Anna Mercury Warren Ellis & Facundo Percio (illust.)
This Wednesday saw the return of Warren Ellis's Anna Mercury. Mercury, like just about everything Ellis does nowadays, was put out by Avatar Comics, which means it smells awesome (something about the ink they use) and costs a buck more. Unlike his other ongoing Avatar works, Mercury is not obnoxiously didactic (Doctor Sleepless) and doesn't focus obsessively on superheros (No Hero).
In fact, aside from the unfortunate second issue, which might have been called [EXPOSITION HERE], Mercury bears little resemblance to Ellis's recent spate of over-written comics. Mercury (once again, with the exception of issue two) is subtle and well-paced. What's more, it covers a fascinating array of topics: cultural relativism, cargo cults, logical positivism, and, of course, lots of butt-kicking.
Unfortunately, from what's I've read, it's run only lasts one more issue. If this is true, Ellis will probably throw off the pacing (again) and rush through the rest of his narrative arc. And Mercury will end up like so many other of Ellis's recent works: promising and intriguing, but ultimately failed.
Warren Ellis, I believe, coined the term graphic novella. His Aetheric Mechanics seems to fit the bill. What it doesn't do is live up to its promise. Once again, Ellis has used genre-work (this time, the stories of Sherlock Holmes and a healthy dose of science fiction) to build a beautiful and rich backdrop for his narrative. Once again, Ellis has finished too soon.
The problem with Mechanics is its pacing. The first 7/8 of the novella are dedicated to exposition and introduction. The last 1/8 is a parlor scene telling the reader what just happened. If Ellis had taken a little more time--maybe a graphic novel instead of a novella--he would have a classic on his hands. Instead, we're left wondering why Ellis, who is so clearly a talented and provoking writer, feels the need to use shit pacing in almost all of his new works.
Warren Ellis & Paul Duffield (illust.)
If there's an on-going comic out by Warren Ellis that gives this blogger hope that Ellis new work might surpass his old, it's Freakangels. Sure, it's an unfortunate name, but it solves almost all of Ellis problems:
(1) It's long. The problem with Aetheric Mechanics, Black Summer (soon to be problem), and Anna Mercury is length. In each of these, Ellis ends up with too much arc left and not enough space. So the pacing gets all whacked. The format of Freakanges--an ongoing (originally) webcomic--means that Ellis has a lot more time for his narrative to develop.
(2) It's not didactic. I swear to God, I'm going to stop reading Doktor Sleepless if I have to put up with another full issue of The Doktor ranting about, well, whatever the hell it is that he rants about. That's a little harsh, I know. But, look, I read Ellis's blog. I don't need to read a comic book that distills the most annoying parts of Ellis's writing and glorifies it.
(3) It's really, really good.
You can pick up all of these comics at your local comic shop (Infinite Monkey, here in Oberlin!). And, though I'd argue its worth it to get volume one of Freakangels in print, you can read it online here.
One last thing about Freakangels: one character gets all didactic then gets the shit kicked out of him. Maybe Ellis is getting it?
C.F. Weideman -(with Anonymous) Compleat Instructions for the Fife.
I want to pull on one thing this month: The Assault on Reason. I read, of course, Al Gore's The Assault on Reason, Richard Dawkins's The God Delusion, Damian Thompson's Counterknowledge, and Sarah Vowell's The Wordy Shipmates this month, and all of them had at least a little to do with the rise of Bad Ideas to prominence in our cultural-political sphere.
You know who personified that? Sarah Motherfucking Palin. You know who won't be our vice-president anytime soon? Sarah Motherfucking Palin.
"Johnny Thunders" (2008) Illustration by Michael Newell. From Facebook. If you want to see more, friend the man.
Somehow, I've managed to get myself sick again. So, please forgive my lack of consistent posting these last few days. I also have two rather large papers on the docket: "Against Period Performance: The Need for a Postmodern Performance Practice" and "The Elites". Last night, too, was layout night at The Grape. In short, I've been busy.
