Visit Maine!

Garrett links to a fascinating story about the Maine Tourism office. In short, the Maine Web Report uncovered massive corruption and incompetence in the ad agency handling Maine's web tourism.

Ed Cone sums up the problems, but here's a summary of the sheer insanity of the situation... basically an ad agency is wasting $3.9 million of Maine taxpayers' money on a badly designed website and ads that list a phone sex number instead of the tourism office phone number.

And now, the scummy ad agency has filed a lawsuit against the blogger who uncovered their corruption, and have been harrassing him. They've contacted the blogger's wife's employer to try to threaten him into silence. They've contacted his clients and tried to ruin his business. And now a libel lawsuit that they clearly intend to win by intimidation and not on merit. If you've got a blog, spread this story around. Even if they take down the Maine Web Report, this is a story that ought not to die.

New Who Tonight

My house is full of hungry Androgums... because the new Doctor Who isn't being shown on the CBC a week after it first airs on the BBC, the turnout at our meeting is standing room only. Luckily, we have the episodes to show, and as the meetings are always potluck, we have the food to feed the Androgums as well.

There's a freakin' huge chocolate cake in the kitchen, and only by supreme force of will has it not vanished into my room for my personal attention.

Random Thoughts

Comic Book Urban Legends Revealed #48.

Illusive Arts has put up a photo album and it's got over 1100 photos in it. Go check it out.

Worst Haircuts on MySpace - personal pictures on MySpace, and the comic book characters they resemble. King Shark is in Round Two.

Tom Spurgeon notes that somebody checked how the banned Manga book was filed in the library it was banned at... it was apparently filed in the Young Adult section. But MangaBlog did some more research and found that at that particular library it was shelved in the adult section. In the KCLS, my library system, it's in the adult section. I'm still waiting for another copy that hasn't had pages ripped out.

Best Headline In Awhile: "Woman arrested in theft of cheese: Police says she thought it was a block of cocaine"

We are all pirates, simply because we use computers that have "Shared" folders on them.

Stop the Madness. No, really. Stop it. PLEASE stop it.

Destroy your CDs with LEGO.

Rapid Reviews

Almost caught up now... I'm actually reading this week's comics in good time instead of waiting until I felt like reading again. I won't be doing my Previews Reviews any time soon, not only are they hard work and I'm three months behind, but I didn't even get a copy of Previews this month thanks to a mix-up by Diamond.

12 April 2006

Superman #651: "Bare Hands": Ah, this one I liked a little tiny bit less than the others. Maybe because we're getting deeper into the story or something. I have never really liked Luthor as a character, so his antics aren't that interesting. And while other OYL books have indicated that the Society is still together, I'm not seeing signs of that in this issue. Is Luthor using the Society to get villains to work together, or is he pulling it all together some other way? Not sure, and not sure if I'm going to keep reading.

Green Arrow #61: "Green Party Agenda": Not sure what's wrong with the art, but it definitely didn't work for me. It seemed too unfinished, even for this book's usual style (which tends to be a bit unfinished). While I can tolerate poor artwork if there's a great story, if the story is just ok, and the art has problems, I start to notice. And this was noticable. So I'd say this isn't as good as I was hoping, but I'm still curious to see what happens next. I'm a sucker for the superheroes.

Noble Causes #19: Oh, not good. Race's hair looks like a flame, and I can't tell Rusty and Race apart. I hate to say it, but the change in artists this time was definitely for the worse. The story was almost strong enough to make up for it... but not quite. The art just does not work.

Alice in Wonderland #3: The Cheshire Cat and the Mad Hatter's Tea Party. Lots of oddness in this one. Again, I feel like I really ought to read the original novel to understand what's happening in this. I also think this book is clearly been designed with the collection in mind, as the cut-off points aren't cliff-hangers... the action just stops. The Mad Hatter looks like Jay Leno.

Action Philosophers #5: "Hate The French!": Rene Descartes, Jean-Paul Sartre, Jacques Derrida. If you have any interest at all in being educated by your comic books, GET THIS SERIES. Each issue stands completely on its own, so you don't have to read them in order or anything. But every single story tells you a good little bit about each figure being discussed. It's a short bio with a chunk of their ideas condensed into it. Each one is a great introduction to the ideas of individual thinkers throughout the ages. The pieces are short and easy to understand, even if you despair of ever truly getting the philosophies being discussed. And as an added bonus, they are all hilarious, too. Go get this one. Fun and educational. There's not much more you can be asking for from a comic book.

Various Thoughts

Publishers Weekly on the Manga Censorship: "It's the equivalent of removing an encyclopedia because it has a chapter on sex."

Tom Spurgeon links to a great article about the future of comic strips in newspapers.

