Bookish Grab Bag: 7/24/21
It was a big manga release week and also a week in which we here in Pittsburgh finally got some fall weather so my reading was a bit of a wild ride to match the multiple themes.
Hold on, here we go:
The Seven Visitations of Sydney Burgess by Andy Marino (Redhook, 9/28)
Reviewing books like The Seven Visitations of Sydney Burgess is always a little tricky because I absolutely refuse to ruin your reading experience by spoiling the twist - in this case multiple twists - so, in conclusion, I’ll just say what I said on Twitter last night: “This is the most fucked up book I’ve read in ages which, if you know me, is my way of saying, “I would like to propose marriage to it.”
Just kidding, I can tell you a little more than that.
I’m seeing the revival of a trend in horror that I really, really love. If you saw my happy dance about The Lighthouse Witches over at The Roarbots you know what it is: an infusion of creepily plausible, near-future sci-fi into horror that brings real terror into the realm of the possible and reminds us that the real threat, the true monster, is other people. Shirley Jackson has my undying loyalty for codifying this sub-genre with stories like, We Have Always Lived in The Castle, and my nerdy heart sings at the idea of new authors having picked up the reins and added another layer that includes shades (see what I did there) of one of my other favorite genres.
Reading Marino’s book now is also a happy coincidence because the science upon which he bases his horror is one I recently listened to a lecture on that took the opposite stance vis a vis its possibilities, probabilities, and general impact on society. The contrast gives me a lot to think about. And possibly a story prompt. Don’t tell my novel. Or the other short story I started two days ago.
Punderworld by Linda Sejic (WebToons)
The first thing I need to do here is issue an apology. I was so excited about Sejic’s concept, I smashed the order button without checking the publisher. When I flipped the book over after I finished reading to see if there’s a date listed for Vol. 2 (there isn’t) I noticed the trade is published by Top Cow, which is an Image imprint. I said a couple months ago that I wasn’t going to be giving Image my $ or reviewing their books any longer because they rehired Warren Ellis after he was exposed as a fucking monster and sort of vaguely backtracked only after they got bad press. I will be reading the rest of Punderworld on WebToons as it updates. I will also be remembering to check publishers before I order going forward.
I know I shouldn’t, per my own policy, be reviewing this book but my error should’t lose Sejic readers so, I’ll urge you to read this phenomenal story online with me rather than waiting for the trades. Y’all, please don’t cancel me, but I think I might actually be partial to this Hades and Persephone retelling over Lore Olympus (ducks and covers). Don’t get me wrong; I adore Lore Olympus. But there’s something special about this mutual big of heart, dumb of ass, dangerous of power version that’s really grabbed me and dug in. There’s an equality between this Hades and this Persephone, a balanced power dynamic that pleases me mightily. It also has a fantastic, “And then along came Zeus,” moment that had me legit howling with laughter. It’s big and grand and small and intimate, had big lore and niche moments. It does fantastic development with characters like Charon that mythology has thrown in our laps with just enough information to make them fascinating and wide open bios for our creative pleasure. The dialogue is perfect and the art is very much my jam.
In short. This. All the this.
The Way of The Househusband Vol. 6 by Oono Kousuke (Viz)
Listen. I’ve said it before and I’ll continue to say it: this manga gets better and more hilarious with each volume and whether or not you’re partial to comics, you need to pick it up because it is a bright spot in the hellscape that is 2021 and the foreseeable future. Good luck finding backlist though because as bad as the novel supply chain is, manga is 1000x worse and the popular/good stuff goes on backorder practically before it hits release. If I really like you maybe I’ll lend you mine on the condition you agree to wear a GPS tracker so I know where you are and can come get it back when you fail to deliver it on time and Athena help you if you dog ear one of my pages.
In this episode, the Immortal Dragon, who fears no Yakuza, comes up against a challenge that may stop him dead in his tracks: the entrance exam to the neighborhood woman’s association. He’s terrified of these accomplished ladies and with good reason; they’re masters of their respective crafts and they’re not going to let just any man sit at their immaculate table.
Y’all… I can’t even with this. It is so fucking funny, I finished it and immediately read it again because my brain needs Tatsu candy so, so badly. I also continue to enjoy that we’re getting more time with Miku as the story unspools and in volume 6 we get an actual look at the moment she and Tatsu met. It’s epic. It’s perfect. It is one for the ages and I want to frame it and put it on my wall. She is such a badass.
Also, there’s a bread eating challenge. She’s no slacker there either.
Go forth. Spend some time with one of the only men on the planet worth your devotion.
Alas, that’s it for this week. Believe it or not, I am actually working my way through both the digital and physical piles faster than I’m adding to them. Not that I’ve stopped adding to them but at the moment, the odds are very, very slightly in my favor. Don’t worry though, friends. It’s not like I’m going to run out any time soon. Or ever. I maintain that it will, ultimately, be the TBR slide that gets me. What a way to go.