20220226 - Review: Superman and the Authority

Ultra-Humanite\ a team together by hope,\ the good in people.

#HAIKUPRAJNA - Review: Superman and the Authority

Superman and the Authority was a fun, but short-lived, four-issue limited series by Grant Morrison and Mikael Jannín, which was supposed to lead through the 5G DC comics event, according to Morrison's Substack, but instead fed into Future State and Action Comics.

Each issue followed mini stories about the members of Superman's Authority, starting with an aging Super-dad dealing with stresses like Phantom Zone incursions and the guilt of JFK’s assassination, and who has started losing his powers and thus has begun assembling a team to replace them, which is a topic symbolized and explored through enemies like Ultra-Humanite in Solomon Grundy’s body.

"You miss a lot when you only look for the good in people."

Filled with concepts that fans will love, like a Supes versus Brainiac chess shadowboxing of sorts with opposing Authority teams, workouts powering electric treadmill generators, Lois Lane supporting Superman, a sentient datacosmos with wifi consciousness that was "scared" of the people they used as bridges to make trolls and edgelords out of the structural order of matter itself, and a fragment of the source-wall from the bleed; may be almost too self referential with callbacks and allusions to Kandor, Clark and Lois's son, and Kryptonite secrets that are probably all (or were) set ups for other stories.

"We all make mistakes. Every moment's a fresh opportunity to do something you can be proud of! We're still here for you, June!"

This series uses meta humour about forming teams, as well as its entire four issue run, to compose the Authority with Manchester Black, Nat Steel, the Enchantress, Apollo, Midnighter, Lightray and a new OMAC. This was all setup for a story in Action Comics, where this story's merit lies in villains being turned into heroes dealing with their mental issues, in the heroes and their relationships and in trying to make unfortunate situations better.

These Goodreads poems will be collected in a future edition of the HaikuPrajna Collection. More can be found on my Book Reviews page, including my Goodreads Years in Review (add me as a friend!): https://haikuprajna.blogspot.com/p/goodreads-book-reviews.html

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"Fishing for Caribou" ebook is $0.99 from 0228-0307! Previews are available on the Kindle store and Medium, which can be found through the following link, please check it out: https://haikuprajna.blogspot.com/2022/02/20220212-message-of-wisps-fishing-for.html

"Fishing for Caribou" eBook, paperback and hardcover are available through Amazon Kindle apps and devices; read with Kindle Unlimited:

 https://haikuprajna.blogspot.com/p/spear-thrower.html

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Thank you for reading.

Until next time,

Allen W. McLean

20220222 - Review: The Crack in Space

His dry decency,\ satellite of the future.\ Invasion of man.

#HAIKUPRAJNA - The Crack in Space

Big fan of Philip K. Dick's body of work and all of their adaptations--have yet to be disappointed--and "The Crack in Space" is yet another fine story; this was, according to Wikipedia, first released as "Cantata 140" (a reference to Bach) and follows a trend in many authors' works of continuing or citing one's own short stories (this case being "Prominent Author") with a larger novel.

" ‘In view of your dedication to fraud,’ the Sinanthropus said, ‘I see no real point in my remaining here; the longer I go on, the more immersed I become. Personally, I regret this whole encounter; my people have suffered by it already.'"

This is a story about the first African American President of the United States in the year 2080 and an accidental passage into another dimension. All the 1%ers are hibernating indefinitely due to overpopulation, leaving America's minorities as the majority, which fuels a new colonization effort that defines the presidential race where the primary solution appears as a Counter-Earth that is populated with another race of advanced beings. 

" ‘You think life is worth living, Dar?’ Hadley demanded suddenly. ‘Who knows. And if you have to ask, there’s something wrong with you.' "

For sure for the die hard fans rather than someone just getting into PKD, as his tropes are all there but they outshine the political topics that drive the rest of plot; mutants, laser beams, hovercraft, a satellite-brothel housing innumerable women and illegal substances that evoke modern day struggles with addiction; they are there, but there are better stories by him that have these, as well.

"... The food’s actually prepared by humans.’‘Humans? As compared to what?’‘Automatic food-processing systems,’ Tito murmured. ‘Or don’t you ever eat in autoprep restaurants?’ After all, the Sands were wealthy; possibly they normally enjoyed human-prepared food. ‘Personally, I can’t stand autopreps. The food’s always so predictable. Never burned, never…’ He broke off…"

Philip K. Dick shares prophetic visions from 1960s Berkley, with liberal sentiments and philosophical concepts that were counterculture during the political landscape of his time, which are now considered common human decency, all conveyed through the lens of science fiction.

... Updated 220901 to correct the book's title from "... in Time" to "... in Space".

 

These Goodreads poems will be collected in a future edition of the HaikuPrajna Collection. More can be found on my Book Reviews page, including my Goodreads Years in Review (add me as a friend!): https://haikuprajna.blogspot.com/p/goodreads-book-reviews.html

If anyone reading this has a Medium account and needs followers to stay in the Medium Partner Program, I am asking you to please follow me and I'll follow you back! 

"Fishing for Caribou" ebook is $0.99 from 0228-0307! Previews are available on the Kindle store and Medium, which can be found through the following link, please check it out: https://haikuprajna.blogspot.com/2022/02/20220212-message-of-wisps-fishing-for.html

"Fishing for Caribou" eBook, paperback and hardcover are available through Amazon Kindle apps and devices; read with Kindle Unlimited:

 https://haikuprajna.blogspot.com/p/spear-thrower.html

For bite-sized insights into this metaphysical magic realism story, including excerpts straight from the book plus more from HaikuPrajna and Electric Armchair like free reading promotions on books, please follow us online or subscribe to our free newsletter: https://haikuprajna.blogspot.com/p/follow-on-social-media.html

Thank you for reading.

Until next time,

Allen W. McLean