Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Archive for the ‘Unfinished series’ Category

Brian Michael Bendis & Michael Avon Oeming–Powers Bureau: Volume 2 Icons (2014)

Posted in Brian Michael Bendis, Bryan Lee O'Malley, Canadian Music, Michael Avon Oeming, Rheostatics, Scribbled Out Man, Superheroes, Supernatural, The Violet Archers, Unfinished series, Violence on September 23, 2015| Leave a Comment »

powers SOUNDTRACK: THE VIOLET ARCHERS-Victoria, BC (October 2005).

violetarcI have reviewed this show already, but with some context of other shows, it seemed worth revisiting.  The opening act was Scribbled Out Man (their bio on the CBC Music site says that they are friends of the Rheos).

I suspect this dates from 2004, as Tim says the album is coming out late spring or early summer and might be called The End of Part One (it was released in 2005).

The opening track is a soundcheck.  It sounds fine, although the “real” version later is better.  They play 12 songs at this show (compared to 8 in the previous show).  They cover all of the songs from their debut except “Outrovox” which is a short instrumental and “Fools Gold Rope” which is sung by Ida.

The opening two tracks are just Tim on guitar, singing the lovely simple song, “Simple” and the slightly darker, minor chord “All the Good.”  They sound good, but it’s more fun when the full band comes out.

Yawd on guitar and keyboard, Steve Pitkin on drums and Bass on bass.  “The End of Part One” sounds great, but Tim has some major guitar problems playing “Life and Then” a normally great song.  The rest of the set goes off without a hitch.  It’s true that the band sounds better when Ida sings with them, but in this original incarnation, they’re quite good.

For the final song “Here Comes the Feelings,” Tim asks, should we do the false start?  That’s become part of the song.  Steve counts to 5 and then we go–but we’re gonna get it wrong.  And they do.  But once they get past that, it’s a great set closer.

The band is still looking for a name, Tim suggests “The Gay Apparel.”

[READ: May 27, 2015] Powers Bureau

I hadn’t heard of Powers Bureau before (this book collects issues 7-12).  My initial thought was “do we need yet another superhero book?” But this book is different in a fun way.  Also I love the artwork–it is blocky and bold and reminds me of the Bryan Lee O’Malley style.

So this book is about Federal Agents Christian Walker and Deena Pilgrim.  They used to be homicide detectives who worked solely on (super) powers-realted cases.  But there was a disaster of some kind (presumably in book 1) and now all powers-related cases are Federal cases.

The two arrive at a crime scene in which a woman is tied up naked in the bathtub (way to open, huh?).  The boyfriend is the suspect, but he says that the woman (whom he did tie up for sex purposes) suddenly appeared next to herself, killed “herself” then fled.  It sounds preposterous, until they realize that the woman is Matzuii, who can split her self into multiple parts.  So essentially she killed herself. (more…)

Read Full Post »

Kyle Higgins, Alec Siegel, Rod Reis–C.O.W.L.: Volume 1 Principles of Power (2014)

Posted in Alec Siegel, Graphic Novel, Kyle Higgins, Rheostatics, Rod Reis, Superheroes, The Violet Archers, Tim Vesely, Unfinished series, Violence, tagged on September 22, 2015| Leave a Comment »

cowlSOUNDTRACK: THE VIOLET ARCHERS-Fall Nationals The Horseshoe Tavern Toronto (November 17, 2003).

veselyThe Violet Archers were (are?) a band formed by Tim Vesely, bassist for Rheostatics.  They released their first album, after the release of Rheostatics’ final album, 2067.  However, given that this show was recorded in 2003 and they talk about an album, it’s clear that Tim was writing stuff all along.

The band released two albums, which I’ve mentioned before: The End of Part One and Sunshine at Night.  They are both poppy and kind of mellow (with some noisy parts). And they are both great.

This show comes not only before the first album was released, it comes before the band even has a name.  It occurs on night 8/13 of the Rheostatics Fall Nationals 2003 at the Horsehoe.  This night was called SoloStatics Night (Martin also does a show).  The band for this set is – Yawd Sylvester (guitar/keyboards), Steve Pitkin (Drums), Bass (Bass).