Fortunately, I haven't been too busy to read. I'd like to make a couple of notes before I throw out this month's book list. (1) I've rethought my previous rule that I ought not post books I read for class. Fuck that. The books I'm reading are generally quite interesting, and have been playing an increasingly large role in my thinking on a variety of other subjects. (2) I haven't yet figured out how to put magazines--or even in I should put magazines--on this list. But, for class, I've read three issues of The New Yorker, two issues of Harper's, and one issue of The Atlantic. So there. Here's the list:
September Book List
Jason Aaron -(Guera, illust.), Scalped, issue 21.
Jorge Luis Borges -A Universal History of Iniquity, (1) "The Cruel Redeemer Lazarus Morell", (2) "The Improbable Impostor Tom Castro", (3) "The Widow Ching--Pirate", (4) Monk Eastman, Purveyor of Iniquities", (5) "The Disinterested Killer Bill Harrigan", (6) "The Uncivil Teacher of Court Etiquette Kotsuke No Duke", (7) "Hakim, the Masked Dyer of Merv".
Michael Chabon -Summerland. -Werewolves in Their Youth: (1) "Werewolves in Their Youth", (2) "House Hunting".
Warren Ellis & Mike Wolfer -(Jimenez, illust.), Gravel, issue 5.
Newt Gingrich -Rediscovering God in America.
Bruce Haynes -The End of Early Music.
Robert Hill -"Overcoming Romanticism".
David Lapham -(Lapham, illust.), Young Liars, issues 1-7.
Cy Spencer -(Gane, illust.), The Vinyl Underground, issues 1-12.
David Tischman -(Fabry, illust.), Greatest Hits, issue 1.
Brian Vaughan -(Harris, illust.), Ex Machina, issue 38.
Matt Wagner -(Hadley, illust.), Madame Xanadu, issue 4.
Joss Whedon -(Moline, illust.), Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season 8, issue 18.
Bill Willingham -(Allred, illust.), Fables, issue 76.
G. Willow Wilson -(Perker, illust.), Air, issues 1 & 2.
As you may remember, I'm very busy and more than a little sick, so I might not be posting these soon (also, The Office is on tonight, my friend John McKean is playing a harpsichord recital tonight in Fairkid Chapel, and--let's not forget--the Palin/Biden debate), but here's what's on the docket:
(1) Comic Reviews, in Brief, including, Air, Northlanders, The Alcoholic.
(2) Bailout?
(3) This one isn't on the docket so much as something you should do. There is an excellent article coming out in The Grape by opinions editor Fred Barnes on Newt Gingrich's recent speech. It's in the features section. The Grape will be out on Sunday. I strongly recommend that you pick a copy up, if only to read that article.
(4) The International Union of Copy Editors, Local 42, Oberlin, OH.
Due to my little hiatus, the following is the last two months in review. I'm just going to put the booklist up and be done with it. It's incomplete--once again--due to my little hiatus.
Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning -(coleby, illust.), The Authority: World's End, issue 1. Jason Aaron -(Furnò, illust.) Scalped, issues 19 & 20.
Jorge Luis Borges -The Aleph: (1) "The Immortal", (2) "The Dead Man", (3) "The Theologians", (4) "Story of the Warrior and the Captive Maiden", (5) “A Biography of Tadeo Isidoro Cruz (1829-1874)”, (6) “Emma Zunz”, and (7) “The House of Asterion”, (8) "The Other Death", (9) "The Writing of God", (10) "Ibn-Hakam Al-Bokhari, Murdered in His Labyrinths", (11) "The Two Kings and the Two Labyrinths".
Michael Chabon -Maps and Legends. -A Model World: (1) "S Angel", (2) "Ocean Avenue", (3) "A Model World", (4) "Blumenthal on the Air", (5) "Smoke", (6) "Millionaires", (7) "The Little Knife", (8) "More Than Human", (9) "Admirals", (10) "The Halloween Party", (11) "The Lost World". -The Mysteries of Pittsburgh.
