For years I have been into podcasts. I’ve listened to them on all types of topics – travel, writing, strange happenings, unsolved crimes, and cooking. Those are just a few that come to mind. During the camping at the apartment without cable tv and streaming I depended more on books, audiobooks, and podcasts to entertain me. Here are a few of the ones I’m currently into. (more…)
Tag: reviews
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How Connected Are We Really?
Tompkins Square Park by James Jowers available from the George Eastman House on The Commons at Flickr. No known copyright restrictions. What if you died and no one noticed for three years? That’s what happened to Joyce Carol Vincent. I have to admit when I first read the basis for the documentary Dreams of a Life I thought the subject would be a drug addict. Maybe someone morbidly obese with no relatives and withdrawn from society so no one noticed with the calls for pizza delivery stopped. I didn’t image it would be a young vibrant woman who had, had lovers and was admired by many. I didn’t image it was someone with sisters and her father still living. I didn’t image… so I watched. How does someone 28 years old wind up dead for three years and no one notice?
I’m sorry to say there aren’t any pat answers. No answers as to how she died, was it natural? was it murder? No answers as to why no one came in three years to collect bills or rent. The answer comes in our society where we have any acquaintances but few true connections. People are transient we move on and assume so do they. But in the case of Joyce – she wasn’t moving.
I found that in many ways I understood Joyce. I move a lot and here in Kenosha I have acquaintances but no real friends. Same could be said of Oak Ridge and Kalamazoo. I think after a few military moves I learned not to connect to people easily, it’s hard to keep up long distance friendships so best to be choosy – very choosy. Which leaves me with few regular contacts here where I live and it has been that way for years.
But unlike poor Joyce, I do have those I keep in touch with – my best friend and I haven’t lived in the same county since I was in 8th grade – rarely have we lived in the same state. My husband and I talk daily when at all possible even if he’s traveling. So there are connections, there are those who would notice. Yet, would work check? I think so but it might be a bit before they did. Would my on-line friends check? No, people cyber-fade it’s a fact of on-line life. We just figure real life took them in another direction.
By the same token, if I didn’t see a neighbor for sometime would I check on them? The lady that walks the big rottweiler would I learn her name, check to see why they haven’t been by in some time? No. It’s not maliciousness or total lack of caring – it’s just we don’t know each other. I look back in old pictures and how intertwined my parents life growing up was with the neighbors. Now, I’d be hard pressed to tell you my two side neighbors names much less front and back neighbor or at angles. People keep to themselves, watch tv, play on computers, chat with cyber-acquaintances half a world away.
There are good and bad things to modern society but the saddest things are when good souls slip away through the cracks… good ones like Joyce. We are left wondering what if… I ponder what if we were disturbed by her story enough to make a change and connect with more people?
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Comic Comments – When the Dead Revive
It seems the small consistent presses are the ones turning out awesome stuff. The big publishers can’t get their acts together to bring everything to the table at once in a single title. That’s my take. I adored Think Tank and I’m digging Revival. Both are comics that are slam dunks of the medium – strong multi layered stories whose telling is supported by great art. Revival is about the dead coming back to life in the middle of Wisconsin, Wausau county to be exact. Why they came back, how they came back, and what it means for the rest of the world is what the book is about. It successfully goes from the personal focus to the international focus and back all building and adding to the story of the quarantined area after Revival Day. You know it’s good when you can’t wait for the next issue to see just where this is all going.
Okay let’s get the routine stuff out of the way – legal disclaimer – All images are the property of their owners I reproduce them here under the Fair Use Doctrine of the copyright law for commentary and critique. No more than three pages total from any one issue is reproduced.
Next a nod to the team that is bringing a great story to press. Story by Tim Seeley, Letters by Crank!, Covers by Jenny Frison, Art by Mike Norton, Colors by Mark Englert, Design by Sean Dove, Edited by 4 Star Studios.
Now let’s talk story set up, May Tao a local reporter breaks the news to the world that the recently dead in central Wisconsin are coming back to life. Her story goes international complete with a reviver jumping out of a cremation oven. The area is put on quarantine by the CDC. Why? Think if this is contagious – no one dies but birth rates continue what would that do to the balance of the world resources? That’s why. So a perimeter is set up where no one is allowed in, no one is allowed out. A task force is formed to study the Revivers with CDC representative and a local officer who is the main character if there is one Dana Cypress. I’d say she’s more the linchpin character that ties all the others of the ensemble together. Oh by the way her younger sister is a reviver – murdered and came back, doesn’t care to solve her own murder though.
This book doesn’t follow the formula of comics of an arc, an issue, an arc and so on. Instead it’s telling a story that keeps growing and developing involving an ensemble cast. This is a hard thing to pull off in book series, TV series, and comics – to develop each character fully while keeping the stories moving and in balance. There are arcs for individual characters, May Tao just completed one with the odd fundamental cutting edge exorcist. Yet the one with Justin and Jamie and their reviver father has just started. Some are short arcs like May’s some are long and slow building like Em sister of Dana. That’s what makes this an awesome read! It’s well written and just because one story beat wraps up in this issue others are at their mid beats or just starting. That’ll keep me reading for a long time.
Now for the art which is awesome. Honestly I forget I’m reading in someways and feel I’m watching a movie play out. A good novel does that to me just like a good comic. The story is so well done the medium of how it is told fades away and I’m left enjoying the experience. I don’t think I can pay any higher praise to a comic book artist than that – you made the story real for me to watch unfold.
If this isn’t on your pull list it should be. It’s not to late to go back and get reprints of the first few issues. It’s well worth catching up and if you do it as one night’s read I’ll bet my last potato chip you’ll have a great time!
