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((While revamping the site for its 3rd version I was amazed at just how bad the coding was for this very first
installment. I'm talking major major eyesores here. I'm glad I've actually
managed to learn something in the last 3 years. The Geek Corner and
Steelgirl.com reference might be confusing. So here's the story. I started the
site as a guest writer on Steelgirl.com called the Geek Corner. I decided to
break off and do my own site after one or two of these.))
I saw an interesting bumper sticker this morning. Plain white with black letters
stating
HUNT MEAT EATERS (FOR SPORT).
It
made me think. What exactly is this person saying? Meat is bad? Meat is good because it
makes you work to get it? I like to kill? I just don’t know. My gut instinct is
telling me that the owner of the vehicle is either a vegetarian, a vegan or just a damn
hippy. And this person apparently doesn’t like us meat eaters too much. At first I
was pissed. Why must that goddamned hippy feel that he must judge me. Then I realized: who
would hunt the meat eaters? The non-meat eaters? The herbivores? They don’t hunt!!
They graze!! Gah! Who would do this hunting of the meat eaters? I must know! Perhaps some
ruling class of vegetarians would keep special meat eating hunters alive just to hunt for
their sick pleasure. The horror!! The horror!!
And what exactly does this have to do
with the geek corner? I dunno, I was just rambling. But I’d better get on with it and
come up with some geek stuff. How about some reviews? Nah, I’m too lazy, so I’ll
just recommend some stuff for you to buy. (Don’t know how often the Kimster wants me
to update this so I’m gonna’ do it in installments. This Week:
Manga!! Yes,
that’s right! Your favorite Japanese comics!!
1st up-Akira.
You know you’ve heard of it. This was one of the first Animes to hit it big in
America way back in the early nineties. And it’s still popular, as it’s one of
the few anime titles that most everyone has seen. But most folks don’t seem to know
that it was originally based on a Manga series by the brilliant artist/writer Katsuhiro
Otomo. Dark Horse is finally reprinting this
manga series, and it’s going to be a big one- 6 300+ page books at $24.95 a pop. But
it’s worth every penny. For those of you who’ve seen it, the movie is like a
condensed version of the manga. There’s much, much more story to be had. And all of
it’s great stuff. It’s either a great action story involving machine guns,
motorcycles, midgets with psychic powers, drugs, street punks, coups, and the Japanese
military of a future Tokyo, or it’s a coming of age story. Not just for the
protagonists, but perhaps for all of humanity. It’s good, good shit, and you should
read it.
(You should also check out
Domu-also
by Otomo. It’s a smaller work, but deals with many of the same issues. Yup, more
midget psychics. I don’t know about you, but I just can’t get enough of those
crazy little dudes!)
Next up-Lone Wolf and Cub. Another
old-school manga series being reprinted by Dark Horse, Lone Wolf and Cub is the tale of
Ito Ogami and son. A ronin traveling through medieval Japan hiring his sword out to anyone
with the gold. It’s blood and guts with Buddhist musings thrown into the mix for fun.
Covers by Frank Miller, who claims this series was a major influence on his work. Dark
Horse is printing one collection of stories every month and plan to print the entire
series as it was originally printed in Japan, all 28 volumes. This is a big effort folks,
and I applaud Dark Horse for doing it. Check them out, you won’t be disappointed.
Side
Notes!! Woohooo!
Hmm, it occurs to me that since this IS
steelgirl.com I should figure out the connection with everything I review. Or maybe
I’ll just do it this week. OK.
Connection
#1: in Akira there is a character named Chioko. And she’s completely
badass. She has
more guns than I do. Guns are metal.
Connection
#2-there are many, many female characters that pop up in Lone Wolf and Cub who wield an
ever-changing assortment of swords and the like. Swords are metal.
BAM!! There
ya’ go. Girls and metal. Badass girls using metal to get their point across.
Send
me mail at pj@geekass.com and tell me how much
you hate me. Or love me. Or whatever. 6th email gets something cool. Lame
forwards get dirty pictures back at them.
