Dear Alan Moore: stop writing women as you're crap at it.

[viedma]

Was on vacation last week. Didn't go anywhere, was very busy with random busy stuff, and yet I am mellow and relaxed and am clearly unfit to go back to work. Which is good because tomorrow I'm going down to Indianapolis for ILF's Legislative Day.

Went to comic book discussion group tonight and had a great time as I do. Read Watchmen, which I haven't read since I was a whippersnapper and am very wired from the endless cups of coffee I couldn't help drinking. I feel vaguely like an alcoholic waking up from a bender and wondering whether or not I have to call everyone up to apologize.

Turns out that everyone in the book group gets "their month" to pick something. I'm frankly intrigued. I'm not sure if I want to listen to people give me their opinions about Fun Home or Birth of a Nation, but am unsure what would be good to pick. If you have any suggestions I'd love to hear them. Anything out of the ordinary is good.

Comments

[cathaus.livejournal.com]

My personal favorite is Castle Waiting. Fables is also good, but being a rather established series it's a bit large now. I'm also quite fond of the Flight anthologies -charming short comics by lote of creators... and some of them continue the storyline from Flight 1 through Flight 4.

[viedma.livejournal.com]

My pal Ann liked Castle Waiting, too, thanks for the recommendation! It's been at work for ages and I haven't cracked it, but I plan to.

[annlarimer.livejournal.com]

Alan Moore does suck at writing women, but I'll put up with it since he doesn't actually hate women. Unlike, say, Frank WHORES Miller.

Alice in Sunderland is awesome, but has the drawback of being unbelievably heavy. I mean physically heavy. Fucker's huge, is what I'm saying.

Clan Destine is a short, fizzy series of super-hero delight.

I totally dug Fun Home. I haven't tried Birth of a Nation yet.

American Born Chinese is totally worth your time -- Growing Up Chinese-American with Monkey King side stories.

[viedma.livejournal.com]

I'll put up with it since he doesn't actually hate women

This is undoubtedly true. It's just that I popped a fuse when Laurie Juspeczek is on the surface of fucking Mars and all she can think of is relationships. (*hurls things*) Also, women get really cranky without a regular dose of dick. They must be on their periods or something.

So is Frank Miller like Rorschach if Rorschach wrote funny books w/ pitchers?

[viedma.livejournal.com]

I loved American Born Chinese! Good taste, you has it.

Of the two, Fun Home is definitely the most discussable; Birth of a Nation is more "omg did you see that awesome bit thar???" which is fun to do but doesn't allow for much follow-up.

[nonelvis]

Hey, at least Alan Moore isn't Dave Sim. I still haven't managed to crack open the final Cerebus collection, and am not really sure how I made it through all the rest of them.

Have you read Kyle Baker's Why I Hate Saturn? It's one of my favorites. This site does a pretty good job of summarizing it.

[viedma.livejournal.com]

I haven't, but I keep seeing Why I Hate Saturn on every "OMG you must read this!" lists. Thank you!

[jonquil.livejournal.com]

Roberto Saviano's Gomorrah is brilliant, gripping, heartbreaking, and very well-written (which means the translator must have done an ace job.) It's about living in a culture and economy (the area around Naples) which has been completely taken over by the Camorra, the mob. It's not glamorous. It ain't the Godfather, although a lot of mobsters model themselves on that and Scarface. Like In Cold Blood, it moves back and forth between genres: memoir, reporting, philosophy...

There's more to it than voyeurism, though. It's not a book about "let's see how the sexy evil people operate", far less "Aren't you glad you don't live here??" It's about what a completely corrupted economy looks like, about how much of the world's economy is funnelling through Naples, and about what the consequences are for the community.

I've been grabbing people's lapels and saying "You must read Gomorrah!" for a month now.

[jonquil.livejournal.com]

ARRRGH. *Comic* book discussion front. Sloppy reading.

You should still read Gomorrah. On the comic book front, if you're prepared to be completely silly, why not Girl Genius?

[viedma.livejournal.com]

Oh wow, thank you! (*wishlists*) This sounds frankly intriguing.