What I'm Reading: The Learners

Even though I teach literature and love books, it's been a while since I have actually read a novel that's not for use in school. I know that's sad, but it's my reality right now, simply because I either lack (a) the desire, (b) the time, or (c) the patience to read prose fiction of any length.

I used to read a couple of novels a week, and now that I only read a few book-length works of prose fiction a year, I wonder if it's because I'm getting older and less willing to put up with sustained mediocrity (How many novels are really better than all the ones I've already read? Very few!) or if the internet really has changed everything (My brain is built for internet speed now, for better or worse). I think it's probably both.

I spend most of my time reading comics not just because I love comics, though I do, but because they fit into the nooks and crannies of my busy life. They take the perfect amount of attention and time, and are easy to slip into the ten or fifteen minutes I have between doing other things.

Anyway, I did read a novel this week, and it doesn't even have anything to do with comics. Well, it's sort of tangentially related to comics, with the Charles Burns cover and the fact that it's written by Chip Kidd, a guy who has worked on plenty of comic art books.

But "The Learner" isn't ABOUT comics, and that's what counts. It's the sequel to "The Cheese Monkeys," one of my favorite novels ever -- well, at least in my Top 100 -- and although it's not quite as good as Kidd's first, it's pretty darn good.

It takes place in 1961, in an advertising agency, so my recent interest in "Mad Men" can't help but color my impression of this novel. Yet Kidd is interested in entirely different things, and his story explores the effect of the real-life Milgram experiment on his fictional protagonist. The Milgram experiment was that one where unwitting participants administered shocks to "learners" who failed to remember an answer. They were "unwitting" because they thought they were involved in a memory test, but they were actually involved in an Obedience to Authority test.

His involvement with the experiment shakes the narrator to the bone, and raises questions about perception and reality that tie into the notion of advertising.

Kidd also explores the relationship between Form and Content, explicitly, both within the narrative and in some metafictional digressions between chapters.

Even though "The Learners" stumbles at the end, and doesn't quite live up to the quality of "The Cheese Monkeys" -- which, if I recall, also had some problems in the final section -- it was nice to read a novel again.

I'll let Kidd close this post by speaking for himself, on the notion of Form and Content:



What are YOU reading?

What I'm Reading: Scott Pilgrim, Transhuman, Drifting Classroom

The New York Comic Con sucked up most of the past week, but I did read a few non-floppies since the last time I did one of these "What I've Been Reading" installments. The most important -- and the best -- book I read recently was "Scott Pilgrim vs. the Universe." I wrote about how it was the book of the show, and maybe the book of the year, in my WWC con report, but I didn't talk about the book specifically.

Here's the deal: not only has Bryan Lee O'Malley developed into a phenomenal stylist (not that he was a slouch in "Scott Pilgrim" Vol.1, but his art has become a lot more dynamic and consistently well-designed from page to page), but he has also matured as a storyteller. Or maybe he always had that mature storytelling thing going on (he did create the excellent "Lost at Sea"), but he's now at the point in the "Scott Pilgrim" narrative when the maturity can move to the foreground and the fisticuffs and the frivolity can move to the background. That literally happens in Volume 5, as O'Malley presents the physical conflict (Robots! Evil Twins!) and then doesn't spend much time lingering on the video-game-style battles. Instead, the loss -- the devastating, empty, void-inducing absence of Ramona Flowers -- is one based not on juvenile violence, but on the complexity of romantic entanglements. Juvenile violence is good times -- "Scott Pilgrim" is based on it to some degree, and it's such an inherent part of its DNA that O'Malley cannot abandon it -- but if "Scott Pilgrim" is about growing up, and moving from innocence to experience, then "Scott Pilgrim vs. the Universe" is the book in which that shift occurs.

I tore through it at the hotel on Friday night before my family rolled into town, and it was great.

I also read Jonathan Hickman and J. M. Ringuet's "Transhuman" trade. I didn't think it was very good. It's like a pitch for a longer, better series. It's like a prologue for something else, except the prologue jumps through time to tell, instead of show. It's not a story, it's an outline for a story -- an illustrated outline. I'm glad that Hickman is trying to tell stories that are different from other things on the shelf, but it's still just all about the telling. I wouldn't even call it compressed, I would just call it an essay on genetic engineering and the role of the corporation. Which is fine, if that's what you're into. But the danger with Hickman's approach is that his themes are too obvious, his attitude too obvious, and the characters are mere puppets in the service of social commentary. It's the 21st century equivalent of the "Green Lantern/Green Arrow" impulse, but without the revolutionary Neal Adams artwork.

