The Yokota Officers Club

1969 I read this book on the basis of having lived on a military base in Asia as a child, and the recommendation of a fellow "Army Brat" who had read it. I was wary that the setting would be secondary to some kind of 'Joy Luck Club' plot, which would not fit in well with my usual diet of science fiction or comedy. But since I trust my friends I forced myself to be open-minded and check the book out. It is true that the main character does spend the bulk of the novel anguishing over her relationship with her parents and siblings in a way that threatened to lose my interest several times. The military dependant backround did bring back some nostalgia, but my family was never actually in the army or air force, so I didn't truly relate to the angst of an officer's spouse and family. What locked in this book for me is the characters. The mother, Moe, the bratty kids, the mysterious Japanese nanny, Bobby the comedian- they all succeed at breathing life, conflict, humor and love into the story. I'm not sure who to recommend this book to. Army brats? Sure. Affectionados of the military presence in the post WWII pacific arena. I guess. Mostly I suggest it to those interested in the human interest appeal. A great story about great people during an interesting time in an interesting place.

Nick Fury: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.

1966

Nick Fury is a bad-ass, not the first by any means but few characters in fiction so perfectly exemplify machismo. With his eye-patch, constant cigar and permanent stubble, not to mention the last name FURY, the guy is solid gold manhood on a platter.

Without checking any wiki pages on his history, I can tell you that Nick Fury got his start as the lead in a WWII comic, Sgt. Fury and the Howling Commandos. Within a few years the swinging sixties spawned the James Bond movies and multiple copycat spy dudes with slinky ladies and pychedelic dance music soundtracks in the cinemas. Marvel responded by revamping Fury to be a modern day spy. I don't even think they explained the transition at the time- in the early days of Marvel there was no swarm of fans demanding continuity. *1 It was explained eventually that Fury was taking an elixer that slowed his aging. Apparently one or two of his war buddies took it, too, since guys like Dum-Dum Dugan are still around. Oh, and every other major comic book character, too.

Nick Fury has been a mainstay in the Marvel Universe since then, popping up in every major comic as a superhero liason G-Man and exposition dude. He was the first time-traveler I know of who tried to kill off Hitler (the Fantastic Four stopped him from altering history). Despite that god-awful David Hasslehoff movie, Nick never made it to public mainstream awareness. The guy has no superpowers, no major storyline, and is too easily portrayed as a knock-off of manly archetypes.

Then Marvel launched the Ultimate series of comics. Not necessarily geared toward younger readers, the Ultimate comics were designed to start fresh with the Marvel books and draw in new readers. Storylines were started fresh, and the big Marvel icons like the Avengers and Spider-Man were fresh-faced superhero newbies, presumably more relatable to young readers than the old grizzled veterans that I grew up with in the eighties.

They tweaked a few things; mostly costumes, but also storylines and a general updating of forty year old origins. But the most drastic change, in my mind, was ole' Nick Fury. First of all, they changed him from a cigar-chompin' unshaved war veteran into... Samuel L. Jackson. From what I understand they actually asked SLJ for his permission to have the new Fury modeled after him.

I have mixed feelings about this. On one hand, how cool is Sam Jackson? The most die-hard cynic has to still admire Sam Jackson for an overall career of bad-ass-hood. His worst movie roles have still been cult or critic favorites. Say what you want about the Star Wars prequels, Mace Windu is pretty cool, and that part was made for him- so that's two major geek universe characters designed to look like Samuel L. Jackson. And Samuel loves it- I think he's the kind of guy who goes to Comic Con and genuinely enjoys it.

Also- I like the inversion of modeling fictional characters after real-world counterparts- as opposed to the tradional process of looking for an actor that can portray a character like Superman. It demonstrates a powerful co-existance of Hollywood and comic fandom that was perhaps born when Marlon Brando first donned Krytonian robes.

Still... you changed Sgt. Fury's race??!! And made him bald??!! Wait.. is that a kango? I can be a purist and resistant to needless change. It just seems a total denial of everything that was originally cool about the character. I realize that this sounds very crotchety- like something your slightly racisct grandfather would say. And yes, I realize that the original cigar smoking Fury is intact- But doesn't the whole thing smell like a marketing ploy when it's all said and done? The fact that the movie version Of Fury, which will now get more exposure than ever with the upcoming Avengers, actually features S. Jackson fulfilling the role modeled after him both excites the fanboy in me and irritates the grown cynic I've become.

