Repairman Jack is Controlling My Life

I am thoroughly hooked on the Repairman Jack books. I really, really like the character a lot - way more than I ever thought I would. He's a more sensible version of The Punisher, and mostly does his revenge work for money.

Authors I am not reading.

I finished the second book, Legacies, a couple of days ago and immediately started on the third book. I think I'm going to tear through these pretty quickly, even though there are 15 of them and another 6 in the Adversary Cycle. But anyway, Legacies opens with Jack being hired to recover a bunch of donated presents that were stolen from a childrens' AIDS hospital. This shit is right up his alley. Jack loves to go after scum like this - because seriously, no one but scum would steal from a bunch of AIDS babies (and the Repairman Jack universe doesn't have Northstar).

Bitch, don't make him take his earrings out.

 Jack finds this guy, but before he goes after him, dresses like Santa but with weighted gloves, a Kevlar vest, and steel toed books. Originally, Jack was only going to kick this guy's ass, but then the thief takes a shot at Santa. No one tries to kill Santa and gets away with it.. So, Jack ties this asshole to the front of his van, puts reindeer antlers on his head, and drives him up to the hospital with all the presents and lets someone else call the police. This is my kind of justice already, but it's all even funnier since in my head, Jack looks like Gerard Butler. Or Clive Owen. Or maybe both of them together - Butler Owen.

Today is a Gerard Butler day.

Jack ends up working a personal case for the woman who hired him to find the stolen presents. The whole thing plays out like an extended episode of Law and Order SVU, but with Jack's special brand of retribution. He's like Detective Stabler on crack - punching first and not really bothering to ask questions. My favorite moment comes toward the end when this mercenary character is yelling for Jack to come out of hiding and put down his weapons. So Jack just kind of emerges from the woods, out of bullet range, and gives the guy the finger. The best part of that instance is we see it from the point of view of the woman the mercenary has hostage. So, there's this woman just marveling at the sheer size of Jack's balls as he does this. It's pretty awesome.

This has nothing to do with Repairman Jack, but its awesome.

Now, according to my brother, Legacies doesn't really have a lot to do with the rest of the series. It's his least favorite Repairman Jack book. I liked this book well enough, but was a little disappointed that Jack seemed to be just another character in an ensemble cast. Wilson writes these books from multiple POVs, like A Song of Ice and Fire, but before ASoIaF.  100 pages into the third book, Jack has more of a presence and this makes me happy. I like being inside Jack's head. Jack is the sort of person I would like to be if I could operate outside of conventional society. I honestly think a lot of us would be like Jack if we could.

This series is total wish fulfillment, but Jack is a well developed, neatly sketched character with more personality in his little toe than Batman has in his entire body Plus, Jack does the vigilante thing on a budget. Take that, Bruce Wayne!

DayThree: I seriously can't handle anymore Doctor Who cosplay, okay?

Que hora es?!!!

 

 

SUNDAY 

 

Sunday was Kids' Day at C2E2 so there were tons of adorable children and babies all dressed up. I don't have any pictures of them because I didn't want to be that creepy weirdo that was all, "Can I take a picture of your kids?" I saw a lot of Adventure Time cosplay and yelled, "What time is it?!" every chance I could. Some of them weren't very enthusiastic about answering me, but if you're going to cosplay Jake or Finn, you have to be prepared to get yelled at a lot. I yelled "What time is it?" at a Princess Bubblegum while in the bathroom and she loudly and happily answered me from three stalls over.

 

I'm Twilight Sparkle on the inside.

 

 

My friend Angie went all out as Pinkie Pie from My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic and her costume was beloved by kids and adults. She wants to do Rarity next year and I'm considering Twilight Sparkle. I've never dressed up for one of these things before, so we'll see. 

 

After Kristy basked in his essence, I totally wanted to make out with her.

