Library books

Library books I read.

Leave the Gun, Take the Cannoli

Written by Mark Seal, this is the story of how The Godfather was made.  An entertaining read for sure.  

How to Invent Things

Years ago, I saw a t-shirt with every useful scientific discovery printed on it.  “If you’re trapped in the past, these are the things you need to know.”  I could never find it again, which always made me sad.  Then I discovered that the brilliant Ryan North took the premise and wrote a whole book on it.  He does it with his customary humor and intelligence, and I love how he makes learning such a fun experience.  

He also wrote “How to Take Over the World,” which I started but wasn’t in the mindset to finish.  I’m sure I’ll get back to it someday.

A Month in the Country

I picked this up on the recommendation of some rare book seller on Youtube.  I figure it was slim enough to be worth the time investment.  It tells the story of a WWI vet recovering from PTSD as he restores an old church mural in a tiny, idyllic town.  I liked the concept and plot, but there was something about the writing that didn’t work for me.  It was a little too dreamy and abstract, and J.L. Carr doesn’t explain things quite enough.  I was forced to make just a few more connections than I wanted to, fill in a few more blanks than I was comfortable with.

Shogun

Shogun Season 1

I finally got around to watching this while I was on vacation in Tahoe.  I loved the book, but haven’t read it in years.  This didn’t disappoint, and deserved all the accolades and awards it won.  As far as I can tell, it stayed true enough to the James Clavell novel where it needed to, and strayed where it made sense.  Anna Sawai did a phenomenal job with an extremely complex and challenging role.  All the kudos to this series. 

New comics

Kaya 1-5

Picked up this trade because it got amazing reviews and I like Wes Craig’s art on Deadly Class.  This a Lone Wolf and Cub-type fantasy story, where a young girl must keep her ousted prince half-brother safe and deliver him to a faraway safe haven.  It’s not bad, but not good enough for me to buy more.

Cheetah and Cheshire Rob the Justice League 4

The heist kicks off, and is anyone buying that Cheetah’s playing the role of the wildcard?  This was already done in Ocean’s 11, and there’s no way this isn’t part of the plan.  

Assorted Crisis Events 6

So this might be an ongoing series now?  Deniz Camp writes a harrowing dementia allegory.  This is my nightmare scenario, to be trapped in my body as my mind goes, forcing those I love to care for me.  Kill me before it gets that bad.  

Absolute Green Lantern 8

I quit this with issue 6, and the issue 7 flip through shows me I made the right decision.  But Al Ewing gives us Sojourner’s origin story here, and it was compelling enough for me to buy it.  The next issue is on flip through watch as well.  

Runaways 5

As this much-appreciated miniseries ends, Doombot ceases to embrace the duality, Gert and Nico explore their new magical powers, and Alex might be back on the team?  I hope this does well enough for Rainbow Rowell to return in the future.

Voyeur 2

Issue 1 retold from the woman’s PoV.  Still enjoying it.  

Batman: Long Halloween: Last Halloween 10

I stopped enjoying this ages ago.  At least we’re finally done with this.

Absolute Batman Annual 1

Holy fuck can Daniel Warren Johnson write and draw a story.  So so visceral, and with an strong emotional core as well.  This was effing phenomenal.

New comics

Once again, I’m so far behind.

Scarlet v1 1-10

Scarlet v2 1-5

Despite his being one of my favorite writers, there are still a lot of Brian Michael Bendis gaps in my collection.  Scarlet was one of those by choice, as the subject matter didn’t really interest me much.  But I’ve become more of an Alex Maleev fan since it first came out, and I found the first two trades on sale, so it was an easy pickup.  

This is a wish-fulfillment “how could someone really push back against the corrupt law enforcement establishment” kind of story.  Bendis takes a ripped-from-the-headlines case of police brutality and extends it in a direction where one of the victims manages to get somewhere with her retaliation, sparking a revolution that extends beyond the noise and generates actual signal.  

