No Gorilla on the Cover, But Just Wait...
Jan. 27th, 2012 11:43 pmOne of the most frequently reused plots of the Silver Age Superfamily titles was "supporting cast character temporarily gains superpowers, causing problems for the hero." Jimmy Olsen and Lois Lane were the most common targets of this, but everyone got into the act, including some long-forgotten characters like the one we'll look at today.
This post contains what adds up to 7 2/3rds pages of 23 from the lead story in Superboy #157, "Get Lost, Superboy...Who Needs You?!" plus a special treat.
( Continuing DC's long love affair with gorillas )
Your thoughts and comments?
SKJAM!
This post contains what adds up to 7 2/3rds pages of 23 from the lead story in Superboy #157, "Get Lost, Superboy...Who Needs You?!" plus a special treat.
( Continuing DC's long love affair with gorillas )
Your thoughts and comments?
SKJAM!
Lost Kingdom: The Last Queen, the Sugar Kings and America's First Imperial Adventure by Julia Flynn SilerDisclaimer: I received this book in a Goodreads giveaway in the expectation that I would write a review of it.
This is not the happy story of how altruistic Americans freed the Hawaiian people from tyranny. (I'm sure there is such a book, somewhere.) It is, however, a well-researched look at the life and times of Lili'u, the last queen of Hawai'i.
Hawai'i's time as an independent kingdom was relatively short, with no one thinking to unite the islands before the coming of Westerners and the almost inevitable whittling away of sovereignity once the great powers of the Nineteenth Century took interest.
One can see that it wasn't just greedy white men's ambition that brought about the theft of power from the native Hawaiians, but a string of bad luck--if the royal family of Hawai'i had flourished, they might have been better able to stand up to economic and social pressures. If Lili'u's husband had been more compatible with her, and not died at a crucial moment, she might have gotten better advice. And if a war hadn't started at just the wrong moment, Hawai'i might not have seemed so important to annex.
I'd recommend this book to history buffs, those wanting to know more about Hawai'i, and school kids looking for something slightly different to do a book report on.
View all my reviews
Even Reggie Mantle has standards
Jan. 23rd, 2012 09:31 amIn my last post, we visited a potential future in which Kevin Keller can marry the man he loves and no one thought that was the least bit out of the ordinary.
But in the regular Archie comics, Mr. Keller must live in the eternal present. It's not quite as advanced a society....
Cover and four scans from Veronica Presents: Kevin Keller #4.
Previously, on Kevin Keller, our protagonist did well on Witmasters, a College Bowl-like TV show where he represented Riverdale. He's looking forward to a little less excitement.
( Your wish has been denied! )
Your thoughts and comments?
SKJAM!
But in the regular Archie comics, Mr. Keller must live in the eternal present. It's not quite as advanced a society....
Cover and four scans from Veronica Presents: Kevin Keller #4.
Previously, on Kevin Keller, our protagonist did well on Witmasters, a College Bowl-like TV show where he represented Riverdale. He's looking forward to a little less excitement.
( Your wish has been denied! )
Your thoughts and comments?
SKJAM!
Free Microfic Day!
Jan. 20th, 2012 09:25 pmHi! It's time for me to do a little more writing exercise, so let's have a free microfic day.
Name of Day: SKJAM!'s Free Microfic Day
Description of Service: Leave a prompt or prompts in the time window (below) and I will write at least one microfic. The themes this time will be in honor of Chinese New Year, "Dragons and other Zodiac animals."; you don't need to include any of those words in your prompt though. No fanfic, this time.
Who is Eligible: Anyone who leaves a prompt on time.
Date/Time Window: January 20-22. It may take longer than that for me to get done, of course.
Tipping? Sure, why not? My Paypal addy is skjam at yahoo dot com. If I get $10 in donations, I'll write to up to two prompts per person. If the total reaches $25, I'll make an icon related to one of the microfics for each requester. Making me a tip banner will count as $5.
Examples: Here's links to some previous microfic days. http://skjam.livejournal.com/185720.htm
http://skjam.dreamwidth.org/25099.html
This offer is on both Dreamwidth and LJ, so you may want to check out both locations.
