Current Events > Reading Thread: Number Unknown

(+) Yeah! (+)

Finally read a few chapters of Grapes, I'm digging the alternating chapters between the main plot and society's ills.

ImAMarvel posted...

Yeah. =(

I started Redshirts by John Scalzi yesterday but not too far into it. I hate how I wasn't able to concentrate much while reading today so I really didn't read much of that or Hidden Figures.

Usually I'm able to focus but yeah, concentration has been an issue for me too. I was actually able to read today cuz the family was napping <_<.

Just cause both threads won't necessarily be on the first page of CE, some Marvel/Disney stuff I'm looking forward to:

Goofy becomes Spider-Man: https://www.marvel.com/articles/comics/marvel-disney-what-if-goofy-became-spider-man-2025-1-variant-covers

Gargoyles and Fantastic Four crosses over:
https://bleedingcool.com/comics/fantastic-four-gargoyles-crossover-from-marvel-disney-dynamite/

Hot damn, June 3rd we get more Nancy
https://i.vgy.me/J3Avse.jpg
1949-1950 so the first half of the third out of print collection.

ROBBAN posted...

taking a short break from my H.G. Wells run, as i found "the collected public domain works of H.P Lovecraft"
i didn't realise his stuff was mostly short stories

damn, H.P. Lovecraft loves his "guy has a wierd dream that may be from some entity" stories
like at least 3-4 so far
and i have absolutely no idea what any of them are supposed to mean

Friend finally finished Bleach so I'm picking up the light novels that were TL'ed next.
Time to find a new manga, finally.

https://i.vgy.me/yPu0RJ.jpg
Started The Shadowman from Saito Pro
Yes, it is a manga

ImAMarvel posted...

Do you guys ever have difficulty reading more than one book? Like you'll be in the mood to read one and then when you try to read the other, it just doesn't hit as much so you only read a bit of it?

Of course, I've had that happen a lot. Hard to keep the mind off the one you want to read lol.

My haul for over all of April:
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/d/d7249fef.jpg
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/c/ce117f7f.jpg
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/0/0b149726.jpg

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/4/49e47d48.jpg
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/a/a8418f2f.jpg

I'm reading Prophet Song at the moment.

It feels especially chilling given the... everything right now.

Still plugging away at Grapes
Also picked up a few more of Fantagraphics' EC Artists Library or w/e they're called, started a Harvey Kurtzman.

Got another piece of the King Hell Heroica finished with Boy Maximortal; I dunno if I can find the correct words to describe what Veitch puts out this late at night. He handles the medium in a way that few creatives do. Even the "five volume" Heroica has been published in an atypical fashion, out of order, with decades between entries, and as far as I know still unfinished. I hope I get to see the next one.

Quickly read The Narrative Corpse by a bunch of alternative and European artists. Ironically, I think Mort Walker's contribution was the best of the lot...

Reading two at the moment

• Those Who Dwell in Darkness (The Assembly, #1) - Steve McHugh [74% Completed]
• Predator One (Joe Ledger, #7) - Jonathan Maberry [53% Completed]

Zipped through Godzilla: Monsterpiece Theatre earlier. I'm fairly ambivalent/slightly negative towards public domain mash ups, read it for Scioli's art. In that respect, it was quite solid. I'll post a few panels shortly.

Gatsby running through Dracula's castle, reminiscent of a similar layout used for a two page spread in American Barbarian:
https://i.vgy.me/i6sr7t.jpg

Godzilla getting cartoonishly shocked by the Eiffel Tower
https://i.vgy.me/R2NoRN.jpg

Also read Tony Millionaire's Sock Monkey Treasury yesterday, kinda like a PG-13 comic book version of his strip Maakies. Highly recommended:
https://i.vgy.me/norC11.jpg
https://i.vgy.me/S7IMuD.jpg
Anything that quotes Victorian poetry can't be all bad (selection is from a guy named Coventry Patmore after a quick web search).
Or sea shanties.
https://i.vgy.me/aZkZHU.jpg
Mr. Crow was definitely my favorite.

cuh posted...

This looks awesome, I love the art!

He's got a really great style, the colors are so easy on the eyes. He needs to get more work!