**** SPOILER ALERT********Some interior pages*********Maybe Preview/Review for some but Spoilerly to others *********
In some cases the death and revival are harder for the living to deal with than the dead. In other cases, like the one they are coming from it was hard for the dead to be cheated out of the eternity of bliss with those they loved that had died before them. Interesting to see various reactions from those involved.
I like how the Hmong population of Wisconsin is worked into the story. As it goes on we see the vast difference in the generation that migrated here after Vietnam and those who were raised here come to the surface. That also plays into the story of how they interact with the events and the mysterious white ghost/demon creature.
Here’s Dana and Ibrahaim from the CDC. What’s awkward is they had a romantic encounter the night before at a local bar before they knew they’d be working together. Honestly I like them and hope both sides of the partnership flourish.
Here’s a good example of story layering. May is coming near the dramatic conclusion of her arc with the fundamentalist stalker. Em is just learning a bit of what this white lurking thing we’ve caught glimpses of in other issues is and what it wants. So the fast developing story of May is driving to a conclusion, the slow building story of white creature is developing, and Em’s personal story moves a bit further along it’s arc while encountering the crescendo of May’s story and the building arc of white creature. Cudos!
Here’s a look at what the world saw to introduce it to Revival Day.
Until next time!
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Comic Comments – Think Tank
If you are into comics you’ve heard all the buzz about Think Tank. If you’ve not picked it up I hope my comments on it encourage you to do so. If you aren’t into comics but are into science/military research/secret project development – then I hope I’m introducing you to a wonderful new read. If you like well written stories I encourage you to try the comic medium for adults in this title.
I can say that generally with Aaron gone my comics stay in their place. I don’t have to go around looking for them (I have a system to read box, read to comment box, finished box and deity of your choice have mercy on your soul if you mix ’em) but Think Tank is different. Even my comic book snob of a husband must have ventured a read.
Okay let’s get the technicalities out of the way so we can chat about a comic that brings it all to the table. First the ever present US legal disclaimer: All images are the property of their owners I reproduce them here under the Fair Use Doctrine of the copyright law for commentary and critique. No more than three pages total from any one issue is reproduced.
Next a great nod to the team that brought us this title: Co-created & Written by Matt Hawkins, Co-created & Art by Rahsan Ekedal, Letters by Troy Peteri, Cover A Art issue 1 first printing by Bagus Hutomo, Cover art issue 2 Rahsan Ekedal & Brian Reber, (apologies to cover artists Issues 3 & 4 as those have disappeared from my office will give you credit when they reappear & I can get the info) Edited by Matt Hawkins, Filip Sablik, & Bryan Roundtree.
Let me first say this story is right up my alley. For those of you who don’t know in another phase of my life I lived in Oak Ridge Tennessee home of a National Laboratory, Y-12, and K-25. Oh it was a town with the highest concentration of science (various types of physics mostly) PhDs in the nation at that time. I worked in the volume reduction of low level radioactive waste by a private firm. There I was the Regulatory Compliance Specialist and did the internal audits to assure the state & Feds we adhered to the law, regulations, and our written procedures that were approved by those agencies. I dealt with lots of the government and military research types both in my work and in my social life. We all lived in the now open but planned city of Oak Ridge. On top of that I’ve lived my adult life with a Submarine Nuke Officer who had/has travel restrictions based on his knowledge of that field and worked in a leadership role in the war room at CENTCOM for over a year. So I know these people depicted. They are my people. They were the parents of Aaron’s best friend on his first soccer team. They were PTA members beside me. They came to wetting down parties for Mike as he advanced in the ranks. They were ushers at our wedding. They are colleagues, subordinates, and bosses. This was the work world I left behind to be a stay at home mom. Still many who work for such things are my friends and I keep in touch.
First off true young boy wonders in these fields are rare and far between. It takes a certain maturity beyond intelligence to deal with the issues raised by the research. I knew a few who graduated before they could legally be employed for their field of study (being under 18 Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Environmental Protection Agency, various military protocols, and other regulatory bodies have age limits for working with that sort of thing). All of them worked at fast food places until they were old enough to apply. (no they didn’t want to turn out like the Radioactive Boy Scout) All of them said it was a big mistake to push forward like that, their parents warned them but they didn’t listen. I had one of them chat with Aaron when he was given the option to move ahead to help him understand why we didn’t pursue that. I knew many more that had turned down that option because they were brilliant enough to see the pit falls of social retardation, economic management issues of pay to an minor & minor work hour laws, along with knowing life was more than the lab. Generally people who are smart enough to be in the lab research be it pure or applied are smart enough to know life is very complex and pushing one area out of shape isn’t a good thing. That said they can get tunnel vision in their own area of study due to conditions of research.
So the story is about the exception – the boy genius that goes to work at military/government research at a very young age. He’s not the stereotypical by the book type. Then again I’ve never met any in that field who are, in academia oh yeah met that type all the damn time in R&D nope most were nerds and/or geeks with my sense of humor. He’s at a station like Groom Lake/Area 51 where you board in during your work session. Knew a girl who worked in a place like that – boarded a plane flew to work for a week, lived in a dorm, ate at a cafeteria there. She managed mixed waste at the facility (radioactive and RCRA [Resource Conservation and Recovery Act] classified hazardous – radioactive & hazardous are two different things to waste people) then when her week was up she flew home for 7 days off at her place. Except David Loren the main character seems to live in his lab all the time. His buddy Manish has a family & home in town, kinda like what Oak Ridge was before the gates opened.
