I'm giving away books on BookMooch

Last night I got around to unpacking some books and upon placing them on my new, big cinder block and plank bookshelf, found that I have waaaaay too many books. Many of the books I was putting on the shelf were books that I have no intention in reading or didn't even like and when there is a big box of books I do like that is still yet to be unpacked, this is very troubling.

So it is time to do something I told myself I would never do, that is before I began sharing a one-bedroom apartment with my wife. It is time to get rid of some books.

Instead of attempting to sell my unwanted books on eBay, which has never worked well in the past, I'm going to give BookMooch a shot. BookMooch is a site that allows you to give away the books you don't want in exchange for credits, which in turn allow you to request books from others or donate to charities. The idea of getting rid of the biggest dust collectors on my shelf in exchange for books I really want (all for free!!!) is very appealing.

I already have a few books up. Most are horror novels and anthologies from my "horror fiction is the best thing in the world" phase. No comic books at this time and likely not ever, unless someone gives me a Thor comic or some crap like that. I'll be putting up more and more books in time, especially if this proves to be a success.

Check out my BookMooch profile and what books I'm giving away here. Take a look at what I'm giving away or looking for and if you sign up (which I highly suggest), add me as a friend.

The Worst Superhero Names

Lore Sjöberg has a new column up on Wired.com, this one tackling a few of the most poorly named heroes and villians.

She-Hulk
I guess I should be glad they didn't call her "Hulk Woman," or worse yet, "Hulk Girl." Still, female comic book characters deserve more than a half-assedly feminized version of another hero's name. They have to put up with those bust-lifting outfits, fighting in high heels, and that painful-looking pose where their lower spine forms a perfect "J," at the least they should get a name of their own.

Robin
It's easy to spot the good Batman movies; they're the ones without Robin in them. There are enough problems with being the kid sidekick of a billionaire vigilante, but when you're named after some wimpy little worm-eating bird? Clearly Batman just called his youthful colleague "Robin" to make himself look cooler by comparison. I'm surprised he wasn't called "Whoopty-Woo the Precious Bongo Boy."

Shazam and the Monster Society of Evil preview online

When I learned of the upcoming Shazam and the Monster Society of Evil miniseries, I was faced with a sort of conundrum. Firstly, this is a Captain Marvel miniseries and if there is one character in the DCU that I have no interest in reading about it is Captain Marvel. I have a hard enough time reading Superman than having to deal with the "Gee willikers" corniness of Shazam. So here's the problem: Jeff Smith is writing and drawing this thing and Jeff Smith is just as incredibly awesome as Captain Marvel is incredibly boring. So what do I do? Do I lay down six bucks for a prestige format book about a character I can't stand even though it is created by one of the greatest writers and artists ever? Or do I just wait for Jeff Smith to do something cooler?

These preview pages from Newsarama help seal the deal.

Actually seeing Smith's gorgeous art is a comfort, rubbing my back and telling me everything it going to be okay. Sure, they writing might be a little sub par (I mean, how exactly is Billy supposed to know that the creepy old man's magic word is an acronym?) but it's fucking Captain Marvel. I can only expect so much.

The joy (and creepiness) of Google Analytics

Maybe it was a mistake to title a post "Dr. 13: Incest for the kiddies," because it would seem that a lot of my traffic from Google is a result of searches for "incest" or variations of it. In fact, I've gotten 59 visits from people searching for "incest" and I can't imagine they were pleased with what they found.

Here are the top five things people have Googled to find my blog since I started it:
1. incest (59 visits)
2. incest comics (5 visits)
3. jla vs predator (5 visits)
4. dr. incest (3 visits)
5. nowrimo (3 visits)

While these search terms do creep me out, at least there are just as many people finding me for my views on the epic battle between the Justice League and the Meta-Predators as there are people finding me for my non-existent supply of incest-related comics.

Oh, so THAT'S what Sue heard!

I just got around to reading Fifty-Two #27 last night. Now I finally now that it was that Sue Dibny heard in her house just before she was killed, one of the more obnoxious plot holes of Identity Crisis.

