Blogging has been a bit slow due to some recent surgery, but I think I'm okay now to do some occasional writing as I have a gentle recovery. It doesn't take much effort to listen to an album, after all, and comics have made for some nice, gentle reading through this.
The two hundred and ninety-fifth album: #295 Paul McCartney & Wings - Band on the Run
While Paul McCartney's solo album on the list was almost all his own, the recording of Band on the Run was more collaborative, with the songs credited as being co-written by Linda McCartney and a small band playing the songs. It means that we get an album closer to some of the Beatles songs in its production values, but one that suits McCartney in its scope, more classic rock with heavy jazz influences rather than being experimental as the later Beatles albums were. It makes for a good rock album with some catchy tunes - nothing that fully grabs me, but a good rock album to listen to.
The one hundred and seventh comic: #283 Silver Surfer
I like the concept of the early Silver Surfer stories. Rather than a hero ultimately celebrated for being the hero, the way he goes about his business and his lack of communicating his intentions leads to him being hated, on the same level as some of the villains he defeats. It makes sense as the response to someone who swings in and defeats, sometimes kills, someone else while causing a lot of destruction. It's a good concept, but it also feels like it takes a certain amount of stupidity and lack of communication to get to pull it off - after this much time it feels like you'd realize that just claiming "the common good" as a reason for doing this won't fly. It can be nice to see some superheroes fight each other as a concept, but it feels like it could have been polished and balanced a bit better.
The other part of the story that's meant to offset this is the other half that alienates you a bit as a reader. The Silver Surfer is on Earth as he's trapped there because of the decisions he made to protect it. A barrier protects him from leaving, but every story seems to start with him trying to escape and half of the bad outcomes of stories link to him wanting to get through. There's something obviously unsympathetic about a hero who doesn't want to be there, and the two elements combine to make reading the comic quite uncomfortable at times. I believe later volumes clean this up and give him more freedom, but right now it feels like an interesting concept that is perhaps too off putting to have as the sole focus of a monthly series.