Todd Klein's Blog, page 246

And Then I Read: THE FLASH ANNUAL 3

Image © DC Comics, Inc.

Writers Robert Venditti and Van Jensen continue their time-travel story from the monthly comic, though with no real explanation to readers that this book is part of a continuing storyline. It does, at least, begin at a beginning rather than in the middle of something, and that beginning is Barry Allen’s first day back at his old job at the police crime lab, and doing a little juvenile delinquent capture on his way in. Turns out a bit later, the juvenile is reporter Iris West’s nephew, Wallace West. Longtime FLASH readers will know he’s being primed for a super-heroic role, but we don’t see that yet.

Meanwhile, Barry is given a case his boss says is one he can resolve quickly. Barry interviews the suspect and doesn’t agree, getting him off on the wrong foot at work already. And as Flash, he gets involved in an art museum robbery where the thieves have powerful futuristic weapons. In an intercut sequence we see an older and darker Flash battling Gorilla Grodd, the rather stupid one from the recent reboot in this series. The two storylines don’t seem to connect yet, making this a long book without any satisfying resolution, something I don’t like in an Annual. The art is generally fine, though I already miss Francis Manapul.

Mildly recommended.

And Then I Read: THE MAD GOD’S AMULET by Michael Moorcock

Image © Michael Moorcock. (Don’t know who did this cover art)

The second book in Moorcock’s “Hawkmoon” series confirms it as sword and sorcery, as well as a medieval war story. Hawkmoon triumphed over the vast armies of the Dark Empire of Granbretan in the first book, “The Jewel in the Skull,” but only momentarily. In this one he and his new friend the beast-man Ohladan are trying to get back to the beseiged land of Kamarg where his beloved Yisselda and her father, the country’s leader Count Brass are hopefully still holding off the forces of Granbretan against impossible odds. On their episodic journey they encounter helpful ghosts, berzerker pirates and more odd dangers before tackling the Mad God, who wears a magic amulet that Hawkmoon has been told will help his cause. Hawkmoon is at first reluctant to take on this side quest until he learns that Yisselda is a captive of the Mad God in his northern enclave. The mysterious Warrior in Jet and Gold arrives to give help and advice, though Hawkmoon is reluctant to trust him. A former enemy, French fighter d’Averc also becomes a companion for a while after Hawkmoon disgraces him in the eyes of Granbretan, another character hard for Hawkmoon to trust. In all, the hero is surrounded by enemies and finds his road a tricky one.

This book has fewer surprises than the first, as it must convey the main characters to a known conclusion, the return to Kamarg for the final battle with Granbretan. The end promises a new setting and situation in the third book, which I’ll read soon. In general this series is less thoughtful than the previous Moorcock trilogy I read about Von Bek, but still enjoyable reading.

Recommended

Spring Flowers (and a few birds)

May is flowing by in a busy rush, as it always does. Spring perennials like this pink azalea are blooming, but I don’t have much time to look at them. I’ve taken a few pictures as proof!

White viburnum, which we thought would give us some nice fall color in the leaves. Nope, that’s a different viburnum, but the spring flowers are pretty.

Spiderwort flourishes in our shady yard, each bloom open for only a day, but there are plenty on each stalk, so they last a few weeks.

A perennial blue salvia that the bees like. Doesn’t last long, but striking while it’s here.

As the azaleas are finishing, our huge rhododendrons are blooming. Hard to believe we planted these three as small shrubs, they’re now about 7 feet high and equally wide.

Our pink dogwood didn’t have many flowers this year. Probably not getting enough sun.

Last year I put in several kinds of ground cover along the front bed where I used to plant annuals every year, hoping to cut down on the work. These did well, especially the chartreuse one. The weeds still grow among them, but not as many.

I don’t remember what this shrub/tree is called, we put it in so long ago, but the bees are enjoying the blossoms this year. I have to cut it back to the ground every other year or it would take over the front garden, and the year after that it doesn’t bloom, so it’s like this every other year.

We planted a few columbines years ago, and they naturalized and spread around the yard, but this is the only one that came up this spring. Not sure why, maybe our cold winter.

Beautiful blue iris are blooming at the edge of the pond. This is a water-loving type that likes wet feet.

