Some House Keeping

I've been neglecting my blog lately, and that is not something I want to get into a habit of doing. However, I have a couple of updates related to this blog that I thought everyone should know about.

First up, I am a contributer to another blog called "Scooter's Ordinary, Healthy Blog". It is a get-together for the commenters of Topless Robot to go to for some general wackiness as to not overload TR with comments (which we are all quite good at).

It was with this gang that two of us were able to win shirts at TR for our contributions at last week's weekend contest. I will be posting pictures of me in said shirt as soon as it arrives.

Next, I have enrolled in a blogging course hosted by Kludgy Mom. It is a 6 week course called "Back to School, Back to Blogging" that will cover a lot of blogging basics and how to improve your blog. My good friend Linnie tweeted about it a few days ago, and so we're both going to be attending this course. It is a read-write-share formula so a lot of my 'homework' is going to be posted here I imagine. That means more bloggy goodness, and hey, maybe even more readers. But my main goal for this course is to just make a better blog and figure out what direction I want to go with it. I am also hoping to put my skills to use over at Scooter's.

The course runs from September 12th to October 22nd. It will utilize a lot of other social medial tools like Twitter, TweetDeck (which I just got and love a lot better than just refreshing Twitter all day), BlogFrog, and Stumble Upon.

I hope to be bringing you a few posts in the future both on MLCP and SOHB. However, taking off this weekend so there won't be anything until Monday maybe.

In the next few days, when the mail cooperates, there will be some reviews. I am still waiting on my Eco Bag from Etsy that is coming from Japan, and The Last Unicorn #3 will be arriving sometime in the beginning of October. I also have a couple of movies arriving soon to be reviewed.

New Comics!

I went to get my hair done, and stopped by my comic book store to pick up The Return of Bruce Wayne #4. I told one of the guys working there that I felt that I was missing part of the story when I first started reading #1. Why was Batman back in time? What was going on? What was this machine all about? He told me that Final Crisis was the series before RoBW. I decided for $20 I'd pick it up. So in the next few days, I think I'll review it.

To my surprise, they had The Last Unicorn #2 Cover A waiting there for me. Me being stupid, thought that the comic book store would have called me to notify I had comics in, but I remember the conversation we had awhile back that being on file meant they would save me a copy and I could come in at my leisure. However, while waiting for #1 of the series, I was told it was back ordered and I found out that #2 was sold out on IDW. When I talked to another guy who worked there, he said that there was a chance #2 was not ordered for me because I had not recieved the first issue. I asked today if I would get #3 and #4 and after causing much confusion to myself and frustration to him, it was determined that yes, they would be ordering #3 and #4 for me. Now, I've already placed my order for #3 and #4 from online, so I will have two copies of each. Maybe I will get a variant cover. Either way, I'm not too upset about it. Maybe I'll sell a copy if I get a double. If #3 and #4 comes to my local comic book shop just fine, I'll just get #5 and #6 from them instead of ordering online.

Also in my travels today I picked up more yarn (most of it free!), a free copy of X-Men Curse of the Mutants, Previews August 2010, an audio book of Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett for my up coming trip to Nova Scotia where I will be driving 5 hours so I thought I'd get something to listen to that wasn't just the radio, a do-it-yourself crochet book to help me with my techniques and recommended by my expert crochetter Sharyl, amd Michael Crichton's Congo. I want to hold off on Congo so I can read it on the plane but I doubt I will. I'd like to read more Crichton. I've read Jurassic Park, and I want to read Timeline (I had it from the library but took out way too many books and not enough time to read), Pirate Latitutes, and Next.

I am also borrowing a couple movies from my friend that I may or may not review depending on how I feel, haha.

Comic Book Review: The Last Unicorn Issue #1 and #2

This is going to be a long post, so bare with me. I've decided to review The Last Unicorn Comic Book Series Issue #1 and #2 since I received them around the same time. I actually received #2 on Thursday before #1 so I didn't want to review the second issue before the first. I am also going to take the time to explain a bit about the story and why I like it, and also review the two companies I bought the comics from. I have already pre-ordered #3 and #4 from one of the companies, and will likely pre-order #5 and #6 depending. The next issue is not due out until August 25th, and I do plan on review each of the issues. I also apologize for my camera's flash that can be seen on all my pictures. Curses!

For those who have been following this blog, I've been trying to get this series for over a month. I first heard that The Last Unicorn was getting a comic book treatment in June... Two months after the first issue had been released! After much internet seeking, and hand wringing, the issues are finally in my hands.