David’s character has a moral epiphany while watching Schindler’s List. He doesn’t want his work to be used in killing, in weapons of war. I get that. I have to say many of us at the lunch table in Oak Ridge had talks about that. I came to the realization I couldn’t work at say Y-12 because I couldn’t take making radioactivity for any reason other than medical. I’d seen how it’s “disposed” which is put it some place for eons and watch. I wasn’t the only one at the table that said they could work in the waste, the cleaning up of the messes already made but making those messes to make mass destruction research – nope not for us. So I get David’s maturing realization that he doesn’t want to be a part of that.
Also since he lives in his lab he wants to go out and live a real life. I get that. Talking to the friend that flew to the 7 day job she said flights there were quite, business mummer type flights but the return ones were more like high school cafeteria talks – new movies, kid’s games, and all that. Yep after 7 days of work they were ready to go be ‘people’ again! So it’s cool that David wants to go out and pick up chicks – not so cool that he takes controlled tech out to help him do it. Yeah, that’s the rub (kinda like the guys that stole the magenta tinted tools for use in the radioactive areas and tried to sell them at a swap meet). That kind of thing is heavily frowned upon.
David and his date that saw the tech both get taken back on the reservation and detained. However with Manish’s help David activates a plan to get them out. I do have an issue with how he escaped. You see I’ve worn canaries (what we called the yellow haz-mat suits) and been trained as a first responder. I’ve audited procedures of first response and emergency response for these type of places. You don’t have anyone dressed out in PPE (personal protection equipment) without giving them proper monitoring of many types and knowing how many you have, who they are, where they are going, and where/when they come out. You account for the decontamination of each and their monitoring equipment is sent for rush processing. They don’t wander out en masse. They come out in a controlled doffing area. It’s all part of preventing any potential contamination from disasters in the lab being spread by the responders. They are closely monitored to help them should they have trouble and know when they have reached max stay times in potentially dangerous areas. So donning a canary and walking out with a group is major breach of protocol. The group would notice we each had our identifier there on our forehead (Mine was EKL-1). See someone you don’t know in your zone you’d address it first to minimize exposure, then limit spread of possible contamination and many other reasons. You go in knowing who your work buddies are and keep an eye on them. You want to be there for them should they get into trouble Just joining the group to wander out wouldn’t happen. A canary exiting without going through decon/doffing procedures would draw max attention. However, I’ll say this place had bad Emergency Response Procedures and/or were willing to crap up the world with doffing canary zoomies and dander. (cool industry slang eh?)
Still for the sake of the story it was fun to see the laid back cool dude stick it to the man. Except the portrayal of ‘the man’ bothered me. You see the military side is my family and friends. Sure the Col. was the by the book guy but ya know what for all the Hollywood stereotypes of that I’ve never met one in 27 years. Sure people will be by the book on most things but when it comes to something they really fundamentally believe they’ll look to the spirit of the regs than the word of them. Also in all my years I’ve never seen a screamer in a research/science training facility. Not ever heard of one either – I’ve heard tales from nuke sub types that go way back in the Cold War and their training but no you don’t do Drill Instructor in the face screaming to civilians, or top research scientists. It’s just not done. They are treated well and monitored well. They aren’t buck privates and anyone with leadership position in the military knows, understands and works with that. If there’s one thing the modern military trains, trains, trains on is management techniques when working with civilian contractors. More and more base activities are civilian contractors, professionals don’t spit scream at other professionals. The military is nothing if not professional. The community isn’t easy to research or get to know just by its nature. People are discreet to the point of not even mentioning job titles or rank when off the clock. They have to know you, and know you for years, before you learn much more than those simple things. Then we are all aware of classified lines, stories are generalities not specific. So you’re working on a project and really into it when Hulk hands appear in the transom of your office and some shouts HULK HUNGRY FOR BURRITOS PUNY HUMAN MUST LEAVE COMPUTER NOW OR HULK SMASH! and start rattling the glass or there was a temperature inversion and due to contamination from earlier research in the area before modern protocols you had to stay in doors for hours trapped in the wrong damn building with that deadline looming. There’s more of a social camaraderie between researchers and military. The stiff stuff is just when on show for the public. I can’t prove that, but trust me it’s true. This book got much right. It’s just they haven’t been there and it shows. Kinda like Hunt For Red October movie was great and we in the sub community loved it but there were details that made us roll our eyes and laugh. You just can’t get a small quiet community unless you’ve lived & worked in it.
So in the end it’s a fun well researched story about an adult scientist that’s a teenager socially. He’s sticking it to the government bad guys (a la ET type) breaking out of a secure research facility. It was fun and it romped for me. I loved it and was anxious for the next issue. The science was hard and well researched. The story hit notes that I knew well living decades socializing with that community. The issues raised were issues we did have talks about and still do talk about from time to time. There aren’t any pat answers. I loved it and can’t wait for more. Sure I hit ’em hard but when someone writes about family you notice the little things that are off, over all this hit it and knocked it out of the park as a fictional story.
I’ve had some people drag their feet on reading this because the interior is black and white art. Really people are you that shallow? It wasn’t that long ago that daily funnies in the paper we read as kids didn’t have color! The art is wonderful. It is stylistic but not overly so. It also realistic enough. It strikes that balance of being just that much better than real life to be good comic book art. It’s detailed and so well done you don’t notice the missing color. Honestly if you give it a chance the story and art blend together to make the experience so entertaining you get lost in it. Besides look at this way you don’t have to see any bad coloring jobs or odd glowy photoshop effects either. It’s all straight forward art supporting the tale!
Bottom line – pick this up. The science is sound but fun. The story is a romp set in a world few actually see and even fewer who have will talk openly about to strangers. It raises questions that all of us need to ponder not just the people at the lab tables. It’s well worth the money and buzz it created.
