I was so disappointed in the last Goosebumps book I read that I thought I'd give the series another shot. I might read a couple more if the library ever has any of my old favorites in stock.
Today's story is much better written than The Haunted Mask. The characters even start to resemble real people, well, as much as can be expected in 136 pages. In this tale, Lucy loves telling monster stories and getting her little brother to believe them. But when she discovers that creepy librarian, Mr. Mortman is a real, live monster, no one will believe her. So Lucy sets out to get proof, but will Mr. Mortman discover her first? The book sets up the tension of each attempt quite well, and the twist at the end is one of the more humorous in the Goosebumps series. Despite the junk food-like quality of these books, they do seem to be designed to get kids to keep reading, which is a pretty good thing over all.
6/10
Friday, July 4, 2014
100 by 30 Book 65 - American Vampire, Incorruptable, and SHAZAM!
Today's trio of comics are wildly different, but all quite good, you should check them out.
American Vampire, Vol. 4 - Volume 4 is another solid entry in the series. We learn more of Skinner Sweets backstory (spoiler alert, he was always a little bit psycho) and we get a nice story of a greaser vampire hunter who has a serious vendetta against Skinner. The artwork is stellar as always, and I loved the drag race sequence (it's almost a requirement that you need to race two 1950s hotrods toward certain death.) Is a nice progression of the world and totally worth your time.
9/10
Incorruptible, Vol. 1 - Incorruptible is the reverse side of a series called Irredeemable that I now want to check out. The basic theme of these two books is: What if Superman woke up one day and just totally f***ing snapped? Incorruptible seems to start a few months after the world has been attacked by the Superman-type character, The Plutonian. Super Villain Max Damage has returned to the scene and has undergone a change of heart and is trying to be the hero the world so desperately needs. It's basically a much more nuanced and adult oriented version of the plot of the movie MEGAMIND. The series is off to a very promising start, but it does feel like one half of a story that needs to be read with the Irredeemable title to get the full scope of the world.
9/10
SHAZAM!, Vol. 1 - Holy crap you guys, this has to be one of the biggest surprises of any book I've read so far. The original SHAZAM! series was really, really dumb. A goody two-shoes kid named Billy Batson gets super powers when he yells the magic words. Blech! But with one simple change, the writer's have created a fascinating and nuanced world that I actually care about. The change? What if Billy Batson was a little punk kid who gets bounced around the foster system? Turns out it much more intriguing when you give great power to a flawed individual who has to learn how to be a hero. As Billy slowly begins to let people in to his life, he discovers something worth fighting for. The book does a great job of taking on a more serious tone while still having a sense of fun inherent in a story about young kids suddenly getting super powers. It's almost Spielbergian.
9.5/10
American Vampire, Vol. 4 - Volume 4 is another solid entry in the series. We learn more of Skinner Sweets backstory (spoiler alert, he was always a little bit psycho) and we get a nice story of a greaser vampire hunter who has a serious vendetta against Skinner. The artwork is stellar as always, and I loved the drag race sequence (it's almost a requirement that you need to race two 1950s hotrods toward certain death.) Is a nice progression of the world and totally worth your time.
9/10
Incorruptible, Vol. 1 - Incorruptible is the reverse side of a series called Irredeemable that I now want to check out. The basic theme of these two books is: What if Superman woke up one day and just totally f***ing snapped? Incorruptible seems to start a few months after the world has been attacked by the Superman-type character, The Plutonian. Super Villain Max Damage has returned to the scene and has undergone a change of heart and is trying to be the hero the world so desperately needs. It's basically a much more nuanced and adult oriented version of the plot of the movie MEGAMIND. The series is off to a very promising start, but it does feel like one half of a story that needs to be read with the Irredeemable title to get the full scope of the world.
9/10
SHAZAM!, Vol. 1 - Holy crap you guys, this has to be one of the biggest surprises of any book I've read so far. The original SHAZAM! series was really, really dumb. A goody two-shoes kid named Billy Batson gets super powers when he yells the magic words. Blech! But with one simple change, the writer's have created a fascinating and nuanced world that I actually care about. The change? What if Billy Batson was a little punk kid who gets bounced around the foster system? Turns out it much more intriguing when you give great power to a flawed individual who has to learn how to be a hero. As Billy slowly begins to let people in to his life, he discovers something worth fighting for. The book does a great job of taking on a more serious tone while still having a sense of fun inherent in a story about young kids suddenly getting super powers. It's almost Spielbergian.
9.5/10
100 by 30 Book 64 - Goosebumps: The Haunted Mask
Part of the idea of this whole project was always to not only read new books, but to also revisit some old favorites from childhood. The Goosebumps series was a favorite of mine and helped me pass many an hour at youth swim meets. For those of you who didn't grow up in the 90's, Goosebumps was a series of horror books for kids. Being that they were designed for kids under the age of twelve, they almost never involved anything actually horrifying but were more along the lines of a Twilight Zone for kids. Each story had some sort of ironic twist at the end, and almost every chapter ended in a 'jump scare.' Today's book was no exception.
Carly Beth is a twelve year old scaredy cat and everyone loves making her jump and scream. So naturally the first half of the book ends with her being pranked at the end of every chapter. It becomes very tedious to have every chapter end with Carly Beth screaming and the second sentence in the next chapter is "oh, never mind, it was a joke, I wasn't about to die." Carly Beth gets so fed up that she decides to get back at everyone by buying the scariest mask she could find. She spends $30 whole dollars on a super realistic mask in the back of the store that the creepy owner doesn't want to sell her. Holloween shenanigans ensue and the moment that Carly Beth gets her revenge is actually pretty effective and well written. Unfortunately for Carly Beth, the mask is, well, haunted and melds onto her skin and becomes a part of her. This is all well and good and makes for some exciting moments, but the resolution is very, very stupid. The store owner turns out to be a mad scientist and not a wizard or anything supernatural, but he gives Carly Beth a very supernatural solution to her problem with some arbitrary rules. I have a pretty high tolerance for fantastical elements in the fiction I read (as evidenced by most of the books on this list) but I hate it when an author makes me jumps through numerous logical hoops when a simple "I'm Ethan Rayne from Buffy and I enchanted these masks for Sport" would have sufficed. Anyway, the book ends happily ever after, or it ends with the painful and horrific death of her little brother. I guess you'll have to read it to find out for sure....
BOO!
5/10
Carly Beth is a twelve year old scaredy cat and everyone loves making her jump and scream. So naturally the first half of the book ends with her being pranked at the end of every chapter. It becomes very tedious to have every chapter end with Carly Beth screaming and the second sentence in the next chapter is "oh, never mind, it was a joke, I wasn't about to die." Carly Beth gets so fed up that she decides to get back at everyone by buying the scariest mask she could find. She spends $30 whole dollars on a super realistic mask in the back of the store that the creepy owner doesn't want to sell her. Holloween shenanigans ensue and the moment that Carly Beth gets her revenge is actually pretty effective and well written. Unfortunately for Carly Beth, the mask is, well, haunted and melds onto her skin and becomes a part of her. This is all well and good and makes for some exciting moments, but the resolution is very, very stupid. The store owner turns out to be a mad scientist and not a wizard or anything supernatural, but he gives Carly Beth a very supernatural solution to her problem with some arbitrary rules. I have a pretty high tolerance for fantastical elements in the fiction I read (as evidenced by most of the books on this list) but I hate it when an author makes me jumps through numerous logical hoops when a simple "I'm Ethan Rayne from Buffy and I enchanted these masks for Sport" would have sufficed. Anyway, the book ends happily ever after, or it ends with the painful and horrific death of her little brother. I guess you'll have to read it to find out for sure....
BOO!
5/10
Monday, June 23, 2014
100 by 30 Book 63 - Who's Afraid of Song of the South?
Who's Afraid of Song of the South? by Jim Korkis
As some of you my know, my wife and I get pretty geeky about Disney. I've seen and blogged about the theatrical animated releases, we collect pins and vinylmations, and we've been known to travel to Disney World as often as possible because they have the best staff and the most immersive vacation experience I've ever found. It's awesome.
I'm also not a blind idiot. I know Disney isn't perfect, and that they've been accused of some shady things over the years. That's sort of what this book is about. Jim Korkis is a Disney historian and former employee of the Disney Company and he has a wealth of knowledge about even the most mundane details of the empire. In this Book, he explores some of the more infamous stories about Walt Disney and his company, shedding some new light on old assumptions, but sticking to a neutral tone. It is this neutral approach that makes the book a little dry at times since Jim refuses to do any editorializing or deeper examination. That is left for the readers to do. It's almost like he's encouraging you to think for yourself...
The biggest section of the book is devoted to the controversial film, SONG OF THE SOUTH. This movie has been locked away in the Disney vault since 1986 and will likely never again be legally released in any context. So what's the big deal? If BIRTH OF A NATION is freely available and heralded for it's technical achievements while being almost universally accepted as disgusting racist propaganda, what horrendous imagery is being kept from us?