So what is so great about this series you ask?

For those who don't know, and I imagine if any of you grew up in the 80s you're probably already familiar with it, The Last Unicorn started off as a novel. Written by Peter S Beagle, it was first published in 1968. In 1982 Rankin - Bass produced an animated movie of the same name, with the screenplay written by Beagle. This was my first introduction to the story. My mom had taped it off some television channel when I was young, and I would watch it with my brother. When I turned 10 or 11, she found it on VHS and gave it to me for Christmas. I did not know it was a book until a friend in high school told me about it when we were talking about some favourite movies we both loved. She lent me her copy and I purchased my own. In 1988 there was a stage adaptation, also written by Beagle. In 2005, despite his claims to never make a sequel to the beloved novel, Beagle wrote a coda to the story called "Two Hearts". It was featured in Fantasy and Science Fiction Magazine and was published in his book "The Line Between".

I won't get into the story too much, because I think everyone should either read the novel or watch the animated movie. It is a wonderful story. It is a third person narrative about a unicorn who discovers by chance that she may be the last. She decides to find out if this is true and leaves her forest. On the way, she meets an array of different characters that help bring her closer to discovering where the unicorns had disappeared to.

There's a couple of reasons I really love this book and all its adaptations. For one, any adaptation has been overseen by Beagle himself, and this keeps every version close to the true story. The books contains a lot more than the animated feature, as most books do, but what the movie omits takes nothing from the original story. Growing up with horses, I already had a love for unicorns. I had unicorn bedsheets, plush toys and figures, both plastic and glass.

But the funny thing is, a lot of women love The Last Unicorn. It isn't to say men don't like it as well, for quite a few of them do. I'm no expert on the subject, as I'm just an Anthropology major, but as a woman, I like to think I have an idea why.

Since I grew up watching the movie and know it off by heart, I'll use it to illustrate the example. In one revealing scene, the Unicorn, now Lady Amalthea, sings about how everything has changed now that she has become a woman. Unicorns have always represented innocence and purity, captured only by virginal maidens. Young girls are often associated with the words innocence and purity. Once a girl is sexually mature, she is no longer described as such. Once a girl becomes a woman, she is indeed changed, not just biologically but also her out look on life. She must become responsible, and no longer spend her days frolicking about, but instead is encouraged to conform into the role of wife and mother. Instead of dreaming about unicorns and fairy tales, she must come back to the 'real world' and all it's ugliness. This has change a lot in modern times, but I'm going to go by the mind set of the era the book was published. Either way, going from girl to woman is a massive change for any female. The Unicorn's accidental change into a woman and how she describes being a woman is very relatable for most women.

A key character in the novel is Molly Grue, a dishevelled woman who wished all her life to see a unicorn. By chance, the Unicorn and her companion Schmendrick the Magician run into Molly and her lover Captain Cully while travelling. When Molly sees the Unicorn, she is angry because unicorns are supposed to come to pure and innocent maidens, and not to women, who have lost the innocence and spark of wonder. Unicorns serve as a reminder of the innocence of being a young girl, where life was much more carefree and simple. Now that she has been roughened by age and experience, Molly yearns for the past, as a majority of women do once they've been handed the responsibilities of an adult.

Anyways, that is my own personal take on it. I could be wrong. I always felt that Molly Grue and Lady Amalthea reflected a lot of what I felt when I became an adult, and even to this day some of my feelings of my lost childhood as I go further and further into adulthood.

Before I get into the comics themselves, I want to review the companies I bought from. I wanted to buy Issue #1 and #2 straight from IDW, the published of the comic. But it turned out that #2 was out of stock. I decided to go ahead and order #1 and I found #2 on a website called mycomicshop.com based out of Texas. If I cared to look farther, I would have found a website based out of Quebec to order from, but oh well. That is what happens when you buy comics late at night I suppose!

I placed my order with IDW and MyComicShop (MCS from hereafter) on the same day, Monday July 19th. I was surprised to get confirmation from both the next day, AND an email detailing that the products had been shipped on Tuesday, July 20th. The emails come within 30 minutes of each other and around 7 p.m. Eastern which meant they probably wouldn't be in the mail system until the 21st. I believed I used USPS International Mail for both orders. MCS's package came on July 29th. With the civic holiday, IDW's package came today on Tuesday August 3rd. I think it would have come on the 2nd if it wasn't for the holiday.