I’ve been feeding the birds black oil sunflower seed in this tube feeder since November, but I’m nearly out of it, and won’t buy more now. When the party’s over it will be a shock to a pair of Blue Jays that are grabbing them constantly, no doubt feeding young. It’s sad, but no matter when I stop feeding, someone will feel the pinch, and I don’t want to feed all summer. My other tube feeder has niger thistle seed for the Goldfinches, but as always happens in mid to late May, they’ve departed for wherever their nesting grounds are, and we won’t see them much until late fall.

Our Cardinal pair are also feeding, mostly on the ground, but the male has figured out how to land on the tube feeder perch and get seed there, too.

Memorial Day weekend is when I plant some annuals. Having cut back this year, I’m only putting them in planters, none in the ground, and I was able to get them all planted in three hours this year instead of the usual 8-12 hours it used to take. Two large geraniums are on the front porch along with some begonias.

More begonias are scattered around the yard edge along with other annuals like lobelias and petunias. I also planted a new rosemary bush to replace the large one that died over the winter, and some chives. Was considering a few other herbs, but those were the ones I found yesterday locally.

Dianthus in some of the planters came back well, and should last a few years. I added a few new ones. They bloom for about a month then are dormant over the summer, but sometimes have another smaller bloom in the fall.

Gardening seems so promising this time of year, hope springs eternal and all that, but only time will tell how things go. Some years we do well, others we have a drought or too much rain and the garden suffers. But there are more perennials that will be blooming in the summer and fall, so there’s always that to look forward to if the annuals don’t thrive.

And Then I Read: THE ROYALS 3

Image © Rob Williams & Simon Coleby.

There aren’t many surprises in this issue, rather the story is playing out as one might expect from the first two. The super-powered royal princes of England, Henry and Arthur, have joined the American fleet in the Pacific at the island of Midway to take on the Japanese navy. Japan has super-powered royals too, and as seen on the cover, not ones to be taken lightly. Henry continues to try his best to do what’s right, Arthur continues to be a most horrible human being who also enjoys the killing of wartime and the impunity his powers give him. Their sister Rose continues to be somewhere between, or perhaps just enigmatic. Not bad. The script by Williams is harrowing, the art by Coleby is somewhat uneven at times, but generally effective.

Recommended.

Incoming: NEMO, THE ROSES OF BERLIN

Image © Alan Moore and Kevin O’Neill.

This came out in March, but I just received some copies. Many people seem to think that Alan Moore has given up writing comics completely, but it’s not so. The “League of Extraordinary Gentlemen” series continues with three books about the daughter of the original Captain Nemo from Jules Verne’s “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea” and “Mysterious Island.” The first, NEMO: HEART OF ICE came out in 2013. It details an expedition to Antarctica that involves a number of lost civilizations and ancient horrors. We’re working on the third now, which will be out next year. ROSES OF BERLIN takes place mostly in World War Two Germany and is full of Nazi-fighting action. I’m proud to be a part of it, including the design work I did on the cover, under Kevin O’Neill’s direction and layouts. The series is available from the publishers Top Shelf (in America) and Knockabout (in England). And if you missed the previous series, CENTURY, you’ll find advertisements there for the collected hardcover edition, cover below, due out in July. Lots of great reading!

Incoming: NEMO, ROSES OF BERLIN

Image © Alan Moore and Kevin O’Neill.

This came out in March, but I just received some copies. Many people seem to think that Alan Moore has given up writing comics completely, but it’s not so. The “League of Extraordinary Gentlemen” series continues with three books about the daughter of the original Captain Nemo from Jules Verne’s “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea” and “Mysterious Island.” The first, NEMO: HEART OF ICE came out in 2013. It details an expedition to Antarctica that involves a number of lost civilizations and ancient horrors. We’re working on the third now, which will be out next year. ROSES OF BERLIN takes place mostly in World War Two Germany and is full of Nazi-fighting action. I’m proud to be a part of it, including the design work I did on the cover, under Kevin O’Neill’s direction and layouts. The series is available from the publishers Top Shelf (in America) and Knockabout (in England). And if you missed the previous series, CENTURY, you’ll find advertisements there for the collected hardcover edition, cover below, due out in July. Lots of great reading!

And Then I Read: THE FLASH 30

Image © DC Comics, Inc.