Museum of Hoaxes tackles an oddly perfect image of a plane flying in front of the moon. The real fun of the article for me, though, is in the comments.

Galactic Catastrophe. Call in the Green Lantern Corps!

Canadian recording artists reject suing customers, create own organization.

Here's a fun story: David Copperfield mugged.

The illusionist and assistants Cathy Daly and Mia Volmut were walking near CityPlace toward their tour bus parked at the Kravis when thugs approached them about 11:15 p.m. The group had gone to a steakhouse for dinner after Copperfield's sixth and last show here.

According to the police report, this is what happened next: The Malibu pulled up behind the group, and two of the four young men in the car came out holding handguns. One ordered Daly to "give me what you have." Daly handed over $400 from her pockets. Riley, meanwhile, allegedly stuck a gun in Volmut's face and asked for her purse, and she, too, gave it up. In it were 200 euros, $100, her passport, plane tickets and a Razr cellphone.

When Copperfield's turn came, Riley was bamboozled.

Copperfield told Page Two he pulled out all of his pockets for Riley to see he had nothing, even though he had a cellphone, passport and wallet stuffed in them.

"Call it reverse pickpocketing," Copperfield said.

Manga: Sixty Years of Japanese Comics

Oh my.

I haven't really sat down to read this yet. I don't know for sure if I will, though it does look like a fascinating study of the history of what we now call Manga. It's not because the book looks bad... it's because I'm not really in the mood to read a work like this. And the copy I checked out from the library is damaged, too. More on that in a second.

The page of the author has a good round-up of the story about the censorship so far. When I wrote to KCLS, I made sure I included that URL so they could check out what was happening. And yes, I did write to the library about this book. I first called and explained what the situation with the book was, and made my suggestion as to what should be done and why I felt that way, and then at the librarian's suggestion I wrote it up and sent them a nice note about it.

In short, this book is not for children. It's a history of Manga from the early days and covers ALL Manga, not just the stuff that's filtered over into bookstores in America. I have a well-developed sense for what might trigger mass hysteria by overprude parents, and this book is chock-full of images that will set off alarms.

MangaBlog listed some of the "worst offenders":
- Pg 141: In a scene from Hideshi Hino's The Red Snake, a woman covered with snakes seems to have an orgasm.
- Pg 144: In a scene from Kondom's Bondage Fairies "a nympho Tinkerbell and a randy squirrel" are having sex.
- Pg 145: In an allegoric scene by Utatane (no title given), a dragon is deflowering a virgin to symbolize her first period.

As I was writing my letter to the library I flipped through the book and found lots of other images that might offend... but I decided to check out those three in particular. The first one I found to be not explicit, and therefore not as bad as other pages before it that showed *gasp* nudity. Page 145 is intense and has a tiny bit of nudity, but isn't too explicit. I couldn't check out page 144 though, somebody had ripped that page from this copy of the book. Whether they loved it so much they had to keep it or they decided to do some vigilante censorship, I can't tell you.

In any case, due to the cover (which shows Astro Boy) and how much it contrasts with the content, I really think this book ought to have a warning label on it. That's all. I don't expect the library to pull the book, or to shelve it in an adults only section. But I think it's reasonable to have a label on it to indicate that it contains mature themes. Yeah, if anyone bothers to read the back cover blurb, it mentions violence and horror (and censorship and protest, ironically), but it's the titties that will bring out the overprotective moms to the book burning.

If I'm completely honest with myself, the fact that I wrote that note to the library bothers me. I don't believe in censorship. I feel like I'm betraying that by saying the book should be labeled. And yet, I hardly expect every single book a kid checks out to be examined by their parents. I don't expect a librarian to know what is in every single book in their library. I don't expect a comic shop owner to know the contents of every comic book in their store. That's why I really appreciate publishers who voluntarily attempt to indicate what age level a book is for on the cover of their books. If the cover of this book had a more "adult" manga image instead of Astro Boy, I don't think I would have worried too much. But this one ought to have a warning. I think that if I were a parent trying to monitor my kid's reading, I would appreciate it.

I'm going to head down to the library now to report the damage and see if I can get a complete copy of the book to examine. I also want to talk to a librarian about the system's policy on books like this. I don't know if they will take any action on this book, and I'm not sure I mind either way, but I would like to hear how my local library system deals with these sticky issues.

Review Copy Reviews

Mad Hatter Comics

The Last War: According to the introduction: The Last War is based on the great Indian epic "Mahabharata" which is perhaps the longest mythological narrative ever written by man. It is the story of the war between the Pandavas and the Kauravas but it is much more than that; the Mahabharata is an ocean of knowledge and poetic genius and is full of wonders, horrors, and insights.

