Books

Some books I’ve read:

Jefferson: Art of Power by Jon Meacham

Man of Iron by Troy Senik

Continuing my quest to read a biography for every US President.  This covers Thomas Jefferson and Man of Iron.  It’s rare that I hit upon a bad biography, and the streak isn’t broken here.  I learned a lot, I was entertained, good times.  Looks like Monroe might be next for me.

Government of our Own by William C. Davis

I wanted to read about the actual government of the Confederacy, not just how it pertained to the fighting of the Civil War.  This book covers the founding of the nation, paralleling the Constitutional Convention of 1787.  It talks about how this new collection of founding fathers modified the existing Constitution to something that fit their (misguided) vision of a better country.  Like their predecessors, they were forced to compromise, fight, and scheme for every word.  I was fascinated by the whole process, and really enjoyed the read.  This is why I love books, learning in detail about something interesting that I previously knew nothing about.

Elektra by Jennifer Saint

A fleshed out account of the Iliad and Oresteia trilogy from the points of view of Elektra, Cassandra, and Clytemnestra.  Saint does a fine job of grounding all three characters and really delving in the motivations behind their actions.  I tried following it up with Saint’s Atalanta, but didn’t get very far.

World War 3.2 by John Birmingham

I tried so hard to like this.  Birmingham’s original Axis of Time trilogy is a super fun read.  But his followups have been massive disappointments, including this one.  Maybe he’s gotten self-indulgent with the self-publishing (he’s said this series is going to be stretched out to nine books.  Judging from the first two, he could do with some editing), or his writing method (using dictation software and AI support) has resulted in poorer results.  I’m not sure, but I know we’re 3 novellas and 2 novels in, and the best parts of the original trilogy, the actual battles and strategic execution of the war, have been reduced to a miniscule portion of the story.  It makes me sad, but I’m done buying this series.  

New comics

New comics from the past two weeks:

Absolute Martian Manhunter 11

This is where Deniz Camp completely loses me.  I’m done caring about the story, with an issue to go. Camp can do whatever he wants, I’m just going to look at Javier Rodriguez’s pretty art next month.

Fantastic Four 10

For someone so hyped up as the ultimate badass, Sue Richards the Invincible Woman sure goes down easy.  (As these knockdown-dragouts go.)  A bit of a letdown, but Bullseye shooting across the galaxy was frickin’ sweet.  

Absolute Batman 20

This issue’s a bit of a drag, as Batman confronts Scarecrow and discovers his entire origin story may have been manipulated into being from the very start.  Too much talking, but at least the fighting’s coming next issue w/ all of the Robins showing up.

Daredevil 1

I’ll always try something from Lee Garbett.  Luckily, Stephanie Philips keeps it interesting as well.  Matt starts a stint as a law professor at Empire State University, and immediately meets a sharp-tongued sure-to-be-a-love-interest antagonist.  Fun enough to add to my sub.

Voyeur 5

David Baldeon can draw, no question.  This is a beautiful comic.  It’s too bad Leah Williams’ heist is ultimately meh.  I’ll give Baldeon a look in the future, but probably wouldn’t buy a followup series of this.

Barbara Gordon: Breakout 1

Babs goes to Supermax prison in order to weed out rampant corruption.  I have no doubt she’ll be able to take care of herself, and look forward to what Mariko Tamaki comes up with.  Tamaki’s been underwhelming for a while now, but I’m still holding out hope for her. 

Mostly new comics

New comics!

Planet She-Hulk 6

This was cancelled earlier than writer Stephanie Phillips had planned for, and it shows.  She abruptly brings Jennifer Walters back to Earth in order to bring things back to a rough status quo ante before she leaves the title.  A sad ending to a title that started with a ton of promise and beautiful art, but completely fizzled at the end.

Truth 1

Batman and Wonder Woman team up in this Jeph Loeb/Jim Cheung one-shot.  I got it entirely for Cheung’s art, and it’s as lovely as I hoped for.  Loeb is definitely on the back half of his career, but the story is serviceable enough as cameo villains pop in at a regular tempo.  I’m pretty sure a drinking game devoted to every time a character says “truth” would render the participants unconscious in short order.  