Raymond Chandler -The Big Sleep.
Stephen Dunn -The Insistence of Beauty.
Warren Ellis -(Percio, illust.) Anna Mercury, issue 2. -(Ryp, illust.) Black Summer, issue 7. -Crooked Little Vein. -(with Wolfer) (Jimenez, illust.) Gravel, issue 3.
Drew Goddard -(Jeanty, illust.) Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 8, issues 12-15.
David Lapham -(Lapham, illust.) Young Liars, issue 5 & 6.
Mark Millar -(Jones, illust.) Wanted.
Haruki Murakami -Sputnik Sweetheart.
Si Spencer -(Gane, illust.) The Vinyl Underground, issue 1 - 12.
Brian Vaughan -(Jeanty, illust.) Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 8, issues 6-9. -(Henrichon, illust.) Pride of Baghdad. -(Alphona, illust.), Runaways, volume 1, issues 1 - 12, and volume 2, issues 1 - 30.
Matt Wagner -(Hadley, illust.) Madame Xanadu, issues 1 - 3.
Joss Whedon -(Jeanty, Richards, & Moline, illust.) Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 8, issues 1-5, 10, 11, & 16 - 17. -(Moline, illust.) Fray.
Bill Willingham -(Medina, illust.) Fables, issues 1 - 74.
Brian Wood -(Wood, illust.) Channel Zero. -(Burchielli, illust.) DMZ, issues 33. -(Gianfelice, illust.) Northlanders, issue 7 - 9. -(Kelley, illust.) The New York Four.
Due to my little hiatus, the following is the last two months in review. I'm just going to put the booklist up and be done with it. It's incomplete--once again--due to my little hiatus.
Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning -(coleby, illust.), The Authority: World's End, issue 1. Jason Aaron -(Furnò, illust.) Scalped, issues 19 & 20.
Jorge Luis Borges -The Aleph: (1) "The Immortal", (2) "The Dead Man", (3) "The Theologians", (4) "Story of the Warrior and the Captive Maiden", (5) “A Biography of Tadeo Isidoro Cruz (1829-1874)”, (6) “Emma Zunz”, and (7) “The House of Asterion”, (8) "The Other Death", (9) "The Writing of God", (10) "Ibn-Hakam Al-Bokhari, Murdered in His Labyrinths", (11) "The Two Kings and the Two Labyrinths".
Michael Chabon -Maps and Legends. -A Model World: (1) "S Angel", (2) "Ocean Avenue", (3) "A Model World", (4) "Blumenthal on the Air", (5) "Smoke", (6) "Millionaires", (7) "The Little Knife", (8) "More Than Human", (9) "Admirals", (10) "The Halloween Party", (11) "The Lost World". -The Mysteries of Pittsburgh.
Raymond Chandler -The Big Sleep.
Stephen Dunn -The Insistence of Beauty.
Warren Ellis -(Percio, illust.) Anna Mercury, issue 2. -(Ryp, illust.) Black Summer, issue 7. -Crooked Little Vein. -(with Wolfer) (Jimenez, illust.) Gravel, issue 3.
Drew Goddard -(Jeanty, illust.) Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 8, issues 12-15.
David Lapham -(Lapham, illust.) Young Liars, issue 5 & 6.
Mark Millar -(Jones, illust.) Wanted.
Haruki Murakami -Sputnik Sweetheart.
Si Spencer -(Gane, illust.) The Vinyl Underground, issue 1 - 12.
Brian Vaughan -(Jeanty, illust.) Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 8, issues 6-9. -(Henrichon, illust.) Pride of Baghdad. -(Alphona, illust.), Runaways, volume 1, issues 1 - 12, and volume 2, issues 1 - 30.
