escritorzuela

WHAT I JUST FINISHED READING

I finished Tony Kusher's "Angels in America". What a bonkers, delightful play. I'd love to watch it live.

I also read the first two runs of Young Justic comics related to the show as I complete my rewatch. Not much to report there, except that I still consider this world's version of Dick/Barbara unforgivably boring.

WHAT I'M READING NOW

I'm still following a few ongoing comic runs: Batman: Wayne Family Adventures, Harley Quinn: Black + White + Redder, JRed Hood: Outlaws, Spirit World, Tales of The Titans, The Invincible Iron Man (the Annual was BAD), Waller vs. Wildstorm... I also started "The Cull", a 5-issues long miniseries from Image Comics that intrigued me with its first issue.

Most importantly, I caught up with "Monstress". This comic canNOT be overrated, I swear. I'm enjoying it so, so much. For a little while one of the main character annoyed me to unspeakable lengths; she's supposed to represent ~~hope in the darkest moments and she felt more like a device, and a poorly used one at that, than a character in her own right, but in the last few volumes her writing has improved vastly. She feels more real, more integrated with the rest of the story. And I'm not quite caught up with "Saga", but soon... soon.

ETA: today I got to read the last issue of the Iron Man run and

( tiny spoiler )( tiny spoiler )( tiny spoiler )

Lol. Lmao even.

WHAT I'LL READ NEXT

When I finish beta-reading my friend's novel, I want to pick up James Goldman's "The Lion in Winter" and Catherynne M. Valente's "The Refrigerator Monologues". And, of course. More comics. I've been eyeing yet another ongoing run called "Dark Knights of Steel".

WHAT 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

( spoilers from the run & what I would've preferred )

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 although 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: