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Book Recs/Comic Recs/DVDs, 9/6/09
Sunday, September 6th, 2009 03:50 pmIn Books:
Doom with a View, by Victoria Laurie: The book's weakest point is its ridiculous title, which has nothing whatsoever to do with the plot. I want to find Ms. Laurie's editor and gently suggest that future titles in this series not labor so hard for their puns and instead just present whatever it is the book is going to be about. However! I do not judge a book by its cover (or its goofy title), so I am pleased to say that the content of the book itself is well worth the read. Psychic Abby Cooper finds herself helping out the FBI again, except that this time, the agent heading the investigation is completely convinced that Abby is a charlatan and undermines her at every conceivable opportunity. Fortunately, Abby's got her FBI boyfriend (the ever-sensitive Dutch Rivers) and her PI associate (the redoubtable Candice Fusco) on her side and needs their help to solve a difficult kidnapping case. While the conclusion of the story feels rushed and Laurie often skimps on her description of minor characters (in one particular case, bordering on racist), there's a lot of good drama in the story and as usual, Abby's psychic powers are believable and only occasionally a little too cryptic. This is a great "fluff" series and I enjoyed this latest installment.
In Comics:
Powers, Volume 1: Who Killed Retro Girl?, writing by Brian Michael Bendis, inks/coloring by Michael Avon Oeming: The idea of this book (noir-ish police procedural, but from the human side of the equation in a city where superheroes/"powers" are a force to be reckoned with) works so, so well; the characters are layered, funny, and tough; and the art, once you're used to the style, works, too (there's a definite Batman vibe to it--the hero is literally square-jawed). I have to say, though, that without the strong female protagonist, I would not have felt particularly compelled to mosey along to volume 2. This is a very masculine story, and having the mangled body of the beautiful Retro Girl (whose superpowers seemed to include impermeability, as the coroner grouses during a failed autopsy attempt) repeatedly over-eroticized does not help shoo away the testosterone. What does help balance the story is the absolutely wonderful Deena Pilgrim, and the very subtle unfolding relationship between her and her new partner, an ex-Power turned detective. It's not Mulder/Scully or Doggett/Reyes; it's something different and interesting and I can't wait to see where it goes in future volumes. The murderer and his motive are too cryptic for my tastes and I'm hoping that the plot-line will be revisited in later volumes, because it certainly has that potential. Definitely looking forward to Volume 2.
Flight, Volume 6, Anthology edited by Kazu Kibuishi: All of the stories in this latest installment are simply gorgeous. The artwork is top-notch, and in this volume, the colors stand out in the most amazing ways: a glowing, sunset-hued phoenix does symbolic battle with an almost midnight-dark sky dragon; a ninja waits in a beige room at sunrise for a job interview and finds he's the only ninja in a suit; an old West ghost story is done in swathes of sepia-toned brown and eerie, rainstorm blue. Hell, there's even a zombie story that I can get behind, and that's saying something, given my recent zombie-phobia.
Highlights include:
* The highly amusing Cooking Duel by Bannister & Grimaldi, which reads like Iron Chef meets Hikaru no Go--a real-life competition, drawn out to great dramatic lengths.
* The previously mentioned Walters by Cory Godbey, a wordless story of a man who tied 50 or so helium balloons to a chair and floated over the city of L.A. until a storm brought him down. This is the most effecting and touching piece in the entire book. It seizes your heart with colors, emotions, and story, and does not let go.
* Also wordless, but highly effective is Dead at Noon, an Old West tale with an emotional kick at its center that the author holds off on delivering until the absolute last minute.
In sum: Run, don't walk, to your nearest comic book shop and enjoy this today!
On DVD:
Dexter, Season 3: I had forgotten how much I like this series and feel like I know these characters. I had also forgotten how violent and disturbing parts of this show could be. Watching the first two disks has been like coming back to a highly entertaining family reunion held at a genuinely haunted house.
Doom with a View, by Victoria Laurie: The book's weakest point is its ridiculous title, which has nothing whatsoever to do with the plot. I want to find Ms. Laurie's editor and gently suggest that future titles in this series not labor so hard for their puns and instead just present whatever it is the book is going to be about. However! I do not judge a book by its cover (or its goofy title), so I am pleased to say that the content of the book itself is well worth the read. Psychic Abby Cooper finds herself helping out the FBI again, except that this time, the agent heading the investigation is completely convinced that Abby is a charlatan and undermines her at every conceivable opportunity. Fortunately, Abby's got her FBI boyfriend (the ever-sensitive Dutch Rivers) and her PI associate (the redoubtable Candice Fusco) on her side and needs their help to solve a difficult kidnapping case. While the conclusion of the story feels rushed and Laurie often skimps on her description of minor characters (in one particular case, bordering on racist), there's a lot of good drama in the story and as usual, Abby's psychic powers are believable and only occasionally a little too cryptic. This is a great "fluff" series and I enjoyed this latest installment.
In Comics:
Powers, Volume 1: Who Killed Retro Girl?, writing by Brian Michael Bendis, inks/coloring by Michael Avon Oeming: The idea of this book (noir-ish police procedural, but from the human side of the equation in a city where superheroes/"powers" are a force to be reckoned with) works so, so well; the characters are layered, funny, and tough; and the art, once you're used to the style, works, too (there's a definite Batman vibe to it--the hero is literally square-jawed). I have to say, though, that without the strong female protagonist, I would not have felt particularly compelled to mosey along to volume 2. This is a very masculine story, and having the mangled body of the beautiful Retro Girl (whose superpowers seemed to include impermeability, as the coroner grouses during a failed autopsy attempt) repeatedly over-eroticized does not help shoo away the testosterone. What does help balance the story is the absolutely wonderful Deena Pilgrim, and the very subtle unfolding relationship between her and her new partner, an ex-Power turned detective. It's not Mulder/Scully or Doggett/Reyes; it's something different and interesting and I can't wait to see where it goes in future volumes. The murderer and his motive are too cryptic for my tastes and I'm hoping that the plot-line will be revisited in later volumes, because it certainly has that potential. Definitely looking forward to Volume 2.
Flight, Volume 6, Anthology edited by Kazu Kibuishi: All of the stories in this latest installment are simply gorgeous. The artwork is top-notch, and in this volume, the colors stand out in the most amazing ways: a glowing, sunset-hued phoenix does symbolic battle with an almost midnight-dark sky dragon; a ninja waits in a beige room at sunrise for a job interview and finds he's the only ninja in a suit; an old West ghost story is done in swathes of sepia-toned brown and eerie, rainstorm blue. Hell, there's even a zombie story that I can get behind, and that's saying something, given my recent zombie-phobia.
Highlights include:
* The highly amusing Cooking Duel by Bannister & Grimaldi, which reads like Iron Chef meets Hikaru no Go--a real-life competition, drawn out to great dramatic lengths.
* The previously mentioned Walters by Cory Godbey, a wordless story of a man who tied 50 or so helium balloons to a chair and floated over the city of L.A. until a storm brought him down. This is the most effecting and touching piece in the entire book. It seizes your heart with colors, emotions, and story, and does not let go.
* Also wordless, but highly effective is Dead at Noon, an Old West tale with an emotional kick at its center that the author holds off on delivering until the absolute last minute.
In sum: Run, don't walk, to your nearest comic book shop and enjoy this today!
On DVD:
Dexter, Season 3: I had forgotten how much I like this series and feel like I know these characters. I had also forgotten how violent and disturbing parts of this show could be. Watching the first two disks has been like coming back to a highly entertaining family reunion held at a genuinely haunted house.
