Shameless Plug

In the current Austin Chronicle, I reviewed Thomas Ott's The Number 73304-23-4153-6-96-8.

The creator of numerous short graphical stories, collected in Cinema Panopticum, Greetings From Hellville, and Dead End, Ott relates here a powerful, Twilight Zone-styled tale of a series of numbers that grants desires to those who decipher the pattern.

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Lewis Shiner's Black and White

Last year, I interviewed Lewis Shiner about his Fiction Liberation Front. Now, I've reviewed his latest novel, Black & White, for The Austin Chronicle.

On the surface, Black & White demonstrates the struggles of historical and contemporary racism, but at its core, the story revolves around a son coming to terms with the sins of his father. The always-talented Shiner has produced some of his finest work to date here. Beyond a brief, discursive foray into Ruth's story, he has created a near-perfect novel – steeped in important political and societal issues, neatly wrapped in the trimmings of a mystery story. With Black & White, Lewis Shiner ascends to a literary realm previously reserved for the likes of Michael Chabon and Jonathan Lethem.
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A Dark Forces Double Team

Peggy Hailey and I double teamed for the RevolutionSF coverage of Terry Moore's latest series Echo.

I interviewed Terry about life after the very popular Strangers in Paradise (which ended last year), his new series Echo, and science fiction.

What new themes has the science fiction setting allowed you to explore that you were unable to tackle in your previous works? Do you approach the writing of an sf concept different than a super hero or slice of life story?

The imagination is liberated, yet spawned from the practical laws of physics and life. I think it's advanced stuff to try and pull off, because you have to be good at the other genres to incorporate them into your sci fi story in order to establish setting and sense of place.

You could specialize in slice-of-life and be lousy at everything else, but you can't write good sci fi without being good at other genres as well.

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Peggy had the task of reviewing the first two issues of the new series.

A lot of this comic is vintage Moore: a female protagonist with some personal issues gets caught up in a much larger story and has to deal with the fallout. But it’s new, too.

Julie Martin isn’t Francine or Katchoo; she comes from a different background and has different issues to deal with. And while SiP could occasionally bust out into full on spy thriller mode, it was essentially the story of Francine and Katchoo: their day-to-day story was the heart of the piece, not the theatrics around them.

Echo is a science fiction comic, and while I’m sure we’ll spend a lot of time with Julie and her daily life, I suspect that the bigger outside story will have more prominence.

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Shameless Plug

My review of the I Am Legend DVD runs in the current issue of SF Site.

The DVD release offers a chance of redemption with an "alternate theatrical version with controversial ending," so screams the cover. While not necessarily controversial (an idea that is never addressed in any of the extras), the ending does result in a better film with a far more satisfying, albeit still too happy, finale. Without giving too much away, this version more fully examines and explains the motivations of the mutants.

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Be sure to check out my RevolutionSF review of the feature film version.

Paul's Ten-Cent Plague review

Our fellow co-conspirator and partner-in-crime Paul Miles contributed to RevolutionSF an excellent review of David Hadju's The Ten-Cent Plague: The Great Comic-Book Scare and How It Changed America (far superior to my own interpretation). As always, Paul argues many excellent points in some conventional ways. I'm betting not many reviewers mentioned (fittingly enough) Soupy Sales.

In The Ten Cent Plague: The Comic-Book Scare and How it Changed America, David Hajdu suggests that the Frederic Wertham-inspired Senate hearings and local anti-comics censorship laws of the fifties were a witch-hunt that destroyed comics as a mass medium. I think he gets much closer to showing the first part of his theory but whiffs on the second.

Hajdu fetchingly recreates the New York centric world of the comic book. This has certainly been done before, most recently in Gerard Jones' Men of Tomorrow, but where Hajdu excels is in an emphasis on the industry’s underbelly. For the most part, he bypasses familiar companies like DC/National and Marvel/Timely to concentrate on lesser known creators and titles such as Charles Biro's over the top Crime Does Not Pay. The book is worth reading for this alone.
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Shameless Plug

My review of David Hadju's The Ten-Cent Plague: The Great Comic-Book Scare and How It Changed America ran in today's Austin Chronicle.

