The Shadow Glass (Winning)

The Shadow Glass
by Josh Winning (2022)

(Not a review, just some notes to help me remember the things I've read. But written this way because it's the Internet, and some people will stumble across this page.)

This was a pandemic book club pick. It received a mixed but mostly positive reviews.

For fans of the Dark Crystal or Labyrinth (I've seen the first, not the second), imagine a similar film that was created by a one-time director named Bob Corman that defined a generation and spawned a lot of ancillary material. This is the world of the movie The Shadow Glass, which created a word known as "Iri", pronounced "eerie".

Jack is the son of Bob, who recently passed away. Jack was estranged from his father, and now in financial straits, he looks to sell off some of his father's things. He winds up encountering creatures from Iri in his father's attic, which seek the Shadow Glass. Bad times have come to Iri and they have until the next full moon to set things right.

Jack is a non-believer, but Toby is a fanatic, knowing everything about Iri. He tries to help Jack.

There's a quest to find the Shadow Glass, the actual prompt from the movie, but it's rumored to have been broken up in pieces for storage. (In the end, this seems odd just because the pieces themselves don't seem to be all that big.)

To antagonize Jack, there is someone who hates him and Bob but loves Iri as it was in the film and nothing more. He winds up teaming up with the villains in the piece just so he can get closer to Iri.

The book was enjoyable, but there wasn't much of a payoff to it. What is this big moment on Iri? We never really find out. How will the Shadow Glass help? No clear idea what it will do (or did). And Jack gets faced with a false choice out of nowhere at what he wants to do.

One other point: this is not a book for young children. Jack gets his finger bitten off. It doesn't grow back. It isn't fixed by magic. There isn't a reset at the end of the story. Likewise, a movie studio guard gets swallowed whole and his uniform is spit out. It has its creepy moments.

I don't have much to complain about, but it wasn't the greatest book either. On Good Reads, I'm likely to give it four stars just because of the mediocre things that I've given three stars to.

Once again, this was a book that I listened to while walking concurrently with reading. Some of the script and transcript reading didn't sound well in audio. I also didn't finish the audio because I got to the end of the ebook first.

Graphic Novel: Superman in the Fifties

Superman in the Fifties (2021)

(Not a review, just some notes to help me remember the things I've read. But written this way because it's the Internet, and some people will stumble across this page.)

Last summer, I was in my local branch of the Brooklyn Public Library, and while there, I picked up 3 graphic novels. I read part of this one, and then put the pile on the side. I've been renewing them every three weeks since then.

Of the three, this was the one that it took the longest to read. Back in the fifties, the artwork in comics was much simpler but there was a lot more text to read. The pictures are interesting enough, but nothing is visually stunning. And, of coure, the story lines are about 70 years old.

The funny thing about this was the number of other rockets that landed on Earth and how many of those came from Krypton. There were three villains, not the Phantom Zone villains, who were imprisoned in a rocket. There was Krypto and Supergirl. And there was another alien, whose name I unfortunately forget, who thought he was Superman's big brother -- I remember the story being Mon-El, and maybe they reprinted this and changed it to Mon-El for the Legion of Super Heroes, but that wasn't his name. There were Bizarro stories. And, of course, Superman's Best Friend Jimmy Olsen and Superman's Girlfrien Lois Lane.

I remember in the late 70s or early 80s when a grownup Lana Lang came to Metropolis. Apparently, she'd done this back in the 50s as well.

It was an interesting look into the past. Two things that stand out: Superman didn't have "heat vision" then but rather used his "X-ray vision" to heat things up; and he used his "super-ventriloquism" more than once in the book, and the outcome of one story depended upon it. Yes, Superman could literally throw his voice and have it appear to come from somewhere else.

It was a fun but long read. I'm glad I read it, and I'm happy that I finally brought it back.

Graphic Novel: Superman '78

Superman '78 (2022)

(Not a review, just some notes to help me remember the things I've read. But written this way because it's the Internet, and some people will stumble across this page.)

Last summer, I was in my local branch of the Brooklyn Public Library, and while there, I picked up 3 graphic novels. I read part of this one, and then put the pile on the side. I've been renewing them every three weeks since then.

Superman 78 is a vit of an anomaly. Batman 66 holds a place in the hearts of many in a generation who grew up with reruns of the classic series day after day. At the same time, many of those same people, or their older siblings, grew up with the Adventures of Superman from a decade earlier.

While people have fond memories of Christopher Reeve as Superman, there were only four movies to work with, the last time being a little different from the first two, and the mythology isn't quite the same as the comic book. Granted, some of that mythology has been adopted into comics or television every now and again, but DC Comics had made a habit of rebooting their entire line-up on a regular basis.

Basically, we have a bunch of Superman stories with movie lookalikes. The book consists of six issues of the a series of the same name, starting after the movie took place. Luthor is released to work on science for the betterment of the world instead of the betterment of Luthor. Next, Brainiac comes along. He's been collecting pieces of planets in his museum. When he detects a Kryptonian on Earth, he demands Superman surrender himself to prevent the contamination of Earth. Superman reluctantly agrees. We then find the Bottle City of Kandor on Brianiac's ship where Jor-El and Lara have survived. Superman eventually escapes with the help of Lex Luthor, who needs to prove that he can succeed where Superman failed.

It was an interesting group of stories, but nothing special. Just another take on territory well-traveled. I was happy to see that the date was only 2021-2022, so that explains why I wasn't familiar with the comics existence.

One more graphic novel to finish.

