Philip's Book & Movie Lists

2009-07-12T21:41:00.000-07:00

A Slight Delay (Yes, Again)

Spend most of the day out & about. Will try to update tomorrow.

2009-07-05T19:02:00.000-07:00

Here I Am Again

Yotsuba & !, vol. 1 by Kiyohiko Azuma. Found a cheap copy of this deeply cute manga.
The New Avengers, vol. 9: Secret Wars, bk. 2 by Brian Michael Bendis, Billy Tan, et al. Some pretty good stories, but not much in the way of the Avengers. (Checked out of the library.)
Enigma Cipher by Andrew Crosby, Michael Alan Nelson, & Greg Scott. Like a lot of things from this publisher, this reads as a pitch for a movie. In this case, a thriller. (Library.)
Blueberry Girl by Neil Gaiman & Charles Vess. Beautifully illustrated version of the poem Gaiman wrote for Tori Amos when she was pregnant with her daughter. (Borrowed from Teena.)
Legion of Super-Heroes: Enemy Manifest by Jim Shooter, Francis Manapul, et al. (Library.)
Tokyo Days, Bangkok Nights by Jonathan Vankin, Seth Fisher, & Giuseppe Comuncoli. (Library.)
Magic Trixie, vol. 3: Magic Trixie & Her Dragon by Jill Thompson. Another delightful kid's book from Thompson.
She-Hulk, vol. 9: Lady Liberators by Peter David, Vincenzo Cucca, & Steve Scott. The last volume in this series.
Stephen King's The Dark Tower: Treachery by Robin Furth, Peter David, & Jae Lee. More backstory for Roland.
Jumper: Jumpscars by Nunzio DeFilippis, Christina Weir, & Brian Hurtt. Prequel to the movie, Jumper, which I never saw. (Library.)
Special Forces, vol. 1: Hot to Death by Kyle Baker. Satirical look at the Iraq war.
GalaxyQuest: Global Warning by Scott Lobdell & Ilias Kyriazis. Eh. (Library.)
The Age of the Sentry by Jeff Parker, Paul Tobin, Nick Dragotta, et al. Pastiche of Silver-Age Superman. Loads of fun.
Captain Britain and MI13, vol. 1: Secret Invasion by Paul Cornell & Leonard Kirk. Pretty good. (Library.)
20th Century Boys, vol. 3: Hero with a Guitar by Naoki Urasawa. Some clues about the mystery, & the tension builds. I'm really enjoying this series and its exploration of adults looking back at their childhoods.

Three movies this week:

Creature from the Black Lagoon. Saw this in 3D. Sometimes the 3D effects were fantastic, sometimes not.
RiffTrax: House on Haunted Hill.
RiffTrax: Reefer Madness. Just laughable, even without the commentary.

2009-06-28T17:18:00.001-07:00

Another Week Gone

Beowulf, v. 1: The Monster Maker by Bill Willingham. Short fantasy novel set in the same world as Willingham's short-lived comics series, "Coventry."
Essential Luke Cage, Power Man, vol. 2 by various. Mores 70s Marvel comics. (Checked out of the library.)
The Best American Comics 2008, edited by Lynda Barry. Barry wanted to include an excerpt from Paul Pope's Batman Year 100 in this anthology, but DC wouldn't give their permission. Their loss. (Library.)
Daredevil: Lady Bullseye by Ed Brubaker, Michael Lark, & Stefano Gaudiano. I may start buying these collections again. (Library.)
The Rack: Year One (Mostly) by Kevin Church & Benjamin Birdie. Print collection of a web comic about a comic book store. It doesn't depend entirely on knowing comics (but that knowledge doesn't hurt).
Humbug, vol. 2 by Harvey Kurtzman, et al. The rest of the humor series. This volume contains annotations for the entire series, which helps explain some of the 1950s cultural references that have not survived. (Library.)
Bayou, vol. 1 by Jeremy Love. Great story and beautiful art, printed on some of the worst paper I've ever seen. (Borrowed from Teena.)
Star Wars: Vector, vol. 1 by various. (Checked out of the library.)

2 movies this week, both from RiffTrax.

The Best of RiffTrax Shorts, vol. 1.
The Best of RiffTrax Shorts, vol. 2.

2009-06-21T16:58:00.000-07:00

Still more books

BPRD, vol. 10: The Warning by Mike Migola, John Arcudi, & Guy Davis. More portents of disaster to come.
Swamp Thing, vol. 8: Spontaneous Generation by Rick Veitch. I finally got around to picking up the second collection of Veitch's Swamp Thing run. Now if only they would finish reprinting it.
I Saw You...: Comics Inspired by Real-Life Missed Connections edited by Julia Wertz. Like most anthologies, a mixed bag, but there were some good stories here. (Checked out of the library.)
Justice Society, vol. 1 by Paul Levitz, Gerry Conway, Joe Staton, Keith Giffen, Wally Wood, & Ric Estrada. 1970s stories of Earth-2. (Library.)
Pluto, vol. 3 by Naoki Urasawa. Still very much impressed by this expansion & retelling of an Astro Boy story.
Punisher War Journal, vol. 5: Secret Invasion by Matt Fraction, Rick Remender, Howard Chaykin, et al. Bad fun. (Library.)
Secret Invasion: Thor by Matt Fraction & Doug Braithwaite. (Library.)
T-Minus: The Race to the Moon by Jim Ottoviani, Zander Cannon, & Kevin Cannon. The latest work of science history from Ottoviani, this time about the space race.
Rasl, vol. 1: The Drift by Jeff Smith. Very different from Bone, but I like it, and I'm looking forward to seeing where the story goes. (Library.)
MySpace Dark Horse Presents, vol. 2 by various. This volume includes a Captain Hammer story. (Library.)

Just one movie this week:

RiffTrax: Plan 9 from Outer Space. RiffTrax is a venture from some MST3K alumni. They do humorous commentaries on movies & then sell them as downloads. The purchaser then plays the commentary as they watch the movie. But recently, they've begun selling DVDs with both the movies & commentaries. Of course Teena & I had to have these. More RiffTrax movies will be showing up in the coming weeks.

