Jim Butcher's The Dresden Files - Bigfoot

Author Jim Butcher seemed to take FOREVER between books 15 (published in 2014) and 16 (published in 2020), those six years being the longest gaps between any of his books since he published the first one all those years ago.  Then, book 17 came out just months after book 16, mainly because the two books told one great big (and devastating!!!!) story.  Since that time, I've been waiting patiently to hear news of the next book and when we might expect to see it.  Butcher's website lists the title as Twelve Months, but there is no indication of when it will be published - it simply says Butcher "has started writing" the next book.  Thus, the only thing I have had to fill my Dresden Files need is the graphic novel published by Dynamite Entertainment, which was published over a year ago.  I've been holding on, waiting to read it, because I know once I do, that's the last Dresden I will get until the next book is finally written.  But I could wait no longer.

Bigfoot, as it turns out, is a comic book adaptation of three short stories Butcher wrote involving Dresden helping out Strength of a River in His Shoulders, a real, honest-to-goodness sasquatch ... yeti ... or, as they are commonly called, a bigfoot.  I was not aware when I bought it that this was an adaptation of already written short stories - I thought this was going to be new material.  So, when I started reading it, my mind kept telling me that this story felt awfully familiar.  The more I read, the more deja vu I felt, and when I realized I knew what was happening and how the story would end, it dawned on me that these were short stories I had previously read in the collection of short stories, Brief Cases (published back in 2018).  But, honestly, I didn't mind - first, it was rather cool seeing the stories in full color images, and second, Butcher provided some framing sequences that involved Dresden visiting the son of Strength of a River in His Shoulders, who is basically the focus of all three short tales (he he he - "short" tales for a "tall" son of a yeti!).

The framing sequences find Dresden helping Irwin (yes, that's the son's name) and his girlfriend, Connie, move into a new apartment.  When Connie learns that Dresden has known her man since he was a "pup," she wants to hear all about it.  So, without further ado, Dresden begins to share some of the stories .. and those stories happen to be the tales previously told in prose form.

The first story relates how Dresden first met Irwin's father, who asked Dresden to look after his son, who is being bullied at school.  Of course, there are some other supernatural beings involved, and Dresden has to be careful how he intervenes, otherwise it could create a deadly war between unseemly creatures!  The second story is a few years later, as Irwin's father once again asks for Dresden's help, because Irwin has become ill while at a boarding school, and no one seems to know why.  Needless to say, Dresden uncovers the supernatural source and puts a stop to it.  The third, and final, tale jumps ahead again, and Dresden is called in to help with Irwin, only now he is in college.  Dresden discovers his girlfriend is a vampire of the White Court (which means she feeds on sexual energy - and yes, this is the same girlfriend with whom Irwin now lives!), but the only problem is, young Connie has no idea what she is!  This one results in a huge battle between Dresden and vampires, when Irwin's father finally steps in to help save his son.

It was fun revisiting these stories, and it was actually rather creative tying them all together with the trip down memory lane.  Reading all three stories together like this,you realize just how cohesive they are (and really, let's face it, Butcher has done an unbelievable job of keeping all of his continuity between the books, short stories, and even the original comic book stories all on point).  In this way, the reader gets to see young Irwin go from an awkward "pup" to a confident college jock - and after all of the events of the last two books, it's rather nice to see that even with this supernatural characters, there is still some bright, everyday moments that can inspire hope for the future.

And now, I must sit back and patiently wait for Butcher to finish the next novel (as I have seen nothing in a while solicited from Dynamite, which makes me think they may have lost the license to do more comics based on the Dresden Files) ... at least while I wait, I have PLENTY of other books to read and keep my mind busy until the next Dresden finally appears!

RATING:  10 black magic shrines out of 10 for keeping the magic alive!

Jim Butcher's The Dresden Files - Wild Card

Harry Dresden, Chicago's resident Wizard, is back in an all-new story, written by creator Jim Butcher, with the assistance of Mark Powers.  The characters and story are brought to life with the wonderful art of Carlos Gomez.  Wild Card is a new tale that takes place after the last comic mini-series, Down Town, and before the novel, Small Favor.

As with any Dresden story, poor Harry gets caught up in yet another battle - only this time, nothing is exactly what it seems.  Two girls end up dead, and it appears they were killed by Marcone's forces.  The girls were of the White Court, who wants revenge.  Meanwhile, Marcone thinks the cops have taken out some of his men, so he is looking for payback.  And the Chicago PD has seen one of their own killed and another injured, and they want someone to punish for it.  It's a three-way war that is brewing, ready to do God-only-knows how much damage to the city.  And, as usual, Harry is the only one that can see through all the nonsense to know that someone is setting everyone up.  Who benefits from a total chaos war like this?

