"Batman: The Sunday Classics 1943-1946"

WORTH CONSUMING!

For being reprints of the 1940s- this series is really very good. Al Schwartz is a marvelous writer. A couple of stories were reprinted in the Greatest Batman and Greatest Joker Stories Ever Told treasuries.

The volume I read is a 2007 reissue of the 1990 treasury of Sunday Comics. But, it’s not a re-edit, so many of the commentaries reflect the release of the 1st Tim Burton Batman movie and thus a little dated. And multiple references are made to the dailies- which are collected in other volumes.

"Darkly Dreaming Dexter: Dexter Morgan"

WORTH CONSUMING!

I got hooked watching CBS air reruns of Dexter recently- and decided to read the book.

Somewhat true to the series- but at fewer than 295 pages- you can’t really get 13 episodes out of that- so don’t expect the book and show to really coincide.

Can’t wait to read the sequels.

"Ultimate Spider-Man, Vol. 19: Death of a Goblin"

WORTH CONSUMING!

Consumed in less than 18 hours!

Ultimate Spider-man is one of the best series ever- current or past. And the main reason is the writer- Brian M. Bendis.

His Spidey is NOT a remake like what Van Zant tried to do with Psycho. Not at all. US is a re-crafting.

For those of you who hate that One More Day happened- don’t abandon the SS PeterParker- come over to the Ultimate side of the Force.

This volume does have a new artist for the 1st ever. It’s not bad art- but for someone who’s gone 18 straight volumes with a different artist, the 1st couple of chapters mean there’s an adjustment period. But by the explosive action at books end- the adjustment is gone and you’re left yearning for volume 20 to hurry up and get printed.

"Showcase Presents: The Brave and the Bold - The Batman Team-Ups, Vol. 2"

WORTH CONSUMING!

Some of the cleanest, purest art, I have ever seen in all of comics history. Great Costars, and great stories to boot. (Although, Black Canary is too much like Marcia Brady for my liking).

Many of the best stories occur in the July-October range, as a more “Supernatural” and “Horror” vein runs through the storylines. Those are great “Halloween” tales. And you can see where these stories inspired Jeph Loeb’s “Long Halloween” stories.

Very much worth consuming!

 

"Essential Captain America, Vol. 1 (Marvel Essentials)"

WORTH CONSUMING!

For a fan of Bond films- this is a great foray into the world of Spy Comics. It’s always great to read a Capt. story and to having some “lost” stories of Capt. and Bucky is great. Plus to finally read the origins of the Red Skull, AIM, and MODOK was great too!

That’s not to say this very early period of Capt.‘s revival is all peaches and cream. 1. I’m convinced that when it can to naming stuff Stan Lee had a series addiction to hyphens! I just hope he got treatment for it! 2. Wouldn’t Capt. think it weird that he fell in love in the 40’s with a girl named Agent 13 and then do the same with a girl who looked the same in the 60’s- also named Agent 13?)

3. Romance is fine- Bond without bedding chicks is that lame NBC show, CHUCK. But a comic book spy romance shouldn’t have its plot ripped from Soap Operas.

Regardless, I enjoyed this book and I cannot wait for volume 2 to come to my local library. Till then- Worth Consuming!

 

The Big Picture: A Short World History of Religions

WORTH CONSUMING!

The interesting thing about this book is that it is more like a book on anthropology and mythology than it is a book on the history of religion. That doesn’t mean I hated this book. In fact it was quite good. I enjoy mythology and so it was sort of a pleasant surprise to have those elements in this book.

Being touted as an Introduction into how religions formed from Caveman to the beginnings of Christianity and Islam- this book was a no-brainer to choose as my intro into the 200 levels of the Dewey Decimal System. And despite some earlier fears- this book is not very controversial. (A little misguided maybe- as Islam is considered a Peaceful religion and yet the effects of Islamic Extremism in today’s society isn’t at least mentioned and the Norse gods aren’t even mentioned and the history of Zoroastrianism is given a total of 10 words- I kid you not!)

"An Inconvenient Book: Real Solutions to the World's Biggest Problems"

WORTH CONSUMING!

Part Comedy Album- Part Political Commentary- Part Worst Case Scenario Survival Guide. The best parts of the book are the humorous slants on everyday life, like Dating, Choosing what Film to watch with the Opposite Sex, and Parenting. It gave me a new found respect for Beck and makes me want to watch his show more often. Plus- he’s more center than Limbaugh and nowhere near as brash or annoying.

