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Chapter by Chapter features me reading one chapter of the selected book at the time and reviewing it as if I were reviewing an episode of a TV show or an issue of a comic. There will be spoilers if you haven’t read to the point I have, and if you’ve read further I ask that you don’t spoil anything further into the book. Think of it as read-along book club.
For those of you just joining us, the usual prose novel feature is doing a rather long graphic novel for this installment. It’s a comic-fied (not necessarily comedic, but certainly light in tone) retelling of the attempt by indie performance couple Pocket Vinyl to unofficially beat the record of 50 states in 50 days going on tour. This far we’ve covered New England and some of it’s neighbors. Went down to the East Coast, and we’re starting this chapter in Mississippi, known for a really long name and her husband, Mr. Sippi. (Very old knock knock joke.)
We’ve also been seeing the impact particularly on Elisabeth. As it was the events of the previous chapter were a bit rough for her as well as Eric getting a cough, and he’s the singer. She’s the artist of the graphic novel but both are credited as writers. However, he seems to be handling the stress far better than she is. If that’s true of the tour, it’s not total ignorance on Eric’s part as he has been watching out for her and letting her know she can confide in him if something is going wrong. I think she really wanted to be part of this and support Eric’s goal, and we know it ends okay because they’re still together and still performing, but I am kind of worried for her at this point even though these are past events.
That’s a strength of the story. I’m reading this like it’s currently happening, and it’s getting me invested in the characters and their journey. It’s not something I would have picked up myself but as something I was given I’m glad I was and given a chance to go over this. Let’s see where it goes as we reach the midpoint of the book. This has more pages that we’ve seen thus far, but it’s a comic so it balances out.
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“Dude, you’re ruining the cover scan glowing like that.”
Prototype #12
Malibu Comics/Ultraverse (July, 1994)
“Assault On The Dark Tower”
WRITERS: Len Strazewski & Tom Mason
PENCILER: Roger Robinson
INKERS: Scott Reed, Tom Florimonte, Larry Welch, & Tim Roddick
COLORING: Keith Conroy & Violent Hues
LETTERER: Susan Dorne
EDITOR: Roland Mann
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Previously found by Caroline Furlong, who was inspired to make a commentary on the fairy tale princes by this video. I also remind you that the prince in Snow White & The Seven Dwarves , whose name I couldn’t tell you, only shows up three times in the Disney version, does not save her from the queen (the dwarves do that), and is essentially Snow White’s reward for suffering through all of the Queen’s attempts to kill her by (when not played by Rachel Ziegler) being kind and helpful to everyone while improving their lives. Cinderella stands up to her stepmom, first by going behind her back and then revealing the other slipper, and is rewarded for her taking charge of her life while in the Disney version also making friends who want to help her, even if they are mice. Caroline also notes that Phillip is the only prince in the video with any agency of his own and actually saves the day…but STILL needs help from the other fairies. It’s like the usual suspects don’t actually watch or read the things they complain about.
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Well, this week was a pain. I’ve been sick most of this week. I was just getting a handle on pollen coming from the western part of the US (or so one news source said was happening) when Connecticut’s own pollen sprayers took effect. I’ve been semi-functional most of this week and last night was the first good night’s sleep I’ve had in a few days. It’s very annoying. So I didn’t get a chance to even start the latest Jake & Leon, meaning no comic today.
Meanwhile I needed an easy declutter project for this week’s The Clutter Report entry. So it good timing that I got a chance to mess with art binders and try to do something to the YouTube backlog for SF Debris. Luckily I’m feeling better today.
That means business should be as usual here at BW. We have the next installment of How To Completely Lose Your Mind for Chapter By Chapter’s first graphic novel, the usual comic reviews, and whatever else comes up this week. I still have some buffer left but if I can get a few more in there maybe I can finally get back to My Transformers Universe. That idea’s been hanging out for months. But that’s the update. Have a great week, everyone! Good luck to my fellow allergy sufferers. We’re going to need it!
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A two for one tonight, because the early reviews are in for Angel Studio’s adaptation of the classic George Orwell book Animal Farm and they’re…not very good.
That’s Disparu (this is a bonus, not part of tonight’s Showcase) going over the reviews and it seems Andy Serkis didn’t get the point of the book. “It’s a story with funny talking animals. It should be like Disney.” No, it should not. Odds they ruin Watership Down next because they’re all fuzzy bunnies? At this point I don’t know if I’m giving them ideas or not.
Fortunately, better adaptations are available and they’re coming to you tonight. Orwell’s classic examination of fascism and maybe communism? I haven’t read it since high school but it was one of the few books from high school I remember enjoying reading. It was inspired by the Russian Revolution and the rise of Joseph Stalin. Orwell was not a fan of Stalin. The book follows a group of animals taking over a farm from a mean farmer and starting a new farm with them in charge. At least until one of the pigs takes over himself, boosts his own kind, and at the end of the book the animals can’t tell the difference between the pigs and the humans. I’m assuming this isn’t a spoiler after all this time.
So what are the two videos? Well, one is actually an audio adaptation because I could only find it on YouTube. In 1947, Orwell himself drafted a script for the radio play, and is probably the closest adaptation to the book. If that’s not you’re thing, the 1954 animated adaptation is closer to the book but made some changes for a happier ending. If you watched Disparu’s video, he already mentioned that the CIA was involved as part of their part in fighting the Cold War, but it’s still more faithful than what Serkis and Angel Studios is dropping on us. Choose your preference and enjoy.
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I tried to just bring up the video and not the full post, so sorry for the cursing. We all know by now that Hasan Piker is a jerk. The dude is so known for shocking his own dog to keep it on camera for the views that Vice President J.D. Vance even called him out on it. As you can see, Grummz on X/Twitter called him out for comments he made involving the game Pragmata, where you play an armored fighter dealing with crazed robots while bonding with an android in the form of a little girl who is also your ally.
That Park Place contributor Trevor Denning points out how stupid Piker’s statement is that gamers can’t relate to this situation because they can’t “get with women” (although there are plenty of gamers who can easily disprove that statement. Even if somehow he was, what he and too many modern storytellers don’t realize is that you don’t have to live an experience to empathise with one, plus you kind of are living the experience virtually through the game. One shouldn’t have to live in a fantasy world or be a gangster to get into stories based on those premises, or fight robots with an android companion hacking their systems so you won’t die. So why would a father/daughter dynamic be so hard to understand?
I’ve seen play of a demo and it looks like a fun game. As for the people trying to connect this to pedophiles or saying men can’t have paternal instincts…seek help!
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