I'm Reading

Killing Monsters

2009-10-19T11:01:00.002-04:00

As a dad and pop-culture contributor, media violence and how it affects our kids is an important topic to me.

People who know me know I'm a big fan of pop-culture -- comic books, anime, action movies, and video games -- in some cases, I directly contribute to getting these things made. These same people also know I'm very protective of what my kids see and do -- which for me means not being over-protective of what they don't see, which could be doing them an equivalent (or in some cases, deeper) damage.

This may sound odd, but in his book, author Gerard Jones makes a very even-handed argument for age- and context-appropriate exposure to make-believe conflict and violence, and how demonizing and purging it from your home can have the opposite of the intended effect of "protecting your kids".

In an increasingly (and increasingly damaging) pseudo-politically correct world, kids are becoming shadows of what they should be as their personalities are beaten into any given institution's version of compliance, they're chastised for genuine (and appropriate) feelings of adventure, aggression, sexuality, or any of a myriad of facets that make them a "whole person".

I recommend this book as a wake-up opportunity for folks to rethink their views on media violence.

(And I recommend you ignore a lot of the editorial summaries of the book on Amazon -- at least at the time of this writing -- as they oversimplify the direction and intent of the book.)

Strong Fathers, Strong Daughters

2009-10-19T10:07:00.004-04:00

The world is an ugly place, and there is no stronger influence on a little girl than her daddy. That is a horrifying and important charge.

I treat it seriously.

Strong Fathers, Strong Daughters: 10 Secrets Every Father Should Know is a scary and important book. Scary, because the statistics of what happens to "one-in-four", "one-in-three", and one-half" of all girls is sobering. Important, because it hammers home what dad's can do -- emotionally, physically, and spiritually to fight for their daughters, in hopes of avoiding them becoming statistics.

I say, "In hopes of", because the reality is the world is a broken place, and sadly, bad things happen. But part of this book is about equipping your daughters to be resilient, and (perhaps unintentionally), nods toward preparing dads being resilient, too.

The author (Dr. Meg Meeker, MD) is a female pediatrician, and has tremendous insight, experience, and heart for girls and women. I was a bit leery of a woman talking about parenting for males, but she roots it firmly in what she knew as a young daughter, knows as an adult daughter, a parent of daughters, and a practicing pediatrician well-versed in her clients and the research on the issues. I felt she was a bit off a couple of times, because she's not herself a father of daughters (obviously), so she's not "living it" like her target audience is -- but nothing that detracted from the book or its points.

Having finished the book, I'm now passing it around to other dads of daughters. We sign our names and our daughters' names, as an ongoing log and legacy of dads fighting for our girls.

A lot

2009-10-14T19:50:00.003-04:00

So, I went to spin through the last few years of my "reading reviews" blogs, and find the last 1.5 years missing. Missing!

Sucks hardcore. And the borkedness doesn't stop there. While blogger.com says my last post was in February of 2009 (still too far in the past), it only shows posts through June -- of 2008.

There are not enough expletives in the world to explain how I'm feeling.

But that's why you don't rely on a blog as a record of history -- 'cause they'll delete your history.

[Blankety blank blank blank ...]

Reading Beta Ray Bill: Godhunter

2009-07-21T00:51:00.000-04:00

Reading Beta Ray Bill: Godhunter #2. Dear Marvel, Please stop selling me reprint titles I've already bought as "backup stories".

Captain America

2009-07-21T00:26:00.000-04:00

Reading Captain America #601 - vampires, courtesy of Gene Colan.

Astonishing X-Men

2008-06-14T16:28:00.001-04:00

I'm reading Giant-Size Astonishing X-Men. This is how you put together a comic - despite the uneven art (what up, Cassaday?)

Goodbye, Katchen - I miss you already.

Secret Invasion

2008-06-14T16:02:00.001-04:00

I'm reading Secret Invasion #3. Rocking universe twisting. Is someone keeping a Marvel U body count?

Makes for a long read, thanks to Leinil Yu - gotta catch all the Skrull/hero variants.

Avengers/Invaders

2008-06-14T15:53:00.001-04:00

I'm reading Avengers/Invaders #2. The concept's ok, but it just doesn't resonate with the rest of what's going on in the Marvel U.

Can't quite put my finger on it.

I do dig the retroactive Bucky / Winter Soldier character consistency, though.

Hulk: Raging Thunder

2008-06-14T15:09:00.001-04:00

I'm reading Hulk: Raging Thunder. Seriously, who green-lit this as a concept?

The New Avengers

2008-06-11T21:00:00.001-04:00

I'm reading The New Avengers #41. I'm liking Billy Tan's art -- particularly his splash pages. I do miss Lenil Yu, though...

Star Wars: Legacy

2008-06-10T23:05:00.001-04:00

Issues 23 and 24. Now we're getting more Star Wars-ish!

