BIbliomike

July 8, 2009 2:42 pm This has been a surprisingly strong series, given that the protagonist -- who shall remain nameless (no, seriously!) -- appeared in only one episode (well, three, depending on how you count) of the original "Star Trek" series.  Byrne has crafted one gem of a standalone classic Trek tale after another, and given them an emotionally satisfying, continuity-pleasing thread to tie them all together.  I can't wait to see how it all wraps up!

April 22, 2009 3:59 pm My son and I got to watch Monsters vs. Aliens in 2D.  You should have been able to, too, at the proverbial theater near you. :-)

April 21, 2009 2:15 pm Cool.  Thanks for the clarification.

April 21, 2009 11:53 am "Fairy tale, fable, or nursery rhyme" -- Just curious, are Greek myths off-limits?

January 13, 2009 10:16 am I pulled it -- assuming I can lay my hands on one, of which I am not sure at all.

January 13, 2009 10:15 am Hawking it as a "double origin issue" is either really lame or really clever -- but, yes, I loved the first issue, and think the art is beautiful and am so glad it is remaining so faithful to Baum's text.  This will be a beautiful collected edition to give to young readers in the future.

November 26, 2008 4:38 pm

Re: dust jackets - since I work in the rare book trade, "I know this one!" :-) 

Although dust jackets originally protected the books (circa 1890-1920), ever since about the publication of "The Great Gatsby" they have become primarily advertising tools -- i.e., they are there to get you to pick up a book at the bookstore and say, "Ooh, this looks cool!"  They serve no real protective function.  On the other hand, if you want to keep your books in collectible condition, you should know that 80% of a modern first edition's value is determined by whether it has its original dust jacket.  Not that most books published today will ever be worth thousands of dollars -- they are generally printed in such huge print runs -- but even my local used book store won't accept modern books without their jackets.

I either remove the jackets while reading a book to keep them nice, or put mylar protectors over them.  You can get mylar dust jacket protectors from such companies as Gaylord or Brodart.

October 1, 2008 10:34 am

Heroes4Heroes.com is a charity that accepts (preferably recent) comic books for soliders abroad.  No, I am not a paid endorser -- but I have sent them several shipments of books I've read and decided I don't want to keep.

Also, I am starting to narrow the focus of what I buy (much less what I save) to a few specific characters (in my case, the Superman family).

September 15, 2008 2:02 pm I liked the 3-D effects, but the plot was barely comprehensible.  Disappointing.

August 12, 2008 10:50 am

Never having seen the Batman TAS I can't weigh in on the great debate of "homage and/or reinvention," but I will say that first installment was my favorite on the whole disc.  I think Batman is such a pop culture icon that anyone who was "uninitiated" watching this story would immediately figure out that we had a multiple p.o.v., "blind men touching the elephant" story going on.  It was well-structured, well-acted and well-paced, and had a satisfying sense of closure.  By far the best installment (which is a shame, since it was the first!).

I liked the concept of Bruce learning from the Indian woman -- that philosophical training made a nice counterpart to the physical training we saw him get in "Batman Begins" -- but I think the disc as a whole would've been stronger if that storyline had been spread out among all the other installments.  I realize that wasn't the plan, so maybe it's not fair to criticize the film for what it wasn't -- still, I would've done it differently.

I didn't care for the animation style much at all (except in that first installment, where it really works to the advantage of the storytelling), but I thought the writing was decent enough.  I like the idea of Batman rejecting a personal force field because it could inadvertently wound innocent (or in this case even not-so-innocent) bystanders.  Overall, a strong effort that maybe could have benefitted by being a more traditionally unified movie.