The plot of the movie is that of a young white boy who comes to visit relatives in the south after the Civil War. His parents are getting a divorce and he's not to happy about that. In his wanderings, he meets Uncle Reemus, a black man who befriends the little boy and helps him with his troubles by teaching him the stories of the animals, namely, Brer Rabbit, Brer Bear, and Brer Fox. The stories were wildly popular in the south and were a combination of American folktales mixed with African and Native American themes and lesser animated versions can be found on Netflix. The boy makes friends with a little girl and a black boy, he hears more stories, and he runs away from home at one point and is injured by a bull. While the boy is laid up on the verge of death, the farmers in the field sing a mournful song. The boy gets better and the movies ends with his parents getting back together, I think.
What seems to be the biggest contention about the movie is that Walt failed to make it abundantly clear that the movies takes place AFTER the Civil War and that all the black characters are free people and not doting slaves. From the stories in this book, it seems that Walt let his devotion to storytelling and a naivete dissuade him from fixing this problem with the story. It also didn't help that one of the writer's hired for the script was not exactly enlightened about race relations, or much else by the sounds of it. Combine the taint of a suspect author, an unclear setting, and a number of people in the growing civil rights movement, and you have a recipe for disaster. Oh, and Paul Robeson, and amazing civil rights pioneer, turned down the role of Uncle Reemus due to concerns about the depictions of African Americans.
It should be noted that the foreword to this book is by an African American animator who knew Walt Disney personally and worked on this movie and believes it is a good and decent film with many good depictions of black people. Walt even fought for James Baskett, the actor who played Uncle Reemus, to be given an Oscar for his performance. Does this mean it's not at all racist? of course not, but it does mean that there is more than one way to view this film.
After reading this book, I was saddened that I am unable to watch this movie for myself. I think it would be very valuable for people to watch and reasses. Maybe it is just as bad as people say and, regardless of time period, Uncle Reemus is just an ugly Uncle Tom caricature. I also think the Brer Rabbit stories deserve to be told, if only so I can stop listening to dumb teenagers ask who the characters on Splash Mountain are.
Unfortunately, we will likely never see it because of the pressures placed on the studio that made it. This is a studio that, because it is the biggest fish in the sea of family entertainment, is constantly scrutinized over every move they make. The internet is filled with posts by dumb hipsters listing the terrible lessons in Disney movies. (mostly these lists focus only on the end result and come to conclusions that don't really stand up to 5 seconds of examination. Just because a man and a woman fall in love in a children's story does not make that woman less of a character. Especially Belle. She's awesome and I will fight anyone to tries to reduce her to a victim of Stockholm Syndrome. She's the smartest and most awesomest person in a world full of superficial morons, but I digress) One can only imagine what would happen if this film saw the light of day. The actually content of the film and any attempts at educational discourse would be lost in the din of knee-jerk, reactionary vitriol. And since Disney hasn't exactly been the poster child for racial sensitivity, a lot of these arguments will seem to carry real weight. But the questions are more nuanced than that. Despite what the Supreme Court would have you believe, corporations are NOT people. They are made up of people. And many of them are brilliant and complex and are honestly doing everything they can to bring some quality art and joy into the world. And some of them work in marketing and want to know if it's cool if they make your meticulously thought out Heroine into a pretty pretty princess costume for little girls to wear and idolize. Those people suck. But it's just a reminder that the story and intentions behind a piece of art and they way that art is presented is a messy and contradictory business. At the end of the day, my hunch is that Disney tried to make a delightful film showcasing some of Walt's favorite characters from his childhood, and the end product is neither wholly good or wholly evil. I believe it should be open to discussion though.
As for the rest of the book, we get a series of other urban myths and rumors about Walt Disney and his studio. We learn about how Walt became quite conservative in his later years, but also managed to ruffle the feathers of Joe McCarthy by poking fun at the FBI. We also get a fascinating tale of the moment of childhood cruelty that haunted Walt his whole life and may be the reason the Walt Disney company continues to work toward wildlife education and preservation. Some of the stories are quite interesting and other are a rather dull recitation of facts about the casting and development process, but on the whole, I would recommend this book, if only because the author offers you no neat answers or judgements about any of these stories. You just have to work it out for yourself.
8/10
As some of you my know, my wife and I get pretty geeky about Disney. I've seen and blogged about the theatrical animated releases, we collect pins and vinylmations, and we've been known to travel to Disney World as often as possible because they have the best staff and the most immersive vacation experience I've ever found. It's awesome.
I'm also not a blind idiot. I know Disney isn't perfect, and that they've been accused of some shady things over the years. That's sort of what this book is about. Jim Korkis is a Disney historian and former employee of the Disney Company and he has a wealth of knowledge about even the most mundane details of the empire. In this Book, he explores some of the more infamous stories about Walt Disney and his company, shedding some new light on old assumptions, but sticking to a neutral tone. It is this neutral approach that makes the book a little dry at times since Jim refuses to do any editorializing or deeper examination. That is left for the readers to do. It's almost like he's encouraging you to think for yourself...
The biggest section of the book is devoted to the controversial film, SONG OF THE SOUTH. This movie has been locked away in the Disney vault since 1986 and will likely never again be legally released in any context. So what's the big deal? If BIRTH OF A NATION is freely available and heralded for it's technical achievements while being almost universally accepted as disgusting racist propaganda, what horrendous imagery is being kept from us?
The plot of the movie is that of a young white boy who comes to visit relatives in the south after the Civil War. His parents are getting a divorce and he's not to happy about that. In his wanderings, he meets Uncle Reemus, a black man who befriends the little boy and helps him with his troubles by teaching him the stories of the animals, namely, Brer Rabbit, Brer Bear, and Brer Fox. The stories were wildly popular in the south and were a combination of American folktales mixed with African and Native American themes and lesser animated versions can be found on Netflix. The boy makes friends with a little girl and a black boy, he hears more stories, and he runs away from home at one point and is injured by a bull. While the boy is laid up on the verge of death, the farmers in the field sing a mournful song. The boy gets better and the movies ends with his parents getting back together, I think.
What seems to be the biggest contention about the movie is that Walt failed to make it abundantly clear that the movies takes place AFTER the Civil War and that all the black characters are free people and not doting slaves. From the stories in this book, it seems that Walt let his devotion to storytelling and a naivete dissuade him from fixing this problem with the story. It also didn't help that one of the writer's hired for the script was not exactly enlightened about race relations, or much else by the sounds of it. Combine the taint of a suspect author, an unclear setting, and a number of people in the growing civil rights movement, and you have a recipe for disaster. Oh, and Paul Robeson, and amazing civil rights pioneer, turned down the role of Uncle Reemus due to concerns about the depictions of African Americans.
It should be noted that the foreword to this book is by an African American animator who knew Walt Disney personally and worked on this movie and believes it is a good and decent film with many good depictions of black people. Walt even fought for James Baskett, the actor who played Uncle Reemus, to be given an Oscar for his performance. Does this mean it's not at all racist? of course not, but it does mean that there is more than one way to view this film.
After reading this book, I was saddened that I am unable to watch this movie for myself. I think it would be very valuable for people to watch and reasses. Maybe it is just as bad as people say and, regardless of time period, Uncle Reemus is just an ugly Uncle Tom caricature. I also think the Brer Rabbit stories deserve to be told, if only so I can stop listening to dumb teenagers ask who the characters on Splash Mountain are.
Unfortunately, we will likely never see it because of the pressures placed on the studio that made it. This is a studio that, because it is the biggest fish in the sea of family entertainment, is constantly scrutinized over every move they make. The internet is filled with posts by dumb hipsters listing the terrible lessons in Disney movies. (mostly these lists focus only on the end result and come to conclusions that don't really stand up to 5 seconds of examination. Just because a man and a woman fall in love in a children's story does not make that woman less of a character. Especially Belle. She's awesome and I will fight anyone to tries to reduce her to a victim of Stockholm Syndrome. She's the smartest and most awesomest person in a world full of superficial morons, but I digress) One can only imagine what would happen if this film saw the light of day. The actually content of the film and any attempts at educational discourse would be lost in the din of knee-jerk, reactionary vitriol. And since Disney hasn't exactly been the poster child for racial sensitivity, a lot of these arguments will seem to carry real weight. But the questions are more nuanced than that. Despite what the Supreme Court would have you believe, corporations are NOT people. They are made up of people. And many of them are brilliant and complex and are honestly doing everything they can to bring some quality art and joy into the world. And some of them work in marketing and want to know if it's cool if they make your meticulously thought out Heroine into a pretty pretty princess costume for little girls to wear and idolize. Those people suck. But it's just a reminder that the story and intentions behind a piece of art and they way that art is presented is a messy and contradictory business. At the end of the day, my hunch is that Disney tried to make a delightful film showcasing some of Walt's favorite characters from his childhood, and the end product is neither wholly good or wholly evil. I believe it should be open to discussion though.
