Welcome back to the monthly column in which I discuss the media I enjoyed that didn’t get dedicated posts. October really got away from me for so many reasons. I’m feeling much better now and excited for a new job starting this month. This new position is within a library so don’t be shocked to see many posts inspired by new titles I discover at this employer.

I was on a good streak of reading lots of comics before I had to take a mental vacation. All of these comics were great and deserve long glowing reviews, but I would like to get some thoughts down and move on to new titles.

Night of the Living Deadpool. 

A real quick graphic novel read collecting issues 1-4 of the comic. Black, white, and red all over. In this series, Deadpool wakes up from a food coma to discover the world went to hell while he was asleep. He’s the only hero left and feels a sense of duty to keep some cool people alive. Bad things happen, truths are revealed, and a couple times the jokes start and it’s a bit emotional. It was a good light horror in October, and worth the close out price I paid for it. My local library has the sequel series and I liked this volume enough to pick that up as well.

Dark Horse Presents #12 – Kill All Monsters. 

Blogger Michael May has traveled in the same writing circles as I have for the last few years, but is much more successful. Mr. May writes this series that started in DHP and has grown with nuclear attention. If you enjoy Kaijumax or Pacific Rim, you’ll love this. But it’s also so different, and in only a couple of pages. There’s a sense of us vs. them. Of broken humanity. Of a world full of veterans against a monster war they wanted no part of. A world where everyone is so shell shocked it’s the new normal. I’ll be tracking down the rest of this series at my local shops.

Showcase Presents: Aquaman Volume 1.

This massive over 500 page black and white collection features Aquaman stories from 1959 to 1962. It features so much absurd ridiculous ideas that I fell in love with this era of comics all over again. Most of the stories are short, with a crazy “of course that’s how you solved the problem” off panel solution. Time travel, aliens, pirates, and more. Aqualad is along for the current most of the time, and fills his role perfectly. Point of entry character for kids, annoying victim for adult readers. My only complaint about any of the stories is that this collection is in black and white. There’s not a doubt in my mind that the colors in the original comic books would have added to my enjoyment.

Florence Foster Jenkins. 

I know. What is a Meryl Streep movie doing here? She’s not in comic movies, doesn’t wrestle, and can’t head bang. And I’m with you on all of that. One morning I was on the couch playing with all of the Roku channel apps. I turned on Pluto TV and the channel that auto loaded first was one of their many movie channels, with this movie playing live. As I flipped through the channel guide to see what else was on Pluto, this film kept playing. A couple minutes in I was hooked on the story and left it on. This is funny, manipulative, heart breaking, and brilliant. One of the biggest stumbled upon movie experiences in my life. Jenkins was an actual New York socialite. She thought she could sing, and her fellow rich prim and proper friends gave her a golf clap and said polite words. Her husband tries to control everyone’s reactions so Florence only experiences the positive ones. No good deed goes unpunished, and Florence books herself a Carnegie Hall performance. Everything goes out of hand and it is mesmerizing.

The Man from Earth. 

DO NOT tell anyone what this movie is about. Just, watch it. The less you know going in the better. Back when I went to the concert earlier this month, my uncle put this movie on while I hung out with him after the event. The most careful explanation I can come up with is this: A college professor ups and leaves his school and life. His close friends/fellow teachers rush to his home for an explanation. Over the course of an hour and a half he explains who he is and why he has chosen to leave now. Every one of the other professors counters, debates, and theorizes on his arguments but within their areas of expertise. It is an absolute mind job. It twists and turns. Sometimes you know where it’s going and think there’s no way it’s going there. Other times the next revelation comes from no where. Afterwords I wanted to rewatch the movie and take notes. My uncle and I immediately said this would be an amazing stage production, and turns out someone already did it. It’s on the Tubi app for free and I could not recommend this more.