Records for 2008

100 Books To Read: Version 2.2

100 Books To Read 2008 [Original List]

Graphic Novel Challenge

Outmoded Author Challenge

Comics & Manga Read 2008

Books Read 2008

2008 | Comics & Manga Read 2008

[10] Lobster Johnson: The Iron Prometheus • Mike Mignola & Jason Armstrong
[9] Hellboy: Darkness Calls • Mike Mignola & Duncan Fegredo
[8] Buffy the Vampire Slayer: No Future For You • Brian K. Vaugh, Georges Jeanty & Joss Whedon
[7] The Question: The Five Books of Blood • Greg Rucka
[6] B.P.R.D. Killing Ground • Mike Mignola, John Arcudi & Guy Davis
[5] Checkmate: Fall of the Wall • Greg Rucka, Joe Bennett & Chris Samnee
[4] Batman: The Killing Joke (The Deluxe Edition) • Alan Moore & Brian Bolland
[3] Birds of Prey: Dead of Winter • Gail Simone et al
[2] Manhunter: Unleashed • Marc Andreyko et al
[1] Welcome to Tranquility Vol. 1 • Gail Simone & Neil Googe

New Wolverine Promo

{via SuperheroHype.com}

Hugh Jackman in white tank-top. I don't recall the claws being that BIG...

X-Men Origins: Wolverine, scheduled for May, 2009 release.

GRAPHIC NOVELS CHALLENGE | Closing

I'm trying to streamline my challenges and reading right now. We have just entered July and I barely made a dent in the Russian Reading Challenge. I am also highly skeptical that I would have time for more challenges for 2008 either.

Since I've technically finished the 6 graphic novels required for Dewey's The Graphic Novel Challenge, I've decided to close on it. Just to settle the books.

[To Read 6 Graphic Novels from January 2008 to December 2008]

Completed for the challenge:

1. Welcome to Tranquility Vol. 1 • Gail Simone & Neil Googe
2. Manhunter: Unleashed • Marc Andreyko et al
3. Birds of Prey: Dead of Winter • Gail Simone e al
4. Batman: The Killing Joke (The Deluxe Edition) • Alan Moore & Brian Bolland
   
5. Checkmate: Fall of the Wall • Greg Rucka, Joe Bennett & Chris Samnee
6. B.P.R.D. Killing Ground • Mike Mignola, John Arcudi & Guy Davis
7. The Question: The Five Books of Blood • Greg Rucka
8. Buffy the Vampire Slayer: No Future For You • Brian K. Vaugh, Georges Jeanty & Joss Whedon
9. Hellboy: Darkness Calls • Mike Mignola & Duncan Fegredo

Visit The Graphic Novel Challenge Blog

Watchmen Shots

Warner Bros just released some character shots from the film adaptation of the graphic novel, Watchmen. Click on the picture to enlarge.

The Comedian [Jeffrey Dean Morgan]:

Nite Owl [Patrick Wilson]:

Ozymandias [Mathew Goode]:

Rorschah [Jackie Earle Haley]

Silk Sceptre [Carla Gugino]:

Watchmen is scheduled for released March 6th, 2009.

BtVS | What's Coming Up With the Buffy Comic?

I never thought I would read something like this from The New York Times: Bi-curious Buffy. [You need to log-in to NYT to read the article, I think]

But before fans start blogging frantically, they should know that Mr. Whedon is clear where this is headed. "We’re not going to make her gay, nor are we going to take the next 50 issues explaining that she’s not. She’s young and experimenting, and did I mention open-minded?"

I loved the Willow-Tara relationship even though some of my friends did not share my sentiments. I was also okay with killing off Tara as the plot-device to set off the Dark Willow season finale: The relationship between Willow and Tara has been sufficiently developed to make that credible. On top of that, Willow's unconscious dark side has always been something that has been hinted at (remember Doppelgangland? And that classic Willow line: "That's me as a vampire? I'm so evil. And skanky. And I think I'm kinda gay!" -- it was classic.) but never fully explored. (Plus I really liked the scene where Dark Willow siphoned the magic out of the spellbooks. The words just oozes up her face and her eyes just turns black)

Somebody help me.

But this is just pushing the envelope on using girl-on-girl action to spice up the storyline. Fine, I admit the sexual voltage between Buffy and Faith is enough to light up the whole of California for six months -- but who the heck is Satsu? A character is created out of the blue just to have Buffy trying out another bad relationship. Okay, fine -- Buffy has some dubious taste in romantic partners over the years -- and that sadomasochistic affair with Spike was just bleak.

But c'mon! What is this? Is this relationship going anywhere? It's just a ploy to use hot lesbian action to boost sales!

I need to point out I'm not against Bi-curious Buffy. A lot of straight girls DO experiment. (I'm just saying.) I am just not convinced Buffy would just jump into bed with any random Slayer Potential just because said-girl kissed Buffy. Has our Slayer learned nothing all these years?