Name of Day: SKJAM!'s Free Microfic Day
Description of Service: Leave a prompt or prompts in the time window (below) and I will write at least one microfic. The themes this time will be in honor of Chinese New Year, "Dragons and other Zodiac animals."; you don't need to include any of those words in your prompt though. No fanfic, this time.
Who is Eligible: Anyone who leaves a prompt on time.
Date/Time Window: January 20-22. It may take longer than that for me to get done, of course.
Tipping? Sure, why not? My Paypal addy is skjam at yahoo dot com. If I get $10 in donations, I'll write to up to two prompts per person. If the total reaches $25, I'll make an icon related to one of the microfics for each requester. Making me a tip banner will count as $5.
Examples: Here's links to some previous microfic days. http://skjam.livejournal.com/185720.htm
http://skjam.dreamwidth.org/25099.html
This offer is on both Dreamwidth and LJ, so you may want to check out both locations.
Hi folks!
It's occurred to me that most of the individual people who follow me on Dreamwidth, or visit my other Dreamwidth posts, are not members of Scans Daily. So I'm going to be reprinting some of my more interesting/relevant SD posts here.
This won't be crossposting to LJ, as the LJ management has had trouble working with fair use scanners before and I don't want to start any hassle.
For my first offering, a milestone issue! Please feel free to comment and let me know if you want to see more of these posts.
----
It's been a while since we last checked in with the "Life With Archie" title. As long-time readers will remember, this magazine showcases the alternate futures where Archie marries either Betty or Veronica. This resulted...somehow...in Hiram Lodge becoming an archvillain. (We've since learned more about what happened to make him that way, and it's a doozy.) Plus a whole host of other subplots.
But today, we're going to look at the main plotline in Life With Archie #16, the marriage of Kevin Keller. This is likely to be a plotline controversial with social conservatives because--
--it's interracial! I'm pretty sure this is the first interracial marriage in Archie Comics, not counting aliens or monsters.
So, how did the happy couple meet? It turns out that even in the future presented here, the US is still fighting a war in the Middle East. :-(
( Kevin Keller, war hero )
Your thoughts and comments?
SKJAM!
It's occurred to me that most of the individual people who follow me on Dreamwidth, or visit my other Dreamwidth posts, are not members of Scans Daily. So I'm going to be reprinting some of my more interesting/relevant SD posts here.
This won't be crossposting to LJ, as the LJ management has had trouble working with fair use scanners before and I don't want to start any hassle.
For my first offering, a milestone issue! Please feel free to comment and let me know if you want to see more of these posts.
----
It's been a while since we last checked in with the "Life With Archie" title. As long-time readers will remember, this magazine showcases the alternate futures where Archie marries either Betty or Veronica. This resulted...somehow...in Hiram Lodge becoming an archvillain. (We've since learned more about what happened to make him that way, and it's a doozy.) Plus a whole host of other subplots.
But today, we're going to look at the main plotline in Life With Archie #16, the marriage of Kevin Keller. This is likely to be a plotline controversial with social conservatives because--
--it's interracial! I'm pretty sure this is the first interracial marriage in Archie Comics, not counting aliens or monsters.
So, how did the happy couple meet? It turns out that even in the future presented here, the US is still fighting a war in the Middle East. :-(
( Kevin Keller, war hero )
Your thoughts and comments?
SKJAM!
It's past time to link back to some of the goodies I've prompted.
First, a tale of New Year's Eve and the witch trying to capture the pause between old and new:
"Martina" http://kajones-writing.livejournal.c
A story about false cognates:
"The Gift-Wife" http://aldersprig.livejournal.com/36032
A story of unwise men's gifts:
"Myrrh" http://aldersprig.livejournal.com/34820
And a lovely picture of a ghost cat (I think I'll name it "Scully"):
http://bootheel.livejournal.com/59535.h
All these folks have generously donated their creativity free to random people from the internet, but they also like cash donations to support their work! Watch for your chance to participate.