Just this afternoon (well after I started writing this tirade a week ago) I passed by the TV and caught my nine year old watching yet another animated version of the Avengers on TV, a ploy that even my children recognize is marketing for an upcoming movie as opposed to an original production with artistic merit. Sure enough there was an African-American Nick Fury (but with hair- so totally different from the other versions- ushering a newly awakened Captain America about the modern world. I recognize the need to keep 46 year-old characters fresh and induct new fans like my kids, but you'll never stop professional Haters like me from stomping my feet and shouting that Nick Fury ISN'T AN AVENGER! And wasn't responsible for the formation of the group- no matter what revisionist history is the current / popular version.

And while I recognise that I'm getting farther and farther away from a review of Nick Fury: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., let me comment briefly (if possible) on X-Men: First Class, which I just watched for the first time the other day. Here is a movie that is as revisionist as anything (Darwin an original member... Havok older than Cyclops.. Phooey!) and yet completely retains the SPIRIT of the original. And makes many nice nods to the original X-Men comics, the greatest of which is using the original setting of the sixties. Certainly liberties have been taken with the characters and stories (the X-Men didn't know the Hellfire Club existed until the eighties (shouts the crotchety blogger)) but the core dynamic of ethical ambiguities in the light of persecution and bigotry is portrayed beautifully. One can only hope that the big screen tent-pole production (is that a new term?) of the Avengers retains the same glory of the original... oh wait, The Avengers has always been a big-screen story of star-spangled super-powered doofs banging out their internal issues through violence and spectacle.

What we won't see in the Avengers is the psychedelic and epic art of Jim Sterenko. Sterenko is awesome. He took what should have been a campy rip-off of James Bond using a campy WWII comic book character during the era of campy Stan Lee-Jack Kirby comics and slowly infused it with late sixties psychedlia and pop culture coolness. His backrounds and effects ooze groundbreaking art pastiches that took the rest of the industry years to emulate. The equipment and outfits he gives Fury are so cool it takes even the most hardened reader back to elementary school daydreams of 'wouldn't it be cool if..' And even Fury's hap-slappy dialog and Dum-Dum backslapping get toned down over the course of this collection of fifteen page short stories to portray more dimensional and real characters. Sterenko is the reason that Nick Fury survived the Golden Age of comics and is still around for Sam Jackson to try and pump new life into.

*1 We do that now, but it doesn't stop comic book writers from both companies retro-ing characters and stories whenever and however they want.

Captain America: Red, White & Blue

This collection houses a rag-tag assembly of short stories about Captain America from different artists and writers that take place in a variety of settings. I almost left it out of the blog because it spans a very wide range of timespans. With the recent Hollywood treatment, much of the public is aware of Cap's background even if they aren't comic fans. I wanted to hit on Captain America's WWII experience and subsequent re-awakening in the Marvel universe without dwelling on it too much, since I'm not a huge fan. This collection I found at the library seemed like the perfect fit.

It started off well with an origin story by Paul Dini and Alex Ross, two blockbuster creators in the comic world. Several of the stories were done very well. There were multiple chapters involving children that hit the right notes to tug at the heartstrings.

However there were several 'what if?' stories that strayed so far from the original mythos that it simply left the reader puzzled at how it could possibly fit in, and some so stylistically dark that it seemed strained and forced.

The last sections are reprints and other stories revolving around the much-publicized death of Captain America. Having not followed recent C.A. storylines, I was very confused at which stories were cannon and which were alternate tellings of his death. The bits focusing on the reaction of Cap's friends and the public to his death were also equal parts touching and choppy, leaving me both nicely touched by a tragic storyline but also annoyed at the lack of cohesiveness and continuity.

More a tribute than any sort of story or theme, I tentatively gave this "graphic novel" a positive review for some great artwork and diversity of style, but hated it personally for having no chronology or meaning.

Shambling Towards Hiroshima

1945



Obviously we come to a closure now on the second world war. I am sure I missed 100 great sci-fi/alt history stories taking place during WWII, and I know some of my more modern stories in the future re-visit the era in flashback or time machine, but 'shambling toward Hiroshima' is certainly what I have done over the past few months.

This book is a play on the creation of Godzilla, a giant reptile monstrosity bent on the destruction of Tokyo, born from the toxic fumes of nuclear destruction. I read recently that when the original Godzilla movie first showed in Japan, audiences sat in shocked silence, and openly wept. The anology of Godzilla's wave of destruction as representative of the nuclear bomb hit very close to home with the Japanese of the 1950's.

Morrow walks a very thin line when he uses this metaphor in his story of a B-movie actor recruited by the US military to masquerade as a monster trashing Tokyo in an attempt to end the war. The hope is that the threat of a monster invasion will force the Japanese into surrender. It will also buy them some time while they perfect the real life versions of the monsters.

