Friday Slice of Heaven
Sweet Tooth Vol. 2: In Captivity
- Written and illustrated by Jeff Lemire, published by DC Comics imprint, Vertigo. This volume continues the post apocalyptic story of a world where disease has killed off the majority of the earth's population and left the results of the dwindling child births to be animal/human hybrids. Enter Gus, a cross between a deer and a boy, who's supposed age predates the arrival of the plague by a few years. Last volume detailed Gus's meeting with the man mountain, Jepperd and their journey to "the preserve," a supposed haven for animal children. This volume heavily spotlights Jepperd before the arrival of the disease and the sad path his life had taken, while revealing his motivation behind taking Gus to "the preserve." Although In Captivity
contains an issue more than Out of the Woods
, it reads just as quickly if not more so. Lemire specializes in storytelling through the use of large panels and sparse dialogue and captions, showing the story with the emotions his artwork elicits. Sweet Tooth is a bleak, dark and depressing book and I love it wholeheartedly because of that. After this volume, I'm going to single issues so that I do not have to wait for third TPB. The hunt is on. Buy it! $20 to own both volumes, you cannot go wrong. Highly recommended.
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| Sweet Tooth Vol. 2: In Captivity |
The Complete Essex County
- Written and illustrated by Jeff Lemire, published by Top Shelf Productions. Apparently it's Jeff Lemire week here at Donist Compound and that is an okay thing. At 512 pages, this big boy might be intimidating to some, but it should not be. This is a must own book to be featured prominently on the shelf and to be reread annually. Essex County consists of three intertwined stories originally released as three separate graphic novels. Lemire's distinct art and style in Essex County complement the sparse dialogue and captions and tell a compelling and heartfelt story unlike anything I have ever read. Essex County is a relatively quick read despite the size of the book, but only some of the blame falls upon the many large panels and splash pages. The story is engrossing and wonderful and tragic. Characters dance into the other chapters in a tightly interwoven story in ways that I did not expect and I was compelled to flip back through to confirm moments that I did not at first catch.
A very real and truthful, heartfelt piece of work that encompasses everything that I wish to achieve as a writer. I never would have thought anything could make me care about any sort of sport, but Lemire actually succeeded in having we wish for the Lebeuf Brother's to succeed in their hockey endeavors and not fall into the sad events that transpire.
The last book to move me to this degree was Terry Moore's Strangers in Paradise
. Essex County is destined to be one of the most important graphic novels of all time. Simply wonderful and oddly beautiful. Highly Recommended.  |
| The Complete Essex County |
The Latest Comics Experience Book Club - The Comics Experience Book Club has recently been wrapped into the Comic Creators Workshop membership. You buy one, you get access to both. A pretty damn good deal, seeing as how I am wrapping up my fifth comic script (8-pages) for the December Challenge and this past Tuesday we looked at Chew Volume 1: Taster's Choice
. In and of itself, discussing Chew is an enjoyable venture--currently one of my favorite books on the stand. This past Tuesday we were joined by the creators, John Layman and Rob Guillory. They discussed how the book came to be, the heavy resistance met to the pitch for the book and how going it alone really worked in their favor. Both men were honest, open and more than happy to discuss their successes, pitfalls and hopes for the future. An exceptionally informative and highly interesting evening on one of the best new books in recent years. The class itself continues to be fun and greatly helps my writing and my pursuit of a writing career. An invaluable experience. |
| Chew the HC Omnivore Edition. Contains the first two trades. A great deal. |
Slice Into the Woods
Top Ten Banned Books for 2009 - Nothing gets my hackles up like a bunch of mental midgets trying to tell me and others, whether children or adults, what we can and cannot read. Below is the list from the American Library Association's website, or better yet, follow the link and read about what is happening in the war on our libraries and the war on our freedom through censorship. It is followed by my "Top 10" list of things for those who seek to ban books from our libraries.
