I've been having a hard time finding a book to read that I liked lately. I tried a couple of novels from the Hard Case Crime series but the best thing about them were the covers, note to writers of Hard Case Crime books: write faster paced more exciting novels, the ones I tried were deadly dull. I tried reading
Cold Comfort Farm but by page 60 I gave up because I didn't like it, call me a Philistine but I liked the film much better. But in the midst of my literature dilemma my friend, who just happens to be the head honcho at my local library, recommended this graphic novel to me:
And all I can say is, holy shit, it's really good.
It's about a USA where something has gone horribly wrong and most everyone has been turned into zombies. And of course the zombies do what they do best, they shamble to and fro and they try to eat the remaining humans so that they turn into zombies as well. But as is often the case there's a small band of humans who survive the zombie-pocalypse and they try to soldier on and make their way in the world.
The thing I like about this series is that, at least in the first book anyway, they don't try to come up with an explanation for why the dead became alive once again and turned into flesh eating zombies. You just have to take it on faith that something happened and you go from there.
All the characters are well written and thought out. They're actually like people you might know and they do things and say things that you might really do and say in a world where zombies not only roam the earth but they out number humans by a wide margin as well. It's very engaging and well worth your time. I recommend it highly. I hope I can get the rest of the books at my library because I'm now hooked on them.
Next up the world of television. Specifically the world of NBC sitcoms. More specifically the awful show
Kath and Kim:
This is a re imagining of the Aussie sitcom of the same name. I tried watching the original when it aired on Sundance or IFC but I didn't like it. But I was willing to give the NBC remake a shot. I tried to like it, really I did. I watched all the episodes they ran but by the end I not only did not like it, I've decided that I hate Selma Blair more than the thought of having a lit cigar shoved up my ass.
The show is unfunny, condescending, poorly written, and poorly acted. It's not Molly Shannon's fault, she and the guy who plays her boyfriend try very hard to make this show work but despite their best efforts, it's a no go. The show is being dragged down by Selma Blair. She's awful in it. Her character is whiny, self absorbed, and unlikeable. There is not a single redeeming thing about her character. One tries to like her, or to at least find a reason to not hate her as much as one hates Adolf Hitler or Rush Limbo, but it's impossible. Blair's character singlehandedly ruins this show. But to be fair the guy who plays her husband gives her a run for her money in the 'Oh my fucking gawd I hate these people' department. I hope NBC cancels this show faster than a speeding bullet.
I also tried to like the ABC remake of
Life on Mars. And in fact I did like the first few episodes. But when they announced that Fred Thompson was joining the cast I dropped out. And it looks like the rest of the country did as well because the series hasn't been picked up. Oh well, after his stinging defeat in the Republican primaries last year and the cancellation of this show this year, it looks like poor ol' sleepy head Fred can't find a gig he can succeed at anymore. I guess he'll have to stay home and let his bubbleheaded trophy wife change his diapers while he sits in his Lazy-Boy and watches his old movies. Fred Thompson, he's not President but he did play one on TV and nobody gave a shit.
And finally there are a couple of mid season replacements that will be cancelled within weeks of their premiere. And they are both one ABC, one is the new show with that guy from
Firefly and the other is that show about the kooky cops that they keep advertising during
Lost. ABC, you do have one bright spot in your midseason line up replacement shows,
Better Off Ted looks to be a decent show, I caught the last five minutes of it last night and it not only made me laugh out loud, it looked like it was well written and well cast.
That's all for now.
It's another piece of dystopian/apocalyptic literature that I have such a fondness for. It's about a hybrid mutant boy with deer antlers who just wants to be left alone so he can go back to the only home he's known but can't because he's part of, or perhaps the cause of, a worldwide epidemic that killed millions of people. His story is a harrowing tale and it's told and artistically rendered brilliantly by Jeff Lemire. His story telling is tight and compelling and his art has a touch of art brut/clunkiness that really lends itself to the story he's telling. I can't wait for the next one in this series.
This is the second of the 'Parker' books that Darwyn Cooke has turned into a graphic novel. And for my money, both of them are super swell.
