2011-03-28

I got an AML Award!

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You may not have ever heard of them, but I have always wanted an AML Award. I wouldn't mind a Pulitzer or a National Book Award or a Daytime Emmy, but of all the literary/art awards in the world, the one I had most set my sights on was an AML Award. Someday, sometime, I would write a book or something that would capture the AML's attention and net me an award. Someday

And then, to my great surprise, last week I received this email (first paragraph only):

    You have been selected for an award by the Association for Mormon Letters for your invaluable work in editing the September 2010 edition of Sunstone : Mormon Experience, Scholarship, Issues and ... COMICS!


I was terribly excited. I yelled and jumped in the hallway and pumped my first in the air --- things I'm not sure my normally demure self has ever done before.

Is this silly? I don't care. I won an AML Award. I'm such a fan I wrote the Wikipedia page.

I have not received a copy of the full citation yet, nor have I heard back from the artist I sent in my stead to pick up the award. (Last week plane tickets were particularly expensive and, as it ended up, I was in bed sick all weekend anyway.) I have heard back from Master Fob who represented me at the reading that night where he heard, among other things, "how elusive [I] are, that they're beginning to wonder whether [I'm] a real person."

Since I haven't heard back from my proxy acceptor yet, I don't know if he ended up reading my thanks (I told him to do so only if it seemed appropriate), but for the record, here's what I sent him out of my illness-addled mind:

    First, I am terribly horribly genuinely excited to receive an AML Award. I carried a dopey grin on my face for the two days between receiving the email from Mr Clark and getting laid up in bed sleeping sixteen hours a day with a jaw swollen up like a lopsided chipmunk. I told my wife it was better than winning, say, a Pulitzer because with a Pulitzer there would have been some buzz ahead of time so I couldn't possibly be as surprised and thus ecstatic as I am now.
    In addition to thanking AML for recognizing comics as a viable medium and the work of the artists in the Sunstone comics issue, obviously I need to thank Sunstone (and editor Stephen Carter in particular) for giving me the opportunity to anthologize these artists' work. I had been planning a comics anthology for a couple years with idea of publishing it through my press, Peculiar Pages, but I knew that comics are complicated and expensive and I just didn't have the wherewithal to pull it off. But now, with Sunstone's help, that herculean task has been done once. I'm hopeful it can be done again.
    Of course, recognizing the existence of Mormon comics is just a first step. Just as recognizing the existence of Mormon poetry, scholarship, fiction and cinema were first steps. Now we need to grow our production and our audience. This will happen. Comics are burgeoning in the national mainstream and I have every reason to expect Mormon comics will follow. How will it happen? I don't know. I'm just excited to be present at the beginning of this train ride. And I'm grateful for this award, because it makes me believe you're all buying tickets. Let's go get 'em punched and head on down the line.
    Dibs on a window seat.

2011-03-24

Stories in Sunstone 162 (March 2011)

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First, as an aside, I know I know --- I haven't reviewed any Dialogue fiction since getting an online subscription. I know. I intend to.

"The Prophet Claude" by Jack Harrell

This is half of a longer story in Jack's new collection and so I am not a fair judge of what it might be like to come to this story without knowing what's missing. (Incidentally, nothing's really missing in terms of chronology --- there's a pov missing.) So while I do like this title better (the original's: "A Prophet's Story"), I find the story significantly impaired by what is lost.

Again, if I did not know what is lost, I might feel differently.

That said, it's a fascinating look at God moving into someone's life.

And the accompanying art by Galen is quite nice. Perfect for the story.

You know, I sorta discovered her. Thank me.


Borderlands by Eric Samuelsen

Eric's work is always brilliant of course, but I may have an issue with this play. I can't decide.

The conceit is a bunch of Mormons struggling with the faith for various reasons converge on a used-car lot and have conversations. The dialogue is naturalistic and fun and well written. My issue comes with the gay character. Not the gay character himself, but the reactions he receives from the other characters.

These people who are adept at viewing the world in shades of gray suddenly, when confronted with homosekshuality, suddenly become blackandwhitists? Ridiculous.

