93. Superman: The Golden Age Volume 1

93. Superman: The Golden Age #1 Jerry Siegel. Joe Shuster. 2016. (Comics are from June 1938 through December 1939.) 392 pages. [Source: Library] [5 stars] [comic books; graphic novel; superheroes; action]

First sentence: As a distant planet was destroyed by old age, a scientist placed his infant son within a hastily devised space-ship, launching it toward Earth!

Premise/plot: What you see is what you get. This book is a collection of the earliest Superman comic books. The comic books include Action Comics (where he first appeared), New York World's Fair Comics, and the self-titled Superman comics. The main villain in these--appearing more than any other villain, I mean--is Ultra. But more often than not, each comic book has its own villain, or "villain." Sometimes the villain is a greedy businessman who takes shortcuts with the quality of his products, and sometimes they are out-and-out villainous. Ultra, for example, is out for world domination. Superman also at least once--maybe a few more times--does some "aggressive negotiating" with countries at war. He is not above beating out a confession from a villain either. 

My thoughts: A handful of these are extremely moralistic and didactic. To those that have read this book, a handful might not come across as the right word. There are super-incredibly-obvious didactic tactics at play. There are direct moralization at play. There are more subtle and indirect moralization at play. There's a range of spectrum. Even at its worst--it's enjoyable for a giggle. The writing is SO over the top and "special." My new favorites being SHORTLY LATER which appears more often than not in most of the adventures followed up by SHORTLY AFTER. The second half of the book, the writers seemed to have switched up the phrase. IF readers got paid a penny for every time the word "muscles" was used, then they'd be able to afford a LOT of comics. 

I can definitely see the appeal of Superman. Though it's not necessarily a visual appeal in the comics. I think this might just be the times in which they were written, but, it is almost like there were essentially three male faces and one perhaps two female faces that appear. Everybody looks the same, or same-ish. There are no details, no expressions. I thought it was funny--perhaps ironic--that Superman was able to take the place of at least two different people and masquerade as someone else. Once as a football player and once as a boxer??? Honestly, the way these characters are drawn, I believe it. That being said, I enjoyed the vintage-ness of it.

 

© 2024 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

114. Revenge of the Librarians

Revenge of the Librarian. Tom Gauld. 2022. [October] 180 pages. [Source: Library] [Bored Adults]

First sentence: Now that you are my bride, you will never leave this castle! Wow! Your library is amazing! 

Premise/plot: A collection of book-themed comic strips. Each strip stands alone. All are connected loosely by the theme of books. There are comic strips about writing, editing, publishing, reading, reviewing, and librarying. (Okay, there's no such word. Being a librarian.) The strips also address the pandemic. 

My thoughts: Each strip stands alone. Some I loved. Some I didn't. Most fall in neutral territory. It was a quick and easy read. It sometimes made me smile. I think my favorite came towards the end of the book. (There are NO page numbers. This was a little bit frustrating.) "Review Dice" 

Quote:
Can't decide what kind of book review to write? Simply cut out, assemble, and roll this helpful dice! Hatchet job; super-detailed, spoiler-filled retelling; brutally polite dismissal; elegant and insightful analysis; rambling personal essay that barely mentions the book; ecstatic love letter. 

 

© 2023 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Charlie Brown

Charlie Brown: A Peanuts Collection. Scharles M Schulz. 2018. 96 pages. [Source: Library]
This graphic novel is a blend of new stories starring the Peanuts cast and classic Peanuts strips by Charles M Schulz.

The new stories are "Charlie Brown's Star" by Jeff Dyer, "Public Speaking" by Bob Scott, "Snowball's Chance" by Justin Thompson, "She Love Me, She Loves Me Not," by Jeff Dyer, "Dear Pen Pal" by Vicki Scott, "Blind as a Bat" by Jeff Dyer, "Football Basics" by Vicki Scott, "Fight for Flight" by Shane Houghton, "Spring Training" by Shane Houghton.

Longer stories by Schulz include: "The Carousel," "Poor Chuck," and "Get Well Soon, Charlie Brown."

 My favorite story in this new collection is "Dear Pen Pal." In this one, Sally takes over writing a letter for her big brother. He is writing a pen pal. Sally is quite proud of herself for having learned to write in cursive the letters A through N. But Sally's idea of what should go into a letter is quite different from Charlie Brown's idea. Will this letter ever get written?

Charlie Brown: If you can't write 'Dear Pen Pal,' what can you write?
Sally: "Thank you for the cookies!"
Charlie Brown: But he didn't send me cookies.
Sally: He didn't send you cookies?? Then why in the world are you writing to this kid?! The only reason to write a letter is to thank someone for sending a gift! And the only reason to thank someone for a gift is so they send another one! Until this kid sends you cookies, I don't see any reason I should learn to write the letter "P"!!