Okay. I admit I'm partial to some Buffy/Faith action.

MORE FRAY!

On another Buffy comic note, here's a sneak peek at the cover for #16, art by Jo Chen.

The other girl on the cover is Melaka Fray -- a Slayer in the future, a few centuries after Buffy's time. The comic Fray, was written by Joss Whedon himself and it is kick-ass on plot and characterisation. It even has a little plot revelation that further enrich the Slayer mythology. Go pick it up if you can.

Did I ever tell anyone I photo-copied a Melaka Fray sketch so that I can keep it in my file?

COMICS | LOEG: The Black Dossier

Alan Moore possesses such a mythic status among English comics readers that one is cautious about saying anything negative about his books. Yet after reading The Black Dossier, my feelings are at best -- ambivalent.

I enjoyed the previous two volumes in The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen series, and I have been waiting for the long-delayed The Black Dossier for a couple of years. I turned out not to be what I was expecting though.

As the story begins in the year 1958, and we arrive at an alternate England that has been battered by the war against Herr Hynkel's Germany. Two former members of the clandestine "Murray Group" -- Mina Murray herself, and the mysteriously rejunvenated Allan Quatermain (now posing as his own long-lost son) steal the Black Dossier, the folio containing all known intelligence on the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. They did that by outwitting a egoistic young agent known only as Jimmy, but who may turn out to be James Bond. (So I've been told.)

This main story frames the narrative, as Mina and Allan, with Black Dossier in tow, attempt to elude their pursuers. Meanwhile, Mina reads The Black Dossier -- and so do we.

The whole graphic novel feels too much like Alan Moore's project on self-indulgence. He is not even making an effort for a stronger plot to string together the disparate voices within the Black Dossier. What you have is more like a scrapbook of past LOEG members and their escapades -- all of which may hint at future LOEG stories to come. Stories within stories -– through time and space and featuring iconic characters from all genres and medium –- there's also guest star Emma Night -- who will later be known as Mrs Emma Peel from the 60s TV series, The Avengers. Alan Moore's knowledge of culture is far and wide –- in fact probably better than most of his readers. He recognises no distinction between literary and pulp fiction. All are fair fodder for his tales. And apparently, the first LOEG was founded by Queen Gloriana, led by Prospero.

My favourite tale within The Black Dossier is the story of "The Life of Orlando", who transgenders through Greco-Roman, Celtic/Fairie, Arthurian, and Lovecraftian mythos/history/stories and always coming up unscathed. I don't think Virginia Woolf ever quite imagined Orlando as such an adventurer. Alan Moore does have lots more fun with the characters than their original writers, I give him that.

In spite of all my reservation, I will admit it showcasts enough of Moore's literary virtuosity to deserve a second-look -- the man undertakes the task of writing a Shakespeare style play for his LOEG characters, he mimicks Orwellian Newspeak and throws in his eosteric Occultic interests - (ala – Promethea). Plus, Moore added some fun porn (the continuing adventures of Fanny Hill, rendered in sketches) in a Tijuana Bible insert, and The Black Dossier itself concludes with a chapter rendered in 3D art. (The graphic novel comes with a pair of 3-D visors for your viewing pleasure. One would appreciate it more if they did the porn in 3D. I'm just saying.)

It's fun, but it may not be the book to start with if you're new to comics. And if you prefer a more straightforward story line -- go check out Volume 1 and 2 instead.