But, then, the more I thought about it, the more I wondered. In fact, maybe this is true. Maybe I am blinded by geography---?

Speaking of Sunstone, I was at their symposium last weekend (to present on Mormon comics) in Cupertino and the final plenary session was on being gay and Mormon and the confluence of those two communities and I was startled to realize that all the efforts my stake has been making to get these communities together and refriended may not be Typical. This was emphasized later when speaking with a woman lamenting that her Bay Area stake would never reach out and attempt some healing as the Oakland Stake has done.

I don't get this. As Christians, the one place our gay brothers and sisters should feel welcomed is With Us. That this may not be happening troubles me deeply. And that Borderlands may in fact be accurate in its depiction makes me sad.

Anyway, it's a good play. Not his best but truly lovely. If you're in Utah, it's playing soon. Like, next week.

2011-03-23

THE AMAZING STUNT READER PRESENTS
THE BLACK DOGS BY IAN MCEWAN

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026) The Black Dogs by Ian McEwan, finished March 21

monthish

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! BOYS AND GIRLS! FRIENDS OF ALL AGES! BEHOLD THE AMAZING WONDER READER! HE READS UPSIDE DOWN! HE READS WHILE WALKING! HE'S . . . . THMAZING THE WONDER READER!

People are amazed by the simplest things. I'm always getting people coming up to me amazed that I can read and walk at the same time. And students are consistently astounded when I read from the book on their desk which is, wait for it, UPSIDE DOWN from my vantage.

It's not that hard, people.

For a while now I've been meaning to ironically read an entire book upside down while walking. I had the thought it might be sensible to pick something in large print and as our local library had The Black Dogs in large print and because I've been wanting to read one of McEwan's more uncanny books, I chose this.

In the end, large print might not have been any easier. McEwan doesn't have the simplest vocabulary and this book is loaded with French to boot. Also --- the length of his paragraphs! And the lack of decent margins! And the crappy choice of font!

And I broke down on reading the whole thing while walking when stuck at a school activity with nothing to do but sit and read with occasional interruptions for two hours.

But I did read the entire thing with the book upside down and I would estimate 80-90% while walking.

TA-DA!

The book itself was okay. Not nearly as good as Atonement or Chesil Beach although it does share certain thematic elements.

I found the book's entire premise fine, but McEwan takes so long to get to the story every character is fixated on from page one that I wanted to strangle him. Although aesthetically it actually works out fine, it does make his narrator seem like a dope.

Basically, a young couple honeymooning in postwar France runs into two black dogs. From the experience one becomes a mystic while the other remains strictly rational. Conflict ensues.

Yeah.

Did I mention I read this book upside down?

2011-03-21

More better books

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025) Stitches by David Small, finished March 20


First: this book was good. Very good. So good you can't really point at any part of it and say At This Moment It Is Imperfectly Crafted. The art is elegant and emotional and perfect. The story is arranged just so. And all the reviews agree this is pretty much the best book ever. (You can read some from the beginning of the book here.)

Yet for me it never really came together. It was too perfect, you know what I mean? Like a perfectly produced pop album. Flawless. And in the end a little dull. Disappointing.

It may be that my expectations were just too high and if I read it again in a couple years I'll feel differently. It may even mature in my memory --- this has happened to books before.

We shall see

two or three days



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024) Arkham Asylum: Madness by Sam Kieth, finished January 19 or 20 depending on when midnight happened exactly


Sam Keith's style here is a heightened version of what he did with Maxx and although he, in the afterword, calls the effort a failure, I disagree. The miss of ultracartoony with photorealistic worked quite nicely for me. And although the story of the woman who loses part of her soul working at Arkham Asylum didn't quite gel, it came close and was admirably ambitious. Plus, the Joker is a nice mix of playful old and purely evil new.

a few days

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023) Hamlet by William Shakespeare, finished March 18


I mean --- it's good and I like it, but, sigh, I really need to read it less frequently.

under two weeks



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==================================
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Previously in 2011 . . . . :



21-22
022) Red Rocket 7 by Mike Allred, finished March 10
021) Missile Mouse: Rescue on Tankium3 by Jake Parker, finished March 10