First, a tale of New Year's Eve and the witch trying to capture the pause between old and new:
"Martina" http://kajones-writing.livejournal.c
A story about false cognates:
"The Gift-Wife" http://aldersprig.livejournal.com/36032
A story of unwise men's gifts:
"Myrrh" http://aldersprig.livejournal.com/34820
And a lovely picture of a ghost cat (I think I'll name it "Scully"):
http://bootheel.livejournal.com/59535.h
All these folks have generously donated their creativity free to random people from the internet, but they also like cash donations to support their work! Watch for your chance to participate.
Review time!
Jan. 10th, 2012 07:39 pm
The Jinson Twins, Science Detectives, and the Mystery of Echo Lake by Steven L. ZeichnerMy rating: 2 of 5 stars
Disclosure: I received this book in a Goodreads giveaway in the understanding that I would write a review of it.
This is the author's first fiction book, designed to teach kids about scientific principles in the setting of a mystery.
The science part is pretty good, working plausibly into the plot and well explained with helpful diagrams.
The fiction part not so much. This is one book that could really have benefited from being in tight third person rather than first person, especially as it switches to third person in the middle of sentences a few times, most noticably in the last chapter.
The in media res opening could use more punch--perhaps picking a more suspenseful moment might have helped.
May or may not be a bug; the two descriptions of the treasure's backstory don't quite match up, and I was left to wonder if the character was fibbing during one of the sequences, or the author forgot to go back and check for consistency.
Younger readers might be more forgiving, but I was thrown out of the story multiple times by the narration, which is simultaneously wordy and trying to sound properly immature.
I'll be handing this book off to my young nieces, but I don't expect they'll be asking for seconds.
View all my reviews
Too Warm for January
Jan. 6th, 2012 06:53 amThe weather is way too mild for this time of year.
Went to see a screening of two Showtime TV shows last night.
"House of Lies", about a womanizing "management consultant" played by Don Cheadle as a smarmy jerk.
"Shameless" about a dysfunctional (to the point of living in separate houses) family whose patriarch (William H. Macy in Nick Nolte makeup) is a severe alcholic.
Both series use a lot of salty language and random sex scenes to seem more edgy. Neither series made me want to pony up the money to get cable. Possibly the funniest moment though was in House of Lies when they did a riff on the "women go to the restroom together" cliche.
Went to see a screening of two Showtime TV shows last night.
"House of Lies", about a womanizing "management consultant" played by Don Cheadle as a smarmy jerk.
"Shameless" about a dysfunctional (to the point of living in separate houses) family whose patriarch (William H. Macy in Nick Nolte makeup) is a severe alcholic.
Both series use a lot of salty language and random sex scenes to seem more edgy. Neither series made me want to pony up the money to get cable. Possibly the funniest moment though was in House of Lies when they did a riff on the "women go to the restroom together" cliche.
Miscellaneous
Dec. 23rd, 2011 12:47 amThose of you seeing this on Dreamwidth will get to see a new icon courtesy of ![[personal profile]](http://s.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
djinni, who is having another free icon day on his LJ right now.
Speaking of which, if you are jumping from LJ to DW and still want to read my stuff, be sure and link up. Also, I wound up getting a lot more prompts for my microfic day on DW this time, so you may want to check it out.
Am heading home for the holiday, hope my folks will hold up okay.
One of the authors of "Board to Death" contacted me via my review of that book on Goodreads, and asked for some clarification. Nice to know someone actually reads these things!
djinni, who is having another free icon day on his LJ right now. Speaking of which, if you are jumping from LJ to DW and still want to read my stuff, be sure and link up. Also, I wound up getting a lot more prompts for my microfic day on DW this time, so you may want to check it out.
Am heading home for the holiday, hope my folks will hold up okay.
One of the authors of "Board to Death" contacted me via my review of that book on Goodreads, and asked for some clarification. Nice to know someone actually reads these things!
Mystery Review!
Dec. 19th, 2011 06:51 pm
Board to Death: A Trio of Mysteries in the Dangerous Games Series by Amy BarkmanMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
Disclosure: I received this book as part of the Firstreads giveaway program on the premise that I would write a review of it.
