David Mack's newest installment of the
Kabuki books, subtitled
"The Alchemy," is phenomenal. I've been peripherally aware of Mack's work for a long time and sort of have always contemplated picking up something to really look through, but never have until now. Mack creates works that are truly labors of love. He exhibits the kind of care and attention to detail that forces one to use the word "craftsmanship." He is a perfect example of why the phrase "comic book" should be eradicated from the English language. His pages seem to be assemblages of mixed media including origami figures, intricate cut paper borders, evocative watercolors and of course charmingly-worded narrative balloons. I just bought the first and second issue of
The Alchemy (the first issue came out just last month) and after a single read I am completely hooked. I strongly urge fans of comic books and fine art alike to pick up any of David Mack's works. Fans of
Daredevil may remember that Mack has done several covers of said book and has written several issues as well.
In other news, I'm also reading
Colleen McCullough's The October Horse, which is I think the 5th or 6th book of the
"Masters of Rome" series.
McCullough is a true Renaissance woman. She's a neurophysiologist, but she also writes these incredibly well-researched historical novels. She paints ancient Rome so well, it feels like a place I've been before. Her characters like my old friends (or at least acquaintances). What she captures exceptionally well is the
HERO. Lucius Cornelius Sulla, Gaius Julius Caesar, these amazing historical figures she's fleshed out and made into real people.
This book is much about the relationship between the Pharoah, Cleopatra, and Caesar. It's quite obvious that McCullough holds a special place for Caesar, since she's devoting three books to him, while other of Rome's notable figures only received single books. I'm only about a hundred pages into it, but it's as good as the others I've read by her (which at this point is most of them:
The First Man In Rome, The Grass Crown, The Thornbirds, Morgan's Run, Caesar, Caesar's Women...). I highly recommend anything by her.
bhofmeister13