Apparently, Wolverine really is the "best he is, at what he does."

So, when I mention to my friends that I have collected X-Men comic books since I was in 5th grade, they generally respond with some variation of "that's nice." Or, rather, "that's not very interesting."

But, when I then go on to suggest that they should start reading X-Men comic books themselves, they usually point out that the X-Universe is an impenetrable web of interchangeable characters whose names and relationships with each other are impossible for a new reader to follow ...much less care about.

Fair enough.

That's why, while I'm off vacationing in Hawaii, I suggest that you all get up to speed on your Who's Who in the X-Universe by reviewing this X-Men Universe Relationship Map which layout all the dirty details as who's done what with who in the greater X-Men Universe...



...there, that should clean things up for you quickly. Any questions? Sadly, I can't claim to have created that mini-masterpiece, and it was instead created by the helpful people over at UncannyXMen.net, who not only created it but have a zoom-able and explorable version of it here (Check it out! But, also be warned it takes a minute to load).

If that all seems like too much for you, maybe you can just start out with their Summer's Family Tree which charts all of Cyclop's family. See, much easier.

OK, I'm off to Hawaii! Study up while I'm gone. There will be a quiz when I get back. Aloha!

(Special thanks to Jon Quixote for pointing out the X-Men Relationship Chart.)

Wolverine likes free comic books.

Do you?

In anticipation for Free Comic Book Day, this May 2nd, someone has put together this little one-two punch. It starts with Wolverine... er, I mean, Hugh Jackman... talking about how comic books promote literacy ("Its true! They're what kept me reading!" - The General), and then moves onto a trailer for the new Wolverine movie...

...which I still think looks Rad™.



So, remember kids, hurry down to the comic stores on May 2nd, and grab some free comics, before fanboys get them all. Because, if you dont, they will. And, who's that helping? Well, beyond the fanboys.

My Comic Collection

Wanna see my comic collection?

Today, on one of the comic book message boards I frequent, it was suggested that we all take pictures of our comic book collections to share how we store them, where we store them, and compare their... er... size. And, while the undertones of such activity might seem a little too much like the Fanboy equivalent of similar competitions and comparisons that jocks might participate in while changing in the locker room, I still figured it was worth posting the pictures here for the world to see.

As they say, I'll show you mine, if you show me yours.

...um, let's get started shall we!



The bookshelf in the living room. It's only about one third to one half trade paper backs and graphic novels, but it's sort of our "statement" saying: "Comics are literature, just like regular books." Bold, aren't we. These are primarily the comics that I might suggest to people when they are visiting. I have all sorts of fantasies where Sarah and I have dinner guests over, and suddenly I get to say something like: "Oh, you haven't read Osamu Tezuka's Buddha graphic novel? I you reallly should, it's enlightening (get it!)"

Or, something witty and comic related like that. One can dream.



Next to the bed you'll find just a small stack of comics (between the diaper holder and angry looking kitty cat). Actually, these are just the comics from the last month or so. In a weeks time they'll be read be read and moved into the basement. Speaking of which...



The basement, and the main portion of my collection and where most of my comics end up gathering dust. There's actually an additional small stack of comics lying nearby, which need to be filed away, but their existence is a source of torment for me, so I didn't take a photo of them. On the shelf beneath the boxes you can see trades that weren't deemed worthy enough to go on the "literary bookshelf" upstairs... in addition to books that also didn't make the cut. You'll notice on the boxes are little labels that say what comics are in them. But, what might be less obvious is that probably a fourth of those labels read "unsorted."

Anyhow, as I mentioned at the awkward lead-in to this entry, feel free to treat this like a meme and post your own collections. Maybe, if I hear about other people doing this, I can create a list of links of comic collection photos.

The best at what he does...

Wwwooolllvvveeerrriiinnneee!!!

Sorry! I didn't mean to squeal like that.

As regular readers know, my love for all things X-men knows no bounds. And, I'm pretty sure I was one of about four people on the planet who even loved the third X-Men movie. So, it should be of little surprise that I'm all-sorts-of-excited about the new Wolverine movie. And, look! Trailer!

X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE SD


Like the previous X-Men films, there's are loads of additional mutants in this including Gambit, Emma Frost, and the Blob apparently. Plus, Leiv Schreiber taking up the roll of Sabretooth. That's something, right? I'm curious to see how they'll have that mesh with the Sabretooth we saw in the first movie.

Still... exciting.

"Cool Beans"

You know what saying I hate? Cool Beans.

You know what saying I can't seem to stop saying? Cool Beans.

Fig. 01: Cool beans.

I'm not even sure where "cool beans" comes from or what it means. But, according to the Urban Dictionary is originated in the 70's, and was made popular by Candance Cameron's character in Full House. A show I never watched. Interesting.

Regardless, I seem to find myself using it more and more often. And, as a result, I seem to find myself loathing myself more and more for using it. Therefor, I've taken to augmenting the phrase in hopes of keeping the aloof, intellectual part of my brain from killing the slightly-less intellectual part that wants to keep chirping: Cool beans. Cool beans. Cool beans.

My new exclamation goes like this:
"As they say at the Arctic Chili Cook-Off: Cool Beans."

Awarsome. Anyhow, you heard it here first.

Apparently, according to my wife, I've also been saying "see you on the other side" a lot. This, my friends, is a completely separate problem.

So, what out there is actually cool beans, you ask?

Well, Stumptown Comics Fest looks like it will very likely be cool beans. This Portland based comic festival prides itself on focusing not just on creators. But, indie comic creators. With creators ranging form Craig Thompson to Tara McPerson, Brain Micheal Bendis and Scott McCLoud being featured, I can only presume that it'll be pretty rad. Or, as they say at the Arctic Chili Cook-Off: Cool Beans.

Also, this morning, I stumbled across the animated short, Flutter. It's one of those quick clips that doesn't necessarily make a lot of sense, but who's visual style and audacity makes it easy to bear its obscure narrative. In some regards, it reminds me of the work of Farel Dalrymple, who is a talented illustrator, but who's most famous work, Pop Gun War, refuses to follow any sort of coherent narrative. But, I also see shades of Aeon Flux there... well, if you remove the violence and leather.

Fig 02: Wonderful, but impenetrable.

BEYOND LAST MINUTE EDIT: Also, since I have your very divided attention, I thought I'd point you in the direction of the 700 Hoboes Project, inspired by John Hodgeman's very funny The Areas of My Expertise.

Anyhow, are there any other cool beans out there I'm missing?

"And who do you always see him hanging around with? Criminals!"

In case any of you weren't able to watch the debates last night, I recorded them, and you can now watch them here on General Admission. I consider this a public service. So, without further ado, the 3rd Round of the Debates:



Uncanny.

(PS: Thanks, Mr. Minority!)

The heavy and the light

I generally don't dwell on politics here too much, but I stumbled across this TED video that seems entirely too timely, and which honestly shifted the way I think about Conservatives and Liberals. In it, the speaker, psychologist Jonathan Haidt, looks at how Five Moral Values (harm/care, fairness/reciprocity, ingroup/loyalty, authority/respect, purity/sanctity) influence both sides and affect their political choices. In addition, he goes on further to explain that these underlying motivators have both healthy and negative side-effects on society. Before concluding that, like many Eastern Relgions suggest, its ultimately balance that is the goal.



Whether or not we currently have balance right now is another matter (and one that both "sides" contest)... but still, really interesting stuff.

And, just to keep things from getting too heavy around here, I thought I'd also post this preview for No Heroics, a British superhero comedy TV series that we will probably never see on this side of the pond. It's got an interesting Office meets Justice League vibe to it.