You know what’s coming next – interior shots!
Yeah total project failure would be bad. However I’ve never heard of it happening usually something comes out of the pure research even if it’s not the project goal or foreseen in the conceptualization of the goal. Also projects take decades to complete to make an assessment, David isn’t that old to have that many projects listed as a total failure. Oh and see my note about civilians not being buck Privates.
Okay I heard of one case where a researcher struck another (both civilian). It did not go down well for the striker – jail time, stripped of clearance, lost job… not good at all. Strikee was fine. I have to say as we heard the story from another facility we all put the striker down as crazy, went off the deep end.
Okay this is a good scene to get into David’s head, his emotional head. Having talked with people who went through the whole child college student thing I get the emotional insecurity and immaturity he’s showing here.
I get what he’s saying about golf courses. Also I have to point out we’ve given up lots of bases, all the officer clubs, many of the base gyms, movie theaters, post offices, barbers and such consolidating down to more efficient numbers. Getting fewer lines drawn between officers and enlisted with just BQs and Pubs instead of BOQs & BEQs with O-Clubs and E-Clubs. These are people who will die for you, your country on order with hesitation – my husband, my son. So I think now that we’ve packed them in can’t we allow some bases (the remaining ones) to have their Rec areas – golf courses, marinas, and camp grounds. They have to blow off steam somewhere and remember the very low ranking enlisted don’t have any disposable income. Many depend on federal assistance like WIC to feed their families, so why not give those families affordable recreation as thanks. As it stands today every 65 minutes a service member in the US commits suicide – maybe we need to spend more on helping them cope in these ways instead of ignoring that side of life. **sheepishly gets off soapbox and puts it away**
Until next time folks.
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Comic Comments – Fury To the Max
Let’s start by being clear – Max comics are for adults. What makes them different from say regular Marvel? They drop the f-bomb and other curse words. People smoke – something forbidden now even for the healing factor crowd in the main titles. There’s nudity – no just right shadows or things in the foreground. They have sex, they depict some sex scenes, and yes they talk about sex. The fighting in some titles is more graphic, more blood and gore. When a guy gets punched it’s not just spittle that’s gonna fly. Still with all of that you’ll see and experience more extremes in an R movie than in a Marvel Max comic. It’s more than their general comics but not as much as an R movie. Got it? So if seeing women’s breasts or the f-word in type or blood fly in a fight – these titles aren’t for you.
That said they are for the rough and tumble character of Nick Fury! I like this take on him. He’s free to be what his character is set up to be in the regular line. I don’t seem him not cursing, not bedding the women, and not spoiling for a good fight when he can get one. He doesn’t mince words, says what he thinks but as a good soldier eventually follows orders even if he thinks it could be to his death. In this series he’s telling about his career post WWII in all it’s unvarnished truth. The first arc deals with Fury’s first days in French IndoChina as it’s moving toward what would become the Vietnam War. He’s the perfect character to use the Max setting to tell his tales.
First a very satisfied nod to the creative team: Garth Ennis, Writer – Goran Parlov, Artist – Lee Loughridge, Colors – Rob Steen, Lettering – Manny Mederos, Production – Sebastian Girner & Nick Lowe, Editors – Axel Alonso, Editor In Cheif – Joe Quesada, Chief Creative Officer – Dan Buckley, Publisher – Alan Fine, Executive Producer.
Now for the ever present US legal disclaimer: All images are the property of their owners I reproduce them here under the Fair Use Doctrine of the copyright law for commentary and critique. No more than three pages total from any one issue is reproduced.
This arc takes place in early 1954. We meet a politician Congressman Pug MCCuskey who thinks if Indochina falls to the communists then all of Southeast Asia will fall and he’s an anti-commie man second only to Joe McCarthy. Next we meet Agent Hatherly who will be Nick’s side kick through this. He’s a new CIA agent assigned to the the embassy where Nick’s the field operative, or so they say. Finally we meet the fiery and fiesty Shirley DeFabio secretary to Pug and becomes lover to Nick. The main cast is set. The task is for Nick and Hatherly to evaluate a French Foreign Legion post as allies to help assess it and improve security. What they find there disturbs them – for Nick it’s the indefensible position, under trained men, and lack of supplies that worry him the most. For Hatherly it’s the Nazi that admits to killing Jews serving as an ally to the US and going unpunished.
The story is a nutshell of politics in Indochina at the time. Nick comes at it as a pragmatic fighter while Hatherly gives us the idealistic fighter’s take. Both wind up taking a beating as Vietnam rises to overthrow the French colonials. The story is told with the rough edge of a fighter giving a true to the character voice for Fury. We all know how this is going to turn out in the end. Vietnam isn’t a good chapter but it is one every student of history shouldn’t over look or forget. Here we watch as the two polar opposites confront the issues as they were in ’54. New type of war differing from the one we’d just won. They struggle to make their ideas of war fit with the situation, colonialism is dying and our former ally Russia is now our enemy. Does that mean we should take former Nazis as our allies to defeat them? Just as in real life there are no clear cut answers. In the end the characters are wrong, all of them and glad to get out with their lives. Yet we who possess the benefit of hindsight know this isn’t the end of Vietnam for our warrior.
Miss DeFabio is all Nick could want in a woman. She’s a fighter, nay a brawler! She’s beautiful and sexy. She likes sex and has no qualms about that. She’s pragmatic and honest. She’ll help him out under the table if she sees it as the right thing to do. (Like warning him about Hathaway going off the reservation after the Nazi). She uses her influence to help Nick and her legs to pull him in closer, all for the better enjoyment of both of them.
