Great Moments in Chocolate History: With 20 Classic Recipes From Around the World by Howard-Yana Shaprio, Ph.D

This look at the history of chocolate was published in 2015 by National Geographic. So don't expect a more commercial look like when the first Reese's Peanut Butter Cup debuted. This is more of a scholarly text but told in layman's terms. Although I still have trouble understanding what chocolate liquor is. I've tried for years to wrap my head around that luxurious food stuff. Some candy bars are mentioned. But it's mostly if the manufacturer made a major breakthrough in the process or the manufacturing of chocolate. 

Speaking of candy companies, the Mars corporation gets a lot of love. That's because the writer of this book is Dr. Howard-Yana Shapiro, the chief agricultural officer of Mars, Incorporated. Somehow that just feels like Nat. Geo is lowering its standards with a corporate sponsor. The author lauds praise upon praise of the steps towards sustainable farming of cacao and fair trade practices that the Mars corporation is doing to ensure that the next generation of chocoholics have chocolate. I would have been okay with this if Dr. Shapiro had included how the Mars family first managed to get a life-time contract for purchasing Hershey chocolate and then stabbed Milton Hershey in the back, reneging on the contract and then leaving the Pennsylvania company in the dust.

About a third of this book is a cookbook. And with the chocolate expert's tips on the proper uses and techniques for cooking with chocolate, these are some of the best recipes that I have ever come across as a culinary instructor. There's several that I think my students will enjoy like how to make macarons. Thanks to the recipe in this book, I finally feel like I have a much better scientific understanding of the process of making this highly requested desert. Personally, I want to make the Chicken Mole dish with the recommended pairing of steamed rice. 

If you want a book that explores chocolate through historical accounts, scientific discoveries and the taste buds of fans worldwide, this is a good book to start with. I bought my copy of a Friend's of the Library bookcase sale display for only $5. While I do feel that there was a bias towards the makers of M&Ms and Snickers, I did learn some new facts and new cooking techniques. Plus I don't feel quite so scared that the world's supply of chocolate is going to dry up in the next few weeks. Though if we don't get on the ball in supporting more farmers and pest and disease resistant strains of cocoa trees, it might be a confection that only the richest citizens of planet Earth will be able to afford.

I don't know about you. But I need my chocolate fix. So, Dr Shapiro, if you needed to give your employer a little bit of free advertising to get the message of sustainable farming practices for cacao, that I guess I will begrudgingly support your efforts.

Worth Consuming!

Rating:7 out of 10 stars. 

Planet of the Apes Vs Fantastic Four #1

I know that with my mystery blood disease that I've been really behind on keeping up with the new releases. But how did I miss this one?!

From earlier this year, Planet of the Apes Vs Fantastic Four is a 4-issue mini co-published by 20th Century Fox and Marvel. As much as Disney's monolithic acquisition of studios and franchises alarm many, I appreciate how we're getting crossovers that 5-10-20 years ago would have been unthinkable. Some crossovers aren't that very hard to pair together. Having a Predator stalking prey in downtown New York City and battling Earth's Mightiest Heroes in an effort to take the perfect hunter down isn't as big of a stretch as the pairing of apes and Marvel's First Family. They're from 2 totally different universes. But writer Josh Trujillo actually found a way to make it work.

Our story begins at the Baxter Building. The former Soviet supervillain, Crimson Ghost and his band of super smart simians infiltrate the home of the FF in search of a device called a Di-Quantum Stabilizer. Somehow the Crimson Ghost learned of the existence of a world where apes are the dominant species over man and the Commie wants in on the action. (As the villain once maintained operations on the moon, I suspect that he learned of the Planet of the Apes from his one-time lunar neighbor, Uatu the Watcher.)

The Crimson Ghost finds the device and in battle with Mr. Fantastic, he activates it. Only instead of himself and his monkey minions going through the inter-dimensional portal, it's the Fantastic Four who are sucked through!

