And I think that's the thing in it that grabs people. The art is freaking GREAT. The story might not be that intense (or really even make much sense), but it's lovely to look at.

Comics: Grendel! Found some of the omnibuses for cheap at a local used book store, so I started in on these (I'd never read them before). I have…something of a love-hate relationship with Matt Wagner. His various pulp rehabilitations have been everything I've ever loved about these pulp heroes, but a lot of his…

Comics: soooo many effing comics this week.

I desperately want them to get Ray Stevenson as Victarion Greyjoy on this show.

Man, GoT season 5. Hardhome alone redeems every problem the season has.

Comics: I've been reading Steve Gerber's run on Man-Thing, and…I'm trying to see it as more than "hippie-written Swamp Thing". It has none of the bite or verve that Gerber's run on Howard the Duck had, and yet…I can't stop reading it.

TV: finally watching Person of Interest in earnest. I love how brutal Jim Caviezel can be ("Help me make the right decision" is just a chilling closing line), and I love it whenever I see Kevin Chapman get work (he was great on Brotherhood, too).

The first book's storytelling is super-sloppy, too. All the action comes during the last, say, 60 pages, just like the show! And even then, it was super-obvious.

Books: Finished up Richard Price's The Whites. It's pretty good; the first 3/4 are kinda typical working-class-cop procedural fare, and then the last 1/4 or so is just stunning.

I actually read that while it was coming out, and really liked it. It's another one I'm thinking of rereading (probably after Grimjack, though I might take a break from Ostrander to reread Starman for the billionth time).

Did you finish it yet? I finished it this morning. OH MAN.

Movies: Saw Triple 9, grew hair on chest. No, but really, that's a fun movie, and my idea of a good time. Not the best of all possible "violent men doing jobs" movies, and Hillcoat's got a long way to go before he can come close to being Michael Mann, but it did the trick.

Ellroy's Lloyd Hopkins are pretty decent, but they don't nearly get to the heights that stuff like the LA Quartet or the Underworld USA trilogy get to.

Books: Wrapped up the third book in Daniel Abraham's The Dagger & The Coin series. I love how Abraham manages to do the whole "trope subversion" fantasy without going utterly, utterly depressing (unlike, say, GRRM or Joe Abercrombie). Characters are still likable, interactions are fun, stuff like that. And woof,…

Ummm…it's coming to the Siskel Center, April 1-7. Might not be the Music Box, but it ain't no slouch.

I've got a few:

What, no Midnighter? I mean, I know he doesn't use a gun, but…

Books: reading Jack Carter's Law, by Ted Lewis, the second of his Jack Carter trilogy. Jack Carter continues to be the coolest, toughest thug you never actually want to hang out with. I love how Lewis sinks this books into such a distinctive location and time, and he does it in such terse language. Really great stuff.

Movies: I've been slowly working my way through the Halloween movies. Watched Season of the Witch and Return of Michael Myers. Season of the Witch is awesome, and I kinda want to see what it would've been if the Halloween movies became an anthology series with horror movies that all happen to occur on Halloween. I…

I'm a long-time lover of comic books, and…I can get snobby. I happened to be watching a random ep of The Simpsons when I was 18 or so, one that focused heavily on the Comic Shop Guy, and it suddenly struck me how easily I could become that guy. Like, incredibly easy. And ever since then, I've been doing everything…