Absolut Boston

Because it's Friday...

And because it's that awesome day before Halloween when I taste test everything I'll be enjoying on Halloween day, I'll break format for this new type of review;

LIQUOR REVIEW!

Today I'll talk about the third in Absolut's city series. (The first two were New York and LA. LA was delicious)

This one is Absolut Boston:

Ignoring the cheap booze in the back of my freezer, know that I do have some distinguishing tastes.

The flavor of this fine beverage is black tea and elderflower, a patriotic reference to the Boston Tea Party of the American Revolution. The bottle design should be awesome for Red Sox fans, it's the Green Monster of Fenway.

The scent is strong, and reminds me of other tea-flavored vodkas. Not necessarily Firefly, because Firefly is usually citrus or fruit flavored as well. But Sweet Carolina is a tea-vodka that is just sweet tea. That is the smell you get from Absolut Boston.

Taste-wise, it's a little more complex than your average tea-vodka. It's much more smooth than Firefly, and has less sweetness. The tea flavor is more of a tea aroma that lingers in the mouth after you drink it. Not bad on the rocks, and an easy shot if you're trying to get some girl drunk (perverts).

As for the recommended beverages they suggest on the bottle, I only tried 3 of the four;

Boston & Ginger Ale (tasty)

Boston & White Grape Juice, Topped off with Ginger Ale (surprisingly awesome)

Boston & Tonic (duh)

Boston & Cola

The vodka and ginger ale combo was good, as to be expected. It's a very herbal flavor, like gin. I love gin.
The white grape juice drink is called an "Absolut Homerun" and I was surprised that the grape juice flavor went well with the tea flavor of the vodka. But go heavier on the vodka than the recipe says, it's much too light.
Vodka tonic... can't really go wrong. Add a lemon instead of a lime, unless you like your tea with limes, I usually don't.
I don't have Coke, or Pepsi products, but if I had to guess, I'd say the Boston & Coke tastes a lot like Red Bull Cola or Cricket Cola. Some sort of gingery soda that isn't as sweet as normal cola. But that's just a guess.

Overall, I give Absolut Boston a 9/10 It will certainly get the job done for me.

Stay saucy everybody, and I'll do the same.

-Steve

Well, It's Been Awhile...

Happy #followfriday everybody!

Whatever. So, I've been kind of lazy in my comic reviewing duties the last couple of weeks (between a weekend in DC and a wedding, who could blame me?). That means I have a fat stack (around 30 comics) that haven't been scrutinized yet!

Rather than bore you to tears with the ravings of a mad man, I'll just stick to the ones that hit me the most over the past two weeks. Deal? Other notables include things like Noir Comics, Blackest Night tie-ins, Ender's Game, and Batman, all of which were enjoyable, but not worth me just explaining what's going on.

DC Comics
Blackest Night #4 - 8/10
Green Lantern #47 - 9/10
Booster Gold #25 - 9/10

Marvel Comics
Invincible Iron Man #19 - 9/10
Mighty Avengers #30 - 5/10
Ultimate Avengers #3 - 7/10
X-Factor #50 - 10/10

Image Comics
Invincible Presents: Atom Eve and Rex Splode - 9/10

Old Trades/Scholastic
Union Jack - 9/10
Amulet: Vol. 1 - 9/10
Amulet: Vol. 2 - 9/10
Five Fists of Science - 9/10

So that's a pretty big list... I'll try to keep my rants short.

The latest Blackest Night issue was great, because we're only halfway in and we now know who the bad guy is. The only question is who is Nekron? Scary. My only complaints are the lines where Barry says to Atom and Mera "you are Superman and Wonder Woman." No, they're not, Barry. They're Atom and Mera. You don't have to draw parallels that don't exist.

Now Green Lantern was amazing. I love the different traits of the Lantern Corps. Larfleeze was the coolest, now we learn that Atrocitus and the Red Lanterns are immune to Black Lantern attacks? What's more, the War of Light is simmering to a halt when Sinestro declares all Green Lanterns allies of the Sinestro Corps. Awesome. Nice work Mr. Johns.