Reed, Sue, Johnny and Ben find themselves on a semi-arid planet. Instead of being covered in rocks, Ben Grimm is back in his flesh and blood form. Reed cannot stretch. The only thing hot about Johnny Storm is his temper. The Fantastic Four have lost their cosmic powers and they better figure out things fast because they soon find themselves captured by the gorilla soldiers of General Ursus and in front of the tribunal of Dr. Zaius, facing a death sentence!

I loved this opening chapter. It had the feel of that 1968 original sci-fi classic. I especially loved how you get an opening scene of about 3-4 pages and them boom! There's this amazing splash page that is an homage to the '68 theatrical poster. If ever a comic book needed a soundtrack, it's this one. Though in my head, those iconic drums from the opening theme played in THX surround sound in my head.

There's a fantastic twist that occurs right before the not-so surprising cliffhanger reveal. The cover kinda spoils the cliffhanger. As for the twist, you'll find out on the cover of issue #2. So you can't blame me for letting that cat out of the bag. 

I cannot wait to read it. This has been a nearly flawless crossover this far.

Rating 9 out of 10 stars.

Marvel Point One #1

2011's Marvel Point One isn't as coveted as the following year's Marvel NOW! Point One. The 2012 one-shot marks the very first appearance of Kamala Kahn, who will become Ms. Marvel. I'm very fortunate to have gotten a copy of that book in a grab bag and have it graded. But that doesn't mean that this issue doesn't have any resell value also.

This issue bears the first appearance of the Sam Alexander Nova. Kaine Parker, the clone of Peter Parker, takes up the mantle of the Scarlet Spider for the first time. Plus, there's the only and only appearance of twin siblings Coldmoon and Dragonfire. Don't know who those last two are? Don't worry, I didn't either. 

Further research says that the yin and yang siblings were supposed to be the main characters for a new video game aimed at the Chinese market. This issue was to be their formalization into established Marvel canon. But the game got cancelled and plans for Coldmoon and Dragonfire to become the newest members of the Avengers was quietly scrapped.

You might be wondering just how do you explain these two characters saving Earth's Mightiest Heroes and then just never seeing the light of day ever again. Turns out that the framing story by Ed Brubaker presents every story as either the happenings of an alternate Earth or being part of a possible Earth-616 reality.  

A pair of mysterious men in indecipherable spacesuits have infiltrated the lunar sanctuary of the Watcher. Every 3 years, Oatu goes catatonic for precisely 42 minutes. During this time, anyone can enter the Watcher's domain undetected. These infiltrators are looking for some key piece of information about a future cataclysmic event and while searching for that data, they encounter those events that may or may not ever come to pass. 

This special was designed to give new and established readers a starting point for the events that would take place over the course of 2012. A look at the Age of Apocalypse and Steven Strange's newest lineup of Defenders are also shown in these pages. The over-arching action occurring on the Moon would be the starting off point for the year-long maxi-series event Original Sin, which I think I own the whole thing but haven't read it yet. 

I can't believe I was so dumb. I looked up just who were the 2 guys in spacesuits trespassing Uatu's compound. The main character is never mentioned by name. But he does call his partner Andrew. Andrew it turns out isn't important. In fact, I don't think he ever turns up again. As for the leader, I'll give you a couple of hints: he's one of my favorite non-super powered Marvel characters and he is a major player in the events of Original Sin. Once I figured out who it was, I was smacking myself upside the head because I couldn't believe that I couldn't figure out who it was!!!

A good story, of only to motivate me to read Original Sin after my Halloween 2026 reads are completed. I have no interest in following up on the return to AoA. I don't think I really care about the new Nova. Scarlet Spider? Maybe if I found the books at my local library. But the Defenders book has been on my radar for a while. Maybe it's time to pull the trigger on that one. 