20
020) The Hotel Cat by Esther Averill, finished February 28


18-19
019) Wonderland by Tommy Kovac and Sonny Liew, finished February 21
018) Redcoat by Kohl Glass (MS POLICY), finished February 18

14-17
017) Best American Comics 2010 edited by Neil Gaiman, finished February 12
016) Little Bee by Chris Cleave, finished February 10
015) Travels with Charley by John Steinbeck, finished February 2
014) Cursed Pirate Girl: The Collected Edition Vol. I by Jeremy Bastian, finished January 31

13-9
013) Sweet Tooth: In Captivity by Jeff Lemire, finished January 30
012) Sweet Tooth: Out of the Woods by Jeff Lemire, finished January 30
011) Essex County: The Country Nurse by Jeff Lemire, finished January 30
010) Essex County: Ghost Stories by Jeff Lemire, finished January 29
009) Essex County: Tales from the Farm by Jeff Lemire, finished January 29

8
008) Magdalene by Morah Jovan, finished January 27

7-6
007) Knightfall Part Two: Who Rules the Night by a slew of DC folk, finished January 23
006) Bayou by Jeremy Love, finished January 17

5-1
005) Mr. Monster by Dan Wells, finished January 10
004) The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane, finished January 6
003) The Mystery of the Dinosaur Graveyard by Mary Adrian, finished January 5
002) Batman - Judge Dredd: Judgment on Gotham by John Wagner and Alan Grant and Simon Bisley, with lettering by the famous Todd Klein; finished January 4
001) Batman: Venom by Dennis O'Neil et al, finished January 2

2011-03-13

Light So Shine (part two)
an elders quorum lesson
(svithe)

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[last week I shared what my eq lesson would be about; this week I'm sharing the death-of-discussion-prevention quotes I handed out (not that that's ever a problem) (because it's not)]


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ROBERT D HALES on Being a Lighthouse

Growing up on Long Island, in New York, I understood how vital light was to those traveling in the darkness on the open sea. How dangerous is a fallen lighthouse! How devastating is a lighthouse whose light has failed!
We who have the gift of the Holy Ghost must be true to its promptings so we can be a light to others.
“Let your light so shine before men,” said the Lord, “that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”
We never know who may be depending on us. And, as the Savior said, we “know not but what they will return and repent, and come unto me with full purpose of heart, and I shall heal them; and ye shall be the means of bringing salvation unto them.”  


RUSSELL M NELSON on Using Our Laserbeam Eyes for Good

Each member can be an example of the believers. Brethren, as followers of Jesus Christ, each of you can live in accord with His teachings. You can have “a pure heart and clean hands”; you can have “the image of God engraven upon your [countenance].” Your good works will be evident to others. The light of the Lord can beam from your eyes. With that radiance, you had better prepare for questions. The Apostle Peter so counseled, “Be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you.” 
Let your response be warm and joyful. And let your response be relevant to that individual. Remember, he or she is also a child of God, that very God who dearly wants that person to qualify for eternal life and return to Him one day. You may be the very one to open the door to his or her salvation and understanding of the doctrine of Christ.
After your initial response, be ready to take the next step.



ELAINE S DALTON on Why the All the Boys Like Mormon Girls

I can see a day when the world will look to you and say: “Who are you? Who are these young women who radiate this light? Why are you so happy? Why do you know your direction in such a confusing world?” And you will arise and stand on your feet and say with conviction: “We are daughters of our Heavenly Father, who loves us, and we love Him. We will ‘stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places.’ ”


GORDON B HINCKLEY on How Cool Is the Priesthood?

God has bestowed upon us a gift [the priesthood] most precious and wonderful. It carries with it the authority to govern the Church, to administer in its affairs, to speak with authority in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, to act as His dedicated servants, to bless the sick, to bless our families and many others. It serves as a guide by which to live our lives. In its fulness, its authority reaches beyond the veil of death into the eternities God has bestowed upon us a gift most precious and wonderful. It carries with it the authority to govern the Church, to administer in its affairs, to speak with authority in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, to act as His dedicated servants, to bless the sick, to bless our families and many others. It serves as a guide by which to live our lives. In its fulness, its authority reaches beyond the veil of death into the eternities that lie ahead.
There is nothing else to compare with it in all this world. Safeguard it, cherish it, love it, live worthy of it.There is nothing else to compare with it in all this world. Safeguard it, cherish it, love it, live worthy of it.



