Bryson Fars: The Millionaire Creator/Jewel: The Magical Chef (Family Comic Friday)

I'm diverting a little bit on today's Family Comic Friday post. Instead of family friendly comics and graphic novels, I want to highlight a couple of books made for kids BY KIDS!

Last weekend, my bride and I went to the Geek & Grub Market at Fred Fletcher Park in Raleigh, NC. Geek & Grub is held monthly in Raleigh (with other locations like Durham, NC, Charlotte, NC and in Virginia occasionally).  There were food trucks, bakeries, toys, comics, and games. A costume contest! Prizes! Lots of fun for all ages! This month's theme was super heroes and despite the rain, there managed to be a fairly decent sized crowd. 

It was in the vendors area that I met the creators of the 2 books I am featuring, Elijah B. and Jewel L. They're siblings. Elijah was around age 10 or 11. Jewel was younger. I think she said she was 8. It's a family effort as their Dad, Ron L. is the illustrator of their books. 

Elijah B.'s book was titled Bryson Fars: The Millionaire Game Creator. It's an origin story of how Bryson Fars and his older brother and sister worked together to create a video game that combined race cars with football. Bryson is invited to showcase his new creation which gains the interest of a famous video game designer named Sizzle McDougall, who wishes to turn it into his studios' next big online offering. However, things are not all as they seem as suddenly Bryson's program seems to have a virus and cannot operate just as Sizzle is unveiling his new game, one based on Bryson's idea!

Bryson Lars is a chapter book. So I think it's something kids, especially those interested in video games and computer coding & design, will enjoy. I'm thinking those in grades 3-5 is the target audience, as some of the coding concepts can be a bit advanced. But as always, if you have a 2nd grader who can whip up a web page better than you can, then most definitely, buy them this book!

Jewel L,'s book is called Jewel: The Magical Chef. It's a fanciful book written in rhyme about a chef with magical animal friends and amazing cooking skills. One day, a wicked witch cooks up some dastardly treats in hopes of turning the children of the kingdom into goat-creatures. Can Jewel cook up an antidote to save her friends? With the delicious recipe at the back of the book, there's a very good chance that she can!

Jewel: The Magical Chef is a book that younger readers can enjoy. K-5 to 2nd is the age range I put this book. However, if you have a 3rd or 4th grader who is interested in cooking, sharing the fruit salad recipe at the end of this book would be a great way to show aspiring cooks and chefs to craft their own recipes. I'm going to share this recipe with my Culinary students next semester and they're in high school!

Plus, there's several black & white sketch pages in the back that I think you could color. So, consider Jewel: The Magical Chef to be a sort of activity book that's full of fun and perfect for a rainy summer day. By the way- I hear that Jewel L. is working on a recipe coloring book. I'll be sure to snag several copies of that for my students and other aspiring culinarians when it drops!

Both Bryson Fars: The Millionaire Creator and Jewel: The Magical Chef are available for sale on Amazon! These two children can't even drive a car and they've got a pair of books on the biggest online market platform in the world! As American Ninja Warrior's Matt Iseman says 'What's your excuse?"

Elijah B's book will help inspire children to learn about creating their own video games and computer programs (and hopefully they'll stay away from making computer viruses). Jewel L's book will inspire youngsters to cook and create their own recipes. Together, these young writers might inspire the young reader in your life to become writers as well! 

The road to becoming a writer isn't hard. It just starts with 1 sentence on a blank page!

Best of luck to all future dreamers!

Wonder Woman: Earth One, Volume 1

   Grant Morrison (Batman and Robin) ushers Diana into the Earth One universe in this graphic novel from 2016. 

    When the Amazon Princess of Themyscira discovers a man who has crashed on the shores of her home, it awakens a desire to visit the world of men. Her hope is to be a harbinger of peace between her homeland and the outside world. But what Diana witnesses chills her to the very core. Angered by her daughter's rebellious nature, Queen Hippolyta orders some of her best warriors to bring Diana back to Themyscira to be judged. Can what the American media has dubbed the 'Wonder Woman' win her freedom with the testimony of her new friends Steve Trevor and Etta Candy or will her sins be found punishable by death?

     This is the third Earth One introductory volume I have read. Superman's story along with Batman were interesting retools of the characters to appeal to a new generation of readers. The whole Earth One project has been like Marvel's Ultimate line, only on a much smaller scale. However, Wonder Woman's story doesn't seem that different from what's already been established for the last 75 years. 

    Yes- Diana's World War II ties have been erased. Yes, Etta Candy is a hip sorority sister whose libido would give Captain Jack Harkness a run for his money. And yes, the technology of Themyscira is more streamlined than based on ancient Greek and Roman myths. But the elements that Grant Morrison tries to use to make this version of Wonder Woman more shocking and daring, such as lesbianism, women's lib, and sexual dominance, aren't new to the Wonder Woman mythos. 

   What I am trying to say is that I feel like I've read this story before: every time Wonder Woman is rebooted like in 1968-69, 1986-87, and 2014.

     Now there was one element to this Earth One volume that was completely new and edgy AND it worked really well too: the art. Swamp Thing's Yanick Paquette does an amazing job with provocative new designs of Diana, Themyscira, and even Etta. Another element I loved were the unique panels he would render of chains, flowers, and gilded statues to evoke the atmosphere of each scene. It ranks up there with Mark Buckingham's mise en place for every page of Fables. I loved it. 

