The Joss Whedon Comic Collection,... er, Graphic Novel Review

Warm, buttered, biscuits with real maple syrup and a pot of strong coffee by my side… Can anything be finer? Joss Whedon is a close second. I’m not a huge comic fan but between him and Neil Gaiman, you really wouldn’t know it. Those two will lead you on a very slippery slope that ends with standing orders at your local comic shop. The comic guy, who works there, is way too helpful and it doesn’t help that we have similar tastes. Oh well, I’m enjoying it.

And we really should get onto why I’m writing this. It has been so long since I’ve written one of these, it is almost difficult. Sort of like getting out of practice and it doesn’t help that I’m reviewing a new medium. Comics are very visual (obviously) but I’ve found that they can be just as complex as most books. Especially compared to the piece of crap I’m reading right now but that is for another time and place….

First up, is Joss Whedon’s, Fray. Based in the Slayer universe except this takes place hundreds of years into the future. We have a world where the rich are very rich and the rest of us are very, very poor. There are flying cars, and lurkers, and radies, people who have mutated due to the sun’s radiation. And most importantly, we have Melanka Fray, the first Slayer to be called since the big event at the end of the Buffy finale. It has the same action you would expect from an episode of Buffy without the limitations you face during filming. For example, the first two pages of panels detail Mel’s fall from a high story building and everything she hits on her way down. Of course this doesn’t kill her or this would be the shortest comic ever produced. It also has that offbeat humor you come to expect and love from the mind of Joss. He is nice enough to give you some laugh out loud moments.

Karl Moline, penciller, did an amazing job bringing his words to life in the design of this whacked out world. Between Karl and the rest of the art team, they were able to bring to life the most important thing about being a Slayer.... Hair to die for. Yep, Mel had really great hair and that is worth the price of admission right there. Added bonus is the wonderful job they (Joss included) did bringing to life a character like Loo. She is the greatest thing ever at pulling those good ole heartstrings. Sorry, can’t say more about that.

Up next is Serenity: Those Left Behind. This little three-parter bridges the gap between the last episode of Firefly and the movie Serenity. We get to see Inara leave and the return of Dobson, the guy Mal shot in the first two hour episode. He has a grudge against Mal and would like to be the one to take Mal out of this world in the most painful way possible. The Blue Hand Alliance Agents strike a deal with Dobson, he gets Mal if they can get River. Yeah for Cooperation!!

The artists must have been fans of the show because they did an amazing job on rendering the likeness of the actors to the graphic novel world. Nowhere was I brought out of the illusion to think that they were only doing vague representations.

The only problem I had with this one is that I found it too rushed. They had a lot to get in and while there was good build-up, the ending seemed abrupt. And the other problem I had was that River seemed a little off, word-wise. A couple of times, Conrad had her saying stuff that just didn’t seem very River like. But I suspect she might be the hardest one to bring to the page without Summer Glau’s magic behind the character.

And last but not least, we have Astonishing X-Men: Gifted, which is the first six comics in Joss’ series packaged into one graphic novel. This is the first X-Men comic I’ve ever read and it was pretty good. Jean Grey is gone and Professor Xavier has left the school in the hands of Scott (Cyclops) and Emma Frost. We also have Beast (my personal favorite X-Men character), Wolverine, and Kitty Pryde. It is announced that an agency has developed a new cure to the mutant gene that causes no small amount of turmoil in the mutant community, including Team X-Men.

This is my first introduction to the characters Emma Frost and Kitty Pryde so I feel that I’ve missed something in not knowing their history. It would have been nice to get some background but it looks like I’ll have to do my own research for that. So for the X-Men uninitiated, it might be a little hard going. If you can skip over anything you don’t understand, you will do fine and love the humor Joss puts into this world. He does an excellent job with Beast and it is obvious that Kitty is his favorite... I’m sure his foreword didn’t tip me off at all.

