Just let the sun come down on me.

Hello,
Today the rain is endlessly gloomy. It won't stop. What a bummer. I've found myself all week distracted. Flitting from book pile to book pile unable to settle on anything. It must be the promise of spring, if it will ever consistently come.

Previously I've mentioned that PBS is currently showing an excellent BBC adaptation of Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens. Breathlessly I've been watching this miniseries and I highly recommend it. It's so topical in these economical times. If you've had to miss an episode or two they are available to view here for free. Also I've enjoyed the guest blog reviews over at Egalitarian Bookworm and comment over there after each episode. Check those out here.

Reviews
JSA: The Golden Age
It is generally agreed that the Golden age of comics began in 1938 w/the appearance of Superman #1. After that comics became mostly about superheroes until comics were shut down by the Hays Office in the mid-fifties. It was The Flash that ushered in The Bronze Age in 1956. In his 4 issue mini-series JSA: The Golden Age writer James Robinson brings back the Justice Society of America for a post-World War II reunion. I picked this up because I've loved Robinson's work on Starman and I heard this was a good intro to JSA. Boy is it. I really enjoyed this series. Although it is outside of continuity it brings in so many wonderful aspects of pre-realism comics. Robinson gives us great simple introductions to each character quickly using cool page layouts by artist Paul Smith. Although there is a lot of action, Robinson focuses on giving the characters "real" psychological human issues. My particular favorites were original Starman Ted Knight, who has a mental breakdown, and Liberty Bell, a woman who feels trapped in a bad relationship. The problem I had with this series is that I don't think that it was long enough. There is a lot of wrap up in issue 4 which I think could have been been decompressed. Perhaps may 6-8 issues would've meant less exposition writing and more Ted Knight.

Comic Info: Justice Society of America, Golden Age comics


The Reading List
Books
Game of Their Lives
I Led Three Lives

Magazine
Four Four Two

Comics
Trinity #44

Check Out Count: Not as good as it could be.

Comic Pull List: Action Comics #876, Fables #83, Green Arrow Black Canary #19, Incognito #3, Oracle #2, Stand American Nightmares #2, Trinity #46

Have a great week! Book Slave.