/I'm on a Roll. I know It doesn't seem like it because I took two weeks off between blogs posts, but I've actually been going through books so fast that I didn't want to stop and write about them. Up Next, in rapid succession, the Divergent Trilogy. Let's get Started.
Divergent is the first book in a dystopian young adult sci-fi trilogy. It reminds me of a cross between harry potter and the hunger games, but with more shocking violence.
Beatrice Prior lives in the remains of Chicago several hundred years in the future. In an effort to create a peaceful society, people are sorted into one of 5 factions with differing emotional traits. To save you from having to look up the $10 words author Veronica Roth uses, here are the factions: selfless, peaceful, honest, brave, & Intelligent. There is also the factionless, which is a group of homeless people who can't conform.
Beatrice has been raised to be a member of the selfless faction but during her attribute test, she discovers that she is "divergent", meaning that she is fit for multiple factions. Turns out that's bad. Like, the type of thing that can get you executed bad. So she decides to switch factions and join the brave faction where it will be easier to hide. What follows is a pretty horrific initiation process that results in some of the most brutal moments I've read in teen fiction, which include characters being driven to suicide, sneak attack eye stabbings, and a late night sexual assault. Don't worry though, there is a cute guy to lighten the mood. Oh wait, he's pretty messed up too. Ok, he's not that bad, and I do appreciate that we don't have to deal with a love triangle.
The pacing of this book is lightning fast and we go from 0-100 mph faster than any series I've read. The book ends with a series of events normally reserved for the third book in a series. This is Red Wedding type stuff. It's brutal and captivating, and you need to read this book.
9/10
Tuesday, December 31, 2013
Friday, December 20, 2013
Um, Sweetie, are you watching Wrestling?
A few weeks ago I was sitting home with a case of bronchitis and an allergy attack. My brain felt like it was being squished and I couldn't breathe so hot either. Basically, I needed to just lay on the couch and zone out for few days. It's the kind of sick where you can't really sleep, but your brain can't focus on much either. What is a guy to do to pass the time??? Well, I had just listened to an episode of the Dork Forest podcast (it's awesome, you should check it out) where the dorkdom of the day was professional wrestling. Listening to a pair of 40-something dudes talk about their love of Pro-wrestling brought back the memories of watching WCW with my dad back in grade school. So I thought to myself, "what the hell?" and I began watching old Royal Rumble matches on YouTube while I waiting for my brain to start working again.....
20+ Royal Rumbles later, and now I find myself inexplicably fascinated with the product. When I was a young boy, I knew wrestling was "fake" and that was part of the fun. We'd put each other in the "submission" holds and laugh at how ineffective they were. Since the word fake was applied, I could enjoy it as pure fantasy. Fast forward 15 or so years and I find myself with a new appreciation for what these athletes put themselves through. Yes, pro-wrestling is entertainment, not sport, but it takes world-class athletes to make it work. When you look at the shear number of former wrestlers who died prematurely or have to live with crippling health issues, you realize that this isn't as "fake" as people would like you to believe.
Perhaps the saddest story involves one of my favorite wrestlers when I was young. Chris Benoit was one of the most exhilarating performers I've ever seen. He was 2 tons of ferocity in a 170lb body. Then, one day he murdered he wife and child. He sat around the house for a day or so before hanging himself. When they did the autopsy, they discovered that Benoit had the brain degeneration normally reserved for people in their late 80s. He suffered the same kind of repeated concussions that have become a scourge to the NFL. Netfix also has a nice selection of career retrospectives of former wrestling legends. The common theme through most of them is the severe amount of physical harm these performers endure. What you also see though, is a sense that these performers seem to feel that the sacrifice is worth it to put on shows that thrill audiences.
So what about the shows, you ask? How can I be drawn to something so barbaric and silly? Well, I'm not totally sure. I do know that the few people I know of who also like wrestling are thoughtful, highly intelligent people, and not the stereotypical rednecks and jocks the program is commonly associated with. Wrestling seems to be a fascinating mix of some of my favorite forms of entertainment. You have theatrical characters and set pieces, storylines that would fit at home in your standard action movie, death defying stunts, and this weird mix of truth and misdirection. The best wrestling is a master class in improvisation as the wrestlers weave enough truth into their storylines so that you aren't always sure when or how you are being lied to. Indeed, the most exciting performers are simply playing larger than life versions of themselves. Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock, Mick Foley, CM Punk and others are all revealing sides of themselves to create their characters and giving them a sense of authenticity that draws you to them. I also like the way that Wrestling airs some of it's real dirty laundry and weaves it into the main storyline. CM Punk is famous for a promo he did in 2011 where he basically broke the 4th wall and said a lot of things that fans were feeling. It was by all appearances, a "shoot"(when the performer goes off script) and it is still electrifying to watch. While honesty on the mic is good, the in-ring product is at it's best when the opponents have great chemistry and trust. A truly great match involves performers working together to tell a story, and you can't do that if you don't trust your partner. For those of you who are actors, you know the difference between having a scene with a generous performer who connects with you and one who barely notices that your are there.
I love the way Pro wrestling can create sport as we wish it could be. One of the first Pay-per view events after the death of Eddie Guerrero was the 2006 Royal Rumble. As a sign of respect, one of his best friends, Rey Mysterio entered the 30 man elimination match to Eddie's old entrance music in a low rider. He said before hand that he was dedicating his performance to the memory of his friend. Rey went 60 minutes in the ring and won the event. Knowing it was all per-determined didn't stop me from throwing my fists in the air and cheering when he won. It was like a live version of Rudy and showcased the best that wrestling has to offer.
I also enjoy the way that some injuries are handled. Steve Austin suffered a severe neck injury during a botched piledriver in a match with Owen Hart. He continued to perform with the injury until surgery became essential. Rather than simply letting the biggest name in the game leave quietly for a year, they worked his absence into a storyline and had him get run over by a car while leaving the arena. As a Packer fan, I can say that that plot development is much more satisfying than say, watching your star quarterback go down in the first drive of a game and then the team craps all over the field for the next 5 weeks before learning to play football again. I'm sure Colts Fans can relate after enduring the "Suck for Luck" season. Wouldn't it have been more fun to have Jim Irsay run Peyton Manning down with is limo as a way to avoid signing him to a new contract?
Lastly, I appreciate the way the nature of Pro-wrestling allows legends to come back for one more moment in the sun. The best examples of this are in the Royal Rumble matches. The match starts with two wrestlers with a new wrestler being added every 90 seconds. Wrestlers are eliminated by being thrown over the top rope and both feet touching the floor. The last man standing after all 30 wrestlers enter wins. With so much happening, it's a great time for an old favorite to come out and hear the roar of the crowd, throw a few punches and get eliminated before breaking a hip. Seeing guys like "Hacksaw" Jim Dugan or Jake "the Snake" Roberts come out for a few more minutes of glory is kind of awesome. It's almost like bringing Joe Montana back for a series just to see him throw one more touchdown. In the back of my mind, I know that Jake Roberts is going to have to go right back to the trailer he lives in by my wife's grandma once the show is done, but I'm also happy that he gets a reminder that he hasn't been completely forgotten. You can say what you want about the Rock vs. Hulk Hogan at wrestle mania, but I like getting to see the guys who didn't get that big get one more standing ovation. And a paycheck. I saw The Wrestler. I know they need the paycheck too.
Thanks for bearing with me through this whole post. As a thank-you, here are a couple of my personal favorite moments to look up on You tube/netflix.
Honorable mention: 2000 Royal Rumble, Rikishi shows everybody that big men can dance. It's very silly.
Best match if you like your wrestling PG: 2006 Royal Rumble with Rey Mysterio
Best Match if you like your wrestling Extreme: Mankind Vs. Undertaker Hell in the Cell Match. Mankind survives one of the most horrifying stunts I've ever seen, and then finishes the match with his tooth sticking out of his nose. Yes, you read that right. It's as amazing and thrilling as it is gut-wrenching. Also, my dog is scared of the Undertaker's entrance music.
There are many many more matches that I'm sure my more knowledgeable friends could point you to, but these are the ones that made me need to see more. Now if I could just find a free ticket to the upcoming Elimination Chamber at the Target Center...
20+ Royal Rumbles later, and now I find myself inexplicably fascinated with the product. When I was a young boy, I knew wrestling was "fake" and that was part of the fun. We'd put each other in the "submission" holds and laugh at how ineffective they were. Since the word fake was applied, I could enjoy it as pure fantasy. Fast forward 15 or so years and I find myself with a new appreciation for what these athletes put themselves through. Yes, pro-wrestling is entertainment, not sport, but it takes world-class athletes to make it work. When you look at the shear number of former wrestlers who died prematurely or have to live with crippling health issues, you realize that this isn't as "fake" as people would like you to believe.
Perhaps the saddest story involves one of my favorite wrestlers when I was young. Chris Benoit was one of the most exhilarating performers I've ever seen. He was 2 tons of ferocity in a 170lb body. Then, one day he murdered he wife and child. He sat around the house for a day or so before hanging himself. When they did the autopsy, they discovered that Benoit had the brain degeneration normally reserved for people in their late 80s. He suffered the same kind of repeated concussions that have become a scourge to the NFL. Netfix also has a nice selection of career retrospectives of former wrestling legends. The common theme through most of them is the severe amount of physical harm these performers endure. What you also see though, is a sense that these performers seem to feel that the sacrifice is worth it to put on shows that thrill audiences.
So what about the shows, you ask? How can I be drawn to something so barbaric and silly? Well, I'm not totally sure. I do know that the few people I know of who also like wrestling are thoughtful, highly intelligent people, and not the stereotypical rednecks and jocks the program is commonly associated with. Wrestling seems to be a fascinating mix of some of my favorite forms of entertainment. You have theatrical characters and set pieces, storylines that would fit at home in your standard action movie, death defying stunts, and this weird mix of truth and misdirection. The best wrestling is a master class in improvisation as the wrestlers weave enough truth into their storylines so that you aren't always sure when or how you are being lied to. Indeed, the most exciting performers are simply playing larger than life versions of themselves. Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock, Mick Foley, CM Punk and others are all revealing sides of themselves to create their characters and giving them a sense of authenticity that draws you to them. I also like the way that Wrestling airs some of it's real dirty laundry and weaves it into the main storyline. CM Punk is famous for a promo he did in 2011 where he basically broke the 4th wall and said a lot of things that fans were feeling. It was by all appearances, a "shoot"(when the performer goes off script) and it is still electrifying to watch. While honesty on the mic is good, the in-ring product is at it's best when the opponents have great chemistry and trust. A truly great match involves performers working together to tell a story, and you can't do that if you don't trust your partner. For those of you who are actors, you know the difference between having a scene with a generous performer who connects with you and one who barely notices that your are there.
I love the way Pro wrestling can create sport as we wish it could be. One of the first Pay-per view events after the death of Eddie Guerrero was the 2006 Royal Rumble. As a sign of respect, one of his best friends, Rey Mysterio entered the 30 man elimination match to Eddie's old entrance music in a low rider. He said before hand that he was dedicating his performance to the memory of his friend. Rey went 60 minutes in the ring and won the event. Knowing it was all per-determined didn't stop me from throwing my fists in the air and cheering when he won. It was like a live version of Rudy and showcased the best that wrestling has to offer.
I also enjoy the way that some injuries are handled. Steve Austin suffered a severe neck injury during a botched piledriver in a match with Owen Hart. He continued to perform with the injury until surgery became essential. Rather than simply letting the biggest name in the game leave quietly for a year, they worked his absence into a storyline and had him get run over by a car while leaving the arena. As a Packer fan, I can say that that plot development is much more satisfying than say, watching your star quarterback go down in the first drive of a game and then the team craps all over the field for the next 5 weeks before learning to play football again. I'm sure Colts Fans can relate after enduring the "Suck for Luck" season. Wouldn't it have been more fun to have Jim Irsay run Peyton Manning down with is limo as a way to avoid signing him to a new contract?
Lastly, I appreciate the way the nature of Pro-wrestling allows legends to come back for one more moment in the sun. The best examples of this are in the Royal Rumble matches. The match starts with two wrestlers with a new wrestler being added every 90 seconds. Wrestlers are eliminated by being thrown over the top rope and both feet touching the floor. The last man standing after all 30 wrestlers enter wins. With so much happening, it's a great time for an old favorite to come out and hear the roar of the crowd, throw a few punches and get eliminated before breaking a hip. Seeing guys like "Hacksaw" Jim Dugan or Jake "the Snake" Roberts come out for a few more minutes of glory is kind of awesome. It's almost like bringing Joe Montana back for a series just to see him throw one more touchdown. In the back of my mind, I know that Jake Roberts is going to have to go right back to the trailer he lives in by my wife's grandma once the show is done, but I'm also happy that he gets a reminder that he hasn't been completely forgotten. You can say what you want about the Rock vs. Hulk Hogan at wrestle mania, but I like getting to see the guys who didn't get that big get one more standing ovation. And a paycheck. I saw The Wrestler. I know they need the paycheck too.
Thanks for bearing with me through this whole post. As a thank-you, here are a couple of my personal favorite moments to look up on You tube/netflix.
Honorable mention: 2000 Royal Rumble, Rikishi shows everybody that big men can dance. It's very silly.
Best match if you like your wrestling PG: 2006 Royal Rumble with Rey Mysterio
Best Match if you like your wrestling Extreme: Mankind Vs. Undertaker Hell in the Cell Match. Mankind survives one of the most horrifying stunts I've ever seen, and then finishes the match with his tooth sticking out of his nose. Yes, you read that right. It's as amazing and thrilling as it is gut-wrenching. Also, my dog is scared of the Undertaker's entrance music.
There are many many more matches that I'm sure my more knowledgeable friends could point you to, but these are the ones that made me need to see more. Now if I could just find a free ticket to the upcoming Elimination Chamber at the Target Center...
100 by 30 Book 44 - The She-Hulk Diaries by Marta Acosta
What do you get when you mix chick-lit with the Marvel Universe? A surprisingly fun and breezy tale of lawsuits, genetic manipulation, and the never ending quest to find the right love of your life. The She-Hulk Diaries follows a half year in the life of Jennifer Walters / She-Hulk.
For those you aren't familiar with Bruce Banner's Cousin, here's the quick rundown: Jennifer Walters was an up and coming hot shot attorney when some bad thing happened to her. Bruce donated his blood to save her life and she gained a version of his Hulk powers. Unlike Hulk, She-Hulk is a smart, sexy fully expressive character. Since she has her own personality, Jennifer is basically sharing her body with her room mate. Since She-Hulk is indestructible, she tends to live on the wild side, enjoying all night parties, and often making the kind of choices normally reserved for former Disney child stars. Despite their prowess in the courtroom, Jennifer/She-Hulk are being evicted from the Avengers' mansion due to several extra-curricular incidents involving millions of dollars of property damage.
The book is told through the eyes of Jennifer as she tries to get her life back on track in the new year. When it comes time for her to Hulk-out, we get a sense of what it feels like to watch someone else control your body. Jennifer and "Shulky" have a fun sisterly dynamic with Jennifer trying to keep Shulky from appearing on TMZ, Shulky tries to get Jennifer to let loose a little more. It works well as character development, and the notes they leave to each other offer a nice dose of humor.
The main conflict involves a bio-engineering lawsuit where Jennifer is suing the best friend of a former fling of hers and said fling happens to be engaged to here new boss. We get lots of insults, snide comments, and smoldering glances. We also get a sexy Swedish scientist who might not be all that he seems.
While the book is decidedly a light read, I have to say I found it to be rather charming in it's own way. If I'm gonna read a silly romance book, I do prefer a story with smart, self-reliant female characters who can take care of themselves. It also helps if I get a nice dose of super-powered awesomeness.
7/10
For those you aren't familiar with Bruce Banner's Cousin, here's the quick rundown: Jennifer Walters was an up and coming hot shot attorney when some bad thing happened to her. Bruce donated his blood to save her life and she gained a version of his Hulk powers. Unlike Hulk, She-Hulk is a smart, sexy fully expressive character. Since she has her own personality, Jennifer is basically sharing her body with her room mate. Since She-Hulk is indestructible, she tends to live on the wild side, enjoying all night parties, and often making the kind of choices normally reserved for former Disney child stars. Despite their prowess in the courtroom, Jennifer/She-Hulk are being evicted from the Avengers' mansion due to several extra-curricular incidents involving millions of dollars of property damage.
The book is told through the eyes of Jennifer as she tries to get her life back on track in the new year. When it comes time for her to Hulk-out, we get a sense of what it feels like to watch someone else control your body. Jennifer and "Shulky" have a fun sisterly dynamic with Jennifer trying to keep Shulky from appearing on TMZ, Shulky tries to get Jennifer to let loose a little more. It works well as character development, and the notes they leave to each other offer a nice dose of humor.
The main conflict involves a bio-engineering lawsuit where Jennifer is suing the best friend of a former fling of hers and said fling happens to be engaged to here new boss. We get lots of insults, snide comments, and smoldering glances. We also get a sexy Swedish scientist who might not be all that he seems.
While the book is decidedly a light read, I have to say I found it to be rather charming in it's own way. If I'm gonna read a silly romance book, I do prefer a story with smart, self-reliant female characters who can take care of themselves. It also helps if I get a nice dose of super-powered awesomeness.
7/10
Thursday, December 5, 2013
100 by 30 Book 43 - The Lord of the Rings: The Appendices...'cuz you weren't going to read it.
Yes I am counting the Appendices to the Lord of the Rings as a whole book. First of all, it's well over a hundred pages. Secondly, someone had to see what was in there so they could explain to you why the Hobbit is being stretched into 3 films. And finally, because holy crap is this some dull reading.
We'll get to the good stuff in a minute, but we need to spend a little time covering what constitutes about two thirds of the Appendices first. Here are the three topics that take up the majority of this book:
1. genealogy - You remember that whole section of the bible where they just list names? Imagine that with sillier names.
2. pronunciation guide and a history of languages - This is your go-to spot for an in depth look at how to pronounce the different languages in Middle Earth and why. It's also good for curing insomnia. This is your next step once you've mastered Klingon.
3. Calendars - How much time do you think someone could devote to explaining how months and weeks work? one, maybe two paragraphs? Try about 20+ pages of the most banal minutiae you can think of. I don't understand how this even got published for public viewing. Does the 8th Amendment mean nothing?!
While the above list contains nothing I would recommend anyone to read ever, it does shed light on just how specific Tolkien was in creating Middle Earth. From that perspective, it's almost admirable. Crazy, but admirable. Like a street preacher in Minneapolis in February, you gotta award points for commitment.