QUENTIN L COOK on Everything’s Great, So Be Very Afraid!

Our day has been described as “a time of plenty and an age of doubt.” [Roger B. Porter] Basic belief in the power and authority of God is not only questioned but also denigrated. How under these circumstances can we promote values in a way that will resonate with the nonbelievers and the apathetic and help abate the spiraling descent into violence and evil?
This question is of monumental importance. . . .
My personal experience of living and interacting with people all over the world has caused me to be optimistic. I believe that light and truth will be preserved in our time. . . . As Church leaders, we have met with leaders of other faiths and have found that there is a common moral foundation that transcends theological differences and unites us in our aspirations for a better society.
We also find the majority of people are still respectful of basic moral values. But make no mistake: there are also people who are determined to both destroy faith and reject any religious influence in society. Other evil people exploit, manipulate, and tear down society with drugs, pornography, sexual exploitation, human trafficking, robbery, and dishonest business practices. The power and influence of these people is very large even if they are relatively small in number.



D&C 88:11-13 on How Our Eyeballs Engender Photosynthesis

And the light which shineth, which giveth you light, is through him who enlighteneth your eyes, which is the same light that quickeneth your understandings; which light proceedeth forth from the presence of God to fill the immensity of space—the light which is in all things, which giveth life to all things, which is the law by which all things are governed, even the power of God who sitteth upon his throne, who is in the bosom of eternity, who is in the midst of all things.



GORDON B HINCKLEY on All the Money We Spend Printing Pamphlets

“The most effective tract we will carry will be the goodness of our own lives.



THE HANDBOOK on Why We Have Callings Anyway

Leaders can best teach others how to be “true followers” by their personal example. This pattern—being a faithful disciple in order to help others become faithful disciples—is the purpose behind every calling in the Church.



THE HANDBOOK on What We Ought to Be Like—at Least, According to Jesus

Because Church leaders have been called by the Lord through His appointed servants, they represent Him and His Church. As representatives of the Savior, leaders look to Him as their example. He said: “What manner of men ought ye to be? Verily I say unto you, even as I am” (3 Nephi 27:27).



THE HANDBOOK on the Proper Manners of Ministration

The purpose of ministering is to help others become true followers of Jesus Christ. Ministering to others includes:
Remembering their names and becoming acquainted with them (see Moroni 6:4).
Loving them without judging them (see John 13:34–35).
Watching over them and strengthening their faith “one by one,” as the Savior did (3 Nephi 11:15; 17:21).
Establishing sincere friendship with them and visiting them in their homes and elsewhere (see D&C 20:47).



THE HANDBOOK on How One Person Can Work Up a Riot of Reverence

Leaders can help cultivate a reverent atmosphere at Church gatherings. In sacrament meetings, stake conferences, and similar meetings, leaders set an example of reverence as they sit on the stand. Leaders also encourage reverence by arranging for worshipful music and inspiring talks. Teachers can encourage reverence in classrooms by preparing inspiring lessons, arranging the rooms in advance, using appropriate pictures and music, and greeting class members in a peaceful, loving way. Worship services and Church classes are enhanced when the entire ward makes an effort to be reverent.



THE HANDBOOK on How Much Exactly the Church Wants You Online

Members are encouraged to be examples of their faith at all times and in all places, including on the Internet. If they use blogs, social networks, and other Internet technologies, they are encouraged to strengthen others and help them become aware of that which is useful, good, and praiseworthy. When appropriate, members are encouraged to mention the Church and to link to and share approved Church materials.
When members use the Internet for purposes other than Church callings, they should understand that the message they give is personal. They should not give the impression that they represent or are sponsored by the Church.