During the late 1940s and early 1950s, these 10-cent illustrated pulp magazines – intended primarily for children – featured stories of superheroes, teen angst, crime, romance, and horror. Many individual issues sold in the millions of copies. To the ire of many "right-thinking" adults, these tales often contained such unsavory elements as sexual innuendo, detailed crime depictions, and excessive violence. Parent groups routinely blamed comic books for "juvenile delinquency." The hysteria reached a fever pitch with the publication of Fredric Wertham's controversial vilification of comic books, Seduction of the Innocent (1954). The ensuing televised congressional hearings almost destroyed the industry, forcing hundreds of publishers out of business and nearly 1,000 people out of work.
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Justice League: The New Frontier review

My review of the much anticipated The New Frontier animated movie based on Darwyn Cooke's award-winning graphic novel is now available at RevolutionSF.

The excellent, near-perfect graphical look creates a quality to the project that far exceeds other direct-to-dvd animated movies. As evident from the viewing and the discussions between the contributors on the commentary tracks, the staff carefully deliberated every image and shot, even going as far as bringing in Darwyn Cooke to create new bridging sequences and consult on many story elements. In the 75 minute feature, nary a shot is wasted and most are beautifully crafted, especially the iconic 1950s-style credits sequence.
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I Shall Anoint You the Awesomest of the Year

My contribution to The Austin Chronicle's best books of the year feature:

Not necessarily the best but definitely the most interesting and entertaining book of the year, I Shall Destroy All the Civilized Planets! (Fantagraphics) introduced a new generation to largely forgotten artist Fletcher Hanks' strange work. Soon after the April 1938 premiere of Superman in Action Comics No. 1, new publishers sprang up and needed content for the suddenly popular comic book. Almost anyone who could draw landed a job in the burgeoning industry. During this mad scramble, Hanks, who obviously understood little about anatomy, began publishing often-crude but always-dynamic stories in a variety of obscure publications such as Fantastic, Jungle, Fight, and Big Three Comics. The outlandish stories usually featured intergalactic protectors who meted out justice and vengeance upon the guilty like some cosmically powered Shadows. Complete with Paul Karasik's insightful, illustrated afterword, the fascinating and somewhat freakish I Shall Destroy All the Civilized Planets! successfully rescues Hanks from the purgatory of forgotten creators and restores his rightful place among the pantheon of the bizarre.

I Am Legend review

My I Am Legend review is available at RevolutionSF.

Arguably the most paranoid novel ever published, Richard Matheson's powerful tale of isolation, I Am Legend, informed the works of Stephen King, Dean R. Koontz, Joe R. Lansdale, and pretty much everyone else who has written horror since the story's 1954 publication. The book spawned two previous movie adaptations. The first, L' Ultimo Uomo Della Terra (The Last Man on Earth, 1964), starred Vincent Price in a dull yet faithful Italian production. Although Matheson penned the initial screenplay, re-writes by other writers angered him so much that he asked to be credited as "Logan Swanson." 1971's The Omega Man, starring Charlton Heston, used only the bare bones of the original story. This diverting action rendition relied on brawn over brains, offering a mindless entertainment. Some 26 years later, director Francis Lawrence attempts Matheson's classic a third time with the latest film version, the first to sport the book title, I Am Legend.
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Two Gift Reccomendations

In the latest Austin Chronicle, I contributed reviews for both their Books and Geek Out! gift guides.

For the former:

When Jack Cole killed himself in 1958 with a .22 caliber Marlin rifle, he left behind an impressive artistic legacy. His most famous creation, Plastic Man, not only introduced arguably the first pliable superhero – decades before the Fantastic Four frontman, Mr. Fantastic – but also influenced generations of artists with his outlandish sight gags and superior draftsmanship. In the early 1950s, Cole left his zany stretchable character and joined the staff of the fledgling Playboy, where he pioneered the watercolor paintings that came to typify the publication's cartoons. Not satisfied with two iconic creations, Cole invented and sold a daily strip to the Chicago Sun-Times Syndicate in 1958. Betsy and Me collects for the first time the complete run of Jack Cole's final artistic endeavor.
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And the latter:

Premiering on Sept. 8, 1966, to lackluster ratings, Star Trek ended its three-season run in 1969 and almost immediately began a wildly successful syndicated existence. The once-doomed program eventually spawned five more original series, 10 motion pictures, and an abundance of pop-culture paraphernalia, becoming the most successful television franchise of all time and joining the cultural zeitgeist. Phrases such as "Beam me up, Scotty" and "red shirt" entered the popular lexicon. NASA named the first space shuttle Enterprise. To celebrate Star Trek's 40th anniversary, Paramount, custodians of the venerable franchise, decided to give the 23rd century a face lift.
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My Golden Compass review

My Golden Compass review (co-written with Brandy) is available at RevolutionSF.

