Jayson > Recent Status Updates

Notes:
(1) We get a flashback to young Jessica and Cecilia, which is a treat.
- I didn't know Cecilia's Asian (or so it seems). I guess her current white hair threw me.
(2) I appreciate the running, I guess, theme of this arc: coffee versus booze.
- Jessica goes for strong alcohol—here, bourbon "a step over the rail."
- Erica goes for strong coffee—even in the late evening.

Notes:
(1) This series continues to be ridiculous—but at this point, why not?
- It's already past the point of being taken seriously, as far as supernatural horror goes, and I'm at least conditioned to expect more wackiness.
(2) There are a lot of unconventional panel layouts here—far too many for my taste.
- Frankly, it's way too distracting and many are just filler pages.

Notes:
(1) "I couldn’t have been more surprised if Jason had told me Bill had been dating Hillary Clinton (though Bill was a Democrat)."
- Bill and Hillary? I can see it.
- Makes sense. The antebellum South would have been decidedly Democrat.
(2) "They say that since the first rule of [sex] club is Keep Silent…"
- So, the first rule of sex club is don't talk about sex club?

Notes:
(1) "From behind one door came the unmistakable sounds of sex. To my relief, we passed that door by."
- I feel the same way when I read these books. I'm sure it's nothing to romance aficionados, but explicit sex scenes make me squeamish.
(2) "... I think it was the first time I’d seen another naked adult in my life, besides Bill."
- I guess Sam wasn't very memorable.

Notes:
(1) This was originally serialized in "Hello Darkness," and I was all set to read it that way, but I'm all anthology'd out.
- It's much better in one go anyway, albeit with visible seams.
(2) Quite surprisingly, this is actually one of the best issues of the series.
- It keys in on a relatively unexplored aspect of the titular killings: community reaction and trauma.

Notes:
(1) Interestingly, Godfrey (né Godric) the Roman vampire believes in God.
- I wonder if he was an early Christian, a relatively recent convert or somewhere in between.
- I get it, the vampire is more "Christian" than the pastor and his wife. Really, the whole hypocritical/bigoted evangelical trope feels so stale and cliché—albeit maybe not in 2002 when this came out.

Notes:
(1) Sookie discovers the Dallas vampires are being bugged.
- Apparently, magical as they are, vamps have a blind-spot for tech.
(2) Halfway in and there's been no graphic sex scenes, just implied sex in that classic movie way where the camera blurs and cuts away.
- A sharp contrast with the first book, which found every reason to describe sex at length and in detail.

Notes:
(1) "There was a little refrigerator well stocked with PureBlood, but this evening Bill would want the real thing."
- Well, PureBlood is a definite improvement over LifeFlow. I wonder if it's a Harry Potter reference?
- Do blood brands not have spaces between words? I mean, is this a vampire thing? Do they not like spaces? Or is the absence of them somehow appealing?

Notes:
(1) I appreciate the narrator going all-in on ethnic accents.
- A lot don't even try—afraid of seeming offensive.
(2) Sookie: "Sam needed to find a woman. Quickly."
- Apparently, Sam's animal magnetism must be contained—Sookie's powerless to resist!
- Really, if she's so concerned for his well-being (vis-à-vis death-by-Bill), she shouldn't have made out with the guy!

Notes:
(1) "[Bill] might have a pretty steady diet of LifeFlow (the most popular marketing name for the synthetic blood) but nipping my neck was incomparably better."
- LifeFlow is no Tru Blood, that's for sure. It's a horrible brand name!
- Honestly, if I didn't know better, I'd have assumed it was a brand of maxi pads.
- Thank goodness the TV show wasn't named "LifeFlow."

Notes:
(1) So, when I read this book back in April, it was via single issues since the trade wasn't due out until September. However, the content listing was incorrect and didn't include issue #6, hence this addendum status.
- Doesn't change my rating or review though.
(2) This didn't have much plot, just the Adjudicator taking Zachary and Rose on a tour of Heaven and Hell.

Notes:
(1) I just realized the title of this book is a spoof on "The Brave and the Bold."
- Hence, the team-up gimmick should have been obvious from the start.
(2) None of these stories really have anything to do with horror or Halloween—with the lone and notable exception of Batman (and maybe Wonder Woman/Raven).
- They're team-ups featuring spooky characters and monsters.

Notes:
(1) These stories are all crossover/team-up themed—with the lone and notable exception of Batman.
- Ironic since Batman's Mr. Team-Up book, being the main character in both "World's Finest" and "The Brave and the Bold."
(2) None of these have much plot; they're mainly just beat-'em-ups.
- I'm not surprised—crossovers are typically just faceoffs and/or team-up fights.

Notes:
(1) Since I'm only reading until the end of Rebirth, this will be the last DC Halloween special I'll be reading this year.
- This is my fourth, which is, frankly, three too many.
- I wouldn't mind so much if they were reliably good, but this isn't the DC of old that would load up specials with top talent.
- Nowadays, it's almost entirely rosters of relative unknowns.

Notes:
(1) You know, the main reason I stuck with this series to the bitter end on my first go-round is because the books went by super-fast. Seemingly, it's the same with the audiobooks.
- Despite being ten hours long, I finished the first book in no time at all.
- I don't know why. Maybe it's the first-person POV, because they're uncomplicated, and/or I do less rewinding?

