(no subject)

I have just finished volumes 7-8 of Apothecarius Argentum, aka, the last volumes of the series published by CMX before DC discontinued the line. They were excellent and reminded me of why I love the series, and they ended on a cliffhanger that I didn't see coming, thus further increasing my sorrow at the discontinuation.

I know that most scans teams stopped translating the CMX titles when they were licensed, but does anyone know if volumes 9+ are available anywhere, since it's extremely unlikely that another US publisher will pick them up? (I'm pretty sure that this, From Eroica With Love and Young Magician are the only CMX titles I follow that hadn't completed their US runs before the discontinuation, but I'm also behind in reading a number of them.)

Arthuriana

Recently, I’ve been in the mood for Arthuriana, which largely means “assembling things for a binge that I will burn out halfway through." In myth, my favorites are Morgan/Morganna/Morgaine/whatever-you-want-to-call-her, (ok, mostly her) the Lady of the Lake and Guenevere, and I’m typically disinterested in Merlin and indifferent/passively fond of Arthur and Lancelot, though I like any of those on a case-by-case basis, and largely like stories about any of the characters/myths, and prefer pre-Mallory versions more often than not. But, looking at my favorites, you can imagine how frustrating many adaptations can be for me.

Right now, I’m reading Jane Yolen’s Sword of the Rightful King and am near the end. It is good and will either fill me with endless glee in one regard, or be “this is good, but it did not do what I wanted it to!”

I also watched the Tristan and Isolde movie from a few years ago. It…was both better and worse than I remembered it being, if that makes sense. It adds even more parallels between Isolde/Tristan and Guenevere/Lancelot (given that the latter was probably added to the legend and adapted from the former, criticism may be debatable there), and has this hilarious bit at the end where the postscript says that their love did not destroy a kingdom. The annoying thing about that movie is that, basically, 90% of the Drama was caused by Tristan’s insistence on being noble and self-sacrificing. A little putting himself first and just airing his woes would have fixed so much, but the movie seems to think that this was a good thing for him to do, and that Isolde should have been more self-sacrificing, but also root for her being all “You. Me. Sex now. Riding off into the sunset right after.” I know a lot of Epic Love tends to be based on self-sacrifice at times, but here, it seemed pretty silly.

I mean, a conversation like this probably would have fixed so much:

TRISTAN: Yeah, so, remember when everyone thought I was dead for weeks and weeks? I was actually in Ireland with Isolde, and we kinda fell in love.
ISOLDE: And, really, you seem to be a great guy and all, but you raised my boyfriend, and I’d hate to break your heart by endlessly pining for him. Also, I kinda object to this whole thing where everyone treats me like property to be passed around.
MARK: I’m so glad I’m not 20 anymore! Anyway, Tristan, I’ve basically decided to make you my heir anyway. I mean, sure, not exactly historically accurate, but this is a Ridley Scott movie. Historical accuracy was gone as soon as he got the first round of sweeping landscapes and tall grass out of his system. So, you’re my heir, you two get married, and this totally ahistorical alliance to end this totally ahistorical war will still work.
TRISTAN: Wait, does then mean I chopped off my emo curls and traded them in for droopy emo locks for nothing?
ISOLDE: Don’t worry, they’ll grow back. Let’s go have sex now.
TRISTAN: Ok.

It was an awfully pretty movie though.

Oh, and a few weeks ago, I watched the silly but fun movie Avalon High, which is probably what kicked this off. (And the lead actress is apparently picked for Cassie in Secret Circle if that takes off, which is actually how I learned Secret Circle might be on the small screen soon.)

I shall be watching First Knight and The Mists of Avalon soon. I do not remember if First Knight is any good, but I remember enjoying it a lot as a teenager, and I’m pretty sure it was the first Arthuriana I encountered that had a positive interpretation of Guenevere and also had her as a major character. (The few other positive interpretations of her character I’d encountered-to the best of my recollection-had her mostly “offscreen.”) Also, between this and Sabrina, I had a big thing for Julia Ormond in the mid-90s. I…very much dislike the one MZB Avalon book I read, but it was a later one, and I understand the earlier ones were way better, so I’ll given MZB another chance. I think I disliked Excalibur when I watched it around 2000, but I’ll see if I like it more now.

Aaaaanyway, if you like (or only occasionally like) Arthuriana, what is your favorite/least favorite stuff, both modern and classic, regardless of medium? I curious minds want to know.

PS: Is anyone familiar with Ulrich von Zatzikhoven's Lanzelot? Because that version I'm not familiar with, and there doesn't seem to bea cheap-ish version in English.

ETA: I...will most likely never check out Merlin (though I may have just guaranteed that I would). Based on everything I've heard, it would be like the current Robin Hood series where I would enjoy it enough to watch it for a while despite various big issues, and then reach a sudden point where near incoherent rage eclipsed almost all else.

Speaking of Robin Hood, I picked up the entire Richard greene series from the 50s on sale for $13 the other day. Anyone ever watch that?