Paranoid that the same thing may happen next time, I pre-ordered #3 and #4 with MCS. I want to pre-order #5 but they automatically charge you $25 for shipping in case your orders are larger than expected. They say that they give you shipping credit if it is under the $25. I want to wait until #3 has been shipped and find out how much shipping credit I have before ordering #5 instead of pay $30 off the bat. Since #5 comes out in October, I have some time to pre-order.

MCS's package was a huge white box. The comic was tightly wrapped in plastic, with a cardboard piece behind it. There was also a loose cardboard piece in the box overtop of the plastic wrapped book for extra protection. This is what the box and board looked like. I should had taken pictures but I was too excited.





The one thing I was disappointed with was that even though MCS did wrap the comic in plastic, it wasn't a plastic cover that could be later used to protect the comic. I ended up using one from my other comics. I plan on getting a few from my comic book store when I go next week.

Today, IDW's package came in a little brown box. Inside, the comic was wrapped up with bubble wrap and came with a plastic cover. It was sealed with a little blue sticker with the IDW logo embossed with gold. Here's what the package looked.





I was much more impressed with IDW's packaging than MCS only because of the plastic cover that it came with. Also, MCS made opening the comic a little more difficult because I had to cut off the plastic wrapped around it. The only real issue I have with IDW is that the comic they sent me has a minor flaw in the cover. It is very faint, and does not ruin the cover's image but it looks like it has been lightly scrapped with an exacto knife. Maybe the comic was on the top of a box and when it was cut open, this issue got a little line through it. It's hardly noticeable and I'm not that big of a comic collector to be freaking out by it. I do plan on buying the trade once it comes out anyways.

Now for the comics!

The Last Unicorn Issue #1 Cover A

The Last Unicorn Issue #2 Cover B

Both issues are beautifully drawn. The art work is breath taking. The characters so far look a bit like how they did in the animated movie, which I'm not sure if was done on purpose. In the 20th anniversary version of the book there are a few illustrations of the characters are very different from the movie portrayal. Schmendrick's blue hat from the movie is used, and the unicorn looks a lot like the movie version. Mommy Fortuna looks more originally but carries some of the same aspects from the movie. Rhuk is also more originally drawn than most characters. That being said, it is not a bad thing, just something I noticed.

Despite taking it's visual cues from the movie, the story is more faithful to the novel version. For example, in the movie the hunter does not speak of his grandmother's encounter with a unicorn, but in Issue #1, there is a beautiful panel of the tale. I was very pleased to see the comic being an adaptation of the novel, instead of a reconstruction of the movie.

Another thing I noticed was that each of the issue's is rather short. The book itself spans 200 pages, and the movie was an hour and a half. The comic series is to be 6 issues, but from the descriptions from the Previews, the characters do not reach Haggard's Castle until #5. Even though the movie skips over the parts about the town of Hagsgate, quite a bit happens in the story once they've reached the Castle. I wonder if issues #5 and #6 will be a bit larger than the first two. Since #3 indicates that it will cover the Unicorn and Schmendrick meeting Molly Grue, and her transformation does not happen until #4, I am going to guess that most of #3 will be about Captain Cully, and #4 will probably include the story line about Hagsgate (or so I hope). Since the comic seems to be following the book more so than the movie, this likely will happen but I won't know until I get those issues. I do believe that the story can be contained in 6 issues, I am just curious how they will do it, and what they will and will not include.

Along with the story, there is a two page interview with Peter Beagle which is a three part series within the comic. I rather like this feature, but I was a little disappointed that there were about 3-4 pages of ads in the comic. Granted, the ads are for Beagle's work, and lord knows the poor guy needs the advertising with all the problems he has had getting the royalties due to him from the sale of the DVD. But chances are, if you're reading The Last Unicorn, you already have the book or the movie. And even if you aren't, you won't pick up Issue #2 without getting Issue #1. I think it's a bit silly to have the same ads for the same products in the same comic book series. At least in Issue #2 there was one page of unicorn art. There's is one last segment in the Beagle interview, which will finish in #3 so it'll be interesting to see what they use as filler for the rest of the series.

The Last Unicorn #2 Cover A

Since I'm not too crazy of a collector, I didn't bother trying to track down the cover variants of The Last Unicorn. For Issue #1 there were 4 of them, one being a Comic Con Exclusive, and for Issue #2 there were 3. I was given the option for which one I wanted, and since I love purple, I went for Cover B. Cover C was more expensive for whatever reason, maybe because it is rare. But Issue #1 gave you a glimpse of Cover A for Issue #2 anyways. I am hoping that IDW really does make this series into a trade. I hope that it will include all variant covers and the Beagle interviews, and all the art they've included. It would be a damned shame if they didn't.