Comics & Manga Read 2007

64. Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 8: The Long Way Home
Joss Whedon et al
63. Persepolis 2 Marjane Satrapi
62. Persepolis Marjane Satrapi
61. The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: The Black Dossier Alan Moore & Kevin O'Neil
60. 52: Volume 4 Geoff Johns et al
59. Bleach: Volume 13 Tite Kubo
58. Bleach: Volume 16 Tite Kubo
57. Bleach: Volume 15 Tite Kubo
56. Bleach: Volume 14 Tite Kubo
55. Bleach: Volume 12 Tite Kubo
54. Bleach: Volume 11 Tite Kubo
53. Bleach: Volume 1 Tite Kubo
52. Bleach: Volume 10 Tite Kubo
51. Bleach: Volume 9 Tite Kubo
50. Bleach: Volume 8 Tite Kubo
49. Bleach: Volume 7 Tite Kubo
48. 52: Volume 3 Geoff Johns et al.
47. Fallen Angel: To Rule In Hell Peter David & J.K. Woodward
46. Manhunter: Origins Marc Andreyko et al
45. Checkmate: Pawn Breaks Greg Rucka et al.
44. Hellboy: The Troll Witch and Others Mike Mignola, Richard Corben & P. Craig Russell
43. Fables: Arabian Nights (And Days) Bill Willingham et al.
42. The Pulse Vol. 3: Fear Brian Michael Bendis et al.
41. The Pulse Vol. 1: Thin Air Brian Michael Bendis & Mark Bagley
40. Strangers In Paradise 19: Ever After Terry Moore
39. Fallen Angel: Back In Noire Peter David et al.
38. 30 Days of Night Steve Niles & Ben Templesmith
37. Birds of Prey: Blood and Circuits Gail Simone et. al.
36. 52: Volume 2 Geoff Johns et al.
35. Trinity Matt Wagner et al.
34. 100 Bullets: First Shot, Last Call Brian Azzarello et al.
33. 52: Volume 1 Geoff Johns et al.
32. Astonishing X-Men: Torn Joss Whedon & John Cassaday
31. Wonder Woman: Eyes of the Gorgon Greg Rucka et al.
30. Astonishing X-Men: Gifted Joss Whedon & John Cassaday
29. Ms Marvel: Best of the Best Brian Reed et al.
28. Fables: 1001 Nights of Snowfall Bill Willingham et al.
27. Eternals Neil Gaiman & John Romita Jr.
26. Global Frequency: Detonation Radio Warren Ellis et al.
25. Global Frequency: Planet Ablaze Warren Ellis et al.
24. The All New Atom: My Life in Miniature Gail Simone et. al
23. Secret Six: Six Degrees of Devastation Gail Simone et al.
22. The Sandman: Dream Country Neil Gaiman et al.
21. Batman: Death and the Maidens Greg Rucka et al.
20. Manhunter: Trial by Fire Marc Andreyko et al.
19. Checkmate: A King's Game Greg Rucka et al.
18. The O.M.A.C. Project Greg Rucka et al.
17. Villains United Gail Simone et al.
16. Batgirl: Destruction's Daughter Andersen Gabrych et al.
15. Batgirl: Death Wish Kelley Puckett et al.
14. Batgirl: A Knight Alone Kelley Puckett et al.
13. Manhunter: Street Justice Marc Andreyko et al.
12. Birds of Prey: Perfect Pitch Gail Simone, et al.
11. Fables: Legends In Exile Bill Willingham et al.
10. Outsiders: Wanted Judd Winick, et al.
9. Batman: Officer Down Greg Rucka, et al.
8. Outsiders : Sum of All Evil Judd Winick, et al.
7. Birds of Prey: The Battle Within Gail Simone, et al.
6. Birds of Prey: Between Dark & Dawn Gail Simone, et al.
5. Batman/Huntress: Cry For Blood Greg Rucka, Rick Burchett & Terry Beatty
4. Birds of Prey: Sensei & Student Gail Simone, et al.
3. Fallen Angel: Down To Earth Peter David, David Lopez & Fernando Blanco
2. Fallen Angel: To Serve In Heaven Peter David & J.K. Woodward
1. B.P.R.D. The Universal Machine Mike Mignola, John Arcudi & Guy Davis

CHALLENGE | Graphic Novels Challenge 2008

I was all excited when I found out Dewey was hosting a Graphic Novels Challenge.

A glance at my sidebar (where it says "Comics & Manga Read 2007") will tell you I read manga and graphic novels from time to time. So, what can be easier?

Even the rules of participation are flexible:

To participate in the Graphic Novels Challenge, simply choose at least 6 graphic novels to read from January 2008 to December 2008. You may overlap with other challenges. You may also change your list of titles at any point if something comes up that you want to switch around.

I thought I could do a nice well-structured reading list with themes and stuff. But I'm afraid my reading habits has always been chaotic. So, without further ado, here is my list:

1. Cairo Written by G. Willow Wilson with art by M.K. Perker
   My director just read it and he recommended it to me. Cairo is a modern magical-realism retelling of the Aladdin story, rendered in stark black-and-white illustrations by Turkish artist M.K. Perker


2. League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: The Black Dossier Written by Alan Moore
   I loved the first two volumes of LOEG written by Alan Moore. It has been long delayed, but thankfully, it's finally arrived. From what I know of the story, the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen have been disbanded and disavowed, and the country is under the control of a tyrannical regime. Now, after many years, the still youthful Mina Murray and a rejuvenated Allan Quatermain return.


3. The Complete Persepolis Written and illustrated by Marjane Satrapi
   Satrapi's memoir of growing up in revolutionary Iran. I read an interview Satrapi gave a while back and she seemed like an interesting, fiery personality indeed.


4. Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Long Way Home by Joss Whedon and Georges Jeanty
   It broke my heart when Buffy finally went off the air. Season 8 of Buffy continues in comic form.


5. The Death of Captain America by Ed Brubaker et al
   This is actually pretty out of place on my usual reading list for comics, because I have tried very hard to avoid the Marvel Civil War series since it came out. These crossover series always involve too many titles and if I try to follow the entire story-line, I will have to buy over 30 trade paperbacks. But I'm going to try this one, because the story reads like the death of an icon.


6. Seven Soldiers of Victory Vol. 1 Written by Grant Morrison
   Once again, I've been hearing all these praises for the series, which brings in Grant Morrison to tie in several unrelated characters in their pursuit against a common foe. I think. Honestly, I have no idea what this series is about. The challenge is to go into this series blind.


