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usuallyhats) wrote2013-11-01 09:32 am
usuallyhats) wrote2013-11-01 09:32 am
Books and comics read in October 2013
Midwinterblood - Marcus Sedgwick
*JLA: Year One
*Earthward: Book One
Doctor Who: The Tomorrow Windows - Jonathan Morris
*Heralds
Servant of the Empire - Raymond E. Feist and Janny Wurts
Young Allies
*Futuredaze: An Anthology of YA Science Fiction ed. Erin Underwood and Hannah Strom-Martin
*A Most Improper Magick - Stephanie Burgis
*Doctor Who: A History of the Universe in 100 Objects - James Goss and Steve Tribe
*Batman/Superman/Wonder Woman: Trinity
Wonder Woman: Gods and Mortals
Wonder Woman: Challenge of the Gods
*Time and Relative Dissertations in Space ed. David Butler
*Batwing: In the Shadow of the Ancients
Wonder Woman: Beauty and the Beasts
Didn't finish: Always Coming Home - Ursula Le Guin. Giving up on this one was something of a wrench: I really did respect what it was trying to do, (re)creating a future post-crash society through anthropological studies. Plus it's URSULA LE GUIN, it's supposed to be a classic (I think), and also I'd already sunk a week's worth of reading time into it before I hit breaking point. But I wasn't really enjoying reading it - the form made me feel so disconnected from the content - and all the gender, sex and sexuality stuff was so disappointingly normative, and then I hit the Moon Dance section which was SO SKEEVY wrt sex and gender and I just couldn't any more. (I still have it out from the library, if anyone feels like convincing me it's worth finishing.)
JLA: Year One
I HATE HAL JORDAN SO MUCH YOU GUYS. There was stuff I liked about this comic, but now I come to write it up, it's all overshadowed by my epic Hal Jordan hatred.
Earthward: Book One
So this was awesome! A group of children on a SPACE ADVENTURE, full of excitement and witty dialogue (Smack is clearly the Sokka of the group), with lovely Marcio Takara art. Bring on book two.
Heralds
This felt kind of scattered: it might have just been that I don't know the backstory on Nova and Frankie, but I never really got a handle on what was going on with the plot. And one of the three artists on it was... kind of terrible, not in a Hawkeye Initiative way, but in a "these faces are all wonky" way. :/ But I still liked it! I mean, it was a team up with MONICA RAMBEAU, and Valkyrie, and Abigail Brand being all snarky in the background, and also She Hulk and Emma Frost and Hellcat, and also Sue Storm and her daughter, so that was all awesome. I could have done with more of them all just interacting and less actual plot, to be honest - the character stuff was all so great! There's also a splash page in issue one involving Monica, Patsy, Val and She Hulk all wearing false moustaches which was basically worth the price of admission all on its own.
Futuredaze
I enjoyed this anthology a great deal - it had an excellent variety of well written stories, including some great ideas. I was a bit skeptical about the poetry, but I liked a lot of that, too. My main quibble was that, as the editors say in the introduction, it could've been more diverse in terms of both authors and characters (so much het romance!), but other than that, highly recommended.
A Most Improper Magick
This was a light, fun read about a girl in Regency England with magical powers. It started off as just averagely written, but towards the end it really picked up, and I am reliably informed that the later books continue improving, so I shall definitely be carrying on with this series.
Doctor Who: A History of the Universe in 100 Objects
Entertaining coffee table style book. The balance between Classic and New Who was pretty good; personally I'd've put more Classic stuff and also spin-off canon in, but I was basically pretty pleased with it as it was. It was also pleasingly eccentric and full of delightful things like the Hat Page, the half page of all the times the Doctor has held a gun, and of course the crowning glory that was the Flowchart of Rassilon. ("Have you the Mind Probe?" --yes--> "No, not the Mind Probe!")