    A good story that I don't think goes far enough to create a new mythos of a pop culture legend. If I am going to read a story that is suppose to re-invent a timeless character for a 21st century audience, it needs to actually change the character. It doesn't happen with Wonder Woman: Earth One. I'm not sure if the master of DC reboots, Grant Morrison either tried too hard or didn't try enough. I know one thing Morrison's attempt to modernize Diana of Themyscira did do: it validated the old adage: "the more things change, the more they stay the same."

    Rating: 6 out of 10 stars.

Blip! (Family Comic Friday)

 Blip is an adorable early reader graphic novel about an adventurous but lonely robot searching for a friend that he can talk to. Along the way, he'll meet up with hungry alien fish, mischievous creatures and even a human astronaut. But alas, none of them understand his 'blips.’

   Another success by Toon Books! I love that they support up-and-coming cartoonists as well as little known but in no ways inferior international authors like book creator Barnaby Richards. This is the Londoner’s first book, but his robot creation has been a pet project for years. I hope we’ll see more of him.

   One more thing I love about Toon Books is their commitment to raising up the next generation of graphic novel and comics readers through their different levels of reading difficulty. (Check out back for the primer for parents on how to read a graphic novel!) With the simple words and bright colors, this is a perfect book for getting Kindergarten aged and younger children reading.

   So check your local library for this book like I did. Or go to Amazon where you can check out the first few pages of this amazing book.

  Worth Consuming

  Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.

Countdown to New Who: Advent 2016: Day 2

  I saw today that there are only 22 days left until Christmas. 22 more days until an all-new Doctor Who Christmas special. It reminded me also of a new book out called the 12 Doctors of Christmas. Here, all 12 incarnations of the Doctor have holiday adventures with some of there most beloved companions and villains!
    With time running out until December 24th. that also means that there isn't much time left to ship packages. You can order the book through Amazon. Also at Amazon, you can preview the book by clicking here!
    Enjoy!
 

Flashpoint: Hal Jordan #2

   After the Atlantean assault in issue 1, the only fighter battalion left to defend the United States is the squad contracted out by Ferris Aircraft. But things are looking up as the aerospace plant has been assigned with retrofitting their planes with technology cloned from Abin Sur’s crashed ship. However, the hopes and dreams of a Guardians powered air force will come crumbling down when Ferris is attacked by a fleet of Amazon piloted planes.

   INVISIBLE Amazon piloted planes!

  This chapter in the Flashpoint tie-ins was awesome! Thrills on every page. Adam Schlagman has crafted an amazing storyline that interweaves with his other Flashpoint title Abin Sur- The Last Green Lantern.

  But once again, it’s the amazing art by Cliff Richards that steals the show. The majority of his work over his career has been contained to horror titles like Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Yet, his work in Hal Jordan looks like he’s been crafting war comics for decades. It’s his genius level of attention to detail that is making him a new personal favorite artist with every page I turn of this dynamic miniseries.

  Worth Consuming

  Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Age of Confusion

   

   I feel like this merits some clarification. When I found the 'AGE OF ULTRON' hardcover I saw the companion right next to it. Wanting to read the entire collection of this storyline, I grabbed them both. (I literally shouted "Score!" While doing a fist pump. I was that excited.)                                  
 
    Much to my chagrin, after reading the entire hardcover edition, I found that the companion didn't have any new material in it. If you own that volume then there is no reason to own the AOU Companion. So why did Marvel publish it in the first place?          

    Obvious answer aside (to get more of your money) I did some research to find out. According to stashmycomics.com, there have only been two reprintings of AOU; the hardcover edition and a trade paperback. The hardcover, published in 2013, retailed for $75! The 2014 trade retailed for only $35, but it doesn't include the supplement issues like the hardcover does. The Companion which contains the supplemental issues was published at the same time as the trade and sells for $30 and was published in trade paperback form only. So, Marvel thought they were doing it's fans a favor by publishing the two works in a cheaper for format with the whopping discount price of $65! (Wow Marvel, thanks for the price break!)

   Another option for readers could be to just buy all of the issues in the miniseries and supplementals individually. But if you can't find the issues in a bargain bin, you'll likely pay more than the price of the hardcover. Another option is to get just the 10 issues of the AOU mini and then get the companion. It can be found on Amazon for as low as $21.45 new ($16 used.)

   So, now you've got some options. More importantly, you've been warned so that you don't spend your hard earned money on duplicate titles.

Now go read some comics!

Daniel Boom AKA Loud Boy #1: Sound Off!

This is the first graphic novel in a charming new all-age series. The idea behind this book is that 10 years ago a mad scientist hit the hospital hit the hospital in which Daniel was being born with a silence ray. Only, this ray was reversed and so instead of being the world’s most quiet child, Daniel Boom is now the loudest. Now along with his sister and 3 other children who were born the same day as Loud Boy, Daniel forms a team of super heroes to stop this mad scientist and his cohorts of an international cabal that hopes to make the children of earth seen and not heard.

Except for a couple of fart jokes, the premier volume of this series wasn’t bad. Yes, as with most children’s books, the jokes were old and corny. But the art was exceptional and I really liked the color palette. If I had a niece or nephew, I’d think of giving this book as a gift for sure!

Currently, there are 3 books in the series. Each volume is priced at $6.99 but you can find them on Amazon for less. With each book clocking in at 96 pages, that’s actually a much better deal than most new comics released weekly.

Will I be seeking out further adventures? No, I’m not hooked on this series but that doesn’t mean I don’t know quality when I see it. This just is a bit too young for me. However, ages 8-14 will love this series and parents will too!

Worth Consuming

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.