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Year End Book Report: The Best Books I Read in 2013

Posted in Batman, books, comic books, movies, pop culture with tags Book Report, books, gunfighters, reviews, Star Wars, westerns, Year End Books on January 10, 2014 by Paxton

How did this happen!? It’s that time of year again where I pick my favorite books of the year? Is 2013 over already? WTF?! Time is just flying by. My son is 3, my daughter is 1 and I’m writing the fifth in my series of year end book reports. THAT. IS. COCONUTS.

Anyway, if you’ve read this article in the past you know I keep my book log online. Here’s the link to my Book Log on Google Spreadsheet. There are tabs for every year since 2007. Take a look on the 2013 tab and you can see that I read 58 books/comics/graphic novels this year. That’s way low compared to 2012 in which I read 80 books/comics/graphic novels. However, having two kids will do that to you. Those totals include not only books I read for the first time but anything I re-read for the second (or more) time. For the list below, though, I’ll only take into account books I read for the first time in 2013.

And I actually have FOUR books on this list that were released in 2013. That may be a personal record.

Below you will find, first, my list of favorite books and following that my list of favorite comic books/graphic novels. Enjoy.

Books

Impulse (Jumper Book 3) – Steven Gould – I talked about this series on the Nerd Lunch podcast last year and I sort of reviewed the first two books on the blog back in 2009. I enjoyed the movie for what it was but it led me to the books which were published first. And the books are excellent. There are three of them; the original Jumper from 1992, the 2004 sequel, Reflex, and then this third book which was released early 2013. All three books are excellent, but you’ll need to read the first two before reading this book. There’s a lot of continuity that flows throughout the books. Oh, and if you hated the movie, don’t worry, other than sharing a few of the same characters, the stories are completely different between the two. Just a warning, though, there is another “Jumper” book by Steven Gould called Jumper: Griffin’s Story. That book is not really a part of this series, it’s a part of the movie series. Confusing? Yes, but that’s the way it is. Read my blog review above for a little bit more explanation. All that aside, this is a fun read that I thoroughly enjoyed. And hopefully we don’t have to wait 10 years for another Jumper book.

The Lies of Locke Lamora (Gentleman Bastards Book 1) (2006) – Scott Lynch – I forget how I first stumbled across this book, I think it was while I was searching the store on my Nook. I was intrigued by the title and the premise. It’s somewhat like an Ocean’s 11 con man/heist story but set in a fantasy world. Hard to explain, but the book is extremely well written, has a great world built up within and interesting, smart and dangerous characters. Gun to my head, I would probably put this as my favorite book of the year. Just really fun and well written. I recently bought the sequel, Red Seas Under Red Skies, with holiday money and I’m eyeballing the third book, The Republic of Thieves, which came out in Oct 2013. Lynch also plans a series of novellas based within this world. If you like smartly written, character based fantasy with a nice helping of action, this book is for you.

Star Wars: Scoundrels (2013) – Timothy Zahn – Timothy Zahn is one of the best Star Wars EU writers. He wrote the Zahn Trilogy as well as the awesome books Star Wars: Allegiance and Star Wars: Outbound Flight (which made my favorites list in 2010). This is a Han Solo adventure that also happens to include Chewie, of course, and Lando. And it’s great. I honestly hope that when Disney makes the Han Solo stand alone movie, they use this as the blueprint. It takes place right after the first Death Star is blown up in the original Star Wars: A New Hope. Han gathers a team of expert con men and thieves in order to steal a priceless piece of art from a Black Sun boss. Han hopes the proceeds from the job will free him of his debt to Jabba. Lots of well written, fun dialogue and heist action. There’s also a short story prequel to this book called Star Wars: Winner Lose All that focuses on what Lando is doing right before the actual book. It, too, is a lot of fun.

Star Wars: Kenobi (2013) – John Jackson-Miller – Oh wow, two Star Wars books get to make my list this year. Yay! This book was very highly anticipated by myself. I’ve said for years that a movie or book based on Obi-Wan’s “Tatooine Years” would be amazing. When Disney was throwing out the stand alone movie ideas I said Ewan McGregor as Kenobi should get one. And this book should be the basis. It takes place just after Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith. Obi-Wan has dropped off Luke to the Lars Homestead and he’s setting up base in the Judland Wastes and starts getting acquainted with the denizens of a small moisture farming town who are being attacked by Tusken Raiders. Great book. Check it out.

