Late-Breaking News plus Reviews
First things first: There’s going to be another meeting of people interested in getting some more comic conventions in Lubbock! It’s happening today at 6:30 p.m. at Awesome Books, 3009 34th Street.
The focus of this meeting is going to be dividing up some of the promotional work and sharing what’s been confirmed so far. If you’d like to assist with a comic convention — and take it from me, I had more fun volunteering at the previous conventions than I did when I was only an attendant — then you will certainly want to be at that meeting.
Now listen — the Miracle on 34th Street event will be going on around that time, which means a parade and a heck of a lot more traffic, so you might want to park on 33rd or 35th or in one of the larger parking lots and walk. So allow yourself some extra time to get to the meeting, awright?
Remember: today, 6:30 p.m., Awesome Books, 3009 34th Street!
And now: Reviews!
Knight and Squire #3
Genetic researchers have perfected cloning — and they’re able to re-create an actual historical personage, complete with his full genetic memory! Who do they pick for this great honor? Richard III. Wait, Richard III? The villain of Shakespeare’s play of the same name? A guy who’s thought to have killed his young nephews to keep himself on the throne? That doesn’t sound like a smart move, does it? The Knight and Squire are suspicious, but there’s some belief that Richard got a raw deal from history and Shakespeare, so maybe this guy’s okay, right?
Well, no, not really. He demands to be placed back on the throne, and when that isn’t so successful, he clones a bunch of England’s most rotten monarchs, gives them superpowers and their own armies, and turns ’em loose on everyone. Can the Knight, the Squire, and the British Isles’ other superheroes stop the royal renegades before they take over the country?
Verdict: Thumbs up. So very many things to love about this issue. There’s the Knight dating one of the Muses. Like an actual Muse, goddess of literature and the arts, from ancient myth. That’s so random, it’s awesome. There’s the final battle, fought partly through Twitter. There’s the way Richard’s lines are all in iambic pentameter. It’s a great issue in a great series, so go get it already.
Batgirl #16
Steph’s being chased by the cops, who think Batgirl killed a college student. After she evades the Gotham PD, she meets up with Detective Gage, who reveals that he knows she she’s been framed. Back at the university, Steph has to deal with her classmates demonizing Batgirl, mostly so they can get out of having to take tests, and Wendy Harris does a little off-the-clock investigating. Eventually, they’re able to track the real killers to an abandoned warehouse contaminated with an unusual form of radiation. But will getting her good name cleared and the gang rounded up be enough to solve the case when it turns out the bad guys have superpowered help of their own?
Verdict: As ever, very funny and exciting stuff. I don’t know if this is the best of the Bat-books, but it’s certainly the most fun.
Today’s Cool Links:
- It’s like someone figured out how to mix Christmas with death metal. And it’s been around for centuries!
- The Ten Least Successful Holiday Specials of All Time.
- Any of y’all ever read Douglas Adams’ Dirk Gently novels? Turns out the BBC is adapting ’em for TV…
- Why does Brian Bendis hate Marvel continuity?
- Here are a bunch of Marvel parodies of old Charles Atlas ads.