So what else is in the appendices? Quite a bit actually. We get a very nice overview of the history of the race of men, including a brief recounting of the fall of the ancient island of Numenor. For those of you who don't know, Numenor was more or less a Middle Earth version of the Atlantis myth. Everyone who lived there was super smart and awesome and lived for hundreds of years. But their long lives and massive power only made them long to have the power and immortality of the elves. So with a little coaxing from Sauron, they made the Valar (angels or demigod-like beings)very mad and Numenor was destroyed. Those who Survived sailed to Middle Earth and Founded the nations of Gondor in the South, and Arnor in the North (which included the Shire). They ruled over the more common men who lived their and things were good for a bit. Then Sauron returned and he was super mad because he got all messed up when Numenor was destroyed and he couldn't look pretty anymore. Then there was that whole thing about the rings that you saw in the prologue to the Fellowship of the Ring and Sauron goes bye bye for a few thousand years.
In the meantime, there's like, millions of battles with the bad guys from the East and South. Then the Witch King (that bad dude who got stabbed in the face by that girl in the 3rd movie) sets up his fortress in Angmar (In the north west, above the shire) and just kills everybody for a long time until the northern Kingdom is destroyed. He's finally chased away or something, and that's how Aragorn's people where reduced from kings to rangers. Other highlights cover the founding of Rohan, the decline of Gondor, the corruption of Sauroman, and the full story of Arwen and Aragorn. There is a lot of fascinating stuff
to browse through here.
As for the Hobbit stuff. We get a nice history of the dwarves. We learn that it was the awakening of the Balrog in Moria that caused the dwarves to move to the Lonely Mountain in the first place. Some of the dwarves moved to the mountains in the far north, which brought the attention of the dragons, which isn't a good thing, so they moved back to the Lonely Mountain and things were great for awhile. Then that Smaug thing happened. The basic history of what happened next is covered in the first Hobbit film. More importantly, we learn why Gandalf even got involved in the first place. Gandalf knew an evil was stirring, and he also knew that there was no power in the North to withstand an assault if Sauron should return. The Dwarves living in the Iron Hills were cut off from any allies by the desolation of Smaug and the dragon himself. Gandalf was aiding Thorin in hopes that the dragon might be destroyed and the north might be restored, thereby strengthening the defense of Middle Earth while simultaneously removing a formidable foe and potential ally of Sauron. The plan went better than anticipated as the battle of five armies destroyed a huge legion of orcs as well. The North was then able to successfully defeat the armies Sauron threw at them during the War of the Ring.
We also get a simple statement that Gandalf led a successful assault on Sauron's fortress of Dol Guldur in Southern Mirkwood forest. In the original Hobbit book, Gandalf just leaves without much warning. When we finally see him again at the end of the book he's all, "Yeah, sorry about leaving, had to gather a bunch of my super friends together to drive the Necromancer out of Mirkwood." Which always made me angry. Fighting a Necromancer sounds awesome and badass and way cooler than dwarves under siege because their king has gone cukoo for Cocoa Puffs (in this analogy, Cocoa Puffs=more gold than you can shake a stick at). This is a major, major event in the history of Middle Earth, and we've never been presented with an adequate telling of the battle of Dol Guldur. Until now. And, because it's the sort of event that demands setting up and fleshing out, that's why you need 3 Hobbit movies. So quit your whinning, pee before the movie starts, and enjoy some more dwarf songs!
We'll get to the good stuff in a minute, but we need to spend a little time covering what constitutes about two thirds of the Appendices first. Here are the three topics that take up the majority of this book:
1. genealogy - You remember that whole section of the bible where they just list names? Imagine that with sillier names.
2. pronunciation guide and a history of languages - This is your go-to spot for an in depth look at how to pronounce the different languages in Middle Earth and why. It's also good for curing insomnia. This is your next step once you've mastered Klingon.
3. Calendars - How much time do you think someone could devote to explaining how months and weeks work? one, maybe two paragraphs? Try about 20+ pages of the most banal minutiae you can think of. I don't understand how this even got published for public viewing. Does the 8th Amendment mean nothing?!
While the above list contains nothing I would recommend anyone to read ever, it does shed light on just how specific Tolkien was in creating Middle Earth. From that perspective, it's almost admirable. Crazy, but admirable. Like a street preacher in Minneapolis in February, you gotta award points for commitment.
So what else is in the appendices? Quite a bit actually. We get a very nice overview of the history of the race of men, including a brief recounting of the fall of the ancient island of Numenor. For those of you who don't know, Numenor was more or less a Middle Earth version of the Atlantis myth. Everyone who lived there was super smart and awesome and lived for hundreds of years. But their long lives and massive power only made them long to have the power and immortality of the elves. So with a little coaxing from Sauron, they made the Valar (angels or demigod-like beings)very mad and Numenor was destroyed. Those who Survived sailed to Middle Earth and Founded the nations of Gondor in the South, and Arnor in the North (which included the Shire). They ruled over the more common men who lived their and things were good for a bit. Then Sauron returned and he was super mad because he got all messed up when Numenor was destroyed and he couldn't look pretty anymore. Then there was that whole thing about the rings that you saw in the prologue to the Fellowship of the Ring and Sauron goes bye bye for a few thousand years.
In the meantime, there's like, millions of battles with the bad guys from the East and South. Then the Witch King (that bad dude who got stabbed in the face by that girl in the 3rd movie) sets up his fortress in Angmar (In the north west, above the shire) and just kills everybody for a long time until the northern Kingdom is destroyed. He's finally chased away or something, and that's how Aragorn's people where reduced from kings to rangers. Other highlights cover the founding of Rohan, the decline of Gondor, the corruption of Sauroman, and the full story of Arwen and Aragorn. There is a lot of fascinating stuff
to browse through here.
As for the Hobbit stuff. We get a nice history of the dwarves. We learn that it was the awakening of the Balrog in Moria that caused the dwarves to move to the Lonely Mountain in the first place. Some of the dwarves moved to the mountains in the far north, which brought the attention of the dragons, which isn't a good thing, so they moved back to the Lonely Mountain and things were great for awhile. Then that Smaug thing happened. The basic history of what happened next is covered in the first Hobbit film. More importantly, we learn why Gandalf even got involved in the first place. Gandalf knew an evil was stirring, and he also knew that there was no power in the North to withstand an assault if Sauron should return. The Dwarves living in the Iron Hills were cut off from any allies by the desolation of Smaug and the dragon himself. Gandalf was aiding Thorin in hopes that the dragon might be destroyed and the north might be restored, thereby strengthening the defense of Middle Earth while simultaneously removing a formidable foe and potential ally of Sauron. The plan went better than anticipated as the battle of five armies destroyed a huge legion of orcs as well. The North was then able to successfully defeat the armies Sauron threw at them during the War of the Ring.
We also get a simple statement that Gandalf led a successful assault on Sauron's fortress of Dol Guldur in Southern Mirkwood forest. In the original Hobbit book, Gandalf just leaves without much warning. When we finally see him again at the end of the book he's all, "Yeah, sorry about leaving, had to gather a bunch of my super friends together to drive the Necromancer out of Mirkwood." Which always made me angry. Fighting a Necromancer sounds awesome and badass and way cooler than dwarves under siege because their king has gone cukoo for Cocoa Puffs (in this analogy, Cocoa Puffs=more gold than you can shake a stick at). This is a major, major event in the history of Middle Earth, and we've never been presented with an adequate telling of the battle of Dol Guldur. Until now. And, because it's the sort of event that demands setting up and fleshing out, that's why you need 3 Hobbit movies. So quit your whinning, pee before the movie starts, and enjoy some more dwarf songs!
Wednesday, November 20, 2013
100 by 30 book 42 - The Lord of the Rings: Book 6 - and you thought the movie had too many endings
Whoohoo! I finished the whole Lord of the Rings! It's pretty darn good. The final book kicks off with Sam rescuing Frodo, then destroying the ring. It's all pretty much exactly the way it happens in the movie. The destruction of the ring and the downfall of Sauron only takes less than half of the final book. So what else is there? You know how everyone bitched and moaned about how long the final movie took to end? Well, that was the cliff's notes ending. The book has a long extended sequence of Eowyn and Faramir falling in love while they wait for the troops to return. They we go tree hunting, Aragorn gets married, and they we hang out in Gondor for a good long while. Eventually, we start to leave for the Shire, but we stop at every major location along the way on a Middle Earth fairwell tour. "Goodbye Rohan! Goodbye Lothlorien! Goodbye Sauorman and Treebeard! Goodbye Elrond and Bilbo! Goodbye Sauroman again!
When our four hobbits do get back to the Shire, it has been taken over by thugs and hooligans. The trees are being cut down and the shire folk are being crushed under the oppressive new regime. Luckily, our 4 heroes are up to the challenge. with a little help from their friends, the kill a whole bunch of the bad guys dead save the Shire. This is totally missing from the movies. It was one of my favorite parts of the book. This chapter seems to serve several important purposes. First, the Shirefolk are forced to realize how precious their way of life really was. They then get a chance to find out how strong they really are.
Most importantly though, this sequence gives us a chance for Sam, Merry, Pippin, and Frodo to show how much they've grown. For the past 950 pages they've been a major part of the story, but they've had to share the stage with some of the most powerful forces in the world. Here, we get to see that Merry and Pippin have evolved from comedic sidekicks to expert strategists capable of leading an army. Sam, who defeated Shelob in single combat, has become a fearless warrior. And Frodo has become a war weary hobbit who only wants peace. Frodo's exhaustion with violence and death adds a nice layer of depth to what is otherwise a thrilling final adventure. Instead of simply cheering as the hobbits revolt against their oppressors, we are forced to realize the cost of so much death and destruction. Frodo does everything in his power to prevent more bloodshed and fails.
I wonder if Tolkien was using this final battle as a way to better demonstrate Faramir's thoughts on war in Book 4 where he says, "I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend." It is easy to enjoy the battles in Gondor and Rohan because we barely know the people of those lands apart from a few major characters. But the Shire represents home. It is a community in which we've been introduced to many of the characters and we want to protect them. Frodo's need for peace if possible keeps the focus on using force only as a final resort to defend that which he loves. It's a final reminder that the focus of the Lord of the Rings isn't magnificent battles, but the struggle to preserve that which is most precious. It's about the peoples and homelands our heroes defend, not the defense itself.
Sam is the fulfillment of that goal. He heals the Shire and makes it a place fit to raise a family. That last moment isn't the grand departure of Frodo and the elves, it's a small moment of Sam returning to his wife and children. And it's perfect.
The ending. The ending is perfect. The Journey to get there is fabulous, but it has some slow spots.
8/10
And sometimes you wonder if the author is just writing to amuse himself. I mean, how long do we really need to talk about Gimli
and Legolas bro-ing out in the glittering caves and the old forest?
And why do we have to stop every 20 feet to say goodbye to everyone?! Seriously, it's the novel equivalent of trying to leave a family party during the holidays.
And when you think it's finally over, there's like this whole other thing that happens, which is great and all but come on! We dropped the jewelry in the lava pit like 4 hours ago, let's wrap it up already! I don't care what your excuse is! Hire the dang eagles to take you home! What? Yes they will. Don't give me that "It's all about the journey crap." We had the journey and the adventure, what else do you need to know? When I go on vacation, I don't get back and spend 20% of the story telling you how I got home. No, the most you'll get out of me is "We flew back. it was nice." Why couldn't JRR do that?
Ok. I'm done now. For real this time. :)
When our four hobbits do get back to the Shire, it has been taken over by thugs and hooligans. The trees are being cut down and the shire folk are being crushed under the oppressive new regime. Luckily, our 4 heroes are up to the challenge. with a little help from their friends, the kill a whole bunch of the bad guys dead save the Shire. This is totally missing from the movies. It was one of my favorite parts of the book. This chapter seems to serve several important purposes. First, the Shirefolk are forced to realize how precious their way of life really was. They then get a chance to find out how strong they really are.
Most importantly though, this sequence gives us a chance for Sam, Merry, Pippin, and Frodo to show how much they've grown. For the past 950 pages they've been a major part of the story, but they've had to share the stage with some of the most powerful forces in the world. Here, we get to see that Merry and Pippin have evolved from comedic sidekicks to expert strategists capable of leading an army. Sam, who defeated Shelob in single combat, has become a fearless warrior. And Frodo has become a war weary hobbit who only wants peace. Frodo's exhaustion with violence and death adds a nice layer of depth to what is otherwise a thrilling final adventure. Instead of simply cheering as the hobbits revolt against their oppressors, we are forced to realize the cost of so much death and destruction. Frodo does everything in his power to prevent more bloodshed and fails.
I wonder if Tolkien was using this final battle as a way to better demonstrate Faramir's thoughts on war in Book 4 where he says, "I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend." It is easy to enjoy the battles in Gondor and Rohan because we barely know the people of those lands apart from a few major characters. But the Shire represents home. It is a community in which we've been introduced to many of the characters and we want to protect them. Frodo's need for peace if possible keeps the focus on using force only as a final resort to defend that which he loves. It's a final reminder that the focus of the Lord of the Rings isn't magnificent battles, but the struggle to preserve that which is most precious. It's about the peoples and homelands our heroes defend, not the defense itself.
Sam is the fulfillment of that goal. He heals the Shire and makes it a place fit to raise a family. That last moment isn't the grand departure of Frodo and the elves, it's a small moment of Sam returning to his wife and children. And it's perfect.
The ending. The ending is perfect. The Journey to get there is fabulous, but it has some slow spots.
8/10
And sometimes you wonder if the author is just writing to amuse himself. I mean, how long do we really need to talk about Gimli
and Legolas bro-ing out in the glittering caves and the old forest?
And why do we have to stop every 20 feet to say goodbye to everyone?! Seriously, it's the novel equivalent of trying to leave a family party during the holidays.
And when you think it's finally over, there's like this whole other thing that happens, which is great and all but come on! We dropped the jewelry in the lava pit like 4 hours ago, let's wrap it up already! I don't care what your excuse is! Hire the dang eagles to take you home! What? Yes they will. Don't give me that "It's all about the journey crap." We had the journey and the adventure, what else do you need to know? When I go on vacation, I don't get back and spend 20% of the story telling you how I got home. No, the most you'll get out of me is "We flew back. it was nice." Why couldn't JRR do that?
Ok. I'm done now. For real this time. :)
Tuesday, November 12, 2013
100 by 30 book 41 - Birds of Prey, Batwing, Batman & Robin
We'll try to keep this short and sweet today. I'm behind on blogging and we need to get back to some novels.
Birds of Prey - This is an all female team of vigilantes based in Gotham City. This line up includes ex-assassin Starling, Meta-human Black Canary, the Japanese samurai Katana (whose dead husband's soul lives in her sword), and Poison Ivy. It's a pretty fun mixed of messed-up antiheroes trying to be do gooders AND keep the body count to a minimum. Their penchant for headshots and decapitations is enough to keep former member Batgirl far away. It's a wild and weird book with some intriguing B-level heroes.
7/10
Batwing - Holy blood and guts Batman! As part of Bruce Wayne's Batman, Inc. initiative, he travels to the Democratic Republic of the Congo to recruit David Zavimbe to be the "Batman of Africa." He is a former child Soldier turned Police Officer, and Batman hooks him up with an Iron Man/Batman hybrid Costume. The book embraces our image of Africa as a barely functioning society and introduces us to a truly horrific villain known as Massacre. Basically, He's an African version of Jason from the Friday the 13th series. Blood, guts, and body parts are everywhere. It's an interesting book at times, but mostly leans to heavily on stereotypes while attempting to be topical. You can skip this one.
5/10
Batman & Robin: Vol. 2 - More Father/Son drama for Bruce and his little Damian. All the previous Robins make appearances in this one, and we get an interesting look at Bruce's legacy as a mentor. As always, Dick Grayson shows that his the best. It's a nice continuation of the story, and the characters are much better than anything in Batwing.
7/10
Birds of Prey - This is an all female team of vigilantes based in Gotham City. This line up includes ex-assassin Starling, Meta-human Black Canary, the Japanese samurai Katana (whose dead husband's soul lives in her sword), and Poison Ivy. It's a pretty fun mixed of messed-up antiheroes trying to be do gooders AND keep the body count to a minimum. Their penchant for headshots and decapitations is enough to keep former member Batgirl far away. It's a wild and weird book with some intriguing B-level heroes.
7/10
Batwing - Holy blood and guts Batman! As part of Bruce Wayne's Batman, Inc. initiative, he travels to the Democratic Republic of the Congo to recruit David Zavimbe to be the "Batman of Africa." He is a former child Soldier turned Police Officer, and Batman hooks him up with an Iron Man/Batman hybrid Costume. The book embraces our image of Africa as a barely functioning society and introduces us to a truly horrific villain known as Massacre. Basically, He's an African version of Jason from the Friday the 13th series. Blood, guts, and body parts are everywhere. It's an interesting book at times, but mostly leans to heavily on stereotypes while attempting to be topical. You can skip this one.
5/10
Batman & Robin: Vol. 2 - More Father/Son drama for Bruce and his little Damian. All the previous Robins make appearances in this one, and we get an interesting look at Bruce's legacy as a mentor. As always, Dick Grayson shows that his the best. It's a nice continuation of the story, and the characters are much better than anything in Batwing.
7/10
Thursday, October 31, 2013
100 by 30 Book 40 - Superman, Green Lantern Corps, and Action Comics #1
So today we have two variations on Superman, both trying to answer the question: How do we make Superman interesting?
Superman #1 - What Price Tomorrow - This was the first Superman I read. Turns out, it takes place 5 years after Action Comics #1. Superman has saved Metropolis a number of times now & the Daily Planet has been purchased by the DC Universe equivalent of FOX News Corp. Suddenly, Superman's every action becomes fodder for the wild speculation and crap journalism that is the 24 hour news cycle. At the same time, superman is being attacked by a series of aliens that only key on him. The damage caused in these battles leads to a legitimate question: Is Superman a net positive or negative presence for Metropolis. Sure, he can do almost anything, but does his power draw more danger to Metropolis than it detracts? It an interesting question to ask, but this book isn't really interested in answering it. What could have been an interesting study in what happens when the wack job pundits have a legitimate argument instead becomes just a red herring as Superman saves the day and convinces the jerks that he his good. It's a kind of wish fulfillment that most comics seem to shy away from these days in favor of a more adult discussion, but hey, if you're going to have a comic unreasonably positive and uplifting, I suppose it should be Superman. (side note: actively tries not to destroy and entire Metropolitan area. Something Zach Snyder should take note of.)
