81.
Title: [Catwoman: Selina's Big Score]
Author: Darwyn Cooke
Genre: Comic
Medium: Paperback
Acquisition: Library Book
Date Completed: September 20, 2016
Rating: ***1/2

A re-read, with some interesting history

82.
Title: [Catwoman: Vol. 1 the Game]
Author: Judd Winick
Genre: Comic
Medium: Paperback
Acquisition: Library Book
Date Completed: September 21, 2016
Rating: ***

Another reread.

83.
Title: [Victorian Fashion]
Author: Jayne Shrimpton
Genre: Fashion History
Medium: Paperback
Acquisition: Library Book
Date Completed: September 23, 2016
Rating: ***

Jayne Shrimpton's slim volume is a brief introduction to the forms and functions of fashion; its greatest value is that it does not limit its object of study to women's fashion, as is common, but rather extends her subject to men and children as well. Some interesting trivia is included for the more-familiar, such as the inspiration for men's facial hair, and the origins of the term "crinoline," but the text is more greatly geared towards the curious but uninformed. While it does not suit my current purposes, it is a charming little book.

84.
Title: [Victoriana]
Author: James Laver
Genre: Material Culture, History
Medium: Hardback
Acquisition: Library Book
Date Completed: September 25, 2016
Rating: ***

James Laver’s Victoriana is a companion history for aspiring collectors of Victorian kitsch, broadly identifying artistic movements and points of taste. The content of the book is a glossing of material culture, more useful for its illustrative presumptions and suppositions, often reading objects at face value (such as fashion plates representing “real” life) and thereby articulating cultural beliefs that may run contrary to the lived experiences of even the Victorian middle class.  Much of this use value is expressed in Laver’s introduction, which both defines “Victoriana,” and offers such keen insights as “the collapse of Victorianism …[and] the end of the Patriarchal System” thanks to the “New Woman” (25), and “the result [of the emancipation of the servant class is] that all women are now back at the kitchen sink” (25). That these two statements occur in parallel paragraphs speaks pretty greatly to the cultural moment of the 1960s, and undoes the argument that Victorianism and the Patriarchal system have collapsed.

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.

77.
Title: [The Perfect Gentleman: the Pursuit of Timeless Elegance and Style in London]
Author: James Sherwood
Genre: Fashion History
Medium: Hardback
Acquisition: Library Book
Date Completed: August something, 2016
Rating: ****

The introduction to The Perfect Gentleman develops a personal narrative which clearly situates the subject of the volume with the author's own experiences and romanticization of his subject (which is not, I should clarify, a criticism of the author or his text, but rather a recognition of a personal investment which often seems to drive fashion historians). Recognizing the role of materiality and commercialization in the establishment and maintenance of the identity of a British gentleman, Sherwod offers in his volume a series of brief histories of accouterments now closely aligned with the social role, so as to be indistinguishable from the signified. Though Sherwood asserts that the text is academic - and no doubt his research itself was an academic endeavor - the volume produced is much more of a fleshy coffee-table book - a collection of stories and histories interesting to fashion enthusiasts, but not deeply academic or useful for true research. Thus, it illustrates, but does not advance, the field.  I loved the trivia it offers, such as the origins of the expression "mad hatter," but theses stories are more delightful quips than actually useful to the project at hand. Still, if you're interested in gloves and hats and tobacco, and just why certain brands are associated with high class gender construction, this is a fun book to pour over. Recommended for pleasure, but not research.

