{"id":15373,"date":"2009-07-25T20:57:37","date_gmt":"2009-07-26T02:57:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/?p=15373"},"modified":"2009-07-25T20:57:57","modified_gmt":"2009-07-26T02:57:57","slug":"bt09-o-is-for-observed-blogathon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2009\/07\/25\/bt09-o-is-for-observed-blogathon.html","title":{"rendered":"BT09 – O is for Observed (#Blogathon)"},"content":{"rendered":"

First off, a hearty thanks to all my donors. With my latest sponsorship, I’m now at $616 for the Denver Dumb Friends League. I feel great that I’ve been able to gather so much support for them — again, my deepest thanks.<\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

The Order, Vol. 1, “The Next Right Thing”<\/em><\/strong><\/a> <\/i>(Marvel) [collects #1-5]
The Order, Vol. 2, “California Dreaming”<\/em><\/strong><\/a> (Marvel) [collects #6-10]
w. Matt Fraction; a. Barrry Kitson<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
Writing<\/strong><\/td>\n <\/td>\n New reader?<\/td>\n <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Art<\/strong><\/td>\n <\/td>\n Non-comics reader?<\/td>\n <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Post-Civil War, Tony Stark started the Fifty State Initiative, to put a super-hero team in every state. The Order is California’s team, powerful and pretty — but with performance clauses in their contracts, mandatory retirement after a year, and, of course, the chance of dying in the meantime.<\/p>\n

Fraction does a good job dealing with how a team like this would work together — relative strangers, drawn together by a paycheck and chance of glory, and not necessarily all compatible. Kitson’s art is, as always, clean and lovely. <\/p>\n

The Order was — by design or circumstance, short-lived, but it wraps up well by the second volume. Not the world’s most amazing comic, but a respectible one nonetheless. <\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Essential Painkiller Jane<\/em><\/strong><\/a> <\/i>(Dynamite) [collects #0-5 (Event Comics)]
w. Joe Quesada, Jimmy Palmiotti, et al.; a. Rick Leonardi, et al.<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
Writing<\/strong><\/td>\n <\/td>\n New reader?<\/td>\n <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Art<\/strong><\/td>\n <\/td>\n Non-comics reader?<\/td>\n <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Reissued while the short-lived SciFi series was running, the book demonstrated that … well, there was pretty much nothing in common between the two, except for the protagonist’s name and the premise that she can heal from everything, even though she feels the pain ..<\/p>\n

There’s not much to recommend here. The stories are trite and violent. The art is generally sloppy. Bleah. This one is probably going to go on the discard queue.<\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Penny Arcade, Vol. 5, “The Case of the Mummy’s Gold”<\/em><\/strong><\/a> <\/i>(Dark Horse) [collects #1-6]
by Jerry Holkins & Mike Krahulik<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
Writing<\/strong><\/td>\n <\/td>\n New reader?<\/td>\n <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Art<\/strong><\/td>\n <\/td>\n Non-comics reader?<\/td>\n <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Going through 2004’s cartoons of this webcomic<\/a>, I realize it’s an acquired taste. Holkins and Krahulik talk a lot about computer games, are generally irreverent and mocking, and engage in more-than-occasional character asssassination. But “they were all bad,” and I find the strip highly entertaining at least 70% of the time. The notations for each cartoon explain jokes that might no longer be topically obvious (the nature of the game industry being as it is). Some stuff here is very funny; some isn’t, but that’s almost always the case, unless you’re Bill Watterson.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 Listening to: Madonna, “Die Another Day” (Limited Edition 007 Sampler))<\/i><\/small> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

