For days I have wanted to write a new post but I´m just so busy, busy, busy with other stuff. I can´t even get around to read my new comics and I got marvelous stuff like Roger Langride´s SNARKED and Jim Woodring´s CONGRESS OF THE ANIMALS on my " to read " pile.
THE WALRUS AND THE CARPENTER WERE WALKING CLOSE AT HAND
I´m a big fan of Roger Langride ever since I saw his art on THE BIG BOOK OF URBAN LEGENDS but I have to admit, to my shame, I have neither read his MUPPETS nor his THOR comics although I have heard that they are marvelous. Anyway, when I got the FREE 0 issue of SNARKED by one of the online comicshops where I place my orders I just had to get it ( it´s smaller than the regularsized 0 issue which only costs one buck ). As somebody who read Lewis Caroll´s ALICE books and enjoyed them immensly I couldn´t let this opportunity pass to read a comic about some of the characters that appear in his books like the walrus and the carpenter ( the two lead characters ), the chesire cat, the gryphon and maybe even a snark.
As usual I missed the initial start but I was lucky enough to get the first 4 issues from the same online shop that sent me the 0 issue. If you want a comic that you can read together with your kids, this is it. Especially if you have already read the Alice books with them or watched the Disney adaptations.
interview with roger langride about snarked / snarked 0 preview
snarked 1 preview / snarked 2 preview
snarked 3 preview / snarked 4 preview
And since we´re on the subject of Alice, a few years ago I bought the english version and I got the SIGNET CLASSIC pocket edition which is not only pretty cheap ( 3.95 $ for Alice´s Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking Glass ) but also has the original illustrations by John Tenniel which are simply brilliant. I´m sure you can get a copy at amazon or at good bookstores.
One last thing about Lewis Carrol : he never answered the riddle why a raven is like a writing desk. People always come up with their own answers but in german it has always been pretty obvious. The raven has feathers which is Federn in german and a writing desk has pens which is Schreibfeder in german or in short Feder. What´s more a pen used to be called Federkiel because before metal pens could be manufactured people used feathers from birds, the quills. Which is still the same word for the feather of a bird and the feather you use for writing. So, if the writing desk in question is a rather old one it may contain real birdfeathers to write. Ergo : the common thing about the raven and the writing desk is they both contain feathers which can be used for writing.
alice in wonderland resource page
the walrus and the carpenter wiki / the poem / audio version
MY NAME IS MUD AND IT´S ALWAYS BEEN
Another series where I missed the beginning is MUDMAN by Paul Grist which is even less pardonable ( am I making up words again ? ) because I have mentioned the book once or twice on this blog and how much I was looking forward to reading it since JACK STAFF is on hiatus. And then I go and miss the first two issues. But there is hope. It seems I was not the only one who missed them so they are going back to press and the reprints of issue 1 and 2 hit stores the same day as issue 3 comes out.
Which you may have already read on ComicBits Online right here on the blogroll and which - of course - everybody reads religiously.
THE AVENGER HAS LOST ITS SHINE, THE MAGIC IS NOW DRAINED
Last month I spent a bit much on comics so this month I have decided to stay away from amazon - which lasted exactly five days until I found the third volume of AVENGERS ASSEMBLE by Kurt Busiek and George Perez for 23 bucks. Normally it sells for 35 dollars and most comicshops don´t have it anymore so I took the chance even if I don´t like ordering from other sellers as amazon. I already ordered two trades from the " used " section and I had to make the experience that what most people consider " in good shape " is what comicfans throw into the half price off bin. But this time it really arrived very fast and in good shape so another one for the collection. It has some fill - in artists, and a big part are issues of THUNDERBOLTS but this run is just gold. Now I only have to find the first two parts.
I´m already flipping through the pages every night before going to sleep and if I can´t find the first two volumes in hardcover I might not wait any longer. I´ll just whip out the single issues and read the whole run again. Which I already did twice. And there are still some things I forgot. Like that Triathlon didn´t join before this storyline and that his first mission was when the Avengers went up against Kulan Gath to help Silverclaw´s Mom who was a goddess. By the way, Silverclaw was one of my favorite new Avengers and Triathlon could even outbitch Hawkeye. Totally Airwolf, that run.
