80.
Title: [Gotham City Central]: Jokers and Madmen
Author: Greg Rucka, Ed Brubaker
Genre: Comic
Medium: Paperback
Acquisition: Library Book
Date Completed: September 19, 2016
Rating: ****

Th second volume of Gothic City Central is just as compelling a the first, carefully blending the genres of caped comics and police procedurals and ending up with a strong, character-driven book that develops carefully and with the drama and action appropriate to each, without jumping the shark (or nuking the fridge? What are we going with these days?). Well done, and a pleasure to read.

79.
Title: [Gotham City Central]: In the Line of Duty
Author: Greg Rucka, Ed Brubaker
Genre: Comic
Medium: Paperback
Acquisition: Library Book
Date Completed: September 17, 2016
Rating: ****

Rucka and Brubaker's Gotham City Central occupies the mundane world of Batman's Gotham City, taking a step back from the extraordinary of masked antiheroes and villains to develop an understanding of a police force faced with both typical and atypical crime, and a compatriot they don't exactly like, but understand they must call in when the atypical runs amok. These are the men and women who serve as Gotham City detectives, investigating rape and murder and abductions, and who are faced with the terrifying reality of supervillains from time to time. Though Batman exists in the text, he's on the fringe of the narrative - a looming necessary evil that the squads resent, and try to limit, but nonetheless needs to be called in from time to time. Though almost entirely missing the iconic figure of The Bat, Gotham Central is far from dull, and works well to show readers that Gotham itself, and the people who inhabit this fictional New York, can be just as compelling, and are far more than fodder in the extravagant fight of masks and capes. There are triumphs and failures, prejudices and personal lives, and a negotiation between morals and expectations. The artwork is grim and compelling, avoiding flashy colors and elaborate scenes for the texture of a place you expect to find in reality.  A well done work, and a wonderful addition to the Batman canon.

19.
Title: [Batman: The Man Who Laughs]
Author: Ed Brubaker
Genre: Comics
Medium: Paperback
Acquisition: IS Research
Date Completed: March 21, 2016
Rating: ****

One of the constant draws of The Joker is the uncertainty of his past; though narratives are offered from time to time (*cough*AlanMoore*cough*), even these "definitive" stories are challenged by the ambiguity of the character himself: he is literally not to be trusted. Ever. Even in the naming of his own past. This is one of the characteristics which makes him a memorable, and lasting, antagonist.  The Man Who Laughs is purportedly a re-telling (re-inking, re-publishing?) of the original 1940 comic, which saw the introduction of a strange jester.  I say "purportedly" only because I have not yet managed to read Batman #1, though I will.  In his first introduction, the Joker is all chaos - and nameless, given his famous moniker by the press as he mysteriously poisons Gotham elite (and anyone else who is inconveniently placed).  Arkham Asylum has not yet opened when the Joker first murders a reporter and cameraman in front of its gates, leaving an impression inside and out before he ever takes up residence.

As a story, it is a bit lackluster, given all the Joker will come to do.  As an origin, it's successful, providing the first and only really trustworthy beginning point of the villain who becomes Batman's mirror.

Homework

57.
Title: [Catwoman: Volume 1]
Author: Ed Brubaker
Genre: Graphic Novel
Medium: Ebook
Acquisition: Class Text
Date Completed: July 2014
Rating:

58.
Title: [Catwoman: Volume 2]
Author: Ed Brubaker
Genre: Graphic Novel
Medium: Ebook
Acquisition: Class Text
Date Completed: July 2014
Rating:

59.
Title: [Sweet Life: Erotic Fantasies for Couples]
Author: Violet Blue
Genre: Erotica
Medium: Paperback
Acquisition:
Date Completed: July 2014
Rating:

60.
Title: [Batman: Nightfall Volume 1]
Author: "Various"
Genre: Graphic Novel
Medium: Ebook
Acquisition: Class Text
Date Completed: July 2014
Rating:

61. 
Title: [Hero]
Author: Perry Moore
Genre: YA Superhero
Medium: Paperback
Acquisition: Class Text
Date Completed: July 2014
Rating: ***1/2

An interesting take on the assumed binary between superheroes and "othering" as applied to other marginalized groups; here, Thom has to "come out" as both a superhero and a gay man to his bigoted father.  The story has a great deal of potential, but the gendered implications of Thom's powers (both his initial, and then the shift at the conclusion) ruins its power. I can't really say more without spoiling, so there you have it.