Another issue that’s always bother me about Fury is that he heals and doesn’t age. He addresses that right up front just stating it as fact. I’ve come to think over the years that our Fury is a mutant, with somewhat of a healing factor. It would explain a lot and maybe the term didn’t apply to him back in the day and he just skirted the whole issue by not having a SUPER power. I dunno but just like I stick my fingers in my ears and LA-LA-LA-LA away aliens and magic, I’ll do the same and make Fury a low level mutant.
In the end the story was the best Nick Fury story I’ve read in some time. Considering he’s in my top five favorite Marvel characters I was pleased to see him comfortably sitting in his own title, telling his own story, his own way. It’s most enjoyable and I’m hoping this team has a long long run with Fury Max.
Now after such praise for the story how can the art live up to it? Well I dunno how but it does! The style of the covers shows the influence of the age the story is set. The art is excellent for the story. It picks up the details of the age, dial phones with receivers that are somewhat pointed at the top, the fashion isn’t perfect but carries the flavor of the age with a modern flare. It is made to appeal to today’s audience with a feel of the era in which it sits. The good guys and gals are lovely even in the nude – remember this is Max. The bad guys or generalized characters are given traits to make them memorable. It all fits with the flashes to Fury today in his bathrobe dictating his memories. A great success in supporting a strong script.
After this misadventure in Indochina the next arc moves forward to 1962 and Cuba, or Cuber as JFK called it. You know our hero Nick Fury wasn’t on the sidelines for that one.
***Warning MATURE content below that is also somewhat spoilery for the story***
***Warning MATURE content below that is also somewhat spoilery for the story***
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Comic Comment – The Fate of The King of Wolves
Keeping true to form of long arc followed by a short one, Fables issues 122 & 123 comprise a mini arc entitled The Destiny Game. The last time we visited the Fables title the Cubs In Toyland arc had just completed. The last few stories involving Bigby and Snow’s cubs have centered on the San Diego 2009 Comic Con One Page Fables predecitions. We’ve seen Winter become the North Wind, Therese did an evil thing, Darien died to stop her. Though she could be the pauper too – because now she is one. Ghost killed people before s/he learned that was wrong, except no one died to stop Ghost that I can remember. This two story arc is concerned with Ambrose as an adult, we see his fate. We also learn how Bigby and his cubs came to have their designated fates. Another excellent story with fantastic art brought to us by the team at Fables.
The second story of the issue continues to follow Bifkin’s adventures in Oz. It moves to the title story in the next issue. Bifkin’s revolution continues and now he’s found himself the leader of a great nation. Faced with the same issues as George Washington, offered a kingship, needing to lead but wanting to retire to his beloved library Bifkin has some hefty choices to make and ideas to implement.
First the legal disclaimer: All images are the property of their owners I reproduce them here under the Fair Use Doctrine of the copyright law for commentary and critique. No more than three pages total from any one issue is reproduced.
Now for the creative team on this arc first story entitled The Destiny Game: Written and Created by Bill Willingham – Guest art by Gene Ha – guest colors by Art Lyon – letters by Todd Klien – Special Thanks to Zander Cannon – Issue 123 also included Andrew Pepoy in the Special Thanks – Assistant editor Gregory Lockard – Editor Shelly Bond
The creative team for the A Revolution in Oz: Bill Willingham, Writer/Creator – Shawn McManus, Artist – Todd Klein, Letters – Gregory Lockard, Assistant Editor – Shelly Bond, Editor.
It seems every time I comment on Fables it becomes a love letter to them for doing what I dream comics can do. Last commentary on Fables I mentioned how they evoke my childhood love for Classics Illustrated. This arc pulls on that more with the adult Ambrose being the author/narrator of the tale. The illustrations are the same fine quality as those beloved comics from long ago. The structure of the tale reminds me of many of the classics. I was entranced at the first and not disappointed by the story or the art.
Ambrose explains how Bigby got the fate of marrying his beloved Snow and having seven pups with the destines of “to become Gods and Monsters that lay waste to worlds.” Whose fates were later refined by Ozma’s one page prediction from SDCC 2009.
Here in the story Bigby prefers his wolf form and rules the forest. He longs to kill his father. He runs into the green skinned woman that doles out fates. Upon chasing her he makes a deal to hear his fate. It is one of death in three days. He goes to mourn his fate in his forest.
There he meets a familar background character – the turtle wearing the teacup world on her back. She’s a vain queen whose fate was to become this turtle and warn others. She explains that the green skinned lady doesn’t read fates, she assigns them! She’s the messenger for the 3 fates.
Here we see the Fates give their messenger 7 important fates. The same number of children Bigby later has. Is it coincidence? Are the important fates the children that are to become Gods and Monsters? The story doesn’t answer these questions. We are left to ponder and draw our own conclusions.
Just how Bigby gets the fate of Snow and his cubs instead of death in three days is answered. Also how Ambrose knows this story when even Bigby doesn’t know the fate he’s given in full is also answered. It worth the read to see how the simple tale sheds new light on the fates that have unfurled in the last few Fables arcs.
Finally we are left to ponder this part of Bigby’s fate “You’ll outlive all your children but only after you’ve died seven times.” Any guesses on how THAT is going to come into play? I see fodder for Willingham to build many more excellent arcs around the Wolf family.
The Revolution in Oz story is just a few pages in each each issue. Here we see the the final defeat of the current Emperor. It pays to have an animated hanging rope on your side. The Toms of the Emperor are fleeing leaving Bifkin’s revolutionaries in power. So now what? That’s why the story takes the title role in the next issue as I said.