Booster Gold is one of those consistently good titles, and we owe it to creative team; Dan Jurgens and Norm Rapmund. Not only is there a hilarious two-page recap of all the insane stuff that has happened to Booster since Bruce Wayne died, but then, just when everything is going back to normal, disaster strikes again. The issue has a touching ending in which Booster and Dick Grayson become friends, which I love (Booster and Grayson are two of my favorite DC characters). This book reminds of what we should all fight for, what's worth fighting for, and the importance of having someone to confide in. Object of note: Rip Hunter's chalkboard is full of cryptic spoilers for what's coming after Blackest Night. Doomsday has a son...

The end of the World's Most Wanted storyline for Iron Man had a sad, but well conceived ending. Iron Man is ultimately beaten by Norman Osborn, but not before rallying the public against the former Green Goblin. Tony Stark lies in a bed in a persistent vegetative state and the only man with the authority to pull the plug is Thor. Odd how Stark would list Donald Blake with power of attorney in the event of his brain death. I trust Matt Fraction to keep things interesting for us. I doubt we've seen the last of the Golden Avenger.

Mighty Avengers? This sack of crap is probably coming off my pull list. I usually enjoy Dan Slott's work, but I was shaky when he introduced the idea of this "Unspoken" king of the Inhumans (don't go retconning without good reason), but then this?! Scientist Supreme? Are you f---ing kidding me? Dr. Strange, first of all, was not given the Sorcerer Supreme title from Eternity, so I don't know where Slott is getting his info. Secondly, Hank Pym?! Most people would assume I'd say "Tony Stark should have that title!" but no, what about High Evolutionary? What about real scientists like Doom, Tinkerer, Fixer... anyone but Hank "Beat-My-Wife" Pym! The worst part is that I like Hank Pym! Scientist Supreme... that's stupid. What does he protect? The "gossamer veil that divides the Science World and the Anti-science Realm?" Stupid.

Another example of pointless retcons. I love Mark Millar. I love the Ultimates, Wanted, his run on Authority, Civil War, all of it. This story is good too. So far I'm enjoying Ultimate Avengers, but yet again, writers with ego issues disregard other people's work. Well, I'm not sure if this counts as retconning or not. I may be using the word wrong I guess. But what offends me is that both he and Warren Ellis disregard Orson Scott Card's Ultimate Iron Man. They don't mind using all the stupid shit Jeph Loeb did to the Ultimate imprint, but they ignore an origin story written by arguably one of the best science fiction writers of all time? Egotistical jerkwads. Ultimate Tony Stark can't have a brother, his mother died in childbirth because of his rare condition of his body being composed completely of neural cells, and his father was last seen in prison, falsely accused of murdering Zebediah Stane. Writers, do your fucking homework.

X-Factor had quite possibly one of the saddest and best twists on the ending of a story arc of all time. I always said I was impressed by the way Peter David took a throw-away plot device invented by Brian Michael Bendis and turned her into one of the most beloved Marvel characters around. Layla Miller. Her relationship with Madrox has been endlessly entertaining. Thematically speaking, the whole "persecuted mutants" thing takes a backseat to the importance of self-control and the mystery of free will. I won't spoil the ending, just know that is was that. damn. good.

I was sad to hear that Rex Splode had been killed off, but when I saw that Benito Cereno and Bellegarde (the creative team behind Hector Plasm, another GREAT Image comic) were writing Atom Eve and Rex Splode in their early days, I had to get it. I was pleased.

Union Jack. The latest incarnation of the WWII hero versus Nazi vampires in London. Need I say more? Oh, and is was co-written and illustrated by John Cassaday, of Planetary and Astonishing X-Men fame.

Amulet was one of the recommended reads at Velocity Comics so I though I'd give it a shot. It looks like one of those neat animes that we all love so much. Go Miyazaki! Supposedly it's "kid-friendly" because it's put out by Graphix, an imprint of Scholastic Books. I don't care. You don't need sex, drugs, and curse words to tell a good story. I am firm in my beliefs there. This story is fantastic (in both senses of the word) and the art is terrific. Robots, Elf-Kings, magic, a HOUSE THAT TURNS INTO A ROBOT?! What more do you want? It also tackles big themes, such as the corrupting effect of too much power and the importance of family bonds.

Mark Twain sells the world on the idea of Mutually Assured Peace when Nikola Tesla build a steam-punk robot. Thomas Edison and J.P. Morgan summon a demonic entity to sabatoge Twain's efforts. The Five Fists of Science is one wild ride, with nice art that kind of reminds me of Fiona Staples. Matt Fraction is the writer, which means you know it'll be entertaining.

