So I read the complete story, an issue every day or every other day and man, I enjoyed it!

Even though I'm not a fan of the new (well, almost new) costume, it looks good when drawn by Lee. The art is great, and the story is great. I'm so used to finding lots of "buts" when reading Superman lately that a couple of objections in a whole series is great for me. I really wanted to read a new Superman story that I could enjoy. Sometimes I can't remember why he's my favourite character.

(edited to correct a couple of spelling mistakes)

Recently Finished: The Martian by Andy Weir.  An excellent read - highly recommended!

Currently Reading: Redeployment by Phil Klay

Started reading Star Wars: Crucible by Troy Denning.  It has the classic Luke, Han and Leia on the cover.  It takes place 45 years after the events in the classic films.  That is what I’d like to see a movie about instead of the prequels George Lucas produced.  I can’t understand why he had to go back to the beginning. A simple montage of events past and new story about our favorite characters would have been better. I would have taken the entire Ben Kenobi/ Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader saga and left it for the books to fill in the blanks.  

The book was in the clearance section in Books-A-Million for $ 6.99 in hardcover.  It was nice to get a Star Wars hardcover without putting a real hole in my wallet.  The print is larger and I don’t have to use my glasses to read it.

B.A.M.  has a much better clearance section than the defunct Borders.  The books are more current and not over ten years old.  There’s even a section for graphic novels and comics for a budget price.  I’ve found quite a few Marvel hardcover editions with a 50% markdown.  Much less than my local comic shop has them.  

___________________________________________________________

Spoilers Ahead:

Just started reading John Byrne’s run on the Fantastic Four. It brought me back to a time where life was a little simpler.  Hard to believe I lived without a computer, a Kindle and cell phones. I was still in high school , life was just homework, art school and comics to read on the weekend. 

The Fantastic Four # 232 from 1981.  I remember this issue well.  When I saw the Byrne cover and found out it has his interior art, I was praying he would get a sustained run on the title.  Diablo was a very underutilized villain and not Stan Lee’s favorite in particular.  We didn’t know enough about Diablo and his back story to see him as a tragic villain.  

Right from the get go we see Johnny Storm in love with Frankie Raye and Sue  battling a creature that could have been the Thing’s third cousin.  The wind and fire entity attack Johnny and Thing battles a living water bubble. It looks like it came from the set of “The Abyss” years ahead of the movie. Perhaps James Cameron got the idea from this comic for a living water creature.  

The FF get a little help from Dr. Strange to connect the dots and confirm Reed’s suspicions. It’s indeed Diablo behind the attacks. 

There was something about the atmosphere in this book, that brought me back to those old Lee/ Kirby days. Perhaps, it was the return of Diablo with his classic sixties look on the cover.  I know that Diablo hovering over the candles on the cover gave it that mysterious vibe.  Not having read a comic in a long time about this villain, it appears he uses the occult.

A few of the ads bring back a lot of memories. One for the second team up between Superman and Spider-Man come to mind. It wasn’t as nearly spectacular as the first one with the Ross Andru and Dick Giordanno art.  There were no large panels or sweeping epic pictures in this one.  It was one of those giant size $ 1.50 comics that were a regular fixture of the 70’s and early 80’s.  If I remember they had to utilize several artists on the sequel.  It didn’t have a consistent look and you could tell, if you were a Marvel fan, that many inkers finished the art chores on this one. 

The second ad that stood out was the N.P. R. Star Wars radio show.  I wish I had heard that one when it was released long ago.  I’m sure it’s on sale on Amazon.com or  E-Bay.  At one point there was a cassette or CD release a very long time ago.   

From the introduction by Henry Kissinger:  "When Lee took over [as Prime Minister of Singapore, its] per capita income was about $400 a year; it is now more than $50,000.  He inspired his polyglot population to become the intellectual and technical center of the Asia-Pacific.  Because of his leadership, a medium-sized city has become a significant international and economic player, especially in fostering multilateral transpacific ties."

I've been interested in this book since it was published in 2013, but Lee's recent death prompted me to search it out in the library system.  I found it interesting, insightful, and at times provocative.  

The McGuffin for this story is a politically explosive document concealed in a volume of Basho poetry illustrated by Hokusai.  A female ninja, serving as an emissary from the young Emperor Hirihito, enlists the aid of Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes in recovering it from a blackmailer.

AMERICA IN RETREAT:  THE NEW ISOLATIONISM AND THE COMING GLOBAL DISORDER, by Bret Stephens

The Wall Street Journalist Columnist begins with a view of "Pax America and Its Critics" from Henry Wallace and William Taft to present critics on the left and right, discusses the overreach of the Bush administration, criticizes the Obama administration's approach to foreign policy, surveys the current chaos (at least up to the point of the book's publication--events are moving fast now in the Middle East)--and offers his own suggestions for an activist internationalist foreign policy.