This adaptation is set in the distant future, and apparently on a planet picked as a battlefield. This issue serves as the introduction to the story, and while it tries, in my opinion it doesn't change the story enough. The warriors use spaceships to get to their chosen planet, but then strap on swords and ride elephants? C'mon, couldn't you get a little more creative? I mean, pick your setting. Either the technology has advanced or it hasn't. Strapping on swords for this kind of battle makes it seem more like a game than a war. When you add in the archaic speech... well, this could've been better done. I don't think I'll be getting the series.

Boom! Studios

What Were They Thinking?! Some People Never Learn: I really, honestly, don't have any idea what to say about this book. I mean, you either are amused by the new words for the old artwork... or you aren't. But there's something really special about a book that strikes a McBlow for McLiberty. It's fun. It borders on hilarious at times. But then, how could it not be?

AiT/Planet Lar

Channel Zero: I read Channel Zero: Jennie One and didn't really get it. It is the prequel to this book, which came out first. And, now that I've read this, I kind of wish I still had my copy of Jennie One to reread (I passed it on to somebody else, which is what I try to do with all review books I get). This book is much more dense and powerful, as the government problems are already in place. Frighteningly, the change itself wasn't as interesting to me as the results shown in this book. It was written nearly a decade ago, but you look at it and see what the neocons want to make America into. This is a powerful work. Scary, scattered, and entirely too true for comfort. Wow.

I could go into great detail about what you need to look for as you read this book, how the information overload is on every page just like it's hitting us in the real world. And how the fake-ness of it all is exposed by the stark artwork and contrasting characters. But I can't really do justice to it. This book is a poem in comic book form. You can't really describe a poem and have your description do it justice. This is the same sort of thing. This is a book that is meant to be experienced. So, turn off your TV and go experience it already.

Random Thoughts

Snopes covers the Internet Warnings. Apparently there is a lot to it, so if you can, get involved and try to save the 'net from corporate takeover. The internet should be free of corporate censorship.

Eagle's Nest Cam.

Making Light on fanfic. While I agree with this attitude, there is some fanfic I don't read. I generally don't read DC Comics fanfic... but I used to read LOTS of Doctor Who fanfic. It's hard to find good quality fanfic as it follows Sturgeon's Law: Ninety percent of everything is crap. I never seem to be able to find the 10% when dealing with fanfic.

Bad Astronomy tackles a hilarious statement about mysterious booms. When I read the original article, before I saw this response to it, I thought the same thing. Uh, doesn't a vacuum cause a loud noise like thunder? Huh.

Need a hand with your bag? Bizarre anti-pickpocket campaign.

He may not be managing once a week, but Cheyenne Wright is really trying to get new material out to his fans. If you want to follow his current storyline from the beginning, start here, but I really recommend reading all his tales, as there really aren't too many of them and it's all fun, especially the convention.

Monopoly is doing a voting thing, where you vote for landmarks from your city to be on the "Here & Now Edition" of the game. The problem, for me and everyone else who lives in Seattle, is that the Space Needle (located at the North end of the waterfront) has somehow been relocated to Pioneer Square (located at the South end of the waterfront). Very, very odd.

Rapid Reviews

I'm almost caught up. Only... um... two more weeks of comic books to read and write something about, and a couple of review copies (as mentioned in my last review post). Of course, tomorrow is new comics day, and I'll be getting another stack of books to read, then I'll be behind again... Ah... I do love this hobby. Its relentless march into the future, even when it has nothing to say.

I've actually had a bit of fun reading all the comics at once and reviewing them in chunks like this. I wouldn't mind always waiting a month to read my comics and write up reviews. With some of these, it was much easier to remember what happened in the last issue because I'd read it only a couple of days before, instead of a month before. I guess there are advantages to procrastination. Not that I mean to get so far behind in my reading again... but I did promise myself that if I stopped enjoying reviewing comics I would stop reviewing comics. I got very close to that spot a couple of months ago. I'm glad the fun is back.

29 March 2006

Blue Beetle #1: "Blue Monday": I'm totally confused. I think that's part of the point, that we, the audience, is as confused as Jaime about what's happened to him. That's not always a positive approach to a story, but it works ok here. I think it would work better if Infinite Crisis were done. I guess I'll have to wait and see what the next issue holds.

Green Lantern #10: "Revenge of the Green Lanterns": Hal Jordan is one year later, and something happened in that time that wasn't at all pleasant. I'm still not warming up to this book, but I like a lot of the individual elements. It's been a trademark of Hal that he doesn't wear the ring when test flying. And it's nice to see Ollie hanging with Hal as well. I'm lukewarm on this book, but other folks will like it.

Warlord #2: I'm sure I read the first issue of this, but I'm not sure what happened in it. I like the way Travis is playing the game here. But when you put it all together, it doesn't feel like enough of a story to keep my interest.

