Comics
I keep intending to write about all the books I've been reading, but it's inching closer to a year's worth of books, and sadly I don't think I could do any of them justice at this point. I may still try (wading through an 845-page book means the read-books-pile isn't growing so quickly), but it's still getting less likely.
But what I can talk about is comics.
As a kid I never really got into comic books much. Occasionally I'd end up with some comic book or another, but there was never really enough in the 20-odd-page story to get my attention. I found the ads more fun. I do remember having a big bound Incredible Hulk book at one point, which had enough story to hold my interest a lot more, but it wasn't a lasting interest.
But I did watch superhero TV shows after school and on Saturday morning, including the campy 1966 Batman TV series (in reruns, I'm not that old), the 1977 Incredible Hulk TV series, and lots of then-new cartoons. I got to know a lot of the famous superheroes through these shows. Other than Spiderman, most of them (Superman, Batman & Robin, Wonder Woman, and a bunch of others) were on the same cartoon, Superfriends, which I much later learned was based on DC's Justice League of America comic books. (Were the Wonder Twins in the JLA?)
I also watched movies based on the comic books, such as Superman (and its sequels good and bad) and Tim Burton's takes on Batman.
So I went through my childhood mostly with no interest in comics, but still aware of some of them. Then in 1987 or so I read a biography of Douglas Adams (which had nothing about comics in it) written by an aspiring comics writer named Neil Gaiman. A few years later, during an Adams dry spell, Adams fans were recommending a fun novel (Good Omens) co-written by Terry Pratchett and that same Neil Gaiman. That novel also had nothing about comics in it. I was unaware at the time that Gaiman had spent the intervening years becoming a big hit in the comics world writing his own comic book, Sandman for DC Comics. (DC was also the publisher of most of the heroes I was familiar with from childhood, with the exceptions of Spiderman and the Hulk.)
I ended up reading Gaiman's subsequent novels (Neverwhere and Stardust), then heard some stories from his short-story collection Smoke And Mirrors, all before learning that he was most famous for Sandman, which by this time had ended its seven-year monthly run (December 1988 to march 1996).
I also heard about, but never read, comic-book versions of Douglas Adams' first two Hitchhiker's Guide novels.
Meanwhile, I saw (and loved) Kevin Smith's movie Chasing Amy, whose main characters are comic book artists. (By the way, that movie also includes one of my favorite Soul Asylum songs at the end.) From there I wasn't surprised to learn that Smith is into comics and had written some comics related to his movies.
I also got into J. Michael Straczynski's TV series Babylon 5 and Joss Whedon's Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and in both cases it was the story and writing that really hooked me. (I couldn't care less about Sarah Michelle Gellar, but she got some great lines. Similar with Bruce Boxleitner, except that in his case others got even better lines.)
Then there was a resurgence of comic book movies, probably starting around 2000 with X-Men and Unbreakable (which wasn't based on a comic book but was consciously based on comic book sensibilities), and continuing a couple years later with Spiderman. It has been noted by others that in this wave of comic book movies, the ones based on Marvel comics have generally been better and more successful than the ones based on DC comics (such as Catwoman), although Batman Begins was excellent.
The comic book movies were quickly followed by a new wave of comic book TV shows, such as Smallville and Birds of Prey.
I then learned that Straczynski had done some B5 comics, started writing the Amazing Spiderman comics, and also that he'd done a couple other series, Rising Stars and Supreme Power, the latter being Marvel's version of some of DC's JLA stars.
By this point I was starting to notice that there were a lot of connections to comics in the media I was enjoying and among the writers whose work I enjoyed.
I read the novelizations of the first two parts of JMS's Rising Stars, not yet ready to jump into the actual comics.
Finally I started reading the bound volumes of Sandman, and really got into it. I've now read all but the last of those, though there are other volumes that were done after the series ended that I also haven't read yet.
At this year's Marcon in May, I picked up a whole bunch of bound comics (or "graphic novels" or whatever).....
Having accepted comics as something I could enjoy reading, and having read the novelizations of the first two parts, I read the actual illustrated comics version of the third part of Rising Stars. I also picked up JMS's Supreme Power at the same time.
I learned that Joss Whedon had started writing Astonishing X-Men, but like JMS's Amazing Spiderman, I'm still not ready to dive into a long-term continuing series (or even single issues that don't go very far in the plot before you have to wait a whole month again). I could handle Sandman because I started it after the series had ended, so I could look toward a definite ending. (I'm not a fan of never-ending stories, though it's OK if there's a definite end followed by a new beginning that will have a definite end.)
However, Joss also wrote a short series called Fray about a vampire slayer in the far-future Buffyverse, and I have read that. (He's also writing a Wonder Woman movie, by the way.) And I've now learned that he has a comic book in the works that will continue the Buffy storyline after the end of Angel.