The Golden Compass moves at a snail's pace. Director/screenwriter Chris Weitz has filled the lumbering scenes with unnecessary and cumbersome exposition that results in a dumbed-down film apparently made for just children. Weitz's film inspires absolutely no emotional investment as it is stripped of the complexity and subtext of Pullman's original story.
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A Difference of Opinion

Both Alan and I reviewed the recently released Ratatouille DVD with radically different opinions.

Alan wrote of the movie:

The movie did nothing for me. I didn't hate it, nor did I love it. I found it mediocre on all counts. I didn't engage with any of the characters, rodent or human, on any level. Their story didn't interest me and there seemed, with one notable exception, to be no character growth. While there were some occasionally funny lines, the script seemed to flounder with no real direction. Sub-plots that would have made for great quick asides (the frozen food line) were overplayed, while others that could have been steadily built up (the health inspector) seemed to be thrown in at the last minute.

While I ventured a somewhat different observation:

More than a movie about food, Ratatouille explores the well-trodden territory of characters reaching beyond their limitations and with a little help from their friends overcoming the obstacles to their dreams. Remy's relationships with his huge extended pack as he struggles with his dream of being a chef and Liguini overcoming his fears of, well, almost everything form the core of this charming film.

We also held opposing views on the rat protagonists and the animated short "Your Friend the Rat".

Alan:

Rounding off the DVD is a short piece of propaganda in support of genus rattus presented by two of the movie's lead characters. Your Friend The Rat vainly attempts to set the historical record straight and explains why we should embrace the existence of rats rather than try to exterminate them.

It didn't work. I still don't like rats.

Me:

Not only does Ratatouille include the animated short "Lifted," which originally appeared with the movies's theatrical release, but also features the highly entertaining original short "Your Friend the Rat." Rendered in a combination of traditional and computer-generated animation styles, Remy (Patton Oswalt) and his brother Emile (Peter Sohn) recount the history and occasionally positive aspects of rat-human relations. Did you know that the black rat (rattus rattus) first arrived in the West after hitching a ride with the Crusaders? Or that rats weren't the cause of the plague but rather it started with fleas? Remy and Emile present these fascinating facts and a lot more in a friendly, non-icky way, successfully showcasing the more appealing aspects of the vermin.

There was one area of the DVD that Alan and I agreed upon: the deleted scenes.

Alan: "The so called feature movie related bonus materials consist of three deleted scenes that add nothing to the story, nor offer any fresh perspective..."

Me: "As per usual, the deleted scenes accompany the movie and add absolutely nothing of consequence to the original film."

It's always nice when friends can agree on something.

Shameless Plug

My review of Kelly DiNardo's Gilded Lili: Lili St. Cyr and the Striptease Mystique appears in today's Austin Chronicle.

The most popular burlesque star throughout the Forties and Fifties, Lili St. Cyr influenced Marilyn Monroe, performed with Dean Martin, and danced well into her 50s. Author Kelly DiNardo recounts the fascinating life of "the queen of striptease" in the well-researched and superbly written Gilded Lili: Lili St. Cyr and the Striptease Mystique.
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Shameless Plug

My review of the Chinatown: Special Collector's Edition is in todays Austin Chronicle.

For many, Chinatown, directed by Roman Polanski from Robert Towne's Oscar-winning screenplay, epitomizes the peak of Seventies Hollywood filmmaking and perhaps the finest neo-noir ever made. Yet according to the four documentary featurettes on this new special edition, the movie almost didn't get made.

Norman Partridge interview and book review

Since Norman Partridge's Dark Harvest is our next book, my interview with the author and Peggy's review of the book should be of interest to y'all.

From the interview:

What made you decide to use a second person narrative in Dark Harvest? Is this a style you will continue using?

I'm sure I'll use it again someday, but it's not the kind of style that would fit every project. With DH, I really wanted readers to hear me talking from the other side of the page, the way you do when you listen to a campfire tale.

