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FF + Books I've Read (2009): The Best of the Spirit, God Save the Queen, Mushishi
Is it wrong that I always get incredibly excited whenever I find a Firefox extension that fixes some niggly behavior to how I like it? Today, it's the ability to permanently sort my bookmarks -- and I can specify which folders I want to sort and how! -- thanks to SortPlaces. Now if only there was an extension so I could easily create duplicate bookmarks (ideally with also telling me when I was about to do so), my day would be made.
The Best of the Spirit - Will Eisner
I figured something labelled "The Best of" would make for a good introduction to one of the most influential comics ever, and I was right! This was amazing. Just incredibly innovating and imaginative and good even when compared to current-day stuff. Not that everything today is good, but The Spirit manages to be unique even when compared to sixty years worth of comics. My favorite thing about The Spirit is the same thing I love about Mushishi. All the stories are focused on people in them, rather than on Eisner's cool idea or neat art or some other bell and whistle that exists to show off and doesn't actually help tell the story. (Something that is, sadly, not as common as I would like.)
God Save the Queen - Mike Carey
This was a gift from a friend, and she got it for me because I really like Lucifer, a different title by Mike Carey. And those sorts of reads are always a bit of a crapshoot, so it was nice that I did enjoy this, mostly because of the art. (Drug use, which isn't something I like to read about generally, features heavily, and I found the heroine unlikable until about two-thirds of the way into the story.) All the pages are painted by John Bolton and are surprisingly realistic yet pretty. I have a feeling that his art is an example of photo referencing done right, but I can't find anything to confirm that he does that. In any case, the art has a slight static quality due to the fact that it's painted and referenced, but it grew on me quickly as I read.
Mushishi v6 - Yuki Urushibara
Finally, a volume with stories that weren't made into episodes for the anime! Because, okay, I adored revisiting the stories as each volume came out, but having completely new material to read is wonderful. "The Chirping Shell" I found charming, and I dare others to find the idea of seashells chirping like birds anything other than charming. "The Hand that Pets the Night" was a surprisingly creepy horror story (surprising because I rarely classify Mushishi stories as horror). "Under the Snow" was nicely uplifting even as it dealt with sibling grief, although I had to reread a few scenes because I didn't realize they were flashbacks the first time. And "Banquet in the Farthest Field" was a neat exploration of the lives of mushishi.
The Best of the Spirit - Will Eisner
I figured something labelled "The Best of" would make for a good introduction to one of the most influential comics ever, and I was right! This was amazing. Just incredibly innovating and imaginative and good even when compared to current-day stuff. Not that everything today is good, but The Spirit manages to be unique even when compared to sixty years worth of comics. My favorite thing about The Spirit is the same thing I love about Mushishi. All the stories are focused on people in them, rather than on Eisner's cool idea or neat art or some other bell and whistle that exists to show off and doesn't actually help tell the story. (Something that is, sadly, not as common as I would like.)
God Save the Queen - Mike Carey
This was a gift from a friend, and she got it for me because I really like Lucifer, a different title by Mike Carey. And those sorts of reads are always a bit of a crapshoot, so it was nice that I did enjoy this, mostly because of the art. (Drug use, which isn't something I like to read about generally, features heavily, and I found the heroine unlikable until about two-thirds of the way into the story.) All the pages are painted by John Bolton and are surprisingly realistic yet pretty. I have a feeling that his art is an example of photo referencing done right, but I can't find anything to confirm that he does that. In any case, the art has a slight static quality due to the fact that it's painted and referenced, but it grew on me quickly as I read.
Mushishi v6 - Yuki Urushibara
Finally, a volume with stories that weren't made into episodes for the anime! Because, okay, I adored revisiting the stories as each volume came out, but having completely new material to read is wonderful. "The Chirping Shell" I found charming, and I dare others to find the idea of seashells chirping like birds anything other than charming. "The Hand that Pets the Night" was a surprisingly creepy horror story (surprising because I rarely classify Mushishi stories as horror). "Under the Snow" was nicely uplifting even as it dealt with sibling grief, although I had to reread a few scenes because I didn't realize they were flashbacks the first time. And "Banquet in the Farthest Field" was a neat exploration of the lives of mushishi.