A Sunday Review

Two weeks' worth of reviews for you this Sunday, thanks to the LEGO convention last weekend.

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TV this week:

• Smallville: "Plastique" - No Aquaman. No interest.
• Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives: "Big Flavor" - Yeah, I'd eat at those places. I'd love to try the pizza place, because I'm curious what the crust is like. The proof of the pizza is in the crust. A good crust will make up for a lot in a pizza, and nothing ruins a pizza faster than a bad crust.
• Food Detectives: "Heartburn Remedies" - I used to get heartburn a lot when I was obese. Now that I'm ... less obese ... I haven't gotten it as much. While attempting to buy Stepford House, I got it frequently, and was introduced to the baking soda cure by Eric's mom. The other segments (cooking by dishwasher and car engine, and backwash) were also good fun.
• Heroes: "One of Us, One of Them" - Strangely compelling despite continuing plot holes.
• Ghost Hunters: "Ghosts of the Sunshine State" - Nothing conclusive in either location, but the voices at the second hotel that woke Jay were spooky. Too bad they could have easily been someone standing out in the hall who then took off before he got up and checked. They should have left cameras running in the hall too. The missing flip-flop was also fun. I half-expected someone to admit to hiding it, as the crew are apparently notorious pranksters.
• Destination Truth: "Aswang; Haunted Forest" - The Aswang bit was hilarious. Ryder was... a bit overreactive. I bet I'd be even more goofy in that situation. The story of the haunted forest was very sad. The kids they ran into looking for a dead body reminded me briefly of Stand By Me. Very very briefly.
• Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives: "Cookin' It Old School" - I think I'd visit all of them, even if I wouldn't try everything. Big Mama is one of those people I'd love to meet. She was cool.
• Ace of Cakes: "Tanks, Trucks and Vikings" - 76 cakes for one couple? Wow. The Viking cake was gorgeous. I always wonder what I'd want in a custom cake, but can never think of anything that seems challenging but fun enough. I suppose I could get a TARDIS. That would be cool.
• Heroes: "I Am Become Death" - Ug. Time travel. Ug. How about a good story sometime instead of a convoluted, rehashed X-Men tale?
• Food Detectives: "Spicy Foods and Sleepless Nights" - So, spicy foods actually can disturb your sleep? Hm. The smelly food and the amount of water you get from regular foods segments were also nicely solid. Turns out I get plenty of water each day.
• Smallville: "Toxic" - Green Arrow's origin story! And a proper introduction of Mercy! But no Aquaman, so... meh. Sad, seeing Oliver shirtless just reminds me of what could've been if Mercy Reef had been picked up. *sigh*
• Numb3rs: "High Exposure" - I liked the climber couple. They were fun, and made the human drama a little better. I only care so much about Charlie getting his security clearance back.
• Iron Chef America: "Symon vs Adjey" - What an ingredient! And the explosion of the lighter was a true highlight, as one person said it made for some really good TV. Luckily, no one was hurt. If it had exploded even one second later, Adjey would have been seriously burned. And the result was... interesting.
• Destination Truth: "Issie; Icelandic Elves" - Hard to tell what they ran up against in Japan, but if that was an eel, it was a rather peeved eel. The elf-hunt was great fun, and I laughed aloud many times at their antics. The electronic difficulties they had were definitely suggestive, but as Josh points out, not conclusive of anything. I love this show. It's the ultimate snipe hunt, but everyone is in on the joke.
• Ace of Cakes: "The Big Cake-owski" - That Star Wars cake rocked the party. I loved it. I don't know anything about the The Big Lebowski, but I wouldn't want to be a cake at that party.
• Smallville: "Instinct" - Maxima? Bwah-ha-ha-ha-ha!

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And here's comics from the last few weeks. I'll be getting twice-a-month shipments from here on out, so I'll never be sure when I'll get a chance to review a book.:

• Tiny Titans #8 - Lots of fun seeing the Tiny Titans mentors. I squeed at Aquaman, but Blue Beetle definitely won that one in the joke department. I'm surprised the cover didn't have Aqualad getting a "sea".
• Checkmate #30 - Bored. Want the end of this story.
• Captain Britain and MI13 #5 - Ok, a Marvel book I'm enjoying. Wow. I really like Faiza. A nice grounded character who, nonetheless, has powers. Nice cliffhanger.
• Spirit #21 - This really is a fun book. I think we dropped it... but it is fun.
• Castle Waiting #12 - Wow, two cool bits in this one. Simon's monster was great, and the story of the doctor was tragic. I love this book, I just wish it came out a little more often.
• Billy Batson and the Magic of Shazam #2 - Theo Adam is a bit of a pain, isn't he?
• Powers #30 - Hey, an issue finally came out! Wow! And it's even an ending of sorts. Yay!
• PS238 #34 - I have a feeling I'm not going to like the new Tyler very much. I wonder what his powers are?
• Usagi Yojimbo #114 - Fascinating tale. Did the Shogun actually have spies like that, I wonder?
• Northlanders #10 - Brutal. This series is just brutal. I'm not sure if I like the idea of a series of standalone stories about different Northmen, but so far they've been good. This two-parter was very well done. And brutal.
• The Simpsons' Treehouse of Horror #14 - The Simpsons do Death Note! Scary how much Lisa looks like "L" in those scenes. And Krusty makes a great Shinigami. The other two stories were ok, but forgettable.
• Land of Oz Manga #3 - Eeeek, too fast! The retelling is going way too fast! Somebody slow this sawhorse down!
• Justice League of America #25 - YAY ELSEWORLDS!