Reading Matt Madden's 99 Ways to Tell a Story: Exercises in Style, this is on fire.

First he presents the template story:
https://i.vgy.me/N8JIyQ.jpg

Presented as a flashback:
https://i.vgy.me/aTqE7Y.jpg

In the vein of dailies:
https://i.vgy.me/8P2ENs.jpg

And political cartoons:
https://i.vgy.me/V64hjU.jpg

Best of all so far, after our boy Rodolphe Tpffer:
https://i.vgy.me/P1z0bp.jpg

cuh posted...

^^^wait, that is so cool! I love Oulipo literature, and the reference to Raymond Queneau's Exercises in Style. And also, the math version: Philip Ordings 99 Variations on a Proof.

One of the variations actually ended up being a Charles Atlas parody with Queneau in his place, lol. I'll have to post it later today.

ImAMarvel posted...

This is neat. Gonna have to check this out at some point.

Definitely recommended, very refreshing read.

Atheism: The Case Against God
Why Atheism?
Atheism: A Philosophical Justification
Good Sense Without God
The Essence of Christianity
The Oxford Handbook of Atheism
The Cambridge Companion to Atheism
The Necessity of Atheism
The Presumption of Atheism

Read Turn of the Screw. I feel bad because it's quite renowned but I didn't care for it, and I can't tell if it's because I couldn't stand the dialogue, or because the ghosts did nothing for most of the story and I was supposed to be frightened by them just standing around mean mugging. >_>

Had some really good highlights but overall it just felt too long for what was there. Probably would've enjoyed it more as a short story rather than a novella. <_<

Still plugging away at Grapes, about half thru.

cuh posted... I remember a beautiful poem for a beautiful spirit.

Kim_Seong-a posted... Wiki says it was originally published in twelve pieces, from January to April. Maybe in the serial format with time between installments, the pacing would be better? Hard to say though.

Just finished The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs. Cranked out the last hundred some pages in central park yesterday. Pretty good paleo book but, as someone who already knows a ton of this stuff, I just picked up a few new tidbits. Now I'm jumping back into Discworld for the Industrial Revolution books.

specialkid8 posted...

Just finished The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs. Cranked out the last hundred some pages in central park yesterday. Pretty good paleo book but, as someone who already knows a ton of this stuff, I just picked up a few new tidbits. Now I'm jumping back into Discworld for the Industrial Revolution books.

Ayy I remember reading that dinosaur book a few years ago, I think I had a good time with it.

Read the first two volumes of the Boom Power Rangers comic and I don't think it's for me lol. I generally like how the rangers are characterized, and the action does look good on the page, but it's just so exhausting to read. It feels like its always in "huge event" mode.

The worst thing of all for me is that the "monsters of the week" are basically fodder, so the stories never really scratch the Power Rangers itch. The fun, wacky creativity of smaller monster hijinks while the main villains slowly build up to the big guns is inversed, so the main villains are always front and center while the monsters only get token scenes.

The irony in all this for me is that I did read a bunch of Shattered Grid when it first came out and enjoyed it , but hadnt read the preceding volumes. Going into the big "bad future multiverse epic" with only the original show as background was probably a better experience than getting event fatigue before it even starts lol

I also managed to knock out Shirley Jackson's "We Have Always Lived in the Castle" (only 170 pages) which was delightfully dark, strange, and unnerving. Katherine Blackwood was such a fun protagonist. I kind of wish more ended up happening but what was there was great.

Phew I'm beat today after prepping garden beds yesterday. Currently looking through the stacks to try and find a comic I haven't read before, still want to rip through something short before I finish Grapes.

Kim_Seong-a posted...

I also managed to knock out Shirley Jackson's "We Have Always Lived in the Castle" (only 170 pages) which was delightfully dark, strange, and unnerving. Katherine Blackwood was such a fun protagonist. I kind of wish more ended up happening but what was there was great.

The title seemed familiar so I asked my sister and she had actually read that quite recently. She felt it could have been a bit longer to flesh more of the plot out but did enjoy the ending.

Kim_Seong-a posted...

Read the first two volumes of the Boom Power Rangers comic and I don't think it's for me lol. I generally like how the rangers are characterized, and the action does look good on the page, but it's just so exhausting to read. It feels like its always in "huge event" mode.

