Review: A.L.I.E.E.E.N.

A.L.I.E.E.E.N.
by Lewis Trondheim
First Second, $12.95

The conceit of Trondheim's A.L.I.E.E.E.N. is that the book isn't of his own devising, but rather an artifact from an alien culture that he found left behind from presumably a UFO landing. This conceit is carried forward in the high class packaging that we've come to expect from First Second, with the cover and interior pages having faux wear and singeing. The dialog is written in an alien language, making this effectively a silent comic, the type that Trondheim excels at.

There are several short stories, each of which features cute little alien creatures doing rather disturbing things to themselves and each other. Eyes get poked out, body parts get swallowed, and in one case momentous defecation commences. The separate stories turn out to be interlocked, so seemingly random events in one story turn out to have relevance in another. Trondheim is definitely channeling Jim Woodring here, and with good results; fans of Frank will find a good deal to enjoy here.

The conceit of this being an alien comic adds another level to the proceedings. We don't know what the intended audience for this book is in its native culture. Is this typical children's humor for little aliens? Or is this a subversive comic akin to the underground comix of our own culture? Is this what the aliens look like, or is this their version of funny animals? Would this book be banned or embraced? Is this high art or low? Reading through this comic with different sets of assumptions can radically change how we react to the material, and brings in question how we react to all those other comics where we know--or think we know--the context in which it should be read.

Rating: 4 (of 5).

Christmas Covers - December 21

For each day of December until Christmas I'm featuring a Comic Cover Advent Calendar. Just move your mouse over the image to reveal today's special Holiday comic cover. Click on the image to get a larger version.

Wacky Squirrel has a very different idea on the usage of mistletoe on Jim Bradrick's cover to 1987's Wacky Squirrel #2.

Come back tomorrow, and every day this month, for a new Christmas cover.


Just 4 more 'get-ups' until Santa!


(2005: Archie Giant Series Magazine #15)
(2004: DC Comics Presents #67)

(Polite Dissent's 2006 Comic Book Cover Advent Calendar)
(Two newcomers this year: ShadZ and Brendan McKillip)

(Looking for a little Christmas cheer of your own? Tune in to free Yet Another Music Radio for our Holiday Music 2006 mix with over six and a half hours of seasonal songs.)

(Please support our Third Annual CBLDF fund drive!)
 

10 Fave Christmas Albums

I was considering calling this post "The 10 Best Christmas Albums Evah!" But since this list reflects my personal tastes--which quite frankly can change from day to day--I decided instead to call it a favorites list instead.

The Christmas Mood: Original Recordings of the Alfred Burt Carols - The Columbia Choir and Ralph Carmichael Brass Ensemble (1954)
Growing up in our house there were all the regular Christmas carols. But every so often Mom or Dad would pop in a tape of this recording of the 'other' carols, choral arrangements of Al Burt's songs. "Caroling, Caroling," "The Star Carol," "This is Christmas" and others that so perfectly capture the holiday season. Out of print and rare for many years, it was finally remastered in 1995 and released on CD. (You can order it from the Alfred Burt Carols Website).


Merry Christmas - Johnny Mathis (1958)
This was the album that my parents put on every December when we put out the Christmas decorations and trimmed the tree, and as such it's the music that means Christmas to me. The combination of Percy Faith's arrangements and Mathis's smooth tenor can't go wrong. (iTunes link)


A Charlie Brown Christmas - Vince Guaraldi Trio (1965)
Without Vince Guaraldi's wonderful jazz score, A Charlie Brown Christmas probably would not be the enduring holiday classic that it is today. This album succeeds not only as a soundtrack album, but as a Christmas album as well. The original song "Christmastime Is Here" has over the past few years become a holiday standard, but there's plenty of great jazz improvisations on classic carols as well. (iTunes link)


Christmas - Mannheim Steamroller (1984)
Sure, over the past decade or so Chip Davis has turned his Christmas-themed albums into a veritable industry, along with a rapid decline in quality into treacliness that has marred all his recent works. But this first Christmas album shares the same winning combination of classical & new age electronica that was evident in the first three Fresh Aire albums. (iTunes link)


A Christmas Festival - Arthur Fiedler and The Boston Pops (1987)
A collection of orchestral carols from the group's classic Arthur Fiedler days, it's a one-stop shop for all your classical pop Christmas needs. Their version of "Sleigh Ride" is still the gold standard. (iTunes link)