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My library book this week was The Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold. I've read the entire Vorkosigan saga repeatedly, and it's a series I go back to when I need a comfort read. I need to get the entire series in hardcover someday, because I think I wore out the library copies. Anyway, the point is that I really like Bujold's work... but I've never read any of her non-Vorkosigan books. I kept meaning to remedy that while living in Frankenhaus with access to King County's library system, but didn't get around to it. So I made it a top priority here with the regional library system. I got my copy of this book the same day hubby-Eric got his library card (unrelated) and set down to read it immediately, in between bouts of unpacking. The verdict? Well, I don't find it as comforting as the Vorkosigan books, but I enjoyed it a lot. Bujold can pick up a character's story long after the "exciting bits" have happened, and take that character further. In this case, Cazaril has endured a lot before the story starts, and he isn't your typical hero. But then, no Bujold character ever is a typical hero. The philosophy in this story is amazing, and the words "thought provoking" don't justify the theology. I can see that I'll be rereading this book in a few years and probably getting more out of it the second time. So my verdict: it's not a book about Miles or Cordelia but it's still very good and worth a read. Go on, check it out.

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Fortean Times #240, October 2008. Got this just before I moved out of Frankenhaus, and so had to read it in bits and pieces as I moved into Stepford House. The title story is about rocketmen from the future, and has a nice collection of sightings that make you wonder about what was really happening to the witnesses. The Time Storm article was very neat, and I enjoyed it for fannish reasons as well as in the usual Fortean sense. I loved the coverage of the John Titor hoax. That seems like the kind of hoax that, if you only have enough imagination and the right sort of information, would be terribly easy to pull off. Ghostwatch had a tale in it that was covered later in the issue by a book review, enough to make me want to read the book. All-in-all, another good issue of the oddest magazine on the newsstands.

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Past Sunday Reviews -- Comics at Amazon.com -- Previews

A Sunday Review

I confess that I spent most of this week watching the Olympics on the CBC. As you may know, my husband is a HUGE Olympics fan, and he's infected me with Olympic fever. I'm even reading Wallechinsky's big Olympic book cover to cover (all 1182 pages). Even with Olympic coverage on the CBC being considerably better than the multi-channel NBC coverage, it still wasn't constant, so I was able to watch a few TiVo'ed shows. TV this week:

• Ghost Hunters International: "Tortured Souls" - Ok, "footsteps" is not paranormal. There are too many noises that old buildings make that can be interpreted as footsteps by the human ear. So footsteps alone doesn't impress me as a haunting. On the other hand, the "quartz battery" theory is almost plausible. I still love to see the cool places they go to, and the history they dig up. I want my next house to be like that first castle, built into the side of a cliff with plenty of storage in back in the caves.
• Iron Chef America: "Flay vs Garces" - Ah, a brain freeze leftover. Well, you know I was just waiting to see if Flay loses. And since I try not to give spoilers, I won't give it away.
• History Detectives: "Black Tom Shell; USS Olympia Glass; Front Street Blockhouse" - I knew about Black Tom, but didn't realize the extent of it. The USS Olympia find was interesting, especially the final bit about the catalog. I wish Frankenhaus had a nice history like that blockhouse, maybe somebody would buy it then.
• Big Daddy's House: "Life's a Beach" - I love his description of free-range chicken: chicken that can go to the gym whenever they want to. Also: breakdancing hard-boiled eggs. Nice tip.
• Dinner: Impossible: "Escape to Alcatraz" - Ehm. Ok. Nothing special. I liked Robert better.
• Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives: "Totally Unexpected" - I'd definitely go to that second place and try out the bison hash and pad thai. I'm not sure about the other two places, though meatball sliders sure sound good.
• Food Detectives: "Swallowing Gum" - What shouldn't be put in a microwave... grapes? Carrots? I've never seen Cool Hand Luke, so the 50 eggs thing was new to me. I already knew the answer to the gum question. And I don't eat ice, so the crystal clear ice cubes were useless to me.
• Ace of Cakes: "Pinball Wizard" - The pinball cake was nice, but the Diana cake was fantastic.
• Ghost Hunters International: "Dracula's Castle" - The first castle was a bit boring, and they mostly disproved stuff. I'm not sure what to make of the photography, but strange lights do not a haunting make. As for Dracula's Castle... that was actually pretty funny.

This was a very strong week for comic books. I'm glad I was able to get the comics in person, despite the annoying circumstances of being in town to get them. Comics this week:

• Conan the Cimmerian #2 - It's Conan, what else can I say? If you like Conan, you'll probably enjoy this.
• Spirit #20 - I think I should enjoy a story set in an aquarium more than this. It was ok, but nothing special.
• Justice League of America #24 - Zatanna shows some strength here. Not what I expected to happen, but very interesting way around the problem. Now, what's up with Vixen and Animal Man?
• Super Friends #6 - Ah, teamwork. And an Aquaman profile in this issue, too! I like how happy the Super Friends are. This book just makes me happy.
• PS238 #33 - Have I mentioned that I love this book? I really want to see how Tyler's story turns out, but I'm finally interested in Cecil's abilities as well.
• Doctor Who: The Forgotten #1 - Oh man! I've been mildly disappointed in the regular book, but THIS is what I expected when the comic was announced. This is Doctor Who comic book done right! More like this please!

