Friday, August 22, 2008
So I'm sick...
I want to sleep. This will allow me to wake up more comfortably tomorrow morning, perhaps refreshed by the blow of a chilly breeze or the dash of a fine beam of light. That will then grant me the opportunity to actually attend class with a fresh and active thought process, ready to soak in all of the review work we go over before the final exam on Saturday. Alas, it looks like I will have no such luck tonight. It seems as if I have developed an allergic cough of some kind, one that occurs more frequently when I am horizontal, such as when attempting to sleep. Thus, I bitch on my blog.
Thursday, August 14, 2008
This Side of Paradise..
It's been a while since I posted last. School and other recent activities have taken up my time, and motivation to write has settled at relatively low. However, after about a week and a half of reading (I think? Maybe less), I finally finished Fitzgerald's dazzling debut, "This Side of Paradise." Although far from his best or most complete work, the thought that this book was written by a 23 year old (which is an age I'm personally only a few months away from) utterly boggles my mind and really helps me to understand his realm of genius, and how distant and intimate that realm can be at the same time. One feels Fitzgerald has the ability to capture a sense of universality, but is also almost incapable of understanding the mechanisms at work behind his writing. For example, take this passage:
"Long after midnight the towers and spires of Princeton were visible, with here and there a late-burning light--and suddenly out of the clear darkness the sound of bells. As an endless dream it went on; the spirit of the past brooding over a new generation, the chosen youth from the muddled, unchastened world, still fed romantically on the mistakes and half-forgotten dreams of dead statesmen and poets. Here was a new generation, shouting the old cries, learning the old creeds, through a revery of long days and nights; destined finally to go out into that dirty gray turmoil to follow love and pride; a new generation dedicated more than te last to the fear of poverty and the worship of success; grown up to find all dead, all wars fought, all faiths in man shaken..."
What a remarkable passage! Granted, it might be the single best in the book, but can you honestly believe that a 23 year old wrote this? Where in his short 23 years did he gain the experience to interpret so lucidly and see so translucently the predicament of his generation, the group that later became known as the "Lost Generation." You can't teach this kind of writing; it has to be in (within?) you, which makes it clear why Fitzgerald is a true genius of the first caliber. In the passage, one may also begin to see the larvae of Gatsby; the cohesiveness of theme and narrative, the perfectly controlled pacing, the beautiful yet not overblown (as in other parts of the book) poetic language, and even the singular voice. It's all there.
There are many other beautiful passages in the book, but how is the book itself, as a whole? Honestly, it's not even close to either Gatsby or "Tender is the Night." Not even close. It's much too inconsistent and even a little (dare I say?) fake. Who is honestly convinced by the way Gatsby and Rosalind fall in love? Even Nicholas Sparks writes attraction more believable than that. Also, the pacing of the overall book is much too inconsistent; it doesn't really hook one's interest, unless one's interest is purely literary, in which case you'll almost always find some clever turn of phrase or concrete metaphor when it comes to Fitzgerald. However, I don't think that's enough to carry the book. The plot and pacing are just too inconsistent. Indeed, the inconsistencies, unfortunately, even fall on Amory himself. He often acts contrary to his nature, whatever his nature seems to be. Sure, the character himself doesn't know, but the reader is equally confused because his innate personality seems to change from place to place: sometimes he's immature and snotty, and then at other times, completely knowing and conscious of it. Annoying stuff.
Oh, and there is the other problem of Amory being a generally difficult character to like. He's completely selfish, a little vapid, and totally whiny. Sometimes I felt like telling him to just suck it up, and get over Rosalind. I mean, their love didn't even seem that strong in the first place, but I guess that could be considered Fitzgerald's fault.
Complaints aside, this is still, honestly, a very good book. It might be a juvenile one, but its still very good. Fitzgerald is such a good writer that its difficult for him to write something that's truly bad. From one perspective, "This Side of Paradise" is actually very experimentally interesting, forging a moving narrative out of bits and pieces from the timeline of Amory's life. Not only that, but the writing is almost never written in the same style either. You'll get letters, poetry, traditional narrative, extremely poetic prose, and even a short one-act play. This, in itself, is quite interesting, although, once again, more from a literary perspective than a dramatic one. Now, despite the flaws, this is a book that still needs to be read simply because it is the debut novel of, arguably, the greatest novelist of the twentieth century (though some might argue Joyce, Proust, etc.). I personally like him best among all writers because his romantic notion of life appeals greatly with my (fading?) tendencies. Just remember to not stop with this book. One has to at least read "Gatsby," which, as far as I'm concerned, might be the most perfect novel ever created, and "Tender is the Night," a spellbinding book about one of the greatest love stories in the history of literature.