78.
Title: [Suicide Squad: The Nighshade Odyssey]
Author: John Ostrander, Luke McDonnell, Bob Lewis
Genre: Comic
Medium: Paperback
Acquisition: Library Book
Date Completed: September 2, 2016
Rating: **

The Suicide Squad is built on the premise, as Amanda Waller is so fond of repeating, that its members are expendable; criminals are sent on dangerous missions of questionable integrity by a manipulative government, upon which relies their freedom and their lives. Literally sent to die in some cases, they fight not for integrity or a sense of right and wrong (despite the assertions of their "leader," who is given a cheap form of guilt morality), but for a chance to escape confinement, or to win aid in unfortunate personal trials. The premise itself remains intriguing, as it brings into question the assertion of villainous identities - who is named a villain, who names villains, and who can really determine what is "right" - but the second volume clearly believes its characters are just as expendable as Waller asserts. Without characterization, without any level of humanity, without any interest these blank humanoid figures are sent out and recalled, fight and share horrible snippets of melodramatic dialog, perhaps with a moment of personal angst from a figure or two. They are, nearly to a one, nothing, and there is very little to engage the reader. I'm actually glad now that the series has caught popular attention, because it means DC will take the property more seriously, and therefore produce stronger books with a great idea.

76.
Title: [Suicide Squad: Trial by Fire]
Author: John Ostrander
Genre: Comic
Medium: Hardback
Acquisition: Library Book
Date Completed: August something, 2016
Rating: ****

I liked the movie.  Honestly, I thoroughly enjoyed it - I left the theatre smiling and giggling and overall pleased with what I had seen.  I enjoyed the comic-like dialog, thought the music was well paired, and enjoyed the creative representations of most of the characters.  I hated the Enchantress plotline, but thought it clever and engaging that the true antagonist of the film is the industrial military complex of an American system devoid of checks and balances. As a scholar deeply involved in identity studies, I appreciated and followed the subtle discourse on villainy, its meaning and meaning makers, and its denoters. And I especially like Harley Quinn - yes, really. I know that there are many "fans" who love to hate Margo Robbie's presentation, but the arguments seem so shallow - I have a good friend, for example, who only wants HQ in her "real" Jester suit, when she hasn't donned the hideous thing in ages. Someone has been avoiding anything but the 1990s cartoon, methinks. The film recognizes that even in insanity Dr. Quinzle is a highly educated woman, who loses her sanity but not her intelligence. It also clearly recognizes that her actions are very much so a conscious performance, explicitly engineered to enable her a specific social and group standing.  I won't go into specifics, but I'll point to the car in the rain - there's a lot of depth in that scene. I also think it adds an interesting element to the Joker/Quinn romance, actually allowing them one, and making space for Quinn not as an abuse victim, but a willing participant in a nonnormative relationship. I think there's more there.

I have plenty more to say about the movie, but so does everyone else in the US right now, and mine is just another shout in the wind. What's pertinent here is that these detractors lead me to actually read the comic which inspires the film, and I equally loved it.  And the comic is everything the movie haters love to criticize about the film.

One complaint about the film was awkward exposition, which I'll say is entirely fair - and completed grounded in the comic, which does exactly the same thing. Boomerang and Enchantress are equally weak characters, and some of the awkward dialog and assertions of self are right there in the pages.  The first comic describes the building of the team, Amanda Waller's motivation and the consequences of her actions, and the murky morality of everyone involved. It's an interesting premise, believable in the world in which it takes place, and makes great space for a creative reintegration of well known villains.  Worth a read, I say.

Three more graphic novels bring me to my initial goal!

73.
Title: [The Saga of the Swamp Thing]
Author: Alan Moore
Genre: Comic
Medium: Paperback
Acquisition: Library Book
Date Completed: August 8, 2016
Rating: ***

Alan Moore's Swamp Thing is a canonical graphic novel that breaks new ground and shepherds the genre into new themes and ideas, abandoning caped crusaders to follow philosophical conundrums posed by the creation and existence of the humanoid character now known as Swamp Thing. I know this, and I knew it going into the book, but ultimately the entire text felt like an unfortunate chore - how I'm sure some high school freshman unfortunately feel when forced to read Romeo and Juliet because "it's a classic." I have no intention of debating Moore's influence on the genre, nor his prolific, and often intriguing productions. His narratives don't click for me as a general rule, and this book is no exception. While it was suggested to me both for its cannonical status and for its narrative on Othering and villainy, I didn't find anything that isn't likewise represented in texts I find more enjoyable to work with. A good box to check, but not a favorite for me.

