Saturday, March 18, 2006

More books.

  1. The New Avengers, vol. 1: Breakout by Brian Michael Bendis & David Finch. I haven't soured on Bendis, as a lot of people have, but somebody really should point out to him that A) he is really fond of two-page spreads in the comics he writes and B) everything he writes gets collected sooner or later, therefore he should be telling the artists and letterers not to put important information or word balloons close to the middle of said two-page spreads. In comics, which you can open flat, that's fine, but in books, you lose about an inch in the middle because of the binding. (Checked out of the library.)
  2. Musashi #9, vol. 1 by Takahashi Miyuki. Checked out on impulse. Not very memorable. I doubt I'll be getting any further volumes. (Library.)
  3. Holes by Louis Sachar. Very good children's book. Teena tells me the movie version is not nearly as good. (Borrowed from Teena.)
  4. Four Letter Worlds by various. Another unmemorable graphic novel. I do remember that Amber Benson (Tara from Buffy wrote one of the stories. (Library.)
  5. Showcase Presents: Green Lantern, vol. 1 by John Broome & Gil Kane, w/Gardner Fox. I was surprised to see how many elements of the GL mythos were introduces very early in the run: Sinestro, Qward, Star Sapphire, and several other details that I can't remember now because it's been over a month since I finished the book. It's great to see inexpensive reprints of Silver Age comics. I just wish I could afford all the volumes in the Showcase Presents line.
  6. Iron Wok Jan!, vol. 8 by Shinji Saijyo. (Library.)
  7. Concrete, vol. 3: Fragile Creature by Paul Chadwick. As I've mentioned before, I'm happy to see all the Concrete stories collected in (more or less) chronological order and in a consistent size. But it would be nice if the beautifully muted color from the first publication could have been kept. However, I suspect that would have driven the price higher than I would have liked.
  8. The Flash: The Secret of Barry Allen by Geoff Johns & Howard Porter. There's something about Johns' writing that doesn't quite click with me. I don't know why that is, though.
  9. Batman/Superman/Wonder Woman: Trinity by Matt Wagner. When I first read this (checked out of the library a while ago), it didn't grab me. I liked it considerably better this time around, but I don't know why. (Not my day for detailed analysis, is it?)
  10. Superman: Red Son by Mark Millar, Dave Johnson, & Killian Plunkett. What if Kal-El's rocket ship had landed in the Soviet Union rather than the US? An interesting look at an alternative to the DC universe we know. (Library.)
  11. Iron Wok Jan!, vol. 9 by Shinji Saijyo. (Library.)
  12. Skinwalker by Nunzio De Filippis, Christina Weir, & Brian Hurtt. Comparisons to The X-Files are inevitable, since this is about an FBI agent investigating a paranormal case, but this isn't a rip-off, and is, in fact, better done than the last couple of seasons of the show. Okay, that's not saying much, but this is a damn good graphic novel. (Library.)
  13. Street Angel by Jim Rugg & Brian Maruca. I think I'd had my hopes built up a little too much. A lot of comics bloggers had praised this to high heaven, and I think I expected too much. It's fun, and I enjoyed it, but it wasn't the masterpiece of absurdity that I had been expecting. (Library.)
  14. Rumble Girls, vol. 1: Silky Warrior Tansie by Lea Hernandez. Very manga-esque. (Library.)
  15. Hunter X Hunter, vol. 6 by Yoshihiro Togashi. (Library.)
  16. Owly, vol. 3: Flying Lessons by Andy Runton. Adorable, wordless comics for all ages. (Library.)
  17. The Order of the Stick, vol. 1: Dungeon Crawlin' Fools by Rich Burlew. I really do need to update my sidebar so I can add Order of the Stick to the comics. Funny stuff that doesn't entirely rely on a knowledge of D&D rules for the humor. (Library.)
  18. The Cute Manifesto by James Kochalka. Kochalka's thoughts on art & life. (Library.)
  19. Knights of the Dinner Table: Bundle of Trouble, vol. 15 by Jolly Blackburn, et al. Comics about gamers.
  20. Little Lulu, vol. 3: Lulu in the Doghouse by John Stanley & Irving Tripp. More delightful kids' comics. (Library.)
  21. Kid Eternity by Grant Morrison & Duncan Fegredo. Not the strongest of Morrison's works. But I'm still glad it has been collected.
  22. Bleach, vol. 11: A Star & A Stray Dog by Tite Kubo. In this volume, the main character, Ichigo, & his friends continue their attept to rescue Rukia, who has been condemned to death for giving Ichigo supernatural powers. In order to do so, they are essentially storming the afterlife.
  23. Dragon Ball Z, vol. 24 by Akira Toriyama. This is probably the epitome of fighting manga.
  24. Powers, vol. 9: Psychotic by Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Avon Oeming. I finally stopped bying the individual issues of Powers with the storyline collected here. The next volume will be entirely new to me.
  25. Mystique, vol. 2: Tinker, Tailor, Mutant, Spy by Brian K. Vaughan & Michael Ryan. I've been looking for a used copy of this for a while, but I haven't even found a new copy (not that I can quite bring myself to pay full price for it). I wish Marvel did a better job of keeping books in print. (Library.)
  26. Jew Gangster: A Father's Admonition by Joe Kubert. The title pretty much says it all; this is the story of how a young Jewish man growing up during the Depression becomes a gangster. Kubert's art & storytelling remain amazing. (Library.)
  27. The Quitter by Harvey Pekar & Dean Haspiel. Even though Pekar's comics are all autobiographical, I think this is the first to cover his youth. I believe all his previous work were about recent events in his life. It's interesting to see his early years. (Library.)
  28. Captain America & the Falcon: Madbomb by Jack Kirby. It's great that Marvel has finally started collecting Kirby's work from the 70's. I just wish it were a little cheaper. (Library.)
  29. Love & Rockets, vol. 15: Hernandez Satyricon by Gilbert, Jaime, and Mario Hernandez. Miscellaneous stories from Los Bros.
  30. Giant Killer by Dan Brereton. I really enjoyed this. While reading it, I kept thinking this is what you'd get if you crossed a Japanese monster movie with Hellboy.
  31. Alan Moore's Writing for Comics. I don't really have any intention of writing my own comics, but for some reason I'm fascinated by the advice pros have for aspiring comics writers. And of course, the fact that this is by Alan Moore helped tremendously (even if it is a reprint of something he wrote close to 20 years ago).


Still haven't gotten through February, but I think that's enough for now.

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