Joe Harris (1)Besprekingen

This graphic novel is about spontaneous human combustion. This was almost a DNF because the start is slow and trying to figure out what’s going on takes too long. But sticking with it means you get to the end of a pretty fantastic story. There’s a teenage boy Melvin, and two different time periods where Melvin has not been born yet, and the one he is experiencing right now. There’s a new journalist following him around trying to get to the bottom of all the fiery deaths. This is a horror graphic novel, so it is a bit bloody and a bit dark but if you like that, give this a shot. The artwork is unique, and at first, I didn’t like it, but it grew on me, as well as the story. By the end this all works well together to make a very interesting and well worth the graphic novel story.½

The dramatization was well done, especially towards the end. I think I liked the x-files better when there was no real evidence...it was a big what if. lol

It was a pleasure to re-visit the X-Files with Fox Mulder, Dana Scully, Skinner, the Lone Gunmen, and the Smoking Man. I thoroughly appreciated Fox pulling out the ‘I Want to Believe’ poster. The whole crew was at it again, trying to solve the most unusual events with aliens and strange creatures. The Audible production was very well executed with the original cast and dramatic effects. The storyline picked right up from the X-Files movie and TV miniseries.

I wanted to like this. I really did. I bought in to the hype and excitement of finally seeing the X Files resurrected...then totally forgot audible was a thing. Which, in the long run, is great because now I can come back to Cold Cases with a clean slate without needing to worry about the popularity push influencing how I saw things.

Hated it.

Don't get me wrong, Duchovny and Anderson are very talented along with the other key narrators/actors but something about this volume is just....off. The story itself feels overly hokey and cheesy which I know is part of the fun of the X Files to begin with. But it's not in the same way as the show was/is but in an underdone production kind of way. The narration is unemotional, reading like the first read through on a script that no one is sure they want to be involved in. The story itself doesn't flow, lacking any real personality which only makes the hammy voice acting stick out even more. I see many reviewers commenting on how close it is to a radio show which yes, I'll give some credit, the sound editor did well. However years of podcasts and audiobooks on streaming/demand have conditioned us away from the more obvious exposition and audio devices and in to focusing on the quality of the voice actors themselves. A plotline that didn't develop characters, motive or personality left it feeling as if the author was trying to shoehorn in every popular character as a means to just have them there. Fanservice instead of quality.

It just made for a disappointing listen and a hope that the next chapters are better....if I decide to buy them.

I was looking forward to reading this volume since I'm a longtime X-File fan. But honestly, both art and story just didn't work for me and I had a hard time finish reading the volume and it was just 100 pages. How hard can it be to write a decent story and find a really good illustrator?

The art made it hard to read. I didn't even recognize Mulder at first who was in disguise, it took some time for me to realize that it was really him.

Lose the mustache Mulder!



I mean I recognize the Lone Gunmen, but the art is really appalling.

And, together with the confusing storyline did it just made the reading experience quite bad. I was interested in reading this volume because Gibson Praise would be in it. But I haven't a clue about what the hell the Peacock family (see episode Home) had to the with the story. And, I wasn't that keen on reading something about that horrid inbreeding family. Well, I would have been perhaps if it had made any sense why they were in the story at all. I thought they, at first, wanted a new man (Mulder) to father some babies (shudder), but now I'm not sure about that. And, I'm not sure what Gibson Praise wanted either. The whole story was too darn confusing to be enjoyable.

Will I read more? Probably not. I rather see the tv-series and wait for the new season.

I want to thank the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a free copy for an honest review!

A comic about Alice Cooper "The Lord of Nightmares"! I mean the story felt a bit eh what's going on here, but it's freaking Alice Cooper, and that's so cool. Now I'm just wondering where is my Freddie Mercury comic? I want it now!

Now we're getting somewhere. The story is moving forward in this issue and just as it started to get really interesting it ended, with a cliffhanger...meh!

Now we're getting somewhere. The story is moving forward in this issue and just as it started to get really interesting it ended, with a cliffhanger...meh!

The story was good. It was a great addendum to my teenage years' favorite TV show.

The audio book performance... not so much. But it wasn't the actors, it was the format. A book immerses you with descriptions, painting a picture in your mind. This, felt like watching a TV show without being able to see the screen. Entertaining, but something was missing. It was not immersive.

It was a bit more on the nose than the X-Files I remember. Also, the weird excuse to bring back all the old characters felt forced. Still Mulder and Scully, though, so still fun.

Brilliant stories. I especially enjoyed Joker and Penguin's stories. They were amazing. Scarecrow and Poison Ivy were great too.

I posted my review of this on my blog, The Itinerant Librarian.

Click or copy/paste the link on your browser to read the full review.

Review link: http://itinerantlibrarian.blogspot.com/2014/01/booknote-x-files-season-10-vol-1....

You can find my full review of this on my blog, The Itinerant Librarian. Just click (or copy/paste to your favorite browser) the link below to check it out.

Review link: http://itinerantlibrarian.blogspot.com/2014/05/booknote-x-files-season-10vol-2.h...

The stories are so-so, the artwork kind of... ugly.

The dramatization was well done, especially towards the end. I think I liked the x-files better when there was no real evidence...it was a big what if. lol

This graphic novel had all the magic of the TV series. It transported me back in time to the days when Fridays were X-Files nights. All my favorites were there - Mulder, Scully, Skinner, Doggett, The Lone Gunman, the cigarette smoking man. There is also a cool set of drawings depicting the characters in different styles at the end of the graphic novel. My favorite of these has our heroes drawn as the Scooby Doo Gang. What fun! I'm going to preorder volume 2 right now.

