Mount TBR 2019 discussion
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Mars Needs Brian Blessed!
message 51:
by
Steven
(last edited Jul 04, 2019 03:54AM)
(new)
Jul 03, 2019 11:19AM
I expect to pick up speed again now that I’m moved. I’m still in boxes, though, and expect to be for a while yet...it’s hard to get moving when you’re old and the weather is overheated!
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#39 - The Velvet Underground & Nico by Joe HarvardA fairly straightforward discussion of the making of this contentious album, with discussion of the songs and their development. I’m curious now as to what the album might have sounded like had Nico been allowed to do the lead vocals on more of the songs, if not all of them (I do have difficulty imaging her doing “Waiting For The Man” or “Heroin,” though.)
#40 - Pretty Hate Machine by Daphne CarrPart of the 33-1/3rd series of books about significant records. This iscostensibly about the Nine Inch Nails album, but Carr uses it as a springboard for a sociological study of the post-industrial condition of steeltown Pennsylvania. While interesting, this does detract from the focus of the book — not entirely surprising, as revisiting the album demonstrated to me that it’s not worn the years well.
#41 - The British Films That Time Forgot by John PineA collection of short reviews of mostly British films, with the odd American-made outing and a lone Woody Allen entry (Scoops). I’ve not only heard of a good many of Pine’s selections, I’ve seen quite a few too. He also makes the error of starting his listing no earlier than 1955, which eliminates dozens of other contenders. Choosing only a single film per year eliminates hundreds more (Roger Moore’s filmography alone contains multitudes.)
#42 - The Book of Tea by Kakuzō OkakuraA light history of tea in Japan, and its place in ceremony and spiritual life.
#43 - The Kinks are the Village Green Preservation Society by Andy MillerA straightforward look at the two-year period of the recording of this album, and the rough ride the band had during it. Miller’s text is unfortunately a little out of date when it comes to the assessment and availability of much of the additional material, as a lot of previously vaulted material was released over the past several years, including a three-disc version of this album.
It’s still a book filled with valuable insight, though some details could perhaps have been fleshed out a bit more— but that’s what other sources are for.
#44 - Inspector Colbeck's Casebook by Edward MarstonThirteen stories of Marston's Railway Detective as he travels about the railways of England in the 1850s solving murders, fraud, and theft. Quick reads, all, and Colbeck is a charming character whose railways nerdery is kept light and lively.
#45 - Superman: The Golden Age Vol. 4 by Jerry Siegel, Joe Shuster, and divers handsSuperman continues to develop and expand, with more influence from both the radio show (Jimmy Olsen arrives!) and the animated shorts. Superman fights fewer social ills and more and more mad scientists and mad dictators (who themselves begin to resemble Herr Adolf) while Lois continues to get herself into scrapes.
The art restoration is okay, but limited by the re-use of the original restoration files for the 1990s series of DC Archives. The Archives did improve over time,however.
#46 - Pop Goes to Court: Rock 'N' Pop's Greatest Court Battles by Brian SouthallManages to jam in twenty or so cases of varying notoriety, mainly by compressing each into a smaller space than some warrant. There’s an assortment of snarky judges and lawyers, some oddball details, and the sense that that many of those involved in these cases are a little bit on the slow side. The la know detail is unfortunate, however.
#47 - The Flash by Mark Waid: Book Four by Mark Waid and variousThe continuing story of Wally West as he discovers, post-Zero Hour: Crisis in Time, the upper regions of his powers and the existence of the Speed Force, stumbles through soap opera with his girlfriend, Linda, and struggles with training Impulse. It’s relatively lightweight and a fast read.
#48 - Amazing Spider-Man Epic Collection Vol. 18: Venom by Ann Nocenti, David Michelinie, Todd McFarlane and othersDespite the title, Venom is barely in this, showing up for a few issues as Eddie Brook merges with the symbiotic. Otherwise it’s the Mad Dog Ward, a handful of lightweight stories with mostly minor villains (including a crazy millionaire stalker who’s after Mary Jane), and a whole lot of Spider soap opera. This is the run that elevated Todd McFarlane to star artist, but I’m not sure why— aside from his striking posing of Spider-Man in places, it’s rather goofy looking work.