From the library:

Duke 1-5

A fun start to the Energon Universe’s GI Joe branch, but I don’t regret not buying it. 

New comics

New comics!

Wonder Woman 32

Tom King returns to the parallel intertwined storytelling device that he employs so often.  Usually it works, but this time around it felt forced and unnecessary.  Sometimes I just want a straightforward story, is that so wrong?

Batwoman 2

Nope.  So done with this.  An unmitigated, uncharacteristic fail by Greg Rucka.

Battle Beast 8

Battle Beast returns to the fray, and it doesn’t disappoint.  The fight sequence with the regenerating sword is pretty sweet.  Like I said last time, this series needs Battle Beast fights to stay interesting.

Flash 32

Not bad, but I’m looking for a little more from Ryan North.  Hopefully he picks it up after he gets his feet wet with this first arc.

Detective Comics 1108

Is a Tom Taylor title worth buying if it’s perfectly fine?  I cut the cord with his Superman run, I wonder if I have the strength to do it with this.  It’s on my watch list.

Harley & Ivy 5

Erica Henderson is Pulling.  It.  Off. 

Absolute Batman 19

Scott Snyder and Nick Dragotta introduce a bunch of new, exciting things: Absolute Scarecrow, Absolute Robins, and Jim Gordon dies!  After a less-than-stellar run w/ Absolute Poison Ivy, happy days look to be back again.  (As happy as things can be in Absolute Gotham.)

Powers 25 8

We get Kutter’s origin, and it’s not nearly as interesting as her partner’s.  Still not turning down Bendis/Oeming, though.  

Absolute Wonder Woman 19

Diana and Zatanna free Zatara and fight Giganta.  And before she can catch her breath, Diana jumps back into the fray against something called the Iron Maiden.  Speaking of breath, this Diana takes mine away.  

Spider-Man/Superman 1

Just about every single one of these stories would have been better if they showed the greatness of these icons instead of speechifying about what makes them so.  It gets really old really fast.  It’s a waste of some truly phenomenal creative teams.

Fine Print TPB 3

Stjepan Sejic is one of the best comic creators out there right now, yadda yadda yadda.  I will buy anything this dude puts out.  He doesn’t disappoint with this.  Can’t wait for whatever comes next.  (I think it’s more Sunstone.)

New comics

New comics!

DIE: Loaded 6

We meet the final member of the party, and the issue ends with a major plot twist.  This would probably be better all at once as a trade, but I like supporting the single issues.

Flash 31

Ryan North starts a new run.  It’s weird seeing Wally West as a dad. (It’s been a while since I’ve read this title…)  Gavin Guidry, whom I haven’t heard of before, has a touch of Cliff Chiang in him, which is never a bad thing.  As with Tom Taylor over on Detective, this issue harkens back to the old days where not every story arc had to be some epic, game-changing saga.  This is just the Flash being a hero with a basic villain, and there’s nothing wrong with that.  I expect North is only going to up his game from here.

Resurrection Man: Quantum Karma 1-6

I’m slowly picking up anything from Ram V that looks interesting to me.  This is done in conjunction w/ artist Anand RK.  Like his recent New Gods, this is a cosmic saga, dreamlike in its tone, and slightly nonsensical.  But it’s beautifully crafted and I very much enjoyed the experience of reading it.  The time loop at the end felt a little too obvious, though.

New comics

New comics!

Detective Comics 1107

It’s odd when Tom Taylor is strictly average, but that’s really been the story of his run on Detective.  On the plus side, though, Pete Woods does a surprisingly good job filling in for Mike Janin, which I would never have believed possible given my exposure to his previous work.  

And who the hell is Prion?

Fantastic Four 9

The Invincible Woman kicks the crap out of the FF, and Ryan North has written himself into a corner w/ a villain who really shouldn’t ever lose.  She’s going to have to lose via personality flaw, like Thanos whenever he gets his hands on a cosmic artifact.