As the subtitle says, this is a set of three mystery stories linked by the theme of games. It's double-spaced with fairly large type, so the book was a fast read.
The protagonists are all older women ("baby boomers" as the blurb puts it) and the stories double as romances as each of them finds love as well as danger. The stories are compentently written, although only one of them is a "fair play" mystery that the reader can solve with the given information. The links between the stories as the games go from one person to another might seem a bit too "cute" to more cynical readers.
Which leads to the next thing I should talk about. All of the protagonists, like their authors, are practicing Christians. This leads to rather more God-talk than most cozies contain. I was comfortable with this, but I know many readers might find it intrusive or off-putting.
A peculiarity of the stories is that there's only two religion settings for characters: practicing non-denominational Christian and entirely secular. This is pointed up by one of the secular characters calling people who go to church of a Sunday and pray at appropriate moments "religious fanatics." Clearly, she's never met any real religious fanatics...such as those who would ban board games from their homes for leading to gambling.
And a generally conservative worldview predominates. The motive for one of the deaths caught me by total surprise because it was old-fashioned, almost quaint.
I'd recommend this book most to Christian "cozy" fans, and older romance literature fans.
View all my reviews
SKJAM's Free Microfic Day--Winter Edition
Dec. 17th, 2011 08:47 pmHi! It's time for me to do a little more writing exercise, so let's a free microfic day.
Name of Day: SKJAM!'s Free Microfic Day
Description of Service: Leave a prompt or prompts in the time window (below) and I will write at least one microfic. The themes this time will be winter, cold and snow; you don't need to include any of those words in your prompt though. No fanfic, this time.
Who is Eligible: Anyone who leaves a prompt on time.
Date/Time Window: December 17 and 18, 2011. It may take longer than that for me to get done, of course.
Tipping? Sure, why not? My Paypal addy is skjam at yahoo dot com. If I get $10 in donations, I'll write to up to two prompts per person. If the total reaches $25, I'll make an icon related to one of the microfics for each requester. Making me a tip banner will count as $5.
Examples: Here's a link to my last microfic day. http://skjam.livejournal.com/185720.htm
Name of Day: SKJAM!'s Free Microfic Day
Description of Service: Leave a prompt or prompts in the time window (below) and I will write at least one microfic. The themes this time will be winter, cold and snow; you don't need to include any of those words in your prompt though. No fanfic, this time.
Who is Eligible: Anyone who leaves a prompt on time.
Date/Time Window: December 17 and 18, 2011. It may take longer than that for me to get done, of course.
Tipping? Sure, why not? My Paypal addy is skjam at yahoo dot com. If I get $10 in donations, I'll write to up to two prompts per person. If the total reaches $25, I'll make an icon related to one of the microfics for each requester. Making me a tip banner will count as $5.
Examples: Here's a link to my last microfic day. http://skjam.livejournal.com/185720.htm
Book Review Time
Dec. 11th, 2011 11:25 am
Pacific Crest Trailside Reader: Oregon and Washington: Adventure, History, and Legend on the Long - Distance Trail by Rees HughesMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Disclaimer: I received this book from a Goodreads giveaway on the assumption that I would write a review.
This anthology is a collection of short stories and essays regarding the Oregon and Washington legs of the Pacific Crest Trail, and there is a companion volume covering the California leg. Most of the pieces are true stories of hiking the long trail, but there are a couple of Coyote tales and some historical notes, as well as an essay on Mount St. Helens (not on the trail but visible from it) by Ursula K. LeGuin.
The stories take up only a few pages apiece, which makes it excellent reading for times when you only have a short minute or two to spare. There's a strong unity of themes, and if you're bored by tales of the great outdoors, this may not be the book for you.
I'd highly recommend this book to hikers, outdoorsy types and armchair adventurers; it might also do well for young adult readers and students who are taking related courses.
View all my reviews
It's wishlist time!