#49 - Let it Be by Steve MatteoPart of the 33 1/3 series of books about significant albums. This one recounts the making of the film as much of the album, and doesn’t really add much to the weight of knowledge about the Beatles or the period. As a result, the book, which ends with a kind of cliffhanger (an active court case over stolen tapes, and a pending DVD release) falls rather flat.
#50 - The Avengers: The Lost Episodes - Volume 7 by Terrence Feeley, et alThe very last of the series, adapting the wiped episodes of series one, when the programme was a gritty, tough series primarily centered upon Dr. David Keel, with occasional participation by government operative John Steed.
#51 - Iron Man: The Gauntlet by Eoin ColferYA Marvel novel from the creator of Artemis Fowl. The stakes are scaled down a bit, the Mandarin is the villain, Stark is initially opposed by a fifteen year old girl genius, and then helped out, and it seems like a book that should have worked perfectly...except that it doesn’t. It reads like a first draft from an unskilled writer (Colfer is hardly that), with juvenile and *really* stiff attempts at humour, and a prose style that feels like wading through wet concrete.
I did see the twist in the tale coming, but that was one thing I appreciated.
#52 - The Pixies' Doolittleby Ben SisarioAnother entry in 33 1/3 series of books about significant album releases. This one covers the first major-label release from the Pixies, and to my perception comes across as an extended and somewhat pretentious article. This isn’t to say that the information isn’t interesting, even at a temporal remove, and I have to admit that I’m not a big Pixies fan.
#53 - Doom Patrol: The Silver Age Vol. 1 by Arnold Drake, Bruno Permiani, etcThe adventures of the weirdest, most bickering sniper team of them all. While mild compared to, say, the Doom Patrol of the Morrison years, the series was definitely off-kilter and entertaining as a result, with some very quirky villains (General Immortus, Animal-Vegetable-Mineral Man, Monsieur Mallah and The Brain.) The Doom Patrol was a template as such for The X-Men.
This book collects about a third of the omnibus.
#54 - Doctor Who: Shell Shockby Simon A. ForwardPart of the Telos series of Doctor Who stories, released as fancy little hardbound books, and usually rather deeper and more abstract in tone.
This one has Six and Peri dropped onto an ocean world, and accidentally plunged into the embers of a long-ago war. The Doctor is dragged to shore on a small island, and Peri drowns. From there it gets rather odd, but the eventual explanations and the conclusion are frightful and chilling. Very well done.
#55 - Wonder Woman: The Twelve Labors by Martin Pasko, et alSo, the time came that Wonder Woman regained her powers after the mod period, but felt the need to prove herself worthy of rejoining the Justice League. Cue a year of stories about Justice League members following Diana around and reporting on her cases.
Sadly, the compiled end result is pretty damn mediocre. The art is passable, but the writing is thuddingly bad, especially when it tries to get feminist.
#56 - Batman: The Brave & The Bold Bronze Age Omnibus by Bob Haney, Neal Adams, Jim Aparo, etcIt’s ridiculous to say this, but this is well worth reading, just for the sheer lunacy of Bob Haney’s writing. There are repeat characters throughout this volume, but they completely change characterization with each appearance (the Sergeant Rock guest shots most of all; Joe Kubert must have facepalmed a *lot*.) Even when the series sheds the lingering silliness of sixties Batman, the stories remain ludicrous. So much fun to read, and along the way you get some Neal Adams art, and some Jim Aparo Classic work.
#57 - The Flash by Mark Waid Book Five by Mark Waid, et alwaysGetting towards the end of Waid’s time on the series here, and pretty much a smooth but rather unengaging end run. Wally learns more about the Speed Force, the murderous Savitar is introduced, Wally ends up bounced around time, and 27th Century Flash John Fox takes Wally’s place in the 20th century, only to foul things up.
#58 - Postal, Vol. 2 by Bryan Hill & othersThe continuing story of Eden, the secret Wyoming town that caters to criminals who need to disappear, and the various players who have their own ambitions for it, as well as the outsiders who are starting to close in on it...to destroy it utterly. Key to the story is Mark Shiffron, the Mayor’s son, and the town postmaster — who has Asperger’s, and is learning to weave his way through the lives and plots of Eden.