74.
Title: [300]
Author: Frank Miller
Genre: Comic
Medium: Hardback
Acquisition: Library Book
Date Completed: August 9, 2016
Rating: ***

I saw the film 300 long before I knew the story was based on a graphic novel, and snagged it off the library shelf on a whim just recently. What I found was a treat of a story, paced and illustrated much like the kind of mythology which inspires its tale, and brief in its development and execution. The art style is a strong voice in the overall telling of the Spartan warriors willing to sacrifice their lives for their king and his stand for autonomy against an arrogant but powerful imperialist interloper. I couldn't help but let my imagination and the film fill in the narrative holes left in the original story, and I'm not quite sure that's a bad thing - there's certainly more to be said, and more one wants to hear about this march of men.

75.
Title: [Catwoman: A Celebration of 75 Years]
Author: Frank Miller
Genre: Comic
Medium: Hardback
Acquisition: Library Book
Date Completed: August 9, 2016
Rating: ***

This collection of Catwoman stories is the second I've read of its kind, and the editors select largely different representative stories, which allows me a stronger understanding of where the character has been, and where she may be going. Most valuable, though, are the editor's own descriptive introductions, placing the comics and the character into a larger cultural narrative, the better to understand her full development and impact; they speak of shows and movies, trends and cultural artifacts, and work to illustrate how she is a product of her time, while also timeless. Though I haven't yet found what I'm looking for in terms of primary source material, I'd say that this anthology is a great introduction to a classic anti-hero/villain/opportunist nearly as old as Batman, and just as dark and compelling.

70.
Title: [Batman: The City of Owls]
Author: Scott Snyder
Genre: Comic
Medium: Paperback
Acquisition: Comic Store
Date Completed: August 2, 2016
Rating: ***

A sequel to the incredible Court of Owls, The City of Owls follows Batman as he seeks revenge on the Court, penetrating their previously impervious boundaries and hunting for those in true control. Secondary stories follow Dr. Freeze and his "romantic" mission against Wayne Enterprises, the teenage electrician Harper Row, and Alfred's father's confrontation with the Court of Owls. Like teh second in many popular trilogies, The City of Owls feels most like a filler book, offering narrative and development without great engagement with developing plot points.

71.
Title: [The Joker: Endgame]
Author: Scott Snyder
Genre: Comic
Medium: Paperback
Acquisition: Comic Store
Date Completed: August 3, 2016
Rating: ******

This.  This. This book is a spectacular epic following the Joker's grand masterpiece of a final act, ultimately infecting over 90% of Gotham city and pushing Batman to his true limits. Woven throughout the book are teaser biographies of who the Joker "really is," whispered and shared by escaped Arkham Asylum inmates, their psychiatrist, and even boarding school students hiding from the madness of the chemical warfare beyond their school gates.  These biographies illustrate the reach and influence o Joker not just within the Batman canon, but in popular culture as a whole, demonstrating the hunger comic readers have for the "truth" behind the Joker's mystery, and the power of myth to grow and morph and promise and deny throughout telling.  As a whole, it is suspenseful and creepy, matching action with what amounts to ghost stories, and the ultimate twists are deeply satisfying and well written for such a spectacular character. Following the arc of Death of the Family I couldn't fathom what DC or Scott Snyder could do with the Clown Prince, and I for one am quite satisfied with their creative choices - and I'm thrilled for it analytic potential for my current research.

