Hey, I just wanted to thank everybody who has used the the links in this weblog to order items from Amazon. I just received my second gift certificate, and it was nearly twice the size of the first one. I used them to order The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy on DVD. (And it just now occurred to me that I should have created this entry with the link first, then ordered the DVDs. Oh well.)

Okay, time to update the book list. And, like last time, since it's been nearly a month since I updated, I'm going to forego the Amazon links. Let me know if there's anything you're just dying to buy & I'll add the link for you.

• Friends of the Dragon by Keith Baker & Will Hindmarch. This is a supplement for the Feng Shui role playing game. It's about creating player character groups; having them be members of a SWAT team or an occult investigation squad or something, instead of just a random group of people thrown together by circumstance.
  
• Hawkman: Allies & Enemies by Geoff Johns, James Robinson, Rags Morales, et al. I enjoyed this, but don't have much to say about it. Pretty good superheroics.
  
• Exiles, vol. 6: Fantastic Voyage by Judd Winick, Jim Calafiore, et al. I find I really enjoy this title (at least when it's written by Winick). I've written about previous volumes so won't go over the premise again.
  
• City of Silence by Warren Ellis & Gary Erskine. This bears a slight resemblance to Ellis' Transmetropolitan but is more about technology & ideas than politics. (But really, it's more about violence & swearing than anything else.)
  
• The Dark Horse Book of Witchcraft by various. An anthology of stories, including a Hellboy story by Mike Mignola.
  
• Daredevil, vol. 3 by Brian Michael Bendis, Alex Maleev, & Manuel Gutierrez. What happens to a superhero who is "outed"? The issues collected in this book deal with Matt Murdock's attempts to handle having his secret identity reavealed by a tabloid newspaper. Bendis is an excellent writer. Once I get a new job, I think I'll be picking this up. (Checked out of the library.)
  
• Ultimate Spider-Man, vol. 3 by Brian Michael Bendis & Mark Bagley. Not only is Bendis a good writer, he's also prolific. (Library.)
  
• Lazarus Churchyard: The Final Cut by Warren Ellis & D'Israeli. Reprints of some of Ellis' early works. I picked up an issue or two of this when it first came out, and I remember it being cooler than what's in this book. I guess my tastes have changed.
  
• Noble Causes: Extended Family by various.
  
• Fables, vol. 2: Animal Farm by Bill Willingham and Mark Buckingham.
  
• Exiles, vol. 2: A World Apart by Judd Winick, Mike McKone, & Jim Calafiore. I've read this before, but that was a library copy, and based on having picked up vol. 6, I decided I want the earlier volumes too. So when I found this on sale, I couldn't pass it up.
  
• Scene of the Crime: A Little Piece of Goodnight by Ed Brubaker & Michael Lark. Crime fiction. Pretty good, too. Too bad the series didn't last long. (This is the downside to not buying individual issues & wating for collections to come out. Sometimes sales aren't strong enough.)
  
• Love Fights, vol. 1 by Andi Watson. Romance comics crossed with superheroes. Fun & kinda sweet.
  
• Hellblazer: Haunted by Warren Ellis & John Higgins.
  
• Astro Boy, vol. 20 by Osamu Tezuka. (Library.)
  
• Fables, vol. 3: Storybook Love by Bill Willingham, Mark Buckingham, et al. I like this series, but I don't know what to say about it. As far as I can tell, sales are strong enough that I think I'm safe in cancelling my subscription to the individual issues & just getting the collections.
  
• Beach Safari by Mawil. (Library.)
  
• Grickle by Graham Annable. (Library.)
  
• Lovecraft by Hans Rodionoff, Keith Giffen, & Enrique Breccia. The idea here is that the things Lovecraft wrote about were real, and he was doing his part to protect the world from eldritch horror. I've seen it done before, and that was plenty. Can't really recommend this. (Library.)
  
• DV8: Neighborhood Threat by Warren Ellis, Humberto Ramos, et al. A rather twisted look at what superpowered teenagers might be like.
  
• Superheroes in my Pants by Mark Evanier. This is a collection of Evanier's columns for the Comic Buyers Guide; essays about comics (including several about Julie Schwartz & what he contributed to comics), Hollywood, and whatever Evanier felt like writing about. Entertaining stuff.
  
• Trinity by Matt Wagner. A story about the first time Batman, Superman & Wonder Woman all got together. It's good, but I don't know if I need to own this. I'm glad I didn't buy the individual issues or the hardback. I may get the paperback when it comes out. (Library.)
  
• Wolverine: The Brotherhood by Greg Rucka & Darick Robertson. (Library.)
  
• DNAgents, vol.1: Born Orphans by Mark Evanier & Will Meugniot. Reprint of an 80's superhero series. It's okay, but I'm really looking forward to the reprints of the spin-off series, Crossfire, which was more about Hollywood than fighting crime.
  
• Bone, vol. 7: Ghost Circles by Jeff Smith.
  
• Bone, vol. 8: Treasure Hunters by Jeff Smith.
  
• Bone, vol. 9: Crown of Horns by Jeff Smith. Well, the final collection finally came out, so I could see how the whole thing wound up. Very good fantasy series. And despite the way the storyline became more serious as it progressed, Smith wove humor in all the way through the end (although to a lesser extent than in the beginning).
  
