David Given Schwarm

Married, Father, United

Tag: Book

  • Sandman: Endless Nights by Neil Gaiman

    Bill Sienkiewicz! I had forgotten how incredibly good this guy was–not only can he out draw, out layout, and just about out art any man alive–he can tell a story!

    He can use his art to move things along, slow them down, tie them together, and just plan explode the concept of linear thought.

    Bill Sienkiewicz! I had asked at Alakazam what he was up to and no one knew–and then I find this! Completely amazing.

    The rest of the book is fine–there are some interesting ties back into the may Sandman mythology and some explaining is done, there is some clever writing and some really good art work.

    And then there is Bill.

    Absolutely amazing.

  • Joker by Brian Azzarello

    This is the Joker of the movie told by one of his henchmen.

    A nice idea and parts of it work very very well–Joker’s interaction with other members of the Rogue’s Gallery, the shadow of the bat that falls over everything in Gotham, etc.

    But, the Joker does not wear any new masks in this story–the same crazed force of nature maniac that we get in the movie–there could have been a lot more here. Seems like the writer was afraid to actually take the character anywhere.

    The art is good bordering on great–there is so much good work being done right now.

  • Wake Up by Jack Kerouac

    This was a fantastic book-I actually did not even know that it existed until I found it in the library.

    The jacket image was drawn by Kerouac. The book was designed to convert Ginsberg. It is at times a little academic, but overall there is a ringing, singing, beatnik vibe to the entire proceeding that I really enjoyed.

    A great read that does not really provide any more stories then I already knew about the buddha, but some of the wanderlust that gets stripped away by translation and years is returned to the original story by this book.

    Lots of fun.

  • An Aquarium by Jeffrey Yang


    This is a massively antastic book of poems. I got it from the Newport Beach Public Library and read it twice–once all the way through, and again slowly with a dictionary and notepad. Full of brilliant poems that really reward multiple readings.

    I liked:

    Vacuum

    Aquinas head down in a vacuum
    Aristotle which way in a vacuum?
    Sacrum, Sacrum, inluminatio coitu.
    –E.P., CANTO XXXVI

  • Eduction of Hopey Glass by Jaime Hernandez


    I have been getting these Love and Rockets collections from the Library–this one is likely the best that I have read so far.

    Hopey moves around, becomes a school assistent, runs into old friends, and basically hangs out.

    The magic realism is toned down from what I remember from my last Hopey Book–as were the punk rock references and street culture. There are a lot of comic references–they even go to a con, argue with a guy in a batman cowl, and other comic artists (Bagge, Clowes, etc) are mentioned.

    The ended was some of the best stuff I have seen in a long tim.

    An extremely strong book that I enjoyed a lot.

  • Glamourpuss #4


    This just keeps getting better.

    We are still telling the history of Raymond–more amazing stuff on his inking, more stuff on Dave’s process & beliefs, and more amazing art–this one has reproduction reproduction from a spanish collection (which is even more weird live). A truly mind warping comic if ever there was one–it even includes classic flash backs to early issues (mostly quotes that were used).

    All of this ties in directly to the Anxiety of Influence. Sim is making up terms for periods in Alex Raymond’s career (the “Nightingale Style” and the “Test Pattern Nightingale Style”) and then claiming to know the secret of these styles with out telling what it is. He compares Raymond to other artists who struggled with inking by brush–talks about what happened to Raymond when he stopped using brush, talks about the guilt he feels when he does not use brush (with a gun coming out of a box suicide type image–very dark, even for Dave).

    I have a feeling that soon Sim is going to “uncover” some aspect of Raymond’s work and really blow the lid of this series–the glamor stuff, which was touched on for the first time this issue, will explode with meaning in two issues, I am guessing.

    Really Good Advice during the swimsuit issue was clever, but again not all that insightful or “heady”–I think he is still finding his way with this sarcastic voice, but I have faith that it will come.

    Still the only comic coming out today that I am sure is required reading.

  • Mean by Colette Labouff Atkinson


    This is an amazing book from a UCI faculty member. Really strong prose poem all the way through the text.

    I liked Graphic Novel Romance (V for Vendetta):

    After the brains of fingerman, V drops his baton and tells Evey he means her no harm. Who are you? she asks. What I am is a man in a mask. Later, she wakes up in his cave,. Stan Getz plays. V hums along, makes her hole-in-bread for breakfast. In the theater, I lean over to my friend. This is how I got married. I was taken, I like to say. It wasn’t a cave. But “The Girl from Ipanema” played. Coffee was made. Books were everywhere and in alphabetical order. He split cantaloupe so I didn’t have to use a knife. And I said who are you? He answered: I’ve forgotten more than you’ve ever known. With the film still running, my friend reminds me this is comic book stuff.

    A very fun quick read that I really enjoyed. I am going to try to find more of Atkinson’s stuff.

  • Invasions by Adam Kirsch


    Section one of this book made me wonder how poetry could still be priced at 15 bucks. I mean really, everything else is so much cheaper and this books 61 pages were clearly not a good investment

    Section two changed all of that. A brilliant collection of thoughts after Boethius. Really first rate stuff.

    The final section is much like the first, but after the brilliance of the second section I read it much more critically and I appreciated it a great deal.

    I am not really a fan of Kirsch’s line–which is short and jammed and somehow common. Word choice is strong. Emotion is fantastic. But overall I think that a more unique voice is in there somewhere waiting to come out. Much of this reads exactly like the New Yorker.

    III.7 Habet hoc voluptas omnis
    First the hypnosis
    As the hive buzzes,
    Issuing dank and honeyed promises;

    Lust for the rose-
    Gold-tinted ooze
    Makes you forget the swarm, the sting, the bruise.

    That is fantastic.

  • Sloth by Gilbert Hernandez


    This was a great suburban nightmare read–I finished is in two hours while Cody slept.

    I liked the character changing aspect–Lynchian even with the supernatural Goat Man overtones. I liked the family insight, the cruel kid being nice and than a bully again.

    The art was totally awesome.

    A great read.

  • In Patagonia by Bruce Chatwin


    This may be the greatest travel book ever written. Not only is it the reason I carry a moleskine with me everywhere, but it is also an amazing study in history, hospitality, and humanity. A more epic book has likely never been written.

    So much of this book I wish that I could remember; to wit, “used as a verb yamana means ‘to live, breathe, be happy, recover from sickness or be sane’”

    It took me a fairly long time to finish this mostly because I wanted it to last.