Books 64-66

[subplotkudzu]

64) Jack of Fables volume 2: The Los Vegas stroy arc, this was the best of the Jack collections that I've read. The book still suffers from hideous subplot kudzu, however, and I'm not sure this was strong enough for me to keep reading it.

65) The Authority volume 1: I finally own a copy of Warren Ellis 1999 "supers try to change the world" story, and it is as good as I remember. I almost bought volume 2, but I'm torn on it - Ellis only wrote the first of the two arcs in the second volume, the other penned by Mars "everything I touch turns into a festering turd" Millar.  But the first volume is pure over the top mad wonderful ideas super-hero wierdness combined with serious thoughts about world changing. 

66) The Illiad: Homer's other great epic, I didn't find this one as gripping as the Oddysey. It was much, much bloodier than I had expected, but gave a very good feel for a type of combat that Fantasy games could emulate, but usually don't. It's also clear that the various movie and TV adaptations of the material are written by people who have the level of familiarity that I had before reading it, who then use the story as a framework on which to superimpose their own contemporary biases. In other words, no actual Greek myth was accessed in the making of Wolfgang Peterson's _Troy_. 

Comments

[whswhs.livejournal.com]

Your feelings about The Authority exactly mirror mine. I was enjoying Ellis's run tremendously. I bought the first of Millar's books, saw the characters turn into adolescent power fantasies with less philosophical depth than Conan the Barbarian, and swore never to buy another. On the other hand, Ellis's issues are a big inspiration for my current campaign Sovereignty, as Planetary was for my Gods and Monsters campaign a few years back.

[drcpunk.livejournal.com]

Have you seen the Trojan War supplement for Testament? It's good.

[(Anonymous)]

My chief difference of opinion from Brian and Bill is that I don't really distinguish much between the Ellis issues and the Millar issues. Both of them conveniently made sure that everyone opposed to the Authority's heavy-handed progressivism-by-punching-people conveniently turned out to be Evil. The idea that people of good will might actually disagree with the Authority (and, by implication, with Warren Ellis) never really comes up.

The Authority was the most fascistic comic I've seen. "We're right, therefore everyone who disagrees with us is evil, so we can blithely ignore things like democratic processes, law, and anything else."

Cambias

[drcpunk.livejournal.com]

John M. Ford did "Troy: The Movie" (http://www.strangehorizons.com/2002/20020429/troy.shtml), the Trojan War as a silent film.