Mickey's Craziest Adventures (2016)

French comic creators Lewis Trondheim and Nicolas Keramidas hit a phenomenal historical find some time ago, discovering an incomplete run of the long-forgotten Mickey's Quest comic book at a jumble sale. Within this obscure comic book, copies of which don't even exist in Disney's archives any more, there was a one-page serial titled "Mickey's Craziest Adventures". Together Trondheim and Keramidas have carefully restored and translated the surviving one-page strips and packaged them together into a 48-page collected edition recently released in English by IDW.

Not really: it's all a fake-out. In truth Trondheim has written and Keramidas has illustrated a stunning and hilariously entertaining set of one-page strips themselves, replicating the tone and style of Walt Disney's old comic book serials with a jaw-dropping sense of accuracy. It really does feel like it is what it claims to be: a bunch of 1960s comic strips rediscovered after decades of obscurity. Readers drawn to the book based on Trondheim's past original works may go away disappointed, as the tone hews much more closely to old-style Disney than Trondheim's style. Readers looking for a clever new take on old-fashioned Disney comics with a distinctive artistic edge will enjoy this book enormously.

Divinity (2015)

At the height of the Cold War, the Soviet Union sends one cosmonaut  - the orphan Abram Adams - further into deep space than any human being before or since. Now, decades later, he has unexpectedly returned to Earth. He is no longer entirely human. He is unimaginably powerful. Earth's most talented superhumans venture to the Australian outback to contain their mysterious new foe - but he may be too great a challenge for them.

Divinity is a four-issue miniseries by American comic book publisher Valiant. It is a superb book, one subsequently collected by Valiant into an over-sized hardcover book with an extensive appendix of rough designs and process artwork. In fact it is so handsomely packaged that it should service as a model for future collected editions of this type. Everything about it is gorgeous: the design, the layout, the packaging and the art.

Oh the art. Trevor Hairsine's pencils are tremendously detailed, and then accentuated wonderfully by Ryan Winn. Thanks to the appendix it is possible to see just how much each artist contributes to the book's overall look, as does colourist David Baron. This was hands-down one of the most attractive superhero books of 2015, and when collected together it is only more impressive.

Nemo: Heart of Ice (2013)

In 1925 Janni Dakkar, daughter of the legendary Captain Nemo, has taken command of the submarine Nautilus. Pursued by a team of American bounty hunters, she follows in the path of her father's notorious failed expedition to Antarctica - uncovering a mysterious inhuman civilization as she goes.

That's the basic premise of Nemo: Heart of Ice, a relatively self-contained graphic novel written by Alan Moore with art by Kevin O'Neill. It's a spin-off from their immensely popular The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, that ran for two series at DC Comics before expanding to include The Black Dossier and the three-volume Century sequel. The idea behind the League books, in case you've never read them nor seen the fairly dire 20th Century Fox film adaptation, is that all of the protagonists of literature live in the same fictional world, and not only interact with one another but form superhero-like teams capable of defending the world against super-villains and monstrous invaders.

Heart of Ice is the first of three spin-off books focused on Nemo's daughter, and to a large extent it brings back much of what made the original volumes so popular. A key part of the enjoyment of a League book is spotting all of the literary cameos and allusions. Heart of Ice is no different, weaving in elements from H.P. Lovecraft, Herman Melville, and even Edward Stratemeyer's Tom Swift novels.

Superman Earth One: Volume 3 (2015)

DC Comics publishes a range of graphic novels under the "Earth One" banner. They basically tell all-new versions of their most popular superheroes, from the beginning, unsaddled by several years of continuity, and published in broadly self-contained 128 page increments. I loved the idea, but the production pace has left a little to be desired. Since the launch of Superman Earth One in 2010 they have published just six volumes: two starring Batman, one starring the Teen Titans, and three starring Superman.

Superman Earth One: Volume 3 was published in February 2015, and sees writer J. Michael Straczynski teamed up with a new artist: Ardian Syaf, replacing earlier artist Shane Davis. It picks up pretty much where Volume 2 left off: Superman has revealed himself to the world, but his impromptu actions - including violently unseating a North African dictator - have made him a potential enemy to the Earth's governments. At the same time, an alien pod crash-lands on the Earth, containing an unexpected passenger: Zod-El, Superman's uncle and the only other survivor of the planet Krypton's destruction.

Pretty Deadly Vol 1: The Shrike (2014)

The western genre collides with folklore and even light horror in Pretty Deadly, a new comic book by writer Kelly Sue DeConnick and artist Emma Rios. It's an often-times thrilling read, and a has a lot within it to recommend. It's also maddeningly frustrating, sketchily illustrated and occasionally a little confusing. After reading this first volume The Shrike, which collects the first five monthly issues, I can't say my time was wasted. I can't say I'm in a rush to read a second volume.

A blind man goes on the run across the American west, a young girl in a vulture-feather cape named Sissy in tow. They're running from Death's daughter, a mysterious and deadly gunfighter with skull marks on her face and a penchant for violence. This is all told in retrospect by a rabbit and a butterfly.

The book's rich with magical realism and atmosphere, and certainly in this regard it excels. DeConnick has developed a very specific unsettling mood to the book, which does seem as if it could be rich with story potential. Sadly the story that's told feels too sparsely told, and in the end a little too rushed. It all seems like a pile of regrettable missed opportunities.

The Pull List: Graphic Novels Special #1

I've been reading quite a few graphic novels lately, generally borrowed from my local library, so I thought it might be worth having a quick look over them and see what they were like.

Halo: Initiation

Dark Horse. Written by Brian Reed. Art by Marco Castiello.

At the end of 2014 Dark Horse lose their lucrative Star Wars license, and that leaves a massive hole in the company's publishing schedule - not to mention a massive void in the middle of their revenue going forward. One thing they seem to be playing with as a possible replacement is a string of videogame licenses. They're already having quite a lot of success with Mass Effect, and with Halo: Initiation they've started up adapting the popular Xbox franchise as well. It's slightly odd that they've got the Halo license, since it used to belong to Marvel - who now have the Star Wars license. Swings and roundabouts, I guess.

This is a very nicely packaged book, collecting a four-issue miniseries (or it might be the first story arc of an ongoing - I'm not sure) into a slick hardcover volume. It tells a pretty solid action-adventure tale as well, setting up the lead characters for what I assume will be further adventures. Marco Castiello's artwork is excellent, and really boosts the script. Obviously you're going to get more out of this book if you're familiar with the Halo videogames, but I don't think that's necessary. It's an enjoyable slice of military SF regardless. (3/5)

Under the cut: reviews of Iron Man: The Secret Origin of Tony Stark, Iron: Or, the Water After, and Savage Wolverine: Kill Island.