72.
Title: [Pretty Deadly]
Author: Deconnick, Brios, Bellaire, Cowles
Genre: Comic
Medium: Paperback
Acquisition: Comic Store
Date Completed: August 3, 2016
Rating: ***1/2

Pretty Deadly is a fictional Western in which a young girl, Sissy, travels with her adoptive paternal figure, performing the story of Deathface Ginny as her own mysterious past unfolds around her. When Death comes to release a Beauty from her Mason husband, who has jealously locked her away in a tower, Death himself falls in love with the young woman, and together they produce a daughter, whom Death names Ginny. This mythology is the clearest narrative in the entire book, which as a whole teasingly places Sissy in the story, and slowly reveals the truth of the fairy tale, and the parts played by the characters included. The artwork is lovely, but the story feels clumsy, especially after reading Monstress; had I read Pretty Deadly first I may have rated it more favorably, but after such a great book this one falls a bit flat.

65.
Title: Lost Girls: Volume 3
Author: Alan Moore
Genre: Graphic Novel
Medium: Hardback
Acquisition: Borrowed from Diss Adviser
Date Completed: July 14, 2016
Rating: ***1/2

66.
Title: [Hit List]
Author: Laurell K. Hamilton
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Medium: Hardback
Acquisition: Probably Pre-ordered once upon a time
Date Completed: July 12, 2016
Rating: **

This may be the most hideous book cover ever used by a professional publisher. The ethos of the book is immediately destroyed by this visual presentation, and the book itself does nothing to recover.

67.
Title: [Kiss the Dead]
Author: Laurell K. Hamilton
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Medium: Hardback
Acquisition: Probably Pre-ordered once upon a time
Date Completed: July 18, 2016
Rating: **

Neither of these books in the Anita Blake series is especially engaging, forgettable nearly as soon as they're put aside. I've missed Bullet in my straight-through attempt at a series, because a friend had my copy, and I'm currently deciding whether I want to go back to it, or skip it entirely; apparently I wasn't very impressed the first time around. I know the story picks up a bit in later books, so I'm tempted to just keep looking forward.

68.
Title: [Affliction]
Author: Laurell K. Hamilton
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Medium: Hardback
Acquisition: Probably Pre-ordered once upon a time
Date Completed: July 25, 2016
Rating: ****

I enjoyed Affliction both for its character development (finally!), and for the balance of romance and action.  When Micah's sheriff father is struck with a strange disease in the line of duty, his mother calls Anita, and the principle menage-a-trois travels home so Micah can say goodbye.  Coming home for the first time since falling under the tyranny of Chimera, Micah's stress is increased by both his former efforts to alienate his family for their protection, and a fanatical family branch who literally has his worst interest at heart. Introducing himself as a functioning member of a polyamorous relationship is the icing on the social cake, and ultimately this introduction serves to further the otherwise stagnant personal relationships that run Anita's household.There's more than initially meets the eye in nearly every social interaction, and resolution is found.  Anita gets back to work, with Edward on board, and seeing her in the field helps re-center the character in her non-amorous life (though, as other readers said, the social tension she encounters in these professional situations is repetitive to the point of pointlessness, no longer offering useful tension but adding a layer of annoyance to the plot lines. Not every secondary or tertiary character should serve as a therapeutic revelation and positive assertion of self). As an urban fantasy/romance the story is reasonably engaging, and provided just the entertainment I hoped for.

I struggle with the series from a number of critical perspectives, particularly as it clashes with my own theoretical allegiances. However, I don't read these as objects of study - I read them to check out and indulge, and Affliction lead me back to doing just that.

69.
Title: [Dead Ice]
Author: Laurell K. Hamilton
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Medium: Hardback
Acquisition: Pre-ordered
Date Completed: July 28, 2016
Rating: ***

Dead Ice, the Anita Blake installment of last summer, is a classic case of Laurell K. Hamilton's misdirection: promotional materials would have readers believe that the novel focuses on a case involving zombie porn, and the "apparent" (i.e. everyone can "tell") capturing and reinsertion of soul into the zombies being manipulation for the purposes of pornography. Smacking of a badie from before, Anita's anxiety spikes as she attempts to discern the identity of the animator, and just how he can accomplish this vile act once managed by only one priestess in the world.

