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FH/(Kllll/l l/« i. . .- . i 5 /s1J.'0Eiif/.-Wsi“‘/ ‘i;';; BOOKS SHARON NEILL . ,, , i .. [1"“1'”! = ~ 1' Sid Owen" Second Sight ., ,, ‘, ,1", j , .1 t , V‘ Wrioi O... ,‘ , . l’.-"‘ l, v .v': ""4 " ‘§ 1:) f k, I " , “A L"(I-In, ii: "‘,/‘i.' i". ..t‘. l' tlbl '. is- f), If v u' " "i \ Claw" ‘. ill Jrfllliii l"ll"l)" ii ' l tl' ‘. \l l ’,l'|i_" jl.l/fll{,ii£l ll .; , ',i ll... f‘lrvlill‘.’ . "fill . ll A" i'1 _.‘i_' (.iy'f I aim Dickie!

i' "1 Tv".i' il"'ii ° t l: i l‘ . 'i" "i‘ llii' u alut'rx ill i} ll‘i‘i.’ f ~3: ‘\('|H.’C)

Mind invasion from strange voices; spooks

Jane Clarke

."‘l. [tulip ltiis‘. that do hump in the

night; /u|u warrior spirit mates: it". all a day in

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BLACK & WI'II'I'

BAT MA

the lift: for Sharon Neill. talisman .laulsie Nixon. " H H I

and. whether you lheri- she linds a nex.’ . ‘1 I, 1.

Nauru i‘lli lt'l .‘ believe in it or not, her kind of personal

siliiriii lilo“ .‘J i. .tlltllli; autohiooraphy makes assertion ph‘~.'si(:a|, .

iii;.r»uil."iai:riwro tor lascinatinij readinij spiritual and sexual ' . 1 I , I l‘ g.‘ ‘i Blindtromhirthand whichsheturnsaijainst . .1, , (I. ,, - /.’\..i’t“ 19's,!» drowmij up during the the torces that hound F F . e US trouhles in Northern her. It s an llll(3li:f}llll(l / o H '9‘, ) I r { en erson .‘ir‘li "N

Ireland, the Belfast horn tWist on the futuristic I g o

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full time medium has; doom and gloom

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had a very unusual lite prophecy shot Wllll ' 0' I blatei and Hose

andthiswarmarid plentyotpaceandgjnt. \ heautilully Written \‘.’()l’l\ Hardly stull that Wlll 3.19M ill iE ls’ » ("'E’f‘“ mp ‘HH'FWMM gives us a (I()llll)(?lllll() have you storming; the VAR'OUS (’7 f): ‘j‘ M} WHIIMMM insight into ll. wrth plenty harricades, hut still Batman BlaCk 8‘ White VOIUme 3 "w" H” ‘1 m" '1‘" ot lainily anecdotes, poignant ltf£i(llllt) for A)“ I'M” .... “iimmw quirky humour and these dangerous and Usually at home as a simple back-up Slot in the monthly Batman: Gotham “WU/WMNV illllil/lllg encounters rainy times. Knights, Batman Black & White has taken on a life of its own and has Nada sa'eh HW’ all“) "‘0 WIN. (Mikel!!! Jacki quickly become a jewel in the crown of 00‘s myriad caped crusader titles. H‘"""””" “X 3"“

Neill includes; a lot ot \ \ A creative playground for various artists and writers to muck around with " "’”"”"“"“ 1")“ " H‘" detail in her stories; N )(’W DRAMA the concept, its short format (stories run at eight pages) with no ties to "’3“(1""‘ “mm” W“

