Teena's Birthday Post

I finished Mass Effect earlier today, so I'm hoping I'll be back on schedule for a while. (No guarantees though. Mass Effect 2 is available used pretty cheap, so I may just move on to it. I doubt it, though. I expect my next video game will be a re-play of Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door, something completely different from the gritty science fiction I have been playing.
Anyway, on to the books I've finished in the last 3 weeks:

402. Supergod by Warren Ellis & Garrie Gastonny. The third and most apocalyptic of Ellis's three meditations on how people with superpowers would deform the world (following Black Summer and No Hero.)
403. Spider-Girl: Family Values by Paul Tobin, Clayton Henry, et al. (Checked out of the library.)
404. Secret Warriors, vol. 6: Wheels Within Wheels by Jonathan Hickman & Alessandro Vitti. The final volume of this series looking at super-spies in the Marvel Universe. It depicts things as being much grayer than is typical in superhero comics. (Library.)
405. Unwritten, vol. 4: Leviathan by Mike Carey & Peter Gross.
     
     Man, I love this series and its exploration of stories. This volume has a couple of moments that just stunned me, and I was left saying, "Of course. It couldn't be anything else." This is the best comic being published at the moment.
406. Everything, vol. 1: Blabber, Blabber, Blabber, Blabber: Comics from around 1978-81 by Lynda Barry.
     
     Barry's art and writing style have changed in the 30-some years since these comics were created, but she was good even then. Looking forward to the next volume.
407. The Legion of Super-Heroes: The Curse by Paul Levitz and Keith Giffen. Over a year of LSH comics from Levitz' peak era. Very glad these comics have been collected.
408. Neonomicon by Alan Moore & Jacen Burrows.
     
     An interesting (and very disturbing) take on Lovecraft. One I've never seen before. It ends in an oddly touching way. Moore may have become obsessed with sex as he has gotten older, but he can still write rings around most people.
409. Essential Captain America, vol. 5 by Jack Kirby, et al. Two-thirds of this book is by Kirby, and reading these comics now, I find it hard to believe there was a time I didn't like his art style. When I was a kid, I thought it was too blocky. I eventually figured things out and see Kirby for the genius he was. Great stuff (even if it is pretty damn silly).
410. DC Comics Presents: Catwoman: Guardian of Gotham by Dough Moench & Jim Balent. An Elseworlds story with Catwoman & Batman trading places.
411. Black Jack, vol. 16 by Osamu Tezuka. The penultimate volume of this medical manga. (Library.)
412. DC Comics Presents: JLA: The Age of Wonder by Adisakdi Tantimedu, Galen Showman & P. Craig Russell. Another Elseworlds story, this one setting superheroes in the early part of the 20th century. Beautiful art and a good story.
413. 20th Century Boys, vol. 17: Cross-Counter by Naoki Urasawa.
     
     At this point I can't believe there was a time I was considering dropping this series. I can't wait to see where the story goes next. This volume contains a hint at a revelation that has me more interested than ever.
414. Chew, vol. 4: Flambe by John Layman & Rob Guilory. (Library.)
415. DC Comics Presents: The Jack Kirby Omnibus Sampler. I can't afford The Jack Kirby Omnibus, so I'm making do with this. Some great old comics here.
416. Star Wars Omnibus: Quinlan Vos - Jedi in Darkness by John Ostrander, Jan Duursema, et al. Glad to see these comics collected. Ostrander has a great handle on showing somebody tempted by the Dark Side. Much better than Lucas (not that that's saying much.)
417. Showcase Presents All Star Comics by Paul Levitz, Joe Staton, et al. 70s comics set on Earth-2.
418. Ozma of Oz by L. Frank Baum, adapted by Eric Shanower & Skottie Young.
     
     I'm loving these comics adaptations of the Oz books, if for no other reason than they give me a chance to understand the jokes that went over my head when I read the books as a kid. (Borrowed from Teena.)
419. Detroit Metal City by Kiminori Wakasugi. The final volume of this absurd series about death metal in Japan. (Library.)
420. Scarlet, vol. 1 by Brian Michael Bendis & Alex Maleev. This story about a young woman fighting a corrupt system seems especially relevant given that the Occupy Wall Street movement began since these comics were published. (Library.)
421. Yotsuba & !, vol. 10 by Kiyohiko Azuma
     
     More adorableness. (Library.)
422. DC Comics Presents: Batman: Bad by Doug Moench & Barry Kitson. It'd be nice to see more of Moench's stuff get collected (and not just the Batman as a vampire stuff that has been), but I'll make do with stuff like this.
423. Essential Fantastic Four, vol. 7 by various. Super-hero comics from the 70s. The final issue in this collection was the first issue I got as part of a subscription I had when I was a kid. I'm going to have to pick up the next volume and see if the rest of those comics hold up to my memories. (I suspect they won't.)
424. FF, vol. 1: Tomorrow by Jonathan Hickman, Steve Epting & Barry Kitson. Hickman tosses out huge SF concepts all through these comics. He's a great fit for the Fantastic Four. (Library.)
425. Superman: The Black Ring, vol. 1 by Paul Cornell & Pete Woods. Ironic that Superman appears at the head of this book's title, since he doesn't appear in it. This is all about Lex Luthor and his ambition. It's tough to pull off a comic focused on a villain, but Cornell pulls it off.

