wednesday reading meme #1
Aug. 2nd, 2023 08:45 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
queenslayerbeeWHAT I JUST FINISHED READING:
Quiiiiiite a few things, as it happens. Last week I finished "The Scarlet Letter" and "Pride and Prejudice", two classics that had been on my list for a long, long time. "The Scarlet Letter" I liked a lot better than I expected, from the moment I met Hester. It's a book I know I'll reread eventually, and meditate over. OTOH, P&P started as a really nice read; I like Austen's style, and I like her character work both for those I find endearing or admirable AND those that make me want to tear my hair out xD. Halfway through, with the first proposal and the letter is when it starts really picking up, fully exploding with Lydiagate, as I've seen it called. Speaking of, I don't think there are words that would suffice to describe my hate for Wickham! What he tried to pull with Georgina in particular was so, so despicable... it's absolutely infuriating he gets away scot-free AND keeps taking money from the rest of the characters, even if it makes the story objectively more interesting and therefore better LOL.
I finished reading a couple comic runs as well; DC has me in its clutches again, tragically xD. I decided to give a go to "Batman: The New Adventures" and read issues #1-14, aka, DC's attempt to introduce Jason Todd, aka my favourite DC character, to the Timmverse. DO NOT RECOMMEND
I had SOME hopes early on, in a issue where Jason, who's been spying on the bats, overhears Deathstroke has a plan to kill Batman and makes sure a warning gets to the team. It might've been a sign for a more complex relationship. Alas, not!
The run did an interesting thing in changing Jason's backstory by giving him an older brother, Danny. Danny had gotten in with a gang, wanting to bring in some money for him and Jason, and had gotten killed in the process. The gang used him as bait/lookout for the cops, putting him in a red hood. Jason and Bruce meet when Jason's hunting down the gang to avenge his brother (with a gun), and Bruce takes him in. Up until that point, I could've been satisfied. But this is all told by Alfred to Tim and the way he talks about Jason here... a lost cause through and through, social determinism in full force, straight up saying he lacked "integrity and determination"... smh.
They also change what Jason did after being "fired": certainly not something as emotional or sweet or signifying of him having an inner life at all as searching for a familial connection, but just still his Robin suit hunting down villains with extreme violence, giving Batman a bad rep and nearly killing Killer Croc. This leads to Joker setting a trap for him with intent to kill, because clearly, this Robin is dangerous and he must do it for self-preservation alone!
That's the sound of me retching LOL. What a way to miss the point of Robin!Jason, IMO.
To be truthfull, I think introducing Jason to the Timmverse, if you have to do it at all (given that this version of Tim is already a hybrid between the two of them), should NOT have come with making him the second Robin. With the elements this story has introduced, which include the above and Jason ending up rescued by a Deathstroke raving about family, I would've done something different: I would've kept the first encounter between Jason and Batman intact, as to establish a point of contact between them (this could happen before or during Tim's Robin run, irrelevant). Then I would have Bruce and Alfred dismiss him as a lost cost, making the kid be primed for the taking when Deathstroke starts shopping around for his mirror-sidekick as he often does. Eventually there's a reunion and Bruce decides to take a leap of faith with Jason that gets through to him.
Like... I know after ADITF DC turned Jason into a cautionary tale for other sidekicks full of good ol' victim blaming but. That's not The Point of Jason. He was not some psycho violent kid doomed to become a murderer or an idiot who died because he didn't listen to wise old Batman. He was a kid eager to help people and to find a loving connection that got killed for reasons beyond his control, just like everyone who comes face to face with a repentless killer. It's that simple and that sad. Smh.
I also finished reading "Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow", which I liked far, FAR more. Superb art, interesting storyline (and a nice homage to "True Grit", although the differences in genre/rules make me think I shouldn't rewatch the film, in case the comic looks worse in comparison lol), and a Kara I utterly fell in love with like never before.
I also reread a friend's debut novel now that I have the paperback, "When The Stars Alight", which I recommended here. It came with a little extra scene that wasn't in the ARC that I delighted on, as it's about one of my favourite secondary characters.
WHAT I'M READING NOW
Well, first of all, I've started beta-reading the final draft of "We Will Devour The Night", the next book after WTSA. I have read a previous version and loved it even more than the first book, and I'm excited to read the non-insignificant changes that have been implemented ^-^
I'm also keeping up with my substack newsletters: we finished "Inferno" in Divine Comedy Weekly and will start with "Purgatory" tomorrow; this week Letters from Watson started with a new Sherlock Holmes short story; and this Saturday they'll start sending the third book in the Oz world in Beyond the Wizard.