Matt Wagner -(Hadley, illust.) Madame Xanadu, issues 1 - 3.
Joss Whedon -(Jeanty, Richards, & Moline, illust.) Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 8, issues 1-5, 10, 11, & 16 - 17. -(Moline, illust.) Fray.
Bill Willingham -(Medina, illust.) Fables, issues 1 - 74.
Brian Wood -(Wood, illust.) Channel Zero. -(Burchielli, illust.) DMZ, issues 33. -(Gianfelice, illust.) Northlanders, issue 7 - 9. -(Kelley, illust.) The New York Four.
Of course, I'm behind by a couple days, but it's been busy. I thought you all might be interested in my stats for this past months, which have oscillated around 15 unique visitors a day. Pretty cool, huh? I want to quick highlight the facts that (1) I'm done with The Authority: Prime, and the only way I'll ever read a new Authority Book is if hell freezes over; (2) The Vinyl Underground isn't bad; (3) Billy Collins's early work isn't half as annoying as his late work, or, in other words, you might want to check out The Apple that Astonished Paris; and (4) Infinite Monkey (the local and excellent comic store) is on a well-earned vacation, and it's killing me.
I went and saw Iron Man, which was something of a joke. It was entertaining, but it's moralistic bullshit got a little old, considering how mind-numbingly simplistic it was. Not that there's anything wrong with simplistic morals in a dumb action movie. The problem is, Iron Man seemed to think that it's morals were fresh and new, and, frankly, I don't think it comes as much of a surprise to most of the American public that--gasp!--people who make weapons and sell them indiscriminately are assholes!
What's more, they tried to veer away from the "arab-as-the-bad-guy" stereotype by having an apolitical bad guy, whose motives and agenda was left unclear. But, whoops, they were still brown people, and, thus, got haplessly mowed down. It's like they (the creators of Iron Man) recognized that they wanted to move beyond the stereotypical action movie tropes, but they did a half-assed job so it came of as even more racist and inane than usual. Whatever. Apparently, most people liked it.
Lastly, I'm listening to Heretic Pride, the new Mountain Goats album, and it's quite good. That is all.
Photo by Tori Wenig From here, via Warren Ellis here.
Scandelous, I know. Also, I've already written this post once, but fucking Safari closed unexpectedly and I lost the post. Yes, I am pissed. So, if I seem somewhat brusque, it's because I finished this fucking post and had to re-write. Okay, without any further ado:
March Booklist -Jason Aaron (Guera, illust.), Scalped, issues one through fifteen.
-Brian Azzarello (Risso, illust.), 100 bullets, issues one through thirty.
-Mike Carey (Jock, illust.), Faker, issues one through six.
-Michael Chabon, The Final Solution: a Story of Detection.
-Billy Collins, Nine Horses.
-Dave Eggers, How We Are Hungry: "another", "what it means when a crowd in a faraway nation takes a soldier representing your own nation, shoots him, drags him from his vehicle and then mutilates him in the dust", "the only meaning of the oil-wet water", "on wanting to have three walls up before she gets home", "climbing to the window, pretending to dance", and "she waits, seething, blooming".
-David Lapham (Lapham, illust.), Young Liars, issue one.
-Grant Morrison (various, illust.), Doom Patrol, issues thirty-six through forty-five.
-Haruki Murakami, After the Quake.
-Annie Prroulx, Bad Dirt: "The Hellhole".
-Salman Rushdie, Haroun and the Sea of Stories.
-Brian Vaughan (Guerra, illust.), Y: the Last Man, issues fifty-five through sixty. -Brian Vaughan (Harris, illust.), Ex Machina, issues one through ten.
-Brian Wood, (Burchielli, illust.), DMZ, issue twenty-nine. -Brian Wood, (Gianfelice, illust.), Northlanders, issue four. -Brian Wood, (Kelly, illust.), Local, issues one, two, four, and six through ten.
There are a few things I'd like to highlight from this list.