The show starts with “Coordinates” which “shows of Tim’s hot guitar licks.”  The heavier parts rock pretty loud.  Yawd is playing some wild notes until the song smooths out some.  It also has an ending coda which not on the album.  “Life and Then” is a more upbeat song (with backing vocals).

Tim explains that the name of “The End of Part One” was inspired by his daughter’s speaking part on Harmelodia (she says end of Part 1).  For this song, Yawd plays keyboards.  Then Tim thanks Yawd for wearing pants tonight.  And thanks Bass for having his stomach sewed up before the gig.

“First the Wheel” is a protest song about food and war.  There’s a big guitar sound that sounds a bit more aggressive than the album.

Tim says that we (the band) don’t have a name, but this song does.  “Track Display” is a slow, mellow song with the unfortunate moment that as Tim is singing “things just sound so nice” that he hits a bad chord.  There’s some nice organ sounds and overall the song sound fine.

Some jokey band names shouted out: Marshmallow Room, Jello Enema, Submissions, Beauty Call, Beauty Kong, My Three Bearded Men, The Hairy Beards

“Saved Me” with simulated horns by Tim is quite nice.  Then Tim says the record is almost done, and it’s due out early next year.

The final song is listed as “Come the Night” but later on the record it will be call “A Rising Tide.”  I love the way the chorus turns minor and dramatic (along with Tim’s falsetto vocals).  It’s a good set and a good introduction to this band.

Amazingly, there is also video footage courtesy of Mark Sloggett can be found here.

[READ: May 25, 2015] C.O.W.L.

I saw this book at work and was quite intrigued.  I love a new graphic novel series that seems different.  And one called C.O.W.L. Chicago Organized Workers League sounded promising.

But I have to say that right off the bat I really didn’t like Rod Reis’s artistic style.  The book is set in Chicago 1962 and has a decidedly noir element.  It is translated very well by Reis’ style.  But I just don’t like it–it’s very dark and shadowy and I prefer my comics brighter.  I also found that the book looked like the it was computer designed–like the characters were cut and pasted and sometimes angled by computer–I found it a bit unsettling at times.

But I can get around that if the story is good.  And this one is.  After World War II, a group was assembled to try to bring all of the superheroes together.  It was started by The Grey Raven, Blaze and Sparrow.  They were organized by the titular labor union which also impacts other city workers.  (I love that idea).

And they were very successful.  But now, in 1962, the public is not sure what to do with C.O.W.L.  They have successfully taken down all of the supervillains, so what is their purpose?  This book collects C.O.W.L. issues 1-5. (more…)

Read Full Post »

Brian Azzarello, Cliff Chiang, Gordan Sudzuka–Wonder Woman: Volume 6: Bones (2015)

Posted in Brian Azzarello, Cliff Chiang, Goran Sudzuka, Lawrence Arabia, Myths, Tiny Desk Concert, Unfinished series, Wonder Woman on September 20, 2015| Leave a Comment »

vol6 bones SOUNDTRACK: LAWRENCE ARABIA-Tiny Desk Concert #75 (August 23, 2010).

lawLawrence Arabia are from New Zealand.  I don’t know what their album sound is like, but in this Tiny Desk, they play a sort of country folk.  With outstanding harmonies.

“I’ve Smoked Too Much” has some lovely “Do Do Doo’s” and the “ooohs” behind the second verse are just perfect.  I also like the way the bridge ratchets up the songs from the early country vibe to a more rocking feel.  Of course, with percussion provided by a shaker egg and tambourine, it’s impressive that they can get as rocking as they do.

The blurb only gives me the name of the lead singer (as the band is his and he says it is “his” album), so for everyone else I have to resort to instruments.  Thus Lead singer/guitarist James Milne and tambourine player have nice beards, but the shaker player has an amazingly thick beard.