...OK, so maybe it looks a little dumb. But, you rarely see superheroes in costume on the small screen. And, I still bet that twice as many people watch that preview over the number that watch the "Morality of Politics" one I started this entry off with.

(Oh, and sorry that this blog has just been video clips lately. I swear there is other interesting stuff out there. And I swear I'll post about it someday.)

I am a Bad Genious. Or am I?

First off, sorry it's been quite around here. Life's been busy. But, beyond that usual blogger excuse, I've also been working on a new online project for the last couple weeks: The Bad Genious blog.

The Bad Genious started out as a small online message board community of comic book collectors and friends. For the last couple years, we've been meeting online on a daily basis (usually as a quick escape from our respective jobs) to chat about comics and pretty much anything else we've seen, watched, read or listened to. Over the years, most of us have had the opportunity to meet at least one other person in life, and some of become very close real-life friends. Heck, two people even got married.

Well, last week, rather suddenly, we decided to try creating a comic collector's blog with the members of the message board serving as the contributing writers. All of us were writing review already on our little message board, and several of us had even attempted to incorporate comic news and reviews into our own personal blogs (including my many awkward attempts here).

So, now that we are a week into developing it and creating content for it, I feel confident mentioning it here. We've still got some kinks to work out, but I'm genuinely excited about what we are doing. And, if you have any interest in comic books, and it's surrounding culture, I hope you'll stop by at some point and check out the Bad Genious.

I promise I'll still be posting things here, but at least for now, expect my entries to be a little sparse. Also, keep your eye on Strange and Benevolent. It's been quiet the last couple months, but I think that Sarah and I will be making some posts there soon too.

Cheers!

(And, yes, we know that "genius" is spelt wrong.)

Uncanny Valleys, Unlimited Budgets and The Mystery Box

"The Uncanny Valley"

Earlier this week, a friend posted a link on the Tater Board showing "Big Boy," a new robot with deer-like legs, which the amazing ability to walk over difficult terrain, recover from slips on ice, and stay standing when someone tries to kick it over. Really, it's quite impressive. Look!



After watching the video, I made a comment to the effect of "Wow, that's creepy! What is it about robots that creeps people out? Is it naturally born into us, or is it just a byproduct to of having seen too many robots-take-over-the-world movies?"

And, in response, my friend introduced me to the concept of the "Uncanny Valley."



From Wikipedia.org:

Mori's hypothesis states that as a robot is made more human like in its appearance and motion, the emotional response from a human being to the robot will become increasingly positive and empathic, until a point is reached beyond which the response quickly becomes that of strong repulsion. However, as the appearance and motion continue to become less distinguishable from a human being, the emotional response becomes positive once more and approaches human-to-human empathy levels.[2]

This area of repulsive response aroused by a robot with appearance and motion between a "barely-human" and "fully human" entity is called the uncanny valley. The name captures the idea that a robot which is "almost human" will seem overly "strange" to a human being and thus will fail to evoke the empathetic response required for productive human-robot interaction

What I think is interesting about this (beyond the fact that they include "zombie" on the chart above), is the fact that it dovetails nicely with a theory that Scott McCloud proposes in his Understanding Comics.

In Understanding Comics, Scott discusses how more abstract illustration styles (like Peanuts) will often be more successful than the realistic illustration styles (like what you might find in your typical Marvel or DC comicbook) at gaining the readers empathy. He maintains that the more simplistic or abstract the illustrations style is, the more the used has to activate their imaginations. And that by engaging the viewers imagination, it actually allows the reader to put themselves "in the characters shoes." Thus creating a great sense of empathy with the character.

On the flip side, the more photo-realistic an illustration is, the more the person evaluates it on a technical level. This, in turn, actually creates a greater degree of emotional distance from the illustrated character; as the viewer spends their time thinking "y'know, that one detail doesn't quite look right!"

I don't know, maybe McCloud's theory and the Uncanny Valley aren't related. But, at the same time, there just seems to be too much of a parallel. Abstraction and impression seem to lead to more empathy and connection than duplication and realism, anyhow.

Unlimited Budgets

Meanwhile, over on the Bad Genious, I found myself in an interesting discussion with a couple other members of the board. Basically, it ended up being a fairly candid conversation in which a bunch of comic fans were more of less admitting: Even though we all love comics, in many regards they aren't the best option for telling most stories.

Because that board is a private board, and because I'm fond of patting myself on the back. I thought I'd copy and paste one of my posts from that blog, so that maybe more people out in the Interweb might read it and weigh in:

Yeah, I think that every media form has its fair share of crap out there. For every good show on TV, I'm positive there are dozens of awful ones, and the same with movies, novels and... well... comics.

I think my complaint lies with the fact that each form of media has its strengths and weaknesses. But I feel like a lot of comics these days don't play toward their formats strengths. And, here's the two strengths that seem immediately apparent to me.

1) Unlimited budget - Unlike, say, TV or movies, you can do anything in comics without massively effecting the budget to produce it. You want a giant guy in a purple suit who eats planets? Fine. It's no more expensive than having two people standing around talking in their apartment. There aren't many forms of media that allow you that flexibility's.

2) Singular Creative Vision - While most comics we (on the Bad Genious) collect are produced by Marvel, DC, Image, etc. The reality is that it's one of the few media that can be completely produced from start to finish by one person. If a comic like Cerebrus proved anything its that one person can effectively make a comic that is his or her personal vision without creative interference from others. That one person can control everything, and with some time and money, get that personal vision and one-of a-kind story produced and into the hands of an audience.

What I think is unfortunate is that those two strengths are rarely combined. Rarely to you get a "singular creative vision" that also happens to involve the "unlimited budget" capabilities of a comic book. The "big budget" stuff seems to be mass produced, corporate comics. While the singularly created stuff ends up all being autobiographical stories about neurotic 20-somethings.

(Edit ted for clarity, but not content.)

So, yeah. I'm sure that other people out there have made the point better, but I figured it was worth repeating because it's something I've been thinking about recently. And, it's the type of discussion I'd like to continue at some point.

Also, it allows me to harp on another point that I seem to keep coming back to these days: That I feel like a lot of comic creators these days don't seem as interested in that sense of "out-there" wonder that previous generations of comic creators have been. Actually, creators started moving away from the overtly fantastical back in the early 80's. But still, where are the the planet-eating giants in purple headgears, teleporting bulldogs with tuning forks coming out of their heads and over-sized, world-conquering starfish of today?

Where have all the Lockjaws gone?

The Mystery Box

Feeling a little grouchy about the down-to-Earth nature of today's comicbooks, it was nice stumbling across this lecture by JJ Abrams for TED. TED stands for "Technology, Entertainment, Design," and the TED website is dedicated to "Ideas worth spreading."

Most of those ideas come in the form of what appears to be an ongoing lecture series. And, since all three of those topics interest me, I've been finding myself checking out their videos more an more.

JJ Abrams, as I'm sure you all know, is the creator and director of TV shows such as Lost and Alias. And, in his discussion, he talks about where he gets him inspiration for the mysteries and intrigue that run through his work.

Most of that discussion hinges on a "Mystery Box" of magic tricks that his grandfather bought him. To this day the box, which is a blank box with a big question mark on it, has remained unopened. The mystery of what it may contain being more fascinating than whatever cheap tricks it might actually contain if opened.

Who says you can't box wonder and mystery.

A wonderful and intriguing image. And one that you can't help but be inspired by.

Once in a lifetime, twice in a week

When Sarah and I went to Texas for Christmas, the presents that her dad and step mom had ordered for me hadn't arrived yet. So, rather humorously, I ended up opening a bunch of boxes filled with printed out pictures of the presents I was supposed to be receiving. One of the upswings of this ended up manifesting itself earlier this week when my presents finally arrived at our place in Seattle.