6/10
Action Comic #1 - This is the book that launched the whole New 52! for DC. I cover Superman's early days, before he has his whole costume, and before he became ludicrously overpowered. It's nice to have a superman who can't fly. The book also features Lex Luthor. Lex is a fantastic character because most everything he does makes logical sense. He's may be an rich asshole, but he isn't necessarily wrong. He is troubled by the idea of a super powered being from another planet. A powerful alien species could bring devastation to the planet, even Stephen Hawking has said as much. Anytime throughout history that a nonnative organism is transplanted to a new environment, chaos results. Be it Europeans bringing smallpox to the Americas or Asian Carp infesting the Great Lakes, foreign species have the potential of unanticipated devastation. Intentions aside, Superman represents a possible threat to the existence of the human race. Therefore, Lex Luthor is a man determined to find an antidote to the Man of Steel. Lex actually has a lot in common with Bruce Wayne/Batman in that way. Superman is essentially a sentient WMD, and Lex is searching for the kill switch. The dramatic tension come from the fact that Superman is always striving to be good, so we root for him. If he were ever to become conflicted in the way that less powerful heroes tend to be, Lex suddenly becomes the one with the right idea. It's a Superman book though, and ultimately Lex taints everything he touches while Superman wins the day. This is a much better story than Superman #1, but I think I'm done with the Man of Steel for now.
7/10
Which brings me to: Green Lantern Corps #1 - So it turns out that the rebooted Green Lantern Universe is pretty awesome. With the demotion of Hal Jordan, two more human Green Lanterns have been selected to take his Place, Guy Gardner and John Stewart. The story opens with Guy interviewing for an assistant HS Football coaching job, and John trying to get work as an architect. Since their status as a Green Lantern is public knowledge, neither of them is having much success. Apparently people would rather not work around a guy who draws attention from intergalactic war criminals. So off they fly to Oa, and wouldn't you know it, some bad guys are in town, destroying entire worlds. The Guardians who control the Lanterns grew the lanterns in the soil of a secret world. The race of people who tended this power became infused with it and now are basically walking Green Lanterns themselves and they are NOT happy. The Guardians, wary of the growing power of their free labor force, decided to strip the planet of all of the green lantern power cells and leave the planet to die. Then lots of cool stuff goes down, including using imprisoned Yellow Lanterns as a WMD. The tone of the story is a sort of Dirty Dozen in space. I don't understand why this title is so compelling, but it is awesome!
9/10
Superman #1 - What Price Tomorrow - This was the first Superman I read. Turns out, it takes place 5 years after Action Comics #1. Superman has saved Metropolis a number of times now & the Daily Planet has been purchased by the DC Universe equivalent of FOX News Corp. Suddenly, Superman's every action becomes fodder for the wild speculation and crap journalism that is the 24 hour news cycle. At the same time, superman is being attacked by a series of aliens that only key on him. The damage caused in these battles leads to a legitimate question: Is Superman a net positive or negative presence for Metropolis. Sure, he can do almost anything, but does his power draw more danger to Metropolis than it detracts? It an interesting question to ask, but this book isn't really interested in answering it. What could have been an interesting study in what happens when the wack job pundits have a legitimate argument instead becomes just a red herring as Superman saves the day and convinces the jerks that he his good. It's a kind of wish fulfillment that most comics seem to shy away from these days in favor of a more adult discussion, but hey, if you're going to have a comic unreasonably positive and uplifting, I suppose it should be Superman. (side note: actively tries not to destroy and entire Metropolitan area. Something Zach Snyder should take note of.)
6/10
Action Comic #1 - This is the book that launched the whole New 52! for DC. I cover Superman's early days, before he has his whole costume, and before he became ludicrously overpowered. It's nice to have a superman who can't fly. The book also features Lex Luthor. Lex is a fantastic character because most everything he does makes logical sense. He's may be an rich asshole, but he isn't necessarily wrong. He is troubled by the idea of a super powered being from another planet. A powerful alien species could bring devastation to the planet, even Stephen Hawking has said as much. Anytime throughout history that a nonnative organism is transplanted to a new environment, chaos results. Be it Europeans bringing smallpox to the Americas or Asian Carp infesting the Great Lakes, foreign species have the potential of unanticipated devastation. Intentions aside, Superman represents a possible threat to the existence of the human race. Therefore, Lex Luthor is a man determined to find an antidote to the Man of Steel. Lex actually has a lot in common with Bruce Wayne/Batman in that way. Superman is essentially a sentient WMD, and Lex is searching for the kill switch. The dramatic tension come from the fact that Superman is always striving to be good, so we root for him. If he were ever to become conflicted in the way that less powerful heroes tend to be, Lex suddenly becomes the one with the right idea. It's a Superman book though, and ultimately Lex taints everything he touches while Superman wins the day. This is a much better story than Superman #1, but I think I'm done with the Man of Steel for now.
7/10
Which brings me to: Green Lantern Corps #1 - So it turns out that the rebooted Green Lantern Universe is pretty awesome. With the demotion of Hal Jordan, two more human Green Lanterns have been selected to take his Place, Guy Gardner and John Stewart. The story opens with Guy interviewing for an assistant HS Football coaching job, and John trying to get work as an architect. Since their status as a Green Lantern is public knowledge, neither of them is having much success. Apparently people would rather not work around a guy who draws attention from intergalactic war criminals. So off they fly to Oa, and wouldn't you know it, some bad guys are in town, destroying entire worlds. The Guardians who control the Lanterns grew the lanterns in the soil of a secret world. The race of people who tended this power became infused with it and now are basically walking Green Lanterns themselves and they are NOT happy. The Guardians, wary of the growing power of their free labor force, decided to strip the planet of all of the green lantern power cells and leave the planet to die. Then lots of cool stuff goes down, including using imprisoned Yellow Lanterns as a WMD. The tone of the story is a sort of Dirty Dozen in space. I don't understand why this title is so compelling, but it is awesome!
9/10
Tuesday, October 22, 2013
100 by 30 Book 39 - Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, and The Flash
Back to some more entries in DC's New 52! I had actually never read an issue of Flash or Wonder Woman before and my understanding of Green Lantern was limited to one volume I read several years ago and the Ryan Reynolds movie. These 3 books all contain rather ludicrous fantasy elements, but I had varying degrees of suspension of disbelief.
First up, Green Lantern: Sinestro. This one was far and away my favorite. While the mythology of the universe is ridiculous, this book had the best written characters. Turns out that I will go along with just about anything if you can give me some interesting characters to follow. In this volume, Hal Jordan has been booted from the Green Lantern Corps for being a reckless dick and his arch-nemesis, Sinestro, has been reinstated as a Green Lantern. Sinestro finds that his homeworld has been enslaved by the yellow lantern corps that he created. Long story short, he enlists Hal Jordan's help in saving his home planet. Throughout the adventure we learn what we've always suspected: Hal sucks at using the Green Lantern power to it's full potential. Where Hal makes his fists bigger or creates a green gun, Sinestro creates more power rings to give to his imprisoned people, thereby creating and army of Green Lanterns in an instant. It's a pretty great, well-paced space adventure.
8/10
Then we get to Wonder Woman. Having seen the great things done so far with Catwoman, Batwoman, and Batgirl, I was excited to see what DC would do with their most iconic female hero. Not much actually. She runs around a lot trying to save people, finds out that she is actually the illegitimate daughter of Zeus, and sees a Jealous Hera kill pretty much everyone she knows. The book relies too much on our knowledge of Greek mythology without bringing much of anything new to the table. It was like a comic version of the new Clash of the Titans movie: watchable, but hardly worth your time.
5/10
So I bought in to magic space police and greek myths in the modern world, but how did I do with a guy who can run really fast? I kinda hated it. The Flash is the alter ego of Barry Allen, who makes Clark Kent look cool and interesting. He got his powers by being doused in chemicals and struck by lightning at the same time....let that sink in for a second....yup, way dumber than magic space rings. Anyway, he can also vibrate himself at just the right frequency that he can pass through objects and he shoots vortexes from his hands. Then story revolves around The Flash realizing that he builds up too much "speed force" when he runs and his accidently creating little wormholes everywhere. It's preposterous, even for a super hero book, and I'm sick of writing about it.
2/10
First up, Green Lantern: Sinestro. This one was far and away my favorite. While the mythology of the universe is ridiculous, this book had the best written characters. Turns out that I will go along with just about anything if you can give me some interesting characters to follow. In this volume, Hal Jordan has been booted from the Green Lantern Corps for being a reckless dick and his arch-nemesis, Sinestro, has been reinstated as a Green Lantern. Sinestro finds that his homeworld has been enslaved by the yellow lantern corps that he created. Long story short, he enlists Hal Jordan's help in saving his home planet. Throughout the adventure we learn what we've always suspected: Hal sucks at using the Green Lantern power to it's full potential. Where Hal makes his fists bigger or creates a green gun, Sinestro creates more power rings to give to his imprisoned people, thereby creating and army of Green Lanterns in an instant. It's a pretty great, well-paced space adventure.
8/10
Then we get to Wonder Woman. Having seen the great things done so far with Catwoman, Batwoman, and Batgirl, I was excited to see what DC would do with their most iconic female hero. Not much actually. She runs around a lot trying to save people, finds out that she is actually the illegitimate daughter of Zeus, and sees a Jealous Hera kill pretty much everyone she knows. The book relies too much on our knowledge of Greek mythology without bringing much of anything new to the table. It was like a comic version of the new Clash of the Titans movie: watchable, but hardly worth your time.
5/10
So I bought in to magic space police and greek myths in the modern world, but how did I do with a guy who can run really fast? I kinda hated it. The Flash is the alter ego of Barry Allen, who makes Clark Kent look cool and interesting. He got his powers by being doused in chemicals and struck by lightning at the same time....let that sink in for a second....yup, way dumber than magic space rings. Anyway, he can also vibrate himself at just the right frequency that he can pass through objects and he shoots vortexes from his hands. Then story revolves around The Flash realizing that he builds up too much "speed force" when he runs and his accidently creating little wormholes everywhere. It's preposterous, even for a super hero book, and I'm sick of writing about it.
2/10
Tuesday, October 15, 2013
100 by 30 Book 38 - iZombie 1-3
I decided I needed a change of pace, so I tried the lighthearted iZombie series. Our hero, Gwen is a zombie. Fortunately, she can maintain her humanity as long as she eats one brain a month. She also works as a grave digger at an eco friendly graveyard in Eugene, OR, giving her a steady supply of brains. The catch? She also ingests the memories of the person whose brain she's eating. With the help of her friend Ellie the ghost, and Spot the were-terrier she gets to play detective and complete the last wishes of her dinner. Then things get more and more complicated. We get mummies, poltergeists, secret societies, undead government agents, and a talking chimpanzee.
The mythology of the world is built around the idea that every living being has two souls: an oversoul and an undersoul (ego and id, basically) It's a handy way to explain all of the different kinds of monsters in the world, and the most interesting aspect of the series. As far as the storytelling goes though, the book has a lot of flaws. The pacing is uneven, and the book quickly adds exponentially more questions than it answers. It feels like a fun idea without a proper through line. This is waiting room reading at best so far.
6/10.
The mythology of the world is built around the idea that every living being has two souls: an oversoul and an undersoul (ego and id, basically) It's a handy way to explain all of the different kinds of monsters in the world, and the most interesting aspect of the series. As far as the storytelling goes though, the book has a lot of flaws. The pacing is uneven, and the book quickly adds exponentially more questions than it answers. It feels like a fun idea without a proper through line. This is waiting room reading at best so far.
6/10.
Thursday, October 10, 2013
100 by 30 Book 36 & 37 - Fables: Sidequests
Got some actual, honest to god novels coming soon, but schedule is pretty busy for the next few weeks, so more graphics novels for now: Today we learn about the lives of our side characters in the Fables world, and then move the main plot along just a bit.
Cinderella: From Fabletown with Love
What's cooler than James Bond? Cinderlla, that's who. To almost everyone in Fabletown, she's a ditsy jet-setter who can't even be bothered to run her shoe store between 5 star vacations. Only a select few know that for the passed 200 years she's perfected the art of being a kick ass spy. In this story, she is searching for the source of illegal magical goods being sold in the mundy (Nerd translation: Mundy=Muggle) world. On the way she teams up with Aladdin as they defeat death traps, beat up the goons, and have the requisite fling in the sack. It's great!
Cinderella: Fables Are Forever
What would a Bond homage be without a Fable version of the cold war? In this edition, Cindy has to track down an infamous assassin known as "the Silver Slipper" in the Shadow Fabletown in Russia. Have you figured out who the assassin is yet? No? I recently wrote all about her? That's right! It's Dorothy. From Oz. Naturally, there's lots of girl fights, and awesome spy vs. spy stuff. And a really awkward one night stand. All in all, this is a great twist on the spy genre and I look forward to future adventures.
Fables: Werewolves of the Heartland
Bigby Wolf on a solo adventure in Iowa! Ok, so maybe not worthy of an exclamation point, but if your looking for lots and lots of gore, this is a tale for you. In the search for the new Fabletown, Bigby stumbles across Storyville, IA which just happens to be populated solely with werewolves that he accidentally created. This is a slim story, but that actions scenes are pretty great so It's not a total waste of time.
Fairest: Vol. 1, Wide Awake
In a promising new side series, we get to learn the hidden stories of some of our other famous princesses. Up first, Aurora. The tale picks up as Sleeping Beauty is finally awakened after being used as a WMD in the war against the Adversary. Ali Baba has the honors of waking her with true love's kiss. But is it her that he was in love with??? We also get the Fables version of Sleeping Beauty's origin story, which includes much more terrifying fairies, and a bottle imp who ranks high as one of the most obnoxious characters ever. Don't worry though, because things are gonna get AWESOME in....
Fairest: Vol. 2, The Hidden Kingdom
This is a super dark story about one of the more tragic characters in the Fables universe: Repunzel. First off, her magic hair grows 4" per hour, meaning she needs 3 haircuts per day and can't be out in public for more than 45 minutes by herself. Then we learn that she has had two children stolen away from her at birth. Her Search for her long lost children leads her to the Hidden Kingdom of Japanese Fables. Lot's of messed up stuff happens and we learn how this one time, Repunzel turned into a Japanese hair demon a la The Ring and killed all of the stuff everywhere. It's awesome! Oh, and in the coda, they drop a bombshell about Beast's wife Beauty that I won't reveal here. Just check it out.
Fables Vol. 17: Inherit the Wind
Lastly, we get a new volume in the main plotline. The events of the previous book have necessitated choosing a new North Wind, and Bigby and Snow's children are the prime candidates. Also, the 3 other winds have arrived and are plotting to set up a puppet King of the North that they can control. Meanwhile, a revolution is brewing in Oz, the Fables are returning to the Farm, Rose Red is lining up a new job, and a new threat is lying in wait for the Fables when they return to New York. There is a lot of great setup here, and by now, I trust Bill Willingham to pay things off in spades.
Cinderella: From Fabletown with Love
What's cooler than James Bond? Cinderlla, that's who. To almost everyone in Fabletown, she's a ditsy jet-setter who can't even be bothered to run her shoe store between 5 star vacations. Only a select few know that for the passed 200 years she's perfected the art of being a kick ass spy. In this story, she is searching for the source of illegal magical goods being sold in the mundy (Nerd translation: Mundy=Muggle) world. On the way she teams up with Aladdin as they defeat death traps, beat up the goons, and have the requisite fling in the sack. It's great!
Cinderella: Fables Are Forever
What would a Bond homage be without a Fable version of the cold war? In this edition, Cindy has to track down an infamous assassin known as "the Silver Slipper" in the Shadow Fabletown in Russia. Have you figured out who the assassin is yet? No? I recently wrote all about her? That's right! It's Dorothy. From Oz. Naturally, there's lots of girl fights, and awesome spy vs. spy stuff. And a really awkward one night stand. All in all, this is a great twist on the spy genre and I look forward to future adventures.
Fables: Werewolves of the Heartland
Bigby Wolf on a solo adventure in Iowa! Ok, so maybe not worthy of an exclamation point, but if your looking for lots and lots of gore, this is a tale for you. In the search for the new Fabletown, Bigby stumbles across Storyville, IA which just happens to be populated solely with werewolves that he accidentally created. This is a slim story, but that actions scenes are pretty great so It's not a total waste of time.
Fairest: Vol. 1, Wide Awake
In a promising new side series, we get to learn the hidden stories of some of our other famous princesses. Up first, Aurora. The tale picks up as Sleeping Beauty is finally awakened after being used as a WMD in the war against the Adversary. Ali Baba has the honors of waking her with true love's kiss. But is it her that he was in love with??? We also get the Fables version of Sleeping Beauty's origin story, which includes much more terrifying fairies, and a bottle imp who ranks high as one of the most obnoxious characters ever. Don't worry though, because things are gonna get AWESOME in....
Fairest: Vol. 2, The Hidden Kingdom
This is a super dark story about one of the more tragic characters in the Fables universe: Repunzel. First off, her magic hair grows 4" per hour, meaning she needs 3 haircuts per day and can't be out in public for more than 45 minutes by herself. Then we learn that she has had two children stolen away from her at birth. Her Search for her long lost children leads her to the Hidden Kingdom of Japanese Fables. Lot's of messed up stuff happens and we learn how this one time, Repunzel turned into a Japanese hair demon a la The Ring and killed all of the stuff everywhere. It's awesome! Oh, and in the coda, they drop a bombshell about Beast's wife Beauty that I won't reveal here. Just check it out.
Fables Vol. 17: Inherit the Wind
Lastly, we get a new volume in the main plotline. The events of the previous book have necessitated choosing a new North Wind, and Bigby and Snow's children are the prime candidates. Also, the 3 other winds have arrived and are plotting to set up a puppet King of the North that they can control. Meanwhile, a revolution is brewing in Oz, the Fables are returning to the Farm, Rose Red is lining up a new job, and a new threat is lying in wait for the Fables when they return to New York. There is a lot of great setup here, and by now, I trust Bill Willingham to pay things off in spades.
Wednesday, October 2, 2013
100 by 30 book 35 - LotR book 5 - epic moments of epicness
The Lord of the Rings, book 5 - The Return of the King, part 1
Book 5 covers the events from Gandalf's Arrival in Minas Tirith through the beginning of the last stand outside the gates of Mordor. It doesn't include anything about Sam and Frodo. Which makes a huge difference when the mouth of Sauron shows Aragon Frodo's mithril vest. The last time we saw Sam and Frodo, Frodo was captured and Sam was locked out of the tower where he is being held. So as far as the reader knows, middle earth is screwed. The book ends with the apparent death of Pippin and every other major character. So take that George R.R. Martin, Tolkien was being dark and messed up first!
Backing up a bit, this is the book where the nations of Middle Earth totally kick ass without the deus ex machina of a zombie ghost army. In fact, the ghosts that Aragorn raises to fight for him are released as soon as they help him take over the pirate ships. See, the ghost army was a nice asset but the reason Aragorn needed to take the paths of the dead was because he saw the threat of the ships in the south. They were going to cut off access to Minas Tirith for Gondor's allies in the south, just as Sauron sent a small army to block the aid of Rohan. It's not a bad strategy. Unfortunately for Sauron, the riders of Rohan are shown a secret trail by the men of the forest, and Aragorn continues to be a hundred times more awesome than he was in the movies.
