The Cipher 03/02/11: “we’ve got a file on you”
March 2nd, 2011 by david brothers | Tags: bhm11, cipher, Colored Commentarycreated: Couple gooduns this past week. Did some more writing about art, something I don’t do often enough.
–Cameron Stewart and Karl Kerschl formed like Voltron (they were both the head)
–Kaare Andrews flips the script on Astonishing X-Men: Xenogenesis
–Part two of my Marvel Black History joints. These were fun.
consumed: I’m growing increasingly dissatisfied with the quality of stuff I read online. I need to read less, and in doing so, read better works. Gotta stop clicking every link where somebody’s hopping mad or talking about some comic I never read.
-Right now, as far as I’m concerned, Black History Month is done. Four years and out, wham, bam, and Billie Jean is not my lover, no matter what she says. Thanks for reading, but I quit.
–Tim O’Neil wrote a stellar McDuffie tribute, and his piece on the time Punisher went black is pretty good.
-Sean Witzke goes in on Seth Fisher with Jared and takes George Lucas apart in one neat post. I don’t mean that in a stupid “Oh I hate those prequels so much!” crybaby way, either.
-Sean linked this a long while back, and I finally finished reading it. The forgotten story of Marcia Lucas, George’s ex-wife and collaborator. Great read.
-Courtesy of Ron Wimberly comes these:
Audience Calibration Procedure from Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery on Vimeo.
-Michelle & Melinda talk about the visuals of One Piece and NANA.
–Frank Miller interviews Goseki Kojima and Kazuo Koike, of Lone Wolf & Cub fame.
–Lupe Fiasco is an idiot, and you shouldn’t buy his album.
–Four free issues of David Lapham’s Stray Bullets. You should definitely read these.
–Stop talking to me about Charlie Sheen
–Sloane drew a comic. I liked it–there’s a bit with a tongue and a pill that’s super Akira.
-Vote in the Gylphs Fan Award for Best Comic. The correct choice is Captain America/Black Panther: Flags of our Fathers
-I tired to work my way through Radiohead’s discography… it didn’t take.
-Amazon has some pretty ill five dollar albums up: Brown Sugar
-I always want to change after I wrap up February. BHM is always stressful–both the schedule (I think only three posts didn’t publish at a minute past midnight) and the subject matter. Working through my own issues via comics is stressful enough, but having to pay attention to what other (frankly lesser) writers are saying is a pain in my neck. I just want a break, really, a chance to re-center.
-Usually that means deciding to take a week off from posting and then failing utterly, but this year… I think it means writing about music more. I just don’t have patience for a lot of the stuff that comes with talking or reading about comics online. Sometimes I read stuff and I just want to raze my RSS feeds to the ground. But music: music is new and interesting and I’m feeling my way around it. It’s like looking at someone with new eyes.
-C’est la guerre, right? Things change, people change, I change.
-Working with Graeme McMillan on that co-review of Blur’s 13 was a trip. I think it’s the first time we’ve collaborated on something. It’s crazy–six (or however many) years ago, I was just a fan who checked Fanboy Rampage regularly. Life is pretty okay sometimes. There’s more coming, too, with Graeme and others. I feel good about this.
-Video game update: The only thing I’m playing lately are the Netflix and Hulu apps on my PS3 and Killzone 3
-Larry mutes people with a quickness. They get one chance and bam, gone. I’m lazier, and also, I didn’t bother to learn how to mute people in-game until recently, so I’d just talk through them. One guy kept complaining about how his missiles weren’t working, his gun was weaker than the enemy’s guns, blah blah blah my controller sucks, not me, I’m fine, they’re cheating. So I sorta started coaching him. “Shoot better.” “No, you can’t–that’s the wrong way, turn around.” “Shoot now! No, wait—awww, why’d you shoot?” “Wait, this isn’t Call of Duty? Are you SERIOUS? I thought I was playing on Shipment.” “Do you like turtles? Or pudding?” Eventually, the rest of the team joined in on heckling this chump.
-Larry got half the conversation and was therefore entertained. The chump… not so much. Can’t imagine why.
-Great game, though.
-I’ll be back to review the comics I bought in the morning. Feel free to review your books, too, or talk about them, whatever whatever.
David: Heroes For Hire 4, Joe the Barbarian #8, Thunderbolts 154
Esther: Superboy 4, Secret Six 30 Possibly: Batman Confidential 53, Weird Worlds 2
Gavin: Axe Cop Bad Guy Earth 1, Azrael 18, Green Lantern 63, Joe The Barbarian 8, Secret Six 31, Darkwing Duck Annual, Irredeemable 23, Avengers Academy 10, Daken Dark Wolverine 6, Deadpool 32.1, Heroes For Hire 4, Secret Warriors 25, Thunderbolts 154, Ultimate Comics Captain America 3
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-I tired to work my way through Radiohead’s discography… it didn’t take.
That’s unfortunate. What did you try? (You probably know this, but the Roots sampled Radiohead on… Game Theory?)
The Lupe is unbearable anyway. I’ve decided that what makes him unique is also what makes him suck.
The new Raekwon is tits though.
You’re not the only one on Radiohead, even though it probably feels like it. I’ve given the discography two shots, and right now they’ve got ~4 songs I would say that I like. I think The Bends is an okay album, too, but I’d be okay never listening to it again.
How was Joe? I forgot to pick it up at the shop yesterday, went back today to find they’d sold out. More should be coming in soon, but til then I’m out of luck.
@clay: Hail to the Thief, part of OK Computer, and a little of one other, I forget which. It was okay, and I’ll be buying a handful of singles off Amazon, but overall? Not really my thing. Really high pitched whiney.
@Brian J: I listened to Lupe’s first track and was like “Welp, not buying this ever.” Raekwon I kinda sorta liked. I think it starts off real strong, falters in the middle, and wimps out toward the end. I need to give it another listen or two, since I may have misjudged it.
Remember when Lupe was the next big thing, rap’s messiah? Smarten up, Wasalu.
@David Fairbanks: Joe was… okay. I’m working on a big piece about it. Mixed feelings. Sean Murphy knocked it out of the park, though.
I don’t know if you would like them under any circumstances, but I will say that you picked perhaps the least user-friendly and most divisive Radiohead album to start with. Just sayin’.
I love Hail To The Thief but, yeah, it’s not considered their best. The Bends is probably their most “accessible” album. It’s certainly their most traditional rock album. Kid A is their most “experimental”.
Actually, given what I know about your musical tastes, you might enjoy the Thom Yorke solo album, The Eraser.
@david brothers:
That’s kind of what I was expecting. It didn’t feel like an epic Morrison book, and while I certainly enjoyed the story, it was the art that kept me coming back.
Thanks.