The only thing left to say about all of these graphic novels is that they leave you wanting more which I suspect, Joss takes personal glee in. I have no problem visualizing him running around his office, giggling like a little school girl, over the angst he has produced in his fans concerning our need to find out what happens next. Of course, this is completely done in private as he wouldn’t want to be known as a giggler.

He is too cool for that.

My rating: :D :D :D :D

Haunted by Heather Graham

Review by Red Bonney

This was a ghost story, something I don't see much of anymore, which was why I picked it up. Actually, I picked it up because I saw the author's name and wondered if she was the same woman who was in "Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me". I don't mind saying I was a little disappointed when it wasn't, but by the time I realized that, I'd read the back cover and the first chapter, and already planned on buying it.

I found it in the romance section, and who knew it would turn out to be a cheap romance? To its credit, it has an excellent premise: An old southern plantation haunted by dozens of ghosts owned by Matt, the down-to-earth, non-believer county Sheriff, who is totally unimpressed by the occult and does not believe the problem has anything to do with a revenging spirit. Then, enter Darcy, the 'ghost hunter'. A buxom, redheaded ex-model who communicates with ghosts. Naturally, they have an innate attraction to each other they can't resist, though they do try.

The thing I liked best about this book was the ghost talk between the ghost investigators. There was a sense of frustration for Darcy who had this strange ability to know things and having to pass it off as simple investigation to everyone who either didn't believe in her or who wanted to exaggerate it for purposes of popularizing the idea of the haunted house. But this frustration only increased the tension between Darcy and Matt. Hence making it the cheap romance novel of Harlequin proportions. (Note: When I say cheap romance, it is a term of endearment, I mean no disrespect to the Harlequin establishment.)

The other side of this story is the mystery, which was the whole point to invite ghost hunters. The ghosts are creating a disturbance for some reason. Plus, it seems someone is trying to harm Darcy, though it's unclear why. Which makes it a good mystery. The Sheriff is concerned for her safety and where is the safest place he can put her? If you answered: In his own bed, you win a kewpie dawl. (Void where prohibited, what's a kewpie dawl?)

So, up to this point, I consider the book a good read and would recommend it to those who fall into the mystery, ghost story and romance novel categories. I won't comment on how it ends, except to say that it was left lacking. There seemed to be a lot of loose ends, and for some reason, the dialogue seemed to slip in quality. Like Heather's little sister tried to write the final three chapters. Still, the ending wasn't bad enough to make me hate the book. Overall, I'd give it 3.5 stars out of 5.

Angel-Seeker by Sharon Shinn

This has been a lazy on-my-butt weekend. So it was an excellent time to finish a Shinn book and this one kept me up until 5am last night because I couldn’t put it down and had to find out how it ended. Haven’t done this in ages.

It has been forever since I’ve read on of Shinn’s Archangel books. At one time, I’d have to reread her trilogy at least once a year. Then I get a pile of unread books and you get busy and you get into other stuff (aka Harry Potter fandom). Not to mention this one was first published in trade paperback size and I decided to wait for the mass market paperback. So all my fault really.

But I want to talk about Angel-Seeker. In the land of Samaria, there are humans and angels. The angels pray to Jovah on behalf of the humans for help in the weather or medicine, etc. The angels need the humans to reproduce. Angel-Seekers are women who entice angels to sleep with them, hoping to conceive an angel baby. If that happens, the Angel-Seeker gets to move, as a beloved member, into the Angelhold (the communities where the angels live. For a woman with no family or prospects, this seems like a good deal. The problem is, angel babies are quite rare and this can lead to a number of unwanted babies.

This story is told from the point of view of three characters. The first one is Elizabeth, a servant girl, who moves to the new Cedar Hills in the hopes of falling in love with an angel or conceive an angel baby. The second is Rebekah, who gives us our first inside look into the harsh world of the Jansai. She finds an injured angel in the desert, Obadiah (the third character) and this meeting springs their lives into a completely different direction.

