Speaking of Superheroes and the Detainee Bill

-A quote from this month's Fantastic Four:

"Sometimes the law is wrong. Sometimes the government is wrong. When that happens, you have to stand up and speak out. Even if you're alone. Especially if you're alone. The question you have to ask is, what are the rights and freedoms we say we cherish worth? Because I think they're worth dying for if necessary."

— The Invisible Woman, to Mr. Fantastic, just before she leaves him . . .

(Marvel's current crossover event, Civil War, has been going on for months, and was in the planning stages for months before that, but the story of superheroes at odds with each other, and with the U.S. government, over a new law that imprisons people unjustly, seems very topical right now . . .)

Books: Muppets, Dragons, Space Cadets, and the Catch-22

The Muppet Show Book

-My family owned this book back in the late 1970s, and I tracked a copy down through Half.com. It's an attempt to replicate the feel of the show in book format. I remember it succeeding at that when I was a kid; as an adult, it feels oddly stitched together.

Rogue Dragon by Avram Davidson

-I've heard good things about Davidson, but this must not be one of his better ones. It's set on the Earth of the far future, where the nobles of the colony worlds come to hunt the "dragons" left behind by long-defeated insectile conquerors. Much social stratification and incipient rebellion. It's in the genre of "naive young man gets thrust into a society full of assorted tensions, and gets bounced from one faction to another through no real actions of his own, staying with each only long enough to learn their point of view, then wraps up the book (with our hero now allegedly less naive) by fomenting much-needed social change," (like Vance's Emphyrio). It didn't grab me. (On the plus side, I picked it up out of a $2 bin on the street in Harvard Square, and it appears to be a first edition in good shape . . . )

Space Cadet by Robert Heinlein

-One of the few Heinleins I hadn't read yet, and a perfectly serviceable one. Teenager joins the Space Patrol, learns how and why the Patrol exists, eventually gets thrust into an interplanetary incident or two. I found myself rolling my eyes at Heinlein's quirks, but still craving more once it was done, so, yep, it's a Heinlein.

Catch-22 by Joseph Heller

-A classic, obviously. And startlingly engrossing, considering that it's repetitive and largely plotless. Short synopsis: An Air Force bomber crewman, during WW2, stationed in Italy, is upset because people are trying to kill him. His superiors explain that no one is trying to kill him specifically, as if that made everything all right. Satire and military stupidity ensue. I definitely enjoyed it, and definitely was reminded of my Army Reserve days.