"Long after midnight the towers and spires of Princeton were visible, with here and there a late-burning light--and suddenly out of the clear darkness the sound of bells. As an endless dream it went on; the spirit of the past brooding over a new generation, the chosen youth from the muddled, unchastened world, still fed romantically on the mistakes and half-forgotten dreams of dead statesmen and poets. Here was a new generation, shouting the old cries, learning the old creeds, through a revery of long days and nights; destined finally to go out into that dirty gray turmoil to follow love and pride; a new generation dedicated more than te last to the fear of poverty and the worship of success; grown up to find all dead, all wars fought, all faiths in man shaken..."
What a remarkable passage! Granted, it might be the single best in the book, but can you honestly believe that a 23 year old wrote this? Where in his short 23 years did he gain the experience to interpret so lucidly and see so translucently the predicament of his generation, the group that later became known as the "Lost Generation." You can't teach this kind of writing; it has to be in (within?) you, which makes it clear why Fitzgerald is a true genius of the first caliber. In the passage, one may also begin to see the larvae of Gatsby; the cohesiveness of theme and narrative, the perfectly controlled pacing, the beautiful yet not overblown (as in other parts of the book) poetic language, and even the singular voice. It's all there.
There are many other beautiful passages in the book, but how is the book itself, as a whole? Honestly, it's not even close to either Gatsby or "Tender is the Night." Not even close. It's much too inconsistent and even a little (dare I say?) fake. Who is honestly convinced by the way Gatsby and Rosalind fall in love? Even Nicholas Sparks writes attraction more believable than that. Also, the pacing of the overall book is much too inconsistent; it doesn't really hook one's interest, unless one's interest is purely literary, in which case you'll almost always find some clever turn of phrase or concrete metaphor when it comes to Fitzgerald. However, I don't think that's enough to carry the book. The plot and pacing are just too inconsistent. Indeed, the inconsistencies, unfortunately, even fall on Amory himself. He often acts contrary to his nature, whatever his nature seems to be. Sure, the character himself doesn't know, but the reader is equally confused because his innate personality seems to change from place to place: sometimes he's immature and snotty, and then at other times, completely knowing and conscious of it. Annoying stuff.
Oh, and there is the other problem of Amory being a generally difficult character to like. He's completely selfish, a little vapid, and totally whiny. Sometimes I felt like telling him to just suck it up, and get over Rosalind. I mean, their love didn't even seem that strong in the first place, but I guess that could be considered Fitzgerald's fault.
Complaints aside, this is still, honestly, a very good book. It might be a juvenile one, but its still very good. Fitzgerald is such a good writer that its difficult for him to write something that's truly bad. From one perspective, "This Side of Paradise" is actually very experimentally interesting, forging a moving narrative out of bits and pieces from the timeline of Amory's life. Not only that, but the writing is almost never written in the same style either. You'll get letters, poetry, traditional narrative, extremely poetic prose, and even a short one-act play. This, in itself, is quite interesting, although, once again, more from a literary perspective than a dramatic one. Now, despite the flaws, this is a book that still needs to be read simply because it is the debut novel of, arguably, the greatest novelist of the twentieth century (though some might argue Joyce, Proust, etc.). I personally like him best among all writers because his romantic notion of life appeals greatly with my (fading?) tendencies. Just remember to not stop with this book. One has to at least read "Gatsby," which, as far as I'm concerned, might be the most perfect novel ever created, and "Tender is the Night," a spellbinding book about one of the greatest love stories in the history of literature.
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Books I read in July...
Here are a few short reviews of the books I finished in the month of July. Rating is out of five stars.