It’s not bad, but Bendis has a hard time wrapping it up in any kind of realistic manner.  The plot starts off somewhat plausibly, and then completely spirals out of control.  It ends on a cliffhanger, and I’d pick it up any followups, but it’s not his best by any stretch.

Poison Ivy Annual 1

Credit to Jessica Fong for the beautiful cover.  It got me to take it off the shelf and flip through it, revealing the lovely Mark Buckingham.  This G Willow Wilson story is basically a retelling of the Lady in the Lake story, and given the standalone nature, I figured it was worth a pick up.  This would fit right in with Fables, and it’s a fun little read.

Children of the Round Table 3

This is such a slight story, I finish each issue wondering where the page count went.  But it’s pretty and I want to support the team of Tom Taylor and Daniele Di Nicuolo.  

DIe: Loaded 1

Apparently I wouldn’t buy the original series if I had to do it all over again.  But here I am with this sequel series that I had no idea was happening.  Once again, I’m sucked into this world.  (Just like the characters…)  Like the first Die, each single issue might be stronger than the collected work.  We’ll see if present me is an idiot for ignoring the advice of past me.

Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees: Rite of Spring 4

Our serial killer Sam is falling into the classic comic book villain trap of playing with the detective, giving her a chance to figure it out before killing her.  I have no idea if she’s going to get away with it, and that’s what’s giving this story that extra oomph.  Patrick Horvarth really knows what he’s doing.  

Fantastic Four 5

This time, Ryan North pairs up Sue Storm with Felicia Hardy, solving a frame job to exonerate the Black Cat.  I buy her figuring the method, but not the culprit.  It’s a bit too far of a leap.  Still, it’s fun, and the Humberto Ramos art is more than plenty to cover up the writing flaws.

Absolute Superman 13

Turns out the Battle of Kansas is more of a siege.  It’s not bad, but this Superman just isn’t as relatable as the one in the main universe, and that makes all the difference in the world.  There’s a heart missing to this series that’s holding it back. 

Planet She-Hulk 1

I had zero interest in this, but once again, the value of a strong cover proves its worth.  Aaron Kuder is effing phenomenal, where’s he been?  (Looking…A bunch of Marvel stuff I haven’t read.)  Paired with some fun writing by Stephanie Phillips, this team has sold me on sticking around for a few more issues.

Harley & Ivy: Life and Crimes 1

Erica Henderson tells the origin story of Harley and Ivy’s romance.  I’m not a fan of her work (a huge reason why I haven’t latched on to Squirrel Girl, which I really should try again now that I know Ryan North was the writer on it), but I love this couple and Henderson does a good enough job with this first issue. 

New comics

Children of the Round Table 2

Boilerplate stuff; the kids start training with their weapons and mysterious government agents start chasing them.  One of the kids’ grandmothers turns out to have known more than she let on.  Nothing to write home about.  But the art is fun, the colors are bright, and I have no problem supporting these creators.

Battle Beast 6

Same with Robert Kirkman and Ryan Ottley.  I’ll plunk down my cash for whatever they want to put out, but even more so.  

Batman: Long Halloween: Last Halloween 9

Chris Samnee puts in his usual good work, Loeb fully retcons Selina Kyle as a Falcone, and talk about people who have lost their fastball.  Between this and Batman: Hush II, Jeph Loeb is cementing my belief that he hasn’t written anything good in a long time.

Krypto 5

This series did not need to exist.  I did not need to buy it.  It’s a slight, pointless waste of time and Ryan North’s talents.  I would never have believed that it came from his pen.  

Wonder Woman 26

The origin of Mouseland.  It’s pretty ridiculous, and I don’t buy it.  The execution and art save it some, but not really.  I’ll be happy when Tom King and Daniel Sampere put this behind them.

One World Under Doom 8

Valeria Richards enters the fray, and Ryan North finally reveals how this whole thing is going to end.  (Unless he has one final twist, which I wouldn’t put past him.)

New Comics

New comics!

