====BOOKS (Fiction)====
Favourite: CATCH-22, by Joseph Heller
When I first read this novel at the tender age of 20, I thought that 28-year-old Yossarian’s gift was being a smartass in defiance of goofy gasbags in the army, as if he was a raunchier version of Hawkeye Pierce from M*A*S*H. Now that I’m older, I laughed harder, more bitterly, and more hopefully at the same jokes. For all that Yossarian is quite reasonably deathly afraid of everything and everyone who allows Sheisskopf’s marches, Minderbinder’s self-double-dealing with the syndicate, Aarfy and Nately’s vileness, and Cathcart’s expanding mission caps to rule the world, he finds a way to appreciate life and beauty and sex and humanity (and love for the Chaplain)…and survives.
Disappointment: CRIME & PUNISHMENT, by Fyodor Dostoevsky
Reading this novel feels like a punshment. Raskolnikov is a selfish, petty ass who, in modern times, would be lurking in the deplorable section of the internet reading Ayn Rand until he self-radicalized. I was angry every time the character spoke. I would much rather read the novel about Dunya, his sister, who is capable of shooting abusive men and would yet make any sacrifice for her worthless brother.
Surprise: BRAVE NEW WORLD, by Aldous Huxley
The real surprise is the age of the novel. I would have thought the novel was from the 60s given it emphasis on drugs, sex, and psychology, but it was a product of the inter-war period, the Great Depression, Ford, and Freud. Again, I think the supporting female character is more interesting than the male protagonists…Lenina actively questions her life of sex and soma in the Brave New World, whereas Bernard tries to game the system, and John is an empty vessel of misogyny, rage, and Shakespeare quotes. When the utopia looks this good…it’s a dystopia. Every time.
Observations: I managed to read 20 books this year, up from 12 in 2016. Blocking out at least one lunch hour a week certainly helped.
====BOOKS (Non-Fiction)====
Favourite: SPECTACULAR SISTERHOOD OF SUPERWOMEN, by Hope Nicholson
Learning about cool comics by talking with enthusiastic-yet-critical folks is my favourite way of discovering new comics. If you haven’t found that person, crack open this book and let Hope Nicholson tell you all about some of the most noteworthy characters in each decade, with just the right amount of admiration and admonition.
Disappointment: CANUCK COMICS, edited by John Bell
Given this essay collection and price guide was published in 1986, calling it a disappointment is a bit unfair…I pretty much knew that going in. My interest was mostly historiographical – to see how the history of Canadian comics was written thirty years ago, as compared to current research. I think I would have really appreciated it had a
Surprise: ON THE ORIGIN OF THE URBAN CRISIS, by Thomas J. Sugrue
One of three books that I purchased from a reading list curated by American political writer Jamelle Bouie because I won an Amazon gift card from a raffle on his site, I thought this analysis of postwar Detroit would be dry and technocratic. Instead, it was a horror story. I had no idea how thoroughly systemic racism harmed the labour and housing rights of black Americans from the ground up, opposing federal integration initiatives, to the specific detriment of black Americans and eventually the fortunes of Detroit as a whole. Two examples: white union workers went on “hate strikes” to protest integrated factory places, reserving the benefits of unionization as a white privilege; and real estate covenants prevented realtors from selling homes in white neighbourhoods to black families to “preserve property values” (sometimes based on racist property evaluation policies inherited from federal housing authorities)…and mob violence forced black families who nonetheless succeeded in buying homes in white neighborhoods to leave. Shocking, eye-opening, and regrettably modern.
Observations: A third of the books I read this year were non-fiction. I’ll try to hold to that ratio in 2018.
====COMICS (Print)====
Astro City and Pitiful Human-Lizard are the pillars of my pull list. They are consistently awesome and should be in your collections as well!
Favourite: MAGNUS (Dynamite), by Kyle Higgins & Jorge Fornes
Yet another reboot of the Gold Key concept, this time under the Sovereigns multiverse umbrella concept. Kelli Magnus navigates the worlds where the A.I. retreat and the human world where robot bodies are abused. This is an interesting new take on the Robot Fighter story concept…because she doesn’t want to fight! Also, the AI world looks like old Kirby comics, which is, frankly, amazing.
