Bill Crider recommended Harlan Ellison’s graphic novel, 7 Against Chaos, here. This is Ellison’s tribute to The Magnificent Seven. A band of misfits take on an Evil that could destroy Earth. Ellison’s clever plotting and bizarre characters generate plenty of excitement. Paul Chadwich’s wonderful artwork perfectly complement Ellison’s story. It only took me an hour to read 7 Against Chaos, but it was an hour full of that Sense of Wonder. GRADE: A

For Breaking Bad fans, here’s the perfect Christmas present: The Complete Collectors set of Blu-rays with a collectible replica money barrel, over 55 hours of special features from all seasons, all new two-hour documentary, 16-page booklet with a letter from Vince Gilligan, a commemorative challenge coin designed by Vince Gilligan, and a Los Pollos Hermanos apron! This set goes on sale on November 23, but they’ll sell out fast! Order now!

Diane and Katie visited Patrick in Albuquerque this weekend. I’m busy administering the first round of semester exams to my students in Western NY so the timing of this trip didn’t work for me (but I did get to go to the BOUCHERCON in Albany last month). Patrick took Diane and Katie to Santa Fe for a day. Yesterday they went to the Hot Air Balloon Festival. Later today, I’ll be driving to the Buffalo Airport to pick Diane and Katie up. They’re returning to celebrate Diane’s mother’s 94th Birthday tomorrow.

My son Patrick is becoming the Go-To Guy to explain techie devices. Click here to see Patrick’s latest TV interview on the new iPhone 5s and OS 7. Next step: Prime Time!

If you see GRAVITY you really should see it in eye-popping 3-D. I was astonished by the realism of this movie. You’ll actually think you’re in space with George Clooney and Sandra Bullock. The plot is simple: survive. When the debris from a Russian satellite slams into an American space shuttle, Clooney and Bullock are the only survivors. Their only hope is to reach a Russian space station. But they’re low on oxygen and fuel. I was on the edge of my seat for much of this movie. The 3-D effects are state-of-the-art. This is a simple story elegantly presented on-screen. Don’t miss Gravity! It’s one of the best movies of 2013. Check out the trailer below. GRADE: A

Batman is over 70 years old. And so is his nemesis, The Joker. Great villains bring out the best in heroes. This expanded editoin of Stacked Deck: the Greatest Joker Stories Ever Told includes some updated additions not included in the original volume. The stories are in full color. The bulk of the stories are pre-1965 (which I like) and range from 1940 to 1987. For comic book readers of a certain age, those longer stories are much more satisfying than the later short stories. The artwork got better, too. If you’re a Batman fan, this book needs to be in your collection. If you’re a casual fan of comics, there’s plenty here to like and enjoy.
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
1. The Best of the Bad
2. The Joker’s Dozen
3. [Batman Versus the Joker]
Batman
4. The Case of the Joker’s Crime Circus
Batman
5. [The Joker and the Sparrow]
Batman
6. The Man Behind the Red Hood
Batman
7. The Joker’s Crime Costume
Batman
8. The Joker’s Utility Belt!
Batman
9. The Crimes of Batman!
Batman
10. The Crazy Crime Clown!
Batman
11. Superman’s and Batman’s Greatest Foes
Batman; Superman
12. Crime-of-the-Month Club!
Batman
13. The Great Clayface – Joker Feud
Batman
14. The Joker Jury!
Batman
15. The Joker’s Happy Victims
Batman
16. The Joker’s Five-Way Revenge!
Batman
17. Death Has the Last Laugh
Batman; Joker
18. The Last Ha Ha
Joker
19. The Laughing Fish!
Batman
20. Sign of the Joker!
Batman
21. Dreadful Birthday, Dear Joker…!
Batman
22. Last Laugh
Batman
23. Catch as Catscan
Batman
24. The Last Laugh!
Batman
25. Still Crazy After All These Years
26. Stacking the Deck: The Other Joker Stories
27. Creating the Greatest: The Men Behind the Mask