I understand the movies needing to trim characters, and I'm sure it was easier for movie audiences to follow one faceless horde of ghosts than to follow the numerous allies that Aragorn is able to bring to Gondor's aid, but Peter Jackson really screwed the pooch on getting Aragorn right. He's not a relateable, brooding character who isn't sure of himself; He's heir to the greatest kingdom in middle earth and is descended from the guys who beat the crap out of Sauron in hand to hand combat. He's so terrifically capable of getting things done that his very existence scares the Dark Lord into rushing his plans and losing focus on finding the ring. Make no mistake, Sauron is afraid of Aragorn, NOT the stupid sword that cut his finger off! You want a character you can relate to? Good, that's what the hobbits are there for. Stop turning Aragorn into a moody teenager.
The one other thing that makes me sad about the movies (which are still awesome) is the use of those zombie ghosts. As cool as it looks, and as much time and money it saved not having to design armor for the numerous men who ride to war with Aragorn, it steals the victory from our characters. In the book, the story is about the people of middle earth coming together with each doing their part. The ghosts' part is to commandeer the ships, since they can fly over water and stuff. Then the armies come together and defeat the forces of Mordor by their own strength and valor. It shows that Middle Earth is not as weak as Sauron thought and gives the reader hope. The ghosts take that all away. It makes sense for the movie, but it still feels like cheating. The story is about the characters, not ghosts and a magic sword.
Anyway, this book is freaking awesome! Tolkein does a masterful job of slowly building the tension until you can hardly stand it, then he delivers with the best battle scene I have ever read. It's epic in scale, but takes time with smaller, character moments like Eowyn and Merry killing the Witch King of Angmar. (fun story, he could only be killed by Eowyn once Merry stabbed him with the sword he found in the tomb of the Barrow wight in book 1 because of very nerdy and awesome reasons I won't go into here)
My favorite non battle moment of the whole book though, is Aragorn losing his patience with the crabby old herbalist in the house of healing after the battle. If you've ever been in a desperate hurry only to have some moron waste your time with useless blather instead of just getting the thing you need, you can relate. This is the way Aragorn should be relateable, he hates dealing with fools as much as the rest of us.
Well, we've made it through some breathtaking action and ended on a doosey of a cliff hanger, so I'm sure book 6 will move just as swift and not waste our time with endless descriptions of walking through a wasteland, right? right?
10/10
Book 5 covers the events from Gandalf's Arrival in Minas Tirith through the beginning of the last stand outside the gates of Mordor. It doesn't include anything about Sam and Frodo. Which makes a huge difference when the mouth of Sauron shows Aragon Frodo's mithril vest. The last time we saw Sam and Frodo, Frodo was captured and Sam was locked out of the tower where he is being held. So as far as the reader knows, middle earth is screwed. The book ends with the apparent death of Pippin and every other major character. So take that George R.R. Martin, Tolkien was being dark and messed up first!
Backing up a bit, this is the book where the nations of Middle Earth totally kick ass without the deus ex machina of a zombie ghost army. In fact, the ghosts that Aragorn raises to fight for him are released as soon as they help him take over the pirate ships. See, the ghost army was a nice asset but the reason Aragorn needed to take the paths of the dead was because he saw the threat of the ships in the south. They were going to cut off access to Minas Tirith for Gondor's allies in the south, just as Sauron sent a small army to block the aid of Rohan. It's not a bad strategy. Unfortunately for Sauron, the riders of Rohan are shown a secret trail by the men of the forest, and Aragorn continues to be a hundred times more awesome than he was in the movies.
I understand the movies needing to trim characters, and I'm sure it was easier for movie audiences to follow one faceless horde of ghosts than to follow the numerous allies that Aragorn is able to bring to Gondor's aid, but Peter Jackson really screwed the pooch on getting Aragorn right. He's not a relateable, brooding character who isn't sure of himself; He's heir to the greatest kingdom in middle earth and is descended from the guys who beat the crap out of Sauron in hand to hand combat. He's so terrifically capable of getting things done that his very existence scares the Dark Lord into rushing his plans and losing focus on finding the ring. Make no mistake, Sauron is afraid of Aragorn, NOT the stupid sword that cut his finger off! You want a character you can relate to? Good, that's what the hobbits are there for. Stop turning Aragorn into a moody teenager.
The one other thing that makes me sad about the movies (which are still awesome) is the use of those zombie ghosts. As cool as it looks, and as much time and money it saved not having to design armor for the numerous men who ride to war with Aragorn, it steals the victory from our characters. In the book, the story is about the people of middle earth coming together with each doing their part. The ghosts' part is to commandeer the ships, since they can fly over water and stuff. Then the armies come together and defeat the forces of Mordor by their own strength and valor. It shows that Middle Earth is not as weak as Sauron thought and gives the reader hope. The ghosts take that all away. It makes sense for the movie, but it still feels like cheating. The story is about the characters, not ghosts and a magic sword.
Anyway, this book is freaking awesome! Tolkein does a masterful job of slowly building the tension until you can hardly stand it, then he delivers with the best battle scene I have ever read. It's epic in scale, but takes time with smaller, character moments like Eowyn and Merry killing the Witch King of Angmar. (fun story, he could only be killed by Eowyn once Merry stabbed him with the sword he found in the tomb of the Barrow wight in book 1 because of very nerdy and awesome reasons I won't go into here)
My favorite non battle moment of the whole book though, is Aragorn losing his patience with the crabby old herbalist in the house of healing after the battle. If you've ever been in a desperate hurry only to have some moron waste your time with useless blather instead of just getting the thing you need, you can relate. This is the way Aragorn should be relateable, he hates dealing with fools as much as the rest of us.
Well, we've made it through some breathtaking action and ended on a doosey of a cliff hanger, so I'm sure book 6 will move just as swift and not waste our time with endless descriptions of walking through a wasteland, right? right?
10/10
Thursday, September 26, 2013
100 by 30 book 34 Jack of Fables 7-9
Wow. Clearly, they ran out of ideas after the crossover episode. It really feels like everyone just got sick of Jack being such a tool that they decided to spend 3 volumes making us happy to stop reading. In all starts in Vol. 7 where Jack, who now has a huge pile of gold, decides to not spend any of it. This leads Jack to come down with a bad case of dragon sickness. It's that special kind of greed that consumes your whole being. This is what happened to Thorin at the end of the Hobbit. In Jack's case, he gets fatter and fatter until he morphs into an actual dragon. Then he sits on his gold in a cave and curls up on it with just Gary to keep him company.
Meanwhile, his son, Jack Frost takes center stage in Vol. 8 as he learns to become a hero in some kind of Flash Gordon world. He kills a bunch a aliens, loses his virginity to a green alien babe, and wins a magic super sword. It's all very "meh."
So after 2 volumes of lackluster storytelling, I was quite happy to be done with this world, and boy was I obliged. The final volume follows all of our characters flocking to Jack and dying in an epic battle. Did I say epic? I meant epically stupid. Sorry for the confusion but I just got to the Battle of Pellenor Fields in The Return of the King. Now that's epic. But more on that in a later post. This? This is the writers blowing a big fat rasberry on this world, crumpling up the pages and flushing the whole thing down the toilet. You can skip these.
5/10
Meanwhile, his son, Jack Frost takes center stage in Vol. 8 as he learns to become a hero in some kind of Flash Gordon world. He kills a bunch a aliens, loses his virginity to a green alien babe, and wins a magic super sword. It's all very "meh."
So after 2 volumes of lackluster storytelling, I was quite happy to be done with this world, and boy was I obliged. The final volume follows all of our characters flocking to Jack and dying in an epic battle. Did I say epic? I meant epically stupid. Sorry for the confusion but I just got to the Battle of Pellenor Fields in The Return of the King. Now that's epic. But more on that in a later post. This? This is the writers blowing a big fat rasberry on this world, crumpling up the pages and flushing the whole thing down the toilet. You can skip these.
5/10
Wednesday, September 18, 2013
100 by 30 Book 33 - Jack of Fables 4-6
Quick! Get one more Book post done before your Birthday! Ok, voice in my head, I don't know if your a Literal, an Elemental, or if I'm just crazy, but I will listen to you anyway. Here we go!
So I've finished the middle third of the 9 volume Jack of Fables series, and I gotta say, it's really growing on me. It helped a lot when I learned that the entire run only lasts 9 volumes, which works our pretty well. There is really only so long a series like this can last. Between the meta narrative, the unlikeable protagonist, and the all around silliness, Jack of Fables is a story built to be brief. It is getting better though. The humor is landing much more, and the world seems to be really growing into it's own sense of itself. By the end of Volume 6: The Big Book of War, the storyline has reached a Douglas Adams' level of absurdity. Vol. 4 follows Jack on his quest through the American Fable world of Americana where he finally finds a treasure big enough to be worthy of his time. It's a nice nod to the more recent world of American Folklore, complete with a magical train that you can only ride if you have your hobo bindle on a stick.
Vol. 5 is mostly an old west tale that finds Jack as a leader of a ruthless gang. This story was very good, but I couldn't shake the image of Skinner Sweet from American Vampire out of my head. I don't know if one was influenced by the other, but it felt that way to me. This book finds Jack at his most despicable. Having recently fought in the Civil War, Jack has decided that since the mundane people (real people) don't value life, then there is no reason he shouldn't kill as many of them as he feels like as if they were only ants. It's a pretty heavy story, only lightened in between the episodes as we get Jack fighting to control is own narration which has been hijacked by the literal embodiment of Narration, who is a woman who has a much more realistic opinion of Jack. We also get a few more installments of the the ongoing inner life of a now miniaturized Babe the Blue Ox. These are one page comics featuring Babe's inner thoughts as he imagines absurd persona's for himself. It's like Snoopy and the Bulwer-Lytton contestants had a baby. (if you don't know what that means, Google it, and thank me later)
Vol. 6: The Big Book of War pits Jack, the Fables from the Golden Boughs retirement home, and there captors against the most fearsome Literal of them all: Bookburner. He's a mean SOB who wants to burn all of the tales in which the Fables are featured in order to wipe them all from existence. There are a number of great fight scenes, and we get the first appearance of Dex, the Deus Ex Machina. He does pretty much what he's supposed to do. The ending sets up the great Fables Crossover which so baffled me before. (I really should re-read that)
Overall, these books are getting much better, and serve as a great side dish to the Fables world. My favorite joke? At one point, Narrator, in commenting about the quality of Jack's character, points out the the title of his book sounds really gross when you smoosh the letters of the last two words together..... Like I said, this book rarely takes itself seriously.
9/10
So I've finished the middle third of the 9 volume Jack of Fables series, and I gotta say, it's really growing on me. It helped a lot when I learned that the entire run only lasts 9 volumes, which works our pretty well. There is really only so long a series like this can last. Between the meta narrative, the unlikeable protagonist, and the all around silliness, Jack of Fables is a story built to be brief. It is getting better though. The humor is landing much more, and the world seems to be really growing into it's own sense of itself. By the end of Volume 6: The Big Book of War, the storyline has reached a Douglas Adams' level of absurdity. Vol. 4 follows Jack on his quest through the American Fable world of Americana where he finally finds a treasure big enough to be worthy of his time. It's a nice nod to the more recent world of American Folklore, complete with a magical train that you can only ride if you have your hobo bindle on a stick.
Vol. 5 is mostly an old west tale that finds Jack as a leader of a ruthless gang. This story was very good, but I couldn't shake the image of Skinner Sweet from American Vampire out of my head. I don't know if one was influenced by the other, but it felt that way to me. This book finds Jack at his most despicable. Having recently fought in the Civil War, Jack has decided that since the mundane people (real people) don't value life, then there is no reason he shouldn't kill as many of them as he feels like as if they were only ants. It's a pretty heavy story, only lightened in between the episodes as we get Jack fighting to control is own narration which has been hijacked by the literal embodiment of Narration, who is a woman who has a much more realistic opinion of Jack. We also get a few more installments of the the ongoing inner life of a now miniaturized Babe the Blue Ox. These are one page comics featuring Babe's inner thoughts as he imagines absurd persona's for himself. It's like Snoopy and the Bulwer-Lytton contestants had a baby. (if you don't know what that means, Google it, and thank me later)
Vol. 6: The Big Book of War pits Jack, the Fables from the Golden Boughs retirement home, and there captors against the most fearsome Literal of them all: Bookburner. He's a mean SOB who wants to burn all of the tales in which the Fables are featured in order to wipe them all from existence. There are a number of great fight scenes, and we get the first appearance of Dex, the Deus Ex Machina. He does pretty much what he's supposed to do. The ending sets up the great Fables Crossover which so baffled me before. (I really should re-read that)
Overall, these books are getting much better, and serve as a great side dish to the Fables world. My favorite joke? At one point, Narrator, in commenting about the quality of Jack's character, points out the the title of his book sounds really gross when you smoosh the letters of the last two words together..... Like I said, this book rarely takes itself seriously.
9/10
Tuesday, September 17, 2013
100 by 30 Book 32 - Fables 14-16
Hey guess what? These books are still amazing. You should know that by now. I wouldn't put myself through reading 16 volumes of this series if it wasn't one of the coolest things I've ever read. That said, I'm gonna keep this one short because I still have another book to write about that I also finished a week ago.
Fables Vol. 14-16 covers the brief aftermath of the great Fables Crossover (which I should probably reread at some point now that I have a frame of reference)followed by the attempts to save the Fables from Mr. Dark. He makes The Countless legions that Gepetto once controlled look like a basket of puppies, so It is going to take something truly spectacular to take him out. As Plans are formed we get the long awaited return of sidelined major characters, several major characters leave for good (most likely), and we get a new antagonist with a much more personal grudge against our heroes.
Over a 100 issues in, Bill Willingham continues to find way to keep the world as fresh and as compelling as ever. We've been through a number of huge wars and changes in the Fables universe lately, and the fallout from this recent crisis seems to point towards smaller and more personal conflicts in the near future, not to mention the ever increasing number of power vacuums. The characters continue to evolve and change in a natural progression that keeps things fresh without ever feeling unfamiliar.
My Favorite moments tend to be the lighthearted ones. In Vol. 16: Superteam, Pinnochio decides to create a super hero squad out of the fables, complete with stupid nicknames and spandex. It's like watching a self aware assembling of the X-Men, and it's awesome.
So there you have it, and now, BACK TO READING! (or watching breaking bad)
Fables Vol. 14-16 covers the brief aftermath of the great Fables Crossover (which I should probably reread at some point now that I have a frame of reference)followed by the attempts to save the Fables from Mr. Dark. He makes The Countless legions that Gepetto once controlled look like a basket of puppies, so It is going to take something truly spectacular to take him out. As Plans are formed we get the long awaited return of sidelined major characters, several major characters leave for good (most likely), and we get a new antagonist with a much more personal grudge against our heroes.
Over a 100 issues in, Bill Willingham continues to find way to keep the world as fresh and as compelling as ever. We've been through a number of huge wars and changes in the Fables universe lately, and the fallout from this recent crisis seems to point towards smaller and more personal conflicts in the near future, not to mention the ever increasing number of power vacuums. The characters continue to evolve and change in a natural progression that keeps things fresh without ever feeling unfamiliar.
My Favorite moments tend to be the lighthearted ones. In Vol. 16: Superteam, Pinnochio decides to create a super hero squad out of the fables, complete with stupid nicknames and spandex. It's like watching a self aware assembling of the X-Men, and it's awesome.
So there you have it, and now, BACK TO READING! (or watching breaking bad)
Wednesday, September 11, 2013
100 by 30 Book 31 - Batman & Robin, Batgirl
Today we continue with my new found love for DC's New 52!
Batman & Robin vol. 1 - In case you haven't been following Batman in a few years, at some point Bruce Wayne had a child with Talia Al Gul (you know, the woman in Dark Knight Rises who literally stabbed him in the back) named Damien. Damien Wayne is now 10 years old and has spent the past 7 or so years being trained to become a master assassin. Now in the custody of Bruce Wayne, he must learn to control himself while taking on the role of the new Robin. There is plenty of action in this story, but it is first and foremost a story about a father and son trying to learn to connect with each other. Damien has never known parental kindness, and Bruce isn't exactly soft and cuddly either. It creates a truly fascinating dynamic because for the first time, Batman can't just be a cold mentor. He has to learn to be a father. It's funny that I picked this book at this time because it happened to coincide with the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode I just watched where Worf has to take custody of his son. The stories have some striking similarities, and it was a nice complimentary experience. Anyway, the first volume ends with Bruce finally trying to open up to his son and we learn that he and Damien are both struggling to control the same instinct to kill. And there's a puppy, so that's always fun. 9/10
Batgirl - Vol 1 & 2: Batman is great for dark psychological brooding, but Barbara Gordon's Batgirl has him beat in the personal trauma department. While Bruce was a helpless child when his parents died, Barbara was already a superhero on the day she answered her door only to be gut-shot through the spine by the Joker. The circumstances of her becoming paralyzed are so disturbing to me that I haven't been able to make myself read The Killing Joke. Somehow, Barbara survives, and even continues to fight crime as a member of the Birds of Prey. As Oracle, she uses her genius intellect and eidetic memory to provide technical and tactical support to her fellow crime fighters. But this is not and Oracle book, it's called Batgirl. We learn early on that Barbara has regained the ability to walk thanks to a new medical procedure, which I'm sure was explained in greater detail somewhere else, but I don't really need to know the details. The point is A) Batgirl is back but B) there's a chance the procedure won't be permanent. Now we have a woman who has survived unspeakable horror and the loss of her legs, regained her power, but still has to deal with the scars.
Her first big test is a man who has decided to kill miraculous survivors. Turns out his whole family was killed and he somehow survived. The survivor's guilt drives him insane and he decides to kill anyone who has beaten the odds when they should have died. Her next foe is a woman who survived a brutal attack ending in 3 shots from a .38. She lost everything, but gained the ability to control minds with the trigger phrase "338". In all of the best Gotham stories, the villains are a reflection of our hero, and I really love what they have done with Batgirl. While not many of us saw our billionaire parents gunned down in front of us, it's much easier to relate to a character in there mid-twenties who is trying to overcome a tragic setback. Be it medical, financial, or criminal, we all know someone or have seen the stories of good people brought low through horrific circumstances beyond their control. So while Batman's struggles seem enormous and mythic, Batgirl's problems are smaller and more personal. She's also a fantastic character. She's smart, funny, confident, but has some serious stuff to work through. Oh, and she doesn't need a man, which is nice. We get an acknowledgement that she harbors a secret crush on Dick Grayson, but it's a fleeting moment. It's a part of who she is, but it's only a part, and right now, she has much bigger issues to face than romance. Things like finding an apartment and a room mate, not getting killed, and dealing with her estranged mother suddenly showing up on her doorstep tend to push romance to the back burner. It's an exquisitely written book and so far my favorite title in the New 52 lineup.