Top Ten Most Frequently Challenged Books of 2009
Out of 460 challenges as reported to the Office for Intellectual Freedom
1. ttyl; ttfn; l8r, g8r (series), by Lauren Myracle
Reasons: drugs, nudity, offensive language, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group
2. And Tango Makes Three, by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson
Reasons: homosexuality
3. The Perks of Being A Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky
Reasons: anti-family, drugs, homosexuality, offensive language, religious viewpoint, sexually explicit, suicide, unsuited to age group
4. To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee
Reasons: offensive language, racism, unsuited to age group
5. Twilight (series) by Stephenie Meyer
Reasons: religious viewpoint, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group
6. Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger
Reasons: offensive language, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group
7. My Sister’s Keeper, by Jodi Picoult
Reasons: homosexuality, offensive language, religious viewpoint, sexism, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group, violence
8. The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big, Round Things, by Carolyn Mackler
Reasons: offensive language, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group
9. The Color Purple, by Alice Walker
Reasons: offensive language, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group
10. The Chocolate War, by Robert Cormier
Reasons: nudity, offensive language, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group
The Donist Top Ten List of Alternatives For Those Seeking to Ban Books
1. Go fuck yourselves...seriously. It kinda sounds like you need a little loosening up. Trust me, Christine O'Donnell does not know what she is talking about.
2. Get a hobby other than your child. There's quilting, cooking, exercising, and plenty of other things to do other than guaranteeing that your child will be in a clock tower with a rifle one day as a result of your overbearing demeanor.
3. Actually read the book that you are attempting to ban. It's not what you've been led to believe.
4. If you still don't like the book, vote with your dollars and DO NOT BUY IT. Simple.
5. Turn off the FOX "News." It's just a hunch, but I suspect a strong correlation between those who ban books and those who worship the truthiness of Beck, Hannity and the other clowns.
6. Go for a hike and appreciate nature for a change. Exercise is good.
7. See and experience the world, other people and other cultures. This can be expensive, so there is always Netflix and documentaries to help with this endeavor. There are also different types of food. Try something different.
8. Start to trust our Educators and Librarians for a change; they are not all failing our children as the media (not just FOX) and politicians seeking reelection would like you to think. These people have received a lot of training and work ridiculously hard only to be thrown under the bus over and over and over and...you get the picture.
9. Read a book, read many books. Reading is good for you.
10. Don't like what is currently out there? Write your own damn books. You'll discover something about yourself and something about the art.
Bonus 11. If you still want to toss the ol' Harry Potter onto the bonfire, then keep in mind that you bought a copy, disposed of a copy that cannot be found in used bookstores and thus another new copy can be bought. Oh yeah, and go fuck yourself again...you're obviously a nutbag. Happy holidays.
- Edited by Dian Hanson, published by Tashen. If covers could speak a thousand words, this speaks ten thousand. 
- Edited by Dian Hanson, published by Tashen. This book probably speaks about five thousand words, or at the very least somewhere around the three thousand word range.
- Edited by Dian Hanson, published by Tashen. Let's go with eight thousand, five hundred and forty two words about this book.
put on a great show and the music was much more rocking and far heavier than what was released on her album; I was impressed. Everyone left the concert and as far as my crush was concerned, I had firmly cemented myself into the cold stony facade of friendship forever. *note-Sorry Alanis...I am afraid I will take the fifth on whether or not anyone "went down on me in the theater." I'm sure you can connect the dots, though.
album and I attended this particular concert with...excuse me while I puff up my chest and pat myself on the back...the girl at the clothing store who I had crushed on for over a year. This crush was pretty bad, but hey, she was talking with me, hanging out with me, going to movies and dinners with me, I had it made right? Nope. I willingly fastened the chain to my ankle, connected it to the end of a 100-lb rock and tossed the payload into the dark viscous lake of "just friends." Regardless, this show absolutely blew me away. Here was this five-foot tall (is she even that?) woman with elevating boots, playing her guitar in a manner that made no sense to me what-so-ever. All of her fingers were taped and she consistently hammered the shit out of her poor guitar strings to force out the most beautiful of sounds that were only surpassed by her powerfully gorgeous voice. I'm still getting goosebumps thinking about it. Ani Difranco left me with such a rush that I momentarily forgot about the anguish of my crush and went home smiling all the way.
tour, and I agreed for a multitude of reasons. Great show of course, and--as I later found out--Tori actually pointed out a friend of mine who was seated not too far away from us to say that she liked his hair or something along those lines. Good show, but unfortunately working for the evil music store corporation had began to burn down the candle of tolerance in regard to my enjoyment of the musician by incessantly requiring we play the album. After the show, the crush pulled over to drop me off, and what I thought was to be our first kiss, ended up with her crying in my arms telling me how her new boyfriend was going to jail for violating parole for heroin possession. "Wait, what? Seriously? I thought that...I'm sorry. Wow that sucks. There, there. Um...don't worry about a thing. Uh...every little thing's going to be all right?" Seriously, heroin? Why get involved with someone doing that? He was also shorter, heavier and involved in all sorts of illegal schemes, oh yeah and a heroin addict! He did dress better than me and did not have bad long hair, so I will give the guy that. 