Speaking about George Perez, there is some good news about the new 52. DC doesn´t seem to know what to do with high calibre artists like Mr. Perez but he doesn´t have to toil on such titles like SUPERMAN anymore. After months of only doing the covers and the layouts it´s up to a full issue of SUPERGIRL before WORLDS´ FINEST starts. One of the second wave of new 52 books the series stars Huntress and Power Girl ( Yes ! ) and the art will be provided by Kevin Maguire and George Perez on alternating storyarcs.
So it looks like I will add a new DC title to the list while at least one old title will be eliminated. After the really brilliant JUSTICE LEAGUE - GENERATION LOST I couldn´t wait to read the new JLA spin - off title but the whole new 52 deal threw a monkey wrench into the whole thing.
After issue 5 it´s clear that while it may be possible that the group will find its own groove this is not the Generation lost team and never will be. Such interesting characters like Blue Beetle and Captain Atom are missing and quite frankly I´m not interested in waiting another year to see if it can achieve a fraction of its former brilliance.
For the time being RESURRECTION MAN is still on the pull list although I don´t know for how long. The whole restart of what was once an original concept as another one of those heaven / hell conflicst didn´t really improve the title as well as Fernando Dagnino inking himself. Somehow his art looked better with somebody else´s inks.
WHERE DO THE LITTLE ROBINS COME FROM ?
I don´t remember exactly where I found this but I found the ad that appeared in FANTASTIC FOUR 132 odd :
So, the Wayne School wants to help young students over 17 to finish High School at home ? Yeah, I bet. And there surely is a little extra special for those who have no family and good grades in sport and criminology. No obligation. Sure.
SOMETHING OLD, SOMETHING NEW, SOMETHING BORROWED.....
Here are a few more cool things I found while surfing, most of them pretty self explainatory :
Of course every " Odds and ends " section isn´t complete without a few top 10 lists and here are three that were send to me. Yes, it seems that I have finally reached the point of semi - fame where people expect me to be influential.
Be that as it may true or not, I´m happy for anybody who sends me stuff and if you want to see something mentioned or published here just send it ( as long as it´s appropiate ). Today´s top ten list comes from newbie BUISNESS INSURANCE and although I don´t know anybody on this list I´m sure in these financially unsure times we can all appreciate 10 tv financial experts worth watching .
DOCTOR STRANGE, I SUPPOSE ?
I´m not sure how long this post is going to get ( as I´ll surely add a thing or two in the next days ) but I can´t finish without mentioning the newest happenings at the DOCTOR WHO front. After I have now run out of new episodes I decided to get back and this time waaay back to the very first Doctor played by William Hartnell.
Yep, the Doctor´s fetish with strange headgear starts early on.
But before that I watched the DOCTOR WHO tv movie from 1996 with Paul McGann as the eight Doctor and Eric Roberts as The Master. Or Dr. Strange like I like to call him for obvious reasons. Somebody on the set must have been a huge fan of Marvel Comics.
Now the movie was supposed to re - start the franchise as well as introduce it to an american audience but in hindsught it was probably best for all involved that it crashed and burned so completely. Otherwise we wouldn´t have gotten the brilliant restart in 2005.
And it´s not only that they obviously eliminated anything from the movie that might be too frightening for kids ( which has always been part of the appeal of Doctor Who ) or objective to parent groups, and also really bad acting from most people involved. The Doctor himself doesn´t do too much and for something that´s supposed to introduce a whole Who - niverse it doesn´t explain anything. Watching the movie I knew some of the important things, like who The Doctor is, part of the history of The Master, what planet Skaro is, the TARDIS and so on. And still I had some problems following the story because there were some things that were only in this movie and even they weren´t explained. On top of that they had to include a love story with the companion which isn´t how this normally works. Daphne Ashbrook isn´t exactly unattractive but of course she´s a Doctor too.
So it shouldn´t surprise anyone that it wasn´t the huge success everybody hoped it would be. For more about the movie just watch it ( it shouldn´t be too hard to find on the interwebs since a techno analphabet like me could find it ) and then listen to the DOCTORWHOCAST episode that analyses it much more in detail.
By the crimson bands of Galafrey, begone foul creature !
Since a big part of Today´s post was about Alica in Wonderland and the walrus and the carpenter here is the Disney version of the poem.
New to the blog ? Everything you need to know about TALES FROM THE KRYPTONIAN : top ten posts / more posts of interest
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