Maybe one of these days I'll actually stop by the local comics shop on my way home from work.
But what I can talk about is comics.
As a kid I never really got into comic books much. Occasionally I'd end up with some comic book or another, but there was never really enough in the 20-odd-page story to get my attention. I found the ads more fun. I do remember having a big bound Incredible Hulk book at one point, which had enough story to hold my interest a lot more, but it wasn't a lasting interest.
But I did watch superhero TV shows after school and on Saturday morning, including the campy 1966 Batman TV series (in reruns, I'm not that old), the 1977 Incredible Hulk TV series, and lots of then-new cartoons. I got to know a lot of the famous superheroes through these shows. Other than Spiderman, most of them (Superman, Batman & Robin, Wonder Woman, and a bunch of others) were on the same cartoon, Superfriends, which I much later learned was based on DC's Justice League of America comic books. (Were the Wonder Twins in the JLA?)
I also watched movies based on the comic books, such as Superman (and its sequels good and bad) and Tim Burton's takes on Batman.
So I went through my childhood mostly with no interest in comics, but still aware of some of them. Then in 1987 or so I read a biography of Douglas Adams (which had nothing about comics in it) written by an aspiring comics writer named Neil Gaiman. A few years later, during an Adams dry spell, Adams fans were recommending a fun novel (Good Omens) co-written by Terry Pratchett and that same Neil Gaiman. That novel also had nothing about comics in it. I was unaware at the time that Gaiman had spent the intervening years becoming a big hit in the comics world writing his own comic book, Sandman for DC Comics. (DC was also the publisher of most of the heroes I was familiar with from childhood, with the exceptions of Spiderman and the Hulk.)
I ended up reading Gaiman's subsequent novels (Neverwhere and Stardust), then heard some stories from his short-story collection Smoke And Mirrors, all before learning that he was most famous for Sandman, which by this time had ended its seven-year monthly run (December 1988 to march 1996).
I also heard about, but never read, comic-book versions of Douglas Adams' first two Hitchhiker's Guide novels.
Meanwhile, I saw (and loved) Kevin Smith's movie Chasing Amy, whose main characters are comic book artists. (By the way, that movie also includes one of my favorite Soul Asylum songs at the end.) From there I wasn't surprised to learn that Smith is into comics and had written some comics related to his movies.
I also got into J. Michael Straczynski's TV series Babylon 5 and Joss Whedon's Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and in both cases it was the story and writing that really hooked me. (I couldn't care less about Sarah Michelle Gellar, but she got some great lines. Similar with Bruce Boxleitner, except that in his case others got even better lines.)
Then there was a resurgence of comic book movies, probably starting around 2000 with X-Men and Unbreakable (which wasn't based on a comic book but was consciously based on comic book sensibilities), and continuing a couple years later with Spiderman. It has been noted by others that in this wave of comic book movies, the ones based on Marvel comics have generally been better and more successful than the ones based on DC comics (such as Catwoman), although Batman Begins was excellent.
The comic book movies were quickly followed by a new wave of comic book TV shows, such as Smallville and Birds of Prey.
I then learned that Straczynski had done some B5 comics, started writing the Amazing Spiderman comics, and also that he'd done a couple other series, Rising Stars and Supreme Power, the latter being Marvel's version of some of DC's JLA stars.
By this point I was starting to notice that there were a lot of connections to comics in the media I was enjoying and among the writers whose work I enjoyed.
I read the novelizations of the first two parts of JMS's Rising Stars, not yet ready to jump into the actual comics.
Finally I started reading the bound volumes of Sandman, and really got into it. I've now read all but the last of those, though there are other volumes that were done after the series ended that I also haven't read yet.
At this year's Marcon in May, I picked up a whole bunch of bound comics (or "graphic novels" or whatever).....
Having accepted comics as something I could enjoy reading, and having read the novelizations of the first two parts, I read the actual illustrated comics version of the third part of Rising Stars. I also picked up JMS's Supreme Power at the same time.
I learned that Joss Whedon had started writing Astonishing X-Men, but like JMS's Amazing Spiderman, I'm still not ready to dive into a long-term continuing series (or even single issues that don't go very far in the plot before you have to wait a whole month again). I could handle Sandman because I started it after the series had ended, so I could look toward a definite ending. (I'm not a fan of never-ending stories, though it's OK if there's a definite end followed by a new beginning that will have a definite end.)
However, Joss also wrote a short series called Fray about a vampire slayer in the far-future Buffyverse, and I have read that. (He's also writing a Wonder Woman movie, by the way.) And I've now learned that he has a comic book in the works that will continue the Buffy storyline after the end of Angel.
Maybe one of these days I'll actually stop by the local comics shop on my way home from work.