Caddickisms

I’m reading a lot more comics/graphic novels now than I ever have. Sadly, that’s not saying much, since I only read individual unconnected issues at a time - I never really read a full storyline until a year or so ago, save for one or two “special occasions.”

Now, though, I’m borrowing stuff from a few friends’ collections, and I’m loving it. I’m reading a pretty wide variety of stuff (standard superhero fare, TV show spinoffs, Stephen King, and a couple of “difficult to categorize” books). There are some definite standouts, and that’s where I want to focus here.

When I think about the series’ that I’m reading, there are three that I plow through almost immediately, and for which I can’t wait for the next installment: 100 Bullets, Fables, and The Amazing Spider-Man.

Spider-Man is the most fun, because it’s a character I grew up with and love in all incarnations. The current story (Back in Black) is painting a darker Peter Parker, driven to revenge when his Aunt May takes a bullet meant for him. Spidey lets loose almost completely in this and there’s only one or two issues left, which I’m salivating to read. Good stuff. J. Michael Straczynski, of Babylon 5 fame, is writing this series, following on the heels of Marvel’s Civil War series (also excellent), and I think he’s doing a terrific job.

The other two series are just phenomenal, but in different ways. There are no ’super-heroes’ per-se, in either series. Both are thoroughly ensemble pieces, though a couple characters stand out in each.

100 Bullets is a dark, complex, conspiracy and con-men driven story, ultimately about the formation and future of the United States and the small group of people who are really in charge (and they aren’t in the government). There are mysteries layered upon mysteries, incredibly smart writing, surprises at every corner, and (especially in the later issues) action rivaling some of the biggest Hollywood blockbusters. Others have said it before and I’ll echo the sentiment: this series elevates graphic novels to a new level, equal to some of the best crime fiction out there.

The other series in the upper echelons of my reading list, that is just as engrossing as 100 Bullets, is Fables. The premise is that the characters in the fables we all grew up with (Snow White, Cinderella, Old King Cole, The Big Bad Wolf, the Three Little Pigs, Goldilocks, etc.) were driven from their homelands by an unnamed ferocious enemy and many of them escaped to our world centuries ago and are living among us, primarily centered in New York City. It’s not nearly as dark as 100 Bullets, but it’s also very smart, and it has an overarching story that is just as compelling. The difference, to me, is that while I am spurred by the writing and mysteries of both stories, I care about the individual characters of Fables, while in 100 Bullets I just have to know what happens next. The story and writing alone keep me coming back for 100 Bullets, but the interweaving of the characters with the story, and its ability to make me really care what happens to individuals is what keeps me hooked on Fables. I just finished book 4, where the first attack of “the adversary” in the “mundy” world has just occurred, and I can’t wait to get to book 5. The opening issue of book 4, recalling the last stand of the escaping fables in the “homelands” surprised me with its emotional power. It really elevated the whole thing to a new level for me.

Neither of these last two series are for young audiences, but for mature readers, there’s not much better out there. Don’t get me wrong… there’s some great stuff out there, but these are at the top of my must-read list at the moment.

Technorati Tags: Fables, Fabletown, Bigby Wolf, Snow White, Agent Graves, 100 Bullets, The Minutemen, Spider-Man, JMS, graphic novels, comic books

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Okay, I get distracted for a little while and suddenly there’s new stuff in the Star Wars universe. I can feel the geek in me slipping away…

But at least I woke up in time to get my geek on…

As most people know already, there are two Star Wars TV shows in the works, one live action and one computer animated. The latter of those is much closer to completion, and it’s release is still over a year out. But on the official Star Wars website, they’ve released a trailer for the “Clone Wars” show, and it blows me away. This series looks like it will be awesome. It covers, as the name implies, the Clone Wars, which begin at the end of Episode II: Attack of the Clones and end in Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. There was a short cartoon series run on the Cartoon Network (approximately 5 minute episodes totalling 2 hours), that covered some of that war, and this series will fill in the gaps. All the major characters seem to be involved: Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker, Padme Amidala-Skywalker, Mace Windu, Yoda, Darth Sidious, Darth Tyrannus (Count Dooku), and General Grievous, plus popular characters introduced outside of the movies like Dirge and Asajj Ventress. The action looks great, the music is cool (in the trailer… of course that’s all John Williams), and the story is apparently realistic (within the SW universe, anyway). In some interviews, series’ heads had this to say:

Filoni: One of the things I always use as an example for the crew is that in the Cartoon Network version, we see Mace Windu take out 500 battle droids, which is really cool, but I remember the Battle of Geonosis and they got punked pretty hard. If Mace could do that, they would have won that battle in five minutes. The real tangible thing that we had to build into The Clone Wars was that, like it or not, the Jedi start to die. And that’s a big responsibility. So we had to make them vulnerable people. Mace says they’re keepers of the peace, not soldiers — we have to show how war was a challenging thing for them to fight.

George gave me a rule about the battle droids where a Jedi can take out about 20 standard battle droids, about 10-15 super battle droids, but a Jedi versus a destroyer droid is a push because of the shield — Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan run into that. So they have to think to solve these problems to get around these droids. Dooku’s constantly trying to entrap and ensnare them and to take more and more of them out. So I don’t have a Justice League of Jedi — I don’t have them do anything that Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan, Yoda, or Luke Skywalker didn’t do.

I like that the Jedi are vulnerable. It’s not fun to watch them succeed if they’re not. Very much looking forward to that show.

In related news, there’s a new Star Wars video game on the horizon called “The Force Unleashed” in which you play Darth Vader’s Secret Apprentice in the largely unexplored time period between Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, and Episode IV: A New Hope (or just plain “Star Wars” for those who can’t keep the episodes straight — Dad). Playing a Sith apprentice is a new approach for the games, if I remember correctly, and that means someone who is willing to tap into the raw destructive abilities of the Force, which means some major cool-looking effects and butt-whoopings are about to ensue. Catch a glimpse in the trailer. This is the first game produced by the new alignment of Industrial Light and Magic (the movie effects wizards) with LucasArts game production team, so I expect to be blown away, and the trailer does nothing to dampen those expectations (unfortunately, I also expect to have to run a pretty high end machine to play this, but that’s a different problem).

Technorati Tags: Star Wars, Clone Wars, video games, television shows, trailers, George Lucas

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