Panel of the Week: 9/23/15

Today's post is a bit of a milestone, folks. It's my 101st post in 2015, which means I've officially blogged more this year than any other year previously.

And even with that being the case, I still can't seem to get up on this damn column. Stupid life.

Anyway, the winner for September 3rd's batch of comics is a series of panels from 1872 #03, a miniseries that is part of Marvel's Secret Wars event. The book is written by Gerry Duggan (of Deadpool fame) and drawn by Nik Virella (who I've never heard of). And here are the panels:

That's a Wild Wild West version of Bullseye getting taken out by Red Wolf, and I'm absolutely tickled by it. How it took someone this long from the moment Colin Farrell's Bullseye popped up in that awful Affleck Daredevil movie to do a gag like this is beyond me, but it wins, hands down. From the shock on everyone else's face to the stoicism on Red Wolf's as he drops the punchline, I love it. Maybe if Duggan's Deadpool was this funny it wouldn't be such a chore to slog through...

Goodreads Book Review - Archmage

Archmage by R.A. Salvatore
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Like all Salvatore books, this one is filled with vibrant characters and the kind of vivid, thrilling battle scenes he's known for. The intrigue keeps increasing in the plot as the remaining Companions of the Hall become more and more intwined with the drow and their machinations. This kick-off to the new sub-series, Homecoming, was the first in awhile where I didn't have a feel for where the book was going before it got there, which was a pleasant surprise, as was the pair of cliffhangers the book wrapped up with. The strange bedfellows (stranger than usual) set up to work together in the next installment have me eagerly awaiting it.


View all my reviews

Goodreads Book Review - William Shakespeare's Tragedy of the Sith's Revenge

William Shakespeare's Tragedy of the Sith's Revenge by Ian Doescher
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

A better installment than the last few, but that's only because Revenge of the Sith has a better... and admittedly more Shakespearean... plot than either of the last two books. Aside from some humorous touches, like spotting the Samuel L. Jackson movie title in all of Mace Windu's lines, this whole thing is a fun conceit that really should have stopped at one book.


View all my reviews

Goodreads Book Review - Mr. Mercedes

Mr. Mercedes by Stephen King
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I know there are a lot of complaints about King's writing out there: it's repetitive, he isn't any good at endings, whatever. You can say whatever you want about those negatives and more, but one thing you can't say is that he isn't great at characters and characterization. He makes you care about his characters and what happens to them by really letting you into their lives, and that is a talent of his that is on full display in Mr. Mercedes. It's something different for King, a straight-up noir-style detective story without any supernatural elements at all, and he kills it. Obviously none of the aforementioned repetitiveness is there, although there are allusions to past works and themes. it's a fresh story, not at all hurt by being set a few years ago. The characters are vibrant and endearing, and consequently the horror that sets in when something is about to happen to them is more real. The only complaint I've ever heard about King novels that can still be applied here is that he doesn't stick the landing. The ending left me a bit disappointed, not so much in how it ends but how it unfolds, more specifically who is left out of the action and who plays too small a part in it. That's all I'll say for fear of spoilers, but if you want an engrossing read, this is the book for you.


View all my reviews

Panel of the Week: 9/16/15

My trek to get caught up with this damn column continues. Pickings have been slim lately, though, which is why we end up getting a Star Wars winner two installments in a row... it has nothing to do with the thematic connection to this blog in its entirety, I promise. Anyway, the winner for week mentioned above comes from Marvel's Star Wars ongoing, issue #9 of the series, written by Jason Aaron and drawn by Stuart Immonen.

C-3PO and Chewbacca have both had fairly limited presences in the series so far, so it's great to see them start getting featured. And Immonen's art here is just perfect, from the Threepio's stance to how fierce the agitated Chewie is, with his bowcaster. The snippet of Aaron's dialogue in the lines he's written for Goldenrod there show you how well he knows the characters' voices too. Bottom line is that it's a great picture from a great series perfect for Star Wars fans.

Time Heals All Wounds

Time heals all wounds. Until it's a year later and the wound is still raw, this is. But I suppose that's where someone says it just hasn't been enough time yet. Which I suppose is true; also true is that it's been 365 days since my grandmother passed away, and it definitely hasn't been enough time yet. The wound isn't healed. I don't know if it ever will be. And there are some things even time can never change.

While people's individual knowledge of the details vary, it's no secret that my family life definitely had its ups and downs while I grew up, more so than most. People who were supposed to be there weren't, in so many ways. They were always in different states than me, either in the physical sense or in an altered, drunken state kind of sense. But the one person who was always there, who was never too bombed or too gone, was my grandmother. Whatever I needed, she provided if it was at all within her power. And if she couldn't provide it, well, more often than not she made me realize it was something I didn't need, I never really appreciated it growing up; I was always too angry or depressed over what I didn't have to see what I did. And as I got older and "wiser" and realized what I had, I still never really appreciated it because I told myself it was about what I didn't have, not what I had.

In short, I was an idiot.

I fought with my grandmother a lot, right up until the last time I saw her before she went into the hospital. Sure, that time we fought because she wasn't eating enough and I was trying to get her to eat more because I was worried, but I didn't have to be an asshole about it. I spent too much time fighting with her and not enough time making sure she knew I loved her, and that she was the rock I could always lean on, and that I was forever grateful to her for everything she ever gave me, and I should be, because she gave me everything.

With how fast she deteriorated once she was in the hospital, just how deep the cancer no one knew was there had sunk in, she must have been sick for quite a while. I've come to believe she hung on as long as she could, until she was sure I'd be okay without her. She waited until I found someone I love with all my heart, someone who loves me just as much in return. Someone I could make a life of my own with. My grandmother's final gift to me was waiting until I'd be okay without her.

But it's a gift I wish she never gave, because I'm not okay without her. The life I've made since she's been gone is great, but it's bittersweet without her here to see it. I wish she could be here to see how happy my girlfriend are together, sharing our life, living together. I wish she could see the great job I've gotten and how happy I am now. I wish my happiness could have come sooner, so that she could be here to see it, to enjoy the fruit of all her hard work. Because there's no mistaking the fact I wouldn't be where I am without her.

I guess that's what's important; the guilt, the pain, the loss, that's all stuff that time will eventually heal, no matter how long it takes. But who I am is down to her. That will never change with time. Neither will how much she loved me, and how much I loved her.

I miss you, Grandma. I didn't say it enough, but thanks for everything. I love you.

Let time march on.

Panel of the Week: 9/9/15

One day I'll be closer to caught up with this than two weeks behind, I swear. This will be a brief entry because I've got some stuff on my mind (which might become clear in a post tomorrow if I can turn my thoughts into anything approaching coherent). What I will tell you is that the winner for this installment comes from Star Wars: Journey to the Force Awakens - Shattered Empire. Written by Greg Rucka, the title is a clunker but the art by Marco Checchetto is anything but:

The panel in question is the lightsaber duel, but I had to include the whole page for obvious reasons, part of which is that I love how the action of the Rebel Alliance X-Wing bisects the page and panels. Aside from that, it's just a beautifully drawn image in a book full of great art. This series might just make Checcetto a star.