 

Kristy, my constant, spent her morning waiting in line for a John Barrowman autograph. She was way more hardcore than me. I didn't have the energy to wait so long, especially considering I only like Torchwood, but not Doctor Who. So, Mr. Twomonkeys, Bossman and I slept in a little bit and didn't get over to the con until amost noon. I was dog ass tired at this point. My energy was gone even though I had been drinking way too much Five Hour Energy. I could see through time, but not stand upright. I plodded through the convention floor and ignored all panels. I had thought about going to the Anne Rice spotlight but I didn't think I'd make it to 4pm, or whenever it was. So, we hit Artsist's Alley because other than a short visit with Katie Cook, I hadn't been over there yet.

 

Motherfucking centaurs!

 

Despite my exhaustion, I experienced my other con highlight on Sunday - meeting Cliff Chiang, I am in love with the Wonder Woman relaunch and especially in love with Chiang's work. Mr. TwoMonkeys had gone to a panel the previous day and Chiang was on it, but I didn't know he was going to be in Artist's Alley. We didn't even know he would be at the con until after we got there. Suprisingly, there was no one at his booth. I can only assume he had just sat down and people hadn't had a chance to swarm him yet. We talked a little and I told him how much I like his work on Wonder Woman. I said that my WW favorite panel was the one in ussue #1 where Wonder Woman straight up headbutts a centaur in the face. Apparently, that was Brian Azarello's idea, as he's a huge fan of wrestling. Chiang's commission list was full, and he didn't have any prints of the centaur headbutt, but I did buy a print of Wonder Woman swinging a bloody battle axe in a field of fallen arrows. I can't wait to get that framed and use it as inspiration in my own violent writing. I also bought a Dex Starr print from artist, Sara Richard. Not only was it beautiful and inexepensive, but $5 from every sale of that particular print was going to the Humane Society. Rock on, Sara Richard. Check out her stuff here.

 

 

 

At this point, I'd had enough. Not even the John Barrowman aura surrounding Kristy could keep me on my feet any longer. It was time to go home. We made the slow, torturous trek back to the parking garage and I threatened to leave both Mr. TwoMonkeys and Bossman multiple times if they didn't stop gawking at things. We dropped Kristy off in her suburb and then made the drive home. I felt filthy from con crud and physically tired and tired of the press of people, but it was totally worth it. The end.

 

 

Saturday at C2E2: A Big Gay Sandwich

I don't care that this was in 2010. I'll take any excuse I can to post it over and over.

My C2E2 coverage continues. If you can call this reporting.


SATURDAY

This year was C2E2's third ever. It's a baby convention and still needs to find its feet. The thing about C2E2 that has both delighted and annoyed me is its inclusion of literary authors as bona fide nerds. Two years ago, I got to meet George R.R. Martin. Game of Thrones wasn't on HBO yet, so I walked right up to him, asked him to sign my first edition copy of The Game of Thrones, told him my favorite character was Littlefinger and then he called me creepy. Good times. This year, a few big names were in attendance - most notably Anne Rice (if you don't know who she is, just GTFO) and Charlene Harris (the Sookie Stackhouse books that True Blood is based on). One would think C2E2 would have a hopping publisher's row. Selling books by either of these authors would have been like printing money. But no. There were no sci-fi/fantasy publishers at the con. No Tor, DAW, or DelRey Spectra. They'd had a presence in the past and the last two years, I've come away from C2E2 with a backpack full of ARCs to review for Geektress.

I tried to get Moo to help me review books last year but she's illiterate and kind of an asshole.

Anne Rice and Charlene Harris both only signed for one hour total over the course of three days and their lines were capped off hours before they were scheduled to appear. I didn't really care though because my main mission was to meet F. Paul Wilson, author of the Repairman Jack series. First, he's my brother's favorite author (other than Stephen King) and I would have been an awful sister if I didn't get a book signed for him. I brought my copy of The Tomb and now have at least 10 gold star sister points for getting it signed for Brother TwoMonkeys. Second, I also read the book so I wouldn't look like a complete asshole when I asked Wilson to sign one for my brother. Wilson brought a bunch of copies of The Tomb with him and also signed one for me and didn't charge me for the book. He also let me take a picture with him, which I texted to my brother just for proof of how awesome I am. That experience was one of the highlights of the convention.

I will probably also post this many times over the life of this blog.