Since I've been so far behind and this post is so long, I'm going to put movies off until next week.

Father's Day Post

211. Love and Rockets New Stories, no. 3 by Gilbert and Jaime Hernandez.
     
     While still good, Gilbert's stories are getting more & more esoteric. And I'm enjoying Jaime's stories all the more. (Checked out of the library.)
     
212. Thor: Wolves of the North by various. It's just amazing how many Thor books Marvel has been putting out recently. I wonder why that is.
     
213. The Marvels Project: Birth of the Super Heroes by Ed Brubaker & Steve Epting. An examination of the early days of the Marvel Universe.
     
214. Scalped, vol. 7: Rez Blues by Jason Aaron, R.M. Guera, et al. The more I read of this Native American noir, the more impressed I am. (Library.)
     
215. George R.R. Martin's Doorways by George R.R. Martin & Stefano Martino.
     
     Adaptation of a television pilot that Martin wrote a while back.
     
216. Essential Spider Man, vol. 6 by Gerry Conway, John Romita, Ross Andru, et al. Conway really handles the soap-opera aspect of super-hero comics well. He juggles sub-plots and brings them to prominence when they've simmered long enough. And he keeps adding more threads as old ones resolve. Solidly entertaining comics.
     
217. DMZ, vol. 10: Collective Punishment by Brian Wood, et al.
     
     Moving the story along and catching up with other characters.
     
218. Judge Anderson, vol. 1: Anderson, Psi-Division by John Wagner, Alan Grant, et al. Spin-off of Judge Dredd. Pretty good, but nothing all that memorable.

Oh, yes. I forgot to mention it when I finished it, but I listened to the audio version of A Series of Unfortunate Events #13: The End, narrated by Tim Curry. I will always love this book for one particular scene; one I don't want to mention because it's the climax of the book. If you've read the book, you can probably guess which scene I mean. If you haven't read the book, I highly recommend it (and the entire series {even though there are a couple of books in the middle where the formula gets a bit tedious}).

A few movies since last time:

• Mystery Science Theater 3000: Last of the Wild Horses.
  
• Doctor Who: The Curse of Fenric. The seventh Doctor manipulating bad guys and helping Ace to deal with adolescent angst.
  
• The Great Muppet Caper. Teena's favorite Muppet movie. (I lean towards the first one myself, but this on is plenty of fun.)
  
• Doctor Who: Planet of Evil. The fourth Doctor and Sarah Jane on the edge of the universe.
  
• Sherlock. The first series of the BBC modernization of Doyle's stories. Teena and I were both blown away at how great a job they did bringing the characters and situations up to the current day. We couldn't believe the ending and cannot wait until the next series comes out and makes it to the US.

And I have finished a couple of video games recently.

• Puzzle Quest 2 for the iPad. A match-3 game paired with an RPG. Kept me occupied for hours.
  
• Bayonetta. I mentioned this on Twitter, but this game is completely over-the-top. I have never seen a more preposterous game. The cheesecake is so blatant that I can't even find it offensive. It's ridiculous, and it knows it. Here is a review of the game that does a better job describing it than I could.

Late in the Day Update

151. The Extraordinary Adventures of Adele Blanc-Sec, vol. 1: Pterror of Paris & The Eiffel Tower Demon by Jacques Tardi.
     
     Strange goings on in turn of the century Paris. (Checked out of the library.)
     
152. Gotham Central, bk. 4: Corrigan by Greg Rucka, Ed Brubaker, Kano, et al. The final volume of a great police procedural comic set in Batman's home town. I wish the series had lasted longer.
     
153. Spider-Man: Grim Hunt by Joe Kelly, J.M. DeMatteis, Michael Lark, Max Fiumara, et al. Sequel to DeMatteis' & Zeck's Spider-Man: Kraven's Last Hunt. (Library.)
     
154. The Thing Classic, vol. 1 by John Byrne & Ron Wilson. Thing solo series that followed Marvel Two-in-One.
     
155. Axe Cop by Malachi & Ethan Nicolle. Collection of the web comic written by a 5-year-old and drawn by his 29-year-old brother. Wacky stuff, but best in small doses. (Library.)
     
156. Thor: Godstorm by Kurt Busiek & Steve Rude. Good story and gorgeous art (which should be obvious, given the creative team). (Library.)
     
157. Superman Adventures, vol 4: The Man of Steel by Mark Millar & Aliur Amancio.
     
158. Dominic Fortune: It Can Happen Here and Now by Howard Chaykin. Swashbuckling adventure set in the 30s. This came from Marvel's "Max" imprint, so there is nudity & swearing.

Also this week I listened to an audio version of the first book in the Series of Unfortunate Events: The Bad Beginning. Each character is voiced by a different actor, and Tim Curry (who is perfectly cast) provides the narration.