I had been so worried that this book might have been a bad idea, sort of one of those staying too long at the party type of scenarios (Cough!StarWarsCough!). I loved the Archangel books and this is the first to break away from that setup. These books have a world I’d love to visit. Experience the Gloria (which is a yearly Woodstock) or walk through Luminaux or just people watch with a drink at a café in Cedar Hills. It is the world you fall in love with, but the stories keep it interesting.

Another fun game is to compare it to Lord of the Rings. I’m figuring that the Edori are very Hobbit like except they really like to travel. The Oracles could be considered the Wizards as they are good to go to for counsel and know lots of stuff. The angels have an ethereal or mystical quality that is rather elf like. The Jansai are not exactly as scary as an Orc but they are not nice people either. And I’m still trying to figure out the dwarf connection. … This is what happens when you read this book way too late at night.

But it is fun and I enjoyed walking in that world again. It also made me want to pick the old ones up again which is a good sign that Shinn didn’t ruin it for me. That was all I was asking for.

The Undomestic Goddess by Sophie Kinsella

Review by Red Bonney

This was a fun little read. I'm not sure how much of it I missed because it was actually in a Readers Digest condensed book with three others that I probably won't get to or even think about ever again (one of them was a memoir of Bob Dole and I have to say how just the thought of reading that makes me sleepy.) Anyway, whatever it was that was cut out, it didn't seem integral to the main theme of the story.

It begins with Samantha Sweeting, a high powered big City Lawyer trying to "relax" at a day spa, though she's hidden her cell phone and her blackberry under her robe, unbeknownst to her masseur ... until she tries to send a clandestine e-mail. This does not open Samantha's eyes to the fact that she may be spending too much time working, though it does give the reader a bit of insight into the mental processes of our heroine. She's a hopeless workaholic.

Then, through a twist of fate, and on the very day she's about to make partner at a very powerful and prestigious law firm, she is thrown into a tailspin and finds herself miles away from the City and in a small country village where she unwittingly takes a job as a housekeeper. Earlier in the book, it had been proven that Samantha couldn't sew a button on a shirt. Shameful. I had to keep laughing at her thought processes, it almost seemed that she had always lived outside the real world and this was her first trip into it. Her employers also seem a little blind to her ineptitude. Only Nathaniel sees her for what she really is.

The romantic sub-plot, really more than a sub-plot (maybe this is what I missed by reading the condensed version), added to the hilarity, because everyone acts foolish when they first meet someone they're going to fall in love with later. I actually think this story is a morality tale on the dangers of lying and then exaggerating those lies later on when you're too afraid to tell the truth. The truth come will out, and it has the potential to explode in your face. Or throw a cream pie in your face if you're reading comedy.

It's a sweet story, and I say 'sweet' with it's old-fashioned meaning, as in light and slightly honeyed, but I felt the end came too soon. Again, the condensed book syndrome. Then again, it may be the sign of a good book if you don't want it to end. It's the books you can't wait for the end to come that you might want to shelve in an out of the way box in the basement, or sell to your local used bookstore, or release into the wild.

In case I haven't made it clear, I did like this book, and recommend it. I'm quite discerning with the books I rave about, and I don't think I'm raving here. It's a nice light read ... read it with a coffee crisp and you'll be floating home.

Outbreak by Marianne Ruuth

Review by Red Bonney

I blame LoisAbductions Inc and InCoHerEnt for this. I can't read a book now without reviewing it. Any little slip of a book. The copious amounts of rum help too. (Host here... hehehe, my work here is done.)

First thing I have to say is that this book was written in 1977. Which might explain what I thought was basically a B-movie in print. It was about a Utopian society that was foolishly run by men. I mean by foolish power men. Everyone in the society was a blue eyed, blond haired specimen of human being, labeling themselves a "Primaries". Everyone else, presumably the dark eyed, dark haired people, were, as a result, called "Secondaries". The secondaries were servants, or to put it another way, slaves to the Primaries and thought to be other than human. It was illegal for a secondary to mate a primary. Not only illegal, but immoral.

