Whats everyone reading?

[Colin YNWA]

Last 5 issues of Fraction's ODY-C, a stunning series. Made with absolute love, it's - probably? - under-appreciated. The classical themes aren't always apparent but even when they're not.... (a) stare goggle-eyed at the art, it's beautiful, and (b) it's become a hotch-potch of classical tales anyway (forget ancient Greek) and has recently become more accessible.

I really wanted to like this series but only lasted to issue to. Its certainly wonderfully idiosyncratic and that can't be a bad thing, and should therefore be fresh and exciting. I however found the art and the story to be messy. The art so much so that I struggled to penetrate the story. Just goes to show how such an unique work will provoke unique reactions. Glad its out there, wish more people would try it, can't enjoy reading it myself. Not so much Homer as James Joyce for me. Which probably says more about my weakness as a reader than anything else!

Anyway get ya self caught up and over to the Mega Comic book day thread, it'd be great to have you over there.

[ThryllSeekyr]

I've always recommended Mort and Reaper-Man as some of the better places to start on the Discworld series rather than The Colour of Magic and The Light Fantastic.  The first two books are enjoyable but show Pratchett still trying to find his voice properly.  They feel a bit like he is still trying to hard.  Mort is the first to really showcase his strengths to my way of thinking.

Having now worked through Men at Arms, Jingo and the Fifth Elephant I'm now on to Thud.  It is interesting to see how the whole cast has evolved over the course of the books on some levels.  The humour has become more subtle and the social analysis more complex.  Jingo was probably the best for the humour, especially Vetinari's take on the old Jingo song:  "We have no ships. We have no men. We have no money, too".

Thud is probably the best book for a critique of some of the complexities of extremist thinking.  The Deep Downers cast as a comparison for, I'm guessing, Extremist Preachers of all stripes.  Along with The Fifth Elephant, Pratchett found the perfect scenario for examining ethnic tension in the Dwarfs and the Trolls.

I did think about including Monstrous Regiment since Vimes appears but since it is only as a supporting character near the end it got passed over for now.

I have read most of the first lot of Discworld novels (Listed here.) reading them all in chronological order up to Eric, skipped over Moving Pictures, not sure if I did read Small Gods (I still have a lot of my novels either stored into random piles or just scattered around the new house, mainly in the leisure section of the house. I don't think have that one going on memory!) Skipped over, Lords & Ladies, read the next one....skipped over Soul Music (Which I did see as cartoon in two or thre parts on video as well as Wyrd Sisters which I did read! It's a adaption from Macbeth & very cleverly done so as well.) Not sure if I read Interesting Times (I doubt it, but if I have it & it's worn looking, then I might have read it!) Skipped Maskerade, I read Feet of Clay see it as the adaption of Terminator Two, very clever! Didn't read the Hogfather (That was adapted into a live action film as well & I didn't like it either!) 

Continued later....

[Mardroid]

I read Razorjack Double-Crossing recently. I bought it thinking it was a graphic novel. It wasn't, but as I love prose novels too, and it's a rather good story, this is not a bad thing. I haven't read any of the previous Razorjack stuff, (which IS a comic apparently) but the story is self contained, and I wouldn't mind checking it out.

Currently reading Fiefdom by Dan Abnett and Nik Vincent. A novel set in the same world as Kingdom but further in the future during an Ice Age. Good stuff, so far.

[shaolin_monkey]

I've been on a bit of a David Wong bender, after reading his rather fun 'John Dies at the End'.  His next one is 'This Book is Full of Spiders', and he's not kidding - it is!  Spiders that leap into your mouth, possess you, and gradually alter your DNA to turn you into a fast moving boned-sharpened, slicing killing machine. It features the original protagonists in their town of [Undisclosed], and while it isn't as comedic as his last book, it is a real page turner - total in your face infestation/zombie armageddon type stuff.

I have bought his latest book, 'Futuristic Violence and Fancy Suits', which is apparently his first foray into sci-fi comedy, and am just ploughing through a cheap Kindle novel about zombie armageddon before I crack on with it.

By the way, the books mentioned above are all going really cheap on Kindle - 99p each in two cases.  I have to say, I'm enjoying owning a Kindle (recent purchase) far more than I thought I would.  I've gotten my hands on so much I would happily read paying far less than what I usually fork out on late library book return fees.