- Written and Illustrated by Darwyn Cooke, published by IDW. The follow up to 2009's amazing 
, this newest chapter was well worth the one year wait. Expertly adapted, written and illustrated by Darwyn Cooke, this story continues following career criminal Parker in his new quest to destroy The Outfit, a consortium of criminals who decided to push the wrong man. The story is intricately told and in chapter three mixes things up by detailing the exploits of Parker's accomplices as they too hit the Outfit from every corner conceivable while cleverly revealing to the reader how the Outfit ran their various rackets . A beautiful book worthy of anyone's favorite bookshelf, but be warned that the 
.
- Written and illustrated by David Mazzucchelli, published by Pantheon. Again, I'm a little late to the party on this one, but then again, aren't I always? Asterios Polyp was released in 2009 and won three Harvey awards (best lettering, best OGN, best single issue or story) among many others awards across the board. Oftentimes it was competing neck and neck with Darwyn Cooke's 
, 
and the soon to be released Who Is Jake Ellis. I personally found Edmondson's story immensely inspiring and he provided much to think about. I cannot express enough the honesty and willingness of Edmondson to answer questions and provide a history of the steps he took to become noticed. *note - Immediately after the workshop, I downloaded all five issues of The Light from ComiXology. The TPB should have a ton of extra info and will be available at the end of December...I just could not wait a month to get it.*
. Yes I would have preferred to be listening to The Cure, Love and Rockets or the Pixies, but Jeff was frothing at the mouth to go to this show, so I went. Thank god I did. It ended up being an amazing performance. Connick had incredible stage presence and passion for his music and honestly seemed to be thrilled to be performing for everyone. During the encore, he and his live band rotated instruments during the song until Connick had played a solo on every instrument before finishing out the set. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I would gladly see a performance of that caliber from Harry Connick, Jr. again. Bring it!
album and all in all it was a decent show. It would have been better if two things did not happen:
and 
albums and the really cool 
album. Faithful readers (Mom and my friend's dog) please understand something. This was before Fumbling Towards Ecstasy was severely overplayed to the point where if I heard that damn song "Ice Cream" I would collapse in a fit of anger, then become overwhelmed with a sense of despair and abandonment from which I could only escape by listing to Nine Inch Nails's song "
." She did, however, put on a great show and she was exceptionally charming and beyond talented and this was before the release of 
which is probably not a bad album. But, the god damn radio station at my payroll job would years later end up playing that fucking song "Adia" every hour all day long for two years straight. I can no longer listen to Sarah McLachlan because of that stupid radio station which is probably still playing the same Sarah McLachlan, Paula Cole, Chumbawumba and that fucking "Closing Time" song to this day. Oh shit! Oh god no! I said Paula Cole! Crap cakes. Now I'll be hearing "I Don't Want to Wait" in my mind all day long. Oh the humanity! *Oh yeah, Paula Cole opened for Sarah McLachlan. *sigh*
album tour, but we were and still are, huge Adam Ant fans. Mr. Ant put on an energetic show that touched on some of the newer songs and hit almost every one of his greatest hits. I lost my marbles when I heard "Stand and Deliver," "Friend or Foe," and "Desperate But Not Serious." Marco Pirroni was in the house to rock the guitar and he was a massive guy, towering in all ways over Mr. Ant who danced and strutted his way to a great show. One thing I could not help but notice was a slight pervading sadness from Adam Ant over the lack of response to his newer material with the exception of "Wonderful" that had throngs of radio listeners, who barely knew any of his other hits, making out in unison. "Marco, Merrick, Terry Lee, Gary Tibbs and your truly. In the naughty North and the sexy South, we're all singing I have the mouth."
. I remember the show being fairly short, but how could it be anything but short with only one album under their belt? Addictive pounding energy flowed through the crowd and even though things wrapped up quickly, everyone left happy. Isn't that what everyone wants?