This volume opens with an odd side story, as Mark is kidnapped by murderous cultists. Mark never seems to be in jeopardy, and he’s quickly found by Eden’s sheriff, who kills the two remaining cultists. After that it’s about the power plays, and the increasing attention from outside Eden — attention initially stymied by a corrupt FBI regional director.
It’s an interesting book, if a little flawed.
#59 - Postal, Vol. 3 by Bryan Hill, Isaac GoodhartEden’s story progresses, as the town is suddenly forced to deal with the sociopathic Molly Schultz, daughter of the town’s FBI protector, Jon Schultz. Agent Bremble, blocked in his investigation, goes off the reservation. Things get more tense, and more violent, and Mark, essentially the town’s troubleshooter, is hard-pressed to come up with solutions.
I’m finding this to be an interesting read, despite not liking *any* of the characters.
#60 - Postal, Vol. 4 by Bryan Hill, Isaac GoodhartThe focus shifts to a former Neo-Nazi, a recent addition to the community. He’s a reformed and repentant man, but now he has enemies in the Aryan Brotherhood, and they’ve somehow traced him, sending his brother’s head packed in wisterias. It’s up to Mark to figure out how to counter this problem — well, if they decide they even want to protect the man at all.
Mark cooks up a plan, and pays a visit to Molly Schultz, now caged inside an old mine. Molly gives him further suggestions. All hell breaks loose as a result, mostly outside of Eden.
And the cracks continue to appear....
#61 - Postal, Vol. 5 by Brian Hill, Isaac GoodhartRowan has been saved, and somewhat redeemed, but now Laura Shiffron, Mayor of Eden, the haven for criminals deep in Wyoming, wants to get people used to the idea of her son Mark running things. The experiment goes very badly. Worse yet, former FBI agent Bremble has tracked down Isaac Shiffron, an old madman running an odd cult. Shiffron wants to eradicate the town he began, and Bremble is his key. Even worse, Mark’s efforts to learn from Molly Schultz take a *very* bad turn.
This continues to be an engaging series, mean streak and all.
#62 - Postal, Vol. 6 by Bryan Hill, Isaac Goodhart#63 - Postal Vol. 7 by Bryan Hill, Isaac Goodhart, etc
The story of criminal haven Eden crashes to a close, for now, as Isaac Shiffron makes his move on the town, with former FBI agent Bremble at his side. Mark has a plan, as always, but his Mother has another — though the question of when she turned Bremble is never answered.
The concluding volume is epilogue, as Laura reveals the last truth about the founding of the town, and the horror that was part of that. The final two stories jump forward in time, establishing Mark as the new Mayor, and Maggie as the new Sheriff. There’s a sense that Eden is still balanced on a knife-edge, but there is cause for hope.
The series didn’t *quite* stick the landing, but all concerned did rather well.
#64 - Eclipse, Vol. 1 by Zack Kaplan & Giovanni TimpanoA surprisingly good slice of post-apocalyptic SF, set after a huge solar flare has devastated the world, leaving the survivors living underground during the daytime, and hopelessly flocking the streets at night. In the midst of this, someone begins murdering the children of New York’s bigwigs by putting them out in the sunlight after curfew — something only the Icemen (city workers who wear bulky refrigerated suits) can do. Except this killer isn’t an Iceman...and he doesn’t need a suit.
The series makes a good start in this volume. It’s a rather European-feeling story, with a disillusioned protagonist and Moebius-influenced art. I’m hoping the second volume pursues the threads of the first.
#65 - Eclipse, Vol. 2 by Zack Kaplan & Giovanni TimpanoStill fairly good, though I’m starting to question the science elements somewhat, plus some of the action is a bit action movie over the top, with both Bax and Cielo surviving unlikely situations with relative ease (Cielo suddenly knows how to BASE jump/parasail?) The major villain of the story now appears to be a crazy ex-Mayor who wants to take New York back, mo matter who he has to kill.
