Review Round-Up: David Wong's JOHN DIES AT THE END

Zack Handlen reviewed David Wong's John Dies At The End for The Onion's AV Club.  Here's a taste, you'll have to click through for more.

JDATE is the rare genre novel that manages to keep its sense of humor strong without ever diminishing the scares; David is a consistently hilarious narrator whose one-liners and running commentary are sincere in a way that makes the horrors he confronts even more unsettling. Plot-wise, for a good two-thirds of the book, it seems like Wong is more interested in piling on weirder and weirder threats than fitting the pieces together, and while his invention never flags, the accumulation of horrors eventually threatens to turn the narrative into a breathless series of “And then?”s. Still, the tone and white-knuckle pacing cover up a lot of sins, and Wong manages to pull everything together for a finale that’s both stomach-churningly freaky and oddly moving. It’s the sort of thing that leaves readers breathless and nauseous, but surprisingly hungry for more.

At Kirkus, the nameless literati write:

Originally offered online in serial form, Wong’s debut is creepy, snide, gross, morbidly dark and full of lots of gratuitous weirdness for weirdness' sake, not to mention penis jokes. So why is it so funny? Perhaps it's the author’s well-tuned eye for the absurd, which gives his tale a compelling-against-all-odds, locker-room-humor-meets-Douglas-Adams vibe. 

And it turns out there was a book trailer!




JOHN DIES AT THE END screening times:
Sat., Sept. 15, 11:59pm: RYERSON
Sun., Sept. 16, 5pm: CINEPLEX YONGE & DUNDAS 2

DREDD 3D: Read Comics In Public Day!

Happy Read Comics In Public Day, a day dedicated to reading comics in places where people can see you. Why not double up and promote comics literacy while catch up on Judge Dredd's judicial activism in the dystopian Mega-City One.

(via forbiddenplanet.co.uk)

Dredd first appeared in the often edgy and satirical UK comics anthology, 2000AD in 1977 (issue #2!) and then in Judge Dredd Magazine. Colin Smith describes Dredd better than I ever could:

Dredd is merely concerned that "all are treated equally under the law", and the state which passes and administers the laws he obeys is an uncaring and nakedly fascist one. It's not right and wrong he serves at all, but rather the rules of the tyranny he serves, and he's no more than people's champion than he is the people's ballet dancer.

Dredd's no hero, though he may be regularly be shown acting in a heroic fashion. He's a Blueshirt, and in the end, that's all there is to it.

I highly recommend any of Smith's pieces on Dredd and 2000AD.

(via Fellowship of the Geeks)

Both Dredd and 2000AD have continued into the 21st Century, so pick yourself up a comic or collection, get yourself a beverage and read outside or at a cafe today. Then show up on Midnight Madness' opening night for Dredd 3D.

(via Too Busy Thinking About My Comics)

cover by Lee Garbett via 2000AD Covers Uncovered.

DREDD 3D screening times:

Thurs., Sept. 6, 11:59PM:  RYERSON
Sat., Sept. 8 12"30PM:  CINEPLES ODEON

JOHN DIES AT THE END: Poster Gallery!

 On its journey from digital horror novel to film adaptation, from SXSW and Sundance to reaching its perfect audience in closing out Midnight Madness, Don Coscarelli's John Dies At The End has accumulated a whack of poster art, including some weapons--The Bible Belter above and the Paintball and Propane Flamethrower below.

 (This individual kindly demonstrates the importance of wearing safety equipment)

The poster promoting the South By Southwest screening.

And here are two covers for David Wong's original novel. 

(via Creative Book Design)

(via City on Fire)

JOHN DIES AT THE END screening times:

Sat., Sept. 15, 11:59PM:  RYERSON  

Sun., Sept. 16, 5PM:  CINEPLEX YONGE AND DUNDAS