Saturday, November 9, 2019
Wednesday, November 6, 2019
Tuesday, November 5, 2019
Monday, November 4, 2019
Sunday, November 3, 2019
Recently Read: Journey to the Center of the Earth, by Jules Verne
If you're going to read one of the most famous and enjoyed novels of all, I recommend this relatively new translation by Frank Wynne, helpfully annotated. Verne's preposterous but compelling story is much faster paced than you'd expect from an 1864 novel, and it's intrinsically interesting; who hasn't pondered what wonders the subterranean world might reveal if passageways led to deeper depths than man has traveled?
The obsessed and brilliant professor Otto Lidenbrock, his skeptical nephew Axel (the narrator) and their humorously stoic Iclandic guide Hans are sketched clear and sharp and their travels, from Hamburg, Germany to Copenhagen to Reykjavík and onward into the depths of a dormant volcano take a third of the book (but go by quickly). In material added after the novel's initial publication, Verne grapples with Darwinian theory, in ways I'll allow the book to reveal.
This Penguin edition also features an introduction by Pulitzer Prize winner Jane Smiley and notes by Peter Cogman.
Saturday, November 2, 2019
Recently Read: The Complete Sky Masters of the Space Force, by Jack Kirby
Publisher Greg Theakston's black and white collection of the complete Sky Masters of the Space Force syndicated comic strip by Jack Kirby is a treat. The strip was ostensibly written by Dick and Dave Wood (though later stories in the series were clearly written by Kirby) and inked by Wally Wood, Dick Ayers and Kirby himself. It's a very of-its time pageant of U.S. space exploration, comprising sixteen stories. Both Kirby and Wally Wood play to their strengths here, with cosmic vistas, shadow-drenched machinery and costumes and heavily researched tech details.
The main character, Sky Masters, isn't particularly interesting, but the scenarios are, even when, towards the end, Kirby's clearly losing interest and the art becomes as minimal as possible (think: silhouettes whenever possible). The tales of greed, fear, heroism, the supernatural and scientific possibilities are all entertaining.
Theakston rounds out the book with plenty of supplementary material, including art from an early prototype for the series, art from other Kirby/Wood projects, pencils, newspaper ads, and a detailed history of the strip, including affidavit transcripts from Kirby's legal battle with Jack Schiff, then an editor at DC Comics - a battle which would result in Kirby leaving DC for the next ten years (thus making possible the '60s Marvel revolution).
Friday, November 1, 2019
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