The Mystic Arts of Erasing All Signs of Death by Charlie Huston

Here is my book review for the newest novel by Charlie Huston, which I just also posted on Library Thing as part of their Early Reviewer program.

This book was disgusting. I wish I was kidding, but it really was just gross. Huston brings us into the seedy underworld of one L.A. slacker, Web Goodhue, and the crappy situations he somehow often gets himself stuck in. Crashing with tattoo artist and friend, Chev, Web coasts through life reading horror magazines, books, and doing his damnedest not to be a working stiff. That is until money becomes a serious problem and Chev pawns him off on Po Sin, a man with an interesting company… Clean Team.

Clean Team is a small company that handles big problems. And that problem is “clean up.” The worst kinds. Crime scene murders, suicides, death and decompositions of all sorts. That’s what they get paid to do. And it is, as you can only imagine, a dirty job. What Web finds out the hard way is that in this horrific niche industry—the competition is fierce.

I found Huston’s newest to be a riot. His laser-sharp dialogue, a fine mix of Elmore Leonard and Chuck Palahniuk, breathes life into what is simply a bunch of low lives. But you can’t help rooting for Web, although he can’t help but screw up over and over again. A touch of L.A. down-and-dirty mixed with excruciating detail of clean-up crew work that would make the average Joe get down on his knees and thank god for his boring existence of a cubicle day job. Just another day in the life for Web. That is until a girl shows up, and ruins everything.

I highly recommend it, especially if you’re looking for one of the rising stars of modern day yet pulpy-good fiction.

P.S. I met Charlie at the first NY Comic Con a few years back, while he was peddling his work, and I left that show with a signed trade paperback of his 2004 novel, Caught Stealing. He was a remarkably cool and laid back guy; it amazes me now the twisted stuff that comes out of that seemingly normal head.

Catching up on industry news and notes

The New York Times has written a piece that captured some of the buzz last week in the comics blogosphere (mainly at The Beat), about changes major comics distributor Diamond is making this year which will affect many publishers of weekly (pamphlet) comics. Could this be the end of the weekly comic book run? It is also worth noting that Diamond laid off 13 people last week; even the distribution giant is feeling the wrath of hard times in the industry.

Also last week, DC Comics cut some DC and Mad Magazine positions, and well-respected editor Bob Schreck was let go. This certainly speaks of difficult times as he was responsible for maintaining many great DC books and I wish him all the best. I believe he'll be at the company a while longer covering various projects through the transition.

Also Publishers Weekly let go of Editor-in-Chief, Sara Nelson, as well as a few other staff positions. When I had access to the magazine back in the office days I really enjoyed reading her collums as she was keenly tuned into the central vibe of the publishing scene. I'd also see her at various events around town, and I wish her the best in wherever her career takes her next. Nowadays I catch up with the magazine online or when freelancing in various offices and see a copy lying around.

In happier news, I was glad to see Neil Gaiman win the Newbery Medal Award for his enchanting novel, The Graveyard Book, which I really enjoyed, and reviewed here a few months back. This is one of the most prestigious awards in childrens literature, and the beauty of the book is that you don't have to be a child to appreciate the story. A film adaptation is in the early works. Read more here.

That's all for now. I hope to have a few more book reviews up soon. For the few who check in regularly, if there is anything specifically you'd like to see reviewed or talked about more here, please comment below or drop me a line.

WATCHMEN lawsuit resolved. Still on for March 6

Various sites and blogs, such as ICv2, are reporting that Fox and Warner Bros. have settled the legal dispute, and the WATCHMEN film will stay on track for the March 6th release.


Details of the undisclosed are scarce at this time, but it looks as if Warner will pay Fox an up front cash settlement as well as portions of the box office take, and Fox will have no part in the distribution of the film.

Some terms of the deal are already leaking out, see the Robot 6 blog here.

What does this mean for us, the fans? Well, the movie is coming out and will not be shelved because of the studio war. The project has come along too far to see it go away now, so hold onto your hats because we're less than two months away.

Stay tuned.

Review of TONIGHT WE DIE AS MEN by Ian Gardner & Roger Day

You know, believe it or not, I was the editor of the Military Book Club for about four years, in addition to my being one of the editors of the Science Fiction Book Club, and during that time I got a chance to read some amazing military history books.