JLA: Classified #19: "The Hypothetical Woman" Part Four: The good guys turned bad guys by the general are a new super-team, and they are an impressive little bunch. I like their introductions, and I like seeing them in action. Soldat's certainty that something is wrong just adds to their appeal. The Justice League really is in a tight spot. I hope the solution is as good as the story so far.

Action Comics #837: "Mild-Mannered Reporter": Again, I didn't intend to get this... but Kurt's name on the cover coupled with the mystery set up in the first part led me to buy it. I want to know what happened to Clark, and how he will (inevitably) get his powers back. This issue makes a good start on that, with the cliffhanger being rather nifty. I like Clark as a human, as well. It makes for good reading.

Fallen Angel #4: Lee threatens her son, and in flashbacks we learn yet more of the reason why Lee is a fallen angel and not still a guardian. All the while, her son tries to make sense of where he is now and why. I don't know. I just have no idea why I find this book so compelling.

Banana Sunday: Just get this. You don't even have to really know what it's about. It's a fun tale of three talking monkeys and a girl who has to keep them out of trouble. And Go-Go got the muffins in trouble. Us women, we just can't resist the strong silent types. Oh, just go read it already. Then you'll know what I'm talking about.

Usagi Yojimbo #92: "The Thief and the Lotus Scroll": I'm not a big fan of Kitsune, but she does make things very interesting when she shows up. The addition of her little sister makes her appearances even more chaotic. While I'm not sure I like the way this one ends, the story fits together tightly (as always), and the art is fantastic. Even the worst Usagi story tends to be significantly better than most other comics on the stands. And this is far from the worst.

5 April 2006

Infinite Crisis #6: "Touchdown": I'm not even going to pretend to understand what happened in this one. There was a death, yeah, and apparently the Earths all merged again... but I'm not sure. I'm going to smile and shrug and hope it all comes together in the final issue.

Justice League Unlimited #20: "Just Us Girls": I love seeing other, minor, members of the League, whether they are walking around the headquarters or in action. This issue had lots of action with lots of different characters in the backgrounds, so if the story didn't impress you much (and it didn't do a lot for me, to be honest), you at least could hero-watch. The Commissary scenes in particular were good. The story itself was a little thin. Not atypical of this book, but still thin. I enjoyed it despite the minor flaws.

Detective Comics #818: "Face the Face part 3": The cover of this one makes me think I know who the villain is. The title of the storyline certainly makes it fit. I hope I'm not right. That's just a bit too obvious. Lots of good bits in this, including the identity of Robin and a tiny bit more about what happened in the last year. I think anyone who read this before reading Infinite Crisis #6 might be annoyed, though. This issue has spoilers.

JSA #84: "When the Dead Call": Ok, I've decided that I really like this version of the Gentleman Ghost. In short, he rocks. I'm not sure exactly what he's up to, but he's certainly sinister and interesting. The bit of Jakeem's personal history that he never knew about was interesting to see. I don't like Jakeem's new look, but his history always seems to be intriguing. And of course, we get to see more of Ma Hunkel. Ma's not your normal grandmother, so I would've expected her to react a little more strongly to being threatened by GG, but she did ok, all things considered. I'm liking this book more now than I ever have.

Aquaman: Sword of Atlantis #41: "Over His Head": Let's see... the new Arthur Curry's great-uncle runs a lighthouse up on the Maine coast... could his great uncle be any relation to the Arthur Curry who (in the modern age origin) found a kid in the surf and taught him English? Aquaman's "father", Arthur Curry? Ok... I'm confusing some people, I know. Go read up on the Post-Crisis Aquaman, if you are curious.

Let me try to make this a little clearer: In the current era, there are three guys named "Arthur Curry" who lived in the DC Universe. The first was a lighthouse keeper. The second was the guy from Atlantis who was also named Orin, who got the Curry name from the lighthouse keeper. The third is our boy in the current run, who has a completely different origin but possibly some relation to the original Arthur. We may even get to find out how the whole thing links together sometime.

Right, going back to the issue itself... this is a tightly woven plot. King Shark stays until he's repaid his debt to Arthur. Makes sense. The Dweller accepts Arthur's determination to find his father. Also makes sense. And Arthur, for his part, is confused and irritated. And there's a lot more to him than is obvious from his actions. I'm looking forward to seeing what that "more" is.

Nodwick #32: You know, for a really funny book, there are often some very touching moments in this title. This one was nicely odd. I like the way they figured out that they weren't supposed to follow the plan they were given. Good stuff all around. And I want to know what happens with the cliffhanger. Seems that Williams is killing off good characters left and right these days...

