|
|
BOOKS |
The Blonde, by Duane Swierczynski
I debate with people about the potentiality of given plots on the
constant in the Superman universe. If there’s one constant, it’s my
phrase: “I’ll buy anything, so long as it’s in a logical framework.”
And it’s the truth, really. I mean, how absurd can a concept be? A
flying man who shoots fire from his eyes? AOK. A saber made of light
that ends after 42 inches? Okay.
The Blonde, because it is a NOVEL, will be criticized because it’s
premise is a difficult one to swallow on the outset. To people who say
that, I say, BAH.
From the opening scene, where a guy finds his drink poisoned by a hot
gal with a secret, to the ending, where a seemingly smale-scale concept
goes worldwide and reverses itself, we have an AWESOME, well constructed
plot here.The peril is very real, strong, and constant. The chapters
are short, succinct, to the point, and annoyingly, they’re all so good
you can’t stop, even if you’re tired. The Blonde kept me up all night.
And I am officially thankful, Duane, to be able to use that phrase in a
review.
If there is one error it is a lack of depth of character, but then,
that’s debatable, because I like CHARACTER-CHARACTER stuff, stuff where
the character is so thick, you have to cut it with the plot. All sugar,
no coffee, in other words. It’s got more than enough character for your
average book, come to think of it. I think the problem is that I liked
the characters enough to want to know more, which is a sign of a good read.
The raw, brutal subject matter is executed without shame, and the
technical and personal work here is great. Science of execution, ways of
getting out of situations, awesome gadgets. A damned good read. |
Six Bad Things, by Charlie Huston
As those of you who read this column know, I’m a very big Huston fan,
beginning to sound like a broken record here. Now it’s gotten to the
point where I spend money I don’t have so I can read everything he’s
done. This book, Six Bad Things, was the start of that for the last few.
It completes the Hank Thompson Trilogy for me, given that I bought part
three when two wasn’t in stock, I was so eager to hear more stories.
The first is a self-contained story of desperation. The third is a
tragic, old-man style finale of our weary traveler.
This is the book
that sets up the third book and tells how he went from the Fletch finale
of total victory to being a schmuck set in a concrete of ass again.
It’s a tale of betrayal from people who you trust, a tale of what you’ll
do to see and save your parents, but mostly it’s a very meticulously
constructed tale of a guy who just can’t seem to catch a break, a very
identifiable guy, and the horrors he has to see on a regular basis to
protect others.
I can’t recommend the trilogy higher, and I hope they collect it at some
point for one long, great second read.
BUY THIS. |
|
|
|
Already Dead, No Dominion, and Half the Blood of Brooklyn, by Charlie
Huston
When my editor for a comic I am writing said, “Please, for the love of
god, no vampires or zombies.” I knew why. Zombie, vampire, and werewolf
stereotypes are just all-pervasive, and generally, all crap, with rare
exception (The Walking Dead, notably).But behold the man, Huston. It continues to show me that it’s not the
concept, it’s the writer writing it.
This is a story about Vampire mafia types in New York, and the crazy,
odd gangs they divide themselves into, and the consequences it has for people
who are infected with vampire blood. They have
hippies, stockbrokers, straight Mafioso, drug
dealers, and even... yes... carnies and Jews.
And none of them come across as hokey. The first
book covers what happens when a Vampire chasing
a story (the sympathetic, awesome main character
Joe Pitt) encounters a lack of blood for a long
time. |
The second covers what happens when he has to travel
outside of his safe area, encounters a series of drug-induced horrors,
and is forced into servitude with one of the mobs. The third is a story
of how he deals with his girlfriend, who is HIV positive, knowing that
his blood may heal her, may kill her, or maybe, just maybe, that it’s
not his to decide.
All three explore the morality and dark side of the potentiality of
vampirism, making them less a piece of tittilation (he even pokes fun at
“counts”) and more a social examination disguised as a piece of
brilliant characterization.
I had a BLAST reading all three of these, and came away from them a
better man, more assured of Huston’s place in my personal pantheon of
writers.