. , . s - - - - at Hooku for (Looks

which at times. is. not Away continuuty leads to an easy air of creative freedom. So we get broad always; necessary and (Gunny!) .,.. comedy through to gritty urban noir, with just one proviso: the story needs 1" WWW] } h” more cynical readers to be in black and white. This leads to some leaps of imagination and often ~"”’""”!” ‘mU ""‘C‘lm’ may lind some ot them far more humour than the average Bat-book. The scattershot effect works mm H” Wm,” W“ a little hard to swallow perfectly; if one story sucks, simply move on to the next. And fortunately, “‘7’” However, rt only serves; 4 as with the previous two compilations, the quality far outshines the dross. to give this heart Some of the biggest names in comics are onboard with many writers warming hook more taking the b&w format as a jumping-off point to accentuate the darkness

zest and colour. So is Second Sight really hased on eerie truth or just well presented eccentric tale-telling? This is one decision you'll actually enjoy making. (Camilla Pial

and moral judgements inherent in Batman’s world of crime and punishment. Kicked off by Frank Miller‘s exemplary cover art, highlights include Mark Schultz’ tale of desperate last resorts (‘The Call‘); the wham bam of Doug Alexander and Rob Haynes’ silent entry (‘Punchline’); a subtly uplifting story from Alex Garland and artist Sean Philips (‘Sunrise‘); and a twisted study of addiction from Geoff Johns (‘Fear is the Key’). This volume is reassuringly entertaining, diverse and fast-paced. (Henry Northmore)

iurunisric DRAMA . Stiéri'ltl‘fail‘iitiitl" liti'ltll"’l till‘ .3: 1's}

The Carhullan Army Amy Bloom's latest in frorut of It»: rr-a 2:" 'srw " : (Emmy .,. noyel follows; the l()lllll(?\' l illian Merset ;s Es}! n.’ t, :11.» :' . , ' 1' z' :'

otlillian.aRussian (“)lllti‘pfu’l:tf141"itlul. "t--'-~'_r‘:.:' : z" is : ~ " '::-- :' :. ' COllSltlt‘llllS] the recent woman who watches; :r'ian. wnr, .-..r:at' I i : " x. i" i -- ;'- , - " 1' 1' : spate of unseasonahle her tami|\ heino hr'utall\ the man. ~11. ir'. . t' at t'--,;'_‘ :w 2 : T' " ' -- 2. 2' "I i' . weather and car homhs. killed and then travels to letter litrl .-.:tl‘ " w,- it ' ; : " :. ' "2 ' z. r . :- Sar'ah Hall's third novel America to escape resilience .i'Yli :5 2' l-‘im :' " . ; '- : ' z w: " w: ~ can't help but have a those memories and her l};tf»f§.t'{1fii”~f{ ta“ " I. _ V 1 " w ;~ .- :' ; :-.:-' .: . ' I certain resonance. Set country Once there. the s: 'Y‘it'il'l‘iz'f~ ‘xs' :1 . "DEL'A'NEY - , ' it. ' ' in a not too distant plot rockets through a, rrmste' sun: li’w' Get Smashe ' . : 1'.' '- 1’} ' 1' ; .." future. where the number of settings and arzrseai fw i ,4 . . e. .,. , " "- ' I 41w" v' ’,i " 5w 1' combination of rising quirky, screlldrawn i‘ ‘:»:;t\ . tx- ' ‘. I A I.’ H I ' z: : .' 2'. . ' ':.:- i . tides and an ongomg characters worth\ of any-u; t ti 22w '; ' ,' -- . "12' --r’, " '; ' ’1 net :‘ tight against faceless Angela Carter: The more: e" z e: i' °' w T i. "' ,z' s : ~ :, " 2" ‘,‘r:'-': ’w' I: .' i’ foreign enemies has colours are Vi\'id. but the ("iar‘iters lit u ' :’I.i;'°, ; ; ‘_ .; , ° r z. ': .-',- 72' 3:": ‘sz‘f ‘0' 32‘ caused the collapse of enCOunters are so pace and s'w-r r ' ‘_' a', w: t' " w vs»: -': '-::. , ' ' r.- " s: cm s: x" 800ml order in Britain, breathlesst shon it‘s certain cassaarrr 1 1'1; ,‘ it‘flw :' : '-: ' -’ '- : ./‘ f 2-9' The Car/iiJI/anArmy hard to grasp the minim-a to creafw a' r l i‘ .::~- ' ':.' .' :1" ':- r: ' z ; Ca”,- ’. " (xxx

14 THE LIST 9‘16 Aug 300”