This was my favorite of the Fables arcs that I've read. It's also the longest one.
At this point I'd already shed a lot of tears over dear Ambrose (moThis was my favorite of the Fables arcs that I've read. It's also the longest one.
At this point I'd already shed a lot of tears over dear Ambrose (mostly called Flycatcher, the Frog Prince) and his tragic backstory. The comics have lingered on him here and there, and always for the most heartbreaking stories. Here we finally get to see him come into his own, grow up, and accept what Fate has decried for him.
This is the most fairy tale story that Fables has delivered just yet. It's inspiring and beautiful, though some might call it a bit saccharine. It's great to see old faces again, and it's good to see Ambrose really come into his own.
At long last the Adversary's identity is finally revealed! Many have guessed it at this point, but it is still a satisfying unmasking. The real charm At long last the Adversary's identity is finally revealed! Many have guessed it at this point, but it is still a satisfying unmasking. The real charm of this volume is found in following Boy Blue in his adventure through the Homelands to get to the Adversary. Blue's adventure is riveting and full of interesting twists and turns.
The B-story to all of this is what exactly ole Jack of the Tales has been up to. Surprise: it's no good. This volume explains just how he comes to be exiled and, well, it's as amusing as you'd probably think it is. I like Jack, though.
I'm sure there's plenty more to come after this small diversion......more
I haven't read very much with Nightwing in it. Most recently, the only thing I can recall reading with him in it was This is a really promising start.
I haven't read very much with Nightwing in it. Most recently, the only thing I can recall reading with him in it was Cry For Blood which wasn't really a good look for Dick overall... This run came highly recommended though, and I've been curious to give it a chance. It's drawn a lot of comparison to Matt Fraction and David Aja's run of Hawkeye (which begins with My Life as a Weapon and I found that to honestly be the best comparison possible. This is a reimagining of a relatively classic character in a more grounded story with a good bit of humor. What's not to love?
This is quick paced and easy to pick up without knowing much of the character. The backstory is provided there for you, along with plenty of context clues for the rest of the important information that you need. The writing is solid enough to carry the story, and the art is dynamic. There is a positively breathtaking splash page in this volume, and I'm sure there are plenty more to come.
I'm looking forward to continuing this run and to see what changes Dick brings to Bludhaven......more
The Body Fantastic, Frank Gonzalez-Crussi’s new book from MIT Press, implores the reader to move away from Cartesian Dualism to an understanding of the body through the concept of Valery’s Fourth, or quantum, body. Our conception of our bodies, Gonzalez-Crussi argues, is not solely informed by its mechanical functions or how others see us. Our corporeality instead is partially moulded by our native folklores, history, and myriad other influences we encounter and absorb throughout our lives.
Every chapter is dedicated to a different part of the human body, although not necessarily the parts one might expect. Reams of paper have been dedicated to the heart and the brain, after all, but what of the stomach? What of saliva and urine, hair and feet? And in spite of us all having once spent time in the uterus, it seems to be a distressingly underexplored subject of folkloric study - but this book delves deep into the past where it was once considered a sentient animal and the source of all female thought.
Gonzalez-Crussi intersperses his medical history with fascinating asides, and uses the many varied parts of our bodies to better understand ourselves and our place in the universe. While one might expect a discussion on the uterus to devolve into sexism in medical practice, one would less expect it to reveal Casanova to be outed as an early champion of women’s rights. Similarly, discussions of disordered eating end up showing the excesses of American culture. The feet pave the way for discussions on death, foot fetishes in the 1500s, and the development of literary fairy tales. Through a discussion of orality Gonzalez-Crussi examines why we are drawn to eat food that hurts us and what that might say about both our psychology and our cultural conceptions of masculinity.
As a long time reader of books on both medical history and folklore I was both delighted and surprised by how much of this book was completely new to me. Gonzalez-Crussi draws from unique and numerous primary sources -- most would know about the man who ate a plane over the course of two years and the gluttinos Tarrare, but how many would know about Madame D’Aulnoy’s travels in Spain in the 1500s and the Spanish court’s manifold rituals surrounding feet? Likewise, people are fairly familiar with the practice of urine therapy these days - but how many are familiar with the Roman’s obsession with saliva as a healing salve and its connections to early Christianity?
I cannot recommend this book enough. While the book is a treasure trove of information, it is not a difficult one to read unless you are particularly squeamish. I guarantee that the book will contain information you’ve not read before, and that it will fascinate and delight any new reader. It is impossible to come away from it without a new curiosity about the most familiar thing to all of us: our own body....more
Here we are, the second to last volume of Preacher and it hasn't dipped in quality in the least.
This volume is high on contemplative ruminations aboutHere we are, the second to last volume of Preacher and it hasn't dipped in quality in the least.