Something I noticed and absolutely loved about comparing Issue #1 and #2 was how they contrasted each other. In Issue #1 we are learning about the Unicorn and her forest. The entire issue except for some night scenes are bright - stunningly bright, with accents of gold. Other than the night scenes, the only other dark scene is the very last panel which introduces us to the next issue, which is a significantly darker part of the story.

Example of Issue #2's brightness

Issue #2 is completely dark. The backgrounds are black. The entire story is at night (as it should be! Creatures of the Night, brought to light!). One of the reasons I opted for the darker variant cover of this issue is because it just suits this issue so much better than Cover A. Cover A is beautifully drawn and the detail is amazing, but just doesn't fit the mood. The only thing bright about this issue are our two main protagonists, the Unicorn and Schmendrick, as it should be. The unicorn's golden hue stands out like a beacon amongst the drab, and even Schmendrick's blue cloak and hat add life to a dreary existence that is Mommy Fortuna's Midnight Carnival.

Example of Issue #2's Dark Contract to #1

I am absolutely delighted in the direction that this comic series has gone. If you are a lover of unicorns, or The Last Unicorn, or Fantasy in general, this comic is worth picking up. If you haven't read the book, or watched the movie I strongly encourage you to. This is a beloved fantasy classic and the comic book treatment is well deserving. You can still order Issue #1 from IDW and Issue #2 can be found on most comic webstores. I have found success at My Comic Shop, Expert Comics, Heavy Ink and Things From Another World. Conlan Press also has issues available and they can be signed for extra by Peter S Beagle himself. You can try Ebay if you're all out of luck, but I urge you to try these places first!

Musicals!

Tonight I am going to see Miss Saigon at the Four Season Centre for the Performing Arts. In honour of this occassion, I am going to recall my love for musicals.

I grew up in the Disney Renaissance. My first theatre experience was seeing The Little Mermaid. Up until 1998, Disney released an animated feature with beautiful scores and lyrics. By the time I was in high school, this trend stopped, as Disney released Tarzan, a movie with a soundtrack complete written and sung by Phil Collins. Now, the music was pretty good, and I love Phil Collins but this was a drastic change from Disney's earlier creations like Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin and The Lion King for example.

Either way, I grew up with musicals... sorta. I was presented entertainment in musical form. The only difference was it wasn't a live performance. Because I knew and loved this formula, I was also a huge fan of any television show, animated or live action, that produced a musical episode. Musical episodes were always my favourite episodes.

So it is to no surprise that I love musicals. I love their soundtracks. I love their songs. I love their formulas. I love seeing them.

I was first introduced to a musical in the traditional sense when my parents went to see The Phantom of the Opera at Pantages Theatre in Toronto for my dad's birthday in 1994. We all went to my cousins' in Mississauga and stayed home with them while my parents and my aunt and uncle went downtown. My mom returned smittened, and purchased the soundtrack.

Once we got home, she thew it in our cd player in the sitting room, and that distinctive overture began to play. She played it over and over again, recalling the story to my brother and I. My brother didn't care much for it, but I was enthralled. I begged her to take me to see it. She told me at some point, she would. In the meantime, I bought the tape version (this was the early 90s after all, CD players were still expensive) and asked my mom for a cd/tape player for my birthday so I could listen to it over and over again. I found a beautiful black hardcover copy of the original Phantom of the Opera story. It had the most mesmerizing paintings throughout the pages. I read this tome in grade four, at the age of 10. I was hooked.

I didn't see Phantom of the Opera until 1997. But it was not the first musical I saw.

1. Grease was the first musical I actually saw. I didn't even plan it. When I was 12 I was spending the week with my friend from Toronto at a 'horsey camp' which was just the two of us staying at a friend of our parents' for a week in the summer. One night she was going to Grease, and her older sister didn't want to go, so they invited me. I actually thought they were going to Greece, and wondered how they wer eonly going for a day. She explained it was a musical. A musical about Greece? I inquired. No, she replied, high school. I was baffled. But I went and saw it, and I quite liked it. It's not my favourite but it's a good story none the less.

2. The Phantom of the Opera was the only musical I wanted to see. I didn't get my chance until 1997, when Pantage Theatre announced that the Phantom was going to be leaving that year, after a ten year run. I panicked. I told my mom she had to take me this year because we would not know if I would ever get the chance to see it. She agreed, and we went February 17th, 1997. I was so excited. I finally got to see the only musical I wanted to see. Of course, this did not become my last musical. It is still one of my favourites, and I'd see it again.

