Tom Peyer

It's back to school season as I write this review....so I am already gearing up for Halloween. I am going to stuff my head full of all the horror, ghosts, ghoulies and things that go bump in the night that I can until that time of year where things morph from fall to jingle bells. As that gets earlier every year, I start reading horror earlier each year. My Halloween time must not be encroached upon by Santa Claus! Soon I will be reading Poe at Easter. I have already seen one dollar store in show more the area with Christmas ornaments for sale. Made me rush home and start filling up my horror TBR pile.

I always start out with more light hearted stuff.....horror mixed with comedy, cheesy plots, stories that could be late late night movies.

I saw a graphic novel with an obviously dead drunk (or maybe drunk and dead would be a better way to put that) Edgar Allan Poe with a goblet of very suspicious looking liquid. Edgar Allan Poe's Snifter of Terror? Oh hell yeah I'm reading that! Immediate click. I will review weird stuff like this all day long! What fun!

Now....I do have to say....I am usually quite defensive about Mr. Poe. He has been maligned since his death in 1849. He's been accused of being a pedophile (for marrying his young cousin), a drunk, a drug addict....and the story goes that before his death he was found raving nonsense in a gutter in the midst of a fatal overdose. Well....when your obituary in the newspaper is written by an enemy, anything is bound to be said....right?? I have always been of the opinion that Poe was attacked, poisoned, met a fate not completely of his own fault.....and then his reputation was ruined by jealous fellow writers, journalists and sleeze buckets because he was no longer able to defend himself. Shit rakers. Now this could be true....totally untrue.....or partially true.....or a flight of fancy by people who love Poe's dark writing. I'm always keen to give people the benefit of a doubt. That being said.....I also have a sense of humor. And I think Poe did too. So this comic did not upset me as a Poe fan....I chuckled at the artwork, the mangling of his stories for fun and the lovely little horrific wonders in this illustrated anthology. It is better to be open and honest about poking fun.....rather than sneakily do it to ruin someone as the shit rakers in 1849 did.

Some caution is needed here -- this anthology is not for kids or those easily offended. There is a bit of harmless nudity. No dangly bits.....just some butt cheeks. But for those who don't want to see an artistic representation of Edgar's butt....you might want to pass this by. Those who really do want to see Edgar's butt might also want to pass this by.....it's not done in a booty sort of way, but rather a drunken moon fashion. There are also some illustrations of vomit and other gross things. Humorously done.....but eww. :)

The stories are varied. Some are parodies of Poe's work and some are completely original short works of horror/disgust/strangeness. I do wish they had not mixed in quite so much political satire. I am getting weary of the same old shit.....I wanted horror not thinly veiled SJW short pieces or jabs at el presidente. (Despite the fact it is very very easy to poke jabs at that certain person) One or two pieces that were political satire rather than other forms of dark comedy/horror I could have enjoyed and moved on to the rest of the darkness...but there were just too many. I found myself skimming a couple of the stories because I just wasn't interested. But....with any anthology collection (even a small one), there will be stories a reader enjoys and ones that aren't for them. Variation is the spice of life....and reading. So, I didn't make any judgments on the pieces I didn't like.....just thought of them as "not for me.''

As I finished, I couldn't help comparing this collection with MAD Magazine. Irreverent. Fun. Bit of dark jabs at every day life. And a bit of fun at Poe's expense. All in all, I enjoyed this collection! But I went in to it knowing what I was going to be reading....a reader can't pick up this book thinking it is actual horror stories. It's meant to be dark comedy, satire, strange pieces that hit sideways....all narrated by a drunken, angry Poe. Strap on your sense of humor and love of the strange before you start reading....and all will be well. No sense of humor? Walk on by, love.

This anthology collects issues 1-6 of the comic by Ahoy Comics. The artwork is great! The wrinkles on Poe's butt were quite realistic...hee hee. :) Loved the snark! Not sure if that was really Poe's butt though.....it may have been a stunt butt. :)

**I voluntarily read an advance readers copy of this book from Diamond Book Distributors via NetGalley. All opinions expressed are entirely my own. I did not laugh at Poe during my reading...but with him...sort of. Maybe. A bit. ** show less

I thought this was a very good book. My only major complaint is that it doesn't really seem to mesh with the main "House of M" story's continuity at all, but that's hardly the biggest problem. (I assume the House of M world has its own multiverse designation in any case, and that this would then be events as they'd unfold if uninterrupted by the 616 Scarlet Witch breakdown.) The graphic novel stands on its own quite well, showing a superstar Peter Parker inwardly tortured by guilt over how show more he has everything he wants in life, all built on a single little lie. Seeing his father figures Ben Parker and Captain Stacy alive and active in his life is interesting, seeing his completely changed dynamic with J. J. Jameson is fun, and the central twist feels dark and intriguing. Two thumbs up. show less

High Heaven: The Austerity Gospel is an entertaining read but also a bit of a disappointment. Not sure how much of that is with the book and how much with my expectations. I am rating slightly higher simply because I like the concept, or what I perceive it to be.

The story, such as it is, is mediocre. Two stories really, how David and Ben end up in heaven and then the story of what takes place there. I didn't dislike the narrative, I just didn't really like it either, it simply was.

The idea show more of there being levels of heaven is where the interest is for me. I know that some people see it as "regular" people get a regular heaven while those who did more get high heaven, but that isn't how I read it. I read it as illustrating the asinine doctrine of prosperity or austerity Christianity. That those people who have more in this life will have more in the next. Not that they did more to make the world or other people's lives better, just that they have and get and especially keep more than other people. In other words, a destructive capitalistic heaven. The majority of people in regular heaven learned in life to just be content with what was dealt to them, the crumbs from the austerity "believers." So in heaven they accept what they are dealt, a shitty heaven so that the faux believers, the prosperity/austerity people, can experience an extravagant heaven.

But, alas, the book didn't deliver what I was expecting and didn't provide a particularly strong alternative. Just some funny little comic bits and loose threads trying to be a story.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley. show less

I may have said this before but Mark Millar is a GOD! I have many fond memories of reading prior Authority graphic novels but I had heard they kind of fell off the wagon at some point. I thought this might be it but right from the beginning this book rocked! I couldn't put it down. The only complaint I have is that the punishment that some of the heroes received was so brutal physically and psychologically that it actually made me a bit uncomfortable.

What a rush!