BUY THESE. The only thing that sucks about them are the awful, cornball
covers.
|
Stephen King’s It
I’m, as some of you may know, writing a thousand page novel. Slowly, but
surely, it’s my epic. In order to do that, I’ve been reading long books,
or books that are considered epic, to get a feel of what it entails,
given that there’s no real manual to the idea. I read The Stand again, I
read The Naked and the Dead, I read Atlas Shrugged.
Now I’ve read It again.
It has a very special place in my life. When I was very young, I took
the first money I earned, and made the novel the first book I ever
bought on my own without help from the parents or, more typically, the
library.
I read the book at approximately the same age of all of the
protagonists, IE, eleven or twelve. It was crazy, because I fell in love
with the little girl, and the sex scene at the end (really an odd one,
trust me) was particularly awesome at that age.
Now, having aged, it’s a completely different, completely odd
experience. I’m not sure if I like it as much as I did then. I know it’s
not as effective to me now that I’ve read so much more, but that’s not
to diminish it as an experience. It, as a massive book, is still a great
accomplishment.
Particularly I was taken by the way that Bill, the main character, has
to deal with college. I remember most of the scenes very vividly in my
head, as they were enmeshed there in my youth, but one I had mostly
forgotten was the scene about writing when he’s in college, a scene that
very oddly parallels my own life. His professor gives him a stack of
shit because of the fact that he’s not writing hip, literature style
work. |
|
He gets the old
boot, and then sells the story that they were
criticizing, because it was a good story. It
confronts a lot of what made college suck for me,
and it’s a very strong scene, if an argument for
being entertained over informed. The book, however,
looking at it from the presence of mind noveling has
given me, needs a little choppy chop. He uses a much
more formulaic approach than he did in The Stand. In
The Stand, events are so many and multitudinous in
nature that all of the characters are caught in a
maelstrom. Here, there is one repeated thing
happening again and again. Child sees It, flees.
Next child sees It, flees. All through the
characters. Then adult version sees It, flees. Next
adult sees It, flees. Etc. If you don’t mind the
extra emphasis on the main points as defrayed by the
creativity, that won’t bug you. I didn’t the first
time. Now, looking at it analytically, it bothers me
a bit. Do I regret reading it again? Hell no. And if
you haven’t, should you?
Hell yes. My tattered old copy has served me well for sixteen years now.
|
|
|
A Gin-Pissing-Raw-Meat-Dual-Carburetor-V8-Son-Of-A-Bitch from Los
Angeles: Collected Poems, 1983-2002 (Hardcover) by Dan Fante
As the title would indicate, this book annihilates you. Dan Fante is one
of my newer discoveries of late, and I worried that his poetry would
suck, because honestly, most poetry does suck. It’s full of itself,
awful, rotten. Fante is anti-venom. He makes you realize, no, poetry is
not dead, it’s just practiced currently by a bunch of rotten,
self-important finks with little conception of a point or moving people.
Stories of alcoholism, loss, women, self-destruction, the plodding
awfulness of work. Traditionally Bukowksi, here reinvented and continued
in an awesome tradition, with some great art. The price break is a bit
high, but this is one of the few artists I could give a god damn about
price breaks with.
Incredibly good. BUY THIS. |
Short Dog, by Dan Fante
It’s killing me that I’m almost out of Fante to read. Short Dog, his
collection of short stories, continues the radness that he’s gone
longform with in the novels. He’s got a very good, very tight style.
It’s similar to Bukowski’s and his father’s, but I would argue that he’s
actually a more concise storyteller in the short story respect than his
father, and rivals Bukowksi.I say that having read every Bukowski short
story and being beholden and beloved to them all.
There’s less humor than Bukowski had, but then, there’s less humor to
Fante’s life. He’s a strong, serious, incredible author, and you all had
better listen up, unless you want to miss some of what’s really going
on. BUY THIS. |
|
|
|
COMICS: |
Ultimate Daredevil & Elektra, by Greg Rucka and Salvador Larroca
I’ve been meaning to read this for some time, but I hadn’t had the
chance yet, mostly because it’s hard to find. Then, lo and behold, in
San Diego, a whole WALL of ‘em. I bought one at half price and read it
that night in one sitting.
