14 Apr 2015
I've had a fascination with John Constantine for as long as I can remember and I have no idea why or how. I do not remember the first time I heard the name. I do not remember learning about him. He's been a character that I've known for too long like Batman or the Hulk that I don't remember when I first came across him. The bizarre part is unlike the 2 comic heroes I just named, Constantine is pretty obscure. He's too dark to be a family-friendly anything, and no one in my family or friends read comics growing up, so I have honestly no idea where I came across him. But I like him.
Hellblazer is just dark enough, dirty enough to hit a sweet spot for me. I like his flippancy. I like how he doesn't always save the day. I like how he makes such poor choices. I like how his suffering is largely his own doing. I like that he seems close to a real person.
My only complaint: It's a comic book. Ironic, I know, perhaps bordering on ridiculous to say that I really like this comic book character and then complain that it is, in fact, a comic book. I would be madly in love with Constantine if he were in standard book format. I could get lost. In the comic format, I can't. I know many would attempt to burn me at the stake for saying such, but books filled only with words are superior to comics.
Wednesday, April 15, 2015
Wednesday, April 8, 2015
Danse Macabre - Stephen King
8 Apr 2015
An old book, it was written about the early to mid 80's but still interesting. I'm not well versed in the horror genre in any format, radio, book, movie, television, and especially in the cases listed in this book as they were all from before I was born. To me this was a gold mine of things to put on my "To see/read" list. Many of the classics I recognized, but didn't know the stories behind.
The best part of this book was observing the deconstruction of the genre by another author of it. So often when I see critics reviews on a movie, I assume the opposite. The critics hated it? Must be awesome!
In this case, Stephen King is commenting on his forebears and contemporaries, not from the perspective of some lord, as outside critics do, so we see an more accurate description of the good and the bad. He is also very honest in his description of the bimodal pattern of quality seen in the horror from the eras discussed: when it's good, it's really good but when it's bad, it's really bad.
Pick up this book if you're looking for a quality list of 20th century horror to get your hands on, or if you enjoy the musing of a young, but popular fiction author.
An old book, it was written about the early to mid 80's but still interesting. I'm not well versed in the horror genre in any format, radio, book, movie, television, and especially in the cases listed in this book as they were all from before I was born. To me this was a gold mine of things to put on my "To see/read" list. Many of the classics I recognized, but didn't know the stories behind.
The best part of this book was observing the deconstruction of the genre by another author of it. So often when I see critics reviews on a movie, I assume the opposite. The critics hated it? Must be awesome!
In this case, Stephen King is commenting on his forebears and contemporaries, not from the perspective of some lord, as outside critics do, so we see an more accurate description of the good and the bad. He is also very honest in his description of the bimodal pattern of quality seen in the horror from the eras discussed: when it's good, it's really good but when it's bad, it's really bad.
Pick up this book if you're looking for a quality list of 20th century horror to get your hands on, or if you enjoy the musing of a young, but popular fiction author.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)