Christmas - Bruce Cockburn (1993)
Perhaps an unlikely candidate for a Christmas album, progressive Canadian folk singer-songwriter nonetheless sucessfully brings his style to this set of religious carols, pulling from the familiar and also from more rare songs like "Riu Riu Riu" and "Jesus Ahatonnia". His uptempo take on "Les Anges Dans Nos Campagnes" is fantastic, as is the call-and-response version of "Mary Had a Baby". (iTunes link)


Hallelujah, He Is Born - Sawyer Brown (1997)
Normally a mediocre-at-best mid-level pop county act, Star Search winners Sawyer Brown somehow managed to find exactly the right combination on their album of religious-themed carols and songs. The original title track, with full backing of a gospel choir, is a winner, as are their original "Glory to the King" that opens the album and their take on "Little Town of Bethlehem" that closes the disc. (iTunes link)


A Christmas Story - Point of Grace (1999)
This first seasonal album by the CCM quartet opens with a bang, a 10+ minutes medley of "Joy to the World", "When Love Came Down" and "Angels We Have Heard on High", complete with backing choir and orchestra. The rest of the album fares well too, with both secular and religious carols in the mix as well as a few new compositions. (iTunes link)


Brand New Year - SHeDAISY (2000)
With just one previous album under their belt, the sisterly trio SHeDAISY bucked tradition by making their second album a holiday album, and knocked it right out of the park. Innovative melodies and harmonies enliven traditional classics. (iTunes link)


Songs for Christmas - Sufjan Stevens (2006)
This collection of five Christmas EPs from Stevens is not only full of great takes on classics and wonderful new compositions, the packaging is also a work of art: a box set including extensive liner notes, stickers, and a comic mini-poster! (iTunes link)



Those are my choices for holiday listening--what are yours?

Christmas Covers - December 20

For each day of December until Christmas I'm featuring a Comic Cover Advent Calendar. Just move your mouse over the image to reveal today's special Holiday comic cover. Click on the image to get a larger version.

Batwoman has a gift for Nightwing on J. G. Jones's cover to 52 week 33, due out today at your local comic shop!

Come back tomorrow, and every day this month, for a new Christmas cover.


Just 5 more 'get-ups' until Santa!


(2005: Strangers in Paradise #70)
(2004: The Amazing Spider-Man #314)

(Polite Dissent's 2006 Comic Book Cover Advent Calendar)
(Two newcomers this year: ShadZ and Brendan McKillip)

(Looking for a little Christmas cheer of your own? Tune in to free Yet Another Music Radio for our Holiday Music 2006 mix with over six and a half hours of seasonal songs.)

(Please support our Third Annual CBLDF fund drive!)
 

Christmas Comics 2006

Looking for a little Christmas Cheer at the comic store? As you might guess by my annual Christmas Covers feature I tend to buy Christmas-themed comics, even if it's a title I don't normally get. Here's a rundown of some of this year's holiday-themed comics to consider:

Marvel & DC both have their annual holiday specials. The Marvel Holiday Special 2006 is the more successful of the two, with the wonderful"How Fin Fang Foom Saved Christmas" by Scott Gray & Roger Langridge; and a framing sequence by Andrew Farago, Shaenon K. Garrity & Ron Lim set at an A.I.M. office holiday party. Mike Carey's attempt at a holiday-themed alphabet book starring The Thing has some clever rhymes but isn't much of a story, though Mike Perkins turns in some good art.


The DCU Infinite Holiday Special was solicited as the DCU Infinite Christmas Special, but apparently some bah-humbug pc editorial shenanigans got in the way of a wonderful pun. It's mostly by-the-numbers stories, though Joe Kelly & Ale Garza's Supergirl story works pretty good, and the concluding Elseworlds Superman & Batman story by Kelley Puckett & Pete Woods is a lot of fun.


Also from DC is Justice League Unlimited #28, with The Phantom Stranger playing the role of the Ghost of Christmas Past for The Flash, though he shows Wally not his own past, but Batman's!


Marvel counters with Wolverine #49, a fill-in that's been pretty accurately described as Die Hard with Wolverine. Unfortunately Logan does not wear the Santa outfit you see on him on the cover, but instead his rather silly yellow-and-black threads.


