Box Office Poison / Tricked

So at the beginning of the semester I picked up a graphic novel called "Tricked", by Alex Robinson. It followed six random people living in New York and showed how their lives intersected, merged, and finally exploded together in the finale. I really loved the art and I reallllly loved the characters, so I recently picked up another graphic novel by Alex Robinson, "Box Office Poison".

"Box Office Poison" is a mammoth, 600-page series of comic anecdotes about a large cast of characters--in a similar style to "Tricked", it follows a wide range of people, some connected, some not, who enter into relationships and make important decisions in New York. They have to deal with insecurity and break-ups and career dead ends.

Am I making this sound boring? It's not boring. Alex Robinson excels at developing likable, believable, varied characters. The relationships he builds are realistic and heartbreaking, at times. The art style is interesting and clean (all black and white, sharp lines, et cetera). He develops the story-lines in surprising and satisfying ways.

It was quite a read, though--600 pages ain't no joke. For that reason, I wouldn't recommend it to non-comic readers. But it still deserves at least 4 out of 5 stars.

Bloody 'ell/ Jolly Good

Well Now this Sherlock show is very good Kelsen thank you and well done.
Likes: I'm always a sucker for classic stories set with a different backdrop. For example I hated The Importance of Being Ernest when I saw it at the Hale Theater. Why? Because they copied the movie with Reese Witherfork to the extreme point of even casting a girl who looked exactly like her in the corresponding role. They even extended their obscene lack of originality by pointing out in the playbill that the similarity between the girl cast and Reese WitheringHeights. I wanted to vomit. If it were me I would have made The Importance of Being Ernest crazy good by making the characters gothic kids, or at least emo brats. So Ernest when in town would be goth but normal when Jack and not in town, Algernon would be emo, as would Cecily (Her rebellious nature showing expressing itself in emo style), Gwendolyn would be punk rocker but stylish buying her threads at Hot Topic, yet secretly wishing to go darker, and Lady Bracknell would, of course, be flaunting classic  Victorian style, umbrella included (maybe 50's conservative (if I felt a little crazy)). The point being that I'm a sucker for pulling stories out of their traditional context. Even the 90's Romeo & Juliet, though not my fav I do give props to, and there's a version of Shakespeare's "As you Like it" that's set in Japan (I haven't seen it though I know it exists).
Casting. At first I thought the choice for Sherlock was an odd one. I've only seen that actor in one other thing. Being The Other Boleyn Girl where he played Scarlet JoHottissenn's (Who by the way is only 4 days younger than myself and a twin??) impotent husband. It's not an appealing role. But as it went on I became extremely pleased with the choice. You see our friend Jr. Robert is too endearing in his portrayal, this isn't a complaint he is superb in the role, but I liked how this other guy got under my skin a little bit. I loved the Watson guy he was great, he was such a conglomeration of traits, simultaneously exhibiting frailty and great strength, kinda goofy while at the same time stylish and attractive.
Not techy. Despite being set in the modern day I very much appreciated how they stayed focused on deduction and didn't bog the story down with technology. They stayed content with just a little cell phone use.
But most of all I loved that they swapped coke for nicotine patches!!! And that's all I really have to say on the matter.

A Life Reclaimed

My life to be exact! Last night at about 1:30, well morning I guess, but when I say last night I almost always mean when I was asleep. I had watched the Kira Knightly movie version a little while ago and decided to pick up the book. It was so great. I constantly giggled and squirmed with all the delight of a the little school girl that I really am. But in all seriousness this book is truly classic and I'll tell you why. Most importantly it fully transports the reader to another place and time. Jane Austen's England might as well be planet zorcareshhemhemil as our own world a couple centuries ago. It provides a wonderful escape, and isn't that what books are for. Further the wit and humor is first rate, if you're following along. Once the characters are firmly established then the little witty side jabs can be fully appreciated. The first half of the book is enjoyed as Lizzy jabs Darcy, but the 2nd half is lovely as snooty little Lizzy gets her just rewards. Suspense. . . not joking. Allow me a comparison that is a cliche as I'm capable of. Pride and Prejudice is like a good romantic comedy. Naturally before the opening theme music and the sweeping scene of Manhattan pan across the screen, you know that the leading roles will find true love embodied in each other in the end. So why do you keep your seat, or not hit eject and put in a murder mystery? The journey, the bumps in the road. I'm not sure if Ms. Austen invented the layout for romantic comedies but it certainly hasn't altered at all since the late 1700's at least. Further this book is considered a "three volume" novel, and our good friend Oscar Wilde in his play, The Importance of Being Ernest, refers several times to a "three volume" novel in several different ways.
Finally I'm afraid I must drop a bomb, Elizabeth Bennett may be, just might, if I dare say, be a gold digger. At first Elizabeth's own "Pride" and "Prejudice" are kindled against Darcy because he's rich and slights her. Granted she does have a huge personal revelation of the introspective kind after reading Darcy's, "here's why I did what I did that you didn't like" letter. But! It isn't until she sees the grand estate of Pemberly that she begins to fall in love with Darcy, and finds herself the truest fool, thinking and I quote, "to be the mistress of a place like Pemberly might really be something" (not literally quote because I'm too lazy to look it up in the book) But after this grand sight that could have all been her's, well the "Proud" Darcy is nothing but amiabilities. Coincidence? I hope not.