Past Sunday Reviews -- Comics at Amazon.com -- Previews

A Sunday Review

TV this week:

• Iron Chef America: "Flay vs Hamilton" - Ooooh, I love the ingredient. I should've taken notes.
• How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria? - The final four got to snog John Barrowman!!!! I wanna get into the final four! Ahem, anyway, any of these women could perform the part, from what we've seen. I really don't have a preference, though I would love to see them all go on to successful careers.
• Dinner: Impossible: "Boardwalk" - Now I want to try the chocolate-covered bacon. Symon is a MUCH different chef for this show than Robert. More inventive, more willing to take risks, less annoyingly uptight, and lots more alcohol in the food.
• The Next Food Network Star: "Ultimate Vegas Buffet" - This was a completely cringe-filled episode. In the end, they made a very interesting choice. I'm not sure what else they could've done at that point.
• History Detectives - The smoking jacket was fascinating, and it was rather impressive how she managed to hunt down the original owner's son. Very cool episode.
• Ghost Hunters International: "Castle of the Damned" - Barry the Iron Chef makes his Irish Stew... no wait, that's another channel. This was a fun one for stories, but not much by way of experiences. It did prove once again that a little research goes a long way.
• Ace of Cakes: "Elephant Delivery Service" - Duff in a heavy, hot costume delivering an incredibly intricate cake to little children! Fun. But the best cake was the library cart.

Comics this week:

• Land of Oz Manga #1 - Wow, that zipped through bits of the tale really fast! Almost too fast, in fact.
• Usagi Yojimbo #113 - Ah, that one worked out nicely in the end. Well, for everyone but Usagi.
• Green Lantern Corps #26 - Both rings? This one will have something to prove.
• Justice League of America #23 - Vixen's new powers... she should have been able to win that battle.
• Spirit #19 - A nice anthology of three tales. All of them had the Spirit spirit.
• Super Friends #5 - Aquamonkey!
• DMZ #33 - I don't much like the looks of that cliffhanger.
• Fallen Angel #28 - I really have no idea what to say about this issue. I wonder what part the suicidal dude will play in the future, if any?
• Superman #678 - *yawn* I don't know what's happening in this book anymore. And I don't really much care.

This week's library movie was Enchanted. Yup, we took the time to stop and watch a movie. We're pretty close to being done cleaning and packing, so we took a break. And it was a fun little movie. About what you'd expect from Disney making fun of itself. Good animation, good acting, fun plot, and cringe-inducing moments of various New York rodents cleaning an apartment. Yikes. Worth it for Disney fans, or people who like the cute.

Past Sunday Reviews -- Comics at Amazon.com -- Previews

A Sunday Review

TV this week:

• How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria - I'm not a big fan of reality competitions, but this was an interesting look at how casting decisions must be made... and how hard they are. As I told hubby-Eric, if I knew John Barrowman was going to give me a hug like he gave those girls, I would try out for the part, too.
• Iron Chef America: "Symon vs Bloomfield" - The judges were GREAT on this one. I love it when they actually argue about the merits of the dish and disagree with each other. It made for interesting TV and told us far more about the dishes than we normally hear.
• Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives: "Comfort Food" - Fun fun fun! I don't know which place I wanted to go to most... just all of them. I want to try the cereal dipped french toast.
• The Next Food Network Star: "You... In a Jar" - My least favorite didn't get kicked out, but my favorite is still in the running. I'm slightly disappointed at who got booted, but he wasn't really showing his personality, so I wasn't surprised.
• Ghost Hunters: "Fort Delaware" - That is a WAY cool place. I would love to visit there, not for the ghosts, but just for the history. I hate how overproduced the sound in this show is. Too many stupid sounds, even when the people are listening closely for something. I'd rather listen along! Shut off the stupid sounds!
• Doctor Who: "Turn Left" - This is the "Doctor light" episode, featuring mostly just Donna. And... wow. Very interesting. Not what I was expecting at all, but it worked very well. As I was watching it with a crowd of fans, the various recognizable moments went over well and elicted great responses as the episode progessed. All in all, impressive. I worry about the last two episodes, as I've been disappointed after good build-ups at the end of previous seasons, but hopefully this will be the year that bucks the trend.

This week's library movie was My Super Ex-Girlfriend. I wasn't sure what to expect, but it turned out to be a light comedy of the nerdly variety. I really enjoyed it for what it was, but could see how people would be disappointed in what it wasn't. It wasn't a superhero movie. It wasn't a drama. And it certainly wasn't deep. If you need a light, funny movie to watch, this is a good one.

My library book this week was Titans of Chaos. This is the final book in the trilogy, and it ends well, if not how I expected it to end at all. There is a bit too much of the battles in multiple dimensions in this one (battles which are very confusing), but aside from that complaint, I liked it. Wright does a surprisingly good job of explaining the four paradigms in such a way that I usually didn't get confused. Usually. This book is weaker than the first two, but certainly a good read nonetheless.

Another library book I picked up was The Servants by Michael Marshall Smith, recommended in Fortean Times #237. The book is written from the point of view of an 11-year-old boy who is angry about his parents' divorce. While the boy attempts to deal with his new situation by learning to ride his skateboard, he learns that something is very wrong in the house he's moved into with his mother and her new husband. This is a light fantasy, meant for kids. It's a very quick read but has a lot of substance, and some strong emotion. I wasn't entirely happen with the ending, but there couldn't have been any other with this story. If you want a good read, go check this out.

I also read Kitty and the Midnight Hour by Carrie Vaughn from the library. This was also a sort of recommendation from Fortean Times, but the review was a later book in the series. I decided to check out the first book. And it's not too bad. It's your typical Vampires vs Werewolves dealing with modern life story. A bit of gore, a bit of sex, and an attitude too cool for words. It's good if you like that style of book. I liked the angle of the main character being a radio DJ afflicted with lycanthropy who stumbles into fame when she starts talking about vampires and werewolves on air. I'm not yet sure if I'll be picking up the second book.

