Stuff I'm Reading - August 2006 - Comics

Some titles of particular interest in recent weeks to me:

Jonah Hex(DC): Some of you may recall I've mentioned this title before. If you've taken the hint, liked what you saw and stuck around, this blurb isn't for you. It's for the doubters who haven't yet taken the hint. I was one of those myself, having grown up in the Canadian west, and I suspect that may have played a role in my reluctance to pick it up in its original incarnation. It was, and still is, a western. I'd had my fill having grown up in its lore. I wanted to see what was then unusual, hence my greater interest in super-heroes and space opera.

No longer. Super-heroes and space opera, when well done, are still a joy to me. Jonah Hex opens up a different sort of world, a different sort of people to me. His adventures in the age between the end of the first American Civil War and the start of the Twentieth Century are hard, brutal at times, and never less than entertaining to me. If you like Clint Eastwood's more recent western films, Jonah Hex is for you.

If you like what you see, go to the message boards of either DC Comics, or Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti(among others of note and substance in comics and TV), and tell'em I sent you. Justin and Jimmy are Jonah's writers, and they'll be glad of the attention.

52(DC): DC's latest experiment in weekly storytelling in the comics form. For those unfamiliar with the premise, the Infinite Crisis just wrapped up, and the Big Three -- Superman, the Batman and Wonder Woman -- are burnt out from the years leading up to this latest cosmic near-disaster and are taking a year-long timeout. 52 is the tale of those who try to step up, by design and by accident in that intervening year. I've been subjected to a few shocks along the way, but so far, very good reading.

But then, sometimes the shocks are in fact the point of reading it.

Daredevil(Marvel): Ed Brubaker picks up where Brian Michael Bendis left off: Matt Murdock jailed awaiting a trial intended by low people in high places to never occur for crimes alleged to have arisen from the maintenance of his double-life as the masked vigilante-adventurer Daredevil. The result is a roller-coaster ride that's moved from Riker's Island to Manhattan to Europe and isn't stopping for a second.

More opinions on other titles to come in the months ahead...

Home and tired after a good movie

I finally saw Bon Cop, Bad Cop tonight at the local Empire movie-house.

As I suspected: worth the money and the time.

The funny parts, at their best -- and I say this as a compliment to all involved -- left me laughing so hard I started coughing. Hard. Even when the humour got downright morbid, as it will in a mystery/action film where your hero-cops are chasing a serial killer.

As I said to cath a little while ago, if you liked 48 Hours and/or the Lethal Weapon movies, you'll like this one.

If you want a full, spoiler-laden list of reasons...well, let me know. I'll see how I can best accomodate you...

PS: Anyone here been able to safely find out if the soundtrack is DRM-free?