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Rawhide Kid and the Western
I read an issue of Rawhide Kid last night (#68, 1969), a Marvel western that began in 1955 and ran until 1979. I really enjoyed Larry Lieber’s distinctive art. It has a clean sharpness to it that works well with the bright, bold coloring style of the comic. Lieber wrote and drew the comic from…
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The Great Brain by John D. Fitzgerald
A book jot from July 2021: I finished reading The Great Brain (1967) by John D. Fitzgerald with illustrations by Mercer Mayer. It’s a children’s novel that takes place in the late 1890s in Utah. The setting and some of the plotlines seem unusual for children’s literature, and it handles some difficult themes in a…
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Tomahawk
Yesterday I read an issue of Tomahawk, a DC comic that ran from 1950 to 1972. The character first appeared a little earlier, in 1947, and has had a few appearances since the title’s cancellation. The comic is somewhat unique in that most of the timeline takes place during the American Revolution. Some of the…
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Electra by Euripides
This is a book jot from June 2021: I just finished reading Electra (c. 420 BC) by Euripides, translated by Philip Vellacott. I’ve enjoyed everything I’ve read by Euripides, and tend to really like stories about the House of Atreus and any connected in some way to the Trojan War. The fate of those who…
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Tolstoy as travel guide
Here are a few panels from a comic I read yesterday (Unknown Soldier #242, 1980). The story is titled Red Flows the Don! and was written by Bob Haney with pencils by Dick Ayers and inks by Gerry Talaoc.
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Robotech Defenders
I received both issues in the Robotech Defenders miniseries in the mail today. I just finished reading the first one and it was fantastic! I haven’t been carried away by a comic for quite a while, and it was so much fun. The various settings briefly glimpsed were exciting, and I really enjoyed the team…
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Athaliah by Jean Racine
I finished reading Athaliah by Jean Racine (translated by John Cairncross), a play first staged in 1691. Athaliah reads much like a Greco-Roman tragedy, although its subject matter and plot are derived from the Old Testament. I am not as familiar with the stories of the Old Testament as I am with many of the…
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Sonnet by Percy Bysshe Shelley
I read a sonnet by Percy Bysshe Shelley today. It was unfamiliar to me; I came across it in the book Five Hundred Years of English Poetry: Chaucer to Arnold edited by Barbara Lloyd-Evans. The text I read in the book does not include the word ‘painted’ in the first line, but all the examples…
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Rain (Lluvia)
Here is an excerpt from a poem a read recently; Rain (Lluvia) by Federico Garcia Lorca, translated by Stanley Appelbaum. My soul has the sadness of the calm rain, a resigned sadness for something unattainable; on my horizon I have a blazing star but my heart keeps me from running to gaze at it. Mi…
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The Miser by Molière
I finished reading The Miser by Molière (1668), translated by John Wood. It’s a five-act comedy and felt more farcical than the two comedies by Molière I’ve read previously. There were some very funny scenes and lines that made me laugh out loud. While there is much satire and humorous dialogue, the characters offer insightful…