Notes:
(1) While I definitely had a better experience listening to this than my first time (when I read the book in prose) I put a lot of that down to multitask listening—not paying it full attention.
- I also stand by my original assessment, which took issue with its lack of depth.
- It's also not a good romance. As a love interest, Bill here is simply cold and unlikeable.

Notes:
(1) Bill: "Call him Bubba! Something went wrong when he came over—from human to vampire—maybe it was all the chemicals in his blood."
- I forgot about Bubba (né Elvis)! My favorite recurring character from my first go-round.
(2) Sookie discovers Sam's big secret—which involves nudity.
- I'd have said this ripped off "The Time Traveler's Wife," except this came first.

Notes:
(1) The "Justice League Dark" story provides Zatanna's second appearance of the book. Of all characters, why her?!
- I mean, I enjoy Zatanna—especially her design and seeing different artist iterations—I just hate reading backwards!
(2) Am I the only one totally bored by Deadman?
- Maybe I just don't get the character, but whenever he appears I sigh and roll my eyes.

Notes:
(1) Somewhat surprisingly, a pretty good first half.
- Still hit-and-miss, but better on the whole than you'd expect for an anthology special.
(2) Rafael Albuquerque kicks it off with an impressive (and pretty seamless) fusion of Red Rain Batman and the Court of Owls.
- Frankly, it's the best Court of Owls story I've read since their debut at the start of the New 52.

Notes:
(1) How many sex scenes does this book have?!
- There's been six so far—five described at some length.
- I mean, this isn't exactly "War and Peace," it's barely longer than a novella. It's a coital clown car.
- Call me a prude, but mud sex isn't something I need read aloud.
- On top of being uncomfortable, it's repetitive—if you've heard it once, you've heard it all.

Notes:
(1) I don't know, maybe I should curb the number of Halloween anthologies I read each year. This one's my third of 2025 and the novelty's long worn off.
(2) The author lineup's not exactly wowing me. Paul Dini and John Layman are the only marquee names.
- To me, Layman's never lived up to the hype, and Dini's not who he once was.
- I have hopes for Bryan Hill though.

Notes:
(1) "... the creature I loved was lying somewhere in a hole underground, to all intents and purposes dead until dark."
- I do love stumbling across titular lines!
(2) Arlene doesn't want "Vampire Bill" babysitting her kids, which Sookie takes as bigoted.
- Though, can you blame Arlene? I mean, he drinks from the tap! Also, as genteel as he is, Bill just killed a guy.

Notes:
(1) "She'd brought a taco salad, and I planned to throw it right into the garbage when she'd left."
- Nothing wrong with taco salad. Though who brings salad to a funeral reception? SMH
(2) I've listened to a ton of audiobooks, but I've never heard romance novel sex scenes read aloud before.
- I can't see myself getting used to it... I might not last the whole series.

Notes:
(1) It's interesting how DC chose to bookend this with Seeley and Tynion—as if expecting everything in the middle to be rough-to-middling, and hoping to begin and end with a bang. A shrewd move if so.
- Though, my favorite one (by a hair) is the Katana/Black Lightning story by Bryan Hill.
- My least favorite one (by a mile) is the Green Arrow story by Michael Moreci.

Notes:
(1) One thing the first half of these tales has in common is that they're fairly simple stories that are needlessly convoluted and confusing.
- Especially with short 8-pagers like these, you want to get to the point quickly and make it crystal clear.
- The Swamp Thing story's my favorite so far, mostly based on how it ends. It takes a while to untangle the beginning.

Notes:
(1) I expect a much more conventional anthology compared to 2017's Halloween special.
- So, no slew of horror novelists writing scripts for Keith Giffen plots nor every story a spin on superheroes as killer monsters.
(2) Outside of Seeley and Tynion, I'm not familiar with many of these writers.
- The few others I do know, I know by work or reputation for being awful.

Notes:
(1) Reading people's minds at a crime scene, Sookie learns that all the men present slept with the murder victim.
- Granted, it's only three, but that's still batting a thousand; and this isn't even counting Sookie's brother Jason (the deceased's ex-boyfriend).
- Small town, eh?
- Of course, this girl contrasts sharply with Sookie herself—town virgin vs town bicycle.

Notes:
(1) One of my main criticisms of the book the first time I read it—indeed the main point of that review—is how "supporting characters are flat and uninteresting."
- I'm really feeling that on this re-read, especially compared to the show.
- The book's narrated from Sookie's POV and you don't really spend much time with, nor focus on, other characters outside of Bill.

Notes:
(1) This ends with two fairly stupid stories and, moreover, stupid in very different ways.
- I'm not surprised; weaker stories are usually shoved in at the end of anthologies.
(2) In sum, these stories are far edgier than you'd expect, but edgy in a very corporate directive sort of way.
- It's like there's a checklist: bring up rape, use the Lord's name in vain, etc.

Notes:
(1) One thing I'm noticing over and over, albeit with one or two exceptions, is that the superheroes featured don't necessarily need to be in these particular stories.
- For example, the Green Arrow story could have worked just as well if not better if it were Red Hood, Midnighter, etc.
- While each tale is decent enough, it's really a Mad Libs style of storytelling.