Other than that... comics. Comics, comics, and more comics (DC only, for now, although eventually I want to catch up with a few Image runs).
I've picked up a few issues from the latest cross-runs event, Knight Terrors, where some new (?) villain is hunting the nightmares of the characters looking for a magical stone. My favourite so far has been Poison Ivy's two-part run (SUPER creepy, reminiscent of Stepford Wivesalthough obviously not nearly as great), although I have some hopes for Robin (with Tim & Jason) and Nightwing (who is trapped in Arkham after supposedly killing [redacted]).
As for current runs I'm also at day with "The Joker: The Man Who Stopped Laughing" (with the usual problems of a Joker story nerfing other characters to keep him breathing, but with some great Jason moments), "Waller vs. Wildstorm" (Lois AND Amanda Waller in the same run?), "Tales of The Titans" (heartwarming first issue with Kory), "Justice Society of America" (Helena Wayne travels in time, changes the past, saves her parents, and becomes stuck), and "Spirit World" (a new nb spirit hero + Constantine + Cass as Batgirl -IDEK what hero names the batkids have rn and at this point I'm too afraid to ask).
I've also started the webcomic "Red Hood: Outlaws" in my quest for decent Jason content (mixed feelings so far, but gr10 art. A very punchable Bruce, I have to say xD), and I read the first issue of "Harley Quinn: Black and White and Red" , since the run is getting a sequel and I've wanted to read it for years. Loved this one; the art is amazing, Harley was written perfectly in those few pages, and Harlivy was at the heart of it in a very evocative way. And I keep re-reading over Jason's Robin Era comics, of course.
WHAT I'LL READ NEXT
The to-do list goes:
This list probably looks excesive but lbr: comics are a super, super short read, thankfully!
Quiiiiiite a few things, as it happens. Last week I finished "The Scarlet Letter" and "Pride and Prejudice", two classics that had been on my list for a long, long time. "The Scarlet Letter" I liked a lot better than I expected, from the moment I met Hester. It's a book I know I'll reread eventually, and meditate over. OTOH, P&P started as a really nice read; I like Austen's style, and I like her character work both for those I find endearing or admirable AND those that make me want to tear my hair out xD. Halfway through, with the first proposal and the letter is when it starts really picking up, fully exploding with Lydiagate, as I've seen it called. Speaking of, I don't think there are words that would suffice to describe my hate for Wickham! What he tried to pull with Georgina in particular was so, so despicable... it's absolutely infuriating he gets away scot-free AND keeps taking money from the rest of the characters, even if it makes the story objectively more interesting and therefore better LOL.
I finished reading a couple comic runs as well; DC has me in its clutches again, tragically xD. I decided to give a go to "Batman: The New Adventures" and read issues #1-14, aka, DC's attempt to introduce Jason Todd, aka my favourite DC character, to the Timmverse. DO NOT RECOMMEND
I had SOME hopes early on, in a issue where Jason, who's been spying on the bats, overhears Deathstroke has a plan to kill Batman and makes sure a warning gets to the team. It might've been a sign for a more complex relationship. Alas, not!
The run did an interesting thing in changing Jason's backstory by giving him an older brother, Danny. Danny had gotten in with a gang, wanting to bring in some money for him and Jason, and had gotten killed in the process. The gang used him as bait/lookout for the cops, putting him in a red hood. Jason and Bruce meet when Jason's hunting down the gang to avenge his brother (with a gun), and Bruce takes him in. Up until that point, I could've been satisfied. But this is all told by Alfred to Tim and the way he talks about Jason here... a lost cause through and through, social determinism in full force, straight up saying he lacked "integrity and determination"... smh.
They also change what Jason did after being "fired": certainly not something as emotional or sweet or signifying of him having an inner life at all as searching for a familial connection, but just still his Robin suit hunting down villains with extreme violence, giving Batman a bad rep and nearly killing Killer Croc. This leads to Joker setting a trap for him with intent to kill, because clearly, this Robin is dangerous and he must do it for self-preservation alone!
That's the sound of me retching LOL. What a way to miss the point of Robin!Jason, IMO.
To be truthfull, I think introducing Jason to the Timmverse, if you have to do it at all (given that this version of Tim is already a hybrid between the two of them), should NOT have come with making him the second Robin. With the elements this story has introduced, which include the above and Jason ending up rescued by a Deathstroke raving about family, I would've done something different: I would've kept the first encounter between Jason and Batman intact, as to establish a point of contact between them (this could happen before or during Tim's Robin run, irrelevant). Then I would have Bruce and Alfred dismiss him as a lost cost, making the kid be primed for the taking when Deathstroke starts shopping around for his mirror-sidekick as he often does. Eventually there's a reunion and Bruce decides to take a leap of faith with Jason that gets through to him.
