Investigative journalism at its best! Jane Mayer's meticulously researched book takes a close look at a crucially important topic that is largely beinInvestigative journalism at its best! Jane Mayer's meticulously researched book takes a close look at a crucially important topic that is largely being ignored by the mainstream media: the fact that a few rather secretive (American, not Russian) billionaires are in the process of hijacking American democracy for their own selfish ends. Essential reading for anybody who has been wondering what the FUCK is going on....more
Slick but shallow, self-congratulatory, sterile, ultimately pointless pop-stars-as-gods fantasy, as far as I can tell. I tried twice, but I just can'tSlick but shallow, self-congratulatory, sterile, ultimately pointless pop-stars-as-gods fantasy, as far as I can tell. I tried twice, but I just can't get into this one. 1.5 stars....more
Jason Aaron excels at writing two kinds of stories: bombastic and gritty ones. The beginning of his Thor: God of ThunBastards under the Christmas Tree
Jason Aaron excels at writing two kinds of stories: bombastic and gritty ones. The beginning of his Thor: God of Thunder run is Aaron at his bombastic best, I’d say, Scalped is Aaron at his gritty best. As the title suggests, Southern Bastards falls squarely into the gritty category.
The first two volumes of Southern Bastards were good, but also quite a bit on the stagy, clichéd, predictable side. This third volume is where the story really comes to life for me, as the bigger picture is starting to emerge. Most characters are still southern-fried archetypes taken to the extreme, but the story feels more fleshed out than before, and thus ultimately even more brutal and devastating. In fact, it increasingly reminds me of Preacher by Ennis and Dillon.
After the football-heavy second volume, I had my doubts whether the series was really for me; now I’m officially hooked! The relevance of Southern Bastards has also been enhanced by the sad fact that the mentality it depicts, a vicious cocktail of desperation, ruthlessness and ignorance, has by now turned Trump into the most powerful person on the planet. Hell, considering what Trump & Co have in store for us, I’m afraid Southern Bastards even makes for a perfectly appropriate Christmas read these days....more
Trenchant, disturbing, darkly humorous swan song of what passes for “normal” these days—right on the nose, I’m afraid. Ouch. In the tradition of ChrisTrenchant, disturbing, darkly humorous swan song of what passes for “normal” these days—right on the nose, I’m afraid. Ouch. In the tradition of Chris Ware, Dan Clowes, and Adrian Tomine....more
Fear, doubt, nightmares, confusion, guilt and madness in the aftermath of kill #1: the kind of stuff that does not find its way into the more conventiFear, doubt, nightmares, confusion, guilt and madness in the aftermath of kill #1: the kind of stuff that does not find its way into the more conventional, self-righteous type of vigilante fantasy. And once Dylan, our protagonist, has more or less come to terms with the worst of it, his murderous new personality enters the next, even scarier stage of development: hybris. Dylan starts to believe that he has "peeled away a layer from the world and... [is] more now... More than other people." To further complicate things, love interest Kira finds Dylan's new delusions of grandeur (or is that demon real after all?) strangely appealing.......more
Cigarette Girl collects eleven whimsical, quietly odd urban dramas by alternative manga artist Masahiko Matsumoto--stories that were originally publisCigarette Girl collects eleven whimsical, quietly odd urban dramas by alternative manga artist Masahiko Matsumoto--stories that were originally published in the early 1970s, and that are now Matsumoto's first to become available in English translation. The stories revolve around a bunch of peculiar, shy yet often surprisingly headstrong characters on the margins of society. My favorite story was the awkwardly romantic "A Scarlet Kiss," but the whole book introduced me to a side of early 70s Japan I had never seen before--one that usually does not find its way into popular culture. Recommended to fans of the more low-key, idiosyncratic kind of alternative comic book!...more
“Your daughter started cursing in Latin and walking like a spider? Things are coming out of your dreams aThe Strange, the Weird & the All-Too-Familiar
“Your daughter started cursing in Latin and walking like a spider? Things are coming out of your dreams and trying to kill you? Your dog keeps screaming at you to strangle your neighbors? There’s this guy in the Village you should talk to. He helped my cousin Joey when the walls of his condo started bleeding.” Yep, the guy from Greenwich Village might be able to help. His name is Stephen Vincent Strange, aka Doctor Strange.
In case you didn’t know, Doctor Strange serves as our planet’s Sorcerer Supreme, “Earth’s first defense against all manner of magical threats.” You see, just like our bodies—on a microscopic level—have been colonized by millions of parasites, our souls—on a mystical level—attract… you guessed it, inter-dimensional bacteria. They are for the most part perfectly harmless, mind you, “but every now and then you see something that just should not be here”: something that brings the Good Doctor to the scene.
Oh, and just in case you were wondering: being a Sorcerer Supreme ain’t no joke. In fact, it requires a constitution of super-heroic proportions: “I sleep three hours a night, because any more than that and the nightmares would drive me crazy. If they haven’t already. I have ulcers the size of subway rats. I cough up chunks of my own soul at least twice a day.” And yet, as you can tell, Aaron and Bachalo are clearly having fun with the character—the kind of fun that is infectious.
The plot, on the other hand, should feel all too familiar to anybody who remembers Aaron’s Thor: The God Butcher with its “What in all the cosmos has the power to execute the most powerful gods known to man?” story line, as Doctor Strange: The Way of the Weird asks a very similar question: “What in all the cosmos has the power to execute the most powerful sorcerers known to man?” Magic has replaced religion, but otherwise it's basically the same story. And by the way, I haven’t read Aaron’s Original Sin, but isn't that one about the question “What in all the cosmos has the power to execute the Watcher?”
