General thoughts on Spring

         Been a rough few weeks in my household, but today seems quiet for once. Still, I've noticed a few seasonal trends as I shift into Springtime. My brain returns to Anime as Con season starts to heat up particularly since this time say 5 years ago when I live in Michigan, my wife and I would be prepping for Anime Central in Chicago. Found myself when my wife was home sick, working on one of my Gundam models instead of just letting my brain ooze out watching DS9 or Friday Night Lights on Netflix.  We weren't able to hit Sakura con up in Seattle, but we enjoyed it when we were there a couple years back.
         I ,also, find myself weighing whether or not to keep collect my single issue comics. I've been buying issues since I moved to Portland as a way to keep up with the industry, but I may go cold turkey like I did in college back in Michigan. I stopped buying comics for about 7 years and then when I made a comic of my own with Mr. Jacot and his crew, I picked them up again to see what others are doing. Looking at writing and presentation. Lately, I've been feeling burned out, and then I pick up my books at Floating Worlds. As I'm reading the ideas being portrayed in the Transformers books finally moving these characters beyond the war I grew up with as an 8 year old in the 80's, the Saga books by B. Vaughn and his sci-fi story free from capes and cowls, and wandering around the Fatale story by Brubaker, it energizes me for a bit. Still looking at the long boxes my wife and I have of our combined collections from 20 years ago, it is a bit daunting.
           Baseball season is in full swing and my Tigers are in the mix, still a ton of games to go, but there is a buzz there I haven't seen since the 2007 year when they were trying to get back to the World Series. Should be a fun marathon at the end of it all.
      That's all for now.


     

Before the Dawn

Greetings,
     Awake in predawn hours, been a busier first two months in 2012 than expected. There is early buzz that Snarky's first full issue may finally see completion this year, so that is positive news on that front. Recently, narrowed down my monthly comics down to 10 titles. Batman books are the still largest chunk (with 3), and so far winning this months round was Batgirl #6. The issue ends with the title for issue 7, which my brain hopes is a hint that the Joker is coming to Batgirl's world. We shall see. Brubaker's Gotham Central Volume 3 is sitting on my shelf to read, and then the Frank Reade book shall follow.
         Beyond the illustrated page, I'm trying to contain my unhealthy excitement for Mass Effect 3, but I like to believe it is because my copy has already been paid for, just awaiting pick up on release day. I've been reading Doyle's A Study in Scarlet during quiet moment at home since the book is too oversized to carry abut town.
          In sports, I'm enjoying the Jeremy Lin event in the NBA, nice to see and read about a hardworking kid, taking the reigns when he got his shot. Eager for the start to the MLB season and watching some Tigers games through online MLB TV package.
             I had other thoughts as this started, but it got interrupted by a Jeremy Scahill story on Democracy Now.  Check out the Thursday show from Feb 16th, 2012.

     Have a good one.

   

Merry Christmas all

Greetings insomniacs!
   It's Christmas Day in Portland, Oregon! Have a good one!

Two months of musings and eye surgery #2 shall be shared another time.

Enjoy!

The New 52, month number 2.

And Break!

     October draws to a close and I've received a second round of comics related to the new 52. I'm going to briefly touch a couple highlights and a casualty of war.

    Wonder Woman, Justice League Dark, and Birds of Prey all have kept my interest and feel the most refreshing of the new titles.  The writing has been solid and I'm looking forward to each new issue. These are probably the best books I have been buying.

     The Bat books feel familiar, yet it is fun to see the changes. Three titles stand out for me , thus far. They are listed in order of interest: Batgirl , Batwoman , and Batman. Nightwing is hanging on by a thread, and I'll decide it's fate after issue 4 wraps up this arc. I'm not sure how this portrayal of Dick Grayson compares with what he grew up to become in the old DCU. Detective Comics fell victim to the ax as I walked away from Issue 2 feeling it was going for gore over substance, and didn't fit what Detective Comics was in my mind.