2009-06-14T16:36:00.000-07:00

Another Update

X-Factor: Secret Invasion by Peter David, Larry Strohman, et al. Part of Marvel's latest mega-event crossover, but still comprehensible for all that.
The Superman Chronicles, vol. 1 by Jerry Siegel & Joe Shuster. The first volume of a series reprinting Superman stories from the very beginning. The power fantasy elements are very apparent in these early stories. Superman gets his way by beating up people, and lots of people are afraid of him. I do like the way Superman fights for the little guy in these stories. (Checked out of the library.)
Supermarket by Brian Wood & Kristian Donaldson. (Library.)
Star Wars Legacy, vol. 5: The Hidden Temple by John Ostrander & Jan Duursema.
Showcase Presents Jonah Hex by John Albano, Michael Fleisher, Tony DeZuniga, et al. Western comics from the 70s. Very good, and I really hope they do further volumes, even if they do have to renegotiate reprint rights with the creators.
Countdown to Final Crisis, vol. 4 by Paul Dini, et al. Eh. (Library.)
Gravel, vol. 1: Bloody Liars by Warren Ellis, Mike Wolfer, Raulo Caceres, & Oscar Jimenez. Combat magician Sergeant Major William Gravel gets an ongoing series.
MPD-Pscyho, vol. 8 by Eiji Otsuka & Sho-U Tajima. (Library.)
Showcase Presents Legion of Super-Heroes, vol. 3 by Jim Shooter, Curt Swan, et al. It's great to see these stories made available in an affordable format.

A few more movies:

More Tales of the City. With the cast changes, & the fact that the main characters are split up for the first half of the story, this isn't as good as the first one.
Mystery Science Theater 3000: Stranded in Space. Another episode courtesy of Dave.
Speed Racer. Light & fluffy, with faster visuals than you can possibly keep up with, but surprisingly entertaining. The visual overload works because it's about conveying an impression. When details are important, the movie slows down enough that you can understand what's going on. Not something I'd want a steady diet of, but it shows what can be done with green screen.

2009-06-07T17:13:00.000-07:00

Three in a Row

I really shouldn't be so excited to have updated 3 weeks running.

Joker by Brian Azzarello & Lee Bermejo. Pretty good, but I'm not sure how well a semi-realistic depiction of gangsters fits in with Batman & the Joker. In some ways, it reminded me of The Sopranos. (Checked out of the library.)
Superfolks by Robert Mayer. Alan Moore, Grant Morrison, & Kurt Busiek all cite this 1977 novel about a superhero undergoing a mid-life crisis as an influence. I liked it quite a bit, but I have to admit that the humorous parts largely fell flat for me. I think that's largely the cultural distance between when it was written & when I read it.
Museum of Terror, vol. 1: Tomie 1 by Junji Ito. One of the things I like about the Japanese horror I've seen is that often there is no reason behind the horror. It's just something awful that happens for no reason & with no origin. In the Tomie stories, Tomie is a young woman who provokes obsession in men. They become so obsessed with her that they hack her into pieces. These pieces then regenerate, sometimes into multiple Tomies. No explanation is ever given as to where she came from or why she has this effect or how she can regenerate.
Museum of Terror, vol. 2: Tomie 2 by Junji Ito. More Tomie stories.
Museum of Terror, vol. 3: The Long Hair in the Attic by Junji Ito. More horror manga.
Essential Ms. Marvel by Chris Claremont, Jim Mooney, et al. Pretty good. Claremont hasn't quite developed into the writer he will be, but on the other hand, his writing tics are not very prominent here.
Star Wars Clone Wars: The Wind Raiders of Taloraan by John Ostrander & the Fillback Brothers. I haven't seen the show, but I like & trust Ostrander's writing. This was pretty good.

A few movies this week, and a correction:

Last week I identified Mystery Science Theater 3000: Gamera vs. Barugon as being from Dave's collection. That was wrong. It's one of Teena's. I regret the error. (MST3K: Robot Monster from a while back, is from Dave's collection, though.)

MST3K: Time of the Apes.
MST3K: Rocket Attack U.S.A..
The Film Crew: Wild Women of Wongo.

2009-05-31T18:30:00.000-07:00

Back On Track

Two weeks in a row. Maybe I'll be able to maintain my schedule for a while.

Essential Uncanny X-Men, vol. 1 by Stan Lee, Roy Thomas, Jack Kirby, & Werner Roth. Not Stan & Jack's best work, but entertaining enough. I have to say that I didn't particularly care for the issues that Roy Thomas wrote.
Secret Invasion by Brian Michael Bendis & Leinil Yu. (Checked out of the library.)
20th Century Boys, vol. 2: The Prophet by Naoki Urasawa. I'm really impressed with this series and am looking forward to reading more volumes as they are released.
Humbug, vol. 1 by Harvey Kurtzman, et al. A collection of a humor magazine from the legendary creator of Mad. (Library.)
Hikaru no Go, vol. 15: Sayonara by Yumi Hotta & Takeshi Obata. More manga about Go.
The Eternal Smile by Gene Luen Yang & Derek Kirk Kim. Three great stories. (Borrowed from Teena.)
The Mighty Avengers, vol. 4: Secret Invasion, book 2 by Brian Michael Bendis, Khoi Pham, et al. (Library.)

And now for the movies I've watched in the past few weeks.

Doctor Who: The Armageddon Factor. Finale of the Key of Time storyline.
Mystery Science Theater 3000: Gamera vs. Barugon. Thanks to Dave for providing the tape to this episode.
MST3K: Lost Continent. Two words: Rock climbing.
Iron Man.
Firefly. Teena's father really enjoyed watching this series with us.
Serenity.
The African Queen.
MST3K: Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster. Another episode courtesy of Dave.
Up. Pixar does it again. Absolutely amazing. Go see this movie. Go see it now. Very touching.

2009-05-24T15:39:00.001-07:00

We Apologize for the Interruption in Service

Having a house guest for two & a half weeks throws routines into disarray. But I'm back now, and I've got a lot of catching up to do.

