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timerippleLET'S TALK ABOUT SOME BOOKS!
Or graphic novels, actually, since at thelogicoemotional blackmail urging of my co-workers, I’ve also been reading some of them lately!
American Vampire, vol. 1 & 2
I can’t decide whether the premise is hilariously meta or just ill-informed. See, in the days of the Old West when the men were unshaven and the ladies were nubile and lusty, there emerged a new kind of vampire: one that can... wait for it... survive in direct sunlight. His name was Skinner Sweet, and he was an annoying outlaw. Fifty years later in 1920s Hollywood, where the men are still unshaven and the ladies are aspiring actresses working three jobs to make ends meet, the fact that sun-intolerant vampires were a creation of the movies has completely passed everybody by.
Long story short, our girl Pearl Jones goes to a party thinking she’ll get some free drinks and maybe score a speaking role in somebody’s movie. She kind of gets nommed on by a conglomerate of icky old-monied European vampires instead. Notorious Outlaw and American Vampire Skinner Sweet saves her ingenue ass and turns her into an American Vampire for reasons best known to himself and maybe Stephen King. She goes on a revenge spree with some help from her guitar-toting sweetheart and tears a dude’s throat right out. She’s awesome. I wish the whole story was about her.
Meanwhile back in 18whatever but a bit later, a bunch of dudes try to kill Skinner Sweet a bunch of times. He kind of turns Righteous Lawman into a vampire, but Righteous Lawman resists for years. Righteous Lawman finally begs his hot biracial goddaughter to shoot him and then go on a revenge spree to avenge him and also her father. She agrees, but insists that along with that revenge, only a baby with Righteous Lawman’s DNA will actually make her life worth living. Righteous Lawman tearfully agrees.
At this point I nearly threw the book across the room and sat there going “...what? WHAT?”
A miniscule part of me is saying "Uh, you get you some of that, girl. I guess? If that's, uh, what you want...?"
A much larger part of me is saying SERIOUSLY WHAT THE HELL WRITERS, WHY WOULD YOU EVEN DO THAT TO A GIRL? ARE YOU F***ING KIDDING ME? BLATANT. MIDDLE-AGED WHITE MALE FANTASIES. DO NOT. FIX. EVERYTHING. BABIES. DO NOT. FIX. EVERYTHING.
I kept reading because the art is gorgeous and also our girl Pearl Jones is a badass.
Vol. 2 was much of the same--bunch of dudes doing some boring stuff I don’t really care about in Las Vegas, then PEARL JONES shows up. HI, PEARL JONES. PLEASE CONTINUE TO BE AWESOME.
She does. Skinner Sweet’s around too, running a whorehouse. As you do in Vegas circa 1935. Remember Revenge Baby? She’s all grown up and working for the FBI. Remember Hot Biracial Goddaughter? She’s all white-streakified and working for the FBI Countervampires Unit. I give her a grudging pass.
Pearl Jones's former roommate Rosalie is also around and vampirified and on a revenge spree (isn't everybody?). She's pretty great, and I hope to see more of her.
There’s some other stuff about some vampire murders and Hoover Dam and stuff, but mostly the point is 1) vampires are still around, 2) Skinner Sweet is still annoying, and 3) our girl Pearl Jones is still the best. I wish this series would realize how fabulous its ladies are and devote more time to them instead of wasting the entire first half of storytime on boring men doing boring posturing and being boringly clueless.
Vol. 3, though, promises the unlikely spectacle of Skinner Sweet and Pearl Jones's boyfriend Henry side-by-side in the trenches of WWII. I'm planning to stay tuned.
Morning Glories vol. 1
Six bright young things are sent to Morning Glory Academy, a prestigious prep school with an, uh, unusual modus operandi. It has a shadowy purpose and dubious methods and really I have no idea what the point is, but I’m intrigued. Also the art is quite nice.
I can’t remember any of the characters’ names, but it cracks me up that the cover features two blondes, two redheads (what, no brunettes in the gene pool?), and two persons of color who turn out to be Indian and Japanese, respectively. LOL. DIVERSITY: WE HAS IT. ALSO COLOR/GENDER SYMMETRY. But mostly symmetry.
The last two also happen to be my favorite characters, despite the fact that we learn next to nothing about them in this volume.
Indian Chick is a confident, hilariously bitchy player who leaves behind a trail of broken hearts when she goes away to school. I suspect she may be awesome. I want her to be awesome. PLEASE, LET HER BE AWESOME.
Japanese Dude is a badass... with nary a speck of kung fu in sight. When was the last time we saw an Asian dude kick ass in a non-martial arts way in a piece of Western media? (Um, never?) I like martial arts and hot Asian dudes who practice them as much as anybody, but it’s a stereotype. (A sexy, sexy stereotype.)
...I have a sudden urge to watch the Ashita no Joe movie now.
...
...
What?
