Monday, August 31, 2009
Bad Monkeys: The 100-Page Check-In
I actually reached page 100 a while back and am well on my way towards 200. I didn't have time to write about it when I got there, but I certainly didn't want to hold up my reading until I found time to post. Bad Monkeys is way too good. Way too addictive.
I love to read, but I have to carve out small chunks of time each day to do it. If I try to read too much in a single day, I can't fit it into my schedule and end up not reading at all. So, I limit myself to about ten pages of prose a day. That usually gets me through a novel in about a month, which is way slow, but it's what I can do.
Most of the time, ten pages is more than enough anyway. I often have to force myself just to read those ten and I'm ready to put the book away when I get them done. That's not how reading is supposed to be. What it's supposed to be like is what I'm experiencing with Bad Monkeys where I get to the tenth page and then sneak another page or two just because I can't freaking stop. It's torture pacing myself on this book.
The story opens in a police interrogation room. A woman's been arrested for murder and - based on what she told the arresting detectives - a psychiatrist is trying to figure out if she's just nuts or actually a member of a secret, evil-fighting organization called Bad Monkeys. The entire story - so far, anyway - takes place in the interrogation room with Jane Charlotte telling her story.
You might think that sounds dull, but thanks to Ruff's voice and pacing, it's not. At all. Ever. Charlotte's narration is descriptive enough that it takes you out of the room and into the events she's describing. Ruff keeps the psychiatrist's questions from distracting us by simply inserting them in italics between Charlotte-paragraphs. The result is a fast, fun, engrossing read.
I was a little disappointed once when I thought that I'd figured out a plot development before I was supposed to. But a couple of pages later Ruff let me know that - no - I figured it out exactly when he wanted me to. I was still disappointed, but now it was in me for getting cocky.
Rating so far: Five out of five dead serial killers.
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Music Meme: 2002
Continuing my list of favorite albums from every year I've been alive.
2002
Johnny Cash: American IV: The Man Comes Around
I was still having a miserable time finding good, new music in 2002. Fortunately, there was Johnny Cash.
Runners Up:
Badly Drawn Boy: About a Boy Soundtrack
Singles:
Coldplay: "Clocks"
Coldplay: "In My Place"
Kylie Minogue: "Can't Get You Out of My Head"
Pink: "Don't Let Me Get Me"
Pink: "Get the Party Started"
2002
Johnny Cash: American IV: The Man Comes Around
I was still having a miserable time finding good, new music in 2002. Fortunately, there was Johnny Cash.
Runners Up:
Badly Drawn Boy: About a Boy Soundtrack
Singles:
Coldplay: "Clocks"
Coldplay: "In My Place"
Kylie Minogue: "Can't Get You Out of My Head"
Pink: "Don't Let Me Get Me"
Pink: "Get the Party Started"
Happy Frankenstein Day!
Happy Birthday, Mary Shelley! I'm glad you didn't listen to Neil Numberman (even if he has written a really cool, fun-looking picture book about it).
Saturday, August 29, 2009
And Now the News: One Dino-Flick; Hold the Grudge
Michael Crichton pirate movie
I didn't know that Michael Crichton finished a pirate novel before he died. I guess it takes Steven Spielberg's making a movie out of it for me to learn these things.
The He-Lion's Lair
Pappy's got the story.
The Asylum's The Land That Time Forgot
I've quit paying attention to new Asylum releases, no matter how awesome they sound on paper. That's because I know that even if there's a great story to the movie (unlikely), they'll ruin it with cheap (if any) special effects.
So, Robert Hood's talking about me (however indirectly) when he says that The Land That Time Forgot "will not be forgiven by many net-critics for being made by the notorious Asylum — but at the risk of sounding like an apologist for the company, I don’t think such an attitude is fair."
He goes on to point out that the Asylum's crappy effects are still better than the goofy puppets in the Doug McClure version and similar B-movies. And of course he's absolutely right. My big beef with the Asylum is that they tend to market themselves as something better than they are, but really once you know what they are you can't say anymore that they tricked you. The question then is: taken for what you know Asylum films are, is it possible to still enjoy them on their own merits?
Hood obviously thinks so. He recommends the movie for people who "like dino-flicks — and don’t carry grudges." I certainly like dinosaur movies; I'm curious to see if I can get past my grudge. I think I'll try The Land That Time Forgot with a more open mind and see how it goes.
Pixar's Dinosaur movie?
/Film speculates that Pixar is probably working on a dinosaur-themed short film. They have to connect a lot of dots to come up with that, but it's some really strong dot-connecting. I wouldn't bet against them.
Diamond Bomb
Sleestak's having a lot of fun creating his own pulp heroine called Diamond Bomb. I love the world he's building for her and the art he's collected to support the illusion is fantastic.