I'm just not sure. Is this a comedy? A wry statement on nuclear bombs at the onset of the Cold War? A tongue in cheek look at the Hollywood horror / b-movie industry of the forties? A serious statement about growing old in Reagan's eighties? A book about Godzilla? It's all these things. Unfortunately, it fails to excell at any of the above genres, but rather muck about and hop from point to point. Yes, this novella is a fun and easy read, but if a mishmash of the mentioned subplots and genres doesn't hit any sweet spots of interest for you, you may wish to pass on 'Hiroshima'.

Destroyermen

March, 1942

Destroyermen


My thumbnail review:

An entertaining read with equal parts science fiction escapism and a loving treatment of WWII naval heroes, Into the Storm was fun enough to continue on with the series but too light for a serious recommendation.

If that satisfies your curiosity, you should stop reading here. If the word 'Lizardmen' peakes your interest, read on.

Once again, militarism smacks me in the face with technical lingo and a lot of sweaty men living together on a boat in this Navy based saga. But these books are a loving tribute to the Destroyers of old, and even when the details should bore me I am held rapt by a narration rich in respect and tribute for World War II sea craft.

The main characters are straight out of some kind of old fashioned black and white serial adventure. The strong and silent captain, aided by the resiliant nurse, both of them aching with longing for each other but afraid of the ramifications of their emotions. Where the battle scenes thrive on a love of high seas adventure, so do the crew and their "lovable" personalities. It should all be very cliche', and yet it works because the author so fully believes in it himself and simply wants you to share in his fun, camp as it may be.

Oh yes, and there are lizardmen. The plot is simple and probably written on the dust jackets. WWII Navy Destroyer disappears in battle with the Japanese, only to reappear in an alternate history earth populated by lemur-cat people who are systematically being slaughtered by a race of lizardmen. The sailors, for lack of something better to do (like getting home or finding human women) pick a side and join in battle.

The lemur-cat-people were my biggest turn-off. A lot of time is spent describing how beautiful and great their primitive culture is, but furry primitives will always bring me back to how the Ewoks killed Star Wars by regressing a culture that was so great because of how alien and advanced it was. Now, it's not to say the lemurs aren't in some ways cool and fun characters, but you know me- I want something crazy and different to take me to the next level. I guess I prefer a blaster to hokey religions.

Now the lizard dudes: Yes, yes yes. For the most part these guys are also predictable (well, we've seen evil lizards before, right?). But this particular batch of dinosaur descendants are especially cruel and awful, in a way that makes our fun sailors throw up on each other when they see the slaughter houses. Everyone loves an enemy that you can hate- it's a simple formula but one that too often gets diluted or forgotten.

I won't review each issue of the first trilogy- they pretty much carry on an ongoing serial about the adventures of US sailors in an alien land. There is a second series out now, but I probably won't read it until I come back around to WWII when I have grandchildren. I very much enjoyed these fun stories, but can wait another ten years to find out what happens.

Return Engagement (Settling Accounts)

June 22, 1941



Harry Turtledove is known as the Master of Alternative History fiction. Many of his book series look very interesting. This isn't one of them. While his Worldwar series is about aliens invading during world War II, and would've made a neat addition to my book list, I picked this one instead, which is about the South winning the Civil War and how that plays out to WWII, and it really bore no interest or relevancy to my timeline readings.

This series seems to be loaded with political and social commentary, all wrapped into Turledove's trademark militarism. I can only imagine that the drama of the primary characters relationships couched into meaningful twists on real life issues such as race, which is then couched into a whole lot of talk about battle strategy and tanks makes this both a thrilling read for war strategy fans who also take pride in being just a little literate about their warfare porn.

Not that I'm knocking the genre (much). I get people who fawn over chess, Stratego and shooting toy soldiers with rubber bands. I'm sure that part of my indifference to games and story of strategy are a result of a lack of understanding or education. But I also was brought up to be just a bit of a hippie, so... like, peace, man. And my daddy didn't play chess. As entertainment I don't mind violence. I found the battle scenes in Avatar to be very exciting (if mostly for the special effects) and I love Apocolypse Now (but again, more for the overall cinematography than pure army violence). Clearly, the difference for me is adding a twist, be it aliens or humor or outstanding filmography.

In this case I thought that the alternative history aspect would really make things exciting. But it just made things... different. The narrative is really quite straightforward and actually a bit boring in my opinion. I really thought such a prolific writer would bring his own style, but it basically came down to "It's WWII, but the South won the Civil War, so that's an extra thing going on."