“The Beautiful Young Crew” opens with Milne saying he had a morning voice problem and it isn’t as deep as it should be.  But he overcomes that with some nice humming.  The lyrics are amusing: “They love each other, but they hate each other, they’re afraid of each other because they want to screw each other.”   There’s some more lovely harmonies (dah dah dahs).  And then the electric guitarist now plays a gentle trumpet solo (thoughtfully facing away from the microphone).  At the end of the song, Bob thanks him for dropping the spit on the floor.  The trumpeter says it is condensation which makes Bob laugh.  And then the trumpeter delicately wipes it up with a tissue.

Before the third song, Bob asks about the album title, Chant Darling.  Milne says that he was in a covers band called The Chant Darlings.  He likes how it sounds so different in America (in New Zealand ChAHnt DAHrling) in America ChEHnt darlin’ (with a southern accent).

“Apple Pie Bed” has a more conventional structure–very rock and roll.  But the harmonies (ahhs and ahhs and the repeating of the lyrics) elevate everything.

The harmonies on the final song “Like a Fool” are the best yet with multiple parts.  And this song is just Milne on guitar and lead vocals.  But the three other guys really flesh out the song.  I’m curious to hear what these sound like on record–is there more to them?

[READ: May 29, 2015] Wonder Woman: Volume 6: Bones

After reading the Sensation Comics book of Wonder Woman short stories I was intrigued to read this book.  I actually assumed it was Vol. 6 of the same series, but indeed it is not.  This is Volume 6 of another series that I don’t know.  I’m not sure if the previous volumes are different story arcs or not.  The back of the book suggests that this is the end of the series (it collects Wonder Woman 30-35 and Secret Origins 6).  So at least I know how it all ends.

This series was written by Brian Azzarello and illustrated by Cliff Chiang and Goran Sudzuka.

The previous volumes have set up that Wonder Woman is an Amazonian named Diana.  She is the daughter of Hephaestus.  The Greek gods play a huge part in this story.

They live on Paradise Island, where only women are permitted.  The crux of this story concerns the birth of a baby boy (named Zeke) to, I assume, a human-only mother (there’s some backstory alluded to which I don’t really know). (more…)

Read Full Post »

Thomas Siddell–Gunnerkrigg Court: Volume 1: Orientation (2008)

Posted in Adventure, And the Kids, Boredom, Culture Shock, Demons, Fantasy, Funny (ha ha), Ghosts, Graphic Novel, Magic, Monsters, Myths, Research, Romance, Science, Set at School, Smarty Pants, Supernatural, Superstitions, Thomas Siddell, Threats, Tiny Desk Concert, Unfinished series, Witches, YA Books, Zombies on July 29, 2015| Leave a Comment »

gunner SOUNDTRACK: AND THE KIDS-Tiny Desk Concert #452 (June 30, 2015).

Ikids hadn’t heard of And The Kids before, but I was intrigued by their name and the lead singer’s look (is that a tattoo on her lip?).

But I didn’t like the way the first song started with a modified military “Glory Glory Hallelujah” musical refrain–it seemed strangely forced, especially for the first song I’d heard by them.  Although I may have liked it better if I knew the band better. It was a weird way to start.

Especially since I ultimate liked “Glory Glory.” (I am hearing a chorus of “I’ve been picking up floor milk” which is as fascinating as whatever the lyrics really are).  The drummer has great harmony vocals that really adds something to the song. I also love at around 2 and half minutes when the song turns into something very different—faster guitars with lead vocals by the drummer.  And even the bassist who has been quiet thus far chimes in with another layer of voices (and some interesting bass lines). It’s very cool.  So the song which started out kind of shaky really rocks out at the end.

The band trio, with a singer/guitarist, bassist and a great drummer.  There’s something about the lead singer’s guitar–it seems really big (maybe it’s just the head of the guitar?).  And the sound that the drummer gets is really great too—it may just be this recording, but the snare is really sharp.

For “All Day All Night” the drummer busts out a glockenspiel. It has a kind of shouted chorus that borders on dissonance but isn’t quite.  I like the way the song slows down (with the guitarist playing keyboard as it builds back up), the drummer plays the glockenspiel and the drums at the same time.  And the all three start singing with interesting harmonies. The ending whoo hoos are sharp and distinct as well.

