Thirteen

by Mike Carey

London punk, Joe Bulmer finds a mysterious black pearl which increases his telekinetic powers. Mysterious alien shape-shifters also want the pearl. He is joined by a beautiful Asian telepath and a mysterious alien warrior to keep the pearl from forces who would use it to destroy the earth.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Comic Book

87 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2005

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
Mike Carey was born in Liverpool in 1959. He worked as a teacher for fifteen years, before starting to write comics. When he started to receive regular commissions from DC Comics, he gave up the day job.

Since then, he has worked for both DC and Marvel Comics, writing storylines for some of the world's most iconic characters, including X-MEN, FANTASTIC FOUR, LUCIFER and HELLBLAZER. His original screenplay FROST FLOWERS is currently being filmed. Mike has also adapted Neil Gaiman's acclaimed NEVERWHERE into comics.

Somehow, Mike finds time amongst all of this to live with his wife and children in North London. You can read his blog at www.mikecarey.net.

Reviews

[Ian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Joe Bulmer, a London street thief with mild telekinetic powers, discovers a mysterious pearl which increases his powers exponentially. He then finds himself caught between two powerful alien races each bent on control of the Earth.

What I liked most about this book were the characters of Joe and Daksha, who are both wonderfully irreverent and give an important grounding to what would otherwise be perhaps a bit too far out a tale. In particular, I liked Joe's sense of humour in the face of events and powers far beyond his understanding.

Unfortunately, there's not much else to be said about this book. It's perfectly fine but never really exceptional and, ultimately, doesn't really do anything hugely surprising or innovative.

* More reviews here: https://fsfh-book-review2.webnode.page *

[Dean Simons · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not the worst thing I've read but not the most exciting either. Some nice but predictable twists. Ideas seem better than the execution, here.

[Jay Kay · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hmmmm this was poor, not one of Mike Careys better stories. I liked some of the concepts but I was expecting more from a Mike Carey graphic novel. This is a brief Sci-fi fantasy romp with a twist and some interesting art work.

[Mel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was really surprised to find this was 2000AD in colour! It wasn't the greatest story in the world. It was very much along the lines of a superhero action story instead of a superhero you had a punk which made it much more interesting. It was all action with some amusing moments. Not Carey's best but enjoyable and reminded me why I prefer British comics to American ones.

[Andy Hoang · Rating 2 out of 5]

How did this every get published?! Having recently read The Unwritten and Lucifer I thought I'd delve deeper into Mike Carey's back catalogue and this was hugely disappointing brainless fare