First, I've been thinking about Carey's Fakersome more. It isn't just the pacing of the first few issues that bothered me, it was the early dialouge. It often felt contrived. Here's an example:
Marky: "You're a sight for sore eyeballs, Sackie!" Sackie: "Great. Likewise. And speaking of balls, can we please get inside before mine freeze off?"
Unless I've been saying that idiom wrong my whole life--"you're a sight for sore eyes"--this really is as forced as I think it is. But I hold that "I’d hold the last pages of Faker on the level of comics’ canonic works--The Invisables, Transmet, Watchmen." Carey makes good in the back three issues. I swear.
I've started reading Murikami's Kafka on the Shore, and, once again, I'm struck by just how good he is. I'd really recommend checking the man out. If you need something short, get one of his collections, The Elephant Vanishes or After the Quake. If you want something more substantial, try The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle. Props to Nora for getting me hooked.
I'd also like to highlight Vaughan's Y: The Last Man. I'm with my friend and writer Marc, who thinks its ending is one of the best in any media--inasmuch as its happy without being ex machina (ha ha). Thematically, it isn't that dense, but there's something, I don't know, mesmerizing about it. I'm going to try to re-read in total this month, and give myself a little more time with it. On the subject of Y. It seems that there with be a movie version directed by D.J. Caruso (Disturbia) and starring Shia LaBeouf (Disturbia, Transformers, and Indiana Jones 4). I'm going to suspend judgement. But, please God, let this be good; we really don't need any more bad comics remakes (think: Daredevil). Vaughan is also writing a screenplay adaptation of his Ex Machina. He jokes: "I'm a big sellout now." Ha ha. Just don't fuck these movies up and all is forgiven.
Next up, politics. A couple of sites I've stumbled on in the last month deserve mentioning. First there's The G Spot. She's smart and funny to boot (and, yes, I found her from digby's Hullabaloo, another great site). Here's one of the many gems you can find over there, writing about the problems of using GDP as a measure of economic health:
It's kind of like the joke where you and your friend are the only people sitting at a bar. Then Bill Gates walks in, and your friend states (correctly) that "The average person in this bar is a billionaire!"
If you're in the mood for bile and Democratic idiocy, check out Hillary is 44. This, my reader(s), is what happens when people continue to use an empirically unfit narrative. If you think that Obama is a racist and angry black militant manchurian candidate, then this site is the one for you.
While on the subject of stupid narratives, I just never get tired of the old "Democrats are effeminate" meme. Here's a cute clip from Scarborough, and its worth watching--even just the first couple minutes.
For those of you who are to lazy or at work, here's the transcript, via Hullabaloo, here
SCARBOROUGH: You know, Willie, the thing is, Americans want their president, if it's a man, to be a real man. They -- 1984, I remember Ronald Reagan goes to South Boston. He holds up that beer mug --
BRZEZINSKI: Yeah.
SCARBOROUGH: -- in that South Boston pub, and everybody's like, "He's a real man," and I guess Barack Obama's trying to do the same thing, too.
BRZEZINSKI: Stop it. Oh, come on.
SCARBOROUGH: Awful. Good Lord.
GEIST: He's going to have to try a little harder than he did in Altoona, Pennsylvania, on Saturday night --
SCARBOROUGH: Oh my God --
BRZEZINSKI: Really?
SCARBOROUGH: Oh, this is awful.
GEIST: -- at the Pleasant Valley Rec Center. He went bowling, and let's just take a quick look at it here. I guess I'll just give you the final numbers. Started out nicely, got the Velcro shoes.
BRZEZINSKI: Looking good, looking good.
GEIST: But then he started bowling. The score you're really after in bowling is 300; that's a perfect score.
BRZEZINSKI: Oh, OK.
SCARBOROUGH: That's perfect score.
BRZEZINSKI: Good, good, good.
SCARBOROUGH: But, you know, if you get 200, you're a good bowler.