The Anchor interview
My fellow Robot 6 member Tim O'Shea talks to Phil Hester about his new immortal-Viking demon-hunter series.
Sword of Shannara newspaper strip
Like Tom Spurgeon, I had no idea that there'd ever been a Sword of Shannara newspaper strip. Fortunately, Steven Thompson's got them all and is willing to share.
The Unauthorized but True Story of Adventures of Superman
If you pay constant attention to my sidebar (and why wouldn't you?) you've maybe noticed that I've been watching the old Adventures of Superman series off and on for a while. It's mostly cheesy and formulaic, but there's such love in it from everyone involved that you can't help but feel good while watching it. And some of the episodes are actually quite entertaining even from an objective point-of-view.
So it's cool that Tim O'Shea had another interview this week with Michael J. Hayde, author of a book about not only the George Reeves TV show, but also the radio program that preceded it. I want to know more about the TV show and I know nothing about the radio version, so I'll be needing this book.
No more Milestone at DC?
This is really, really disappointing.
I've been resisting talking about this.
I mean, a) it's hardly an adventure comic, and b) it's nothing more than a publicity stunt that - because it's set in the future - doesn't actually affect the status quo of Archie's never-changing world at all.
So, why am I discussing it now? Mainly because Glen Weldon's article about Imaginary Stories in general has helped me put the "event" in perspective. Since Archie's world really is never going to change - and he's never going to pick between Betty and Veronica - why not do a speculative story about what would happen if he did? This one happens to be about what would happen if he picked Veronica. I'd be shocked if they aren't already planning a second mini-series about what happens if he picks Betty. I'd rather read the Betty one, but since an in-continuity decision is impossible, I'm actually kind of pleased that they've come up with an alternative way of telling that story.
I didn't know that Michael Crichton finished a pirate novel before he died. I guess it takes Steven Spielberg's making a movie out of it for me to learn these things.
The He-Lion's Lair
Pappy's got the story.
The Asylum's The Land That Time Forgot
I've quit paying attention to new Asylum releases, no matter how awesome they sound on paper. That's because I know that even if there's a great story to the movie (unlikely), they'll ruin it with cheap (if any) special effects.
So, Robert Hood's talking about me (however indirectly) when he says that The Land That Time Forgot "will not be forgiven by many net-critics for being made by the notorious Asylum — but at the risk of sounding like an apologist for the company, I don’t think such an attitude is fair."
He goes on to point out that the Asylum's crappy effects are still better than the goofy puppets in the Doug McClure version and similar B-movies. And of course he's absolutely right. My big beef with the Asylum is that they tend to market themselves as something better than they are, but really once you know what they are you can't say anymore that they tricked you. The question then is: taken for what you know Asylum films are, is it possible to still enjoy them on their own merits?
Hood obviously thinks so. He recommends the movie for people who "like dino-flicks — and don’t carry grudges." I certainly like dinosaur movies; I'm curious to see if I can get past my grudge. I think I'll try The Land That Time Forgot with a more open mind and see how it goes.
Pixar's Dinosaur movie?
/Film speculates that Pixar is probably working on a dinosaur-themed short film. They have to connect a lot of dots to come up with that, but it's some really strong dot-connecting. I wouldn't bet against them.
Diamond Bomb
Sleestak's having a lot of fun creating his own pulp heroine called Diamond Bomb. I love the world he's building for her and the art he's collected to support the illusion is fantastic.
The Anchor interview
My fellow Robot 6 member Tim O'Shea talks to Phil Hester about his new immortal-Viking demon-hunter series.
Sword of Shannara newspaper strip
Like Tom Spurgeon, I had no idea that there'd ever been a Sword of Shannara newspaper strip. Fortunately, Steven Thompson's got them all and is willing to share.
The Unauthorized but True Story of Adventures of Superman
If you pay constant attention to my sidebar (and why wouldn't you?) you've maybe noticed that I've been watching the old Adventures of Superman series off and on for a while. It's mostly cheesy and formulaic, but there's such love in it from everyone involved that you can't help but feel good while watching it. And some of the episodes are actually quite entertaining even from an objective point-of-view.
So it's cool that Tim O'Shea had another interview this week with Michael J. Hayde, author of a book about not only the George Reeves TV show, but also the radio program that preceded it. I want to know more about the TV show and I know nothing about the radio version, so I'll be needing this book.
No more Milestone at DC?
This is really, really disappointing.
I've been resisting talking about this.
I mean, a) it's hardly an adventure comic, and b) it's nothing more than a publicity stunt that - because it's set in the future - doesn't actually affect the status quo of Archie's never-changing world at all.
