Happy Labor Day!
Unfortunately, Teena is unable to completely take this day off. She's got to prepare for class to begin tomorrow. However, I'm at home today, and I'm using the time to update.

353. Fallen Angel, vol. 3: Back in Noire. By Peter David, J.K. Woodward, & Kristian Donaldson. I would say that this is the best comic David is currently writing. Possibly the best comic he has ever written.
     
354. Good as Lily by Derek Kirk Kim & Jesse Hamm. When I saw that this book was written by the same person who wrote Same Difference & Other Stories, I knew it'd be good. I wasn't disappointed.
     
355. Marvel Adventures Fantastic Four, vol. 1: Family of Heroes by various. Some of the most entertaining comics Marvel is currently publishing are coming from the Marvel Adventures line of comics for younger readers.
     
356. In Search of the Far Side by Gary Larson. Comics for the geek in all of us.
     
357. The Ultimates 2, vol. 2: Grand Theft America by Mark Millar & Bryan Hitch. Big, loud, enjoyable super-hero comics. Much better than Civil War. (Checked out of the library.)
     
358. Marvel Adventures Fantastic Four, vol. 3: World's Greatest by Jeff Parker, et al. These comics are just fun.
     
359. Yotsuba &!, vol. 2 by Kiyohiko Azuma. More cute comics about an enthusiastic little girl. (Library.)
     
360. Hound of the Far Side by Gary Larson.
     
361. Essential Silver Surfer, vol. 2 by Steve Engelhart, Marshall Rogers, et al. Big, cosmic comics, with the fate of the universe hanging in the balance. Fun stuff. And Rogers' art is fantastic.
     
362. Anne Freaks, vol. 1 by Yua Kotegawa. I picked this up on a whim when I spotted it at the library. But the story didn't grab me, so I don't think I'll be picking up any further volumes. (Library.)
     
363. The Incredible Hulk: Prelude to Planet Hulk by David Way, Keu Cha, & Juan Santacruz. (Library.)
     
364. The Punisher, vol. 7: Man of Stone by Garth Ennis & Leandro Fernandez. (Library.)
     
365. Legion of Super-Heroes, vol. 2: Death of a Dream by Mark Waid & Barry Kitson. I've lost track of how many times the Legion of Super-Heroes has been rebooted since Crisis on Infinite Earths, but I'm enjoying this version of the characters while they last. (Library.)
     
366. Marvel Adventures Fantastic Four, vol. 6: Monsters & Mysteries by Fred Van Lente & Clay Mann. Kids' comics don't have to justify themselves to the readers by pretending to be "mature". Of course, mainstream comics don't have to do so either, but a lot of the creators apparently think they do; hence grim, dark comics that have all the fun stripped out of them.
     
367. Marvel Adventures Spider-Man, vol. 6: The Black Costume by Fred Van Lente, Cory Hamscher, & Michael O'Hare.
     
368. BomBaby: The Screen Goddess by Antony Mazzotta. An attempt to translate a Bollywood film to comics. I'm not sure it works without music. But I still liked it.
     
369. Goodnight, Irene: The Collected Stories of Irene Van de Kamp by Carol Lay. This parody of romance comics is pretty strange (the title character is a Caucasian woman raised in Africa & who has a plate lip), but I like it as much as when I read some of these stories back in the early 90's.
     
370. Alan Moore: Wild Worlds by Alan Moore, et al. These comics Moore wrote for Image back in the 90's aren't his strongest work, but it's nice to have them collected.
     
371. Skinwalker by Nunzio DeFilippis, Christina Weir, & Brian Hurtt. I liked this X-Files-ish story when I checked it out of the library, so I snapped it up when I found a copy on sale at 50% at a local comic store.

And now for movies & DVDs I've seen lately:

• Penn & Teller: Bullshit! The First Season. This is a great TV series in which Penn & Teller explore a variety of topics, from alternative medicine to UFO abduction, and explain how it's all bullshit. I don't always agree with them, but they're always funny.
  
• Samurai Jack, Season 3.
  
• Harry Potter & the Order of the Phoenix. I know a lot of people don't like this book, but I quite enjoyed it, and I think the movie adaptation worked well (assuming you know that back story).
  