Bound to Please: An Extraordinary One-Volume Education (2004) - Michael Dirda - *****
Pulltizer-Prize writer Michael Dirda is one of the greatest critics working in America, literary or otherwise. Every single week (as far as I know) he publishes a new review for the "Book World" section of the "Washington Post." If one skims through a list of the books he chooses to critique, one will notice that he maintains a great variety of subjects. Some of his best essays are collected in this book, and if you are a fan of literature, then you will find that his efforts are truly a joy to read, and are great literature themselves. Indeed, in this collection you may encounter thoughts on the writings of the famous critic Edmund Wilson, musings on Djuna Barnes' "Nightwood", and even a fascinating meditation on the problem of education in our schools. What makes Dirda stand out among most other critics is his ingratiating voice and conversational tone. He displays a tremendous learning, but never shows it off and always makes you feel like you are as smart as he is. In fact, he hates overtly academic writing. Plus, one never finds an unsupported opinion, as Dirda is a master of using the quotation to illustrate a point. Here's how he describes his own book in the intro:
""Bound to Please" intentionally resembles a cocktail party more than a work of criticism: it's meant to be entertaining, sometimes provocative, above all a way to catch up with old friends and make new ones. In these pages you'll be inroduced to lots of writesrs and books, and I hope you'll be intrigued enough by what I say to spend an evening with some of them on your own."
Gotta love this guy!
"1776" (2006) - David McCulloch - ****1/2
Great popular history writers have a unique ability of viewing history as narrative, which is honestly the way it should be viewed, and David McCulloch is one of the best at doing just that. Having one the Pullitzer for his biography on our second president, he shows that he still knows what he's doing with this account detailing the battles that occurred during our year of independence. The military is placed ahead of the political as the Declaration of Independence is mentioned almost only in passing. Though I have never been a fan of military history before, McCulloch has helped to change my view by depicting all of the key historical figures in the battles as people, and not just famous, but distant, figures. All of a sudden it was not just about the strategy used and the battles fought. What mattered was the fact that Washington had never even one a battle before he took command of the ragtag rabble of an American army, who were so unorganized, unprepared, and unmotivated that is was an absolute miracle (no other way to view it) for them to have survived that year, much less win the war. Truly a spellbinding book.
"Great British Stories" - Various - *****
This is an old anthology that doesn't even have a copyright date, so I don't know when it was first published. However, the important thing is that the stories inside are all great. Yep, each and every one. The authors range from Thomas Hardy to Roald Dahl to Saki. Every writer gets a little insightful and short bio to give the stories some added context. Although all of them were good, I would have to say that my two favorites were "Witness for the Prosecution" by Agatha Christie and "The Miracle of Purun Bhagat" by Rudyard Kipling. All good stuff, and the great thing was, they were all new to me.
"True Believer" (2007) - Nicholas Sparks - ***1/2
I read this book not thinking that I would like it. However, after finishing it, I would have to say that it actually wasn't that bad, which surprised me because I generally tend to shy away from the contrived and superficial best-selling romances that, ironically enough, Nicholas Sparks is wealthy off of. However, the story of Jeremy Marsh and his visit to the town of Boone Creek was actually stimulating escapism. He's a scientific debunker of miracles such as ghosts and psychics, so when he hears about the strange ghosts that haunt the cemetery of Boone Creek, he decides that he must give it a visit. However, along the way, he meets Lexie Marshall, the town librarian, and falls in love. The book is loaded with obstacles preventing them from getting together, ranging from other boyfriends to personal doubts of commitment. Will the cute couple end up together? Or does life end up getting in the way? Its a fun and emotional tale, and I would say worth reading.
"Superman: Secret Identity" (2005) - Kurt Busiek (writer) Stuart Immonen (artist) - ****
This is a very interesting Elseworlds tale that deals with a young man by the name of Clark Kent. However, he is not the famous Clark Kent that we all know and love; he actually exists in our world. Thus, he gets picked on and made fun of all the time because that's the kind of thing that happens to you when you share your full name with a celebrity. It doesn't help much that our boy Clark is actually a big fan of the Superman comics. However, something really interesting happens. He discovers that, ironically enough, he actually has the powers of Superman. Fascinating, huh? What would those bullies think now? You will have to read to find out. Overall, the story is very well done. Busiek does a great job of finding a voice for Clark that really carries the audience along. Plus, the art of Mr. Immonen is gorgeous; you will have to read it to see what I mean.
"Serenity: Those Left Behind" (2007) - Joss Whedon (writer) Will Conrad (artist) Laura Martin (artist) - ****1/2
This graphic novel is the prequel to the film "Serenity" and is three glorious issues of pure fun and goodness. The art is amazing, as the characters look exactly like the actors of the show, and the dialogue, of course, is brilliant. When reading the words, you can completely picture your favorite actor speaking those very lines. Although, I will have to warn that a huge part of the appeal of the book only works because you are already in love with those characters. If you read the book as a standalone, there is almost no serious character development to speak of.