Countdown to Final Crisis, vol. 2 by Paul Dini, et al. This got pretty tedious. The stories didn't really progress at all in this volume. (Checked out of the library.)
Hal Spacejock by Simon Hayes. Humorous science fiction from an Australian author. Not bad, but not really worth the extra cost that comes with being an import.
Black Jack, vol. 4 by Osamu Tezuka. More medical manga.
Jack of Fables, vol. 5: Turning Pages by Bill Willingham, Matthew Sturges, Russ Braun, & Tony Atkins. Still enjoying this.
Eyebeam: Render unto Peaches by Sam Hurt.
Superman: Brainiac by Geoff Johns & Gary Frank. (Library.)
Stephen King's The Stand: Captain Trips adapted by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa & Mike Perkins. I haven't read the original, but I quite liked this, and Teena (who is a big Stephen King fan) says it looks amazingly like what she pictures when she reads the novel. (Borrowed from Teena.)
Countdown to Final Crisis, vol. 3 by Paul Dini, et al. The stories pick up again in this volume. (Library.)
The Savage Sword of Conan, vol. 2 by Roy Thomas, John Buscema, et al.
Essential Spider-Man, vol. 4 by Stan Lee & John Romita. These stories are remarkably good. Really, I think the only stumbling blocks are when Lee tries to depict youth culture. Solid super-heroics.
Secret Identity: The Fetish Art of Superman's Co-Creator, Joe Shuster. The title pretty much says it all.
Jurgen by James Branch Cabell. I don't know if I got this, when I first read this book, around 15 years ago, but this fantasy novel seems to be an extended metaphor for a mid-life crisis.
Notes on Jurgen by James P. Cover. Notes on the mythological allusions in Jurgen. Also, the references to Cabell's other works.
Johnny Boo: Twinkle Power by Jame Kochalka. Kid's comics. (Borrowed from Teena's classroom.)
She-Hulk, vol. 8: Secret Invasion by Peter David, Vincenzo Cucca, & Larry Strohman.
X-Men First Class: The Wonder Years by Jeff Parker, Roger Cruz, et al. (Library.)
Knights of the Dinner Table Bundle of Trouble, vol. 24 by Jolly Blackburn, et al.
Freakangels, vol. 2 by Warren Ellis & Paul Duffield. I continue to enjoy the webcomic and will be buying collections as long as they keep publishing them.
Infinity Inc., vol. 2: The Bogeyman by Peter Milligan, Dom Regan, & Pete Woods. I started out buying the individual isues of this series, but it didn't grab me. But I did want to see where things went after I stopped reading. (Library.)
The Question, vol. 4: Welcome to Oz by Dennis O'Neil & Denys Cowan. This doesn't feel as exciting as it did when the issues collected here were first published, but that's because in the 80s, this was ground-breaking work. Now that it's twenty years later, I've seen stuff like this before. Still pretty damn good, though.
FX by Wayne Osborne & John Byrne. (Library.)
Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 8, vol. 4: Time of Your Life by Joss Whedon, Karl Moline, et al.
Blazing Combat by Archie Goodwin, et al. Some fantastic war comics from the mid-60's, including some amazing art by Gene Colan, Alex Toth, John Severin, Al Williamson, and others.
The Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service, vol. 8 by Eiji Otsuka & Housui Yamazaki. (Library.)
Booster Gold, vol. 2: 52 Pick-Up by Geoff Johns, Jeff Katz, & Dan Jurgens. (Library.)
Spider-Man 2099, vol. 1 by Peter David & Rick Leonardi.
MPD Psycho, vol. 6 by Eiji Otsuka & Sho-U Tajima. (Library.)
Manhunter, vol. 5: Forgotten by Marc Andreyko, Michael Gaydos, et al. The final volume of this series. I'm sorry it's gone, but it did get a longer run than a lot of comics do.
Fallen Angel, vol. 6: Cities of Light and Dark by Peter David & J.K. Woodward. This pretty much has to be the final volume of this series unless it moves in a drastically different direction.
20th Century Boys, vol. 1: Friends by Naoki Urasawa. I was really impressed with this manga about a group of childhood friends & their lives as adults. I will definitely be buying this series as it comes out. There is some real emotion in this story. (Library.)
Creepy Archives, vol. 2 by various. More horror comics. (Library.)
Showcase Presents Superman Family, vol. 3 by various. Awesomely stupid comics featuring Jimmy Olsen & Lois Lane.
MPD Psycho, vol. 7 by Eiji Otsuka & Sho-U Tajima. (Library.)
Bite Me!: A Vampire Farce by Dylan Meconis. Collection of a webcomic about vampires during the French Revolution. I have to say that for the most part the humor didn't work for me.
Silver Surfer: Requiem by J. Michael Straczynski & Esad Ribic. Pretty good story about the death of the Silver Surfer. I'm assuming this was never intended to be a part of continuity. Even if it was, it'll be undone pretty damn quick (if it hasn't been already). (Library.)
Kaput & Zosky by Lewis Trondheim. (Library.)
Tiger! Tiger! Tiger! by Scott Morse. (Library.)

I'll catch up on movies next time.

2009-04-26T16:48:00.000-07:00

Back on Track

Still no Amazon links. I'm not convinced it was an innocent mistake. Plus, allowing Amazon to become a monopoly is not a good thing.

Superman: Camelot Falls, vol. 1 by Kurt Busiek & Carlos Pacheco. Read this a while ago, but it took volume 2 long enough to come out that I decided to reread this first. (Checked out of the library.)
Creepy Archives, vol. 1 by Archie Goodwin, et al. Horror comics in the EC tradition. Pretty formulaic, but well constructed stories. Plus some fantastic art. (Library.)
Necronomicon by William Messner-Loebs & Andrew Ritchie. More Lovecraftian than most comics inspired than HPL. And it's written by a comic creator who deserves to get more work.
Templar, Arizona, vol. 1: The Great Outdoors by Spike. I picked up this web comic collection at this year's Stumptown Comics Fest. I liked this, and it seems to have promise, but there's not actually a lot going on in this volume. It's scene-setting, not story. I need to read more to really form an opinion. Fortunately, you can read it online for free!
Superman: Camelot Falls, vol. 2 by Kurt Busiek, Carlos Pacheco, & Jesus Merino. And here's the second volume. I like the concept here: That civilization naturally rises & falls, and Superman, being an alien, has unnaturally forestalled the next fall. And by doing so, the force behind that fall is growing so that when the next dark age comes, it will be so dark that humanity will be destroyed. (Library.)
Showcase Presents: Ambush Bug by Keith Giffen and Robert Loren Fleming. Silly, silly comics. Lots of goofiness.
Sandman Mystery Theatre, vol. 7: The Mist & The Phantom of the Fair by Matt Wagner, Steven T. Seagle, & Guy Davis. More great comics about the Golden Age Sandman.
Ars Magica: Realms of Power: Faerie by Eric Dahl, Timothy Ferguson, & Mark Shirley. Michael's running an Ars Magica campaign, and I'm playing a magus from House Merinita, so I'm reading up on their specialty: faerie.
Choice Comix: Sid Love by Terry Toledo. Another Stumptown purchase. Choose your own adventure. This has an interesting twist in that certain choices give you "audio endings." You can go online & listen to a song about that ending. Or something. I haven't actually done it, so I don't know for certain. I guess I should bring the book to the computer & look up the URL.
Starman Omnibus, vol. 2 by James Robinson, Tony Harris, et al. Yay! Another big collection of the best superhero comic of the 90s. And this edition includes all the issues, short stories featuring supporting characters, and the prose stories from the letters page.
Air, vol. 1: Letters from Lost Countries by G. Willow Wilson & M.K. Perker. Magical realism (sort of) & an acrophobic flight attendant.
Eyebeam: Teetering on the Blink by Sam Hurt. The high level of surrealism may be why this comic strip never really took off. I like it, though.

And a few movies:

Doctor Who: The Stones of Blood.
Doctor Who: The Androids of Tara. An awful lot of Doctor Who adventures are titled "The X of Y", and Y very often is something like "death" or "blood."
Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Beginning of the End.
MST3K: Robot Monster. Oh, this is an awful movie, even for MST3K.

2009-04-19T21:51:00.000-07:00

Another Skipped Week

Distracted by The Legend of Zelda: The Phantom Hourglass (I finally started playing it again), I didn't leave time enough for updating. I didn't get much read anyway. See you next week.