As for the rest of the book, we get a series of other urban myths and rumors about Walt Disney and his studio. We learn about how Walt became quite conservative in his later years, but also managed to ruffle the feathers of Joe McCarthy by poking fun at the FBI. We also get a fascinating tale of the moment of childhood cruelty that haunted Walt his whole life and may be the reason the Walt Disney company continues to work toward wildlife education and preservation. Some of the stories are quite interesting and other are a rather dull recitation of facts about the casting and development process, but on the whole, I would recommend this book, if only because the author offers you no neat answers or judgements about any of these stories. You just have to work it out for yourself.
8/10
Friday, June 20, 2014
100 by 30 Book 62 - FREE COMIC BOOK DAY EDITION
So I went to my first ever FREE COMIC BOOK DAY celebration at one of the local comic book store. Free Comic Book Day is exactly what is sounds like: you go to a participating store and they give you a bag of free comic books. Let's take a look at this year's haul:
DC's New 52: Futures End #0 - This is a prelude to what is looking to be the next big event in DC comics. It begins in the distant future as all of the DC heroes are slowly being assimilated into a borg-like collective. If you ever wanted to watch all of the DC characters die horribly in 15 pages, this is the book for you. Eventually we get some good old fashioned time travel and it's up to Batman Beyond to save the future. It' looks quite promising
7/10
The Avengers - I'm not sure what continuity this is in, but a lot of low level heroes are running around, trying to stop some A.I. collective from taking over the world. I honestly barely remember anything about it.
2/10
Wolverine: Killable Part 1 of 6 - I'm sensing a pattern here. Wolverine has lost his healing power to a sentient virus that is assimilating heroes and taking over their minds before eliminating their powers....so the same basic plot of the past two comics. Character is key though, and the presence of Wolverine, Storm, and her ex-husband Black Panther go a long way towards making me care about this plot. Of the superhero related comics, this one is my favorite.
8/10
Mouse Guard amd Other Stories: The final book I got was a very nice hardcover sampler of the different titles from Archaia comics (a branch of BOOM! comics) Each story is just a little sample, but the artwork is more varied and creative than that of the Marvel and DC comics. You also can't go wrong when one of your stories takes place in the world of Jim Henson's Labyrinth. This was my favorite book and gave me a lot of fun indie titles to keep an eye out for.
9/10
Overall, Free Comic Book Day was a blast and it's always fun to read stories or titles you might not get exposed to otherwise.
DC's New 52: Futures End #0 - This is a prelude to what is looking to be the next big event in DC comics. It begins in the distant future as all of the DC heroes are slowly being assimilated into a borg-like collective. If you ever wanted to watch all of the DC characters die horribly in 15 pages, this is the book for you. Eventually we get some good old fashioned time travel and it's up to Batman Beyond to save the future. It' looks quite promising
7/10
The Avengers - I'm not sure what continuity this is in, but a lot of low level heroes are running around, trying to stop some A.I. collective from taking over the world. I honestly barely remember anything about it.
2/10
Wolverine: Killable Part 1 of 6 - I'm sensing a pattern here. Wolverine has lost his healing power to a sentient virus that is assimilating heroes and taking over their minds before eliminating their powers....so the same basic plot of the past two comics. Character is key though, and the presence of Wolverine, Storm, and her ex-husband Black Panther go a long way towards making me care about this plot. Of the superhero related comics, this one is my favorite.
8/10
Mouse Guard amd Other Stories: The final book I got was a very nice hardcover sampler of the different titles from Archaia comics (a branch of BOOM! comics) Each story is just a little sample, but the artwork is more varied and creative than that of the Marvel and DC comics. You also can't go wrong when one of your stories takes place in the world of Jim Henson's Labyrinth. This was my favorite book and gave me a lot of fun indie titles to keep an eye out for.
9/10
Overall, Free Comic Book Day was a blast and it's always fun to read stories or titles you might not get exposed to otherwise.
100 by 30 Book 61 - White Trash Zombie Apocalypse
Diana Rowland's latest foray into the weird and wacky world of Angel Crawford feels more like a middle section of a larger story than a complete book. There is a lot of set up here to suggest that the world is about to undergo some massive expansion. I have a feeling that we will be leaving the small corner of Louisiana very shortly as things start to get global. It's just a hunch, but the corporate spy stuff and government conspiracies are moving closer and closer to the center of the action. We also get an answer to the burning question about how long the zombies in this world can live. (it's a LOOOOONG time)
The biggest signifier to me though is the revelation that Angel is something much more important than just another white trash zombie. She pulls something off in this book that apparently only the oldest zombies can do. That said, this book was more of a promise of things to come than a satisfying and complete story due to the way it just sort of ends....like this post
7/10
The biggest signifier to me though is the revelation that Angel is something much more important than just another white trash zombie. She pulls something off in this book that apparently only the oldest zombies can do. That said, this book was more of a promise of things to come than a satisfying and complete story due to the way it just sort of ends....like this post
7/10
100 by 30 book 60 - Even White Trash Zombies get the blues
Even White Trash Zombies Get the Blues by Diana Rowland
The continuing adventures of Angel Crawford and her new life as a zombie/coroner's assistant prove that the first book wasn't just a cute one-off. The universe expands as Angel realizes that her new boyfriend's uncle may be the Don Corleone of the zombie world, which is a good thing if he likes you, not so good if he wants to use you as a pawn in some corporate espionage. Angel continues to grow and evolve, moving further away from her white trash past and closer the being downright respectable. My favorite part of this series so far is Angel's continuing ability to find her own sense of self worth. She starts to demand better treatment from those around her, including her police man/zombie sire of a boyfriend. It's refreshing to see a female character initially fall in love and then pull away of her own volition when her boyfriend acts like a condescending tool. It's a complicated relationship in a good way. Angel has finally gotten some control over her life and she's not going to let anybody take it away.
The main plot involves a secret government plot to create zombie soldiers or 'Zoldiers' (cuz it wouldn't be a good evil project without a stupid name) Some very bad stuff goes down, but we get to see Angel unleash her inner monster and create a lot of carnage. So far, this series continues to hold it's place as one of the more unique approaches to the genre. Plus they always err on the side of more gore than romance, way more gore.
9/10
The continuing adventures of Angel Crawford and her new life as a zombie/coroner's assistant prove that the first book wasn't just a cute one-off. The universe expands as Angel realizes that her new boyfriend's uncle may be the Don Corleone of the zombie world, which is a good thing if he likes you, not so good if he wants to use you as a pawn in some corporate espionage. Angel continues to grow and evolve, moving further away from her white trash past and closer the being downright respectable. My favorite part of this series so far is Angel's continuing ability to find her own sense of self worth. She starts to demand better treatment from those around her, including her police man/zombie sire of a boyfriend. It's refreshing to see a female character initially fall in love and then pull away of her own volition when her boyfriend acts like a condescending tool. It's a complicated relationship in a good way. Angel has finally gotten some control over her life and she's not going to let anybody take it away.
The main plot involves a secret government plot to create zombie soldiers or 'Zoldiers' (cuz it wouldn't be a good evil project without a stupid name) Some very bad stuff goes down, but we get to see Angel unleash her inner monster and create a lot of carnage. So far, this series continues to hold it's place as one of the more unique approaches to the genre. Plus they always err on the side of more gore than romance, way more gore.
9/10
Tuesday, June 3, 2014
100 by 30 Book 59 - Buffy, Season 9: It gets better!
Holy Cow you guys, Buffy Season 9 is really, really good! Joss kept his promise! I lieu of a paragraphed format, I'm going with a bullet point format today.
*The stories have become much smaller and more intimate. No more cosmic nonsense
* While the previous season got pretty stupid, it did lead to some interesting consequences like:
* no more connection to magic means no more demons inhabiting humans when a new vampire is made. This has created a race of Vampires that have all the higher brain functions of fast zombies (yes, they call them Zompires, and I love it)
* The new big bad is a being that is absorbing the residual magic left in the world. Basically he is sucking the life force out of the Slayers.
*Also, Willow is like, super bummed.
Finally, there is a really interesting story where Buffy thinks she is pregnant and wants to get an abortion. It's a pretty heavy topic and I thought they were handling it very well, but I was disappointed that they dodged the consequences by making Buffy not actually pregnant. I wasn't necessarily cheering for an abortion, but Buffy's struggle with the decision was one of the most gripping story lines she's ever had, and I really wanted to see what was going to happen. The story they went with turned out to be pretty entertaining and fun, but I would have liked to have seen how they would have handled Buffy actually having gone through with the procedure. Oh well, at least they are back to making stories that are at least worth having thoughts about.
