2017: My Year in Books

Well, well, well... another year gone by, another few dozen books consumed. This was both a really good and really bad year for me and books. I read quite a few -- 96 books, by my count -- but didn't come anywhere close to my totals for previous years.

Of course, there were a few reasons for that. Most importantly, my new job launching and editing The Revelator dominated my time this year. This required me to read a ton of material -- mostly articles -- which didn't leave much time for reading. I'm quite happy with that trade-off.

We also moved again this year, something I would have been happy to skip. Our landlord wanted to move his family back into the house we were renting, so the first half of the year was dominated by searching for a new place to live, packing and moving (and, to a lesser degree, unpacking). Oh well.

All of this meant some of my reading time found itself devoted to shorter material -- graphic novels, comics and short stories. Honestly, sometimes that's all the energy that I had. (But it added up. Last month, in a rare period of binging, I read something close to 250 Spider-Man comics written by Brian Michael Bendis and illustrated by a variety of artists. If I had counted those as their trade paperback collections, my total number of books read for the year would have been much, much higher.)

So anyway, how did the books that I actually got to read pan out? The best -- by far -- was Borne, the excellent post-apocalyptic novel by Jeff VanderMeer. That's an incredible book -- so good I may just re-read it in 2018.

The worst book? Again, by far, it was Frank Miller's latest Dark Knight opus, The Master Race. Holy abomination, Batman, that was truly awful on just about every level.

Other highlights: Critical Critters by Ralph Steadman and Ceri Levy; the Rachel Rising series by Terry Moore (which I finally got to finish this past year); and the most recent Walking Dead volume (book 28), which I thought was the best of the series so far.

So that's my brief look at my book list for this year. Check out past entries in this rarely updated blog for my lists from previous years. There's some good stuff.

What will this coming year hold? Well, The Revelator is going to dominate my year again -- as well it should, because I'm enjoying the hell out of this job (the hardest and best I've ever had) -- but I'll make sure to carve out some time for a few good books along the way.

Latest sketchbook

I finished another sketchbook this morning! I keep these nice little pocket-sized sketchbooks on my desk and devote a couple of minutes to it each day. I allow just a minute or two per page, which is a nice, freeing exercise.

Someday soon I'll get back to finished drawings, but in the meantime here are a few favorite pages from this most recent sketchbook:

First sketchbook of 2016

I keep a tiny little sketchbook by my desk. Every day I try to fill up a page. These aren't intended to be finished drawings, but they sure are fun, and a nice break from the type type type that normally takes place at my desk.

Anyway, I just finished the latest sketchbook. Here are some of my favorite pages.

Hopefully I'll get back to completing some fully inked drawings at some point this year!

George Lucas’s Star Wars Working Title List

Many ages ago, before the first Star Wars movie started filming, George Lucas had trouble coming up with a name for his planned opus. Here we unearth his working title list, along with insight into his thought process:

The Star Wars (too silly?)

The War of the Stars (getting closer)

Starry Warriors (almost there)

Starving Warriors of the Stars (sequel?)

Starry Star Stars (don’t get punchy, George)

Starve Warts (save this for another project)

Luke and Darth’s Amazing Adventure (now you’re thinking)

War Constellation (back to war, huh. I think I’m on to something here. maybe check thesaurus for other words for “war”)

Battle Beyond the Stars (there we go)

Battle in the Stars (closer)

Battle of the Stars (closest)

Battle of the Network Stars (already in use? check this out.)

BattleStars (oh my)

Battle Constellation (no, let’s not go there again)

Conflict Among the Stars (am I just obsessed with stars?)

No Peace in Starville (save for project #3)

The Rogue Shoots First (trying something different; too vague)

Robots and Rogues (okay, that’s a little too French)

Hidden Fortress in Space (oops, let’s not get sued!)

Star Fortress in Space (this is getting tiring)

Star Wars (oh fuck it)

New sketchbook

I haven't done any "finished" drawing in a long time, but I still try to draw at least once every day. I keep a little sketchbook by my desk and fill its pages with quick, stream-of-consciousness cartoons. It's a small sketchbook, something I could stick in my back pocket if I so desired, so I can fill up a page in just 2-3 minutes. It's a great exercise.

