A lonely dog wants a friend, so he buys and builds a robot. This is the beginning of Sara Varon’s exceptional graphic novel Robot Dreams. The dog and the robot have great adventures together, but when they go to the beach one day the robot goes into the water and then rusts in the sun. Unable to move him from the beach, the dog leaves him there. Soon the dog regrets abandoning his friend, but when he returns to the beach it’s too late: it has been closed for the season. Months pass and the dog tries to make new friends, regretting his lost robot and unable to find the same friendship with others. The robot lies immobilized on the beach, daydreaming about what would have happened if he hadn’t gone swimming, if he was rescued, if he could dig down through the sand and free himself. The dog and the robot learn a lot about themselves and about friendship, and the ending is incredibly sad, hopeful, and happy all at the same time.
I don’t really have a whole lot to say about Watchmen, actually. It was extremely impressive, and it’s still sitting with me. I’m still forming impressions, coming back to certain events, thinking about how everything tied together. The politics are so relevant, and I never thought about superheroes in the context of what liberals and conservatives would think of them. Or what their impact on society would be. The story is so nuanced, I’m still trying to decide what I understood and what I missed. I’m also still thinking about some of the morality issues–what I think of the Comedian/Silk Spectre plotline, for example. So I don’t know what I can add to 20+ years of discussion about this masterpiece that hasn’t already been said.
I’ll be honest and say that I’m avoiding The Dark Knight until the crowds die down a little and the creepy-morbid fascination with Heath Ledger is older news. I think the attention paid to his acting is warranted; I thought (and still think) that Ledger was a phenomenal actor getting better by the day. He should be mourned, absolutely. By family, friends, fans, an entire industry, Brooklyn. But I don’t like gawkers. I can’t get behind the kind of post-tragedy, upside down version of fairweather fandom that leads to his action figures from TDK selling like hotcakes on eBay or theaters flooding with newly declared fans itching to get in on his final performance. I fully believe the movie is amazing, I believe most people who went to see it were genuine, and I fully intend to see it myself. But hopefully without the feeling that I’m swept up in a crowd rubbernecking at a bad accident.
I just picked up Amulet: Book One while sitting at the desk at work, and I couldn’t put it down. The artwork is gorgeous, and Kibuishi’s world is fascinating. Navin and Emily move into a creepy old house with their mom after a family tragedy. When their mother is kidnapped on the first night, the two kids are plunged into an alternate world where they fight to save her. They find a magic amulet that helps them navigate this new world.
Read more on Amulet: Book One (The Stonekeeper) by Kazu Kibuishi…