The Bruiser

 

by Jim Tully, Mark Dawidziak (Introduction), Paul J. Bauer (Introduction)

Publisher ‏: ‎ The Kent State University Press / Black Squirrel Books (June 7th, 2010)

Softcover, 248 pages

Amazon Listing

“A battalion of huge, black and white clouds moved slowly up from the west and completely obscured the blazing sun for a moment. It burned through them, more appallingly hot than ever. A sprinkle of rain, not dried by the blazing sun, fell over the audience of a hundred and fifty thousand.

“A box containing the new gloves was brought into the ring. The bandages were adjusted.

“Managers and chief seconds handed them from one to the other. Sully’s second took a pair and twisted them about, then stopped to wipe his face with a handkerchief. He quickly put the piece of linen in the neck of his collarless jersey shirt, and jammed his right hand into the glove. Taking his hand out and twisting the glove again, he fitted it on Sully’s outstretched paw.”

Jim Tully, along with Dashiell Hammet, was the creator of the hard-boiled style of American writing. This style was later picked up and refined by Ernest Hemingway, H. L. Mencken, and Raymond Chandler, but Tully stands out from all these others. They simply wrote in the style. He lived it. The introduction describes him as the biggest longshot in American literature. Growing up poor, abandoned by his family to an orphanage, Tully spent much time tramping about as a bum, a circus hand, and -for a short time - a boxer.

Original Cover for The Bruiser

Originally published in 1936, The Bruiser may have been one of Tully’s more successful novels - at least successful enough to be reprinted several times over the next few decades. Though his true success seems to come from his autobiographical works, The Bruiser was the exception to the rule. If there is one flaw, which many modern readers have pointed out, is the uneven flow of the narrative. It is choppy, like a rough cut piece of ice, and sometimes jolting as the action jerks the reader into an area, brings up a plot point, and then resolves it behind the scenes.

Tully wanted this to be as realistic a picture of boxing life as is possible, hence the irregular action. And I must admit he succeeded. It is a very knowledgeable look at boxing, complete with punchy old boxers, sleazy rip-off managers, and the general corruption which has been always associated with the sport. This is all wrapped around the traditional story of a young man going up the ranks of his chosen sport, and wondering if it is with all the trouble.

  For more readings, try books by Rex Hurst

Original Bantam Book Cover

American Blood

 

by Benjamin Marra

Publisher ‏: ‎ Fantagraphics; Illustrated edition (September 27, 2016)

Hardcover, 208 pages

Amazon Listing

This is a collection of independent comics by indie artist Benjamin Marra. For those who are unaware of his work, buckle up. These are weird, ultra-violent, foul-mouthed pieces of work, and I couldn’t put the book down. I feel as if many of these works have something very profound to say about American society and culture, I just don’t know what the hell it is. Seven stories are encapsulated here, each of varying skill and achievement. Some are well done, others are barely passable. Marra’s art may not be for everyone. Many have said that his style is stiff or amateurish, while that certainly can be seen in these early works, I still had a lot of fun reading this book.  

The first tale is that of the Gangsta Rap Posse - which is exactly what you might think- a gangster rap group who, for two issues, run about killing everyone in their path, smoking weed, selling crack, putting women out to be prostitutes, and almost recording an album. It treads the line between parody and insanity so closely, that I can’t tell. Next is the tale of Lincoln Washington a freeman who tries to start a farm in Butchergrass, SC after the Civil War and run afoul of a false rape accusation and the Klan. Violence ensues and our hero rips a few people in half. Next is Maureen Dowd, an investigative reporter, whom every man wants, looking into the Bush Jr. administration, while navigating a date with George Clooney. Ultra-violence ensues. This story proves that nothing goes staler faster than political humor or comment. Ten years ago, this was cutting edge. Now it’s old hat and ancient history. 

Ripper and Friends is a funny animal story with lots of shitting, pissing, drugs, sex, and violence. It reminds me most of the underground comix from the 1960s with its attempt to take what looks like kid’s fare and sexualize it. But again, I’ve seen it done better and becomes a little tedious after about ten pages. Zorion: The Sword Lord is perhaps the oddest one in style. First, it looks like I used to draw in the margins of my high school notebook, and then periodically the art gets worse and worse until it’s almost a doodle, as if the artist was rushing to get it done. This is not to say it isn’t fun, but it’s definitely indie fare. Essentially Zorion is a futuristic barbarian type who kills everything and has sex with all the women. Again, parody or insanity? You be the judge. 