The F. Paul Wilson stuff didn't happen until later in the day. I spent my morning drooling over John Barrowman with my awesome friend Kristy. Our husbands and Bossman went off to do their own things that morning. Kristy and I had a blast listening to Barrowman talk about how gay he was, Torchwood, the YA book he wrote with his sister, and his dogs. But sometimes I had a hard time hearing him over how beautiful he was. I mean, there were angels singing in his presence he was so gorgeous.

He is beautiful, and a nerd.

Kristy and I had planned on waiting in line to meet him after his talk, but again, the line had been capped off hours before the talk even started. On Saturday, it was a no-go, even though he sat and signed for 7 freaking hours.

Saturday's line to meet John Barrowman.

Kristy and I wandered around and found a vendor selling necklaces of images of the moon on the day you were born. We found out that Kristy was born on a full moon and I was born on a new moon. We were opposites but we completed each other. Henceforth, I shall refer to Kristy as my Constant. Was this a total scam? Probably. But the necklaces were pretty, so we bought them anyway.

StevieD and CBQScavenger being all smart. I love these guys.

Mr. TwoMonkeys and I went to the Comic Book Queers panel on LGBTQ characters in comics that afternoon and had a great time. We got to see StevieD and CBQSacvenger be all smart and stuff. I realized that I have to get on the ball with Danielle Corsetto's Girls With Slingshots. I was sad that I had to scoot out before I could ask them if they thought the Midnighter/Apollo romance was relevant in the new incarnation of Stormwatch, but I had a date with F. Paul Wilson. And getting that book signed was the one thing I couldn't skip out on all weekend.

I don't think Oscar would have cared for this portrait either, but whatever. Kristy and I do what we want. In a very serious fashion.

The rest of Saturday was kind of a blur. I was getting tired and my feet were hurty. After the floor closed, me and my posse had dinner at the Wilde Bar in Boys Town. The food was excellent - I ate my first bison burger - but the music was atrocious. I kind of felt under-dressed going in there but the music selection was so trashy that I stopped caring. My man Oscar would not have approved of the music. But like I said, the food was good and the atmosphere was decadent. And the prices were totally reasonable, which Oscar would also not have approved of,  but I was grateful for.

Part One: I Saw John Barroman Last Weekend and You Probably Didn't

I'm kind of in love with Frank Castle. But I can think of at least 10 things I've done today alone to make him shoot me in the face.

That's right - I went to C2E2 in Chicago last weekend and spent all three days at the nerd carnival. I did have a lot of fun, but that fun was tinged with sadness since I was the lone Geektress at the event. Laura and Brenda couldn't make it (and PattyBoom from Comic Book Queers was also missed), so I attempted to do some serious reporting on my own, but really just ended up spending too much money and staring slack-jawed at the perfection that is John Barrowman.

FRIDAY

I was off to a bad start when I missed the first panel I wanted to go to. Mr. TwoMonkeys and I didn't get on the road until almost 9am, so we missed the 10:30am American Library Association panel. Now that I work in a library, I felt that I should probably go to some of these ALA things in order to brown nose at work. Also, Mr. TwoMonkeys and I kidnapped my boss and brought him to C2E2 with us. He got a super discounted ALA pass so we kind of had to do some library stuff. We did end up making it to the 12:45pm panel on ow to grow your library's graphic novel collection. Part of the issue at my library is we can't have pictures of naked dudes. Violence is all right, but peens are not. So, no Box Office Poison (one of the best and still most relevant comics for 20somethings today). But The Walking Dead is all right. I got some good ideas for indie comics for all age groups at this panel. In addition, the panel members talked about where one would put graphic novels in the library. Do they go in the 700s as art? Do they go all over the library according to their subject matter? Or do they get their own special place? I'm inclined to give them their own special place outside of the Dewey Decimal system. Graphic novels are special - a neat hybrid of literature and art without wholly being one or the other. I've been thinking about this all week - part of what I love best about the library is cataloging. I think I might be a library nerd.

Urrmahgahd! It's Effie Trinket! I just got reaped!

Speaking of, the boss and I went over to the ALA booth at C2E2, which was being run by a remarkable Effie Trinket cosplayer. She had a different outfit for every day of e con and sometimes changed mid-day. We got our Library Superhero badges and then went out on the floor.

