So, I'm not one of those people who have been reading comics since they were kids. I had a bunch of lame Looney Tunes stuff, and that's about it. But apparently I'm a lemming because when the whole world started reading Watchmen around the time the film came out, I followed everyone off the proverbial cliff. It was worth it. So very worth it. I'm not going to praise Watchmen because that's been done enough, but I want to touch on the other stuff I've been reading lately.
After years and years of seeing fairy tales get Disney-fied into some formulaic drek, it's cool to see someone try to do something a little ballsy with them. Like, lets put characters like Snow White, Prince Charming, and Bluebeard into real-world New York City and give them real problems to worry about. Beauty and the Beast are having marital problems. Prince Charming is a handsome lothario who uses dumb women for money. And Snow White's sister, Rose Red, has been murdered. The murder is the central turning point of the plot in the first edition of the series, and while it's entertaining enough, the plot is really secondary to the introduction of the main characters and the mythology of Fabletown. If anything the plot is conventional to a fault. It even has a cliched "parlor room" scene, which, granted, it makes fun of itself for. It's a good start for the series, and I'm really interested to see where it goes.
Now, I'm usually not a crime caper, conspiracy theory kind of person, but 100 Bullets might be changing my mind. It starts off with fractured stories with one link: each main character in each story is given 100 untracable bullets and a gun along with irrefutable evidence against a person who greatly wronged them by a man called Agent Graves. They can do whatever they like, they won't be arrested or held accountable in any way. I'm not gonna lie. I'm not super interested in a lot of the individual stories (like the one with the gambling idiot with the cowboy hat in the second edition was a giant snore), but the overarching premise is really interesting to me. Who is Agent Graves and why is he doing this? The morality of it reminds me of the show Dexter. (Yeah, I'm killing people, but they deserve it. Eh?) The first edition is good, but the second one is excellent (except for that damn cowboy). Read the series from the beginning though.
Other stuff I have lined up:
Maus I: My Father Bleeds History (Already halfway through this.)
Batman: The Long Halloween
Wolverine: Origin
The Sandman 1: Preludes & Nocturnes
Currently...
Reading: Oil! by Upton Sinclair, Wicked by Gregory Maguire, Neuromancer by William Gibson
Watching: Pixar movies and Eddie Izzard stand-up
Listening To: Passion Pit and The National
The premise of 100 bullets has always been interesting to me as well, although I've never taken the time to actually seek out the graphic novel, partially because I was worried that it would fall apart on execution. But the Dexter comparison has my interest piqued again.
ReplyDeleteFabletown seems like a funny, worth reading. I'll surely check it out. And I'm also curious about "Neuromancer" by William Gibson. Is it good? Because I believe it is one of the main literary influences upon the whole "cyber-punk" movement, as well over some industrial bands like Dope Stars Inc.
ReplyDelete@Mexicanfiend I couldn't tell you if it's good or not yet because I'm only a few pages in, and I've never read it before. I'm a big sci-fi nerd though, and it's supposed to be one of the best and most influential sci-fi novels of all time. So I'm reasonably sure I'll love it.
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