"newuniversal: Everything Went White" (2008) - Warren Ellis (writer) Salvador Larroca (artist) - ***1/2
This is another one of those comic series that Warren Ellis will start and then finish in five years, assuming, of course, that he chooses to finish it at all. As is the case with most Warren Ellis books, this one contains some interesting sci-fi elements that keep the reader hooked and fascinated at the same time. The character development is relatively sparse, but the story has enough moments to be entertaining. The artwork is pretty and bright and flashy, but doesn't blow me away. However, it gets the job done. Overall, I recommend it.
"Justice League of America: The Lightning Saga" (2008) - Brad Meltzer (writer) Geoff Johns (writer) Various (artist) - ***1/2
This was a fun sequel to "The Tornado's Path", the first volume of Meltzer's run with the JLA, but it lacks that volume's humanity and pathos. Its actually interesting because it combines issues of the JLA with Geoff Johns' JSA to develop one really freaking complicated and convoluted storyline, full of obscure allusions to books that most people have not read. Overall, the payoff for the amount of work you put in isn't worth it. In fact, its kind of contrived and boring, actually. However, the reason this book gets ***1/2 stars is for the extra bonus issues. "Walls" one the Eisner for best single issue, and I thought it was quite good, though I question if it is actually Eisner material. "Monitor Duty" is fun and foreshadows the comeback of a few hall of fame Leaguers. Issue#0, however, was awesome. Meltzer has always been good at capturing the mythos of the characters he writes about, and he does it effortlessly in this issue as well. Read it to see what I mean.
"Justice Society of America: Thy Kingdom Come, Part 1" (2008) - Geoff Johns (writer) Dale Eaglesham (artist) Fernando Pasarin (artist) - ***
This was alright. It's interesting that the team has to deal with the fact that the Superman from the "Kingdom Come" universe has all of a sudden dropped into their own world, but the plotline is incomplete. Plus, there are extra issues that only deal with recruiting more teammates, as if the team isn't large enough already. Overall, though, I would still buy it if you're a fan of the JSA. Actually, to be fair, the book isn't bad for a mainstream superhero team book, but that's only because most of them suck a lot. Not all of them can be "Astonishing X-Men".
"Green Lantern: The Sinestro Corps War, Volumes 1 and 2" (2008) - Geoff Johns (writer) Dave Gibbons (writer) Peter J. Tomasi (writer) Ethan van Sciver (artist) Ivan Reis (artist) Patrick Gleason (artist) - ****
Wow! This is one insane epic. Sinestro has gone insane and created the most powerful army (possibly) in the history of the DC Universe. The main team comprises of himself, the Cyborg Superman, Amon Sur (the son of Abin Sur, who gave Hal Jordan his ring), Superboy-Prime, and the freakin' Anti-Monitor, who almost destroyed the entire DC multiverse in "Crisis on Infinite Earths." Plus, they captured Kyle Rayner and made him Parallax. Oh, and of course, there's an entire army of Yellow Lanterns ready to kill everyone. What does this mean? This means that Hal Jordan and his army of Green Lanterns need to freakin' fight back! Thus, mayhem and chaos ensue. These two books are filled with crazy moments, and the overall scale of the conflict is really quite exhausting, but in a good way. Oh, and I'm gonna give a thumbs up to the overall artwork because it was quite amazing. So much detail packed into these panels. No wonder they were nominated for an Eisner.
"Legion of Superheroes: The Great Darkness Saga" (1991) - Paul Levitz (writer) Keith Giffen (artists) Curt Swan (artist) - **
Ok, first of all, although the trade was released in '91, the original issues actually came out during the early 80's. Now, the comic itself is mostly boring. Unfortunately, the dialogue is the common stilted type that was fashionable during that era of comics. The plot is relatively boring because most of the issues involve random battles that don't mean much since you never really care for the characters. Granted, I'm not a big Legion fan, but if this is story is the best Levitz's Legion has to offer, than the characters probably weren't too well developed to start with. Even worse, most of the plot deals with the mystery villain. Who is causing all this mayhem? However, the front cover shows that it is obviously Darkseid, which ruins any element of suspense and surprise there. Plus, Keith Giffen's art is even that great. I know he improves throughout the issues and actually gets pretty good later in his years, but right now, I wasn't too impressed. However, this book is saved by a Legion Annual issue that is tacked onto the end of the book. That particular issue is drawn by the legendary Curt Swan, who is one of my favorite comic artists. That man is always quite brilliant.