Christmas 2.0!

So, a lot of this week ended up being dedicated to watching some of the many movies I they got me. First up, and as part of our Bond-A-Thon (still kinky!), we watched Casino Royale. Now, months and months ago, I rambled about Casino Royale, so I wont spend too much time on it now. But, I will mention that it's been interesting revisiting this movie, after having watched the better portion of the Bond library over the last year. The movie stands out almost more for its differences than its similarities to previous Bond films.

It really makes me interested in what the next film will be like. Especially since it been rumored to be a direct sequel spinning out of the events at the end of Casino Royale. Oh, and as a side note, they've announced the title of the new Bond film: Quantum of Solace. (Source)

The title apparently has people grousing because it's "too wordy" or something. But, I'm all for it, since it's apparently the title of a James Bond short written by Ian Flemming.

Oh, and this appears to be a poster for it.

Next up on our little film-fest was the Irish romantic-musical Once. Once was one of the first films we saw after getting back from our trip, and it was the film that convinced me that I'm becoming a big blubbering goof in my old age. Even though it’s technically a musical, it's the type of film where the music actually makes sense in the context of the story, as it follows two young musician/songwriters as they meet, record an album together and flirt with the idea of falling in love.

And, I almost burst into tears in the movie theater when I first saw it.

Truth be told, if I heard the music out of the context of the film, I'd probably consider it to earnest for my tastes. I tend to recoil at singer-songwriter types. But, early in the film, there is a scene in a piano shop where the two lead characters sit down and try playing a song together. This scene, in my opinion, is one of the most pitch-perfect scenes I've seen in a while. It's deceptively simple, but is such a great layered scene that hits all the right notes (pun partially intended). Plus, the ending is pretty perfect too. It could have been botched in so many ways, but it’s simple and effective.

"Hmmmm," the lead characters of Once ponder with Irish accents, "How can we make Tyler cry in public?"

After that, I needed a testosterone-fix. And, for that we put in 300 for two solid hours of Spartans chopping Persians up.

...actually, thinking about it more, watching a bunch of well-oiled, nearly naked men might not be the BEST way to reassert my manliness.

Sarah and I both saw this originally in Hobart, Tasmania during our trip. And, while it didn’t surprise me that I liked it because of its comic book roots, stylized action scenes and painterly scenery; I was surprised how much Sarah liked it. Usually she has a limit to the number of arms and legs she can stand seeing chopped off in slow motion before she throws in the towel on a movie. But, somehow this movie managed to wallow in its violence, macho-posturing, almost deliberately anti-PC morality AND still get Sarah's seal of approval.

In addition to those movies (and another I'll save to talk about after we get around to watching it), I also got Talking Head's Once in a Lifetime box set. Now, I've been obsessed with David Byrne and Talking Heads for a number of years now, and as a result, I already have most of their CDs, as well as a good share of Byrnes's solo releases. But, this package (which also contains a DVD of a number of their videos) is just a little too nice to pass up.

Aw! A baby with puppies. Actually, this cover to the box set is deceptively innocent.

Plus, it's another excuse for me to revisit their songs for the umpteenth time.

It is actually really interesting to hear the better part of their catalogue in just a sitting or two. The three CDs are arranged in a rough chronological order, so it's also allowed me to start an internal debate with myself about whether I like their early stuff, middle of their career stuff or later songs better. Hmmmmm.

Oh, and it was fun to throw the CDs in and dance around our apartment when I came home in a hyperactive mood on Friday night.

"Dance, Tyler! I command it!"

The night before my Talking Heads dance party, Sarah and I went to Zeitoon. Now, I have to confess a sympathy for underdog restaurants. Y'know, those restaurants that you can just tell are going to go out of business. And, Zeitoon definitely appears to be an underdog of the highest caliber.

For weeks now, Sarah and I have walked passed it on our way home from work. And every time it has been nearly entirely empty. Occasionally, it might have a one of two patrons, but never enough to it could possibly be paying the bills on its downtown Belltown location. But, finally, on Thursday night, Sarah and I decided to take pity on it, and give it a try.

And, honestly, it’s quite good. If I were to complain, it would be that the prices might be a tad high. And by a "tad" I mean that if they knock a dollar off their entrees, I would probably consider their prices to be "reasonable." Also, their menu doesn't do their dishes any favors. What are casually described as "wraps" are actually expertly stuff, light and crispy pitas filled perfectly with delicious ingredients. Good stuff, and the owner was almost friendly to a fault.

If you're in our neighborhood, and want some Middle Eastern cuisine, I'd recommend them without hesitation. Do a good thing! Support the underdog*!

Oh, and I discovered a magazine this weeks that seems to live up to its title: Good. Actually, the full title of Good magazine is "Good: Media for people who give a damn." I initially discovered Good through a design site where it received an award from AIGA for its design and layout, but it's fascinating forward thinking angle on politics, the environment and culture has proven to be interesting reading for my daily streetcar rides to work.

Finally, my weekly comic rundown:

X-men #207 - This issue brings the massive Messah CompleX crossover event to a heady and dramatic close. And, now that the storyline is over, I will say that I think it was possibly the strongest X-title related crossover event in years, if not ever. Sure, at points it was uneven. And honestly, the entire storyline basically boiled down to mutants beating the tar out of each other for 13 issues... but really, that's pretty much all it takes to keep me entertained apparently.

Good stuff, with long term ramifications for the series involved. And, while Sarah will no longer have to listen to me babble about "Messiah CompleX Messiah CompleX Messiah CompleX," she's now stuck listening to me speculate about what will happen in the various X-titles going forward.

Astonising X-men #24 - And, while X-men #207 proves how little it takes to keep me excited about the X-men, Astonishing proves how little it takes to loose my interest. At one point, Buffy creator Joss Whedon's Astonishing X-men seemed like the most exciting title in the line up. But, fast forward over three years, and less than two dozen issues, and this title has basically sidelined itself. I'm not one to generally complain about delays in a title's shipping schedule, but this is seriously struggling to seem relevant when it's so obviously lost all relationship to the rest of the titles. Taken on its own, the issue isn't bad, but I still find myself unable to truly care, and just looking forward to Ellis taking over the title.

The Umbrella Aademy #5 - If someone told me, before I left on my trip, that one of the best title's I would be reading when I came back would be written by the lead singer of My Chemical Romance, I wouldn't have believed it. But, honestly, he's Dark Horse miniseries about a dysfunctional family of superheroes is one of the most interesting and unique things I've read in a monthly format in some time now. It doesn't hurt that he's ably backed up by artist Gabriel Ba (of Casanova fame), and cover artist/mastermind James Jean. Consistently interesting and entertaining stuff.

A private academy of disfunctional superhero children! A man with a gorilla body and human head! The Eiffel Tower! Sing me up!

Finally, today Sarah and I made a run to the CD shop and ended up picking up a bunch of CDs. But, since I've barely given them more than one listen, and because this entry has turned into a rambling mammoth, I'll call it a night.

Talk to you in a couple of days, when I hopefully put up the results of my Commuter Cam Project.

*Side Note: Speaking of underdogs, Sarah and I went to Olympia on Saturday to visit a couple of friends. While we were down there, we caught the Evergreen College women’s Basketball team play. And while they sadly lost to Southern Oregon, and while I didn’t attend Evergreen, I still feel like I should say “Go Geoducks!”

And the winner of the phallic mascot award goes too....

Another week at the Office, Dance into the FIRE!, and Marvelous comics.