Thieves & Kings #48: I could always tell when Mark Oakley was fully engaged in his story, because the story moved along crisply and the tale was thrilling and made you think. But he's lost interest, and if you read the introduction (two pages long) he explains what happened and what he's going to do about it. On the one hand, I can't say I'm exactly happy about it. I want to read the read of Rubel's story. On the other hand, he's going to keep putting bits of the story in the book, but we'll be seeing other works by him. This was never a normal book to begin with... so I guess I'll live with it. I enjoyed the Tom Sunsmith story in this one, for what it's worth, although I was much more interested in seeing what happened with Rubel's feet.

Paradox #2: What this book really needs is another draft or two and an editor willing to use the pen to make it better. It reads like a first draft. The artwork is pretty good, and the story is way cool (two worlds, one where all technology is based on magic, one where tech is science-based, and a handful of people who can travel from world to world), but it needs some editing. There were typos and there were points in the story where it just jumps without reason. It needs polish, then it would be a great book, instead of a good book. As it is, because the ideas are so neat I'm rating it higher than I normally would. I seem to recall that the last Arcana book I read also had the same problem. Excellent ideas, but the book needed a few more drafts before it was published.

Lions, Tigers and Bears Vol 2 #1: Joey by himself is slightly annoying, but add in Courtney, who has a destiny in front of her, and the story gets to be really fun. I'm looking forward to seeing how the pair battle the darkness and save the day this time.

Save the Internet?

Mark Evanier has the information, and sums up my feelings on this one exactly. Call your congresscritter if you feel strongly about it.

Update: Here's another article about it, which I feel describes the issue a little bit better. YMMV.

Some Links

Lady Blackhawk Update.

Free Cone Day. And, if you're really thinking, make up some flyers for Free Comic Book Day and hand them out at your local Ben & Jerry's that day.

The RIAA is suing a family that doesn't own a PC. Nice trick, that, file-sharing without a freaking computer. Maybe they just memorized the songs and whistled them in the street.

The Doctor talks to himself...again!

Here's another clip from Dead Ringers. This one has John Culshaw's fourth Doctor calling Sylvester McCoy, the actor who played the seventh Doctor. Take a listen:

I want to watch the Universe Cup now...

What If...

What if the guys that have to come up with names for cars ran so low on ideas that they started naming cars after Doctor Who monsters?

Rapid Reviews

Still trying to catch up. I'm still about a month behind. After this gets posted, I'm starting on March 29th's books. And I've got a couple more review copies I need to review, as well. AiT/Planet Lar sent me Channel Zero to review, but I've only flipped through it a couple of times, not really read it. Then Boom! Studios sent me What Were They Thinking: Some People Never Learn, which I haven't even flipped through yet. So... lots of reviewing to catch up on. Let's get started.

15 March 2006

Infinite Crisis Secret Files: Superboy Prime's punches are what have caused all the continuity errors since the Crisis? Cool, I'll buy that line. There wasn't really a whole lot more substance to the story, though. Just "let's escape" "ok" *punch* *punch* *punch* "We're free!" Certainly not enough of a story to justify the whole Secret Files treatment, I thought. Still, it adds a bit to the current crisis.

Birds of Prey #92: "Inseparable": One Year Later, and the Society is still around... and has gotten even stronger. Bad news for the heroes. (aside: I wonder if Aquaman will run into them again, and if King Shark is officially still on the team?) The interplay in this one is just great, from the Crime Doctor's fear to the snarky byplay during the fight. And oh, how Lady Shiva took care of the Ventriloquist! The look on his face after her rather terrifying threat was one of the best things I've seen in comics recently. That panel is just priceless. The subplot involving Black Canary was also excellent. You know, this is one of the best issues of this book I've read yet.

Green Arrow #60: "Crawling Through the Wreckage Part One: New Sheriff In Town!": Nice build-up. If the solicits hadn't given away the ending, this one would have been even better. As it was, the whole one year later thing works well with this book. There are some extremely thinly veiled references to Katrina and New Orleans, and some nice hints as to what is keeping order, such as it is, in Star City. I've been pleasantly surprised by the One Year Later books, this one might be yet another keeper.

Superman #650: "Mortal Men": I didn't intend to get this. I'm not into Superman. But the names on the cover... Kurt Busiek, Geoff Johns, Pete Woods... too much creatorly goodness to resist. But I absolutely will NOT get addicted to Superman stories. You hear me Kurt? You cannot lure me over. Won't. Happen. Ahem. This is good. Almost too good. The entire story, you are wondering what Clark's deal is. And that last scene in the alley tells much and makes you want to know more. Good use of the Kryptonite Man, too. Another solid one year later book.