So, why am I discussing it now? Mainly because Glen Weldon's article about Imaginary Stories in general has helped me put the "event" in perspective. Since Archie's world really is never going to change - and he's never going to pick between Betty and Veronica - why not do a speculative story about what would happen if he did? This one happens to be about what would happen if he picked Veronica. I'd be shocked if they aren't already planning a second mini-series about what happens if he picks Betty. I'd rather read the Betty one, but since an in-continuity decision is impossible, I'm actually kind of pleased that they've come up with an alternative way of telling that story.
Quotes of the Week: A Work of Genius
Julia describes the perfect poached egg as an oval, where the white nicely encapsulates the yolk, and she seems to envision a sort of smooth presentation, without any ... well, without any of what is going on with this particular egg, as far as looking like a wadded-up Kleenex.
--Linda Holmes, sharing her own experience with Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking. With pictures.
You know, if they can publish Galactica 1980 comics, you'd think my Q.E.D. pitch would at least merit a response.
--Tom Spurgeon, surprising me with the revelation that I'm not the only person who remembers that show.
People invest a lot of time trying to make a layout for their ships that they think is a work of genius, then express dismay when their tactic of bunching all their ships in the upper-right hand corner leads to total annihilation.
--Topless Robot, accurately describing every experience I've ever had playing Battleship.
Saturday Night Art Show: Her Toxic Terror
Vikings
By Warden Wood. [Galactic Central]
Shark
By Sam Nielson. [Avalanche Software Art Blog]
Jules Verne
By Ted McKeever. [Hey, Oscar Wilde! It's Clobberin' Time!]
Unused Incredibles Villain
By Lou Romano. [Admiral Calvin]
Marooned Under the Sea
By HW Wesso. [Poulpe Pulps]
Yuki 7 in The Pinch of Salt
By Bob MacNeil. [One of many awesome Yuki 7 illustrations at Kevin Dart's blog]
Black Canary
By Mahmud Asrar.
By Justin Coffee. [Comic Books!]
By George Perez. [All About George Perez]
Poison Ivy
By Jason Lysinger. [DrawerGeeks]
Hulk Geo
By Jamie Roberts [Kirby-Vision]
The Human Bat v. the Robot Gangster
By - as near as I can tell - RS Davies. [American Pulps & Magazines]
I Just Want a Glazed
By Jeremy Vanhoozer.
The Galaxy's Greatest Comic Magazine!
By Otis Frampton. As I commented on Otis' blog, I never noticed before how closely the original Star Wars heroes match up with the Fantastic Four. There's the hero, his girlfriend who becomes his wife, her impetuous brother, and the hero's monstrous-looking best bud. Pretty cool.
By Warden Wood. [Galactic Central]
Shark
By Sam Nielson. [Avalanche Software Art Blog]
Jules Verne
By Ted McKeever. [Hey, Oscar Wilde! It's Clobberin' Time!]
Unused Incredibles Villain
By Lou Romano. [Admiral Calvin]
Marooned Under the Sea
By HW Wesso. [Poulpe Pulps]
Yuki 7 in The Pinch of Salt
By Bob MacNeil. [One of many awesome Yuki 7 illustrations at Kevin Dart's blog]
Black Canary
By Mahmud Asrar.
By Justin Coffee. [Comic Books!]
By George Perez. [All About George Perez]
Poison Ivy
By Jason Lysinger. [DrawerGeeks]
Hulk Geo
By Jamie Roberts [Kirby-Vision]
The Human Bat v. the Robot Gangster
By - as near as I can tell - RS Davies. [American Pulps & Magazines]
I Just Want a Glazed
By Jeremy Vanhoozer.
The Galaxy's Greatest Comic Magazine!
By Otis Frampton. As I commented on Otis' blog, I never noticed before how closely the original Star Wars heroes match up with the Fantastic Four. There's the hero, his girlfriend who becomes his wife, her impetuous brother, and the hero's monstrous-looking best bud. Pretty cool.
Friday, August 28, 2009
And Now the News: I refuse to be beaten by a villain named after a pastry (or, the 2000th post)
This, ladies and gentlemen, is the 2000th time I've updated this blog. I wouldn't know how to celebrate that if I wanted to, but I figured it needed at least acknowledging.
Hunter's Fortune preview
CBR's got a preview of Boom!'s treasure-hunter comic Hunter's Fortune. There's not much action in the preview, but Caleb Monroe writes some nice dialogue and the art's really sweet. I was hoping this would be good and sure enough, it looks like it will be.
Kerry Callen's Tigra
I've said before that Kerry Callen ought to be writing a Tigra comic. Now he's given us a taste of what that might be like. (Maybe not an accurate taste - he wrote it as a She-Hulk parody for Marvel's humor comic What the--? - but a fun taste nevertheless.)
