist deconstruction of the superhero genre. And it's many more things -- I suspect reading it again will reveal further levels.

Alan More and Dave Gibbons set their story in an alternative universe where superheroes are real, Nixon was elected for a third term,and the U.S.A. won the Vietnam War. The Superheroes, however, are not all that super. In fact, they're pretty pathetic characters whose powers are pretty much non-existent (with one notable exception). The plot centers around the death of several of these superheroes and a few of their rivals and twists into an incredibly detailed (and at times convoluted) story. There are also multiple subplots and numerous secondary characters as well as a comic within the comic and an intriguing text-based extracts from various primary sources set in this alternative timeline.

This isn't a book I enjoyed in they way I enjoyed some other graphic novels, and it's almost more akin to the comic equivalent of Franz Kafka. It's a disturbing and morally ambivalent universe that Moore and Gibbons create and the good guys aren't all that good and the villains are more pathetic than evil. Most of the heroes are pathetic vigilantes and their political philosophy is pretty much racist and fascist. Liberals aren't portrayed much better and come across as either hopelessly naive or as ruthless as their conservative counterparts. The illustrations do a great job of reflecting the atmosphere and Gibbons does a great job of recreating the style of earlier comics; there's a grimy and depressing quality to everything.

The Watchmen deserves its reputation and it deserves all the praise it's received. It won the Hugo Award and was named one of Time Magazine's top novels of all time a few years back. If you have a preconceived notion of comic books or superheroes, this book shatters everything you've thought about the genre. I don't think that everyone will appreciate this book -- there's just something odd and demented about it. I also found it a bit slow to get going but I think that's because I had trouble getting past my preconceived notions about superheroes. If you're patient with the book, though, and give yourself some time to reflect on the book once you've read it, you'll be more than rewarded.

Watchmen (Paperback) by Alan Moore

Batman: The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller

Batman: Dark Knight Returns (Batman) (Paperback) by Frank Miller is There's an interesting, seemingly neofascist strain in Frank Miller's graphic novels. 300 comes to mind as the most disturbing example of this, but The Dark Knight Returns isn't far behind. The story picks up around 15-20 years after Batman's heyday and he is in retirement. The world has gone amok and through a series of events, Bruce Wayne comes out of retirement. I won't go into the details, but by the end, Batman unites a group of street thugs into a coherent vigilante force who will "bring order" to the world.

This isn't a pretty vision of the world. It reminds me of a sort of Charles Bronson Deathwish universe where a solitary and borderline psychopathic hero will bring peace to the world through violence. I can't quite figure out Frank Miller's politics. He parodies Reagan and blatant militarism pretty harshly in The Dark Knight Returns, but also looks to extralegal solutions to crime and basks in ultraviolence. Miller's Gotham is hopelessly corrupt and he seems to think that only a fiery holocaust can cleanse it. He portrays liberals in a stereotypically Bronson-esque fashion -- always ready to coddle wrongdoers and let them off the hook. There are always horrific consequences to such actions. The hard-line, and only the hard-line, is the only real solution according to Miller. He recognizes the harvest of blood and terror that will ensue, but Miller feels this is necessary and justified.

Having said all this, The Dark Knight Returns warrants the praise it has received. It's storytelling is powerful and its vision of a corrupt world is appealing in a "Blade Runner" sort of way. The retelling of Batman is effective as a graphic narrative and there is a real sense of moral ambiguity. I disagree with pretty much everything Miller seems to believe in, but I felt engaged as a reader. I was willing to suspend my disbelief and horror and go along for the ride. In the end, I'm not sure that's such a good thing. I feel sort of corrupted and a bit more cynical about the world.

Batman: Dark Knight Returns (Batman) (Paperback) by Frank Miller

Batman: Killing Jokeby Alan Moore

Batman: The Killing Joke by Alan Moore There are two parallel stories going on here, both intricately connected. First, we see the Joker's origin. It's pretty tragic: he's an unemployed stand-up comic with a wife and new baby on the way. Financially down-on-his-luck, he becomes embroiled in a criminal robbery scheme. He then finds out that his wife and her unborn baby were killed the day of the heist. His accomplices force him to continue with the plan anyway. He runs afoul of the Batman and ends up taking a chemical bath, which, of course, hideously scars him. That's a really bad day and his life as he knows it is over.

The second story is set in the present day. The Joker decides to create another "really bad day" for Commissioner Gordon to drive him insane in order to prove that anyone, not just the Joker (or Batman, for that matter) would be driven insane when their world is brought to a sudden end. To do this, the Joker shows up at the Gordons' door and immediately shoots Barbara in the spine. The implication is that she was raped or at least sexually exploited as well. Jim Gordon is and taken to an abandoned carnival, stripped naked, and forced to look at photos of Barbara in her broken state. Despite all this, Gordon doesn't break. Despite all that he has suffered, he still wants to bring the Joker to justice by the book. That's a really pivotal moment. Batman rescues Gordon and has a showdown with the Joker when they both realize how inextricably linked they are. Great dialogue between them.

Oh and f you've ever wonder where Todd McFarlane got the idea for the evil munchkins in his Twisted Land of Oz series of figures, I'm pretty sure he took it directly from this book.

Just saw the new Batman: The Dark Knight movie and it's no exaggeration to say that they cribbed a significant portion of the dialogue between Batman and Joker from The Killing Joke, so the book is stil very relevant.

Great comic. Truly a classic if you're a Batman fan. Highly recommended.

Batman: Killing Joke (Paperback)by Alan Moore