• Catwoman: Selina's Big Score by Darwyn Cooke. An original graphic novel that set the stage for the current Catwoman series. This is a caper story, not superheroics. Very cool artwork too. Much better than the upcoming movie looks to be. (Although, as a friend pointed out, "Halle Berry in a leather cat suit. What's not to love?)
  
• It's a Bird... by Steven T. Seagle & Teddy Kristiansen. A semi-autobiographical story about a writer who has been offered the chance to write Superman.
  
• What's Wrong? by various. This is a companion piece to What Right? that I mentioned in an earlier entry. This collection contains stories aimed at an adult audience.
  
• Buddha, vol. 4: Teh Forest of Uruvela by Osamu Tezuka. Tezuka's amazing story of the life of Buddha continues. (Library.)
  
• Negima, vol. 1: Magister Negi Magi by Ken Akamatsu. More manga. This one is about a British wizard who is sent to teach English at a Japanese girl's school. He is told he can't use his magical abilities, but he can't seem to help himself. Also, he's only 10 years old. Okay, so plausibility isn't exactly the strong suit here, but it is entertaining.
  
• DeadLands: Hell on Earth: The Wasted West by Shane Lacy Hensley w/John Hapler. Sourcebook for the DeadLands: Hell on Earth role playing game. Post-apocalyptic horror western.
  
• Suspended in Language by Jim Ottoviani & Leland Purvis. A comic book biography of Neils Bohr, it does go into the physics, but not at a deep level. This is Ottoviani's 4th graphic novel about science & scientists. I think we need more non-fiction comics.
  
• The Nodwick Chronicles IV: Obligatory Dragon on the Cover by Aaron Williams. Although this comic grew out of strips for a role playing magazine, I'd say it requires less familiarity with RPGs than, say, Knights of the Dinner Table. It's really more about fantasy tropes than gaming ones.
  
• PS238, vol. 1: With Liberty & Recess for All by Aaron Williams. A grade school for the children of superheroes. Very funny stuff. And Teena says that he gets a lot of the teacher stuff right.
  
• Super Hero Happy Hour, vol. 1 by Dan Taylor & Chris Fason. Comics set in a neighborhood bar where the regulars are superheroes. (Library.)
  
• Elektra: Relentless by Robert Rodi & Sean Chen. (Library.)
  
• Astro Boy, vol. 21 by Osamu Tezuka. Well, after getting interesting for a while, the stories reprinted in these started getting repetitious again. (Library.)
  
• Boneyard, vol. 1 by Richard Moore. (Library.)
  
• Fantastic Four: Hereafter by Mark Waid & Mike Wieringo. More adventures of the first family of the Marvel universe.
  
• Sebastian O by Grant Morrison & Steve Yeowell. I'm not sure how to describe this. Steampunk is probably the closest I can come. But I'd say it owes a fair amount to Rimbaud (and maybe Wilde) too. Morrison's weird, but that's why I like him.

Man, I've really fallen behind with this thing, haven't I? I just can't seem to motivate myself to add to it. And I'm still not going to update the book list yet. Today it's an entry about my latest mix CD. This weekend Teena was kind enough to allow me to use her computer to burn my latest mix. This is another of the tarot mixes; the songs are about cars, motorcycles, & driving, so the cover image will be the Chariot card.
 
Driving Ambition
 

• Booker T. & the MGs - Time Is Tight from the soundtrack to Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
  
• The Firesign Theatre - A Developing Chase Situation from Give Me Immortality or Give Me Death
  
• The Pillows - Ride on Shooting Star from the FLCL soundtrack*
  
• B.B. King & Eric Clapton - Riding with the King from Riding with the King
  
• The Beach Boys - I Get Around from 20 Good Vibrations
  
• Phranc - '64 Ford from Positively Phranc
  
• The Beatles - Drive My Car from Rubber Soul
  
• Simon & Garfunkle - Baby Driver from Bridge Over Troubled Water
  
• Cats Laughing - For It All from Another Way to Travel
  
• Richard Thompson - MGB-GT from Mirror Blue
  
• The Commitments - Mustang Sally from The Commitments soundtrack
  
• The Cramps - Sado County Auto Show from Flamejob
  
• Thomas Dolby - The Key to Her Ferrari from Aliens Ate My Buick
  
• Poe - Hey Pretty (Drive-By 2001 Mix) from Haunted
  
• Prince - Little Red Corvette from 1999
  
• Michelle Shocked - (Making the Run to) Gladewater from Short Sharp Shocked
  
• The Clash - Brand New Cadillac from London Calling
  
• They Might Be Giants - Wreck My Car from Apollo 18
  
• Bruce Springsteen - Born to Run from Born to Run
  
• Aimee Mann - Driving Sidways from Bachelor No. 2
  
• Tom Waits - Ol' '55 from Closing Time
  
• The Cars - Drive from Complete Greatest Hits
  
• Tracy Chapman - Fast Car from Tracy Chapman

 
So, lots of '80's stuff, but that's pretty typical for me.
 
*FLCL is an extremely odd anime series. This song is from the end credits to the show, which shows a Vespa scooter roaming around a town.