laceblade

Lots of comics!reading. Prompted by: Borders going-out-of-business sales, living 2 blocks from a comics shop, multiple bad pain days.

I don't really do heavy synopses; sorry if that's what you're looking for.

Neon Genesis Evangelion: Campus Apocalypse - 4-volume manga series by Mingming. An AU!Evangelion in which everyone attends school, and fights in a virtual reality world with guns.
The art style was mediocre, but it was emotionally satisfying in that the kids - Kaworu, Rei, Shinji, Asuka, etc. all stand up for each other in a way they never do in the actual Evangelion series. I found the plot mostly nonsensical.

I'm not upset that I read it, but I don't think I'll be keeping it. Anybody want it? I'll send it to you for the cost of shipping.

Codename Sailor V by Naoko Takeuchi, volume 1 of 2. The titular Sailor V character is Sailor Venus, one of Sailor Moon's friends/fellow fighters in the Sailor Moon series. Sailor V was a pre-cursor to the Sailor Moon saga, and I enjoyed reading it (I've been wanting to for a long time!). Minako is ready to kick some ass right from the beginning in a way that takes a few issues before Usagi feels the same way in the sister series.
This was fun to read in a cracktastic way - there isn't much in the way of "deep, meaningful plot." Still, it was a fun ride, and I'm looking forward to reading the rest of it.

Sailor Moon, vol. 1 also by Naoko Takeuchi, a U.S. reprint by Kodansha. I'm one of the rare people who has all 18 volumes of Tokyopop's initial print of Sailor Moon. The original printing was pretty small (shorter, thinner than the average manga book), and the glue job was actually the worst I've ever seen in manga.

This re-release by Kodansha used the art touch-ups from the Japanese reprint. So a lot of the art looks cleaner, more in proportion, etc. If you're interested in side-by-side comparisons with the original, you can check that out here. Some of the changes I like, but one thing I liked about the original was when characters "go faceless," or their features - eyes, nose, etc. - disappear in moments of high drama, when characters are attacking or shouting or etc. So, while I'm really really glad about the re-print, I'll be saving my old tomes even though they're falling apart.

I won't recap the plot/premise because most of you know it (and if you don't, you can read such a review here.)

Buffy, Season 9 - Only one issue so far, but it looks like it's going to be a better ride than Season 8 was (this will have fewer characters, much less EPIC of a plot, etc). I like reading these a lot; the comedic timing of the show still transfers, and I like re-visiting these characters.

Angel & Faith - It's hard to talk about this much without giving away massive, massive spoilers for the end of Buffy Season 8, so let's just say that based on first issue, I like this even more than Buffy season 9. It's Angel and Faith, captured perfectly in comics form, doing what I like watching them do best - struggle with redemption for the terrible things they've done.
This takes place on the same timeline as Buffy Season 9.

Batwoman - with DC revamping 52 of its titles, I figured I'd jump on board with a few of them. For Batwoman, I read the Batwoman: Elegy compilation, and have now read the first issue of the new series. I'd say this is worth reading for the art style alone: it's gorgeous. As bonus points, Batwoman herself is a lesbian, which is much-appreciated in the sausagefest wasteland that is Most of DC's Other Titles. I've heard this team had a hard time sticking to a schedule during Elegy, so I hope that they can keep it up.
Either way, I highly recommend checking out Batwoman: Elegy, which tells her backstory. Our library has multiple copies.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - A decent first issue, imo. I like the art style, there are heaps of nostalgia for me, as I owned lots of TMNT action figures in my youth and enjoyed the gritty 80s movies (or was it early 90s??). They're putting a few twists on things: April O'Neill is a lab researcher instead of a reporter, Raphael seems estranged from his fellow turtles in the present although we don't know why, etc.
As a warning, there is a page of domestic violence in the first issue, although I don't think it will be a continuing storyline.


Next week I intend to check out Wonder Woman and the new Ultimate Spiderman.
I have piles of manga to read, too. I left Borders more than once carrying armfuls, ^^;

Dr. Horrible analysis! I love when the Internet gets analytical about the narratives I love. I could read this shit all day.

So, first, takumashii. Her entire post (and you should read it) is here.

Feminists do analyze masculinity! KTHX.


And then there was highandrandom's post, which I also adore. You can find it in its entirety here.

Firstly, I will remind you all (as Dave reminded me!) that the first Act of Dr. Horrible goes live today! These are only staying live until midnight of July 20th.

I'd really like to know how the conversation went when deciding on the cover of this week's New Yorker. "It's okay for white people to be racist, because we're being ironic!" No.

Black Lagoon is one of my favorite anime series, and it's been announced that it will have a third season.

