Of Swords and Parasols

Yes, the annual battle of getting out of bed and being productive vs staying in the warm, cozy place has begun. So far, only an innate sense of academic preservation has allowed option 1 to win out.

It looks like Dreamland doesn't count 5th Wednesdays as part of their biweekly program, as they haven't downloaded my invoice yet. Looks like this next shipment will rival a pre-trimming shipment, being 3 weeks worth of books. Probably for the best,though(the 3 weeks, part) Last thing I need is new comics distracting me during finals(the backlog will do a good enough job of that)

I'm thinking that I'm going to cave in and get the first season of "Hart to Hart" after work today.

Only one new book for the week...the "Justice N Mercy" HC from the creator of "Priest."  I was lucky and was able to get it almost 50% off.

Stuff I watched:

Louie started off fun and consistently gets better.  Somewhere lurking in the background is an overall storyarc, but I suspect that the main characters are just side characters in that, who occassionally cross paths with it then end up getting sucked into the main action at the last minute.  I'm also relieved that the show is avoiding having all the girls fall in love with Louie, though I could easily see him and Merrill together(if they don't kill each other.)

Moonlighting is fun, but, oddly, it emphasizes most of the stuff that makes Remington Steele work by not having it, and the last episode I watched, "My Fair David," really annoyed me.   According to that episode, the person trying to keep a business open and productive with an atmosphere that would actually attract clients is in the wrong and should change, while the irresponsible guy who instigates limbo parties in the lobby and actively campaigns to have unrepentant deadbeats keep their overpaid and underworked jobs is in the right?

Stuff I read:

Death Note Vol 2

Kare First Love Vol 4-5

Land Of The Blindfolded Vol 4-5
RG VEDA v2-3

Smax TPB

Tom Strong’s Terrific Tales Vol 1

Top Ten: The Forty-Niners HC

Tsubasa Vol 6-7

WOLF’S RAIN GN VOL 1-2

RG Veda and Tsubasa are both perfect examples of everything that's both right and wrong with Clamp...Tsubasa started with an interesting story and concept, but, as is usual, Clamp didn't seem to have thought too far ahead and is relying on "look how cute we are" to carry the book through until they can think of some sort of ending for it.  At least, that's how every other book of theirs that I've read has ended up.  RG Veda I still hold out hopes for, though.  It's more plot driven than any other Clamp story, and I think it's also based on  some myth cycle(can't remember which, though.)  It also avoids "look how cute we are" for the most part.

Wolf's Rain was an interesting experience...it follows a few events from the anime almost exactly, but then just makes up a lot of the rest of it.  Good, but it can't help but think it would have been better if it had distanced itself more...Hubb, Cher, and Quent, very important characters in the Anime, are very out of place after their initial scenes in the manga with the new storylines, and Blue's role is almost nonexistant, and completely changed.  Plus, all the things that made Darcia cool are gone.  OTOH, the ending made a lot more sense than the ending in the anime.

Top Ten and Smax were great...Top Ten made me want to pull out the trades of the original series and scour it for names...especially Leni Muller...Smax through me a bit with it's(understandable) insistence that they had to keep Jeff and Rexa's real relationship a secret, but in Top Ten: Beyond the Farthest Precinct everyone knows.  That said, Robyn's explaining to Jeff how she felt about him was such an appropriate(if brutal) explanation of so many male/female relationships in comics.  Slightly paraphrased because it's not in front of me: "I'm fond of you like a big, annoying dog that wandered up one day and didn't go away, so I kept it."(with the subtext that, as the dog didn't go away, it is now HER dog, and anyone who messes with it suffers.  Tom Strong's Terrific Tales was best described as "typical Alan Moore."  Interesting stuff and ideas, some a little too odd, and some great, but all pretty creative.

I also read the  entire backlog of  Year One: Spider Spawn, about Marvel characters all being in first grade together.  Much better than most of the stuff Marvel puts out.  More appreciative of Marvel characters, too.