Comments Off | Posted: March 24th, 2008 | Filed under:Uncategorized
Aziz Ansari likes Scott Pilgrim and shows Patton Oswalt how praise from stand-up comedians for comics should be done. Edited To Add: Apparently, I need to point out when I’m being ironic. I’m being ironic right here.
My favorite science fiction author has a new book out.
The writers at Get Off The Internet make me very happy with their zeal. You really should be reading.
THIS WEEK’S BLIND ITEM: In the midst of this “Marvel_b0y” (or however the fuck he spelled it) flap and associated tsk-tsking, I thought to myself: “You know, if only there were another blogger who came to prominence by naming names and exposing office politics that I could talk about…”
THIS WEEK’S FACT YOU (MOST LIKELY) DIDN’T KNOW ABOUT ME: I loathe cucumbers and carrots, unless the former are deeply pickled (dill only, not sweet) and the latter are cooked beyond recognition, preferably in a beef stew.
Comments Off | Posted: March 22nd, 2008 | Filed under:Uncategorized
…because, you know, nerds tend to tilt, en masse towards the conservative end of things (see the recent McCain ad on Newsarama,) but I just recently read a piece that pretty much hit a certain nail on the head concerning the way everything is going in our world. How certain factions are determined to keep others down while playing the same power games that they’ve enjoyed for eons. How we’re distracted from the bigger picture with our constant racial and cultural jousting. That’s why I’ve decided to state whom my political allegiance is with.
Comments Off | Posted: March 20th, 2008 | Filed under:Uncategorized
War Is Hell #1 If Marvel wanted to, say, make their MAX line Garth Ennis’s personal war stories playground, I’d be OK with that. I don’t think I’ve ever read an original Phantom Eagle comic, so I went into this with no preconceptions about the character and had myself a grand old time, especially with the besotted Captain Clark and his untimely end. Chaykin, despite some people’s strange beliefs about his art, knocks it out of the park. (Except for those copied-and-pasted airplanes. That was a bit jarring.)
Strangeways: Murder Moon As mentioned, I know Matt Maxwell and have seen this take a long, arduous journey to completion, so I’m probably rooting for him an awful lot when it comes to this book. Thankfully, he didn’t let me down, with a story that manages to combine werewolves (blergh) and a western (blergh x 2 unless it’s the two “woods”: East or Dead) into compelling, character-driven suspense that works very well. I’ve a minor bugaboo with the lead character uncovering the beast’s true identity, and that payoff feeling slightly muted, but that may just be me looking for something to pick on with my obsessive dot-connecting; I’ll easily concede that the story is about one man’s journey into a world much bigger and stranger than what he has known, so the identity of the werewolf is a second-or-third-tierd concern at best.
Luis Guaragña’s art is appropriately moody, if inconsistent, with the best efforts featuring him paring down the linework, such as the chiaroscuro style used during the cabin fight scene. These weaknesses in the main story’s art are pointed out by Gervasio and Jok’s minimal-yet-lush work in the backup origin story, “Lone.” This is a solid, entertaining debut that will (hopefully) get Maxwell and his artistic collaborators some well-deserved positive attention.
North World Volume 1 The first collection of Lars Brown’s entertaining modern-day fantasy webcomic features a guy in khakis and a polo shirt fighting a giant talking bear in the first eleven pages and manages to, somehow, top that by throwing him on a quest that takes him back to his hometown. There, he must embark on a dangerous quest that is counterpointed by the emotional minefield of his past. There’s a few hints very nicely dropped (I think I’ve figured out what’s up with Conrad’s sister) and no small amount of humor. Sometimes, Brown’s art changes styles unexpectedly, but his overall look for the book is refreshing.
Subway Series Alternative Comics re-solicited this Leela Corman book about the trials and tribulations of a young woman in New York City from 2002 a couple months ago and I liked the look of the cover and thought I’d give this a shot and boy that was a bad decision. In many ways, this feels like a poorly-disguised diary comic without a spine to engage the audience thanks to fractured storytelling without a single compelling character and flat, dull art that seems to be cribbing from Hope Larson and other, better artists working the same vein.
My Brain Hurts Volume 1 Thankfully, Liz Baillie’s comic about a young woman in New York City is about as pitch-perfect as a minicomic with its (admittedly moderate) aspirations can be. This volume collects the first of Baillie’s self-published material and despite a few predictable moments (particularly the coma bit near the end), her assured character work and spiky, rough art make this comic into something much more authentic than many of its peers. If I had my druthers, this would be put out through someone with some bookstore power and placed on the shelf next to the rest of the Stuff Teenage Girls Like books.
Comments Off | Posted: March 19th, 2008 | Filed under:Uncategorized
Valerie is a lot nicer than I would be if some schlub accused me of plagiarizing a post. If she felt personally insulted, I’m sorry. It was purely an ideas thing, not a personality thing.
I should just email someone and say WHTDAFXUP?, even if I’m in a really, really pissy mood at the start of the day and something I want to kick drops into my lap.
Instead of paying attention to two bloggers of “note” exchanging a few barbed words, people should go do something interesting, like reading Matt Maxwell’s Strangeways: Murder Moon graphic novel. (I’m about halfway through and am very impressed with it. Not that I’ll tell him to his face.)
Comments Off | Posted: March 19th, 2008 | Filed under:Uncategorized
I won’t lie. I have, in my iPod, a copy of Portishead’s long-awaited third studio effort entitled, um, Third well before its release. I’ll be buying a legitimate copy from the store shelves on April 28th. It’s remarkable how the group has deviated from their signature spy-noir feel while still sounding utterly themselves. A distinct Krautrock influence haunts the album (most obviously on this track), with Beth Gibbon’s unique alternately floating on top of and diving into a claustrophobic soundscape that sounds like nothing else. Just like before, Portishead stays ahead of their imitators by putting the work in, paying the dues, and merging their sensibilities to their influences without a slavish recreation of what’s come before.
Comments Off | Posted: March 19th, 2008 | Filed under:Uncategorized
This week’s selections from your favorite comics shop in SoCal are available for your perusal. I can’t imagine there being a finer selection of fresh-picked graphic literature, anywhere.
Comments Off | Posted: March 18th, 2008 | Filed under:Uncategorized
How to play: Grab your iPod or other digital music player or software and use the “Shuffle” mode. List the first twelve songs that come up in comments! Here’s mine:
