pornokitsch

Underground Reading: Rebel to Judgement by Anthony C. West

"Spring: I had been waiting for it since Christmas and that year it was late and hesitant, the wind avoiding the burgeoning south and lingering in the chilly houses of the north and east although the birds foretold the coming stature of the sun, larks singing day-long, the democratic rooks at parliament, but after the snowdrops and apart from winter grain learning to lean with the wind there were only celandines at flower in sheltered corners and along the feet of warm walls."

Thus begins Rebel to Judgement (1963) - with a paragraph-long opening sentence that skillfully avoids saying anything interesting.

Underground Reading: The Black Satin Jungle by Bart Frame

The Black Satin Jungle (1953) is a vaguely exotic behind-the-scenes expose of the fashion business. Originally titled "Indiscretions of a French Model", the book is heavy on the indiscretions and light on the modeling. 

Our heroine is Louise, a young, French woman who comes over the the US to marry her American soldier. Upon arrival, she discovers that the streets aren't paved with cheese - in fact, her husband is an ass and her in-laws are rude, drunk, smelly and perverted. The best of them - her brother-in-law - is a lazy blackmailer. 

Fortunately, Louise is a knockout. 

Underground Reading: Contract by Simon Spurrier

Contract (2007) is the story of Michael Point, who, by his own admission isn't particularly smart, funny or wise. However, Michael does have an impressively absent set of moral values - he's in it for the money. A talented social predator, he also understands how to make himself noticed or unnoticed, to get laid or to be ignored. 

His predatory cunning and mercenary ethics all add up to one profession: a hitman.

And he's very good at it.

In fact, Michael is so good at killing that he's been recruited by a mysterious group called "The Choir" to do a series of hits. The prize is immense, but they're high-profile and, more importantly, messy. The dead? They keep coming back. 

New Releases: The Splendid Magic of Penny Arcade by Mike Krahulik and Jerry Holkins

I'm probably one of the rare few geeks on the internet that doesn't regularly follow Penny Arcade. I tried, briefly, in college (didn't we all?), but, even then, I was already behind on my video game references.

Still, regular reader or not, it is impossible to avoid the influence of Jerry and Mike (or Tycho and Gabe). 

Over and above a website read by 3.5 million people a day, they've created one of the premiere gaming conventions (PAX) and even inspired a video game. They're always at the front line of geeky causes - from founding a charity (Child's Play) to battling Crazy Jack Thompson. Read 'em or not, the pair are unavoidable.

The Splendid Magic of Penny Arcade recounts their 11.5 year journey from launch to now. 

Graphic Novel Round-Up: The Power of Books

Three graphic novels reviewed. The golden thread this time? Books. The power of books. The strange call to collecting books. And even the danger of hiring a "book" author to write a graphic novel...

Unwritten (Carey / Gross): The team from Lucifer team up in this new, slightly post-modern fantasy. Tom Taylor lives in the shadow of his missing father - but even more in the shadow of "Tommy Taylor", his father's Potter-esque fictional creation. 

As things start to get a bit weird (serial killers, death threats, magical tattoos...), Tom Taylor starts out on a quest to figure out what's really going on. He doesn't get too far in this first collection, but the set-up is very intriguing. 

A bit of Fables (what with the "power of stories" shtick) and a bit of The Magicians (with its combination of angst and fantasy). The lead characters are, so far, slightly forgettable - with the absent father being the most appealing of the lot. However, the story is great - and the occasional creative segue to "Tommy Taylor books" (or Rudyard Kipling's diary) is incredibly well done. Carey and Gross should settle in for a long and fascinating run. One to keep following. (7/10)

Two more below the jump - the lastest from Vertigo Crime and a classic from Seth.

Underground Reading: The California Voodoo Game by Larry Niven and Steven Barnes

 On a personal note on the progression of time, I remember picking up my copy of The California Voodoo Game from the second-hand section of Rainy Day Books (Fairway, Kansas) and reading it while my mom was at work. I was, at most, 13. 

This was the first book I ever read in the Dream Park series - and it lead to some pretty wild speculation about my own future career. Somehow I parlayed my skills at math (awesome) and tennis (not so hot) to become a fearsome warrior the likes of which the world had never seen... 

Two decades later, I suck at math, Rainy Day Books is on Twitter and The California Voodoo Game is as wildly entertaining as ever.

Underground Reading: Captain Ironhand by Rosamund Marshall

Captain Ironhand (1957) is a not-so-dashing, not-so-thrilling adventure of the high seas. Set in 1772, Captain Ironhand features James Challoner - a faux pirate - and Lady Artis Grantley - a faux heroine. 

The book starts with Challoner out of work and out of sorts. He's a Navy man, but false accusations of rape from a sex-starved Countess had him stripped of his commission (reader, please note, "women = bitches"). His luck changes when a patriotic coalition of Lords, Admirals and Christian businessmen select him to lead a mission of Great, Manly Daring.

Unexpected Reviews: 24 (Season 7)

[Jared's note: Although I'm a big fan of 24 (even the horror that was Season 6), I'm still not the biggest Bauer nut that I know. Fortunately, I scored a guest review from the latest member of the Pornokitsch team - Mr Pickles.]

 

Underground Reading: Purple & Black by KJ Parker

KJ Parker might as well change his/her pen name to "The Enigmatic". Not only do the official blurbs refer to the author in this fashion, but virtually every review does the same. "KJ Parker" is a pseudonym (supposedly of someone that's already famous in another genre), but the cryptic reputation is reinforced by his/her chosen stylistic territory.

Parker, as I've pretentiously noted in the past, writes epic fantasy with the tone and flair of the great existentialists. Imagine Camus (beret / chain-smoking / small coffee / derisive look) secretly going home and reading Tolkien under the covers. The closest modern comparison is Andrzej Sapkowski, who also lends a certain stark & philosophical bent to his work. (Although the 'stark' could be the result of the translations).

Purple and Black is a limited edition novella from Subterranean Press, who have defied the 2009 malaise by putting out some stonking short fiction over the past 12 months. 

Graphic Novel Round-up: Shag, Marry, Push off a Cliff

Garth Ennis, Ben Templesmith and Warren Fucking Ellis - a Round-up with three of the best.

Groom Lake, Punisher: War Zone and Doktor Sleepless all after the jump.