Over roughly a week and a half, Sarah and I managed to blaze our way through the first three seasons of the Office. This probably set some sort of new land speed record for us when it comes to watching TV on DVD. Actually, the majority of episodes we watched through the Netflix View-On-Demand, but toward the end of the third season, we finally got fed up with it buffering and crashing on us, and I made the two block hike to rent the final couple disks from the neighborhood video store. So, by accident, we ended up supporting a local small business, I suppose.

At least that's how I'm validating spending close to $8 on DVD rentals when we already have a Netflix subscription.

As far as the actual show goes, I feel it actually probably peaked somewhere toward the end of the second season, or beginning of the third. But, even at its weakest, it managed to be more entertaining that most TV fair. Oh, and it actually worth renting the DVDs because there is an amazing number of deleted scenes for each episode. Like, five to 15 minutes of deleted scenes. And most of them are as entertaining as what made the final cut, so its like getting several bonus episodes per disk.

In addition to our Office-athon, we also continued our long running Bond-athon (a name which sounds a lot kinkier that it actually is). This weeks Bond film was probably the flabbiest of the franchises history, in more ways than one: View to Kill.

NOTE: The woman on the right it the better actress.

In it, an aging Roger Moore snowboards, demolishes a tiny French car, gets it on with Grace Jones and tries to stop an ex-Soviet super-soldier from flooding Silicon Valley to corner the market on microchips. If you want to see old men engage in slow-motion fisticuffs this is your Bond film. And, probably the two only truly redeeming aspects of this film are Christopher Walken's scene stealing performance as Max "Raht ahn shed-jehw-ahl" Zorin, and Duran Duran's kick-ass theme song:

Dance into the FIRE!!
The fatal sounds of broken dreams!
Dance into the Fire!
It's a view... to a kill!!

I'll probably be singing that song to myself for the next few weeks.

Significantly less flabby was the film we saw at Belltown's Big Picture. First it has to be noted that the Big Picture is one of Seattle's fine smaller cinemas, which is notable for both its atmospheric lobby, and the fact that you can bring a beer, glass of wine or mixed drink into the theater with you.

Juno: In which George Micheal get's Kitty Pryde pregnant.

The film we saw, Juno, was a movie that -going in- I knew that I would enjoy it, since it fell into the category of "quirky indie picture" and that's generally a fairly safe bet for me. That said, I was actually still pleasantly surprised by it. I think, as much as I like quirky and whimsical pictures of the Wes Anderson variety, I do have to admit that part of me is starting to get frustrated with their reluctance to embrace what seems like a true emotion... instead relying on cute gimmicks and coy gestures. Luckily, I think this is a case where the director and actors weren't afraid to see beyond the wittier-than-thou script, and allow the characters to breath and feel a bit. All in all, it ended up being an excellent picture.

The following morning it was off to my parents to work on making our batch of 2007 wine. Last year, before departing on our trip, Sarah and I started making wine with a family friend. And, this year, my dad got in on the scene too, setting up a small wine making room in the crawlspace below my parent’s house. This weekend’s task involved constructing a stand for our new oak wine barrel, and transferring the wine into it.

...And having four people packed into a tiny room trying to give each other directions.

...And cleaning out carboys with a hose in the backyard in near freezing weather.

...And sipping a lot of young wine from small mason jars.

Ah, the romance of winemaking.

Speaking of romance, I read the comic book Marvels last night, which allowed me to romantize my roll as a comic book collector. Marvels, produced not surprisingly by Marvel Comics, is the ultimate love letter to their superhero universe. Written by Kurt Busiek and painted by the much-lauded (and almost equally derided) Alex Ross, tells the story of the early Marvel universe from the standpoint of an everyday man on the street, photographer Phil Sheldon.

Though Sheldon's eyes we see the arrival of the first "Marvels": Namor the Submariner and the original Human Torch, the proliferation of heroes through WWII and beyond, the rise of the "mutant menace" (as depicted in the various X-titles), the threat of the world coming to an end with the arrival of Galactus and finally the life and death Spiderman's first love, Gwen Stacy.

Possibly the most realistic depiction of a giant, purple-helmeted man attempting to eat New York.

And, while its entertaining just to see this famous comic book events depicted from the viewpoint of a normal person living in New York, in their photorealistic glory; the main appeal of this book was something that I wasn't expecting: The entire tale works as a analogy for a comic fans relationship with superhero comics. Sheldon's opinion on the Marvels mirrors the average comic fans progression from youthful optimism and wonder, to broadening exploration of social themes and ideas, to frustration with the entire "establishment" and never-ending nature of superhero stories... to finally a personal sort of resignation and finale.

It might sound geeky to the lay person, but to someone who has been reading comics for more years than I can count, it's pretty cool.

And, speaking of comics, I might as well quickly mention what I picked up this week from Zanadu.

New X-men #46 - This was the second to last issue of the Messiah CompleX storyline, and the last issue of New X-men (although, supposedly, the title will be reborn as "Young X-men"). This issue definitely didn't drop the ball in either department, offering up some pretty whole sale carnage and chaos. In addition, there was a plot twist about halfway through this issue that tied one of the subplots into the main storyline and managed to entertain me. If I had one complaint it was that there are 40 or more characters involved in the final battle, and while artist Humberto Ramos tries to keep up... he can't quite manage it.

New Exiles - While I only really had one complaint about this weeks New X-men, I have to say that New Exiles gave me plenty to complain about. In fact, I'm not even really sure why I even gave it a try. The writer, Chris Claremont, helped define the X-Universe back in the day, but these days seems to be fixated on exploring his pet themes of strong women, mild bondage, mind control and "focusing the sum totality of our power" in the most incoherent and uninteresting manners possible. To this end, he's gutted the old Exiles title (which was basically the X-version of Quantum Leap) and turning it into a book about (you guessed it) strong women, mild bondage, mind control and "focusing the sum totality of our power." Ugh.

The Order #6 and The Immortal Iron Fist #12 - Neither of these are titles I usually pick up, but decided to check out because their writer, Matt Fraction, is going to be the writer of the new Young X-men series I mentioned above. In addition, he also writes the Image series Casanova which -if I haven't already mentioned on this blog- I'll definitely have to ramble about next time a new issue is released. Fraction seems to have a mind chock-full of entertainingly out-there concepts, and I was interested in seeing how he handled the Marvel Universe. Of the two titles, the kung-fu series Iron Fist is probably the more entertaining. I wasn't always able to follow up what was going on (the story was in part 5 of 6), but it had the right level of energy and quirky details. The Order, while also a strong title involving the formation of a new California based superhero team, was entertaining but probably drug down a bit by the solid by not particularly dynamic art of Barry Kitson.

Finally, in addition to all that, I also finished reading MW by Osamu Tezuka. Tezuka's Buddha series is one of my all time favorite mangas. So, when Vertical started releasing other comics by Tezuka, I figured it was worth picking them up. MW, the first of the titles I read, was... how should I say it... interesting. The story is about two young boys who are the only survivors when a biological weapon called MW is leaked on an island killing the entire population. When they grow up, one becomes a Catholic priest, and the other becomes an amoral killer obsessed with tracking down the people responsible for the cover up. And the priest and killer are secretly lovers. And the priest wants to stop the killer from trying to wipe out mankind. And the killer is from a family of kabuki dancers and tends to dress up like the women he's recently killed.

So, yeah, definitely different and at times fairly surreal. Probably the thing that makes it the most unnerving is the Tezuka's cartoony art. Tezuka is the creator of the cult series Astro Boy, and his characters look like 1940's cartoon characters, which puts the style at odds with the themes and storyline. But, not in a bad way. I'll be interested to read his other two book (which I also got as Christmas presents) and see how they compare to this and Buddha.