Midnight, Mass: The TV Series
I think I've also mentioned before that John Rozum is like the king of supernatural adventure comics, right? Part of my evidence for that being his couple of excellent, though poorly-treated-by-Vertigo Midnight, Mass mini-series. So, can you imagine how excited I am about the announcement of a Midnight, Mass TV show? I don't think you can. I'm still trying to get my head around the concept of that much giddiness myself.
Everything you need to know about Love and Rockets
The Hernandez Bros.' Love and Rockets is one of those series that everyone says is a fantastic Must Read, but that I've never figured out how to get into. For years, the un-numbered, collected volumes prevented me from knowing where to begin.
No excuses anymore. Chris Mautner has started a new Robot 6 column called Comics College that's intended to "(examine) the body of work of a particular cartoonist or cartoonists of note in the hopes of giving newcomers and the generally uninitiated an entry point." As Chris continues, "There are a number of notable creators who have had lengthy careers in comics and figuring out where to start when reading their ouevre can be tricky." That's so true, and what's especially cool is that he started with the series that's been most tricky for me personally. And I didn't even have to ask.
Thanks, Chris! I can't wait for future installments.
Hunter's Fortune preview
CBR's got a preview of Boom!'s treasure-hunter comic Hunter's Fortune. There's not much action in the preview, but Caleb Monroe writes some nice dialogue and the art's really sweet. I was hoping this would be good and sure enough, it looks like it will be.
Kerry Callen's Tigra
I've said before that Kerry Callen ought to be writing a Tigra comic. Now he's given us a taste of what that might be like. (Maybe not an accurate taste - he wrote it as a She-Hulk parody for Marvel's humor comic What the--? - but a fun taste nevertheless.)
Midnight, Mass: The TV Series
I think I've also mentioned before that John Rozum is like the king of supernatural adventure comics, right? Part of my evidence for that being his couple of excellent, though poorly-treated-by-Vertigo Midnight, Mass mini-series. So, can you imagine how excited I am about the announcement of a Midnight, Mass TV show? I don't think you can. I'm still trying to get my head around the concept of that much giddiness myself.
Everything you need to know about Love and Rockets
The Hernandez Bros.' Love and Rockets is one of those series that everyone says is a fantastic Must Read, but that I've never figured out how to get into. For years, the un-numbered, collected volumes prevented me from knowing where to begin.
No excuses anymore. Chris Mautner has started a new Robot 6 column called Comics College that's intended to "(examine) the body of work of a particular cartoonist or cartoonists of note in the hopes of giving newcomers and the generally uninitiated an entry point." As Chris continues, "There are a number of notable creators who have had lengthy careers in comics and figuring out where to start when reading their ouevre can be tricky." That's so true, and what's especially cool is that he started with the series that's been most tricky for me personally. And I didn't even have to ask.
Thanks, Chris! I can't wait for future installments.
September Theatrical Releases: What Looks Good
September 4
Gamer: I can't say that I'm super excited about this, but I do like that Gerard Butler guy and I'm always up for seeing him kick some booty. The being-controlled-by-a-kid bit will either be interesting or corny, but there's only one way to find out which.
Extract: I didn't like Office Space as much as most people I know, but I did like it and Jason Bateman's always funny and JK Simmons is always freaking hilarious and - hey! Mila Kunis!
September 9
9: I know some perfectly sane, otherwise intelligent people who not only aren't looking forward to this movie, but actually are kind of ticked off that it even exists. They claim that it's some sort of dislike for Tim Burton. My theory is that they've been replaced by aliens who loathe all things awesome.
September 18
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs: I don't remember having ever read the book that this is based on, but the trailer looks cute enough. The real reason I want to see it though is to imagine myself in a world where school-sized pancakes exist.
September 23
Astro Boy: I understand some die-hard fans are upset over changes that the movie's making. I've never seen an episode of the original cartoon, so I don't know anything about that. All I know is that it's a good-looking movie about a boy robot fighting a cool-looking, giant robot. Assuming it doesn't suck on it's own merits, I can't imagine not following it up by checking out the original on Netflix.
September 25
Surrogates: I loved the comics mini-series this is based on. Just a smart, thrilling sci-fi story and it looks like they're doing it justice in the film.
Whiteout: The other movie coming out this week based on a favorite comic of mine. Know what's better than a murder mystery set in Antarctica? Kate Beckinsale's solving a murder mystery set in Antarctica.
Pandorum: Nothing about the trailer looks very original, but I like all the stuff they seem to be borrowing from. And Antje Traue looks pretty cool in a Ripley-esque/Alice from Resident Evil sort of way. I'm up for it.