"Essential Fantastic Four, Vol. 4 (Marvel Essentials)"

WORTH CONSUMING!

The pinnacle of the Kirby era is almost drawing to an end and that’s a shame, because the art is at its best in this volume. It’s clean, fun, and almost timeless in quality. The writing ain’t half bad either, although, would Reed Richards really call his bro-in-law “Boy” that much?

The 2nd best volume in the series- I mean how can you top Vol. 3 with the Galactus Trilogy and the introduction of Black Panther!

Oh- this volume does have 1 perk- no blasted Doctor Doom!

 

"Pistol: The Life of Pete Maravich"

WORTH CONSUMING!

The book starts off the first 70 some pages about the life of Press Maravich- Pete’s Dad and I was a bit miffed. I mean, I got the book to read about a guy nicknamed after a type of gun, not a method of printing. But as the book evolves, it becomes evident that this backstory is necessary, as it’s very hard to tell where the father ends and the son begins.

This is a very entertaining story about the very early history of basketball and its epic journey through the 70’s and 80’s. The book has moments of extreme profanity that’s not needed, especially when it deals with Pete’s life as a Christian.

"Showcase Presents: Justice League of America, Vol. 3"

WORTH CONSUMING!

Not the best outing of Justice League tales, but still entertaining. You can really tell what changes were happening at DC through the crafting of these tales. The socially relevant stories are starting to pop up, and you can tell “Batmania” was in full swing as Batman had a commanding (and omnipresent) role in every story and Robin and Batgirl make frequent appearances.

However, compared to the Fantastic Four, which was created in response to JLA, JLA’s generation gap shows in many of the plots, aged dialogue, and treatment of teens.

Still, Worth Consuming, but not worth 5 stars.

Stephen Colbert's "I Am America (And So Can You!)"

WORTH CONSUMING!

I wanted to read this book, but ended up getting it in Audio. It’s perfect that way! The only thing I hate are the “Stephen Speaks For Me” segments. They’re filled with profanity and nowhere near as funny as having Stephen talk. The only segment worth hearing are God and John Stewart’s take of an ailing communist comedian.

Still book is worth consuming and awfully funny!

Wittgenstein's Poker: The Story of a Ten-Minute Argument Between Two Great Philosophers

WORTH CONSUMING!

At 300+ pages, this book is more than a recount of a 10 minute long argument between 2 philosophers. A lot more.

The real core of this book is the role of Jewish Philosophers in pre/mid/and post Nazi Occupation in Austria and central Europe. In fact, that aspect of the book is 1 million times more interesting that the argument and what the argument was about.

(for those who care- that argument has something to do with puzzles)

“Ranting Again”- by Dennis Miller

NOT WORTH CONSUMING

Ever had a vacation that started off really well and then all heck broke loose- ruining everything? You lose your tickets home, wallet gets stolen, and Grandpa dies on the way to the Little Miss Sunshine Pageant (Yeah- I just spoiled!) Those vacations suck.

Know what sucks even more, have such a vacation happen at a place you’ve visited time and time again and never had a problem before- only now you swear never to return.

Well, that’s how I feel about Dennis Miller. On SNL, he was the anti-establishment leader for my generation Okay- technically, I was too young, but I watched SNL when he did Weekend Update and loved it- and yes, I saw it new, NOTRERUN!!!

The first half of this book is classic Miller, but then something happened mid-way somewhere around the Lewinsky scandal. The smart alec that you father couldn’t stand suddenly was you dad! And it doesn’t work. Miller midway this book becomes the establishment!!!

And I know you’re thinking B-S!!!! But it’s true. Nowadays, you can find Dennis Miller yukking in up with Bill O’Reilly- and what’s worse, Miller’s now being the Ed McMahon to Bill’s Carnac The Magnificent. Hey- I can throw in obscure references with the best of ‘em. I learned from the Master!

It’s just sad when the guy you expect to shove it to Congress starts taking it. Has Miller gotten old? To some degree yes- it’s that point in his career when you start thinking “How much older does Keith Richards have to get before he crumbles into dust- but man is he a god on the guitar!”

Sorry Dennis- you’ve past your prime.