7. Batman: Death and the City Written by Paul Dini
   I am a Batman fan, and I have too many Batman T-shirts for any respectable adult. I'm throwing this into the mix as I have heard good things about Paul Dini's run on the Dark Knight mythos. This one features Zatanna.


8. Birds of Prey: Dead of Winter Written by Gail Simone
   Gail Simone is one of my favourite comic book writer. She revitalised the Birds of Prey franchise, made convincing heroes out of B-list characters like Huntress and Black Canary. This will be her swan-song on the BoP series.


9. Crime Bible: Five Lessons of Blood Written by Greg Rucka
   The spin-off from 52, and it features one of my favourite DC character, Renee Montoya – who has taken the mantle of The Question towards the conclusion of the 52 series.

Other Titles (too many to list all)

• Shortcomings By Adrian Tomine


• Welcome to Tranquility: Volume 1 & Volume 2 by Gail Simone


• Fallen Angel Vol. 4 by Peter David


• Mouse Guard: Fall 1152 By David Petersen


• The Complete Maus by Art Spiegelman


• B.P.R.D. Garden of Souls by Mike Mignola et al

R.I.P. II | Hellboy: The Troll Witch and Others

Reading for The R.I.P. II Challenge:

Hellboy: The Troll Witch and Others
By Mike Mignola, Richard Corben & P. Craig Russell
[14/09/2007]

Last we saw of Hellboy, he had resigned from the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense (BPRD) and was on a walk-about, trying to find out more about his destiny and the enigma behind his Right Hand of Doom.

Hellboy: The Troll Witch and Others does not pick up the trail of our demonic crusader. Rather, it is an anthology of stand-alone Hellboy stories from the days when he was still with the BPRD. Some fans may be disappointed, as some of the stories have been collected in other Darkhorse anthologies. But there are a few original tales, and once again Mike Mignola retells folklores of monsters and demons, using his badass red demon prince from hell as the hero.

Mike Mignola had also roped in P. Craig Russell and Richard Corben for two stories in this collection, and their renderings of Hellboy are superb. I love Mignola's stark artwork -- but sometimes it can be refreshing to see one of my favourite comic protagonist through another artist's interpretation. Corben's Hellboy was drawn with smooth, elegant lines. It felt natural, a big red demonic hero in an African tale.

My personal favourite is Richard Corben's illustrations for Makoma. Mike Mignola stumbled across the story of Makoma in one of the Andrew Lang Fairy Books. It became a seed of an idea for a Hellboy story, and when Richard Corben agreed to do the art for a Hellboy story, the story was written.

Makoma is an archetypal hero's journey set in old Africa. In 1993, Hellboy came face to face with an African mummy found in a lost city. The mummy called out to Hellboy, told him a story, perhaps of a past life when the land was young and Africa knew him then. They called him by another name which he gave himself: Makoma, which means "He Who Is Without Fear". He was cast into a deep pool of black water when he was still a child. The pool was full of crocodiles, but he emerged from it fully grown -- and holding in his hand an iron hammer. Makoma has come to deliver the world of evil powers.

So Makoma, in the form of Hellboy travelled. He vanished many creatures, and carried the vanished creatures with him in a bag -- given to him by an old woman. The vanished beasts within the bag became his friends, and they helped him along the way. His friends praised him constantly: "MAKOMA IS GREAT!" To these cries, Makoma just shouts, "Quiet!" It was funny, in a pure Hellboy way.

Finally Makoma comes to the end of the world. His friends trapped within his bag have offered up their flesh as feast for Makoma, before his final battle. Makoma weeps when he realises what had happened. And he battles the Dragon, the ruin of all things that live, land, sea, and all flesh. They battled for a long time, until their strength finally fails them; they fell together. Makoma has delivered the world from evil power, as he had promised.

[Click on picture to enlarge]

Hellboy is what happens when folklore, good story-telling and great art come together. I love Hellboy. Always will.

R.I.P. II | 30 Days of Night

'We Are Three,
Spirits In White With the Ballsy Heads,
Doing the Cha-Cha-Cha'

(Don't mind that awful little ditty on top. It's just something that pops into my head everytime I look at the cutesy R.I.P. II button.)

Dark Orpheus Reads 30 Days of Night by Steve Niles and Ben Templesmith, for the R.I.P. II Challenge!

Some of us had a headstart for the R.I.P II Challenge. I finished 30 Days of Night before 1st September 2007 - the official start of the challenge. But nobody minds, right? ;p

North of the Arctic Circle, in the sleepy, chilly Alaskan town of Barrows where nothing really happens -- night is coming. Thirty days of night in fact, as the sun sets and does not return until 30 days later. As Eben and Stella Olemaun -- the husband-and-wife team of sheriff and deputy of Barrows -- watch the last sunset of the month, they are unprepared for the vampiric pack that will soon descend on the town.

