nick

There seems to be a tradition of using isolation as a theme in many modern short story collections. It might just be my maudlin nature that causes me to be intrigued, engrossed, and thereby seduced by this theme. I also think that working with issues of isolation and alienation work really well in the short story format. Authors can pack a meaner punch in a short story than in a drawn out novel.

AMC’s season finale of Mad Men paved the way for another great, original series The Walking Dead. Originally a comic book by Robert Kirkman, The Walking Dead just might be the best, smartest zombie story since Danny Boyle’s 28 Days Later. Kirkman’s series is less macro, more micro.

Comic books and graphic novels aren’t supposed to be mediums for mopery (that’s for indie rock and Stephanie Meyers books, right?). They revel in the strong and the superhuman. Men with shirt ripping muscles, women with self-confidence to match their kung fu skills. Machines that defy space and time and logic and hand held gadgets that perform any kind of bidding thy will wants it to. And I guess they have Peter Parker, too.

Novelist John Brandon has a knack for creating unsympathetic characters that you root for despite your better judgments. And with his debut Arkansas , about midway through you kind of get the sense that, gee, this is going to end badly .

Those who think historical fiction is a waste of time better just move on. Those who think that historical characters and events can’t be rendered through the literary lens of powerful fiction should just stick with history texts.