Just a few movies:

• Doctor Who: The War GamesPatrick Troughton's last adventure as the Doctor. Interesting ending, but a little too much running around, getting captured, and escaping before then. 10 episodes seems too much.
  
• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets with the RiffTrax commentary. Like the first movie, this adheres to the book way too closely, but jokes make it more endurable.
  
• This American Life: Season One and Season Two Just as fascinating on television as on the radio.

Also this week, I finished playing Dragon Age IIWhile it never engrossed me as much as the first game, it grew on me as I played. And at the end, I had to make an absolutely brutal decision which really adds some depth to the game. If you've played the first game, I definitely recommend this.

Not Too Many Books

221. 
     Blood Rites by Jim Butcher. The sixth book in the Dresden Files series. Vampires this time around. Still really enjoying these. (Borrowed from Michael.)
     
222. Rin-Ne, vol. 3 by Rumiko Takahashi. Yeah, it's formulaic. But it's entertaining. (Checked out of the library.)
     
223. 
     20th Century Boys, vol. 9: Rabbit Nabokov by Naoki Urasawa. I'm still hooked, but a plot element was introduced that seems aimed at stretching out the story. Given how much I love Pluto, I'll be sticking around for a while, but the fact that we are not yet half-way through makes me wonder if Urasawa can maintain the story so long.
     
224. The Goon Volume 8: Those That Is Damned by Eric Powell. Things are getting serious. (Library.)
     
225. Fullmetal Alchemist, vol. 22 by Hiromu Arakawa. Getting ready for the series climax. (Library.)
     
226. Echo Vol. 3: Desert Run by Terry Moore.
     
227. Echo, Vol. 4: Collider by Terry Moore. Good stuff.
     
228. 
     Hellboy, vol. 10: The Crooked Man and Others by Mike Mignola, Richard Corben, et al. Amazingly, this is the first time we've seen Hellboy tackle American folklore. Creepy story with fantastic art by Corben.

• RiffTrax Shorts-a-Poppin'. More educational & cautionary short films with sarcastic commentary.
  
• Doctor Who: Resurrection of the Daleks. This is one of the bleaker and more violent Doctor Who stories.
  
• Micmacs. Great movie from the director of Amelie. Unfortunately, the theater-going experience was not nearly as pleasant. A jerk sat next to Teena & texted all through the movie. Plus he became verbally abusive when asked to stop. People are awful.
  
• Let The Right One In. Now this is a vampire movie. Not a sparkle to be seen. I do have difficulty believing the American remake will be nearly as good.

I recently finished the main game portion of Super Mario Galaxy 2. There is quite a bit of bonus content that unlocks after you complete the main game. Unfortunately, you have to be a considerably better player than I am to get access to all of it. I did what I could. This game is a blast and definitely harder than the first one.

Happy Memorial Day

As is normal for three-day weekends, I will update on Monday.

I will say that Super Mario Galaxy 2 is a blast, and Teena and I are having a lot of fun playing it.

Another Light Week

146. Mathemagick and Mystiphysics, vol. 1: The Probabilities of Pandemonium by James Davide & Jesse Davide. Another book I picked up at Stumptown. Seven mathematicians throughout time band together to fight threats such as the disappearance of the vanishing point. Great idea, but I would have liked more actual math in the comic (I'm weird, I know). And, given that the only one of the mathematicians I had previous heard of was Alan Turing, I would have liked more information about the characters. Still, this was fun.
     
147. Forsake the Sky by Tim Powers. This was better than I expected for being such an early work. Which seems to be damning with faint praise, but I really did enjoy this. Very different from most of Powers' other work, especially being set on a different planet.
     
148. Ultimate Annuals, vol. 1 by various. A collection of annuals from Marvel's Ultimate comics line. (Checked out of the library.)
     
149. Essential Thor, vol. 2 by Stan Lee & Jack Kirby. This was a blast. Lots of fun. So many foundations of the Marvel Universe. I had not realized that Ego the Living Planet & the High Evolutionary were introduced within a couple of issues of each other. Fun, fun stuff.

You may have noticed the return of links. I have not gone back to Amazon's affiliates program. But Powell's Books also has an affiliates program, and I have signed up with them. So if you feel like buying anything you see me writing about, please follow the links. I'll get a small cut. Also, Powell's has free shipping on orders over $25.

Just one movie this week:

• Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Final Sacrifice. Canadian film about an evil cult and a lost civilization. Not as dire as Teena and I remembered. But still an awful movie.

On the video game front, I played through PixelJunk Shooter, a fun little shoot-em-up game that we downloaded for the PS3. Well worth the $10. And I am currently replaying Super Mario Sunshine, which I always enjoy. It is getting me excited about the release of Super Mario Galaxy 2 later this month.

Just Books This Time Around

16. Masterpiece Comics by R. Sikoryak. The Scarlet Letter as a Little Lulu comic. Beavis & Butthead in Waiting for Godot. Garfield crossed with Faust. And much more.
    
17. Empowered, vol. 5 by Adam Warren.
    
18. Children of the Sea, vol. 1 by Daisuke Igarashi. Giving a new manga series a try. It's okay. (Checked out of the library.)
    