I probably won't get this one graded as I have a slew of other books I would like to see get the treatment that are way front in line of this book. But it's something I will be holding on to!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Spider-Man/Superman

A lot of people don't know this but after the 1976 historic first meeting of Superman and Spider-Man, a sequel was released. DC Comics was adamant that they were going to be the main publishers of the initial team-up. Seeing that a book starring the Man of Steel and Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man was going to be a massive hit, Marvel let their distinguished competition have the first run; they would publish the eventual sequel. It took another 5 years, but in 1981, Marvel, in the lead role, co-published the follow up. Unfortunately, while it's the superior story, the sequel wasn't as well received. 

Now in honor of the 50th anniversary of the two comic book icons meeting, DC and Marvel issued not one but two giant-sized specials. Naturally, DC published first. But for Marvel's entry, fans didn't have to wait another 5-6 years. Nope. Just a couple of months later, readers got to enjoy more of Superman and Spider-Man together in action.

The main story takes place during Peter Parker's time with the symbiote suit. Trapped underneath a pile of Kryptonite laced rubble by the combined efforts of the Green Goblin and Lex Luthor, readers finally get a chance to see what would happen if Superman and Venom bonded together!

There's 8 shorts that occupy the last half of this special. Spider-Man Noir has less than 10 minutes to save his biggest detractor, J. Jonah Jameson from the electric chair, having been famed for murder by by Lex Luthor. Featuring the Golden Age Superman, the plot hearkens back to the very first story by Siegel and Shuster to star the Man of Steel.

Gwen Stacy and Lana Lang run into each other and discuss the men in their lives. Then the ever lovin' Thing must lead a team of Justice Leaguers and Avengers against the Hulk, who has become the newest member of the Red Lantern Corps. Thor assists Steel after the Hobgoblin has stolen the newest tech from John Henry Irons' lab. Supergirl and Ghost Spider team-up against Livewire. In my favorite story, Darkseid has overthrown Odin as the supreme leader of Asgard. The only warrior able to defend the throne remains Thor. Only it's the Jane Foster version of the Thunder God.

Superman shows up a couple more times in this book. First he offers some sagely advice to Miles Morales on what it means to be a super hero. Then in the capper, Superman finds Spider-Man atop the George Washington Bridge on the anniversary of the web-crawler's darkest day: the day Gwen Stacy died. 

Once again, I think Marvel published the better of the 2 Superman and Spider-Man team-up specials. For one thing, it's got Supergirl. For another, we see a Venomized Man of Steel and a Hulk in full Red Lantern rage. Plus anytime you get to visit Kirby's Fourth World is a treat for me. I didn't mind that the hero of the story was the Jane Foster Thor. I also enjoyed the cameo addition of the DC hero who comes to help. I just would have loved it if Beta Ray Bill might have also arrived on the scene. He could have had a personal history with Darkseid. Maybe the New God killed BRB's race and the alien Thor was hungry for revenge. 

As with every one of the Marvel/DC crossover specials, there has been one story that I demand that the Big Two publishers follow up on. With this one-shot, I want to see an Asgard Vs. Apokolips battle to the finish! Throw in a scene where Darkseid obliterates Thanos for being a cheap copy of the New God and I'll happily pay $10.99 for the special!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Five BeLow has really been killing it with some quality book finds for really good prices lately. That's where I found this hardcover for only $5. Containing a dozen short stories about the world's most famous detective, I don't think that I had ever previously read this anthology by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle as a whole. The Knightdale, NC library I went to as a kid would have a lot of these short stories bound in hardback and available individually. So I went nearly 35 years thinking that 'The Red-Headed League' and 'The Five Pips' were novellas. 

'The Red-Headed League' has a ginger haired man asking Holmes to help him figure out why his cushy job writing from the dictionary suddenly came to an end without any warning. Holmes deduces that the scheme is the plan of a master criminal and seeks to get Scotland Yard involved least a national financial crisis bring the British Empire to its knees. I had erroneously thought for years that the mastermind was Professor Moriarty but the arch villain is somebody else.

'The Five Pips' has Sherlock Holmes taking on the Ku Klu Klan! Written in the late 1880s, at a time when the KKK had fallen dormant, Holmes learns that a young man is being targeted by former members who want some papers that were once in the possession of a relative who died shortly before he had received a threatening letter as well. One of the detective's rare fails, the story is a let down because even though Holmes swear vengeance on the murderers, he never gets it because a storm sinks the boat that houses the killers!

