'TBH Politoons'
Cory!! Strode On Graphic Novels
'Mage: The Hero Discovered'
One of my weaknesses when it comes to buying comics is when something I loved as a comic book series is reprinted in a hardcover edition. It probably started back when I was a teenager and saw those wonderful Hardcover sets of all of the old EC comics from the 50's. After seeing comics as cheap, throwaway things on crappy paper, here were huge bound copies of "Tales From The Crypt", "Weird Science" and "Mad". I had heard how good these books were (and it was long before the HBO "Tales From The Crypt" series) and the stories and art they reprinted were legendary. I decided that I had to have them.
About 10 years later, in 1992, I bought the last one, but by then, both Marvel and DC were reprinting their early works in hardcover as well with the Masterworks and Archives projects. Now, hard covers are pretty plentiful, and Marvel is starting to reprint a year's worth of series like Spider-Man, X-Men and Fantastic Four in nice $30 hard covers which end up costing less then buying the individual issues off the shelf. And, if I had a bit more patience and KNEW they would continue the practice; I'd buy most of my comics that way.
So, why did I wander off on that tangent? Simple, I have to explain why I am so excited about the fact that my favorite comic book limited series has finally been reprinted in hardcover. Matt Wagner's "Mage: The Hero Discovered" first saw print 20 years ago as a 15 issue mini-series, and was collected a few times in different formats, including a series of oversized paperbacks, a series of small trade paperbacks that reprinted two issues at a time, and now, for the first time, the entire series is between two covers.
The story is simple, really. Kevin Matchstick, an average guy who feels that his life is going nowhere, meets a strange man named Mirth who turns out to be a Mage and tells him that he is a great hero. Kevin, of course, thinks Mirth is crazy until things start happening. He punches a concrete wall and it shatters and he is run over by a subway train and only his clothing is damaged, leading him to think that something out of the ordinary is going on.
As Kevin discovers his destiny, the reader is brought along, given just enough information to be a half-step ahead of the character, making it a journey of discovery for both character and readers. Wagner has an amazing gift of giving the reader just enough information to feel like they are in the character's shoes, and works with the fact that the reader empathizes with Kevin to pull the reader from a story that starts with the commonplace routine of reality and ends with what could be considered high fantasy as Kevin partners with ghosts, battles a dragon, and discovers his destiny, which is a surprise the first time through the story, and makes perfect sense when the readers goes through the second time knowing what each small clue means.
Out of all of the comics I have reviewed, this is the one I love the most. I was a huge fan of it when it was being printed from 1982 - 1985, and it's good to finally get it in a big book that can fit on a bookshelf. For people who haven't read a comic book before, the story flows easily, and the art starts a bit shaky but by the final parts of the story, Wagner is a polished storyteller who has an amazing ability to give characters a sense of reality while still drawing in a slightly cartoon-y style. Is it worth $50? Not really. The extras are pretty skimpy with a few sketch pages and reprints of the posters and other promotional items so it feels a lot like a DVD with very limited extras, and the $30 paperback has all of the same extras, and can be found on-line for $20 pretty easily.
As a story, however, "Mage: The Hero Discovered" is an amazing first work, and Wagner's other work since then has maintained the same high quality. I rate the trade paperback a clear 5 out of 5, and the hardcover is for people like me who will go back and read the story repeatedly, and have that love of a comic book as a hardcover book on their shelf.
Cory!! Strode (The Best Dressed Man In Comics) has written comic books, novels, jokes for comedians, Op Ed columns, the on-line comic strip
www.Asylumon5thstreet.com and has all kinds of things on his website, www.solitairerose.com
Recommended Reading
from Bruce
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If the Bush administration brokered a deal in Occupied Iraq to enshrine Islamic law as the guiding principle of the new Iraqi Constitution, you'd think it would be headline news in the U.S. media, wouldn't you? Well, that's what has happened ....
Cindy Sheehan: Hypocrites and Liars (BUZZFLASH)
"If you fall on the side that is pro-George and pro-war, you get your ass over to Iraq, and take the place of somebody who wants to come home. And if you fall on the side that is against this war and against George Bush, stand up and speak out."
David Sirota [Beltway Dems Regurgitate Right-Wing B.S. on Iraq; Grassroots Fights Back (huffingtonpost.com)]
... Democrats will not capitalize on any of this until they start speaking clearly about where they actually stand on the war, and whether they actually have the guts to say what polls show most Americans believe: that the Bush administration deliberately lied to us about why we were going to war, that the war has made our country less safe/secure, and that it's time for a serious exit strategy.