The vampires have discovered the perfect blood orgy. They will feast. They will play. There is no escape. Before the sun rises again on Barrows, no one will be left. Sounds fun, right?

Not really.

I had high expectations for 30 Days of Night, but as it turns out, I was disappointed by the storyline, which was basically about a massacre in town by the vampires, and towards the end, a sacrifice has to be made to save the day. The story ended with great anticipation for the later books in the series, as the lives of the survivors will never be the same again. However, read all by itself -- 30 Days of Night seems superficial, with paper-thin characterisation. As for the dramatic showdown near the end -- the result of the fight was unbelievable and too convenient.

I'm trying to appreciate the artwork of the graphic novel. It is somber, with an impressionistic grey palette with occasional splashes of violent red -- it's murky and bleak, highly sympathetic to the feel of the story -- but I just can't bring myself to like it. I believe a lush visual could have compensated for the bare storyline -- filled in the empty spaces of the narrative, so to speak -- but it did not.

I had expected more out of it. I expected some blood on the steak, but instead I bit into something bone-dry. It could have been more.

But oddly, the graphic novel has not turned me off the film. I still believe if the visual effects were done well, the story could have worked. As an appetizer, let's revisit the trailer to the film adaptation of 30 Days of Night:

COMICS | Fallen Angel: Back In Noire

I just finished Fallen Angel: Back In Noire by Peter David, J.K. Woodward & Kristian Donaldson. While reading it, I realise I missed volume 2 of the IDW run of the Fallen Angel series, so there were some minor plot details that I'm clueless about.

BACKGROUND TO THE SERIES:

Fallen Angel: Back In Noire is the third installment of the IDW run of Peter David's graphic novel series about Liandra "Lee", the Fallen Angel. She is a sort of superheroine in the city of Bete Noire, "the city that shapes the world". As the back story was revealed in Fallen Angel: To Serve In Heaven, she was a former guardian angel (of the heavenly sort, with wings and all) who fell from the grace of God and found herself as the Court of Last Resort for the desperate in Bete Noire. She has the power to enforce her will, but all who comes to her are subjected to her judgement. She may help you if she finds your cause worthy, but she will just as soon hasten your end if she deems it so.

According to Lee, God has no say over the city of Bete Noire. Instead, it is ruled over by The Hierachy, through the power of the Magistrate. The Magistrate has dominance over everything within Bete Noire. It is a position passed from father to first-born son, and a ritual is performed on or after the son's 18th birthday to seal the transfer of power. Bete Noire is later revealed to be the Biblical city of Enoch, and the Magistrates are direct descendants of the city's founder, Cain.

The Magistrate bears the mark of Cain and none may harm the Magistrate. All injuries attempt on the Magistrate shall rebound unto the perpetrators. While the position protects the Magistrate, it also bounds him to the city. One day of every year, The Magistrate is allowed a "day off" ― the only time he is allowed to leave the city, which possesses a sentience of its own. On top of that, the Magistrate is cursed with the constant voices of the city, which he cannot blockout and causes him unending suffering.

BACK IN NOIRE

Last we left off, Lee's son, Jude, had taken over as the Magistrate of Bete Noire. Jude is a priest and he still wears the collar. He is new to the city and he believes he can use his power for good, not realising the corrupting influence of his new position.

Back In Noire explores Jude's new role as Magistrate, and how it creates a conflict of interest with Lee when Jude arrests the local drug lord, Asia Minor, and placed him on trial. Lee on the other hand, needs Asia Minor's help to save a man's life. The story is resolved a little too conveniently, but it has Jude compromising his ethics for a way to end the incessant voices in his head. He has taken the first step to condemning himself, and it is hinted that darker factions are waiting on the sidelines. And they are patient.

Fallen Angel has a great backstory ― rivalries between agents of divine and mystical powers, as well as an interesting protagonist with perpetual PMS. The story opens with a vampire-like attack, and the Fallen Angel makes her entrance with these earth-shattering lines:

It's nearly sunrise.

I haven't slept in two days.

And I've got cramps.

I am so not in the mood for this shit.

Even when Jean Grey was the Dark Phoenix and threatening to destroy earth, you still wouldn't catch her admitting to cramps.

Lee is something of a reluctant heroine, as you can tell. Unfortunately, Fallen Angel still only has something of a cult following only, and I truly believe it deserves a wider readership. Perhaps not everyone has patience with a comic series that takes time to unfold little backstories and drop small hints of future things to come.

Fallen Angel even has a premise similar to Garth Ennis's Preacher on the subject of divinity. When Jude asks Lee why Evil exist, she replies that God wants to die. Humanity was intended to be God's crowning achievement, and God was prepared to move on after its creation. However, the constant prayers of people on Earth prevent him from being able to do this. For centuries, God has been sending disasters to Earth in the hope that people will stop believing in Him and let Him pass. It is an interesting concept ― not to mention daring. It is also one of the reasons why Peter David remains one of the more interesting writers around.