It was just Ralph and Jean doing some time travel!

After reading the scene I couldn't decide if it was silly or just completely cheap. I told my wife that they were finally explaining the mystery sound and she just rolled her eyes and asked why Ralph didn't just stop her murder if he was able to travel back in time. That's a pretty good question considering his mental state. I'm surprised he was more concerned with punishing Loring than saving his wife, regardless of how bad it would screw up the time/space continuum. But maybe he just didn't want to fuck up the nice New Earth the DCU just got a few months ago.
Someone please, please tell me that someone at DC has claimed that this was "planned from the beginning" and was not just some quick, cheap and sensationalized clean up of a gaping plot hole that only served to distract the readers of the original mini-series. I would love to hear some editorial BS of the highest order.

Oh, and I don't like how the Question just suddenly has lung cancer. That is equally cheap. Boo!

Civil War #5: I approve!

Civil War #4 was a little rough for most of us. There was Clone-Thor (although it is now referred to as a cyborg, go figure), the red-shirt death of Goliath, Sue leaving Reed for the anti-registration side and then there was the unveiling of new all-evil Thunderbolts. There were a lot of angry voices out there in the blogosphere, but for me Civil War #4 was "The 'Meh' Issue."

Civil War #5, on the other hand, was "The 'Fuck Yeah!' Issue."

(Psst! This is where the spoilers start.)

The first "Fuck Yeah!" comes as Spider-Man tells Iron Man just where he can stick his we-need-to follow-this-rule-no-matter-what douchebaggery.


Of course, I was hoping Spidey would at that point proceed to beat the shit out out the Iron Sell Out, but at least he did knock him through a wall before making his escape. That's another "Fuck Yeah!" for the scoreboard.

And then there was the ultimate highpoint for me. Spider-Man, already severely wounded, is getting beat up by too third-tier villains (Jack O' Lantern and the Jester) whom I have never read in a comic before, when he is saved by the ultimate badass/psycho of the Marvel Universe: The Punisher.

(I'd just like to take a moment to say I totally called that the ski-mask guy was none other than Frank Castle. I knew it! Although, I was afraid he would have been on the pro-registration side but it's good to see him working with the good guys... uh, I mean, working with the resistance.)

Seeing those white boots and black tights was cool, but seeing him burst in on Captain America's hideout, holding the bloody and broken Spider-Man made me yell out, you guessed it, "FUCK YEAH!"

The final moment of pure awesomeness comes as Daredevil is being ushered to his jail cell in the Negative Zone. Iron Douche somehow thinks he can convince Matt to join the sell-outs, even offering him the leadership position of his own super hero team. Daredevil, the supreme badass he is, has a gift for Tony: a silver dollar. When Stark asks what it means, Matt remarks that Tony now has thirty-one pieces of silver. DAMN! I didn't know Daredevil had fire powers, cause Tony just got burned! And with a Biblical reference. Fuck yeah!

Of course, not everything was explicative and affirmations. There were plenty of awkward moments in the story.

Firstly, anyone who is not reading Amazing Spider-Man (which is more of a Civil War companion book than Frontline) would not understand the sudden confrontation between Spider-Man and Iron Man. This is going to suck for anyone waiting for the trade.

What is the deal with Tigra? Is working with the Punisher so bad that she would narc on her team mates and switch sides? Is Tirga the new Sue Richards? Now I understand why the other heroes didn't want to work with the guy. He's crazy. But it just doesn't make sense for Tigra to betray the entire team over it, even before Cap decided on working with Castle in the first place. Or maybe she's just ordering pizza.

I really hate how the phrase "final battle" is being used. Maybe it's supposed to be somewhat metatextual, but it just reminds me of describing the plot structure of Star Wars when I was ten.


Another weird part is the explanation of the Fifty States Initiative. A superteam for every state, funded by taxpayer money? Firstly, this pretty much gives it away that the registration side looses because there is no way Marvel is going to add fifty more teams to the Marvel Universe. Although, I'd like to see who would get stuck on the Alabama or North Dakota teams.