Batman/Superman/Wonder Woman: Trinity
This retelling of the first meeting between Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman didn't entirely work for me, alas. The art was nice, and there were some great moments (lots of them involving Clark affectionately mocking Bruce in monologue), but... guess which member of the trinity was the least experienced hero? And the one who needed the most rescuing? And the one who raced off in a fit of irrationality and had to apologise to the other two? And who spent a fair bit of time wearing only a sheet? Ugh. Also, (skip) I do like Batman/Wonder Woman, but it felt really off and unnatural here, especially the forced kiss, which ICK NO. D: I found some of the text placement was a bit hard to follow - I wasn't always sure if I was reading the dialogue in the right order - and it wasn't always clear who all the internal monologue boxes belonged to. I felt really sorry for Bizarro all the time too, which I'm not sure I was supposed to.
Time and Relative Dissertations in Space
I had to dock this book a star because it Forgot About The Women (one essay had a female co-author but that was your lot), but it was otherwise excellent: a very interesting selection of essays! I particularly enjoyed the last section, which included essays on canonicity, "best-ness", the importance of Timewyrm: Revelation in shaping the New Adventures, and televisuality in the Big Finish Audios. I've haven't read much work that focuses on the BFAs as a group like that, just stuff on individual plays/small groups of plays, and would love to read more if anyone has any recs!
Batwing: In the Shadow of the Ancients
I picked this up on a whim because I wanted to know more about David Zavimbe, and the library didn't have volume one. Turns out I like him a lot, though this volume wasn't that amazing. The writing was pretty average (really not disproving my theory that Judd Winick should only write about Jason), with a some good moments and some considerably less good ones. (The fact that there's only one Batman, Inc operative for ALL of Africa when there's about twelve just for Gotham is still ridiculous, but I liked that we did get to see a fair few other African superheroes, even if we didn't get to keep them. (Does anyone know what happened to the other heroes from the zero issue? I'm assuming nothing good...)) Also, it was made up of a grab-bag of issues - the end of the previous storyline (from which I learnt that I actually cannot read panels with Babsgirl in them :/), a "Night of the Owls" tie-in, a random JLI team-up and the zero issues - so there wasn't that much of a chance to get to know David's world, alas. I did like the Nightwing team-up, but mostly because Nightwing is my favourite male character in comics, so I'm always pleased to see him. On the plus side, it featured two of my favourite artists - Dustin Nguyen and Marcus To - so no complaints there.
I am slightly surprised that I have nothing to say about all the Wonder Woman I've read, but reaction-wise I think I am still stuck on DIANAAAAAAAA. :D
*JLA: Year One
*Earthward: Book One
Doctor Who: The Tomorrow Windows - Jonathan Morris
*Heralds
Servant of the Empire - Raymond E. Feist and Janny Wurts
Young Allies
*Futuredaze: An Anthology of YA Science Fiction ed. Erin Underwood and Hannah Strom-Martin
*A Most Improper Magick - Stephanie Burgis
*Doctor Who: A History of the Universe in 100 Objects - James Goss and Steve Tribe
*Batman/Superman/Wonder Woman: Trinity
Wonder Woman: Gods and Mortals
Wonder Woman: Challenge of the Gods
*Time and Relative Dissertations in Space ed. David Butler
*Batwing: In the Shadow of the Ancients
Wonder Woman: Beauty and the Beasts
Didn't finish: Always Coming Home - Ursula Le Guin. Giving up on this one was something of a wrench: I really did respect what it was trying to do, (re)creating a future post-crash society through anthropological studies. Plus it's URSULA LE GUIN, it's supposed to be a classic (I think), and also I'd already sunk a week's worth of reading time into it before I hit breaking point. But I wasn't really enjoying reading it - the form made me feel so disconnected from the content - and all the gender, sex and sexuality stuff was so disappointingly normative, and then I hit the Moon Dance section which was SO SKEEVY wrt sex and gender and I just couldn't any more. (I still have it out from the library, if anyone feels like convincing me it's worth finishing.)
JLA: Year One
I HATE HAL JORDAN SO MUCH YOU GUYS. There was stuff I liked about this comic, but now I come to write it up, it's all overshadowed by my epic Hal Jordan hatred.