For those of you unfamiliar with C2E2, it stands for Chicago Comics and Entertainment Expo. It's huge. It took up an entire wing of McCormick Place. At this point, I'd like to say I did some things worth reporting on, but I just wandered around yelling at vendors, "Shut up and take my money!" I missed the rest of the panels I wanted to go to because there was just too much happening on the convention floor. To be honest though, the panels on Friday weren't that exciting. In fact, the entire weekend was crammed with Marvel and DC bigwigs running their mouths about DC 52 and Avengers vs. X-Men. Not a lot of news comes out at C2E2 because Marvel and DC like to save their major announcements for San Diego. The panels were all very generic as well (with the exception of The CBQ panel on Sunday). No major comic book writers were in attendance - no Bendis, no Millar, no Liu, no Azzarello, etc.

I'm just going to pretend I went to a panel and listened to Brian Michael Bendis talk shit about Mark Millar.

There also seemed to be more commercial celebrities wandering around this year. All of the celebrities had their spotlights in the IGN theatre, so people camped it all weekend and no one could get into the more informative panels. I completely missed out on Shia LeBeouf and his unique brand of crazy. I guess he was in Artist's Alley on Friday pimping out his so awful it's genius self-published comic books.

I don't know what the hell is going on here, but if I don't get to sleep tonight, neither do yo.

Sean Astin (Samwise from LotR) was autographing almost all day, but at $40 a signature, his line was never very long. Same for Nicholas Brendon (Xander on Buffy). Only die hard fans were willing to spend that kind of cash on these guys. The highlight of nerd celebrities on Friday was Jhonen Vasquez, creator of Invader Zim and Johnny the Homicidal Maniac. I missed out on both of those nerd boats when they were at their peak, but my friend Kristy waited in line for almost an hour to meet him.

Tom Morello (Rage Against the Machine, and some comic book I think?) and Chris Hardwick (Nerdist) were also signing on Friday, but I ignored them as well. I found a lady who was making really detailed and intricate steampunk influenced jewelry so I chatted with her for a while and then bought a pretty necklace. I visited with Katie Cook (creator of Gronk: a Monster's Story in addition to all kinds of pop culture cuteness - seriously, go to her site, sigh over the cuteness, and then buy all the things) for a little while and am thinking of commissioning her to do an arm tattoo for me - a pinup of Bleez and Dex Starr from Red Lantern. Katie Cook knows how to do gorgeous and adorable pinups, even if the subject is puking blood.

Best costume in the whole convention.

At this point, the convention floor was getting ready to shut down for the day. Mr. TwoMonkeys, Bossman, and I reluctantly left and sat in parking garage traffic for almost an hour before heading off to Mr. TwoMonkeys' sister's house. We unloaded all of our stuff and then went to eat at a Red Robin. I had never been to one, but was some good shit and I would totally go back. I know this part isn't really part of the con, but I really liked Red Robin and now I'm kind of annoyed that Peoria gets Red Robin commercials even though we don't have one.

Delicious!

Anyway, stay tuned for Saturday and Sunday's adventures. Talk of Red Robin has made me hungry.

I like The Hunger Games. Maybe more than I should.

 

 

I went to see The Hunger Games for my birthday on opening weekend. Those of you keeping up with Geektress know that I write and talk about the same three things all the time: Red Lantern/Dex Starr, The Hunger Games, RuPaul's Drag Race, and Game of Thrones (zomg Peter Dinklage!). Murderous cats, murderous teens, murderous wolves, and murderous drag queens - such is my life.

 

If you tell me this isn't sexy, I say you lie. Good day, sir. I say good day.

 I really enjoyed The Hunger Games movie - enough that I will probably go see it again multiple times. I haven't gotten this worked up about a movie since I was 12 and Jurassic Park came out. Most would think I liked it for the dinosaurs, but no. I had a weird thing for Jeff Goldblum. I found chaos mathematics sexy when I was 12.

