The Unwritten pt. 2

I finally read up to The Unwritten: Apocalypse #5. Up until issue #50 (where Fables gets involved), the story was so interesting I couldn't wait to read every issue again. The characters travel around the world, through fiction, through time, and encounter strange beings (including, but not limited to vampires and zombies -- which they handle in a non-cheesy way). To put it mildly: this series is The Shit.

So we've got a great story, interesting characters (although Tom annoys me pretty badly, the other characters more than make up for it), and gorgeous artwork. The ending has to be spectacular, right?

What?

In comes Fables, an already established comic book series that's making a crossover appearance. While I haven't read this series, other reviewers stated you get caught up to speed pretty quickly. I already knew a little about Fables (fairy tale characters living in the modern world, trying to keep anyone from learning who they are), so I jumped on in. What followed was the weirdest jumble of war and chaos I'd ever witnessed. So much was going on in the panels I sometimes couldn't make sense of it. And these "new" characters? Not my favorites. Skim. Get the gist. Next issue.

I mean, anyone who knows me knows I take the Scarlet O'Hara approach to war: If anyone talks about it one more time, I'm going to scream.

And the Orcs trod unto with their veritable swords and axes and lo! came upon an army of --*

ARGHHH!!!!

*not an actual quote

I liked this story because it followed a small group of characters. They interacted with each other, discovered, solved, and got into bigger things, and occasionally fought off a bad guy. That's awesome! It's what I want in every story. War, on the other hand, is the reason I skimmed most of The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. Sorry, Tolkien.

In conclusion, I haven't read the last remaining issues of :Apocalypse. I believe it's running until December. I'll more than likely finish the whole thing, but I've gotta say with a title like "Apocalypse" I just know there's an epic war coming up and I'm not keen to go.

Do check out the cover artist Yuko Shimizu's work. It's absolutely stunning.

The Unwritten

A lot of things I "didn't like" as a kid and young adult had a lot to do with my early influences. Mom doesn't like gold jewelry, so I don't like it either. Dad doesn't like opera, so I think it sucks too. Meeting people from the internet is dangerous folly, so I don't do that. And people who read comic books, well, they live in their mom's basement and fix their glasses with tape, don't they?

Well...

Having an opinion about something is all well and good, but what's good for one person (silver jewelry only) isn't necessarily good for me (a little gold is actually really pretty). So I delved into some of the things I wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole earlier, and what do you know? Keeping yourself open to new ideas is good. Opera is unbearably beautiful sometimes. I married someone from the internet. And recently, I started reading comic books.

Hard to get over the stigma sometimes. The way these stories are set up sometimes is freakishly beautiful. Combine reading a book with watching a subtitled movie -- it's a little like that. But that doesn't really matter when I'm carrying one of these books around my house like someone might ask me to solve a calculus problem (that is to say, hoping I won't run into anyone). Hey, I'm a married adult! I work in the beauty industry! I read books without pictures in them! I can't just walk into a comic book store and have everyone stare at me.

Okay, but I did do it. I walked in. Not only did everyone not stare at me for being a woman amongst the nerds, there were loads of regular-looking women there. Women worked there. Not only that, at every turn, I'd see something and go, "Ooh!" So either the nerd stereotype is way overblown, or I am one and need to embrace that.

THE UNWRITTEN

When I read that this series was about a man who's father had written a book about a "boy wizard" (similar to Harry Potter), and that people thought the son was actually the character come to life, I was intrigued. As the story progresses, we flash back to Rudyard Kipling, Oscar Wilde, Mark Twain, etc. The literary geek in me is squealing (and the "regular" part of me is hoping my husband isn't going to come in the room and laugh -- but screw it: he's reading Game of Thrones and talking to me in Olde Englishe).

While this series is more fanciful than Habibi or Daytripper, it is a lot of fun. And when I get my hands on the remaining 60something issues, you can bet I'm holing up that weekend to finish it in one gulp.

Reading of the Picture Variety

This post will be all about books with pictures. Love me some pictures.

Paris Versus New York by Vahram Muratyan

We have this book at my salon because it's located in New York, and my boss is from Paris. On a particularly slow day, I cracked this baby open and read it cover-to-cover (which was easy,  because it's literally all illustrations).

Never once does the author try to say one city is better than the other, it's simply a comparison. He also has these illustrations on his blog (which is where my samples are from): http://parisvsnyc.blogspot.com

Sex Criminals by Matt Fraction

Got this (and the following comics) as a free issue at BookCon.

If you can stop time with the power of your ... sexiness(?)... what do you do? Rob a bank or something.

The artwork is beautiful, and the sex, while explicit, isn't uncomfortably graphic.

Alex + Ada by Jonathan Luna

Not much in the way of story in the first issue, but we learn that Alex is living in the future (and there's some cool new technology around), and he's lonely. At the end, he gets a gift from his grandmother: a robot girlfriend. Creepy? Yeah, Grandma, it is. But thanks. I would like to see where this one goes.