I enjoyed the book. Perhaps I'd have loved it even more with less sports. But this one still had some great moments.


© 2018 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Misadventures of Grumpy Cat

The Misadventures of Grumpy Cat and Pokey, vol. 1 Ben McCool, Royal McGraw, Elliott Serrano, Ben Fisher, Steve Uy. 2016. Dynamite Entertainment. 104 pages. [Source: Review copy]

I didn't enjoy reading The Misadventures of Grumpy Cat (and Pokey!), at least not as much as I was expecting to--wanting to. I hoped my love of Grumpy Cat would outweigh my dislike of comic books. That wasn't the case at all. The portrayal of Grumpy Cat didn't really live up to my expectations either. More often than not, my reaction to a comic was: so what?

I wasn't expecting the weirdness in the collection: a couple of ghost stories, a time travel story, an alien encounter, and one about ancient Egyptian mummies.

Treasure Map--Grumpy Cat exerts a lot of energy in this one to set up Pokey for a trick: she buries a treasure map, pretends to be disinterested, refuses to cooperates, reluctantly agrees, dresses up as a ghost or two, etc. A "real" ghost ends this strip. I was less than enthused by this first comic.

Grumpy in HD--Grumpy gets Pokey and a dog into trouble with the humans in this one. It is about the remote control and how to "make" it work. It felt shorter and less annoying--which is a good thing.

Super-Pokey & Grumpy Cat in Paws of Justice--Pokey convinces Grumpy Cat to be his sidekick. Pokey having been inspired by watching superheroes on tv. There are costumes and everything. Can this duo prove heroic in the local neighborhood. This one is a bit over-the-top in a purely silly way. If I had to pick a favorite to like, it, might accidentally be this one.

Grumpy Cat Goes to Comic-Con--just one page, and, definitely one of the 'so what????' strips.

Cell Phone--Grumpy Cat and Pokey get into some trouble with a cell phone. At first Grumpy Cat was don't *try* to answer the phone, leave it alone, it's nothing but trouble waiting to happen. Then, she changes her mind when the human on the other end of the phone starts talking about bringing treats.
It doesn't end well for the cats.

Vincent Van Grump--In an effort to become famous, Grumpy tries her hand at singing, writing, and painting. Perhaps one of the better ones in the collection. At least it isn't otherworldly.

Grumpy Birthday to You--Grumpy Cat is grumpy about her birthday.

Detective Cats--Grumpy Cat and Pokey become detectives to solve a case--a case about missing food or missing treats or something like that. It was okay.

A Grump in Time--weird from start to finish and not in a good-weird way or a funny-weird way. Just weird-weird as in--so what????

Close Encounters of the Grumpy Kind--Pokey and Grumpy meet aliens. At this point I was ready for the book to be done already.

I Know What You Did Last Summer...I Just Don't Care--Fortunately there was just one more story. Unfortunately it was Halloween-themed. This one features the haunted house (again) and an Egyptian mummy-cat.

© 2016 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

The Joy of a Peanuts Christmas

The Joy of a Peanuts Christmas: 50 Years of Holiday Comics. Charles M. Schulz. Introduction by Don Hall. 2000. Hallmark Books. 119 pages. [Source: Bought]

The Joy of a Peanuts Christmas is a collection of holiday-themed comic strips. Some are black-and-white, some are color. The book is divided into decades: 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. The strips themselves are not in chronological order. Though strips that tell a continuing story are in order. Throughout the book, tribute is paid to each character: Charlie Brown, Pig-Pen, Lucy, Linus, Peppermint Patty, Sally, Woodstock, Schroeder, Snoopy, Marcie, Franklin, Spike.

I enjoyed this one very much. It felt very timeless. The characters didn't really change through the years. They remained in spirit very much the same which is one reason why I think it works so well.

Do I have a favorite character? Yes. Of course, I do. It's Linus!!! But I also love, love, love Snoopy.

Do I have a favorite comic strip? That would be harder to answer. There were so many I enjoyed within this collection.  I liked Charlie Brown making so many snowmen in the February 22, 1953, strip. I liked Pig-Pen's dirtiest snowman in the January 6, 1955, strip. Lucy isn't my favorite by any stretch, but the December 21, 1959 strip made me smile. I thought the strip from December 19, 1958, was funny but also a little sad at the same time. In it, Linus suggests addressing Santa as "Dear, O, Mighty One'. Though essentially, anytime Linus is writing Santa or thinking about writing Santa I enjoyed it. And then, of course, there are the strips of Linus preparing to be a shepherd for the play. Loved those! Sally is another favorite, though not perhaps as much as Linus and Snoopy. I loved her hanging up dozens of tiny stockings (1966). In 1978, Sally wrote a report about Santa and his RAIN GEAR. But one of my favorites stars both Snoopy and Sally. It's from November 28, 1995.

Do you have a favorite character?

© 2015 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews