It’s been a while since I did a beer of the week and a writer of the week. Perhaps they will now be on monthly basis. My beer of the week is a new one from Sam Adams, or at least one that’s new to me: Samuel Adams Black Lager. A pretty smooth beer with a pleasant after-taste, not the best one from Samuel Adams, but one I’d definitely partake in again. Though I really wish they would bring back their Honey Porter, loved that beer.
Writer of the month is Gene Wolfe, one of the finest living writers. Period. I finished The Wizard Knight about two weeks ago, and like all of his work that I’ve read, it continues to float in my senses and in my head. One of his greatest strengths is that his writing gets better with multiple readings, and he packs so much into what he writers, that multiple readings are a necessary joy. His Book of the New Sun is one of the acknowledged masterpieces of the SF genre, often mentioned in the same breath as Tolkien’s work, Herbert’s work, Heinlein’s work, and Vance’s work.
Sad sad news as the NHL season is cancelled. Let’s hope, as some are speculating, that when things are settled, their hopes of changing some of the rules, and what not will draw more fans. Probably the best would be the shoot-out to break ties – a no-brainer for SportsCenter highlights.
The Nebula awards have been announced:
· Cloud Atlas, David Mitchell
· Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom, Cory Doctorow
· The Knight, Gene Wolfe
· Omega, Jack McDevitt
· Paladin of Souls, Lois McMaster Bujold
· Perfect Circle, Sean Stewart
The only one I’ve read is The Knight, so I’d like to see that win. I have read and enjoyed a good handful of books by McDevitt (Moonfall, The Engines of God, Ancient Shores, and Infinity Beach), Sean Stewart’s wonderful Galveston and right now I’m reading Bujold’s Young Miles and enjoying that quite a bit.
DC Comics recently told us what they are publishing in May, and there are some interesting things. The bad news is that Fallen Angel #20 is the final issue of the series. Aside from my normal haul, I'll give Action Comics shot to see how Byrne & Simone work together, JSA since it’s touting the return of Captain Marvel and Morrison’s Seven Soldiers . I’m a sucker for big crossovers so I’ll at least try The Rann/Thanagar War & Villains United. I’m probably most looking forward to Green Lantern #1 since Pacheco’s art is amazing and I like what Johns is doing in Green Lantern: Rebirth. I may try out Desolation Jones, too. No new collections from Vertigo in May to look forward to.
And lastly, as one who blogs about comics, I’m sort of obliged to post The 100 things I love about comics:
- 80-page and 100-page Giants
- Alan Davis
- Alan Moore
- Alan Scott
- All the Marvel comics my friend John lent me
- back issue bins
- Batman
- Bizarro - not just the character, but the idea of Bizarro things in life
- Bizarro Justice League
- Booster Gold - not just the character but all 25 issues
- Calvin & Hobbes
- Captain America by Waid/Garney
- Captain Marvel's rogue's gallery - Mr. Mind, Black Adam, etc
- Comic Book catch-phrases "Great Hera!" "Merciful Rao!" "I SAY THEE NAY" "HOLY MOLEY!" "AVENGERS ASSEMBLE!" "HULK SMASH!"
- Comic book conventions
- Comic book "science and logic"
- Crisis on Infinte Earths
- Darkseid
- DC Comics Presents
- Definitive Runs
- Discovering new titles and hunting down the back issues
- Dr. Doom
- Dressing up like Superman, Spider-man and Captain America for Halloween
- Earth-2, Earth-S, Earth-X, Pre-Crisis DC
- Elseworlds - before it was over-used
- Evil Dopplegangers
- For the Man Who Has Everything by Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons
- Galactus
- George Perez
- Gil Kane - one of the first artists whose style I instantly recognized
- Gorillas, especially talking telepathic gorillas
- Grant Morrison
- Great creative teams with Synchronicity in storytelling - Waid/Wieringo, Morrison/Quietly, Kirby/Lee, Claremont/Byrne, O'Neill/Adams
- Green Lantern
- Green Lantern/Green Arrow by O'neill and Adams
- GrimJack
- http://fanboyrampage.blogspot.com, http://www.progressiveruin.com and the rest of the comics blogo-verse
- "Imaginary Stories"
- In brightest day, in blackest night, no evil shall escape my sight, let those who worship EVIL's might...beware my power..GREEN LANTERN'S LIGHT
- Jack Kirby
- Jack Kirby's DC Super Powers miniseries
- JLA/Avengers
- John Byrne's work in the 80s
- Julius Schwartz
- Keeping Ma & Pa Kent alive
- King Kirby
- Kingdom Come
- Krypto
- Kurt Busiek
- Letter columns
- Mark Waid's run on The Flash
- Martha Washington Goes to War by Miller/Gibbons
- Marvel's 25th anniversary covers
- Marvel v. DC - not so much the limited series but the years of fans bickering that inspired it
- Marvels by Busiek & Ross
- Morrison's JLA
- Nazis - the ultimate comic book villians
- Neal Adams' Batman
- Neil Gaiman
- Neil Gaiman's Sandman
- Nightcrawler Limited series from the '80s
- Parallel Universes
- Peter David's The Incredible Hulk
- Preacher
- Rogues Galleries
- Secret Wars
- Spider-man
- Spider-man and his Amazing Friends
- Stan the Man
- Superfriends
- Superhero Records
- Superman/Captain Marvel battles
- Superman/Flash Races
- Superman: Secret Identity
- The Adventures of Kavalier and Klay
- The Amalgam Age of Comics
- The Big Red Cheese - the original Captain Marvel SHAZAM!
- The Crime Syndicate of Amerika of Earth-2 and Earth-3
- The Crow
- The Dark Knight Returns
- The Fantastic Four
- The Far Side
- The Flash - all incarnations and the handling of the legacy of the character
- The Tribute to the death of Barry Allen in Quasar
- The Golden Age by Robinson & Smith
- The Killing Joke
- The old comics and electronics shop I visited in my youth to get $.25 & $.50 back issues
- The Rainbow Bridge to Asgard
- The Rogues
- Trade Paperbacks
- Treasury Editions from the '70s
- Underoos - lets face they wouldn't be around without comics & superheroes - and who DIDN'T own a pair?
- Walt Simonson's Thor
- Watchmen
- Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?
- Wonder Woman
- X-Men annual #11
- Y: The Last Man
- You will believe a man can fly - The first Superman movie
- 12.95 Marvel Masterworks at Barnes & Noble
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