8/10
*The stories have become much smaller and more intimate. No more cosmic nonsense
* While the previous season got pretty stupid, it did lead to some interesting consequences like:
* no more connection to magic means no more demons inhabiting humans when a new vampire is made. This has created a race of Vampires that have all the higher brain functions of fast zombies (yes, they call them Zompires, and I love it)
* The new big bad is a being that is absorbing the residual magic left in the world. Basically he is sucking the life force out of the Slayers.
*Also, Willow is like, super bummed.
Finally, there is a really interesting story where Buffy thinks she is pregnant and wants to get an abortion. It's a pretty heavy topic and I thought they were handling it very well, but I was disappointed that they dodged the consequences by making Buffy not actually pregnant. I wasn't necessarily cheering for an abortion, but Buffy's struggle with the decision was one of the most gripping story lines she's ever had, and I really wanted to see what was going to happen. The story they went with turned out to be pretty entertaining and fun, but I would have liked to have seen how they would have handled Buffy actually having gone through with the procedure. Oh well, at least they are back to making stories that are at least worth having thoughts about.
8/10
100 by 30 Book 58 - Buffy and Batman
You guys totally thought I quit didn't you? Well, I didn't. I'm just a world class procrastinator and a lover of doing things at the last possible minute, So you can expect my debut novel to come out sometime around 2064.
Anyway, back to the reading. I actually finished this and the next 4 books like a month ago, but have been too lazy to write anything. But when you're dealing with something as monumentally disappointing as the conclusion of season 8 of Buffy, it's very easy to put it off. Seriously, this season is so bad that Joss Whedon writes an apology at the end. Basically he says, "Look guys, we got really excited about being able to do anything and then we got really drunk and wrote a scene were Angel is kind of the bad guy or something and then Angel and Buffy become demigods and just fly around and have sex in outer space and at the bottom of the ocean and make a new universe that goes evil when they leave it and Angel kills Giles and all magic is destroyed. Ok, so maybe we did a little mushrooms too...it was a weird couple of days. Anyway, sorry the series totally sucked for awhile. We promise to better next time.....we're very sorry"
1/10 - it's an awful, unreadable mess
Batman - Night of the Owls
I'm really loving the new Court of the Owls storyline in Batman, but the library never has the second volume so I can't catch up. This book is instead a bringing together of all the Night of the Owls stories that appeared in all of the Gotham-centric titles. It' a mishmash of events, but it is still far more coherent and engaging than Buffy was, and it was drawing from half a dozen titles.
7/10
Anyway, back to the reading. I actually finished this and the next 4 books like a month ago, but have been too lazy to write anything. But when you're dealing with something as monumentally disappointing as the conclusion of season 8 of Buffy, it's very easy to put it off. Seriously, this season is so bad that Joss Whedon writes an apology at the end. Basically he says, "Look guys, we got really excited about being able to do anything and then we got really drunk and wrote a scene were Angel is kind of the bad guy or something and then Angel and Buffy become demigods and just fly around and have sex in outer space and at the bottom of the ocean and make a new universe that goes evil when they leave it and Angel kills Giles and all magic is destroyed. Ok, so maybe we did a little mushrooms too...it was a weird couple of days. Anyway, sorry the series totally sucked for awhile. We promise to better next time.....we're very sorry"
1/10 - it's an awful, unreadable mess
Batman - Night of the Owls
I'm really loving the new Court of the Owls storyline in Batman, but the library never has the second volume so I can't catch up. This book is instead a bringing together of all the Night of the Owls stories that appeared in all of the Gotham-centric titles. It' a mishmash of events, but it is still far more coherent and engaging than Buffy was, and it was drawing from half a dozen titles.
7/10
Thursday, May 1, 2014
100 by 30 Book 57 - My Life as a White Trash Zombie
My Life as a White Trash Zombie by Diana Rowland is awesome!
So this is a first person tale of Angel Crawford, a young lady who wakes up in a hospital only to slowly discover that she is a zombie now. Also, she's a drug addict and convicted felon who lives with her alcoholic father in their crappy trailer.
There are 2 major elements that make this such an entertaining story. First of all, Rowland does a great job of tweaking the zombie mythos without losing the horror. Brains have always been a staple in the zombie appetite, but it never seemed to factor in to any of the zombie fiction I encountered in any significant way. Here, brains are necessary for Angel's very survival. She is gifted with a job as a coroner's assistant from the mysterious figure who turned her. This gives her access to brains which keep her healthy, but a few days deprivation result in a growing stench and a rapid deterioration resulting in rotting flesh and the quick descent into the shambling zombie we are all familiar with. It's an interesting tweak that I quite enjoyed. Angel will literally rot and die if her access to brains is cut off. This way, we get a coherent narrator, who also rots and gets really, really gross from time to time.
The other major element is Angel herself. This is actually a redemption story in the guise of a horror story. Angel's story starts with her life in absolute shambles. She was found naked and drugged on the side of the road. Her sort of boyfriend is a druggy too, and her dad is in an unemployed drunken turd. It's hard to be in a worse state than that. Her new situation ironically gives her a new lease on life. She suddenly finds herself with a job she has to keep in order to survive and her new zombification has left her unable to feel the effects of any drugs or alcohol. It's like an instant rehab program. Angel's struggle to finally gain control of her life is the biggest draw here, and it's a complete joy to read. Plus there's all kinds of murder and grossness going on. There is also a slight dash of romance, but it's a zombie book, so if you have sex without the proper amount of brains in your system, clothes aren't the only thing that can fall off.... In all seriousness though, this book is great fun, and I finally found a Louisiana horror series I like better than the True Blood books.
10/10
So this is a first person tale of Angel Crawford, a young lady who wakes up in a hospital only to slowly discover that she is a zombie now. Also, she's a drug addict and convicted felon who lives with her alcoholic father in their crappy trailer.
There are 2 major elements that make this such an entertaining story. First of all, Rowland does a great job of tweaking the zombie mythos without losing the horror. Brains have always been a staple in the zombie appetite, but it never seemed to factor in to any of the zombie fiction I encountered in any significant way. Here, brains are necessary for Angel's very survival. She is gifted with a job as a coroner's assistant from the mysterious figure who turned her. This gives her access to brains which keep her healthy, but a few days deprivation result in a growing stench and a rapid deterioration resulting in rotting flesh and the quick descent into the shambling zombie we are all familiar with. It's an interesting tweak that I quite enjoyed. Angel will literally rot and die if her access to brains is cut off. This way, we get a coherent narrator, who also rots and gets really, really gross from time to time.
The other major element is Angel herself. This is actually a redemption story in the guise of a horror story. Angel's story starts with her life in absolute shambles. She was found naked and drugged on the side of the road. Her sort of boyfriend is a druggy too, and her dad is in an unemployed drunken turd. It's hard to be in a worse state than that. Her new situation ironically gives her a new lease on life. She suddenly finds herself with a job she has to keep in order to survive and her new zombification has left her unable to feel the effects of any drugs or alcohol. It's like an instant rehab program. Angel's struggle to finally gain control of her life is the biggest draw here, and it's a complete joy to read. Plus there's all kinds of murder and grossness going on. There is also a slight dash of romance, but it's a zombie book, so if you have sex without the proper amount of brains in your system, clothes aren't the only thing that can fall off.... In all seriousness though, this book is great fun, and I finally found a Louisiana horror series I like better than the True Blood books.
10/10
100 by 30 Book 56 - White Oleander
White Oleander by Janet Fitch
This is a pretty amazing book, but definitely not for the faint of heart. The story follows Astrid as she is passed around through the foster system after her mother is sent to jail. What follows is a harrowing tale of 5 years of physical abuse, neglect, and emotional abuse. Throughout Astrid's journey, she is trying to find comfort where she can, and slowly comes to realize the extant of her mother's extreme narcissism. It's a nice portrait of a child coming to the realization that the parent they loved was actually abusive. There comes a point about two thirds of the way through the book where I almost gave up because I got so bummed out. Don't worry though, it gets better and the final confrontation between Astrid and her mom is one of the best written scenes I've ever read. I highly, highly recommend this book, but you will probably want to have a puppy or other cuddly creature nearby.
9/10
This is a pretty amazing book, but definitely not for the faint of heart. The story follows Astrid as she is passed around through the foster system after her mother is sent to jail. What follows is a harrowing tale of 5 years of physical abuse, neglect, and emotional abuse. Throughout Astrid's journey, she is trying to find comfort where she can, and slowly comes to realize the extant of her mother's extreme narcissism. It's a nice portrait of a child coming to the realization that the parent they loved was actually abusive. There comes a point about two thirds of the way through the book where I almost gave up because I got so bummed out. Don't worry though, it gets better and the final confrontation between Astrid and her mom is one of the best written scenes I've ever read. I highly, highly recommend this book, but you will probably want to have a puppy or other cuddly creature nearby.