10/10
Small side note: Batwoman makes a brief cameo in this story, and it's one of my favorite cameos I've seen. For the first time, it became very, very clear to me that she's no one to mess with. Batgirl, Nightwing, and the other sidekicks and members of Batman's team all have a certain charm and sense of humor. Batwoman is more along the lines of Bruce Wayne. She also doesn't work with any of them and is a trained soldier, meaning she doesn't necessarily hold to the whole "no killing" rule. She's a wild card in Gotham, and the more I see her show up, the more interesting she becomes. It's a shame the writers for that book have just resigned due to DC's meddling in their story...
Batman & Robin vol. 1 - In case you haven't been following Batman in a few years, at some point Bruce Wayne had a child with Talia Al Gul (you know, the woman in Dark Knight Rises who literally stabbed him in the back) named Damien. Damien Wayne is now 10 years old and has spent the past 7 or so years being trained to become a master assassin. Now in the custody of Bruce Wayne, he must learn to control himself while taking on the role of the new Robin. There is plenty of action in this story, but it is first and foremost a story about a father and son trying to learn to connect with each other. Damien has never known parental kindness, and Bruce isn't exactly soft and cuddly either. It creates a truly fascinating dynamic because for the first time, Batman can't just be a cold mentor. He has to learn to be a father. It's funny that I picked this book at this time because it happened to coincide with the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode I just watched where Worf has to take custody of his son. The stories have some striking similarities, and it was a nice complimentary experience. Anyway, the first volume ends with Bruce finally trying to open up to his son and we learn that he and Damien are both struggling to control the same instinct to kill. And there's a puppy, so that's always fun. 9/10
Batgirl - Vol 1 & 2: Batman is great for dark psychological brooding, but Barbara Gordon's Batgirl has him beat in the personal trauma department. While Bruce was a helpless child when his parents died, Barbara was already a superhero on the day she answered her door only to be gut-shot through the spine by the Joker. The circumstances of her becoming paralyzed are so disturbing to me that I haven't been able to make myself read The Killing Joke. Somehow, Barbara survives, and even continues to fight crime as a member of the Birds of Prey. As Oracle, she uses her genius intellect and eidetic memory to provide technical and tactical support to her fellow crime fighters. But this is not and Oracle book, it's called Batgirl. We learn early on that Barbara has regained the ability to walk thanks to a new medical procedure, which I'm sure was explained in greater detail somewhere else, but I don't really need to know the details. The point is A) Batgirl is back but B) there's a chance the procedure won't be permanent. Now we have a woman who has survived unspeakable horror and the loss of her legs, regained her power, but still has to deal with the scars.
Her first big test is a man who has decided to kill miraculous survivors. Turns out his whole family was killed and he somehow survived. The survivor's guilt drives him insane and he decides to kill anyone who has beaten the odds when they should have died. Her next foe is a woman who survived a brutal attack ending in 3 shots from a .38. She lost everything, but gained the ability to control minds with the trigger phrase "338". In all of the best Gotham stories, the villains are a reflection of our hero, and I really love what they have done with Batgirl. While not many of us saw our billionaire parents gunned down in front of us, it's much easier to relate to a character in there mid-twenties who is trying to overcome a tragic setback. Be it medical, financial, or criminal, we all know someone or have seen the stories of good people brought low through horrific circumstances beyond their control. So while Batman's struggles seem enormous and mythic, Batgirl's problems are smaller and more personal. She's also a fantastic character. She's smart, funny, confident, but has some serious stuff to work through. Oh, and she doesn't need a man, which is nice. We get an acknowledgement that she harbors a secret crush on Dick Grayson, but it's a fleeting moment. It's a part of who she is, but it's only a part, and right now, she has much bigger issues to face than romance. Things like finding an apartment and a room mate, not getting killed, and dealing with her estranged mother suddenly showing up on her doorstep tend to push romance to the back burner. It's an exquisitely written book and so far my favorite title in the New 52 lineup.
10/10
Small side note: Batwoman makes a brief cameo in this story, and it's one of my favorite cameos I've seen. For the first time, it became very, very clear to me that she's no one to mess with. Batgirl, Nightwing, and the other sidekicks and members of Batman's team all have a certain charm and sense of humor. Batwoman is more along the lines of Bruce Wayne. She also doesn't work with any of them and is a trained soldier, meaning she doesn't necessarily hold to the whole "no killing" rule. She's a wild card in Gotham, and the more I see her show up, the more interesting she becomes. It's a shame the writers for that book have just resigned due to DC's meddling in their story...
Monday, September 9, 2013
100 by 30 Book 30 - Captain America - He's not quite dead!
Today I'll be going over the continuing adventures of Captain America as covered in Road To Reborn, Reborn, and Two Americas. The books, written by Ed Brubaker, continue the masterful character studies of the previous volumes. James "Bucky" Barnes is learning to fill his roll as the new Captain America, Sharon Carter continues to live with the guilt of knowing she was brainwashed into firing the shots that killed her lover, and things continue to get really complicated. Sharon remembers that she was pregnant with Steve Rogers' child, who was then stabbed in utero by Sin, Red Skull's daughter (Yes, in utero murder happened in a Captain America book well before it was shoehorned into an episode of Game of Thrones.) Anyway, this realization gets her to start trying to recover any other memories she may have lost and at the end we learn that (SPOILER!) the gun the killed Captain America was no ordinary gun! So while the characters remain endlessly compelling, the storyline is getting a little ridiculous. Which leads us to:
Captain America: Reborn! So, before we get into this, I have some thoughts about bringing Steve Rogers back from the dead. (please keep in mind that most of my knowledge of early Captain America comes from cultural Osmosis/that one time I looked it up on Wikipedia) So, we should all know that Captain America was created during WWII. He's the super hero who punched out Hitler and killed Nazi's. Yes, killed, he's a soldier, not Batman. He was great, then we hit Vietnam and Captain America loses his relevance. He starts to represent American Imperialism, which bums out the nerds and hippies. Then some weird stuff happens, we find out that the Captain America of the late 40's-50's was a drugged up super fan, the real Captain America becomes the Nomad because he doesn't believe in his country anymore...it's bad. Finally we have Ed Brubaker's run, which redefines Steve Rogers as the man who represents the best of what America has always tried to be. He fights for the ideals of America, regardless of whether or not the folks in Washington D.C. agree. So Steve Rogers dying was a big deal. George W. Bush was in office, we were in two endless wars, a lot of people were pretty bummed. Cut to 2009, we're in the worst of the recession, still in 2 wars, but we have a new president, and we're trying to believe again. Whether you agreed with it or not, people were looking to be inspired, looking for a message of hope and a better America. It is in this climate the Steve Rogers returns. All of our superheroes were getting pretty complicated and we needed and honest to God Hero back. So how do you bring back a dude who was shot 4 times at point blank range with no super armor or Wolverine healing powers?!
Well, turns out you turn the gun into a Billy Pilgrim device. You remember Billy from Slaughter House Five? He was unstuck in time. Turns out the Vonnegut Ex Machina gun caused Steve to become unstuck in time as well. So now he has to float around in the time-space continuum while Hank Pym and Mr. Fantastic blah blah blah random science words blah blah blah something about a constant blah blah blah Captain America is back! Oh wait, he's actually been brought back to be the body of the Red Skull who is living in a Krang suit or something but now he's inside Captain America's body and there's a huge fight with a bunch of super MODOK's...It get pretty hard to follow to be honest. In the end Steve is back. Yay! Although the resurrection was pretty ludicrous, I gotta admit it was pretty great to see the moral compass of the Marvel Universe return. So now everything's back to normal right?
Wrong! In Two Americas, we learn that Steve Rogers is done being Captain America for a while. Turns out reliving WWII makes you adverse to violence. Who knew? So while he settles down for a while with Sharon Carter (the niece of the woman he fell in love with 70 years earlier!) Bucky Barnes will hold on to the shield for a while. Which is good because 1950s Captain America is back and he's an angry angry Tea Party supporter. He wants his old America back and it's time for a revolution dammit! So now New Captain America and crazy fake Captain America square off against each other. Crazy Cap has recruited an army of right wing cuckoo birds while New Cap has the Falcon (who can talk to real birds). It's a much more streamlined story that the previous two books, with the spy movie style really shinning through again. My only real complaint is that the character of the Falcon, who's been in all of the books previously, is really underwritten. As major presence, and one of the few black characters (besides Obama, yeah, Obama's in the book) he really does more that serve as a plot device/exposition dispenser. Where's his inner life? Where's his gorgeous but complicated love interest? I'm sure he gets his moments in other story lines, but here he is sorely underwritten. Overall though, you could find much much worse reading material. I'm mean, at least it's not Twilight, right?
8/10
Captain America: Reborn! So, before we get into this, I have some thoughts about bringing Steve Rogers back from the dead. (please keep in mind that most of my knowledge of early Captain America comes from cultural Osmosis/that one time I looked it up on Wikipedia) So, we should all know that Captain America was created during WWII. He's the super hero who punched out Hitler and killed Nazi's. Yes, killed, he's a soldier, not Batman. He was great, then we hit Vietnam and Captain America loses his relevance. He starts to represent American Imperialism, which bums out the nerds and hippies. Then some weird stuff happens, we find out that the Captain America of the late 40's-50's was a drugged up super fan, the real Captain America becomes the Nomad because he doesn't believe in his country anymore...it's bad. Finally we have Ed Brubaker's run, which redefines Steve Rogers as the man who represents the best of what America has always tried to be. He fights for the ideals of America, regardless of whether or not the folks in Washington D.C. agree. So Steve Rogers dying was a big deal. George W. Bush was in office, we were in two endless wars, a lot of people were pretty bummed. Cut to 2009, we're in the worst of the recession, still in 2 wars, but we have a new president, and we're trying to believe again. Whether you agreed with it or not, people were looking to be inspired, looking for a message of hope and a better America. It is in this climate the Steve Rogers returns. All of our superheroes were getting pretty complicated and we needed and honest to God Hero back. So how do you bring back a dude who was shot 4 times at point blank range with no super armor or Wolverine healing powers?!
Well, turns out you turn the gun into a Billy Pilgrim device. You remember Billy from Slaughter House Five? He was unstuck in time. Turns out the Vonnegut Ex Machina gun caused Steve to become unstuck in time as well. So now he has to float around in the time-space continuum while Hank Pym and Mr. Fantastic blah blah blah random science words blah blah blah something about a constant blah blah blah Captain America is back! Oh wait, he's actually been brought back to be the body of the Red Skull who is living in a Krang suit or something but now he's inside Captain America's body and there's a huge fight with a bunch of super MODOK's...It get pretty hard to follow to be honest. In the end Steve is back. Yay! Although the resurrection was pretty ludicrous, I gotta admit it was pretty great to see the moral compass of the Marvel Universe return. So now everything's back to normal right?
Wrong! In Two Americas, we learn that Steve Rogers is done being Captain America for a while. Turns out reliving WWII makes you adverse to violence. Who knew? So while he settles down for a while with Sharon Carter (the niece of the woman he fell in love with 70 years earlier!) Bucky Barnes will hold on to the shield for a while. Which is good because 1950s Captain America is back and he's an angry angry Tea Party supporter. He wants his old America back and it's time for a revolution dammit! So now New Captain America and crazy fake Captain America square off against each other. Crazy Cap has recruited an army of right wing cuckoo birds while New Cap has the Falcon (who can talk to real birds). It's a much more streamlined story that the previous two books, with the spy movie style really shinning through again. My only real complaint is that the character of the Falcon, who's been in all of the books previously, is really underwritten. As major presence, and one of the few black characters (besides Obama, yeah, Obama's in the book) he really does more that serve as a plot device/exposition dispenser. Where's his inner life? Where's his gorgeous but complicated love interest? I'm sure he gets his moments in other story lines, but here he is sorely underwritten. Overall though, you could find much much worse reading material. I'm mean, at least it's not Twilight, right?
8/10
Wednesday, September 4, 2013
100 by 30 books 28-29 - Marvel Civil War and The Death of Captain America
I never intended to be reading so many comics but I've fallen behind schedule and need to play catch up a bit. Also, Holy Crap there are some really amazing stories happening in comics right now!!!
Today I have to combine 6 graphic novels into one post (counting as 2 books)because they kind of all lead into each other. Up first: Civil War - Iron Man, Civil War - Captain America, and The Death of Captain America: Vol. 1. For those you aren't familiar with the Marvel Civil War, I will give you the shortest explanation I can. It starts when a group of young, untrained superheroes start a fight with some powerful super villains in a highly populated area. Things go all the last 30 minutes of The Man of Steel and the next thing we know, half of Stamford, CT has been obliterated, including an elementary school. This event triggers the passing of the Superhuman Registration Act, essentially forcing all superheroes to reveal their secret identities to the government and sign up for formal training. Iron Man and Captain America are on opposite side of the issue, tempers flair, and soon all the heroes are fighting each other. This event was covered in over a dozen books and is a high point of storytelling in the Marvel Universe.
In the 2 Civil War books included here, we get the best scene in the whole saga. A simple one on one conversation between Captain American and Iron Man. Both men make very compelling arguments for their side. Tony Stark is a recovering alcoholic who understands that having heroes trained and held accountable can prevent disaster. Steve Rogers knows that the government can be compromised and that having a database of heroes secret identities can lead to super villains knowing where to find and how to hurt or kill costumed heroes and the ones they love. The great thing about Marvel is their ability to mix the fantastic with the personal. The issues raised in these stories are directly correlated to many of the big questions we face in our own lives. What do we do about gun control? Where is the line between safety and the violation of individual liberty?
The Civil War ends when Captain America surrenders in order to prevent further blood shed. He is then assassinated on his way into a federal courthouse. Thus begins an amazing spy story that is as thought provoking as it is thrilling. The story revolves around Nick Fury, no longer in charge of S.H.I.E.L.D.; Sharon Carter, the niece of Peggy Carter and Cap. America's current girlfriend; and Bucky Barnes, Cap's lifelong friend and the former Winter Soldier. The plot winds and twists with revelations and double crosses as the United States reacts to it's favorite hero dying while charged with treason. While our heroes investigate, a third political party is formed and America's security is placed increasingly in the hands of private security firms. The story continues in Vol. 2 & 3, and has a pretty spectacular ending. I hesitate to say anymore because you really should read this for yourself.
Finally, we have Captain America - The Man With No Face. In the wake of Steve Rogers death, Bucky Barnes is chosen to be the new Captain America. The problem is, he spent most of his life as a brainwashed Russian Assassin known as the Winter Soldier. He is haunted by the memories of his past and isn't sure that he is the man deserving to wear the shield. With the help of Black Widow (she kinda knows how he feels after all), he begins to find himself and learns to fit into his knew role. In the meantime, he has to defeat an enemy from his past who knows that he used to be the Winter Soldier.
Overall, this is some truly spectacular storytelling. If you like spies, broken down people, and some pretty great action sequences, you owe it to yourself to check this out.
10/10
Today I have to combine 6 graphic novels into one post (counting as 2 books)because they kind of all lead into each other. Up first: Civil War - Iron Man, Civil War - Captain America, and The Death of Captain America: Vol. 1. For those you aren't familiar with the Marvel Civil War, I will give you the shortest explanation I can. It starts when a group of young, untrained superheroes start a fight with some powerful super villains in a highly populated area. Things go all the last 30 minutes of The Man of Steel and the next thing we know, half of Stamford, CT has been obliterated, including an elementary school. This event triggers the passing of the Superhuman Registration Act, essentially forcing all superheroes to reveal their secret identities to the government and sign up for formal training. Iron Man and Captain America are on opposite side of the issue, tempers flair, and soon all the heroes are fighting each other. This event was covered in over a dozen books and is a high point of storytelling in the Marvel Universe.
In the 2 Civil War books included here, we get the best scene in the whole saga. A simple one on one conversation between Captain American and Iron Man. Both men make very compelling arguments for their side. Tony Stark is a recovering alcoholic who understands that having heroes trained and held accountable can prevent disaster. Steve Rogers knows that the government can be compromised and that having a database of heroes secret identities can lead to super villains knowing where to find and how to hurt or kill costumed heroes and the ones they love. The great thing about Marvel is their ability to mix the fantastic with the personal. The issues raised in these stories are directly correlated to many of the big questions we face in our own lives. What do we do about gun control? Where is the line between safety and the violation of individual liberty?
The Civil War ends when Captain America surrenders in order to prevent further blood shed. He is then assassinated on his way into a federal courthouse. Thus begins an amazing spy story that is as thought provoking as it is thrilling. The story revolves around Nick Fury, no longer in charge of S.H.I.E.L.D.; Sharon Carter, the niece of Peggy Carter and Cap. America's current girlfriend; and Bucky Barnes, Cap's lifelong friend and the former Winter Soldier. The plot winds and twists with revelations and double crosses as the United States reacts to it's favorite hero dying while charged with treason. While our heroes investigate, a third political party is formed and America's security is placed increasingly in the hands of private security firms. The story continues in Vol. 2 & 3, and has a pretty spectacular ending. I hesitate to say anymore because you really should read this for yourself.
Finally, we have Captain America - The Man With No Face. In the wake of Steve Rogers death, Bucky Barnes is chosen to be the new Captain America. The problem is, he spent most of his life as a brainwashed Russian Assassin known as the Winter Soldier. He is haunted by the memories of his past and isn't sure that he is the man deserving to wear the shield. With the help of Black Widow (she kinda knows how he feels after all), he begins to find himself and learns to fit into his knew role. In the meantime, he has to defeat an enemy from his past who knows that he used to be the Winter Soldier.
Overall, this is some truly spectacular storytelling. If you like spies, broken down people, and some pretty great action sequences, you owe it to yourself to check this out.
10/10
Monday, September 2, 2013
100 by 30 Book 27 - Tolkien a stroll
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, Book 4
So remember how all kinds of cool stuff just happened? The momentum of the story was really building at the end of the last book with Gandalf and Pippin galloping as fast as possible to Minas Tirath. Then we get book 4. Here's what happens in book 4:
Chapter 1 - Sam and Frodo walk in circles for a while, then they meet Gollum, and they walk some more.
Chapter 2 - Sam, Frodo, and Gollum walk in circles through a swamp for like 20 pages. That's it.
Chapter 3 - They have made it through the swamp and need to spend 30 pages starring at the Gate of Mordor. Seriously, they don't even walk in circles, they just sit in the sand and do nothing. Well, that's not totally fair. After 60 or so pages of insufferable boredom, we get a little bit of intrigue when Frodo threatens to put on the ring and use it to make Gollum kill himself if he doesn't help them find a way into Mordor. This is how the ring works if you missed it in the movies. It's designed to dominate others. It's a pretty harrowing moment in the books as we really get to see a darkness show itself in Frodo.
