The AV Club & Stephen Fry. It's all Supplemental.

Hello,
I have a strange love for supplemental books. By supplemental I mean books that are linked to other media. Recently I picked up two enjoyable books that fit into this category. Now generally these books are completely contingent on whether you enjoy the primary material. I already read the AV Club website, which is a subsidiary of The Onion.

It was first introduced to me by a co-worker Alex and quickly I made it into one of my fave bookmarks. So it was only a matter of time before they put out a book Inventory: 16 Films Featuring Manic Pixie Dream Girls, 10 Great Songs Nearly Ruined by Saxophone, and 100 More Obsessively Specific Pop-Culture Liststo supplement and showcase their online content. Unfortunately it is exactly what it proclaims it is-a book of lists. Don't get me wrong, I am a lover of lists. I admit it is silly and sometimes pointless. However it is often amusing and I might learn about something new, but otherwise this kind of book is not meant for anything beyond the superficial laugh. If that's what your looking for then Inventory is exactly what you want. While I did find it to be a lot of fun there wasn't much that I couldn't find online.

On the other side I also picked up Stephen Fry in America: Fifty States and the Man Who Set Out to See Them All which was very insightful. Apparently British actor Stephen Fry decided to visit all 50 states and film a documentary about his travels for BBC which will air sometime in the future. Stephen Fry is a wonderful actor who is also a very strong educated writer. He is that strange British combination of very educated but also occasionally very silly. Anyone who has watched his work in Jeeves and Wooster will agree with me. Now here in the US we are still waiting for the documentary, however we do have a wonderful book already available. I was shocked at how long it took me to read this travelogue. Fry does visit all 50 states, although I felt that Idaho and Delaware may have gotten the short shrift. He does find interesting new things about each state. (Yeah even in North Dakota!) I think that I would enjoy this book regardless of whether the BBC series ever came out. That is a key sign of any good book, whether it be supplemental or not. At nearly 300+ pages it was well worth the journey.

Here's a preview for the series.


Gosh I hope it makes it way on to my PBS stations. Well until then I'll just have to live with the book. Sigh.

Have a great weekend! Book Slave.

Here comes the sun

Hello all,
It is amazing here in the City of the Salt. The shorts are out, the sandals are being worn, and life is good. I hope you all are doing as well.

I wanted to point some attention this week to a website I think is spiffy. A co-worker/friend pointed me towards this site. Admittedly I was skeptical at first but after checking out The A.V. Club, spinoff from The Onion, I was impressed. Sure there's a fair amount of edginess and unswerving mockery, but I also think there are some great series. Under the book tab you can find series such as Comics Panel, Better Late Than Never and the Box of Paperbacks Book Club. I found in these series some fun offbeat reads and reviews. Check it out.

I'd also like to point out that if you look at the sidebar I've added a list of nifty authors/artists blogs. Perhaps check some of those out if you have the chance. Okay Onward!

Review
Invincible Vol. 2
This volume picks up with the aftermath of Invincible's confrontation with his father Omni-Man. Mark has to grow up fast as he deals with his mom and heads off to college. Kirkman does an excellent job of balancing the super-heroes stuff with relationship drama. I found myself still invested in Mark's relationship with his mom and girlfriend Amber, even though it was very Silver-Agey. Like the Flash, Mark has to wrestle with whether he should tell her he's a superhero or not. It also reminded me of Spider-Man. Kirkman pulls from these classic archetypes in a fun way. Unfortunately I missed the urgency of Vol. 1, and the way that Kirkman defied expectations. Sometimes it was pretty predictable. Also I got pretty tired of all the expositional dialogue. I'd have preferred more showing, less telling.

Previous Volume Review: Invincible Vol. 1
Comic Series Info: Invincible

The Reading List
Books
Dangerous Laughter
The Game of Their Lives

Magazine
Vanity Fair

Comic
Captain America #49

Check Out Count: Gonna get better.

Comic Pull List: Daredevil #118, Detective Comics #853, Dynamo 5 #21, New Avengers #52, Outsiders #17, Trinity #47

Have a great week! Book Slave.