Pop Quiz! Is this a picture of A) The cross-dressing, sociopathic lead character of MW who is attempting to aquire a biological weapon to wipe out mankind or B) Astro Boy?

Week in Review: Office life, secret agents, football players, sushi and the Hulk

And now for something completely different...

Admittedly, General Admission has always been a bit of mixed bag. But, now that I've returned to the 9 to 5 life, it’s become increasingly apparent that I won't be able to make regular entries during the week. So, instead what I think I'm going to try it to post a sort of Week in Review every Sunday, where I will go into detail about things I've seen, done and watched over the last week.

Plus, maybe subject you all to some comic reviews.

Anyhow, most of our evenings this week have been spent either watching the Office or James Bond movies. Sarah and I were both huge fans of the British version of the Office, so I have to admit that we've been dragging our feet when it comes to watching the American version, but after Sarah watched a couple episodes during business trips, she became convinced it was worth watching through Netflix's On Demand service.

And, you know what? It's awarsome.


The humor is a little more broad than in the British version, but with more episodes behind it, the characters have been given an increased chance to breath and be fully realized. And, frankly, there are some sequences that are true genius: Jim doing his "Jets vs Sharks" finger snaps behind Michael's back, in "The Fight." Dwight barfing on his car windshield in "The Injury" (trust me, its funny). Or the subtly heartbreaking ending of the Halloween episode, with Michael giving out candy to Trick or Treaters.

In fact, its bits like the last one that really are the hook of the series. For every hilarious sequence, or awkward conversation, there's a scene that makes you feel for the characters. Michael may be a jerk, and Dwight a creep... but you still feel for them.

But, you all probably know this already, since everyone else in America has been watching the Office for over two years now. But, if we keep watching episodes at the rate we are, we should be caught up with everyone else by this time next week. Or, maybe by the end of tonight.

But, in addition to our Office-athon, we've also been indulging in our movie equivalent of comfort food: James Bond. Last year, Sarah's mom bought me two of the James Bond box sets, and this year, I got the other two box sets... completing our collection.

This weeks Bond films included From Russia With Love and Die Another Day. Watching these two, more or less back to back, was an interesting experience because we basically went from the second Bond film ever made, to the second most recent film. And the differences between the two were as interesting as the similarities.


In From Russia With Love you could see them still developing all those things that would become clichés and standard tropes of the later films: Q's gadgets. Bond's sexism. The trademark villains. Plus, the series hadn't quite developed the kitsch factor that would define the later Connery films and most of Moore's Bond films. Oh, plus it takes place in Istanbul and it gave me another opportunity to wax wistfully about how much I love Istanbul.

But, probably the most noticeable difference is with Bond himself. In the earlier film, despite his training, he's still almost a believable character. Sure, he's a trained secret agent, but he hasn't yet taken on the superhuman qualities that defined later day Bond, as witness in Brosnan using a parachute and cockpit lid to wind surf a wave created by an iceberg cleaved free of the mainland by a laser shooting satellite in Die Another Day. It's a world of difference... and watching the two you can see how much Casino Royale has gone back to Bond's roots.

Personally, though, I have difficulty picking a favorite Bond era. Most people skew towards the older or newer Bonds. Usually the older Bonds. But, honestly, I think they all have strengths and weaknesses. And I enjoy them all. Even the frumpy Dalton films.

And, from "frumpy" we shift gears to "grumpy."

Sadly, as you probably all know, the Seahawks are out of the playoffs. After what was an amazing first four minutes, the rest of the game became increasingly difficult to watch... partially because it was difficult to watch the Seahawks game slowly unravel, and partially because the ever increasing snowfall just made it hard to even see the players.

Still, while I'm a Johnny-Come-Lately with the ‘Hawks this year, I've enjoyed the last couple of weeks shouting and cheering with friends, taking ski-shots, eating my friend JJ's amazing five-meat chili, and taking the edge off yesterdays loss by appreciating Todd's excellently grilled steaks... which continue to reinforce my belief in the value of buying your food at local butchers and farmers markets, as opposed to chain grocery stores. I mean, these steaks were just so far above and beyond anything you could get at Safeway.

On the subject of food, after attending an ex-corkers Last Day of Work Party, me, Sarah and a couple of friends made our way over to Umi Sake House. Now, Umi might not be the most traditional or authentic sushi restaurant, but it’s definitely become a favorite of ours. I'm pretty new to the world of sushi (and seafood in general), but I have to admit I'm pretty surprised by how much I've enjoyed everything I've had there. For example, I've never had sushi that was fried tempura style, and I don't think it's "true" sushi... but its good!

Finally, I'm going to quickly mention the comics I picked up this week. In my last entry, I mentioned the big X-crossover, the Messiah CompleX. Well, it's dutifully soldiering toward its climax. This week’s X-Factor #27 is the third from last in the crossover event, and it's far from my favorite. The art by Scot Eaton is fairly blah, and Peter David's writing is oddly stiff. But, what the issue did do well is get me excited for the final two chapters! I think, from here on out, we are moving into the storylines final battle... or battles. And, we are beginning to get the feeling that we are moving into the Grand Finale, and that some of the storylines are getting wrapped up.

In addition to X-Factor, I decided to check out the new Hulk series by Jeff Leob and Ed McGuiness. While Sarah and I were traveling, the Hulk had it's own major crossover called World War Hulk in which -I believe- the Hulk and a group of aliens tried to take over the Earth, which sadly I missed. I mean, the Hulk and aliens trying to take on the World!! It had to have been entertaining! But, with that story behind us, this new series marks a new direction for the Hulk as a character. And, while the concept of the newer, redder (and gun totting?!) Hulk is interesting, and the art was stunning... the issue seemed, well, slight.


I mean, a series about the incredible Hulk doesn't need to be cerebral. And I'm not one to usually complain about "decompression" (comics that tell stories more through the art than the writing, leading to less dense stories), but I was still left feeling like this first issue might have needed a little more meat to it. I might check out the second issue, just to see if it picks up, but I can't say I was particularly awed. Hulk Smash!

Anyhow, on to next week!

The Holy Land and the Messiah

Spurred on by a 25% off gift certifcate that was burning a hole in my pocket, I recently picked up the hardbound 15th Anniversary Edition of Joe Sacco's Palestine. Now, Fantagraphics has been putting out some sexy hardcover books recently, including Beasts, and this new edition of Palestine is no exception.

But, while the book might look pretty in your hands, it's the contents of it that really make it worth buying. Back in 1991, Joe Sacco travelled to Isreal to meet with and record the experiences of Palestinians living under Isreali occupation. And, instead of producing a traditional travelogue, he decided to tell his story in comic book form. The results are both unique and powerful.


While Sacco has a distinct agenda with this novel and the subject matter is painful to read at times, his ability to portray not just the shortcomings of both the Palestinians and Isrealis, but also his own shortcomings helps keep the narrative from becoming too heavy handed. Instead we get a compelling and harrowing depiction of -as Edward Said says in the introduction- "histories losers, banished to the fringes where they seem so despondently to loiter..."

15 years have past since Palestine was initially published, and the conflict there has continued to both evolve and refuse to resolve itself. But the book still seems timely not just in its depiction of the the Palestinian conflict, but also as a statement of what happens when people allow militancy and idealogy to drive them to commit cruelty on their fellow man.

And speaking of "militancy" and "ideology", over on the other side of the comic book universe...