While I love seeing Dresden brought to life (I still miss the old Sci-Fi television series), I will admit that I don't necessarily like having my own visuals of these characters taken from me.  Dresden and Murphy aren't really too much off from what I had imagined in my mind; other characters...well, they are nothing like I imagined.  Butters (the coroner), for example.  The glasses are spot on, but I for some reason imagined him as a short, geeky guy with red hair (for the life of me, I can't recall if they ever give his hair color in the books).  Perhaps I've always seen him that way, as I see a lot of myself in him.  And Molly.  Well, I expected Molly to be a lot more "goth" than how she is depicted in the comics.  Then there's Leanansidhe.  Harry's faerie godmother.  She was nothing like I envisioned.  A lot more sexier, a lot more faerie-like, and a lot meaner is what I had always imagined.

Now, Harry's brother Thomas - there's not too many ways you can mess up tall, dark-haired, and sexy.  Gomez got this Adonis pretty much dead-on!

With Butcher's involvement, the characters remain consistent with the books, and the stories build on the books, filling in gaps and providing some great life-threatening, world-endangering battles that further test Harry and his friends.  This time around, we get to see how Harry fares against a demon powerful enough to do damage to his faerie godmother, someone Harry had always thought to be all-powerful and unstoppable.  But this new threat (Puck) turns out to be something entirely new - everything he does, every life he destroys, every destruction he causes - it's all out of boredom.  He simply does it for fun, for something to do.

I have to say, the manner in which Dresden comes up with to put an end to Puck's shenanigans is pretty ingenious and most definitely pure Dresden-style.  It brought a smile to my face, and I cheered inside (just like I do with pretty much every Dresden story when he wins in the end).

Now, when exactly is Butcher going to sit down and write the next Dresden novel????  His website lists the 16th book, Peace Talks, but still no word on its release.  UGH!!!!!

RATING:  10 full houses out of 10 for giving Dresden a true "wild card" of a villain, one that could be a worthy nemesis for our favorite wizard!

Jim Butcher's The Dresden Files - Down Town

And speaking of The Dresden Files...

Since Butcher seems to be taking a rather lengthy break from Dresden while he writes some other novels, I'm thrilled that Dynamite Comics is still putting out mini-series with new original stories, written by Jim Butcher, in conjunction with Mark Powers (and very beautifully drawn by Carlos Gomez).

As I've read the 15 books in the Dresden Files series, I've created my own images of the characters in my mind.  When Sci-Fi channel put out the Dresden Files television show a few years back (starring Paul Blackthorne, who now plays Detective Lance on the CW's Arrow), my mind sort of starting picturing the actors from that show in the roles.  Now, though, Carlos Gomez has captured these characters so perfectly, it's easy to see them now as the way he draws them.  Dresden, Molly.  Karen.  Tomas.  Even Mouse and Bob.

This latest adventure, Down Town, is set just after Proven Guilty and White Knight in the book series.  Dresden is training Molly in the user of her magical gifts, when a mysterious creature (who turns out to be a Golem) begins killing - first a pawn shop owner, then the owner of a laundromat.  There doesn't seem to be any apparent connection - until Marcone shows up at the end of the first issue.

Fans of the books will be very pleased with the comic stories, as not only are they a part of the official Dresden canon, but they flow seamlessly into the realm of the books.  The characterization is spot-on, and the stories have the same flavor and action.  Harry is once again on a mission to save innocent lives, Marcone is up to his usual tricks with his own agenda, and there's an evil villain on the loose, using magic to destroy and create chaos.

I love how involved Molly is in this story.  She hasn't been involved in the comics up to this point, so to now see her brought to life (so to speak) and watch as she practices with her new-found abilities is a lot of fun.  It's also great to see Mouse in action as well (as he plays a pretty good role in this story).

Where many comics today feel padded with long, drawn-out stories just to pad a story into six-issues or so to fill a trade paperback, this story does not.  Each page is packed with story, and every panel, every word balloon is imperative to the tale.  And there are not a lot of splash pages just to show off the flashy art (in hopes of distracting from the weak story).  No need for that here.  This is just good, old-fashioned Dresden.

Definitely looking forward to the next mini-series, whether it's a comic-adaptation of one of the books (so far, they've done Storm Front and Fool Moon) or a new original story, either way, I'll be there!

RATING:  10 fiery fuego blasts out of 10 for staying true to The Dresden Files and keeping my thirst for more Dresden stories quenched for the time being.