Graphic Novel: Power Girl: Power Trip

Power Girl: Power Trip (2014)

(Not a review, just some notes to help me remember the things I've read. But written this way because it's the Internet, and some people will stumble across this page.)

Last summer, I was in my local branch of the Brooklyn Public Library, and while there, I picked up 3 graphic novels. I read part of this one, and then put the pile on the side. I've been renewing them every three weeks since then.

I finally spent a couple hours getting through the rest of Power Girl so I could return the book already.

Power Girl has an odd history. For anyone past the half-century mark in their life's journey, they will recall that Power Girl was the Earth-2 Supergirl analogue, back when there was an Earth-2.

Then in the mid-80s, DC Comics decided to "simplify" something that many of their fans didn't find all that complicated. (Yes, there were some contradictions that could've been cleared up by Fiat, but that's another issue.) When the "Crisis" ended, many characters that existed on both worlds were combined into one, some disappeared completely, and in cases such as the Flash, the Golden Age and Silver Age heroes co-existed.

The problem is that the Earth-2 Superman went away but Power Girl remained. There were attempts to give her new backstories until one would stick. I remember from back then when Arion, king of Atlantis. This book addresses that and other theories. It then dismisses them as delusions of the Psycho Pirate. I don't know if that part happened back then.

As a graphic novel goes, it got off to a choppy start and then got a bit smoother. Afterward, I checked, and that was because the last 12 chapters of the book were taken from a single series, when the opening chapters came from a few different sources.

Power Girl takes on the Ultra Humanite who wants her for her body. Literally. He wants to put his brain in her indestructible body. It doesn't go so well, but he'll make a return appearance, as will some of his allies. Also in the background is Dr. Sivanna from Captain Marvel (Shazam!) stories. He's not an active menace to Power Girl but makes his presence known.

The surprise character (for me) is the new Terra. Not to be confused with the Teen Titans traitor Terra, this teen is actually from deep underground but also earth-moving powers. The two team up well.

I enjoyed this, for the most part. The explanation about the hole in her uniform was a little silly. And there were plenty of references to staring at her boobs, which is to be expected.

Lessons in Chemistry (Garmus)

Lessons in Chemistry
by Bonnie Garmus (2022)

(Not a review, just some notes to help me remember the things I've read. But written this way because it's the Internet, and some people will stumble across this page.)

This was a pandemic book club pick. It received a mixed but mostly positive reviews.

I watched the series while I was waiting for the book to become available at the library. I think I'm glad that I did it in that order. For one thing, it preparted me for the intelligent dog that was abandoned from the military. For another, had I read the book first, I might've been bothered by some of the changes made for the book, including an entire subplot that was created for the show.

Elizabeth Zott is a chemist except that she doesn't have her PhD because of an incident in school. She stabbed the mentor who tried sexually assaulted her and then wouldn't apologize for hurting him. She works as an asistant at the only place that would hire her, Hastings Research Institute. There she meets their star chemist, Calvin Evans, who mistakes her at first for a secretary. The two become involved and fall in love. He then dies, but only after a) putting her name on the deed to his home, and b) getting her pregnant despite their precautions. Neither wanted children and Elizabeth did not wish to be married and change her name.

With Calvin no longer present, the powers that be at Hastings make her life miserable and she is finally let go when it's discovered that she's pregnant (and unmarried, too!). She makes money consulting with the chemists who bring work to her.

She gives birth to Mad, aka, Madeline and tries to balance motherhood with everything else, including building a lab in her kitchen. This is how she meets her neighbor from across the street, Harriet Sloane. A few years later, Mad is in school (early because of some document alteration). Mad is given her lunch to another girl who is the daughter of a TV producer, who is coincidentally looking for a new TV show to fill a void in the afternoon. When he's confronted by Elizabeth, he realizes that she could host a cooking show for the network. She finally agrees for the money.

Zott is difficult to work with because she won't confirm to how things are done. Despite this, her show is a big hit, even though the head of the studio wants to get rid of her.

I enjoyed the book for the most part, and can appreciate some of the changes that were made in the series. I prefer the younger Mr. Pine of the show.

My book group's reception was mixed but more positive. Many of them would've liked more of the cooking show than all the backstory we have to sit through. And when Mad has a family tree assignment and wants to find out more about her father's past, that might've been the time to discover everything about Calvin.

One thing I have been told by editors in rejections for some of my short stories (and sometimes I get an extra sentence or two) is that they want to see the growth of the protagonist. Well, Elizabeth Zott doesn't grow. At all. If any, she becomes more annoying because she seems stuck in the same rut with the same outlook she had 300 pages earlier. (And this is the opinon of the female members of the book club.) Everything eventually falls into place for her with a lot of luck and sheer coincidence. (Some of the coincidence gets a little bit explained, mind you, but it's still a bit out there.)

When asked how we would describe the character, I said, "Sheldon without the support network." I later thought of Temperance Brennan ("Bones"). Both of those characters were highly intelligent but lacking in social skills and somewhat unaware of how to act in certain situations. The two with better support networks grew over the course of their TV shows many seasons. In contrast, the only change we see in Zott is that she might go from being unaware how things actually work and knowing but not giving a damn. She will never budge an inch -- we assumed because she felt owed by this point. If she feels it's the right thing to do, that is all she will do, regardless of the consequences. Luckily, most of the times, things work out. And when they don't, she can pull a huge kitchen knife from her bag to give some a heart attack.

I enjoyed it, but it wasn't as good as it could've been.