Shooflypie

Last night I finished reading Bruce , a new biography of Bruce Springsteen by Peter Ames Carlin. I've been a fan of Bruce ever since the Born in the U.S.A. singles started hitting the radio in 1984; I finally got it on cassette in 1985 (maybe for my 14th birthday) and listened to it over and over again while working in the garden or doing whatever other chores my father had for me that summer. When I got the Live/1975-85 box set for Christmas 1986, I heard his older songs and fell even further in love. All of which is a long-winded way of saying that this book is for me (my brother, who knows me quite well, gave it to me for Christmas). While I did know quite a bit of his history, there was still plenty that I didn't know and Carlin does a good job of keeping the narrative flowing while also giving some analysis on the music. This is not a hagiography of  Springsteen. Rather, it presents him as an extremely talented musician who is just as messed-up and human as the rest of u...

This post covers the comics that I bought the week of Mar. 9 (remember, kids, a comics week begins on Wednesday!)... Legion of Super-Villains #1 - This titular Legion has fought the Legion of Super-Heroes a number of times over the years and with this one-shot, Paul Levitz begins to assemble to new iteration of the LSV. Saturn Queen is the driving force not only of the group but by use of her telepathic power - she is cold and cruel and calculating. We have familiar faces and new iterations of old villains plus some new ones. The big plot point is the destruction of The Rock of Eternity by the group. This will all continue in the Legion book but I like the approach of getting to know the villains in a little more detail before the inevitable conflict. Batman Incorporated #3 - Ah, Grant Morrison does it again. After an opening that shows us a super-team we haven't seen in the past, we dive into a team-up between Batman and El Gaucho. El Gaucho doesn't want to join Batman Inc.;...