Last Sunday, I went to see the movie Wall-E with Creighton, Carolyn, Gordon, Antoine, and a couple of friends of C&C. I had forgotten to mention that, but I did find the movie incredibly sweet. Probably the only critique I have of the movie is its treatment of obesity, equating it with laziness, stupidity, and ignorance. There is an article describing this, and why it sucks, here.

Wall-E is an innovative and visually stunning film, but the "satire" it draws is simple-minded. It plays off the easy analogy between obesity and ecological catastrophe, pushing the notion that Western culture has sickened both our bodies and our planet with the same disease of affluence. According to this lazy logic, a fat body stands in for a distended culture: We gain weight and the Earth suffers. If only society could get off its big, fat ass and go on a diet!

But the metaphor only works if you believe familiar myths about the overweight: They're weak-willed, indolent, and stupid. Sure enough, that's how Pixar depicts the future of humanity. The people in Wall-E drink "cupcakes-in-a-cup," they never exercise, and if they happen to fall off their hovering chairs, they thrash around like babies until a robot helps them up. They watch TV all day long and can barely read.

It ought to go without saying that this stereotype of the "obese lifestyle" is simply false. How fat you are has a lot more to do with your genes than with your behavior. As much as 80 percent of the variation in human body weight can be explained by differences in our DNA. (Your height is similarly heritable.) That is to say, it may not matter that much whether you eat salads or drink "cupcakes-in-a-cup," whether you bike everywhere or fly around in a Barcalounger. If you have a propensity to become obese, there's only so much that can be done about it.

That's not to say that our circumstances can't lead us to gain weight. But there's little evidence that overeating causes obesity on an individual level and no real reason to think that anyone can lose a lot of weight by dieting. (Most of us fluctuate around a natural "set point.")

The article should be read in its entirety. It contains many links, sending you to lengthier discussions of these issues. Perhaps someone could forward a link to Rachel Moss.


I don't know how many of you have been following the Helix kerfluffle, but the most absurd exchange I've read thus far has been when writer Yoon Ha Lee contacted F&SF Helix, asking them to remove her story from its archives. She no longer wants to be associated with them after a writer posted their rejection slip on LiveJournal, showing that it contained negative views of Muslims. Emphasis is added by me.

Sanders flounced off in a huff, stating that the story "never did make any sense" and that he only accepted it to "please those who admire your work"--what altruism!--"and also because (notorious bigot that I am) I was trying to get more work by non-Caucasian writers." If I were a writer currently submitting to Helix, I would kind of worry about that bit--all things considered, if a story really does suck, I'd rather have it rejected so I can fix it.

He then played psychic and claimed that I only asked for the story to be withdrawn "because, let's get real here, you feel the need to distance yourself from someone who is in disfavor with the kind of babbling PC waterheads whose good opinion is so important to you, and whom you seem to be trying to impress with this little grandstand play."

He closed with: "There was a suggestion I was going to make, but it is probably not physically practicable."

I'm actually totally okay with being told the story makes no sense; I'm fond of "Shadow Postulates" for my own reasons, but it is indeed a flawed story, albeit a flawed story that several readers have enjoyed, so it's not all to the bad.

In any case, there it stands. As for my literary career, small thing that it is, maybe it'll survive, maybe it won't. We'll see.

Meanwhile, if you are a fellow chromatic writer who writes stories that make no sense (and trust me, I have done this LOTS, and I have friends' comments and the rejection slips from F&SF--which I am, note, not posting--to prove it), try Helix! Send 'em in! There's a home for us now! (Well, y'all rather than "us," because I suspect anything I hypothetically sent to Helix would be deleted unread.)

What a jerk! Where do these people come from?

Sanders has now said that any writer who wants a story removed must pay $40.

89 The Slayer's Legacy: Ten Years of the Buffyverse

Reading,Viewing, & Critiquing Science Fiction and Fantasy ♦ Saturday, 4:00-5:15 P.M. ♦ Capitol B

Ten years ago, the television series Buffy The Vampire Slayer debuted, headed by Joss Whedon, a self-proclaimed feminist. The show created spinoffs, academic disciplines, and a fiercely loyal fan community, and embraced ideals of cooperation, alternative sexualities, smart heroines, and the mix between monster and human. Buffy fans embrace all types, from academics in linguistics and gender theory, theologians, writers, ceremonial magicians, artists, bloggers and more. Buffy is still a viable site for discourse and inspiration ten years later and it came in with feminist ideals—there are even Buffy discussion groups at feminist bookstores today. How does this change the landscape of science fiction today—what is the Slayer's legacy? We'll look at how feminist ideals of cooperation have spread to the support of the WGA strike, and how Buffy has created a new kind of fan, actor, writer, and artist. We'll look at the links between fan culture, feminism, academia and how the Buffyverse has shared feminism and feminist ideals with the world.