#66 - Daredevil Epic Collection Vol. 19: Root of Evil by Gregory Wright, D.G. Chichester, Alan Smithee, Warren Ellis, J.M. DeMatteis, Tom Grindberg, Scott McDaniel, Alexander Jubran, etcUtterly laborious reading, sadly. Dan Chichester’s writing went off into nickel literary journal land, especially with the awful Elektra miniseries, “Root Of Evil.” It’s all very 1990s, and Scott McDaniel’s Art starts to clone that of Frank Miller. Finally, the collection stops at #344, which was part of the “Marvel Edge” branding, and is part two of a crossover (part one isn’t included) where the Punisher gets brainwashed and sets out to kill Nick Fury. The result is that this volume just screeches to a stop on a couple of cliffhangers.
This was definitely a low point for Daredevil, regrettably.
#67 - Batman & Superman: World's Finest - The Silver Age Vol. 1 by Edmond Hamilton, Bill Finger, Alvin Schwartz, and various artistsFirst up is a story from Superman #76 that convinced the editors that officially teaming Batman and Superman in the lead feature of World’s Finest was a good idea. Subsequently, the title featured one goofy 12 page story after another, often involving Batman and Superman swapping powers, or Batman or Superman acting weird, only for it to be revealed as a ploy. The stories are lightweight and often silly, but they have that old-world charm.
The restoration, using the files from the Archives series, is solid.
#68 - The Visitor: How and Why He Stayed by Chris Roberson, Mike Mignola, Paul GristExplaining the mysterious aliens who appeared in the first Hellboy story, and the alien corpse in Hellboy, Vol. 5: Conqueror Worm. It’s a lightweight and not necessary story, but it has some things to say about people. The Visitor is an alien assassin sent to kill Hellboy, but he holds off and commits to observing him instead, dealing with some problems along the way; he also marries a human woman. It’s a very quick read.
#69 - Star Trek: The Next Generation - Hive by Brannon Braga, et alOnce again the Borg, once again time travel, once again time travel and the Borg. The story is set just a bit after Nemesis (as well as 500 years in the future.) This gives Braga the chance to tear things up, destroying another major planet, killing a major TV character, and so on. While the Star Trek tie-in’s aren’t considered canon, this one’s just been rendered completely non-canon by the upcoming Star Trek: Picard series.
#70 - Interphase, Part 1 by Kevin Dilmore & Dayton WardPart of the Starfleet Corps of Engineers series, this finds the Da Vinci being called upon to get the Federation’s old junk out of Tholian space — I.e. the long-lost Defiant from “The Tholian Web” has shown up again, still trapped in the space rift it fell into.
I read this with some amusement as the storyline would be overwritten a few years after its publication when Star Trek: Enterprise did its Mirror Universe story — and Star Trek: Discovery included the Defiant in its first season.
#71 - Miracle Workers, S.C.E. Book Two by Dayton Ward, Keith R. A DeCandido, Kevin Dilmore, David MackAn omnibus volume of the Star Trek Corps Of Engineers titles “Interphase, Part 2”, “Cold Fusion,” and “Invincible,” plus a “Minipedia” at the end.
“Interphase, Part Two” concludes the Defiant story as Captain Gold and his team battle against time to save themselves and the derelict; meanwhile Commander Kieran Duffy fends off the Tholians.
“Cold Fusion” has the Da Vinci aiding now-Lieutenant Nog with the retrieval of the fusion core from an abandoned space station...only to find that the Androssi are busy salvaging the place and turning it into a weapons platform.
“Invincible” is told in log entries and letters. Commander Gomez has been assigned to a project designed by the reclusive Naroli — mining a super-heavy ore on a crystalline world. It’s just her, the various species in the construction crews, and the silicon-based lifeforms...until the monsters show up.
It’s reasonably good Star Trek, though “Invincible” does show the perils of Federation ideals...and the hazards of the “white savior” trope. Poor Sonya.
#72 - Doctor Who: Wonderland by Mark ChadbournePart of the Telos Books series of Doctor Who stories. This one is told from the perspective of flower child Summer, living in the Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco while she tries to find her missing boyfriend. She’s just hearing about the mysterious Blue Moonbeams LSD tabs that cause people to seemingly vanish when the second Doctor, Ben And Polly show up.