9/10
Tuesday, April 22, 2014
100 by 30 Books 54 and 55 - Buffy, Season 8
Buffy The Vampire Slayer: season 8: Vol 1-6
(contains massive spoilers)
So, the TV show has continued on in comic book form. How does the change of medium affect one of my all time favorite properties?
First of all, the comic book edition is the first to really go big in the scale of events. Due to the events of the season 7 finale, we know have an army of Slayers running special ops missions across the globe and we get some huge battles. Also, Dawn becomes a Giant, a centaur, and a living stuffed dolly. So the battles and the big set pieces are cool, but I do have some issues.
First, the limitations of the TV format kept the characters grounded. They didn't have the budget to make an army of ghost vampires or giant ancient gods, so instead they focused on the relationships, and it was amazing. Season 8 has gone to some wild and crazy places so far, and sometimes the characters stuff gets put on the back burner. The exception that proves the rule is a storyline involving Faith doing an undercover mission to take out a rogue Slayer. It is a very well written story that perfectly illustrates that she and Giles are much more willing to make the tough calls than Buffy and the tension is superb. We get some great character development from all three of them and it has been to highlight of the series so far.
Back to the wacky stuff. Season 8 seems to be almost giddy to bring back dead or unnecessary characters just because they can. For instance, the bring back Warren and Amy and make them a couple. First of all, gross. Secondly, I don't give a rat's ass what Amy is doing as she was barely ever more than a sketched out side character. And Third, can't we just let a good death be a good death? Warren's death scene was perfect in the show. The guy had it coming, and we got have Willow deal with the consequences of having taken a human life. Bringing the guy back and making him a comically inept super villain negates all of that. If Xander has to go through another love interest getting run through by a sharp metal object, I should at least get the consolation of dead bastards staying dead!
The love stuff also needs to be addressed. I don't see why they have to keep killing off the people Xander dates. There's no actors to pay anymore! What, did she take up to much of the ink budget?!? Boo. Kill some one else, maybe Andrew.
Lastly, and I must ask your patience as I try to write about this from my male, heterosexual perspective, but I think Buffy's little lesbian fling is total B.S. To give them credit, the writers do eventually get around to talking about it in an interesting way, and many characters are legitimately mad at Buffy for using a girl for comfort, then moving on. From the little I've gleaned from various advice columns, it does sound like lesbian women do have these kinds of things happen to them, and that sucks. No one wants to be used for somebody else's sexual exploration phase and basically get treated as an object rather than a person. So I think it's a good thing to talk about in any medium, but especially in one know for constantly drawing woman showing off their boobs and butt at the same time. That said, I didn't like the way it was addressed in the story. Maybe it needed Sarah Michelle Gellar's underrated acting chops, but I never got why Buffy, an extremely heterosexual character, would suddenly be sorta gay for a little bit. It all felt too fast and too forced. What eventually morphed into an interesting dialogue about relationships started like the opening of American Pie 2, with everyone barging in to learn about Buffy's dirty little secret, making the other woman into a punch line. You're better than that, Buffy writers.
I'm almost to the end of the season though, so I'll be back soon with the conclusion to a so-so Season 8.
6.5/10
(contains massive spoilers)
So, the TV show has continued on in comic book form. How does the change of medium affect one of my all time favorite properties?
First of all, the comic book edition is the first to really go big in the scale of events. Due to the events of the season 7 finale, we know have an army of Slayers running special ops missions across the globe and we get some huge battles. Also, Dawn becomes a Giant, a centaur, and a living stuffed dolly. So the battles and the big set pieces are cool, but I do have some issues.
First, the limitations of the TV format kept the characters grounded. They didn't have the budget to make an army of ghost vampires or giant ancient gods, so instead they focused on the relationships, and it was amazing. Season 8 has gone to some wild and crazy places so far, and sometimes the characters stuff gets put on the back burner. The exception that proves the rule is a storyline involving Faith doing an undercover mission to take out a rogue Slayer. It is a very well written story that perfectly illustrates that she and Giles are much more willing to make the tough calls than Buffy and the tension is superb. We get some great character development from all three of them and it has been to highlight of the series so far.
Back to the wacky stuff. Season 8 seems to be almost giddy to bring back dead or unnecessary characters just because they can. For instance, the bring back Warren and Amy and make them a couple. First of all, gross. Secondly, I don't give a rat's ass what Amy is doing as she was barely ever more than a sketched out side character. And Third, can't we just let a good death be a good death? Warren's death scene was perfect in the show. The guy had it coming, and we got have Willow deal with the consequences of having taken a human life. Bringing the guy back and making him a comically inept super villain negates all of that. If Xander has to go through another love interest getting run through by a sharp metal object, I should at least get the consolation of dead bastards staying dead!
The love stuff also needs to be addressed. I don't see why they have to keep killing off the people Xander dates. There's no actors to pay anymore! What, did she take up to much of the ink budget?!? Boo. Kill some one else, maybe Andrew.
Lastly, and I must ask your patience as I try to write about this from my male, heterosexual perspective, but I think Buffy's little lesbian fling is total B.S. To give them credit, the writers do eventually get around to talking about it in an interesting way, and many characters are legitimately mad at Buffy for using a girl for comfort, then moving on. From the little I've gleaned from various advice columns, it does sound like lesbian women do have these kinds of things happen to them, and that sucks. No one wants to be used for somebody else's sexual exploration phase and basically get treated as an object rather than a person. So I think it's a good thing to talk about in any medium, but especially in one know for constantly drawing woman showing off their boobs and butt at the same time. That said, I didn't like the way it was addressed in the story. Maybe it needed Sarah Michelle Gellar's underrated acting chops, but I never got why Buffy, an extremely heterosexual character, would suddenly be sorta gay for a little bit. It all felt too fast and too forced. What eventually morphed into an interesting dialogue about relationships started like the opening of American Pie 2, with everyone barging in to learn about Buffy's dirty little secret, making the other woman into a punch line. You're better than that, Buffy writers.
I'm almost to the end of the season though, so I'll be back soon with the conclusion to a so-so Season 8.
6.5/10
Monday, April 21, 2014
100 by 30 Book 53 - Hell Week
The second adventure of Maggie Quinn, teen psychic is even better than the first book. The events of the first book have caused a rift between Maggie and her best friend, her powers are getting greater, and her maybe boyfriend is being all weird. The book hits the ground running as Maggie goes undercover to skewer the world of Sorority life. But this is a modern fantasy novel in the vein of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, so naturally Maggie ends of in the Sorority that has dealings with supernatural powers. Also, Maggie makes a very funny joke that is also a massive spoiler for the TV series ANGEL, so watch that before reading this book, but you should totally do both.
One of my favorite aspects of the book is that Maggie is allowed to screw up a little. She is seduced by the advantages suddenly afforded her just for being a member of the popular club. She doesn't go full Mean Girl, but what she does seems a lot more realistic. She's a smart, capable person who is getting unexpectedly positive attention everywhere she turns. Who wouldn't enjoy it if they suddenly started getting the recognition and breaks they thought they deserved? It would be enough to distract anyone from noticing that there is some serious demon worshippy stuff going on.
If you like the idea of College secret societies, but always wanted the characters to be much more relateable and the power source more supernatural, then this is the book for you.
8.5 out of 10
*side note- I'm way behind on writing these blogs. I just finished number 57. I'll try to get caught up soon. Cheers!
One of my favorite aspects of the book is that Maggie is allowed to screw up a little. She is seduced by the advantages suddenly afforded her just for being a member of the popular club. She doesn't go full Mean Girl, but what she does seems a lot more realistic. She's a smart, capable person who is getting unexpectedly positive attention everywhere she turns. Who wouldn't enjoy it if they suddenly started getting the recognition and breaks they thought they deserved? It would be enough to distract anyone from noticing that there is some serious demon worshippy stuff going on.
If you like the idea of College secret societies, but always wanted the characters to be much more relateable and the power source more supernatural, then this is the book for you.
8.5 out of 10
*side note- I'm way behind on writing these blogs. I just finished number 57. I'll try to get caught up soon. Cheers!
Monday, April 7, 2014
Some thoughts on Wrestlemania 30
So tonight, my wife, my dog and I sat down and I watched my first ever Wrestlemania live. I'd been going back and watching past matches here and there, but this is my first time watching the "Showcase of the Immortals". So what did I, a renewed fan since last November think? Let's go over it:
Pre-Show: Yeah yeah yeah, I know preshow matches don't really count, but the 4-way elimination tag team event was a pretty decent match and it was the beginning of a night where WWE looked to the future. We finally got to see Cesaro, probably the most physically impressive performer I've ever seen, break away from his tag team partner and make a move towards greatness. They call him the Swiss Superman for a reason, and he was just getting started....