“Cats Were Born” has a very interesting lyric: “The cats were born to kill for fun.”  But perhaps even more interesting than the words are the yodels and screams and yips that punctuate the song.  What’s also strange is the way the bassist seems so reticent to look goofy while the other two are wild.   The guitarist busted out a small four string guitar for this song which sounds really distinct. And the drummer really shines.  Through many of the songs she’s playing rim shots which is a distinctive sound in itself, but when she switches over to a faster style for the middle section, it’s really intense.

I don’t think any bands has gone so far from me not thinking much of them to being really won over by the end of their Tiny Desk.

[READ: February 26, 2015] Gunnerkrigg Court [1-14]

I discovered this book through my Goodreads account.  It was suggested because, well, I don’t recall, it had something to do with schools and supernatural and graphic novels or whatever.  There was also one that was suggested for Sarah (it was about boarding school and tea) which turned out to be Japanese softcore porn, so beware the Goodreads suggestions.

Although there was nothing to beware of with this book.

I actually thought Sarah would like it more because she loves boarding school fiction.  But she gave up on the book after a few stories.  Interestingly I almost did as well. It wasn’t that it was bad, in fact we both enjoyed the beginning.  But it was the kind of book that once you put it down, you didn’t feel compelled to pick it up again.  Perhaps because each chapter feels so self-contained–with no real cliffhanger–that it seemed like the stories were done.  And while the stories were good they weren’t awesome…so.  She gave up, but I continued

And I’m glad I did. (more…)

Read Full Post »

G. Willow Wilson, Adrian Alphona–Ms. Marvel: No Normal (2015)

Posted in Adrian Alphona, Feminism, G. Willow Wilson, Graphic Novel, Religion, Superheroes, Unfinished series, Yes on July 2, 2015| Leave a Comment »

marvel SOUNDTRACK: YES-The Yes Album (1971).

The_Yes_AlbumAnd then came The Yes Album and everything changed.  Whether it was the addition of Steve Howe on guitar or just more confidence in their songwriting, I don’t know, but The Yes Album is leaps and bounds above Time and a Word.

The opening staccato notes of “Yours is No Disgrace” are tight and loud—what is now considered classic Yes sound—Squire’s bass is low and rumbly but ever so precise.  There’s the true Yes keyboard sound and some amazing guitar work.  It’s got a great introduction followed by some excellent harmony vocals (that’s don’t sound psychedelic any longer).  Then comes the great slow jazzy section with the awesome bass meandering through.  The song has so many great parts and they all fit together perfectly.  This is how you make an awesome 10 minute song.  Even the ending which isn’t exactly different adds more drama.

The next song is a live version of “Clap” (apparently not called “The Clap” as our discs say).  It’s a fun romp from then new guitarist Steve Howe.  It’s a delightful masterpiece, although it’s kind of oddly placed (and the fact that it’s live also makes the flow seem odd).  This is all my way of leading up to saying that Fragile is a slightly more cohesive album than The Yes Album even if they are equally excellent.

“Starship Troopers” is another classic with some more great basslines and some really crisp drums. It also has a middle section (acoustic guitar with great vocal harmonies) that really holds the song together very well.  They do a great job at making instrumental sections interesting.

“I’ve Seen All Good People” has a great opening with harmony vocals and acoustic guitar and then a full chorus.  When Squire’s bass comes in at around 3 minutes, it’s like the heaviest thing on earth.  I happened to be listening in only one ear while writing this (never do that with Yes) and for the first time I hear the choral voices sing “Give Peace a Chance” before it switches over to the rocking second half of the song.  “A Venture” is like a truncated version of a Yes song.  It may be the least interesting song on the disc, but that’s just because of the company around it.

“Perpetual Change,” the third 9 minute song opens with some great loud guitars and then some quiet sections where Anderson’s voice really shines.  And just when you think that the song is going to be nine minutes of more or less the same sweet music, at 5 minutes it shifts gears entirely into a crazy staccato section of fast notes and drumming.  It’s such a strange riff (and when the bass starts following a slightly different riff and the guitar solos over the top, it’s beautifully controlled chaos.  And after a minute and a half of that, it switches back to the delicate harmonies of yore.

There’s not a bad song on this disc and depending on your proclivities it is either a little better or a little worse than the next masterpiece, Fragile.