Like... I know after ADITF DC turned Jason into a cautionary tale for other sidekicks full of good ol' victim blaming but. That's not The Point of Jason. He was not some psycho violent kid doomed to become a murderer or an idiot who died because he didn't listen to wise old Batman. He was a kid eager to help people and to find a loving connection that got killed for reasons beyond his control, just like everyone who comes face to face with a repentless killer. It's that simple and that sad. Smh.
I also finished reading "Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow", which I liked far, FAR more. Superb art, interesting storyline (and a nice homage to "True Grit", although the differences in genre/rules make me think I shouldn't rewatch the film, in case the comic looks worse in comparison lol), and a Kara I utterly fell in love with like never before.
I also reread a friend's debut novel now that I have the paperback, "When The Stars Alight", which I recommended here. It came with a little extra scene that wasn't in the ARC that I delighted on, as it's about one of my favourite secondary characters.
WHAT I'M READING NOW
Well, first of all, I've started beta-reading the final draft of "We Will Devour The Night", the next book after WTSA. I have read a previous version and loved it even more than the first book, and I'm excited to read the non-insignificant changes that have been implemented ^-^
I'm also keeping up with my substack newsletters: we finished "Inferno" in Divine Comedy Weekly and will start with "Purgatory" tomorrow; this week Letters from Watson started with a new Sherlock Holmes short story; and this Saturday they'll start sending the third book in the Oz world in Beyond the Wizard.
Other than that... comics. Comics, comics, and more comics (DC only, for now, although eventually I want to catch up with a few Image runs).
I've picked up a few issues from the latest cross-runs event, Knight Terrors, where some new (?) villain is hunting the nightmares of the characters looking for a magical stone. My favourite so far has been Poison Ivy's two-part run (SUPER creepy, reminiscent of Stepford Wives
As for current runs I'm also at day with "The Joker: The Man Who Stopped Laughing" (with the usual problems of a Joker story nerfing other characters to keep him breathing, but with some great Jason moments), "Waller vs. Wildstorm" (Lois AND Amanda Waller in the same run?), "Tales of The Titans" (heartwarming first issue with Kory), "Justice Society of America" (Helena Wayne travels in time, changes the past, saves her parents, and becomes stuck), and "Spirit World" (a new nb spirit hero + Constantine + Cass as Batgirl -IDEK what hero names the batkids have rn and at this point I'm too afraid to ask).
I've also started the webcomic "Red Hood: Outlaws" in my quest for decent Jason content (mixed feelings so far, but gr10 art. A very punchable Bruce, I have to say xD), and I read the first issue of "Harley Quinn: Black and White and Red" , since the run is getting a sequel and I've wanted to read it for years. Loved this one; the art is amazing, Harley was written perfectly in those few pages, and Harlivy was at the heart of it in a very evocative way. And I keep re-reading over Jason's Robin Era comics, of course.
WHAT I'LL READ NEXT
The to-do list goes:
a.) Keep up with all of the above as long as it remains interesting.
b.) Pick (back) up even more comics as the mood takes me, probably xD (it's the summer, when else will I have the time?)
c.) Finish "Angels in America", since I kind of dropped it last month to finish those other books.
b.) Pick (back) up even more comics as the mood takes me, probably xD (it's the summer, when else will I have the time?)
c.) Finish "Angels in America", since I kind of dropped it last month to finish those other books.
This list probably looks excesive but lbr: comics are a super, super short read, thankfully!
no subject
Date: 2023-08-04 06:29 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-08-04 07:29 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-08-06 01:17 pm (UTC)So complete paper runs work for me. I was reading Monstress via Kindle/Comixology and crapped out because it's just not the same on a screen. And with long gaps in between I can't remember what's happened, have to go back and refresh my memory, blah blah. That's too much like work!
no subject
Date: 2023-08-06 03:54 pm (UTC)Monstress is one of those that has been on my to-read list for aeons... It's in its issue 40-something right now, I believe? Oof xD. And yeah, I tend to prefer to read runs in one sitting for the same reasons you do. Rn I'm all-in with DC, but we'll see how long I'll last I'll keep up with the new stuff lol; especially because I certainly don't intend to keep up with runs that disappoint me. I'm one strike and done with new comics, only returning if I stumble upon a REALLY good spoiler once they're over.