Back before we left on our trip, I posted an entry about the Marvel Comic's event called Civil War. Now, Civil War has come and gone. And, while I initially found it exciting, it ended up overstaying its welcome and bit, and I was glad to finally read its somewhat anti-climatic resolution upon my return from the trip.

But, that hasn't kept me from getting all sorts of excited about the current X-title crossover event: The Messiah Complex!

Unlike Civil War, which was a Marvel-wide event, Messiah Complex is limited to four titles in the X-universe. The storyline is simple enough:

In the after math of M-Day, over 90% of the world mutant population has been depowered, and there have been no new mutant births. But, when the first birth since M-Day occurs, it becomes a race between the X-men, the evil Marauders and the mutant-hating human group the Purifiers to see who can get the baby first.

Right now the storyline is about half over, and I've been enjoying every chapter of it. Several factors have made it especially successful, including how tightly the four titles have been working together, and the fact that a different title comes out each week - effectively making this a weekly event.

But, what makes the event really fun it that its a complete X-geek-athon. They are throwing in pretty much everything and the kitchen sink: The X-men. The new X-men. X-Factor. The Marauders. The Purifers. The Acolytes. Lady Deathstrike. The Reavers. Sentinels. Cable. We've had throw-downs galore. New characters introduced. Several large plot twists. A new team formed. And the promise of more to come.

So, yeah, I'm geeking out. But, after several underwelming crossover events in the Marvel Universe, its nice to have something that reminds me how good a comic event can be. Here's hoping the second half is as good as the first.

Man or superman?

Rather unexpectedly, I've found myself interested in Howard Hughes. A little less than a week ago, Sarah and I watch the Aviator and I've been sort of fascinated in him since. What I thought the movie did well (beyond some really good acting by most of the people involved) was that it played with the myth of Howard Hughes without explaining it away. And, its sort of the myth that I find compelling.

Figure 1: Not Tony Stark

By this I mean, I think its really fascinating that at one time a person could be a wealthy industrialist from Texas, a famed movie director with movie starlet girlfriends and also be a flying ace who set the record for fastest plane ever flown and fastest flight around the world.

To me, that's crazy. That's the stuff superhero comics are made of. In fact, Tony Stark (aka Ironman) is actually based on Howard Hughes. But, I'd argue Hughes is more interesting... because he was real.

Figure 2: Not a comic book about Howard Hughes

And what's even crazier (to me at least) is that the movie didn't even touch on half of the Myth of Howard Hughes™. In fact, let's use that source of all knowledge in the universe, Deep Thought...er.. I mean... Wikipedia, to make a bullet list, shall we? (If my years working in an online marketing department, it’s that bullet lists = power.)

The Myth of Howard Hughes™

• Historians are not sure what day he was born on, but he claimed to be born on Christmas Eve.

• He erected Houston's first wireless system. When he was 11 years old.

• There are pictures of him riding Houston's first "motorized bicycle. Which he also built himself. At age 12.

• After his parent’s death, at the age of 19, he moved to Hollywood and decided to use their money to direct films. Several of which went on to be nominated and win Oscars.

• His film, Hell's Angels was the most expensive film ever made, up to that date. It cost $3.8 million and took three years to produce.

• Two of his films ran into trouble with industry censors. Scarface because of its violent content. The Outlaw because of Jane Russell's revealing outfits. Hughes designed her bra for that movie.

• Though he was married, he was frequently romantically links with almost every major starlet of the time, ranging from Katherine Hepburn, Bette Davis and Ava Gardner to Jane Russell and Jean Harlow.

• He hit and killed a pedestrian, and was charge with negligent homicide. Charges were later dropped when a witness suddenly changed his story.

• He cast John Wayne as Genghis Khan.

• In 1935, in the H-1, he set the airspeed record at 352 mph.

• A year and a half later, flying a redesigned H-1, he set the transcontinental airspeed record. He flew from LA to NYC in 7 hours, 28 minutes and 25 seconds.

• The H-1 featured a number of new advancements in airplane design, including retractable landing gear and rivets flush with the body of the plane.

• In 1938, he set another record by completing a flight around the world in just 91 hours (3 days, 19 hours).

• The received the Congressional Gold Medal from Truman, but never picked it up.

• He crashed his experimental XF-11 plane into a Beverly Hills neighborhood, destroying it, three house and giving himself a crushed collar bone, 24 broken ribs and a number of 3rd degree burns.

• While in the hospital for his injuries, he had a custom bed designed for himself.

• He designed and built the infamous H-4 Hercules (aka the "Spruce Goose"), the "largest airplane ever built." It's frame was constructed of wood, and it only flew one time. For roughly a mile.

• Starting with his parents drill bit company, he expanded not only into movie making (and eventually gaining control of RKO), but also started Hughes Aircaft, Hughes Aerospace, Hughes Space and Communications Company, the Hughes Research Laboratories and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

• He bought up the majority stock in TWA and expanded it to include transatlantic flights.

• He was brought before a Senate War Investigation Committee on charges of not delivering on a number of projects he promised to the US Government during the war (including the Spruce Goose). This is largely believed to be an attack by Pan Am Airlines in response for his attempting to break their monopoly on flights to Europe.

• A bribe from Hughes to Nixon's brother may have been the catalyst for the Watergate Scandal.

• He worked with the CIA to provide a cover while they attempted to salvage a Russian sub from off the coast of Hawaii.

• He suffered from Social Avoidance Behavior and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. The primary manifestation was his obsession with germs and cleanliness.

• He enjoyed eating peas. But was also obsessed with their size and would line them up from smallest to largest.

• Although at one point he was one of the most publicly visible men in America, he became a recluse in his later years. Going so far as to lock himself in his private room for days on end. And would only get his hair and nails clipped once or twice a year.

• Although not a Mormon himself, toward the end of his life, he surrounded himself almost exclusively with them because he felt they were trustworthy.

• Also, in addition to being addicted to a number of painkillers, he started using tissues when picking things up and touching them.

• He watch Ice Station Zebra over 150 times.

• He became obsessed with buying up every chain restaurant and 4 Star Hotel in his home state of Texas.

• He became obsessed with avoiding taxes. Going so far as to living in hotels full-time to avoid them.

• When the law changed requiring anyone to pay income taxes if they live in one state for 180 days, he took to moving to a new state every 180 days.

• After running into problems with the owners of the Desert Inn Hotel in Vegas, he simply bought the Desert Inn and made it his headquarters.

• After that, he began buying up other hotels from the mafia, convinced he would turn the city from a place of mobsters and sin to a place of old time glamour.

• An insomniac, he bought several local TV stations, so that he would have something to watch in the middle of the night.

• He became obsessed with Baskin-Robbins Banana Nut ice cream, which had been discontinued. So, he had a special order of 350 gallons made. Only to decide he liked French Vanilla. The Desert Inn gave away from banana nut ice cream for a year.

• He repeatedly attempted to bribe Nixon and Johnson to stop the testing of nuclear weapons in the Nevada desert. When he fails, he exiled himself from the United States.

• He then lived in a hotel in Nicaragua, where he kept the windows blacked out to avoid assassins or prying photographers.

• Author Clifford Irving claimed to have co written an autobiography of Hughes. Because Hughes was such a recluse he didn't step forward immediately to refute the claim. When he eventually did, Irving was fined and jailed, and the entire episode was turned into a movie starring Richard Gere.

• Hughes eventually died in 1976, on a flight from Mexico back to Houston. He was practically unrecognizable because of his long hair, beard, nails and the fact that he barely weighed 90lbs. They had to fingerprint him to get positive ID.

• His cause of death was a heart attack. But, he suffered from malnutrition and there were numerous needles broken off in his arm.