Absolute Martian Manhunter 10

Good to know this is ending after issue 12, or else I’d probably cut it soon; no matter how gorgeous Javier Rodriguez’s psychedelic art is, the Deniz Camp story is finally wearing out its welcome.

Superman/Spider-Man 1

More good than bad in this DC/Marvel crossover.  Enough that I don’t regret picking it up.

Absolute Wonder Woman 18

May Kelly Thompson and Hayden Sherman stay on this title forever.  There’s no end to how much I love this series.

New comics

New comics!

Powers 25 7

More build up.  Not as good as previous issues, but Bendis keeps it interesting.

Batwoman 1

I had to see what Greg Rucka would bring in his return to Kathy Kane.  Unfortunately, he also brought her mad sister Alice, who I’ve never been a fan of.  She’s like an evil manic pixie dream girl, or a dark Delirium from Sandman.  Not a fun read.  The art by Dani isn’t appealing either.  However, Rucka does turn the tide with an epic final page, which buys him another issue.  But he’s on a super short leash with me.

Planet She-Hulk 5

One of the few times where a title getting cancelled means I’ll actually stick around.  With only one issue to go, I might as well see how Stephanie Phillips finishes up this truncated series.

Wonder Woman 31

The Matriarch, Tom King’s attempt at a new Wonder Woman nemesis, finally takes center stage.  It’s typical King with flashbacks, narrating from the future, and plenty of unresolved mysteries.  Not the worst start.

Battle Beast 7

The title returns from hiatus, and it reveals the problem with this series: Battle Beast is sidelined w/ injury for most of the issue, and none of the other characters can carry the story.  No one’s likeable or entertaining enough, and that led to an empty reading experience.  (Heck, Battle Beast has barely zero personality himself, but at least his fights are fun to look at.)  Maybe this title doesn’t have the staying power I thought it did.

New comics

New comics!

Harley and Ivy 4

Harley and Ivy deal with the aftermath of their first hookup as they flee from the cops.  Fun and character-driven, Erica Henderson continues to do a good job here.

Absolute Batman 18

My guess was wrong, Poison Ivy is still Pamela Isley, not her mother.  Not the strongest of Absolute Batman arcs.  Eric Canete isn’t a bad artist, but he’s a far cry from Nic Dragotta.

DIE: Loaded 5

Kieron Gillen loses me with tons of nonsensical exposition.  The logic of the magic confused me to no end.  I hope this is an outlier.

Marvel Team-Up 14

A reprint of an Invincible/Spider-Man team-up that I had no idea existed.  Robert Kirkman does this with Cory Walker, and it’s as fun as I expected.

Absolute Superman 17

Superman beats the Parasite with the power of positive thinking.  I know this is Superman’s jam, but it didn’t work for me at all.  This is it, I’m cancelling this sub.  Jason Aaron had a number of good moments, but it’s not enough.  I never look forward to reading this.

Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees: Rites of Spring 6

Sam literally burns the town to the ground and moves on to fresh hunting grounds.  Gotta respect her scorched earth policy, I’ve never seen it taken this far.  It’s pretty thrilling to read.  I’d happily take more of these miniseries from Patrick Horvath.  Or whatever else he wants to create.

DC:KO 5

This series just got worse and worse as the number of individual fights got lower and lower and the interesting matchups went down.  It hits the nadir here as Superman takes on Darkseid with the power of love or some nonsense like that.  (Second time this week!)  It’s boring, stupid, and a complete insult.  Didn’t think Scott Snyder could write something so bad. 

Movie reviews

I’m so far behind on other media reviews.

Some movies:

War Game

A documentary about actual current and former government officials running a war game scenario where another January 6th-type event occurs.  What would extremist groups do to exacerbate and escalate the situation?  How should the government respond?  

It’s a fascinating and honestly terrifying look at a hypothetical that could all too easily come true.  After all, we’ve already come super close just a few years ago.  As bad as it got, it could have been far worse.  The film just serves to demonstrate how poorly equipped our government is to handle a group that’s really determined to wreak havoc.  