2009-04-14T09:30:00.000-07:00

Surprise!

A day sick at home means I get to update sooner than I expected.

(No Amazon links this time, or in the future unless they fix the ranking fiasco. See here for an explanation of the situation if you are unfamiliar with the situation.)

Why I Killed Peter by Olivier Ka & Alfred. Autobiographical (semi?) comic about the writer's childhood, when he was molested by a priest. (Checked out of the library.)
Danger Unlimited by John Byrne. This holds up pretty well. It's a shame Byrne didn't continue it. (I assume the problem was low sales, not a lack of interest on his part.)
Wolverine: Logan by Brian K. Vaughan & Eduardo Risso. Pretty good story, but much too expensive. There's no way the collection for a three-issue series should cost $20, not even if it is a hardcover. Not when the issues were the Marvel-standard 22 pages long. (Library.)
Emma, vol. 8 by Kaoru Mori. The main character's story reached her "happily ever after" in volume 7, but the creator is obsessed with Victorian England, and she continues to write & draw stories about the supporting characters.
New Mutants Classic, vol. 4 by Chris Claremont, Bill Sienkiewicz, & Steve Leialoha. Some fantastic art, but Claremont's writing quirks are on full display here. Oh, the angst!
Countdown to Final Crisis, vol. 1 by Paul Dini, et al. I know the DC editors didn't do their job, and this story has nothing to do with Final Crisis. And I've heard that the whole thing is pretty much a train-wreck. But I had to see it for myself. (Library.)
Madame Mirage by Paul Dini & Kenneth Rocofort. Anatomically improbable cheesecake art and a fairly standard revenge story. (Library.)
Sardine in Outer Space, vol. 1 by Emmanuel Guibert & Joann Sfar. Cute kid's comic. (Library.)
The Death of Captain America, vol. 3: The Man Who Bought America by Ed Brubaker & Steve Epting. This is still great.
Narbonic, vol. 6 by Shaenon Garrity. The final volume of the fantastic web comic. It's amazing how far in advance Garrity planned out this comic and how many little details pay off months & years after they were introduced. I'm looking forward to seeing her at Stumptown this weekend and telling her how much I like her work.
Little Nothings, vol. 2: The Prisoner Syndrome by Lewis Trondheim. A collection of Trondheim's blog sketches. Little slices of life, often quite funny. If I could read French, I would read them as he posts them. (Library.)
Powers, vol. 12: The 25 Greatest Dead Superheroes of All Time by Brian Michael Bendis & Michael Avon Oeming. Still going strong.

A couple of movies since last time:

Mystery Science Theater 3000: Warrior of the Lost World.
MST3K: Outlaw.

Chances are a lot of MST3K movies will be showing up here in the near future. Right now we've got a device that can copy from VHS tapes to DVDs, so we're making the most of it & converting the MST3K episodes Teena taped off the TV.

2009-04-12T21:21:00.000-07:00

And the Streak Is Broken

Easter & family commitments kept me from updating today. See you next week.

2009-04-05T16:55:00.000-07:00

This Is Getting to Be a Habit

I'm sure I'll break my streak soon enough, but here we go with my fourth on-time update in a row.

Myth-Taken Identity by Robert Aspirin & Judy Lynn Nye. I remember enjoying the early Myth Adventures books quite a lot. This was disappointing. Not really bad, but not nearly as funny as I remember the others being, and the plotting was pretty week.
Pluto: Urasawa X Tezuka 002 by Naoki Urasawa. The second volume holds up to the first. I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the series as it is released in English.
Green Lantern: Secret Origin by Geoff Johns & Ivan Reis. Expansion & retelling of Hal Jordan's secret origin & planting seeds for Johns' next big Green Lantern event. (Checked out of the library.)
Conan: The Blood-Stained Crown and Other Stories. By Kurt Busiek, et al. More Conan comics. (Library.)
She-Hulk, vol. 6: Jaded by Peter David & Shawn Moll. I wasn't sure I was going to buy the collections of Peter David's run on She-Hulk, but when I checked this out of the library a while back, I decided I would start picking them up.
She-Hulk, vol. 7: Here Today... by Peter David & Val Semeiks. And here's the second collection.
Cthulhu Tales, vol. 2: The Whisper of Madness by various. Pretty good horror stories. (Library.)
Anna Mercury, vol. 1: The Cutter by Warren Ellis & Facundo Percio. Big, over-the-top action.
Narbonic, vol. 4 by Shaenon Garrity.
Justice League International, vol. 1 by Keith Giffen, J.M. DeMatteis, & Kevin Maguire. Fun super-heroics. One of the bright spots from DC in the 80's.
Bookhunter by Jason Shiga. The adventures of the Library Police in Oakland in 1973.
Narbonic, vol. 5 by Shaenon Garrity. I got through two volumes this week. Only one to go.

Movies & DVDs

Doctor Who: The Ribos Operation. The first adventure of the Key to Time story arc.
Doctor Who: The Pirate Planet. Part two. Written by Douglas Adams, and bits of his humor made it through to the final version, despite massive cuts to the script.

2009-03-29T18:08:00.000-07:00

Third Week Running!

The New Avengers, vol. 8: Secret Invasion, Bk. 1 by Brian Michael Bendis, et al. Keeping up to date (sort of) with events in the Marvel Universe. (Checked out of the library.)
The Rabbi's Cat 2 by Joann Sfar. I picked this up a while ago, but I didn't read it right away for some reason, and I am at a loss as to what that reason is. Because this is just as great as the first book. Very human. Plus, this volume has a cameo appearance by Tin Tin!
Green Lantern: In Brightest Day: Tales of the Green Lantern Corps by various. (Library.)
Light of Thy Countenance by Alan Moore, Antony Johnston, & Felipe Massafera. Television considered as a god.
Showcase Presents: Strange Adventures, vol. 1 by various. Science fiction comics from the 50's. Most of the stories involve alien invasion. And in half of the invasion stories, the aliens are trying to trick the humans because our atomic weapons pose a threat to them. In the other half, our arsenal is no match for the aliens' superior firepower, and we need to trick them. It happens so often I have to wonder if the writers were aware of the Cold War fears playing out in their stories.
Ted McKeever Library, Bk. 2: Eddy Current. Oddball stuff, but I liked it. (Library.)
Grendel: Devil's Reign by Matt Wagner & Tim Sale. Wagner used radically different styles for each Grendel storyline. This one takes the form of a history/political biography of a man who becomes emperor of the world. Well-done, but not exactly gripping storytelling.
Aces: Curse of the Red Baron by Shannon Eric Denton, G. Willow Wilson, & Curtis Square Briggs. Pretty good adventure story that could have used a proofreader. (Library.)
Little White Mouse Omnibus by Paul Sizer. Great science fiction story about a teenage girl stuck on an automated mining outpost in deep space. One of the things I especially like about it is that Loo's family gets along. Memories of her family are a source of strength for Loo, not a source of angst. And that's just refreshing.
Batman: Private Casebook by Paul Dini & Dustin Nguyen. Pretty good. (Library.)
Narbonic, vol. 3 by Shaenon Garrity. It's taking be about a week to get through each volume (each one of which collects about a year of the webcomic).