Dishonorable Mention: How can a movie with Sandra Bullock, Bradley Cooper, and Thomas Haden Church - three people whom I love - look so horrifyingly unfunny? You don't have to answer that. The answer is that it turns Bullock into a creepy stalker and Cooper into a lying jerk who's too passive-aggressive to tell her she's getting on his nerves.
District 9
It's all about expectations, isn't it? Last week I went into A Perfect Getaway knowing that there was a 50-50 chance I was going to hate it. Turned out to be one one of my favorite movies of the year. This week we went to see District 9, a movie that I at first had no interest in, but went to see because it's been almost universally praised. Expectations went waaay up. Sort of disappointed in the movie.
It gets about 85% better in the second half, but I really struggled with the first part. Partly because of the fake-documentary style of narration that I'm so bored with in general, but mostly because I hated pretty much everyone in the film.
To be fair, I think that was the reaction I was supposed to have. The main character, Wikus Van De Merwe, is a snivelling, ineffective bureaucrat who's been handed a sensitive, important assignment because he's married to the boss' daughter. There are a couple of affable guys in his immediate support team, but we don't get a lot of them and - even though they're kind of charming - they're still bigoted assholes. The rest of the humans are even worse.
I was predisposed not to like humanity in this film. It all started with the viral marketing campaign that posted "Humans Only" signs everywhere to get people curious. But the signs gave me a horrible feeling every time I saw them. They reminded me of the "Whites Only" signs that we used to have in this country and my distaste for them was only diluted by the knowledge that they were persecuting a fictional race. I'm willing to give the marketing people the benefit of the doubt and accept that maybe the signs were supposed to elicit that reaction from me, but rather than make me want to see the movie, it made me want to stay away from it even more.
In case you don't know what I'm talking about, District 9 is the story of an alien mothership that breaks down over Johannesburg, South Africa. The aliens - cruelly nicknamed "prawns" by humanity because of their appearance - have been forced to live in a shanty town called District 9 for the last 20 years, but now the humans are sick of them and want to relocate them to a concentration camp well outside the city limits. Wikus Van De Merwe is given the responsibility of coordinating the move.
Without any likable humans in the movie I thought maybe we're supposed to relate to the aliens, but the film does a great job of making them just as abhorrent. One of the human characters offers a theory that the aliens are mostly made up of some kind of worker class and without knowing more about the aliens' culture, that makes some sense. Most of the aliens are brutish and violent. Maybe they've become that way after 20 years in District 9. We're not told. All we really know is that most of them are just as nasty as the humans.
Thankfully, we eventually do meet an honorable character. He's an alien named "Christopher Johnson" who - with his small son and another alien conspirator - has been working to get his people off Earth. The plan goes wrong however and one of the results is that Wikus is contaminated with alien DNA that begins to transform him into an alien. This is good news for his employer, a weapons manufacturer that would love to figure out how to duplicate the aliens' sophisticated weaponry, but can't because the weapons only respond to alien DNA. Wikus has transformed enough that he can operate the weapons, so now his bosses want to cut him apart and see if they can replicate the effect themselves.
This is where the movie starts getting good. Wikus is still a selfish prick - everything he does is in his own interest - but I loved Christopher and his son and really wanted to see them help their people escape. If they have to help Wikus in order to do that, that's okay too. Once the film kicks into action-mode, it's awesome. Christopher and Wikus have to infiltrate a high-security government facility in order to steal the key to Christopher's plan. There's lots of running, chasing, fighting, shooting, blowing stuff up - all with cool, alien weaponry - and several oh-crap-how-are-they-going-to-get-out-of-that moments.
Of course, the big question for me was whether or not Wikus would ever change and do something - if not entirely heroic - at least unselfish. I thought he had at one point towards the end, but after the movie my brother Dave pointed out that there was a large element of self-preservation even in that act. I have to forget about Wikus. I just don't like that guy.
Christopher and his boy are the only people to connect to in the film, but there's plenty of them in the second half to make that part exciting and tension-filled. I don't understand everything that they're doing - the movie leaves a lot of unanswered questions about how the aliens wound up in their predicament, how exactly Christopher's plan is supposed to work, and why a hitch in it results in Wikus' transformation - but I understand a father-son relationship and I understand wanting to help your people get out of a horrible situation. And ultimately, that was enough.
Three out of five alien battlesuits.
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Meanwhile...
So, here's what I've been up to elsewhere on the Internet:
I forgot to link to this last week, but I reviewed Richard Sala's Cat Burglar Black for Robot 6. Nice to see that Sala linked to it from his site too.
This week's Gorillas Riding Dinosaurs was about the third and most recent volume of Age of Bronze.