.   Lastly, comes Animal Man and Swamp Thing, books that my wife requested since she has many of their original run under Vertigo from back in the 90's. Both characters are fairly new to me, so I've enjoyed learning about these characters.

     On the whole, I think with some titles the new DCU is still trying to get it's sea legs. Controversy over the cheesecake factor and sexual situations in Catwoman and Red Hood and the Outlaws isn't unexpected with how DC's marketing tried to make this feel like this supposed to be a step away from what came before. I believe what the relaunch is trying to do is to infuse a taste of Cable TV into comics with a bit more skin, more gore, and characters in adults situations.

   Since Cable TV is already part of the adult culture it won't feel like such a stretch, but more importantly this is a part of the American culture  that younger readers have grown up seeing on TV and online at a far younger age than their parents. The end result is trying to make superhero and non superhero comics stop feeling like a "kid" thing. I left most of my comics buying behind when I was in college because of that "kid" concept,  and only returned in my 30's when I started working with people on writing projects in the field to study how they're telling stories visually and with the written word, compared to my literature focus in college.

     That's all for now, hope to have more musings another time.

And fall is here...

As the clouds and rain signal the return of fall to Portland, I shall take a moment to remember the summer that wasn't. 1..2..and we're done. Blog posting remains a impulsive event, which i realize now is as it should be , since I've had other things to occupy my mind.

    Finally picked up the last round of the new DCU comics from September. Hoping to put a top 3 from that bunch up n the blog for the fun of it..Later all.

Sweet, sweet insomnia and comics

Greetings huddled masses,
       Another night of interrupted sleep and so in honor, of the event. I decided to give some brief thoughts of some comics I recently procured. Small disclaimer, I'm a bigger buyer of DC/Vertigo titles than Marvel, so you'll see more titles from them than the other. Nothing personal, just when I started reading comics roughly 20 years ago, i picked up Batman: Shadow of the Bat #1 and was hooked.
        Buckle up, this will be as spoiler free as possible.

All DC books take place as of the September relaunch of DC, when everything is starting at #1.

Justice League #1 - I'm not a Justice League follower, never bought the old comics. I knew who they were, but my JL was probably still stuck in the Superfriends cartoon I grew up watching as a kid. Still, for a jump on issue for the entire relaunch, it had some nice moments. Green Lantern was cock sure, and Batman was only mildly paranoid  Seeing these first time encounters should be interesting, enough to make me buy issue 2. Artwork overwhelmed at times, but manageable.

Action Comics #1 - Bought this after hearing how good it was on podcasts and comic sites. I enjoyed the artwork, I found myself wrestling with Morrison's story in parts, since I tend to have points in most of his books where I hate part of it and like the other half. The 2nd half of the tale was more interesting to me, than the first half where I felt Superman resembled Batman more in his approach to criminals, and we already have a Batman. If you hated untouchable Superman, it's fun to see him a bit more vulnerable again.

Detective Comics #1 - So far, the darkest of the new titles. Not unexpected for a Batman book, but you could almost slap a Vertigo brand on this title and it might fit. Fanboy gripe, they draw Batman with stubby bat ears, reminds me of Frank Miller's Batman. Aesthetically, I'm partial to the Batman look I grew up with, when he had ears pointy enough to impale his foes, or maybe that was the 70's. Anyway, Batman on the grisly trail of the Joker. Following Snyder's Detective run , the shift in storytelling is a bit abrupt, but I'm in for the next few books on this anyway.

Batgirl #1 - One of my most anticipated titles on the list because of the change they made to Barbara Gordon/Oracle, and I dug Oracle. To see her back as Batgirl and most importantly to see the impact of who she was have consequences was executed in a panel of pure perfection in this issue. Jaw dropped. This book of all the Bat books felt both young and vital matching it's character's mood, and yet tempered by fear. Buy it!