I hope to start drawing some "real" cartoons (and more single-panel gags) soon. Until then, here are some of the better spreads from the sketchbook I finished filling up a few minutes ago:

New blogs: Bicentennial Comics!

Oh man, I get obsessed sometimes.

Remember a few months ago when I posted my initial research into comic books published around the time of the Bicentennial?

Well, that post proved popular enough -- and it inspired enough thought from me -- that it has now spun off into its own blog.

Appropriately enough, I'm calling it Bicentennial Comics.

Each week I'll take a look at a different comic book related (in one way or another) to the Bicentennial. The first few posts are already up and I'll be posting new ones every week or so. My list of Bicentennial-themed comics has already almost doubled in size, and I've started looking into comic strips as well, so this could go on for quite a while.

Give it a look-see. I'm not only about wildlife, after all.

Bicentennial Comics [Updated!]

Every once in a while I like to look forward by looking back.

I was seven years old in July 1976, when the entire country colorfully celebrated the American Bicentennial. I remember school art projects, fireworks, parties, parades, all kinds of pins and other mementos, TV specials, and magazine covers.

Oh yeah, and comic books.

I honestly can't recall ever reading a Captain America comic book before Jack Kirby's Captain America's Bicentennial Battles, but that massive ("treasury"-sized) book quickly burned its way into my brain. I became a life-long fan of Steve Rogers, Jack Kirby, and, of course, history.

I still have my battered copy of Bicentennial Battles. I re-read it every few years. Of course in many ways it doesn't hold up, but in others it remains a high point of comics from that era.

But Bicentennial Battles is very lonely in my collection. Even though I fondly remember two other Bicentennial-themed comics from that year, they have long since left my possession. I want them back, and I want the rest.

Over the past few years, I have trimmed and slashed my comic-book collection over and over again. Now it's time to build it back up again, only in a more focused way. I'm going to pick a few kinds of comics that I want to collect and slowly seek them out.

Bicentennial comics shall come first.

It shouldn't be too hard. I've done some research. From what I can tell, there weren't all that many Bicentennial comics. Some of their connections to 1776/1976 were pretty tenuous. Quite a few were kids' comics. But I'm still going to try to track them down.

Here are the covers for most of the titles that I have identified so far. Some of them should be easy to find. Others may take a while. No worries, I'm not in a rush. I'll just try to finish my collection before the tricentennial.

This Adventure Comics issue is only Bicentennial-themed on its cover, but I still like it. (Similarly, almost every DC Comics title for July 1976 featured a cover banner proclaiming "DC Celebrates the Bicentennial!" As far as I'm concerned, those don't count as Bicentennial comics.)

The first of several underground comix on this list.

This was the only Batman comic to show it on the cover, but all of the above issues had Bicentennial-themed stories.

Not exactly patriotic, but I think my collection would be lacking if I didn't include this.

A restaurant freebie? I'm not sure if this will be worth tracking down, but I'll give it a shot.

This was actually the final issue in a 10-part storyline, starting in issue 193, all building up to the Bicentennial. Collect 'em all!

Okay, this one is a stretch. The only Bicentennial theme is a pun in the story title. But as a product of the time, it counts.

I don't think this issue contains any Bicentennial content aside from the cover, but apparently issue 15 does.

Who knew Dennis the Menace was so patriotic?

I had this one as a kid. Vague memories of it are what sent me down this trail.

Neither of these Jughead issues show any Spirit of 76 on the covers, but they each apparently contain Bicentennial-themed stories.

Another restaurant freebie.

Okay, so it's a calendar, not a comic book. Close enough.

A book, but it's about comics, so it counts. 

I don't think the date on this one is quite correct, but the story is set in 1776.

You can't tell from the cover art, but the text tells us there's a Bicentennial story inside.

Another restaurant freebie. Hmm.

Shazam issue 25 also seems to have had a Bicentennial story.

I had this one, too. Hmm. Maybe giant-sized "treasuries" should be the next category that I collect!

Probably more in the comic strip column than comic books, but I'm intrigued.

Did I miss any? Let me know. I'll add 'em to the list! (Update: I've already added a few -- thanks to everyone's contributions!)