THE HANDBOOK on How Your Job Affects Your Temple Worthiness

Members’ Occupations, Professions, and Affiliations
Baptism into the Church, priesthood ordinations, and the issuing of temple recommends are based on the personal worthiness of each individual as established by a careful interview by that person’s local priesthood leaders. Members of the Church should endeavor to be involved in activities and employment upon which they can in good conscience ask the blessings of the Lord and which are consistent with the principles of the gospel and the teachings of the Savior.\



THE HANDBOOK on How We’ll Hang Out with the Amish

Much that is inspiring, noble, and worthy of the highest respect is found in many other faiths. Missionaries and other members must be sensitive and respectful toward the beliefs of others and avoid giving offense. Stake and mission presidents who have questions about relationships with non-Christian faiths should contact a member of the Presidency of the Seventy or the Area Presidency. Other local leaders who have such questions should contact the stake or mission president.


THE HANDBOOK on Taking Over the Government

As citizens, Church members are encouraged to participate in political and governmental affairs, including involvement in the political party of their choice. Members are also urged to be actively engaged in worthy causes to improve their communities and make them wholesome places in which to live and rear families.
In accordance with the laws of their respective governments, members are encouraged to register to vote, to study issues and candidates carefully, and to vote for individuals whom they believe will act with integrity and sound judgment. Latter-day Saints have a special obligation to seek out, vote for, and uphold leaders who are honest, good, and wise (see D&C 98:10).
While affirming the right of expression on political and social issues, the Church is neutral regarding political parties, political platforms, and candidates for political office. The Church does not endorse any political party or candidate. Nor does it advise members how to vote. However, in some exceptional instances the Church will take a position on specific legislation, particularly when it concludes that moral issues are involved. Only the First Presidency can speak for the Church or commit the Church to support or oppose specific legislation or to seek to intervene in judicial matters. Otherwise, stake presidents and other local leaders should not organize members to participate in political matters or attempt to influence how they participate.
Church members are encouraged to consider serving in elected or appointed public offices in local and national government. Candidates for public office should not imply that their candidacy is endorsed by the Church or its leaders. Church leaders and members should also avoid statements or conduct that might be interpreted as Church endorsement of any political party, platform, policy, or candidate.
Members are encouraged to support measures that strengthen the moral fabric of society, particularly those designed to maintain and strengthen the family as the fundamental unit of society.


THE HANDBOOK on “Don’t Call Me Shirley”

As the Church grows across boundaries, cultures, and languages, the use of its revealed name, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (see D&C 115:4), is increasingly important in the responsibility of the Church and its members to proclaim the name of the Savior throughout all the world. Accordingly, references to the Church should include its full name whenever possible. Following an initial reference to the full name of the Church, the contractions “the Church” or “the Church of Jesus Christ” are acceptable.


THE HANDBOOK on the Asking of Questions

The only authorized research agency of the Church is the Research Information Division of the Correlation Department. Representatives of this department use questionnaires and interviews to obtain information on issues of concern to General Authorities. When Church-authorized researchers contact members, they provide the Church’s toll-free number and a contact name at headquarters. In addition, they always allow the respondent the option of not answering any or all of the questions on a survey.


BRIGHAM YOUNG on How Much We Need to Worry about Learning Things from Gentiles

Our religion will not clash with or contradict the facts of science in any particular. You may take geology, for instance, and it is true science; not that I would say for a moment that all the conclusions and deductions of its professors are true, but its leading principles are; they are facts—they are eternal; and to assert that the Lord made this earth out of nothing is preposterous and impossible [see Abraham 3:24; D&C 131:7]. God never made something out of nothing; it is not in the economy or law by which the worlds were, are, or will exist. There is an eternity before us, and it is full of matter; and if we but understand enough of the Lord and his ways we would say that he took of this matter and organized this earth from it. How long it has been organized it is not for me to say, and I do not care anything about it. … If we understood the process of creation there would be no mystery about it, it would be all reasonable and plain, for there is no mystery except to the ignorant. This we know by what we have learned naturally since we have had a being on the earth.