Finally, Back In Noire has a second story where Lee's predecessor ― a young girl named Lin ― returns to Bete Noire. It develops the idea further of the sentience of the city, as well as explore a story of the darker history of the city. A long time ago, the Magistrate one day decides to neglect his duties. This power vaccum led to the emergence of newer factions, and the Fallen Angel (Lin) arrived as a balancing force.

SUM UP

On the whole, the stories in Back In Noire are not as strong as the first volume, To Serve In Heaven, and I don't think there was much explored in the conflict of interest between Jude and Lee ― although there was some freaky incestuous stuff happening between Jude's half-brother, Jubal and Jubal's mother. The stories seem to serve only as fillers in the on-going power struggle for dominance of Bete Noire, but weak plot, and little forward movement in the storylines. And they probably will not make sense unless you are already a Fallen Angel fan.

Strangers in Paradise 19: Ever After

So this is ever after. It's been a while, but we are finally at the end.

I first picked up Terry Moore's Strangers In Paradise series when I was 18, I think. I can't even begin to describe the story, because Terry Moore has chocked it full of plot twists and entanglements. The plot was totally unbelievable, yet the characters are so raw and likeable that I just kept reading.

There is this girl, Katina "Katchoo"" Choovanski and her best friend from high school, Francine Peters. Then there is this guy, David Qin, who is sort of in love with Katchoo, but Katchoo is sort of in love with Francine. Oh, and Francine has problems - she desperately wants to find The Right Guy, get married, have children - but her taste in men sucks. So one day her boyfriend cheats on her, and Katchoo steps in and threatens to castrate Francine's cheating beau. It was funny, and there's always humour in Terry Moore's comics. There's friendship, love, loyalty and heartbreaks. But always you know they will come through for each other.

In between, Katchoo gets dragged off to jail, where her shady past as a high-class prostitution for a high powered mafia group comes up (the plot is unbelievable, really, but so Over The Top that it's entertaining in its own way)

The series finally ended with volume 19 of the trade paperback. I have been with Katchoo, Francine and David for 13 years. The ending is tied up with a big pink bow and it ends well for most of the characters, even Tambi, who finally allowed herself a human side. Is it satisfying? There were moments in the past few years when it seemed like Terry Moore was really going to end the story with Katchoo heart-broken. Instead he continued, writing about how Katchoo, with the help of David and their friend Casey, found her way to healing through her painting.

For more than a decade I followed Terry Moore's characters, his ridiculous plots - I even considered having a tattoo like Katchoo's on my body. Why? Because Strangers In Paradise is a story of how we come to Paradise, lost, unsure, and someone is there to hold our hand, to guide us through a beautiful place where we need not be afraid. It reminds us that love will guide us.

My ex used to call me a "Katchoo", because of my anger. But over the years I find myself more a Francine, an insecure girl who just wants to be loved - but is somewhat obtused about love. Or maybe even a David, who loves whole-heartedly, even though he knows he will never be the One True Love of the object of his affections. I can even see a Tambi in me - a strong, formidable character who enjoys scaring people. I guess I love Strangers In Paradise, because I am a composite of all of the characters. I am a Stranger In Paradise.

Jubilee!

Oh Jubilee. Jubilation Lee. How you have grown!

For a while your superpowers appear to be a Peter Pan youthfulness, remaining 13 and a half years of age in spite of being around for years. You were a bubble-gum chewing loudmouth, a spitefire who held her own by Wolverine's side. Even the lacklustre Gen-X series gave you occasional moments of heroism, and the Gen-X series hinted - through Emma Frost's analysis - that you possessed greater powers than anyone realised, that unconsciously you suppressed them because you were too afraid of hurting those around you.

Your greatest power, in my opinion, was your humanity. Your child-like compassion and decency. Your instinct for doing the right thing. Perhaps that was why Marvel wanted to keep you 13 and a half for so long; perhaps they did not believe the decent part of you could survive growing up.

Last I heard, you lost your mutant powers after that fiasco that is House of M. Now you are in New Warriors. Now you go by the code-name of Wondra, doing wierd things in a suit. Your leadership qualities are coming through. You are leading missions, helping people.

And now you have boobies.

WHAT exactly are they doing with you?

CHALLENGE | Once Upon A Time 2007

CHALLENGE COMPLETED

[FAIRY TALE]

1. Neil Gaiman's The Sandman: Dream Country [Write-Up]
2. Stardust by Neil Gaiman & Charles Vess[Write-up]
3. Fables: 1001 Nights of Snowfall by Bill Willingham

[FOLKLORE]

4. Book of Ballads by Charles Vess with various contributors

[FANTASY]

5. Threshold by Caitlin R. Kiernan

[MYTHOLOGY]

6. The Winter King by Bernard Cornwell [Write-up]

[FINALE]

7. A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare

Thursday, March 22nd ~ Midsummer Night’s Eve, June 21st 2007

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BOOKS | Weekend Finishing Up

Ah, weekends. This weekend hopefully will see me finishing up the Once Upon A Time Challenge with The Winter King and A Midsummer Night's Dream (fingers crossed).