*****Page Scans**** Warning****Maybe Considered Spoilery********
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Movie Comments – Disillusionment
The required US legal disclaimer: All images are the property of their owners I reproduce them here under the Fair Use Doctrine of the copyright law for commentary and critique. We watched this movie recently and I enjoyed it greatly. The Ryan Reynolds character comes to the realization of how dirty politics is through some brutal events. The candidates aren’t the stars here it’s the back room men (yes they are white males) that are the stars of the tale. The differences aren’t about ideals which are mocked but about what can “I” get, what can “we” get from doing this, or what damage can we inflict on the other side? It’s not a pretty picture but it’s a fascinating one to watch. Being a cynic wearing a hopeful human coat I could relate to the Ryan character. However honestly it’s the Marisa Tormei reporter character that sums up my true thoughts. Her statement in the bar to Ryan near the beginning of the tale was the most eloquent and succinct statement of my thoughts on politics today.
The painful disillusionment of Ryan’s character is interesting and powerful to watch. I think any of us that have seen a few elections know how it feels on some scale regardless of what side of the aisle come your political leanings. Oh of course it’s ramped up to add drama to the movie. The brutal crush of innocence and the innocent in the chase of the ultimate political power is a very old human story. To see it retold yet again with modern trappings is striking. Like most tragedies you want to look away, to not see it. Yet you can’t. I’m not sure if it’s morbid curiosity morbid fascination, lessons of a cautionary tale, or hope of redemption that kept me watching. I’d like to think it’s the latter but my gut said it’s the first and second.
This movie isn’t action driven. It’s a character driven tale. It moves subtly and builds with small but emotionally impactful turns for the main characters. Sometimes the off the cuff decisions change our life the most and that’s the start of this ride. Those decisions don’t always change it for the better. Once you see behind the curtain of how it works and what it takes to work you can’t unsee it. The magic is gone and the brutal knowledge will change a person. The question at the center of the movie is what will the main character do with his full knowledge of what goes on behind the curtain. THAT’S what kept me watching, THAT’S why I liked this move very much.
The slow destruction and reconstruction of a character is something amazing to watch. Good stories (as opposed to movie rides or comfort beach reading) are about the character arc – start here, experience story, then end there. A truly good story leaves the characters irrevocably changed. The change doesn’t have to be for the better, but it is drastic enough they can’t go back to who/where they were at the beginning. The Ides of March has that in spades for the main character played by Ryan. The events of the movie make him a different man. The tensions comes in not in the destruction of who he was but in the construction of who he is to be – what choices will he make, what events will push him to be that final incarnation of the character at the end. The power of this tale was I wasn’t sure just what I wanted that reconstruction to be given the setting. In the end I think Ryan’s acting gave us the answer unequivocally in his eyes in the final scene. The new character steps into his next story a changed man. The movie goer is left to ponder just what that change means.
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Comic Comment – Too Much Magic for Me In Wolverine Annual
For those not into comics I introduced the concept of the Annual back with the Uncanny X-Men’s 2012 Annual. I’ve been avoiding the Wolverine Annual double issue entitled Clandestine due to the cover. It has the wacky faux Ancient Egyptian look to the cover. After studying Egyptian hieroglyphs some I just can’t tolerate the ‘Hollywood’ image of it, so built on horrid misunderstandings. Take that and couple it with my severe dislike of magic or aliens in my X-Men and you can imagine my severe disappointment that this year’s annual double issue was based on a blending of both. Yeah, to say I didn’t like it is putting it mildly. Disgusted dislike coupled with taking offense for a now dead for centuries religion/people might get to the heart of my thoughts.
Now for the every present US legal disclaimer: All images are the property of their owners I reproduce them here under the Fair Use Doctrine of the copyright law for commentary and critique. No more than three pages total from any one issue is reproduced.
Giving credit where credit is due – Alan Davis, Writer & Penciler – Mark Farmer, Inker – Javier Rodriguez, Colorist – VC’s Clayton Cowles, Letterer – Davis, Farmer, & Rodriguez, Cover Art – John Denning & Jake Thomas, Assistant Editors – Lauren Sankovitch, Associate Editor – Tom Brevoort, Editor – Axel Alonso, Editor In Chief – Joe Quesada, Chief Creative Officer – Dan Buckley, Publisher – Alan Fine, Executive Producer.
This annual ties into Daredevil Annual this year. Clandestine opens with a dream memory of Logan/James. As he falls asleep (btw he has a HUGE tv in room perks of being the headmaster I’d guess) there’s a news report about a about a museum fire stopping the plastoid robots murderous rampage. This is noted to have taken place in Daredevil’s issue.
We are then introduced (or reintroduced) to the Destine family. They are descended from Adan Destine (who James knew long ago) and his djinn lover Elalyth. I don’t know much about the Destine family and tend to ignore them. They are too magical for me. In this issue they consist of two kids that want to be superheroes with their powers, a blue furry man with red hair that turns to fire when he’s angry (looks a lot like our beloved Dr. Hank McCoy) some silver woman, a floating computer geek, and a lovely raven haired beauty that used to be one of Logan’s many flings.
It seems that a deceased family member has something to do with the plastoid robot attack on the burning museum. James being Logan, near by, and a family friend gets called into the fray. Except it’s under false pretenses, which seems to be the modus operendi for this family. Then again they are all siblings and half djinn. Dr. Strange shows up because of all the hoo-doo going on set off his alarm bells.