Of the other 10 short stories in this book, I think I have previously read 3 or 4 others. I figured out the crime or the villain behind the crimes at least twice before Holmes does. I'm definitely not as bright as Sherlock Holmes. So I either have read those tales before or seen an adaptation on TV. 

Shortly after The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes was published in 1892, Doyle would kill off Holmes in 'The Final Problem' a year later. The detective's death was temporary. But you can see the author's boredom with the character in many of these tales. The concluding story, 'The Copper Beeches', is the most guilty. At the beginning of the tale, Sherlock bemoans that he thinks that the days of thrilling adventures are behind him. All that's left is helping forgetful little old ladies remember where they left their rent money, he claims. Holmes and Watson basically skewer their readers love of sensationalism in the events of their adventures before going on to solve a mystery that I could figure out a mile away. 

However I see ideas for other stories swirling around Doyle's noggin. The vicious mastiff that brings the story to a conclusion foreshadows Sherlock's first case when he returns from the dead in The Hounds of the Baskervilles. These might not be the mysteries that Doyle put the most care and effort in. But I enjoyed them. At a time where I am having trouble reading graphic novels and comics for very long, I can devote a good 30-45 minutes reading and Holmes and Watson. I might not understand some of that era's slang and I might have to go back when I discover that I overlooked something. But being able to read such complex works was a feat that impressed my neurologist last week. There more Holmes out there and I will be returning to 221B Baker Street again in the near future.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Dee Snider: He's Not Gonna Take It

In 1985, about a dozen wives of Congressmen and Senators got together and formed the PMRC, the Parents Music Resource Center. Lead by then Sen. Al Gore's wife Tipper, the women wanted to impose a rating system on music. Some saw it as a way to educate parents on the content in the music their children listened to. Some saw it as censorship. As a result, a Senate Judicial hearing was called. In defense of the music, 3 artists agreed to testify: John Denver, Frank Zappa and Dee Snider of hair band Twisted Sister. This is Snider's story.

After a small introduction, Dee himself presents his life story from first becoming interested in music because of the Beatles to becoming the androgynous lead singer of TS. His father was far from his biggest supporter. In fact, he'd laugh in the aspiring musical artist's face, with the elder Snider just not understanding kids and their music in those days.

Dee put the anger from that humiliation to paper and later penned one of the greatest anti-BS anthems of all-time, We're Not Gonna Take It. A brilliant music video that redefined the visual medium with its live-action cartoon retribution against the metal hating poppa, would take Twisted Sister to the top of the charts. And then came the PMRC.

Just about when Twisted Sister hit the top, the PMRC put We're Not Gonna Take It on their list of 15 songs that should be banned from the delicate ears of children. The PMRC interpreted Snider's cathartic rebellion against his distant father and haters of the band, as a call for nationwide violence and riots. Angered by the attacks, when invited to rebut the accusations of the PMRC, Snider jumped at the chance to speak before Congress.

Snider's opening statement and his answers back to the questioning body has since been considered a victory for free speech on the rocker's behalf. But in 1985, the aftermath branded Dee Snider and Twisted Sister as either Public Enemy No. 1 to the American family or a traitor by true heavy metal fans. Years later, thanks to Snider's testimony being available in full on social media, the singer and his band have been redeemed in the eyes of generations of fans as well as first amendment historians.

Dee Snider now hosts a weekly radio show called The House of Hair. He recently retired from Twisted Sister because of his health. He and his family live in my home state of North Carolina. My pastor isn't so much of a fan of Christmas carols. But he likes Twisted Sister. Because of this, I have made it my mission to one day persuade Mr. Snider to one day visit our church in Durham for the holidays and sing his version of O Come All Ye Faithful. 