Then we get, you guessed it, MORE WALKING! Just moseying through the woods, not doing much. Finally, we get introduced to Faramir and his group of soldiers. If you've only seen the movies, you know nothing about Faramir. In the movies he is basically portrayed as the lesser son, desperate for approval. In the books, we get an extremely accomplished captain of exceptional quality. He understands that his country is not in good shape. It has been so long since truly great men have ruled that people have stopped admiring the things which armies protect (people, knowledge, art) and have become obsessed with the act of war itself. Knowledge is no longer valued as highly as prowess on the battlefield. His brother and father are part of the problem and Faramir knows this. He doesn't crave their approval like a sad little boy. Instead he recognizes the dangers of becoming obsessed with great and glorious military deeds. It's for this reason that he is able to reject the ring. He has no desire to dominate others, and he knows that such an object would only further the corruption of his people. Sam thinks that Faramir has something of a wizard in him, meaning that he is wise on the level of Gandalf or Elrond.
So Faramir continues to be awesome and lets Frodo, Sam, and Gollum go because he's not a stupid child, and our trio continues their journey south and East. They make their way up the stairs above the castle of the Ring Wraiths, and no, Frodo never tells Sam to go home because he's corrupted by Gollum and the ring. Frodo isn't a moron. He and Sam are well aware that Gollum can never be fully trusted and they even discuss their belief that he will try to betray them at some point. They have to continue to follow him at least until they get to Modor though, so they follow him into the tunnel where Shelob lives. Shelob is a giant spider, but no movie can fully convey how evil this spider is. She's the last living spawn of a creature so evil, Sauron's boss unleashed it to destroy the undying lands of Valinor. She lives only to consume and excrete darkness, and no hero has ever survived an encounter with Shelob, or even wounded her. So when Sam gets her to impale herself on Sting, it's kind of a big deal. The Orcs who find Frodo see her blood everywhere and it freaks them the hell out. It would be like somebody successfully stabbing and critically wounding the Hulk (the big green rage monster, not the middle aged wrestler).
The book ends with Sam being locked out of the Orc guard tower where Frodo has been taken prisoner. So in the end, we do get some pretty epic moments in this book, but first we have to get through 150 pages or so of almost nothing. If you are reading the LotR for the first time, you can probably skip most of this book and you won't be confused.
Faramir and Shelob - 9/10
Everything else - 0/10 because reading about people wandering in circles through a desolate landscape is exactly has boring as it sounds.
So remember how all kinds of cool stuff just happened? The momentum of the story was really building at the end of the last book with Gandalf and Pippin galloping as fast as possible to Minas Tirath. Then we get book 4. Here's what happens in book 4:
Chapter 1 - Sam and Frodo walk in circles for a while, then they meet Gollum, and they walk some more.
Chapter 2 - Sam, Frodo, and Gollum walk in circles through a swamp for like 20 pages. That's it.
Chapter 3 - They have made it through the swamp and need to spend 30 pages starring at the Gate of Mordor. Seriously, they don't even walk in circles, they just sit in the sand and do nothing. Well, that's not totally fair. After 60 or so pages of insufferable boredom, we get a little bit of intrigue when Frodo threatens to put on the ring and use it to make Gollum kill himself if he doesn't help them find a way into Mordor. This is how the ring works if you missed it in the movies. It's designed to dominate others. It's a pretty harrowing moment in the books as we really get to see a darkness show itself in Frodo.
Then we get, you guessed it, MORE WALKING! Just moseying through the woods, not doing much. Finally, we get introduced to Faramir and his group of soldiers. If you've only seen the movies, you know nothing about Faramir. In the movies he is basically portrayed as the lesser son, desperate for approval. In the books, we get an extremely accomplished captain of exceptional quality. He understands that his country is not in good shape. It has been so long since truly great men have ruled that people have stopped admiring the things which armies protect (people, knowledge, art) and have become obsessed with the act of war itself. Knowledge is no longer valued as highly as prowess on the battlefield. His brother and father are part of the problem and Faramir knows this. He doesn't crave their approval like a sad little boy. Instead he recognizes the dangers of becoming obsessed with great and glorious military deeds. It's for this reason that he is able to reject the ring. He has no desire to dominate others, and he knows that such an object would only further the corruption of his people. Sam thinks that Faramir has something of a wizard in him, meaning that he is wise on the level of Gandalf or Elrond.
So Faramir continues to be awesome and lets Frodo, Sam, and Gollum go because he's not a stupid child, and our trio continues their journey south and East. They make their way up the stairs above the castle of the Ring Wraiths, and no, Frodo never tells Sam to go home because he's corrupted by Gollum and the ring. Frodo isn't a moron. He and Sam are well aware that Gollum can never be fully trusted and they even discuss their belief that he will try to betray them at some point. They have to continue to follow him at least until they get to Modor though, so they follow him into the tunnel where Shelob lives. Shelob is a giant spider, but no movie can fully convey how evil this spider is. She's the last living spawn of a creature so evil, Sauron's boss unleashed it to destroy the undying lands of Valinor. She lives only to consume and excrete darkness, and no hero has ever survived an encounter with Shelob, or even wounded her. So when Sam gets her to impale herself on Sting, it's kind of a big deal. The Orcs who find Frodo see her blood everywhere and it freaks them the hell out. It would be like somebody successfully stabbing and critically wounding the Hulk (the big green rage monster, not the middle aged wrestler).
The book ends with Sam being locked out of the Orc guard tower where Frodo has been taken prisoner. So in the end, we do get some pretty epic moments in this book, but first we have to get through 150 pages or so of almost nothing. If you are reading the LotR for the first time, you can probably skip most of this book and you won't be confused.
Faramir and Shelob - 9/10
Everything else - 0/10 because reading about people wandering in circles through a desolate landscape is exactly has boring as it sounds.
Saturday, August 24, 2013
100 by 30 book 26 - American Vampire 1-3
This is a comic series written by Scott Snyder, the man behind the recent Batman storyline that I loved so much. In this series, like with 40 Days of Night, the goal is to put the terror back into the vampire myth. He is aided in the first volume by none other than Stephen King. I hear he's pretty scary too, but I only have a sample size of Carrie, which is admittedly pretty awesome.
Vol. 1 - This story flashes back and forth between the 1870s and Hollywood in the roaring 20s. In the origin plot line we learn how infamous outlaw Skinner Sweet becomes the first of a new breed of vampire: the American Vampire. The basic idea is that, like in the X-men, every once in a while, the genetics of the vampire virus mutate and cause a new breed to emerge. Skinner Sweet is a vampire who is recharged by sunlight, but is weakest during the new moon. His other main weakness we will discover is gold. (It figures that the American Vampire would have a toxic relationship to gold.) Anyway, Skinner is a sadistic psychopath in the realm of Angelus or the Joker. And this is before he becomes an immortal killing machine. Once changed, he begins a slow systematic destruction of the lawmen that almost caught him. Fathers, wives, children, entire towns are massacred before he is stopped, temporarily of course. We pick up the story in the 1920s where we are introduced to some new major characters and well as the descendents of Skinner's previous reign of terror who are out for vengeance.
Vol. 2 & 3 continue the storyline, covering the 1930's and 1940's. The world is expanded and we learn that there are many breeds of vampires, but the common Carpathian (dracula) variety are by far the most numerous, having created a worldwide secret society bent of acquisition of power and the genocide of all other races of vampire. We also learn about the human society dedicated to the destruction of all vampires everywhere. It is into this framework that Skinner Sweet and his fellow American Vampires introduce an element of chaos. Skinner is a completely despicable character, but the world is bigger than he is so despite is massive power, he has to play the angles from time to time. Give him an opening though, and he'll probably murder your wife and infect your newborn baby just for kicks.
I really like this new twist on the vampire mythos. There is a brutality to this series that you would expect when dealing with monsters. Characters aren't safe, and could be killed off at any point. Amidst all the blood and gore, we do get some great human moments with our cast of characters that continually give a sense of stakes and weight to the carnage. It's a tricky balance to find, but this series has been mostly successful so far. The one thing I would say is that the character of Skinner Sweet can be to charismatic for his own good. Like any great villain, they run the risk of being too compelling to stay scary. He is your worst nightmare, but while he is safely contained in the pages of the book, you can't help but root for him to find a way to survive to the next issue. It's a good problem to have though, and Scott Snyder has done an admirable job so far of keeping mostly to the scary side of that line. If you are in the market for a really great horror series, and zombies aren't your thing, you need to check this out.
10/10
Vol. 1 - This story flashes back and forth between the 1870s and Hollywood in the roaring 20s. In the origin plot line we learn how infamous outlaw Skinner Sweet becomes the first of a new breed of vampire: the American Vampire. The basic idea is that, like in the X-men, every once in a while, the genetics of the vampire virus mutate and cause a new breed to emerge. Skinner Sweet is a vampire who is recharged by sunlight, but is weakest during the new moon. His other main weakness we will discover is gold. (It figures that the American Vampire would have a toxic relationship to gold.) Anyway, Skinner is a sadistic psychopath in the realm of Angelus or the Joker. And this is before he becomes an immortal killing machine. Once changed, he begins a slow systematic destruction of the lawmen that almost caught him. Fathers, wives, children, entire towns are massacred before he is stopped, temporarily of course. We pick up the story in the 1920s where we are introduced to some new major characters and well as the descendents of Skinner's previous reign of terror who are out for vengeance.
Vol. 2 & 3 continue the storyline, covering the 1930's and 1940's. The world is expanded and we learn that there are many breeds of vampires, but the common Carpathian (dracula) variety are by far the most numerous, having created a worldwide secret society bent of acquisition of power and the genocide of all other races of vampire. We also learn about the human society dedicated to the destruction of all vampires everywhere. It is into this framework that Skinner Sweet and his fellow American Vampires introduce an element of chaos. Skinner is a completely despicable character, but the world is bigger than he is so despite is massive power, he has to play the angles from time to time. Give him an opening though, and he'll probably murder your wife and infect your newborn baby just for kicks.
I really like this new twist on the vampire mythos. There is a brutality to this series that you would expect when dealing with monsters. Characters aren't safe, and could be killed off at any point. Amidst all the blood and gore, we do get some great human moments with our cast of characters that continually give a sense of stakes and weight to the carnage. It's a tricky balance to find, but this series has been mostly successful so far. The one thing I would say is that the character of Skinner Sweet can be to charismatic for his own good. Like any great villain, they run the risk of being too compelling to stay scary. He is your worst nightmare, but while he is safely contained in the pages of the book, you can't help but root for him to find a way to survive to the next issue. It's a good problem to have though, and Scott Snyder has done an admirable job so far of keeping mostly to the scary side of that line. If you are in the market for a really great horror series, and zombies aren't your thing, you need to check this out.
10/10
Wednesday, August 21, 2013
100 by 30: Book 25 - The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
So.....this book is super weird. It's written with the straightforward and simple tone of a children's story, but contains a lot of casual violence. The Tin Man kills a bunch of wolves and other beasts with his ax, the scarecrow murders a murder of crows, and the cowardly lion decapitates a giant spider. Another grisly detail left out of the movie is the origin of the Tin Man. He used to be a man, until his ax is bewitched and he accidently chops off his legs, then is arms, then his head, and finally he vivisects his own torso. each time, the tinsmith replaces the body part until he is completely made of tin. I can't believe they left that out of the movie! The biggest surprise for me was how little of Kansas is even in the book. The twister happens on like page 3, and the final chapter of Dorothy getting home is about 6 sentences long. The wicked witch has no Kansas counterpart, and neither to any of the other characters. We also get the death of the wicked witch about halfway through the book, without the help of Dorothy's friends. This event, along with most of the adventures, is very anticlimactic. The book follows a structure of problem, followed by a brief sense of danger, followed by a comically simple solution or Deus Ex Machina in the form of the flying monkeys, who act as a genie by committee in the books.
While the story may be simplistic, the shear amount of fantastical characters and worlds keep the story engaging. The book is also help by the amount of social commentary slipped into the pages. It is far more obvious that the characters, with the exception of Dorothy, already possess the things they think they need. The lion faces down many enemies, the scarecrow is always coming up with ideas, and the tin man cries when he steps on a bug. In the Emerald City, all of the people think they have a perfect city because the powers that be (The Wizard) have forced everyone to wear green colored glasses that they cannot take off.
While the book isn't amazing, it certainly has enough charm to make me curious to read some of the other Oz books. My favorite moment in this book is when the scarecrow is given his own private room in the Emerald city, but since he is a scarecrow and doesn't sleep, he simply stays exactly where he is placed and stares at the door until someone comes back for him the next day. It's a wonderfully silly image and if the other books have anything half as inspired, it will be well worth it.
8/10
While the story may be simplistic, the shear amount of fantastical characters and worlds keep the story engaging. The book is also help by the amount of social commentary slipped into the pages. It is far more obvious that the characters, with the exception of Dorothy, already possess the things they think they need. The lion faces down many enemies, the scarecrow is always coming up with ideas, and the tin man cries when he steps on a bug. In the Emerald City, all of the people think they have a perfect city because the powers that be (The Wizard) have forced everyone to wear green colored glasses that they cannot take off.
While the book isn't amazing, it certainly has enough charm to make me curious to read some of the other Oz books. My favorite moment in this book is when the scarecrow is given his own private room in the Emerald city, but since he is a scarecrow and doesn't sleep, he simply stays exactly where he is placed and stares at the door until someone comes back for him the next day. It's a wonderfully silly image and if the other books have anything half as inspired, it will be well worth it.
8/10
100 by 30: Book 24 - The Invention of Hugo Cabret
Wow! This is a great book, but I wish I'd read it before seeing Martin Scorsese's Masterpiece of an adaptation. I can now safely say that this is one of the rare instances where the movie is better than the book, and the book is really great to begin with. The book focuses much more on Hugo and less on building the characters and world of the train station. The subplot of the station inspector having a crush on the flower shop girl is totally invented for the movie. Otherwise, the two are almost identical story-wise. If you liked the movie, there's little need to read the book, although it moves very quickly and is quite enjoyable. The book contains hundreds of pages of amazing pencil artwork (many of which have been captured frame for frame in the film.)If you haven't watched the movie, read the book because it will make you want to watch the movie even more, and vice versa. I'm going to leave it there as this is a book related post and this book only makes me want to watch the movie, so I'm gonna go do that.
9/10
9/10
Thursday, August 15, 2013
100 by 30: Book 23 - Jack of Fables #1-3
I'm Back! So I had to go read the Fables spinoff Jack of Fables to figure out just what the heck is going on. Turns out the last Fables book had way more to do with this series than the one it was supposed to be a part of. This series covers the assorted misadventures of Jack, the one from all of the stories. He's an arrogant ass, who's just charming enough that you kind of like him.
Also, before we get to far into this, I just want to point out that I already wrote a book about Jack of beanstalk fame being a totally douche, and Mr. Bill "I've got 14 Eisner Awards" Willingham totally ripped of the children's book I wrote in 1997, when I was in 7th grade! It was for Language arts class and it was the trial of Jack after he ransacked the Giants castle, stole all his cool stuff, then straight up tried to murder the guy. It was inspired by the tone of the Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales and it was awesome. The teacher read it in front of the whole class 'cuz it was so good and my mom helped me with the illustrations because she's awesome. (Hi Mom! I got your message and I'll totally call you back tomorrow!) Also, spoiler alert, I wasn't the coolest kid growing up. But I actually dug up that story recently, and it's still pretty darn good for a 13 year old. So there.
Anyway, After Bill drove to my tiny hometown in the midwest, broke into my room, and stole my book, he fleshed things out and created a Jack character of limitless ego and a complete inability to take responsibility for anything. He's kind of like Ash from the Evil Dead movies, specifically Army of Darkness. So, naturally, when your main character is all arrogance and bravado, it makes sense to put him into a world decidedly less serious than the main Fables story line. It also helps to remove a character who can only be the star from an ensemble drama. In the first volume, Jack is arrested and taken to a prison for fables who have risked exposure. This is where we get into the meta storytelling. The prison warden is run by Mr. Revise. He is the embodiment of Revision, and is always striving to bring order to the world. His goal is to keep the Fables locked up until their are forgotten by the mundys (that's you and me) and the world can be ruled by order and science. He is aided by three smoking hot librarians called the Page Sisters (I'm not totally sure why they would go out of their way to draw attention to how hot the librarians are. I mean what do the nerds who read this stuff care about....oh, I see what you did there. Well, played). Anyway, Jack, being a legendary fable and a legend in his own mind, devises an escape plan and organizes a jail break. It mostly works. Even Little Black Sambo escapes, and he'd been the wardens greatest success. (they just call him Sam in the book though. What with his name being a racial slur and all)
In Book 2, Jack almost takes over Las Vegas, until a nasty run in with Lady Luck, literally. Turns out she eats brains. This story has one of the few moments when we actually get to Jack Speechless and vulnerable. Someone he (sort of) cares about is brutally killed, and our non-stop rougue is speechless and still for almost two full pages. It's a great use of the visual part of this medium, and it even seems quieter when you read it. This plot is also juxtaposed with the story of how Jack seduced the Snow Queen, got her powers, and became Jack Frost. This doesn't end so bad. I mean, he only causes the Snow Queen to turn evil and become a major leader for the Adversaries armies, who find the her world after Jack sells them all out. Nice Guy.
In the third book, things start to get weird. Jack meet his 'evil' doppelganger Wicked John, and we start to learn that there are other, very powerful beings like Mr. Revise. For instance, Jack's sidekick Gary is the Pathetic Fallacy. Nothing like a reference to a term coined by a 19th century critic to give your little comic book nerd cred. For those of you who don't want to wikipedia Pathetic Fallacy, it's basically the same thing as Anthropomorphism. Of course, when you see Gary, you realize that Pathetic Fallacy seems to fit him better. We also get to meet the guy who created all of the Fables, and hear the story of how Jack became Jack O'Lantern. And Merlin shows up at one point, stabs Jack with Excalibur, and then dies. Like I said, these books are weird.
While I much prefer the main Fables storyline, I do like these books as a sort of palette cleanser from all of the seriousness. This series feels like Bill Willingham needed a place to store all of the silly ideas that wouldn't fit in the main plot. When the silliness is contained in it's own place, and not trying to be a crossover story, it's pretty charming.
7/10
Also, before we get to far into this, I just want to point out that I already wrote a book about Jack of beanstalk fame being a totally douche, and Mr. Bill "I've got 14 Eisner Awards" Willingham totally ripped of the children's book I wrote in 1997, when I was in 7th grade! It was for Language arts class and it was the trial of Jack after he ransacked the Giants castle, stole all his cool stuff, then straight up tried to murder the guy. It was inspired by the tone of the Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales and it was awesome. The teacher read it in front of the whole class 'cuz it was so good and my mom helped me with the illustrations because she's awesome. (Hi Mom! I got your message and I'll totally call you back tomorrow!) Also, spoiler alert, I wasn't the coolest kid growing up. But I actually dug up that story recently, and it's still pretty darn good for a 13 year old. So there.