Regret watching: No

Would watch again: No

Would buy on DVD: No

Rating: Fine

All of You

I checked this out because it’s a romance starring Brett Goldstein of Ted Lasso fame.  It posits a world where the technology exists to match you up with your soulmate (SM) with 100% accuracy.  I have so many questions:

1. Does this mean that everyone actually has an SM?  Do they have to register with the company in order to be considered?  So if your SM hasn’t signed up, do you just float around in the registry until he/she does?  Do you get your money back if you have to wait for too long?

2. Do you fill out a questionnaire?  What else is the company doing with the data?

3. Does the company let you sign up if you’re already married?  Are they legally responsible for the marriages that they ruin?  Do you have to sign a waiver saying it’s not their fault if you divorce your spouse to be with your newly-found SM?

4. If your SM eventually dies, can you try again?  Can you find another SM?

5. Would I do this?  If this is when I was single in my twenties, almost certainly.

Anyway, Goldstein is stuck in a situation where he’s in love with his best friend (Imogen Poots, who’s channeling a mix of Yvonne Strahovski, Amanda Seyfried, and Florence Pugh.  I couldn’t identify her if you showed me her picture) from college, who goes through the process and marries her SM.  Who isn’t Goldstein.  Yearning and affairs and drama follows.  

The two of them are stuck in a cycle of “I just can’t seem to quit you” and “we can’t keep doing this” that get repetitive, but I can’t help but feel for them at the same time.  It doesn’t have the clean resolution of either a happily ever after (When Harry Met Sally) or a bittersweet never going to happen (Roman Holiday).  I applaud the movie for its more realistic approach, but it also makes the ending a lot less satisfying.

Regret watching: No

Would watch again: No

Would buy on DVD: No

Rating: Fine

Polite Society

A fun action flick starring Priya Kansara as an aspiring stunt performer who needs to save her sister from marrying an evil fiance with an even more nefarious mother.  It’s entertaining, but doesn’t go far enough with its over-the-top sensibility.  It falls short of the Scott Pilgrim/RRR levels of absurd humor that it seems to be aspiring towards.

Regret watching: No

Would watch again: No

Would buy on DVD: No

Rating: Fine

Limitless

I watched this because Bill Simmons couldn’t stop raving about it.  He’s totally overrated this.  The concept is great, but Bradley Cooper’s character doesn’t do enough with the possibilities.  (Though the licking blood off the floor bit is an inspired bit of madness.)

Regret watching: No

Would watch again: No

Would buy on DVD: No

Rating: Didn’t suck

Miracle: Boys of the 80s

A documentary about the 1980 Miracle on Ice.  It didn’t tell me anything that the excellent movie Miracle didn’t already portray.  (In a lot more entertaining fashion.)  Still, it was fun to see the actual players reminisce about one of the biggest sporting moments ever.  

Regret watching: No

Would watch again: No

Would buy on DVD: No

Rating: Nice

New comics

New comics!

Detective Comics 1106

The finale to an ultimately disappointing story, in that it’s completely forgettable.  Tom Taylor is capable of more, and if he was going to spin his wheels, I wish he’d have gotten it over with in a shorter arc.  Mikel Janin deserves a better class of writing from someone who’s capable of far more.

Voyeur 4

David Baldeon’s art continues to impress, but the heist is underwhelming.  I’ll stick it out to the end, but if it weren’t for the sex, this wouldn’t have stood out to me at all.

Absolute Wonder Woman 17

Awesome, awesome fight scene.  Diana and Giganta grow larger and larger as they slug it out, and Hayden Sherman makes it look completely epic.  I’m so in love with this title.

Absolute Martian Manhunter 9

Never thought an alien vivisection could look so good.  Javier Rodriguez does an amazing job of conveying this cloying, claustrophobic atmosphere.  Agent Jones is under this constant psychic and physical pressure, and it comes across as clear as day.  It’s beautiful to look at, but the reading is almost as much of a slog as the struggles of our protagonist. 

New comics

New comics!

Absolute Batman 17

The origin of Absolute Poison Ivy, though I suspect a twist next issue; Is Poison Ivy Pamela’s mother?  Still the second best of the Absolute titles.  