GEIST: Sure. You know what?
BRZEZINSKI: Yeah. Two-fifty --
SCARBOROUGH: You get 150, you're a man --
BRZEZINSKI: OK.
SCARBOROUGH: -- or a good woman.
BRZEZINSKI: Stop it.
GEIST: Out of my president, I want a 150, at least. Barack Obama bowled -- well, you can see his form here --
[video clip of Obama bowling]
SCARBOROUGH: Hee!
BRZEZINSKI: Yeah.
GEIST: A 37.
BRZEZINSKI: Oh.
GEIST: That's a three, next to a seven.
SCARBOROUGH: Baby, if you go to Altoona, Pennsylvania, on a Saturday night and you're going to try to bowl --
[video clip of Obama bowling]
SCARBOROUGH: Oh, that's so dainty. Ugh.
I love the serious, hard-hitting political reporting we get from our mainstream media. And if that wasn't enough, here's Chris Matthews adding a racial je ne sais quoi to the mix:
MATTHEWS: You know, Michelle -- and this gets very ethnic, but the fact that he's good at basketball doesn't surprise anybody, but the fact that he's that terrible at bowling does make you wonder --
FINEMAN: That doesn't surprise anybody either.
BERNARD: Well, it certainly doesn't surprise anybody black, I can tell you that.
MATTHEWS: Is black a bowling --
It's gonna be a long primary season.
Lastly, I know this says something about my generation; also, it's funny--from here via The Lede:
t seemed like an honorable goal: Draft an honor code for University of Texas at San Antonio students to follow, exhorting them not to cheat or plagiarize.
But when students threw a draft of the new honor code onto the Internet for feedback, some noticed a problem: Parts of the code appeared to have been lifted word for word from another school’s honor code, without attribution. Even the definition of plagiarism was, well, plagiarized.
The inspiration for DMZ’s “Friendly Fire” came partly from the Haditha killings, where Marines shot up a few houses filled with Iraqi families back in 2005 (it was also partly inspired by a 60 Minutes interview with some of the soldiers involved (Sgt. Frank Wuterich) and the disgusting way Scott Pelley conducted both the interview and himself).
Were DMZ done poorly, it wouldn't matter, but, the fact remains that DMZ is probably the most politically relevant comic I've ever read, and certainly one of the most politically relevant pieces of fiction around today. I'm not going to stop plugging this thing. It's that good.
As you might guess, I've been watching a lot of Veronica Mars recently. I've also left Saint Paul to, once again, attend Oberlin College. It feels good to prepare to do some more serious work, but I do want to say a few words about this month's reading list before I am enshrined in my ivory tower.
-Warren Ellis (Cassaday, illust.), Planetary, issues one through eighteen, twenty through twenty-one, and twenty-four through twenty-six.
-Warren Ellis (Immonen, illust.), Nextwave: Agents of H.A.T.E., issues one through twelve.
-Warren Ellis (Larroca, illust.), Newuniversal, issues one through six.
-Warren Ellis (Robertson, illust.), Transmetropolitan, issues one through sixty.
-Warren Ellis (various illust.), Global Frequency, issues one through twelve.
-Grant Morrison (various illust.), The Invisibles, volume one: issues one through twenty-five and volume two: issues one through twenty-two.
-Grant Morrison (Weston, illust.), The Filth, issues one through thirteen.
-Grant Morrison (various illust.), Doom Patrol, issues nineteen through twenty-two.
-Haruki Murakami, After Dark.
-Brian Wood (burchielli, illust.), DMZ, issues one through twenty-seven.
-Brian Wood (Gianfelice, illust.), Northlander, issues one and two.
-Brian Wood (Kelly, illust.), Local, issues one, two, and four.