Thor: Ages of Thunder

2008-05-07T00:58:00.001-04:00

I'm reading Thor: Ages of Thunder. It's not Straczynski, but I still like Fraction. And this is a different style for him.

Captain Marvel #5

2008-04-27T00:32:00.001-04:00

The sentiment for this series works for me; the underpinnings do not.

Captain America: The Chosen

2008-02-03T09:41:00.000-05:00

I just finished reading Captain America: The Chosen, #6. I'm more OK with it than I was. They definitely finished the series appropriate to the spirit of the character.

Captain America

2008-02-02T18:38:00.000-05:00

Disliking - strongly disliking - the new suit, but totally digging Captain America #34.Brubaker and Epting are top-tier.

The Amazing Spider-Man

2008-01-06T23:41:00.000-05:00

The Amazing Spider-Man #545 finishes out the "One More Day" arc.

Too easy to give spoilers, but it was good, _and_ I'm not happy.

X-Men: Dark Messiah

2008-01-01T16:44:00.001-05:00

I'm weeks behind in my comic book reading.

Among the things I read today was the X-Men: Dark Messiah one-shot / lead-in to the most recent X-book crossover.

I was going to wait and catch this later in trade format, but Ed Brubaker continues to amaze me (why do I not automatically read everything he writes?). It feels kinda "Mutant Massacre"-ish, which is maybe my previous favorite X-arc.

I may have to re-add the X-books to my pull list. This is dangerous; things go on my pull list, but they never come off ...

Punisher War Journal

2007-12-03T23:48:00.001-05:00

Punisher War Journal #13 has Cory Walker art. I like Cory Walker art.

I'm just not sure I like it with Punisher War Journal.

I am stoked at what looks like an upcoming Matt Fraction rendition of an
old school super hero tale.

The New Avengers

2007-12-03T23:31:00.000-05:00

The New Avengers #36 has some good moments (particularly the pillow talk
between Mr. And Mrs. Luke Cage).

But, hey, World War Hulk is over, so we don't need the filler stories
anymore.

The last splash page does have me excited, though.

Halo: Uprising

2007-12-02T01:29:00.001-05:00

Halo: Uprising #2 finally freaking came out.

It's OK and all, but should have been back to back to back, just before
Halo 3.

I'm wondering who at Marvel has messed up scheduling commitments for Halo,
World War Hulk, One More Day, etc.

Captain America: The Chosen

2007-12-02T01:07:00.001-05:00

I finished Captain America: The Chosen #4 (of 6), and bearing in mind I'm a
big Cap fan, consider two things:

1) Why retread a Project Rebirth trope that didn't fair well when it was
used before (with the arguable exception of its appearance in X-Men:
Evolution)?

2) I think comic folks should write their six-issue miniseries, then make
them fit into four (trade paperback goals be damned -- format shouldn't
define content).

Astonishing X-Men

2007-12-02T00:44:00.001-05:00

Astonishing X-Men #23 has a nice curveball / reset. Would have rocked more
if there hadn't been such a gap between issues. I don't like feeling like I
need to go look up past issues (that I've read) to get what's going on.

But it's on. And "The Lie" was expected, and still rocks.

Captain America

2007-11-28T00:32:00.000-05:00

I just read Captain America #32.

Y'know, I've been accused of being too much of a Captain America fanboy, and of being "too keen" on Brubaker.

A lesser mortal would crumble under such criticism.

Me?

I say, "Screw you, and your non-pictured, book-reading ways!"

Brubaker and Steve Epting keep writing a book without the lead character, make it matter, and make the Falcon look cool(er).

Bite me, Cap/Brubaker haters. Read the book. Don't watch the movies.

Moon Knight

2007-11-27T23:57:00.000-05:00

I just read Moon Knight #13.

What the hell just happened?

If the title had been pulling like this throughout the tailing of Charlie Huston's run, maybe there wouldn't have been a tailing to Huston's run.

You might remember Huston and I traded words, and he copped to his part in the Moonie decline, and encouraged me to stay with character for writer Mike Benson, and artist Tomm Coker.

Problem is, starting with issue #14 it's writer Benson and artist Mark Texiera. I like Texiera (dude has come a long way since the nineties), and though Benson's an unknown quantity to me, that's not the issue.

The issue is Huston plus Coker in MK #13 equals a new level of amazing. Seriously, for me this was like a mini Daredevil Frank Miller / Bill Sienkiewicz graphic novel.

And now Huston's leaving.

I take back the "nice guy" stuff I said about him. He puts out work this high bar and than leave me wanting more. Jerk.

Sub-Mariner

2007-11-27T23:14:00.000-05:00

Sub-Mariner #5 is on its way to finishing out "The Initiative"(ish) tie-in miniseries, and I'm OK with the arc.

I picked the series up on a lark, and even though this issue was a bit lighter for me on the impact side, I've been pretty pleasantly surprised by the run.

I can see where #6 can go, and it's boring, so I hope I'm wrong.