one day, you'll look to see i'm gone
I slept for nearly nine hours last night, and I am still as tired and bleary-eyed as on Monday, when I'd only slept four, and I so don't want to do any work. Ugh.
*
on
bethbethbeth's recommendation, I recently read The Company We Keep by Robert and Dayna Baer, a memoir of their time in the CIA. The first half is really interesting, dealing with CIA training and actual spycraft; the second half basically made me side-eye them - especially him - the whole time, especially the part about their foreign adoption (and also, the fact that he has two daughters and the son, and guess which kid is apparently the only one he cares about, since he's the only one who gets a name and a part in the story?). So read it for the first half and then roll your eyes through the second, I guess, or stop when they leave the CIA.
I also read Blood Spirits by Sherwood Smith, the sequel to Coronets and Steel. I liked it, though not as much as the first book, which has that whole Prisoner of Zenda plot going for it. I had some trouble remembering how people were related for the first part of the book, and also, I get why there were vampires, and that was a neat way out of the "Alec is in love with Kim but married to Ruli" conundrum, but I just don't really enjoy them? I'm much more interested in the time-slipping and ghost talking, and I was glad to get more of the cousins in this one - Honore and Phaedra in particular were enjoyable, and Kim finally starts being proactive, which was good.
And then apparently yesterday, all of the comics I actually pay for were released, so let's do that rundown:
Avenging Spider-man 11 made me sob, but that is a given, I think, since he was teamed up with Aunt May in this issue, which basically covers a trip to the cemetery to see Uncle Ben. I thought it handled the idea of reassessing how you got where you are while still looking forward pretty well, but you know, I am easy for Peter and May Parker and their strength and resilience. I didn't love the art, but eh.
Journey Into Mystery 642 - this was kind of heartbreaking - apparently no matter what Loki does, it all goes to shit, even when his intentions are noble. The best part is how much Thor loves him (see this tumblr post about their relationship, which basically encapsulates my kid!Loki feels and also why Thor is awesome. Spoilers, obv.)
I know they're wrapping up kid!Loki's time as the protag of this book (soon it will be Sif!) and kid!Loki will be hanging out with Billy Kaplan? (Or something? Nerds of the Nine Realms unite?) and I really hope they don't just drop him or re-age him to adulthood and villain status, because I really like what they're doing with him. Because a trickster should straddle the line between good and evil, playing them off against each other for his own benefit and/or amusement, and there's as much creation in trickster mythology as there is destruction, because you don't get one without the other, and Loki as straight up villain is just boring.
Captain Marvel 3 - this is where my irritation with serialized storytelling is at its peak, because goddammit, GIVE ME THE REST OF THE STORY. I don't feel like the cliffhanger was particularly effective and I don't feel like there was enough story here to be considered a full issue. I liked the part where Carol is all, "Make sure you're healed up and well-rested so when we kick your asses you'll know that's the only way it could have gone" and the efficient way her backstory was presented, but jesus, I want her to meet Helen Cobb!
Otoh, the serialization aspect worked for me with Winter Soldier 9 because HOLY CRAP THAT ENDING. BRING ME WINTER SOLDIER 10 RIGHT THE FUCK NOW.
First of all, I always enjoy Bucky's angst and it was front and center (as were his robot arm and shirtlessness - the Bucky trifecta) as he and Sitwell couldn't find Natasha, and then Bucky having to fight her and shake her free of the brainwashing - MUCH AS STEVE DID FOR HIM, except Bucky has no reality-altering cosmic cube to fall back on to make her remember, and has to rely on her feelings for him, and then HOLY CRAP SHE WAS PLAYING HIM THE WHOLE TIME AND ISN'T DEPROGRAMMED. And he's going to have to stop her and keep her from doing anything else she'll regret when she's herself again (I'm guessing Sitwell and Fury aren't dead, but other SHIELD folks might be).
I'm pretty sure Brubaker will spend the rest of his time on the book wrapping this story up, and I really like the symmetry of it - he started off on Captain America with the Winter Soldier arc, where Steve had to deal with his dead boyfriend best friend being a brainwashed super-assassin, and how he never gave up hope that Bucky was still in there, and now Bucky will have to deal with the same sort of sitch with his partner/girlfriend. Oh, Natasha. I hope they aren't too horrible to you.
So that was pretty freaking awesome.
And you've all heard about the SHIELD tv show Joss is producing for ABC, right? Given the corporate synergy there, hopefully it won't get cancelled after five episodes. I still would have preferred a Heroes for Hire show, but maybe this will be about Maria Hill being a BAMF.
But maybe you don't know - I didn't, until
devildoll just told me - that Avengers is being re-released over this Labor Day weekend in the US, and that there is a specific reminder to stay through the credits so... footage from IM3? Another short? I guess we'll find out! I'll be out on the island this weekend so I don't know that I'll have a chance to go again, but maybe I can talk the kids into it. Hmm...