A quadruple dose of Agatha Christie this week, starting with The Man in the Brown Suit. No Poirot in this one, but Anne works in this book as a strong narrator. I'm amused at how Christie threw suspicion off of one character immediately, then built up other characters so at any given time you have no idea who to trust. As for the mystery, I thought it was a little too complicated, but in the end all the threads pulled together nicely and despite my thoughts that this one might be a little too clever, I think it still worked well. But then, it's Agatha Christie. Of course it worked well.

I also read Agatha Christie's The Secret of Chimneys. Another "standalone" mystery, with Anthony Cade as the main character. And he's a real character! I figured out bits of the mystery, like always, but never solved the main one. I think that's the genius of these books: she gives you enough information that even a quick reader like me can pick up enough to solve part of the mystery. And she leaves you with the impression that if you read carefully, you can solve all of it.

Then I read The Murder of Roger Ackroyd. I knew it, but I rejected it. But throughout reading it I kept coming back to it as the solution. I knew it and the only reason she fooled me was because I didn't believe she'd have the audacity to do it. ARGH. I would go into great detail about this, but really, it's a mystery. Spoilers.

Lastly, I read The Big Four. We're back to Poirot, and he's paranoid and goofy in this one. This book had multiple mysteries which Poirot solves, ending with a final battle at the end involving Poirot's twin. I was very amused to see this book as a clue on Jeopardy the day I finished reading it (Friday).

Agatha Christie books are a bit like popcorn or potato chips for me. I have to restrain myself or I'll just keep reading one after another. They are fun, light, and quick reads. I've been forcing myself to read other books in between the Christie books, which is one reason I read so much last week!

Because I was busy reading books, comics this week didn't all get read, so some will show up next week. Here's what I did finish:

• Trinity #3 - Three issues in and I'm no more interested than I was after reading the first issue. It just hasn't caught me.
• Spirit #18 - I applied Agatha Christie thinking to this one, and had it mostly solved well before the reveal. Scary.
• Star Wars Legacy #25 - I got a bit mixed up on who was supposed to be who, despite the reminders within the issue.
• Checkmate #27 - Environmentalism and immoral medical testing in one issue.
• DMZ #32 - It's a very strange political situation, and I'm not sure I fully understand what's happening. But it's also still a very good book.
• Fallen Angel #27 - Ah, twilight zone. Love it.

Past Sunday Reviews -- Comics at Amazon.com -- Previews

A Sunday Review

Light TV this week:

• Classic Doctor Who: "Invasion of Time" Parts 1 & 2 - Tom Baker at his most mad. Lots of fun to watch.
• American Gladiators - The trash talk is remarkably funny in a horribly corny sort of way. I really like Toa. The Buddy Cop theme was nice.
• Have I Got News For You: "Kirsty Young, Charlie Higson, and Frankie Boyle" - The horse doing a somersault was rather impressive. But I was spoiled by the Brian Blessed episode. None of the rest are nearly as funny as that one was.

Comics this week:

• Super Friends #3 - One of the best comics on the shelf at the moment. I LOVE the Aquaman in this book, he's competent and confident and HAPPY. And the finger puppets... SQUEEE!!! Ok, one false note: Aquaman's disguise? BWAH-HA-HA-HA-HA!!
• Justice Society of America #15 - Not enough Ma Hunkel.
• Checkmate #26 - Brutal.
• Justice League of America #21 - More tie-in to Trinity and Final Crisis? I think I've had enough of crossovers.
• Spirit #17 - Pretty good! The cover has less than usual to do with the inside, though.
• Star Wars: Legacy #24 - Too much history in this one, and not enough book to explain it all. What was explained was good, but there were some befuddlement moments.

I got a Fortean Times. Issue #236. This one concerns itself with the Copycat Effect and Suicide. Not my favorite subjects by a long shot. The magic numbers article amused me, and checking my "lucky number" against their chart made me laugh aloud (chamber pot). The Crop Circles article was nicely skeptical, and did a good job examining the phenomenon. The bit on Victoria Woodhull was enough to make me want to go hunting for more information on her. What a character! I put a couple of the books they reviewed on hold. But the gem of the issue was the Fortean Traveller article on Brittany, which made me want to make a trip to Europe.

This week's library movie was Shrek the Third. Nice and fun. There really isn't much more to say. If you enjoyed the first two, you will probably enjoy this one. The inclusion of Arthur Pendragon was amusing, even if they didn't develop his whole love triangle thing like they considered. Maybe they can do something with that in the fourth movie.

My library book this week was The Mysterious Affair at Styles: A Hercule Poirot Mystery by Agatha Christie. After watching last week's Doctor Who I decided that I really needed to read some Agatha Christie. As far as I know, I've never actually read any of her stories. So I decided to start at the beginning and read every book she's written. And the first Agatha Christie novel is The Mysterious Affair at Styles. Which I enjoyed. Poirot is quite a character, and I didn't figure out the solution, though I picked up on several of the clues that the narrator (Arthur Hastings) didn't. A good read, I'm looking forward to reading more. Anyone know of a complete list of all her books and short stories? (and plays and everything else?)