[Hawkmumbler]

Oooooh, been meaning to read John Dies at the End for years, thanks for the heads up Shaolin, I'll be nabbing them!

[O Lucky Stevie!]

Stevie has recently read A Dream of Wessex by Christopher Priest.



It's basically The Matrix but with believable characters. So instead of the techno-shamanistic initiation of some kung fu goth there is a thirtysomething woman escaping an abusive relationship.

Originally published the same year that Star Wars was released.

You know when the first page has the protagonist motoring along the M3 past Salisbury Plain that you are in for a real treat.

Finely wrought Seventies British SF at its best. Recommended.

[von Boom]

I love the cover. Pan had some amazing covers in the 70s. A number of Chris Fosses I believe.

Thanks for the recommendation.

[Colin YNWA]

Much to my surprise GMozz doesn't have his own thread. He has his Batman one, but not yet his own, so yeah I guess this goes here for now (can't be arsed starting a new one - lazy arse that I am!)

Anyway over the last couple of months I've been reading Mr Morrison's Doom Patrol and have to be honest it turned into a bit of a slog. So much so by the end I was kinda skip reading it. Now I know this flies in the face of common opinion, but it was such a chore and I'm such a fan of his work in general and around this time I think the only other thing of his I'm not keen on is Arkham Asylum. I adore both Zenith and Animal Man. Big fan of Gothic and New Adventures of Hitler etc. I've therefore been really trying to work out why I might feel like this and I think, think I've got it.

It all feels a bit forced see and because of that it really hasn't aged well. With Doom Patrol Morrison seems to be trying so hard to make it abnormal and detached from the superhero mainstream fare that it feels false, like he's pushing and pushing at the boundaries of our expectation, trying to stretch our imaginations but with no real direction or sense of purpose. But boy is he pushing as hard as he can, really trying to dazzle us with his creativity (well to be far he's probably just relating where is mind was at during this period given his apparent intake at the time!). In doing that it all gets strangely a bit repeatative. LOOK crazy mixed funny looking type. Look at their interesting world view, Look at their crazy mixed up agents of change (which all begin to look the same!) see how Doom Patrol fail when they take typical action, look how the solution is more Doctor Who than Superman. Fine it should read okay BUT doesn't really go anywhere, just pushing, pushing pushing at our imagination.

In his later work, or even in Animal Man and Zenith around the same time, but very much so in his later work he seems to realise that superheroes in and of themselves are quite ridiculous and crazy enough that you don't need to look elsewhere. Just examine the modern Gods and the crazy imagination takes care of itself. Here he's pushing against superheroes and their tropes and by doing so missing so much from my reading.

It also lacks grounding for me, in the way both, again Zenith and particularly Animal Man have. Animal Man is one of the most human reading experiences I've had. In DP, while he tries to use Cliff to ground things I think, its quite shallow and all I get is Cliff saying "Well this is all weird and its doing my head in. I might be a man of steel but I'm reacting to things like you, the reader would" and again rince, wash repeat.

Finally I'm not fan of the art in the main. While Richard Case is given a heck of a challenge and does a job of living up to it, its just a bit flat and jarring to me. Don't get on with it.

So yeah I fully appreciate that others get so much more from this and I might be missing something that always me to find what makes the run hang together, but it lived up to my expectation, much to my surprise (if that makes sense!) I found it quite soulless and too cool for school.

Have at me Doom Patrol fans!

[Greg M.]

It also lacks grounding for me, in the way both, again Zenith and particularly Animal Man have. Animal Man is one of the most human reading experiences I've had. In DP, while he tries to use Cliff to ground things I think, its quite shallow and all I get is Cliff saying "Well this is all weird and its doing my head in. I might be a man of steel but I'm reacting to things like you, the reader would" and again rince, wash repeat.

He also says "Shit!" every issue. What more do you want, man?