I've also just checked out a copy of Fables: 1001 Nights of Snowfall from the library. 1001 Nights of Snowfall is a sequel to the Bill Willingham comic series, Fables, where characters from fairy tales have been driven from their Homelands into our world because of some dark conquering power, known as the Adversary. 1001 Nights of Snowfall takes place in the early days of the Fables series, just after the fables (characters from the fairy tales and folklores) are exiled from their homes. Snow White has to travel to Arabia as ambassador to her Fables community. She is kidnapped by a sultan who of course wants to marry her, then kill her. In the process of trying to save herself, Snow White plays Scheherazade, telling stories to the sultan for 1001 Nights.

Maybe I will just add it into the list of books to read for the challenge. Well, why not? I still have time.

Then again, the Once Upon A Time Challenge is the very first challenge I might actually complete, so maybe I shouldn't try to jinx it by counting chickens before they hatch?

CHALLENGE | Stardust SPOILERS

Once Upon A Time Challenge 2007

Stardust: Being A Romance Within the Realms of Faerie
Words by Neil Gaiman & Pictures by Charles Vess
[Fantasy; Illustrated Novel]

***SPOILERS GALORE***

Stardust is a book of delight. It has all the elements of the faerie story, the hero, the maiden, the quest, the little helpers and the romance. The story starts, not with Tristan Thorne, but rather with Dunstan Thorne, the father. It tells of a broken wall that separates the faerie land from the world as we know it. The hole in the wall is guarded, but every seven years there is a faerie market where faerie merchants come to ply their wares. It is during one of these market fair that Tristan Thorne came to be, a faerie-human child, though he knew it not at first.

When he grew up, he fell for the beauty of spoiled Victoria, and in a moment of youthful rashness, agreed to bring back a fallen star. In return, Victoria promises what he desires. It is the typical fairy tale, a hero's quest for love, where he will be tested but find helpers along the way.

Turns out the fallen star becomes a young woman, Yvaine ― one with a quick temper. Add a witch-queen who seeks the heart of a star to regain her youth, and three scions of Stormhold, contesting to be the first to find the fallen star to claim lordship of Stormhold. The different threads come together gradually in a bloody confrontation in an inn. In between there were some violence, murder by poison, cutting of throat, a lion and unicorn battles for a crown ― fairy tales are not for the faint-hearted when it is Neil Gaiman.

What gives this archetypal plot a life of its own is the details that Gaiman provided ― from the goat chariot of the witch-queen, to the tricking of the witch-queen by Dishwater Sal to utter the prophecy, and the hint of future events unfolding in a mundane thing as a squirrel hiding an acorn. All of it come together to make it an exceptional tale.

At the end, Tristan Thorne finds love not with Victoria, but with a fallen star. They have no children, because she is not human. He becomes lord of Stormhold, but before that he wandered the world with his true love. But what remains with me at the end is the fate of Yvaine:

They say that each night, when the duties of state permit, she climbs, on foot, and limps, alone, to the highest peak of the palace, where she stands or hour after hour, seeming not to notice the cold peak winds. She says nothing at all, but simply stares upward into the dark sky and watches, with sad eyes, the slow dance of the infinite stars.

It is not a happy ending. But so much more beautiful because of it.

COMICS | Sandman A Midsummer Night's Dream

Once Upon A Time Challenge 2007

The Sandman: Dream Country
Written by Neil Gaiman, Illustrations by various artists

Dream Country collects a few Sandman stories, the cream among them is the World Fantasy Award winner: A Midsummer Night's Dream. It won, and it riled a lot of people who declared never again shall the award be given to a *comic book*. Oh well. For some of us, Adam and Eve rode the dinosaurs to church.

(Okay, okay. Unfair. Overly-critical. Self-righteous. Below the belt. Totally irrelevant to the intended subject of this post.)

I decided to read Sandman: Dream Country specifically for the Midsummer Night's Dream short story. I thought it will make a good idea to kick off the Once Upon A Time Challenge with an interpretation of Midsummer Night's Dream, and end with the Shakespeare original ― like a pair of bookends. I believe The Sandman was the most successful graphic novel series to date to bring the medium into mainstream awareness and literary esteem. It might be contradictory to call something both "mainstream" and "literary" ― yet this is precisely what Gaiman has achieved: bringing comic art and literature together. What The Sandman series represent, is a lifetime of reading filtered through Gaiman's imagination. And Gaiman's A Midsummer Night's Dream is a tribute to the Bard, and perhaps a tribute to the Dream King himself. Afterall, who can truly separate the dreamer from the dream?

