A ROSE BY MANY OTHER NAMES

A Review of Alan Moore's and Kevin O'Neill's THE ROSES OF BERLIN

It's a deceptively slim volume, telling a straightforward action story. But things are never what they seem in any of the classic LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN graphic novels from Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neill. THE ROSES OF BERLIN is no exception.

First and foremost, if you've seen the movie starring Sean Connery and haven't read the novels, then please, you need to wipe your memory clean. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the movie as a great mash-up of classic literary characters - it's a wild ride. But the movie has about as much in common with the novels as Bernie Gunther has with Bambi.

Here's the thumbnail synopsis of THE ROSES OF BERLIN. It begins with Captain Nemo's pirate daughter, Janni, happily raiding German shipping. She learns that an airship carrying her daughter and her son-in-law has been shot down. The daughter went down with the ship and is assumed dead. Her husband is being tortured in Berlin. Janni, worthy of her birthright, is not someone you want to go up against and now the Germans have killed her daughter. She's going to Berlin to free her son-in-law and get revenge - big time!

And that's it. Even feasting your eyes on O'Neill's incredibly quirky artwork, it won't take you but half an hour or so to read this tight tale. Some great action, great dialogue and a... different Berlin. Nothing to it, right?

Wrong!

To read a LEAGUE novel, you have to slap on your fedora and become Indiana Jones because Moore packs an encyclopedia of pop culture and literary references into every volume. Don't let the size of THE ROSES OF BERLIN fool you. You'll need hours, days, maybe even weeks and months to get the full enjoyment out of it. Read on and you'll see what I mean.

The Berlin depicted here is Metropolis from the movie of the same name. It is ruled with an iron grip by the dictator from Chaplin's THE GREAT DICTATOR. Nemo and her associates are up against the robot, Maria, from Metropolis, Dr. Mabuse, Dr. Caligari and She from the Haggard novels. Along the way there are references to other Jules Verne characters, Godzilla, King Kong, The Man From U.N.C.L.E and James Bond. And those are just the biggies. Further references are made to obscure works of the time and from the 1800s. They all go in the meat grinder of Alan Moore's mind and come out in a captivating concoction that is a joy to read.

One does not read THE ROSES OF BERLIN, one excavates it! Panel by panel. If you're a pop culture junkie and just love delving into a great work with exacting precision, this new LEAGUE entry will scratch you right where you itch. If you're just in the mood for a fast-paced journey into an alternate Berlin, THE ROSES OF BERLIN will satisfy as well. Moore's strength is that the book can be read both ways. It's straight up adventure, or you can go long - you choose your level of immersion. You can also test your German reading comprehension as several pages featuring the German adversaries take authenticity to a new level and the dialogue is IN German with no subtitles.

 If you haven't read any of the LEAGUE books, then this is as good a place as any to start. THE ROSES OF BERLIN delivers. Some taut plotting and fantastic artwork - it's got everything a great comic should have. Don't miss it!

SNOOZE STATION

A Review of David Downing's Zoo Station

David Downing's Zoo Station kicks off the John Russell series, which now stands at 5 volumes. It's just turned 1939 when the novel opens and sabres are rattling. Russell, an Anglo-American journalist living in Berlin, plies his trade with his girlfriend movie star and son along to round his character out. He's a former Communist party member, a veteran of WWI with a desire to do the right thing. All the ingredients for a great Berlin Noir thriller.

Except ZOO STATION isn't. Thrilling, that is.

Downing does an exceptional job of recreating the sights and sounds of Berlin in 1939, only he does it a little too well and the novel begins to read like a travelogue. If you're a fan of books that come to a complete halt for descriptive details the reader can wallow in, then you will love ZOO STATION. If you're looking for an edge-of-your-seat adventure, look elsewhere.