I've had the first five volumes of "Drifting Classroom" by Kazuo Umezu sitting on my shelf for months, and I finally had a chance to read the first two books. Tucker Stone has mentioned the series a few times, and I've always had good intentions about reading it. But now that I've started, I really can't wait to read more. There's the addictive-serialization quality that plenty of good manga has (and most American comics lack, sadly -- how many of them really compel you to race to the comic shop to find out what happens next?), and there's also a pervasive dread from three angles: (1) the horrible idea of being a student trapped in school with a bunch of teachers, (2) the horrible idea of being a teacher trapped in a school with a bunch of students, (3) the horrible idea of being a parent who has lost contact with his or her child. And the interplay between those three layers of anxiety. It's surreal and haunting and it makes "Lost" feel like you're waiting in line at the DMV.

What are YOU reading?

What I'm Reading: Black Jack, Crisis, Legion

Taking a break from "Dororo," which I like a lot after one volume, I've been delving into another Osamu Tezuka classic: "Black Jack." I've finished Volume 1 and Volume 2 of this series -- about a mysterious super-surgeon who demands exorbitant fees, but takes jobs no one else can handle -- and I have a few thoughts:

1. It's very good overall, but some of the individual stories don't work at all, and others are quite profound given the short space.

2. That's really the charm of the series -- it's the accumulation of rapid-fire stories of great tragedy and moral dilemmas. Each story is super-simplistic really. The complexity comes from the bigger picture, the stories stacked one on top of another.

3. There should be more (any!) American medical genre comics. It's a big genre on television, but when was the last time you read a comic about a world-class surgeon saving a life? Black Jack is basically a superhero -- he's the Six-Million Dollar Man of surgery, with more than a dash of the Man with No Name -- but it doesn't have to be a Doc Midnite comic (although I would totally read that). How about a Vertigo series?

4. Tezuka's style is very different here than in "Dororo," and since I'm not an expert on his work, I'll leave it at that. But I wonder how much it has to do with the era -- "Black Jack" is from the 1970s, if I'm not mistaken, and "Dororo" is from the 1960s, I think -- and how much it has to do with adapting his style for a different genre. (I guess I didn't leave it at that.)

5. I'm interested in reading more "Black Jack," but I'm not particularly compelled to. I expect it to be more of the same. Anyone know if it get radically more complex or less formulaic?

Moving on...

I also reread "Crisis on Infinite Earths" and "Infinite Crisis" for my big buildup to "Final Crisis" #7. I don't have much to say about the former two, and I've already said a lot about the latter (with more to come maybe by Monday), so moving on again...

I didn't read anything else substantial this week, besides the usual stack of floppies (too much "Doctor Who" to watch!), but I just have to point out HOW TERRIBLE THE FINAL ISSUE OF "LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES" WAS.

Just to recap: Jim Shooter took over as writer of the Legion with issue #37, and as much as I complained about his writing, at least he was setting up a complex plotline that was building to something big. He may have overdone the future slang, and his characterizations may have been a bit odd, but his plotting was decent and the last few issues -- leading into #50 -- had been the best in his run. But then it was announced that the series was canceled. And then Shooter mentioned that his plan to wrap everything up by issue #54 had to be condensed to wrap up in issue #50. And, then, issue #50 actually comes out, and it's not written by Shooter.

It's written by someone under the ha-ha-it's-so-funny pseudonym of "Justin Thyme." I could go into an analysis of why it's obvious based on character dialogue that it's not Shooter writing under that pseudonym, but the issue isn't worth any more time than I've already given it. As published, "Legion of Super-Heroes" #50 is a disgraceful conclusion to the Threeboot, and a work of hackery far more egregious than even "Countdown." Greg McElhatton gave the issue a half star review on CBR, and I think he was being generous. The comic is really a giant "screw you" to everyone who's been reading this incarnation of the Legion.

What an inglorious way to go out.

What are YOU reading?

What I'm Reading: Dororo, Beowulf, Jason Aaron

I'm not quite finished with it yet, but I've read 90% of "Dororo," Volume 1 (with Volumes 2 and 3 sitting in the pile next to my bed).

I have never been the world's biggest Osamu Tezuka fan -- and I know that's another example of my blasphemous thinking -- but his characters have never appealed to me at all. I have a few of his works on my "To Read" pile, and I'm sure my opinion will change the deeper I immerse myself in his world, but "Dororo" has already gone a long way to break down my prejudice toward his work.

"Dororo" is INSANE. Babies with no arms, legs, eyes, ears, or mouths that learn to become kick-ass martial artists and must defeat demons to gain body parts? That is pretty much what I want from my Manga, and Tezuka gives it to me here. I love it.

I also just read all three "Scalped" trades, "The Other Side," "Wolverine: Get Mystique," and "Ghost Rider: Hell Bent and Heaven Bound" in preparation for an extensive overview of Jason Aaron's career/retrospective interview series that I'm working on. Look for the fruits of that labor later this month (or maybe in mid-February -- I might hold off on the publication until after the NYCC madness dies down). For the record: Jason Aaron's work is great. In case you didn't know. Even his lesser Marvel work is better than most of the stuff you're already buying.