Couple of movies:

Cinematic Titanic: Blood of the Vampires. The latest riff on a bad movie from the creator and most of the stars of Mystery Science Theater 3000.
Every Which Way But Loose. Clint Eastwood & an orangutan.

2009-03-22T17:25:00.000-07:00

Wow. Two Updates in Two Weeks.

Essential Fantastic Four, vol. 3 by Stan Lee & Jack Kirby. There are some great comics here, including the introduction of the Inhumans and the Black Panther's first appearance, not to mention the Galactus & the Silver Surfer.
Fall of Cthulhu, vol. 2: The Gathering by Michael Alan Nelson, et al. All the stories in this book are creepy, but only the first one seems particularly Lovecraftian. (Checked out of the library.)
Beanworld, vol. 1: Wahoolazuma! by Larry Marder. Yay! Beanworld is back in print! This is cause for celebration. As the tagline says, it is a most peculiar comic book experience, but it's a wonderful one.
St. Trinian's: The Entire Appalling Business by Ronald Searle. Cartoons about a girl's boarding school. (Library.)
Un-Men, vol. 1: Get Your Freak On! by John Whalen & Mike Hawthorne. Meh. (Library.)
Spider-Man: The Other - Evolve or Die by various. Gee, all the changes to Spider-Man that came out of this cross-over event are all gone, some of them even disappeared before the next Spider-Man cross-over event.
The Invincible Iron Man, vol. 1: The Five Nightmares by Matt Fraction & Salvador Larroca. Does a lot to make Iron Man more sympathetic after the way he was portrayed in Civil War. (Library.)
Star Trek: Assignment Earth by John Byrne. Remember that episode in the original Star Trek series where they go back to the 1960's, and it was intended as a pilot for a spin-off series? Teri Garr was a guest star in the episode. Anyway, this comic is about the (non-existent) spin-off. (Library.)
Flight, vol. 3 by various. Another excellent volume in the anthology series. (Borrowed from Teena.)
Conan, vol. 4: The Hall of the Dead and Other Stories by various. Working my way through this series.
Fall of Cthulhu, vol. 3: The Gray Man by Michael Alan Nelson & Mateus Santolouco. Again, a good horror story, but forces of evil at work here seem entirely too comprehensible for this to be very Lovecraftian. (Library.)
Myth Adventures! by Robert Asprin & Phil Foglio. Comics adaptation of the first of Asprin's humorous fantasy novels.
Pluto: Urasawa X Texuka 001 by Naoki Urasawa. A reimagining of an Astro Boy story. I have to say I am extremely impressed by this first volume. Gorgeous artwork and a story full of depth.
Superman: Kryptonite by Darwyn Cooke & Tim Sale. A pretty good story with some fantastic artwork. (Library.)
Narbonic, vol. 2 by Shaenon Garrity. Working my way through this series again.

Just one movie this week:

The Man Who Knew Too Much. The 1956 version with Jimmy Stewart.

2009-03-15T13:15:00.000-07:00

I'm Back

Hikaru no Go, vol. 14: Sai vs. Toya Koyo by Yumi Hotta & Takeshi Obata. Still enjoying this.
The Vinyl Underground, vol. 1: Watching the Detectives by Si Spencer & Simon Gene. Pretty good story about occult detectives. (Checked out of the library.)
The Pinhoe Egg by Diana Wynne Jones. Another great fantasy novel from Jones. One thing I like about her work is that, unlike in most fiction for kids, the bad guys in her stories are bad in the ways that real people are: they're selfish, greedy, and short-sighted, not cackling maniacs.
Pocket Full of Rain & Other Stories by Jason. Early work from the Norwegian cartoonist. (Library.)
Godchild, vol. 1 by Kaori Yuki. I didn't care for this. Too gothy & it felt rather Mary-Jane-ish. (Library.)
Tiny Titans, vol. 1: Welcome to the Treehouse by Art Baltazar & Franco. Cute, cute versions of the Teen Titans. (Borrowed from Teena's classroom.)
Scott Pilgrim, vol. 5: Scott Pilgrim vs. the Universe by Bryan Lee O'Malley. The latest volume of this fun series.
Marvel Adventures Avengers, vol. 9: The New Recruits by Paul Tobin, Ig Guara, et al.
Skrulls vs. Power Pack by Fred Van Lente & Cory Hamscher.
Alan Moore's The Courtyard by Alan Moore, Antony Johnston, & Jacen Burrows. New, color edition of the adaptation of a Lovecraftian story by Moore.
Conan: Book of Thoth by Kurt Busiek, Len Wein, & Kelley Jones. Back story for a major Conan villain. (Library.)
Vigilante: City Lights, Prairie Justice by James Robinson & Tony Salmons. Nice to see some of Robinson's older work being reprinted.
Wonder Woman: Who Is Wonder Woman? by Allan Heinberg, Terry & Rachel Dodson. I like Heinberg's comics writing, but he seems unable to meet a deadline. When this was originally published, issues were months late. It reads much better all together.
Cruel and Unusual by Jamie Delano, Tom Peyer, & John McCrea. Satirical look at the US prison system.
Cash and Carry by Tim Broderick. Thriller originally done as a web comic. I'm not sure I care for the art, but the story is good. (Library.)
DMZ, vol. 6: Blood in the Game by Brian Wood & Riccardo Burchielli. Still enjoying this quite a bit.
Streets of Glory by Garth Ennis & Mike Wolfer. Story about the fading days of the Old West.
Gargoyles: Clan-Building, vol. 1 by Greg Weisman, David Hedgecock, et al. New stories from the creator of the TV show.
Green Lantern: Wanted: Hal Jordan by Geoff Johns, Ivan Reis, & Daniel Acuna. (Library.)
All-Star Superman, vol. 1 by Grant Morrison & Frank Quitely. Had to re-read this because volume 2 just came out.
All-Star Superman, vol. 2 by Gran Morrison & Frank Quitely. Some of the absolute best Superman stories ever.
Silverfish by David Lapham. Crime story set in the 80s. (Library.)
Justice League of America, vol. 4: Sanctuary by Dwayne McDuffie, Alan Burnett, et al. (Library.)
Flight, vol. 2 by various. Great anthology. (Borrowed from Teena.)
Harley Quinn: Preludes & Knock-Knock Jokes by Karl Kesel, Terry & Rachel Dodson. Light-hearted stories about the Joker's girlfriend. (Library.)
The Mighty Avengers, vol. 3: Secret Invasion by Brian Michael Bendis, Alex Maleev, et al. Pretty good comics, but not much sign of the Avengers. (Library.)
Saga of the Swamp Thing, book 1 by Alan Moore, Stephen Bissette, & John Totleben. New edition of Moore's run on Swamp Thing, including his first issue, which has never been reprinted before (because it was all about tying up plot threads from the previous writer).
Conan, vol. 3: The Tower of the Elephant and Other Stories by Kurt Busiek & Cary Nord. (Library.)
Narbonic, vol. 1 by Shaenon Garrity. The final volume collecting this web comic was recently published, so I decided to work my way through the previous volumes.

