Book Review: Marvel Masterworks: Spider-Woman Vol. 1 by M. Wolfman et al.

Marvel Masterworks: Spider-Woman Volume 1 written by Marv Wolfman and Archie Goodwin and art by Carmine Infantino, Ron Wilson, and Sal Buscema

The origins of Spider-Woman, aka Jessica Drew, are given here along with a lot of other goings on. The book starts with a run of issues from Marvel Two-In-One, a series that featured two superheroes, one of which was usually The Fantastic Four's The Thing, aka Ben Grimm. He's visiting London with his blind girlfriend Alicia and they run into all sorts of problems. One problem is Spider-Woman, who is working as an assassin for Hydra. As the story goes on, she starts to pull out of that situation, trying to live on her own. But that's after almost half this book goes by with the focus mostly on Ben Grimm in London worrying about his girlfriend (who gets captured and goes through a lot of trouble from Hydra). The depiction of London and Londoners is very stereotypical and not too interesting. And, as I said, Spider-Woman is a side character until she gets her own comic book, which does not start until half-wya through this volume.

In her book, she tries to get a normal job to pay for food and housing but has a very hard time since she has no real background or references. Also, she's beautiful but weirdly off-putting, especially to women. Her investigation into her past sets up her origin--she was the human child of Jonathan Drew who worked with a guy who became the High Evolutionary. Young Jessica was dying, so they introduced spider-DNA that saved her life but turned her into something of a monster. The High Evolutionary was working on turning animals into humans, so she's a bit of a departure for him and she doesn't fit in with his hybrids. Eventually she is kidnapped by Hydra, who brainwash her into being an assassin. After getting out from under their thumb, she is on a journey of self-discovery (her previous life was "erased" from her memory by Hydra) and revenge for her father.

She manages to get things settled and fights crime, both organized and random, but not too many super-villains. The writers throw in some romance with a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent who interacted with her during the London story, though that seems more like filler to show she has some ordinary life. I found the stories just average, with no outstanding character moments or action. She has a very interesting origin but they haven't quite figured out what to do with her.

Mildly recommended.

Movie Review: North by Northwest (1959)

North by Northwest (1959) directed by Alfred Hitchcock

Roger Thornhill (Cary Grant), a Madison Avenue ad executive, is mistaken for government agent George Kaplan at a bar in downtown New York. Kaplan's enemies kidnap Thornhill and take him to an isolated mansion on Long Island where they try to get information out of him. Thornhill plays the innocent very well (since he actually is), but the bad guys aren't buying it and decide to send him to his death by liquoring him up and driving him off a cliff. Thornhill has enough sense to knock the other guy out of the car and manages to escape by getting pulled over by the cops. Taken to the station, he calls his mom who comes the next morning with his lawyer to get him out. His outlandish story does not sit well with the judge or the local detectives, who go to the house and find the residents pulling a cover story that doesn't match Thornhill's. The plot careens on from there, with lots of chases, sneaking around, and some romantic encounters with Eve Kendall (Eva Marie Saint).

The movie is a big-budget, twisty thriller with a lot of comedy and drama thrown in. The story is exciting even though it doesn't always make sense. Some of the set pieces are very famous, like Thornhill being chased down by a crop duster out in the middle of nowhere and the finale on Mount Rushmore. Hitchcock's smooth and exciting visual style is in full glory. Grant and Saint have a lot of good chemistry. James Mason and Martin Landau also give wonderful performances as the villains. Some of the effects are bit dated (lots of green screen stuff at Mount Rushmore) but work well enough to move the story forward. Mount Rushmore seems shoehorned in for the dramatic location rather than for making narrative sense. The movie is glorious, entertaining nonsense. The Bernard Herrmann score is classic and Ernest Lehman's script crackles with great dialogue.

Highly recommended--this is definitely Top-5 in the Hitchcock canon, which is already a top-tier canon in film history.

Google Pittsburgh

While in town, we dropped in on the local Google office in Pittsburgh. As with many other Google offices, it has a lot of quirky and fun bits inside.

Just off the lobby is a "free little library" which has nothing to do with the Little Free Libraries, I am sure.

Guard is intimidating until you realize he's just an empty suit

The coffee shop in the building has a foam-decorating device. We weren't sure if it caramelized the foam or colored it with brown sugar or used some other method to put an image on your cup of caffeine. Patrons can even take a picture and have that image on their morning beverage. I decided on a local icon for my chai.

Such a handy gadget?

I drink the Pittsburgh Steelers for breakfast

One of the couches had a cute Android plushie.

The softer side of hard technology

The building also has a game room with arcade games, pinball machines, foosball tables, new and old game consoles, completed and uncompleted Lego sets, board games, jigsaw puzzles, and a ping-pong table. My son and I played a lot of ping-pong while my wife and daughter tried out some jigsaw challenges. We also played pinball, with me on a Terminator 3 machine and my family playing on an Addams Family-themed game.

Games

Electronic games

Recent Star Wars crafts

Lego variety shelf

The Android guy again!

I was shocked in one of the mini-kitchens to see that their hard boiled eggs contain egg!

Is this warning really necessary?

The rooftop deck gives a good view of the area, though the building is not near downtown.

I think downtown is in that direction

More neighbors

My wife speculated that Google has offices here specifically to recruit Carnegie Mellon and Pitt graduates. It's not too huge for a Google office but has plenty to recommend it. We saw a guy grilling on the rooftop as part of the lunches provided for Googlers. We had the regular stuff downstairs at the cafeteria (though no pictures, sorry!).