I wanted to yank them into the book and make them part of it, too. I had that intention from the first paragraph: "A Midwestern town. You know its name. You were born there." That was kind of the wham bam welcome to my world moment.

From Peggy's review:

I came to Norm Partridge's Dark Harvest with high hopes: I'm a big fan of his collection The Man With the Barbed-Wire Fists, so I already knew he could write. But even having read him before, I wasn't prepared for how quickly this book sucked me in.

Shameless Plug

My latest Austin Chronicle review, Best American Fantasy, is in today's issue.

Editors Ann and Jeff VanderMeer offer a wide range of tales, most of which do not appear in other "best of" collections, from publications as different as Alaska Quarterly Review, Fantasy & Science Fiction, The Georgia Review, Harrington Gay Men's Literary Quarterly, McSweeney's, New England Review, The New Yorker, Oxford American, The Paris Review, and Zoetrope: All-Story. The VanderMeers chose their selections wisely.
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Calvin and Hobbes Creator Reviews New Charles Schulz Bio

The Grief That Made 'Peanuts' Good

By BILL WATTERSON
October 12, 2007; Page W5

SCHULZ AND PEANUTS: A BIOGRAPHY
By David Michaelis
(Harper, 655 pages, $34.95)

The comic strip "Peanuts" was more than a decade old when I started reading it as a kid in the mid-1960s. At that time, "Peanuts" was becoming a force of pop culture, with best-selling books and a newly burgeoning merchandising empire of plastic dolls, sweatshirts, calendars and television specials. The overwhelming commercial success of the strip often overshadows its artistic triumph, but throughout its 50-year run, Charles Schulz wrote and drew every panel himself, making his comic strip an extremely personal record of his thoughts. It was a model of artistic depth and integrity that left a deep impression on me. While growing up, I collected the annual "Peanuts" books and used them as a personal cartooning course, copying the drawings with the idea of someday becoming the next Charles Schulz.

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Shameless Plug

My review of Comics Gone Ape! is currently available on RevolutionSF.

As mainstays of comic book literature, apes and monkeys have appeared regularly in comics since 1939. Following the 1951 publication of the first ape cover on DC Comics' Strange Adventures #8, the comics industry realized that issues with simians on the cover sold more than those without -- a truism still evident in today's supposedly more sophisticated graphic novel market. In Comics Gone Ape!, Michael Eury lovingly explores this phenomenon and assembles a cornucopia of comic book ape knowledge for gorilla lovers.
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Shameless Plug

My review of Jeff Somers' debut novel The Electric Church appears in today's Austin Chronicle.


"Cyberpunk stereotypes abound with pop-culture jargon, computer-human interaction, near-future technology, and unsavory characters in an all-too-familiar tableau."


I read 'em, so you don't have to. Great cover, though.

Yet another shameless plug and a book suggestion

My review of The Best of Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet is in the current Austin Chronicle.

The first two pieces, written separately by co-editors Kelly Link – "Travels With the Snow Queen," a nonlinear tale of forbidden love – and Gavin J. Grant – his insightful nonfiction exploration "Scotch: An Essay Into a Drink" – quickly establish the tenor both in quality and content for this stunning anthology. Excellent and unconventional pieces abound:

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This would be an excellent book for us to read. What do y'all think?

Another Shameless Plug

From my review of the surprisingly good The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters:

Like many born in the late 60s and early 70s, my childhood was shaped by arcade games. Pac-Man, Asteroids, Centipede, and especially Donkey Kong occupied the vast majority of my non-school pre-pubescent time. I wasted far too many hours feeding the quarter-eaters. After discovering girls, science fiction, and movies, my interested waned and by the end of 1980s, like most of my generation, the classic video game joined the Betamax, blow-dried hair, and Night Ranger as relics of the past. In his documentary The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters, director Seth Gordon skillfully explores the lives of contemporary die hard classic arcade game fans, a group for whom time stopped in 1982.

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A Shameless Plug

My The Simpsons Movie review is up at RevSF. This one is a little different since I actually co-wrote the piece with Brandy. I believe this is her first review credit.

One of the things we failed to mention in the review is that it's best to see the movie in the theater with a group of Simpsons fans. The communal atmosphere enhances the experience.