First off, a hearty thanks to all my donors. With my latest sponsorship, I’m now at $616 for the Denver Dumb Friends League. I feel great that I’ve been able to gather so much support for them — again, my deepest thanks.   The Order, Vol. 1, “The Next Right Thing” (Marvel) [collects #1-5] The Order, … Continue reading “BT09 – O is for Observed (#Blogathon)”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[13,11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15373","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blogathon","category-media-comics"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":15407,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2009\/07\/26\/bt09-w-is-for-wiped-blogathon.html","url_meta":{"origin":15373,"position":0},"title":"BT09 – W is for Wiped (#Blogathon)","author":"***Dave","date":"Sun 26-Jul-09 4:10am","format":false,"excerpt":"Hey, that's the end of the Graphic Novels \/ Trade Paperbacks! Woot! \u00a0 Chronicles of Wormwood\u00a0(Avatar) [collects #1-6] w. Garth Ennis; a.\u00a0Jason Burrows\u00a0 Writing New reader? Art Non-comics reader? Ennis tackles the end times with all the sensitivity and discretion he applied to Preacher. Wormwood is the Anti-Christ, the son\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blogathon"","block_context":{"text":"Blogathon","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/blogathon"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/images\/stars4.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":15397,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2009\/07\/26\/bt09-t-is-for-thunder-blogathon.html","url_meta":{"origin":15373,"position":1},"title":"BT09 – T is for Thunder (#Blogathon)","author":"***Dave","date":"Sun 26-Jul-09 1:56am","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 Thor Visionaries: Walter Simonson, Vol. 4\u00a0(Marvel) [collects #371-373, Balder the Brave #1-4] Thor Visionaries: Walter Simonson, Vol. 5\u00a0(Marvel) [collects #375-382] w. Dave Gibbons; a.\u00a0Ivan Reis, Marc Campos\u00a0 Writing New reader? Art Non-comics reader? The mid-80s were the golden age of Thor comics. Walt Simonson invested the Norse Gods with\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blogathon"","block_context":{"text":"Blogathon","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/blogathon"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/images\/stars4.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":15371,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2009\/07\/25\/bt09-n-is-for-naivete-blogathon.html","url_meta":{"origin":15373,"position":2},"title":"BT09 – N is for Naivete (#Blogathon)","author":"***Dave","date":"Sat 25-Jul-09 8:27pm","format":false,"excerpt":"It's funny -- I can't say that either of the below are so profoundly wonderful that they deserve 5 stars ... but both are among my favorite comics in the stack. Take that as you will. Nextwave: Agents of HATE, Vol. 1, \"This Is What They Want\"\u00a0(Marvel) [collects #1-6] Nextwave:\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blogathon"","block_context":{"text":"Blogathon","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/blogathon"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/images\/stars4.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":15364,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2009\/07\/25\/bt09-m-is-for-mystery-blogathon.html","url_meta":{"origin":15373,"position":3},"title":"BT09 – M is for Mystery (#Blogathon)","author":"***Dave","date":"Sat 25-Jul-09 6:25pm","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 Madame Xanadu, vol. 1, \"Disenchanted\"\u00a0(Vertigo) [collects #1-10] w. Matt Wagner; a.\u00a0Amy Reeder Hadley, Richard Friend\u00a0 Writing New reader? Art Non-comics reader? Taking a character who started off as a mysterious tarot card reader and horror book introducer and telling her story to make her a compelling character is no\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blogathon"","block_context":{"text":"Blogathon","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/blogathon"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/images\/stars4.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":15403,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2009\/07\/26\/bt09-w-is-for-wicked-blogathon.html","url_meta":{"origin":15373,"position":4},"title":"BT09 – W is for Wicked (#Blogathon)","author":"***Dave","date":"Sun 26-Jul-09 3:27am","format":false,"excerpt":"We've passed up the 5\/6 mark, if I'm doing my math right (which is problematic at this point). \u00a0 RThe Walking Dead, Vol. 7, \"The Calm Before\"\u00a0(Image) [collects #37-42] RThe Walking Dead, Vol. 8, \"Made to Suffer\"\u00a0(Image) [collects #43-48] RThe Walking Dead, Vol. 9, \"Here We Remain\"\u00a0(Image) [collects #49-54] w.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blogathon"","block_context":{"text":"Blogathon","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/blogathon"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/images\/stars5.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":15399,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2009\/07\/26\/bt09-t-is-for-time-blogathon.html","url_meta":{"origin":15373,"position":5},"title":"BT09 – T is for Time (#Blogathon)","author":"***Dave","date":"Sun 26-Jul-09 2:25am","format":false,"excerpt":"Wow. Concentration is definitely running on fumes here. As I review the books for material to comment about, I keep getting distracted and starting to read ... \u00a0 The Twelve, Vol. 1\u00a0(Marvel) [collects #1-6] w. Joe Straczynski; a.\u00a0Chris Weston\u00a0 Writing New reader? Art Non-comics reader? Twelve heroes, buried in suspended\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blogathon"","block_context":{"text":"Blogathon","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/blogathon"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/images\/stars5.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15373","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15373"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15373\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15373"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15373"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15373"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}