It is Midsummer's Eve, the year 1593. It is the time of the playwright, William Shakespeare, who made a bargain with a figure out of myths and stories: in return for his inspirations, for words that will echo through time after him, Shakespeare promised to write two plays for his mythical patron, Morpheus ― King of Dreams. The first of these is "A Midsummer Night's Dream", to be performed on Midsummer's Eve on Wendel's Mound, which was a performance space before the humans came to the island.

Morpheus asked for a play to be written and performed by Shakespeare's troupe. Unknown to the human actors of Shakepeare's company, the play will performed for Auberon of Dom-Daniel and his queen, Lady Titania, and the Faerie folks. The world has changed, and the Faerie folks determined it will be their last sojourn to this earth; Auberon tells Morpheus:

AUBERON: Things have changes, and will change more; and Gaia no longer welcomes us as once she did.

And so the faerie folks are passing. Though one wonders what they will bring with them in their passing? Yet Morpheus will have his say in some things. And he will achieve them through the power of words and creation:

MORPHEUS: You have asked me why I asked you back to this plane, to see this entertainment.

I ... During your stay on this Earth the faerie have afforded me much diversion and entertainment.

Now you have left, for your own haunts. And I would repay you all for this amusement. And more:

They shall not forget you. That was important to me: that King Auberon and Queen Titania will be remembered by mortals, until this age is gone.

AUBERON: We thank you, shaper. But this diversion, although pleasant, is not true.

Things never happened thus.

MORPHEUS: Oh, but it IS true.

Things need not have happened to be true. Tales and dreams are the shadow-truths that will endure when mere facts are dust and ashes, and forgot.

Remember the words of Morpheus: "Things need not have happened to be true." That is the power of fantasy and stories. A lot of us signed up for the Once Upon A Time Challenge, perhaps all of us in our enthusiasm serves as witness to the power of fantasy and stories in our lives.

Morpheus is one of The Endless, each of them serving to represent an aspect of existence. Morpheus's domain is Dream, and with it the creative unconsciousness where all inspiration springs. Yet all things cast a shadow. Dream, by its existence serves to define its opposite ― perhaps Reality. Perhaps Truth. Recall that Midsummer Night's Dream runs on the deceiving qualities of magic, of falling in love with an Ass-head because we could not see what is in front of us. The play is played out, with the real Puck coming onstage to play himself, and drama ensures both onstage and offstage. Players and play, on Midsummer Night's Eve, the lines between the two are blurred, and so as the Puck closes the play with his speech, which could have come from the real Puck, Shakespeare, or even Neil Gaiman himself:

If we shadows have offended,
Think but this, and all is mended,
That you have but slumber'd here
While these visions did appear.
And this weak and idle theme,
No more yielding but a dream,
Gentles, do not reprehend:
if you pardon, we will mend:
And, as I am an honest Puck,
If we have unearned luck
Now to 'scape the serpent's tongue,
We will make amends ere long;
Else the Puck a liar call;
So, good night unto you all.
Give me your hands, if we be friends,
And Robin shall restore amends.

All is play, and in the spirit of play is this story written. But Gaiman's or Shakespeare's? No matter what, Gaiman and his team did put up quite a good show. Let's just end this post with these thoughts:

Perhaps the passing of the faerie folks is the reminder that once we believed in something beyond our physical senses. The world changed, we changed it. Perhaps we can remake it better.

If Neil Gaiman's Midsummer Night's Dream makes you want to drop by the library for a copy of Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream, who is to say who is the greater storyteller: Shakespeare or Gaiman?

Stardust Purchase

Okay, I said I wasn't going to buy new books for any of the challenges - but I bought the illustrated Stardust today. I've decided it's worthwhile to have a copy for keeps. Afterall, when the film comes out, friends will want to borrow a copy. Like they did for all my Hellboy graphic novels.

So, I've added Stardust to one of the books for Carl's Fantasy Challenge. Wish me luck. Reading it right now.

PS: I had previously assumed it was a graphic novel -- until Carl corrected me. It's an illustrated version of the Neil Gaiman novel. There are a lot of words inside. Wow.

COMICS | Gail Simone Is Writing Wonder Woman

I'm kind of blissed out. Just found out Gail Simone has officially been named the new Wonder Woman writer. Yay! Goodness knows Diana needs a good writer. Somebody save her from bad writing, please!

Read the interview with Gail Simone on her new series via Newsarama

GS: I had a direction and definite ideas about her character, but I think it’s very important not to give readers whiplash, or New Direction Fever, as it’s commonly called. I want people to be able to understand by page three of our issues who Wonder Woman really is, but there are echoes of all the great work that came before, in the background, as well.

Of course, since she’s punching a monkey off a waterfall on page three, maybe that’s not the best example.

On second thought, no, it definitely is.

NRAMA: Monkey off a waterfall?

GS: Monkey off a waterfall.

NRAMA: You’re going to get letters.

GS: Bring ‘em.