WILLARD RICHARDS on Pending World Healing

I attended by request, the Female Relief Society, whose object is the relief of the poor, the destitute, the widow and the orphan, and for the exercise of all benevolent purposes. … There was a very numerous attendance at the organization of the society, and also at the subsequent meetings, of some of our most intelligent, humane, philanthropic and respectable ladies; and we are well assured from a knowledge of those pure principles of benevolence that flow spontaneously from their humane and philanthropic bosoms, that with the resources they will have at command, they will fly to the relief of the stranger; they will pour in oil and wine to the wounded heart of the distressed; they will dry up the tears of the orphan and make the widow’s heart to rejoice.
Our women have always been signalized for their acts of benevolence and kindness; … in the midst of their persecution, when the bread has been torn from their helpless offspring by their cruel oppressors, they have always been ready to open their doors to the weary traveler, to divide their scant pittance with the hungry, and from their robbed and impoverished wardrobes, to divide with the more needy and destitute; and now that they are living upon a more genial soil, and among a less barbarous people, and possess facilities that they have not heretofore enjoyed, we feel convinced that with their concentrated efforts, the condition of the suffering poor, of the stranger and the fatherless will be ameliorated.




2011-03-11

Books with picture of aliens (21-22)

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022) Red Rocket 7 by Mike Allred, finished March 10


Red Rocket 7 manages to be both more and less ambitious than Allred's better known Madman books. More ambitious because it involved starting a band and recording an album, filming a movie (which I own but have never watched) (of course, that's also true of The Godfather).

Here's what the band sounds like (more), if you don't mind looking at a pretty girl at the same time:



RR7 is also more ambitious in that it tries to marry Allred's popart sensibilities with his love for pop music. Essentially, our title character takes us on tour of rock history.

But it's less ambitious in idea. It takes the depth of Madman's games with religion and faith and reason and hope and despair and just sums them up.

XXXXXXXXXX

Red Rocket 7, alien clone and our eponymous hero, is only present briefly at the beginning and end of this book. The bulk of the pages are spent on a reconstruction of his past through letters and a fellow clone's testimony of his rockandroll Zelig life. RR7 knew Little Richard and Elvis and the Beatles and Bowie and a slew of others, usually before they went big. The book is clearly a love letter from Allred to rockandroll legend. And the dozens of real people have forced him to expand his normally narrow range of faces which I appreciate as a reader.

So plot one is RR7 bouncing from rock story to rock story while his fellow clones are, say, moving from science story to science story. And important difference is that while the other clones are subtly introducing the new understandings which made the Twentieth Century the Twentieth Century, RR7 is just a fanboy along for the ride. So when he finally starts to make his own music, perhaps it's inevitable he'll have to save the world.

Which is plot two. In the universe, the alien species have split into two camps: those who have eaten from the tree of life and will live forever in their sins, and those who embrace mortality and have faith in a life after death. The clones are a liminal camp of six souls. Sloned from a person of faith and possessing his memories and feelings, they embrace life as a limited time. But they were created through deathless technology and have thus had immortality thrust upon them.

Which is tied closely to one of the book's great paradoxes. The mortals prophet-like figure insists everyone has "free agency", but then again, he has a book which has successfully predicted every historic moment for, like, forever. Including what I suppose is Armageddon and the Second Coming. (Which occurs in what must be under half and hour real time.)

The story ends with evidence that yes there is an afterlife and therein our relationships (especially our romantic relationships) are eternal. Plus there's a special home for our rockandroll martyrs. Which thoughts are, I suspect, the bedrock of Mike Allred's faith.

So whether you come down on the More Ambitious or Less Ambitious manner of interpreting Red Rocket 7, I think you'll have to agree with me and admit that Allred's creative ambition is impressive and expansive and maybe even godly.

probably three weeks if including the time I spent getting through the stuff in the back



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021) Missile Mouse: Rescue on Tankium3 by Jake Parker, finished March 10


You'll recall I read this in pencils. It's even better than I remembered. I'll be reviewing on Motley Vision, so keep an eye out.

