Wonder Woman by Phil Jimenez Omnibus. I’ve had this one for a while, and it pretty much put a button on what I wanted to own as far as Wonder Woman was concerned (though I do want to read Greg Rucka’s run on DC Infinite). Jimenez’s run on Wonder Woman was one that I read intermittently back when it first came out, mainly for the stories that surrounded Donna Troy (especially since she was in Titans at the time and I’d been tryng to figure out what her deal was ever since John Byrne got his hands on her). The run is outstanding. Jimemenz shows a real love for the character and throws plenty at her. He also does a great job navigating the relationships between Diana and her mother as well as the Amazons and the world, especially when everything is turned upside down. Now, the book itself is way too expensive for someone who is curious about it (and to my knowledge, it wasn’t reprinted in trade except for a few that our out of print). But if you have access to a decent comic store, you can find the back issues or I would check the run out on DC Infinite. Great stories, gorgeous art. Keep.

The Lost Family: How DNA Testing is Uncovering Secrets, Reuniting Relatives and Upending Who We Are by Libby Copeland. I’m a fan of Dani Shapiro’s “Family Secrets” podcast, which is about what people discover about themselves or family members once they uncover something. Copeland goes into the history of commercial/recreational DNA testing while also following one person’s story to discover the truth behind her father’s lineage. Copeland also gets into the way that DNA testing has affected law enforcement, for better or worse. It’s a comprehensive history told in an intriguing way, even when she gets into the minute details of DNA testing and the companies that offer it (Ancestry, 23 and Me, etc.). When it’s completely changing how we search genealogy as well as in some ways how we think about heritage. I’d recommend this, and I’ll probably pass this one on to my sister. Donate.

Starman: Sins of the Father and Night and Day by James Robinson and Tony Harris. I first read James Robinson’s Starman run in the early 2000s when I borrowed my friend’s trade paperbacks. I started spotting these on the discount trade racks at my LCS and as I collected one after the other, I decided to collect the entire run and then wait to read it when I got it. That was a few months ago, so now is great a time as any to see if it holds up. So far, so good. The opening storyline with Jack Knight reluctantly taking up the mantle of Starman after his brother is killed and The Mist attacks his father flies in the face of the trendy “Nineties” books of the time (remember, Extreme Justice also came out around this time). Robinson also lays down some threads for future storyline, one of which is picked up in the second volume, with The Mist’s daughter Nash becoming the second Mist (a great legacy villain to go up against a legacy hero). Now, some aspects of the book make it very much of its time, but that’s a mark of excellence, just as books from other decades show the characteristics of their respective times. I’m looking forward to going on with this read-through and I’ll probably have some sort of longer entry or podcast about this when I’m done. Keep.

The Orange Years. This is a documentary about Nickelodeon from its founding to the early 2000s (which is when SpongeBob and Dora took over), and it’s a great piece of nostalgia for late Gen Xers and Millennials. Featuring interviews with the network executives, show creators, and producers, as well as actors and other on-air personalities. I personally enjoyed the early stuff because it brought back memories of watching You Can’t Do That on Television at my friend’s house as well as all the years of Double Dare that ran in syndication on my local Fox affiliate. And I have to admit that I found myself slightly jealous of both the people who had cable when we were kids as well as Millennials who got to grow up with some of the programming that was on Nick. Not that I didn’t have access to great stuff, but I felt both left out and too old. It’s a great documentary, though, and is currently available on Hulu. Watch.

A Quiet Place and A Quiet Place Part II. My kid got both of these for Christmas and we watched them two weekends in a row. I’d been wanting to watch the first one for a long time, and found it to be a really tight, well-written and very well-acted 90 minutes. And the same can be said for the sequel. And for a PG-13 horror series, it’s very tense and scary in places, which you don’t always expect from PG-13. Keep.