It's meant to be a metaphor, the whole book, for racism, but it's very generalized, very black and white, not to put too find a point on it. It's supposed to shock the readers with it's immorality. I was shocked, but at the many typos and bad grammar. The dialogue was overly simplified, but I was able to think my way through, rewrite it in my head, so to speak. Still, it was almost embarrassing.

But getting past all the technicalities, the story takes you through some intense bigotry, from both sides. It's a fine piece of societal commentary. It's a warning against the dangers of technology and a reminder to look at history and learn the hard lessons. A glimpse at one possible future.

Then, there's the romantic subplot. Oona, a "Primary" woman tries to escape the coils of her perfect society, because perfection doesn't sit very well with her. Perfection consists of a drugged, semi-conscious existence, where most people are pliable and easily controlled by the all knowing, all powerful Father. In her bid for freedom, she meets Garth, a tough, worldly-wise Secondary man. From the very start, she feels an attraction to him, but she is confused by her feelings, having only ever been taught that such a relationship is an abomination, that he isn't really human the way she is.

Of course, it's not always black and white, sometimes it's hard to tell who to root for. That's what makes it a fun story. It's a little tattered around the edges, metaphorically speaking, but I think it's worth wading through. If you like early futuristic sci-fi ... well, it's not a great book, but if you're a die hard, it won't take you long to get through it.

Violin by Anne Rice

Review by Red Bonney

They say that writing about music is like interpreting architecture through dance. Well, Anne Rice has given it a shot. The writing about music, not the dancing about architecture, but wouldn't that have been interesting too? Anybody want to start a petition (either for or against) please contact my host. (Host here... yeah, please don't.)

The book, Violin, was another ghost story. Stefan, a Russian prince and a gifted violinist from the eighteenth century wanders the spectral world, looking for people to haunt and drive insane with his music. He seems to be driven solely by his angst and self-suffering. Then he meets Triana, a fifty something, frumpy sort of woman, from 1997, whose angst leaves Stefan's miles behind. She feels personally responsible for the deaths of her mother, father, daughter and her husband, and revisits their deathbeds repeatedly throughout the whole book. Angst.

Stefan plays for Triana in her grief for her husband, enthralling her with his gift and they develop some weird sort of relationship bordering on lust. They argue with each other like an old married couple and then Triana steals his Stradivarius when his guard is down and poor Stefan is unable to take it back from her. He takes her instead to his past and shows her how he died for his very fine violin.

The story is so jam packed full of angst, I can't say the word enough, angst, that it hardly seems likely there will be a happy ending to it. The two of them compare and contrast their evil doings in life, how they betrayed their parents etc. They battle each other, fighting for the prize of the Stradivarius. Then they embrace like seasoned lovers, and it's hard to say which of them is the more insane.

As I was reading, I kept picturing Anne Rice as Triana, the main character and I get the impression she did too. And come on, snuggling with a young, handsome rockstar. Who wouldn't want that? It was kind of a frustrating book, with few action scenes and more reminiscences than I care to recount. As I said, she revisited the four great deaths in her life frequently, and got off on it too. Also, much of the descriptions went toward music and if a violin is played in a book, does anyone hear it? She described Beethoven's Ninth and I wished I was listening to Beethoven, it might have affected the way I felt about the book.

Maybe I would have understood it a little better. It's definitely something I have to read again, after I find a disk with Beethoven's Ninth to play in the background. I also think you should read it. It's a vivid, haunting (mind the pun), ghost story with a hint of unrequited romance. And so full of angst you'll think a teenager exploded onto the pages.

Cheers.

The Weight of Water by Anita Shreve

Currently I’m out of town, so this review will be rougher than I’d normally post. It will also be the fastest written ever. Yes, very, very bad of me... you will start to think that I’m not taking this seriously. Yeah... like you are just starting to get that notion in your head... forget I said anything...