I usually don't hit the window in time to contribute to Tom Spurgeon's weekly Five for Friday post, but I made it last week. The assignment was to Name Five Songs You'd Like to See Turned into Comic Stories and Your Artist of Choice.
Love the illustration (above) that Tom picked to go with my answers:
1. "Take on Me," a-ha -- Tatsuo Yoshida
2. "Voices Carry," 'Til Tuesday -- Colleen Coover
3. "Sixteen Tons," Tennessee Ernie Ford -- Eric Powell
4. "The Wanderer," U2 featuring Johnny Cash -- Darwyn Cooke
5. "One Night in Bangkok," Murray Head -- Mike Mignola
I forgot to link to this last week, but I reviewed Richard Sala's Cat Burglar Black for Robot 6. Nice to see that Sala linked to it from his site too.
This week's Gorillas Riding Dinosaurs was about the third and most recent volume of Age of Bronze.
I said a couple of weeks ago in What Are You Reading that I had mixed feelings about starting this book. On the one hand, I couldn't have been more excited about visiting Shanower's ancient Troy again. On the other, I knew that this would catch me up with the collections, giving me an impossibly long wait for the next one. Fortunately, the volume was enthralling enough to keep me from thinking about the lack of any additional Age of Bronze to follow immediately. At least while I was reading it.You can read the rest here and marvel at my stupidity in misplacing Odysseus' nationality. Yeesh.
Not that it’s without flaws. It feels sacrilegious to say after so thoroughly loving the first two volumes, but there were a couple of times in this one that I had a hard time connecting to what was going on in the story. Not because Shanower couldn’t find the emotional hook – he’s always brilliantly able to do that – but because I had a hard time figuring out the way a particular subplot supported the main story.
The biggest example of this is a long sequence about a king named Philoktetes who’s bitten by a snake during a sacrifice. It happens as the Greeks are camped on the island of Tenedos, their last stop before arriving at Troy. Over the next few days, as the poison begins to spread through the Philoktetes’ body, he’s in such pain that his screams and curses can be heard all over camp. It’s horribly distracting for High King Agamemnon and the rest of the army.
I usually don't hit the window in time to contribute to Tom Spurgeon's weekly Five for Friday post, but I made it last week. The assignment was to Name Five Songs You'd Like to See Turned into Comic Stories and Your Artist of Choice.
Love the illustration (above) that Tom picked to go with my answers:
1. "Take on Me," a-ha -- Tatsuo Yoshida
2. "Voices Carry," 'Til Tuesday -- Colleen Coover
3. "Sixteen Tons," Tennessee Ernie Ford -- Eric Powell
4. "The Wanderer," U2 featuring Johnny Cash -- Darwyn Cooke
5. "One Night in Bangkok," Murray Head -- Mike Mignola
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
The Pop-Culture Audit
We're supposed to be answering these questions in the comments section at NPR's Monkey See blog, but I'm not very good about following directions. I figured I'd share my responses with you guys instead. I'd love to hear your answers too.
The Instructions: Audit the culture around you -- both the good and the bad -- and consider a few questions in the areas of movies, TV, books, games, digital culture...whatever "popular culture" means to you.
1. What has been your biggest pleasant surprise of the last three months? (This takes you, so you don't have to do math, back to late May.)
A Perfect Getaway.
2. What has been the rudest surprise of the last three months?
That a book about pirates attacking a dirigible and the resulting shipwreck on a jungle island could be boring.
3. What are you most looking forward to between now and New Year's?
Where the Wild Things Are.
4. What are you dreading most between now and New Year's?
Weeding through more Twilight mania to get to my other pop culture news.
5. If, at this moment, you could only watch television between now and December 31, or you could only see movies between now and December 31, which would you choose if you knew you couldn't go back later and catch up on what you missed?
I'd choose TV. Which sounds contradictory since the thing I'm most looking forward to this Fall is a movie, but it's really not. I may want to see Where the Wild Things Are more than I want to see any one of the 8,000 TV shows I follow, but I guess I'd rather miss one movie - however excellent I expect it to be - than the total of all those shows.
6. If you could press one book you have read this year into the hands of ten strangers when they were trapped during a blackout with nothing to do but read, what would you give them?
I'm not finished with it yet, but unless it takes an unexpected and nasty turn towards awfulness, it's going to be Matt Ruff's Bad Monkeys. I'm loving the heck out of that book.
7. What are you currently trying to like and finding it difficult to like?
The graphic novel American Widow. It's the memoir of a woman who was pregnant when she lost her husband on 9/11, so I really want to honor her strength and her willingness to tell her story. But I'm also having a hard time connecting to it as she's written it. Still hoping I'll be able to do that by the end.
