Batteries and comics

[rachelmanija]

The other day my remote car lock/unlock device died. I discovered this when, after a dental appointment, I could not remote-unlock the car. And as the remote-lock automatically sets the alarm, if you manually open the car, the alarm goes off and the car won't start.

After much fiddling, I phoned the dealership to ask how to manually turn off the alarm... and was told that you can't, and I'd either have to take a taxi to the dealership to get a new remote and then take it back to the car, or have to have the car towed! Alternatively, he added, the remote battery might be dead.

I proceeded to walk for half an hour, uphill and in the snow in the sun and on a street with no sidewalk, to the nearest hardware store to get that battery. Luckily a woman heard my hopeful inquiry about a bus back and gave me a ride. And yes. The car now starts. Has this ever happened to anyone else?

To relieve my stress (car, long hot walk, very painful tooth-cleaning), I went to the comic store where cyberpilate, who just won an Eisner Award (with others), works. I was really only looking for Tsubasa 18 DO NOT SPOIL and... er... more Moon Child. She pounced and proceeded to sell me Greg Rucka's Electra, Queen and Country, and Whiteout; Matt Fraction and Gabriel Ba's Casanova, Lea Hernandez's steampunk Cathedral Child, and a Thor one-shot called "Reign of Blood:"

Me: "I'm not into Thor."

Carla: "Look! They're raising a blood colossus!"

Shows me awesome splash page of giant zombie mecha.

Carla: "And there's Thor! Look, he's saying, 'I will pilot your blood colossus!'"

Me: "Sold!"

Also, I sold myself books one of DNAgents (collected-- blast from my past) and From Eroica With Love.

I should note that lots of this was on the 60% off shelf.

Anyone read any of these? Without plot spoilers... comments?

Comments

[tool-of-satan.livejournal.com]

I knew there was a good reason I never use the remote locking devices. I mean, I don't use them, but I didn't really have a good reason (I was mostly afraid that random crap in my pocket would press the buttons).

I just bought the DNAgents issues missing from my collection recently - I need to re-read the series. I've re-read Crossfire numerous times but never the original.

[katie-m.livejournal.com]

I've never had my remote die like that, but I did once have the in-car switch to open the fuel door die.

So there I am, half an hour into a trip over the Cascades that normally takes two and a half hours but that is likely to be longer this time, as it is snowing in the pass. I spend a while at the gas station trying to pry the door open with a key, and I cannot. I call AAA, thinking that surely this is exactly the sort of situation for which one has AAA, and am told that they cannot help me unless I am actually out of gas, instead of "low enough on gas that should I try to leave Ellensburg I will be stranded on the side of I-90. Possibly in the snow."

I try the switch a few more times, hoping that maybe it's just, you know, kidding. It is not kidding. At this point I call my physical therapist's office and explain that I am not coming, because I have car trouble and plus there's snow in the pass. They are understanding. (That physical therapist is the only physician who's ever gotten a thank you note from me, though granted not for being understanding about cancellations for people driving over the Cascades.)

So I call the dealership in Yakima and say, hey, any suggestions? "Oh," they say, "there's a manual release in the trunk!" Excellent.

They attempt to talk me through finding the manual release. I eventually manage to locate it, but it is in such a place that a 5'2" woman with shortish arms and not terribly strong hands cannot actually do anything with it but brush it with her fingertips.

I go to a Dodge dealership in town. (Ellensburg is a small town in central Washington. Dodge is what you've got.) I explain the problem and recruit one of the mechanics to my cause. He tries to get ahold of the switch and fails--by this time the lining of my trunk is half off, though thankfully it's designed to do that--so goes to consult a more senior mechanic. He goes to consult the Wisdom of the Internet, comes back out, fools with my trunk for a while, and finally, the fuel door cover pops open.

I thank them profusely, drive back to the gas station with the fuel door open (praying the entire time that it isn't going to blow closed), and go home. The end. Well, other than getting the fuel door repaired.

I like many things about my Jetta, but its propensity to have weird things go wrong with minor, yet essential systems (I once drove three hours to Portland with a window stuck down. Yes, it rained) is not one of them.

[keelieinblack.livejournal.com]

I read Cathedral Child years ago and liked it a lot, though parts of it felt a little muddled and looking back at the art's a bit rough. There's a sort-of sequel, Clockwork Angels, that has a sweet f/f couple.

[mystcrave.livejournal.com]

This happened to me in the driveway. Had to get a ride to the dealership (fortunately nearby) to get a new battery. No real trauma...except that it was early on a Saturday morning and the neighbors glared at me for about three weeks after.

[bravecows.livejournal.com]

Eroica! I love Eroica. It is so good-natured and cracktastic and silly and charming. And slashy, of course -- that goes without saying! There is a goodish chunk of excellent Eroica fic out there, if you haven't read it yet.

[amberley.livejournal.com]

Sympathies on the car remote.

If you like Queen and Country you might also look at the BBC series The Sandbaggers, which is similar and also excellent, and out on DVD. I liked Whiteout, about a US Marshal in Antarctica. There's a sequel, Whiteout: Melt. I found Cathedral Child confusing but intriguing. Lea Hernandez had another series called Rumble Girls: Silky Warrior Tansie set at a girl's school for powered armor gladiators.

DNAgents Industrial Strength is coming out October 29th, "the entire Meugniot-drawn DNAgents are collected in one volume with extensive notations, never-before-published artwork, and bonus features." It's author, Mark Evanier, has an interesting blog News From Me, RSS syndicated to LJ as newsfromme_com.

[liviapenn.livejournal.com]

Eroica starts getting decent-to-good around the middle of vol 2 and then just keeps getting better after that. Basically the mangaka was like "Man, never mind with my original concept, I want to do something *completely* different--!" and didn't bother to start over, just shifted the focus and never looked back. Even the art changes. It's pretty hilarious.

[cicer.livejournal.com]

And as the remote-lock automatically sets the alarm, if you manually open the car, the alarm goes off and the car won't start.

...That is the stupidest thing I have ever heard. I mean, my car sometimes sets off the alarm when I open the door manually, but turns off when I start the car. Why would they make it so the car won't start just because you open the door manually? Somebody wasn't thinking very well when they designed that. Urg. Sorry you were inconvenienced that way! Bummer.

[rushthatspeaks.livejournal.com]

Cathedral Child: sweet story, pretty art with occasional layout issues, suffers from too many ideas per square inch (most of them are good ideas, but not enough time per idea plus a tad bit of muddling between them). I found Clockwork Angels an improvement and liked Rumble Girls okay. I want her to do more things because her work bleeds potential.

From Eroica With Love: man, if only they made movies of this instead of James Bond, I would... be completely broke and never do anything again, so okay then. Be aware that the first volume pretty much bears no relation to anything ever.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

Have read Rucka's Elektra, tried but couldn't get into his Queen and Country (what I read was good, just didn't grab me), have heard decent things about Casanova but not read it myself, and want your opinions on From Eroica With Love and Cathedral Child.

It's been a good while since I've read Rucka's Elektra, but I remember largely enjoying it. IIRC, it was largely a character exploration and deconstruction. I remember very much liking the journey, but not being incredibly thrilled with the final destination. I think he did better work with Wonder Woman, particularly the Hiketeia OGN. Hiketeia was actually my introduction to both Rucka and Wonder Woman, and remains a favorite of mine.

[tharain.livejournal.com]

Carla: "And there's Thor! Look, he's saying, 'I will pilot your blood colossus!'"
Me: "Sold!"

You're so easy.