The last two has some of the best art in the book, and may take place in the same universe as Zorion, but who knows? The Naked Heroes are a duo of interdimensional singers who get trapped up in a dimension where all the powers-that-be want to capture them and steal their souls. They solve the problem by shooting everyone. Blades and Lazers are a pair of bi-racial “Galacto-Demon Hunters” hired to destroy a massive demon which they do with blades and lasers. Not much to be said about these two, except you know it will be violent. 

For more readings, try books by Rex Hurst

The Fall (Action)

 

by Jared Muralt 

Publisher: Image Comics (March 23, 2021)

Softcover, 152 pages 

Amazon Listing 

Collecting the first six issues of the Kickstarter funded series, this book was originally published in French and certainly has a very European vibe to it. Which is good in my opinion, we have had many, many stories of society collapsing set in the United States - many actually written by Europeans - but this is the first one I’ve read - and maybe I just need to expand my reading pool - set in Europe. The blurbs constantly compare it to The Walking Dead, to attract American audiences no doubt, but apart from the collapse of civilization, The Fall is its own unique book. 

Set in the German speaking section of Switzerland, a deadly flu has been ravaging the continent, killing large numbers of the population - Gee, I wonder what his inspiration was? After his wife succumbs, a man must protect and provide for his two children and a baby picked up along the way. Starvation, dehydration, infection, and predators all of sudden become the forefront of their lives. While not the most brutal of these types of stories, it does not shy away from animal death - you gotta eat - child suffering, rape - not actually shown - and sexual coercion. 

The book is mainly plot driven, with not much character development except that certain people go from being alive to dead. There are also no division pages given between issues, so sometimes the action takes a major leap from one page to the next. It would be less jarring, had the issue numbers or covers been included between each chapter. This is also not a complete story. It is only part one and ends on a bloody cliffhanger, with all the character’s fates up in the air. Let’s hope there is a lot more of this story to follow.

  For more readings, try books by Rex Hurst

Gods and Goddesses (The Enchanted World)

 

by The Editors of Time-Life Books 

Publisher ‏: ‎ Time Life Education; First Edition (May 1, 1988) 

Hardcover, 143 pages 

Amazon Listing

"There was at time's beginning, a land whose Kings were gods. This was Egypt, womb of magic and birthplace of the sun. In every generation, its Pharaoh was a deity, the scion of a dynasty that began at the Creation. He was the lineal descendant and literal incarnation of Ra, the solar patriarch, of falcon-eye Horus, and Osiris, lord of the underworld. His subjects hailed him as the source of all life, shepherd of the land, guardian of the harvests, controller of the Nile. Under his hand, Egypt flourished.”  

With a title like Gods and Goddesses it doesn’t take much to figure out what the theme will be for the 21st and final volume of Time-Life’s Enchanted World series. It’s a fitting conclusion to this incredible series. So many of the stories revolve around the deities of our dead ancestors that it's only fitting they become an object of speculation in themselves.  

Four chapters are presented here, each dealing with a different pantheon. The mythology of Egypt, Greece, India, and Norse peoples are explored in depth. Occasionally a story from a different culture is inserted between chapters, but these four are the primary tales. They are in depth and as true to the original myths as I can tell. In the end, I preferred the chapter on Indian mythos - simply because I was very familiar with the creation mythos of the other three chapters, and the Indian one was something relatively new. 

For more readings, try books by Rex Hurst

The Surrogates (Science Fiction)

 

by Robert Venditti  (Author) & Brett Weldele (Artist) 

Publisher : ‎ Top Shelf Productions (September 12, 2006)

Softcover, 208 pages

Amazon Listing

As you may or may not know, this graphic novel - the original series - was made into a film starring Bruce Willis in 2009. While the book and film begin similarly enough, they alter course pretty quickly after the first two surrogates are electrocuted. People are living their lives remotely from the safety of their own homes via robotic surrogates - mechanical representations of themselves. It's an ideal world where crime, pain, fear and consequences don't exist. But most of the population is shut away in homes. We see all sorts here – people gender swapping, alteration of physicality, and even insane activist groups hell-bent on destroying the surrogate population. 