There’s much angsting, magical morphing, magic tripping, magic and regular fighting. Then at one point canopic jars turn into monsters which Logan battles – thus the tacky cover. In the end Logan the new man, protects the kids and makes a noble sacrifice to do it. Then he doesn’t want the kids to see him as heals from the massive damage he took, another sign of growth and caring in the man. He does show some of his headmaster self in doing a mini-Loganesque-lecture to the family about false pretenses being appearing to be the easiest solutions but causing the greatest damage. I mean look at the burned out museum and lost antiquities, the dead brother, those killed by the plastiods, and his own damage. The lessons are good but really made me want to fall back on “knowing is half the battle. GO JOE!” at the end.
Also my stomach turned at how abused the Ancient Egyptian was in this. It’s a personal peeve of mine. In cases like this I just roll my eyes and think “Hollywood!” disdainfully. However the Egyptians left written explanations of what they thought, meant, did, wanted, dreamed about, wished for… I studied hieroglyphs because I felt if a people wrote all over stuff they were a people who wanted to be understood. Our knowledge and understanding of them grows exponentially each year as more and more is translated. We are way past Budge’s bad translations, Victorian moral influence filtered by his mastery of Sumerian first. However as was lamented in StarGate by Dr. Jackson the Egyptologist “You guys are still relying on Budge!” as he erases their bad attempt at translation. I find it frustrating that an ancient peoples who we can know so much about from their own words are so misunderstood and misrepresented. As a writer who attempts to be understood through the written word my heart goes out to them, fellow writers of thousands of years ago.
Now for the art – I did enjoy that. It’s very strong art with origins in the old comics I used to read. No wacky 80s influence of hair flowing every where and odd shaped “fit” people. Sure the people are fit and better than average but that’s what comics do make take the normal and teak it to be a bit more – lovely, grotesque, fit or whatever. This art does that. Can’t complain as a Wolvie fangurl for his nude sleeping scene nor do I take task for the overly endowed women. All are within range for me in comics, not too extreme. As for the coloring there were a few times things looked a bit too ‘shiny’ or over highlighted for me. That’s just being picky, and it wasn’t something that bothered me or kicked me out of the story. So Cudos for the art team if only you’d had a decent story to illustrate.
You know what’s next – a few scans that may be spoilery so you’ve been warned
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Comic Comments – Finally A Honeymoon!
In the last arc of Uncanny X-Men Kyle and Jean-Paul were married. Then Wolverine exploded at their reception at the Jean Grey School For Higher Learning and their honeymoon got postponed. (I’ve heard exploding Wolverines will do that.) So the 2012 Annual of this title’s first story Welcome To The Family covers the delayed honeymoon – that’s even further delayed. No Wolvie didn’t explode again, thank goodness! That’s a mess to clean up and heal from!
The second story is a reprint of Alpha Flight issue #106. This is the issue is entitled The Walking Wounded where Jean-Paul Beaubier comes out to the world. He loses his adopted daughter to AIDS, she was found in a trash can as an infant. He feels he can live in hiding no more and must come out to bring open the discussion of the AIDS epidemic at the time. This was set in the 80s.
The legal disclaimer: All images are the property of their owners I reproduce them here under the Fair Use Doctrine of the copyright law for commentary and critique. No more than three pages total from any one issue is reproduced.
Now the credit for Welcome to the Family: Christos Gage, Writer – David Baldeon, Penciler – Jordi Tarragona, Inker – Veronica Gandi, Colorist – Chris Elipoulos, Letterer 0 David WIlliams & Jay David Ramos, Cover – Daniel Ketchum, Editor – Nick Lowe, X-Men Group Editor – Azel Alonso, Editor In Chief – Joe Quesada, Chief Creative Officer – Dan Buckley, Publisher – and Alan Fine, Executive Producer.
Credits for the Walking Wounded story are as follows: Scott Lobdell, Words – Mark Pacella, Pencils – Janice Chiang, Letters – Bobbie Chase, Edits – Tom DeFalco, Editor In Chief.
The first story is Welcome to the Family of how Kyle’s and Jean-Paul’s honeymoon is interrupted by the team. There is a threat to all non-mutant loved ones of the team. Northstar is the only one with enough speed to reach all of them and warn/take them to safety. He does want to go but Kyle says – go the team will be enough to protect me here and they’re family! So Kyle is left in his honeymoon suite with the team. He tries to get to know each one individually. As he has a conversation with each he gets relationship advice of course. None of it sounds promising as each has a heartbreaking story of loss of a loved one.
I felt for Kyle in this issue. Having been a Navy wife for going on 28 years I know what it’s like to have a spouse that must leave to harms way when duty calls. Yes when we were starting out I got a lot of advice. I faced the highest divorce rate in the services at the time – submarine wives (back then only men were on subs that’s changing). As I read the issue I reflected on the advice and stories I was told. What helped the most oddly paralleled what Logan tells Kyle in the end. Strength holds you together because you know you are better and stronger together than you could ever be apart, because your love for each other is strong enough to flex and not break, because you are strong enough to be on your own when you have to be and strong enough to lean on the other when they are there. Yeah that’s strength to take the risk of loss because the moments together are worth it. In the end Kyle has to find his own way to cope with Northstar’s X-Family and their world saving needs. Just like all military spouses every day have to do the same.
As for the art of this story – it was okay. I found the colors a bit too glowy for my taste, too bright or primary not blended or muted enough. Also the heavy outline of each character gave them cartoony looks at times. I didn’t care for that effect. Though I like the depiction of Logan more as a short powerhouse almost barrel chested than the more Hugh Jackman look he gets at times. (not that I object to Hugh playing Logan in the least! I don’t but it’s nice to see him portrayed as the powerful runt from time to time). Over all it did nicely.
