papablues050164's reviews
136 reviews

This man cries out for an editor. His book reads like a stand-up routine, all over the place. Maybe this is what a conversation with Brian Posehn would be like--hard to follow with lots of profanity. I wanted to enjoy this more because yeah, I am a nerd too, but somehow it seemed harder to read than it should have. Sometimes there's TMI; I don't need to know every single frikkin' TV show he watched as a child; I don't need to be walked through all every act of sex with his former girlfriends. BUUUT, he owns his mistakes and regrets while he details the road to total nerdity, and comedy.

P.S. I am totally with him on the Star Wars chapter. Skip to page 84-85; he describes exactly how all us Star Wars fans felt about the prequels. I can't repeat it, you have just got to read it for yourself. He does get to his comic career just in time for him to break his back. I am with him entirely on his Nerd Rant on page 249. He's right, all you white male nerds need to calm down, take some Prozac. Women and Diversity is part of this world, boys, including the comic book and gaming ones. OK, I'll recommend it, but it's gonna be work for ya.

So continues an infinite round of Infinity storylines that began with Infinity Gauntlet. In what is probably the longest-running title Adam Warlock ever graced, a collage of cosmic deities commands our golden protagonist to give up the Infinity Stones. Sort of. He winds up dispersing them to a group of colleagues uniquely disqualified to hold them. We have the usual gang from Jim Starlin's gallery--Warlock, Gamora, the troll Pip, Moondragon and Drax the Destroyer, plus a jaw-dropping choice to hold the Reality Stone. These stones are not supposed to be used in unison ever again; yet in their first story, all the members of the Watch with the exception of Warlock are captured and used in an inane revenge plot. and this won't be the last time that happens.
I think what this collection suffers from most is the weakness that plagues comics to this day: once a year, during the summer, every storyline gets dropped for four or five months in order to participate in the annual Cosmic Catastrophe that all comics have to tie into. This happens twice, four issues tied into a separate miniseries, which is intended to force you into buying yet another graphic novel collection to know what exactly the F--K is going on!
Even worse, the thing that always happens with a Starlin series continues here, ie, we're forced to endure a rotating roster of artists, inkers, colorists etc. of varying talent, leaving the impression of an inconsistent visual style. Now Angela Medina-Terry Austin-Ian Laughlin are magic; Tom Grindberg-Bob Almond & Laughlin less so. I wanted to love this, but the sum is less than spectacular. 3 out of 5.

Like the film before it, this is a pastiche of old Conan stories thrown together, not necessarily messily. The book is slightly better than the movie.

We sorely need more people with the grace and dignity of Michelle Obama.

Rose carries us on a rocking horse of a ride. A New Orleans reporter whose family was displaced by the storm that wiped out an American city, first by Katrina and then by incompetence on the Federal and local level.Indelible images of the permanent brown water stain left behind, refrigerators lined up on every city block, the smell and the general PTSD that claimed every soul in the Big Easy give a sense, a small sense of what it means to be a survivor in this city.
It's not an easy read but it's flecked with humor even through the worse bits, in short stream of consciousness essays originally printed in the Times-Picayune newspaper Rose wrote for. Jazzfest, Mardi Gras, the Saints--what does anyone from the Great Elsewhere (anyone who's not from New Orleans) know about that? "Hell and Back", the longest chapter near the back of the book is probably the most essential chapter, about Rose's descent into depression and what finally lifted it.

This would be the second book I've read where Leon Russell has written a song about her. I was listening to Rita Coolidge in the 70s and while she and coauthor Michael Walker don't delve into each and every album she's ever done, there is a wealth of experience, love and heartbreak they just draw you into . Her hand in the creation of 'Layla' is revealed for the first time as well as the mess that was the Mad Dogs and Englishmen tour. She accomplished a lot in a couple hundred pages. Highly recommended

Mike Resnick at his best, leading us on a quest that spans generations.

This is how badass the Black Panther is. Wakanda is invaded by a neighboring kingdom, aided and abetted by the 2nd Bush administration, as well as a super-villain team led by Ulysses Klaw. The U.S. has also sent in a back-up team of ZOMBIES--that's right, Zombies, reanimated soldiers who died in Iraq and Afghanistan. All the other foes have been beaten by the time the Zombie Marines arrive. The Panther looks them in the eye and says, "If you are not off this land in one hour, you will considered an invading force and will be dealt with accordingly." After a one-page face-off, the Zombies say, "Have a nice day" and leave.

Reginald Hudlin has done a masterful job of bringing not only T'Challa but the kingdom of Wakanda to life. Later this series will be the basis for a 2010 animated miniseries. Blade makes an appearance, and I swear they made his look like Wesley Snipes. And the Bride of the Panther storyline with Storm is magnificent.