Disappointment:none
My reserve list for physical books and Comixology subscriptions is so slight, that I don’t really buy anything that I suspect will disappoint me. Well, that’s not ENTIRELY true, because I did take a gamble on the new Dynamite Turok series wondering if it might be terrible, but I haven’t had a chance to read it yet.
Surprise: FANTOMAH, by Ray Fawkes & Soo Lee
Ooooh! A paranormal crime thriller about a big sister possessed by a spirit of vengeance! And she’s a public domain character! And it’s published by Chapterhouse! I’m keen to follow this as long as it’s published (waiting for Pitiful Human-Lizard crossover, naturally).
Observations: I collect miniseries, but I wait until they’ve all be released before I read them. It’s like trade-waiting, but it helps guarantee that the rest of the series gets published…and I don’t forget what’s happening from month to month. ORPHAN BLACK: DEVIATIONS and TUROK had their final issues released in the last two weeks of 2017, but they’ll count against the 2018 review.
=====COMICS (Graphic Novels & Trades)====
Favourite: ANGEL CATBIRD, by Margaret Atwood & Johnnie Christmas / FASHION IN ACTION by John K Snyder III
Hope Nicholson makes exciting things happen in the world of comics – from reprinting the Bowie-esque indie action comic Fashion in Action, to getting Margaret Atwood matched up with the right artist for a pulpy graphic novel trilogy in Angel Catbird, Nicholson’s Bedside Press is where fun and provocative comics are too be found.
Disappointment: none
I don’t buy enough graphic novels or trades in print to be disappointed in any of them!
Surprise: SWORDQUEST, by Roy Thomas & George Perez
Growing up, my neighbour across the street owned the only Atari system around, and I used to play the Sword Quest game. Badly. I was more interested in reading the mini-comic about the twins fighting the creatures of the Zodiac.. I never knew the game was part 1 of a projected 4 games, that there were more comics, or that there was a contest to win a prize for the playing the game. Only three games/comics were printed, but they’re finally reprinted here. And they hold up to my 10 year old memory.
Observations: Most of my graphic novel purchases are anthologies commissioned and purchased via Kickstarter. I’m guaranteed to see things I’ve never seen before. Looking forward to the print copies of GOTHIC TALES OF HAUNTED LOVE and WAYWARD SISTERS.
=====GAMES (Physical)====
Favourite: THE DICE MUST FLOW, by Heiko Gunther (Print n Play Productions)
This is dice-based streamlining of the classic Dune game from Avalon Hill, and it puts all the pressure and intrigue of the main game into a manageable 2-hour session, thanks to a press-your-luck based system of resource generation. It’s by no means a complete substitute, but it’s minimalist gorgeous fun.
Disappointment: DASTARDLY DIRIGIBLES, by Justin De Witt (Fireside Games)
A suit-based set-collection game that has nice art, but insufficient steampunk charm to keep me engaged past the first play session. Maybe the the dirigibles had something to do after they’d been built (I imagine collecting sets from a fleet would feel much different from collecting pieces of a single ship). It’s not bad
Surprise: KILL SHAKESPEARE, by Thomas Vande Ginste, Wolf Plancke (IDW Games)
This was almost the disappointment of the year, because the rulebook was so horrendous that I couldn’t figure out why we were playing. However, Peter, Kevin, and Ramsay insisted that we persist, watch a youtube playthrough, replace the cardboard chits with wooden cubes, and we had ourselves a fun semi-cooperative game with multiple ways to lose and/or mess with your opponent’s score.
Observations: The lunchtime boardgame group helped me plow through my unplayed games collection…I can’t wait for the production pressure to relent so we can actually enjoy a lunch break from time to time!
=====GAMES (Mobile)====
Favourite: CALCULATOR: THE GAME, by Simple Machine
A calculator pad. A limit number of digits and operations. A target number. A move limit. It’s more than an arithmetic puzzle, because some of the operations involve inverting or reverting digits. Terrific puzzles for the morning commute.
