Review - Aleister & Adolf (NSFW)

I came across this either as a recommendation or while browsing for graphic novels to read. But the title caught my attention. I have had an interest in the occult since being a teen, and of course, hearing about Aleister Crowley from so many rock sources such as Ozzy Osbourne, and Led Zeppelin, etc. Who hasn't heard the song Mr. Crowley? Below is a YouTube video if you have never heard it :x

But alas this is a review about the graphic novel Aleister & Adolf, and not Crowley. I will admit that I am not a big fan of black and white comics. And this one did start out kinda weird, disjointed and slow to start. But I kept on reading it, and it grew on me. The basic idea behind this is that Crowley being a mage, and master of the occult was sought out to work against Hitler. With the use of icons and semiotics the tide of World War II could be turned. Being skeptical and thinking this was just for the story I researched this and yes this was based on a true story. I had heard that the occult was something Nazi Germany was researching but didn't realize just how deep they were into it. Realizing this was based on a true story and getting a glimpse into the mysterious Beast along with the surrealistic/psychedelic artwork I was hooked. 

So as you can see from the above sample of the artwork this is a mature title. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this title and rated it 4 out of 5 stars on Goodreads. If you are into historically based on true story graphic novels then this is where it's at. Or if you are into trippy art and or the occult you may enjoy this too. 

International shoppers get your copy here - http://www.bookdepository.com/?a_aid=geekpron

The Unwritten : The mystery, fun and a boy Wizard

So Goodreads recommended The Unwritten to me, and since I have been reading comics that they recommend I decided to give it a try.

The first volume really had me in awe. I had fallen hard for this book, and the reasons for this were mostly because of the mystery of just what was the true reality behind this story.

Here is my review of the first volume.

So being that I loved the first volume I couldn't wait to get into the second volume, and I enjoyed it, but it just seemed to lack something that I quite couldn't place my finger on. This didn't discourage me, because let's face it not every part to a series is going to be great.

So then I got to volume three, and was let down hard. So the author no longer eludes to the mystery of the main character being a boy wizard, but he is the persona from the story books. Plus there was supposed to be this big reveal about Lizzie Hexam, and her background story, which turned out be nothing but a cheap "choose your adventure" spin. There was no clear answer to the background of this character, and no matter how many ways you tried it, as they were all varied.  This gave me the impression that the author didn't take the role of this major character that seriously, and why should I the reader either.

Even after all of this I picked up and started to read what I later discovered was to be a prequel to the whole series, and some had said was the book that should introduce new readers to the storyline.  I will admit that I had to drag myself through this read, as I found the whole "boy wizard" theme with latin spells too be really silly and frankly very immature for a mature recommended story.  This is probably one of the main reasons why I have yet to read Harry Potter.  So I was very disappointed by the maturity level of what should have been an adult book. It seemed as if the author is only trying to appeal to the Harry Potter fans, and I may read another volume, but this is one series I could care less to finish in it's entirety. 

I had found out from researching this book that the whole series was "never intended" to be like Harry Potter, but I kind of doubt that. The author had said that the main point of this series was how a child could have a book series fashioned after them and the fame of dealing with that. He used the example of Chris Milne, who was the basis for Christopher Robin in the Pooh books. I also discovered that this story later crosses over with another Vertigo series that I enjoyed in the beginning Fables.