Overall, this is less focused on the crew than the background to the story, which is given a gritty, grimy feel. It’s also mixed with a government operation that’s somewhere between MKULTRA and The Silence.
#73 - Cop Hater by Ed McBainFirst of the 87th Precinct mysteries, full of procedural routine and biting dialogue. McBain introduces a slew of characters here, and promptly kills off three major ones, though he was talked out of killing Steve Carella — giving the series the first of its quirky elements in the marriage of Carella and Theodora “Teddy” Franklin, a deaf-mute woman. As would be typical in the series, the mystery is resolved less by hard work and brilliant insight than a series of screw-ups.
Made into a less than brilliant film by Warner Bros, with many names changed and plot elements excised.
#74 - The Mugger by Ed McBainThe second of the 87th Precinct series, this time the story follows other detectives, as well as patrolman Bert Kling. There’s a vicious mugger loose on the 87th’s turf, and much shoe leather will get worn away before there's a break in that case. Meanwhile, the sister-in-law-law of an old acquaintance of Bert’s is murdered, and Bert sets out to figure out who killed her, in the process coming into contact with the future love of his life, Claire Townshend. Meanwhile, in the 33rd Precinct someone is stealing cats....
McBain does a very good job of adding details to his not-New York City, and an even better job of showing us the characters. This is also where he *really* brings in the comedy — Monahan and Monroe, the homicide detectives introduced in Cop Hater get names and a boss and lead off a lunatic sequence where Kling gets chewed out for playing Detective.
#75 - What If? Event Horizon by Jeff Parker, Peter David, and othersOne of the periodic returns of Marvel’s What If? series of alternative versions of their characters. In this revival, the focus is on big events, from Avengers: Disassembled to X-Men: Age of Apocalypse Omnibus, with entirely variable results — Peter David’s take on Spider-Man: The Other ends up as a pointless sort-of horror story, for instance, while the Age Of Apocalypse entry is a grind.
#76 - The Con Man by Ed McBainThe fourth book in the 87th Precinct series finds the detectives dealing with a body fished out of the river, and tracking down a con man who rooked a young woman out of a paltry $5. The story gives Bert Kling and Arthur Brown a focus (and because Brown is African-American and this was the 1950s, and a New York analogue, the n-word gets tossed around a bit) as well as bringing Carella back to the fore.
Ed McBain’s afterword is the start of a series of goofy introductions and afterwords that are nonetheless somewhat informative.
#77 - Killer's Choice by Ed McBainBook 6 in the 87th Precinct series. Detective Cotton Hawes arrives at the Precinct, transferred from the relatively cushy 30th, and promptly screws up terribly. Detective Roger Havilland, notorious as the 87th’s most brutal member, dies in a ridiculous accident. Meanwhile, the main task of interest is finding the killer of one Annie Boone, shot to death in a ransacked liquor store. Annie, it turns out, was not a simple person, easily defined, but many things, depending on the perspective. Solving her murder is equally complicated. Catching the man who accidentally killed Havilland during a robbery is just a matter of brute force policing, meanwhile.
Along the way we get to meet Meyer Meyer’s family, who are a delight, but for the most part the family elements are in the background this time.
McBain was starting to hit his stride with this book, and the prose is taut and efficient, with far fewer satirical asides — they’ll return — and some great dialogue.
#78 - Star Wars: Poe Dameron, Vol. 1: Black Squadron by Charles Soule and Phil NotoStarting out as a prequel to The Force Awakens, the story follows Poe Dameron and his elite Black Squadron as they search for the explorer Lor San Tekka, racing against time and the cunning Agent Terex of the First Order.
It’s lightweight fun, overall, and serves to fill in some small spaces in the overall series.
#79 - Killer's Payoff by Ed McBain87th Precinct #6 finds a blackmailer being shot by someone in a car, using a high-powered hunting rifle. Steve Carella and Cotton Hawes catch the case, and the hunt is on. It’s a more straightforward mystery, with Cotton at the heart of it, and as McBain notes in his intro, it’s more reminiscent of a PI story than a police procedural. The restrained approach makes the story a bit dull, sadly.
