Friday, January 31, 2014

Flashback Friday: Grilfrenzy! Superman: Lois Lane #1

DC used to love to do what was called a Fifth Week Event.  There are a slew of these collections of special and themed comics out in the Universe that were produced when a month had five weeks.  The Girlfrenzy! event is no big surprise, focused on female characters.  Some were newbies that were being introduced or fleshed out more as a character, some were like the lead in this book, old stalwarts of the DC Universe.  This is a great solo tale of Lois Lane.

One of the great things about this story is that Lois sees her love Superman in the very start of the book, but he leaves and the adventure is all hers.  It is good to see this intrepid reporter excel at the craft she practices.  It has been easy over the many years of stories with Lois and Superman in them to see her as the "damsel in distress" all to often.  Here we are reminded that the character could anchor her own title.

In the Arctic Wilds we have Lois awaiting a source that never appears.  This has her striking out on her own with the local sheriff and a woman that takes an interest in the polar bears that are missing.  Seems some kids are missing as well.  It turns into a freakish corporate experiment when Lois infiltrates and discovers the secrets of a research station on the ice.  This is a good story and there is a surprise guest that I will not name.  I will hint that it is a secondary DC character.  Lois still controls the spotlight throughout the tale.

This is a must for any Lois Lane fan.  It also is a good comic that you could give to a young female reader to enjoy.  It has a strong female lead and the testosterone fueled art is left off the radar in this one.  A good back issue find if you come across it sometime.

BDS

Sunday, January 26, 2014

Watching The Doctor

The reason I have not been posting, even timed post, is very simple.  I at long last hooked the Blu-Ray up to a modem and began a Netflix account.  That means I began watching Dr. Who from the third season forward.  I have been geeking out as I watched Martha and Donna with one of my favorite Doctors.  I realize that after a bit Martha annoyed me.  I like her, but she was just not a companion that seemed to really understand the gift she had to be able to travel in the TARDIS.    
 
This has been a great break for me.  Dad is not happy.  He is not a fan of anything really.  Dr. Who is way outside his relatability zone.  Still, I have worked around it.  It has been good seeing what I missed.  My quandary now is whether to watch as Matt Smith takes over, since I have seen his first season.  Part of me wants to do so, but I also want to get on to the rest of the things I have missed.
 
I also have been watching Lost Girl.  I love that show as well.  My thoughts seem to fall to the NBC show GRIMM and thinking it is very much a type of rip-off of this show.  I know that shows like this are similar and build upon other TV Series that came before, but it nags at me as this is a great sci-fi type show.  Anna Silk is a new crush, and the girl that plays Kennzi has the most gorgeous eyes.  I have watched the first season of Lost Girl.
 
I have to use the same phone jack filter splitter for the PC and the Blu-Ray.  So when watching Netflix, no DSL to the PC.  So I have been limited to when I am on-line.  So, just letting you know why I am scarce on posts and reading other Blogs.
 
BDS

Monday, January 20, 2014

Gunmetal Magic A Novel in the World of Kate Daniels

I was really missing the World of Kate Daniels.  I have been buying books from places that have discounted prices, but the Kate Daniels novels were different.  After buying the first on a Discount rack at the local Dollar General I bought the next books in the sequence from Barnes & Noble.  I was pleasantly surprised at the local Goodwill when I saw the name Ilona Andrews shining like a beacon from the shelves.

Now Gunmetal Magic is not a Kate Daniels story.  The is a cool novella called Magic Gifts that is included.  It is about Kate and runs alongside the main novel.  No, this is about Andrea Nash, Kate's long-time friend and new business partner in an investigative endeavor.  Andrea was kicked out of the para-military group the Order of the Knights of Merciful Aid once they discovered her secret.  She is beastkin.  Not a WereHyena  like her love interest Raphael Medrano, Andrea has a different blood line.  Her mother was a WereHyena but her father was a Hyena that could transform into a man.  This produced a beastkin.  They are not looked kindly upon by the other Shapeshifters.  Andrea has issues and this is as much a story of her finding her place in the world as it is investigating murders.

For those of you that have never read this line of books, the setting is really cool.  It is a world where Magic returned and the results were violent.  Set in Atlanta we are given a vivid landscape where tall buildings were brought low and Magic bred strange and dangerous mutations on the world.  Living glass and other types of substances now could flare up and kill a person.  Creatures long thought myths were suddenly returned to the Earth.  What is a twist is that Magic and Technology switch places.  Sometimes Tech is dominate and everything we take for granted works.  Like a change in the weather Magic shifts to the world and electric things go bye bye and supernatural stuff works.  Cars have two engines to work, but as Kate and Andrea comment, having a mule or a horse is best.

I love this world and eagerly await each new installment.  I have a new Kate book to find.  You should check this series out.  They are AWESOME!

BDS