Blade #4 by Marc Guggenheim & Howard Chaykin finds Blade facing off against a demon that possesses a department store Santa and others. Chaykin really hits his stride in this issue that plays to his strengths. And the Punisher: X-Mas Special 2006 by Stuart Moore & CP Smith is an appropriately moody story that features Frank Castle spending the holidays crossing off minor mobsters from his Naughty List.


Steve Edmond's Emo Boy #10 has the title character moping about how he can't understand why people are celebrating Christmas while there's so much suffering in the world. Fortunately Santa shows up to set him straight; I won't spoil it by telling you how, though you might get a clue from the cover...


Dork Tower #35 interrupts the comic's ongoing storyline for a second issue in a row to give us John Kovalic's take on "The Gift of the Magi," with a twist on the twist ending.



Flare Adventures #18 features a Chrissie Claus story that finds Santa's granddaughter and her friends in skimpy clothing fighting a bunch of evil elves or somesuch. Even inks by Dick Giordano don't help it out much.


Having never read an issue of Jim Balent's Tarot: Witch of the Black Rose before I was expecting the holiday-themed issue #41 to live up to the comic's reputation as featuring outrageously proportioned women and plenty of misogyny. Quite a surprise then to see that it instead was a rather fun-loving story about the titular witch and her friends celebrating the Yule festival with a snowball fight and tobogganing. Of course a couples of pixie show up and use magic to strip everyone of their clothes, providing plenty of gratuitous nudity (although it doesn't seem fair that all the women show the full monty while the one male's manhood always seems to be discreetly covered).


Every year some of the Archie Comics offer up Christmas themed stories--this year it's Archie #571, Betty & Veronica #222, and Betty & Veronica Spectacular #76--and every year I'm reminded why (with the notable exception of Sabrina) I don't bother with Archie the other 11 months of the year. It's pretty much the same stories told over and over: middle-class Betty is jealous of her friend, the spoiled rich Veronica, and both have an inexplicable thing for bland Archie Andrews. If you want a lot of the same old same old, there's also Archie's Holiday Fun Digest #11. At least the Betty & Veronica Spectacular has art that feels a bit more lively than standard-issue Archie. (Johanna also reviews this year's Archie Christmas comics on her blog.)


For Duck and Mouse fans there's plenty of holiday cheer from Gemstone's Walt Disney line: Walt's Disney's Christmas Parade #4 features the classic "Christmas in Duckburg" by Bob Gregory & Carl Barks, with plenty more Christmas- and winter-themed stories to round out its pages. Walt Disney's Comics #675 and Walt Disney's Uncle Scrooge #360 are both about 50% winter-themed in content. For those who want a smaller dose there's the Christmas-filled Mickey Mouse and Friends #295 & Donald Duck and Friends #346; the latter has a minor Carl Barks story, while the former includes the rather fun "The Quest for Quasar" by Stefan Petrucha & Noel Van Horn.


Due out this week, though obviously not read yet, are Fables #56, which promises to give the lowdown on Santa Claus; 52 week 33, the Christmas week issue with Batwoman on the cover; and The Bakers Meet Jingle Belle one-shot from Paul Dini & Kyle Baker.

Christmas Covers - December 19

For each day of December until Christmas I'm featuring a Comic Cover Advent Calendar. Just move your mouse over the image to reveal today's special Holiday comic cover. Click on the image to get a larger version.

Omaha & Chuck take a break from trimming the tree on Reed Waller's cover to Omaha the Cat Dancer vol. 2 #1 from 1994.

Come back tomorrow, and every day this month, for a new Christmas cover.


Just 6 more 'get-ups' until Santa!


(2005: Marvel Comics Super Special #39)
(2004: The Spirit #12)

(Polite Dissent's 2006 Comic Book Cover Advent Calendar)
(Two newcomers this year: ShadZ and Brendan McKillip)

(Looking for a little Christmas cheer of your own? Tune in to free Yet Another Music Radio for our Holiday Music 2006 mix with over six and a half hours of seasonal songs.)

(Please support our Third Annual CBLDF fund drive!)
 

CBLDF Fund Drive Reminder

There's less than a week to go in my Third Annual CBLDF Fund Drive, and so far only two people have donated. That means that eight more people need to donate to meet our goal. Remember, I'm matching your gift of $25, so stretch your dollars for freedom!