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Nerd Lunch Episode 111: Guilty Displeasures II

Posted in comic books, Mountain Dew, soda, TV shows with tags comic books, monsters, Mountain Dew, Nerd Lunch Podcast, podcasts, soda, zombies on December 10, 2013 by Paxton

Episode 111 of the podcast features the nerds in what the TAG Network likes to call a “3 Way Dance”. No 4th chair this week. CT, Jeeg and I gather to discuss a topic that we haven’t done since WAY back in episode 4; Guilty Displeasures.

Love/Hate

Guilty Displeasures; things we think we should love, but don’t. Expect us to discuss things like Mt Dew flavor extensions, comic books, zombies, peppermint and lots more. So come join us for some fun in discovering things that we all hate.

Download this episode from iTunes or listen to it on Feedburner.

Or listen to it online in your browser here.

AWESOME-tober-fest 2013: 5 comic covers that homage famous zombie movie posters

Posted in comic books, monsters, movies, pop culture, zombies with tags AWESOME-tober-fest, AWESOME-tober-fest 2013, Cavalcade Comics, comic books, Halloween, holiday, movies, pop culture, zombies on October 23, 2013 by Paxton

Earlier, I did an article where I talked about comic covers that homage famous movie posters. While writing that aricle I decided to hold back a few entries in anticipation of this article.

So, in honor of my Halloween zombie theme this year, here are some comic covers that specifically homage famous zombie movies of the past.

Marvel’s third Zombies mini-series (I covered the Marvel Zombies comic franchise earlier this month) featured covers that mimic old zombie posters. Let’s take a look at those four covers.

Marvel Zombies 3 #1 (right) homages the famous Army of Darkness poster (left). Front and center on the comic is Machine Man who figures prominently into the story.

The cover to Marvel Zombies 3 #2 mimics the poster for 28 Days Later.

Marvel Zombies 3 #3 looks exactly like the original Evil Dead poster.

Marvel Zombies 3 #4 mimics the great Shaun of the Dead poster.

Another Marvel series that homaged famous movie posters was Deadpool: Merc with a Mouth. It homaged a lot of famous posters like Jaws, Silence of the Lambs, The Graduate, Scarface and even Pretty Woman. See them here on Comic Vine. Only issue #3 homages a zombie movie.

Deadpool: Merc with a Mouth #3 homages Romero’s Dawn of the Dead

Also, check out the blog Countdown to Halloween for more Halloween-y, bloggy AWESOMEness.

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AWESOME-tober-fest 2013: Marvel’s Simon Garth: The Zombie!

Posted in comic books, monsters, pop culture, zombies with tags AWESOME-tober-fest, AWESOME-tober-fest 2013, Cavalcade Comics, comic books, Halloween, holiday, Marvel Comics, monsters, zombies on October 16, 2013 by Paxton

In 1953, the forerunner of Marvel Comics, Atlas Comics, released the fifth issue of their horror anthology title, Menace.

In this issue, in a standalone story written by Stan Lee and drawn by Bill Everett was the debut of a character known only as, The Zombie.

The short story offered no background, just the simple setup of a zombie walking the swamps who is controlled by a mysterious evil man in a hidden cabin. After the story first appeared the character sort of disappeared.

Then in 1974, editor Roy Thomas plucked the character from obscurity and made him the star of his very own horror themed magazine called Tales of the Zombie.

The magazine re-printed Lee’s original Menace story, but then Thomas had Steve Gerber and Joe Buscema craft a prologue story, Altar of the Damned, to fill out the zombie backstory and give the character a name; Simon Garth. Gerber and Buscema then did another story called Night of the Walking Dead to continue the character’s adventures forward.

New stories in each issue of the magazine were mostly done by Steve Gerber and Pablo Marcos. Other notable contributers included Doug Moench and Chris Claremont. Simon Garth’s final appearance in this magazine would be in issue 9 which awesomely culminated in a story arc at his daughter’s wedding.