Since almost every Yes album had different personnel, I’m going to keep a running tally here.  Our first change occurs with this their third album:

Chris Squire-bass
John Anderson-vocals
Bill Bruford-drums
Tony Kaye-keyboards
Steve Howe (#2 replaced Peter Banks)-guitar

[READ: March 15, 2015] Ms Marvel: No Normal

This collection collects books 1-5 of the Ms. Marvel series (Adrian Alphona is the artist for all of the books).  When I saw it at work, I assumed it was related to the new Captain Marvel series that I had just read.  But it turned out to be a different story altogether.  And I loved the new character that the Marvel universe has added to its fold.

For this story is about Kamala Khan an ordinary girl from Jersey City.  She is a Turkish Muslim with very strict parents.  Her brother doesn’t work but spends all his time praying (much to her father’s dismay).  Her best friend Kiki (call her Nakia now, thank you) has recently found her religion and begun wearing head scarves.  And her other best friend, Bruno, is busy working all the time.

As the story opens, we see these three in the Circle Q where Bruno works (there’s funny joke about “Chatty” Bob, which I liked). In walks a spoiled white girl Zoe who seems nice but really probably isn’t.  Kamala seems to like her but Nakia does not (and Zoe’s insensitivity to Nakia is part of the reason).

Zoe invites them to a party (knowing they won’t go), but Kamala sneaks out and heads to the party anyway.  She immediately doesn’t fit in, and as she wanders away from the festivities a mist covers the ground and she is visited by Captain America, Iron Man and Captain Marvel (in her new female form), and, better yet, she can speak Urdu. (more…)

Read Full Post »

Joshua Ferris–“Learning to Fly” Part 1 of 4 (Popular Mechanics, May 2015)

Posted in Airlines, Essays, Fears, Funny (ha ha), Joshua Ferris, Popular Mechanics, Set in New Jersey!, The Mountain Goats, Tiny Desk Concert, Unfinished series on May 2, 2015| Leave a Comment »

Popular-MechanicsSOUNDTRACK: THE MOUNTAIN GOATS-Tiny Desk Concert #41 (January 3, 2010).

mgI have talked about Tiny Desk Concerts off an on (more than 100, if I’m counting right), but I never really made a concerted effort to do them all.  So now I’ve decided to make the effort.  My plan is to post two old concerts a week and also mention new ones when they pop up.  Since there are nearly 450 concerts, this will take ages and ages.  But I’ve been really enjoying the bands I like and it’s been fun listening to the bands I didn’t know.  And two a week seems reasonable enough.

I know the Mountain Goats, although I don’t know them all that well–I keep meaning to listen to them more.  So this is a good place to start.  It’s just John Darnielle and his guitar.

These four songs are simple enough and yet they have s much passion and inventiveness.  Darnielle is known primarily for his lyrics, but he throws a good melody over his songs too.

He plays two (then) new songs, the quiet “Hebrews 11:40” and the loud “Pslams 40:2.”  His voice is instantly recognizable in either song–it more or less just sounds like him singing louder, and yet there’s something slightly different in his rollicking singing voice–a bigger intensity, perhaps.

He also plays two old songs.  The slow “Color in Your Cheeks” and the rollicking “Going to Georgia” (which he starts and then interrupts and then starts again).

While his lyrics are serious, his between song banter is charming and funny (“I am permanently a young man, no matter how old I get”).  I just saw that the Mountain Goats were on Seth Meyers’s show, I’ll have to check that out too.

Watch the Tiny Desk Concert here.

[READ: April 21, 2015] “Learning to Fly Part 1”

I was going to let my Popular Mechanics subscription lapse.  I enjoy it a bit, but don’t really read it all that much.  But this issue has some good articles and the start of this four part essay by an author I really like.  Who knew that authors wrote for such unlikely places?

I suspect that Popular Mechanics readers probably aren’t used to long form essays, because this first part, called “Takeoff” is only four pages long–this is not a Harper’s essay we’re looking at, here.  But the writing is still really good.