That’s not just my opinion- and no, I’m not wrong!

 

"Ultimate X-Men Vol. 5: Ultimate War"

WORTH CONSUMING!

Man, the Mutants are in bigggggg trouble. Great story involving the Ultimates, but I just can’t see the X-Men’s situation ever getting any better. I can’t wait for volume 6!!!!

Art was not as true to the other volumes, and that was the biggest problem with this book I had.

"Runaways, Vol. 6: Parental Guidance"

WORTH CONSUMING!

After a freakin’ awesome trip to NYC, the kids are back in LA. Now there’s a new Pride. Lots of questions are revealed, with a few straight on questions.

The ending is not to be missed!

"Runaways, Vol. 5: Escape to New York

WORTH CONSUMING!

Much better than vol. 4. Great twists and turns, and NO Excelsior! One of my favorite new series! Very much worth consuming!

"100 Greatest Marvels of All Time #25-22"

WORTH CONSUMING!

I refused to reveal much about this series- I don’t want to spoil the countdown!

"Runaways Vol. 4: True Believers"

WORTH CONSUMING!

Back- but maybe not better than ever. The 2nd series of Runaways- which kicks off here in vol. 4 takes a different approach for the first series.

The kids are orphans and on the street saving others from being runaways. That’s fine. I just don’t like the ‘sidekick squad’ so much. Though as it progresses, it may get better.

 

"Superman/Batman: Saga of the Super Sons"

WORTH CONSUMING!

Many of the early stores are dated by the whole ‘generation gap’ thing and much of the slang. Also, some of the art is a tad disturbing not once, but twice, as batman, jr. is “cupped” by the taxi service known as superman, jr.; during both a trip in a bayou and in a lake if lava!!!

The later stories get better. I really like having a story from the infamous and very rare Elseworld’s 80-page Giant. For those of you whom are collecting all of the Elseworld titles (like me)- if you can’t find said 80-page giant- this is a must have to that collection.

"Meditations (Penguin Classics)"

WORTH CONSUMING!

For those of you familiar with my quest to read through the Dewey Decimal system, I sometimes give up on the hard books and follow through to an easier book. I’m well read, but easy to bore. The book I tried to read for this section of the Dewey D. System was similar to a conversation with Frasier Crane. It’s insightful, border-line entertaining, filled with high culture references and once it’s done, you still haven’t a clue what he was talking about. Before completing ’Meditations", I completed, for this project, ’The Analects" of Confucius. Meditations has a lot of similarities to that earlier work. So many, it was flat out weird that 2 men from two different cultures, religions, and eras, could have works survive hundreds of years and be so….

A good read, though I got kinda bored with it after Book 10 and the sections started to become a blur.

"Justice, Vol. 3"

WORTH CONSUMING!

First, a big thanks to the staff at Orange County Library in Hillsborough. I requested this book and within 3 days it was the newest book in the collection.

Now, about Justice. Great art, really stellar. And the power of the dialogue and narration, mixed with the raw emotion of Ross’ paintings is awesome.

Like Kingdom Come, I think there was more story (I found myself sometimes lost, sometimes feeling left out), but less room to fit it all in to 12 issues, so I expect there to be a ’director’s cut" of this coming out in a few years.

Still, with all that said, this is worth consuming!!!

"I'm Ready for My Movie Contract: A Get Fuzzy Collection"

WORTH CONSUMING!

As long as Darby Conally doesn’t go too far to the left that it makes Lenin seem like a caller to the Rush Limbaugh show- this cartoon strip really works. It’s hilarious. Though, I don’t agree with the back of this book’s cover that states that Satchel, the Dog is the star/ main character of the book. Really, Bucky, the Siamese from Hades is the start, but by all rights, Rob the Human, as the straight man is supposed to be the main character. Truly, with all this said, it’s an ensemble piece, and I love it!

"Stan Lee Meets the Amazing Spider-Man"

WORTH CONSUMING!

A very good tribute to Stan Lee and his creation: Spider-Man. The Hembeck story was wayyyyyyy weak. It serious gave me doubts to every reading “…Hembeck Destroys the Marvel Universe”.

The re-print stories are is amazing and timeless. And probably the only Spidey story in which both Spidey doesn’t fight and the only crime committed in the book is purposely done by a certain Web Slinger.

Still, worth consuming!