This volume is high on contemplative ruminations about why Jesse is doing what he's doing rather than action. Don't get me wrong, there is action, but this is still a slower volume. Jesse is getting set up in a town in the middle of nowhere. He's going to meet some people from his past, and he's going to dig deep into his own motivations. Who is he, after all, without Genesis? It's only by getting a better grip on himself that he can turn around and go back to hunting down God. He needs firm footing, to figure himself out so that he can march forward proud as ever and certain that he's in the right as he has been from the start.
This volume contains two flashbacks of sorts that have stuck with me in the decade since I first read it. One, how Jesse Custer's daddy got the medal of honor while fighting in Vietnam. The exchange at the Vietnam Memorial with Spaceman was some of Garth Ennis at his best and brought a tear to my eye. Ennis's war stories are some of the most powerful things I've read and it means all the more for where in the series the story gets to be told. Jesse, becoming firm in who he is and having this last memory of his dad to cling onto... it's really powerful stuff.
The second flashback is Tulip's backstory, and that is also some beautiful and powerful stuff. Tulip, as the series goes on, really comes into her own as a character and solidifies herself as one of my favorite female characters period. The television show did a pretty fine job with her attitude overall, but it takes a while in the comics for her to really come into that. This backstory is just beautiful and great. I really felt for her, and was relieved to see her get away from Cassidy there at his worst. The show was way too kind to Cass, after all...
So, we're nearing the end of the trail, partner, and I am not eager to see it all end. It's been a joy to reread, brought me right back to when I first read it all. After reading this I might dip back into some of the other series that I read around that time to remind myself just how beautiful these graphic novels can be... and how to tell a truly phenomenal story. I swear not a single page of Preacher is filler and that is one damn fine accomplishment....more
Jesse Custer has decided that he needs to talk to Genesis to hunt down the exact whereabouts of God, aWell, now things have really gone off the rails.
Jesse Custer has decided that he needs to talk to Genesis to hunt down the exact whereabouts of God, and to do it he's going to go to the Navajo Reservation by Monument Valley. Herr Starr isn't so keen on Jesse getting in touch with Genesis, that could mess up his plans, after all. The Saint of Killers? Well, he's hunting down the both of them - only this time Herr Starr is prepared. Or thinks he's prepared. What I mean to say is, there is a nuclear bomb in the mix now over Monument Valley and everything is going to hell in a handbasket in the way only Garth Ennis can make it happen.
So.
This volume is absolutely bonkers. Collected in the Deluxe Edition are also "The Story of You-Know-Who" which is, as expected, Arseface's history. There is also a short, and side-splitting, story about ole Jody and T.C. Those stories are a nice little capstone to the insane romp that this volume of Preacher is, and adds a bit more context to dear ole Arseface... and adds to Jody's legend. Jody fights a gorilla. Literally.
Preacher just continues to be Preacher overall. We see more of Cassidy doing what he does and things are going downhill fast. Things are just gonna explode, and there's nothing anyone can do about it. Herr Starr has come into his own. Jesse has an additional resolve. Cassidy is cracking, just cracking under the pressure and you just know things can't last the way they are between him and Tulip forever. Sooner or later Jesse will learn, and when he learns? Oh, you better not be in the line of this good ole boy's fire....more
This volume of the Deluxe edition contains two miniseries in their proper places within the reading order. So, we Welcome back to my Preacher reread.
This volume of the Deluxe edition contains two miniseries in their proper places within the reading order. So, we get the Saint of Killer's backstory right where we need it. This backstory was actually adapted pretty well in the television show, but as tends to be the case, the comics still blow it all out of the water. The miniseries is told with the slow brutal beats of a Cormac McCarthy story as everything draws nearer and nearer to the inevitable conclusion. Oh, but it's good.
The second miniseries contained in here is the much lauded "Blood and Whiskey", the Cassidy meets Anne Rice style vampires that was wet your pants level funny back when it first came out. Does it hold up well nowadays? Well, to me it still does. While Lestat isn't everywhere you turn any longer, the shadow that Twilight cast still looms large and it hits the right notes for me. I still found it hilarious. I'm curious how newcomers might feel if they didn't grow up during that whole craze, though...
This volume focuses primarily upon Cassidy once you get out of the miniseries. Why did Cassidy join up with our dear Preacher and Tulip? What does he want with this? What does he get out of it? We meet an old friend with a hideous face. We peek in at Featherstone and Starr and see that they're continuing to plot and plan, even if Starr is looking rather worse for wear. We see our old friend begin his transformation into what he always wanted to be.