A revenge tale with responsibility attached, this rocks the story of
Elektra into the Ultimate universe. Unlike the Wolverine/Elektra story
set in the main universe Rucka wrote as a prose story which I’m in the
middle of now, this book shows a younger, more idealistic Elektra as she
comes to terms with who and what she is, and tells a tale of her college
days, a kind of updated version of what Miller did, only more expansive.
This feels like the beginning of a longer story cut off in its prime. At
the end, you want to know more about Elektra, and that’s more than you
could want.
It’s primarily an Elektra story guest starring Matt, and I love that,
given that Elektra, to me, is a much more fun and complex character than
Daredevil, who I’m not a huge fan of, despite having seen him done well
by Bendis for a few trades.
Well worth buying.
|
The Ultimates, Volume 1 and 2, by Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch
This is what I sold my comics for, or at least, some of them. I wanted
to have hardcover
versions of The Ultimates.
A post-modern masterpiece of cynicism, but still, an incredible read,
this tells the story of a somewhat darker, modern version of the
quintessential heroes of the Marvel universe, with villains that echo
the terrorism we face as a nation, and a Captain America with more
realistic characterization than I’ve ever seen.
From the handling of the Hulk to the way that in the end, victory is
snatched from the jaws of what appears to be very crushing defeat, this
is enduringly entertaining, front to back.
I still
don’t think this is the guy to do Superman though… haw. |
|
|
|
100 Bullets: First Shot, Last Call, by Brian Azzarello
I have to admit, I’ve despised Azzarello for some time now. I know why.
He did a Superman run that I didn’t like. At all. It was agonizing. I
prayed for it to end.
I have figured out why I did, and now I don’t despise Azzarello. He did
what anyone would do, given the shot. He gave his interpretation of
Superman. Who wouldn’t?
So I gave 100 Bullets a shot. I’ve been meaning to for some time,
actually, but the San Diego Comic-Con gave me that shot I needed.
I
found two trades for fifteen bucks, bought them, and ended up reading
the first one in one sitting. I anticipate reading the entire series now
and catching up.
A hard-boiled story of revenge and, more importantly, revenge choices,
in a repeating thematic, so far this is an awesome, very real story. The
characters all pop, the motivations are hard and tight... this is just
great. I have underestimated the man, and for that I apologize. I was
just looking in the wrong direction.
Don’t listen to Keanu Reeves sing. Watch The Matrix. Get me? |
|
|
|
Scott Pilgrim, Volume 4:
Scott Pilgrim Gets it Together, by Bryan Lee
O’Malley: Despite
my disappointment with the last volume, this
edition really knocks it back out. Putting
the meta back more into focus, Scott gets a
job, learns about love, and continues to
kick ass. A very surreal, very fun read. I’m
eager for the next. As for Elk’s Run, by Joshua Hale Fialkov, Noel Tuazon, and Scott A. Keating: Awesome. A fine example of a plot type that I myself have utilized. The
story of people trapped in a situation they cannot escape, but must,
with post-modern commentary on the state of the family, the nation, and
the world around us as the wilderness.
I don’t want to spoil it, but this is basically the story of a small
town which has decided to exclude the outside world at the hands of one
brutal father figure, a veteran who induces a cult-like state of worship
of what America means to a small, well-meaning group of people... and
the death that follows.
VERY awesome, and worth a read.
Penny Arcade, Volume 5, Curse of the Mummy’s Gold, by Jerry Holkins
and Mike Krahulik: Penny Arcade continues for me, in the only way I’d read it until
recently, the trade. This apparently puts me in the very small minority,
but still, it’s a blast. Hardcore commentary for gaming types, a WoW
addiction I’m quite familiar with, and great commentary. Not much to say
about plot depth, obviously, but a very fun, strong read.
BODY COUNT: 8 books, 7 trades |
|