What I want to say now is that my kids are gaga over Missile Mouse and yours will be too. I stand by my statement that Missile Mouse is pretty much the best introduction to space opera available.

two days



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Previously in 2011 . . . . :



20
020) The Hotel Cat by Esther Averill, finished February 28


18-19
019) Wonderland by Tommy Kovac and Sonny Liew, finished February 21
018) Redcoat by Kohl Glass (MS POLICY), finished February 18

14-17
017) Best American Comics 2010 edited by Neil Gaiman, finished February 12
016) Little Bee by Chris Cleave, finished February 10
015) Travels with Charley by John Steinbeck, finished February 2
014) Cursed Pirate Girl: The Collected Edition Vol. I by Jeremy Bastian, finished January 31

13-9
013) Sweet Tooth: In Captivity by Jeff Lemire, finished January 30
012) Sweet Tooth: Out of the Woods by Jeff Lemire, finished January 30
011) Essex County: The Country Nurse by Jeff Lemire, finished January 30
010) Essex County: Ghost Stories by Jeff Lemire, finished January 29
009) Essex County: Tales from the Farm by Jeff Lemire, finished January 29

8
008) Magdalene by Morah Jovan, finished January 27

7-6
007) Knightfall Part Two: Who Rules the Night by a slew of DC folk, finished January 23
006) Bayou by Jeremy Love, finished January 17

5-1
005) Mr. Monster by Dan Wells, finished January 10
004) The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane, finished January 6
003) The Mystery of the Dinosaur Graveyard by Mary Adrian, finished January 5
002) Batman - Judge Dredd: Judgment on Gotham by John Wagner and Alan Grant and Simon Bisley, with lettering by the famous Todd Klein; finished January 4
001) Batman: Venom by Dennis O'Neil et al, finished January 2

2011-03-10

REPRINT
Space Opera 101: Jake Parker's Missile Mouse

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[Note: Fantasy Magazine has taken down all their reviews from their website. And so I am going to reprint the two reviews I once had up there. The first is this of Jake Parker's first Missile Mouse book. It's going up because I just read the second and I want to be able to link this review in my new review and, well, it ain't nowhere anymore.]


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Space Opera 101: Jake Parker's Missile Mouse


Depending on when you were born, you were introduced to the glories of space opera in different ways. I was born in 1976 and one of my first vivid movie-theater memories is watching Return of the Jedi with my cousin Billy and wishing he would just let me read the subtitles myself. I was an Ewok that Halloween and thus Star Wars became part of my soul.

Generations before me may have been introduced to space opera by a Heinlein novel or a Flash Gordon serial. Kids born since 2000 are, I hear, back on Star Wars, though in the form of a cable cartoon.

What I'm reviewing today, however, might be the single best introduction to space opera for any 2010 kid on the market today: Missile Mouse: The Star Crusher.

Missile Mouse is a one-man show. Blue Sky Studios artist Jake Parker has written, drawn and colored the poppiest (and most sardonic) cartoon mouse in at least a decade. Parker invented Missile Mouse when he was a kid and the character made his debut in the Flight Explorer anthology Random House published in 2008. Now he has a two-book contract with Scholastic; the first volume is out now and it's a textbook for space opera.

I use the word "textbook" advisedly --- a cynic could say that The Star Crusher is just a string of tired clichés strung together with duct tape (another cliché and a mixed metaphor to boot --- these cynics and their lousy grasp of poetry), but that is not only missing the point, it is utterly wrong.

Let's go back to Star Wars for a second (the first/fourth one) and its Joseph Campbell / Hero's Journey / 30s serials / blah blah blah. How these movies purposefully tapped into our amygdalae is old news, but these truths didn't make 1977 the Year of the Cliché. No, Star Wars was brilliant for mining the culture and our minds and refining it into something beautiful (or at least awesome). That's more or less what Missile Mouse is doing as well.

Consider some of these bits of MM ripped without context from the book (spoiler alert!), and try to match them to Star Wars, James Bond, Indiana Jones, superhero origin stories, Mel Gibson (etc etc etc):

♦ The rogue veteran agent forced to team up with a near rookie who plays things by the book.

♦ A doomsday weapon capable of destroying an entire solar system.

♦ The gruff-demeanor-with-a-soft-interior head of a spy agency.

♦ The hero who, deep down inside, is doing it for daddy.

♦ The genius scientist without street smarts.

♦ The bad guy in a long dark coat.