I attest in this blog to being a hardcore reader who finishes what he started, but this was one of those rare cases where the library told me I couldn't renew the book, and I said, "Hey, that's just fine", and returned it the next day. I think I will give HT another try sometime, but I'll be careful to do my research better before I devote myself to another nine book series about people firing guns at each other.

The Troy Game

1939-1941

Druids Sword

The next book is actually the fourth and final book in a series. I would describe the genre as Chick Fantasy, if you'll excuse my crass. By Chick Fantasy I mean a book that includes magic and fantasy, but also big handsome guys with their shirts off on the cover, and an over-emphasis on romance. (By the way, do not Google "Chick fantasy". That's not what I meant.)

Hey, nothing wrong with a little romance- and a little centaur love, if you know what I mean. But I'm not kidding about the over-emphasis bit. No one in real life spends so much of their time brooding and pining and obsessing about the other people in their lives. And even if they do- why do I need to read 2,000 pages about it? 2,000 pages of any one thing is mind-blowingly boring. Even soap opera/chick fantasy/Harlequin romance fans probably got bored in parts of this series.

But knowing me, I read the whole damn thing. And here's why. Timeline awesomeness. The premise is pretty cool, especially in the context of my chronological book list. Here's the deal. The first book takes place in the 11th century BC and is rich in the Greek mythology of Theseus and the Minotaur as well as Troy and the establishment of what would one day become London. The key factor is that the main characters have a magical ability to reincarnate. So the second book features the same main players but reborn into the time of William the Conquerer (1035). The third book takes place in the mid-seventeenth century.

I started my timeline with Star Wars and moved quickly into ancient Eqypt and Stonehenge. So naturally I did not read this series consecutively. I read it on the heels of Homer and Dr. Who hiding in the Trojan horse. I read it side-by-side with the Doctor's version of London burning. I read it spread over years of reading other things- so, in short, long enough to forget about the characters between each book. Which sucks, because the characters are reborn each book with different names and often different personalities. Which makes it quite confusing.

There are some very cool aspects to the story. I enjoyed the transformation of Brutus to Jack Skelton. The female witches are exciting and evil for every time they swoon and lament being a victim. The use of juxtopositioning the mythological symbols and characters over the history of London into modern times mostly lived up to my expectations. But overall it was a whole lot to read for a limited payoff and the pages and pages of deliberation and anxiety with little to no action, especially in the final book which should have rocked considering the setting of the bombing of London, drove me to sleep more often than captivating my imagination. I am sure there is a hardcore audience for Ms. Douglass, but I won't be looking into her other work or recommending the Book of Troy series to anyone I know.

Maus

Mid-1930's to Winter 1944

By now I hope that most folks have at least heard of this duo of graphic novels. Maus holds the distinction of being the only comic book ever honored with a Pulitzer Prize. Briefly put, it's a re-telling of the Nazi concentration camps in which Jews are portrayed as mice and Nazis are cats. The first book is subtitled 'My Father Bleeds History'. As a title alone this is prize worthy, but it also reflects a dual storyline of the author's relationship with his father, a camp survivor, on whom the graphic novel is based on. The complexity of our relationships with our loved ones can be as hard to explain to younger generations as trying to make sense of genocide.

This book will convert anyone still underestimating the graphic novel medium as "funny books". I can't say enough about how great it is, certainly considering what's already been written and the awards it's received. 'Watchmen' may have re-invented the art form, but 'Maus' solidified it as art.

My initial reaction to both books was in no way muddled- I marked it as some of the highest rated reading material to cross my path in years. This series should be required reading. A frank and direct recollection of the concentration camps with details most people are afraid to look in the eye. And yet, the animal charactizations perfectly serve to deliver a dose of unexpected humanity to the story, and even a lot of humor in parts. Well, the kind of humor that lets the human race chuckle in even the most dire of circumstances.

My wife is neither a comic reader nor a history buff, so I knew I was asking a lot when I dropped a copy on her nightstand and encouraged her to give it a try. She read the whole thing in practically one sitting. And even said it was good! That's high praise indeed.

This book is really an autobiographical piece of non-fiction, despite the anthromorphic symbolism. It bears no relevance to my timeline concept, aside from the markings of history and the second world war, much like a lot of my readings around this era. Doesn't matter. Check my book club profiles- they list Maus as the best thing I've read in recent years- period. I don't know when is an appropriate age for youngsters to read it-there is a lot of graphic violence, all real of course. I've had this debate with friends online, and feel it's a parent's choice when and how to expose their children to some of the ugliest parts of world history, but I would guess that by middle school interested readers could be exposed, with the assistance of a parent and / or teacher.

NEXT BLOG POST: Magick and WWII collide in a pretty hardcore way.