Northlanders - Outside one story, they are all single arc story lines and there are a couple of single issue stories. I think the artwork on most arcs was pretty good. I have two arcs I have not read. I really liked the story about the castle siege.

Dalgoda - I read those back in the 80s. I remember it was a vaguely European scifi style comic. It had some humor. I remember liking the comic. I think it is a dead letter office where they never finished the story, sadly there was a bunch like that in 80s indie comics.

Prophet - It's definitely a Heavy Metal/2000 AD style scifi comic. I really dig it more for just getting to see this really weird universe. It's pretty mad with all sorts of weird creatures. I like when Graham does asides of some of the technology.

This sums it up quite nicely.

Differences between the Graphic Novel & The Motion Picture

- The character of Sherri in the book is renamed as Sarah in the movie. Instead of being a girl Eric meets on a doorstep, in the movie, she knew both Eric and Shelly before their deaths. She appears younger in the book and has much less of a role in the plot.
- In the book, Eric gets a cat and names him Garfield, presenting him as a gift to Shelly on their anniversary. In the book, Garfield was Shelly and Eric's pet before they died.
- The movie has a focus on the gang's actions centering around "Devil's Night", which is not mentioned in the comic.
- Eric's last name is not mentioned in the book, in the movie his full name is Eric Draven.
- Eric seems to struggle to remember the events of that night, even asking Officer Albrecht to recall the details for him. Hence, he is not exactly sure of his purpose. In the graphic novel, Eric is aware of his purpose from the start.
- In the graphic novel, Eric and Shelly become the victims of T-Bird and his gang, being at the wrong place at the wrong time. In the movie, the couple falls prey to the gang in their home, targeted specifically.
- The comic book does not include the fact that Eric would lose his powers if the crow was destroyed.
- The character of the leader's sister is not included in the book, nor their fascination with eyes.
- The leader in unnamed, is the character of Top Dollar. In the graphic novel, T-Bird is the leader.
- In the movie, Eric's former occupation was as a musician for the band The Hangmen, it is not mentioned in the book at all.
- Eric is shot twice on the side of the road in the book while Shelly is attacked from the car. Shelly dies on the scene of the assault while Eric is rendered brain dead in the hospital after talking to Captain Hook. In the movie, Shelly is attacked first in their apartment, Eric is stabbed and thrown from their window and dies immediately. Shelly is transported to the hospital where she suffers for hours in the intensive care unit before succumbing.
- The manner of T-Bird dying is completely different, the book does not involve a car at all.
- The character of Skank and his experiences in the movie are unique to the movie alone.
- Officer Albrecht was a minor character in the book, and meets Eric when he is sabotaging Gideon's pawnshop. When the bomb explodes, Albrecht calls in to his superior, Captain Hook. In the movie, Officer Albrecht has a larger role, interacts with Eric more, and is central to the conclusion of the movie.
- The movie has no inclusion of The Skull Cowboy.
- Darla meets Eric, and he does say many of the same things to her, but in the movie he holds her arm and morphine pours out. This does not happen in the book.
- In the movie, Gideon survives the pawnshop bomb in order to tell the others about Eric's return for vengeance. In the book, Fun Boy is responsible for rounding up the gang.
- The crew spends much of its time above a busy night club, this does not exist in the book.
- The book includes poetry that isn't used in the motion picture.

Yeah, I abandoned it half way through. It was dull as dogshit. And the way they went about trying to shoehorn it into current continuity was ridiculous. It was a Big Event series that had been completed two years previously, but Marvel didn't have room to squeeze it into their schedule in between all the other Big Events, so they left it in the digital equivalent of a drawer until they had room, then tried to convince us that it was all happening 'now'. Despite the appearance of a Spider-Man who wore Peter Parker's costume, and who spoke and acted exactly like Peter Parker (because it was, y'know, Peter Parker) Marvel felt the need to convince us that it was in fact Otto Octavius/Superior Spider-Man we were looking at.

I like a lot of stuff Marvel are doing in their comics these days, but when they piss down my leg and try to tell me it's raining, I get a little upset. 

I've never read that particular mini-series, but I'm a big fan of Busiek and of Robbins; I'd give it a try based on their names alone.

Thanks Rob, I might just do that. I'm a big fan of Busiek.

Next up...should I be reading Garth Ennis' The Boys? Is it safe for girls?



Someone sent me a panel that looked like someone getting (1) raped or (2) submitting, but not liking it.

Of course, now I have to see what it's about....

The first few issues are quite crude, but the series improves as it goes on.  There's always some immature, gross out humor, but the relationship between Butcher and Hughie is a very rich and complicated one that goes into some very interesting areas.  If you don't like superheroes getting completely ripped a new one, though, I wouldn't read it-- the contempt for the genre is palpable.  Otherwise, while I wouldn't place it amongst Ennis' best work, it certainly is a solid series that's worth a look.