I do love Morrison Doom Patrol - it's uneven, but I definitely prefer it to Animal Man, and find Cliff more relatable than Buddy Baker, who's likeable enough, but maybe a bit bland. The more in-your-face metafiction of Animal Man is to me less interesting than the 'here's what I've been reading this month' aspect of the DP. For me, one of the strengths of the run is the way Morrison burns through ideas at a rate of knots - there's a bit in the Insect Mesh / Kaleidoscape story where every panel could have been a saga in its own right, but in classic Grant (and indeed John Smith) style, he just hurls them out there to fend for themselves and then moves on. Cliff's development as a character, in part through his relationship with Crazy Jane is also a high point - the episode where he goes into 'the underground' of Jane's head is one of my favourites, at times absolutely chilling.

But you know what else? It's incredibly funny - at times, one of the funniest things Morrison's ever written. Cliff's brain vs supervillain The Brain in "open combat" in 'The Soul of a New Machine' cracks me up every time. And then you've got the beard-obsessed Punisher / Wolverine parody, the classic "Mr. Phimister-Spine. I can explain everything!" scene, Danny in general, and the greatest line of the run from Rebis: "I'd suggest some kind of organising field, but a lot of the time I really don't know what I'm talking about." Just brilliant.

[Hawkmumbler]

I've been meaning to read GMozz's Doom Patrol run for years, and the new TPB's seem to offer a good oppertunity for it.

[Dandontdare]

It's very good, but I know what Colin means - like later David Lynch movies, there's a sense of weirdness for weirdness' sake, and it can be something of an overload. Cliff is a fantastic character though

[Colin YNWA]

I do love Morrison Doom Patrol - it's uneven, but I definitely prefer it to Animal Man, and find Cliff more relatable than Buddy Baker, who's likeable enough, but maybe a bit bland.

Its strange I completely get where Greg is coming from but it just rubbed up wrong against me. I think the point he makes about Buddy helps my view, while working just as well for Gregs opinion (which I know is in the majority by the way). See I love that Buddy is a little bland (in a deeply lovable, confused man way). Its that which provides the perfect juxaposition for the meta weird that surrounds him. In DP all the weird is just washing up against more weird. So by the end you don't know where the weird starts and begins, other than it all ALL a bit weird.

I also like David Lynch films of all phases of hos career so I'm not to be trusted for a consistent opinion!

[Greg M.]

In DP all the weird is just washing up against more weird. So by the end you don't know where the weird starts and begins, other than it all ALL a bit weird.

I can't argue with that - but I'd suggest that's one of the key themes of the series, that everyone and everything in life is weird if you dig a little, that things you think you can trust (like consensus reality and any kind of authority, including the authorial variety) can't be trusted, and that you might as well just go with it, as Cliff eventually learns to do.

I know Grant Morrison has a meltdown if anyone accuses him of 'weirdness for weirdness sake' though!

[The Legendary Shark]

Propaganda, by Edward L. Bernays (1928).

In this little book, Bernays, who was referred to in his obituary as "the father of public relations," tells us all about propaganda - how it's used, what it's for and why it works. I'm amazed how relevant the core content is, even now. For example:

"By playing upon an old cliche, or manipulating a new one, the propagandist can sometimes swing a whole mass of group emotions. In Great Britain, during the war, the evacuation hospitals came in for a considerable amount of criticism because of the summary way in which they handled their wounded. It was assumed by the public that a hospital gives prolonged and conscientious attention to its patients. When the name was changed to evacuation posts the critical reaction vanished. No one expected more than an adequate emergency treatment from an institution so named. The cliche hospital was indelibly associated in the public mind with a certain picture. To persuade the public to discriminate between one type of hospital and another, to dissociate the cliche from the picture it evoked, would have been an impossible task. Instead, a new cliche automatically conditioned the public emotion toward these hospitals."

and:

"No serious sociologist any longer believes that the voice of the people expresses any divine or specially wise and lofty idea. The voice of the people expresses the mind of the people, and that mind is made up for it by the group leaders in whom it believes and by those persons who understand the manipulation of public opinion. It is composed of inherited prejudices and symbols and cliches and verbal formulas supplied to them by the leaders.

"Fortunately, the sincere and gifted politician is able, by the instrument of propaganda, to mold and form the will of the people."

Fascinating stuff.

[I, Cosh]

Propaganda, by Edward L. Bernays (1928).

In this little book, Bernays, who was referred to in his obituary as "the father of public relations," tells us all about propaganda - how it's used, what it's for and why it works. I'm amazed how relevant the core content is, even now. For example:

It's certainly what he wanted you to think!