An Onslaught of Brilliant Satire

Our literary journey around the world continues with
Onslaught written and illustrated by New Zealander Greg Broadmore.

This compilation contains the three previous released books in the Dr. Grordort universe: Dr. Grordbort’s Contrapuntal Dingus Directory, Victory, and Triumph.

Subtitled, “Excessive Space Violence for Girls & Boys,” I was a little leery of what I would find. Turns out, it is an absolute hoot!

Lord Cockswain is a stereotypical “great white hunter” on Venus, and as much of a blunderbuss as his favorite weapon, blowing up a base of Moon Men in this hilarious satire of British imperialism and colonialization.

Presented as a spoof on early twentieth-century pulp comics, in addition to the comic adventures of Lord Cockswain, it includes catalog pages of and adverts for Dr. Grordbort’s Infallible Aether Oscillators, bestiary of Venus, genre movie posters, and more.

The extensive raygun collection that graces the pages comes from Greg Broadmore’s work as an artist and concept designer for Weta Workshop. Creating a backstory of each weapon’s origin led to the Dr. Grordbort universe.

Call it steampunk, call it retro sci-fi, Onslaught is a brilliant piece of satire, beautifully illustrated and cleverly constructed.

High Adventure with The Arctic Marauder

 

I decided to close out “Europe” month with an early work by French master, Jacques Tardi.

A satirical take on a Jules Verne-type story, it’s the sort of thing readers will either comprendre and enjoy, or they won’t and think it’s silly.

Raising Hands In Praise of “Clockwork Angels”

Rush is my all-time favorite band. When I had heard about “Neil Peart’s graphic novel,” I had to read it. While looking for it, which was slowly coming out as 6 serials, I discovered the illustrated novel.

Much to my delight, the graphic novel version, illustrated by Nick Robles, will be available on April 7th. Stay tuned for an update.

Note: I failed to mention in the review that award-winning rock album cover artist Hugh Syme created the cover art and chapter illustrations.