Opening Segment: Hulk Hogan comes out... and can't remember the name of the stadium. There are few things more entertaining than watching 75,000 people tell arguably the most famous wrestle of all time that he's in the Superdome, not the Silverdome. Then my wife left the room to get a beverage... and Stone Cold Steve Austin came out!! He's pretty cool. Then the timer for the oven went off and my wife left again....and The Rock came out!!! He's pretty cool too. We got to see three of the biggest sports entertainers of all time share a couple of beers on stage and honestly, with the combined charisma those three guys have with an audience, I probably could have watched that for 4 hours.
Opening Match: Triple H vs. Daniel Bryan - Honestly, my wife and I spent most of this match trying to figure out why Triple H has such freakishly big nipples for a dude. I don't care how cold it is, man nipple should never create shadows that can be measured in inches... I'm just saying it's weird, and I don't like it. I thought the match was pretty great though. Daniel Bryan won (duh) but Triple H got a lot of nice heel moments to make the outlook bleak for Daniel to be able to physically compete in the Triple Threat main event match. (long story how that works, but this is basically a soap opera so just go with it)
6 man tag: The Shield vs. The New Age Outlaws and Kane - Squash match. boo. I saw The Shield vs. The Wyatt Family live in February. It was electric and one of the greatest things I've ever seen. This was three supremely gifted dudes beating the crap out of 3 guys in their late 40s for 5 minutes.
John Cena vs. Bray Wyatt - This was an interesting match. I love the Wyatt Family's creepy backwoods cult gimmick and I kind of appreciated the storytelling in this match. Older fans are desperate for John Cena to stop being such a goody two shoes dork with a limited move set, while he's also a role model for kids and the guy has granted over 400 wishes for the Make-a-Wish foundation. Basically, this was a pro-wrestling adaptation of the Luke/Vader showdown in Return of the Jedi (or Jesus being tempted in the wilderness if you want to blow it all out of proportion) I liked that they played with John Cena being tempted by the dark side, and honestly, he's WAY more interesting when he goes dark. It's too bad he's such a hero to the kids and ambassador for the product that he can never actually go evil but I liked the effort, and Bray Wyatt is awesome.
Andre the Giant Memorial 30 Man Battle Royal: So 30 guys all get in the ring and play a round of "THE FLOOR IS LAVA!" It's silly and stupid until you get at least 20 of these guys out of the ring so there is some room to work. Kofi Kingston as usual proves that he is the master of doing something totally mind-blowing, and then losing 30 seconds later. In this case He gets thrown over a ring post to the outside of the ring, falling roughly 9ft and somehow landing his feet on the bottom step, avoiding elimination. Look up the clip. The guy is amazing, and a fan favorite among people who live in my house. To end this match, the previously mentioned Cesaro lifts up the 7 ft tall, 500lb Big Show and throws him over the top rope. One, This is way more impressive a feat that Hulk Hogan body slamming Andre the Giant, and two, it sets up Cesaro to be a main event level talent in the very near future....and he won a big, stupid trophy.
The Undertaker vs Brock Lesnar - First of all, I want to apologize to all the life long WWE fans out there. I did not grow up with the steak, I watched the matches on Netflix and fast-forwarded through a lot of them until Shawn Michaels fought him in back to back years. Their first match was perfect. The next was pretty good. Then I sat through two years of the Undertaker barely able to fight Triple H. Last years CM Punk Match was pretty good, but by that point it had been almost 5 years since the Undertaker had shown me the kind of athleticism that earned him the nickname of the Phenom in the first place. I wasn't seeing an epic match for the ages, I was seeing a guy in his late 40s do his damndest to electrify a crowd, and coming back with less and less to give every year. He was spending so much time lying on the ground in the last few matches that The Streak was becoming a parody of itself. To me, The guy who didn't grow up invested in the streak, I thought Brock was a great choice to end it. He's a legitimate beast of a human being, the guy has reached the top in every sport he's ever tried that involves hurting another human being with your bare hands. If I was going to give up an undefeated streak at the age of 49 and barely able to perform anywhere near my peak ability, I'd choose to go down swinging to a former MMA world heavy weight champion, NCAA national champion, and all around BAMF like Brock Lesnar. It brings both a sense of closure and legitimacy to the accomplishment. That said, my jaw dropped when it actually happened. Then I saw the faces of the crowd. It was amazing television. And that's what pro-wrestling is: it's a primal kind of storytelling. The Wrestlers are out there to illicit emotion, and in the PG era, the stories have become safe. The end of the streak was the "Red Wedding" of wrestling events. Something unthinkable happened and the looks on the faces of the fans and the silence of 75,000 people was incredible. And Brock Lesnar gets to be one of the most hated men in the industry. I was surprised at my sadness, but I'm also excited to see what happens next. I kind of loved it. When's the last time a scripted sport made you feel that emotion.
Vicki Guerro Diva Invitational: Talk about trying to polish a turd. 14 woman battling for one pinfall is a stupid and demeaning concept in an era where there are at least 8 extremely talented women who deserve a better showcase of their talent than a stupid gimmick match after the crowd has been sucker-punched in the gut. Anything you put in this slot was doomed for failure. And yet...I was pleasantly surprised at the amount of nice moments we got in this match. It was almost as if the entire female roster was giving the finger the bookers who tried to bury them. We got triple suplexes and super kicks and bodies flying everywhere. For a useless match in a thankless spot on the card, I thought the ladies proved that you can polish a turd.
Main Event: Daniel Bryan vs. Batista vs. Randy Orton for the WWE World Heavyweight Title - I thought this was a pretty great match, the pacing and storytelling was compelling, and most of all, Batista finally appeared to be in ring shape and able to perform at a level expected for a Wrestle-mania main event performer. He was better than The Miz anyway... This match also got me interested in Randy Orton for the first time ever. I finally saw something in him that explained why he's at the top of the talent heap. I loved the kick-outs at 2 and 7/8ths. The crowd has been getting screwed out of what they want to see for so long, that it was believable that they'd get kicked one more time. This is how good wrestling should work (in my very, very humble opinion. But Stone Cold Steve Austin and Jim Ross have said similar things so I don't think I'm too far off) The audience needs to be invested in the story, they need to be afraid that their hero might fail, that evil will triumph, and I think the performers did a great job of that tonight. I bought into the reality that they sold me when Daniel Bryan was getting strapped to the gurney and rolled away from the ring. Batista has a look in his eyes that was like, "oh crap! I think I just broke that dudes neck for real! Don't break character! Just beat up the other guy over here for awhile and hope we find a way to end the show, then I can run away and get ready to promote my superhero movie." I fully suspended my disbelief and I got to be carried on a journey, and everyone got the ending they've been begging for. Daniel Bryan, the little goat-looking man who could, raising the championship belts in a downpour of confetti as 75,000 fans chanted, YES! YES! YES!
Tuesday, April 1, 2014
100 by 30 Book 52 - Super Girl, Wonder Woman, and Swamp Thing walk into a bar...
Long time between posts, I know. I just haven't felt like writing lately. I've been getting a lot of reading done though so let's get started.
Supergirl vol 2- Continues to be an exciting adventure of a stranger in a strange land. Super Girl and her world are easy to understand and the mythology is pretty easy to grasp, making the story and characters the focus of the book. It's a quality story that far surpasses her more famous nephew
7/10
Swamp Thing - Actually a pretty decent start for a creepy horror/fantasy book. Basically, this is a throwback to old school horror with a dose of environmentalism. Some of the mythology is pretty goofy and I found my self struggling to understand the rules of the world, but overall I found it compelling, mostly due to the fantastic artwork
6.5/10
Wonder Woman vol 2 - So, I took some Greek Mythology courses in school, I saw Disney's Hercules, and I've read the Justice League. That should give me enough basic understanding of super heroes and myths to follow what's happening here, but I'm totally lost. Obscure characters arrive and leave without being addressed by name. Powers and rules of the universe are never clearly defined. Pretty pictures aside, this book is a narrative mess.
3/10
Supergirl vol 2- Continues to be an exciting adventure of a stranger in a strange land. Super Girl and her world are easy to understand and the mythology is pretty easy to grasp, making the story and characters the focus of the book. It's a quality story that far surpasses her more famous nephew
7/10
Swamp Thing - Actually a pretty decent start for a creepy horror/fantasy book. Basically, this is a throwback to old school horror with a dose of environmentalism. Some of the mythology is pretty goofy and I found my self struggling to understand the rules of the world, but overall I found it compelling, mostly due to the fantastic artwork
6.5/10
Wonder Woman vol 2 - So, I took some Greek Mythology courses in school, I saw Disney's Hercules, and I've read the Justice League. That should give me enough basic understanding of super heroes and myths to follow what's happening here, but I'm totally lost. Obscure characters arrive and leave without being addressed by name. Powers and rules of the universe are never clearly defined. Pretty pictures aside, this book is a narrative mess.