Wonder Woman 30

Guest writer Stephanie Williams goes completely off the rails with the second part of this “power of love and family saves the day” story.  So much painfully saccharine dialog, it sounded like a fourth-rate self-help book of affirmations.  At least the Jeff Spokes art was decent, but this was a complete miss.  Can’t wait for Tom King to come back.

Action Comics 1095

An iFanboy pick of the week, this one is pretty darn good.  It covers the week following Pete Ross’ discovery of Clark’s secret back when they were in high school.  It’s a narration-heavy issue as Pete processes the hurt he feels from not being trusted with the secret in the first place. It’s a great story by Mark Waid.  I love these well-done one-offs.

Powers 25 6

Cut and paste from last month: “Brian Michael Bendis doing what he does best.  Never change, sir.”

Fantastic Four 8

This is so freaking good.  What if Susan Storm explored her powers to the fullest, and it goes horribly wrong?  Ryan North and Humberto Ramos present this as a horror story, and it hits hard.  Can’t wait to see where this goes.

Ultimate Spider-Man 24

Defying all expectation and precedent, Jonathan Hickman absolutely nails the landing.  It’s basically a big fight scene w/ some epilogue, but it’s expertly done with nary a misstep.  I need to read this all at once now, I expect I’ll do it this week.  Shout out to Marco Checchetto, who was masterful over the course of the entire run.  This was a top notch Spider-Man story.

New comics

New comics!

DC KO 4

Yeah, this has fallen off the rails.  The fights are completely unmemorable.  I’m pot committed, with one issue to go.

Children of the Round Table 6

Same.  I was wrong when I said from the first issue that supporting Tom Taylor was reason enough to buy this.  It totally wasn’t.  

Planet She-Hulk 4

I’m running out of patience with this as well.  The beautifully colored art can’t make up for a generic fantasy story of palace intrigue and romance.  One more issue, I think.

DIE: Loaded 4

Chuck had a son, and of course he’s just as big of a dick.  Not the best issue, but still fun enough.

Absolute Wonder Woman Annual 1

A disappointing week is completely turned around by one of the best comics I’ve read in a while. Kelly Thompson has really levelled up with this title, and Mattia De Iulis is a perfect partner in this issue.  They combine great action, breathtaking splash pages, and so much heart and compassion into an irresistibly satisfying package of bliss.  In a nutshell, Diana saves Medusa in a way that only she can.  That’s the thing with this comic; Thompson tells stories that can only work with Wonder Woman.  She and Tom King have completely nailed Diana’s character simultaneously after decades of failure by all the other writers out there.  What a time to be a WW fan.

New comics

Only one new comic this week:
Absolute Superman 16

Absolute Hawkman tussles w/ Superman for a while, then they team up to fight a common threat.  Brainiac tries to recruit Absolute Lex Luthor, who’s a devoted, boring family man in this universe.  Juan Ferreyra, who I loved over on TMNT, appears to be the regular artist here now.  His work isn’t as mindbending here as it is on the other title, but it’s still pretty good.  I’m not blown away by it, though.  I’m starting to wonder if I should cut this title.

New comics

New comics!

Absolute Batman 16

Wonder Woman and Batman visit the underworld to find a cure for Waylon Jones’ Killer Croc condition.  It’s got some nice character moments, a good fight - just a really solid one-shot issue.  

Absolute Martian Manhunter 8

The Javier Rodriguez art continues to be the name of the game.  It’s a fun game.

Capes 3

My last issue with the series.  It’s mindless fun, and I’ll never think about it again.  Not Robert Kirkman’s best by any stretch.

Detective Comics 1105

Part five of this story arc and it’s still not over?  I mean, this has been entertaining and all, but it does not need to take up half a year’s worth of issues.  

Harley and Ivy: Life and Crimes 3

Delightful execution by Erica Henderson.  She does a great job with this relationship, and the art is pitch perfect.

Absolute Wonder Woman 16

Absolute Zatanna shows up, and she’s part of the Absolute Suicide Squad.  I love this title.