Ferris talks about the two things that contributed to his decision to take flying lessons.  The first was the death of his father and the second was his absolute fear of flying. (more…)

Read Full Post »

Kelly Sue DeConnick & David Lopez–Captain Marvel: Higher, Further, Faster, More (2014)

Posted in Bobby Bare Jr, Bobby Bare Sr, David Lopez, Graphic Novel, Huh?, Kelly Sue DeConnick, Tiny Desk Concert, Unfinished series, Violence on April 30, 2015| Leave a Comment »

capnSOUNDTRACK: BOBBY BARE, JR.-Tiny Desk Concert #417 (January 27, 2015).

Ibbjr don’t really know anything about Bobby Bare Jr.  I don’t know anything about Bobby Bare Sr.  I knew he was from Nashville and I assumed he was a country singer.

But in this Tiny Desk Concert it’s just him on his acoustic guitar and Matt Rowland on keyboards (often employing a Hammond organ/1970s sound).  This makes his songs fall more into the singer-songwriter category than the country superstar category. (I particularly enjoy the way the keyboards “build” for the instrumental section of the first song, “Don’t Wanna Know” when Rowland lays his arm on the keys.

Bare is very funny (and Rowland’s keyboard “comments” add to the humor).  He introduces the second song “The Big Time,” a rocking catchy number about moving to Nashville to become famous.  He seems to have a love/hate relationship with Nashville.  He introduces the song by talking about hanging out with his friends and telling them, “I can’t wait til I become famous because I’ll never hang out with any of you motherfuckers again.”

As an introduction to the final song “Visit Me in Music City” he describes Nashville as making the worst music ever recorded and the best music ever recorded.  He talks about a guy at a bluegrass festival who, upon realizing that Robert Plant was in the audience said he’d like to welcome Robert Plant from ZZ Top.  “And this sums up Nashville.”  This is a funny and actually sweet song that shows how charming Bare can be,

I enjoyed the whole set, and it totally changed what I thought I knew about Bobby Bare Jr.  Check it out.

[READ: January 15, 2015] Captain Marvel

I was pretty excited to see a female super hero cross my desk.  I don’t really know much about the history of Captain Marvel (who was a man at some point).  Nor do I know why she is a woman now (there is a previous book in this new series written by DeConnick but I couldn’t find it).

This book opens in the middle of the action with Captain Marvel, Carol Danvers, walking with several aliens (a robot creature, a green figure in a hood, a woman with snakes for hair and a bull-looking guy) on the Maniaciano Outpost.  They are looking for something.  The plan, which is a simple one, goes awry and soon they are all trying to escape at top speed.  Captain Marvel has what they are looking for but they have lost the green woman.  (Whose name is Tic).

Flash back six weeks ago where Captain Marvel is speaking to Captain America and she has just encountered a pod with, of all things, an alien girl with green skin.  We see that Carol lives in the Statue of Liberty and is also friends with Iron Man.  And as the first book closes we learn that she is ready to go back out on another mission.  This one proves to be pretty dangerous and she is saved at the last minute with help from…The Guardians of the Galaxy (holy crossover Spiderman!–it looks like she will be getting her own movie in 2018, so just hold on to your tights for a few more years). (more…)

Read Full Post »

Mike Maihack–Cleopatra in Space: Book One: Target Pratice (2014)

Posted in Becky Stark, C., Children's Books, Egyptology, Graphic Novel, John C. Reilly, Lavender Diamond, Mike Maihack, O Brother Where Art Thou?, Soul Coughing, Tiny Desk Concert, Tom Brousseau, Unfinished series on April 29, 2015| Leave a Comment »

cleoSOUNDTRACK: JOHN REILLY & FRIENDS-Tiny Desk Concert #418 (February 3, 2015).

johnI started this show without observing who it was (it was just next on my queue) and I listened without watching first.  At first I thought, hmm, interesting old timey songs.  And then the guy spoke and I thought, wow, he sounds a lot like actor John C. Reilly, I wonder if he’s from the same place.  And then I clicked over and saw that it was John C. Reilly, in full beard and hat playing old timey, spiritual songs.