Bills fans are still in shock with the Bills’ 23-20 surprising victory over the defending Super Bowl Champion Baltimore Ravens. Of course, Joe Flaco had to throw a career high 5 interceptions to help the Bills to the victory. Tonight, in a rare Thursday night game for the Bills, the opposing team has won two games in a row. The short week could cause havoc with preparing the Game Plan. Injuries factor in to this game, too. The Bills secondary is depleted with three starters recovering from injuries. Rookie QB E. J. Manuel hasn’t won a road game yet. Maybe tonight’s the night…

The Bridge concludes tonight on the FX cable network at 10 P.M. EDT. The roller coaster ride that started with the discovery of a body in the middle of the bridge between El Paso and Juarez triggers several subplots: a smuggling operation between the U.S. and Mexico using a tunnel, a serial killer, the murder of a group of illegal immigrants, etc. I really like the two main characters: Diane Kruger as Det. Sonya Cross, a member of the El Paso Police Department who has Asperger syndrome and Demián Bichir as Det. Marco Ruiz, a homicide detective from Mexico. Of course, it’s odd that this series is based on the Danish/Swedish TV series of the same name. Like The Killing I think the pace of the series is slow. But there’s flashes of action and drama that holds the audience’s interest. I have no idea if The Bridge has been canceled, but if it returns next summer I’ll watch it.

One of the swimmers at the pool I work out at told me his daughter had a part in a movie. I asked, “What movie?” He replied, “In a World.” After a few months, In a World showed up at one of our arty theaters and I went to see it. It’s the story of a small group of voice artists who record the voice-overs for movie trailers. The King of this small world was the legendary Don LaFontaine (who died in 2008). In a World sets up a competition between three voice-over artists to see who will narrate the trailer to a new epic movie series. Director Lake Bell keeps the subplots spinning as the competition reaches its climax. I liked the surprises in this quirky independent movie. If In A World shows up in your town, you’l enjoy it. GRADE: B+

As much as I enjoyed George Scialabba’s essays on politics in this volume, the most powerful essay concerns Scialabba’s depression. Depression is a Taboo in our culture. People don’t talk about it much or admit they’re suffering from it. Scialabba writes about dealing with his depression over the years in detail. I also enjoyed Scialabba’s essays on George Orwell, Adam Smith, Gore Vidal, and Edmund Wilson. After reading Scialabba’s essays, I wanted to drop everything and read some Orwell, Smith, Vidal, and Wilson! Scialabba’s fine essays deserve a wider audience. GRADE: A
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Forward by Jackson Lears

I. THEORIES
Afterthoughts of a Nader Voter
Starting Over (Robert Dahl/Ernest Callenbach)
Do the Right Thing (Micharel Sandel)
Only Fair (Stanley Fish)
Notice Thy Neighbor (Peter Singer)
Camping (G. A. Cohen)
Illfare (Tony Judt)
Immortal Bees (Roger Scruton)
Minimal Democracy (Charles Lindblom)
Outgrowing All That (Steven Nathanson)
Zippie World (Thomas Friedman)
Reasons and Passions (Johnathan Haidt)
Copywrongs (Lawrence Lessig/Siva Vaidhyanathan)
In Literacy We Trust (E.D. Hirsch)
Republic or Empire? (Andrew Bacevich et al)

II. THINKERS
The Workingman’s Friend (Adam Smith)
What Would Orwell Say? (George Orwell)
Socialist Without a Party, Christian Without a Church (Ignazio Silone)
The Common Fate (Victor Serge)
The Enemy of the State (I. F. Stone)
Just a Journalist (Edmund Wilson)
The Impresario (Irving Kristol)
The Zealot (Hilton Kramer)
The Fastidious Citizen (Gore Vidal)
Vanity and Spleen (Christopher Hitchens)
Human Scale (Christopher Lasch)

III. RANT
Plutocratic Vistas

IV. FIRST PERSON
Message from Room 101
Progress and Prejudice