A few movies since last time:

Guys and Dolls.
Futurama: Bender's Game. Up until the fantasy sequence (3/4 of the way through the movie), this had been the best of the direct to DVD Futurama releases. Then it just fell apart. But the first hour or so is great.
Watchmen. I've got mixed feelings about this. It looks fantastic, and does a good job adapting the central plot from the graphic novel (although I've got some problems with the changes to the end). But by leaving out the minor characters (which I know had to be done; the movie is plenty long as it is), the film misses the heart of the story. It's not quite all surface & no substance, but it's close.

2009-03-08T18:10:00.000-07:00

Excuses, Excuses, Excuses

My excuse for not updating today was going to be that I spent the afternoon & early evening seeing Watchmen, but that fell through. So it just comes down to laziness on my part.

2009-03-01T16:10:00.000-08:00

Catch-up Time

Cromartie High School, vol. 6 by Eiji Nonaka. Silliness (Checked out of the library.)
The Comics Cavalcade Archives, vol. 1 by various. Reprints of Golden Age comics. A really mixed bag, but the Wonder Woman stories were fun, especially the one where she (in her secret identity of Diana Prince), suspects a group of men are German spies (possibly because of their outrageous accents), so she tricks them into revealing themselves by saying "Heil Hitler!" They all automatically return the salute and then capture her. (She gets tied up an awful lot in these old stories.)
Hulk Visionaries: Peter David, vol. 6 by Peter David, Dale Keown, & Bill Jaaska. This is where David's run on The Hulk really comes into it's own. It has the first issues with all of Banner/The Hulk's personalities integrated into one.
Hulk: Heart of the Atom by various. Collection of stories spun out of the one issue of The Hulk that Harlan Ellison wrote. (Library.)
Batman: The Resurrection of Ra's Al Ghul by various. Pretty good Batman crossover event. (Library.)
Black Jack, vol. 3 by Osamu Tezuka. This volume contains the absolutely insane story where Black Jack operates on himself in the Australian outback while dingoes close in.
Graphic Classics, vol. 14: Gothic Classics by various. Comics adaptations of various gothic stories. The best are "Northanger Abbey" and "At the Gate". Library.
Jimmy Olsen Adventures, vol. 1 by Jack Kirby. Kirby's special brand of madness brought to Superman's pal.
Showcase Presents Superman, vol. 4 by various. More Silver Age wackiness, including a story where Superman deliberately exposes himself to red kryptonite so he can grow an ant's head. I love the Silver Age.
Watchmen by Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons. I decided I needed to reread this one last time before the movie comes out. I know the advance word has been positive, but I just can't help thinking that Snyder hasn't looked past the surface, and that the movie is going to be all style & no substance.
Conan, vol. 2: The God in the Bowl and Other Stories by Kurt Busiek & Cary Nord. (Library.)
Monster, vol. 18: Scenery for a Doomsday by Naoki Urasawa. The conclusion of this suspenseful series. (Library.)
Incredible Hercules: Secret Invasion by Greg Pak, Fred Van Lente, & Rafa Sandoval. (Library.)
Flight, vol. 1 by various. (Borrowed from Teena.)
The War at Ellsmere by Faith Erin Hicks. I quite enjoyed this story about a new student at a boarding school. (Library.)
Cromartie High School, vol. 7 by Eiji Nonaka. After seven volumes, I find the joke is wearing thin, but that may be because I read too many volumes too close together. (Library.)
Punisher War Journal, vol. 4: Jigsaw by Matt Fraction, Rick Remender, & Howard Chaykin. (Library.)
World of Warcraft, bk. 1 by Walter Simonson & Ludo Lullabi. Checked out because Simonson write it. Not his best work, but not his worst, either. However, I have to say that the art did not work for me. (Library.)
Rosario + Vampire, vol. 3: Trolls by Akihisa Ikeda. (Library.)
Speak of the Devil by Gilbert Hernandez. This just didn't really work for me. (Library.)

Only one movie since my last real update:

Mystery Science Theater 3000: Final Justice. Joe Don Baker as a Texas lawman hunting a Mafioso in Malta.

2009-02-22T21:31:00.000-08:00

Post Delayed On Account of Oscars

Somebody really, really needs to tell Nicole Kidman that she would look better if she dressed in dark colors.

2009-02-16T15:53:00.000-08:00

Celebrating George and Abe

As has become standard practice for three-day weekends, I'm updating on Monday rather than Sunday. (As you may have noticed.)

On to the books.

Teen Titans: Year One by Amy Wolfram & Karl Kerschl. Nice take on the early Titans from one of the cartoon series' writers. And I like the take on Aqua Lad, giving him the Innsmouth Look. (Checked out of the library.)
Marvel Adventures Spider-Man, Hulk, and Iron Man: Triple Threat by Paul Tobin & Alvin Lee. I absolutely love the idea that Klaw, Master of Sound, would go straight & form a country-western band.
Jack Kirby's The Demon. So happy that a lot of Kirby's work is finally being collected. Now if only there were affordable reprints of Kamandi.
Cromartie High School, vol. 5 by Eiji Nonaka. More absurdity at Japan's toughest high school. (Library.)
Notes Over Yonder by Scott Morse. Silent comic that doesn't really work. At least not for me. Beautiful art, though. (Library.)
The All New Atom: Small Wonder by Gail Simone, Rick Remender, Mike Norton, & Pat Olliffe. I really enjoyed the end of Simone's run, but did not like the beginning of Remender's. It lost all the charm it had and grimmed things up, not a move I approve of. (Library.)
Batman: The Man Who Laughs by Ed Brubaker, Dough Mahnke, & Patrick Zircher. The story of Batman's first meeting with the Joker. Because if there's any part of DC continuity that's under-explored, it's the early stages of Batman's career.
Doctor Who: Agent Provocateur by Gary Russell, et al. This could have been a pretty good story if the people involved had been better at using the comics medium to tell a story. (Library.)
Tamara Drewe by Posy Simmonds. This is great. It's a retelling/updating of Hardy's Far from the Madding Crowd done in comics format. I haven't read the original, but this is extremely well done. Wonderful. (Library.)
Journey, the Adventures of Wolverine McAlistaire, vol. 2 by William Messner-Loebs. The remainder of Messner-Loebs' story of life in the Northwest Territory in the early 19th century. So, so happy it has been collected.
Criminal, vol. 4: Bad Night by Ed Brubaker & Sean Phillips. The latest volume of Brubaker's & Phillips' noir comic. I don't know why I never really got into crime fiction, because I certainly love it when it's in comics form.
House of Mystery, vol. 1: Room and Boredom by Matthew Sturges, Lucca Rossi, Bill Willingham, et al. Pretty good, but I did find it annoying in places. It is not made clear to the reader if all the people you see in the House of Mystery are trapped there or just the main characters, and one of the characters spends too much time freaking out to listen to another character when they try to explain what's going on. Once would be fine, but it happens several times, and I just ended up thinking the first character was an idiot.
The Immortal Iron Fist, vol. 3: The Book of the Iron Fist by Matt Fraction, et al. More kung fu action. Lots of fun.