Except ... the case barely registers.  As per usual, the circumstances of Anita's involvement in an FBI case are marginal to her personal confrontations, which in this book involves her ball-busting new guards and trying to do something with the disaster that is Asher (and Kane). The original case is a wonderful premise, and one worthy of development, but the novel completely fails this plot in favor of watching Anita stomp around the Circus asserting her big-doggedness and gaining even more metaphysical power.

I've come to realize that rereading the series in order was perhaps not the best decision if I wanted to maintain my casual fandom: these books are much more entertaining in isolated bursts of quick entertainment, and do not stand up to the test of extended development in synchronous reads. Though I love many of the characters, Anita is not one, and I'm finding myself more relieved than entertained that I've now finished the available series. I'm hanging on for the wedding, because it seems like the one true moment of progress I've seen, but I'm not nearly as excited as I was a year ago.

64. 
Title: [Monstress]
Author: Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda
Genre: Graphic Novel
Medium: Paperback
Acquisition: Pre-ordered
Date Completed: July 12, 2016
Rating: *****
Monstress tells the tale of Maika Halfwolf, an Arcanic searching for answers to her own existence in the aftermath of a holy war which sees a tenuous peace between humans and Arcanics, which still allows for the slavery of the later by the former. Of curiously unknown half-human half-Ancient origin, Arcanics are fantastic humanoid characters of highly variable appearances, treated as beasts by humans, and literally consumed by witches who use their flesh for the production of illium, a magical solution.  Mysteriously more powerful than expected, and carrying a dark presence even she is unaware of at the first, Maika is driven by the death of her mother, the secrets the woman took with her, and a hunger that frightens both herself and the characters around her.  The narrative offers careful world and story-building, showing bits of history interspersed with the present to maintain the enjoyable uncertainty of the story without wholly confusing the reader. Complex characters with strong histories and motivations drive the story, and the fantasy of the time and place encourages immersion in a place that is entirely other, but eerily family and thus seemingly possible. The cover offers Neil Gaiman's critique that the book is "Remarkable: a beautifully told story of magic and fear," and I wholeheartedly agree.  Well done.

63.
Title: [Flirt]
Author: Laurell K. Hamilton
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Medium: Hardback
Acquisition: Probably Pre-ordered once upon a time
Date Completed: July 10, 2016
Rating: **

Flirt, a novella in the Anita Blake series, loosely uses the premise of flirtation as a personality trait to direct a melodrama of love, desire, loss, and violence. Opening with two uncomfortable professional interviews, in which Anita has to deny each client their request for the animation of their deceased spouses, Anita contemplates the flirtatious drives of a handful of her loved ones before being unceremoniously kidnapped by mercenary werelions. When someone can't take no for an answer, things get ugly, with fairly predictable Anita Blake results. The book introduces a character I find exceptionally interesting - namely, Nicky - but in such a way that the conclusion is overly obvious from the very first.  The story is weak and poorly planned, rushing to the climax (pun intended) without joy or enthusiasm.  If you've missed this one you're not missing much, and experience has shown me that the character is better explored later in the series.

59-60.
Title: [Lost Girls: Volume 1] and [Lost Girls: Volume 2]
Author: Alan Moore
Genre: Graphic Novel
Medium: Hardback
Acquisition: Borrowed from Diss Adviser
Date Completed: June 16-17, 2016
Rating: ****