♦ The Luddite hero ("I don't like computers doing the flying.").

I'll stop there.

The funny thing is, the first time I read the book, I noticed not twenty tired old tropes --- just two that were well integrated into the story. It wasn't until a second read that I started to see how Parker had combed through every proxy adventure of his childhood and remixed it into something so fresh that someone as (let's face it) jaded by genre as myself could be carried away.

Here's part of the secret: I read it with my six-year-old son.

Everything in this book was new to him. It wasn't just rainbow art jumping off the page, it wasn't just Parker's snappy dialogue, it wasn't even just the story itself.

It was also the rogue veteran agent forced to team up with a near rookie who plays things by the book and the genius scientist without street smarts. These ideas were completely new to him.

And I can't really think there was a better way to introduce him to them than by reading Missile Mouse.

And what's good for the gosling is good for the gander. Because make no mistake: I, the father, liked this book too. It pops brighter than anything Andy Warhol ever printed (although, I should note, since this was a publisher-supplied advance proof, only the first signature was in color and I'm extrapolating a bit here), and it balances cute and menacing with panache (just as I thought the book would always be safe, some octopus dudes were fried down to their skeletons). It had a twist I genuinely did not see coming and when it decided to demand more of my suspension of disbelief, it had earned the right to do so and I went right along.

No, I don't think I'll be reading this book forty-five times, but let me make two observations here: One, I don't read anybook forty-five times anymore --- not since I became a teenager. And two, I'm not the target audience. Once my son learns to read, I fully expect this book to be on heavy rotation --- and books that are on heavy rotation in early childhood influence everything as well we know. If childhood has textbooks, the heavy-rotation books are they.

So I'm giving my kids the smartest, funnest, colorfullest textbook I can.

Welcome to Space Opera 101, class. If you'll open your books to page one, we'll join Missile Mouse and his guides on a purple desert planet as three moons float in the background, and an ancient toothy skeleton lies half-buried in the sand.

Let's begin.

2011-03-05

Light So Shine (part one)
an elders quorum lesson

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[This is the email I sent out to the folks I would be teaching before the lesson. Next week I'll share the thoughts I sliced and handed out.]


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As you know if you ever turn your AM dial to http://www.familyradio.com, the Rapture will be held May 21, 2011. I don't know if I qualify for the Rapture, what with being Mormon and everything, so I don't know if I should count on being taking into Heaven or just left behind. And, if left behind, I don't know what will be left with me. Will everything be normal less a few evangelicals? Will we have electricity? Zombies? So I figure I better just count on the world ending in May and planning this week's lesson accordingly.

Coincidentally (or not?) I've had a prophecy of Spencer W. Kimball's on my mind of late:

Much of the major growth that is coming to the Church in the last days will come because many of the good women of the world . . . will be drawn to the Church in large numbers. This will happen to the degree that the women of the Church reflect righteousness and articulateness in their lives and to the degree that the women of the Church are seen as distinct and different—in happy ways—from the women of the world. . . . Thus it will be that female exemplars of the Church will be a significant force in both the numerical and the spiritual growth of the Church in the last days.

I don't know where you spend your time online, but, arguably, this prophecy may be right now. This is what put the idea in my head and the evidence to be marshaled is pretty impressive. Some of the web's biggest blogs are run by Mormon women, and they've been showing up in the so-called mainstream media as well --- Oprah's couch and so forth. Folk of all stripes are spying on the Mormon ladies online.

One thing the infamous Salon article claimed was that all the Mormon mommy blogs reveal "shiny, happy domestic lives". Yet, of the blogs cited, two were started by women working through infertility. One is written by a woman with scars over 80% of her body and a lifetime of surgery to look forward to. Others openly struggle with depression, body image. One chronicled her divorce online.

Shiny and happy indeed.

Yet that's the impression left. And I think it's fair to say that for all the disaster we collect in our lives, living from a position of faith does make the net shiny and happy.

With the end up the world only a couple months away, I think we should discuss what it means to accentuate the positive in a messy world. When we should when we shouldn't and, most of all, what our accentuation can mean to the rest of the world.

(Note to self: no more doomsaying.)