"Shortcomings" (2007) - Adrian Tomine - ****1/2
This is a wonderful graphic novel, one of the best that I"ve read. It deals with a lot of issues, ranging from love to sexual and gender politics. Tomine's dialogue is very real, human, moving, and quite funny. His art is also amazing; he removes all of the clutter in the "scene" so that only what is essential remains. It's kind of how Chaplin framed his films. By the end of this book, I really cared for the characters, even Ben, who was pissing me off to no end near the beginning. In fact, he was still pissing me off near the end, but you really had to feel for the guy. Oh, just a warning, this book can get quite depressive and may even enrage you, as it did me. Either way though, it was still one of the best graphic novels that I have ever read. I definitely recommend a buy.
"Murder Mysteries" (2002) - Neil Gaiman (writer) P. Craig Russell (artist) - ****
This is an adaptation of Neil Gaiman's famous short story into the comics format, and unfortunately, I would have to say it takes a turn for the worse. More on this later. The story deals with a young man who sits down at a bench, next to a strange old man. The old man claims that he is actually the angel of death, God's vengeance manifested into blood and bone. Then, he goes into his story, which is a murder mystery. However, why does the title hint at more than one murder? You must read to find out. Now, the reason I find the comic format a little weaker for this particular book (don't get me wrong, P. Craig Russell is always absolutely breathtaking) is the fact that when I first read the short story, I really couldn't tell whether the old man was lying or not. However, because you get such a strong visual (thanks to the mind of Mr. Russell), the reader is left no doubt that the old man really is the angel. Either way, this is still an entertaining story with a slightly philosophical bent. Read now!
Well, that's it. Hopefully this is helpful and entertaining.
Bound to Please: An Extraordinary One-Volume Education (2004) - Michael Dirda - *****
Pulltizer-Prize writer Michael Dirda is one of the greatest critics working in America, literary or otherwise. Every single week (as far as I know) he publishes a new review for the "Book World" section of the "Washington Post." If one skims through a list of the books he chooses to critique, one will notice that he maintains a great variety of subjects. Some of his best essays are collected in this book, and if you are a fan of literature, then you will find that his efforts are truly a joy to read, and are great literature themselves. Indeed, in this collection you may encounter thoughts on the writings of the famous critic Edmund Wilson, musings on Djuna Barnes' "Nightwood", and even a fascinating meditation on the problem of education in our schools. What makes Dirda stand out among most other critics is his ingratiating voice and conversational tone. He displays a tremendous learning, but never shows it off and always makes you feel like you are as smart as he is. In fact, he hates overtly academic writing. Plus, one never finds an unsupported opinion, as Dirda is a master of using the quotation to illustrate a point. Here's how he describes his own book in the intro:
""Bound to Please" intentionally resembles a cocktail party more than a work of criticism: it's meant to be entertaining, sometimes provocative, above all a way to catch up with old friends and make new ones. In these pages you'll be inroduced to lots of writesrs and books, and I hope you'll be intrigued enough by what I say to spend an evening with some of them on your own."
Gotta love this guy!
"1776" (2006) - David McCulloch - ****1/2
Great popular history writers have a unique ability of viewing history as narrative, which is honestly the way it should be viewed, and David McCulloch is one of the best at doing just that. Having one the Pullitzer for his biography on our second president, he shows that he still knows what he's doing with this account detailing the battles that occurred during our year of independence. The military is placed ahead of the political as the Declaration of Independence is mentioned almost only in passing. Though I have never been a fan of military history before, McCulloch has helped to change my view by depicting all of the key historical figures in the battles as people, and not just famous, but distant, figures. All of a sudden it was not just about the strategy used and the battles fought. What mattered was the fact that Washington had never even one a battle before he took command of the ragtag rabble of an American army, who were so unorganized, unprepared, and unmotivated that is was an absolute miracle (no other way to view it) for them to have survived that year, much less win the war. Truly a spellbinding book.