Past Sunday Reviews -- Comics at Amazon.com -- Previews

A Sunday Review

TV this week:

• Classic Doctor Who: "Sunmakers" Parts 1 & 2 - Ah yes. I have seen this one before, but it's still an interesting tale of taxes, drugs, and rebellion.
• Chefography: "Rachel Ray" - I didn't mean to watch this, but I caught it anyway and enjoyed it. I think the main issue folks have with Rachel is her oversaturation. Watching the bio, I see how she managed to get all over the place. I think she ought to slow down before she explodes or something.
• Iron Chef America: "Flay vs Rios" - One of my favorite ingredients, and my least favorite Iron Chef.
• Have I Got News For You: "Jack Dee, Peter Serafinowicz and Bob Marshall-Andrews" - This is one of the funniest shows on TV... unfortunately, there's no American version (and if there was, it would be dumbed down, I bet).
• Supernanny: "Schrage Family" - The sleeping habits of that family are beyond belief... I'm surprised the parents didn't fix that themselves out of sheer frustration years earlier.
• Ghost Hunters: "Spirits of the Old West" - Good old gory stories in this one, and not much else.
• Dinner: Impossible: "Brewhouse Bites" - I don't drink beer, and it smells like rotting feet to me, so this episode is utterly unappetizing. Perhaps I should watch it when I'm having trouble keeping my calorie level low.
• Ace of Cakes: "Skate, Rattle and Roll" - Best dream sequence ever! Duff looks good as a wish-granting fairy.
• Smallville: "Sleeper" - Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen. Halfway amusing, totally cringeworthy.
• Star Trek New Voyages/Phase II: "To Serve All My Days" - Chekov talks to himself very nicely. But the ending... that was NOT what I was expecting. For the record, we have now seen all released episodes of New Voyages/Phase II (we saw "World Enough and Time" back in March when we heard it was nominated for a Hugo).
• Doctor Who: "The Sontaran Stratagem" - I kept thinking, "Why are they adding another plotline? How can they wrap this one up?" I'd forgotten it was a two-parter. I like Donna even more now.

Comics this week:

• Countdown 1 - Um. Ok.
• Checkmate #25 - I expected the ending, but there was enough misdirection that I wasn't sure of it.
• Justice League of America #20 - It's a Flash story, with a little bit of a fight. Not bad.
• Batman #675 - I actually liked this one, despite some dodgy moments with the artwork.
• Super Friends #2 - This book is great. I love it. Aquaman is wonderful, full of confidence and a great sense of humor. "'Bye, Icky." I'm still grinning.
• Spirit #16 - I love how the gossip leads the investigation.
• Northlanders #5 - Flashback issue! Sven's path is pretty clear now.
• Witchblade #117 - I'm supposed to know who the guy at the end is, right?
• Fallen Angel #26 - Slightly disjointed, especially toward the end. I'm not really sure what happened, although I understand all the individual pieces.
• Star Trek: New Frontier #2 - I tried to read it. But without having read the books, it makes no sense whatsoever. I give up.

This week's library movie was Unaccompanied Minors. We have to watch a stupid movie every once in awhile, and this one was reported to have an Aquaman connection. Sure enough, we got an Aquaman action figure ten minutes in. Lewis Black makes a really good villain, and a halfway decent Santa. And the Aquaman action figure has a role in the plot beyond just being Beef's friend. Overall, this was not a bad way to waste 90 minutes. Maybe I'll get a copy of this one for my Aquaman collection someday.

My library book this week was Jack of Fables Vol. 2: Jack of Hearts. There's really not a lot to say about this one. It's ... Jack. If you have read enough Fables, you understand this guy, if not, you don't. I think I'll continue to read these in trade. The next one is out this summer, so I may wait awhile before it hits the library.

Past Sunday Reviews -- Comics at Amazon.com -- Previews

A Sunday Review

TV this week: Star Trek New Voyages/Phase II: "World Enough and Time" (the new actors playing familiar parts take some getting used to, but this is good), Iron Chef America: "Morimoto vs Cole" (surprising ingredient, but not a surprising result), Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives: "Regional Favorites" (pancakes WAY too big), Robin Hood: "Treasure of the Nation" (Lynda Bellingham! She made this episode), Ghost Hunters: "The Fear Cage" (they were red, not pink), Destination Truth: "Sea Monster; Bat Demon" (Josh is so snarky about the places he goes to I'm surprised he doesn't get beat up), Dinner: Impossible: "Groundhog Daze" (I think Robert deserved this one), Supernanny: "Weinstein Family" (big scary father learns what he looks like to his kids), Ace of Cakes: "Avenue Q Cakes" (I really want to see Avenue Q sometime), and Smallville: "Veritas" (is this series over yet?).

Comics this week:

• Countdown 5 - Another depressing issue, although it pretty much sorts itself out at the end. So, I'm guessing that wasn't the main Earth?
• Green Lantern #29 - Oh no, not Hal Jordan's origin yet again! Well... this is a little different. Promising start.
• JSA Classified #36 - Cats and more cats. I'm not that interested in Wildcat, but this has caught my imagination.
• Spirit #15 - What on Earth does he see in her, anyway?
• Fallen Angel #25 - I keep thinking it will explode into something great, and it keeps not exploding.
• Phantom #22 - The change hasn't been retconned away, so maybe it'll stick around a bit. Maybe. Or perhaps he'll wake up and it was a dream.
• Star Trek: The New Frontier #1 - I read the cover twice, this is issue number one. So why do I feel like I came in at the middle of the story?
• Rogue Angel: Teller of Tales #2 - Ah, the origin story! I think I'd rather have read more about the find in the basement, but this wasn't bad.
• Usagi Yojimbo #110 - A great done-in-one tale! I've missed those. This is one any Usagi fan will probably enjoy.
• Amelia Rules #20 - Amelia was ok, but Apathy Kat was surreal. I'm not sure what I thought of it.

My library book this week was The Search for the Red Dragon by James A. Owen. I read the first book reported on here, and enjoyed it, so I checked out the second. This is more of the same in some ways... lots of literary references and a rippin' plot that pulls you through history and reality. I haven't yet been able to identify all of the characters, but I feel like I'm getting close. This is definitely a series that will reveal more on rereading, so I plan on buying copies of these books once we've got money again. Unfortunately, this book came out this year, so I'm going to have to wait for any more sequels (and I'm thinking there will be at least one more).