• The Simpsons Movie. We haven't watched the show in years, but Teena & I had to go see the movie. We liked it. And it was helped by the movie-going experience. We saw this at Cinetopia, a fantastic local theater. It's pricey, but not all that much more than Regal, and you get some nice perks for the extra money. The seats are extremely comfortable, there is plenty of leg-room, there are even ottomans so you can put your feet up. In some of the auditoria, they serve food & wine, which we didn't try. But the bar-service means that no-one under 21 is allowed in those theaters. No crying babys! No texting teenagers! All in all, it was a great experience, and we'll be going back there every now & again.
  
• Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Lost Continent. This film contains more footage of rock climbing than any other movie ever made. No, I'm not making an exception for documentaries about rock climbing.
  
• Paprika. Anime film from the director of Paranoia Agent about dreams & some machines that allow people to share them.
  
• Man on the Moon. Jim Carrey as Andy Kaufman.
  
• MST3K: Wild Rebels.
  
• MST3K: Shorts, vol. 2.
  
• MST3K: The Indestructible Man. As you may have noticed, I've been watching a lot of Mystery Science Theater 3000. Basically, Teena & I realized that some of the DVD sets have gone out of print, and to make sure that we didn't miss any, we ordered a bunch of the sets we didn't have. And we've been watching them.
  
• The Film Crew: Hollywood After Dark. Three MST3K alumni (Michael Nelson, Kevin Murphy, & Bill Corbett) are continuing the tradition. No silhouettes, this time around, but the jokes are a little racier. This movie stars Rue McClanahan as a would-be actress who falls on hard times and ends up working as a stripper. Wait, before you run away, it's from 30 years before Golden Girls. I'm looking forward to future discs in this series.
  
• Stardust. Different from the book, but that's to be expected in any adaptation from one medium to another. We liked this and have only minor quibbles.
  
• Penn & Teller: Bullshit! The Complete Second Season. More skepticism from Penn & Teller.
  
• Young Frankenstein. Mel Brooks' humor may not be sophisticated or subtle, but it is funny. (Or it was, when he made this. His recent track record isn't too hot.)
  
• Labyrinth. Cheesy, but I like it. However, when we saw this last night, we were unfortunate enough to be sitting next to a group of people who clearly have seen the movie way too many times. They recited every single line of the entire movie, including the songs. Teena shushed them a few times (she was the unlucky one sitting right next to them), as did other people around them. It didn't do any good. This isn't The Rocky Horror Picture Show, and it's not your living room. Shut the hell up.

Placeholder

No update today. I'll be back tomorrow with the books I've read in the past week & the movies I've seen recently.

Various & Sundry Titles

341. Valley of the Far Side by Gary Larson. I'm glad I dug these books out of storage, because I am really enjoying rereading them.
     
342. Apollo's Song by Osamu Tezuka. I don't even know where to begin in describing this. It's the story of a young man who has no sense of love and is therefore condemned by the goddess of love to live many lives where he falls in love but never to know happiness. Odd stuff, even for Tezuka, who isn't the most straight-laced of storytellers.
     
343. Charley's War: 17 October 1916 - 21 February 1917 by Pat Mills & Joe Colquhoun. More excellent comics about WWI. (Checked out of the library.)
     
344. Glister, v.1: Glister & the Haunted Teapot by Andi Watson. Very cute.
     
345. Civil War: Iron Man by various. (Library.)
     
346. JSA Presents: Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E. by Geoff Johns & Lee Moder. These are the first comics Johns wrote, and they're a lot of fun. This is before Johns apparently decided that grim & dark is better. His current comics are remarkably likely to feature dismemberment or cannibalism. I can't say I much like the direction Johns has taken his writing. Give me more light-hearted fun like this book. (Library.)
     
347. Bride of the Far Side by Gary Larson.
     
348. Alias the Cat! by Kim Deitch. (Library.)
     
349. Knights of the Dinner Table Bundle of Trouble, vol. 20 by Jolly Blackburn, et al. More gaming comics.
     
350. The Territory by Jamie Delano & David Lloyd. (Library.)
     
351. Abraxas & the Earthman by Rick Veitch. A trippy, science fiction version of Moby Dick (albeit considerably shorter). (Library.)
     
352. Green Lantern Corps: To Be a Lantern by Dave Gibbons & Patrick Gleason. As much as I love Gibbons' artwork, I've found his writing hit or miss. When he's working on a personal project, such as The Originals, it's great. His superhero work, such as this book, is okay, but nothing special. (Library.)

Twilight Princess finished

The day after my last post I finished playing The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. It's a fantastic game, and I'm looking forward to the next Zelda game, whenever it arrives.

