It’s just too hot to comment on anything at length, but I did enjoy a lot of entertainment goodness over the weekend.
I finally got the AMELIA RULES! THE WHOLE WORLD’S CRAZY trade, and it’s pure pleasure. (I feel the same way about the second, WHAT MAKES YOU HAPPY.) These wonderful, all-ages stories rest comfortably between PEANUTS and CALVIN AND HOBBES, and they’re just the tonic if you’re feeling worn down by life. They’re also Comics Worth Reading.
I thought the first volume of HOT GIMMICK was brilliant in general, and the subsequent volumes have proven to be brilliant soap opera. My favorite examples of this genre are driven by character, and HOT GIMMICK has a splendid cast to generate story. While the plot twists come fast and furious, they never seem outlandish. And it’s got to be some kind of miracle that creator Miki Aihara can (very carefully) humanize the sublimely creepy Ryoki. And, hey, it’s Manga Worth Reading! I’m spotting a trend, here.
The third volume of ALICE 19TH introduces a really tremendous plot twist that promises lots of ongoing tension for its young heroes. (I won’t spoil it here.) Suffice to say that Vol. 3 lives up to the promise of the first two, clarifying the premise a bit while raising the emotional stakes.
If you can get past the soft-core porn cover, EERIE QUEERIE! has lot going for it. (Remember how the terrible, lurid, completely incongruous Greg Horn covers made you reluctant to even rest your gaze too long on an issue of EMMA FROST? Same deal here, but not to such a Hornian degree.) It’s about Mitsuo, a reclusive young man who can see, speak to, and host ghosts. (He’s not too keen on the hosting part, as the ghosts generally take over his body to suit their own purposes.) As he helps a variety of bossy spectres achieve closure, he learns a lot about himself and forges unexpected emotional connections with the living. Funny, touching, and surprising. (I’ll be posting a full review sometime this week.)
Between Chuck Austen and Brad Meltzer, I’ve had trouble getting my Justice League fix, so I really enjoyed Saturday’s premiere of JUSTICE LEAGUE UNLIMITED on Cartoon Network. (I can barely admit how much Cartoon Network I watch, but I guess it’s better that owning up to my bizarre fondness for DEGRASSI: THE NEXT GENERATION. I swear, I only watched it because I was looking for DARIA reruns on the N!)