8. If you could guarantee that five people -- actors, writers, directors, whoever -- would have their calendars filled with funded projects for the next five years, to whom would you grant full employment?
It's tempting to fill this list with some of my talented friends whom I'd love to see get regular, paying work, but I don't want to have to pick only five. I'm also not picking people like Keira Knightley and Johnny Depp who are already guaranteed that kind of work for the next five years.
So... five people whom I don't know that I want to see more from over the next five years: Timothy Olyphant, Kenneth Branagh, Chris Hemsworth, Sandra Bullock, and Keri Russell.
9. What do you love in spite of being outside the target demographic? (Example: "I am a nineteen-year-old dude and I loved The Proposal.")
Grey's Anatomy.
10. If you could personally wave your wand and stop one trend -- toy movies, remakes, crime procedurals -- what would be your target?
"Reality" TV.
Waaay Off-Topic: US Healthcare Reform
Except for a couple of yay-rah-Obama moments during the election, I don't talk about politics here. This post isn't supposed to be another exception to that; it's just a link to a series of articles that lays out the healthcare reform issue in a really simple way so that I can at least have an intelligent conversation about it now.
Figured it might be useful to someone else too.
Writing is Hard: Webcomic Hosting
I totally see a webcomic in my future. I'm not sure yet which project to try it out on, but I know I want to try it. That's why I'm bookmarking this post by DJ Coffman on setting up a webcomic via Wordpress. Gonna need to refer to that later.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
And Now the News: Multiple Alices Kicking Serious Butt
Rulah vs. the Carnivorous Blonde
The Comic Book Catacombs has the full story.
Novasett Island
I don't know anything about this other than what's on that cover, but Novasett Island looks like it was pretty much made for me. Thanks to House of Duck for pointing it out.
Age of Reptiles: The Journey
And speaking of comics made for me, Ricardo Delgado's newest dinosaur comic is coming out from Dark Horse in November. Siskoid has reviews of the previous two mini-series.
Gravedigger: Hot Women, Cold Cash
Christopher Mills has a preview up from his and Rick Burchett's next Gravedigger comic. It was Gravedigger that first turned me on to Chris' stuff, so I'm especially excited to see this sequel. It's excellent noir.
The Azzarelloverse
When I first heard about DC's plans to start a new line of comics with old pulp heroes like Doc Savage, I wasn't as excited as I thought I should be. I don't know a lot about Doc Savage or the Blackhawks, the Spirit's already got his own ongoing that I'm not reading, and Rima's never been my favorite jungle girl.
But hearing more about it at Chicago Comic-Con has got me plenty pumped for it. I figured it was going to be in its own small corner of the existing DC Universe, but I love the idea that instead it's part of a separate reality in which no superpowers exist. So you can have Batman and the Black Canary (without her sonic scream) running around, but no Superman or Green Lantern. Knowing that crime-writer Brian Azzarello is playing a large part in its development helps a lot too. It should be a much tougher style of costumed crime-fighting with more focus on detective work and brawling. Looking forward to it.
How to dress like Black Canary
RCXY has your shopping guide. Beware of automatic runway music though.
Resident Evil 4
Finally. And in 3D. And, according to Milla, "Let’s just say this. The clones are definitely in it. You’ve got multiple Alice’s kicking serious butt." That's all I need to know.
The Comic Book Catacombs has the full story.
Novasett Island
I don't know anything about this other than what's on that cover, but Novasett Island looks like it was pretty much made for me. Thanks to House of Duck for pointing it out.
Age of Reptiles: The Journey
And speaking of comics made for me, Ricardo Delgado's newest dinosaur comic is coming out from Dark Horse in November. Siskoid has reviews of the previous two mini-series.
Gravedigger: Hot Women, Cold Cash
Christopher Mills has a preview up from his and Rick Burchett's next Gravedigger comic. It was Gravedigger that first turned me on to Chris' stuff, so I'm especially excited to see this sequel. It's excellent noir.
The Azzarelloverse
When I first heard about DC's plans to start a new line of comics with old pulp heroes like Doc Savage, I wasn't as excited as I thought I should be. I don't know a lot about Doc Savage or the Blackhawks, the Spirit's already got his own ongoing that I'm not reading, and Rima's never been my favorite jungle girl.
But hearing more about it at Chicago Comic-Con has got me plenty pumped for it. I figured it was going to be in its own small corner of the existing DC Universe, but I love the idea that instead it's part of a separate reality in which no superpowers exist. So you can have Batman and the Black Canary (without her sonic scream) running around, but no Superman or Green Lantern. Knowing that crime-writer Brian Azzarello is playing a large part in its development helps a lot too. It should be a much tougher style of costumed crime-fighting with more focus on detective work and brawling. Looking forward to it.