Revival by Tim Seeley

Didn't capture my attention like the above 2 comics. Small town sherif and maybe some zombies. I enjoyed the artwork, but by the end, an old lady was pulling her own teeth out, and I just can't stomach stuff like that.

2013 in books

The past few years I've done a "year in review" post focusing on things I'd done that year. Turns out, nobody but me cares what I've been up to in a year, so how about something you guys can get behind? Yes? Yes.

What book has everyone been talking about? Gone Girl. I read it. It's difficult to give a review of this book without giving away any surprises (and there are lots). Two voices in this book: Nick and Amy. They're both so different from each other, so flawed, so real. I haven't been this jealous of another writer's style in a long time.


Another author I admire is Stephen King. Everybody knows this. Pet Sematary surprised me. I thought the old man's arthritic wife was going to be evil. I thought something worse was going to happen with the cat. I thought the dad would wise up at the end and not bring the absolute horror that happened. I mean, honestly, I thought a dead cat was going to be the worst thing (not really a spoiler if you've read the title of the book...). Solid all the way through.

The Internet is a Playground is a compilation of emails from http://www.27bslash6.com/. If you've ever wanted to send 100% snarky emails to people who annoy you, this book will hit the spot.

I'm surprised I didn't review Habibi before now. When I read it, the artwork stunned me. The story was heartbreaking up until the very, very last word. I loved Craig Thompson's other book, Blankets, and marveled then at how he tackled the subject of Christianity while being respectful. In Habibi, he added Islam to the mix, comparing some  stories from the Koran and the Old Testament (some of which are similar), and asks which story is true (for example, in Christianity/Judaism, Abraham takes Isaac to be sacrificed, in Islam, Abraham takes Ishmael). To Thompson's credit, he never sides with either story, but leaves the question with the reader.


Another graphic novel I enjoyed was Daytripper. As you can probably tell by now, I'm not much into the superhero genre when it comes to graphic novels. I choose the ones I do because of the beautiful artwork and the way those pictures combine to heighten the emotion of the story. This book was absolutely no different -- and with a plot that deals mostly with death, the combo was brilliant.

Reading of Biblical Proportions

One thing the hurricane had me doing a lot of was reading. (I've also been trying to write a lot, but as you can see from my word count widget, that's not going as well as I'd hoped.)

I've had a copy of the graphic novel Blankets for a while now, and haven't gotten around to reading it. The reviews I've seen says it's charming and touching, and the artwork I'd seen while flipping through was quite nice. When I started reading, though I wasn't quite prepared for some of the subject matter in the story -- nothing bad or shocking, but ... actually, it did shock me.

The author dealt with Christianity in a non-offensive, non-"Christian Fiction" way, which is almost impossible to find. The characters went to church, to church camp, read the Bible, had some sex, talked about divorce, frolicked in the snow, had sibling rivalry, struggled with everyday things ... all with equal importance. When the main character found himself gravitating away from the "church experience" of Christianity, he still held onto some of the core beliefs, treated everything with reverence and respect.

Honestly, near the beginning of the book, with the first mentions of "church", I found myself dreading yet another God-bashing, and that I would feel more alone than I already do in my faith (being a Christian in NY is not the easiest thing I've ever done). Instead, the book dealt with some of the same issues I have -- that I don't necessarily want to sing the simple praise songs with groups of people, I don't necessarily want to shun art schools and ignore real things that happen in the name of being a "Good Christian". Part of being a Christian is dealing with some ugly things that happen every day, but still holding onto something good that sets you apart from others. 

Another book that was vastly different from Blankets was The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible. I expected not to like this one either, because I thought he was going to make fun of the Bible as being the most ridiculous thing one could ever follow. Thankfully, I was wrong. The author focused mostly on the Jewish laws and rules. When he got to the New Testament and struggled with accepting Jesus as God, he did it respectfully, and I appreciated that.

At the end of his year-long experiment, he didn't come out of it as a convert, but as a "reverent agnostic". He appreciated that prayer was sacred, as were people's beliefs. Sometimes all we ask for is not to be bullied.

The other books I've read recently are lighter material (you're welcome). One was I Suck at Girls by Justin Halpern (of Shit my Dad Says fame), and another was 

Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns) by Mindy Kaling. Both were light and entertaining, though I enjoyed Mindy's book better, not necessarily because she and I share experiences (we don't, really), but it seems like she's a person I would like to hang out with. Inevitably, we'd probably both get the feeling the other was doing stuff without them.

Justin Halpern's book dragged a little, but was mostly entertaining since he really does seem to suck at girls and it's fun to laugh at someone else. His dad was also a prominent character, which is always a treat. This book was much more cohesive than his previous bestseller -- which I started, but never finished.

Currently reading Four Past Midnight by Stephen King. Haven't yet finished the first story, Secret Window, Secret Garden (which had been adapted to Secret Window, starring Johnny Depp). It's a lovely piece of fiction that's getting me through my daily commute with as little fuss as possible. And really, what's better than picturing Johnny Depp as the main character?