Batwoman #1 - I'll admit I came to his character in the past in brief glimpses, finally caving when I heard DC was going to keep her around. Kate Kane's character in and out of costume is one of the most intriguing in comics, and her growing role in Gotham is fun to watch. Story in this issue is a solid point, giving new readers enough background in 2 pages, to get an idea of where she's coming from. Artwork and panel layout is off the charts, and Mr. Williams continues to treat each page as canvas, not a box to be filled in.
Another buy it book!

Whew, DC'd out. Ok let's drag Marvel over.

Fear Itself #6 - After a couple issues where I felt the main story seemed to drag, we approach the 2nd last issue and more than anything I wanted to see all the shiny new toys Tony Stark has made in the hands of their  owners, but that'll be next month. Not sure how much impact this event miniseries will have, but it's always felt like it's setting up for something big, just not sure if we see the end result in issue 7 , or if this is ACT I of a larger saga.

Ultimate Spiderman #1 - Do I need to tell you Peter Parker is dead in the Ultimate line of Marvel comics?  I'll assume not. This is the origin story of how the new Spider man, Miles Morales get's his powers. Bitten by a spider engineered by OZ Corp? The heck you say! Kid from Brooklyn. What sold me is the kid and the relationships between his parents and Uncle. Honest and  engaging. I'm looking forward to how Miles handles what's been thrust upon him since he doesn't have the same touchstone that Peter did with his Aunt May.

Lastly, Vertigo. Only one book.

Unwritten #28 (#29 is sitting next to me now) - I've been on board since Issue 1 and it remains the one book that reels me in month after month, even when between issues I ponder stepping away. So many mysteries are yet to be solved, and I believe some shall remain unsolved. If you're not reading it, you should be. Does it resemble Harry Potter ,or even more closely Books of Magic? Yes, but considering this is a book exploring the power of Storytelling as much as the characters lives. It works. My third Buy it book. This is not a jump on issue, you'd be best served by finding the trade of the earlier issues.


Here what I still have left to read from this week: Criminal: Last of the Innocent #4, The Goon #35 , Swamp Thing #1, Transformers #25, and Unwritten #29

Portland's Summer has Arrived!

5:50 AM PST Temp: 70''s Portland's summer is wrapping up with a vengeance a string of 90 degree plus days and the mighty Sun god blasting down upon the city. I find myself amused by the fact that the kids are all back in school during such weather instead of crowing the local malls. Managed 4 hours sleep in this heat, so I'm back in front of a screen.

Back to some regular thoughts, Reading Churchill's The Gathering Storm, reached year 1938 and it is an instructive journey through the mindset of the man who will lead Britain through the war, but ,also, shows the ineptitude of most governments getting anything done in a timely manner. In some e ways, it seems to show that politically many governments don't want to be progressive, but are at their best as reactionary bodies -- most being instigated by war or disaster. 4 more years left to go on this text in the old Kindle.

In the land of paper and ink, started picking at Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention , an American icon that polarizes individuals. I've spent more time studying Malcolm's life / place in history than the other civil rights figures of his age. I own a copy of Haley's Autobiography and one of the FBI File books on Malcolm, back when I was a younger man. I'm looking forward to see what information is new and if the way it's presented helps fill in gaps of information missing from Haley's highly read text.

Writing has been lighter these past couple weeks due to changes in household members at the end of summer and trying to cram in some summertime events when my wife and I managed the same days off. In a string of unexpected moves, I have a 4 day weekend, which works out nicely since I worked on Labor day, under which I'll be holed up trying to stay cool, and working on my own pieces as time allows.

Final thoughts: DC Comics new 52 relaunch. I find myself energized so far each week about being able to read the "new" titles since in a way, some characters feel more accessible now, than jumping on at issue 500 or so. Granted I've been reading comics going on 20 years on and off, and DC tends to be my favored brand, but it is nice to feel excited by meeting characters again and seeing how they change and how they stay the same. Blame the Star Trek reboot everyone for this event. Until next time