Nov. 24th, 2011 04:44 pm# Make a post (public, friends-locked, filtered... whatever you're comfortable with) to your LJ. The post should contain your list of ten holiday wishes. The wishes can be anything at all, from simple and fandom-related ("I'd love a Snape/Hermione icon that's just for me") to medium ("I wish for _____ on DVD") to really big ("All I want for Christmas is a new car/computer/house/TV"). The important thing is to make sure these wishes are things you really, truly want.
# If you wish for real life things (not fics or icons), make sure you include some sort of contact info in your post, whether it's your address or just your email address where Santa (or one of his elves) can get in touch with you. Your home address is not required!
# Make sure you post some version of these guidelines in your LJ, or link to the Wishlist community![[community profile]](http://s.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
wish_list (it'll be public) so that the holiday joy will spread.
STEP TWO
# Surf around your friends list (or friendsfriends, or just random journals) to see who has posted their list. And now, here's the important part...
# If you see a wish you can grant, and it's in your heart to do so, make someone's wish come true. Sometimes one person's trash is another's treasure, and if you have a leather jacket you don't want or a gift certificate you won't use - or even know where you could get someone's dream purebred Basset Hound for free - do it.
# You needn't spend money on these wishes unless you want to. The point isn't to put people out, it's to provide everyone a chance to be someone else's holiday elf - to spread the joy. Gifts can be made anonymously or not - it's your call. There are no guarantees with this project, and no strings attached. Just... wish, and it might come true. Give and you might receive. You'll have the joy of knowing you made someone's holiday special.
1. Good/better health for my family, friends and co-workers.
2. For all soldiers to come home safe and sound from the wars. My most worried-about soldier made it back, but there's sill so many out there.
3. Mix CDs! I am good with regular or MP3 CDs, but since I am on pokey dialup, downloading is not so good for me. If you're not in the US, or you happen to know a good local band, I'd like at least one track to be from a homegrown musician. If you want to know more about my tastes, or have a theme suggested, ask in the comments.
4. LJ/DW icons--take a look at my interests and build something from there.
5. Podfic or Fanart of my fanfics!
6. Something off my Amazon wishlist: http://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/wishl
7. Zynga gamecards so I can bribe my way to victory. :-P
8. Non-US candy. Yum!
9. Fanfics for pulp characters or Golden Age superheroes. Gen by preference; romance is okay if it isn't the main plot of the story.
10. Goodreads friends: Check my booklist so far here: http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/44
( Contact info )
Happy Holidays!
# If you wish for real life things (not fics or icons), make sure you include some sort of contact info in your post, whether it's your address or just your email address where Santa (or one of his elves) can get in touch with you. Your home address is not required!
# Make sure you post some version of these guidelines in your LJ, or link to the Wishlist community
wish_list (it'll be public) so that the holiday joy will spread.STEP TWO
# Surf around your friends list (or friendsfriends, or just random journals) to see who has posted their list. And now, here's the important part...
# If you see a wish you can grant, and it's in your heart to do so, make someone's wish come true. Sometimes one person's trash is another's treasure, and if you have a leather jacket you don't want or a gift certificate you won't use - or even know where you could get someone's dream purebred Basset Hound for free - do it.
# You needn't spend money on these wishes unless you want to. The point isn't to put people out, it's to provide everyone a chance to be someone else's holiday elf - to spread the joy. Gifts can be made anonymously or not - it's your call. There are no guarantees with this project, and no strings attached. Just... wish, and it might come true. Give and you might receive. You'll have the joy of knowing you made someone's holiday special.
1. Good/better health for my family, friends and co-workers.
2. For all soldiers to come home safe and sound from the wars. My most worried-about soldier made it back, but there's sill so many out there.
3. Mix CDs! I am good with regular or MP3 CDs, but since I am on pokey dialup, downloading is not so good for me. If you're not in the US, or you happen to know a good local band, I'd like at least one track to be from a homegrown musician. If you want to know more about my tastes, or have a theme suggested, ask in the comments.