Fantastic Four 4

Alicia Masters is the hero of this issue, where her blindness is the only reason the alien threat to the family is discovered.  As usual, Ryan North takes a random scientific concept and builds the story around it to excellent, entertaining effect.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 12

The final issue of Jason Aaron and Juan Ferreyra’s run (with a talented roster of fill-ins at the beginning).  It’s not a masterpiece or anything, and this last issue is filled with a generic fight scene, but the run was always fun and gorgeous to look at.  Not sticking around for Gene Luen Yang’s run; TMNT doesn’t have the childhood nostalgic pull of Transformers or GI Joe, and I only hopped on for Aaron.

Detective Comics 1102

Tom Taylor and Mikel Janin’s run really harkens back to the days of Norm Breyfogle, Jim Aparo, and the pre-Knightfall Batman comics.  Standalone (or short arc) stories that are reliable, fun, and pretty much disposable.  Which I mean in a good way.  It’s all in the craft and execution, and this creative team has it in spades.

Ultimate Spider-Man 22

Setting up the final few issues.  Ultimate Superior Spider-Man shows up as Otto Octavius has apparently been officially recruited by Peter and Harry.  Here’s hoping that Jonathan Hickman can bring this home.  (Which would be a rare feat for him…)

Powers 25 2

God is it nice to be reading vintage Bendis dialogue again.  I love this man’s writing.  (I just picked up Scarlet for cheap in trade, can’t wait to read that for the first time.)

Absolute Wonder Woman 13

Horribly disappointed that Hayden Sherman didn’t draw this one, but Matias Bergara (who I don’t think I’ve seen before) does a fine job.  Still, hopefully this is just for this two-parter and Sherman returns post-haste. 

The War 3

Well that didn’t end the way I expected.  First of all, super happy that Ennis zagged with the home invasion cliffhanger.  The family still dies as expected but in a much darker (even for this story) manner than I imagined.  I don’t think it really works, but that doesn’t diminish the strength of these three issues.  (He lost the shutout, but not the complete game victory.)  Ennis can still bring the heat after so many years.  

Absolute Batman 13

Phew, Selena didn’t get wrecked by Bane, which I thought was the implication with the cliffhanger last issue.  I still love love love this book.

New Gods 11

I don’t love the Ram V story the way I love a lot of his other work.  I think it’s because the New Gods have never worked as more than a plot device for me, and making them the main characters is inherently never going to succeed.  But he does a serviceable job, and Evan Cagle takes the comic on his back and carries it across the line.  His work is flat out gorgeous.  

Movies

Some things I’ve seen:

Old Guard 2

I really liked the first movie, and was looking forward to this followup.  Unfortunately, this was ridiculously bad.  The action scenes don’t have the crisp efficiency of the original, the hokey mumbo jumbo about transferring immortality is insultingly stupid, Charlize has an epic-ly horrible haircut, and the film ends on a cliffhanger with zero resolution.  A complete disappointment.

Regret watching: Yes

Would watch again: No

Would buy on DVD: No

Rating: Stupid

The Storied Life of AJ Fikry

I watched this on Netflix because it looked like a light, breezy romance, which it mostly is.  I didn’t realize that it was based on a book by Gabrielle Zevin, who wrote Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow.  Apparently the book is better than the movie, which tracks.  This isn’t bad at all, but it could definitely use some fleshing out.  Kunal Nayyar (of Big Bang Theory fame) does okay as the protagonist, and his relationship with Lucy Hale is cute enough.  But he doesn’t quite pull off the transformative effect his adopted daughter is supposed to have elicited.  

There’s one scene that I really like, where Hale meets the real author of the book that brought her and Nayyar together.  There’s a sadness and quiet pride to the interaction that’s beautiful.  

Regret watching: No

Would watch again: No

Would buy on DVD: No

Rating: Fine

New comics

New comics!

Cheetah & Cheshire Rob the Justice League 3

The crew has been assembled and the prep work begins.  This is a fun romp.

