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Books 13-15
Jan. 30th, 2010 03:55 pm13) Powers volume 12 - The 25 Coolest Dead Superheroes of All Time: this is the last volume of Bendis & Oeming's super hero police procedural. The book has, over time, strayed very far from its roots while still remaining true to its fundamental concepts. Much as I have enjoyed it I am glad to see it end There is talk of them doing a reboot later, but if such a thing occurs I hope it is after enough time has passed and enough new ideas percolated to make the while thing feel fresh again.
14) Invincible volumes 9-11: Kirkman & Ottley's unabashedly straight-up super-hero book gets a little rocky here, primarily due to the intrusion of a tried trope and some subplot kudzu, but the core plotline is still humming forward nicely and it's still fun to read. For those not familiar, Invincible the the teenage son of Omni-Man, this world's Superman clone. Unfortunately for our hero, it turns out the Vilrumites are not a race of benevolent protectors, but that his father was supposed to be softening up Earth for the eventual Vilrumite takeover. His father now in self imposed exile in space, Invincible is trying to carry on the good parts of his father's legacy while dealing with the fallout of this betryal being worldwide public knowledge. It's good stuff, but I just wish Kirkman would close some of these threads off. As it stands it's like reading a run of Spider Man where we have repeated asides to _all_ of his rouges gallery all plotting to destroy him. Surely everyone in the world can't hate this kid.
15) Other Worlds, Better Lives - a Howard Waldrop Reader, selected long fiction 1989-2003: the companion to _Things Will never Be The Same_, this is more gleeful Howard Waldrop fun. Sure, "A Dozen Tough Jobs" - a retelling of the labors of Hercules set in 1920's Mississippi - is the standout here, but I quite enjoyed the others. Much fun.
14) Invincible volumes 9-11: Kirkman & Ottley's unabashedly straight-up super-hero book gets a little rocky here, primarily due to the intrusion of a tried trope and some subplot kudzu, but the core plotline is still humming forward nicely and it's still fun to read. For those not familiar, Invincible the the teenage son of Omni-Man, this world's Superman clone. Unfortunately for our hero, it turns out the Vilrumites are not a race of benevolent protectors, but that his father was supposed to be softening up Earth for the eventual Vilrumite takeover. His father now in self imposed exile in space, Invincible is trying to carry on the good parts of his father's legacy while dealing with the fallout of this betryal being worldwide public knowledge. It's good stuff, but I just wish Kirkman would close some of these threads off. As it stands it's like reading a run of Spider Man where we have repeated asides to _all_ of his rouges gallery all plotting to destroy him. Surely everyone in the world can't hate this kid.
15) Other Worlds, Better Lives - a Howard Waldrop Reader, selected long fiction 1989-2003: the companion to _Things Will never Be The Same_, this is more gleeful Howard Waldrop fun. Sure, "A Dozen Tough Jobs" - a retelling of the labors of Hercules set in 1920's Mississippi - is the standout here, but I quite enjoyed the others. Much fun.
