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Regular Omni readers might remember that I take an annual vacation into the Canadian wilderness to unplug and catch up on my leisure reading. I plan to bring up far more books than I will likely ever get to, but that's all part of the fun--to leave books for next year. Already packed:
Blacksad: A Silent Hell by Juan Diaz Canales and Juanjo Guarnido (Dark Horse): The previous installment's anthropomorphic detective is back and full of hardened expression, with a cast of characters rendered without parallel. There are several great, regularly published crime comics, but Blacksad walks a far different class of beat.
Dungeon Quest: Book 3 by Joe Daly (Fantagraphics): Skyrim fans (self included), take note: if you can laugh at your obsession while still poring over weapon and armor upgrades, the Dungeon Questseries should be on your couch next to the game manual and open laptop. Millennium Boy and Steve continue their quest for"¦something or other and dispatch their villains with most excellent skills and fuzzy strategy. It's absurd, engrossing, very adult, and pitch perfect.
God and Science: Return of the Ti-Girls by Jaime Hernandez (Fantagraphics): Exploring a new superhero corner of Jaime's Love and Rockets world, Maggie and pals search for the missing Penny Century (my favorite L&R character), complete with capes and powers. It's oversized and billed as a "director's cut," with 30 additional pages.
Kiki de Montparnasse by Catel Muller and Jose-Luis Bocquet (SelfMadeHero): A French biography of "one of the first emancipated women of the 20th century""”what, I can't be classy on vacation? The immediate enthusiasm on each page was enough to sell me. It should pair nicely with an after-dinner wine (if I drank wine in the woods).
Secret Wars by Jim Shooter, Mike Zeck, and Bob Layton (Marvel): This superhero crossover event from the mid-1980s is one of the last unread team-ups on my checklist. It has the likes of Spider-Man, Captain America, Hulk, She-Hulk, and others on the cover and plenty of exclamation marks inside.
For my non-comics reading, a colleague scored an advance copy of Telegraph Avenue by Michael Chabon (in my carry-on), and another colleague berated me for having never read Ross Macdonald's The Moving Target (in my checked bag). I also had the smart idea of lugging a double LP of High on Fire's Surrounded by Thieves album (red vinyl, carry-on) to be played on the cabin's turntable.
Graphic Novel Friday will be on hiatus until my return in early August. Any last minute packing suggestions, Omni readers?
--Alex