A second library book I picked up was The Daily Show and Philosophy edited by Jason Holt. This book is a collection of essays deconstructing the Daily Show from a philosophical viewpoint. Among other topics, the essayists tackle the concept of using fiction to tell the truth, Jon Stewart as a philosopher, critical thinking within the show, how religion is treated in the show, and Truthiness. There's a solid index, footnotes on each essay and biographies of the essayists. It's actually a very good package, although the individual essays vary in quality. Even if you do not watch the show, the essays generally give enough context to understand the concepts. If you are interested in how the media works from a broader view of history, this is a book you may want to check out.

Past Sunday Reviews -- Comics at Amazon.com -- Previews

A Sunday Review

I started this week by catching up on my Manga anthology reading by going though Shojo Beat and Shonen Jump from the last few months. As I've said before, it was worth subscribing to Shonen Jump just to keep up with Hikaru No Go, which is one of my favorite comic stories, bar none, at the moment. I would easily pay $3 an issue just for Hikaru, and with the subscription I was paying less than that and getting five other decent series as well (along with one crappy/unreadable one). Yes, it's in black and white, but I pay $3 an issue for good b&w independent comic books. Unfortunately, I won't be getting SJ anymore, as Hikaru No Go has been dropped as of the May issue.

Incidentally, if you use my links to Amazon to buy a book, I generally end up using the tiny amount of money I get to buy the latest volume of Hikaru No Go. Which might give you a hint of how little I get through those links. But as long as I get Hikaru No Go, I'm happy.

My main complaint with Shojo Beat is the fluffy and disconnected style of some of the stories. In many shojo stories, the writer assumes that the reader knows the writer's intention without it being explicit. Well, sometimes the writer is correct. Other times the jumps are too much and instead of stark and beautiful it is confusing and annoying. Not every story suffers from the problem, but the ones that do tend to irritate me. Here's my thoughts on the stories I caught up with this week.

• Absolute Boyfriend: One of my favorite features... it ended in the March issue. And it actually managed to have a decent ending, even! I was a little surprised. This one was a solid adventure from the start.
• B.O.D.Y. (Preview): Enough to set up the premise, not enough to convince me to try it.
• Be With You (Preview): The preview was too short to get more than an impression of the style. It's impossible to tell if I'd enjoy this or not. I learned more about the tale from the one-page ads in later issues than from the preview.
• Crimson Hero: My other favorite story, about a girl determined to be a volleyball player despite her family's wishes. This has been a solid feature of this book.
• Haruka: Beyond The Stream of Time: All the characters look the same, and it's difficult to tell who is male or female. And it's very fluffy and disconnected.
• Honey and Clover: At times too fluffy, but overall fairly sweet and readable. The characters have distinct personalities, which sometimes doesn't seem to happen in shojo manga.
• I-O-N (Preview): Another preview that's a little too short to figure out whether it's worth picking up.
• Monkey High! (Preview): Now this is how a preview ought to be. Enough of the meat of the tale to know what it's going to be about, enough art to judge the style. It's a cute story, typical shojo. I suspect it will do well.
• Sand Chronicles: Too much wishy-washy looking at the past. If the story didn't fall into retrospective in every single issue of the magazine, it wouldn't be so bad. But this one goes a little overboard with the "Oh, how neat things were in the past!" meme. Otherwise, a halfway decent story is buried in there.
• Vampire Knight: I hated this when it started, but I've grown to almost appreciate it since. The main character is a wuss, and annoying. If she'd grow a spine, I think I might start to like this.

Overall, I'm not sure why I bother to subscribe to this anthology. Especially now that Absolute Boyfriend is ended. It doesn't have any one feature that I find so compelling that I have to buy the book, like with Shonen Jump. It's a smaller anthology than Shonen Jump, with less extras and a higher price tag. I tell myself I get it to keep my fingers on the pulse of manga, but I'm not really sure it's worth it.

I've said that I would buy Shonen Jump just for Hikaru No Go, so it's been fortunate for me that I also enjoy some of the other stories. The ones that have been in the book since I started reading it have grown on me. For the most part, I've been able to take these stories as they are intended (shonen=for boys) and appreciate the goofiness. Here's my thoughts on the stories I caught up with this week.

• Bleach: This one is relatively new to Shonen Jump, and I can't say I like it. I tried reading the first volume some time ago and wasn't impressed. The chapters in Shonen Jump pick up in the middle, and while I try to read it, I'm still not drawn into it yet.
• Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo: I can't stand this feature. It's poorly drawn, badly plotted, and generally stupid beyond any reasonable level of stupidity. I no longer bother to try to read it.
• Hikaru No Go: My favorite tale, about an irresponsible kid who is possessed by an ancient master of Go, which changes his life. The last few installments have been REALLY interesting, as the Go master wants to take center stage, as he's been feeling out of the action.
• Naruto: SJ took a short break from this feature to dump a whole lot of graphic novels on the fans, and get a bit ahead of the story. The new storyline is intriguing, and if they had to jump ahead, I think they did a good job with it.
• One Piece: Ridiculous, silly, and at times hard to follow... but this one manages to be amusing and have a plotline as well. This one took a long time to grow on me, but I find it funny now.
• Yu-Gi-Oh! GX: I enjoyed the original Yu-Gi-Oh to some extent, as it was a fairly compelling story with a nice history. A bit too much fighting, but most of these stories have too much fighting. This version, set later in time than the original, has it's high points as well.
• YuYu Hakusho: This one seemed like entirely fighting for the first year or so that I read it. Now it's settling down a little into a bit more than that. Another one that's grown on me.

After I've read SJ and SB I donate the magazines to the local library for the young adult librarian to give away as prizes. I then buy the collections of Hikaru No Go for my library. In the future, I'm only going to be buying the collections, which means the librarian is out some prizes. Sorry, library.