Russell is going about his business when he is contacted by Soviet spies asking him to write a series of articles covering the Reich and the countries around the Germany. The idea is that if he were to fall across any sensitive information, that he will pass it on to the Soviets in exchange for the comfortable sum they will pay him for the pieces. The Nazis get wind of this deal and get him to "volunteer" to report to them on anything he might learn from the Soviets. The British learn of this and strike the same deal.

Sure, if you're a fan of spy fiction, your mouth is watering. Well, here's a napkin, stop drooling. The novel unfolds this tale at a glacial pace. Russell goes from one place to the next and we are given detailed descriptions of how he got there, what he ate, what he saw, who he met, and that's about it. He teaches English to the daughters of a Jewish family preparing to emigrate. He witnesses the launching of the Bismarck, hears Hitler gives speeches, observes Nazi cruelty and so on but none of these things affect the plot in any way. Russell writes his articles, goes to games with his son, beds his girlfriend every time they meet, then listens to her complain about the German film industry. All very slice of life, all very well presented, all dull as dishwater.

There are no thrills, no chills and your behind will stay firmly planted well back on your seat. The novel suffers from too many things happening around the characters and not too them. The result is a read rich in period detail and commendable for meticulous research but, ultimately, boring.

  

I strongly recommend ZOO STATION for the historical aspect, but not for the plot. If you're in the mood to visit Berlin, circa 1939, from the safely of your armchair, then this novel will scratch you right where you itch. If you're looking for an engaging thrilled amidst a bygone setting, you will be disappointed. ZOO STATION is a slow read on a rainy Sunday and that's about it. Also, you'll have no trouble falling asleep if you park this on on you bedside table for night time reading.

A GAME OF SIGHS

A Review of Rebecca Cantrell's A GAME OF LIES

 

This is the last of Rebecca Cantrell's books to be reviewed here at Berlin Noir, the third of the Hannah Vogel series, and I'm hoping she spares me further reading by not returning to the time period. As I've stated in the previous reviews, I am not the target audience for this series. The Hannah Vogel books are chick lit with Nazis and not my cup of schnapps. So please take the following review with a grain of salt.

A GAME OF LIES starts out with Hannah back in Berlin, risking life and limb to cover the 1936 Olympics. Well, actually, she's been spying on the Nazis and reporting their evil doings from the safety of Switzerland. At the games, she runs into her former boss and watches him die after drinking from a flask. Not sure if there's any connection between him collapsing immediately after taking a drink and what was in the flask, she sets out to find the truth. The Nazis say it's a heart attack, but Hannah isn't buying it.

That's the basic set up for the novel and, frankly, not a lot happens but this is typical of the series. This is another walky-talky novel with little to no action outside of the bedroom. We're told Hannah is menaced at every turn but aside from a run-in with an automobile and capture by the Gestapo in the last 20 pages of the book, nothing else happens. She is re-united with her former SS lover. They are on again, off again, I hate you, I love you waltz takes up most of the book while Hannah contemplates her break up with the lover she left outside Germany, worries about and misses her adopted son and the Olympics provide a paper-thin backdrop to the proceedings. The Macguffin is revealed way too late in the narrative with little to no build up other than Hannah's wondering what it might be and A GAME OF LIES becomes a game of sighs, of boredom.

Rebecca Cantrell's prose is uninspired with a straightforward, and dull, this happened, that happened, moving on plod that failed to captivate this reader. The period details are present but fail to have that immersive effect that Kerr's world creating manages so effortlessly. Everyone's afraid of Hannah and she's not going to take any bunk off anyone - even if it means to save her life. She's clearly got a death wish when you consider that she leaves her fate in the hands of some many others anyway though she likes to boss everyone around.

A GAME OF LIES is typical of the other books in the series and better than A NIGHT OF LONG KNIVES though that isn't saying much. There are much better Berlin Noir novels out there and so I can't recommend this one. If you're a romance fan, you might get more out of this series than I did. For me, I hope I've seen the last of Hannah Vogel and Cantrell's Berlin.