Bottom line: Doctor Strange: The Way of the Weird is another cosmic, darkly humorous, highly entertaining superhero title by Jason Aaron. Seriously, though: No more “What in all the cosmos has the power to execute..."-type stories for a while, please! ...more
Whoa, that was fun! I mean, what a character, just listen to the guy: “To assert as truth that which has n“I Have Said It. Therefore It Is Confirmed.”
Whoa, that was fun! I mean, what a character, just listen to the guy: “To assert as truth that which has no meaning is the core mission of humanity.” Or: “Hmmm, yes, this is typical of most human endeavors. They change but they do not change.” Or: “The pursuit of a set purpose by logical means is the way of tyranny... The pursuit of an unobtainable purpose by absurd means is the way of freedom. This is my vision of the future. Of our future.” I hear ya, Vision, I hear ya...
Seriously, though, this is good stuff, the perfect vehicle for the character! I loved how accessible, well conceived and precisely executed everything was, loved the crisp pacing, the soap opera, the little cliffhangers, loved that there was hardly any fighting in the book. But I think at the end of the day what really won me over was how the story kept undermining its own tidy, well-adjusted, perfectly unsuspicious surface with a sardonic sense of humor and a chilling sense of doom. I don’t know, feels contemporary, I guess.
Granted, the blackmailing father didn’t really work as a character (and there may have been a few more weak spots in the book’s second half), but what the hell—this was still a great read, my favorite new superhero title since... Aaron’s early Thor run, probably (not that I’ve read all that many since). The whole thing feels fresh and exciting (and inviting) enough for 4.5 stars... rounded up because, in the words of Vision: “I have said it. Therefore it is confirmed.”...more
I don’t know, every single Brian Wood comic book seems to be about some kind of young, tough, sexy, street-smart hipster who looks very cool in a gritI don’t know, every single Brian Wood comic book seems to be about some kind of young, tough, sexy, street-smart hipster who looks very cool in a gritty world. Why the world is such a gritty place never seems to matter much, it’s just background designed to make our young hipster look as tough and sexy and cool as possible.
In the case of DMZ, young, buff, independent hipster reporter Matty (who has sex with a sexy media chick named Zee) looks very tough and cool and sexy amidst the ruins of a civil war. There are suicide bombers on every corner, terrorist cells, a corrupt private military contractor (read: Blackwater) is moving in, there is torture... and yet I still have no clue what this gritty civil war is supposed to be all about.
I mean, I mostly agree with the official politics of DMZ (with its critique of the U.S. government's growing dependence on private companies to wage war, for example, not so much with its underlying ageist, lookist, racist and sexist tendencies), but everything feels so contrived and shallow that I’m finding it really hard to cheer for Matty....more
Another “revisionary” superhero story by Mark Millar, and at this point you probably know the name of the game: a bunch of two-dimensional characters,Another “revisionary” superhero story by Mark Millar, and at this point you probably know the name of the game: a bunch of two-dimensional characters, a little genre homage, a little genre parody, a little ultra-violence, a little politics, a little shallowness, a little cynicism.
Let’s see, there’s the mysterious King Kong-like expedition that turned our protagonists into superheroes back in 1932, enabling them to save capitalist America from the Great Depression. Problem is, as we know today, things have not worked out so well in the long run: “The global economy’s hanging by a threat and we’re still just out there wrestling like children...”
So does that mean our protagonists should never have saved capitalism? Or should they at least now use their powers to “step in and fix this chaos”? Should they actually change the system instead of just trying to patch it? Well, I guess not, as the characters who make that point and do change things all turn out to be ruthless, egomaniacal, murderous bastards. The end.
I don’t know, as tongue-in-cheek as the story may be, this just doesn’t strike me as the most original or profound kind of meta-commentary. I did enjoy the King Kong homage, though, plus it’s pretty much impossible to not be impressed by Frank Quitely’s detailed yet elegant artwork on some level.
Bottom line: Jupiter’s Legacy is fun to look at and entertaining enough in places, but underneath the surface it doesn’t really have a whole lot to say as far as I can tell....more
So that was it, a very appropriate ending to a great post-apocalyptic series. You should definitely read FreakAngels for yourself, so at this point alSo that was it, a very appropriate ending to a great post-apocalyptic series. You should definitely read FreakAngels for yourself, so at this point all I'm going to say is that it ranks among Warren Ellis’ very best work IMO, up there with Transmetropolitan and The Authority. Even if you don’t consider yourself an Ellis fan you may want to give FreakAngels a try... and let its thoughtful, subtle, humane approach surprise you. Really good stuff!...more
Having now read all six volumes of the series, I gotta say: Wow! MIND MGMT is certainly one of the most complex, intriguing, strangely rewarding comicHaving now read all six volumes of the series, I gotta say: Wow! MIND MGMT is certainly one of the most complex, intriguing, strangely rewarding comic-book stories I have come across in a while. What is it all about? Hmm, the difficulty of keeping an open mind and doing the right thing in an increasingly manipulative world, maybe?
All I know for certain is that the ongoing format lends itself beautifully to Kindt’s loose, open style, providing it with all the space it needs, and that the results are, well, kinda mind-blowing. And yet, if genre entertainment of the more conventional variety is what you’re looking for, this final volume (for now, at least) also delivers the action-packed conclusion to a pulpy, character-driven spy thriller.
Either way, MIND MGMT delivers the goods, and you should definitely check it out!...more
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