Things are looking... slightly up for everyone but Cassidy. Then again, Cassidy always does get himself into the worst messes, doesn't he? Then again... Cassidy deserves so much of what he gets even if we do love him....more
I can still remember all of my lofty reading goals for 2020 and how quickly they all went up in flames when March rolled around. I could be finally fiI can still remember all of my lofty reading goals for 2020 and how quickly they all went up in flames when March rolled around. I could be finally finishing reading Fables, or Paper Girls. Hell, I could be finally getting into Hellblazer as I'd been intending to, or continuing my strange relationship with The Walking Dead by partaking in Negan Lives. There are a million things I could be doing, but here I am, rereading Preacher for the first time in over a decade and loving every second of it. We can't all be perfect, I guess.
The second volume isn't as riotous an romp as the first. This is the volume, after all, when we learn about just what the Grail is, what it's doing, and how Herr Starr plans on utilizing Jesse Custer in their name. This is the volume where we also get a fair bit of backstory - both of Jesse's father and Cassidy and how he turned. While not as disruptive to the story as Hughie's backstory in The Boys was, it still is a little bit of a momentum killer in the moment. Having already read the story, though, I enjoyed both the Vietnam and the Uprising bits a good deal more than I thought I would've. Then again, it isn't Blood and Whiskey, but I'm not sure how well that hilarious Cassidy one-shot is since it's no longer the early 2000s and Anne Rice isn't exactly the force she was back then these days. Ah well.
Preacher is still its hilarious self. I'm still loving every second of it. The bit that surprises me the most is how much I'm enjoying the artwork. I was worried that it might have aged poorly, considering how different comic book styles are now compared to what they were in the 90s/early 2000s. Instead, Dillon's work is still fantastic and doing its job. The Saint of Killers is still terrifying, the Allfather still disgusting. Herr Starr is still... well, you know.
One of the reasons I enjoyed the flashback issues as much as I did this time around is that I think they betray a central bit of Ennis's charm. Ennis, in spite of how crass, irreverent, and hilarious he tends to be still as at his very core a belief in the goodness of people. Cassidy and Jesse's friendship, for instance, is such a massive backbone of the series and an intense thing of beauty. The sort of loyalty the two share to one another, that partnership, the sort of love and respect that Jesse and Tulip (eventually, though certainly not in this volume) build and share - all of that is truly beautiful - even as the end of the world rages around them.
Ennis's morality is like catnip to me, and I'm not entirely certain what that says about me.
Reading Preacher at what feels like the end of the world really makes John Custer's words hit a bit different. You gotta be one of the good guys, kid, there's more than enough of the bad.
Damn right. Be excellent to one another, dudes. ...more
This is a book I had a lot of fond memories of reading as a child.
I could remember the scene of the penguin in the bathtub, and a little bit about thThis is a book I had a lot of fond memories of reading as a child.
I could remember the scene of the penguin in the bathtub, and a little bit about the penguins performing act... but nothing else of the plot. Mr. Popper, I assumed, had a penguin. Then many penguins. That was about the long and short of the book itself in rereading it, along with a peppering of information about Antarctic exploration and explorers, the fact that if the pet you have is sufficiently strange for a while you wouldn't need a permit for it, and penguins like it cold. Very cold. They're also intelligent critters.
Mr. Popper is an interesting character. He pursues his passions in spite of ridicule and disdain. His wife is the practical one of the bunch, but still doesn't dissuade him from his hobbies and interests, although she doesn't really share them. I suppose there is a message about hard work and perseverance, as well as a general adaptability to changing situations, but it isn't as clear cut as it is in most children's literature.
Ultimately? This is a fun little book, more caring about the animals than I expected for a piece of older literature. Still fun, still funny, still a nice quick read....more
This volume takes everything a step further. More answers, and more questions generated. More death and devastation. Can fates be changed? Can Oh man.
This volume takes everything a step further. More answers, and more questions generated. More death and devastation. Can fates be changed? Can you truly live and and remain all right if you know when, how, and where you die? Or even see yourself die? How much can life be changed? Moreover, should it?
Pieces of previous volumes are being filled in, and consequences are numerous. We learn that 'evil clone' is horrifically bigoted slang that we shouldn't use, and that certain figures really shouldn't be trusted. Also, we get a little bit of eye opening romance, a little bit more backstory and characterization. All those good things. In the future.
After reading this volume I can confidently state that these comics will make forincredible rereading. Can't wait to get that pleasure once its run is complete.
In the meantime... when do we get volume 6?...more
I never thought I'd read a book that contained the phrase lesbian pod person. Yet here we are.
I'm so tempted to leave the review with just that.
VolumeI never thought I'd read a book that contained the phrase lesbian pod person. Yet here we are.
I'm so tempted to leave the review with just that.
Volume 4 of this wonderful series may just be the best yet. Do we get answers? We get some, some delicious twists and turns. We get to see where Tiffany ended up, and it is much nicer than where Mac's future lead, although still disappointing. We get to learn just why the time travellers seem bent upon reading the funny pages and obsessing over them. We learn about the leaders of the one side of the war, but not too much about their opposition.
Also? Giant rock 'em sock 'em robot fight.