I realize I don’t talk about it much on this blog, which focuses more on my interest in comics, science fiction, and fantasy as well as my experiences this past year as a freelance editor. but I’d say that taking that job (simultaneously to running my Altiverse segment for SFBC) really awakened an interest in military history for me.

I often joked I learned about the military through a mix of army stories from my father, lots of episodes of M.A.S.H. as well as my obsession with GI Joe. I’m very pleased that this past year as a freelance editor; I get a chance to work with many of the wonderful military history publishers I used to buy books from. I hope this continues.

While at the Osprey offices in midtown recently, I saw that one of their newest titles had arrived in bound uncorrected proofs and asked if I could read TONIGHT WE DIE AS MEN: The Untold Story of the Third Battalion 506 Parachute Infantry Regiment From Toccoa to D-Day.

I found this book a wonderful addition to the literature regarding American Airborne and their participation in D-Day and the days that followed. The 506 PIR played an integral role in the huge D-Day operation and suffered monumental losses on jump day, which included one of their commanding officers. I hadn't read much about the 506 PIR, and this was a welcome addition.

The book weaves together the story of many men, and their struggles with survival and completing their missions after haphazard drops behind enemy lines. Many acted with bravery, courage, and the instinctual battlefield tact that enables ordinary men—exceptionally trained—to pull it together amid extreme circumstances. And sadly, many of them were lost during the drop.

If you’re a reader of WW II history, and looking for more about the paratrooper landings in and around Normandy, this is the book for you. Although filled with detailed accounts from the men who were there, I would have liked to see a tighter narrative pulling together the accounts, but it was an exciting read, filled with many photos I hadn't seen before, and I really enjoyed it overall.

[Editorial Note: as a disclaimer, I should mention that I have worked with Osprey, the publisher of the aforementioned title. I have a good working relationship with Osprey and also tried to present a fair and balanced opinion of the work regardless of this existing relationship.]

My review of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

On a crisp Tuesday night I went to the Kaufman movie theater in Astoria to see The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, a film directed by David Fincher, a favorite of mine (loved his work on Fight Club, Panic Room, Se7en, and my most recent favorite Zodiac).

Like many people I know, I feel that Brad Pitt can be hit or miss. His work in Fight Club seemed right on, although I'm a bigger fan of some of his smaller roles such as his work in 12 Monkeys, Snatch, and another favorite, True Romance (best cameo ever). Although, I must admit I also really liked him in The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford.

There were certain aspects of Benjamin Button that interested me. I liked the idea that the very old looking young Benjamin had to play a toddler, while the very young looking Pitt, had to play a wise, worldly man. This made for some subtle acting that really worked for me.

The movie had to me, a Forrest Gump-like feel, where I experienced this larger than life story through the experiences and the retelling of Benjamin Button's story. Not the silly feel of Gump, but the sense that life is an incredible journey and you never know what comes next.

Kate Blanchet was terrific, as the love of his life, and looked graceful as a dancer - like she'd been doing it her entire life. The other performances were well and good. Fincher did a good job of capturing the essence of each decade that the characters moved through, very subtle details that expressed the change in time. I know Fincher has affection for the 70s due to his work on Zodiac, and later in this movie you feel that he's captured that time in a bottle.

I left the theater being moved, and with that I was pleased.

I did feel the editing could have been a bit tighter, some lingering bits added to the aging theme of the film, but I felt some bits could have been cut. I do feel directors feel they have much more leeway these days as movies well over two hours have become the norm. (I feel there is always plenty of room on the DVD release for added footage, cut scenes, and outtakes).

I'd give it a 7.5 out of 10. My personal favorite scene was the desperate attack of the German submarine by the tugboat crew. An awesome bit of WW II thrown in there - nice.

Just saw Frank Miller's THE SPIRIT at the movies.

As a comics fan, I'd be remiss if I didn't go see The Spirit, Frank Miller's film adaptation of the influential series by legend Will Eisner - I was there. Of course I realize the film has not performed quite as anticipated and hasn't been met with glowing reviews.

An industry guy (even if only self proclaimed) I couldn't help but separate the comics industry references from the story itself. This seems to be the thing to do in Hollywood, ever since the Spider-Man movie of 2002: to affectionately name minor characters or small locales in comics-related films after comics industry people (even TV's Smallville named a small bridge in the first season, Loeb Bridge after Jeff Loeb as his comics series, Superman for All Seasons was a big influence on the TV show's take on the early life of Clark Kent).