19. Mr. X: Condemned by Dean Motter. Stylish as ever.
    
20. Agents of Atlas: Dark Reign by Jeff Parker, et al. I really enjoy Parker's writing, but this comic is hurt by inconsistent art. Not that the art is bad, but there's a new artist every issue or two. But despite that, this is a lot of fun. I'm sad that sales didn't match the comic's quality.
    
21. The Heart of the Beast by Dean Motter, Judith Dupre, & Sean Phillips. A story about the New York art scene in the 90's, but with Frankenstein's Monster as a character.
    
22. Ex Machina, vol. 8: Dirty Tricks by Brian K. Vaughan & Tony Harris. I'm not sure where Vaughan is going with this, but he is clearly building to something, and I'm enjoying the ride. Looking forward to re-reading the whole series when the final volume is published.
    
23. Punisher War Zone: The Resurrection of Ma Gnucci by Garth Ennis & Steve Dillon. Completely over the top. (Library.)
    
24. Memories of the Future, vol. 1 by Wil Wheaton. Remarkably clear-eyed account of the first half of the first season of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Wheaton doesn't pretend the first season wasn't wildly uneven (and mostly crap). And he is very funny. Looking forward to volume 2, when he puts it out through Lulu.
    
25. Icon: A Hero's Welcome by Dwayne McDuffie & M.D. Bright. I haven't read these comics since they first came out in the 90's. I had forgotten just how good they are. I hope this did well and they continue to publish collection of Milestone Comics (particuarly Blood Syndicate and Xombi).
    
26. Sub-Mariner: The Depths by Peter Milligan & Esad Ribic. I nearly didn't get this. Milligan runs hot & cold for me. For every X-Statix or Shade the Changing Man, there is an Infinity Inc. or Toxin. However, on the recommendations of Aaron & Evie of the Awesomed by Comics podcast, I picked this up and was pleased to find that it was more like the former than the latter.
    
27. Jack of Fables, vol. 6: The Big Book of War by Bill Willingham, Matthew Sturges, & Tony Akins. Still enjoying this.

Haven't watched any movies this week, so this seems like a good opportunity to mention video games.

• Nearly done with Final Fantasy XII. However I just can't seem to get past the final boss. I need to refine my strategy, but when he kills me, I get discouraged & put the game away for a while. By the time I return to the game, I have forgotten the strategy I worked out after I last got killed. (And it doesn't help that there are long cut scenes and three boss battles between your last opportunity to save and the final boss.)
  
• When I either get past that final fight or simply give up on the game, I will move on to The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks, which was a Christmas present from Teena. I love the games in this series and am looking forward to playing this one. (Assuming I can overcome my musical stupidity and get past the point where I am currently stuck trying to play some pan pipes.)
  
• And there is the latest acquisition: Marvel Ultimate Alliance, which is fun, but I need to figure the controls out a bit more so I can get past the first big boss: Fin Fang Foom.

Very Light Week

431. Asterios Polyp by David Mazzucchelli. Mazzucchelli first became well known when he did the art for Frank Miller's Batman: Year One. It's hard to imagine something more different from this book about an architecture professor. Still very good. (Checked out of the library.)
     
432. Unseen Academicals by Terry Pratchett. The latest Discworld book. When it was announced that Pratchett had early onset Alzheimer's, I wasn't sure he'd write any more novels, but I was clearly wrong. Very good book about sports and what it is to be human. (Of course, most of his novels are about what it is to be human.) (Borrowed from Teena.)
     
433. Wolfskin by Warren Ellis, Juan Jose Ryp, & Gianluca Pagliarani. Big, loud, violent comics.
     
434. Noir: A Collection of Crime Comics by various. Just what it says in the title.
     
435. Freakangels, vol. 3 by Warren Ellis & Paul Duffield. I still read each new installment when it appears online each Friday, but I like the story so much I want a paper copy.

Yep, just five books this week. And just one movie:

• Ink. Ordered the DVD directly from the production company as a gift for Teena. I like this movie, but not nearly as much as she does. I just wish it had gotten a distribution deal so that more people could have seen it.

In video games, I am really enjoying Final Fantasy XII. Gorgeous graphics, interesting story, and I like the gameplay. And, after nearly a year, I have stopped playing Animal Crossing: City Folk. It's a cute game & lots of fun, but there's only so much content, and I've seen most of it. There's not enough left to hold my interest.

Lazy Weekend

Getting a late start today.

418. Irredeemable, vol. 1 by Mark Waid & Peter Krause. What if the most powerful superhero in the world went bad? Very good, but it is clearly just the first act of a longer story. Looking forward to further volumes.
     
419. Wolverine: Tales of Weapon X by Marc Sumerak, Mark Robinson, et al. Picked this up on a whim. Not really for me. Glad I didn't buy it. (Checked out of the library.)
     
420. The Last One by J.M. DeMatteis and Dan Sweetman. As I've said before, DeMatteis's mystical stuff tends to be hit or miss with me. This was okay. (Library.)
     
421. Black Jack, vol. 6 by Osamu Tezuka. Great series.
     
422. Prince Valiant, vol. 1: 1937-1938 by Hal Foster. Absolutely gorgeous artwork and engaging stories. I had never read any of this strip before. I can see why it's legendary.
     
