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Batman: The Brave and the Bold #8
Batman and Aquaman team up on a Quest to recover the fabled Amulet of Arion to break the curse that has bound the ghostly former priate Captain Fear to wander the Earth until he has earned redemption. Aquaman knows where the Amulet is located, but the dangers involved getting there have prevented anyone from doing so in the past. Those (seemingly rather tame) dangers include monster fish, a whirlpool and a trio of enchanting sirens, all of whom are quickly overcome. But Batman and Aquaman were followed by Black Manta, whose sudden attack allows him to seize the Amulet and attempt to direct its power against them. Only by the intervention of Captain Fear are they rescued, at the cost of destroying the Amulet and losing a chance to break his curse. However, his self-sacrifice was the final element of his redemption.
Commentary: Its always good to see references to old DC characters, including Arion (who had his own comic “Arion of Atlantis” drawn by Jan Duursema back in the early 1980’s) and Captain Fear.
Not directly related here but definitely worth mentioning: this fall, DC Comics is planning a major reboot of their entire line this fall. Called DC New Universe, the announced changes go well beyond any of the previous continuity revisions and changes.
One of the comics will be “Justice League Dark” and will involve (center right) John Constantine, (upper left) Deadman, (above, what appears to a malevolent appearing) Enchantress, (below) Madame Xanadu, (upper right) Shade the Changing Man and (center left: note the barely visible fishnet armlets) Zatanna. I have always been a fan of Madame Xanadu ever since her own comic, and, of course, Zatanna, so I am sort of looking forward to this, although I still have my doubts about the whole concept of a complete universe reboot.
Note: Many years ago, I commissioned Phil Foglio to draw a cartoon of Destiny ripping pages out of his Book corresponding to all of the subsequent continuity changes to the DC universe: whole pages entitled “Crises”, “Earth Two”, “Invasion” and “Zero Hour” went flying. Now it looks like he’ll be needing an entirely new Book.
[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1270798/]
In a summer where comics-based movies are coming out almost every couple of weeks, its takes a lot to stand out. But could a movie building on the reputation of a movie series, acting as a prequel to them, compete with the rest of the comics movies?
Yes, I believe it does.
⇒ Continue reading ““X‑Men: First Class””
[amtap book:isbn=9780689505935]
Is Emily’s neighbor Farmer Osboro really a werewolf?
Well, Emily certainly thinks he is, the way his face turns hairy and his teeth turn into fangs and his hands become claws and his eyes get red, but no one else does, and she’s certain that he knows that she knows his secret. So what is a young girl supposed to do to defend herself?
⇒ Continue reading ““Emily and the Werewolf” by Herbie Brennan”
[amtap amazon:asin=B0007E54LE]
[amtap amazon:asin=B000JD0XS2]
Biography: Pat Collins was certainly not the first female stage hypnotist. There were many others, but most have been forgotten
In the decade before Pat Collins there was a female stage hypnotist named Joan Brandon. In her books, she describes herself as a third-generation hypnotist, although it is probably more precise to say she was a three-generation stage magician who was also a stage hypnotist. (According to her books, her father was also a stage hypnotist but he is never identified, so that is difficult to verify.) About the only reason she is remembered now is that she is probably the first to write and publish a number of books on hypnosis (which are listed below.)
⇒ Continue reading “Joan Brandon”
Robert Lynn Asprin is partly to blame. Bob Asprin, who as Yang the Nauseating founded the Great Dark Horde as an institution in the Society for Creative Anachronism. Bob Asprin. who founded the Klingon Diplomatic Corps to provide security (and a means for people to dress up as Klingons) at the early Star Trek conventions. Bob Asprin, who was an early member of the Dorsai Irregulars.
Bob Asprin, who helped create what is now referred as the “shared worlds” concept.
He and then-wife Lynn Abbey managed to convince several other prominent authors, including Poul Anderson, Marion Zimmer Bradley, John Brunner, C. J. Cherryh and Andrew J. Offutt, into contributing to a series of short story collections under the common title of “Thieve’s World”, whose success begat a number of other “shared worlds” collaborations. The most famous is probably the “Wild Cards” series, in which an alien retro-virus released by accident on Earth grants the fortunate few infected with it super abilities while the vast majority died in varied and horrifying ways.
There were a few others, but the one I am referring to in the title, is “Borderlands”. “Borderlands” is set in a world where the Mundane and Faerie have crossed paths, resulting the natural extension of the term “urban fantasy”. Vast areas in the middle of the greatest cities are now on the border between the two worlds, where the good and the bad of both worlds mix and plot and scheme, where both magic and science work unpredictably, where rock&roll battles with Fae melodies and Faerie steeds race motorcycles, where aristocratic and unpredictable Faerie go slumming and bewildered and bewitched mortals come to make their living. Created by editor Terri Windling (and how can I not appreciate something by someone who shares my first name), the “Borderlands” shared world produced two story collections in 1986 and another in 1991, then another in 1998. Now, in 2011, another “Borderlands” collection is to be published, and I am looking forward to it.
Stories that might contain fae enchantments and glamouries on unsuspecting mortals? You bet I’m looking forward to it.
For more information, see the Bordertown Blog.
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