• Three weeks after his death, the infamous "Mormon Will" came forward. This will, supposedly found on the desk of a Church of Later Day Saints official gave (amongst other things) $156 million dollars to a gas station attendant named Melvin Dummar. After Melvin's fingerprints were found on the will, he claimed the following story:

Dummar claimed to reporters that late one evening in December 1967, he found a disheveled and dirty man lying along U.S. Highway 95, 150 miles (250 km) south of Las Vegas. The man asked for a ride to Las Vegas. Dropping him off at the Sands Hotel, Dummar said the man told him he was Hughes. Dummar then claimed that days after Hughes' death, a "mysterious man" appeared at his gas station, leaving an envelope containing the will on his desk. Unsure if the will was genuine, and unsure of what to do, Dummar left the will at the LDS Church office.

Eventually, the courts would declare this will a fraud and Hughes estate would be divided up amongst 22 relatives. Jonathan Demme would eventually make a movie about Dummar and Hughes relationship.

• An undisclosed amount would later be given to Terry Moore, who claimed she had married Hughes onboard a yacht off Mexico in 1949, and never officially divorced.

Ok, so not everything about Howard Hughes is glamorous. In fact, the whole second half of that bullet list lives somewhere between "horrific" and "tragi-comedic." But, heck, no bodies perfect. I mean, even Tony Stark is a recovering alcoholic. The fact remains that Hughes lived a truly larger-than-life life. And, his life captures that period in history where a person could be both a Hollywood socialite and an ace test pilot.

That's gotta count for something.

Reviewing the Reviewers

The other day, I stumbled across Pulp Secret, a website that boasts two online comic book review shows. While neither show is great, I'm all for anything the increases the profile of comic books in general. And, personally, finding any sort of show which talks about comic books holds the same thrill for me that my lovely wife must have felt when she discovered Readng Rainbow as a child. So, with that in mind, I thought I'd review both of the shows. First up...

A Comicbook Orange



A Comicbook Orange is a roughly 5 minute long review show, which features three reviews each episode, and is hosted by Casey McKinnen (sp). Casey is probably the shows greats asset and biggest weakness. She's obviously going for cute, crazy, and irreverent; but just as often ends up in the realm, well, obnoxious. Still, I guess credit is due for having a program which features a female comic collector (even if for no other reason than to give dozens of males collectors something to fantasize over from their basements). Also, when the reviews for each title actually kick in, they are generally clear, well thought out and insightful. Something the next show might be lacking in...

The Stack



Clocking in at around 15 minutes, The Stack features three average Joes named Alex, Justin and Steve. Their format is straight forward enough: The sit around a table together, review comic books and joke around. Usually, they'll give three in depth reviews, and then follow that up with some "speed reviews" and viewer questions. Unfortunately, while they seem to be genuinely enjoying themselves and are occasionally funny, I think that their banter gets in the way of the clarity of their reviews. They'll have talked about a given title for several minutes, but then you'll realized they've segued into discussions about how Victorian Era pimps may have talked... but not actually told you much about the comic in question.

Still, like A Comicbook Orange, it great to see a show (even a YouTube show) that discusses comic books, and -as such- deserves some support. With any luck, they’ll both continue to grow and improve, while opening the door for similar shows in the future.

So many wonderful, bizarre creatures!

So, this weekend, my brother-in-law was in town, so my wife and I took him to Georgetown to do some site seeing (or, at least, the Georgetown equivalent). While we were there, it was necessary (I might even argue that it was required by law) that we visit the Fantagraphic Bookstore; where my wife pointed out this book to me:



Beasts! is "a pictorial schedule of traditional hidden creatures from the interest of 90 modern artisans." Or, more succinctly, its a guide to 90 mythical creatures, with accompanying illustrations by 90 different illustrators. Imagine if McSweeney's created the Dungeon & Dragon's Monster Manual, and you begin to have an idea about what Beasts! is like.

(Commence coveting!)

Luckily, my wife is wonderful and announced that I should own it. So, I now have it next to my bed where, each night, I can fall to sleep with visions of Albastors and Sianachs dancing in my head.

Equally creature-filled and fascinating, if slightly less fanciful (and a little more disheartening), is this website, pointed out to me today by a coworker: Edge Of Existence. Edge of Existence is a website dedicated to:

The EDGE of Existence programme aims to conserve the world's most Evolutionarily Distinct and Globally Endangered (EDGE) species by implementing the research and conservation actions needed to secure their future.

But, their lists of endangered creatures is evey bit as amazing as those found in the pages of Beasts. Take, for example, the Long-Eared Jerboa, who's ears are 1/3rd the size of its body:



Also on the list are fresh water dolphins, the Saiga (a thick-nose antelope type creature that can run up to 80 km/h) and bats that are no bigger than a large bumblebee. You owe it to yourself to check it out.

Looking at these endangered species lists, reminded me of Douglas Adams' A Last Chance To See. This is probably the least read of the Adams' books, and his only non-fiction book (to my knowledge). It details his travels around the world to track down and see for himself some of the world's most endangered species. The subject matter sounds massively depressing, but Adams' (the author of Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy) manages to balance it with the right amount of his trademark humor. It's a great read and one of my all time favorites.

Don't worry, I'm not going to talk about X-men...

But, I am going to talk about comics.

Some of the more astute readers of this blog will have noticed that I've stopped doing my weekly comic reviews. That's because, the latest research has shown that this blog has three regular readers. And that, of those readers, exactly 0.34% of them (the heel of Sarah's left foot, I believe) have interest in reading a blog entry in which I wax poetic about Wolverine ...again.

So, instead, I've moved back to posting my comic reviews at JoeQuesada.com where the people reading them have at least a foggy notion of what I'm rambling about. And where I can verbally abuse any fanboy that dares disagree with me.

Because, I'm just hardcore like that.

But, I still think its worth mentioning some of the interesting graphic novels (y'know, comics for those who are afraid to read comics) I received for my birthday and/or Christmas. So, let's take a look at those. And -don't worry- while some do contain monkeys and deformed teenagers, there is a complete absence of spandex.


The 9/11 Report (Graphic Novel Edition)

God Bless America! Probably the only nation in the world that would publish a comic book adaptation of a government report detailing the nation's worst terrorist attack ever. But, if you can get past the surreal nature of the entire undertaking, its amazingly interesting. I'm sure that the whole thing reads like a Cliff's-Notes version of the actual report; but still, I feel like I've got a much better understanding of 9/11 itself, the reports findings, and the administrations failure to follow through on the reports suggestions. Both the layout and the subject matter can be frustrating at times, but still its audacious and essential reading.


Chicken With Plums

Marjane Satrapi's fourth book to be translated to English is heartbreaking in the best way. Significantly less dense than the 9/11 Report, Chicken With Plums packs a stronger emotional wallop with her distinctive minimalist art style and prose. It's the true life story of one of her distant relatives (a great uncle, I believe) who is a musician that resolves to let himself die after his tar (a musical instrument) is broken and he cannot find a suitable replacement. The ending for this one snuck up on me a bit, and left me reeling.


Black Hole

If Don't Let's Go To The Dogs Tonight was my favorite novel of the year, I would argue that Charles Burns' Black Hole was probably my favorite graphic novel (thought -technically- I might have read it after the New Year). It's the story of teenagers growing up in Seattle during the 1970's, in a world where there is a strange STD that gives those who get it strange and deforming mutations (less X-men, more Sloth from the Goonies). What could have been a sort of soft Sci-Fi style novel instead becomes more of an allegory about the isolation, self-exploration and strange sexual energy that comes with being an adolescent. A great story filled with beautiful ugliness... or ugly beauty, maybe.