Absolute Superman 12

We get looped in to what Kal-El was up to during his early years on Earth.  Not bad, but not stand out, either.

New comics

 New comics!

New Gods 1-10

I’ve never cared for the New Gods, but I’ve been a fan of everything I’ve read from Ram V, so I thought I’d give this a shot.  I tried the first trade, and it was good enough that I picked up the next four issues.  I just found out it’s a twelve issue miniseries, and I’m definitely going to finish it off.  The art by Evan Cagle is absolutely phenomenal.  There’s a European look to it, stunning.  Sadly, I’m assuming it’s the crazy detailed nature of his art that necessitates the appearance of a guest artist doing at least a couple of pages every issue.  (And sometimes way more than that.)

The story isn’t bad as New God stories go.  I’ve just never cared for any of them aside from Barda and Scott Free.  

Assorted Crisis Events 1-5

Holy crap.  Issue 3 is one of the darkest things I’ve ever read.  And the rest of this anthology series isn’t a bucket of roses either.  Deniz Camp does what the best science fiction writers do; he takes a sci-fi conceit and then applies the darkness of humanity to it, so that it feels all too real and hauntingly terrifying.  Really glad I picked this up.

Wonder Woman 25

Not the biggest fan of this arc, but I’ll suffer through it.  Tom King and Daniel Sampere are still worth following.  

Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees: Rite of Spring 3

Sam’s origin story.  This is so freaking good.  

Ultimate Spider-Man 21

Ultimate Mr Negative’s origin.  I’m so confused.  Is Gwen Stacy his sister?  Or been masquerading as his sister?  Or is he delusional?  Poor story telling by Jonathan Hickman.  (It’s finally caught up with him.)

DC vs Vampires: World War V 12

And so ends (presumably) this multi-volume saga.  Not as good as DCeased, but an entertaining, worthy effort by the always-dependable Matthew Rosenberg and Otto Schmidt.  

Detective Comics 1101

A new story arc.  Tom Taylor has really gone back to basics with Detective, self-contained adventures that are just solidly well-told.  I’m not complaining, especially if he continues to do it with Mikel Janin.  

Absolute Wonder Woman 12

If I could only read one comic a month, it would be this one. 

New comics

Battle Beast 5

Not enough fighting, but next issue looks to change that.

Deadpool/Batman 1

Marvel’s side of this inter-company crossover.  Nothing to write home about, but not horrible.  Actually, Frank Miller’s three pages were pretty horrible.  Is it safe to mark him as finished?  I’d be sad about it, but signs really point to yes.

Voyeur 1

A fun con comic with a sexy twist.  I’m in on this launch title from new publisher Ignition Press.  

Powers 25 1

Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Avon Oeming return, and boy is it nice to read Bendis again.  He disappeared from my radar after his DC tenure fizzled, and it’s nice to know that he hasn’t completely lost his stuff either.  

Short Game

I’m so happy to get more material from Mitsuru Adachi of Cross Game fame, but this collection of short stories isn’t nearly as good as his long work.

New comics

Batgirl 11

Batgirl and her half-brother fight the second Sword, then agree to go on a quest with the third one.  (Not sure why the three bad guys were lumped together, they weren’t working together at all.)  I’m done with this, there’s nothing that puts this above replacement level.

Free Comic Book Day: Fantastic Four 1

There’s a cute little FF story by Ryan North and Humberto Ramos here.

Absolute Superman 11

This is such an up and down series. This is a down issue.  The “brainwashing by running the subject through thousands of VR scenarios” story has been done to death, and this iteration doesn’t bring anything new.  The “push the hero to the dark side only to fail” thing has been done even more times, and Jason Aaron doesn’t make it all that interesting either.  Hoping he ends this arc on a high note.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 11

Things fall apart for the evil DA as the city rallies around the Turtles.  Cue the final fight.  Gene Luen Yang takes over w/ issue 13, I might actually stick around and give it a shot.