Overall I really liked this issue. It was fun where the others were awkward. Or maybe I'm just too much of a Punisher fan-boy to know better. I'm looking forward to the next issue and Punisher War Journal now that Frank is back in the picture.

Hey, let's do some quick reviews!

Haven't done this for a while. Let's do a quick run-down of my week's picks. And because I don't care if you've read this stuff or not, SPOILER ALERT!!!!

Y: The Last Man #51 - The best series I've read since Bone and now I'm finally caught up to buying the monthly issues. Brian K. Vaughan brings pulls all the stops with this issue. It's one "WTF-I-can't-believe-it!" revelation and "OMFG-what-happened?!?!" plot twist after another. My only real criticism is that the theory on the plague's origin presented in this issue had best not be the truth, because that would be silly.

Batman #658 - Well, that was anti-climatic. Maybe I didn't read the right issue. Someone tell me that this "highly anticipated storyline" did not just come down to superhero baby mama drama. You're on notice, Morrison!

Teen Titans #40 - I can't help but find these One Year Later issues of Teen Titans incredibly confusing. So we've got a story about a traitor that revolves around a half dozen characters we've never met before. Since when is there a Captain Atom, Jr.? Why is there a Captain Atom, Jr.? Same goes for mini-Zatanna. But I do like Miss Martian. She's cute. And really ugly. In any case, I just want this story to be over so we can get on to the Teen Titans East arc.

Civil War: Young Avengers/Runaways #4 - Okay, I'm only half way through this one, but I must ask how it is that the villain, who is an expert on the aliens of the Marvel Universe, did not know that breaking a Skrull's neck wasn't going to work? I can list my Skrull-starring comics read on two hands but even I know that snapping a shapeshifter's neck is never going to work. Seriously. Oh, and I love how this comic really only has one passing reference to Civil War. That's cute.

Doctor Strange: The Oath #2 - Brian K. Vaughan rules over all. Somehow he has made a character who I never gave two shits about into a really cool guy. This is definitely the best book I read this week, beating Y only because I didn't like all the zen crap. But vague occult mumbo-jumbo? I can eat that right up just as long as BKV is putting the spoon in my mouth along with his brilliant literary airplane sounds. Why is this only a mini-series?

Looking to '08

Now that the midterm elections are behind us, let's look forward to to the next big political race.

Vote or Batman will humilate you

Just a reminder...

Just taking some time to once again plug Pull List, the social bookmarking site for comic book geeks. We've gotten a few more members, but not enough to make it viable. Check it out and help make it awesome.

Scott McCloud really needs to take his own advice...

This morning, the dawn of NaGraNoWriMo, I was checking out the amazon.com page on Scott McCloud's Making Comics as it may come in handy this month. Glancing through the reviews I found this gem:

I have to agree with a previous reviewer --- Scott is mostly known for his entertaining educational comics series, but he hasn't had any REALLY successful comic books, so, although this new book is interesting and somewhat educational about comic book creation, I'm not sure he really has the authority to tell people how to make a successful comic. I mean, if Jim Lee wrote such a book, or Frank Miller, or Alan Moore --- I would believe their tips/secrets/advice wholeheartedly. I think I'd have more confidence if Scott were able to create a very successful comic book based on his own advice. I haven't seen this happen yet (I hope he does).

Maybe it doesn't count because it's so "educational" but isn't Understanding Comics one of the most universally revered graphic works of all time? I've had it suggested to me by several English professors when ever I've began spouting off my theories on the graphical nature of prose. Understanding Comics has never been out of print. I'd go out on a limb and say that it is the most successful non-fiction comic book ever (second only to Maus).

It really saddens me that someone would sooner take the advice of Jim Lee (whose creations are usually just X-Men rip-offs) than a proven comic scholar like McCloud. Maybe Zot! needs a Saturday morning cartoon.