What I Read This Year Part IV
Creepie Susie by Angus Oblong -- The title's actually longer than that, but I'm going to be lazy. I thought the Oblongs cartoon was sort of amusing, and discovered that it was based on a book. Well, it's only loosely based on the book, and the book is very warped and tasteless. Much moreso than the cartoon. If you like warped, tasteless humor, this is your book! If you order off his site, you even get a free sketch!
Sam and Max: Surfin' the Highway (expanded version) by Steve Purcell -- Well, I'm a big fan of Sam and Max, as you probably all know by now. It is hard to describe the comics, really. I already had the old version, but this one boasts a bunch of new pages. Unfortunately the new pages are mostly comic convention and video game ads. There is only one story that goes beyond two pages. It's all decent stuff, but if you already have the old version, you won't feel TOO left out. The flip book, paper dolls and board game were printed on fold out pages in the back of the original edition, but are simply put on regular pages in this one, so you pretty much have to destroy your book to copy them. On the other hand, if you don't have any version, pick this one up!
Squee's Big Book of Unimaginable Horrors by Jhonen Vasquez -- I might have read this in 2007, but I forget, so I'm putting it here. This is also sick and twisted. Less so than Johnny the Homicidal Maniac, but still. You can see bits of Invader Zim creeping in, which was definitely lighter fare than his previous works. Plus it has Happy Noodle Boy! Everybody loves Happy Noodle Boy!
Iron Man: Armor Wars -- Poor Iron Man. He's one of my favorite superheroes, but I never hardly bought any of his comics. He's mostly remembered for being an alcoholic. He's currently being written as a jerk, not because he's a jerk, but because a big crossover called for a superhero who was a jerk. But he had a great movie this last year! This is one of the few storylines I was familiar with, but even then I didn't know the details. It turns out he found his own (physical) technology in a villain's armor, and he goes on a hunt to track down all the components that had been stolen from him and distributed to various villains. He fights lots of villains of varying levels of coolness, gets kicked out of the Avengers, betrays Nick Fury and Captain America, fires Iron Man (as Tony Stark), fakes the death of Iron Man, and builds one of his cooler armors, when all is said and done. Ah, those were the good old days!
Walden and Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau -- I had been thinking about the subjects of these writings for many years before discovering their existence. It was strange to read, as Thoreau had independantly (and many years apart from me!) come to many of the same conclusions I have! Though I disagree with several points and many others are invalidated just by the passage of time, I think his main ideas are very true and valid, and just as scary to most people today as they were in his time. Interesting indeed!
Sam and Max: Surfin' the Highway (expanded version) by Steve Purcell -- Well, I'm a big fan of Sam and Max, as you probably all know by now. It is hard to describe the comics, really. I already had the old version, but this one boasts a bunch of new pages. Unfortunately the new pages are mostly comic convention and video game ads. There is only one story that goes beyond two pages. It's all decent stuff, but if you already have the old version, you won't feel TOO left out. The flip book, paper dolls and board game were printed on fold out pages in the back of the original edition, but are simply put on regular pages in this one, so you pretty much have to destroy your book to copy them. On the other hand, if you don't have any version, pick this one up!
Squee's Big Book of Unimaginable Horrors by Jhonen Vasquez -- I might have read this in 2007, but I forget, so I'm putting it here. This is also sick and twisted. Less so than Johnny the Homicidal Maniac, but still. You can see bits of Invader Zim creeping in, which was definitely lighter fare than his previous works. Plus it has Happy Noodle Boy! Everybody loves Happy Noodle Boy!
Iron Man: Armor Wars -- Poor Iron Man. He's one of my favorite superheroes, but I never hardly bought any of his comics. He's mostly remembered for being an alcoholic. He's currently being written as a jerk, not because he's a jerk, but because a big crossover called for a superhero who was a jerk. But he had a great movie this last year! This is one of the few storylines I was familiar with, but even then I didn't know the details. It turns out he found his own (physical) technology in a villain's armor, and he goes on a hunt to track down all the components that had been stolen from him and distributed to various villains. He fights lots of villains of varying levels of coolness, gets kicked out of the Avengers, betrays Nick Fury and Captain America, fires Iron Man (as Tony Stark), fakes the death of Iron Man, and builds one of his cooler armors, when all is said and done. Ah, those were the good old days!
Walden and Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau -- I had been thinking about the subjects of these writings for many years before discovering their existence. It was strange to read, as Thoreau had independantly (and many years apart from me!) come to many of the same conclusions I have! Though I disagree with several points and many others are invalidated just by the passage of time, I think his main ideas are very true and valid, and just as scary to most people today as they were in his time. Interesting indeed!