"Great British Stories" - Various - *****
This is an old anthology that doesn't even have a copyright date, so I don't know when it was first published. However, the important thing is that the stories inside are all great. Yep, each and every one. The authors range from Thomas Hardy to Roald Dahl to Saki. Every writer gets a little insightful and short bio to give the stories some added context. Although all of them were good, I would have to say that my two favorites were "Witness for the Prosecution" by Agatha Christie and "The Miracle of Purun Bhagat" by Rudyard Kipling. All good stuff, and the great thing was, they were all new to me.
"True Believer" (2007) - Nicholas Sparks - ***1/2
I read this book not thinking that I would like it. However, after finishing it, I would have to say that it actually wasn't that bad, which surprised me because I generally tend to shy away from the contrived and superficial best-selling romances that, ironically enough, Nicholas Sparks is wealthy off of. However, the story of Jeremy Marsh and his visit to the town of Boone Creek was actually stimulating escapism. He's a scientific debunker of miracles such as ghosts and psychics, so when he hears about the strange ghosts that haunt the cemetery of Boone Creek, he decides that he must give it a visit. However, along the way, he meets Lexie Marshall, the town librarian, and falls in love. The book is loaded with obstacles preventing them from getting together, ranging from other boyfriends to personal doubts of commitment. Will the cute couple end up together? Or does life end up getting in the way? Its a fun and emotional tale, and I would say worth reading.
"Superman: Secret Identity" (2005) - Kurt Busiek (writer) Stuart Immonen (artist) - ****
This is a very interesting Elseworlds tale that deals with a young man by the name of Clark Kent. However, he is not the famous Clark Kent that we all know and love; he actually exists in our world. Thus, he gets picked on and made fun of all the time because that's the kind of thing that happens to you when you share your full name with a celebrity. It doesn't help much that our boy Clark is actually a big fan of the Superman comics. However, something really interesting happens. He discovers that, ironically enough, he actually has the powers of Superman. Fascinating, huh? What would those bullies think now? You will have to read to find out. Overall, the story is very well done. Busiek does a great job of finding a voice for Clark that really carries the audience along. Plus, the art of Mr. Immonen is gorgeous; you will have to read it to see what I mean.
"Serenity: Those Left Behind" (2007) - Joss Whedon (writer) Will Conrad (artist) Laura Martin (artist) - ****1/2
This graphic novel is the prequel to the film "Serenity" and is three glorious issues of pure fun and goodness. The art is amazing, as the characters look exactly like the actors of the show, and the dialogue, of course, is brilliant. When reading the words, you can completely picture your favorite actor speaking those very lines. Although, I will have to warn that a huge part of the appeal of the book only works because you are already in love with those characters. If you read the book as a standalone, there is almost no serious character development to speak of.
"newuniversal: Everything Went White" (2008) - Warren Ellis (writer) Salvador Larroca (artist) - ***1/2
This is another one of those comic series that Warren Ellis will start and then finish in five years, assuming, of course, that he chooses to finish it at all. As is the case with most Warren Ellis books, this one contains some interesting sci-fi elements that keep the reader hooked and fascinated at the same time. The character development is relatively sparse, but the story has enough moments to be entertaining. The artwork is pretty and bright and flashy, but doesn't blow me away. However, it gets the job done. Overall, I recommend it.
"Justice League of America: The Lightning Saga" (2008) - Brad Meltzer (writer) Geoff Johns (writer) Various (artist) - ***1/2
This was a fun sequel to "The Tornado's Path", the first volume of Meltzer's run with the JLA, but it lacks that volume's humanity and pathos. Its actually interesting because it combines issues of the JLA with Geoff Johns' JSA to develop one really freaking complicated and convoluted storyline, full of obscure allusions to books that most people have not read. Overall, the payoff for the amount of work you put in isn't worth it. In fact, its kind of contrived and boring, actually. However, the reason this book gets ***1/2 stars is for the extra bonus issues. "Walls" one the Eisner for best single issue, and I thought it was quite good, though I question if it is actually Eisner material. "Monitor Duty" is fun and foreshadows the comeback of a few hall of fame Leaguers. Issue#0, however, was awesome. Meltzer has always been good at capturing the mythos of the characters he writes about, and he does it effortlessly in this issue as well. Read it to see what I mean.
