Make Mine Marvel

.

010) The Vision by Tom King et al., finished January 23

Considering how little interest I had in this comic (why did I even pick it up?), this is about the best two volumes of comics I've read in some time. So while I wasn't thrilled about the seeming hint in the Infinity War trailer that this vision of Vision may be in the distant,
future, now I hope MCU has the courage to make this film. Which would be the most expensive Oscar bait film in some time (think American Beauty, Terms of Endearment, In the Bedroom, Little Miss Sunshine, The Kids Are All Right, Winter's Bone, The Ice Storm, The Descendants...). I'm not joking. Done right, a film based on this comic could be a serious contender.

It's not that unusual to read a Marvel or DC comic that dives into philosophy or religion or the meaning-of-life or whathaveyou, but these attempts don't always land. By keeping the canvas relatively small (one family's struggle), Vision has much more success. I've never cared about Vision (silly robot! feelings are for kids!), but this proves at least as well as Blade Runner or Ex Machina that robots can be topnotch metaphors. These robots' humanity pierces.

Anyway. I'm always happy when superhero comics surprise me by doing something small and beautiful. It's my very favorite thing. It's the sort of superhero comics I would right. Also, Tom King's thank-you at the end, this is related, warmed my heart.

three or four days


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011) Miles Morales: Spider-Man by Jason Reynolds, finished January 24

I requested this book from the library because I don't know much about Miles but he seems like an intriguing character. When the book showed up and it wasn't even a comic but a novel, I almost didn't bother. But then I thought two thoughts. Some of my kids have ceased reading prose and who knows: maybe this was close enough to comics they might pick it up. And a more diverse set of protagonists would be good for them as well. However. They never picked it up. So I thought I should read the first couple chapters and see if them seeing me would make them pick it up.

No, as it ends up, but I kept reading. So there's that.

The last YA novel I started with a black protag was The Hate U Give.

I picked it up because my son will be reading it in class this year and I had never heard of it (because it's brannew, as it ends up) but only read a bit more than one chapter. Which I felt a little bad about (see diversity point above), but I was instantly bored by the voice. It tasted just like John Green or Rainbow Rowell. So I was sure it would be good, but I ... just couldn't go on. So it languished until the library wanted it back.

I didn't have that problem here. It was an easy book to slip into. And it introduced some heavy topics (racism, both personal and institutional, for instance)
with finesse. The final third of the book got a bit heavy-handed and overly mystical, I thought (both with the Big Ideas and some of the personal relationships),
but it was a smart and challenging book for its intended audience. (Not really recommended to adults, no. But seriously, adults: read a book for grownups. Geez.)

The funny thing about the climax though was the flashbacks it gave me to Get Out.

Sometimes, man. Sometimes the zeitgeist is just so ... zeitgeisty, you know?

Anyway! I've always voted DC over Marvel, but man. The last decade DC's been playing some serious catchup. Add both these books to Marvel's ledger of the legit.

under two weeks

The other books of 2018

1 – 4

001) Black Panther: A Nation Under Our Feet Book 3 by Ta-Nehisi Coates &‎ Brian Stelfreeze & al., finished January
002) The Complete Peanuts 1950-2000 by Charles M. Schulz & al., finished January
003) The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien, finished January 10
004) El Deafo by Cece Bell, finished January 12

5 – 9

005) Cleopatra in Space: Target Practice by Mike Maihack, finished January 13
006) Nabokov's Favorite Word Is Mauve by Ben Blatt, finished January 15
007) Glister by Andi Watson, finished January 18
008) Zita the Spacegirl by Ben Hatke, finished January 20
009) The Lay of Aotrou and Itroun by J.R.R. Tolkien, finished January 21

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