The Weight of Water is another in the series of books borrowed from the women at work. This one wasn't that bad though. I'm starting to think that I can trust the books I borrow from one person as we seem to have similar tastes when it comes to the normal fiction stuff. I doubt that I can get her into my weird stuff but that is okay. I'm not expecting miracles.

The main character, Jean, has been assigned to take pictures of the island Smuttynose, the scene of a horrible double murder that took place in the 1800's. Her marriage isn't the happiest at the moment and she suspects that her husband has or will cheat on her. As she researches what happened on that island so long ago, we see what can happen to someone who is pushed too far.

As for this book, it was quite compelling. It jumps back and forth from the present to the past which helped keep me on my toes. Anita Shreve writes in such a way as to very easily picture everything that is happening in a scene, as if I was watching a movie instead of a reading a book. What I'm trying to say is that the story is very visual and not a difficult book to pick up.

It is rather intense in places but not all that graphic, as it doesn't have to be since your brain can fill in everything that isn't explicitly written out. It is also very tragic but I didn't get that sense of loss that should be apparent. I would really like to discuss this point more but I don’t want to give the ending away. It is a good read but I’m not sure if I'd read anything else of her work. Might have to if we choose something of her's for the book club.

Forever Fifteen by Kimberly Steele

I am a weak, weak person. There are a million things I should be doing at this very moment, the clock is ticking down, but instead, I sit here and spend the afternoon and evening listening to an audio book… Oh how did I get sucked in?

I’m not even the audio book type of person. I like the feel of the paper and the smell of the pages. Book stores are my most favorite places in the world and sometimes I think that the only reason I go to work everyday is to finance my book collection. My living room feels somewhat like a library. But thanks to my MP3 player, it has lead to the discovery that I can somewhat safely walk and read at the same time. Quite tempting and consequently, I got sucked into this story.

Forever Fifteen is about a girl who was turned into a vampire many, many moons ago at the age of, you guessed it, fifteen. At the time, she was considered an adult, old enough to be married. But nowadays, she isn’t old enough to buy cigarettes and that must really suck. Reminds me of an old Buffy episode where Anya, a many century old demon but newly turned human, was trying to order a beer in a bar. Bartender asks for ID, she spouts off about how old she really is, undaunted he asks for the ID again, she accepts her fate and orders a coke. Just the memory of that scene makes me laugh.

But back to this story. Lucy had entered the foster care system and has spent the last many years ridding the world of lecherous foster parents, child molesters, and other bad people. She had been living with the Beck’s for awhile now and they are good people. No matter how old she really is, she looks fifteen and that means, going to high school, with all the drama that is included. A boy named John likes her and no matter what age you really are, that still brings on the angst. The story jumps back and forth, from current time to the past, where we learn of Lucy’s beginnings as a human, her turning into a vampire, and her life with Sebastian, her vampire sire/lover.

The story is explicit and nicely detailed in parts. It was read by the author, Kimberly Steele, and she does a good job. She kept the characters’ voices distinctive and kept it flowing nicely. I haven’t looked into why she has posted her story in this way but glad that she did. The only problem I had is that I thought that Lucy should have been written as more jaded or cynical. For hundreds of years, she has lived the life of a predator, living on the lowest of humans to survive. She has seen how horrible humans can be to each other but she came off as rather meek and mild. She would make Rory Gilmore look like a foul mouthed trucker. Not that there is anything wrong with being a foul mouthed trucker.

Anyway, the story did suck me in and I had to find out how it ended. Not that the ending was all that surprising or satisfying, but I really did need to know what happened to these characters. I did love the premise and for that alone, it deserves a read or in this case, a listen. Forever Fifteen can be found via the iTunes music store as a free download.