So, yes. The series continues to be brilliant, entertaining as all hell, and full of quiet observations about the Y2K scare and the strangeness of the 90s in general.
I can't get over how fun this series is turning out to be. I'm so incredibly happy I stuck with it....more
It took me a while to get used to the pinballing through time and space, but now that the first two volumes are out of the Brian K. Vaughandelivers.
It took me a while to get used to the pinballing through time and space, but now that the first two volumes are out of the way things are beginning to.. if not make more sense, at least cohere a bit more readily. It's as if the first two volumes served to get you as addled as the characters, and now you, like them, are ready to seriously get down to business. You don't exactly know more, but you're invested as all hell and can't wait to see where things go next. Or at least I am.
The characters have begun to better make themselves known. You begin to get a feel for who might do what, and even see a bit of Mac's softer side. It's difficult to not care about them, and even the brief side characters we saw in this volume carried weight with them. It's a fascinating thing.
This is a weird jumbled story that works. The back of the 4th volume proclaims that it "was Stranger Things before Stranger Things." You know what? I'll agree with that wholeheartedly. I'll even say that I think this series is a step or two above Stranger Things. Brian K. Vaughan is just that good....more
Just when you think you're getting a handle on this series it begins to fray around the edges again.
Like a sphynx cat, or a double rex rat, time seemJust when you think you're getting a handle on this series it begins to fray around the edges again.
Like a sphynx cat, or a double rex rat, time seems to be covered in wrinkles. These wrinkles, called foldings, can be jumped through. They take you through time and space and you end up... a bit more confused than you were when you started. Remember the ending of the last volume where Erin met Erin? How about Erin and Erin meet Erin? How about one of them not being trustworthy? Secret messages sent through time and space that... weren't. What if you know approximately when and how you die? How do you deal with that? Endings are, after all, endings.
Though I hope they aren't in Saga. At least not all the time.
Anyway, if you've ever wanted to see giant tardigrades fight to the death, be potentially slimed to death by a huge maggot, or just in general enjoy a good dose of time travel wonkiness - it looks like this is the book for you. If you enjoy very normal linear storytelling. Erm. Maybe look a bit elsewhere?
Man, I would've loved these book as a teen, though. This is some awesome stuff!...more
I wanted to like this book so much more than I actually did.
This is a children's book classic, although it edges a little into YA literature at times.I wanted to like this book so much more than I actually did.
This is a children's book classic, although it edges a little into YA literature at times. I'll leave the correct classification to others. I first read it in sixth grade, only to find myself surrounded by sobbing kids - both boys and girls - when we got to the appropriate chapter. I was left dry-eyed and a little confused. The book dealt with grief, terrible grief, to be sure. It just didn't deal with it the way that I processed it. I think the book changes based upon when you read it - if you'd experienced death before reading it, that general sort of thing. Sometimes it helps, sometimes it doesn't. It's a funny thing, how different everyone processes it all.
I understand the importance of the book, and I'm glad that it exists for those that it does help. The edition I read this time, the 40th Anniversary edition, actually touched me a bit deeper thanks to the additional content. Kate DiCamillo has a nice Forward and the Afterward by the author (and Newberry Award Speech) were both very poignant and sweet. It helped me understand the importance of the book.
Nevertheless, this book just isn't one that really does it for me beyond the last page. That page I liked, and I think it bodes well for the family's future. So, a good book, just not one I can really feel strongly about one way or the other....more
Occasionally I'll accidentally pick up a book that I had previous read, forgetting the fact I've actually read it before. Persepolis is one of those Occasionally I'll accidentally pick up a book that I had previous read, forgetting the fact I've actually read it before. Persepolis is one of those books, as I'd the image of the blue cover featured here in my mind forever linked to the title rather than the previous separate editions I'd read before. Fortunately, whenever this does happen I'm often more than happy to reread the book, as I did here. It had been 7 years since I last read Persepolis and I was surprised when I saw the low ratings. Why not read it again and see how I've changed, and how the graphic novel held up?
Persepolis was revolutionary when it was first published for its depiction of life through the Islamic Revolution in Iran. The book still holds up for its depiction of the horrors of the change in regime, and the oppressiveness of the new fundamentalist rulers. What Persepolis gained after having sat for several years, through changes in culture both in the Middle East and the West, was its view of life and adjusting to such changes. At its heart Persepolis continues to believe in the value of education above all else, of allowing people to make choices even if you know it's not the right choice for them. It's only by learning and experiencing that we grow.
This book is one that I needed to grow up to appreciate, and having grown, have come to love. I've not seen the film, and was a bit surprised to see it was adapted, so I might need to look that up as well. As it is, I hope this book gets taught in schools, and I hope it continues to show up on 'best of' lists for a long time to come. There are life lessons in here, and an important look into life in what, for me, is a very distant place and culture....more
Hilary "Fox"
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