On to books:

326. The Indelible Alison Bechdel: Confessions, Comix, & Miscellaneous Dykes to Watch Out For. Miscellanea that has not made it into Bechdel's Dykes to Watch Out For books, including the cartoons she did for six years worth of calendars.
     
327. Wildlife Preserves by Gary Larson. Another Far Side collection.
     
328. Annihilation, Book Three by various. Science fiction war comics from Marvel. (Checked out of the library.)
     
329. Shaman King, vol. 10: The Song of Doom by Hiroyuki Takei. I had been content to simply read this series as it was serialized in Shonen Jump, but they recently dropped it from their line-up, and I want to see where the story goes, so I'm reading the graphic novels again. (Library.)
     
330. Cromartie High School, vol. 3 by Eiji Nonaka. Completely absurd comics about the toughest high school in Tokyo. (Library.)
     
331. 52, vol. 2 by various. The stories here really started to gel for me in this volume, and I enjoyed it more than the previous one.
     
332. The Far Side Observer by Gary Larson. These comics really do hold up well.
     
333. The Drifting Classroom, vol. 6 by Kazuo Umezu. The most histrionic story I've ever read. Fascinating in its oddity. (Library.)
     
334. Battler Britton by Garth Ennis & Colin Wilson. Nobody else (at least nobody else currently working) writes war comics like Ennis. Actually, I'm not sure anybody else currently working writes war comics. (Library.)
     
335. InuYasha, vol. 29 by Rumiko Takahashi. I recently learned that I gave up on watching the InuYasha anime shortly before it finished it's run. This is made slightly less frustrating by the fact that apparently it didn't come to any conclusion. Presumably it wrapped up the last storyline, but I'm sure the Big Bad wasn't defeated. (Library.)
     
336. Re-Gifters by Mike Carey, Sonnie Liew, & Marc Hempel. This is a great little story about martial arts & high school romance. Check it out; you won't be sorry. (Library.)
     
337. Knights of the Dinner Table Bundle of Trouble, vol. 8 by Jolly Blackburn, et al. Entertaining stories, but horrible artwork.
     
338. Hunter X Hunter, vol. 9 by Yoshihiro Togashi. (Library.)
     
339. Demo by Brian Wood & Becky Cloonan. A fantastic collection of stories about people with special abilities. What X-Men could be without the superheroes.
     
340. Star Wars: Legacy, vol. 1: Broken by John Ostrander & Jan Duursema. Say what you will about Lucas, he did create a universe in which writers who are actually, you know, good have set some fun stories.

Ordeals

Earlier this evening, I made it through the Cave of Ordeals in The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princes. Let me tell you, that's a challenge: 50 levels of progressively harder opponents, with no chance to restock the supplies you use. I'm nearly done with the game now. Unless I decide to go after the last few Poes, all I've got left is the final dungeon.

On to books:

313. Knights of the Dinner Table: Bundle of Trouble, vol. 19 by Jolly Blackburn. Gaming comics.
     
314. The Tourist by Brian Wood & Toby Cypress. I've enjoyed the other things by Wood that I have read, but this didn't do anything for me.
     
315. X-Factor, vol. 2: Life & Death Matters by Peter David, et al.
     
316. Ode to Kirihito by Osamu Tezuka. I'm not sure where to begin in describing this massive hunk of manga. Over 800 pages long, it's the story of a doctor searching for the source of a disease that turns its victims into dog-like people. Strange, but excellent work.
     
317. Monster, vol. 8: My Nameless Hero by Naoki Urasawa. (Checked out of the library.)
     
318. Elric: The Making of a Sorcerer by Michael Moorcock & Walter Simonson. Moorcock's Elric stories aren't my favorites among his work, but I loved this graphic novel. A large part of that has to be Simonson's artwork, which I've adored for years, but the story worked for me too.
     
319. Red Sonja vs. Thulsa Doom by Peter David, Luke Lieberman, & Will Conrad. Meh. (Library.)
     
320. Usagi Yojimbo, vol. 21: The Mother of Mountains by Stan Sakai. Sakai knows how to construct an adventure story. This one has intrigue, family rivalry, explosions, death, daring escapes, and great sword fights. Wonderful stuff.
     
321. Civil War: A Marvel Comics Event by Mark Millar & Steve McNiven. There were some interesting ideas here, but the execution sucked. I am very glad I didn't spend any money on this. (Library.)
     
