Lumberjanes, Issue 1 Review

I was excited to take the girls to Titan Comics last weekend to buy some buttons from the new machine.  The buttons feature Atlanta artists, many who participate in Free Art Friday Atlanta.  The buttons were the big draw for the girls, but I also wanted to pick up a copy of Lumberjanes for them.

I had happened upon the Tumblr of Noelle Stevenson when searching for illustrators one day and saw her post on her new comic.  I liked the concept, a bunch of girls at camp who go on mysterious adventures.  I figured it would be a great one for the girls to enjoy.  I have a tendency to get overly excited about anything that is female-centric that places girls in powerful roles.

Although the art is fun and solid, the story itself was disappointing.  It felt like we missed the first issue or that there was a prequel that we should have already read.  The characters weren't clearly defined and the story was a little convoluted.  I didn't mind the oddness or quirkiness of the story, including the multiple-eyed wolves or the ominous chant of "Holy Kitten," but I did think it was sad that I only could name one character in the comic after reading it.  That one character was the reluctant cabin counselor, Jen, who made a brief appearance at the end, but that appearance revolved around her being called the wrong name by the camp director (which is the only reason I knew her name).

I'm apprehensive to give the comic another try since it didn't really resonate with the girls.  Maybe I had set my expectations too high, but I don't think it delivered on being the right comic for them.  The next batch of buttons will be released in a couple of weeks, so we'll see if issue #2 works better.

 

Lumberjanes #1, with Atlanta Artist Buttons

RedBox Bait and Switch

This week, I made a quick trip to the RedBox kiosk to find a DVD for the girls and ended up with the strangest, so-bad-it's-just-bad movies, Doggie B.

I'll be honest, I didn't read the RedBox ad description closely.  I saw the dogs dressed as DJ's and assumed it was another talking dogs movie, with the dogs playing rappers. The storyline I made up in my head was much better than the reality.

There were more odd elements than I can name, but I'll try to share a few. There was a veterinarian assistant with a bad Jamaican accent that drove a car covered with markers, cheese curl sculptures, wigs that looked like the rejects from Capitol City scenes on Hunger Games, doggie steroids that can turn humans into dogs, a former member of the Go-Go's, and it goes on and on...

In case you want to check it out yourself, here a link to the trailer: 

http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/independent/doggieb/

Chick-Fil-A's Overabundant Salad

After avoiding the new salads at Chick-Fil-A since they replaced my favorite Southwest salad, I tried the Market Grill Salad today. 

In addition to the customary lettuce and chicken, the salad also had blue cheese crumbles, apples, blueberries, and strawberries.  Not stoppng there, CFA also added toppers of roasted nuts and granola mix. It was almost like I was heading to summer camp and my mom had packed a little bit of everything since she didn't want me to be hungry and didn't know what I wanted.

It was an odd eating experience. I couldn't bring myself to use the recommended zesty apple cider dressing nor could I mix all that stuff together.  I basically took the approach of a 2-year old kid and ate everything separately. Apples, strawberries, blueberries, then the chicken, cheese, and lettuce, followed by the packages of nuts and granola as a weird dessert.

When I did slip up and mix the multitude of ingredients together, they really didn't complement or blend well with each other.  Maybe it was because I didn't go with the recommended dressing, but I don't think I'll be trying this one again.