OK, so I've got some interesting stuff this time around, including an expansion of what I've been posting so far. Not a lot, mind you, due to the demands of this past Christmas season, but some good stuff.
Trade Paperbacks
"Showcase Presents: DC Comics Presents: Superman Team-ups" ($17 bucks less a 30% coupon at Borders, Issues 1 to 26, July/August 1978 to October 1980)
Think about it, Superman - the first superhero - teamed up with other heroes from the DC Universe. Should be a no-brainer but I found these stories to be uneven, at best. The "Team mates" ran the gamut from the Flash (first 2 issues), Wonder Woman, Green Lantern (twice), to Adam Strange, Swamp Thing, and Red Tornado. Just reading this list you can see that some of these would work and some wouldn't. Come on.....Red Tornado! Authors included Martin Pasko, David Micheline, Len Wein, Denny O'Neil and others. Artist included Dan Adkins, Joe Stanton, Jim Starlin and others. Not too bad, overall, since it does run for 26 issues.
Miscellaneous
"Not Dead Enough" - Peter James (486 Pages, copyright 2007, Trade paperback, 12 Pounds 99 pence/ $.50 at the library)
That's right, 12 Pounds, 99 pence was the printed price. This is an English edition. Also, it's a pre-publication edition, so there's next to no editing and . . . it's AUTOGRAPHED. You'd be amazed what you can find at the library. A murder mystery but told in alternating chapters from the points of view of the inspector (or whatever his English title was), the killer, and the victim(s). I enjoyed it.
"High Citadel" - Desmond Bagley (295 pages, copyright 1966, paperback, $.50/$.50)
Another oddity. The price I paid turned out to be the original cover price. Of course, it was originally published in 1966 by Pocketbooks when I was a Freshman in High School (and YES they did have schools back then). This one involves a plane crash in the Andes, civilians against the communist army, and medieval weapons versus modern. I found myself "casting" the movie with Errol Flynn as the pilot, George Kennedy and Gilbert Roland as the 2 who go over the mountain, and other actors/actresses who I can visualize but can't, unfortunately, name. I enjoyed it.
"The Book of Lies" - Brad Meltzer (336 pages, copyright 2008, Hard Cover, $25.99/$.50)
This was the reason that I read "The Book of Fate" previously. I wanted to see how Meltzer wrote. I liked that one. I liked this one, also, but part of the plot seemed similar to the previous book. The protagonist (like that term?) is an easily recognizable character due to some physical abnormality, and there's a crazy guy after him. Other then that, this one had themes involving father/son relationships, trust issues, some religion, and the similarity between Cain's murder of Abel and the murder of Jerry Siegal's father. Oh, and I should mention that Jerry Siegal created Superman (WOW, a link back to the first entry this time around). I enjoyed it.
Something Different
I believe I said originally that I would be posting my likes/dislikes about books, movies, etc. on this page. Well, here comes my first movie review, although it is a DVD release. I still can't see myself going to movies by myself (Look what happened to PeeWee.).
"Star Trek"
Someone asked me if I thought it was too pat that all the familiar characters wound up on the Enterprise so easily. My answer is that this is how it happened, and it doesn't matter if it was easy or not. (At least as far as J. J. Abvrams feels.) This was great! The actors have their archetypes nailed! I thought the changes make for a more interesting dynamic amongst them. And I loved that, in the scenes set in space, there was NO NOISE! I thoroughly enjoyed this, and I hear that the next one centers on KHAN. I may actually reconsider my movie-going policy.
Brief note.
I got a gift card to Target for Christmas, ans used part of it to buy myself a jigsaw puzzle. 2000 pieces, with a final measurement of 38" by 26" (a little over 3 feet by 2 feet). It's Van Gogh's "Starry Night", which is my favorite picture. I bought it the week after Christmas, and so far, did remove the wrapper and look in the box. I need to find a place I can work on it without the cat messing it up. I'll keep you posted.
