The End of the 1st Graphic/Fic imho reviews

Paul's comment on the last entry has spurred me to re-emphasize the fact that these are solely my opinions, i'm no expert, and while i can spot some editorial flubs, i'm no copyeditor. i also ammend my statement in that entry, when i said "i'm reading 'em so you won't have to." actually, it would be great if you went and read them yourself, and then come comment on this blog. i'm only maybe helping some of you decide which ones you might want to read in case you feel pressed for time and don't want to go through them all.

so, the awards are tomorrow. i've read all the prose entries and the original shortlist of comics entries. it's crap that they threw in some additional entries. i mean, good for those fellows, but, man, really cutting it close for us who have to vote for the damn things.

so i've decided not to read and review the new entries. maybe after the unmasking, but my head's going to implode from the ego-assault.

especially after reading the first two of the last three prose entries on the shortlist in alphabetical order.

The God Equation - i am in awe of this writer. the writing is straight geek noir all the way. it's an amazingly hardboiled pure spec fic story, sort of the Asimov to Gaiman's Murder Mysteries Ellison, if you know what i mean. the grit, the detail, i don't think i've read Divine Cloak & Dagger done better. dips into everything from mathematics to philosophy to the legalities of life-beyond-death. think of a cross between Neal Stephenson, Richard Morgan, with just the tiniest hint of Mr Gaiman and maybe, just maybe, some Philip K. Dick, and you have some idea of what you're in for with this story.

The Great Philippine Space Mission - i didn't think i'd like this when i started reading it. for one thing, the satire of it was just too obvious. but as i actually started on it, i found i was actually into it. this is the perfect dessert for the heavy dish of The God Equation. it's a light satire in the mold of older incarnations of "SF", the kind where true realism would take a backseat to pure imagination, kept just a hair within being plausible by the way the material is handled rather than by sticking to hard science. it's actually pretty funny sometimes, but the thing that surprised me most was that despite the obvious satire, the story is actually shot through with compassion. i never thought anyone could get me to care what Kris Aquino felt. even a fictional version of her.

The Omega Project - this one tries, but just doesn't work. it has everything: the politics of research, a world hidden from us but right under our very noses, a catastrophe that triggers it all, and bugs. neither the premise nor the treatment, however, are well-handled, and neither are particularly special to begin with. i like it when authors don't try to tell you everything, but this writer leaves too many loose-ends, so it feels like you might as well have made it all up for yourself. and the attempt at creating sympathy for roaches with melodrama really doesn't work for me, and it isn't because they're roaches. i liked Joe's Apartment fine. but that's just the thing; you don't need to be melodramatic to create sympathy. plus, i don't get all this talk of a "collective consciousness." telepathy is not "collective consciousness." and don't get me started on the details...

and on to the comics...

Splat - simple, postmodernistish, sorta interesting, but not quite. looks like it was done by the guy who does Kiko Machine or one of those other newspaper funnies. not a winner for me, but i'm glad there are people out there making this sort of comic, because we need more of this kind of abstract, surreal, kinda-makes-you-think-but-only-when-your-stoned kind of comics.

Karnabal - beautifully done, but if you're used to this sort of "dark carnival of wonders and horrors" thing, no surprises. however, despite the rather obvious story, the writing is rather well done, and the art is just amazing. if Dusk was Violent Cases, this is more Mr. Punch. (i know i compared Dusk to Mr. Punch in its review, and it's a bit like that, too, but really it's more Violent Cases and maybe Cages than Punch.)

Drinking Buddies from Hell - i personally don't like too many words in my comics, unless they're really pretty words (like in Some Things are Better Left to Themselves), they have visual impact (like in Mr. Punch, Violent Cases or Dusk), or if you can't run away from them (like in Watchmen, V for Vendetta or Sandman). Drinking had way too many words for my taste, and it was neither of these. however, as it turns out, it's a damn good story. and the subtle bit in the end is a nice touch. the art reminds me of my old elementary school textbooks, or the kind of realist art that was so common in funnies back when i was little. it also reminds me of that Hellblazer story with the yuppy demons for some reason...

Where Eagles Fly - this one makes #9, so it must have gotten through my radar. i read it anyway. i personally am sick of these "man is ruining the environment" crap. not a particularly good story either. predictable all the way.
nice gift for your kid, but that's about it.

so, where does all that leave me? in a three way tie-up for both categories, that's where. Atha is now neck and neck with both The God Equation and The Great Philippine Space Mission, but it's very hard to compare them because they're all great for very different reasons. Atha, despite Paul's more experienced and technically more reliable opinion, is beautifully written, imho, the kind of fantasy that was pioneered by M. John Harrison, China Mieville and, to some extent, Jeff VanderMeer. it is unique among all the prose entries for using language that is more artistic than purely functional (although, it must be noted, it's that, too). God Equation, as previously mentioned, is Asimovian in its cerebral approach, though is perhaps more comparable to Alastair Reynolds and, again, Neal Stephenson. and it is VERY cerebral. if it wasn't so well done, it would have felt engineered, manufactured, certainly not the product of anything so messy as being written. and The Great Philippine Space Mission has the liveliest, quirkiest ideas, and appeals to me at least partly because it hearkens to those days when SF really was paving the way for ideas, paying more attention to an intellectual brand of creativity, respecting science without being restricted by it (maybe even laughing behind its back).

the three way tie for the comics category remains between Something, Dusk, and Hika Girl.

so, now, it all boils down to a matter of taste. right now, right this very instant, i can't explain why, but for the prose category, i favor Atha, and for the comics, Something. no, wait, The Great Philippine Space Mission and Dusk. definitely not Hika Girl. or maybe Hika Girl and God Equation....

argh. think i'll sleep on it.

*

on a only slightly relevant note, the most awesome local band on the scene today, updharmadown, are playing tonight at Gweilos Eastwood, along with 3 or 4 other bands whose names, for some reason, nobody at Gweilos can tell me. they expect udd to start their set around 10pm. entrance fee of P150, inclusive of one drink (either a beer or iced tea).

anybody who has a bone to pick with me for these reviews, be there tonight and look for a skinny black-clad dink (see? told you it was slightly relevant). let me take my glasses off before you do anything rash, ok? pretty?