The Red Star by Christian Gossett

Most reviews of graphic novels begin with an apology for the subject matter. Yes, they're books full of pictures and words. Why critics seem so amazed when they're good (and they frequently are) is beyond me. While I consider graphic novels (and comic books) a worthy form of literature, most critics reserve the title for a select few books (Watchmen, The Dark Knight Returns, Sandman).

The Red Star belongs near the top of this list. Archangel studios has collected the first nine issues into a graphic novel that is simply astounding in its scope and story. The United Republics of the Red Star is a crumbling nation on the brink of civil war. The URRS has been dealt a crushing defeat by a fanatically zealous religious breakaway nation state. They're losing territory by the day, and the western world is encroaching. The armies rely on a combination of magic and traditional weapons, and the leaders rely on the standard of propaganda and greed.

Maya Antares, a URRS spellkaster, lost her husband Urik at the battle of Kar Dathra's Gate. She visits his grave every year, the soldier in her clinging to the idealism of the nation, the widow in her questioning the necessity of her actions. She learns that she is about to be redeployed on the RSS Konstantinov to the breakaway state of Nokgorka to crush a rebellion. She prepares herself for a final battle, convinced this is the place she must die to be reunited with her lost love.

In the army of Nokgorka is largely made up of children, staging a deperate attempt to break free from a government that is crushing them. Makita, a young girl and amazingly adept soldier, is on a mission from her dying father to deliver a letter.

Fates cross, and Maya and Makita's destinies become intertwined, leading to new challenges and a new direction. The crew of the Konstantinov discovers a wicked secret about their nation. They are pawns in a game of war being played out by powers far higher than any human. They are settling a score between the Gods.

The visual style of the book is amazing. Traditional hand drawn art is combined with computer rendering to create truly spectacular scenes. The characters are humanized in a way rarely seen in mainstream comics. Yes, they have idealized body types, but they also have cuts, bruises, dirt, and eyes bloodshot from crying. There are images that stay in the mind long after the book is closed, from the fall of Alexandra Goncharova, to Makita's discovery of the purpose of her mission.

The only disappointment with this book is the cliffhanger ending. Archangel studios is preparing to launch a new run of the Red Star, along with video games, possible movie, and more. Get in on the ground floor while you can!

Iron Council by China Mieville

The mark of a great book is its ability to generate genuine sympathy and empathy with the characters of the story and the world they live in. Those familiar with Bas Lag, the sprawling, strange, weird wasteland created by China Mieville will already care about its inhabitants. Those unfamiliar should read Mieville's previous efforts, Perdido Street Station and The Scar, although there is no need to. Like his other books, Iron Council stands on its own. Mieville is an author who consistently defies categorization. Is he writing Lovecraft-inspired Sci-Fi? Tolkein-inspired political commentary? Is he on drugs? Who knows? And when it's this consistently good, who cares?

You don’t read a Mieville book so much as get lost in it. His descriptions of worlds, places, minute details, and character traits make his stories present and vibrant. Mieville takes his time to make sure you care not just for a character, but for their cause. He tells tales of Bas Lag and life in the big city (New Crobuzon). The streets, dark and dreary and foreboding, are populated with misfits (and here, being a misfit means you've been "remade", your body spliced with animal parts, machinery, insect bits... you name it), anarchists, a big-brother like militia, a corrupt government, a seedy underworld, and creatures of different races all trying to get by. There are the scarab-headed khepri, the bloated, frog-like vodyanoi, the living vegetation (Cactacae), the wyrmen, the garuda, the remade (criminals), and the fReemade (those who've escaped or found freedom). None of these creatures is treated in a manner that suggests they are alien, otherworldy, or foreign. Like our society, New Crobuzon merely is. They've been living together a long time, learned each other's customs and trades, intermixed, interbred, celebrated their similarities, had race wars over their differences.

Iron Council is Mieville’s third novel set on Bas Lag, but he does not rely on familiar characters or places. Iron Council is set decades after the events of Perdido Street Station, things that changed the very face of New Crobuzon and its politics, yet these events are now only ripples that carry into the storyline, nudge it. Iron Council is a story about the price of rebellion.

The story begins with a slightly mad capitalist bent on a venture to create a train that travels around the world. The train becomes a moving city, creating its own economic system, its own internal politics, and when the money dries up, the train creates its own society. Hundreds of miles from home, the workers rebel, defeat their bosses, and unable to do anything else, they keep the train moving. Fleeing for their safety, searching for something greater. The remade become fReemade, women once used purely as tools of pleasure by men take their rightful place in society. Democracy, though unstable, is born. The Perpetual Train will never stop.

It is the story of Judah Low the golem-maker, and his close friend Cutter. They journey between the city and the train, bringing hope to those on both sides. The Iron Council inspires the rebels of New Crobuzon, first by running, then by fighting, and finally by returning to the city.

It is the story of Ori, an anarchist looking for a cause on the streets of New Crobuzon. He is slowly drawn away form his group of seditionist writers into a seedy underworld of violent resistance. Toro, the heir apparent to the legendary Jack Half-a-Prayer, is looking to overthrow the government by murdering the mayor. Ori follows Toro’s cause, but soon learns that nothing is as it seemed. His heroes all have ulterior motives, and the greater good falls in the wake of personal gain.

As the Iron Council approaches New Crobuzon, the rebellion is pushed to its breaking point by government militia forces. The leaders of the new order have to make hard decisions: sacrifice their dreams to save themselves or sacrifice themselves to keep their dreams alive?

Mieville deals with two divergent theories on how to change the future: Trust thyself, or rely on others. Ori begins with the latter and finishes with the former. The Iron Council begins with the former, and succeeds with the latter. The finale is ultimately realistic, heartbreaking, and uplifting.