The Death of Captain America: The Death of the Dream...

I just read The Death of Captain America: The Death of the Dream by Ed Brubaker and Steve Epting.

Now, I've never been much of a Captain America fan; I don't like the nationalistic heroes, though I'm equally indifferent to Captain Britain and Captain Canuck - or Guardian. But you can't read Marvel comics without knowing Cap, and the character often impressed me despite my reservations. He had good moments.

Including his death. I thoroughly enjoyed this story: the sense of stealth, the way characters are at odds with each other, the way the Winter Soldier became both sympathetic viewpoint and antagonist, the desperation of Sharon Carter, the machinations of the Red Skull - here a delightfully Machiavellian villain.

Best of all, all those convicing emotions. Sharon's grief, confusion, and guilt; Winter Soldier's anger; Falcon's determination. And Tony Stark at the middle of it all, a target and ambiguous hero; Nick Fury as the distant, observant spinner of nets.

I want to read more of this story.

Torchwood: Golden Age...

I loved Torchwood: Golden Age. Best of the radio plays so far. Amusing, exciting, a great ironic sense of time and place, and bits of Jack's past coming back to bite him. Also a nice commentary on the changes that have taken place in the world since 1924.

( Things I liked... )

Torchwood: the radio plays...

I found this item by Kate McAll, about the making of the Torchwood radio plays, quite fascinating. Amazing that they could make these in a couple of days. I really enjoyed the photos: the pictures must have been during the taping of "Asylum" - given that Tom Price is there - so the blonde girl is Freda?

Torchwood: 12 Oddities...

I've talked before about how I love the details of Torchwood, visually and conceptually. The list is almost endless: the baby TARDIS on Jack's desk, the circular diagrams on his office window that look Gallifreyan to me, the swirly blue lights and the intense red lights. There are so many things I can stare at> thinking "What is that?" without being sure whether I'm looking at a perfectly normal object, or something weird and alien. Part of the charm is that I do know the story behind some of the objects. The 1950s TV screens in Jack's office? They're from the Doctor Who episode "The Idiot's Lantern". The 3-D specs? "Doomsday". The yellow coral has been identified extra-textually by Russell T Davies. The Doctor's hand in the jar was explained rather fully in "Utopia", to Martha's disgust. It makes a person feel that what we see isn't just random decor or things thrown in for atmosphere and character, it's all part of a larger story fitting around the story we see. All part of the universe. And I love that.

There are all sorts of things even beyond these which make Torchwood visually odd, and I've listed my thirteen favourites. I'm hoping other people will speak up with more - I've only scrutinized some of the episodes. Here's my list:

1. ( The hole in Jack's wall. )

2. ( Owen wears Gwen's clothes. )

3. ( What's on the floor? )

4. ( Meat. )

5. ( Suzie's ring. )

6. ( Bad Wolf. )

7. ( The feet in the bin. )

8. ( Jack's ladder. )

9. ( Owen's buttons. )

10. ( The Torchwood Dragon )

11. ( Rhys's jacket. Okay, not so much the jacket... )

12. ( High scores )

Cross-posted to my livejournal, my Dreanwidth journal, and the torch_wood community. With thanks to the various people who provided screencaps for my perusal: marishna, The Institute (now closed down, I'm sorry to see), chaotic creative and others who are all greatly appreciated.