I've already written about a number of these comics (look around here), but I want to talk a little more broadly about some of the more common themes that seem to run through them. Ellis and Morrison's work, even the more straightforward of it--like Ellis's Fell or Global Frequency is riddled with plots plucked from the latest fad pseudo-science, it's as if that SciFi genre work element never left. The amazing thing is that despite these very genre-specific plotlines, the literary range and virtuosity displayed by Ellis and Morrison is on par the best novelists of the day.
Ellis's work seems less serious on the surface, but he's able to transition seamlessly between comic-world-in-joke farces like Nextwave, serious social commentary like Global Frequency or Transmet, and very much SciFi standard fare like Planetary.
Morrison's stuff is almost too dense to understand at first pass; I'm pretty sure I'll finish--and understand--The Invisibles at roughly the same time I get Gravity's Rainbow. Morrison's work in Doom Patrol, while complicated and difficult, is also able to be read on so many levels. Most accessably, it's a turnabout of the classic superhero archetype. There are no happy, ripped Supermen here, just the crazy, miserable, and disconnected. Instead of idealizing his characters, I find myself identifying with them. Furthermore the primary plot in Doom Patrol's first trade is a fictional world encroaching on the real world. This is the kind of theme I'd expect in Berthelme or McSweeney's, not a superhero book.
My point with all of this is to highlight the versatility of the genre, to defend my choice to read only one actual novel this month (It wasAfter Dark, by the by, and it was excellent, a bite size Murikami masterpiece or some such rot... just read it).
I'd like to close by strongly recommending two of these books in particular: Brian Wood's DMZ and Warren Ellis's Transmetropolitan. Relevent, smart, dark, and funny, they capture perfectly the plight of writing--and journalistic writing in particular--in today's world. Up against corporate shortsightedness and greed, government incompetence and graft, and our own apathy, ignorance, these comics are both an elegy and a rallying cry.
Damn, the cadence in the last sentence there, I could write for The West Wing. Too much? Ah. Fuck it.
Yes, I am still alive. I'm in a new apartment and quitting my job next week. I'm leaving for Montreal in a couple weeks. I'm playing a recital on Friday. I've been trying to learn some balance in my life (with some success...). Old friends have left town or come into town. It's been a busy, busy week, which is why I didn't post. Sorry.
Now, a quick check in on the books completed book list.
Warren Ellis, aut. and Ben Templesmith illust., Fell, issues one through eight (comic, up-to-date)
Warren Ellis, aut. and J.H. Williams III, illust., Desolation Jones, issues one through six (comic, up-to-date)
Robert Hass, Praise (poetry)
Shamus Heaney, trans. (Sophocles' Ajax) The Burial at Thebes
Courtney Queeney, Filibuster to Delay a Kiss (poetry)
Now for books left incomplete.
Billy Collins, The Trouble With Poetry (poetry)
Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Chronicle of a Death Foretold
Haruki Murikami, The Elephant Vanishes (short stories)
Thomas Pynchon, Gravity's Rainbow
The only one I'm a little pissed about is the Marquez, because I lost the friggin' book. But, alas, whatever. I do plan on getting back into The Pynchon Project, and the Collins, as annoying as it can be, does have moments of brilliance. Furthermore, the Murikami, is of course, amazing, and I want to finish that up before I get to work on Norwegian Wood, the book of his I just got.
Blogroll change: It Has Happened Before is no longer. But, wait! It is now White-Bread. Woot.
Bookroll change: Added and completed the first arc (issues one - six) of Desolation Jones also by Warren Ellis, with J.H. Williams III illustrating. Once again, full of anti-heroes and perverse sexual sub-plots. Or, in the case of Desolation Jones, main plots, as it follows Jones--the main character--as he tracks down a stolen reel of porn, handmade by Adolf Hitler. And, yes, that is as ridiculous as it sounds. Awesome, too. Review forthcoming(?)
Finally, yes, I have an apartment. And, yes, I do go on vacation tomorrow. But fear not my loyal reader(s), I will post nevertheless.
I just finished getting up-to-date with Fell, a comic written by Warren Ellis and Illustrated by Ben Templesmith.