423. Essential Doctor Strange, vol. 4 by Roger Stern, Gene Colan, et al. I really do love the Essentials & Showcase Presents series. Lots of comics (sometimes great, sometimes not) printed cheap. I really liked this volume and can't wait for volume 5 (which I hope is coming), which will contain the part of Stern's run when Paul Smith did the art. I have fond memories of those comics.
     
424. Fullmetal Alchemist, vol 19 by Hiromu Arakawa. (Library.)
     
425. Black Jack, vol. 7 by Osamu Tezuka.
     
426. Fantastic Four: True Story by Paul Cornell and Horacio Dominguez. I'd heard some good things about this on a comics podcast, but I have to say I didn't find it particularly impressive. (Library.)
     
427. Talking Lives: The Graphic Stories of R.O. Blechman. (Library.)
     
428. The Annotated Mantooth by Matt Fraction & Andy Kuhn. Talking gorilla as James Bond. (Library.)
     
429. House of Mystery, vol. 2: Love Stories for Dead People by Matthew Sturges, Luco Rossi, et al. This volume had less of the characters telling each other that they need to tell another character something important (and then failing to do so) than the first volume, but there was enough to still be annoying. (Library.)
     
430. Locke and Key, vol. 2: Head Games by Joe Hill & Gabriel Rodriguez. I know this is an ongoing story, and that it's horror, but I was beginning to think that the bad guy would never get any set-backs, that he'd be able to achieve his goal without any opposition whatsoever. If there hadn't been an indication at the end of the volume that not everything is going to go his way, I wouldn't have been reading any further volumes. (Borrowed from Teena.)

So here are the movies I've seen since the HPL Film Festival:

• RiffTrax: Shorts-tacular Shorts-stravaganza.
  
• Death Note II: The Last Name. The manga series would have been a lot better if it had wrapped up the story as quickly as these two movies did.
  
• Where the Wild Things Are. Absolutely wonderful movie. Very powerful. Not for kids, though. I think they'd be bored. It's too much about what it's like to be a kid for children to really get it. Teena says, "I loved it, but I never want to see it again." I understand her. Highly recommended.
  
• RiffTrax: Wide World of Shorts. Still more funny commentaries on instructional films.
  
• Call of Cthulhu. The first of the scary movies we watched on Halloween. Very nicely done adaptation of the story, done as if it had been made shortly after Lovecraft wrote it: silent and with period special effects. Fantastic job.
  
• AM 1200. Very well done. I must say that it seemed quite a bit longer the first time we say it (at last years HPL Film Festival). Borrowed the DVD from Michael.
  
• Kaku Ren Bo. Anime short about a game of hide & seek. Very creepy.
  
• Cloverfield, watched with RiffTrax commentary. I do like the movie, but it's even more enjoyable with the commentary pointing out the absurdities (and how many times Hud says "Rob"). This was the first time we had purchased a RiffTrax commentary (as opposed to buying the DVDs that they sell), and we were very pleased at how well it worked.
  
• Touch of Evil. Was flipping channels this morning and noticed that this was just starting. Tuned in to see that long opening shot and got sucked in. Had to watch the whole thing. Great movie.

On the video game front:

I may have hit a game-ender in Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask. I just don't know if I can do this one thing required to get through this dungeon. I had been really enjoying the game, and I hate to abandon it, but I don't know if I can get past this.

I am slowly making my way through Katamari Forever and enjoying the weirdness as much as ever.

And today I just started playing Final Fantasy XII. Beautiful game, and I'm looking forward to playing it. (As is Teena. She gets to experience the game again without having to replay it.)

Frustration

So we got ourselves a wi-fi hub so we would be able to download songs for Rock Band, but the online Sony store is incredibly picky about credit cards, and it keeps telling us our card aren't valid. Plus, the security settings on the hub are apparently incompatible with our Nintendo DSs. Thank goodness the online Wii stuff works.

Anyway, on to books:

233. Zoot Suite by Andrew & Roger Langridge.
     
234. Sidescrollers by Matthew Loux. (Checked out of the library.)
     
235. JLA Presents: Aztek - The Ultimate Man by Grant Morrison, Mark Millar, & N. Steven Harris. Pretty good, but the artist wasn't that great with story-telling. Sometimes it was hard to tell what was going on or just who was in a particular scene.
     
236. Nothing Better, vol. 1: No Place Like Home by Tyler Page. I quite liked this comic about a pair of college roommates. (Library.)
     
237. Little White Mouse Perfect Collection, no. 1 by Paul Sizer. This is an enjoyable science fiction comic about a young woman stranded on a mining satellite. I'm not sure there are any more "Perfect Collections", but it looks like there is a collection that has the entire series. I'll need to look for that.
     
238. Rocketo: Journey to the Hidden Sea, vol. 2 by Frank Espinosa & Marie Taylor. Gorgeous art, and a great, pulpy adventure story. I really liked this. (Library.)
     
