Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (Manga Series 1982 - 1994)

Also known as Kaze no Tani no Naushika.
When I wrote my review of the film I pointed out how I felt the narrative felt truncated and rushed. The truth is that no matter how large the fringes of the film's world may have seemed, they are nothing compared with the absolutely massive scope and story told in this manga series. It's still the same basic premise, showing a determined princess trying to end the wars between last tribes of humanity while a toxic jungle closes in around them, but here the scale of the conflict is escalated a hundred-fold. Massive battles sweep across the landscape, cultures and religions are touched on and detailed and irrevocably shifted, while the world itself, deadly and unmerciful, swallows up entire nations. Through it all, Miyazaki's impeccable sense of pace comes through on the page, and his iconic character art is filled with wonder and with horror. It's a darker piece than much of his other work, but so much is said and seen and done over the course of it all that there is little room for anything less than awe. Perhaps the only legitimate complaint is how the black and white drawings are sometimes difficult to follow, leading to minor confusion from time to time. Even so, the result is utterly biblical in scope and ambition, and though it falters at moments, it is nonetheless a staggering accomplishment.

9 out of 10.

Preacher (Graphic Novel - 1995)

Packed with about as much action, dark humor, and outrageous gore as you could possibly fit into the format, Preacher is an epic graphic novel series that still manages to somehow skip the most compelling part of its tale. Depicting a Texas preacher who decides to go on a warpath against God, holding Him accountable for the sorry state of the world, you would think that a philosophical take on religion would stand at the forefront. Instead it's a humorous romp through one amusing religious conspiracy after another. Any heady takes on the subject matter are buried under waves of serial killers, western-style shootouts, and a constant current of pitch black humor. That isn't to say it's a failure, however. The series has a breathless sense of momentum as it moves from one action setpiece, storyline, or fascinating revelation to another. Yet still none of it scratches the itch, none of it takes itself seriously enough to examine the things it's proposing. As wide a pool, as many great twists and terrific moments as this series has, the water is still remarkably shallow. It's fun and funny, and unfortunately that's all.

7 out of 10.

Maus (Graphic Novel - 1986 - 1991)

Mixing biography and autobiography, Art Spiegelman tells the story of his father Vladek's life as a Polish Jew as the Nazis ground a nation into dust, intermingled with Art's own difficulty relating to his overbearing father. Smartly, Speigelman chooses the graphic novel as his format, and draws with an effective style: all the Jews are mice, and all the Germans are cats. It's simple, it's effective, and it lets the author create his own take on the horrible reality, and not become weighed down by what has already been seen in pictures. It is incredibly potent, and crosses the line between merely being told about history, to truly relating to it. Maus doesn't just provide an incredible account of one of history's greatest crimes, but presents it in a way that is simple, personal, honest, and appropriately devastating. A masterpiece.

10 out of 10.

Watchmen (Graphic Novel - 1987)

For better or worse, Watchmen changed the “comic book” forever. Alan Moore's magnum opus of so-called super heroes is less of a cheerful yarn telling tall tales of daring and justice and incredible power, but of the aftermath and smoldering ruin of costumed avengers past their prime and relevance, hidden among a society that has had them outlawed. Set in an alternate version of 1985, the story begins as a retired hero is mysteriously murdered, and the demons of a man who lived above the law are unearthed, causing ripples in a community of former crime fighters and villains. What sets it apart is how it is less about costumes and pageantry, but about a series of fundamentally broken individuals who were once driven to battle the dregs of society for one reason or another. It asks what real, completely fallible and often reprehensible human beings would do with near limitless power in a company of peers. The story itself takes a backseat to deep, exhaustive character study, giving each protagonist their due and sense of place; the brutal sociopath Rorschach is given the same level of attention as the godlike, apathetic Dr. Manhattan. It's this level of character depth and darkness, this willingness to show heroic archetypes as unlikable, miserable, depressed, depraved, yet utterly fascinating humans that led Watchmen to its place in history. One can argue with the wisdom of dragging once kid-friendly works into maturity, however at the same time the sheer level of audacity and craft at work in this seminal tome is absolutely undeniable.

10 out of 10.