*
This entry at DW: http://musesfool.dreamwidth.org/497049.html.
people have commented there.
*
on
bethbethbeth's recommendation, I recently read The Company We Keep by Robert and Dayna Baer, a memoir of their time in the CIA. The first half is really interesting, dealing with CIA training and actual spycraft; the second half basically made me side-eye them - especially him - the whole time, especially the part about their foreign adoption (and also, the fact that he has two daughters and the son, and guess which kid is apparently the only one he cares about, since he's the only one who gets a name and a part in the story?). So read it for the first half and then roll your eyes through the second, I guess, or stop when they leave the CIA.
I also read Blood Spirits by Sherwood Smith, the sequel to Coronets and Steel. I liked it, though not as much as the first book, which has that whole Prisoner of Zenda plot going for it. I had some trouble remembering how people were related for the first part of the book, and also, I get why there were vampires, and that was a neat way out of the "Alec is in love with Kim but married to Ruli" conundrum, but I just don't really enjoy them? I'm much more interested in the time-slipping and ghost talking, and I was glad to get more of the cousins in this one - Honore and Phaedra in particular were enjoyable, and Kim finally starts being proactive, which was good.
And then apparently yesterday, all of the comics I actually pay for were released, so let's do that rundown:
Avenging Spider-man 11 made me sob, but that is a given, I think, since he was teamed up with Aunt May in this issue, which basically covers a trip to the cemetery to see Uncle Ben. I thought it handled the idea of reassessing how you got where you are while still looking forward pretty well, but you know, I am easy for Peter and May Parker and their strength and resilience. I didn't love the art, but eh.
Journey Into Mystery 642 - this was kind of heartbreaking - apparently no matter what Loki does, it all goes to shit, even when his intentions are noble. The best part is how much Thor loves him (see this tumblr post about their relationship, which basically encapsulates my kid!Loki feels and also why Thor is awesome. Spoilers, obv.)
I know they're wrapping up kid!Loki's time as the protag of this book (soon it will be Sif!) and kid!Loki will be hanging out with Billy Kaplan? (Or something? Nerds of the Nine Realms unite?) and I really hope they don't just drop him or re-age him to adulthood and villain status, because I really like what they're doing with him. Because a trickster should straddle the line between good and evil, playing them off against each other for his own benefit and/or amusement, and there's as much creation in trickster mythology as there is destruction, because you don't get one without the other, and Loki as straight up villain is just boring.
Captain Marvel 3 - this is where my irritation with serialized storytelling is at its peak, because goddammit, GIVE ME THE REST OF THE STORY. I don't feel like the cliffhanger was particularly effective and I don't feel like there was enough story here to be considered a full issue. I liked the part where Carol is all, "Make sure you're healed up and well-rested so when we kick your asses you'll know that's the only way it could have gone" and the efficient way her backstory was presented, but jesus, I want her to meet Helen Cobb!
Otoh, the serialization aspect worked for me with Winter Soldier 9 because HOLY CRAP THAT ENDING. BRING ME WINTER SOLDIER 10 RIGHT THE FUCK NOW.
First of all, I always enjoy Bucky's angst and it was front and center (as were his robot arm and shirtlessness - the Bucky trifecta) as he and Sitwell couldn't find Natasha, and then Bucky having to fight her and shake her free of the brainwashing - MUCH AS STEVE DID FOR HIM, except Bucky has no reality-altering cosmic cube to fall back on to make her remember, and has to rely on her feelings for him, and then HOLY CRAP SHE WAS PLAYING HIM THE WHOLE TIME AND ISN'T DEPROGRAMMED. And he's going to have to stop her and keep her from doing anything else she'll regret when she's herself again (I'm guessing Sitwell and Fury aren't dead, but other SHIELD folks might be).
I'm pretty sure Brubaker will spend the rest of his time on the book wrapping this story up, and I really like the symmetry of it - he started off on Captain America with the Winter Soldier arc, where Steve had to deal with his dead boyfriend best friend being a brainwashed super-assassin, and how he never gave up hope that Bucky was still in there, and now Bucky will have to deal with the same sort of sitch with his partner/girlfriend. Oh, Natasha. I hope they aren't too horrible to you.
So that was pretty freaking awesome.
And you've all heard about the SHIELD tv show Joss is producing for ABC, right? Given the corporate synergy there, hopefully it won't get cancelled after five episodes. I still would have preferred a Heroes for Hire show, but maybe this will be about Maria Hill being a BAMF.
But maybe you don't know - I didn't, until
devildoll just told me - that Avengers is being re-released over this Labor Day weekend in the US, and that there is a specific reminder to stay through the credits so... footage from IM3? Another short? I guess we'll find out! I'll be out on the island this weekend so I don't know that I'll have a chance to go again, but maybe I can talk the kids into it. Hmm...
*
This entry at DW: http://musesfool.dreamwidth.org/497049.html.
people have commented there.