I absolutely LOVE this graphic novel series. It 100% captures the feel of the TV show. It pulls in all the characters and brings back old cases and creatures that you thought were gone. Of course, this collection brings back a monster that I never thought was gone and was so glad to see him brought back! I knew that flukeman would return someday! I highly recommend these to any fan of the show.

Welcome to my nightmare
Welcome to my breakdown
I hope I didn't scare you
That's just the way we are when we come down
We sweat and laugh and scream here
'cause life is just a dream here
You know inside you feel right at home here
~Welcome to my Nightmare


Alice Cooper Vol. 1: Welcome to My Nightmare (Alice Cooper, #1-6) by Joe Harris is the continuing adventures of the original shock rocker. Harris is the creator and writer of comics and graphic novels such as the hit Image Comics sci-fi adventure series, Great Pacific, and the supernatural thrillers, Ghost Projekt and Spontaneous for Oni Press. He has written iconic characters and titles for DC Comics (Batman, Fury of Firestorm), Marvel (Slingers, X-Men), and Dark Horse (Creepy).

What does a the King of Shock Rock do forty years after his prime? He becomes a comic book hero...well maybe not a hero but something close. After making a deal with a demon to get famous Alice Cooper is bound by contract to recruit pop boy bands to fame. Obviously the work of evil promoting that kind of music. Cooper is the Lord of Nightmares and since freeing himself from the clutches of the evil manager Lucius Black you would think he would retire. That for Cooper is not the case.

The comics are drawn dark with plenty of black and purple giving a nightmarish tone to the work. The story lines are good and include a piece on bullying without being too After School Special about it. Although dark there is no good vs evil or light vs dark, rather dark vs dark and rock and roll of course. There are references to other bands safely hidden from copyright infringements like Think Floyd and Deep Violet, but you know who they are anyway.

Nicely done and nice to see a rock legend presented to a younger generation or perhaps this is for the benefit of the fifty plus crowd. Either way is works. Although I am not a usual reader of graphic novels, I liked this mainly for the rock and roll theme and tribute the Godfather of Shock Rock. It's nice to see rock and roll fighting the "good" fight.

I want to Believelike it.

First, it was really great to hear all the old voices including characters who "died" in the series.

Second, It was more of a radio show than a book, which is still alright.

Third, it seems that switching to audio only left the writing wanting for more. The only narration is at the beginning of each chapter -- Date, time, and place. What would have been easily done by a narrator is done by thinking out loud by the characters or "Remember that time..." stories. At times it is pretty painful to listen to.

Fourth, I did like the completion of the Fluke-man story. Other stories could have been better but left me feeling like I was watching a tv show without any picture. There was not enough narration or enough material for the imagination to grow on to complete the picture.

I hope if there is a next time it will be a un abridged novel being read with a narrator. there have been some well written X-Files novels that would have benefited from this type of treatment.

I still want to believe

I picked this as one of my free “Audible Originals” for the month. Full disclosure - I’ve watched some of the X-files TV show, but was never a huge fan.

Pros:
1. It was free
2. It was short

Cons:
1. Pretty much everything else.

The dialogue was bad. The acting from the major players was bad. The technical production was actually pretty good. I feel awful for anyone who actually used an Audible credit on this. If you’re a big X-files fan and you don’t mind listening to your favorite actors giving half-hearted performances, go ahead and snag this one for free. Otherwise, just forget that this exists.

8 minutes to go in episode 1, and I can’t take anymore. This is unbearable. Done. Bail.

It was really the premise of Spontaneous that first prompted me to review this. Spontaneous Human Combustion is something that we really don't stop to think about. I was intrigued to see what path author Joe Harris would take. So with an open mind, I dove right in.

The story flies by as the pages tell Melvin's story. The problem with this brevity is that there is really no time to develop the characters. Melvin is a tormented soul, and that's him through the whole book. Emily is that no-holds-barred reporter who is dead set on getting her story, and again she doesn't change. In fact most of the secondary characters don't even get enough face time for the reader to fully even notice them. I liked that the book moved so quickly, but I would have read for longer if it meant more time to spend with the characters.

What's good about the way that this story is written is that there isn't any down time at all. From page one the reader is drawn into the mystery of the people who are suffering from this odd fate. Melvin's story blossoms beautifully, slowly letting the reader see just enough to keep them intrigued. I think this is where Emily's character truly shined. As you are doing your best to figure out what Melvin is going to do next, Emily is uncovering the story behind it all. At the end I honestly did a double take. It was that interesting.

In terms of illustrations, Spontaneous is a lot different than other books I've seen. The art style is a mixture of hard, bold lines with soft watercolor providing some warmth. The people in the story look more like sketches than anything else. More like caricatures than actual people. It works for the story though, and I'm honestly impressed by Brett Weldele's talent. His illustrations allow the story to shine through, without taking over.

Final verdict? Spontaneous is definitely something to check out if you are a fan of graphic novels. The story is unique and quick moving, and I'm certain that you'll fall in love with the illustrations.

2nd try on this book...just doesn't click in my mind........I won't waste my time on this with so much more other things available for my time.

A passable diversion at best.

Better than that 6-episode tv reboot.