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Graphic novels recently

stepheng — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 06:06:41 +0000

Haven’t had too much time recently for leisure reading, let alone trawling the library for various graphic novels, trade paperbacks and other items of interest. Normally, I’d read on the train but I’ve had to drive into work much more this semester and what time I have had for reading on the train has been spent in part reading journal articles or reading material for courses I’m teaching.

That said, I have managed to read a few lately and here are some random thoughts about them.

Firstly, I managed to track down a copy of “Rex Libris: I, Librarian” by James Turner. Think Indiana Jones meets Mean in Black meets the library. So librarians are actually highly trained agents of a secret organisation that seeks to promote and protect human civilzation, and will go to great lengths to promote that agenda. The mild mannered librarian is just a front, and patrons (from as far away as outer space or spirit realms) will be pursued by ‘armed and dangerous’ librarians for the overdue books etc. The humor is dry, there’s some interesting philosophical discussion at points, and it works well in the black-and-white vector format. Definitely work a look at.

You can find out more at:

James Turner’s web site www.jtillustration.com/rex/
Sample comic pages at SLG Publishing.

I’ve also just finished Craig Thompson’s graphic novel “Blankets”, which is possibly the longest graphic novel I’ve ever read (582 pages!). It’s basically an autobiography by Thompson describing his childhood growing up in American fundamentalism/evangelicalism, his first love, and his early adulthood. It’s hard work in places, and Thompson’s art isn’t always to my liking, but it’s a very good example of using this format to tell a story.
More information over at:

Blankets (graphic novel) - Wikipedia
Topic Shelf Productions - Blankets by Craig Thompson (including preview)

Also, in anticipation of the movie coming out next year I’ve been reading Alan Moore’s “Watchmen”. Credited as one of the most significant graphic novel/comics ever produced, it’s far too complex for me to describe here. (See description over at Watchmen - Wikipedia). It will be interesting to see if the movie is true to the book’s alternate American history set in the 70/80s Cold War, or whether it is revisioned for the contemporary world. My other concern is that the book is really intellectually engaging - whether that comes across in the movie remains to be seen. This is as much a deconstruction of the popular superhero mythos as a critique of Western values. You can look at the film trailer over here.

Finally, I also read “Infinite Crisis”, in the vague hope it’d clear up some confusion over the current state of the DC comics universe(s). Didn’t work for me - to disjointed and definitely not as good as it could have been.

WarGames

stepheng — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 09:22:21 +0000

Ah, WarGames. I loved that movie when it came out, but can’t really believe it was 25 years ago. Probably one of the things that influenced my computer science studies a few years later. Here’s a write up on the movie as it hits its 25th anniversary. See WarGames: A Look Back at the Film That Turned Geeks and Phreaks Into Stars

Disappointed…

stepheng — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 23:16:16 +0000

After listening to Steve’s presentation on River as a Christ-figure in the movie Serenity, I felt inspired to walk up to Heroes for Sale and grab the last two parts of the latest Serenity mini-series “Better Days” from Dark Horse comics.

Suffice to say I was disappointed. The story seemed to drag, some of the characterisation and language seemed “off”, and it didn’t really grab me like the first mini-series “Those Left Behind” did. Plus, there’s the sense of “dead men walking” if you’ve seen the film. Still, it is Serenity (and walking up the hill to the shop did clear my head of conference ‘fug’ and stretch my legs after a day sitting listing to stuff).

I also picked up the next issue in Image Comics “Transhuman” series - which deals with venture capital funding in this issue. It’s okay, but again the previous issue was much better.

Living with Star Trek

stepheng — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 12:42:45 +0000

Picked up the following book from a sale pile today at a book clearance store. Hoping to find some time to flick through it at some point - perhaps on the train traveling to and from the SBL international conference in a week’s time. Must have a hunt through the conference programme book and see if there’s anything in there relating to popular culture.

“Living with Star Trek: American Culture and the Star Trek Universe” (Lincoln Geraghty)

Battlestar Galactica vs. Star Trek

stepheng — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 10:05:34 +0000

Great little article by Sam J. Miller over at mental_floss Blog Â» Battlestar Galactica vs. Star Trek looking at the difference in anthropologies underlying Star Trek (pretty positive) and the new Battlestar Galactica (pretty negative). Worth a quick read.