The plot flows at an even pace. Sci-fi noir, police detection mixed with science fiction elements, being the key. We are balanced with the main character abandoning his own surrogate in order to catch a madman with a plan to plunge the entire city, 92% of which are people who have given their lives over to living via robot, into darkness. This is juxtaposed against the protagonist's own personal life. His wife is a person who cannot conceive of a life without her surrogate. 

Various additional news reports and histories and articles from fictional sources are included after each chapter. These real help build a fascinating world where everything is run via remote and all risks to the individual are eliminated. It is as if every person is in a panic room and working, afraid to come out. The one thing the book didn’t address was that this inevitably would result in a population decrease of catastrophic proportions. The next generation of children would be a fraction of the normal amount, if everyone only used robots as sexual surrogates. Besides this point, an excellent story overall in art and plot. 

  For more readings, try books by Rex Hurst

The Secret Arts (The Enchanted World)

 

 By the Editors of Time-Life Books 

Publisher: ‎Time Life Education (July 1, 1987)

Hardcover, 143 pages

Amazon Listing 

"In the dangerous times when demons lurked in the shadows by day and sought to enter mortal dwellings by night, people used what tools they could to shelter themselves and their loved ones from harm. A thorough versing in the lore of charms, the traditional antidotes to evil, provided the best hope of success. 

"In cases of supernatural assault, the weakest points of any home were its apitures - doors, windows, and especially the wide chimneys. Such inviting entrances needed constant protection.. A simple wooden post, carved with bands and crosses, Might be set up against the hearth against the incursion of witches." 

This is book 20 in The Enchanted World series by Time-Life Books. The penultimate volume, it really acts as a companion piece to the first book, Wizards and Witches. In that first volume, it discussed three traditions of wizards - the lowest being the book learned mage who sought answers of the beyond through grimoires and other magical texts. This book directly discussed the methods and tools used by this third tier of mage. 

This book discussed the various methods of divination - looking at the entrails of sacrificed animals, ripples of rocks in water, reading the lines in palms, crystal balls and polished skulls; The mediums of magic- through mommets, songs, and written curses; the tools of the mage - how to make a magic wand, construction of magic rings, uses of the magicians sword and dagger. All in all a thorough examination of the art. However, the use of stories is at a minimum here. Far less than in other volumes, but the art included is just as impressive as always. 

  For more readings, try books by Rex Hurst

Tales of Terror (The Enchanted World)

 

by the Editors of Time/Life Books

Publisher: ‎ Time Life Education (March 1, 1987)

Hardcover, 143 pages

AmazonListing 

“Beneath its brilliant Aegean skies, the land of Greece was the scene of many horrors: bacchanalian orgies of rape, death and human sacrifice. But no tale of the ancient poets was so blood-soaked as that curse that fell upon the noble House of Atreus: a malignity that, once conjured into being, thrived for generations, spawning madness, despair and obscenities beyond imagining. “ 

This is number 19 in The Enchanted World series put out by Time/Life books back in the 1980s, and I have to say there has never been a better collection of old tales, legends, folklore, and myths. While it isn’t by any means complete, the production value of the books themselves - beautifully bound in hardcover with amazing illustrations throughout - make this series a treasure to own. 

This volume is a little different from the others. Yes, it is thematic to terror, but it doesn’t attempt to shape a narrative throughout the entire book. There are thirteen chapters in this volume - OOOO spooky - as opposed to the normal three, and the stories are simply presented without much context. Occasionally a few of the chapters have one or more tales in them, especially the ones dealing with werewolves or ghostly travelers, but overall, the tales jump from chapter to chapter. Despite this, I found it an easier read than some of the previous volumes - or perhaps the theme was just more to my liking. 