A lot of actors have vanity music projects, but there’s nothing vain about this. It’s all old music (they use an old timey microphone) and they’re clearly not looking to top any charts.  Rather, Reilly plays acoustic guitar and sings—he has a great, solid voice. And his backing group is full of great musicians who all have careers doing other things: Tom Brousseau on guitar and harmony vocals, Becky Stark from Lavender Diamond on harmony vocals, Andru Bemis on banjo and fiddle, as well as Soul Coughing’s Sebastian Steinberg.

I didn’t recognize any of the four songs they played–which is probably the point.  He explains that Tom is their archaeologist and he uncovered a number of these songs.

The second song references Jesus and after the song Reilly talks tells everyone that he’s a lapsed Catholic but it seemed a shame to ignore all these beautiful songs because of religion.  So when they say Jesus you can think Buddha or… Satan or… the ocean. Becky Stark comes across a bit more, um, something, with her comment “we are advocates for deathless bliss.” (Reilly deflates the silence by saying “deathless bliss” is their other band).

It’s a charming group of songs and would not sound out of place with some tracks from O Brother, Where Art Thou.

[READ: January 8, 2015] Cleopatra in Space Book One

I brought it home for C. but it looked really fun so I read it too.  I enjoyed this book so much that I can’t wait for the next part.

I love Maihack’s artistic style, it’s simple and very clean, and his drawings of the people and aliens are cool and expressive

The basic setup here is that Cleopatra, yes, that Cleopatra, is about to have her 15th birthday.  This means she is about ready to rule the country.  But in the meantime she is stuck going to school and taking Algebra, ugh.  She gets her friend Gozi out of class (by hitting him with a pebble and making him yell).  So they sneak out.  I loved the joke when he asks where she got the slingshot since her father confiscated them all–“It’s not like they’re hard to make, Gozi.”

While they are shooting rocks at things, they uncover a giant tomb door.  When it opens, they see all kinds of cool artifacts.  One of them is a panel of some sort.  And when Cleo (she prefers Cleo) reads it, she is sucked into a portal to a new planet generations into the future.  The great great great great grandson of her cat is there (and he can talk–in fact all the cats can talk).  And they inform her that she is the prophecy sent to defeat the Xerx.  The Xerx are a race of brutes who are ruled by Xaius Octavian, a power-hungry dictator.

He evidently sent out some kind of EMP to destroy all of the electronic records in the world but also managed to keep copies for himself.  So he has all the knowledge in t universe.  And it was written that Cleopatra would come and save them from this terrible scourge. (more…)

Read Full Post »

Warren Ellis & Declan Shalvey–Moon Knight: From the Dead (2014)

Posted in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Declan Shalvey, Graphic Novel, Supernatural, Tiny Desk Concert, Unfinished series, Violence, Warren Ellis, Zola Jesus on April 24, 2015| Leave a Comment »

moonknightSOUNDTRACK: ZOLA JESUS-Tiny Desk Concert #421 (February 23, 2015).

zolaI didn’t know Zola Jesus before this Tiny Desk show.  I’d heard the name but didn’t know that it was the “group” formed by Nika Roza Danilova.

This show is practically a capella.  It is just Nika and Daniel Walter Eaton on trombone.  Yes, trombone.  He works as a punctuation to her voice (which is powerful and really impressive).

She evidently normally plays with a much bigger band, and often with a lot of electronics.  So this really showcases the quality of her voice.

She sings three songs (in just 9 minutes): “Ego,” Hunger” and “Nail.”  “Nail” is probably the catchiest song of the three.

I can’t say much more about them, except that a trombone is certainly an unusual accompaniment and her voice is tremendous.  Check it out.

[READ: January 6, 2015] Moon Knight

This book collects the Moon Knight series issues 1-6.  I had never heard of Moon Knight before although apparently he is an old character resurrected by Ellis.

The story is a fairly simple (supernatural) one.  Marc Spector, a mercenary, was killed in Egypt under the statue of Khonshu, the moon god.  Spector was resurrected (or something) in the guise of the moon god.  According to the introduction of the book, “he wore [the god’s] aspect to fight crime for his own redemption. He went completely insane, and disappeared.”

This is what happened next. (more…)

Read Full Post »

« Newer Posts