New writing and art team for this book, so let’s see how they begin. It’s “in media res” as the latin phrase has it, or “in the middle of things,” a technique that can put the reader right in the action, but sometimes creates confusion as well. So the opening two pages are five years in the future, as The Flash arrives at a murder scene too late. Then it’s present time, with Barry Allen still at his Records Room job, but going for a psych evaluation to be reinstated in the police crime lab. Some entertaining banter between Barry and his girlfriend Patty. The psychiatrist scene is also entertaining, not only in its own content, but because Barry is off doing Flash work between questions, saving people and mitigating disasters. That makes up the bulk of the issue. Finally on the last three pages we’re twenty years in the future witnessing a very different-looking Flash bemoaning mistakes he’s made, and vowing to go back into the past to correct them. So, the story is complex and involves time travel, as in other recent Flash storylines. We don’t have much information yet, so we’ll see how things develop. Not a bad script from Robert Venditti and Van Jensen, though it does seem to be retreading ground recently covered. The art by Brett Booth and Norm Rapmund is not as appealing to me as other recent Flash art, the figures are a little wooden, the facial expressions not very convincing. The action scenes work best, the character scenes not so well for me. I’ll stay with the book for a while, but it’s not the clear winner the previous team brought in.

Mildly recommended.

And Then I Read: AQUAMAN 30

Image © DC Comics, Inc.

How comics covers have changed. This issue is mostly a slug-fest, and once that would have been front and center on the cover. Above, someone in the far distance has hurled Aquaman from a high platform. Can’t see who he is, but it’s Hercules, the sparring partner this issue. And that’s about all he is. Rather than develop the character in an interesting or historic way, writer Jeff Parker chooses to make him completely, incoherently insane and furious about being imprisoned for ages. The Olympian is ready to pound the first living thing he comes across, and that’s what happens. Meanwhile, Mera is taking on another threat in the ocean depths, an attack by assassins. It’s a nearly successful attack until Mera is aided by a former enemy. What follows is a neat bit of political maneuvering to give the queen more credibility among the ruling council of the kingdom. Later, Aquaman is still fighting Hercules. And when that’s done, a relative of the demi-god shows up, a little late to help.

The art on the issue is fine, the story was somewhat disappointing, feeling like a missed opportunity. Mildly recommended.

And Then I Read: B.P.R.D., A COLD DAY IN HELL

Image © Mike Mignola.

No matter how depressing our world can be, no matter how troubled by war, terrorism and cruelty, the Earth depicted in this series is far worse. It is literally becoming Hellish, with huge, demonic monsters roaming the landscape and skies, and emerging suddenly from the ground at any place and moment with no warning. Imagine the kind of destruction seen in “Godzilla,” then multiply it by hundreds of creatures and locations all over the globe. Nowhere is safe. The agents of the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense once seemed to have the power and intelligence to handle their opponents, but those days are long gone, and if you’re among them you can expect to die a horrible death at some point, it’s just a matter of when. Perhaps the most insidious threat seen in this book is a gas that turns ordinary people into Hellish monsters. One boy and his father have survived together for some time, beating the odds, but as one might expect, that can’t last forever, and it doesn’t in “Wasteland,” the first of two miniseries collected here. In the other, “A Cold Day in Hell,” we find out more about the demonically possessed spirit of a cute young Russian girl, Varvara, and what’s really going on with her, a chilling revelation. These books are horrible in some ways, and yet satisfying in others. Maybe it’s the fact that, even in our world of real horrors, we don’t have it as bad as they do. And the monsters of the stories are fascinating in ways that real-life horrors aren’t, at least to me.

Recommended.

And Then I Read: JUSTICE LEAGUE 29

Image © DC Comics, Inc.

Justice League member Vic Stone (Cyborg) has turned for help to the new experimental androids, The Metal Men, a group which has not been touched yet by the Crime Syndicate’s master of all machines, The Grid. Writer Geoff Johns brings the metallic group to life in an appealing way (and giving us readers a welcome break from the grim stories about the Crime Syndicate). The original Metal Men from the 1960s were very subservient to their creator Doc Magnus. The new ones are much more independent and intelligent, or so they seem to me, and that’s a welcome change for our time. With their help, Cyborg attempts to take on The Grid both physically and in cyberspace, a confrontation whose outcome is very uncertain, as The Grid came originally from Cyborg’s machine side. The art by Doug Mahnke and Keith Champagne is excellent, and I enjoyed this issue more than the last few.

Recommended.