The magazine would actually go release issue 10, but it featured the character Brother Voodoo and not Simon Garth.

Since the 70s, Simon has popped up in appearances all over the Marvel Universe including Spider-Man, Blade, Dracula and, most recently, was a main character in Marvel Zombies 4.

He’s not had his own series again, but he did get a few mini-series in 2007 under the Marvel MAX imprint.

Also, check out the blog Countdown to Halloween for more Halloween-y, bloggy AWESOMEness.

AWESOME-tober-fest 2013: Marvel Zombies (2005-current)

In Dec 2005, Marvel published a 5 issue mini-series written by Robert Kirkman and drawn by Sean Phillips called Marvel Zombies. It was essentially an “alternate universe” tale about the heroes and villains of the Marvel Universe contracting a virus that turned them all into zombies.

The whole idea originated in a story arc in Ultimate Fantastic Four issues 21-23 (Sep 2005). Reed Richards is tricked by a duplicate of himself from another dimension into bringing over him and his alternate dimension FF teammates. Turns out, that version of the Fantastic Four is actually infected with a super-virus that turned them into zombies and their dimension has run out of their food source; brains and human flesh. The Zombie Four wish to enter this new dimension that is full of tasty brains to eat. Reed and the Ultimate FF defeat the zombies, but only barely and only with the help of Victor Von Doom.

The Marvel Zombies mini begins on this alternate universe of Marvel Heroes a small while after the Crossover story arc. Some of the details before this story arc would be fleshed out in a later one-shot written by Robert Kirkman called Marvel Zombies: Dead Days. But the first Marvel Zombies series takes placed right after Crossover.

Marvel Zombies 1 Marvel Zombies 4

Magneto destroys the cross dimensional portal that Reed used during the Crossover story to bring the zombie FF over to the other dimension. Magneto is then killed by all of the zombies. The Silver Surfer arrives on the planet to announce Galactus’ arrival, but he too is overwhelmed and killed by the zombies who then each absorb some of the Surfer’s Power Cosmic. The zombies with the Power Cosmic kill and devour the non-powered zombies to remove the competition for food. Galactus arrives and barely fights off the zombie hordes. Giant-Man, Iron Man and Bruce Banner develop a machine to harness and increase the Power Cosmic they all have and they use this to finally injure and devour Galactus. Galactus’ power is absorbed by the surviving group of zombies who use this power to leave the planet and start scouring the Universe for planets with more food.

I honestly didn’t know what to expect when I read this but it’s pretty awesome. I discovered Robert Kirkman first through his Astounding Wolf-Man and Invincible comics. I knew about Marvel Zombies, but when I discovered Kirkman wrote the first two mini-series, I grabbed both of them as well as the Dead Days prequel and devoured them (pun intended) immediately. These first Kirkman produced books are nothing short of amazing in their storytelling. I can’t recommend them enough.

(Via Comic Vine)

There were several non-Kirkman sequels after Marvel Zombies 2. Marvel Zombies 3 (2008) and 4 (2009) were written by Fred Van Lente and drawn by Kev Walker. They are appropriately over-the-top and fun. Part 3 has the character of Machine Man as it’s protagonist and Part 4 uses the Midnight Sons (Morbius, Man-Thing, Werewolf by Night, Damien Hellstrom and Jennifer Kale). Now that I’m looking it up, it seems Van Lente actually also wrote a Marvel Zombies 5 in 2010. I haven’t read that one, but 3 and 4 are fun and zany stories that don’t aspire (nor really need to) to the scope of the first two mini-series. Plus, it could be that the concept is spreading itself a little thin by the third sequel.

After this a collection of one-shots were released called Marvel Zombies Return as well as Marvel Zombies Supreme and a one shot called Evil Evolution which is a crossover between Marvel Zombies and Marvel Apes. So yeah, Marvel is milking the hell out of this zombies thing, but it’s still really popular. And I keep reading them, for sure. I’ll definitely continue on with part 5.

Also, check out the blog Countdown to Halloween for more Halloween-y, bloggy AWESOMEness.