Alan Moore's three-volume Lost Girls is a pornographic re-visitation of three familiar fairytale characters meeting, and enjoying clandestine affairs, in an unusual hotel.  Alice (of Wonderland) is a wealthy elderly lesbian who has been socially shunned from her family - not that she cares much; Wendy (Darling) is a meek and submissive wife still daydreaming of dalliances in the park with a fairy-like young man; Dorthy is a spunky American Westerner spinning yarns of frisky farm life for her European companions. Together, the women share their sexually deviant but fulfilling histories, while enjoying a casual intimacy which is represented as comfortable and engaging, asking nothing and giving everything: the stories known to us as children are represented as metaphors for sexual awakenings and adventures in a very adult world. Realistically, there are some power dynamics which show a tendency towards predatory consumption of  young women, and taboos are unapologetically represented as part of the characters histories. In the telling, though, Moore gives each of the characters agency, allowing them the pursuit of pleasure and interesting a way that would have been (and arguable still can be) denied young women, and negates any sense of shame or apology. In a first reading I'd then suggest that this is an intriguingly feminist text, at once acknowledging how society and social groups can take advantage of young women, and how those same young omen can find their own autonomy in the ownership of their sexuality. Moore's take on these traditional female figures captures and articulates the strange in-betweeness of Victorian sexuality - that which shouldn't be, but is undeniably there. It also expresses a keen understanding of intended audience and fairy tales, giving back to adults a space of fantasy and metaphor that the Victorians relinquished to children. The series was recommended to me by one of my dissertation advisers as I first approached a project on gender and Victorian novels and modern comics, and it's something to think about as I move forward with the project.

61.
Title: [The Female Detective]
Author: Andrew Forrester
Genre: Detective Novel
Medium: Paperback
Acquisition: Beach Read
Date Completed: July 5, 2016
Rating: ***

Andrew Forrester's The Female Detective, published in 1864, is the first of its kind*, introducing a female protagonist in a relatively new genre. Using the name of Mrs. Gladden, although never actually recognizing this as her legal name, the female detective in question introduces the occupation to her readers in a series of narratives, both justifying her position and actions and relating the specifics of a series of "cases" in which she is involved.  As a whole, the novel is clumsy and unsure of itself, using bracketed asides and footnotes to try to direct and clarify and generally justify the text, characters, and occupation itself. Interestingly, a true organization of occupation familiar to modern readers (and anyone familiar with police procedurals!) is missing, and Mrs. G reads more like a busybody with police connections than a competent professional; for example, in one significant case she takes it upon herself to research the strange adoption of a young girl, whose household presence secures a financial legacy, ultimately revealing the results of her investigation because it is "required" of her position, though she was hired of no one and her investigation threatens to bring true harm to very good people. Her works seems more like that of cozy mystery protagonists than a professional detective, which has interesting gender implications for the genre itself.  Not good in its own right, Forrester's novel is nonetheless an interesting cultural object for the study of Victorian culture, and the evolution of the genre.

*Like many "firsts", this is a bit contentious. However, despite the existence of Ruth the Betrayer from 1862/3, I'll maintain for my own purposes that Forrester's novel is "first." My own personal justification for this is that Ellis' text is a serial penny dreadful, a different form of publication from Forrester's formal novel publication.  Therefore, Ellis' spy may be the first female detective in English, but Forrester's novel is the first female detective novel.

62.
Title: [Clean Room]
Author: Gail Simone
Genre: Graphic Novel
Medium: Paperback
Acquisition: Pre-ordered
Date Completed: July 6, 2016
Rating: *****

A well-written, strongly-illustrated, highly-compelling graphic novel. Clean Room takes a Scientology-esque institution and places it into productive action, revealing an alternative awareness of the world which both enlightens and terrifies those who know. Astrid Mueller is a horror writer turned self-help guru who has attracted a large umber of devoted followers, including nearly all of Hollywood, who attend weekly "readings" and espouse her wisdom. The organization is also cited in a number of suicides, calling into question Mueller's intentions and control, and whether or not her "help" is really positive. When a reporter's fiance falls under Mueller's spell, and kills himself suddenly, she makes it her mission to expose Mueller and take down the organization. Of course, there is far more to the story than she imagines, which she discovers after being allowed a rare glimpse into the "clean room" that is Astrid's true command center. The book is a creative take on alternative social communities and suggestive of a real horror that will leave readers on edge.  The character development is strong and largely believable, making the fantastic all the more possible.  Very well done.