239. Iron Man & Power Pack: Armored & Dangerous by Marc Sumerak & Marcel Dichiara. Yet another book bought to pass on to Teena's classroom library.
     
240. Monster, vol. 14: That Night by Naoki Urasawa. (Library.)
     
241. The Question, vol. 2: Poisoned Ground by Dennis O'Neil & Denys Cowan. These comics aren't quite as cool as I remember them being from when I read them in the 80s, but they're still pretty damn good.
     
242. MPD Psycho, vol. 1 by Eiji Otsuka & Sho-u Tajima. Another horror manga. (Library.)
     
243. Atomic City Tales, vol. 2: Doc Phantom by Jay Stephens.
     
244. Superman: The World of Krypton by John Byrne, Mike Mignola, Rick Bryant, et al.

Video Games Rock On

It's been forever since I mentioned video games here, so before I go into the books from the past couple of weeks, I'm going to talk about what I've been playing over the past few months.

• First up is Animal Crossing: Wild World. I have played this game every single day since last November. It's a "work" game since you have to do chores to pay off your debt, but it is cute beyond all words, and since it for the DC, it is simple to do those chores while doing something else (usually watching TV). Lots of fun, or I wouldn't still be playing after six months. Since I'm talking about Animal Crossing, I have to link to this touching cartoon about the original game. Warning: it may make you cry.
  
• I got through the storyline of Super Mario Galaxy. There is more to do, but I got distracted by
  
• Super Paper Mario. What can I say? I like Mario games.
  
• After I finished that, I started Resident Evil, which I bought shortly after getting my GameCube. I tried the game then but got stuck pretty early on and gave up. This time I have made a lot more progress. I'm enjoying the game. It is very creepy. However, it's looking like I'll be putting zombie-killing on hold for a while, because I have been distracted by
  
• Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80's. We got this yesterday as a stop-gap measure. See, last weekend, we visited a couple of friends & played Rock Band with them. It was a blast, and we will definitely be getting our own copy. But not right now. So to keep us tided over for the month or so until we can, we'll be rocking out to the music of the 80's.

And now: Books!

171. Hikaru No Go, v. 10: Lifeline by Yumi Hotta & Takeshi Obata. More manga.
     
172. Kid Gravity by Landry Walker & Eric Jones. Cute but slight comics aimed at kids. After I read this, I donated it to Teena's classroom.
     
173. Wyrms by Orson Scott Card, Jake Black, Adriano Batista & Vitor Ishimura. This graphic novel read more like a Cliff's Notes version than an adaptation. I haven't read the original, but it really felt compressed & condensed. I could tell what what going on, but there was clearly a lot of stuff that had been left out. The adaptation would have been better served if it had lasted more than six issues. (Checked out of the library.)
     
174. Abadazad, vol. 1: The Road to Inconceivable by J.M. DeMatteis & Mike Ploog. Excellent kid's book that mixes ordinary text with comics. As I mentioned the last time I read something by DeMatteis, he can be hit or miss with me. This was definitely a hit. Full of heart. I can see his mysticism at play here, but it doesn't overwhelm the story, and it works wonderfully.
     
175. Blue Beetle, vol. 3: Reach for the Stars by John Rogers, Rafael Albuquerque, et al. Well done superheroics.
     
176. Abadazad, vol. 2: The Dream Thief by J.M. DeMatteis & Mike Ploog. The second book in the series, and as of right now, the last one published in the US. I hope the rest of the series gets published soon.
     
177. The Last Musketeer by Jason. Odd but fun. (Library.)
     
178. Supergirl and the Legion of Superheroes: Strange Visitor from Another Century by Mark Waid & Barry Kitson. (Library.)
     
179. North World by Lars Brown. The story of a slacker, made more interesting with the introduction of some fantasy elements.
     
180. Cromartie High School, vol. 5 by Eiji Nonaka. More weirdness. (Library.)
     
181. Showcase Presents Superman, vol. 3 by various. More Silver-Age wackiness. Man, I love Curt Swan's rendition of Superman.
     
182. Wonder Woman, vol. 4: Destiny Calling by George Perez, et al.
     
183. Scalped, vol. 1: Indian Country by Jason Aaron & R.M. Guera. Crime fiction set on a reservation. (Library.)
     
184. From the Desk of Warren Ellis, vol. 1: 1995-1998. A few weeks back I picked up this hardcover edition for less than $5, but I was disappointed to discover that the hard covers are rather offset by the terrible quality of the paper inside. Why would you go to the bother of putting out a deluxe hardcover edition of a book if you're going to print the insides on toilet paper?
     
185. Batman/Grendel by Matt Wagner. It's nice to see Wagner's older Grendel work collected.
     
186. The Super Scary Monster Show featuring Little Gloomy by Landry Walker & Eric Jones. Cute, funny comics about monsters.
     
187. newuniversal: Everything Went White by Warren Ellis & Salvador Larroca. A great revamping of what was a pretty lousy idea (at least as originally presented by Marvel back in the 80's).
     