Superman/Shazam: First Thunder #4: "Men and Boys! Goes and Thunder!": A nice look at the differences between Billy and Clark. There doesn't seem to be that much difference between Captain Marvel and Superman, but the differences are stark when you compare the person under the cape. I liked seeing Superman chew out Shazam, as well. A decent book.

JLA Classified #18: "Salvage the Steel Heart": The artwork bothered me a bit on this one, but I couldn't put my finger on what disturbed me. The story isn't bad, though it's nice to see the superheroes beating the crap out of the bad guys, I was far more interested in seeing what happened to the dictator and his zombie soldiers. I can wait for the next issue.

Truth, Justin & The American Way #1: Too many pop culture references to count, this one is obviously aimed at my generation. It's "Greatest American Hero" done right. Ok, I'm not a fan of the artwork, it just isn't my favorite style. I like Kurtz's art and love Aaron Williams, so I feel slightly cheated to be getting their writing and not their art on the book. But it's a snappy read, the characters are fun, and the art is really good for being in a style I don't care for. This one is worth picking up.

Angel: Old Friends #4: I liked this one. Nice how Angel figures out who the fake Lorne is. And the double who shows up at the end is a definite surprise. Looking forward to the finale.

Conan #26: "Seeds of Empire": We get back to the framing sequence, the prince and his evil-looking wazir, and for the first time get a dishonest account of Conan. I find the growth of the prince through his learning of Conan to be a great part of this book, so seeing the Wazir manipulate the stories actually upset me! The only problem I had with this issue is that the last issue left off on a bit of a cliffhanger... so we're going to have to wait for the resolution of that tale while this one is being told? I never expected to be addicted to Conan.

Conan: Book of Thoth #1: "The Serpent Slumbers": The very early origins of Thoth... and a neat telling of the story, too. I seem to really like origin stories. Sometimes way more than the tales that come after. This one is a good one, though the story got further along than I was expecting it to get, so I'm looking forward to seeing what the next issue covers.

Oz: The Manga - Epilogue: Not a lot to this one. Basically, it's Dorothy telling her aunt and uncle about her adventures in Oz. This includes some scenes from the novel that didn't make it into this adaptation in the spots they appeared in the book. It's nice to see some of those oft forgotten bits illustrated, but, like I said, there wasn't a lot to this. Still, Hutchinson makes up for it with a nice sketchbook. I would have liked to see more of Aunt Em's and Uncle Henry's reactions to Dorothy's stories, but other than that, a nice little epilogue to a great little adaptation.

22 March 2006

Legion of Super-Heroes #16: I was enjoying this right up until the final page. The entrance of Supergirl seemed nifty enough, but what she said just made me want to throw the book across the room. I love Kitson's art, and Waid's Legion has a snappy attitude that's fun to read. But that last bit left me cold.

Batman #651: "Face the Face part 2 of 8": We get to see the OYL Batman and Robin in action, along with a smatter of reaction from the people on the street who saw the bat-signal. Still not sure what's going on... but this book at least holds the promise of finding out. It doesn't seem to be assuming I'll know everything that's happened the last fifteen years.

JSA Classified #10: "The Rise and Fall of Vandal Savage Part One": At first I thought we were getting another origin story for good ol' Vandal. But no, this is all happening in the present. Er, One Year Later. Nice flashbacks. I like those kind of flashbacks for some reason. Pseudo-historical stuff interests me, I guess. After all is said and done, I'm enjoying this story and looking forward to seeing how it plays out.

Noble Causes #18: Nice twist. This is so much a soap-opera book that it's hard to say much about it without giving stuff away. Let's just say it was a nice, unexpected twist, and I'm curious to see where it leads.

Squadron Supreme #1: "The Pre-War Years": I didn't read the miniseries that spun out based on this book, so I apparently missed the intro of some characters. For the first issue of a team book, this wasn't too bad, at least. I do want to note that on the team two-page spread... notice anything stupid about the costumes? Like... every single guy is covered from head-to-toe, while the women are showing a whole lot of flesh? Ok, one exception on the guy's side. But no exceptions with the women. How hard would it be to design one female costume that actually covers and protects the body? I don't know if we'll be continuing with this book.

Alice in Wonderland #2: One of these days I'm really going to have to read the entire original novel. I've read parts of it, even whole chapters, but I've never read the entire thing cover to cover. This adaptation makes me think I ought to remedy that. I love the way the poem is told in this one. Another great issue from Rob Espinosa.

In Honor of More Who Tonight...

"My daughter lives in Cardiff and her best friend invited both of us to visit on February 7th - the day they were filming episode 7 'The Devil's Lantern' in her street."...

Go read the whole thing. Many thanks to Carolyn Ibis, who provided the picture and the hosting space for the story, and has promised to get the recipe for little chocolate daleks that you can make wander around your own house.