What are your favorite graphic novels? Read anything good (or bad!) lately?
Or graphic novels, actually, since at the
American Vampire, vol. 1 & 2
I can’t decide whether the premise is hilariously meta or just ill-informed. See, in the days of the Old West when the men were unshaven and the ladies were nubile and lusty, there emerged a new kind of vampire: one that can... wait for it... survive in direct sunlight. His name was Skinner Sweet, and he was an annoying outlaw. Fifty years later in 1920s Hollywood, where the men are still unshaven and the ladies are aspiring actresses working three jobs to make ends meet, the fact that sun-intolerant vampires were a creation of the movies has completely passed everybody by.
Long story short, our girl Pearl Jones goes to a party thinking she’ll get some free drinks and maybe score a speaking role in somebody’s movie. She kind of gets nommed on by a conglomerate of icky old-monied European vampires instead. Notorious Outlaw and American Vampire Skinner Sweet saves her ingenue ass and turns her into an American Vampire for reasons best known to himself and maybe Stephen King. She goes on a revenge spree with some help from her guitar-toting sweetheart and tears a dude’s throat right out. She’s awesome. I wish the whole story was about her.
Meanwhile back in 18whatever but a bit later, a bunch of dudes try to kill Skinner Sweet a bunch of times. He kind of turns Righteous Lawman into a vampire, but Righteous Lawman resists for years. Righteous Lawman finally begs his hot biracial goddaughter to shoot him and then go on a revenge spree to avenge him and also her father. She agrees, but insists that along with that revenge, only a baby with Righteous Lawman’s DNA will actually make her life worth living. Righteous Lawman tearfully agrees.
At this point I nearly threw the book across the room and sat there going “...what? WHAT?”
A miniscule part of me is saying "Uh, you get you some of that, girl. I guess? If that's, uh, what you want...?"
A much larger part of me is saying SERIOUSLY WHAT THE HELL WRITERS, WHY WOULD YOU EVEN DO THAT TO A GIRL? ARE YOU F***ING KIDDING ME? BLATANT. MIDDLE-AGED WHITE MALE FANTASIES. DO NOT. FIX. EVERYTHING. BABIES. DO NOT. FIX. EVERYTHING.
I kept reading because the art is gorgeous and also our girl Pearl Jones is a badass.
Vol. 2 was much of the same--bunch of dudes doing some boring stuff I don’t really care about in Las Vegas, then PEARL JONES shows up. HI, PEARL JONES. PLEASE CONTINUE TO BE AWESOME.
She does. Skinner Sweet’s around too, running a whorehouse. As you do in Vegas circa 1935. Remember Revenge Baby? She’s all grown up and working for the FBI. Remember Hot Biracial Goddaughter? She’s all white-streakified and working for the FBI Countervampires Unit. I give her a grudging pass.
Pearl Jones's former roommate Rosalie is also around and vampirified and on a revenge spree (isn't everybody?). She's pretty great, and I hope to see more of her.
There’s some other stuff about some vampire murders and Hoover Dam and stuff, but mostly the point is 1) vampires are still around, 2) Skinner Sweet is still annoying, and 3) our girl Pearl Jones is still the best. I wish this series would realize how fabulous its ladies are and devote more time to them instead of wasting the entire first half of storytime on boring men doing boring posturing and being boringly clueless.
Vol. 3, though, promises the unlikely spectacle of Skinner Sweet and Pearl Jones's boyfriend Henry side-by-side in the trenches of WWII. I'm planning to stay tuned.
Morning Glories vol. 1
Six bright young things are sent to Morning Glory Academy, a prestigious prep school with an, uh, unusual modus operandi. It has a shadowy purpose and dubious methods and really I have no idea what the point is, but I’m intrigued. Also the art is quite nice.
I can’t remember any of the characters’ names, but it cracks me up that the cover features two blondes, two redheads (what, no brunettes in the gene pool?), and two persons of color who turn out to be Indian and Japanese, respectively. LOL. DIVERSITY: WE HAS IT. ALSO COLOR/GENDER SYMMETRY. But mostly symmetry.
The last two also happen to be my favorite characters, despite the fact that we learn next to nothing about them in this volume.
Indian Chick is a confident, hilariously bitchy player who leaves behind a trail of broken hearts when she goes away to school. I suspect she may be awesome. I want her to be awesome. PLEASE, LET HER BE AWESOME.
Japanese Dude is a badass... with nary a speck of kung fu in sight. When was the last time we saw an Asian dude kick ass in a non-martial arts way in a piece of Western media? (Um, never?) I like martial arts and hot Asian dudes who practice them as much as anybody, but it’s a stereotype. (A sexy, sexy stereotype.)
...I have a sudden urge to watch the Ashita no Joe movie now.
...
...
What?
What are your favorite graphic novels? Read anything good (or bad!) lately?
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Date: 2011-10-03 02:01 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-10-04 02:44 pm (UTC)