How to dress like Black Canary
RCXY has your shopping guide. Beware of automatic runway music though.
Resident Evil 4
Finally. And in 3D. And, according to Milla, "Let’s just say this. The clones are definitely in it. You’ve got multiple Alice’s kicking serious butt." That's all I need to know.
Monday, August 24, 2009
And Now the News: Monster Comics
I need to take another week off from the Aquaman and Namor posts while I get caught up on some reading. Besides, I can use the time to catch up on some of the news that I'm so behind on.
Frankenstein's Womb Preview
The book's been out for a couple of weeks, but if you're still on the fence about it, here's a preview that could help make up your mind.
Abhay Khosla's Bram Stoker's Dracula
One of the Internet's most hilarious comics critics turns his skill to "adapting" Dracula. It's not at all for the kids, but it is very funny.
Frankenstein's Womb Preview
The book's been out for a couple of weeks, but if you're still on the fence about it, here's a preview that could help make up your mind.
Abhay Khosla's Bram Stoker's Dracula
One of the Internet's most hilarious comics critics turns his skill to "adapting" Dracula. It's not at all for the kids, but it is very funny.
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Music Meme: 2001
Continuing my list of favorite albums from every year I've been alive.
2001
Travis: The Invisible Band
Slow year. In the absence of a decent Alternative station in the Twin Cities, I was still listening to the Adult Contemporary station and not liking the Nickelback and Hoobastank I was getting. The only two albums I enjoyed from that year I discovered through other means.
One was a movie soundtrack and I was introduced to Travis by a buddy who'd seen them live and loved them. I got to see them live myself when they opened for Dido and I loved them too.
(Calvin, I'm deeply sorry about the weaponized octopus in this video.)
Runners Up:
Moulin Rouge Soundtrack
What the heck, let's do another (cephalopod free) video. It's not like there was anything else going on in music that year.
2001
Travis: The Invisible Band
Slow year. In the absence of a decent Alternative station in the Twin Cities, I was still listening to the Adult Contemporary station and not liking the Nickelback and Hoobastank I was getting. The only two albums I enjoyed from that year I discovered through other means.
One was a movie soundtrack and I was introduced to Travis by a buddy who'd seen them live and loved them. I got to see them live myself when they opened for Dido and I loved them too.
(Calvin, I'm deeply sorry about the weaponized octopus in this video.)
Runners Up:
Moulin Rouge Soundtrack
What the heck, let's do another (cephalopod free) video. It's not like there was anything else going on in music that year.
Saturday, August 22, 2009
a-ha - Foot Of The Mountain
I'm totally stuck on this song and can't move past it to listen to anything else. From a-ha's current album Foot of the Mountain, just a couple of months old.
Friday, August 21, 2009
Friday Night Art Show: Batman should be this weird...
Sunken City
Not sure who the artist is, but it was found during the travels of Admiral Calvin.
The Boats of the Glen Carrig
By Lawrence [Poulpe Pulps].
Creature from the Black Lagoon
By John Richards.
Jungle Girl
By Steve "SKE" Ellis.
The Lost World
By Joseph Clement Coll [Golden Age Comic Book Stories].
Dryptosaurus
By Charles Knight [Love in the Time of Chasmosaurs (a blog that Siskoid introduced to me) and Golden Age Comic Book Stories. It takes a village to find a link.].
Kim Possible
I'm not sure who the artist is, but this is another one found by my other half, Admiral Calvin.
Batman and Robin
By Sam Hiti. Batman should be this weird all the time.
Tommy Gun
By Gene Gonzales.
Zatanna
By Hoa Phong [Admiral Calvin again].
Uchucaesar
By Yasushi Torisawa [Giant Monsters Attack!].
Not sure who the artist is, but it was found during the travels of Admiral Calvin.
The Boats of the Glen Carrig
By Lawrence [Poulpe Pulps].
Creature from the Black Lagoon
By John Richards.
Jungle Girl
By Steve "SKE" Ellis.
The Lost World
By Joseph Clement Coll [Golden Age Comic Book Stories].
Dryptosaurus
By Charles Knight [Love in the Time of Chasmosaurs (a blog that Siskoid introduced to me) and Golden Age Comic Book Stories. It takes a village to find a link.].
Kim Possible
I'm not sure who the artist is, but this is another one found by my other half, Admiral Calvin.
Batman and Robin
By Sam Hiti. Batman should be this weird all the time.
Tommy Gun
By Gene Gonzales.
Zatanna
By Hoa Phong [Admiral Calvin again].
Uchucaesar
By Yasushi Torisawa [Giant Monsters Attack!].
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