July was fairly diverse.
Hugo Pratt (Writer), Milo Manara (Illustrator)
Milo Manara is of course a well-established erotic artist, but I had hope there would be something more here, given these are supposed to be “carefully researched historical stories.” And they’re complicated sometimes, sure, but it’s the type of approach to history where, in the name of resisting puritanical historical interpretation, EVERYTHING is interpreted as a prelude, progress, or aftermath of shagging. And sure, it looks aesthetically nice somehow, but it’s terribly cheap and actually boring.
Povídky z jedné a z druhé kapsy / Tales from Two Pockets
Karel Čapek
Well, what to say. It’s still a beautiful classic, nothing more, nothing less.
Klonová sága (Komiksový výběr Spider-Man #2)
Gerry Conway, Archie Goodwin, Ross Andru (Illustrator)
Essential seventies comics. Already smart enough to feel the need to wink and maintain at least some logic and plot continuity, not yet smart or bold enough to stop wanting to reset everything. The whole thing is absolutely, insanely, FABULOUSLY stupid and over the top. But really, really a lot.
Readable as a representative of period trends that already has first attempts at deeper and more complicated characters and morals, even if it simply can’t deliver them. Tolerable evening reading for an informed reader; probably unreadable for someone who’d take it seriously. But at minimum the French supervillain Cyclone, who wants to destroy Americans because the US is too dominant in NATO, was very entertaining.
Balkan Ghosts: A Journey Through History
Robert D. Kaplan
A collection of essays and “travelogues” (because they’re not really useful for travel) from the late eighties and early nineties in the Balkans. Sometimes outright orientalising and stereotypical (attempts to deduce the characters of millions from an “Orthodox” or “Mesopotamian, mystical” SPIRIT), sometimes it didn’t age well, and occasionally the fabrication and feelings of “this film changed the world” get out of hand. And of course, the description of Roma and the fact they never get a voice is very UGH.
And yet… yeah, it’s interesting, meditative reading that at minimum manages to describe several quite complex life stories. I learned a few things and there’s no hatred and a fair amount of understanding.
Zlo v lidských srdcích (Komiksový výběr Spider-Man #3)
Kevin Smith, Terry Dodson (Illustrator)
It’s much, much darker and more serious than Spider-Man should perhaps have the right to be. And it actually works quite sensitively and based on current knowledge with problems of sexual violence, addiction, and so on.
If you’re prepared for a really ugly thing (involving several different types of abuse), then yeah, it’s good. Also interesting from a period perspective to study how pop culture could communicate these topics decades ago, while here we’re only slowly getting there.
Cobalt Red: How the Blood of the Congo Powers Our Lives
Siddharth Kara
I work on European industrial policy, including the new one on critical materials. I know the history somewhat, including the colonial one, and especially colonial Congo.
I expected the situation to be bad. But I didn’t expect it to be this wildly, terribly bad. And the worst thing about it is one basic principle: every single link in the chain behaves FAIRLY reasonably, understandably, based on its needs and environment. Except in one part of the chain it’s “I need raw materials for my company / China and want to earn something extra,” and elsewhere it’s “I have nothing to eat, I’m going to collect rocks and hope I die soon and painlessly.” A mad system emerged with enormous wealth at the top and enormous suffering at the bottom — a system that really bears comparison with colonial Congo. Including the maiming and shooting.
We have to at least try to be better.
V pasti pohlaví / Trapped by Gender
Silvie Lauder
It’s excellent. It doesn’t always have the 100% scientific rigour of other books, and in deeper history there are a few points that are a bit debatable (but no errors or preciousness!). However, this in no way obscures the fact that a brilliant synthesis has emerged of the problem of women’s position and its causes over the last hundred and fifty years, which also explains “what’s actually wrong.”
And it does it brilliantly. Moreover, typically the analysis of “why feminism doesn’t succeed here” fully corresponds to the latest findings (which for the late 80s and 90s period isn’t at all obvious) and MAKES SENSE. The treatment of #metoo in Czechia is also fine (though perhaps the thread of Deník N’s activities and what triggered it is missing a bit, but that’s probably secondary).
I’m really glad this was created in the Czech environment, and I’m spreading it further.
Brian Keene
A monster lives in the cemetery, it’s the 80s, and a gang of boys from variously damaged families likes to play Dungeons and Dragons and read comics. Just add significantly more family dysfunctions than in your average Stranger Things and you’re there.
And it’s bearable, though it feels below average, full of provocations that are more embarrassing than anything, and missed opportunities that lead only to a shrug.
Zvířecí instinkt (Komiksový výběr Spider-Man #4)
Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, Clayton Crain (Illustrator)
A story without any hint of depth and with an outright idiotic villain and plot progression. Great art, adorably kitschy quips, terrible overcrowding in terms of heroes/monsters. If I weren’t on a mission to “read a lot of Spider-Man so I understand what’s going on,” I wouldn’t have finished it.
Utrpení (Komiksový výběr Spider-Man #5)
Todd McFarlane
Todd McFarlane is one of those weirder and more interesting comic authors who adds a lot of darkness, tough moments, and sometimes morally ambiguous heroes.
In Utrpení (Torment), he adds absolutely nothing. It’s a lyrical narrative about nothing with a bit of atmosphere and many attempts at gravitas.
Námořní Slepota / Naval Blindness
Michael Romancov
A brisk introduction to why seas matter and how the race for their control proceeded. Minor quibbles I’d have are perhaps with the rather shaky methodology of converting values to today’s money (where especially the value of the East India Company at the peak of the tulip bubble really doesn’t represent anything at all) and in the second part, when describing Russian efforts, there are perhaps a few too many adjectives about futility.
But those are just details; for the genre it wants to operate in, it’s very nice.
Nick Srnicek
An attempt to look at the rise of the platform economy through various economic lenses, predominantly through Marxist analysis of surplus value and exploitation. A valid academic perspective that correctly anticipates a number of problems, for example with accountability (but that wasn’t so hard). It also correctly predicted how the American scene would grow. Conversely, it completely missed the mark on German Industry 4.0, which is practically a non-existent concept today.
As a point of view, nice — also because in scope it’s more of a longer article.
The New Corporation: How “Good” Corporations Are Bad for Democracy
Joel Bakan
There are two completely different parts here. In the first, Bakan tries in detail and patiently — through interviews, studying accounts, and so on — to explain why the label of nice, conscious corporations that will save the world really isn’t good in itself and can’t replace real accountability for their actions. Nice.
In the second part, he goes on about how to achieve a more egalitarian system and a fairly specific progressive socialism and… well, nice, except it doesn’t directly address the given problems and the advice “be constantly active and run for office” is suboptimal. The whole thing then smells more of the regular wars in the American left over who’s just armchair (=> other leftists) and who actually does something (=> always the author and Bernie Sanders).