3/10
Sunday, March 9, 2014
100 by 30 Book 51: Prom Dates From Hell
Prom Dates From Hell by Rosemary Clement-Moore is a delightful book about high school, friends, bullies, and ancient Babylonian Demons trying to destroy the world. Our hero is one Maggie Quinn. She isn't popular but doesn't care because she actually has friends already. She's smart, very funny, and has recently had to come to terms with the fact that she gets visions. After helping to stop a vicious bullying incident at her high school, the perpetrators slowly begin suffering unexplained catastrophes. It's up to Maggie, D&D Lisa, Baywatch Brian, and Justin the supernatural nerd to solve the case and save the day.
I thought the characters were very well fleshed out and quite relateable. Maggie reminded me of a lot of the female friends I've had over the years, and the author does a great job capturing what it's like to go through high school when you have a functioning social life but no one accuses you and your friends of being the cool kids. The book is a fun read, and I would definitely recommend it to fans of shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Speaking of which, I just finished rewatching the series and I will be moving on the season 8, which helpfully exists in graphic novel form. Talk to you then!
8.5/10
I thought the characters were very well fleshed out and quite relateable. Maggie reminded me of a lot of the female friends I've had over the years, and the author does a great job capturing what it's like to go through high school when you have a functioning social life but no one accuses you and your friends of being the cool kids. The book is a fun read, and I would definitely recommend it to fans of shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Speaking of which, I just finished rewatching the series and I will be moving on the season 8, which helpfully exists in graphic novel form. Talk to you then!
8.5/10
Tuesday, February 25, 2014
My First Wrestling Show
This past Sunday, I attended my first pro wrestling event, WWE's Elimination Chamber Pay-per view. So what is is like to see live pro wrestling? Here are a few of the things I learned.
1. WWE really is Family Friendly - I started to get back into wrestling a few months ago. One of the reasons I'd stopped watching over a decade ago was the crassness of the Attitude era. When WCW folded, there was no longer a show I could sit and watch with my dad without feeling really uncomfortable. Sex jokes and blood did not make for family entertainment. The WWE of today is decidedly a PG affair. The jokes are silly, the action is gore-free, and their is a circus-like atmosphere, which includes $9 cotton candy, and "clown" segments with backstage videos of wrestlers playing with toys or wrestlers heckling the crowd on the mic. "Bad News" Barrett is basically a one man Statler and woldorf complete with a podium that rises into the rafters.
2. The crowd matters - A live wrestling show is one of the few forms of entertainment where heckling and crowd interaction are an essential part of the experience. In real sports, if you boo Santa, ESPN will complain about that city having no class. In WWE, Chanting that the good guy sucks is half the fun. It's like the Rocky Horror Show with drop kicks and body slams.
3. The Spanish announcer's table has the life expectancy of a Red Shirt on Star Trek - Odds are, when it comes time to throw some poor guy through a table, the Spanish announce table is the first to go. This night was no exception. During the six man tag match, two 6'7", 300+ lb guys through a 6'1" 220lb guy through that table. It was awesome. Seeing a guy fall through a poorly constructed table never gets old.
3. The crowd is an interesting mix - The WWE promotes itself as scripted entertainment, and yet I still sat next to a woman who believed everything she was seeing was real. This also meant that she got rather upset when I began cheering for the bad guys. The crowd is an odd mix of kids and adults who believe in everything they see and the folks who enjoy it as the entertainment spectacle that it is, with the later making up the majority of the crowd.
4. The performers are amazing athletes - I knew that wrestlers had to be world class athletes to pull off the stunts they do without killing each other. Seeing it live, I gained an immense appreciation of the precision timing it takes to execute some of these moves. I got to see back flips all over the place, suicide dives onto the ground, and perfectly timed uppercuts, slams and kick-ass finishing moves. It was like a master class of fight choreography. It also helps when your opponent is willing to take actual blows from you. They're also Strong as hell. You can't fake suplexing one guy while he holds onto a third. It's also not easy to catch 250lbs of muscle flying at you from 9 feet in the air. These guys are absolutely professional athletes who also know how to put on a show.
5. John Cena isn't that bad - John Cena is the current top good guy in WWE. He looks like a hulked up Mark Wahlberg and is always talking about hustle, integrity, and never giving up. He's a boy scout to the point of annoyance and the crowd is constantly split between those who love him and those who hate him. (the "let's go Cena!"/"Cena Sucks!" chant is very popular) Since I haven't spent the last 10 years watching this guy, I don't have much of an opinion on his in ring skills. It wasn't until I saw a fan with cerebral palsy wearing a Never Give Up hat that I saw that Cena's value is bigger than the ring. John Cena has granted over 400 wishes for the Make-a-Wish foundation. I'm not always thrilled with him as a wrestler, but he seems to be doing his part to be a great role model, and a hero figure that people can cheer for (even if he kinda sucks)
Overall, I had an absolute blast at this show and I was surprised at how accessible WWE has become. If they come to your town, I'd say give it a shot, you might have a blast too. It's silly, it's breathtaking, and just a darn good time.
Side note: Bray Wyat may be the greatest character since The Undertaker. The guy plays a freaky redneck cult leader with two bearded behemoths as acolytes, one of whom is about 7 feet tall and wears a green jumpsuit and lamb mask. It's creepy as hell and holy cow can they put on a show. Bray's 'Sister Abigail' finishing move is one of the coolest finishers I've even seen. I can't wait to see where this guy goes.
1. WWE really is Family Friendly - I started to get back into wrestling a few months ago. One of the reasons I'd stopped watching over a decade ago was the crassness of the Attitude era. When WCW folded, there was no longer a show I could sit and watch with my dad without feeling really uncomfortable. Sex jokes and blood did not make for family entertainment. The WWE of today is decidedly a PG affair. The jokes are silly, the action is gore-free, and their is a circus-like atmosphere, which includes $9 cotton candy, and "clown" segments with backstage videos of wrestlers playing with toys or wrestlers heckling the crowd on the mic. "Bad News" Barrett is basically a one man Statler and woldorf complete with a podium that rises into the rafters.
2. The crowd matters - A live wrestling show is one of the few forms of entertainment where heckling and crowd interaction are an essential part of the experience. In real sports, if you boo Santa, ESPN will complain about that city having no class. In WWE, Chanting that the good guy sucks is half the fun. It's like the Rocky Horror Show with drop kicks and body slams.
3. The Spanish announcer's table has the life expectancy of a Red Shirt on Star Trek - Odds are, when it comes time to throw some poor guy through a table, the Spanish announce table is the first to go. This night was no exception. During the six man tag match, two 6'7", 300+ lb guys through a 6'1" 220lb guy through that table. It was awesome. Seeing a guy fall through a poorly constructed table never gets old.
3. The crowd is an interesting mix - The WWE promotes itself as scripted entertainment, and yet I still sat next to a woman who believed everything she was seeing was real. This also meant that she got rather upset when I began cheering for the bad guys. The crowd is an odd mix of kids and adults who believe in everything they see and the folks who enjoy it as the entertainment spectacle that it is, with the later making up the majority of the crowd.
4. The performers are amazing athletes - I knew that wrestlers had to be world class athletes to pull off the stunts they do without killing each other. Seeing it live, I gained an immense appreciation of the precision timing it takes to execute some of these moves. I got to see back flips all over the place, suicide dives onto the ground, and perfectly timed uppercuts, slams and kick-ass finishing moves. It was like a master class of fight choreography. It also helps when your opponent is willing to take actual blows from you. They're also Strong as hell. You can't fake suplexing one guy while he holds onto a third. It's also not easy to catch 250lbs of muscle flying at you from 9 feet in the air. These guys are absolutely professional athletes who also know how to put on a show.
5. John Cena isn't that bad - John Cena is the current top good guy in WWE. He looks like a hulked up Mark Wahlberg and is always talking about hustle, integrity, and never giving up. He's a boy scout to the point of annoyance and the crowd is constantly split between those who love him and those who hate him. (the "let's go Cena!"/"Cena Sucks!" chant is very popular) Since I haven't spent the last 10 years watching this guy, I don't have much of an opinion on his in ring skills. It wasn't until I saw a fan with cerebral palsy wearing a Never Give Up hat that I saw that Cena's value is bigger than the ring. John Cena has granted over 400 wishes for the Make-a-Wish foundation. I'm not always thrilled with him as a wrestler, but he seems to be doing his part to be a great role model, and a hero figure that people can cheer for (even if he kinda sucks)
Overall, I had an absolute blast at this show and I was surprised at how accessible WWE has become. If they come to your town, I'd say give it a shot, you might have a blast too. It's silly, it's breathtaking, and just a darn good time.