George Lakoff Discusses "Tort Reform"
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Reader Comment
Re: Katherine Harris
Hi,
Katherine Harris had an Education photo-op the other day and had to bus in kids from another school.
Source
Colby in FL
Thanks, Colby!
That's too funny!
Purple Gene Reviews
Matraca Berg
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Lovely overcast morning, gently sunny afternoon.
Talked to dear old Dad tonight.
He had some unkind words about the talking heads on TV who are taking potshots at Cindy Sheehan. He heard one of them go off about the extremist democrats who were supporting her.
I asked who that democrat was. He kinda laughed & said he wondered the same thing, and didn't understand why the dems weren't jumping on her bandwagon.
He also said he says 'I never thought I'd see the day...' a lot these days.
Writes Accounts of Iran Travels
Sean Penn
Sean Penn is trading screenplays for a reporter's notebook yet again. The Oscar-winning actor traveled to Tehran, Iran, in June. The San Francisco Chronicle, which has published previous accounts of his travels, is running a five-part series this week on his experiences.
In the first installment, Penn wrote about the difficulties of obtaining a visa to travel to Iran, how women are instructed to cover their heads before landing in the country, and some tense moments when he was fingerprinted entering Iran.
The 45-year-old actor compared the bustle of Tehran to Baghdad, Iraq, or Mexico City, saying the city was filled with "jousting, yelling, horn honking and warm thickly polluted air, mud-splattered motorcycles winding through human traffic at death-bound speeds."
Sean Penn
Musical To Premiere In San Francisco
Anne Rice
Lestat, a musical inspired by novelist Anne Rice's bestselling Vampire Chronicles, will have its world premiere Dec. 17 at the Curran Theatre in San Francisco.
The show is a first for the songwriting team of Elton John and Bernie Taupin, but John's third Broadway musical, following The Lion King and Aida. Hugh Panaro (Les Miserables, Side Show) stars in the title role.
Anne Rice
Lost Film To Debut
Marlene Dietrich
A film starring the late screen siren Marlene Dietrich will debut on television in her native Germany this week, nearly 60 years after it was made.
Franco-German television station Arte said it would broadcast the 1946 drama "Martin Roumagnac" featuring Dietrich and her then lover, French actor Jean Gabin, on Thursday.
The movie, which was filmed in French, will be shown in Germany in a dubbed version, which also dates from 1946, and in the original version in France.
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At 80, Still Filming
Robert Altman
He moves slowly. His posture is slumped. But when it comes to making movies, 80-year-old Robert Altman has a young man's fire.
The director recently completed shooting a movie based on humorist Garrison Keillor's popular radio show "A Prairie Home Companion" - on budget and three days ahead of schedule.
Altman has more than 30 movies to his credit and five Academy Award nominations for directing, though he hasn't won an Oscar. With his ensemble casts and use of overlapping dialogue - which gives viewers the feeling of eavesdropping on real conversations - Altman blazed a cinematic trail in the 1970s with "M-A-S-H" and "Nashville."
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Sharapova tells Time magazine she's 6 feet 2 inches tall, and she's not exactly thrilled with the extra 2 inches.
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Joining NBC/Universal
Maria Menounos
Maria Menounos is leaving "Entertainment Tonight" to join NBC Universal's "Access Hollywood" and NBC News' "Today" show this fall.
Menounos, 27, will be a special correspondent for "Access Hollywood," which begins its 10th season in national syndication on Sept. 5. She also will be a West Coast contributor for "Today," it was announced Tuesday.
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Program Funding Cut Off
Silver Ring Thing
The federal government has cut off funding to a nationwide program that promotes abstinence to teens through skits and music videos, saying the group in charge of the campaign did not adequately separate religion from its message.
The Silver Ring Thing program, related to a Christian ministry based in the Pittsburgh suburbs, puts on shows at churches nationwide that include "Saturday Night Live"-style skits, music videos and a message of abstinence. Young people are given a silver ring and decide whether they want to pledge to abstain from sex.
Since 2003, Silver Ring Thing has received $1.2 million from the department as part of the Bush administration's initiative to expand abstinence-only education.
