Back to Books

New year, new list:

1. The Wonder Woman Chronicles, vol. 2 by William Moulton Marton & Harry G. Peter.
   
   Man, Golden Age Wonder Woman stories were weird, even before you get into the bondage aspects. Magnetic hearing, interplanetary travel and astral projection are all par for the course. I will say that the Golden Age version of Etta Candy is a fantastic character. Yes, she's presented as comic relief, but she's confident, self-reliant and a lots of fun.
2. Brody's Ghost, bk 1 by Mark Crilley. Manga-ish. I'll see where it's going. (Checked out of the library.)
3. Red Hulk: Planet Red Hulk by Jeff Parker, Gabriel Hardman, et al. (Library.)
4. A Clash of Kings: A Song of Ice and Fire, Book Two by George R.R. Martin.
   
   I love this series. When I finished, I wanted to go straight on to the next book, but I think I'm better off pacing myself on these. I'm going to content myself with keeping ahead of the TV series. With luck, book six will be out by the time I get to A Dance with Dragons. (Besides I've got lots of other books to read).
5. Iron Man: Dragon Seed Saga by John Byrne & Paul Ryan, with M.D. Bright. Nothing special. (Library.)
6. Criminal, vol. 6: The Last of the Innocent by Ed Brubaker & Sean Phillips.
   
   The latest volume of Brubaker & Phillips' noir series. This time the premise is: What if Archie & friends acted more like actual teenagers & then grew up? Extremely well-done and highly-recommended, but I'm not sure this story counts as noir.
7. Duncan the Wonder Dog by Adam Hines.
   
   Wow. This is an amazing book. The elevator pitch would be: A serious take on the kind of world presented in Get Fuzzy. In the world of the book, animals are sentient and can speak. 400 pages long, this is only the first of a proposed nine volumes. I can't wait to see the next volume, but I'm going to have to, since this one took Hines seven years to create. I can't do justice to this book, but check out this article and this interview with Hines for more information. The book well deserves being named the best graphic novel of 2010 by Comics Alliance.
8. Dave Stevens: The Complete Sketches & Studies. Sketches from the creator of The Rocketeer. Gorgeous art. We lost Stevens way too soon.

A few movies in the new year so far:

• TrollhunterReally enjoyed this Norwegian film about a guy who hunts trolls for the Norwegian government. He's nothing special, just doing a hard, dirty job, and that's what makes this work. If he were presented as some kind of hero, it'd be different. But he's just a guy.
• Sherlock Jr.Amazing physical comedy from Buster Keaton.
• Tales from EarthseaNot very satisfying adaptation of bits and pieces of Ursula LeGuin's series of fantasy novels. I wish Hayao Miazaki had been able to direct this himself. His son directed this and just didn't do a very good job.
• MirrorMaskSo visually amazing.
• Village of the DamnedCreepy British science fiction.