That being said, I want you to know that my review is going to be 100% honest. I'm not giving praise in order to pander for my holiday church dream coming true. Yes, I did buy this book just recently over the weekend. I've been wanting to read it since it came out in 2023 and if I ever get to hear a live version of Twisted Sister's version of the holiday classic, this book will be getting autographed!

It's a really good read. There's a a lot of Tarantino level use of f-bombs. But there's no sex, drugs or gore. Except for Al and Tipper, of course. Dee has a rather unfortunate encounter with a high school bully. And as a very angry young man, he got into brawls and arguments with more than his fair share of Twisted Sister haters. But as a historical graphic novel, this ranks up there as one of the best.

I was a bit hesitant to buy this graphic novel because I thought it was only going to be about the Senate hearings. While it does account for about a third of the book, it wasn't boring. And despite being written by Dee Snider, his account felt honest and true to what happened. Having his life story included was a smart move. But don't expect a full account. I had to go to Wikipedia to see if the woman he dates at the beginning of his career ends up being his wife of nearly 45 years. It is. I also wanted to know more about the relationship with his dad. Did they reconcile? You'll get an answer. But it's very brief. 

The artwork was really good. It was a mix of realism with caricature thrown in. Steve Kurth seems to have been a student of the MAD Magazine School of Art as all of the famous players in this story look like whomever they're supposed to be representing but with facial features slightly exaggerated. 

Definitely a keeper. Though I hope to have some graffiti added to the inside cover someday soon. I wonder if anyone has ever staged dived of the sanctuary  platform at my church before...

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Bart Simpson: Prince of Pranks

I was a bit disappointed in this collection of Bart Simpson themed comics. Some of which was no real fault of Bongo Comics. Instead, the blame rests solely on trade paperback edition publisher Harper Collins. 

Some of the stories just weren't very good. (Though I think the parody of promotional comics starring Kristy the Clown and a bunch of McDonaldville clones was intentionally bad in a satirical kind of way. And I liked it!) The opener has Bart and Skinner switching roles for a day. Milhouse takes schoolboy Skinner under his wing and persuades him to pull an epic prank on Principal Bart. But before he can do it, Bart cancels school early and that's it. No real punchline to a tale that has a great but cliched plot with some fantastic gags throughout. 

The two tales starring Ralph Wiggum were probably the best. In one, Ralph is taken advantage of by Jimbo, Dolph and Kearney. Then then bullies return but it's Bart to the rescue when he starts a rumor that Ralph fought off a gang of bikers.

I'm currently reading a collection of Futurama comics. Also from Bongo Comics and compromised of a similar bullpen of talent, the Futurama books are far superior to what's inside here. Part of it I think is that less is more. The Futurama issues have just 1 large main story and 2 very small backups, if any at all. The Bart books are all made of shorts about 6-8 pages in length. And yet, each story tries to capture the formula of an episode of the Simpsons with a brief storyline that morphs into the main premise by the second act. An average of 7 pages per story just isn't enough time for a quality story that attempts to check off all the boxes of a Simpsons episode formula. 

Another thing hurting this book is missing talent. Gail Simone, Sergio Aragones and Ian Boothby are all absent. Their creative plots (and in Aragones' case, illustrations) have created some of my all-time favorite Bongo stories starring the residents of Springfield. I'm pretty sure that there won't be very many memories made from reading this volume.

Now for the thing that wasn't Bongo's fault but 100% the blame of publisher Harper Collins. My book was literally falling apart at the seams. At first, I thought that I could eliminate this problem and glue the pages back into the spine. But towards the end, probably the 3rd to last page, I discovered that 1 freaking page was missing!!!

I understand that this book is 15 years old and yes, I bought it used. But this is not the first book from Harper Collins that I have gotten that had this problem. What are they using as book binder glue? Spit?! As much as this was one of my least favorite collections of Simpsons comics, I still want to own a complete run of stories. So I could either trade this book back in, minis the page (I don't think that's ethical) or I hold onto it in hopes of getting a replacement somewhere down the road. It seems like a lot of hassle for a book that I didn't thoroughly enjoy.

Rating: 5 out of 10 stars.