Belle de Jour: The Intimate Adventures of a London Call Girl by Anonymous

I’ve been busy, busy, busy, but had no problem finishing this one. This is one I’ve wanted to read for awhile now. Another friend of ours told us all about it and it sounded good in a dirty sort of way. Not to mention, there was a hilarious story of a campaign by her sister to hide this book from her mother and then lie about it. An intro like that can not be ignored. Also, I couldn’t seem to find it in any bookstores so the lack of availability lead to even more want... sort of like that economic supply and demand thing.

Belle is a university educated and unemployed and living in London. Imagine Bridget Jones if she didn’t have that job at the book publishing house and instead decided to work as a high priced prostitute. They both write in the journal format and they both have caring parents. Both are looking for love. We should end the comparisons here. Unlike Bridget, Belle does not try looking for love from the workplace. She has a boyfriend and he knows about her profession and seems okay with it.

She is broke and job prospects are scarce. She contacts an agency to handle the business side of things. Yes, this is where the voice of reason should come in. This isn’t a very good career choice for anyone as I’m pretty sure my guidance counselor didn’t have that pamphlet in her collection of possible futures. But I opted to ignore that voice of reason and just treat this as an interesting character study. She is not in this line of work to support a drug habit, did not have a horrible childhood, and nor is she trying to live with a horrific trauma in her past. She is just a working girl who soon finds out that she can get paid a lot more for one night with a client than most of her other jobs combined.

Most of the entries are about her personal life and her friends. I was really hoping for more on the call girl side of things. There was a lot of that too but those were the parts I looked forward to the most. Not ‘cause I was looking for porn as everyone knows that the good porn is on the internet. And to be honest, I’ve read more explicit stuff elsewhere, just not often in chicklit book form. My favorite client story was the one where she talks about the guys who just want to cuddle. Or about the practical side of the job like how she would buy the regular products at one drug store and then buy all the “job” products (like condoms, lube, etc.) at another.

This was a definitely an interesting book and should be read by everyone who doesn’t have a problem with those type of things. Just fun.

The Pact by Jennifer Sturman

I really should have written this one up days ago but a friend gave me a book that is so nicely sordid that it hard to put down. More about that in the next review. Besides, I have a new cat and Simon prefers that I read than use the computer because it makes my lap more comfortable to sleep in. Oh, if only I had the life of my cat...

Well, since nothing of that has anything to do with the book I'm currently reviewing, this will be a very crude transition. The Pact is yet another in the series of borrowed books from the women at work. Just a couple more to go and I'll be free. We can only hope.

This one is chicklit goes Nancy Drew. It is a murder mystery and typically I don't do murder mysteries. They are okay 'n all but I get way too wound up trying to figure out who did it and I can't sit back and just enjoy it. As much as I love engaging literature, extra stress in my life is not what I'm looking for. Granted, this one doesn't rate higher than the Mickey Mouse Mystery Club so the valium prescription isn't required.

This book's Velma/Daphne is Rachel. Her old college roommate is getting married and she is playing the role of the maid of honor even though she hates the groom. So when Richard is found floating in the family swimming pool on the day of the wedding, she isn't all that grief-stricken. While the police are giving their all investigating the crime, the family and wedding party have been asked to stay at the house until they have it all figured out. As we soon learn, everyone has a motive to want him dead, even the best man whom Rachel has her sights on as prime boyfriend material. She plays Miss Marple and works to solve who did the dirty deed.

Anyway, it was an okay book. It felt very Murder She Wrote with a bit of “Voted Most Likely to Be Cancelled after Three Episodes” type of writing. Not necessarily horrible but I don't think I'll be admitting to anyone that I'd read this one. It would have been easier to live with if the characters had been stronger and not so caricature. You never get a scene with the vile Richard to see how vile he really is. We just have to trust this is the case via story recounts from the other characters. Even the detectives, who could have been interesting, were booted so very far into the background. They are almost non-entities and were really only a plot device. Oh well. If you like chicklit and some lite mystery, you might like this... I not so much.