Monkey Vs. Robot

With a title and cover like this, you'd expect a light, fun-filled, all-ages tale about monkeys and robots engaging in all sorts of hi-jinks, right? Well, you'd be half wrong. Writer/artist James Kochalka never ditches the sense of whimsy and fun, but also isn't affraid to up the body count, as legions of awkward, stoic robots and playful, charming monkeys engage in a full on war for control of the jungle. By the end of the story, as the jungle burns to the ground and the robot factory crumbles, you begin to wonder if there is a message. Maybe James is saying something about the inherent conflict between nature and science. Or maybe he is illustrating the futility of war. Or maybe, just maybe, he's pointing out that when monkeys and robots go do battle... they both loose. But, we win.

And finally, I'd like to leave you with this little video gem, which I'm sure will make a believer... or something... out of anyone who watches it. Enjoy!

Listening to the Pope

...no, not that Pope, silly! I'm referring to the popular indie comic book illustrator, Paul Pope.



There’s a sort of beautiful ugliness (or, perhaps, ugly beautifulness) to Pope's work that I've always appreciated. And the level of success he's achieved by doing things his own way is pretty admirable. But, I was still presently surprised by how interesting his blog, PulpHope, is. Whether he's giving interviews to Polish magazines, copying articles about the effects of coffee, or just posting current art projects he's working on, Pope seems to be consistently adding something new to his blog on a daily basis. In fact, while it appears he's only been keeping the blog since the beginning of the month, I'm surprised by how much he's already posted. Often adding two or three entries a day.

Which is a lot better than I've been doing maintaining this blog. But, I'm blaming the holiday season. In fact, while out running around in the rain the other day, I stumbled across a book (at Urban Outfitters of all places) that I really need to add to my Christmas list: (un)Fashion.



To quote the book description itself:

From cardboard shoes in Africa to body paint in New Guinea, from chimney sweeps in France to an Indian Elvis, (un)Fashion scans the globe to show how real people dress: at work, on the street, or for ceremonial occasions. With virtually no text, (un)Fashion pokes gentle fun at the elitism of the fashion world, presenting its provocative observations through dynamic images by some of the world's foremost photojournalists.

I was only able to flip through it for a minute or two, but it seems like it would not only be a wonderful coffee-table book, but would also be something that would be endlessly useful when coming up with sci-fi, superhero and other costume ideas in my sketchbook.

Speaking of interesting artistic references, I received Blackstock's Collection: The Drawings of an Autistic Savant for my Birthday over the weekend.



Gregory Blackstock, as the books title points out, is both autistic and an artistic savant. His art manifests itself in the form of detailed illustrated lists of everything from "the garden pest control beetles" (above) to "our states king sized jails." His dedication and skill is staggering in its ambition. And the book does a good job of displaying the breadth of his work.

Finally, I thought I'd point out the Ninja Words online dictionary. As it is subtitled: "A really fast dictionary... fast like a ninja." No longer am I bound to the slow-loading and clunky Dictionary.com. Yay!

Plus, I like to support all things ninja related.

300 Carnies

Even though I really enjoyed last years Sin city movie, I thought I'd sort of burnt out on the work of Frank Miller. The last couple of comics of his I'd read -while visually stunning- had failed to resonate with me. So, while I was interested in reading 300, I was also a little hesitant.



I was happy to discover that once Miller's usual terse, hyper-masculine dialogue was removed from its usual pulp novel and film noir trappings, and placed into another time period, it suddenly became interesting again.

The plot of the graphic novel is pretty straight forward: A group of 300 Spartan's versus the "1000 Nations of the Persian Empire." Guess who wins! It's based on historical fact, but with Miller taking some pretty sizable, yet stunning visual liberties.

The thing I'm probably more excited about though is the movie adaptation that is in the works. From what I've seen in the trailer, its going to be an impressive near panel-by-panel recreation of the book, on par with what Frank Miller and Robert Rodriguez did with Sin City



Check out some more comic-to-movie comparisons here.

"Our arrows will blot out the sun."
"Then we'll fight in the shade."
Indeed.

My wife and I finished the second (and last) season of Carnivale the other night too. And I'm happy to say that it was one of those series that actually improved with each additional episode and season. Sadly, there won't be any more seasons beyond this one though.



After watching the first season, I had been entranced by the idea of a show following a circus traveling across the dust bowl of 1930's America. It fits in with my whole growing fascination with the first part of the 20th Century. And, anything with Carnies in it will generally keep me amused longer than it probably should.

But, I was a little less impressed with the actual story. Too often, I thought it was attempting to go for the subtle creepiness of, say, Twin Peaks. But, instead it often ended up with the clumsy, faux-creepiness that populates your average Stephen King mini-series. Still, the interesting characters, great concept and often striking cinematography made me check out the second season.

I'm glad we did. The second season quickly picks up the leisurely pace of the first season. And continues to pile on the ideas until the whole thing reaches an edge of your seat climax and "final battle."

Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately (depending on your mood), the series finishes with one of the greatest and more frustrating anti-endings since Twin Peaks itself. I really wish there would be a season three.

Finally, we continued our Wong Kar Wai movie series with Chungking Express.



I have to admit that its somewhat fragmented storyline (or, rather, storylines) didn't win me over as quickly as 2046 or In the Mood For Love, but as more time passes, I find myself thinking more fondly about it. In addition, while the cinematography is rougher than his later films, there are still plenty of moments that sneak up on you and will linger in your head long after you've sent the DVD back to Netflix.

NEW COMICS: 11.15.06

Nothing exciting to mention today, so I'll just skip the niceties and jump straight into the comic reviews:

Astonish X-men #18 - In theory, this is supposed to be the final issue of the third storyline in this series. But, in reality, it read more like the middle of a twelve issue storyline. I mean, some stuff is explained and a few storylines reach some sort of conclusion. But a lot is left hanging and instead of a climax, we get all of the X-men and their various bad guys (Ord, Danger and Cassandra) beamed into outer space by SWORD. Which, along with Brubaker's X-men, means that two-thirds of the X-men are now in space.

All that said, this is a fun issue overall. Whedon seems to be having fun twisting various storylines and pieces of continuity together. And the storyline plays on Cassaday's strengths as an artist. In addition, there is some genuine drama and a few clever and funny moments in this issue. So, in all, it’s a good read. If I had one complaint, it’s that the dialogue is a little weird at times. There are a few moments were I found myself staring at a line and thinking "did Whedon forget a word in there?"

But, overall, a solid comic.

Civil War #5 - I have to admit that, while I am enjoying it, this title reads a little bizarre at times on its own. Basically, we have Millar painting in broad brush strokes, and leaving the little moments up to other writers to fill in with titles like Civil War: Frontline and the fifteen dozen other tie-in titles. As a result we get weird scenes like the one this issue, which deals with the fall-out of Spiderman splitting with the Pro-Registration side... without ever really showing him announce he's splitting with them. Still, the scene and title work overall, its just sort of like reading a summary or Cliff Notes version of a story, as opposed to reading the story itself.

But, I will say that one thing this issue made me "geek out": The introduction of the Punisher to Civil War.

I have known for a while that he was going to be part of this series; and actually I'd had a bit of hesitation about having him involved, since he seems to be stronger when he's on his own. That said, I was surprised how effective he is in the title. Basically, since Garth Ennis has sort of had him in the sidelines, over in his own series, it ends up showing how over exposed characters like Wolverine have become. In this issue Punisher manages to be everything Wolverine can no longer be because of his over-exposure: A wildcard. An enigma. Something dangerous. And its fun to see the other characters respond to that.

So, for Punisher's appearance alone, this title deserves: