Almost didn’t make it but back on the scene again with my weekly blog post.
And what I’m going to do this week is something a little bit off of the beaten path of what I normally post. This week I am going to give a book recommendation even though I haven’t read the whole book all the way through, what I’ve read so far is pretty good and I know this author pretty well is why am going to recommend the book Smallville: Strange Visitors by Roger Sterns. Now those of you that collect comics instantly know that Roger Sterns is a writer that has been in the business for a long time. I’m one of those weird guys that collects comics based on who is writing them, not drawing them but I think that can be expected because I’m a writer. Of Course, the art has to be halfway decent because then it just distracts from the story because the art is such a big part of the medium. But I have always first seen who is writing it and when I see that Roger is writing it, I normally grab it. I won’t really consider the drawing because the story is really more important to me than the art. Think of some of the biggest comics of history and what do you remember? The story. From Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight to Alan Moore’s The Watchmen to Jim Starlin’s Infinity Gauntlet. It’s about the story yall.
What sold me on Stern’s writing was back in 1989 when Marvel released a prestige graphic novel called Dr. Strange and Doctor Doom called Triumph and Torment. Though Doom was known to know some mystic arts, Sterns put him on the map as one of the best in the world as he battled for the title of Sorcerer Supreme in that book. He also wrote an Avengers arc where the Master’s of Evil took over Avengers mansion and destroyed it (yep. Have those issues but do not expect me to dig through my collection of 2500+ comics and find it). He had me hooked.
On the flip side, there are writers I will avoid buying anything from because they have disappointed more than once. I’m not going to name them but you know who are.
I’ve been enjoying Smallvile: Strange Visitors. It takes me back to the television program which when I began to watch I thought was a big, fat amount of cheese. But it grew on me and they Must have gotten some better writers because the show actually got good. Me and my wife enjoyed the show immensely and we watched it up unto the end. Since I am an avid collector of comic book prose novels, I decided pick up my first Smallville novel joint because—you guessed it—Roger Sterns was at the helm. I’m glad I did.
Now, why would I recommend a book even though I haven’t read through the whole thing? Because I know the author and this is classic Roger Sterns and it’s
good. When I bought my copy of the book, it was a whopping penny plus $3.99 shipping and handling. It’s a little more now though you might be able to find it somewhere a little cheaper but I’m enjoying the ride. I also have other books by Sterns, most notably Superman: The Never – Ending Battle and The Death and Life of Superman.
Now you would know it but I’ve actually finished about three books but they’re all nonfiction and I wanted to give my readers something to relax their minds with. I have a lot of superhero prose novels. At last count I think I was somewhere in the range of about 75 or 80. It’s been a while since I counted them all and I’ll have to share that with you some time. As a matter fact, that will be my next post because I am a superhero pros novel aficionado. I don’t think there are too many people that have a collection like I have. So I will share that with you in the next coming days.
Also wanted to give you a brief update on what’s been going on with the re-release of The Dark Corner Archive (new title). It’s going well and the we’re looking at re-releasing the first book in a few weeks. I am excited because this was done totally different than before. I have learned so much in the interim and I’m excited about how this is going to all pan out. And of course, I’m looking forward to see you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed putting it together. So be looking for the first book The Visitor in the next coming weeks.
Until then my friends, I’ll see you in the Tapestry.