M: Olivia Luna, Candra Gill, Jody Wurl, Ariel Franklin-Hudson


I wasn't really looking for great theoretical value in this panel, so please forgive me for just posting the squee.

( Spoilers through the end of the series (I think?) lie behind the cut. )

Overall, this was a fun panel to sit in on, having just finished watching all 7 seasons of Buffy for the first time. I am open to suggestions of further Buffy readings, if anyone has them. By "Buffy readings," I refer to comics (have already read most of Season 8, Fray, and Tales of the Vampires), novels (are any of them any good?), or criticism (online or in book-form).


If anyone else attended the panel and has information that I forgot, or different opinions about how the panel went, please express them!

Hey, so more casting information has been reported about Joss Whedon's new show, "Dollhouse," including the fact that Amy Acker will join the cast.

On a critical note, coffeeandink has some interesting thoughts about race in her post here, and links to a discussion going on in deadbrowalking

She says:

The most powerful character in the show, at least insofar as we can tell from the character descriptions, is a white woman, as is the lead; most of the men (1 of the white men, both of the men of color) are in positions of ambiguous power; all the women of color are dolls, i.e., initially at least powerless.

You could use this setup to talk about negotiating power hierarchies of both race and gender, although given his history, I think it is more likely that Whedon is going to continue to fall into typical traps of "colorblind" racial commentary. My tiny hope on this front comes from my conviction that he has in the past been somewhat responsive to political complaints about his work: i.e., Kennedy was unsatisfactory for many reasons, but she was also clearly an attempt to counteract the Dead Lesbian Cliche for Willow's relationships; the racial makeup of both Firefly and Dollhouse are unsatisfacory, but they both seem like efforts to increase diversity in response to complaints about Buffy and Angel. I'm not saying anyone else should feel satisfied with this kind of marginal improvement (especially giving the exasperatingly obvious problems with Firefly), but yeah, it does make a difference for me, since the careers of many white male producers (e.g., David Kelley) make it clear that they can get away with whitewashing TV as long as they want to.

I agree that the premise of the show could be problematic, but with these actors (Tahmoh Penikett, Elisha Dushku, Amy Acker, etc.) and the fact that it's Joss Whedon, there's no way in hell that I won't be watching every episode.

So, I often write reviews for anime and manga, but haven't done so yet for graphic novels (I usually refer to American comics in bound-form as "graphic novels," even though manga are probably graphic novels, too. Is there some kind of etiquette to this? Someone let me know.) or regular novels. We'll see how it goes!

Anyway, "Fray" is a graphic novel written by Joss Whedon. While it is related to the Buffy: The Vampire Slayer fictional universe (referred to by fans as the "Buffyverse"), it is self-contained, meaning that there is no need to have watched any of Buffy in order to understand it (although, you'll probably adjust a tad bit quicker to the mythology of the "Slayer.")

Melaka Fray is a young woman who makes her living by stealing in the 23rd century. In this bleak future, demons and vampires live openly among humans, and are referred to as "Lurks." There has not been a Slayer called for nearly 200 years (As described in Buffy, "In every generation, there is born a slayer: One girl who will stand against the vampires, the demons, and the darkness, etc." The Slayer gets special bad-ass fighting abilities, as well as an ability to heal their own wounds quickly.). Melaka Fray seems to be the most unlikely champion of humanity - she is jaded, lives alone, and seems not to care for anyone but herself. What will happen when a demon comes along, encouraging her to follow the path of the Slayer?

I loved this graphic novel. The art is well-done. While sometimes, comics will flub a shot of the protagonist's face, or pay lazy attention to background scenery, Fray is spot-on in every panel. Additionally, the story is tightly-plotted, as is typical of a story told by Joss Whedon. Initially, I had been skeptical of a heroine who would be filling the shoes of Buffy Summers, even if she was in the future. Still, Melaka Fray is worthy of the role. She kicks ass and takes names. Also, in what is relatively rare in American comics, this action heroine is not a 42DDD cup.

I highly recommend this graphic novel!

As an added bonus, I thought it was totally sweet that in the back of the book, the artist had a collection of first sketches, and said that he wanted to base Melaka's appearance on Natalie Portman's role of Matilda, from the movie "Leon the Professional." That was a good movie! Awesome.

( Spoilers lie behind the cut, and possibly in the comments left by others. )

The Internet tells me that Joss Whedon has promised to return to the world of Fray, and for this I am excited.