Anyway, After Bill drove to my tiny hometown in the midwest, broke into my room, and stole my book, he fleshed things out and created a Jack character of limitless ego and a complete inability to take responsibility for anything. He's kind of like Ash from the Evil Dead movies, specifically Army of Darkness. So, naturally, when your main character is all arrogance and bravado, it makes sense to put him into a world decidedly less serious than the main Fables story line. It also helps to remove a character who can only be the star from an ensemble drama. In the first volume, Jack is arrested and taken to a prison for fables who have risked exposure. This is where we get into the meta storytelling. The prison warden is run by Mr. Revise. He is the embodiment of Revision, and is always striving to bring order to the world. His goal is to keep the Fables locked up until their are forgotten by the mundys (that's you and me) and the world can be ruled by order and science. He is aided by three smoking hot librarians called the Page Sisters (I'm not totally sure why they would go out of their way to draw attention to how hot the librarians are. I mean what do the nerds who read this stuff care about....oh, I see what you did there. Well, played). Anyway, Jack, being a legendary fable and a legend in his own mind, devises an escape plan and organizes a jail break. It mostly works. Even Little Black Sambo escapes, and he'd been the wardens greatest success. (they just call him Sam in the book though. What with his name being a racial slur and all)
In Book 2, Jack almost takes over Las Vegas, until a nasty run in with Lady Luck, literally. Turns out she eats brains. This story has one of the few moments when we actually get to Jack Speechless and vulnerable. Someone he (sort of) cares about is brutally killed, and our non-stop rougue is speechless and still for almost two full pages. It's a great use of the visual part of this medium, and it even seems quieter when you read it. This plot is also juxtaposed with the story of how Jack seduced the Snow Queen, got her powers, and became Jack Frost. This doesn't end so bad. I mean, he only causes the Snow Queen to turn evil and become a major leader for the Adversaries armies, who find the her world after Jack sells them all out. Nice Guy.
In the third book, things start to get weird. Jack meet his 'evil' doppelganger Wicked John, and we start to learn that there are other, very powerful beings like Mr. Revise. For instance, Jack's sidekick Gary is the Pathetic Fallacy. Nothing like a reference to a term coined by a 19th century critic to give your little comic book nerd cred. For those of you who don't want to wikipedia Pathetic Fallacy, it's basically the same thing as Anthropomorphism. Of course, when you see Gary, you realize that Pathetic Fallacy seems to fit him better. We also get to meet the guy who created all of the Fables, and hear the story of how Jack became Jack O'Lantern. And Merlin shows up at one point, stabs Jack with Excalibur, and then dies. Like I said, these books are weird.
While I much prefer the main Fables storyline, I do like these books as a sort of palette cleanser from all of the seriousness. This series feels like Bill Willingham needed a place to store all of the silly ideas that wouldn't fit in the main plot. When the silliness is contained in it's own place, and not trying to be a crossover story, it's pretty charming.
7/10
Thursday, August 8, 2013
100 by 30: book 22 - Fables 11-13
Fables vol. 11 - War & Pieces - So after all the hippy lovey stuff of the last volume, Volume 11 covers the war to defeat the advarsary. So Prince Charming, Sinbad, and their super awesome sky ship fly around shooting the crap out of everything, because Guns have a longer range than spells. It's spectacularly violent, and the war goes pretty great. Turns out Sleeping Beauty is a pretty effective WMD. If you're confused by that last sentence, go watch the Disney movie and imagine someone getting her to prick her finger in a highly populated area filled with the leaders of your opposition.
10/10
Vol 12 - The Dark Ages - So for reasons I won't go into here, Gepetto is forced to become a member of Fabletown. He's still an asshole and every one hates him except Pinoccio. Also, the fables have greated a huge power vacuum be wiping out the empire and a couple of plunderers accidently unleash a new big bad you destroys Fabletown and kills a major character. It's pretty sad. All the Fables have to move up to the Farm in the country where the non-human fables live. And the animals lure Gepetto into the woods and bury the evil bastard alive. It's pretty great.
7/10
Vol 13 - The Great Fables Crossover - Holy Super Meta storytelling Batman! So Jack of the beanstalk fame was kicked out of fabletown a while ago and started his own comic book series, because who needs an ensemble, right? In this story, he comes back, bringing a lot of meta narrative silliness with him. Having not read any of the Jack of Fables books, I felt very, very lost. There was something about literals, and a guy with a magic pen who's twin brother is Writer's Block and at on point there was a shoot out between our heroes and the genres until the big bad wolf who was turned into a little girl snuck around and ripped all the genres heads off and Dex the embodiment of the Deus Ex Machina showed up but not until it was time for the denouement which happened after Rose Red has sex with Jack causing the animals to think he's a god and something about his bastard son being jack frost, you know, this is ridiculous, I'll be write back......
10/10
Vol 12 - The Dark Ages - So for reasons I won't go into here, Gepetto is forced to become a member of Fabletown. He's still an asshole and every one hates him except Pinoccio. Also, the fables have greated a huge power vacuum be wiping out the empire and a couple of plunderers accidently unleash a new big bad you destroys Fabletown and kills a major character. It's pretty sad. All the Fables have to move up to the Farm in the country where the non-human fables live. And the animals lure Gepetto into the woods and bury the evil bastard alive. It's pretty great.
7/10
Vol 13 - The Great Fables Crossover - Holy Super Meta storytelling Batman! So Jack of the beanstalk fame was kicked out of fabletown a while ago and started his own comic book series, because who needs an ensemble, right? In this story, he comes back, bringing a lot of meta narrative silliness with him. Having not read any of the Jack of Fables books, I felt very, very lost. There was something about literals, and a guy with a magic pen who's twin brother is Writer's Block and at on point there was a shoot out between our heroes and the genres until the big bad wolf who was turned into a little girl snuck around and ripped all the genres heads off and Dex the embodiment of the Deus Ex Machina showed up but not until it was time for the denouement which happened after Rose Red has sex with Jack causing the animals to think he's a god and something about his bastard son being jack frost, you know, this is ridiculous, I'll be write back......
Wednesday, August 7, 2013
100 by 30: Book 21 - Batman, Batwoman, Catwoman
More tales of Gotham City today
BATMAN: Black Mirrors - This book takes place in a different timeline in the Batman universe. Here, Bruce Wayne has gone off to train other vigilantes in other cities, creating Batman, INC. So original Robin, Dick Grayson is now the dark knight. This book follows some of his adventures in his first year as the new Batman. He's a very different Batman, and it's weird to hear Batman having a sense of humor. It's also nice to see a hero who is ready to take the lead but still has to make mistakes. Dick Grayson's Batman is not as good a detective and he gets himself into trouble a number of times. It's a decent enough book, but I miss Bruce Wayne.
6/10
CATWOMAN Vol. 1: The Game - I'm really enjoying what I've read of DC's New 52 so far. I love this version of Catwoman. I was pleasantly surprised at how human and empathetic Catwoman was. She's an antihero who is tough and can certainly take care of herself, but she also makes human mistakes. She's clearly been through a lot in her life, and uses her career as a thief to run away from her problems. That works out as well as you'd expect. What I really like about this portrayal is that we get to see someone who is constantly fighting between be smart, and being impulsive. She knows when she's doing something ill-advised, but she does it anyway, trusting that she's clever enough to figure it out later. Then she has to deal with the self-doubt and loathing that comes from screwing up big time. It would be easy to dismiss Catwoman and a sexist stereotype, but I found there to be a great consistency and logic to the character. You expect a certain amount of issues in a person who dresses as a cat and steals jewels. It also make sense that she and Batman have the occasional fling. It's the one time they can reverse their roles. Batman gets to feel impulsive, and Catwoman gets to feel safe, at least for a little while.
9/10
BATWOMAN: ELEGY - SO on the recommendation of one of my readers I want back and read this volume and boy did it answer a lot of my questions. This is the book where we get to see how Kate Kane got kicked out of the military. This is where you get to see the power of the comic medium. The still image of the moment she realizes that she is about to lose everything she's worked for is haunting. Daniel Choi, one of the Soldiers who helped in the fight to overturn Don't Ask, Don't Tell was one of the people who helped in the crafting of this story. When you have former military officers working with you on the story and Rachel Maddow writes the forward, you know this is more than just a superhero book. Kate Kane's sexual orientation is directly related to her becoming Batwoman. Because she isn't allowed to serve her country the way she wants to, she has to find another way. It helps that her father is a high ranking Colonal and get her some shiny toys. She is a very different sort of hero from Batman. Her methods have more in common with Black Ops training than Batman's detective and martial arts background. While Batman has developed a strict no killing rule, you know that Batwoman has been trained in lethal combat. Honestly, if you ran into either of them in a dark alley, you'd probably want to take your chances with Batman. The book ends with the major revalation that Batwoman's twin sister wasn't murdered by terrorists 20 years ago. It works as a reason to drive a wedge between her and her father, but otherwise I wasn't totally impressed. So far we have character that is far more complex and interesting than the adventures she takes part in, but I'm officially a fan.
8/10
BATMAN: Black Mirrors - This book takes place in a different timeline in the Batman universe. Here, Bruce Wayne has gone off to train other vigilantes in other cities, creating Batman, INC. So original Robin, Dick Grayson is now the dark knight. This book follows some of his adventures in his first year as the new Batman. He's a very different Batman, and it's weird to hear Batman having a sense of humor. It's also nice to see a hero who is ready to take the lead but still has to make mistakes. Dick Grayson's Batman is not as good a detective and he gets himself into trouble a number of times. It's a decent enough book, but I miss Bruce Wayne.
6/10
CATWOMAN Vol. 1: The Game - I'm really enjoying what I've read of DC's New 52 so far. I love this version of Catwoman. I was pleasantly surprised at how human and empathetic Catwoman was. She's an antihero who is tough and can certainly take care of herself, but she also makes human mistakes. She's clearly been through a lot in her life, and uses her career as a thief to run away from her problems. That works out as well as you'd expect. What I really like about this portrayal is that we get to see someone who is constantly fighting between be smart, and being impulsive. She knows when she's doing something ill-advised, but she does it anyway, trusting that she's clever enough to figure it out later. Then she has to deal with the self-doubt and loathing that comes from screwing up big time. It would be easy to dismiss Catwoman and a sexist stereotype, but I found there to be a great consistency and logic to the character. You expect a certain amount of issues in a person who dresses as a cat and steals jewels. It also make sense that she and Batman have the occasional fling. It's the one time they can reverse their roles. Batman gets to feel impulsive, and Catwoman gets to feel safe, at least for a little while.
9/10
BATWOMAN: ELEGY - SO on the recommendation of one of my readers I want back and read this volume and boy did it answer a lot of my questions. This is the book where we get to see how Kate Kane got kicked out of the military. This is where you get to see the power of the comic medium. The still image of the moment she realizes that she is about to lose everything she's worked for is haunting. Daniel Choi, one of the Soldiers who helped in the fight to overturn Don't Ask, Don't Tell was one of the people who helped in the crafting of this story. When you have former military officers working with you on the story and Rachel Maddow writes the forward, you know this is more than just a superhero book. Kate Kane's sexual orientation is directly related to her becoming Batwoman. Because she isn't allowed to serve her country the way she wants to, she has to find another way. It helps that her father is a high ranking Colonal and get her some shiny toys. She is a very different sort of hero from Batman. Her methods have more in common with Black Ops training than Batman's detective and martial arts background. While Batman has developed a strict no killing rule, you know that Batwoman has been trained in lethal combat. Honestly, if you ran into either of them in a dark alley, you'd probably want to take your chances with Batman. The book ends with the major revalation that Batwoman's twin sister wasn't murdered by terrorists 20 years ago. It works as a reason to drive a wedge between her and her father, but otherwise I wasn't totally impressed. So far we have character that is far more complex and interesting than the adventures she takes part in, but I'm officially a fan.
8/10
Tuesday, August 6, 2013
100 by 30: Book 20 - Two Towers, just the good parts
Can you imagine how awesome The Two Towers movie would have been if it was just Orcs and Ents and Rohan?! With no endless wondering of Frodo and Sam? It would be all awesome all the time. Well, that's exactly what we get in Book 3 of the Lord of the Rings. Frodo and Sam are not in a single sentence of this book. It opens with the death of Boromir, which, I gotta say, was done way better in the movie. I cry at that seen more often than I should. In the book, Boromir dies in like the 3rd paragraph and he's all like "oh no!" and Aragorn's all "Sucks to be you!" .... Well not exactly, but it's handled with a brevity and lack of significance that isn't really fair for such an interesting character.
Anyway, once they send Boromir over the falls in a canoe overflowing with the weapons of all the orcs he killed, Legolas, Aragorn, and Gimli embark on an impromptu ulta marathon. They chase the orcs across Rohan and cover 120 MILES in 3 Days! I was exhausted just reading that. Then we break away to spend time with Merry and Pippin for a few chapters. This is all pretty close to what happens in the movie, with one major exception. The Ents in the book aren't clueless morons! Turns out, Creatures older than the elves tend to notice when people start burning and tearing down their trees. I don't care if Peter Jackson wanted more character growth for the hobbits, you can't justify the Ents not knowing whats going on! It would be as bad as making Aragorn not act like a King....
So we leave the Ents just as the begin their march on Isengard to check in with our 3 other heroes. Aragorn has followed the hobbits trail into the woods where they get reunited with Gandalf. Gandalf has been seriously leveled up since being sent back. You get the sense that the Maiar (basically angels) have noticed the some serious shit is going down and have decided to let Gandalf use much more of his true power. At one point, when he has been mistaken for Sauroman, he says, "You have no weapons that can harm me" So Gandalf is basically invincible, and he's also got a super fast horse to ride. I'd say dying was the best thing that could have happened to him.
Then we go rescue Theoden from wormtongue, and everybody rides to Helms Deep, because this is the smart thing to do, and Gandalf encourages it. Then we get the battle of Helms Deep. It's awesome! And the men fight off the orcs without any help from the elves. The biggest change is that there are many more men than in the movie, and Eomer is there the whole time. In the morning, when Gandalf returns with the cavalry, it's a different guy leading the Rohirrim. Anyway, it's one of the best battle scenes ever written.
The rest of the book covers the remaining fellowship members reuniting at a destroyed Isengard. Merry and Pippin relay the tale of the Ents killing and smashing everything, and Pippin touches the palantir (that crystal ball thing) and has to ride away with Gandalf, end book 3.
Book 3 has some of the best pacing in the whole story so far. The one thing I want to point out, that is really starting to bug me, is how much cooler Aragorn is in the book. He's not some whiny guy in exhile, hiding from his destiny. He grew up in hiding, knowing full well that it was his responsibility to return to Gondor and restore the race of men. For crying out loud, they reforge his sword in the first book, and he's not afraid to tell anybody that he's no one to trifle with because he's Aragorn, son of Arathorn, Kind of Gondor Dammit! And you better recognize before he stomps you in to the ground like a worm.
10/10
And now I get to look forward to 200 pages of Frodo and Sam on the longest camping trip ever...
Anyway, once they send Boromir over the falls in a canoe overflowing with the weapons of all the orcs he killed, Legolas, Aragorn, and Gimli embark on an impromptu ulta marathon. They chase the orcs across Rohan and cover 120 MILES in 3 Days! I was exhausted just reading that. Then we break away to spend time with Merry and Pippin for a few chapters. This is all pretty close to what happens in the movie, with one major exception. The Ents in the book aren't clueless morons! Turns out, Creatures older than the elves tend to notice when people start burning and tearing down their trees. I don't care if Peter Jackson wanted more character growth for the hobbits, you can't justify the Ents not knowing whats going on! It would be as bad as making Aragorn not act like a King....
So we leave the Ents just as the begin their march on Isengard to check in with our 3 other heroes. Aragorn has followed the hobbits trail into the woods where they get reunited with Gandalf. Gandalf has been seriously leveled up since being sent back. You get the sense that the Maiar (basically angels) have noticed the some serious shit is going down and have decided to let Gandalf use much more of his true power. At one point, when he has been mistaken for Sauroman, he says, "You have no weapons that can harm me" So Gandalf is basically invincible, and he's also got a super fast horse to ride. I'd say dying was the best thing that could have happened to him.
Then we go rescue Theoden from wormtongue, and everybody rides to Helms Deep, because this is the smart thing to do, and Gandalf encourages it. Then we get the battle of Helms Deep. It's awesome! And the men fight off the orcs without any help from the elves. The biggest change is that there are many more men than in the movie, and Eomer is there the whole time. In the morning, when Gandalf returns with the cavalry, it's a different guy leading the Rohirrim. Anyway, it's one of the best battle scenes ever written.
The rest of the book covers the remaining fellowship members reuniting at a destroyed Isengard. Merry and Pippin relay the tale of the Ents killing and smashing everything, and Pippin touches the palantir (that crystal ball thing) and has to ride away with Gandalf, end book 3.
Book 3 has some of the best pacing in the whole story so far. The one thing I want to point out, that is really starting to bug me, is how much cooler Aragorn is in the book. He's not some whiny guy in exhile, hiding from his destiny. He grew up in hiding, knowing full well that it was his responsibility to return to Gondor and restore the race of men. For crying out loud, they reforge his sword in the first book, and he's not afraid to tell anybody that he's no one to trifle with because he's Aragorn, son of Arathorn, Kind of Gondor Dammit! And you better recognize before he stomps you in to the ground like a worm.
10/10
And now I get to look forward to 200 pages of Frodo and Sam on the longest camping trip ever...
Wednesday, July 31, 2013
100 by 30 Book 19 - Fables Part 2: More Fableous
Yes. More Graphic novels. I'm way behind, and these books are awesome!
Vol. 8: Wolves - Remember 'Munich'? This is kind of like that, Except the Bigby wolf represents the Israeli military in this metaphor. He goes all Rambo and wipes out a huge military asset of.....you know what, go read the books and come back to I can SPOIL THE BIG REVEAL.....you done? Good, Gepetto! Gepetto is the big bad guy, and The big bad wolf totally blows his enchanted trees to kingdom come! It's awesome, then Bigby gets his own place and finally marries Snow White and meet his 6 cubs. And Cinderella is a super secret agent.
Vol. 9: Sons of Empire - Bigby wolf and family visit his estranged father, the North Wind. They have unresolved issues. On the evil guy side of things, Gepetto gathers a meeting of his generals, including the Snow Queen and Hansel (a psycho witch-hunter) to discuss plans to destroy Fabletown. It's a lot of violent imagery and shows us that things are about to get real. Also, Red Riding Hood has a crush on the Frog Prince. He's the Janitor. It's cute.
Vol. 10: The Good Prince - This is my favorite story by far. After two volumes of escalating violence, we get to see a beloved side character take on a staring roll and go all "the meek shall inherit the earth" on the bad guys. He wins an enormous victory with out spilling a drop of blood. It's a beautiful tale that gives a stark contrast to the way things have been playing out for a while now. While the Fables in our world and the adversary's forces keep escalating the violence, we get to see a peaceful third option emerge.
