And just like that it’s over. Five volumes covering 10 years and Bloom County is no more. Breathed had a great story in the back of Bloom County Complete Library Volume 5 about how he told the syndicate that he was quitting. He sat down and told them he was quitting unless they gave him the copyright to the strip (remember the syndicate holds all the rights to all the strips). They didn’t believe him at first and (knowing they’d still be making a ton of money as long as it was Breathed doing the strips) finally agreed. He took the copyright and then quit a few months later. He admits that it was the plan all along, and he knows it was a dick move, but he felt no qualms about it. So, let’s see what happens as the strip draws to a close.
A History of Violence by John Wagner and Vince Locke
Paradox Press was DC Comic’s attempt to get into non-superhero graphic novels. There were several books that were published through the imprint that garnered interest (most notably Road to Perdition, Stuck Rubber Baby and the Big Book of…series), but the imprint failed due to low sales. Ultimately it did good in producing some great books during it’s run, including John Wagner and Vince Locke’s A History of Violence (later made into a movie starring Viggo Mortensen). It’s an interesting take on a mob book that shows things from a slightly different angle. Let’s check it out and see what the history of violence is.
Global Frequency by Warren Ellis
Between 2002 and 2004, Warren Ellis collaborated with a dozen wonderful artists on a great limited series called Global Frequency. The basic idea behind the series is an emergency team of 1000 specialists who can be called upon at a moment’s notice to handle any situation that needs their special skills. It’s a great way to have a revolving team of people within a structured storyline. It creates almost endless story telling possibilities and Ellis managed to do a some great ones. There was a TV pilot made (which is floating around the internet somewhere) that was never picked up, but I felt that it would make a great series. So, let’s call on the Global Frequency and see what the emergency is.
Superman: Secret Identity reprinted
Kurt Busiek just tweeted that his wonderful Superman mini-series, Superman: Secret Identity (my review) is getting reprinted in 2 issues. This is great news, since it’s been out of print for too long. Grab this great story when it comes out, you won’t be disappointed.
Amazon’s Publishing Imprint – 47 North
Not content with just selling books and devices to read books, Amazon has made another step and has become a publishing house for science fiction books. Their new imprint is called 47 North, and they have already announced their first few books including the Neal Stephenson led The Mongoloid: Book One and Dave Duncan’s Against the Light.
I’ll be curious to see how this works out and if they can get big names (although Stephenson is a pretty big name) to publish through them. I also wonder how well these books will be supported outside of Amazon. Will Barnes and Noble be willing to sell it?
The Middleman TV show review
Even in this hyper-connected age, it’s possible for a quirky, yet interesting show to pop up and disappear before your even aware that it existed. That’s what happened to me with the show The Middleman. Based on a comic book series by Javier Grillo-Marxuach and Les McClaine, it was a fun twist on Men in Black with a secret agency and fighting monsters. It ran on ABC Family, not exactly the hotspot for quirky science fiction programming, for 12 episodes before it disappeared. So, let’s check it out and see who is The Middleman.
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Ghosts of War by George Mann
When I read the first book in this series, Ghosts of Manhattan (my review), the steampunk genre was starting to get more popular and there weren’t many superhero steampunk novels out there. So, at the time, it felt fresh and interesting. But by the time the sequel, Ghosts of War, came out, it was just another book like several other steampunkish superheroes and the limitations in the story and Mann’s writing have become more apparent. The story is short, but it probably should have been longer. There were too many story holes and rough transitions in the book. So, let’s see what the Ghost is up to.
Dr. Who Series 6 Finale (and season overview)
The season is finally over. It was a convoluted season with a lot more misses than hits, but the central mystery from the beginning of the season was about why did the Doctor have to die (along with who was in the astronaut suit). The finale brought us the answers as well as setting the stage for the next season. So, let’s journey along and see what happened (spoilers ahead).
Monster Hunter International by Larry Correia
After enjoying Larry Correia’s Hard Magic (my review), I decided to give his Monster Hunter series a chance. Even though I’m not a fan of the recent slate of supernatural books, Correia did a great job with Monster Hunter International, the first book in the series. The one thing that I should mention is that if you don’t like guns or weapons, then this isn’t the book for you. Everyone is packing weapons and loves weapons and occasionally goes into great detail about the weapons they have or are making, repairing, cleaning or shooting. If you thought that REAMDE had a lot of detail about guns, then you’re not going to enjoy this one. So, let’s go hunt some monsters.
REAMDE by Neal Stephenson
There’s this rumor going around that Neal Stephenson is a science fiction writer. Well, you couldn’t tell it from his latest book, REAMDE. The book has a lot in common with the two novels that Stephenson wrote with his uncle, Cobweb and Interface (my review). Like those two books, this book is a thriller with some interesting cultural and science related topics. It still has the trademark Stephenson digressions, but more about the history of the characters than esoteric scientific/historical concepts. So, let’s see what REAMDE is about.