Question of the Week – Favourite Non-Superhero Book

As much as we love capes and masks here at GRCT, it’s time to shine the light on our favourite current non-superhero book. No X-Men, Avengers or Bats in this one!

Fables – Bill Willingham

My top pick was already done by Angel later on in this post, so I’ll do my second favorite, Fables. I’ve made it a priority to catch up on it since I’m so far behind (yay trades!), and I forgot just how much I love the fairy tales in the real world story it tells. (Which is very similar to the TV show Once Upon a Time, which is delightfully cheesy in its own way.)

Fables often delves into dark storylines, does things without favorite fairytales that I’ve never really seen before. I love the huge cast of characters, the epic stories told, and the baddest of all badasses, Frau Totenkinder.

---

Morning Glories – Nick Spencer, Joe Eisma

This book pulled me in completely from day one. The mystery alone is intriguing even without the characters and their own stories.  Why are they all going to this school, why the invites, why them? What is it about them and about this school that is so secret?

The story develops quickly with a mix of flashbacks and the developing current-day storyline, and contains enough twists to make any LOST fan happy. The twists aren’t random though, they all fit into the story, nothing simply thrown in to confuse us. Yet for each little reveal and each bit of information learned, two more questions seem to pop up.

Well written and plotted, well drawn and just amazingly put together, Morning Glories is one of those books I can’t stop talking about.

---

Scott Pilgrim- Bryan Lee O’Malley

These days, I don’t read a lot of non-superhero books. Ever since the DC reboot, I’ve got about six of those on my pull list, in addiction to the Marvel stuff I was reading before all that went down. I pick up Buffy and Angel from time to time, but the non-superhero book that is hands down my favorite is Bryan Lee O’Malley’s Scott Pilgrim series.

I’ll admit, I’m one of the fans who only became aware of the series after I heard that there was going to be a film adaptation, but I’m glad that I was able to get my hands on the first five books before the sixth one came out, because it quickly skyrocketed to one of my favorites. I think what hooked me first was that I knew absolutely nothing about the premise of Scott Pilgrim, so when Scott Pilgrim’s Precious Little Life (Volume 1) suddenly turned into a free-for-all video game battle, it was like a breath of fresh air. In addition to all the great video game references (visual and dialogue gags, both) scattered throughout all six volumes, it’s just the perfect type of humor for me. And while the series has an overall message that manages to completely convey just how it is to be in your twenties, it’s mostly just FUN.

---

The Unwritten – Mike Carey, Peter Gross

There were a few others that I was tempted to include here, but at the moment The Unwritten takes the cake. I picked the series up well after it had started (around issue nine to be exact) and went back to read what I had missed before diving in. It was a whim and I went into the series sight unseen. The premise can sound a little insane from the outside, but the mystery gets itself started fairly quickly.

It is a series that isn’t lacking on action. Sure some of the switches between planes of existence (realities? I’m not sure what to call them so I am going to call them storyverses and be done with it) can be a little confusing at first, but you get used to it. It appeals to the part of me that was a dedicated fan of Lost but gives me answers in a more satisfying manner than the show ever did. I enjoy how a lot of the adventures of Tommy Taylor harken to other fantasy fiction staples (most notably Harry Potter). It provides familiar ground, a place to latch onto that suits my nostalgia. It makes a playground of places that served as inspiration for literature. It can be kind of dark and fun at the same.

An interesting and engrossing read, it definitely wraps you up enough to keep going along with it. Plus I love that it takes its inspiration (vaguely) from the story of Christopher Milne. Equal parts mystery, fantasy romp and family story I can’t recommend it enough.