Who Watches the Watchmen?

I do, that's who.
Finally, finally, finally.

Went to see it at the Grand, $5 Tuesdays, and I'd have paid twice that. Wish I could make it Today's Pick, but we'll have to wait until it's out on DVD.

Very true to the graphic novel, which I bought an issue at a time back in 1984-85. And very surprising even so. The gentle voice of Dr. Manhattan. The extreme graphic violence of the combat. The graphic sex in the flying machine. The swinging blue -- well, if you read the graphic novel, you could guess. So read it:



It's a dense, metafictional, illustrated novel, and it was made into a dense, metafictional motion picture, with HUGE ideas backed by great performances and incredible effects. It doesn't blink or compromise. And it expects the audience to think, to view it multiple times to catch all the winks and nods and references, just like the book demands.

One of the storylines removed from the movie (part of the book's metafiction) is the comicbook-within-the-comicbook, "Tales of the Black Freighter." It's on DVD now, but I haven't seen it. You might want to check it out:



But be warned: It's dark.

Today's Word: Rorschach.

Say G'night Sally.

Peace.

Prince of Frogtown

I met Rick Bragg, briefly, when he came to PC to promote Ava's Man, his ode to the grandfather he never knew. I got him to sign my journal (it's a thing I do), and he took the opportunity to leaf through it and show a sketch to others in the line. It was funny, too, because we had to wait while some of his kin dressed him down after his reading. They broke to the front of the line to tell him how it wasn't right, those things he wrote in his book about Cousin So-and-so. They had driven all the way into Panama to tell him to his face. He laughed and said, "Well, you know how she is. I just told it how she is." And they seemed to cool down, and agreed as to how that's just how she is, but that still don't make it right.

Anyway. His latest is about fathers and sons. I found it in hardback at the thrift shop today for $2.50. Having read his earlier efforts, I'm sure this one will satisfy too. I'll let you know. It's Today's Pick:



Today's Word: Kin.

Peace.

Sunday someday

Today's Pick: I picked up some random comics from the discount bin Saturday, but on the way out I saw this:


(With a different cover), it's titled "The End of the Beginning of the End, Part 1: Return of the King." And its frelling Farscape, which was my favorite show when it was on the air. Story of John Chrichton, astronaut, propelled through a wormhole to a distant galaxy, where he had to fight to survive among some strange creatures in the depths of space. Brilliant, cheesey, beautiful, violent, scary, poetic, suspenseful, funny. Cancelled too soon. And I got to interview one of the stars last summer at a local con:


Today's Word: Frell

Say G'night, Chiana.

Peace.

All-Star

Today begins our Spring Break "staycation." So what did we do tonight? Nathan went to hear some bands. Jessi went to spend the night at a friend's house. Debra and I had Chinese, washed the dogs and watched TV. Gosh, I wonder what other wonders we'll share before the week is out?

Meanwhile, I finally got around to reading Today's Pick, which I bought more than week ago:


Part of DC's line of "All-Star" books, this is the Superman series that's not so weighed down in continuity and taps into the wonder of the old stories with a modern sensibility. It's what the next Superman movie should be based on -- no need for an origin story, lets just see Superman dive into the sun to save explorers aboard the SS Ray Bradbury, or fight evolved dino-warriors from the earth's core, or give Lois Lane superpowers for a day, or visit Lex Luthor in prison as Clark and avoid giving away his secret ID during a riot, or see him fight the "Chronovore" alongside his descendents from the future who have come to visit him on one of the darkest days of his life.

AWESOME COMIC. Nuff said.

Today's Word: Chronos.

Peace.

Have you seen what I've seen?

Yahoo has put out a list of the 100 must-see movies. I've seen 64 of them, which I suppose gives me something more to live for than I knew I had yesterday. How many have you seen? Is one missing that you think should be on there?

I mean, Buckaroo Banzai isn't on the list. Or Barbarella.

Today's Word: Complete.

Peace.

Unexpected gifts

So Friday was not the best day ever at work, for reasons that I'm not sure I'm at liberty to discuss. Suffice to say, the recession is taking its toll.

And in the wake of bad news, a friend I haven't seen or heard from in ages shows up at the front desk with a present for me. Seems she won it from Borders, had no idea what it was, decided it was not appropriate for her little boys, and set it aside. Then she read the author's name in my blog, learned I was a fan, and brought it to me. It's Today's Pick:


Thanks, Shirley. Again, I'm just flabbergasted. That's an awesome present.

Product Description: THE SANDMAN, written by New York Times bestselling author Neil Gaiman, was the most acclaimed comic book title of the 1990s. A rich blend of modern myth and dark fantasy in which contemporary fiction, historical drama and legend are seamlessly interwoven, THE SANDMAN is also widely considered one of the most original and artistically ambitious series of the modern age. By the time it concluded in 1996, it had made significant contributions to the artistic maturity of comic books and become a pop culture phenomenon in its own right.

Now, DC Comics is proud to present this comics classic in an all-new Absolute Edition format. The first of four beautifully designed slipcased volumes, THE ABSOLUTE SANDMAN VOL. 1 collects issues 1-20 of The Sandman and features completely new coloring, approved by the author, on the first 18 issues, as well as a host of never-before-seen extra material, including the complete original Sandman Proposal, a gallery of character designs from Gaiman and the artists who originated the look of the Sandman, and the original script to the World Fantasy Award-winning THE SANDMAN #19, "A Midsummer Night’s Dream," together with reproductions of the issue’s original pencils by Charles Vess. Also included are a new introduction by DC’s president Paul Levitz and a new afterword by Gaiman.

Today's Word: Endless.

Peace.

'Whattaya hear, Starbuck?'

"Nothin' but the rain, sir."
...

Well, it wasn't perfect, and it didn't answer all the questions, and it left some new mysteries. But it was awfully well done, and I have to say I'm better pleased by it than many many other series finales. And it brought our long suffering heroes to a place of peace on earth.

...

"Then get your gun and bring in the cat."

...

I will miss some of these characters. I will wonder what happened to them. And that's probably the best way to end a story, with your viewers/readers wanting more and actively engaged in imagining their futures or trying to figure out the meaning of what they just experienced. (And just why God doesn't like its name.)

...

"Aye-aye."

...

Today's pick: Battlestar Galactica, series finale. And in that vein, this song.

Say G'night, Starbuck.

Peace.