Books: Clearing The Deck, Part II

Scooby Apocalypse, Volume 6 by Giffen, DeMatteis, Oliffe, Palmer

"What if the Scooby Gang were caught up in a nanotech monster apocalypse? What if Scooby was a cybernetically-enhanced dog? What if it was a lot less funny?" This epic alternate take on the Scooby-Doo franchise comes to an end here. People live, people die, people are born, and the apocalypse ends, for better or worse. I certainly wasn't bored by this tale, and my biggest complaint is that Giffen & DeMatteis only have a few tricks for writing dialogue -- and they wear thin after a few volumes. (Well, and the weird back-up stories starring Secret Squirrel and Atom Ant are pretty much a waste of paper.) Mildly recommended.

Wonderbook: The Illustrated Guide To Creating Imaginative Fiction by Jeff Vandermeer

A solid writing guide, if maybe just a bit too quirky. Still, lots of interesting writing exercises. Recommended.

House of X/Powers of X by Hickman, Larraz, Silva, Gracia

A whole new status quo for the X-Men, in which they have declared themselves a nation, established a utopia, conquered death, and dared the rest of the world to provoke them. It is genuinely good SF, and a very interesting take on the X-Men. It expects you to pay attention and take notes. I do have some criticisms, which are unfortunately rooted in the nature of X-Men as a serial medium: First off, they've done this before. The last Utopia storyline wasn't that long ago. Second, we know it won't last. Comics always return to the status quo ante eventually. Third, in order for this story to work, a lot of the X-Men are acting out of character, to the point that I think it's on purpose -- is Xavier mind-controlling them all? Regardless, they've got me intrigued for now!

Hornblower's Navy by Steve Pope

A light introduction to the Age of Sail, well-illustrated. Fine for its purpose.

The Marvel Art of Conan The Barbarian

A lot of great artists worked on this title back in the day, and this is a fine collection of their work, as far as it goes. The problem is that Marvel had two Conan titles back when: the traditional comic Conan The Barbarian, and the black-and-white magazine with fully-painted covers, Savage Sword Of Conan. I was rather expecting this book to cover both titles, and was looking forward to those covers, but noooooo, there's a companion volume for "Savage Sword" coming out in a few months. I feel a bit ripped off.

A Collection Of Fantasy Maps by Guillaume Tavernier

A beautiful collection of this guy's map and illustrative work, including lovely cross-sections and orthograpic maps. Highly suitable for fantasy RPGs. Recommended.