Thursday, February 17, 2005

Beer, writers, comics

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:

  1. 80-page and 100-page Giants
  2. Alan Davis
  3. Alan Moore
  4. Alan Scott
  5. All the Marvel comics my friend John lent me
  6. back issue bins
  7. Batman
  8. Bizarro - not just the character, but the idea of Bizarro things in life
  9. Bizarro Justice League
  10. Booster Gold - not just the character but all 25 issues
  11. Calvin & Hobbes
  12. Captain America by Waid/Garney
  13. Captain Marvel's rogue's gallery - Mr. Mind, Black Adam, etc
  14. Comic Book catch-phrases "Great Hera!" "Merciful Rao!" "I SAY THEE NAY" "HOLY MOLEY!" "AVENGERS ASSEMBLE!" "HULK SMASH!"
  15. Comic book conventions
  16. Comic book "science and logic"
  17. Crisis on Infinte Earths
  18. Darkseid
  19. DC Comics Presents
  20. Definitive Runs
  21. Discovering new titles and hunting down the back issues
  22. Dr. Doom
  23. Dressing up like Superman, Spider-man and Captain America for Halloween
  24. Earth-2, Earth-S, Earth-X, Pre-Crisis DC
  25. Elseworlds - before it was over-used
  26. Evil Dopplegangers
  27. For the Man Who Has Everything by Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons
  28. Galactus
  29. George Perez
  30. Gil Kane - one of the first artists whose style I instantly recognized
  31. Gorillas, especially talking telepathic gorillas
  32. Grant Morrison
  33. Great creative teams with Synchronicity in storytelling - Waid/Wieringo, Morrison/Quietly, Kirby/Lee, Claremont/Byrne, O'Neill/Adams
  34. Green Lantern
  35. Green Lantern/Green Arrow by O'neill and Adams
  36. GrimJack
  37. http://fanboyrampage.blogspot.com, http://www.progressiveruin.com and the rest of the comics blogo-verse
  38. "Imaginary Stories"
  39. 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
  40. Jack Kirby
  41. Jack Kirby's DC Super Powers miniseries
  42. JLA/Avengers
  43. John Byrne's work in the 80s
  44. Julius Schwartz
  45. Keeping Ma & Pa Kent alive
  46. King Kirby
  47. Kingdom Come
  48. Krypto
  49. Kurt Busiek
  50. Letter columns
  51. Mark Waid's run on The Flash
  52. Martha Washington Goes to War by Miller/Gibbons
  53. Marvel's 25th anniversary covers
  54. Marvel v. DC - not so much the limited series but the years of fans bickering that inspired it
  55. Marvels by Busiek & Ross
  56. Morrison's JLA
  57. Nazis - the ultimate comic book villians
  58. Neal Adams' Batman
  59. Neil Gaiman
  60. Neil Gaiman's Sandman
  61. Nightcrawler Limited series from the '80s
  62. Parallel Universes
  63. Peter David's The Incredible Hulk
  64. Preacher
  65. Rogues Galleries
  66. Secret Wars
  67. Spider-man
  68. Spider-man and his Amazing Friends
  69. Stan the Man
  70. Superfriends
  71. Superhero Records
  72. Superman/Captain Marvel battles
  73. Superman/Flash Races
  74. Superman: Secret Identity
  75. The Adventures of Kavalier and Klay
  76. The Amalgam Age of Comics
  77. The Big Red Cheese - the original Captain Marvel SHAZAM!
  78. The Crime Syndicate of Amerika of Earth-2 and Earth-3
  79. The Crow
  80. The Dark Knight Returns
  81. The Fantastic Four
  82. The Far Side
  83. The Flash - all incarnations and the handling of the legacy of the character
  84. The Tribute to the death of Barry Allen in Quasar
  85. The Golden Age by Robinson & Smith
  86. The Killing Joke
  87. The old comics and electronics shop I visited in my youth to get $.25 & $.50 back issues
  88. The Rainbow Bridge to Asgard
  89. The Rogues
  90. Trade Paperbacks
  91. Treasury Editions from the '70s
  92. Underoos - lets face they wouldn't be around without comics & superheroes - and who DIDN'T own a pair?
  93. Walt Simonson's Thor
  94. Watchmen
  95. Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?
  96. Wonder Woman
  97. X-Men annual #11
  98. Y: The Last Man
  99. You will believe a man can fly - The first Superman movie
  100. 12.95 Marvel Masterworks at Barnes & Noble

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