Blogcritics Author: Bill Sherman

Music Review: Mark Olson & Gary Louris - Ready for the Flood

Bill Sherman — Thu, 8 Jan 2009 21:34:11 EST

Two former Jayhawks reunite for a new disc of largely acoustic alt-country.
Fourteen years after Mark Olson departed the Jayhawks to strum alongside Ms. Williams' Guitar, the singer/songwriter has reunited with his fellow Minnesotan Gary Louris for a new set of largely acoustic alt-country. Ready for the Flood (New West Records) contains the twosome's appealing blend of raggedy Louvin Bros.-style harmonies and...

DVD Review: Hunter x Hunter - Volume One

Bill Sherman — Mon, 5 Jan 2009 02:32:46 EST

The first fifteen episodes of the anime action fantasy get a boxed set release.
To begin with the "x" in Hunter x Hunter does not appear to be spoken aloud -- as either "ex" or as "times," which is how I first read it. But from the way, the voice artist playing Gon reads each "x"-strewn chapter ("Encounter x Hesitation x Departure," for instance) on the first boxed set of...

Manga Review: Dragon Ball Z - Volume One by Akira Toriyama (VizBig Edition)

Bill Sherman — Fri, 2 Jan 2009 04:40:50 EST

A hefty paperback omnibus collects three volumes of this classic All Ages fight manga.
Though many manga and anime lovers have long been ahead of me on this 'un, I've only just recently started to get into "the greatest fighting manga ever!" - Akira Toriyama's Dragon Ball Z. A popular "All Ages" series, Toriyama's Dragon Ball books, have been divided into two sections for American audiences. The first, simply called Dragon Ball,...

DVD Review: Hallelujah, I'm A Bum!

Bill Sherman — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 14:41:47 EST

Looking back at a Depression Era movie curiosity starring the once mighty Al Jolson.
Now that we're officially in a real recession, I thought I'd spend part of my holiday time viewing a genuine curiosity from 1933, the MGM comic operetta Hallelujah, I'm A Bum! A musical vehicle for Al Jolson, the film boasts a libretto by Richard Rogers & Lorenz Hart - and a very of-its-day plotline that lightheartedly jokes about poverty and...

Manga Review: Iron Wok Jan - Volume 27 by Shinji Saijyo

Bill Sherman — Thu, 25 Dec 2008 11:48:55 EST

The popular Japanese cooking comedy comes to a calculatedly frustrating finish.
"No hugging, no lessons learned." I thought of this Seinfeld writing credo as I belatedly finished the final episode of Shinji Saijyo's Iron Wok Jan! (DrMaster) recently. Twenty-seven volumes of our comic anti-hero obnoxiously lording it over his culinary inferiors -- and the little bastard never grows or changes. When the final...

Graphic Fiction Review: The Soddyssey and Other Tales of Supernatural Law by Batton Lash

Bill Sherman — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 13:45:03 EST

A reissued collection of comic stories blends monsters and legal dramedy to humorous and satiric effect.
Now that Boston Legal has officially closed its offices, where can the lover of ludicrous legal dramedy go for their fix of outrageous cases and sophistic arguments? Allow me to recommend Batton Lash's Supernatural Law. A long-running indy humor comic and current webcomic, Lash's series centers on an unlikely pair of lawyers, Alanna Wolff...

Manga Review: Bleach by Tite Kubo

Bill Sherman — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 23:45:19 EST

Swordfights, otherworld monsters and knockabout comedy � it's the world of Bleach.
Living out in the Arizona desert, the only manga offering I'm able to consistently buy off the shelves has been the ultra-popular Naruto, which has regularly been popping up in the book section of our local Super Wal-Mart. With holiday gift-giving in half-swing, however, I recently came across a batch of Viz manga gift boxes at Wally World....

Graphic Fiction Review: Graphic Classics: Ambrose Bierce - edited by Tom Pomplun

Bill Sherman — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 06:35:19 EST

A new edition of comic adaptations of the great American cynic's writings proves as entertainingly bleak as any alt comic.
If ever there was a writer more aligned with the sensitivities of today's young cartoonists, it's Ambrose Bierce. The journalist and author, a master of the darkly cynical, provides plenty of good material for the grim at heart, and the newly revised and reissued Graphic Classics (Eureka Productions) devoted to his works ably makes this...

Graphic Novel Review: Hatter M - The Looking Glass Wars, Volume One by Frank Beddor, Liz Cavalier, and Ben Templesmith

Bill Sherman — Sat, 1 Nov 2008 09:43:53 EDT

A graphic novel series expands upon the fantasy world of Frank Beddor's Looking Glass Wars.
The first of a series of graphic novels expanding on Frank Beddor's as-yet-unfinished young adult fantasy trilogy, The Looking Glass Wars, Hatter M (Automatic Pictures Publishing) continues the writer's violent re-imagining of Lewis Carroll's beloved Wonderland books. In Beddor's world, young Alyss Heart is the princess of...

Music Review: Tom Verlaine - Dreamtime and Words from the Front

Bill Sherman — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 22:19:25 EDT

Two of the former Television front man's early solo albums get much-needed reissues.
Of all the major bands to come out of the CBGBs Era, it was Television who remain arguably the least fully appreciated. Despite releasing two magnificent albums of guitar-driven art-punk (Marquee Moon and Adventure), the New York band never passed into the MTV circle of their peers in Talking Heads or Blondie, for instance. Perhaps lead...