Earthward: Book One
So this was awesome! A group of children on a SPACE ADVENTURE, full of excitement and witty dialogue (Smack is clearly the Sokka of the group), with lovely Marcio Takara art. Bring on book two.
Heralds
This felt kind of scattered: it might have just been that I don't know the backstory on Nova and Frankie, but I never really got a handle on what was going on with the plot. And one of the three artists on it was... kind of terrible, not in a Hawkeye Initiative way, but in a "these faces are all wonky" way. :/ But I still liked it! I mean, it was a team up with MONICA RAMBEAU, and Valkyrie, and Abigail Brand being all snarky in the background, and also She Hulk and Emma Frost and Hellcat, and also Sue Storm and her daughter, so that was all awesome. I could have done with more of them all just interacting and less actual plot, to be honest - the character stuff was all so great! There's also a splash page in issue one involving Monica, Patsy, Val and She Hulk all wearing false moustaches which was basically worth the price of admission all on its own.
Futuredaze
I enjoyed this anthology a great deal - it had an excellent variety of well written stories, including some great ideas. I was a bit skeptical about the poetry, but I liked a lot of that, too. My main quibble was that, as the editors say in the introduction, it could've been more diverse in terms of both authors and characters (so much het romance!), but other than that, highly recommended.
A Most Improper Magick
This was a light, fun read about a girl in Regency England with magical powers. It started off as just averagely written, but towards the end it really picked up, and I am reliably informed that the later books continue improving, so I shall definitely be carrying on with this series.
Doctor Who: A History of the Universe in 100 Objects
Entertaining coffee table style book. The balance between Classic and New Who was pretty good; personally I'd've put more Classic stuff and also spin-off canon in, but I was basically pretty pleased with it as it was. It was also pleasingly eccentric and full of delightful things like the Hat Page, the half page of all the times the Doctor has held a gun, and of course the crowning glory that was the Flowchart of Rassilon. ("Have you the Mind Probe?" --yes--> "No, not the Mind Probe!")
Batman/Superman/Wonder Woman: Trinity
This retelling of the first meeting between Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman didn't entirely work for me, alas. The art was nice, and there were some great moments (lots of them involving Clark affectionately mocking Bruce in monologue), but... guess which member of the trinity was the least experienced hero? And the one who needed the most rescuing? And the one who raced off in a fit of irrationality and had to apologise to the other two? And who spent a fair bit of time wearing only a sheet? Ugh. Also, (skip) I do like Batman/Wonder Woman, but it felt really off and unnatural here, especially the forced kiss, which ICK NO. D: I found some of the text placement was a bit hard to follow - I wasn't always sure if I was reading the dialogue in the right order - and it wasn't always clear who all the internal monologue boxes belonged to. I felt really sorry for Bizarro all the time too, which I'm not sure I was supposed to.
Time and Relative Dissertations in Space
I had to dock this book a star because it Forgot About The Women (one essay had a female co-author but that was your lot), but it was otherwise excellent: a very interesting selection of essays! I particularly enjoyed the last section, which included essays on canonicity, "best-ness", the importance of Timewyrm: Revelation in shaping the New Adventures, and televisuality in the Big Finish Audios. I've haven't read much work that focuses on the BFAs as a group like that, just stuff on individual plays/small groups of plays, and would love to read more if anyone has any recs!
Batwing: In the Shadow of the Ancients
I picked this up on a whim because I wanted to know more about David Zavimbe, and the library didn't have volume one. Turns out I like him a lot, though this volume wasn't that amazing. The writing was pretty average (really not disproving my theory that Judd Winick should only write about Jason), with a some good moments and some considerably less good ones. (The fact that there's only one Batman, Inc operative for ALL of Africa when there's about twelve just for Gotham is still ridiculous, but I liked that we did get to see a fair few other African superheroes, even if we didn't get to keep them. (Does anyone know what happened to the other heroes from the zero issue? I'm assuming nothing good...)) Also, it was made up of a grab-bag of issues - the end of the previous storyline (from which I learnt that I actually cannot read panels with Babsgirl in them :/), a "Night of the Owls" tie-in, a random JLI team-up and the zero issues - so there wasn't that much of a chance to get to know David's world, alas. I did like the Nightwing team-up, but mostly because Nightwing is my favourite male character in comics, so I'm always pleased to see him. On the plus side, it featured two of my favourite artists - Dustin Nguyen and Marcus To - so no complaints there.