Side note: Bray Wyat may be the greatest character since The Undertaker. The guy plays a freaky redneck cult leader with two bearded behemoths as acolytes, one of whom is about 7 feet tall and wears a green jumpsuit and lamb mask. It's creepy as hell and holy cow can they put on a show. Bray's 'Sister Abigail' finishing move is one of the coolest finishers I've even seen. I can't wait to see where this guy goes.
Thursday, February 20, 2014
100 by 30 book 50 - Green Lantern, Justice League, and Supergirl
*huff* *puff* you guys, I *huff* did it. I made it halfway through my challenge. Holy crap, 100 books is a lot for someone who reads as slow as I do. Also, focusing on books makes my pop culture ADD very cranky. Sometimes a guy just wants to sit down and gorge on 30-40 hours of Buffy and Angel and then kill everything that moves on my Playstation. Then the guilt comes back and I get back down to business. Will I make my goal?! Stay tuned to find out. I have 7 months to get through 50 books. This means I have the challenge of finding engaging books that aren't 800+ pages. Or lots and lots of graphic novels. I'll try to keep mixing it up though. I have made a promise to read White Oleander at some point.... But on to today's offerings!
I will go ahead and just review all three of these together. After the last entry, I was trying to figure out if I even liked graphic novels anymore. Fortunately, these three titles proved that the comic book form still has a lot to offer. Unlike say, Justice League Dark, Green Lantern and friends demonstrate that having a few relateable and grounded characters make all the difference. Hal Jordan and Sinestro's uneasy alliance makes for great storytelling. Just beneath the Buddy-cop bickering lies the very real threat that Sinestro could turn on Hal and any point. Having a point of reference give the story license to go in all the crazy directions that it does because you remain invested in the development of the characters.
The Justice League reboot tells an origin of the team that finds a way to highlight the different strengths of all the members and make them all individuals as well. Superman is the boyscout, Green Lantern is the jock, The Flash is the teacher's pet, Cyborg is the rookie, Batman is the paranoid survivalist, Wonder Woman is the foreign exchange student, and Aquaman is that kid who you thought was quiet and weird until he gets an army of sharks to kill the crap out of everything. We don't need these guys to be deep, but we do need them to be easy to tell apart. The new Justice League title is very successful at building this team dynamic. It's a nice vision of what a Justice League movie could be if Warner Brothers Studios wasn't run by morons.
Finally, we get a fish-out-of-water adventure in the form of Supergirl. Superman's older cousin was put in stasis when Krypton blew up. She crashes on Earth not having aged a day and is understandably dubious when a full grown Kryptonian claims to be her baby cousin. All kinds of shenanigans follow and we once again see an adventure story done right.
That's it for now, see you when I muster the motivation to write again.
All three books 9/10
I will go ahead and just review all three of these together. After the last entry, I was trying to figure out if I even liked graphic novels anymore. Fortunately, these three titles proved that the comic book form still has a lot to offer. Unlike say, Justice League Dark, Green Lantern and friends demonstrate that having a few relateable and grounded characters make all the difference. Hal Jordan and Sinestro's uneasy alliance makes for great storytelling. Just beneath the Buddy-cop bickering lies the very real threat that Sinestro could turn on Hal and any point. Having a point of reference give the story license to go in all the crazy directions that it does because you remain invested in the development of the characters.
The Justice League reboot tells an origin of the team that finds a way to highlight the different strengths of all the members and make them all individuals as well. Superman is the boyscout, Green Lantern is the jock, The Flash is the teacher's pet, Cyborg is the rookie, Batman is the paranoid survivalist, Wonder Woman is the foreign exchange student, and Aquaman is that kid who you thought was quiet and weird until he gets an army of sharks to kill the crap out of everything. We don't need these guys to be deep, but we do need them to be easy to tell apart. The new Justice League title is very successful at building this team dynamic. It's a nice vision of what a Justice League movie could be if Warner Brothers Studios wasn't run by morons.
Finally, we get a fish-out-of-water adventure in the form of Supergirl. Superman's older cousin was put in stasis when Krypton blew up. She crashes on Earth not having aged a day and is understandably dubious when a full grown Kryptonian claims to be her baby cousin. All kinds of shenanigans follow and we once again see an adventure story done right.
That's it for now, see you when I muster the motivation to write again.
All three books 9/10
Sunday, February 9, 2014
100 by 30 book 49 - Justice League Dark & Dail "H" for Hero
Today we take a short and disappointing tour of the weirder edges of the DC Universe.
DIAL 'H' FOR HERO- This book has such an inventive premise that I expected great things. The book follows a big fat loser who discovers that every time he dials the word H-E-R-O into the payphone in the alley, he is transformed into a different, bizarre super hero. The different heroes are delightfully silly. I especially loved the Iron Snail and Cock-a-Hoop (which is a chicken with a hula hoop for a body) Unfortunately, the fun ends with the premise. I forgot the plot almost as soon as I finished and the characters leave no lasting impression. It's a shame for a hero that should be a gold mine for humorous situations to be so dull.
5/10
Justice League Dark, vol. 1 & 2 - Hey what if all of the magic/supernatural- based characters in the DC universe got together to fight evil? Wouldn't that be super dark and kick-ass? It should be. But it isn't. This is the Hugh Jackman's Van Helsing of Comic books. We have another great premise that fails to live up to even the lowest expectations. Characters join and leave the group with barely an introduction, and the ones that do stick around don't make much of an impression on you. The main character ends up being John Constantine. (Keanu Reeves played him in the movie, even though he can't speak in a British dialect and James Marsters was available and would have been perfect.) John is a British warlock/antihero. He's the closest thing to interesting here and I'm willing to bet that his solo stories are actually engaging. The interchangeable cast is a big problem though. With people dropping in and out all the time, it feels like the writers are actively struggling to find something interesting to do with a bunch of weirdo misfits. It's a shame no one has ever created any cool plots with a team like that, except for Buffy, Angel, X-Men, Avengers, Firefly and the countless others that I missed. I've never been so bored reading fantasy fiction in my life. So you can skip these.
3/10
DIAL 'H' FOR HERO- This book has such an inventive premise that I expected great things. The book follows a big fat loser who discovers that every time he dials the word H-E-R-O into the payphone in the alley, he is transformed into a different, bizarre super hero. The different heroes are delightfully silly. I especially loved the Iron Snail and Cock-a-Hoop (which is a chicken with a hula hoop for a body) Unfortunately, the fun ends with the premise. I forgot the plot almost as soon as I finished and the characters leave no lasting impression. It's a shame for a hero that should be a gold mine for humorous situations to be so dull.
5/10
Justice League Dark, vol. 1 & 2 - Hey what if all of the magic/supernatural- based characters in the DC universe got together to fight evil? Wouldn't that be super dark and kick-ass? It should be. But it isn't. This is the Hugh Jackman's Van Helsing of Comic books. We have another great premise that fails to live up to even the lowest expectations. Characters join and leave the group with barely an introduction, and the ones that do stick around don't make much of an impression on you. The main character ends up being John Constantine. (Keanu Reeves played him in the movie, even though he can't speak in a British dialect and James Marsters was available and would have been perfect.) John is a British warlock/antihero. He's the closest thing to interesting here and I'm willing to bet that his solo stories are actually engaging. The interchangeable cast is a big problem though. With people dropping in and out all the time, it feels like the writers are actively struggling to find something interesting to do with a bunch of weirdo misfits. It's a shame no one has ever created any cool plots with a team like that, except for Buffy, Angel, X-Men, Avengers, Firefly and the countless others that I missed. I've never been so bored reading fantasy fiction in my life. So you can skip these.
3/10
Sunday, February 2, 2014
100 by 30 Book 48 - Assassination Vacation by Sarah Vowell
So the Superbowl is super lame this year, so why not read my blog instead. That should kill a few minutes. Speaking of killing, I recently read Assassination Vacation by Sarah Vowell (AKA Violet from The Incredibles). The book follows Vowell as she drags various friends and family members to an assortment of historical sites related to the assassinations of Lincoln, Garfield, and McKinley. The book is divided into 3 sections, one for each president, and covers a lot of obscure factoids that I never knew. In one of my favorite moments, Sarah, in her own dry way, leads us on an evaluation of the laugh line in the play that Lincoln was watching when he got shot. Yep, turns out Boothe waited for a laugh line so the audience would cover the sound of the gun. On one hand, that's really messed up. On the other hand, as Vowell points out, Lincoln got to die with a smile on his face. On the other other hand, the joke is terrible and doesn't translate to modern times.
This is just one of the many helpful things you will learn on this delightfully wry and rambling tour of some of the darkest moments of our nations history. If you are only going to read one book about presidential assassinations while relaxing on the beach in Mexico, make it this one.
9/10
This is just one of the many helpful things you will learn on this delightfully wry and rambling tour of some of the darkest moments of our nations history. If you are only going to read one book about presidential assassinations while relaxing on the beach in Mexico, make it this one.
9/10
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