Movies:

Mystery Science Theater 3000: Manhunt in Space.
MST3K: Mad Monster. I am so happy Teena loves bad movies as much as I do.

2009-02-08T17:44:00.000-08:00

More Books, A Couple Movies

MPD Psycho, vol. 5 by Sho-u Tajima & Eiji Otsuka. More hints about the shadowy organization that seems to be behind the barcode killers. (Checked out of the library.)
Battlestar Galactica: Sagittarius Is Bleeding by Peter David. As I believe I've mentioned with Star Trek novels, I don't normally buy tv show tie-in books, but I make an exception for Peter David. Pretty good, but I find myself annoyed by a joke late in the book in which Adama says "It's a shame she won't live. But then again, who does?"
Hunter's Moon by James L. White, Dalibor Talajic & Sebastian Cardoso. Like many books from this publisher (Boom! Studios), this graphic novel appears to be a pitch for an action movie. (Library.)
World War Hulk by Greg Pak & John Romita Jr. Big, loud, comics. (Library.)
Rosario + Vampire, vol. 2: Witches by Akihisa Ikeda. I like the concept of a human stuck at a high school for monsters, but there's a bit too much fan service here for my taste. (Library.)
The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J.K. Rowling. More stuff from the world of Harry Potter, and for a good cause. (Borrowed from Teena.)
The All New Atom: Future/Past by Gail Simone, Mike Norton, & Eddy Barrows. I'm quite enjoying this (even if I'm getting the volumes out of sequence). (Library.)
Daredevil: Cruel and Unusual by Ed Brubaker, Greg Rucka, & Michael Lark. I enjoyed this more than the past two volumes, probably because it isn't about destroying the main character's life. (Library.)
Rex Mundi, book 5: The Valley at the End of the World by Arvid Nelson & Juan Ferreyra. Conspiracy, Merovingians, magic, and an alternate history. Very good. (Library.)
Grendel: Devil Child by Diana Shutz & Tim Sale. Disturbing.
Chronicles of Wormwood: The Last Enemy by Garth Ennis & Rob Steen. Over the top, as is not unusual for Ennis.
Wolverine: First Class: To Russia, With Love by Fred Van Lente, et al. A Wolverine comic I enjoy. That's pretty unusual. Fortunately, it doesn't take itself too seriously.
The Flash: Emergency Stop by Grant Morrison, Mark Millar, & Paul Ryan. Quite enjoyable.

Two movies this week.

Mystery Science Theater 3000: Soultaker. Starring Joe Estevez, who looks and sounds a lot like his brother, Martin.
Coraline. Impressive, particularly in 3D. Very good, too. I hope it does well.

2009-02-01T20:03:00.000-08:00

Superbowl Sunday

Not that I watched the Superbowl. I did watch the Puppy Bowl, though.

One-Pound Gospel, vol. 1 by Rumiko Takahashi.
One-Pound Gospel, vol. 2 by Rumiko Takahashi.
One-Pound Gospel, vol. 3 by Rumiko Takahashi.
One-Pound Gospel, vol. 4 by Rumiko Takahashi. Another romantic comedy from Takahashi. This time, the protagonists are a boxer who has trouble keeping his weight down and a novice nun. Cute, and it doesn't go on too long.
War Is Hell: The First Flight of the Phantom Eagle by Garth Ennis & Howard Chaykin. Another war comic from Ennis, this time dealing with WWI pilots. (Checked out of the library.)
The Programme, vol. 1 by Peter Milligan & C.P. Smith.
The Programme, vol. 2 by Peter Milligan & C.P. Smith. Super-powered beings as relics of the Cold War. The art is good, but doesn't do the best job of telling the story. Too often the characters weren't identified for the reader.
Mail, vol. 3 by Housui Yamazaki. When I started reading this series, I didn't realize it only ran 3 volumes. That's a shame, because I liked the stories about a detective who exorcises ghosts by shooting them. (Library.)
John Byrne's Compleat Next Men, vol. 2. Finishing out what may be Byrne's final good work.
Hulk: Giant Size by various.
Daredevil: Hell to Pay, vol. 1 by Ed Brubaker & Michael Lark. (Library.)
Daredevil: Hell to Pay, vol. 2 by Ed Brubaker, Michael Lark, & Paul Azaceta. Matt Murdock's life gets worse & worse (like always). (Library.)
Showcase Presents the War that Time Forgot by Robert Kanigher & Ross Andru. WWII soldiers vs. dinosaurs! How could that go wrong? By being basically the same story over & over again. (Library.)
Cairo: A Graphic Novel by G. Willow Wilson & M.K. Perker. Urban fantasy, but with a Middle Eastern flavor. I liked the hardback when I checked it out of the library a while back, so I picked up the paperback when it was published.

Didn't watch any movies this week.

2009-01-25T17:07:00.000-08:00

Catch-Up

I read quite a few books in the last two weeks, so time to get cracking.