No movie for this week thanks to a full weekend. Hubby-Eric did finish watching the extras on the Dreamgirls DVD set that we got from the library.

TV this week: Classic Doctor Who: "The Invisible Enemy" parts 1 & 2 (I haven't seen this story in ages, it's practically new to me), Robin Hood: "Ducking and Diving" (Josie Lawrence!), Smallville: "Fracture" (yawn), Dinner: Impossible: "Late for the Luau" (most of the foods don't appeal to me, but I'd love to smell them), Torchwood: "Dead Man Walking" (don't listen to headphones during an evacuation), Supernanny: "Wilson-Knutson Family" (poop and songs, a perfect combination!), Ghost Hunters International: "Frankenstein's Castle" (interesting EVP there... but I'm disturbed by one of the Ghost Hunter's disrespect for the location), American Gladiators: "Grand Finale" (rip-roaring fun, and not much else. But then, that's sports in a nutshell), and Ace of Cakes: "The Spy Who Caked Me" (that housekeeping staff has a lot to answer for).

Got the latest Fortean Times, #233, to hit the Americas. This one had a couple of intriguing bits. The cover story, about two Italian guys who listened to messages from space just as the space race was starting, was very interesting. Especially the bits about possibly lost cosmonauts. Yikes. It's certainly something I can imagine the USSR doing to prevent knowledge of its failures, but you would think that somebody would have come forward by now with some hint of what really happened... wouldn't you? I also enjoyed "Rock's greatest lightshow" in which it is theorized that Neolithic rock art was in part inspired by a Southern plasma lightshow, an auroral storm. There was some unexpected Johnny Cash, as well. The reviews weren't very captivating this time, but overall a good issue.

My library book this week was The Doctor Who Was Followed by Ghosts: The Family Saga of a Chinese Woman Doctor by Li Qunying and Louis Han. An excellent book, it's basically the story of a woman's life through the last 80 or so years of China's history. She joined the Communist Army as a teenager, served in Korea, became a doctor and had four children. She survived the Cultural Revolution, and her first-hand account of all the events are amazing and frightening. She brings history alive in this book, in a down-to-earth manner. While not everyone will love this one, it is worth reading. Particularly if you have only a little understanding of China's recent history.

This week's comics arrived a bit late for me... because I was sick and not able to get them the day they arrived in the shop, for once. How do you know Laura is really sick? She doesn't get her comics on Wednesday. Anyway, on to my thoughts on this books... Checkmate #23 lost me a bit. I remember the previous issues in which this character infiltrated Kobra, but I felt like it jumped too quickly into the new plot. I think maybe I'm being nitpicky. Moving on... Justice League of America #18 did nothing for me because I'm not paying attention to the whole salvation run series, or whatever it's called. The various crossovers in DC-land are getting too much. Speaking of crossovers, Brave and the Bold #10 was a solid little tale featuring an almost unknown Aquaman character and a major event in Aquaman's life. And Aqualad actually looked correct in this one, wonder of wonders.

The Spirit #14 was fun, as usual. The old folks home was a nice touch. Witchblade #115 was a standard day-in-the-life story, and worked for what it was. Art was too cheesecake-y, but not as bad as it has been in the past. Conan #49 had lots of gore and not much plot.

Past Sunday Reviews -- Comics at Amazon.com -- Previews

A Sunday Review

Hubby-Eric and I watched more of Sapphire and Steel: "The Railway Station". Nicely spooky. Very slow, deliberate pacing.

On television, I watched American Gladiators (but the TiVo cut it off!), Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives (just to watch Guy eat), Ace of Cakes (mmmmm...cake), Ghost Hunters International: "Haunted Village" (Barry and Brian lost in the woods, almost worth watching it just for that), Colbert Report (had some good bits this week), Torchwood: "To the Last Man" (that was really heart-breaking), Robin Hood: "The Angel of Death" (catching up on this series), and Mythbusters: "Airplane on a Conveyor Belt" (Ok, I understand the whole plane thing. But the radiation myth was DISGUSTING).

A book I checked out from the library was Do Not Open by John Farndon. It looks like the perfect coffee table book. Something to have sitting around to pick up and read when you are waiting around. It's not a terribly good borrow from the library, though, because it is the kind of book you want to savor. I hope I someday get a copy as a gift, but for now I returned it to the library.

Another library book was Peach Fuzz Volume 2 by Lindsay Cibos and Jared Hodges which continued the ferret-y fun. I'm really enjoying this series, and this I'll check out volume three as soon as it becomes available at the library. It also seems like it would be a good gift book for a pre-teen girl.

I finally broke through my "do not feel like reading comic books" barrier and caught up on a few titles. For superheroes: Teen Titans: The Lost Annual was an excellent Elseworlds tale. Wonder Woman just isn't holding my interest. Sorry WW fans. Checkmate #22 was good, I like the historical aspect. Justice League of America #17 made no sense. JLA Classified has a fairly decent story going in the last two issues. Superman/Batman #45 completely got Joseph wrong (Hint: he's not going by "Arthur" anymore (doesn't anyone actually read the books before writing a character?)). Green Lantern #27 had one really amusing bit, as in who was chosen as the Sinestro Lantern on Earth... heh. The Spirit had a couple of solid standalone issues.

And in non-mainstream books: The last couple issues of Witchblade have been extremely readable, with very little unclothed women. I wonder if my friend will drop it now, so I can't read any more now that I'm enjoying it. Castle Waiting #10 has a bit of mystery, and I'm feeling very impatient for the next issue. Usagi Yojimbo #109 had an ending that I didn't want, but totally expected. Enough with Jei already! And I also loved Amelia Rules #19. Family history is cool (my sister is posting family pics on Flickr, so I'm experiencing my own Family History lately, as well).

We attempted to watch Ratatouille as our movie of the week, but the library copy we got was scratched enough that it wouldn't play all the way through (in fact, it stops just as Remy gets into the kitchen). GRRRR. How much brains does it take to be smart enough to NOT ruin a library item? What's with people who damage library DVDs?

Really Rapid Reviews

These are mini-capsules: about one sentence per book with whether or not I recommend the book.

21 February 2007

52 Week Forty-Two: "Trigger Effect": Oh. Wow. Oh, what a payoff. Wow. Man. Wow. Recommended.

Checkmate #11: "Corvalho Part One": A strange misprint on the second and third pages made them hard to read in our copy of this book. Otherwise, it's another solid installment of a solid book. Waller is some piece of work, isn't she? Recommended.

The Flash #7: "Speedquest Chapter 1: Angel City": Not a bad jumping on point. It's a set-up story, which is what I needed, since I haven't picked up Flash in awhile. Mildly recommended.

Brave and the Bold #1: "The Lords of Luck: Roulette": A solid Silver Age-y book that is well worth checking out. Recommended.

Ion #11: "Lovers & Enemies": I could still dump this book in a second, but at least Soranik shows up. Mildly recommended.

Shadowpact #10: "Cursed": I really liked this one. The team may be cursed, but this is a pretty good book. Recommended.

Superman #659: "Angels": Whoa. Very interesting standalone story, that also happens to work within the greater arc. Highly Recommended.

Birds of Prey #103: "Truth or Dare": Oracle losing control of her spiderweb, intriguing. Recommended.

Aquaman: Sword of Altantis #49: "Dreams of the Fisherman": A great ending to a good story. This revamp of The Fisherman is one of the more successful retcons of a villain in a long time. I love it. Highly recommended.

Powers #23: I just wish this story would speed up the pace a little. Otherwise pretty good. Mildly recommended.

Star Trek: The Next Generation #2: "Captain's Pleasure": Nice little mystery, in the Star Trek style. Not bad. Mildly recommended.

Local #8: "food as substitute": Megan needs to crawl her way back from the depths she's hit, and I think the end of this one started that process. Mildly recommended.

The Spirit #3: "Resurrection": A retelling of the origin of The Spirit, and a good 'un. Recommended.

DMZ #16: "Public Works 4/5": Man, what a cliffhanger. This is a painful book, but wow, it is GOOD. Recommended.

PS238 #20: Time travel is the most difficult of concepts to deal with in a comic book, but I do believe Aaron Williams has managed it this time. Highly recommended.

Really Rapid Reviews

These are mini-capsules: about one sentence per book with whether or not I recommend the book.

17 January 2007

52 Week Thirty-Seven: "Secret Identities": Way to spoil the story on the cover. Sheesh. And the "Secret of 52" as revealed in the code is the back is hardly a secret at all (Both JSA and Ion have made that clear already). But it's got a great little cliffhanger or two, and just what is Skeets?!?? Recommended.

Aquaman: Sword of Atlantis #48: "Here Be Monsters": I've been waiting for this story since Kurt told me about it in that phone call over a year ago. And it completely lives up to my expectations. Highly recommended.

Green Lantern #16: "Wanted: Hal Jordan" chapter three: Not entirely bad. Very mildly recommended.

JLA Classified #32: "The 4th Parallel Point of Origin": A new villain, and most of the book is taken up with his origin. Mildly recommended.

Birds of Prey #102: "Freedom of Motion": Oooh, I like Lois versus Barbara face-off. Very fun. Recommended.

Shadowpact #9: "Three Laws Safe": Nice statement of the laws of superheroics. Recommended.

Spirit #2: "The Maneater": Wow, second issue and we're already getting some background on P'Gell. Cool. Recommended.

Wisdom #2: "The Village That Walked Like A Woman": Sorry Paul, you know I love ya and all, but I just can't get into this book. Pete Wisdom doesn't interest me, and the writing style that works so well for prose seems jumpy in this comic. I hate to do this to you: Not recommended.

Conan #36: "Silent to the Sea": Nice finish to the Pict story. I still wish Kurt was on the book. Mildly recommended.

Stardust Kid #5: "An Endless Ending": I wanted to like this book. But I didn't. Not recommended.

Phantom #14: "Walker's Line" part one: Nice flashback tale tying into other stories. Mildly recommended.

Castle Waiting vol II #4: OOOOH! OOOOH! More about Lady Jain's lover, Pindar's father. Lots of neat stuff spilled in this one. Highly Recommended.

24 January 2007

52 Week Thirty-Eight: "Breathless": This one had very little of interest for me in it. Very mildly recommended.

Checkmate #10: "The End in Sight": Well, that explains why no one can infiltrate Kobra. Mildly recommended.

DMZ #15: "Public Works 3/5": I didn't think Matty would go through with it, but I'm not entirely sure just what he did. Recommended.

Noble Causes #26: Too much going on that I don't understand. I'll probably enjoy this one more once I've seen where it's going. Mildly recommended.

Fallen Angel #12: Asia Minor actually comes across as creepy in this one. Mildly recommended.

Mouse Guard #6: "A Return to Honor": Very soon I'm going to sit down with all six issues and read this one through from the beginning. And I bet it'll get even better when I do. Recommended.

True Story, Swear to God #3: Lots of good bits in here, from Tom dealing with a neighbor's barking dog to Lily's act of shaving her head being an inspiration. Highly recommended.

Yay! I'm caught up again! Well, except for that review copy I just got from Larry and the Previews review. But hey, I'm closer than I've been for many weeks.