The Octopus Garden, Pittsburgh

One quirky bit of Pittsburgh (admittedly not downtown) is the Octopus Garden in the Friendship neighborhood. Founded in 2009, it provides a spot for growing vegetables and fruit. Community gatherings are hosted there too. We came on an early Wednesday morning, so no one was about. 

Street entrance to the garden

Among the many raised garden beds, my wife and my daughter found a seed library to bring a bit of the fun home. 

Searching through the garden

More of the garden

The garden features Octavia, the titular Octopus. Both sides of her mosaic head have smiling faces, greeting visitor from either the front or back entrances.

Octavia the Octopus

A chalk board lets visitors leave a message or their own art work. A little free library lets people exchange a book or two.

Give and take area

Toward the back is Doris, a cousin to the Loch Ness Monsters. She and Octavia were created by local artists Lauren Jean McLaughlin and Bob Zille. Doris provides seats on her back and a small birdhouse on her tail. The added whimsy of the sculptures makes this a fun, hidden spot.

Doris

While in the area, we walked over to Third Space Bakery to get some treats. We ate so fast, we had no time for pictures!

Anderson Playground, Shenley Park, Pittsburgh

Anderson Playground is known more commonly as "Dino Playground" for the dinosaur-themed equipment extant. It's located in Schenley Park, named after an heiress who donated most of the land. Our children had a fun time visiting and trying out the equipment.

The biggest dinosaur in the park is a stegosaurus with a slide for a tail, a climbable back, and rope nets for sides. It was very popular, even with other kids.

Stegosaurus

Even on the see-saw

He's up

She's up

One item actually got us parents involved. I don't even know what this is called, probably not a rope swing. This accommodates three riders though I have seen other ones that can have six or seven. I did ride on it but obviously didn't take a picture of myself.

Forward motion

Teamwork

The kids were a little disappointed this was not a free-standing swing. We've seen tire swings that are only attached by one point at the top that can spin and go in any direction. The two-point contact meant it just went back and forth in one direction.

Riding without enthusiasm

I saw this dinosaur head from a distance and though it was looking to the left with a grumpy expression. Then I realized it is probably looking right with a happy expression. He is at a playground, right? Was it made intentionally ambiguous? How many people mistake nostrils for ears?

Maybe he's looking both ways?

The web climber was a challenge for my kids to see who could make it to the top first. Obviously, picking the shortest route is the answer, though not an obvious one.

The competition ends

Close up of the winner

The kids did one last climb on the stegosaurus before we left.

Run to the back

Book Reviews: Seraph of the End: Vampire Reign Vols. 5 & 6 by T. Kagami et al.

Seraph of the End: Vampire Reign Volume 5 story by Takaya Kagami and art by Yamato Yamamoto

During his recovery from the battle for Shinjuku, Yuichiro researches how to turn a vampire back into a human. He's interested because his best friend from four years ago, Mika, has been turned. Yui wants his friend back. The other project during his recovery is learning more about his cursed weapon, i.e. a weapon that is inhabited by a demon. He finds out the demon can either manifest, showing itself outside the weapon and fighting alongside the wielder, or possess, enhancing the physical abilities of the wielder in a fight. Before he figures that out, he has a meeting with higher-ups in the Imperial Demon Army. They want to sus out Yui's loyalty to humanity. A lot of political drama is built into the situation since two powerful families vie for dominance of the army.

Even though this volume is mostly focused on plot exposition and world building, it's still a very interesting read. The vampires have almost no presence or development, but Yui's situation has so much going on that I didn't mind.

Recommended.

Seraph of the End: Vampire Reign Volume 6 story by Takaya Kagami and art by Yamato Yamamoto

The action returns as both Yuichiro and Kimizuki train to control their cursed weapons. The training's focus is on getting more control over the demons imprisoned in the weapons. The easiest way to confront the demon is while asleep. The demons have more sway in the dream state and can delve into the dark secrets of the two young men, resulting in some character development and flashbacks that develop their characters. While that is going on, higher ups in both the vampire world and the Imperial Demon Army are plotting to advance their causes.

The personal dramas of Yuichiro and Kimizuki are more interesting than the bigger story, though their development plays into the ambitions of a human faction not only to defeat the vampires but also to establish their own control over the rest of the humanity. It's very hard to sympathize with either side in the bigger war; paradoxically, the pawns of the schemers (like Yuichiro and Kimizuki) are more noble and more interesting.

Recommended.

Movie Review: Enola Holmes 3 (2026)

Enola Holmes 3 (2026) directed by Philip Barantini, based on the novel series by Nancy Springer

Enola Holmes (Millie Bobbie Brown) is finally getting married to her sweetheart Lord Tewkesbury (Louis Partridge) though the wedding is interrupted by the kidnapping of her brother Sherlock (Henry Cavill). He was a bit aloof about the marriage to begin with, a feeling Enola seems to share since she was late getting to the ceremony. The marriage is happening on Malta since Tewkesbury's parents were married there. The situation gets more complicated with murders, fires, and another kidnapping. The adventure moves all over Malta, from dusty highways to city streets to rugged coastlines. 

While the first two films were very charming, the formula is running a bit thin. The plot is not tight enough to sustain the mystery (I guessed a lot of twists long before Enola deduced them) or the romance. The film shifts back and forth between the love story and the investigation, not quite syncing up as nicely as they did in the previous films. As an example, Enola and Tewkesbury go off on a romantic evening, dropping the investigation for a midnight swim. It doesn't seem realistic even in the film's own world. Brown is charming as usual but the story doesn't give her enough to really shine. The marriage ceremony at the end is especially clunky in its execution. 

Barely recommended--the others were so fun, they make this look bland by comparison.

As I publish this (July 2026), it's only available on Netflix.