The worst thing of all for me is that the "monsters of the week" are basically fodder, so the stories never really scratch the Power Rangers itch. The fun, wacky creativity of smaller monster hijinks while the main villains slowly build up to the big guns is inversed, so the main villains are always front and center while the monsters only get token scenes.

The irony in all this for me is that I did read a bunch of Shattered Grid when it first came out and enjoyed it , but hadnt read the preceding volumes. Going into the big "bad future multiverse epic" with only the original show as background was probably a better experience than getting event fatigue before it even starts lol

I have no Kim_Seong-a. I know what I said.

Juhanor posted...

The title seemed familiar so I asked my sister and she had actually read that quite recently. She felt it could have been a bit longer to flesh more of the plot out but did enjoy the ending.

Oh yeah there was definitely plenty of room for more. The story is lean but I don't think it's lacking. The ending was really good.

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]


I'll probably have to give it another go sometime in the future.
I did feel though that there were a lot of implications that were going over my head. As I was reading I chalked it up to time/cultural differences. The worst I think anyone actually said about Quint, specifically with regards to his relationship with the kids, was that he was "too free", which to me sounded like anxieties about class and status than any actual transgression. But maybe some more research and a re-read would let me appreciate it better. <_<

Antiyonder posted...

I have no Kim_Seong-a. I know what I said.

Lol. >_>

If it makes you feel any better I just got the YA novel that just came out, Force of Chaos, and have been thoroughly enjoying it. It really captures the feel of the show in the best ways I think, without being dragged down by the show's worse elements or succumbing to the temptation of making things edgy or overly dark.

Been reading Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver

Follows the life of a boy growing up in rural appalachia America (Lee county virginia) during the 1990s.

I'm about halfway through the book right now. The first 1/3 or so of the story is pretty bleak. I didnt realize the foster care system can be so fucked. Also I find it interesting to catch a glimpse of how the opioid epidemic initially took off in this part of the USA. It's been a major part of the background so far.

That said Tlthe manga references are so out there for me lmao. Just didn't expect them to be here.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/e/e45c730b.jpg

Hunter x hunter
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/5/5ba6e5f4.jpg

Finished Grapes; East of Eden is still unbeaten IMO but there were some spicy lines in the earlier work, anyway. This part in particular near the end was good:
https://i.vgy.me/lZriED.png

Not sure what I'll read next, I think a manga maybe.

Ratchetrockon posted...

Hunter x hunter

Honestly, not a reference I would expect. I know there was a preview chapter in the American version of Shonen Jump (that I probably have on a shelf) that probably was just before/simultaneous to/just after the first Viz volume in 2005. Still, out of all the manga one could reference, not a pick one would expect.

https://www.freecomicbookday.com/catalog

So did anyone participate in FCBD early this month? Still reading some titles before I take them to the library

Keeps:
- Power Rangers Prime/VR Troopers

- Gargoyles Demona #0

- Hulk Teach

- Speed Racer #0

- Spidey and His Amazing Friends/Iron Man and His Awesome Friends

- Star Wars Young Jedi Adventures/Avatar the Last Airbender

- Transformers Worst Bot Ever

Possibly the Dr. Seuss sampler and a couple more depending.

Creaky Acres no, but I got the full GN.

Spent the past few days reading Haruki Murakami's "The City and Its Uncertain Walls". Part 1 was a bit rough to get through, then suddenly ends right when it might get interesting. Part 2 is a lot better, and the relatively short Part 3 ties it all together in a satisfying way. I liked it. Very low-stakes and slice of life, with plenty of weirdness and introspective musing.

Compared to a lot of his stuff nothing too crazy happens. No psychic dream sex or metaphorical concepts of evil trying to kill anyone. Just some lonely guy working at a rural town library. (There is a weird fantasy city with unicorns and magic and shit, but the city itself is less important than what it represents.)

Antiyonder posted...

https://www.freecomicbookday.com/catalog

So did anyone participate in FCBD early this month? Still reading some titles before I take them to the library

Oh some of these look neat. I haven't really kept up with comics for the last few years. The Godzilla one looks interesting >_>

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]


Oh those covers look great.

Started reading the Dragon Quest manga, the color pages are really nice.