4. LJ/DW icons--take a look at my interests and build something from there.
5. Podfic or Fanart of my fanfics!
6. Something off my Amazon wishlist: http://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/wishl
7. Zynga gamecards so I can bribe my way to victory. :-P
8. Non-US candy. Yum!
9. Fanfics for pulp characters or Golden Age superheroes. Gen by preference; romance is okay if it isn't the main plot of the story.
10. Goodreads friends: Check my booklist so far here: http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/44
( Contact info )
Happy Holidays!
Classic Book Review Time
Nov. 23rd, 2011 07:21 am
The Sufferings of Young Werther: A New Translation by Stanley Corngold by Johann Wolfgang von GoetheMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
Disclaimer: I received this book through a Goodreads giveaway on the premise that I would write a review of it. Also, this was an advance copy, and minor changes may be made in the final product.
I approached this book with some trepidation, seeing as how "The Sufferings of Young Werther" is considered one of the classics of German literature, and one of the most important works of literature, period. It's certainly very different from my usual taste in novels.
It takes a while for the plot, such as it is, to get moving. Werther is a passionate young man at loose ends who falls in love with a woman who is already in love with someone else. She likes him back, but as a friend. Also, her fiance is a really swell guy who befriends Werther.
Werther gets a job elsewhere and tries to woo another young woman, only to have class distinctions rubbed in his face; she's willing to see him on her own, but will not stand up for him among her peers.
So Werther returns to the town of his first love, now married to her fiance, and tries to work out that relationship. It fails, he falls into despair, and commits suicide.
I think I am perhaps finding Werther too late in my life for the book to have its full impact; it's a story of youth, written from Goethe's own youthful emotions. (Unlike his main character, Goethe got over it and grew up to a successful and moderately happy life.)
Trigger warnings: As is famous, Werther commits suicide. It's a fairly compelling depiction and in its time caused at least a few copycat suicides (which is why copycat suicides are said to have "the Werther Effect.") Also, there's an attempted rape by a minor character, who is depicted sympathetically by Werther.
The translation seems competent, but I have never read the original German or other translations to compare.
It looks like the retail price of this book will be spendy; see if your library will be getting a copy.
View all my reviews
Am still alive.
Nov. 20th, 2011 09:23 pmFirst snowfall that stuck. Attempting to get playlist for Christmas gifts done.
Reverse of usual procedure at work this week. Casual first three days, Thanksgiving, then red and khaki on Friday. Will be working Friday; anticipate lots of calls from people who tried to use cards that no longer function.
Reverse of usual procedure at work this week. Casual first three days, Thanksgiving, then red and khaki on Friday. Will be working Friday; anticipate lots of calls from people who tried to use cards that no longer function.
Book Review--SPOILERS!
Nov. 2nd, 2011 10:32 pm
Cell 8 by Anders RoslundMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
Disclaimer: I received this advanced reading copy from the publisher as part of the Firstreads giveaway program on the assumption that I would review it.
( Spoilers for a book not out in the US yet. )
Trick or treating time!
Oct. 19th, 2011 07:03 amOne of the small benefits of working at Target is access to stuffed toys of Bullseye, the Target dog. We get some of them as gifts or prizes, and others can be purchased at the company store. Over the last decade, dozens of different Bullseyes have come out in various outfits. Some of my coworkers' cubicles look like the Daisy Hill puppy farm.
So when it came time to decorate for Halloween, our local creative person did up a cubicle as a street that the various costumed Bullseyes (and some other stuffed animals in Target gear) are going trick-or-treating on. Here's a picture of some of them.
enjoy!
So when it came time to decorate for Halloween, our local creative person did up a cubicle as a street that the various costumed Bullseyes (and some other stuffed animals in Target gear) are going trick-or-treating on. Here's a picture of some of them.
enjoy!
Spooky Microfic notice
Oct. 17th, 2011 07:27 pmA spooky microfic festival going on over at alderspring's journal, here. http://aldersprig.livejournal.com/29107
Lots of good stuff, including a haunted movie theater.
alderspring's journal, here. http://aldersprig.livejournal.com/29107Lots of good stuff, including a haunted movie theater.