I am slightly surprised that I have nothing to say about all the Wonder Woman I've read, but reaction-wise I think I am still stuck on DIANAAAAAAAA. :D
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Would I like JLA: Year one? Is it the Justice League or have I got my acronyms confused? Is Diana in it?
Heee, yes, I'm still working through the Perez, up to issue 50 at the mo and my feelings still come under DIANAAAAAAAAAAAAA! :D Though I do love how much Rucka was calling back to the Perez with his run, it's lovely. I'm excited to end the read of V2 with yet another Rucka re-read. (I should really write about this at some point...)
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I think you probably wouldn't, to be honest: there is NO DIANA AT ALL. JLA = Justice League of America; I'm not entirely clear on my Justice League history, but this one has what it describes as an original-ish JLA lineup: Green Lantern (Hal Jordan version, bah), Flash (Wally West, hurray!), Black Canary (Dinah Laurel Lance, who I was reading it for), Martian Manhunter and Aquaman. It has some nice moments but is kind of a slog overall.
DIANAAAAAA!
Though I do love how much Rucka was calling back to the Perez with his run, it's lovely.
Yes, me too.
(I should really write about this at some point...)
Ooh, yes, do! :D
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I'm sorry to say I can't quite remember the fates of the various members of The Kingdom, but yeah, I think some of them meet or have already met bad ends. You definitely get more of David's world, though.
HOWEVER, around about issue 20 or so, David decides he doesn't want to be Batwing anymore and quits because he feels he can't uphold the Bat codes at the same time as doing his job and fixing his city - he thinks it doesn't work. It was actually a pretty poignant and tragic situation, and I was looking forward to seeing how he dealt with cutting ties with Bruce going forward, but it turns out, nope, what they were actually doing was stealth-rebooting the comic, with Lucius Fox's son, Luke, taking on the role of Batwing in Gotham. K got so pissed off he cancelled his subscription, but I've been reading it in the store and...it's okay. As in, I'd probably like it if I weren't bitter. But I am. So very bitter.
To be honest, I'm about 98% sure this is a last-ditch effort to save the title from cancellation because it's numbers are in the damn toilet. Like it's lower than a ton of other books that have been cancelled already. So I have to grudgingly give DC some credit for not pulling the plug on it ten issues ago when they would have done that to a lot of other title at at least trying something even if I hate what they're trying.
No word of a lie, right after the reboot, me and K were at a comics fair and there was a dude picking up EVERY Batman-related title except Batwing, so K said - genuinely trying to be helpful - oh, hey, this guy's in the Batfamily too, and the art's amazing! And this dude said, no thanks, he liked his heroes "more traditional". And when asked what he meant by that said, "you know...with capes." And then proceeded to buy Red Hood and the Outlaws.
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Awesome! Do we ever find out anything about the other heroes from the zero issue, do you remember?
I have to admit that part of my determination to like David was contrariness after having heard about the stealth reboot! Yeah, I will give DC points for trying to keep it going, I just wish they'd chosen a different way. :/ (I'd probably have been a bit more on board if it was Tam Fox who was the new Batwing...)
Ugh, that's disappointing. Yeah, I suspect people like that have more to do with how badly it's doing than the actual quality of the comic. D:
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I've had a copy for a while but haven't got round to reading it yet because I keep borrowing books from the library instead!
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You've been reading George Perez's Wonder Woman, right? It's good?
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Yep! It's really good. I don't quite love it like I love Rucka's run, but it's still pretty great. It's spent so much time and care building up Wonder Woman's character, her world and her supporting cast - I'd definitely recommend it.
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Oh, cool, that does sound good!