Disappointment: CARD THIEF, by Arnold Rauers
This might be a case of loving the creator’s first game, CARD CRAWL, too much. I wasn’t prepared for a grid-based gameplay of evading guards, opening doors, and collecting treasure. Despite three attempts at figuring out the game, it’s just…not for me.
Surprise: WWE TAP MANIA: GET IN THE RING, by Sega
I love tapper games more than idle games, because I love the feel of the action, and I have to say that Tap Mania gives me a sense of the action (but it could do more! Some cut-scenes for the special boss fights would be nice!). However, this makes my list for the clever economy – you can only unlock the Rock by collecting shards earned from every 5th objective. I was locked into the gameplay for about a month until I picked up what I needed…and then I was free.
Observations: lorem ipsum
====MOVIES (First-Run)====
Favourite: WONDER WOMAN / ANOTHER WOLFCOP / THOR: RAGNAROK (tie)
What all three movies have in common is they made me shout/cheer with delight in the movie theatre. Wonder Woman was perfect until the final 15 minutes, Another Wolfcop was lunacy from start to finish, and Thor: Ragnorak was comedy gold.
Disappointment: BLADE RUNNER 2049
This…was not the movie I was hoping to see. I didn’t want an ordinary mystery, or a funny Harrison Ford, or the cruelty to women. I loved the strange visual and auditory vistas, and Ryan Gosling’s search for an authentic connection among other replicants and his AI companion, but the silly plot of the film kept getting in the way of of the big questions that needed to be asked.
Surprise: CAPTAIN UNDERPANTS
Everything that is brilliant about the Captain Underpants novel series found its way into this film – even the notion of Flip-o-Rama pages for the big action sequences! Love for the source material is visible in every frame and the kids giggled their fool heads off…as did I!
Observations: I tend to see movies twice now – first with the kids, and then with friends – but I’m not seeing the same variety of films that I’d like. Maybe this will change in 2018, after the two great Marvel blockbusters run their course.
====MOVIES (DVD/Stream)====
Favourite: THE GIRL WITH ALL THE GIFTS
An apocalyptic alien zombie story that explores what happens to the first generation of children born into this dystopia, and the seeds of the future planted in them. All the actors are excellent, but Glenn Close deserves special mention for how hard she commits to the role of the scientist driven to inhuman lengths to find a cure for the zombie outbreak.
Disappointment: THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E.
It is a mystery how this movie looks so goddamn good and feels so sexless and lethargic.
Surprise: THE CONGRESS
Pre-House of Cards Robin Wright plays a down on her luck version of herself and sells her likeness and identity as a once-famous actress to a movie studio, where they can put her in any genre of film they like…and then they start to sell her identity as an organic compound for a more complete sensory experience, and things get really weird…and animated.
Observations: There’s treasure to be found in the 3rd or 4th layer of Netflix recommendations.
====TV SHOWS ====
Favourite: DEAR WHITE PEOPLE
Structurally and stylistically inventive, sexy, hilarious, and scary, this show had me laughing and thinking ruefully about the world. I recognised a lot of the dumb white people in this show (and myself in them as well) and appreciated seeing them taken down a dozen or so pegs. Loved every episode and can’t wait for the next season.
Disappointment: IRON FIST / DEFENDERS (tie)
That the realistic Marvel approach would falters as they approached the mysticism required for a good Kun-lun storyline was a risk at the outset, but I never imagined they’d drop the ball the badly. Also, they had a great opportunity to explore Danny Rand as a disposable child soldier (he’s literally a rich white kid with one trick that he doesn’t deserve), but they faltered. Still, the series that gives us Colleen Wing and more Madame Gao isn’t a complete failure.
Surprise: THE YOUNG POPE
I…have no words about this brassy American Pope who traffics in manipulation and seeming cruelty while reforming the papacy…all while looking like Jude Law, juggling oranges, chasing kangaroos, and demanding that God perform miracles. It’s a wondrous strange show.
Observations: As ever, I’m binge-watching shows on Netflix in 6-12 episode bursts. I don’t mind waiting a week between episodes if necessary, but I’ve no patience for commercials anymore.