El Invierno del Dibujante by Paco Roca. (The Winter of the Cartoonist)

❤ 🖤 🤍 💚 💙

Based on famous Spanish Cartoonists work and real events. This comic tells the story of five Cartoonists who, tired of being exploited by the publishers they worked for (and the censorship by the Franco regime), decided to go their own way starting their own comic magazine.

I cannot express with words how much I enjoyed this comic. The story is so well told. The dialogues and the beautiful artwork so gripping and emotional at points. I read this in one long sitting. Not that the book is long, it's only 120 pages long, but I had to stop in every panel to look and admire the characters' faces and gestures. This not only shows a snapshot of Spanish post-war history but most importantly transmits the passion and love for art and comics.

The Inugami curse by Seishi Yokomizo. Translated by Yumiko Yamazaki

A fantastic murder mystery with amateur detective Kosuke Kindaichi.

This book was great fun. A family hungry for money wait to know the content of the Will their patriarch left when he died. All want a slice of the cake or the whole cake. Kindaichi arrives to this town called by one of the family's lawyers, but the lawyer is killed before the detective can talk to him. Then the Will is read but it's content is dreadful. One family member is killed and then another.

I loved the plot, the mystery, the uncovering of clues, the family secrets and the murders. More than that I loved Kindaichi at work. If you like Christie you might like this novel.

Permutation City by Greg Egan

This a story about virtual realities, simulations and immortality. Can software be "conscious"? Are digital beings and digital humans alive? In this novel people can make digital copies of themselves and wake them in a virtual universe where they can "live" forever or so it seems. But but but are those copies the same person? The main protagonist comes up with an idea, build his own universe and sell it to millionaire copies with a promise of immortality. And once immortality is achieved what do you do with your time? So far so good. However I missed some ideas at the core of the story, "dust theory" is one of them. Also got lost when the main character computed various states of his copy in different orders. The result led him to hire someone to design a primordial cell for his new cosmos, etc. Regardless of my confusion, I enjoyed this book considering that it is a Concept-driven novel (as opposed to character or plot driven). Characters felt flat to me, until the last pages where I somehow could grasp their humanity in their desperation (or lack thereof) to live.

Streets of Paris Streets of Murder. The Complete Graphic Noir of Manchette + Tardi

B E A U T I F U L. ❤ 🤍 💙 🧡 🖤

Outstanding, chilling. Story and art-wise. An immersive experience. There's almost no good character in any of these stories but there's tabaco, alcohol, drugs, knives and guns. There are 4 complete stories and 2 incomplete ones, including a 1 page one.

I particularly loved some panels in West Coast Blues showing the names of the Jazz pieces the main character was listening to. They setup the mood perfectly.

I don't know which story is my favourite. I liked them all the same.

I recommend this to any fan of noir fiction. Don't miss the opportunity. This Fantagraphics realise is work of art.

Penance by Kanae Minato

It's gripping and thrilling. This story focuses on the consequences of crime. How crime affects the victims and others close to them. There's the murder but also words which can traumatise people.

Really good BUT I prefer her novel Confessions.

The Films of Akira Kurosawa by Donald Richie

A comprehensive and meticulous look into all 30 Kurosawa Kurosawa films. One by one. Excellent essays but better to read them in small doses. Before reading this book I had watched 8 or 9 of his films some of the Samurai ones + Ikiru + Dreams. This book has opened my eyes to his artistic genius work. Not all his films are at the level of Seven Samurai or Ikiru but I want to watch the rest. Last weekend I saw Stray Dog, a film noir. It's slow but beautiful. I liked Mifune and Shimura a lot and the claustrophobic and steamy atmosphere. There is a scene I liked with Mifune by the phone, sweating, desperate...

A Fire Upon the Deep by Vernor Vinge

This is a space opera with Artificial Intelligence turned Singularities turned gods. A pessimistic view of a future with AI. AI are called Powers and can toy with humans and other biological races. They can be mean but they can be controlled and usually cease to exist in a few years. The novel focuses on a mega Power born because some humans decided to unbury ancient secrets. The Power is the most powerfull Perversion anyone has seen and is threatening to destroy the galaxy. A group of humans try to escape with a cargo of sleeping children. Their spaceship fails and they have to land n a planet in the Low Beyond. The planet is inhabited by dog-like creatures stuck in a middle age level civilisation.

A rescue mission is organised but then the Perversion sends a fleet to that planet, no one knows why but there must be something important in that ship. On their way the Perversion destroys planets and entire civilisations.

I loved the premise of this novel. Though I'm not particularly fond of pessimistic views of AI I liked the idea of having sentient, powerful AIs emerging everywhere in the galactic network. I loved the concept of the Galactic Zones. In this universe the Milky Way is divided into zones of thought by some "unknown force". The Unthinking Depths hosting beings with limited mind around it the slow zone, with biological but no Artificial Intelligence. On top of that, the Beyond, divided in Low, Middle and High, each with higher intelligence potential with AI and faster than light travel. Above the High Beyond there is the Trascend, the home of AI or organic beings who have transcended. A place where AI can surpass Singularities.

I didn't like: the middle age civilisation. More than a third of the book takes place in that world and I could not enjoy it. I wanted futuristic settings! I wanted to know about the zones of thought and the Perversion!! Ididn't find the dog-people too interesting (apart fromthembeingmultiples, beings with many bodies sharing one mind) or their culture.