 

But something I usually don't find sexy are movie adaptations. I usually hate them. I can count on one hand how many of them I can say I loved (and none of the Harry Potter movies are on that list). After seeing The Hunger Games, I have to move on to my other hand. The fact that Suzanne Collins took part in writing the screenplay helped a ton. A few changes were made some of them significant and others small, but with each one, I could tell what was behind the decision to make the change, and I felt all of the decisions were sound.

 

This movie adaptation makes me want to set a baby on fire.

 Warning: Massive spoilers ahead. I am going to spoil the hell out of this movie and book. If you read after this point and get all butthurt over spoilers, it's your own damn fault.

 

So, The Hunger Games was a good movie, but a great adaptation. Fans of the book have been pissy about some of the changes and portrayals of beloved characters. Here are several points for thought and one demand for them to shut their racist face holes:

 

1. Katniss gets the mockingjay pin from the hob - not from Madge.

 

 

 In the books, Madge is a throwaway character. Katniss tells us Madge is the only girl in District 12 she considers a friend, but only kind of. Katniss doesn't think about her that much. Madge makes a brief appearance in Catching Fire, but we assume she died in the Capitol's attack on District 12. That's all there is to Madge. Considering that we're not in Katniss' head in the movie, Madge is a superfluous character (and she is in the books even though we are in Katniss' head). In the movie, Katniss purchases the pin in the Hob and gives it to her beloved sister, Primm. Katniss tells Primm that the pin will protect her at the reaping. That assertion backfires as Primm's name is called. Katniss takes Primm's place and Primm returns the pin to Katniss (who has better luck with the pin's "protection" in the arena). This change serves two purposes. First, it cements the bond between these two sisters. This relationship drives Katniss through the entire series. Second, it shows that despite everything Katniss does to protect her sister, there is no protection from the Capitol.

 

2. OMG - Gale is hardly in the movie!

 

I don't give two craps about Gale. So, here's a picture of Peeta.

 Gale is hardly in the book. Once again, we're not privvy to Katniss' thoughts in the movie. In the book, Katniss does a lot of thinking about Gale, but his character is not present through 90% of the narrative. Gale really isn't a major presence until Mockingjay.

 

3. Haymitch isn't at the reaping.

 

Woody Harrelson need to be covered in vomit more often.

 

 This actually made me sad. My only problem with the film was that I didn't feel Woody Harrelson played Haymitch mean enough or drunk enough. Haymitch is an asshole. The first part of the movie (life in District 12, and the journey to the Capitol) felt rushed, so we didn't get a lot of Haymitch and his winning personality. In the book, he is at the reaping and he's famous in Panem as the drunkest Hunger Games victor. He arrives, throws up on Effie's shoes, and falls into the audience. This is used as comic relief at the Capitol - showing that Haymitch is nothing more than a joke, his past victory a fluke. Haymitch's condition is also indicative of why no one from District 12 ever wins the Hunger Games - the only person they have to help them win is a lazy, mean, disinterested drunk. At one point in the book (which was cut from the movie) Peeta begs Haymitch for advice. He drunkenly replies, "Stay alive." Katniss and Peeta laugh, prompting a rare moment of outward anger from Effie. She reminds them that this really isn't funny since Haymitch is their only contact to the outside world once they're in the arena. I felt that this was a defining character moment for all parties involved, and missed it in the movie.

 

4. There are some Avoxes - wtf is an Avox?

 

This stuff might make it into an extended cut. Avoxes are rebels against the Capitol who have been punished instead of killed. They've had their tongues removed and work to serve the Capitol. While this is a fascinating bit of world building, the Avoxes don't play a major part in the trilogy as a whole. So, in the movie, we don't get the whole sub story where a number of years ago, Katniss witnessed a refugee get captured and finds that same refugee as her own personal Avox in the Capitol. Interesting, but not essential.

