The book for this week is about a young, bespectacled lad, from a broken home who suddenly finds out that he’s to be the greatest magician ever. To be trained by some of the most powerful mages and witches, have enemies constantly trying to kill him. Plus, deal with the general pains of growing up. The book of the week is,The Books of Magic by Neil Gaiman, published by DC Comics.
Nope,sorry. Just can’t do it. Been there,done that. Let somebody else mention where JK ripped most of her ideas from (the rest of the fantasy book world mostly).
So. The real book of the week this week is Gold Digger by Fred Perry (not the tennis player), published by Antarctic Press.
Simply put, this is Tomb Raider on steroids.
Something to mention is that the comic came out well before Tomb Raider and Perry now and then likes to make a pointed reference to this. OK, Eidos and Perry both had the same idea of making Indiana Jones into a well-endowed, smart female, but sometimes………….. Nah,like I said, not going there.
Gold Digger is the tale of Gina Diggers. Her main mission in life is to discover ancient archeology. Along with her half-sisters Brittany ( a were-cheetah), and Brianna (an amalgam of the two), their adventures take them to places like The Garden of Eden, Shangri-La, The Realm of the Dead and the local giant supermarket (Brittany and Brianna being a cat and half-cat respectively, love tuna).
Their mother and father are powerful swordmasters and magicians who come from the land of Jade, so lots of Gina and Brittanys friends and enemies come from other mystical realms as well.
Its exciting, funny, full of adventure, and one of the best examples of American manga going at the moment. Perry’s art is kinetic and moves at full speed. You certainly get the feeling of movement when Britanny moves into kickass mode.
Gold Digger was printed in B/W for a long time and Perry has only made the leap to colour in the last two years. So there are two versions in graphic form at the moment. The B/W’s are finishing off that particular series, and the colour one is now into two volumes. Unfortunately, early trade paperbacks have now been discontinued and the only way to get the story from the beginning is with the Gold Brick graphics. OK, you get about 25 issues in one book but they are expensive. About £35.00 each. The latest graphics, fortunately, are much cheaper.
If your wallet can get over that, treat yourself to one of the best action/comedy comics ever.