"Justice Society of America: Thy Kingdom Come, Part 1" (2008) - Geoff Johns (writer) Dale Eaglesham (artist) Fernando Pasarin (artist) - ***
This was alright. It's interesting that the team has to deal with the fact that the Superman from the "Kingdom Come" universe has all of a sudden dropped into their own world, but the plotline is incomplete. Plus, there are extra issues that only deal with recruiting more teammates, as if the team isn't large enough already. Overall, though, I would still buy it if you're a fan of the JSA. Actually, to be fair, the book isn't bad for a mainstream superhero team book, but that's only because most of them suck a lot. Not all of them can be "Astonishing X-Men".
"Green Lantern: The Sinestro Corps War, Volumes 1 and 2" (2008) - Geoff Johns (writer) Dave Gibbons (writer) Peter J. Tomasi (writer) Ethan van Sciver (artist) Ivan Reis (artist) Patrick Gleason (artist) - ****
Wow! This is one insane epic. Sinestro has gone insane and created the most powerful army (possibly) in the history of the DC Universe. The main team comprises of himself, the Cyborg Superman, Amon Sur (the son of Abin Sur, who gave Hal Jordan his ring), Superboy-Prime, and the freakin' Anti-Monitor, who almost destroyed the entire DC multiverse in "Crisis on Infinite Earths." Plus, they captured Kyle Rayner and made him Parallax. Oh, and of course, there's an entire army of Yellow Lanterns ready to kill everyone. What does this mean? This means that Hal Jordan and his army of Green Lanterns need to freakin' fight back! Thus, mayhem and chaos ensue. These two books are filled with crazy moments, and the overall scale of the conflict is really quite exhausting, but in a good way. Oh, and I'm gonna give a thumbs up to the overall artwork because it was quite amazing. So much detail packed into these panels. No wonder they were nominated for an Eisner.
"Legion of Superheroes: The Great Darkness Saga" (1991) - Paul Levitz (writer) Keith Giffen (artists) Curt Swan (artist) - **
Ok, first of all, although the trade was released in '91, the original issues actually came out during the early 80's. Now, the comic itself is mostly boring. Unfortunately, the dialogue is the common stilted type that was fashionable during that era of comics. The plot is relatively boring because most of the issues involve random battles that don't mean much since you never really care for the characters. Granted, I'm not a big Legion fan, but if this is story is the best Levitz's Legion has to offer, than the characters probably weren't too well developed to start with. Even worse, most of the plot deals with the mystery villain. Who is causing all this mayhem? However, the front cover shows that it is obviously Darkseid, which ruins any element of suspense and surprise there. Plus, Keith Giffen's art is even that great. I know he improves throughout the issues and actually gets pretty good later in his years, but right now, I wasn't too impressed. However, this book is saved by a Legion Annual issue that is tacked onto the end of the book. That particular issue is drawn by the legendary Curt Swan, who is one of my favorite comic artists. That man is always quite brilliant.
"Shortcomings" (2007) - Adrian Tomine - ****1/2
This is a wonderful graphic novel, one of the best that I"ve read. It deals with a lot of issues, ranging from love to sexual and gender politics. Tomine's dialogue is very real, human, moving, and quite funny. His art is also amazing; he removes all of the clutter in the "scene" so that only what is essential remains. It's kind of how Chaplin framed his films. By the end of this book, I really cared for the characters, even Ben, who was pissing me off to no end near the beginning. In fact, he was still pissing me off near the end, but you really had to feel for the guy. Oh, just a warning, this book can get quite depressive and may even enrage you, as it did me. Either way though, it was still one of the best graphic novels that I have ever read. I definitely recommend a buy.
"Murder Mysteries" (2002) - Neil Gaiman (writer) P. Craig Russell (artist) - ****
This is an adaptation of Neil Gaiman's famous short story into the comics format, and unfortunately, I would have to say it takes a turn for the worse. More on this later. The story deals with a young man who sits down at a bench, next to a strange old man. The old man claims that he is actually the angel of death, God's vengeance manifested into blood and bone. Then, he goes into his story, which is a murder mystery. However, why does the title hint at more than one murder? You must read to find out. Now, the reason I find the comic format a little weaker for this particular book (don't get me wrong, P. Craig Russell is always absolutely breathtaking) is the fact that when I first read the short story, I really couldn't tell whether the old man was lying or not. However, because you get such a strong visual (thanks to the mind of Mr. Russell), the reader is left no doubt that the old man really is the angel. Either way, this is still an entertaining story with a slightly philosophical bent. Read now!
Well, that's it. Hopefully this is helpful and entertaining.
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