Memorial HC [Hardcover]

Chris Roberson (Author), Rich Ellis (Author, Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 9, 2012

New York Times bestselling author and Eisner-nominated creator of iZombie, Chris Roberson, delivers a magical new series with art by Rich Ellis. Memorial is the story of Em, a young woman who arrives at a hospital in Portland, Oregon, with no memory of her past. A year later, she has rebuilt her life, only to find her existence thrown into turmoil after she inherits a magical shop and is drawn into a supernatural conflict between beings that not only represent, but are, fundamental elements of the universe itself!

Product Details

• Hardcover: 148 pages
• Publisher: IDW Publishing; First Edition edition (October 9, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1613773544
• ISBN-13: 978-1613773543
• Product Dimensions: 0.6 x 6.7 x 10.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,266,535 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

New York Times Bestselling author Chris Roberson is best known for his Eisner nominated ongoing comic book series iZombie, co-created with artist Mike Allred, and multiple Cinderella mini-series set in the world of Bill Willingham's Fables. He has written more than a dozen novels and numerous short stories, as well as many other comic projects including Superman, Stan Lee's Starborn, Elric: The Balance Lost, Memorial, and Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?: Dust to Dust. He has been a finalist for the World Fantasy Award four times; twice a finalist for the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer; and has won the Sidewise Award for Best Alternate History in both the Short Form and Novel categories. Chris lives with his wife and daughter in Portland, Oregon.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Compelling Narrative Drive October 2, 2012

By Pop Bop TOP 1000 REVIEWER

Format:Hardcover

There are six issues in the Memorial miniseries by Chris Roberson. All six are available individually; it looks like publicity started around the end of 2011 and the six issues came out in 2012. This book, "Memorial HC" gathers the first three issues in one omnibus, along with covers and the like.

So, why should this matter? Well, this is a wonderfully compelling series, and the individual issues are so hard to find that the "Memorial HC" omnibus edition may be your only shot at the first three. Roberson is the author of Vertigo Comics' "iZombie" and IDW's "Star Trek/Legion Of Super-Heroes" crossover. This Memorial series is a different series and recounts the adventures of Em, a young woman with amnesia who is given an unusual key when she visits a strange curio shop. The shop's door transports Em to fantastic lands, and she meets a variety of helpful and threatening characters as she tries to avoid enemies who are hunting for her for unknown reasons. Em keeps her wits about her and is a heroine you are happy to travel with.

Here's why I liked this book as much as I did. I don't read a lot of graphic novels, mainly because while I enjoy the artwork and the "feel" of many of them I get fed up with the obscurity of the narrative, the pretentiousness of some of the writing, and the almost willful incoherence of the pontificating dialogue. (As an example, here's a quote from a different graphic novel I just read, "Your tendrils never touched a buffering mass, twine spooled as fabric for suffocation.... To the shallowness of your gluttonous state is what I have witnessed best testified." Now, really, I ask you....)

The great appeal of this work is that the narrative line is creative, fantastical and compelling, but the characters are clearly set out, the action is sensical, the created lands fit together, the individual scenes have tension, and the overall story arc unfolds smoothly. Roberson has said that this series started out as a novel and then turned into a comic, and that makes sense given its strong narrative drive and structure. It's not goofy words pasted on to great pictures; it's pictures used to illustrate and advance a great story. That's fine by me.

So, I'm delighted that I gave this a try, and pleased to report that I enjoyed it very much.

Please note that I received a free electronic copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a frank review. Read more ›