In 1346 an army of English peasants laid waste to French forces in a battle that is best remembered in Shakespeare. Ellis cuts through all that “we happy few” and gives, in a rather short comic, an incredibly detailed description of the event, and includes insightful comments on British and French culture of the time, …
Tag Archive: history
Apr 23 2012
War Stories vol 2 – Garth Ennis
Considering the ridiculous amount of violence Ennis dishes out in his Punisher comics, the four short war stories depicting different encounters from the 1930 and 40s that are presented here were rather subdued, concentrating more on personal interactions and the futility of conflicts. While I wasn’t blow away (sorry, poor choice of words) by these …
Apr 09 2012
20th Century Battlefield
It probably says something ill about me that love this show wherein a father and son team discuss various key battles of the last century, giving details, with the help of some rather unimpressive CGI, into the strategies (both the successes and failures) that shaped the outcome of both the specific battle and the larger …
Mar 24 2012
The Name of the Game – Will Eisner
The “game” referred to here is that many Jewish settlers of America in the 19th and 20th century used both assimilation and marriage as a way to enhance their socioeconomic status in their new country. The story largely revolves around Conrad Arnheim, a complete jerk, who is both a product and participant of the game. …
Feb 02 2012
The Secret of Kells
A gloriously illustrated animation about a young boy during the dark times of ancient Ireland. Caught between his obligations to his overprotective uncle, his fascination with a magical book and it’s mysterious author, the wonders of a fairy wolf-girl, and the ever-present dangers of northern barbarians, Brendan embarks on adventures and personal growth. Stunning tale …
Nov 25 2011
Let the true November holiday step forward!
Let’s bring back Evacuation Day! Screw those lobsterbacks! Check it! and watch/read this!
Nov 24 2011
Gobble-Gobble!
Happy Thanksgiving, from all your ArmzRace friends! Here are some vaguely interesting facts related to our current tradition. Now give me a wing or I’ll drown you in the gravy boat!
Nov 11 2011
11-11-11
Ever since 1-1-1 I wanted to have a celebration for each day that had a matching set of numbers (ie February 2nd, 2002; March 3rd, 2003; etc). Well, life got in the way of actually enjoying it and I haven’t done much and don’t have any grandiose plans for today either, but maybe that doesn’t …
Nov 08 2011
Crogan’s March – Chris Schweizer
This is part of a larger series where a father tells his family about adventures their ancestors had in order to provide some life lesson. Delightfully drawn, the story tells of Peter Crogan’s time in the French Foreign Legion in north Africa. Some readers may find it too pat as it is geared for younger …
Oct 27 2011
Waltz With Bashir: A Lebanon War Story – Ari Folman & David Polonsky
Folman discuss his quest to break through his amnesia and discover what role (if any) he had during a Lebanese Christian militia’s massacre of hundreds of Palestinians during the time of the 1982 Lebanese-Israeli war. It is a no holds bared look at the events that is a refreshing change from most comics one-sided view …
Sep 13 2011
A Thousand Splendid Suns – Khaled Hosseini
The second novel from the Afghan author is not as strong as the first, which might be due to the character focus. The story deals with two women, Mariam, who is raised ignorant and illegitimate, and Laila, who had all the potential to be an influential and developed westerner, trapped in a marriage to a …
Sep 07 2011
Kite Runner – Khaled Hosseini
Both the movie and the book are powerful looks at pre and post Soviet and of Taliban Afghanistan. The tale revolves around Amir, a Pashtun boy of privilege, and his strained relationship with his father, his best friend/servant, and the upheaval caused by the ceaseless turmoil in his homeland. My problem with the book is …
May 10 2011
Booth – C. C. Colbert
Colbert attempts to show the motivations and life of John Wilkes Booth, President Lincoln’s assassin, in a fictionalized way. It does a good job and introduced me to themes and individuals I didn’t know were connected to the playboy actor. Perhaps unfortunately, by exposing me to the wider, dark life of Booth, I wanted to …
Feb 12 2011
Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter – Seth Grahame-Smith
Definitely a fun idea and there have been comics similar to this one which is the earlier idea of Grahame-Smith before his take on Sense and Sensibility. It tells the true story of the 16th president and how vampires and his secret battles with them shaped his life and actions. Minor problems exist such as …
Jan 26 2011
Guns, Germs, And Steel: The Fates of Human Societies – Jared Diamond
If you want a good summary of this excellent study then read Cej’s comic summary. I don’t have much to add to it; Cej explains that the book tries to show that some societies and civilizations had advantages, not due to race, but because of agriculture and domestication of animals. Some areas had better plant …
Oct 16 2010
Craven – Mike Richardson & Rick Geary
I greatly enjoyed this “true” story about Arthur Craven who may–or may not–have been the author B. Traven. Honestly, who cares? as the life of Craven, filled with deception, adventures, and criminal activities, is plenty exciting. My only complaint about this biography of the infamous man was that it was too short.
Sep 14 2010
Logicomix: An Epic Search for the Truth – Apostolos Doxiadis & Christos H. Papadimitriou
It is an impressive work about the difficulty of founding life in logic. To illustrate let me explain it in terms of why a librarian would be frustrated by the book itself, in the sense of how to classify it. It is a book but also a comic. A work of fiction made up of …
Jul 14 2010
America: The Story of Us
The History Channel provides some great, informative television (when it is not rotting viewers brains with crap about aliens making pyramids). This multi-part series goes through a basic history of the USA (if you couldn’t figure that out from the title) and it is pretty good, but I can’t stand it when such programs have …
Mar 28 2010
Dominion
This is a really intriguing card game. The idea behind it is that each player is a feudal lord with dreams of expanding their realm through the collection of and investment in various holdings and industries. Cards represent the people, places and things, and the game is always different because the components (the people, places …
Feb 22 2010
The Black Adder
My mother got me the the collected series as a present since she knew how I’d always watch this growing up. Every season of this BBC television series brings us a different incarnation of the scoundrel called Black Adder and his constant quest to become king of England. If you never heard of this show …
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