It is works like this that make me want to read comics. I was turned onto Ellis by my friend Marc (of This Blog Is Of No Intrest To You). I started reading Transmetropolitian (also by Ellis) years ago and hated it. I'm not sure if it was my irrational hatred of comics or that Transmet actually sucked, but it took reading Watchmen and shitting myself to start reading again.
Fell follows a detective (named, if you can believe it, Detective Fell) in fictional Snowtown--a gritty, hell-hole of a city with "three and-a-half" detectives (one has no legs). Detective Fell is a Vincent D'Onofrio-in-Law and Order CI-type character--ridiculously smart but troubled--without being half as annoying. The cast is full of typical Ellis sexual deviants, misanthropes, and anti-heroes. And of course, there are Ben Templesmith's illustrations to reckon with, which are breathtaking and anything but typical. His ingenious use of color is hauntingly beautiful, and the bleeding, hazy look enhances Ellis's sense of the surreality of Snowtown. Finally, the full page layout gives the feeling that the illustrations are done with a page, rather than a panel, unit. The effect is that each spread is greater than the sum of its parts, clearly crafted to instill a sense of wholeness and interconnectedness perfect from Fell.
Marc, I'm sure, will rip me a new one for something in the review, so have at it, buddy. I'm not sure I'm cut out to review comics, but you can't say I've changed since the time of reading only Manga and calling comics a post-modern masturbatory session for smelly thirty-somethings and little boys.
I strongly recommend grabbing this one. I think the trade is out, and it's called Feral City or something.
Also, you can read the first issue for free, here. Enjoy.
I got yet another book of poetry, this one, called Filibuster to Delay a Kiss by Courtney Queeney is amazing!
It's very female perspective, but it has the conversational style of Kooser and Collins, mixed with McSweeney's crowd themes and a definate anger. Review later when I have my internet again.
I seem to have lost Chronicle of a Death Foretold. That really, really, sucks. I was just getting into it, and I'm too broke to buy another copy, and I won't be able to for quite some time, as this entire paycheck will be dedicated to first month and deposit on my new pad (what, what).
So, shit.
Next up, why is Billy Collins so annoying. Look, I like his poetry fine. It's good, incredibly well crafted; he's the master of the simple, everyday poem. I get it, I really, really do. But why does he have to be so obnoxiously happy? From "Statues in the Park" in The Trouble With Poetry.
down on my knees, eyes lifted praying to the passing clouds, forever begging for just one more day.
Come on.
The context is that he's comparing a possible statue of himself to those of suicides, accident victims, the murdered, and the drowned.
Come on.
I should, in the interest of showing I don't just hate the optimistic little bastard, write about the moments in his poetry of brilliance, when his writing crosses the line from gimmicky to greatness, and so on and so forth. Look! I just did! Now, if that wasn't Collins-esque, I don't know what is.
Courtesy of Birchbark Books in Minneapolis (conveniently located on 2115 West 21st Street in Minneapolis), I have bought
-100 Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez (already read, but I'm looking for the re-read) -The Trouble With Poetry - Billy Collins (not a huge Collins fan, and, like most poetry, this will be put on a shelf and brought down only to read a couple poems at a time) -The Burial at Thebes - Seamus Heaney (a version of Sophocles' Antigone. I figured I loved Ajax so much, so I'd try some more Sophocles. I don't, however, know how to pronounce Antigone. Is it Antigone or Antigone. Whatever.)
You may have noticed the recent addition of a text box to your right. It reads "August Book List."
As I am not in school, I have much more free time than I normally do. I've decided to take those books of my shelf that I've always told myself I would read but now are used only as conversation starters and actually read them.
"Why are you inflicting this upon me?" You may be asking. When (if) I finish each book, I'll write up a little review, and, ideally, prove useful to you, my not-so-captive, terribly small audience in which books you might pick up and read.
