Grimlock ♥ Ultra Magnus

Backstory to Backup!   I've stayed away from Jim Butcher after seeing the Dresden File series.   Well, not completely.  I was drawn in by rave reviews from friends/Bob on the show.   A lot of it was Bob.   I loved Bob!   

Bob was quite, quite different in the books.   I cried.   I flung a book across a room.  I vowed to never pick up a Butcher book again. 

And then Mike Mignola illustrated a book set in the Dresden universe.   But not featuring Dresden, featuring his brother, Thomas Raith.   MIGNOLA!   How do you say to Mignola?   He created a creature summoned from the depths of hell by Nazis who in turned said 'fuck you, Nazis, you evil pieces of shit,' and proceeded to kill them.   I never refuse MIgnola just for that one point.   

Damn you, Mignola.   You made me love the Dresden-verse.   Yes, I was drawn in by your hauntingly, terrifying and terrifyingly beautiful cover, but it was Thomas who really got to me.   Thomas is amazing!   And after the brief bit of Harry in this book, I can say I like Thomas much, much more than Harry!   (At least for now.   Sorry Harry fans!)

And there are few enough illustrations - which are, again, hauntingly terrifying and terrifyingly beautiful - that I didn't fall for just Mignola.   (But again, it's Mignola.   How can you say no?)   Nope, the world in this short novelette/long short was what drew me in.   It's dark, it's gritty, and it didn't pull any punches.   The mythology was lovely, and I might have liked this better than the Harry novels - at least the first one - because it was shorter, and also because it had less Bob in it, so he didn't have the chance to be quite the perv I hear he is in the books.   I'm aware that this might mean I don't like the books again, but I've also just been told that I didn't push through hard enough, and that the books are supposed to ramp up in the third or fourth.   

I'm determined to start this series, but if it's gonna be a struggle for me, I'm going to finish my Harry Potter read first.   An attempt to read more Butcher, though?   It's all due to Backup.   

Thank you, Mignola.   You bring joy and beautiful things into my life!

Book Challenge: 2/500