#80 - Star Wars: Poe Dameron, Vol. 2: The Gathering Storm by Charles Soul, Phil NotoThe Agent Terex story concludes, giving some hints about the fall of the Imperial Remnant and the rise of the First Order.
It’s an easy enough read, if not great, and does more with Captain Phasma than either of the two new films does.
#81- Star Wars: Poe Dameron, Vol. 3: Legend Lost by Charles Soule and Angel UnzuetaPresents one story, the introduction of the journalist Suralinda, out of sequence, then continues on from the end of Vol.2. The Cold War between the Resistance and the First Order continues to heat up, Black Squadron says goodbye to one of their own, and the story of Oddy Nuvo concludes.
#82 - Killer's Wedge by Ed McBainA very angry widow walks into the 87th Precinct Detective squadron and pulls out a .38 and claims to have a bottle of nitro-glycerin as well. She’s there to kill Steve Carella. Steve Carella is off investigating a suicide that might be a homicide, so she’s going to wait...with increasing numbers of hostages.
It’s a wild ride, honestly, as it switches between the increasingly unraveling behaviour of the woman, and Carella’s increasingly odd drawing-room mystery. This was adapted for the TV series, and the abbreviation required made it even more tense, losing any of the comedy cops aspect that crept in here and there.
#83 - Star Wars: Poe Dameron, Vol. 4: Legend Found by Charles Soule, etc#84 - Star Wars: Poe Dameron, Vol. 5: The Spark and the Fire by Charles Soule, etc
The series concludes twice here...first as the Resistance finally gets hold of Lor San Tekka, leading in to The Force Awakens, and then, in the final volume, following post-The Last Jedi, mixing flashbacks and other narratives to provide the aftermath of the Battle Of Crait, and ending on a hopeful note.
#85 - Lady Killer by Ed McBainOn a hot summer day, early in the morning, the 87th Precinct is handed a message, made of letters cut from a newspaper, warning that an unknown perpetrator will kill “The Lady” at 8pm. The squad starts digging into this, first to verify the threat, and then to counter it. It’s a race against time.
For the author it was a race against time as well — 9 days to produce 180 manuscript pages, no second drafts. It’s a conceit, but a pretty fun one as he was experimenting more with the form.
#86 - 'Til Death by Ed McBainCarella’s sister Angelica is getting married. Somebody, though, wants the bridegroom dead. Carella calls in Hawes and Kling to act as a protection detail, but the entire detective squad is soon involved with what becomes a very confusing case.
The story gallops along entertainingly enough, though McBain often resorts to broad comedy in the rougher spots (Papa Carella is especially overused for this.)
#87 - Star Wars, Volume 1: In the Shadow of Yavin by Brian Wood & othersSet after the Battle Of Yavin, this finds the rebel fleet looking for a new home but frustrated by the Empire showing up everywhere they look. Han and Chewie are meanwhile supposed to buy weapons but are betrayed at every turn.
This volume only covers half the story, unfortunately, ending on a set of cliffhangers (including Luke’s mysterious girlfriend, Prithi, breaking up with him because of Luke’s confusion over Leia.) Unfortunately, for all the action and intrigue it’s a bit boring.
#88 - Star Wars: Shattered Empire by Greg Ruck and othersFollows the parents of Poe Dameron in the aftermath of Return of the Jedi, with the usual characters mostly in supporting roles. Fairly lightweight, but readable.
#89 - Doctor Who: The Eighth Doctor, Vol. 1: A Matter of Life and Death by George Mann & Emma VieceliThe 8th Doctor gets a miniseries outing, set nebulously between his Big Finish stories and the start of the Time War. The story itself consists of five interlocked tales, with the mysterious painter Josie at the center of it — the Doctor finds her in his old Welsh house, arriving just in time for weird things involving her paintings. That mystery solved, the Doctor finds a sheet of paper with dates, locations, and spatial coordinates, apparently listed by one of his earlier incarnations, and he and Josie are off adventuring.
It’s a pretty delightful story, overall, and Josie is a *great* companion — smart, talented, pro-active, and utterly likable, making her a good fit for Eight. I’d like to see more of this pair.
Mount TBR 2019
Books mentioned in this topic
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