Links Links Links

Mercury Studios witnesses a shooting. Sort of.

Ghost Hunters, one of my favorite programs recently, went to the Willard Library to hunt for ghosts. I've linked to their ghost cams before.

Comic Book Urban Legends Revealed #47. Hmmm.

Aaron Williams once again has a great entry... I want to read PS238 #17 NOW.

Elayne suggests entering the Ben and Jerry's Do Us A Flavor contest, which has nifty prizes. For added ease, use the Flavor Generator to make your ice cream design.

Colleen Doran reports on what I, too, thought was a joke. An Arab airline has adopted what appear to be the South Park kids for their mascot.

Making Light has more about the Writer's Beware 20 Worst Agents List and in particular the scam agent who is threatening legal action and trying to get Teresa fired from her job for exposing scam artist lies.

Banning Books

A book about Manga has been banned from libraries, despite being shelved correctly in the general reading section (not in the children's section).

OH WHO WILL SAVE THE CHILDREN FROM THE DEPRAVED MANGA PERVERTS!??!?? OH PROTECT MY POOR BABIES (read: 16 year old boy) FROM THE EVILS OF SOCIETY!!!! GET THIS SMUT OUT OF THE LIBRARY!!! (nevermind that the Bible contains rape and incest, and the library contains tons of other books inappropriate for children, gotta get rid of this because cartoons are for kiddies).

What I find particularly annoying about this story is that it starts with a case of good parenting: the boy saw material he knew was inappropriate for his beliefs and told his mother so she could counsel him. Excellent! That's exactly what should happen in this case.

But then the mother, instead of being a rational being, decides to ask the library to remove the book (BAN IT! IT DOESN'T FIT MY WORLDVIEW! BAN IT!) instead of reasonably asking it to be labeled or reshelved (to be fair, after asking for it to be removed, she did ask for it to be "restricted", which I consider a slightly less hysterical reaction. But it should have been her first reaction, not sloppy seconds).

Then some uppity-up idiot who hates freedom and America decided to ban the book completely. Censoring scumbags. So, it started with a tiny gleam of good parenting, and ended with a horrible farce of fascism. All we need now is the County Board of Supervisors Chairman, the distraught mother, and the now apparently permanently damaged son to hold a book burning in the library parking lot.

Very, very annoying.

And, yes, for the record, I just put a hold on the book at my library system. They have twelve copies, and it appears to be a moderately popular book, shelved in the NonFiction section (741.5952).

Rapid Reviews

Ah yes... another attempt to catch up on my review writing, not to mention my reading. Starting with the next week after these, I haven't read any of my comics except Aquaman #41. Ouch...

22 February 2006

Oz: The Manga #8: "In the Country of the Quadlings": The final part of the book, the one that most people don't seem to know. Dorothy and her friends meet the other good witch of Oz and everyone gets their final wishes. This has been a consistent and great adaptation, and I've enjoyed it from the beginning.

Usagi Yojimbo #91: "The Ghost In The Well" part two: Nicely done and nicely creepy. I like the way the final bad guy is captured though I didn't expect it. The cliff-hanger ending was a major surprise. Another excellent issue of an excellent book.

Batman #650: "All They Do Is Watch Us Kill Part 3": Very dark, very depressing, very much an ending and yet perfect for this sort of a cliffhanger. I really don't know how this one will turn out, and I'm not really sure I care.

Green Lantern #9: "Branded": Batman and Green Lantern team up to fight the Tattooed Man. I'm still not 100% satisfied with this book. It's ok, but I want more than "ok" from Green Lantern. At least the design of the new Tattooed Man was pretty cool.

JLA: Classified #17: "Blood is Not Enough": Not getting into this story, either. The idea of a former tyrant striking back at the Justice League through all the other rogue nations that hate them is good, and the methods seem vaguely interesting, but my attention just hasn't been caught by this book.

Wonder Woman #226: "Cover Date": The final issue of this run of Wonder Woman. We get a series of flashbacks in the form of reaction to a gossip magazine. It's not bad for a final issue. Except for the "one year later" multiple earths ending it's actually pretty good.

Legion of Super-Heroes #15: This was the final issue we planned to get of this book, as it's the last issue before the one year later jump. And it's a good one. Some really fun flashback stories to what I presume are other versions of the Legion, and fun retro art. And, as usual, the letter column is one of the best parts of the book, bar none. So ... yeah, it's worth buying. Especially if you've bought the rest of this series so far.

Solo #9: "Scott Hampton": I wasn't familiar with Hampton's work before reading this, but I definitely enjoyed it after finishing the book. Another great issue of Solo, even down to the silly "Monsters" story in the center of the book. The final story is remarkably creepy. All-in-all, a solid issue.