Absolute Green Lantern 6

I’m done.  This is all nonsense.

Mr Terrific: Year One 4

I cancelled my sub, but picked up this issue after it was pick of the week on iFanboy.  It’s fun seeing Bruce Wayne and Michael Holt interacting, but I don’t know if it’s enough for me to get the rest of the series.  I’ll flip through it in the shop next time around.  

The War 2

Garth Ennis is still bringing his A game after all of these years.  This is one of the darkest, grimmest things I’ve read in a long, long time, and it’s so so good.  I only wish Ennis didn’t bring in the armed intruders at the end.  The series is so strong because it’s grounded in realism, and this new element takes me out of that headspace.  

Cheetah and Cheshire Rob the Justice League 1-2

Another iFanboy recommendation, and it’s a good one.  It feels like I haven’t read Greg Rucka in a long time, and he’s as good as ever.  The titular characters are still gathering their crew, and it’s a fun ride so far.  

Absolute Flash 7

Not as bad as Absolute Green Lantern, but there’s not enough to keep me around.  I’m done.

Krypto 4

I appreciate the sadness warning at the beginning of the issue, but I’ve read sadder.  This has not been the best of series, but with only one issue to go, I’m going to play it out.

Fantastic Four 3

The FF figure out a way around Doom’s video game save/restore machine, with Ryan North’s typical cleverness.  Lots of fun, how does this guy not run out of ideas?

Battle Action 6, 7, 10

Apparently real-world comic distribution problems created this gap in issues.  Issue ten finishes off this Johnny Red arc with a happily-ever-after.  Fine, but not up to Ennis’ best.  

New comics

Way behind on new comics.

Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees: Rite of Spring 2

This is such a well-done series unlike anything else out there.  As with Hannibal Lecter, Sam is a serial killer that I’m rooting for.  An impressive feat of writing from Patrick Horvath, and his art is top-notch as well.

Trinity: Daughter of Wonder Woman 4

The youngest version of Trinity teams up with Alfred to chase down Damian-Corgi, and it’s utterly delightful.  Tom King packs this thing with cute moment after moment, and Belen Ortega illustrates them perfectly.  

Absolute Batman 12

We find out that Bane is the origin story for every other person in Absolute Batman’s Rogues Gallery; He brutally destroys all of Bruce’s friends, physically and psychologically crushing them into their twisted final forms.  It’s a stunning and heartbreaking twist of the mythology, especially given how close Snyder made this group.  Amazing execution by Scott Snyder and Nick Dragotta.

One World Under Doom 7

With Doom’s perfidy revealed, the final boss battle begins.  Reed Richards levels up to Scientist Supreme, but it’s still not enough.  (For now.)

CoRT 1

AKA Children of the Round Table.  The team of Seven Secrets returns in this all-ages title.  Very little happens here; the titular children find their unique weapons, each of which is possessed by the spirit of an original KotRT.  I’ll probably stick around for the full six issues, if for no other reason than to support Tom Taylor.

Absolute Wonder Woman 11

I don’t think I can love a comic book series more.  The final two pages are breathtaking.  Someone’s gonna get a hurt real bad.

Absolute Martian Manhunter 6

The plot so doesn’t matter with this comic.  It’s a tone poem through and through.  I’m enjoying it, but I still hope that this is a limited series.  I can only enjoy so much of this :)  (Ah, it’s going to be twelve issues.  I can handle that.)

Ultimate Spider-Man 20

The Parkers have a dinner conversation w/ the Stacy-Osborns.  MJ punches out Gwen.  This thing is rapidly approaching the endgame, and I’m all on board.  

Runaways 3-4

Nico discovers that her magic only works when she Wonder Twins-handholds w/ Gert.  Doombot returns to Doom to keep the kids safe.  It’s just fun to hang out with these kids.  Rainbow Rowell rules.

Fantastic Four Fanfare 1-4

An anthology series that I picked up on the recommendation of iFanboy.  The stories are mostly fine but forgettable.