188. Marvel Adventures Avengers, vol. 5: Some Assembly Required by Ty Templeton, et al.
     
189. Marvel Adventures Spider-Man, vol. 9: Fiercest Foes by Fred Van Lente & Cory Hamscher. Fun kid's comics.
     
190. X-Men: First Class - Mutant Mayhem by Jeff Parker, Roger Cruz, et al. Fun, and not necessarily aimed at kids.
     
191. The New Mutants Classic, vol. 3 by Chris Claremont & Bill Sienkiewicz. Claremont's writing tics are all on display here, and I've got much less tolerance for teenage angst than I did when I was a teenager (when these comics were originally published), but Sienkiewicz's art still holds up. I love his style.
     
192. Jenny Finn: Doom Messiah by Mike Mignola, Troy Nixey, & Farel Dalrymple. Lovecraftian horror.
     
193. Faker by Mike Carey & Jock. Carey's another writer who is hit or miss with me. This wasn't bad, exactly. But it didn't work all that well either.

Finally

After a busy weekend last week, this weekend has been nicely uneventful. Which means I've got the time to catch up on the books I've been reading.

411. Knights of the Dinner Table Bundle of Trouble, vol. 21 by Jolly Blackburn, et al.
     
412. Korgi, Book 1 by Christian Slade. Adorably cute silent story about a young girl and her fire-breathing dog. (Borrowed from Teena.)
     
413. Making Money by Terry Pratchett. The latest Discworld novel. Perhaps not prime Pratchett, but still very good. (Borrowed from Teena.)
     
414. The Question, vol. 1: Zen & Violence by Dennis O'Neil & Denys Cowan. One of my favorite comic series from the 80's is finally being reprinted. The first issue was okay, but it didn't really grab me. However, since it ended with the hero being beaten, shot in the head, and dumped in a river, I had to buy the second issue to see where the creators would go from there. That issue blew me away, and I was hooked. I have to admit that the story doesn't quite have the same power for me it did twenty years ago, but it's still damn fine storytelling. I hope this does well and more volumes will be forthcoming.
     
415. Godland Celestial Edition, vol. 1 by Joe Casey & Tom Scioli. Probably the best Kirby pastiche I've ever seen. Helped in no little part by not using Kirby's creations. (Checked out of the library.)
     
416. Monster, vol. 10: Picnic by Naoki Urasawa. (Library.)
     
417. New X-Men: Academy X, vol. 1: Choosing Sides by Nunzio DeFilippis, Christina Weir, et al. Superpowers & teenage drama. (Library.)
     
418. Return to Labyrinth, vol. 2 by Jake T. Forbes & Chris Lie. I don't know who decided to go a manga-style sequel to a 20-year-old movie, but I am enjoying this, even if it is a bit angsty.
     
419. Action Philosophers! Giant-Sized Thing, vol. 2 by Fred Van Lente & Ryan Dunlavey. I love stuff like this: explorations of what can be done with comics. In this case, an explication of several philosophers' schools of thought. And it doesn't hurt that this comic is funny.

See, I said I hadn't read much last week. Not much this week either.

On the video game front, I recently finished Shadow Hearts: Covenant, which I borrowed from Alex. I have mixed feelings about the game. The story never really grabbed me, and there are large parts of the game you will never figure out unless you have a guide. But I did like the combat system. I stuck with the game through the end, but I did not even attempt the many side-quests that show up at the end. Since then I have begun playing Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass. Teena gave me an early birthday present of a Nintendo DS Lite, and I'm enjoying the hell out of it. Phantom Hourglass is fantastic. I love the way the touch-screen interface works, and it's great to see the Wind Waker art style again. Lots of fun.

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.

Breakthrough
I had gotten stuck at a certain point in Legend of Zelda: The Twilight Princess. I knew exactly what I needed to do; I just couldn't do it. I got extremely frustrated, and the gaps between when I played got longer & longer. And then Thursday night I picked up the wiimote after at least two weeks of having not played. I sailed through the problem area with no trouble whatsoever. I have no idea how I managed it, but I did, and I'm back to enjoying the game.

Wii're Here!
Thanks to Alex, we are now the proud owners of a Wii! It's been nearly 6 months since they were released, and they're still hard to come by. It was getting to the point that I was beginning to think the whole thing was a cruel hoax and that they didn't actually exist. Thank you so much, Alex.

We set it up this afternoon and played around a bit with Wii Sports, which looks like fun. But it didn't take long before we put in the game that I really wanted to play (and have ever since I first heard about it, 2 years ago): The Legend of Zelda: The Twilight Princess. I haven't gotten very far yet, but it looks gorgeous, and it's got all the traditional Zelda touches. I can't wait to explore this version of Hyrule.

If Only Real Housework Were This Fun

On the video-game front, we still haven't found a Wii. However, we haven't been looking all that hard. They just don't seem to be available yet, and it's too stressful to try to track one down. I want one, but not enough to camp out for one, even if it were summer.

Instead, I've been playing Chibi-Robo!, an extremely cute game where the player is a tiny robot who helps out a family with housework and domestic troubles. I never thought I'd enjoy picking up garbage and scrubbing footprints. Not everybody would enjoy this, but I like it a lot.

