2010 Reading #102: Thor: The Mighty Avenger Volume 1
Books 1-10.
Books 11-20.
Books 21-30.
Books 31-40.
Books 41-50.
Books 51-60.
Books 61-70.
Books 71-80.
Books 81-90.
Books 91-100.
101. Old Fort Snelling: 1819-1858 by Marcus L. Hansen.
102. Thor: The Mighty Avenger, Volume 1 by Roger Landgridge, Chris Samnee, and Matthew Wilson. I don't keep up very well on comics these days, largely because of budgetary issues; I'd love to be able to get an iPad or something and read them online, as I understand that this is a thing that is done nowadays, but, well, budgetary issues. But I follow a lot of comics blogs and creators and folks on Twitter, and when this series was canceled a few weeks ago, there was such an outcry that I thought I should look into it. And it is pretty wonderful--it flies directly in the face of the sort of thing that has become far too commonplace in comics, which is dark, dark, dark: tragedy, over-the-top violence, heroes being pushed to the brink (or beyond it) of villainy, etc. Sometimes those stories are well done, but of late (by which one could easily say, for the past twenty years or more) it's felt like a thing that is done because once or twice it's been really compelling. I am very much in favor of books that take the screwball creativity of the Silver Age and combine it with a humane sensibility and dialogue that doesn't sound like it was written by a twelve-year-old. The best example of this from my own recent reading is (perhaps unsurprisingly), Morrison and Quitely's All-Star Superman. This book doesn't quite reach those sublime heights, but it is gorgeous and funny and FUN; Jane Foster actually has a personality here, and Thor is noble and clueless and sweet and heroic. This is a comic you could put in front of your kids without any misgivings, and that is something that can be said of ridiculously few comics being put out nowadays. Go ahead and pick this up as a last-minute gift to yourself or someone else; maybe if we buy enough copies, Marvel will reconsider the cancellation.
Books 11-20.
Books 21-30.
Books 31-40.
Books 41-50.
Books 51-60.
Books 61-70.
Books 71-80.
Books 81-90.
Books 91-100.
101. Old Fort Snelling: 1819-1858 by Marcus L. Hansen.
102. Thor: The Mighty Avenger, Volume 1 by Roger Landgridge, Chris Samnee, and Matthew Wilson. I don't keep up very well on comics these days, largely because of budgetary issues; I'd love to be able to get an iPad or something and read them online, as I understand that this is a thing that is done nowadays, but, well, budgetary issues. But I follow a lot of comics blogs and creators and folks on Twitter, and when this series was canceled a few weeks ago, there was such an outcry that I thought I should look into it. And it is pretty wonderful--it flies directly in the face of the sort of thing that has become far too commonplace in comics, which is dark, dark, dark: tragedy, over-the-top violence, heroes being pushed to the brink (or beyond it) of villainy, etc. Sometimes those stories are well done, but of late (by which one could easily say, for the past twenty years or more) it's felt like a thing that is done because once or twice it's been really compelling. I am very much in favor of books that take the screwball creativity of the Silver Age and combine it with a humane sensibility and dialogue that doesn't sound like it was written by a twelve-year-old. The best example of this from my own recent reading is (perhaps unsurprisingly), Morrison and Quitely's All-Star Superman. This book doesn't quite reach those sublime heights, but it is gorgeous and funny and FUN; Jane Foster actually has a personality here, and Thor is noble and clueless and sweet and heroic. This is a comic you could put in front of your kids without any misgivings, and that is something that can be said of ridiculously few comics being put out nowadays. Go ahead and pick this up as a last-minute gift to yourself or someone else; maybe if we buy enough copies, Marvel will reconsider the cancellation.