I've left a lot out. The books contain a level of subtlety and deft storytelling that can't be easily described. The best I can say is that there is a reason this series as one over a dozen Eisner Awards. The characters, stories, and the artwork are all top notch. If you hate comic books or have never even picked one up, this is the series to start with.
10/10
Vol. 8: Wolves - Remember 'Munich'? This is kind of like that, Except the Bigby wolf represents the Israeli military in this metaphor. He goes all Rambo and wipes out a huge military asset of.....you know what, go read the books and come back to I can SPOIL THE BIG REVEAL.....you done? Good, Gepetto! Gepetto is the big bad guy, and The big bad wolf totally blows his enchanted trees to kingdom come! It's awesome, then Bigby gets his own place and finally marries Snow White and meet his 6 cubs. And Cinderella is a super secret agent.
Vol. 9: Sons of Empire - Bigby wolf and family visit his estranged father, the North Wind. They have unresolved issues. On the evil guy side of things, Gepetto gathers a meeting of his generals, including the Snow Queen and Hansel (a psycho witch-hunter) to discuss plans to destroy Fabletown. It's a lot of violent imagery and shows us that things are about to get real. Also, Red Riding Hood has a crush on the Frog Prince. He's the Janitor. It's cute.
Vol. 10: The Good Prince - This is my favorite story by far. After two volumes of escalating violence, we get to see a beloved side character take on a staring roll and go all "the meek shall inherit the earth" on the bad guys. He wins an enormous victory with out spilling a drop of blood. It's a beautiful tale that gives a stark contrast to the way things have been playing out for a while now. While the Fables in our world and the adversary's forces keep escalating the violence, we get to see a peaceful third option emerge.
I've left a lot out. The books contain a level of subtlety and deft storytelling that can't be easily described. The best I can say is that there is a reason this series as one over a dozen Eisner Awards. The characters, stories, and the artwork are all top notch. If you hate comic books or have never even picked one up, this is the series to start with.
10/10
Friday, July 26, 2013
100 by 30 Book 18 - Fables
Fables, vol. 5-7 by Bill Willingham
Fables is one of the best Comic book series I've ever read. Seriously, just go to the bookstore or library, grab volume 1 and thank me later. If you don't know, Fables is about a group of your favorite fairy tale characters secretly living in New York. Turns out they are refugees from their homelands, which have been over taken by a mysterious adversary. The stories take on a noir style, led by the sheriff, who is the big bad wolf. Oh, and the popularity of the characters in our world directly relates to how easy they are to kill. So Snow White can get her brains blown out and splattered across the page and she will slowly, painfully recover. So little kids will love these books.
Anyway, Fast forwarding to vol. 5 Fabletown has just survived an attack by the Adversaries forces, Snow White is pregnant, and there is going to be an election. We also get a great story of the Big Bad Wolf's time during world war II. Seeing as this volume follows a major event, most of this boo is fallout from the previous one, so It's not a great way to start.
Vol. 6, however, is awesome. We get to see Boy Blue head to the Homelands. He's good at two things, kicking ass and chewing bubble gum....and playing the trumpet. THREE things, he's good at three things... It's late and I don't remember how jokes work....So he sneaks into the homelands and, using some super awesome magic stuff, kills everything and everyone who gets in his way until he gets to the adversary, and....we finally learn who the big bad really is! I'll give you a hint, you've heard of them, and I've made disparaging remarks about him/her in a previous blog post about Disney movies. Meanwhile, back in Fabletown, Prince Charming has become mayor and he and his new staff are adjusting to their new jobs. It's actually a nice bit of character development. We get to see woefully unqualified people actually learning and improving. It's like the opposite of what happens in Game of Thrones.
In Vol.7, the Arabian fairytale world is under attack, and Sinbad is sent with a delegation to meet with Fabletown. Oh, and they bring a D'jinn in a bottle, which is basically the magical equivalent of a WMD. It's an interesting spin on Middle Eastern relations, and the problem of how to stop a D'jinn is solved in a really neat way.
So yeah, these books are great, you should check them out.
9/10
Fables is one of the best Comic book series I've ever read. Seriously, just go to the bookstore or library, grab volume 1 and thank me later. If you don't know, Fables is about a group of your favorite fairy tale characters secretly living in New York. Turns out they are refugees from their homelands, which have been over taken by a mysterious adversary. The stories take on a noir style, led by the sheriff, who is the big bad wolf. Oh, and the popularity of the characters in our world directly relates to how easy they are to kill. So Snow White can get her brains blown out and splattered across the page and she will slowly, painfully recover. So little kids will love these books.
Anyway, Fast forwarding to vol. 5 Fabletown has just survived an attack by the Adversaries forces, Snow White is pregnant, and there is going to be an election. We also get a great story of the Big Bad Wolf's time during world war II. Seeing as this volume follows a major event, most of this boo is fallout from the previous one, so It's not a great way to start.
Vol. 6, however, is awesome. We get to see Boy Blue head to the Homelands. He's good at two things, kicking ass and chewing bubble gum....and playing the trumpet. THREE things, he's good at three things... It's late and I don't remember how jokes work....So he sneaks into the homelands and, using some super awesome magic stuff, kills everything and everyone who gets in his way until he gets to the adversary, and....we finally learn who the big bad really is! I'll give you a hint, you've heard of them, and I've made disparaging remarks about him/her in a previous blog post about Disney movies. Meanwhile, back in Fabletown, Prince Charming has become mayor and he and his new staff are adjusting to their new jobs. It's actually a nice bit of character development. We get to see woefully unqualified people actually learning and improving. It's like the opposite of what happens in Game of Thrones.
In Vol.7, the Arabian fairytale world is under attack, and Sinbad is sent with a delegation to meet with Fabletown. Oh, and they bring a D'jinn in a bottle, which is basically the magical equivalent of a WMD. It's an interesting spin on Middle Eastern relations, and the problem of how to stop a D'jinn is solved in a really neat way.
So yeah, these books are great, you should check them out.
9/10
Thursday, July 18, 2013
100 by 30: Book 17 - DC comics' New 52
Batwoman Vol. 1 & 2, and Batman: Court of Owls, Vol. 1
As promised, in order for Graphic novels/comic books to count for this project, I need to read 3 before it counts as one novel. Today we have 3 volumes from the recent resetting of the DC comics universe. It was my understanding that this would be a way for new readers to jump in at the beginning without have to worry about decades of back story. I thought I'd test that theory by reading about one hero I knew nothing about (Batwoman) and one that I was very familiar with (Batman).
I had a vague knowledge of a lot of the member of the batman family (Batgirl, Robin(s), Nightwing, Oracle, etc..) but I had never heard of Batwoman. After reading the first two volumes of the New 52 series, I have to say, I still feel a little lost. I now know her name is Kate Kane, she was a standout at West Point before being dishonorably discharged because of Don't Ask, Don't Tell, her father was some big shot in the military, and she had a twin sister. At some point, her mother was killed and her twin sister went evil and she somehow blames her father for this. What I don't know is how she became Batwoman, and why she chose that name. What is her connection to Batman? As of right now, I have no idea. The story is based on a mystery, but I feel like I'm missing to many of the pieces to get invested in the answers. There's something about myths, and an Asian wizard guy using people's fear to create the monsters of folktales. For example, Mexican children are shown a woman who seems to be the weeping woman from a Mexican folk story. They believe it, and the woman becomes the real weeping woman (a water ghost that drowns people with her tears) We also see Bloody Mary brought to life and we get to see Killer Croc mutated into some Egyptian Crocodile God. There's also some shady government agency I've never heard of run by some guy who is just a skeleton in a suit. It's a whole lot of myth building thrown out too fast to process. It barely leaves time for us to care about Batwoman's troubled relationship with her girlfriend who is a detective for the Gotham City PD or for her cousin the sidekick who almost gets gutted at one point. I will say that there is just enough here to keep me mildly interested in where the story goes. I was also pleased that the DC writers seemed to care about trying to accurately portray a same-sex couple without sensationalizing it. It's actually pretty understated as far as comic book romances go. I think I'll give it one more volume before I give up on it.
6/10
Batman, on the other hand, is a character I know much more about. I've seen all the movies, played the two most recent (and outstanding) video games, and I've read a few of the major stories. While my familiarity with the character seemed to help a lot, I did get the sense that this is a world much easier to jump into. The plot is much more straight forward too. Batman is helping Commissioner Gordon with a case when he discovers a hidden threat on Bruce Wayne's life. The next day, he barely survives an attack by a mysterious assassin known as the Talon. He represents a secret society known as the Court of Owls. They supposedly run Gotham City from the shadows, and have been behind the death of at least one member of the Wayne Family. The story throws into question everything Batman thought he knew about Gotham. It's a much tighter story, and the artists really utilize the comic book medium to put you in Batman's disoriented state of mind. There's a section of the book, as Batman is trapped and slowly going crazy, where everything is rotated 90 degrees. It stays like this for several pages, and when you think the art has rotated right side up again, you turn the page only to realize you are know holding the book upside down and flipping the pages backwards. It was a really cool little trick that threw me off guard and added to the creepiness of the moment. The story is tight and engaging, the characters are well fleshed out, and the world is much clearer than in the Batwoman series. So far, this is turning out to be one of the best Batman stories I have ever experienced in any medium.
10/10
As promised, in order for Graphic novels/comic books to count for this project, I need to read 3 before it counts as one novel. Today we have 3 volumes from the recent resetting of the DC comics universe. It was my understanding that this would be a way for new readers to jump in at the beginning without have to worry about decades of back story. I thought I'd test that theory by reading about one hero I knew nothing about (Batwoman) and one that I was very familiar with (Batman).
I had a vague knowledge of a lot of the member of the batman family (Batgirl, Robin(s), Nightwing, Oracle, etc..) but I had never heard of Batwoman. After reading the first two volumes of the New 52 series, I have to say, I still feel a little lost. I now know her name is Kate Kane, she was a standout at West Point before being dishonorably discharged because of Don't Ask, Don't Tell, her father was some big shot in the military, and she had a twin sister. At some point, her mother was killed and her twin sister went evil and she somehow blames her father for this. What I don't know is how she became Batwoman, and why she chose that name. What is her connection to Batman? As of right now, I have no idea. The story is based on a mystery, but I feel like I'm missing to many of the pieces to get invested in the answers. There's something about myths, and an Asian wizard guy using people's fear to create the monsters of folktales. For example, Mexican children are shown a woman who seems to be the weeping woman from a Mexican folk story. They believe it, and the woman becomes the real weeping woman (a water ghost that drowns people with her tears) We also see Bloody Mary brought to life and we get to see Killer Croc mutated into some Egyptian Crocodile God. There's also some shady government agency I've never heard of run by some guy who is just a skeleton in a suit. It's a whole lot of myth building thrown out too fast to process. It barely leaves time for us to care about Batwoman's troubled relationship with her girlfriend who is a detective for the Gotham City PD or for her cousin the sidekick who almost gets gutted at one point. I will say that there is just enough here to keep me mildly interested in where the story goes. I was also pleased that the DC writers seemed to care about trying to accurately portray a same-sex couple without sensationalizing it. It's actually pretty understated as far as comic book romances go. I think I'll give it one more volume before I give up on it.
6/10
Batman, on the other hand, is a character I know much more about. I've seen all the movies, played the two most recent (and outstanding) video games, and I've read a few of the major stories. While my familiarity with the character seemed to help a lot, I did get the sense that this is a world much easier to jump into. The plot is much more straight forward too. Batman is helping Commissioner Gordon with a case when he discovers a hidden threat on Bruce Wayne's life. The next day, he barely survives an attack by a mysterious assassin known as the Talon. He represents a secret society known as the Court of Owls. They supposedly run Gotham City from the shadows, and have been behind the death of at least one member of the Wayne Family. The story throws into question everything Batman thought he knew about Gotham. It's a much tighter story, and the artists really utilize the comic book medium to put you in Batman's disoriented state of mind. There's a section of the book, as Batman is trapped and slowly going crazy, where everything is rotated 90 degrees. It stays like this for several pages, and when you think the art has rotated right side up again, you turn the page only to realize you are know holding the book upside down and flipping the pages backwards. It was a really cool little trick that threw me off guard and added to the creepiness of the moment. The story is tight and engaging, the characters are well fleshed out, and the world is much clearer than in the Batwoman series. So far, this is turning out to be one of the best Batman stories I have ever experienced in any medium.
10/10
Wednesday, July 17, 2013
100 by 30 - Book 16: Tolkien Care of Business
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring - Book 2.
Book 2 of FotR covers everything from Rivendell through Frodo and Sam leaving the fellowship. It does NOT include the orc attack leading to Boromir's Death.
This is one of my favorite sections of the entire LotR story. It sets the tone for the rest of the book, and, most importantly, answers the question, "Why Hobbits?" During the Council of Elrond, we learn much more about the nature of the One Ring. It gives one the power to dominate others. This is why you cannot give the Ring to Gandalf or Elrond, or any of the other powerful characters. The Ring will use their power always toward evil, therefore, it takes great weakness to overcome great power. Frodo is the chosen one because of what he is not. He is not a leader a great people, he does not possess great strength or magical power, he has no desire for power of any kind. Because of Frodo's natural disinclinations, the One Ring has very little to work with to corrupt Frodo. He is the perfect antidote to Sauron's evil. It's kind of like giving the nuclear launch codes to a puppy. This is also why the other hobbits are allowed to join Frodo. Gandalf tells Elrond that while it may seem wise to trust in strength, we should rather trust in friendship. The decision to go against what seems to be the obvious choice is what will save Middle Earth. Turns out, you can counteract great violence and evil with love and friendship...it's a shame we keep forgetting that.
There is a lot of talk about "fate" in the LotR and in The Hobbit. It seems very obvious to me that in the case of these stories, "fate" is code for the divine. This "fate" is what turns tragedy into triumph. The Moria sequence to me is the most important series of events in the whole story. In fact, if the fellowship at not gone through Moria, the quest very likely would have failed. In Moria, Pippin throws a pebble down a well. This is what causes their presence to be noticed. While this seems to be a tragic mistake, I want to jump ahead in the story to look at what happens because of this one little act.
1. Gollum finds the Fellowship and begins to follow them. Those who know the story know how crucial Gollum is to the fate of Middle Earth
2. The Balrog is awakened and defeated. Those who have read the appendices and other writings know that there was also a war in the north that we never hear about in the LotR. The elves, dwarves, men, and Beornings join together to drive an army out of Dol Guldur and defeat an attack on Dale and the Lonely Mountain. Had Pippin not alerted the Balrog, it would be alive to lead the armies of Sauron against Rivendell, Lothlorien, and Erebor.
3. Gandalf is killed. The showdown with Gandalf and the Balrog is the coolest fight ever. Both Gandalf and the Balrog are Maiar, which is basically an equivalent to being angels/demons. His physical death allows him to return to the undying lands, where he can report Sauroman's betrayal. He is then given Sauroman's power and authority and sent back to once again aid Middle Earth.
So the choice to send Pippin with the Fellowship leads to a seemingly innocuous incident which causes the balance of power to shift to a staggering degree to the side of good. Gollum will aid in the destruction of the ring, the Balrog will not be a factor in the War in the North, and Gandalf gets a power upgrade and replaces Sauroman. If that isn't divine intervention, I don't know what is.
Anyway, book 2 has a much better pace than book 1, and the asides and meetings all seem to have much more to do with the main plot and less to do with what hobbits eat. Galadriel is even more awesome/kinda scary in the book, and we get to see much more of Boromir's slow corruption by the ring. I wish book 1 was this good.
9/10
Book 2 of FotR covers everything from Rivendell through Frodo and Sam leaving the fellowship. It does NOT include the orc attack leading to Boromir's Death.
This is one of my favorite sections of the entire LotR story. It sets the tone for the rest of the book, and, most importantly, answers the question, "Why Hobbits?" During the Council of Elrond, we learn much more about the nature of the One Ring. It gives one the power to dominate others. This is why you cannot give the Ring to Gandalf or Elrond, or any of the other powerful characters. The Ring will use their power always toward evil, therefore, it takes great weakness to overcome great power. Frodo is the chosen one because of what he is not. He is not a leader a great people, he does not possess great strength or magical power, he has no desire for power of any kind. Because of Frodo's natural disinclinations, the One Ring has very little to work with to corrupt Frodo. He is the perfect antidote to Sauron's evil. It's kind of like giving the nuclear launch codes to a puppy. This is also why the other hobbits are allowed to join Frodo. Gandalf tells Elrond that while it may seem wise to trust in strength, we should rather trust in friendship. The decision to go against what seems to be the obvious choice is what will save Middle Earth. Turns out, you can counteract great violence and evil with love and friendship...it's a shame we keep forgetting that.
There is a lot of talk about "fate" in the LotR and in The Hobbit. It seems very obvious to me that in the case of these stories, "fate" is code for the divine. This "fate" is what turns tragedy into triumph. The Moria sequence to me is the most important series of events in the whole story. In fact, if the fellowship at not gone through Moria, the quest very likely would have failed. In Moria, Pippin throws a pebble down a well. This is what causes their presence to be noticed. While this seems to be a tragic mistake, I want to jump ahead in the story to look at what happens because of this one little act.
1. Gollum finds the Fellowship and begins to follow them. Those who know the story know how crucial Gollum is to the fate of Middle Earth
2. The Balrog is awakened and defeated. Those who have read the appendices and other writings know that there was also a war in the north that we never hear about in the LotR. The elves, dwarves, men, and Beornings join together to drive an army out of Dol Guldur and defeat an attack on Dale and the Lonely Mountain. Had Pippin not alerted the Balrog, it would be alive to lead the armies of Sauron against Rivendell, Lothlorien, and Erebor.
3. Gandalf is killed. The showdown with Gandalf and the Balrog is the coolest fight ever. Both Gandalf and the Balrog are Maiar, which is basically an equivalent to being angels/demons. His physical death allows him to return to the undying lands, where he can report Sauroman's betrayal. He is then given Sauroman's power and authority and sent back to once again aid Middle Earth.
So the choice to send Pippin with the Fellowship leads to a seemingly innocuous incident which causes the balance of power to shift to a staggering degree to the side of good. Gollum will aid in the destruction of the ring, the Balrog will not be a factor in the War in the North, and Gandalf gets a power upgrade and replaces Sauroman. If that isn't divine intervention, I don't know what is.
Anyway, book 2 has a much better pace than book 1, and the asides and meetings all seem to have much more to do with the main plot and less to do with what hobbits eat. Galadriel is even more awesome/kinda scary in the book, and we get to see much more of Boromir's slow corruption by the ring. I wish book 1 was this good.
9/10
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)