'Neuromancer' by William Gibson (Book - 1984)

Some say that technology is guided by the plot devices of science fiction. If that's true, then Neuromancer would most be like a prominent book in the Bible. For a book published in 1984, the level of predictive concepts and their implementation are such that even today, almost 25 years removed from its master's pen, it still feels ahead of its time. But from a practical level, this is a tough book to read. It is so caught up in its slang and interpretive concepts of advanced computing and future society that the reader's mind has to dig pretty deep to find the plot buried under the ideas. In simplest terms, it's the story of a drug addict hacker being hired by a mysterious benefactor to snoop around some shady systems. The tale is told with enough depth and heft that it remains interesting, but this is really a book about the world the characters inhabit. So many of the ideas in this book have come to pass, so many will soon, and some are far enough out that there's no telling, but all seem plausible (or at least feel plausible). The level of influence this book has had on science and science fiction is nearly limitless, and if the story weren't so densely concealed behind giant conceptual tomes, this might be an easier book to recommend. If you're up to the challenge, go right ahead. It's a rewarding read for the worthy. For many though, this may be a book better appreciated than read.

8 out of 10.

'The Road' by Cormac McCarthy (Book - 2006)

Uplifting, desperate, hopeful, and honest, The Road is a triumph of intimacy and loneliness at the end of the world. In following a father and sun as they pick their way through the desolate wasteland of a nuclear winter, Cormac McCarthy's stream-of-conscious writing style plays a philosopher's narrative on the death rattle of humanity. There's little that's typical about this sort of story. There are no grand, Mad Max-esque battles for resources or trips through the piss-stained hovels of depraved, starving refugees. Instead, it is a book entirely consumed in the father-son relationship, their nomadic journey through a dying wilderness, and the pair's absolute trust and dependency on each other; the post-society setting merely provides a narrative context for absolute desperation. The tale is quiet and thoughtful, slow and uneventful, methodical and dangerous. And like the best of genre fiction, it rings true.

10 out of 10.

'American Gods' by Neil Gaiman (Book - 2001)

Don't take this as being anything more than a literal statement: this book successfully finds the middle ground between Stephen King and H. P. Lovecraft, making a successful, though flawed, entry into a genre that I will call “Horror Americana.” On the King side, this book has obscure music references, relatable characters in relatable circumstances, and that hard-to-identify straight forwardness inherent to his novels. Meanwhile on the Lovecraft end of things you've got horrific sacrifices, ancient deities, a delightful sense of constant unease, and the ever-present freaky dream sequences. There's nothing wrong with cribbing from the successful if you can add a new bend to it, and author Neil Gaiman keeps his twisted tale fresh by relying on the results of an abundance of research on middle-America, creating a remarkably honest and real impression of life in the “fly-over states.” It's not all sun and roses, however. Despite a few eerie moments, and a general feeling of danger throughout every chapter, there's hardly any real horror across its 600 pages. Likewise, the motivations for the larger struggle are hardly fleshed out in terms understandable by mere mortals, or at least to me. But I don't care. Maybe it's because almost every place described in the book is a place I've actually been to in my travels, but I say this is an excellent book for anyone looking to stray off the bloody, beaten path.

7 out of 10.

'It's Not News It's Fark: How Mass Media Tries to Pass Off Crap as News' by Drew Curtis (Book - 2007)

If I were to take everything I learned in college about analyzing mass media, then to add in everything I've learned the last several years actually working in mass media, distill it down into 300 pages and add a witty writing style, it would only be about half as informative and quintessentially true as this book. Drew Curtis, who owns and runs one of the most popular news sites on the Internet, tears the whole process of news gathering and reporting down at such a backbreaking level that it's almost insulting. A book on how news is gathered and distributed is probably not everyone's cup of tea, but speaking as someone who's been an insider of the industry for a good portion of my life now, Curtis gets it right. You'll laugh, you'll learn, and you'll probably feel more than a little slighted at the conclusions he draws, but it strikes true enough that you can't help but wonder how the News business survives in the first place. An absolute must for anyone in or studying media, and a piece of near-brilliant observation for any news junkie.

8 out of 10.

'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows' by JK Rowling (Book - 2007)

We would've also accepted Harry Potter and the End of the Franchise, or Harry Potter and the Novelization of the Upcoming Movie. If you've followed it this far, then you've probably already got your own thoughts on this book, having read it all in a single night like I know more than 2 of you did. Okay, here's my main issue with this book: Why shun most of the universe you've spent six novels building? It honestly wasn't till I read this one that I realized how much I enjoyed the familiar world that had been carefully crafted over so many years, which is why I found the majority of the book a minor disappointment. Make no mistake, I still think it's a grand read and a mostly-fitting conclusion to the biggest, fattest cash cow since Star Wars, but I had the damnedest time getting into this one. Everytime Rowling would cash a bit more of that emotional equity I just felt cheapened, or confused, or worst: nothing at all. That said, the last quarter of the book is the real deal, and some of the best writing to come out of that pen, period. I guess what I'm saying (or not saying, because I'm trying my absolute hardest to avoid spoilers) is that if you've been with it this long, go for it. Just don't expect another 'Order of the Phoenix'.

7 out of 10.

Or maybe an 8...

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