The second story struck me as somewhat of a cop out for an Annual. I like it when they are one long stand-alone story or two new stories that are asides supporting the title’s continuum. I get that this coming-out issue was an important one for the star characters of the story – Marvel’s first married gay couple. But really there was an era there that was horrid in art – it was called the 80s. Time has not been kind to it as it has say the comics of the 50s, 60s, or even 70s. Instead I think as time goes on it becomes more atrocious to me. I’ve read the issue years ago and this time I couldn’t make it deeper than a quick scan due to the art. OMG! I just couldn’t stomach it. I began to think of what I could say good about it – at least there were any ties going back and curling up like greyhound tails that have to poop. Oh and at least I could follow the story with the images, though it wasn’t pleasant.
So that’s this year’s annual Kyle meets the family and comes to terms with Jean-Paul’s 24 hour, 7 day a week, on-call job.
****You know what’s next SPOILER SCANS***You’ve BEEN WARNED**** LOOK AWAY IF YOU MUST*****
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Comic Comments – A Wedding, An Explosion, A Betrayal
I’ve not gotten an X-Men title in so long. I’m Wolverine centric as you know. I figured keeping up with his titles was enough. I caught on to what the team was doing with previews, the sucking cross-title arcs, and various comic books discussion sites. However I have to say the preview of issue 53 brought me into this title. The scene where Logan is in the infirmary healing and the team is rallying around to figure out what happened to him – sucked me in. Remy was portrayed as I like him. Beast was as brilliant and hug-able as ever. The team’s concern for Northstar to go join his husband and they’d take care of this was touching. Oh and the banter between Remy, Bobby, and Jean-Paul made this fangurl’s heart melt. So I had to go back to the start of this arc and put Astonishing X-Men on my pull list. The arc turned out to be a long one of seven issues covering issues 50 through 56. Still I’m glad I got it and hope to see the team spirit hold up through the upcoming issues as it did in this one.
The wrap around wedding cover. The required US legal disclaimer: All images are the property of their owners I reproduce them here under the Fair Use Doctrine of the copyright law for commentary and critique. No more than three pages total from any one issue is reproduced.
Credit to the creative team that brought us this arc: Marjorie Liu, Writer – Mike Perkins, Artist Issues 50 & 53-56, Penciler Issue 51, Artist with Gabriel Hernandez Walta on Issue 52 – Andy Troy, Colorist Issue 50 & Colorist with Jim Charalampidis and Rachelle Rosenberg on issue 51, Jay David Ramos, Colorist Issues 53-55, Colorist with Cris Peter in Issue 52, Colorist with Andres Mossa in Issue 56 – VC’s Joe Caramagna, Letterer Issue 50, 52-54, & 56, Letterer with VC’s Cory Petit & Cowles on Issue 51 – VC’s Cory Petit, Letterer Issue 55 – Dustin Weaver & Rachelle Rosenberg, Cover Issues 50 – 53, Phil Noto, Covers Issues 54 – 56, John Cassady & Lara Martin, Varient Cover for Issue 50, Daniel Ketchum, Associate Editor Issues 50 -53, Jennifer M. Smith, Assistant Editor Issues 53 – 56, Jeanine Schaefer, Editor – Nick Lowe, X-Men Group Editor – Axel Alonso, Editor In Cheif – Joe Quesada, Chief Creative Officer – Dan Buckley, Publisher – Alaen Fine, Executive Producer.
This arc covers Jean Paul Beaulier’s marriage to his long time boyfriend Kyle Jinadu. I never really enjoy Marvel weddings because they remind me of Barbie weddings. The big fancy things that are more show that substance. For once I’d like a Marvel headline couple in love to elope! Really, I’m not a fan of big ceremonies in general. What counts isn’t the day but what you do as a couple in the days that make the decades to follow. I often feel these weddings are what fanboys THINK fangurls want. Even though this arc was written by a woman it still falls into that cheesy fantasy princess wedding feel with two princes instead.
This arc centers on the character and X-Man member Xi’an Coy Manh codename Karma. I don’t know her really. She’s one of the many peripheral characters to my interests. I am aware of them and know their names but not much else. Apparently she has a step sister who was depowered after M-Day and shunned by their father years ago. This chick carries one MEAN grudge. Being an international arms dealer makes her more than able to act out her vengeance. She uses cutting technology to turn Logan into a bomb at the wedding reception and later take control of the X-Men’s bodies. Heck she even makes an X-Men themed team of her own using technology. The battle is on – mutant trained fighters against technology! It’s a good story with a team that’s working together not fighting among themselves. They support each other in their personal as well as professional lives. THIS is the team work I want to see when I come to an X-Man comic. Cudos to the creative team.
As for the artwork – I like the covers. I especially love the concept of issue #55. Just one nitpicking thing on Issue 50 what the heck has made Logan’s mask grow HUGE wings? What? Also a few panels at the reception get Greg Land-ish (he’s know for tracing photos and porn faces). Other than that it’s good solid comic art. I like that it isn’t over stylized but yet has just enough of the comic book better than real life feel – people are pretty or unique in a more striking way that real life. The drama is a bit heightened that in real life, yet very much real like Logan’s flirting with former friend with benefits now just friend Ororo. That scene plays nicely as do the anguish scenes for Karma and the action scenes for the team. I would be happy with this team for any superhero comic.
Overall this was a strong arc about a character I didn’t know but came to care about. The ability to do that in seven issues puts Astonishing X-Men firmly on my pull list for some time to come.
*** YOU KNOW WHAT IS NEXT SPOILERY SCANS DON’T LOOK ETHEL LESS YOU BE SPOILED**** (more…)
Mary Louise Eklund 