The Book I Want to Buy:
Aaron an
d Ahmed
by Jay Cantor and James Romberger; Vertigo, $24.99
This book sounds fantastic. It’s about a doctor who becomes an interrogator at Guantanamo Bay, a life change prompted by the death of his fiancee on September 11. Aaron, the doctor, is looking to understand what leads a person to choose suicide bombing. At Gitmo, he meets Ahmed, a detainee.
From reading the solicitation, it sounds like this is a very introspective book, and it has definitely gotten my interest. I’m glad to see that Vertigo is still taking chances on books like this and How to Understand Israel in 60 Days – more political books that may not blow up the sales charts, but will definitely garner attention from more literary circles.
I don’t know Cantor’s work – he’s a novelist apparently, but not one I’ve come across. Romberger was the artist on Peter Milligan’s Bronx Kill, which I enjoyed.
The Book I Think You Should Buy:
Vertigo Resurrected: Hellblazer – Bad Blood
by Jamie Delano, Philip Bond and Warren Pleece; Vertigo, $7.99
I’ll be honest – I don’t really remember this series. I wasn’t sure if I had bought it when it first came out in 2000, but after looking at the covers of the original issues on-line, I do remember them. The fact that I can’t tell you more about this than what is in the solicitation is more because I’ve read a lot of comics in the eleven years than this was published than that I didn’t like it.
It’s Jamie Delano, Philip Bond, and Warren Pleece. How could it be bad? The story is set in the future, where John is older and even more decrepit, and has something to do with the British monarchy, which is on its last legs (unlike now, where it seems to be enjoying a popular resurgence because of the upcoming wedding).
No one can quite write John Constantine like Jamie Delano, and this whole Vertigo Resurrected thing is pretty cool, so you should grab this.
So, what would you buy Were Money No Object?