3. The Lion King was a school trip when I was in grade 11. I went with my best friend Sharyl, and it would not be the last musical we saw together. We are actually seeing Miss Saigon together. This musical was put together so well. The costumes were amazing. The opening scene with Circle of Life was mesmerizing. Just absolutely brilliant. I had already owned the soundtrack to the original Lion King so I didn't bother getting it from this production.

4. I saw Spamalot with my friend Kathleen for her boyfriend at the time's birthday. She wasn't really into Monty Python but he was. I thought it was alright. Some of the songs were hilarious, so I bought the soundtrack. The problem I had with it was it was a total rehashing of the original lines, and people were laughing at them like they were new. I mean, it was a good story, it was cute, there were some original funny moments, but when you've seen Monty Python and the Holy Grail over ten times, the swallow joke just isn't laugh out loud funny anymore.

5. Kathleen and I went and saw the Toronto University version of The Rocky Horror Picture Show. My mom introduced me to the movie version and I had always wanted to see it live. I had gone to some theatre showings of it at my own University. Seeing it live was great. They changed some of the costumes and themes around but it was the same story. I was a little put off that Rocky spoke a few lines, as I was more accustomed to him just grunting and staring. The funniest part was when a woman with a 8-11 year old boy was beside us. This version made a lot of references to S&M and other sexual fetishes. The woman and her child left at intermission.

6. I had the opportunity to see Evil Dead: The Musical when I was at Humber College. This was a fun, fun musical and a great soundtrack. I bought it immediately after the show. The lyrics are hilarious, the music was great, the story fantastic and the performers were just brilliant. What made this musical super fun was that the second act was interactive... if you sat in the splatter zone. In the first 5 rows you were likely to get splattered with stage blood. They do offer you ponchos if you don't want to get your clothes sprayed. I wore a white t-shirt just for the occassion. Sadly, my mom washed that shirt two years after it had been splattered and all the fake cornstarch blood came out. I do have a souvenir t-shirt from the show, and pictures of me covered in blood. If this ever comes to a town near you, see it immediately.

7. Another friend of mine and myself went to Ottawa for the sole reason to see Wicked at the Centre for Performing Arts. We did some other stuff in the three days we were there, such as check out the Marketplace, Parliment and ther Museum of Civilization but the musical was our main reason for going. I had read the book of the same title but I found it really, well, dull. It wasn't a bad story but just not what I was expecting. The musical was completely different. There were some of the same elements, but it wasn't exactly the same story. It was a beautiful musical - one I also bought the soundtrack too but I bought it at a store because I didn't feel like spending $30.00 at the theatre. I did buy a t-shirt though.

8. I took a boyfriend to see We Will Rock You in Toronto. I had high hopes for this because we both loved Queen music. It was abit of a let down. Weak story, weird use of the songs, and some of the lyrics were changed to suit the story, which wouldn't have been so bad if the story didn't flop. I don't think I spent much on these tickets and I'm glad I didn't. My other choice was to see Jersey Boys, but for some stupid reason I went with this.

9. Taking a cue from my mistake, I then decided to go see Jersey Boys with my mom, our neighbor and Sharyl. It was supposed to be wrapping up, but it's still going on. Apparently it's going to be leaving this year but who knows! It lived up to the hype. I love the Four Seasons, and the music was great. The story was interesting and kept you entertained, and they had perfect timing with the songs. I love the music but I didn't see a point in buying the soundtrack of some performers singing Four Season songs when I could just get the original songs somewhere else.

10. For my 25th birthday, I wanted to see Young Frankenstein: The Musical. I went with the same people I saw Jersey Boys with. I have to say, I found it enjoyable but the music was rather dull. Usually a musical makes you want to listen to the song again, and recall the scene. This music was just.... forgettable. There were a couple of scenes I found hilarious, and three musicals acts I did enjoy. I liked the scene when Frederick falls asleep and there's a musical number "Join the Family Business" where all his ancestors sing and dance, encouraging him to make a monster. The "Putting on the Ritz" number was astounding. The final number was hilarious because Dracula makes an appearance. It was a silly musical.

There are other musicals I have seen in movie form, but I think I'll leave that for another day. So in 13 years, I will have seen 11 musicals. I hope to see more, if they come to Toronto or even Ottawa. Some musicals I would love to see or hope come to Toronto, or even come back to Toronto are: South Pacific,Rock of Ages, Les Miserables, Shrek, Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid, Priscilla: Queen of the Desert, and Xanadu. I am sure there will be others that come out that I'll also want to see.