62.
Title: [Ultra: Seven Days]
Author: Jonathan Luna
Genre: Graphic Novel
Medium: Ebook
Acquisition: Class Text
Date Completed: July 2014
Rating: *

I really wanted this to be a satire, but I don't think it's intended to be. Hideous art, and terrible characterization.

63.
Title: [Watchmen]
Author: Alan Moore
Genre: Graphic Novel
Medium: Ebook
Acquisition: Class Text
Date Completed: July 2014
Rating:

64.
Title: [Wanted]
Author: Mark Millar
Genre: Graphic Novel
Medium: Ebook
Acquisition: Class Text
Date Completed: July 2014
Rating:

65.
Title: [Ex Machina: The First Hundred Days]
Author: Ed Brubaker
Genre: Graphic Novel
Medium: Ebook
Acquisition: Class Text
Date Completed: July 2014
Rating:

66.
Title: [Daredevil: Born Again]
Author: Frank Miller
Genre: Graphic Novel
Medium: Ebook
Acquisition: Class Text
Date Completed: July 2014
Rating:

67.
Title: [Cage]
Author: Brian Azzarello
Genre: Graphic Novel
Medium: Ebook
Acquisition: Class Text
Date Completed: July 2014
Rating:

68.
Title: [Superman: Red Son]
Author: Mark Millar
Genre: Graphic Novel
Medium: Ebook
Acquisition: Class Text
Date Completed: July 2014
Rating: **

I am not a fan of The Boyscout, and making him Russian did not elicit any further sympathy.

69.
Title: [Batwoman: Elegy]
Author: Greg Rucka
Genre: Graphic Novel
Medium: Ebook
Acquisition: Class Text
Date Completed: July 2014
Rating:

70.
Title: Rhetoric articles - approximately 1,500 pages
Author: Various
Genre: History
Medium: .PDF, various books
Acquisition: Class Text
Date Completed: July 2014
Rating:

71.
Title: Superhero and US Media articles - approximately 450 pages (so far)
Author: Various
Genre: History
Medium: .PDF, various books
Acquisition: Class Text
Date Completed: July 2014
Rating:


I'm missing plenty, I didn't log partial reads, and I'm low-balling the articles. I'm going to be so glad I did this, and I'm very ready for things to settle down ... just in time for another semester to begin.

Hello, grad school - I missed you.

Summer Classes Begin

54.
Title: [Catwoman: Nine Lives of a Feline Fatale]
Author: Ed Brubaker
Genre: Graphic Novel
Medium: Paperback
Acquisition: for Superheroes and US Media
Date Completed: June 28, 2014
Rating: ****1/2

Purchased to give me a background on my selected super"hero," Brubaker's collection provides vignettes of Catwoman in nine iterations. For each generation she is a different character, each fraught with a number of cultural and intellectual problems. She's as complicated as I hoped, and this book was a great introduction to the comics that create her. 

55.
Title: [Superman vs. Lex Luther]
Author: Various
Genre: Graphic Novel
Medium: .PDF
Acquisition: Class Text
Date Completed: June 30, 2014
Rating:

Collection assembled by my professor to illustrate the different faces of Lex Luther through the years.

56.
Title: [The Death of Superman]
Author: Dan Jurgens
Genre: Graphic Novel
Medium: Paperback
Acquisition: Class Text
Date Completed: July 2, 2014
Rating:


With all of my other reading and writing I don't think I'll be able to review all of these graphic novels.  It was interesting to read a whole Superman book for once, but I'll save my observations for class.