322. The Goon, vol. 2: My Murderous Childhood (and Other Grievous Yarns) by Eric Powell. After reading Civil War, I needed something light & fun to wash the taste out of my mouth. This fit the bill nicely. The humor may be crude, but it's undeniably funny.
     
323. Yotsuba&!, vol. 1 by Kiyohiko Azuma. Extremely cute manga about a young, incredibly enthusiastic girl. (Library.)
     
324. The Complete Annotated Oz Squad, vol. 1 by Steve Ahlquist, Andrew Murphy, Mike Sagura, et al. During the 90s, there were several Oz-themed comic books. This is the only one of them that was at all good. The others were intent on making the characters "serious" and "dark". While this one can be quite violent, but it doesn't seem to violate the spirit of Baum's work the way the others did. I am very glad I stumbled across the listing for this book at the Print On Demand site Lulu.com. I hope volume two will soon be forthcoming.
     
325. Night of the Crash-Test Dummies by Gary Larson. I recently unearthed some old Far Side collections, and they'll probably be showing up here in the near future.

Which Jane Austen Heroine Are You?

Take the Quiz here!

You are Elinor Dashwood of Sense & Sensibility! You are practical, circumspect, and discreet. Though you are tremendously sensible and allow your head to rule, you have a deep, emotional side that few people often see.

Offered without comment

Back to Books

296. Usagi Yojimbo, vol. 20: Glimpses of Death by Stan Sakai.
     
297. Rex Libris, vol. 1: I, Librarian by James Turner. Funny, but occasionally too wordy, comic about the two-fisted adventures of a librarian as he tracks down overdue books, even if the search takes him to different planets.
     
298. Albion by Leah Moore, John Reppion, & Shane Oakley. I would have enjoyed this more if I knew more about British comics of the 60s & 70s other than what I have picked up reading tributes like this one. (Checked out of the library.)
     
299. The Last Sane Cowboy and Other Stories by Daniel Merlin. Surrealist comics. (Library.)
     
300. Crecy by Warren Ellis & Raulo Caceres. I'm just going to quote from the promotional material for this book: A highly trained but under equipped army invades another country due to that country's perceived threat to home security. The army conducts shock-and-awe raids designed to terrify the populace. This army is soon driven to ground, and vastly outnumbered. The English army has to stand and fight, in Crecy, France. On 26 August 1346, modern warfare changed forever.
     
301. Penny Arcade, vol. 4: Birds Are Weird by Jerry Holkins & Mike Krahulik. (Library.)
     
302. Batman: Harley & Ivy by Paul Dini, Bruce Timm, et al.
     
303. The Nodwick Chronicles VI: Nodwick Goes Hollywood by Aaron Williams. One of several comics I read that have their origins in role playing games.
     
304. Knights of the Dinner Table, Bundle of Trouble, vol. 18 by Jolly R. Blackburn. Another of several comics I read that have their origins in role playing games.
     
305. Marvel Adventures: The Avengers, vol. 3: Bizarre Adventures by Jeff Parker & Juan Santacruz. This comic may be aimed at kids, but it is one of the most entertaining things Marvel is currently publishing. How can you not love a comic that features the Avengers all turning into M.O.D.O.C.s? Or a comic that reveals that Ego, the Living Planet, is actually Ego, the Loving Planet? Well, I guess you could if you weren't familiar with M.O.D.O.C. or Ego, but trust me, this book is fun.
     
306. The Goon, vol. 1: Nothin' But Misery by Eric Powell. I enjoyed this series when I checked it out of the library, so when I had the chance to order this cheap from the Science Fiction Book Club, I did.
     
307. The Grave Robber's Daughter by Richard Sala. As always, Sala's artwork perfectly matches his creepy stories. Also, this is quite funny. (Library.)
     
308. Killer Princesses by Gail Simone & Lea Hernandez.
     
309. A Man Called Kev by Garth Ennis & Carlos Ezquerra. (Library.)
     
310. Hulk Visionaries: Peter David, vol. 4 by Peter David, Jeff Purves, et al. Some good stuff here, but the peak of David's run on the Hulk is still to come.
     
311. Annihilation, Book 2 by various. Marvel's big event with their space-based characters. Entertaining enough. (Library.)
     
312. Post-Dykes to Watch Out For by Alison Bechdel. Bechdel's comic strip may be soap opera, but it's damn good soap opera.