The Spirit contains several insider references, and a surprise industry cameo - and I'm not talking about Stan Lee. The first comics industry reference is the appearance of Frank Miller himself, cameoing as a beat cop, Liebowitz. It took me a minute, but then a local fence played by actor Richard Portnow, was named Donenfeld. And those two were two of the biggest names comics history: Harry Donenfeld and Jack Liebowitz.

Now, if you've read one of my favorites novels, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon or the brilliant non-fiction book about the history of American comics, Men of Tomorrow: Geeks, Gangsters and the Birth of the Comic Book by Gerard Jones, as I have, you'd know these two names intimately.

Donenfeld and Liebowitz are the historic partners of National Allied Publications (later DC Comics), which famously bought the rights to Superman from Jerry Siegel and Joe Schuster for a pittance, as was standard at the time, but in this case - they made millions and built an empire. In The Spirit movie they were a schluby cop and a mover of stolen goods... interesting to say the least.

My favorite cameo of the film, aside from Miller himself, was the appearance of current President of DC Comics, Paul Levitz. I've met him a few times, he's a hell of a nice guy and does a great job at DC (he's been there over 20 years). I guess this cameo was a way of him blessing the project (I think his one line is a Superman sort of joke, "You'll believe a man can't fly," or something like that at a point in the film when the Spirit gets caught by his trench coat on a building's gargoyle horn). I thought the cameo was great, as Levitz is not the historical showman that Stan Lee is (nor does he try to be), but his small appearance in The Spirit was noticed by this comics fan, I mean insider.

There was also, of course, in the last scene, the delivery truck that Silken Floss (Scarlett Johansson) drives away in, clearly labeled as... Ditko's (referring to Steve Ditko, legendary co-creator of Spider-Man along with Stan Lee and legendary reclusive Marvel and later DC Comics artist. Little references thrown here and there, a standard place in Hollywood script writing these days.

I realize this isn't much of a movie review, although I never claimed it was going to be. This was more of an observational post about a comics-related movie. Maybe I'll come back and post about the name dropping in The Dark Knight, Iron-Man, and other recent comic book films... but that's for another day.

What did I think of the movie? I liked it but thought it was just ok. I wished I liked it more. I saw a hell of a lot of Sin City in there. And there was plenty of other things to talk about, but this was the angle I chose to discuss. It is what stuck out to me the most, so there it is. I also realized once again, what an influence Eisner was on Miller. In that sense I thought it was nice that he handled the direction of the film.

Happy New Year everyone! Here is to wishing that 2009 is an amazing one.

On a snowy day

I’m glad I chose yesterday to trample through Manhattan and visit people as today would have been a much soggier choice. Although, I will not be missing a grand meal tonight with some college buddies (SJU) at one of my favorite places in nYc: Churrascaria Plataforma. I’ve been saving up for this meal… not snow, nor sleet, nor the dark of night can stop me.

Just last night I attended the intimate MoCCA holiday party at their gallery space on Broadway. It was a nice pot luck event and people brought all sorts of goodies for everyone to consume. Some of us brought booze and we toasted the holidays and the forthcoming year.

The party was fun and a good time was had by all. A long table was provided for those who wanted to show their personal art portfolios, and that was a nice holiday touch. And I know they have many exciting new things lined up for 2009. [below is the director of MoCCA, Karl Erickson, along with volunteer and MoCCA regular Oliver].

As the snow falls quite heavily today in the big city, I am nostalgic for days spent wandering around Manhattan at Christmas time, going back to my high school days.I’ll have to try to capture the snowy day later on when I go out, but here is yesterday’s snow-less photos of randomness.

Above is the view from Park Ave South of the big clock tower overlooking Madison Park. I was standing in the exact spot that Robin Williams gazed from atop a car in The Fisher King as he waited for Lydia (actress Amanda Plumber) to appear from the building where she worked.

A photo of some very cool railing work in front of an Italian resturant on 50th.

And lastly, Lasagna, an old favorite resturant of mine, that I wasn't sure was still around on the corner of 2nd Avenue. I haven't been in years, but it was good to see it's still there.

Happy holidays!