Atlantica - 01.12.2004, Page 13

BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS, Avengers Disassembled. With In the
Shadow of No Towers, Art Speigleman again tried to show the
world how effective comics can be in exploring grief. At the same
time, this Marvel comic depicted superheros getting killed and los-
ing battles to terrorism in New York City. Depending on your per-
spective, this is either a profound violation of taste, or a poignant
moment in pop culture. Something like when Jon Stewart cried on
the Daily Show.

ELFRIEDE JELINEK, The Piano Teacher. Big risk, recommending a
Nobel Laureatte, but you will never forget a page of this book. Her
work is so fierce and effective that we thought only us and our hip,
jaded coffee shop friends had read it. Put it this way: Jerzy Kozinsky
pales in comparisson, both in aggression and in character devel-
opment. Now, with the Nobel sticker on the cover, you can buy it
for your parents and have the single most awkward discussion of
your life.
MARTHA STEWART LIVING. The October issue, with a black cover
and screaming jack-o-lanterns, is the most gothic and desperate
work of art on the newstands. We welcome the haunting, and
somewhat more genuine, tone of the new magazine. While the
first lady of taste may be paying for other people’s sins, she looks
to come out the Leadbelly of interior designers. The subhead-
ings in the magazine already read like blues numbers: “Good
things: Pumkin Lanterns”, “Retool Your Decór” and “The Obliging
Houseplant.” You can hear the harmonica wailing. BC
What We’re Reading
COMICS
BOOKS
MAGAZINES
I was a kid when Mt. St. Helens exploded on May 18,
1980. About 150 miles away in my hometown ash fell
softly - a light, grey snow. Some residents walked
around wearing surgical masks. I laughed at them.
St. Helens reshaped the landscape. Some wild
observers dared too close to the mountain on May
18th. They died. I was disappointed because there
was no lava. Hey, I was 13.
Now I’m in Iceland, volcano central. We’ve had the
Laki eruption of 1783, creating Eldhraun, one of the
world’s largest lava fields. Today, the moss clings
tightly to the lava rocks, a pillowy landscape stretch-
ing 565 sq. km. In 1999, Mt. Hekla, Iceland’s most
active volcano, erupted for the17th time since the
country’s settlement, lava and all.
The word volcano comes from the Latin Vulcanus, “Vulcan,” the Roman god of fire. The
name was first applied to Mt. Etna by the Romans, who believed it was forged by the
god of fire himself.
The god of fire has been active of late. St. Helens is again threatening, and tourists
stream to the Castle Lake Viewpoint like so many schools of salmon, hoping to catch a
glimpse of the old mountain reawakening. If you listen carefully, beneath the chatter of
caravanning tourists, you can hear Harry Truman, the surly 83-year old lodge owner who
stubbornly decided to sit out the 1980 eruption in his cabin, later covered by 180 feet of
debris and 90 feet of water.
He’s scoffing: “Here we go again.” EW
Funny Old Word:
airmail
VOLCANO
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