Whew... That's all for now. Have a happy Halloween!

-Steve

It's Superman!

Guten tag!

I finished that book I was reading, It's Superman! by Tom De Haven last week (give me a break, I'm slow), so I thought I'd do a little book review. I'll try to do it with as few spoilers as possible, but if you find you'd like to read it for yourself, I'll use a different text color so you can skip over those parts where I reveal a detail or two, deal?

And by the way, if you're fortunate enough to know me, I'd be more than happy to lend this book to you. I love talking about books with people.

I. Absolutely. Loved. This. Book.

Yeah, that about sums it up. This novel is half bildungsroman, half intriguing, romantic detective story. We follow four main characters; Clark Kent, who some of you may know as SUPERMAN, Willi Berg, the photographer, Lois Lane, the ace reporter, and Lex Luthor, alderman of New York City.

The story goes that Willi Berg, Lois Lane's boyfriend and photographer, finds himself in a situation where he is on the run from the law and travels around the country until, in a small farm town in Kansas, he meets a boy named Clark Kent, who has some very unique abilities. Clark, feeling out of place and alone, joins Willi on the lam and through his coming of age, he forms the values and reinforces the morals he learned from his parents to become the iconic hero we know and love. It's Superman.

I enjoy De Haven's use of the present tense throughout because it keeps the reader in the action and makes the characters, who are already iconic, near godly figures, more real and personable. Most people don't know a "Superman" or a "Lex Luthor" because they are archetypes, ideals. By keeping the reader so close to the action, they become real people with real problems and emotions that pull the reader into a sympathetic passion for them. I found myself rooting for Lex Luthor at some points!

Since I know if anyone reads this, they're probably comic dorks like me and had the same thoughts that I had; did he stick to the story? The answer is a little more complicated than that. Yes and no. Is Superman an alien? Maybe. Does he live his early years in Smallville, Kansas? Yes. Does he move to Metropolis? No. Does he love Lois Lane? Of course.
The details De Haven chooses to keep in line with Siegel and Shuster's origin story (or any of the many retcons over the years) are carefully chosen. Early in the novel, De Haven establishes that this is just one more version of the story (much like people consider Smallville to be an alternate version of Superman's origins), but the details that he changes about the origins of the man of steel are intentional, and are meant to create a more realistic personality.

De Haven's style is both witty and intense. There's a great deal of ironic descriptions for the comic nerds, metaphors that really stir the emotions. He uses very strong contextual details to remain consistent and give the reader a strong sense of time and setting. He's very good, and I mean very good at utilizing free indirect discourse to maximum effect. When narration carries over into a character's thoughts, it reveals a great deal about the character and their state of mind in the moment. The rich vocabulary makes this a hearty read. I frequently describe the emotional content conveyed in his language as "being a lot like eating meat and potatoes." It's filling.

Here's one line I think captures a lot of what I'm saying, it's one of my favorites;

...the shot was the loudest sound Clark had ever heard, ever. It was a cannon, it was a plane crash, it was a planet blowing up.

It's just good. The nerd in me is happy because of the indirect hint at Clark's origin, the reader in me sees the shift from narration to Clark's own thoughts, and the teenage kid in me knows how Clark feels.

The characterization throughout the novel is strong as well. Each character's dialogue is unique to the character, even if they have a similar attitude or mannerism as another character, the differences are clear. Each character has a history that shaped their opinions and personalities up to the point in the novel that we meet them.

The plot has some strong moments of suspense, as well as dramatically ironic suspense, if that makes sense. In some instances, the audience knows how a tense situation is going to turn out, even if the characters don't. And in some cases the reader will be surprised at what happens. There's a lot of conflict going on and it's very interesting to guess and see how it's going to get resolved, or not get resolved if that's the case.

On my scale, the book is a 10/10. It's touching and inspiring. If I had to name something I didn't like about it? I probably couldn't. Even if I found myself getting all nerdy and saying "That's not in continuity with the comics!" I would be pleasantly surprised at how well it still fit, or in some cases, how much better it is than the comic origin. Plus, it's like I said before, there's a disclaimer for comic continuity dorks.

This had to be a challenging book to write, but it was a delight to read.

-Steve