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The gentle sound of books being hurled across the room

This particular article, one of many surly columns on her site, is about the fact that no matter what line of bull we're fed, most people rarely do the only thing that's true, proper and right - burst out laughing at the sheer stupidity of it all. This is, I think, a rule we can all live by. Now, it's not necessarily a good idea to burst out laughing when, for example, your boss wonders about wether Microsoft FrontPage is a good web-authoring tool. No, in that situation, mere biting sarcasm will suffice. But in many situations, people pompously present lines of complete tosh, knowing that the worst that will happen is mild cynicism or disinterest. In fact, there seems to be quite a bit of feeling that the proper thing to do is rationally answer said wackiness. To try and bring the offender back into the realm of sanity.

Nonsense, I say! There should be a veritable carnival of mockery at the blatant stupidities of our time! An atmosphere of glee and vicious delight should pervade every moment of cheery defenestration that is vented forth upon he who is so foolish to trespass upon the grounds of willful idiocy! The only true solution is to push the cretin in question further and further into sputtering outrage with racous laughter until they either transcend the stupidity barrier into enlightenment, passing through the forest of their own ineptitude through to the other side, or have a heart attack and die on the spot.

But then, I'm evil. What do you want from me? I'm evil! Evil!

Of course, it's often difficult to tell the difference between well-meaning ineptness and simple silliness. So I suppose such mockery should indeed be reserved for the political arena (where, let's face it, a good 80 percent of our blantant idiocy supply is cache'd). Well, except in situations of willful, stubborn stupidity un-changable by simple discussion and comprehension.

We can but dream of a day when people can hear the words "I'm sorry, but are you out of your fscking mind?" and understand them for the true plea for universal brotherhood, love, and understanding that they really are.

Well? Laugh?

• The Authority #12 - It just doesn't get more epic than this before it starts to suck. Famed whup-ass dealers _The Authority_ head off to try and kill God. No, really. Well, if you count God to be a space-going artifact so large that it can eclipse the sun from the orbit of Venus. The Authority's giant whup-ass dealing spaceship, fifty miles long and thirty miles wide, fits into one of this sucker's veins, as they gleefully go prodding about inside it looking for something vital to detonate. The sheer over-arcing epic wackiness of this whole thing can best be summed up by the things they find living inside 'God'. This giant creature is so old that not only has it been thoroughly parasitized, but the parasites have developed sentience and a civilization advanced enough to rival Earth's. Yes, it's the Authority versus the weird parasite thingy people in a battle to the death inside the body of God! Weird, wild stuff.
• Disavowed #2 - What was I thinking when I bought yet another Image series? And why does everyone who writes a telepath as a primary protagonist have them become uber-powered by about the middle of the second episode? Make... the hurting... stop... It's Stock Telepath-Related Plot #15, with a side of Government Conspiracy. It's clear there are very few original ideas left down there.
• Steampunk #1 - What was I thinking? Well, I know what I was thinking. "Hey, steampunk. I've always been amused by that genre." Unfortunately, it's completely incomprehensible. There's a guy with a mechanical arm. Oh, and some people living in the sewers. And an insane ruler person. And someone going around lopping off heads. And, uh, a head that wanders around on its own. And... uhm. What the hell? It's good to be original, but not when it's completely mind-boggling. You can't just plunk random bits of tripe down in a world that looks vaguely like Victorian England and call it 'steampunk'!
• Top Ten #7 - Yet more wacky super-powered police drama. An imprisoned telepathic alien porn starlet who's been eating people's pituitaries tries to manipulate the duty officer into letting her out! Meanwhile, our heroes investigate the murder of Baldur at the 'Godz' bar, only to be stymied by the fact that, well, everyone in there is a god, a living myth. Includes a surly cop yelling "Look, you end the universe and I'm running you BOTH in!" as Loki prods Woden towards declaring Ragnarok. Can't beat it with a stick.
• Avengers #27 - Mmm. Avengers.
• Deadpool #39 - Well, Deadpool is a villain, after all, even if a somewhat reformed one. But he goes back to his roots upon meeting his new house-mates, Titania and the Constrictor, refusing to believe that they aren't out to get him, despite their protests to the contrary, until he's beaten the snot out of both of them. Which, of course, makes them really decide to get him. Eventually. It's "Three's Company" involving supervillains! With Titania beating up everyone who mistakes her for one of the other strong, beefy super-women, Thundra; Deadpool ragging on the Constrictor, and the Constrictor whining his way through the whole issue. ("I demand more respect! I pay half the rent, you know! It's not fair!" "Of course it's not fair. We're villains -- it's what we do.")
• Iron Man #27 - So, Metal Tights Lad here was just hallucinating the whole bit about having his secret identity revealed. More hallucination follows. What a goombah. Eventually, though, he wakes up, to discover... a horrible plot point! Yes, it's a major plot point whose genesis involves Tony "Genius Boy" Stark not remembering to make his armor Y2K compliant... which was the point at which the soft, fluttering sound of a comic book being gently hurled through the air resounded through my apartment, ending with a fulfilling thwack as it struck the far wall.

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