 

5. The Mutts in the movie aren't like the Mutts in the book.

 

 

 

I liked this part a lot. I had no idea how they would pull off the Mutts as described in the book. In the book, the Muttation dogs that show up toward the end are all based on the tributes who had previously died in the arena. They all have tribute eyes. I found this terrifying. However, other fans of the book felt that it came out of nowhere. There is no previous indication that the Capitol has this technology. As the series goes on, we understand that the Capitol has the technology to mess with a person's brain as opposed to their physical world, but still. The Mutts in the movie are toned down from horrific dead tributes in dog form, to just horrific mutant dogs. Those were scary enough. In general, I liked all of the scenes that cut to Seneca Crane and his show running. Those scenes highlighted just how far removed everyone was from the actual deaths occurring in the arena. Creating vicious killer dogs and walls of fire are easy when you aren't faced with the real consequences.

 

6. President Snow is all over this movie - foreshadowing!

 

President Snow spends less time in the book than Gale does. Again, Katniss does a lot of thinking about President Snow. There are times when the scenes with President Snow felt like the movie was spelling out the more difficult themes. But all things considered, I thought those scenes were handled well. Plus, Donald Sutherland. You can't hire a name that big just to have him show up for 30 seconds.

 

7. You mean... Rue's black?

 

If racism were an issue in Panem, all the tributes would be black.

 Last week, a number of twitter users got up in arms over Rue, the adorable girl from District 11 being cast as black. These people proceeded to complain about Cinna also being cast as black. io9 ran an article on all the hate. As far as Rue goes, I read her as black. Others I've talked to read Rue as Indian. Collins describes her as having dark skin. I can see where one could read Rue as white - Katniss compares her to Primm often (but says "with the exception of skin color"). If you're reading quickly, that part might be easy to miss. However, the idea that Rue's death is any less tragic because of her skin color is sickening. Within the narrative of The Hunger Games, Collins takes pains to avoid use of terms such as Black, Asian, Indian, Native American, etc. Skin colors are simply described in terms of actual color. The people of Panem have such a nebulous sense of their own nation - the idea that there may also be other countries and continents is beyond them. Rue would never identify with the label African American, because wtf is Africa? Skin color is skin color. Dystopian governments have a lot of problems (hence the term dystopia) and they work to divide people in a million different ways, but in The Hunger Games, race is not one of them. Outside of the narrative of either the movie or the book, it's okay to have your own vision of a character that might conflict with what the author intended. But within The Hunger Games, a little girl dies horribly and her skin color shouldn't matter. I know I cried like a little bitch through that whole section of the movie, and I would have cried no matter what color Rue was.

 

So, those are my thoughts. I am unabashedly in love with both the trilogy and the movie.Go ahead and judge. I do what I want.

Hi! I'm back! And I have a book review!!

There's a lot of white space here and I'm not sure what to do about it.

I feel like I start a lot of recent book reviews with, "I like this book better than I thought I would..." And if I have, it's because I've been reading a lot of books that are either book club selections or recommended by someone else. My brother has been harping on me to read this book for years. When I had the chance to meet F. Paul Wilson last weekend at C2E2 (he was super cool), I figured I better get cracking.

I like to think the F stands for Fucking Awesome.

Repairman Jack is in the business of vigilante justice. He's kind of like The Punisher, except with a narrower scope of rage (he doesn't shoot people in the face for littering, for example) and a better sense of humor. Jack fixes things for people when the police either don't do their job or don't do the right kind of job. When someone commits a crime, Jack makes sure they pay in the appropriate way -none of this trial by judge and jury crap.

Then again, I wouldn't put this past Repairman Jack is the situation warranted it.

In The Tomb, the first Repairman Jack book, jack is hired for two jobs: 1. Retrieve a stolen necklace and maybe kick the ass of the guy who stole it since he beat up an old lady in the process. 2. Find his ex-girlfriend's missing aunt. As the story goes on, Jack realizes these two jobs are connected. And there's some funny business going on. For example, how did Gia's aunt disappear from a secure third story bedroom without a trace? And just why is this necklace so dang important - it's just iron and topaz?

This is what Todd is getting for Christmas.

This was a quick and easy read and a little outside of my normal fare. But my brother promises there will be all kinds of apocalyptic shit going down in later books. The only reason I didn't give this five stars is that there isn't much re readability factor. But I had a good time with the first read. And now I have to go punch my brother for getting me hooked on a 16 book series when I have too many other things to do...