The Miskatonic Project: The Whisperer in Darkness by H.P. Lovecraft, Mark Ellis, et al. An adaptation & expansion of Lovecraft's story.
Batman Black and White, vol. 3 by various. Collection of short Batman stories. The quality varies. (Checked out of the library.)
MPD Psycho, vol. 4 by Sho-u Tajima & Eiji Otsuka. This horror series is growing on me as it goes. (Library.)
Jack of Fables, vol. 4: Americana by Bill Willingham, Matthew Sturges, & Russ Braun. We finally get to see the American fable-land in this volume.
Charley's War: Return to the Front by Pat Mills & Joe Colquhoun. More well-researched comics about WWI. (Library.)
Astonishing X-Men, vol. 2 by Joss Whedon & John Cassaday. Whedon's run on X-Men wraps up.
Gimmick, vol. 3 by Youzaburo Kanari & Kuroko Yabaguchi. (Library.)
Legion of Super-Heroes: The More Things Change by Paul Levitz & Steve Lightle. I am happy to see Levitz's run on LSH collected, but I wish they'd started earlier in his run.
You'll All Be Sorry! by Gail Simone. A collection of Simone's humor columns from the days before she was a professional comic book writer.
Showcase Presents Supergirl, vol. 1 by various. I was annoyed that the final story in this volume, one that spanned five issues, was resolved by a deus (or rather, an imp) ex machina.
The Brave and the Bold, vol. 2: The Book of Destiny by Mark Waid, George Perez, & Jerry Ordway. Fun super-hero cross-overs. (Library.)
X-Factor, vol. 5: The Only Game in Town by Peter David, Pablo Raimondi, & Valentine DeLandro. I can't say I care for the art, but I do enjoy the writing.
Marvel Adventures Hulk, vol. 4: Tales to Astonish by Peter David & Juan Santacruz.
Thieves & Kings: Apprentices, Book 1 by Mark Oakley. Oakley has returned to comics, and I hope he keeps it up for a long time. I really enjoy his work, even if it sometimes does seem overly precious.
Mighty Avengers, vol. 2: Venom Bomb by Brian Michael Bendis & Mark Bagley. Still not terribly good, but I'm curious. (Library.)
The Flash: The Wild Wests by Mark Waid, Daniel Acuna, & Freddie Williams II. I liked this quite a bit. (Library.)
Serenity: Better Days by Joss Whedon, Brett Matthews, & Will Conrad. Set between Firefly and Serenity, this tells of a time when a heist goes right for Mal Reynolds and crew.
Booster Gold, vol. 2: Blue and Gold by Geoff Johns, Jeff Katz, & Dan Jurgens. Johns tends to be hit or miss for me, but this is definitely a hit. (Library.)
John Constantine, Hellblazer: The Gift by Mike Carey & Leonardo Manco. This wraps up Carey's run on Hellblazer.
Nemi by Lise Myhre. A goth-themed comic strip that is just as trite as any you'll find in any family newspaper. Not bad, but not exactly good, either. (Library.)
The Nightmare Factory: Based on the Stories of Thomas Ligotti by various. I've never heard of Ligotti before this, but these adaptations are pretty creepy. (Library.)
Madman Atomic Comics, vol. 1 by Mike Allred. I really enjoyed the early Madman stories, but the latest run just doesn't really work for me. It feels self-indulgent. (Library.)
B.P.R.D., vol. 9: 1946 by Joshua Dysart, Mike Migola, & Paul Azaceta. Man, this series just continues to impress. Creepy & scary, just what I want from a horror title.
Legion of Super-Heroes: Enemy Rising by Jim Shooter, Francis Manapul, et al. Shooter started his career in comics 40 years ago with the LSH. And he's doing a good job on his return to the franchise. (Library.)
The New Avengers, vol. 7: The Trust by Brian Michael Bendis & Leinil Yu. I just can't look away. (Library.)
Sharks Just Wanna Have Fun by Jim Toomey. (Borrowed from Teena.)
Rosario + Vampire, vol. 1: Vampires by Akihisa Ikeda. Another manga series. (Library.)
Doctor Who Classics, vol. 2 by Steve Moore, Pat Mills, John Wagner, & Dave Gibbons.
Ted McKeever Library Book 1: Transit, the Complete Series. This is from early in McKeever's career, and it shows. (Library.)
Fullmetal Alchemist, vol. 17 by Hiromu Arakawa. Still liking this.

And now, what I've been watching:

Avatar the Last Airbender, Book 3: Fire, vol. 4. The finale to this series. Teena & I both enjoyed this series quite a bit. I think it helped that the creators had a story to tell, and they told it, rather than dragging things out when it proved popular.
Cinematic Titanic: Frankenstein's Castle of Freaks. The jokes are funny, but the movies they've selected to mock are unpleasant enough that the jokes don't matter.
Iron Man. This movie doesn't bear thinking about too much, but it sure is fun.

2009-01-18T16:05:00.000-08:00

A Slight Delay

Rearranging furniture and organizing CDs and books today. Will update next week.

2009-01-11T16:09:00.001-08:00

Reading Resolution
In 2009, I will read at least one book a month that is not a graphic novel. Also, I will make a dent in the number of unread Essentials and Showcase Presents volumes I have. And, to stop falling months & months behind in listing the movies I've seen, I treat them like books & post about them each week.

Now on to the books I've read so far in 2009.

X-Men: Messiah Complex by various. It's an X-Men crossover. Not much more to be said. (Checked out of the library.)
Punisher, vol. 10: Valley Forge, Valley Forge by Garth Ennis & Goran Parlov. Another Punisher story from Ennis. (Library.)
MPD Psycho, vol. 3 by Sho-u Tajima & Eiji Otsuka. Disturbing but good. (Library.)
X-Men: Divided We Stand by Ed Brubaker & Mike Choi. I liked seeing hippie versions of the X-Men. (Library.)
Private Wars by Greg Rucka. The second novel featuring characters Rucka created for a comic book. Somewhat realistic spy-thriller. Very good.
Cat Eyed Boy, vol. 2 by Kazuo Umezu. Completely insane, but fascinating. (Library.)
Magic Trixie Sleeps Over by Jill Thompson. Adorable story about a young witch who tires of her bedtime routine and what she learns when she sleeps over at her friends' houses.
Scalped, vol. 3: Dead Mothers by Jason Aaron, R.M. Guero, et al. Noir story set on a reservation. (Library.)
Star Wars Legacy, vol. 4: Alliance by John Ostrander & Omar Francia. I continue to enjoy these stories set over 100 years after the movies.
Mail, vol. 2 by Housui Yamazaki. After only two volumes, the formula is clear: ghost shows up & menaces somebody, detective appears at the last minute and exorcises the ghost. But the stories are entertainingly told, so I'm not worried about the repetition. (Library.)
Tom Strong's Terrific Tales, Book 2 by Steve Moore, Alan Moore, et al. I didn't get this when it was first published because I was waiting for the paperback edition. By the time I finally accepted that there wouldn't be a paperback edition, the cloth was basically out of print. Fortunately, there are copies to be found at comics stores & the like.
The All New Atom: The Hunt for Ray Palmer by Gail Simone & Mike Norton. (Library.)
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Nunzio DeFilippis, Christina Weir, & Kevin Cornell. I haven't seen the movie, but I suspect it is quite a bit different from this graphic novel adaptation of Fitzgerald's story. (Borrowed from Teena.)
Empowered, vol. 4 by Adam Warren. There's a surprising amount of heart in this comic that started as a collection of cheesecake drawings.
PS238, vol. 6: Senseless Acts of Tourism by Aaron Williams. This series about a grade school for superpowered children is great. (Borrowed from Teena.)
Dan Dare by Garth Ennis & Gary Erskine. (Library.)

And now the movies (& DVDs) I finished watching since the beginning of the year:

The Muppet Show, Season 3. This season contains the Harry Belafonte episode, one of my favorites.
A History of Violence. We had had this on our DVR for over a year, and we finally got around to watching it last night. Very good.