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