Silver Ring Thing
Selling First Edition One Page At A Time
Helen Schlie
Retired bookstore owner Helen Schlie can see a higher purpose in selling her 1830 first-edition Book of Mormon one page at a time.
Schlie said she believes it will be more of a "missionary tool" since the framed pages - priced at $2,500 to $4,500 apiece - can be handed down from generation to generation.
Schlie said she also didn't want to sell her complete copy to a collector because she didn't want it hidden under glass or touched only by scholars with white gloves.
Helen Schlie
Turkmen President Bans Lip Synching
Saparmurat Niyazov
He has outlawed opera and ballet and railed against long hair and gold teeth, but now Turkmen President Saparmurat Niyazov is determined to wipe out another perceived scourge: lip synching.
Niyazov has ordered a ban on lip synching performances across the tightly controlled Central Asian nation, citing "a negative effect on the development of singing and musical art," the president's office said Tuesday.
Under Niyazov's order, lip synching is now prohibited at all cultural events, concerts, on television - and at private celebrations such as weddings.
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'Braveheart' Honored
William Wallace
Seven hundred years to the day after Scottish hero William "Braveheart" Wallace was executed by his English foes, a historian has retraced his final journey to promote his dream of independence for Scotland.
David Ross, who has written books on Wallace and other Scottish national heroes, strode from Westminster through the old City of London on Tuesday wearing a kilt and carrying a sword.
Accompanied by around 100 supporters, many playing bagpipes and waving the blue-and-white Scottish flag, Ross ended his journey at Smithfield, where Wallace was butchered by his English captors on August 23, 1305.
William Wallace
Prime-Time Nielsen
Ratings
Prime-time viewership numbers compiled by Nielsen Media Research for Aug. 15-21. Listings include the week's ranking, with viewership for the week and season-to-date rankings in parentheses.
An "X" in parentheses denotes a one-time-only presentation.
1. (3) "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," CBS, 13.02 million viewers.
2. (8) "Without a Trace," CBS, 12.92 million viewers.
3. (20) "60 Minutes," CBS, 10.32 million viewers.
4. (20) "NCIS," CBS, 10.00 million viewers.
5. (6) "CSI: Miami," CBS, 9.90 million viewers.
6. (15) "Cold Case," CBS, 9.43 million viewers.
7. (15) "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit," NBC, 9.33 million viewers.
8. (41) "Two And a Half Men-9:30 p.m.," CBS, 9.04 million viewers.
9. (13) "Two And a Half Men-9 p.m.," CBS, 9.02 million viewers.
10. (33) "Law & Order: Criminal Intent," NBC, 8.98 million viewers.
11. (78) "So You Think You Can Dance," Fox, 8.71 million viewers.
12. (71) "Big Brother 6-Tuesday," CBS, 8.70 million viewers.
13. (12) "Everybody Loves Raymond," CBS, 8.36 million viewers.
14. (78) "Big Brother 6-Thursday," CBS, 8.24 million viewers.
15. (24) "CSI: New York," CBS, 8.23 million viewers.
16. (36) "Crossing Jordan," NBC, 8.00 million viewers.
17. (27) "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition-8 p.m.," ABC, 7.77 million viewers.
18. (118) Movie: "Remember the Titans," ABC, 7.67 million viewers.
19. (39) Movie: "Living with the Dead, Pt. 2," CBS, 7.58 million viewers.
20. (59) "Brat Camp," ABC, 7.27 million viewers.
Ratings
In Memory
Brock Peters
Actor Brock Peters, best known for his heartbreaking performance as the black man falsely accused of rape in "To Kill a Mockingbird," died Tuesday at his home after battling pancreatic cancer. He was 78.
Peters was born George Fisher on July 2, 1927 in New York. His long film career began in the 1950s with the landmark productions of "Carmen Jones" in 1954 and "Porgy and Bess" in 1959.
In recent years, he played Admiral Cartwright in two of the "Star Trek" feature films. He also appeared in numerous TV shows. His distinctive deep bass voice was often used for animated characters.
In May, Peters was on hand as Harper Lee, the reclusive author of "To Kill a Mockingbird," made a rare step into the limelight to be honored by the Los Angeles Public Library.
Among Peters' other films were "Soylent Green," "The L-Shaped Room" and "The Pawnbroker."
Peters was a widower and has one daughter, Lise Jo Peters.
Brock Peters
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