Books

72. Dramacon, vol. 2 by Svetlana Chmakova. (Checked out of the library.)
    
73. Mister I by Lewis Trondheim. Wordless comics about a guy trying to get something to eat and failing miserably. (Library.)
    
74. Penny Arcade, vol. 2: Epic Legends of the Magic Sword Kings by Jerry Holkins & Mike Krahulik. More gaming comics collected from the web. (Library.)
    
75. Super Power Blues by Dave Morello. (Library.)
    
76. Captain America: Red Menace, vol. 2 by Ed Brubaker & Steve Epting. I really should be buying these CA collections. Brubaker is handling the character well, and I enjoy these comics a lot. (Library.)
    
77. East Coast Rising, vol. 1 by Becky Cloonan. Pirate adventures set after global warming has raised the sea levels enough to flood coastal cities.
    
78. Captain America & the Falcon: Secret Empire by Steve Englehart, & Sal Buscema, with Mike Friedrich. For years I had heard about this storyline that ends with Cap unmasking the leader of a secret society bent on controlling the US, only to discover that the leader (who had just committed suicide) was Richard Nixon. It was entertaining, but I think it works better as a legendary story than an actual one.
    
79. Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere by Mike Carey & Glenn Fabry. When I first heard about this adaptation of Gaiman's novel/tv series, I thought that Fabry did not seem like a good fit for this story. And my judgment has been verified. He's a good artist, but his style just doesn't work here. I hated the character designs for Door & the Marquis de Carabas. In fact, the only character designs I liked were for Croup & Vandemar.
    
80. Claymore, vol. 3: Teresa of the Faint Smile by Norihiro Yagi. (Library.)
    
81. Dragon Head, vol. 5 by Minetaro Mochizuki. A character named "Dragon Head" is introduced in this volume, the fifth of ten. And U.S. fans complain about "decompression" in comics. (Library.)
    
82. Monster, vol. 1 by Naoki Urasawa. Medical thriller/horror manga. Quite good. I'm looking forward to seeing where this story goes. (Library.)
    
83. Rex Mundi, vol. 2: The River Underground by Arvid Nelson & Eric J. (Library.)
    
84. X-Factor Visionaries: Peter David, vol. 2 by Peter David, et al. This volume reprints comics from the 90s and features a cross-over with the Hulk (also written at that time by David).
    
85. Bleach, vol. 17: Rosa Rubicundior, Lilio Candidior by Tite Kubo. The storyline that has been running for many volumes seems to be working its way to a close.
    
86. Nextwave: Agents of H.A.T.E., vol. 1: This Is What They Want by Warren Ellis & Stuart Immonen. Completely over-the-top superhero shenanigans. Funny & fun. Too bad sales weren't better. But I guess comics fans want serious, important, mature comics. And that's why the pretentious, poorly-written, and ill-conceived "Civil War" did so well, and this comic was canceled.

Movies & TV on DVD

• Samurai Jack, Season 2. Damn good show.
  
• Children of Men. This was the best movie I've seen in a long, long time. Absolutely excellent. Highly recommended, and I wish it had been nominated for the Best Picture Oscar.
  
• Little Shop of Horrors. Such a fun movie, considering that one of the characters is a human-eating plant from outer space. Great songs.
  
• Mystery Science Theater 3000: Swamp Diamonds. From a movie inspired by a Roger Corman movie to one directed by him. This thing is a mess and doesn't really make any sense. But you do get to see lots of stock footage of New Orleans during Mardi Gras.
  
• MST3K: The Giant Spider Invasion. This movie may be a low point in Alan Hale, Jr's career, and that's saying something.
  
• The Godfather. Believe it or not, I had never seen this movie until now. I hadn't been avoiding it, but there just never was a chance. Now, I've got to see Part 2 sometime.
  
• Nashville. Teen absolutely hated this, and I'm sorry I dragged her to it. And I have to say that of the Altman films I've seen, I like this one the least.
  
• The Producers. A movie musical based on a stage musical based on a non-musical movie. I haven't seen the stage version (although I have and love the cast recording), but this is the least of all three versions.
  
• House of Flying Daggers. An absolutely beautiful movie, with some exquisitely choreographed fights.

Just a quick note to point out that I've made some adjustments to the sidebar.

Also, I want to mention that I am now playing Shadow of the Colossus and am really enjoying it. It's a fantastic game, with stunning landscapes and amazing boss battles. In fact, that's really all it is: a series of 16 boss battles. It's very simple, but also very challenging. Highly recommended.

So I have a copy of The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, and the guide book is on its way.

Unfortunately, I do not have a Wii on which to play the game. And I would guess that my first chance to get ahold of one won't be for another couple of weeks. But after Christmas seems much more likely.

In the meantime, I'm re-playing Ocarina of Time to assuage my Zelda cravings.

My excuse for not posting lately is that I've been playing Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door lately. It's a blast.

But here's a personality test I got from Kat:

You Belong in London

You belong in London, but you belong in many cities... Hong Kong, San Francisco, Sidney. You fit in almost anywhere. And London is diverse and international enough to satisfy many of your tastes. From curry to Shakespeare, London (almost) has it all!

What European City Do You Belong In?