The 2021 Reading Thread: April Showers Edition
Bryan
Posts: 208
The Rules
Log everything you've read this year. Just edit your existing post or you (and we) will get confused trying to keep up. At the end of each month, I'll start a new thread and you can pick a "winner" from your favorite books. You can focus on just trades, or just write about the good stuff you've read.
Comments
January Winner: Post Americana #2
February Winner: Something is Killing the Children #15
March Winner: Proctor Valley Road #1 - great setup, and I love the contrast of the sort of cartoony art style in a horror book.
April Books:
Ohh boy I am about to admit something...
But you will have to make group chat....
January Winner: Falcon & Winter Soldier #5 (2021)
February Winner: Archie meets the B-52s One-Shot (2020)
March Winner: Marvel Masterworks: Captain America Vol. 10 (1976/2018) (KIRBY MADBOMB!!)
DC COMICS
Strange Adventures #9 (2021)
Teen Titans #52 (1977)
IMAGE
Geiger #1 (2021)
Karmen #2 (2021)
Post Americana #4 (2021)
Post Americana #5 (2021)
MARVEL COMICS
Avengers #45 (2021)
Captain America #28 (2021)
Captain Marvel #42 (1976)
Champions #13 (1977)
Champions #17 (1978)
Defenders #14 (1974)
Fantastic Four #30 (2021)
U.S.Agent #4 (2021)
MISC.
Classics Illustrated #49: Alice in Wonderland (1948?)
TRADES, HCs, COLLECTIONS
Guts by Raina Telgemeier (2019)
Non-Comic Reading
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (1968)
Thanks, @Bryan. Had a lot going on the past couple of weeks, including setting up a new computer. Forgot all about setting up the new thread.
January Winner: Batman by Tom King and Lee Weeks: The Deluxe Edition HC
February Winner: Sandman Universe Presents: Hellblazer #1
March Winner: Jonna and the Unpossible Monsters #1
April Books
Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back — The 40th Anniversary Covers by Chris Sprouse #1
@sharkjumper2, first time reading Do Androids Dream... or are you a repeat customer?
First time....unless that is a false memory. :)
One of my English students wanted to read it so we are reading it together and, for the most part, we enjoyed it immensely. We were hoping for more with the ending and the android battles went too quick. But we finished right before Spring Break so we are thinking about it this week and my student's homework is to see the movie now. The book is definitely more of a mind f*ck that the movie only hints at.
Next up for him is Fahrenheit 451, which I've read several times, and then he'll do a compare/contrast paper between the two.
January Winner: Iron Man 5
February Winner: Serial 1
March Winner: Shadow Doctor 1
Older Books:
Usagi Yojimbo 11-15
Swamp Thing Vol 2. 60, 61
April DCBS Shipment:
Batman/Superman 16
Bloom 1
Dear DC Supervillains
Iron Fist: Heart of the Dragon 3
Iron Man 7
Jonna and the Unpossible Monsters 1
Karmen 1
Maniac of New York 2
Non-Stop Spider-Man 1
North Star One-Shot
Nottingham 1, 2
Sam and His Talking Gun 2
Shadecraft 1
Shadow Doctor 2
The Silver Coin 1
Spaced Out One-Shot
Stargazer 6
Stray Dogs 2
Superman: Red and Blue 1
Teen Titans Academy 1
U.S.Agent 4
Wild Bull & Chipper! 1
That's cool, @sharkjumper2. I've never really thought about the similarities of Deckard and Montag’s character arcs before. That could be interesting.
Wrong thread
nweathington: The most similar characters, to me, are the wives, Iran and Mildred. Both seem plugged in to society's distractions. Iran with the empathy box, Mercerism, and Buster Friendly and Mildred with her multiple TVs, plays, and TV friends.
Rachel and Clarisse also seem similar as outside female characters that help break up the protagonist's routine with their lives and wives and put them on a new course.
I'll also have my student look at what the writer got right and didn't about predicting the future. Androids takes place in 2021. Video communication? Yes. Soviets? No.
It's been a long while since I've read either book, really. I tend to forget about Iran because she's written out of the movie, but yeah, she and Mildred play very similar roles in their respective stories, though I'd say Iran actually goes through some growth and change, while Mildred sticks strictly to what she represents. Likewise with Rachel and Clarisse, Rachel goes through a bit of growth/change (perhaps not as much as Iran), while Clarisse is there to serve a single idea.
Iran and Rachel both become “more human” (and thereby more similar) by the end of the story, while Mildred and Clarisse are presented as stark contrasts to one another from start to finish. I think they are more representational as characters, and as such are more specifically designed to be catalysts of change for the protagonist than Iran or even Rachel.
I get that Blade Runner wanted that noir feel, and altered Rachel to better fill the typical damsel in distress role, but I think the changes to her character weakened the ideas Dick was exploring in the novel at least as much as any other changes the film made.
January Winner: Amazing Spiderman Omnibus vol 4
Feburary Winner: Marvel Epic Collection: Captain America, Bucky Reborn
March Winner: Silver Age Green Lantern Omnibus vol One
April Books:
1. New Teen Titans Omnibus vol 3
2. Alter Ego #1
3. DC Archive edition: Shazam vol 2
4. DC Archive edition: Shazam vol 3
5. New Teen Titans vol 8
6. Marvel Epic Collection, X Men vol 3 "The Sentinels Live"