Mouse Guard #1: Unusual format and size, but the art is magnificent, the story is intriguing, and the characters are excellent. I want more of this series.

1 March 2006

Infinite Crisis #5: "Faith": Ok, not too hard to follow. I like how Alex describes other earths as ones that would have existed if not for the Crisis. As for Superboy... how many are there? Seriously, is there just the two, or was Luthor making a third one somehow? Or was he just healing Superboy after the fight? And if so, why? I really want this series to end so I can reread it and maybe figure it out.

Detective #817: "Face the Face": Another one year later book... and Bullock is back on the force... Jim is commish again... and Batman and Robin are back on the job and ready to tackle Poison Ivy. But who is Robin? And what happened during that year? We get lots of hints, but no certainties. A solid issue to start the OYL.

Green Lantern Corps: Recharge #5: "Stardeath": I'm reminded again of how much I don't like DC cosmic stories, and how little interest I have in such tales. This just wasn't my cup of tea.

JSA #83: "Who's Afraid of Ghosts?": I loved the backstory on Jim Craddock. When a writer does that for a character I'm always interested. And this was a good one. I'd like to know how he became the Gentleman Ghost from those origins, but the origins alone were great. And the ghosts haunting each member of the team... it reminded me of the summer annuals from a few years back, in which the Justice League got haunted, only much much scarier. Good stuff here. Go check it out.

Aquaman: Sword of Atlantis #40: "Once and Future": Everyone seems to want to know what I think of this issue. I'm much more interested in seeing how everyone else likes it, as I'm not the one who can bring the sales up and keep the book from being cancelled. But I'll indulge, since this is a review section...

I knew about the prophecy before I read the book, as Kurt told me about that much in our phone call. I had no idea who the Dweller was, though (my suspicions were completely and utterly wrong). As for Arthur, the new Arthur, himself... well, I'm going to have to reserve judgement. I love the idea of a fresh new character who is taking over the mantle... it's not so far-fetched in the realm of superheroes. I'm really glad the new guy is also named "Arthur Curry" (because he wasn't originally), I like the continuity even though it has caused some confusion and consternation among readers who prefer to have their stories spoonfed to them. I also like all the nods to previous runs and previous continuity. Geist being a part of the project is a nice touch. The mysteries set up in this issue, followed by the surprise reveal in the last panel (The Dweller is Orin (and I don't feel bad about spoiling it since #41 has already come out)), made for a great read. I put the book down wanting more right away. That's the kind of feeling I want from a comic.

Justice League Unlimited #19: "The Justice Rangers Ride Again!": I like the fleshing out of Vigilante's character in this one, as well as the "Never Mind. It's Time Travel. It's Complicated." Heh. Definitely a high point of this series, which has had a lot of excellent issues.

Fallen Angel #3: "Day & Night": We get a lot more of the angel's history in this issue than previously, although we've had hints. We also learn a bit about what happened to Jude's wings. It's funny, when this series first started at DC I wasn't sure I liked it, but I kept buying it because it fascinated me. And now... I keep buying it because it fascinates me. I'm still not sure I like it.

Local #4: "Two Brothers": This one hits the "ouch" criteria. Megan's got some rotten luck, running into those two. I don't really have a lot more to say about this one, except it's typical solid writing from Brian Wood, and decent artwork from Ryan Kelly. Go check this series out. Each story stands alone, so don't worry about what issue you get. Just go read.

Star Wars: Empire #40: "The Wrong Side of the War": I like the conflict that Luke caused with Tank Sunber, which really is the main focus of the story. And, of course, while the series ends, the problem of who is really on the wrong side of the war continues. I believe Sunber is supposed to show up in the next version of this book. All told, not a bad little story.

PS238 #15: A rip-roaring adventure featuring poor Tyler figuring things out and we also get to see The Revenant in action. But the cliffhanger makes me want to cry. I really want to see what's going to happen with Ambriel. This is, quite possibly, the best book on the market right now. Go get this book and read it.

8 March 2006

Powers #17: While Christian gets powers again, Deena starts to use her powers. I really wish this book would speed up just a little. Not a lot, but the long delays between issues combined with the pace of the book is beginning to drive me bonkers. Not that I can really talk... I'm still six weeks behind in my reviews. But I like this book a lot (even if I feel like I have to take a shower every time I read the letter column). I just want to read it more often.

Dorothy #5: "Echoes of a Road": The last issue ended with Dorothy dying from the wounds given her by the giant snake, while the Scarecrow tried to find help. This issue starts with a side trip to the wicked side of things before returning to let us know that Dorothy survived. This is another great issue of a great series. I'll understand if some Oz fans find it a bit much... but I have just been finding it great. If you haven't read this book yet, check it out. The trade is now available, and definitely worth reading.