Bloom County

 

Some books I've read 54

Future Noir : The making of Blade Runner by Paul M. Sammon 

This is the 96 version of the book, not the latest one that also talks about the sequel. Still, 440 pages, all you ever wanted to know about this classic.

Song Noir: Tom Waits and The Spirit of Los Angeles by Alex Harvey 

A book about Tom Waits' period in LA, living at the Motel Tropicana and hanging out with Rickie Lee Jones and Chuck E Weiss, reading the Beats and Bukowski, how he created the Tom Waits character, became that character and then felt trapped by that character, recording Closing Time up to Heartattack and Wine, and then meeting Kathleen Brennan and changing both his life and his music.

Marvel Comics : The Untold Story by Sean Howe 

A pretty thorough examination of Marvel, the Lee and Kirby story, Jim Shooter, the collector boom and then bust in the 90's and also the Marvel movies. No-one comes off without a scratch, definitely not Stan Lee and even not Kirby, who later claimed it was all him, even the creation of Spider-Man.

Amazing Spider-Man: The Death of Captain Stacy 

The early stories in this collection are pretty weak. You get the feeling that Stan Lee has lost interest. Or is too busy on other books. Roy Thomas takes over the scripting at the end. And is it possible that it's not Ditko or Romita that is the best Spider-Man artist, but Gil Kane?

Amazing Spider-Man: The Goblin's Last Stand 

This is peak Romita and Kane. Some great stories here, including Doc Ock and Kraven, leading up to the death of Gwen Stacy by Green Goblin. Gerry Conway has mostly taken over the scriptwriting at this point, but in the middle of the book there are suddenly three issues by Stan Lee about a politician that turns out to be a bad guy, and it's just pretty weak stuff. Even Romita's art seems a bit half-assed.

Gil Kane's The Amazing Spider-Man: Artisan Edition

I'm not buying the Artist Edition books, they're far too expensive for me, but have a bit of patience and you can find a used Artisan edition for less than 20 pounds. Great art by Kane, of course, and makes me want to find more of his books. I think I only have a couple of the Space Hawks pocketbooks. 

Currently reading:

Stamboul Train by Graham Greene

Strange Things Happen: A Life With The Police, Polo and Pygmies by Stewart Copeland

Crumbografix

 

Some books I've read 53

Left Bank: Art, Passion and the Rebirth of Paris 1940-1950 by Agnes Poirier 

Great book about the existentialism movement, including all the usual suspects like Sartre, DeBeauvoir and Camus, but also Juliette Greco, Boris Vian and Arthur Koestler.

The Typewriter is Holy: The Complete Uncensored History of the Beat Generation by Bill Morgan Nothing particularly new here, but a pretty good summing up of the Beats. 

Ridley Scott: Interviews by Laurence F. Knapp and Andrea F. Kulas

A collection of Scott interviews from The Duelists to Hannibal.

Themes for Great Cities: A New History of Simple Minds by Graeme Thomson

Can you split the history of Simple Minds in two? Before and after Don't You Forget About Me? Possibly. At least they lost something on the way. Thomson mostly goes through the early albums, including their masterpiece New Gold Dream, up to Once Upon A Time. I must confess I have not listened to any of their later stuff.

See What Can Be Done by Lorrie Moore 

A collection of her essays, written in her unmistakable style. Haven't read the whole thing from front to back yet, rather picking an essay from time to time.

Can You Feel The Silence? : Van Morrison - A New Biography by Clinton Heylin

So, apparently, Van can be kind of an asshole. Who knew.

Amazing Spider-Man: Spider-Man No More

Amazing Spider-Man: Man-Wolf at Midnight 

Amazing Spider-Man: The Goblin and the Gangsters 

The plan is to get the complete Ditko Romita Kane Andru run. Four of the Epic collections are out of print or too expensive, so some patience will have to be involved. I think it's more than just nostalgia. These were all great artists, who knew how to tell a story, something that was lost in superhero comics a while. And some of the stories were pretty good as well.

Currently reading: 

David Bowie : A Life by Dylan Jones

In Montparnasse : The Emergence of Surrealism in Paris, from Duchamp to Dali by Sue Roe

Oh, and haven't finished Nightmare Alley

Juliette Gréco

... and back again

Tour du Mont Blanc in 10 days

Out walking...