Miller argues that Galactica doesn’t hide the warts or flaws in human nature and relationships, or paint a rosy picture of some kind of trajectory towards perfection achievable through the myth of progress. He says of that,

Galactica is sci-fi without that BS. Sci-fi with all the anger and stupidity and sadness that real people experience. Sci-fi without the conviction that we will conquer our own ugliness. Sci-fi for the age of peak oil and 9/11 and natural disasters compounded by climate change to the point where they can completely destroy major cities. Galacticaâ€™s message is that unless we come to terms with our own history, we are doomed. Mankind created the Cylons to fight our wars and to do our grunt work for us. Eventually they rose up and wiped out 99.999% of us. This basic lesson is one we still havenâ€™t learned: that exploitation leads to exploitation, that if you oppress someone you sow the seeds of your own oppression. â€œYou canâ€™t play God and then wash your hands of the things youâ€™ve created,â€ says the Galacticaâ€™s commander, William Adama. â€œSooner or later, the day comes when you canâ€™t hide from the things that youâ€™ve done anymore.â€

It’s similar to the flaws in humanity that Joss Whedon brought out in Firefly or J. Michael Straczynski kept in Babylon 5.

Hat tip to Exploring Our Matrix: Around the Blogosphere (The End of the Banana Argument)

Justice League: The New Frontier

stepheng — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 12:06:35 +0000

Just finished watching Justice League: The New Frontier DVD borrowed from the local library, which is the animated movie of Darwyn Cooke’s â€œThe New Frontierâ€ detailing the formation of the Silver Age Justice League. I enjoyed it, and especially so because it dealt primarily with the characters of Green Lantern (Hal Jordan), Flash (Barry Allen) and Martian Manhunter (J’onn J’onzz) rather than the normal Trinity of Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman.

The artwork style is very much 1960s, and for the comics enthusiast there are all sorts of cameo appearances and background details to note. And while it’s animated superheroes the plot and content (for example, the shades of grey in politics) are definitely geared for an audience above children’s level (The rating on the the DVD here is â€œMâ€). As the Line of Fire review noted below states: â€œThis is a fine film, definitely geared towards adults, a little too violent for the kids, but for anyone who ever loved superheroes, you will find an appreciation of this film.â€ However, for audiences outside of the US there will be a few moments where the elements of the story may not resonate as strongly as they might for those brought up in the US context.

Under the Mountain (from behind the couch)

stepheng — Sun, 18 May 2008 08:53:08 +0000

As a child growing up there were certain TV shows that could only be watched from â€œbehind the couchâ€. You wanted to know what happened, but at the same time the tension (and scariness) of the episode required that some form of retreat or protection was needed. These shows included the (Tom Baker) Dr Who ‘Pyramids of Mars‘ episodes, the UK series ‘Children of the Stones‘, and the New Zealand kid’s science fiction drama ‘Under the Mountain’, based on the Maurice Gee novel of the same name.

Today, we picked up the Under the Mountain DVD of TV series (filmed back in the early 80s). I’m looking forward to moving the couch forward a bit from the wall, and sitting down to watch it with the kids. Should be fun, especially as a couple of the kids have already read the novel.

Also, on a related note - the creator of ‘Black Sheep‘ is going to produce a movie version of the book aimed at teenagers. That should be worth seeing when it happens. More details here.

Firefly Study Series

stepheng — Wed, 14 May 2008 10:17:34 +0000

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away Darren wrote in an email â€œi’ll do serenity asap…â€. That was June 2006.

Now, however, he’s started the great Firefly Study Series and you can find the first parts at:

He’s also noted the link (via Tensegrities) to a series of Firefly clips over at Cowgirl Jazz.

The Homeless Channel

stepheng — Wed, 07 May 2008 10:04:57 +0000

A while back I saw the graphic novel â€œThe Homeless Channelâ€ being mentioned around the net. Part satire, part social commentary, part something else, the story is based around a cable reality TV show that provides 24 hour coverage of the homeless people in the city and the lives of people that intersect with that TV show. It sounds intriguing, and quite different from any other graphic novel I’ve seen recently. I’m going to try and see if I can get hold of a copy.

Comics Bulletin has a couple of pieces related to it: The first is an interview with the creator, Matt Silady, while the second is a review of the novel.

The creator, Matt Silady, also has a preview of the novel and a movie trailer of the story.

Yet another “Rapture” comic book

stepheng — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 03:10:11 +0000

“Rapture” theology, and indeed the broader category of ‘apocalyptic’ that it sits within, lends itself to dramatic, visual imagery that can be picked up by comics books. The latest of these, Armageddon Now: Word War 3, is about to hit the shelves (if it hasn’t already). And as with many of these things it juxtaposes contemporary world-events with a particular (often loose) interpretation of apocalyptic biblical material. The way things are portrayed you get the impression that many would like to be ‘left behind’ so they can go to town with extreme armament and fight their way into the pearly gates.

You can see the main web site for comic over at: Welcome to - Armageddon Now: Word War 3

There’s an interview with one of the creators of the comic here at NEWSARAMA.COM: ROB LIEFELD GETS BIBLICAL.

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