I'm also rereading Seamus Heaney's translation of "Beowulf" because this week begins some Brit Lit action in my classroom, and "Beowulf" has 99% more Grendel-arm-ripping-off-action than any other English language poem you'd care to mention (even if it is Old English, which, let's face it, is not recognizable as English to the man on the street).

What are YOU reading?

What I'm Watching/What I'm Reading

The return of the "Splash Page" knocked my recently-established weekend blogging routine out of whack, and I really didn't actually read many things that weren't comic books this week, so here's a combined "What I'm..." post for today.

Other than the NFL playoffs, the new episode of "The Office," and getting caught up on the last three episodes of "Batman: Brave and the Bold" (Batman dies in that show, too!), the most significant piece of on-screen entertainment this week has been the enthralling "Superman III."

I know everyone HATES "Superman III." I can understand why. But I love it.

I forgot how much I love it, until I watched it again this week. Part of it has to do with the fact that "Superman III" was the only superhero movie we actually owned when we were kids. Television's Ryan Callahan can attest to this, but we watched this thing about a dozen times on VHS because (a) we didn't have cable when we were that age, and (b) it was Superman AND Richard Pryor!

Richard Lester hams everything up whenever possible, but Richard Pryor has so many brilliant scenes in "Superman III." Look, the skiing off the skyscraper and landing in the street gag is not funny, but it's the little gestures that make Pryor's Gus Gorman into the fascinating on-screen character that he is. My favorite moment: when Robert Vaughn grabs Pryor by both arms and emphasizes something he just said, and Pryor awkwardly reaches to give Vaughn a little hug because he doesn't seem to know what else to do with his arms. It's a complete Michael Scott moment, and it's hilariously subtle.

And the visual asymmetry in this movie makes it more interesting than the others in the Christopher Reeve series. Superman, in costume, sitting on Lana Lang's floral-patterned couch? Brilliant visual. And it's followed up by sleazy Superman's line when he says "nah, I don't need to rescue that truck."

"Superman: The Movie" NEVER made me believe a man can fly, but "Superman III" made me believe that superheroes can be weird and wonderful (but mostly weird), and I will carry that lesson with me forever.

I also have begun my newest Geek Assignment (TM 2007 Timothy Callahan) with "Doctor Who." Challenged by reader "teatime_brutality" to learn to love the good Doctor, I finally sat down and watched the two most recent episodes of the BBC series. And now I'm becoming a little obsessed. I want to watch more. I want to immerse myself (and those two eps were really, really good), but I'm not willing to shell out for the $80 season sets just yet I'll have to wait until my Season sets arrive (just got Seasons 1-4 on ebay for under $150 total about five minutes ago, and I'm a sucker for a deal, even though that is still ridiculously expensive). Still, I'll keep you posted on whether or not this Doctor Who thing is just a brief dalliance or a real and total geek out.

Speaking of Doctor Who, besides my weekly stack of comics, a large chunk of "New Teen Titans Archives" Vol. 3 (I just picked up Vol. 4, and remembered that I never read the third one), a Calvin and Hobbes collection I'm reading with my son, I've also just started a novel by Paul Cornell called "British Summertime." I don't know anything about it, but I'm on a Cornell kick, and since I couldn't get my hands on any of his Doctor Who novels in the U.S. (which would have fed into my Geek Assignment and my Cornell crush, but oh well), I picked this one up. I don't know if it's any good, and I probably won't get around to finishing it this week, but if it's worth reading I'm sure I'll blog about it eventually.

What are YOU watching and reading?

What I'm Reading: Sarris, Kael, Fenwick, Rex

Over the past week, besides my normal weekly comic book reading (and we all know that I read a lot of those) and besides the books I'm teaching in school right now (Pnin, by Vladimir Nabokov, and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain, for the record), I've been reading:

The American Cinema, by Andrew Sarris

I Lost it at the Movies, by Pauline Kael

Hall of Best Knowledge, by Ray Fenwick

The True Meaning of Smekday, by Adam Rex

I dug out copies of the Sarris and Kael books to remind myself what good criticism reads like, because I've been reading and writing too many bland comic book reviews. And it's fun to see Sarris and Kael go at each other in their writing. By the way, Kael absolutely blows Sarris out of the water with her prose, and her attack on the auteur theory is far more effective than Sarris's lame defense of it (even though, after the 1970s age of the director, most people have kind of internalized the auteur theory anyway).

Fenwick's book is fun, but slight, and it's really just the kind of book that would be fun if you bought it as a B&N remainder copy or something. It's not nearly as good as Fenwick's Mome contributions, and it's not worth the $20 cover price.

Rex's children's novel is something that I'm reading with my son, and it's a massive tome (over 400 pages) about an alien invasion gone wrong. Kind of like Secret Invasion, but written with style.

What are YOU reading?