New comics

One World Under Doom 1

Ryan North begins his first (?) Marvel event.  He’s off to a good start, as Doom finally makes his move and takes over the world.  I suspect his eventual downfall will be self-inflicted, much like with Thanos all the time.  

Fantastic Four 29

Tie-in to the previous title.  Part of Doom’s plan is to give everyone a minority to hate.  The daywalking vampires from the previous Marvel event are the target here.  They’re an easy target, since they, you know, suck your blood and everything.  In order to remove the fear, Mr Fantastic develops a blood substitute that will sustain them.  It all comes a little too easy, and Cory Smith is not a league average artist.  This was one of North’s weaker efforts.  Too obvious.  

Batman: The Long Halloween: The Last Halloween 5

Love the Bill Sienkiewicz art.  Not so much with the Jeph Loeb story, but that’s nothing new.  

Batgirl 5

Cassandra Cain fights some more as she attempts to save Lady Shiva from the blue ninjas.  

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 7

The brothers’ relationships remain fractured as they fight the Foot and amongst themselves.  Juan Ferreyra’s art is still awesome.  

Detective Comics 1094

Tom Taylor and Mikel Janin are a wonderful team for one of DC’s flagship books.  Taylor makes Damian Wayne not-annoying, which is a nigh-impossible task.  He’s such a good writer.

Black Canary: Best of the Best 4

This month’s in-fight flashback shows us how Dinah and Ollie first meet.  Their meet cute is more of a meet-kicking-the-crap-out-Ollie.  I said that I like Tom King’s more linear stories, but this one’s too slight for me so far.  I expect more complexity from a King story, and there’s none of that here.

Absolute Wonder Woman 5

Man, do I love this title.  It’s beautiful, epic, touching, and overall breathtaking.  At the end of the day, the Tetracide is just another big monster, but Kelly Thompson and Hayden Sherman manage to make it the scariest thing in the world.  

This and the next title are why I love comics.  

Wonder Woman 18 

Sometimes you just need to see the hero be so much better than the bad guy.  Diana’s ROFL stomping of everyone in front of her is so satisfying, given everything that’s happened to her so far.  It’s completely earned, which is what makes it work.

New comics

New comics!

Jupiter’s Legacy: Finale 5

Maybe this will be better once I re-read the entire saga in one go, but right now, this ended with poor art, an unsatisfying ending to an impossible situation, and a reminder that Mark Millar is nowhere near his prime anymore.

Absolute Superman 5

Jason Aaron and Rafa Sandoval show us the final moments of Krypton.  Kal-El’s escape is tinged with extra tragedy in this version, as his parents almost make it off the planet safely, only to die at the last moment.  Still the weakest of the three Absolute titles, but I’ll stick around for a little longer.  (The next three Absolute comics are being launched soon, and I’ll try all of those out too.)

DC vs Vampires: World War V 7

Darkseid forces both the vampire and human armies into retreat as the next phase of the war begins.  Otto Schmidt’s usually wonderful art is getting scratchier and scratchier, to the point where basic readability is in grave peril.

Battle Action v3 3

Johnny Red continues his flying adventures.  The backup story stars a great white shark with a harpoon conveniently embedded in his mouth such that it can be used as an offensive weapon.  He takes on an equally murderous orca in a batshit fight that I could never have imagined.  I’m not at all surprised that John McCrea was employed to draw it.

Ultimate Spider-Man 14

I did not expect Harry Osborn to take a bullet through the head here.  If Jonathan Hickman chooses to keep him dead, I wonder if Gwen Stacy will take her husband’s place as Green Goblin.  That’d be a fun twist that I’d like to see.

Aliens vs Avengers 3

This is more like the Hickman that I know.  Batshit crazy ideas, undisciplined writing, and unintentional humor that I can’t believe I’m reading.  Not in a good way.  

Am I supposed to take this seriously?

This thing has flown off the rails, and I’m not even sure it’s fun anymore.

Taking Chance

Taking Chance

Credit to Instagram’s algorithm for introducing me to this movie.  It’s a wonderfully understated film starring Kevin Bacon, playing a Marine escorting a fallen Marine home to his family.  It’s based on a true story written by Lt Col Michael Strobl.  

The film focuses on every minute detail of the process and ceremony that goes into cleaning, dressing, transporting, and burying the remains of a serviceperson who has died in combat.  The armed forces make it a point to ensure that everything is performed with a solemnity and dignity that is inspiring to watch.  It’s the least that can be done for those who sacrifice for their country.

I really enjoyed watching this movie, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it becomes one of those movies that I find myself going back to every so often.  

Regret watching: No

Would watch again: Yes

Would buy on DVD: Yes

Rating: Good

Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow, The Bookshop

Some books:

Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow

My high school best friend recommended this novel by Gabrielle Zevin.  It’s about two childhood friends who start making video games together, forming their own studio after creating a hit in college.  

The book is really about relationships, and the special bond between certain people that only comes along a few times in your life.  Zevin’s extremely successful in evoking that and other sense memories in me - that feeling in college where everything is new and exciting, and each person you meet is an untapped well of potential friendship that can last the rest of your life.  

Zevin also has a take on the death of a loved one that spoke to me:
“After five years, she could finally hear Marx’s name and not feel like weeping. She had once read in a book about consciousness that over the years, the human brain makes an AI version of your loved ones. The brain collects data, and within your brain, you host a virtual version of that person. Upon the person’s death, your brain still believes the virtual person exists, because, in a sense, the person still does. After a while, though, the memory fades, and each year, you are left with an increasingly diminished version of the AI you had made when the person was alive. She could feel herself forgetting all the details of Marx—the sound of his voice, the feeling of his fingers and the way they gestured, his precise temperature, his scent on clothing…”

Regret reading: No

Would read again: No

Would buy: No

Rating: Pretty good

The Bookshop: A History of the American Bookstore

I love histories about random things that interest me.  This book by Evan Friss is a prime example.  Friss takes the reader through a history of bookstores through America’s growth, each chapter focusing on a particular store at a particular point in time.  It’s a delightful account of the huge role bookstores have played in this country for 250 years.  There’s nothing I love more than browsing at a bookshop, and this book is a celebration for everyone who does.

Regret reading: No

Would read again: No

Would buy: No

Rating: Nice