#karlsharro

[natashatdsamani-blog]

And then God created the Middle East * * * * #andthengodcreatedthemiddleeast #karlsharro #HomeLibrary #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #bookphotograph #bookphotographer #bibliophile #igreads #Reading #reading #read #Book #instabookclub #instabooks #bookworm #booklover #bookaholic #bookaddict #readersofinstagram #Readers #ilovebooks #readtolive #booknerd #booksofig📚📚📚 https://www.instagram.com/p/B6Ajq6VpN1c/?igshid=1gf6mhgf0ohzy

[aftersaidat5-blog]

Karl Sharro’s #karlreMarks has a proposition for those who are willing to (re)shape the Middle East from their armchairs. An excellent take on the region’s history and imperial meddling, this map offers the best ways to partition the region. As @aftersaidat5 we endorse the one based on jeans. For hilarious satirical #applause material and more, head to reMarks’ Twitter and Facebook. #aftersaidat5 #applause #karlremarks #karlsharro #middleeast #maps #cartography #satire

[imsorussian]

#ukelection #uk #election #blametherussians #russian #politics #twitter #karlsharro

[makeyourownmyth]

best read in 2019.

Again, just trying to finally get this done so the old stuff can get out of my notes (and I can also take a cheat day on my word count goal). It’s old, it’s never that timely anyway, but it’s here for me anyway.

Like I did with the visual media, I don’t think I’m going to break up books and comics anymore. I know I read more comics, and I don’t think I’m ever going to look back at this list in order to find the books I read anyway. 

So, without further ado, first the bad.

Anti

Mister Miracle was fine, but overhyped.

Batman Last Knight on Earth was just really bad.

And Tom King’s Batman run getting cut short was a terrible decision from DC, especially in a time period where they can’t really afford bad decisions. But I try to cast fewer stones, so let’s be done there.

Honorable Mentions

I re-read The Dark is Rising sequence and it’s great. It holds up, it’s fun, and short, and plenty of real stuff. It’s meant for kids, so it’s not like they’re very long reads, but they’re perfect intros for kiddos. Get them for your nephews, nieces, etc. 

Black Science finally ended. It was fine. After such an incredible start, I can’t believe the way it petered out, but I also wasn’t terribly disappointed. I wish I hadn’t read it monthly, and had read it in trades, but I’ll also probably definitely never get the trades or the inevitable omnibus, so... I hope people who read it that way really enjoy it, though. 

Gideon Falls started weird, but has gotten better. I’m really looking forward to where it goes. 

Not a long read at all, but a fantastically funny way to start the new year: a satirical look at the protests in France via the lens of a middle eastern WENA specialist (https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/karlsharro/an-ancient-land-beset-by-ancient-rivalries).

And even before the calendar flipped, Kyle Korver was doing great work in The Player’s Tribune with a piece called Privileged (https://www.theplayerstribune.com/en-us/articles/kyle-korver-utah-jazz-nba).

Ascender is a worthy follow-up to Descender, especially given how weak that series went out. So this one is better because it starts with a little less hype, a couple fewer people riding so hard for it, so it’s got some room to figure things out. It’s fun, plus the art is the best. 

The Best

Batman: Curse of the White Knight - Sean Murphy still does basically the same thing at almost every turn, but it’s always good, so why would I hold that against him? Tons of fun, especially to see Bullock in his classic role, and Dick and Babs having that semi-relationship again. 

Kottke.org is always the best source for practically everything I read, and maybe this should have gone under “watched media” but this NYT video series is straight up incredible. https://kottke.org/19/02/how-the-kgb-weaponized-fake-news-and-how-its-still-hurting-us-today

Batman 66 - Amidst a very bizarre side quest in Tom King’s run, we get this issue. The whole Knightmares arc didn’t make much sense to me. But when we get to see how brilliant Tom King actually thinks Batman is, it all becomes clear: this is a guy who gets his character and wants to show us things about him, even if it takes a weird, detouring way that doesn’t seem to make sense at first. Really strong writing by a really strong writer about a really strong character. 

The Roxane Gay Profile in Playboy - One of our greatest living writers and cultural critics gets at least some of the respect she deserves from an unlikely source in 2019. I was happy to read it then, I’m even happier to post it now. https://www.playboy.com/read/roxane-gay-is-not-sorry

Seveneves - I finally finished this mammoth book last year, after starting it approximately four times over the last three years. It was not actually my cup of tea, but I think it’s so worth reading and so interesting a concept that it’s made me search out more hard sci-fi and investigate some of the technology that’s mentioned. I think its scope and ambition are more admirable than the book itself, and I think the plot, when it jumps, takes a hell of a leap. It didn’t work for me, but I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it to basically anyone. 

Batman 83 - I think King’s run of Batman has been some of the best Bat books I’ve ever read. And this was the issue that made me cry the most. There’s plenty of other, good ways to write Batman, and I know that tons of people are not fans of King’s run. (As evidenced by DC cutting his run short.) But for me? It works, and it’s masterful, and I love the forethought that’s clearly been put into telling a complete story. And this is where...well...this is PART of where it was all going. Am I happy about that? Not really. But did it work as a story-telling device. Hell yes. I will always remember the day I read this issue. 

House of X and Powers of X - Simply put, the best X books I’ve read in way more than a decade and so important to comic books in general. It’s like the Knicks and the NBA: comics are just in a better place when the X books matter. Plus, they were actually really, really good! I loved the concept, I was excited by the beginning, but to be able to stick the landing (and then go even further with the books that are currently coming out?!?) really made it worthwhile. The combo of art plus Hickman’s dedication to long-term planning means that this will probably be even better a few years down the road when we get to do a retrospective on how we got to wherever he takes us.