The tales come from all over. Ancient Greece, old Russia, war-torn Brittany, mythic Persia. Wherever a story or legend, might dip over into the realm of horror, where the protagonist usually comes to a bad end. it is fair game for this volume. My particular favorite was Chapter 8 “Bloodguilt of a Royal House” which dealt, from beginning to end, with the curse put on the ancient house of Atreus - beginning with the betrayal of Pelops and ending with the Furies scourging Oriesties. 

  For more readings, try books by Rex Hurst

The Book of Beginnings (The Enchanted World)

by the Editors of Time-life Books (Author)

Publisher ‏: ‎ Time Life Education; First Edition (May 1, 1987)

Hardcover, 143 pages

Amazon Listing

“In the lands far to the north, in the lost ages when it seemed that the night lasted all winter long, the storytellers would gather around roaring fires to sing away the darkness. Old women, whirling distaffs, told of life as it used to be in the days of their grandmothers’ grandmothers. The healers and shamans, their fingers stained with the juices of potent herbs using in their mysterious work, recounted great deeds and sorrows from the morning of their race. As they passed round the beaker of mead, each bard would take it in turn to sing or speak an old story.”

An amazing look at origins stories from around the world. This book sets itself apart from many of its ilk, simply by incorporating so many cultures under this banner and then demonstrating the similarity between them all. Like Joyce’s term, the monomyth, this book strives to show the similarity between all forms of tales, yet still retain a sense of cultural identity. I was quite happy to see more than just a look at Norse and Greek myths - they are included, but not more represented than any other culture. Thus this book contains many myths of which I hadn’t read before.

Chapter One - “Out of Chaos” focuses on those stories which - if you can’t guess - deal with the creation of the world. Most of the tales have the same elements, an area of chaos is tamed by the will of a shaper deity; water is somehow fundamental to the beginning of life, and well as the monsters of the world being tamed by the Gods for mankind to exist. Chapter Two - “Celestial Lore” - deals with the various legends surrounding the creation of the firmament - the moon, the stars, and the sun. Unlike the previous chapter, there are incredible differences from story to story. Very imaginative material here, ripe for the plucking. Chapter Three - “The Dance of Life” - handles the creation stories that detail how a specific animal or plant was created. How the animals got their tails, how the violet was created, how frogs were born, etc. These are a little more predictable, as each creature is usually created by some pissed off deity. 

     For more readings, try books by Rex Hurst

Lobster Johnson vol. 5: The Pirate's Ghost & Metal Monsters of Midtown (Horror)

 

by Mike Mignola (Author), John Arcudi (Author), Tonci Zonjic (Illustrator), Dave Stewart (Illustrator)

Publisher ‏: ‎ Dark Horse Manga; Illustrated edition (December 26, 2017)

Softcover, 168 pages

Amazon Listing

For those who are unaware, Lobster Johnson is a spin-off character from the Hellboy universe. He is first mentioned as a throwaway character in Wake the Devil and actually appears for the first time in The Conqueror Worm as a ghost who helps Hellboy defeat brain-in-a-bottle Herman von Klempt and the Ogdru Jahad. In this series, set in the 1930s, he resembles the type of pulp masked vigilante common for the era such as The Clown or The Shadow. He is known simply as the Lobster, due to his habit of branding his kills with a lobster claw shaped burn. It wasn’t until after his death that his alter-ego was uncovered and became known as Lobster Johnson. Two three-issue arcs are collected here. 

The first arc is “Metal Monsters of Midtown” and demonstrates that the best part of these Hellboy spin-offs is when they reuse or expand upon a part of the Hellboy Universe already uncovered in a previous volume. In this case, three men from Zinco industries run across a cache of Hyborian technology, high up in the middle of nowhere - as they tended to be. They create giant metal robots operated by remote mental control from the technology, but find themselves addicted to the experience. Lobster Johnson and crew take it upon themselves to take these destructive devices down. 

The second arc “The Pirate's Ghost” is not as good as the first, and is a sequel to “Get the Lobster” a ghostly pirate ship appears on the Hudson River, and the Lobster’s hunt for a major mob boss may have something to do with it. Old villains pop up, the female character is kidnapped and it becomes the object of a hunt. Very over-the-top and the plan doesn’t really make much sense, but the action is fun. 

  For more readings, try books by Rex Hurst