This Week in Reading

BOOKS:
24 Declassified: Death Angel (pb), by David Jacobs, pages 160 - 247.
Insatiable Appetites (ua), by Stuart Woods, pages 1 - 124.

COMICS:
Armor Hunters 1
Convergence Catwoman 1
Convergence Justice League International 1
Convergence Nightwing & Oracle 1
Convergence Superboy 1
Convergence Supergirl Matrix 1
Convergence Superman 1
Fables 108 - 113
Fairest 8 - 14
Legion Science Police 1
Marvel Fanfare 8
Masks 1
Mister Miracle 1
Open Space 4
The Outsiders 2

Teaser Tuesday

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of A Daily Rhythm. Anyone can play
along!

Just do the following:

Grab your current read.

Open to a random page.

Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page.

BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

From Chapter 1 of  24 Declassified: Death Angel, a prequel novel to the TV series, written by David Jacobs:

"In this lethal new environment, a handful of anmes stodd out in the wsubterranean milieu of the world-class elite of professionl killers for hire: Annihilax. Who or what was Annihilax? Was it a lone individual of a league of assassins?”

This Week in Reading

BOOKS: 
The Litter of the Law (ua), by Rita Mae Brown & Sneakie Pie Brown, COMPLETED. Review here. 
24 Declassified: Death Angel (pb), by David Jacobs, pages 91 - 160.
Paul & The Faithfulness of God (pb), by N.T. Wright, pages 246 – 272.

COMICS:
Amazing Spider-Man 235
Avengers 258
Convergence Batgirl 1
Convergence Speedforce 1
Convergence The Question 1
Convergence The Titans 1
Flash 28
Green Arrow 24
Green Lantern 163
Mask 2
The Unwritten 45 – 49

Review of A Christmas for Shacktown

Book #13: Donald Duck: A Christmas for Shacktown, by Carl Banks, hardcover collection of comic book stories, from 1951 & 1952.

Fantagraphic Publishing is producing The Complete Carl Barks Disney Library, a series of books that will collectiall of the comic book Donald Duck and Uncle Scrooge stories written and drawn by Carl Barks. These were originally published between 1942 and 1966. When the series is complete, it will comprise approximately 6000 pages and an estimated 30 volumes.

The books are not being produced chronologically. As of this writing, three volumes have been produced. A prior volume, “Uncle Scrooge: Only a Poor Man,” was reviewed here. My interest in Barks’ work was sparked by a podcast conversation with Luke Jaconetti, host of Earth Destruction Directive and proprietor of the Hawkman-themed blog Being Carter Hall.

The stories in this volume range from three epic 32-page stories, to a good number of 10-pagers, and well as a dozen or so single-page, single-joke stories. Barks’ ability to tell entertaining stories over these various lengths is a testament to the skill that he brought to the comics page. Scripting and drawing are two distinct skills, and Barks’ ability to do both gave him such control over the strip that he was able to really make these works his own.

The 32-page stories are the highlights of this volume. They include “A Christmas for Shacktown,” “The Golden Helmet,” and “The Gilded Man.” Each of these weaves together multiple storylines, characters, and scenes to create epic-feeling adventures.

These volumes include 20+ pages of story analysis and biographies at the end. These items, written by professors, authors, and historians, add a sense of artistic value to the funny proceedings.

Source: Westerville Library

Review of Litter of the Law

Book #12. The Litter of the Law, by Rita Mae Brown and Sneaky Pie Brown. Unabridged audio.

This series of mystery novels has a high “buy-in” factor. But once you understand that the animals can talk to each other (but not to the humans) and that they are pretty good crime scene investigators, the stories are generally enjoyable.

In this book, a series of deaths occur, with each victim hidden as a scarecrow on someone’s farmland. Investigating this series of deaths leads “Harry” Hairstein and her investigating pets to uncover a money-making conspiracy that puts all of their lives in danger. The story involves Native American land, the historical process of “paper genocide” of certain mid-Atlantic tribes. And someone seems to be messing with the quality of the soil in this agricultural community as part of this plan. And when money is at stake, terrible things can happen to people who stand in the way.

The way that the plot works itself out in this novel is very strong. Brown has either done a lot of research on the topic of Native American history, or has figured out to make it seem like she has. The details seem reasonable, the past history she presents us seems reasonable, and many of the reactions of past victims seem reasonable. The process of solving the mystery and uncovering the perpetrator is exciting and satisfying.

There is not a lot of character development in this novel. All of the characters (human and animal) act reasonably in character, as established in the prior novels in the series, but no major developments occur to push them forward. But that is a minor quibble. Overall, the novel was an interesting and enjoyable read.

Source: public library

This Week in Reading

BOOKS: 
Dreaming Spies (ua), by Laurie R. King, COMPLETED. Review here.
The Litter of the Law (ua), by Rita Mae Brown and Sneaky Pie Brown, pages 1- 146.
24 Declassified: Death Angel (pb), by David Jacobs, pages 25 - 91.

COMICS:
Incognegro graphic novel, COMPLETED.
Donald Duck: A Christmas for Shacktown, hardcover collection, COMPLETED.
Doom 2099 #1
Green Lantern Emerald Dawn II #1 – 6
The Unwritten #42 - 44

Review of Catwoman volume 3

Catwoman, volume 3: Death of the Family, issues 0, 13-18. Written by Ann Nocenti, with art by Rafa Sondoval, Jordi Tarragona, and others.

This volume contains a couple of short stories, a format that I appreciate, as not every comic book story needs to be six issues long. Picking up with the writing chores after Judd Winnick’s departure, Ann Nocenti gives us briefer tales that do not skimp on quality.

We start with a very intense game of “cat and mouse” game between the Joker and Catwoman. The creepiness of the New 52 version of Joker is a nice counterpoint to the playful sexiness of Catwoman. I am thinking here of the “strip poker” scene, as well as the point where Joker gives Selina a new costume. The ending is interesting, as Joker realizes that he prefers playing with bats than cats.

After tangling with Joker, Selina is approached to break into a super-secret A.R.G.U.S. facility (“The Black Room”) and steal whatever is being stored in a particular safe. She gets inside the facility by going undercover as a plain-jane university professor, but reveals her true identity (and costume) once she’s locked inside the archives with another researcher. As crazy things happen in the room, courtesy of the magic from a Black Diamond and other artifacts, a military squad tries to break in from outside the room. There is plenty of adventure and tension in this “closed room” story, with Selina’s dark humor coming out whenever it’s needed most.

This volume also includes the “episode 0” origin story. Angelo Melo and Julio Ferreira do a good job portraying a younger version of Selina than we get in the regular stories, although I don’t think I’d be a fan of their art style if it was the norm for the series. The origin is more of an update than something totally new, but it makes sense that the woman we see in the present grew from the kid with the tough upbringing that we see in this issue.

All of these stories give us an insight into Selina’s character, as well as telling exciting adventures. Nocenti’s take on Selina is different enough from Winnick’s for the change to be noticeable, although not jarring. This book has been one of the original “New 52” books that I’ve stuck with the longest.

source: Westerville library