The New Adventures of Abraham Lincoln (2025 Comic Book & Graphic Novel Reading Challenge)

It's another day in detention for Byron. It's not because he's a trouble-making kid. Once again, Byron just happens to know more about American history than his teacher does and the instructor cannot stand to be embarrassed by a pupil.

Bryon spends his detentions reading history books. In particular, his favorites are about the 16th President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln. Always wanting to have met his hero, Bryon seemingly gets the chance when the deceased visits detention with his own version of American history. No; Benjamin Franklin was never elected President! That's not why he's on the $100 bill. And no; the heads on Mount Rushmore are not a natural rock formation created by volcanoes millions of years ago.

Bryon's after school encounter with Lincoln appears to have just been a really weird dream. However, the next day on TV, Bryon learns that his bizarre history lesson is about to get weirder as President Clinton has just resigned from office in order to let Lincoln finish out his 2nd term as the 43rd President of the United States. 

This Honest Abe seems anything but as he appears to have a hypnotic trace over the populace of the US of A. With time running out before Lincoln's inauguration, it's up to Bryon, his rebellious friend Marcie, his wheelchair bound veteran pop and the real time-displaced Abraham Lincoln to save America from itself!

Understanding Comics' Scott McCloud wrote, illustrated and programmed this 1998 graphic novel published by Image. With technical advice from Kurt Busiek and Neil Gaiman, The New Adventures of Abraham Lincoln is a computer generated story in which McCloud used 3-D models of important Washington buildings and monuments, along with photography and hand drawn images to create a political satire that seems crafted for today's America. 

On more than one occasion, the fake Lincoln promises to 'Make America Great Again!'. Around the end of the book, the impostor's  followers hold Congress at gun point if they refuse to confirm him as the next POTUS. It's very difficult to laugh at this obviously humorous look at how American politics has become less like C-SPAN and more like professional wrestling, if it just wasn't so gosh darn accurate.

Completing this review completes Task #32 (Fictional Comic Based on a Real Person) of the 2025 Comic Book and Graphic Novel Reading Challenge.

The Pilgrims and the First Thanksgiving (Family Comic Friday)

2007's The Pilgrims and the First Thanksgiving from Graphic Library is an educational comic book that does a fairly decent job explaining a controversial moment of American history. While it doesn't mention that the Pilgrims choose Cape Cod to settle because they ran out of beer and ale, we do get perspective on an often forgotten part of the First Thanksgiving story: the Native Americans!

It was always a mystery to me how Squanto knew English. Turns out that the Pilgrims weren't the first Europeans in the area. Fishermen and slavers had been coming to the cape for years prior. Also, Squanto is an Anglicized pronunciation of the name.

There was also a certain amount of caution on the side of the Indians. The white man was known to bring disease with them and Chief Massasoit didn't want his people getting sick from them. (Smart man!)

A lot of detail is out into the massive amount of food that went into the Autumn feast of Pilgrims and natives. We often get that lesson in grade school. But did you know that the event lasted 3 whole days? And there were shooting contests and axe throwing competitions in between meals? 

There's an educational section in the back of this graphic novel. In it, you get a glossary of terms, an list of further reads and an interesting 2-page article about the aftermath of the First Thanksgiving. I'd always thought that the Pilgrims were the same as the Puritans. Turns out that they weren't and man, were those Puritans mean and evil! The Pilgrims kept a 50 year peace with the Native Americans. The Puritans show up, start stealing land and within a year, the whole tribe is wiped out in a massive conflict.

Direct quotes from historical figures are supposed to be on a yellow background. But the hue is so light, I could barely figure out those segments. I also felt like the artwork was a little more simple than a typical graphic novel. However, it could be because artist Peter McDonnell is more of a children's book illustrator than a comic book artist. I think that's more of a matter of taste than actual quality.

The Pilgrims and the First Thanksgiving was an informative read. It was a timely read for the holiday. I got this recently on Amazon for a very good price. Kids will enjoy reading about the history of the fourth Thursday in November while parents and guardians will delight that the young readers in their life are learning! It's too late for this year. But if you know of a child aged 7-11 who loves reading comics, this is a read that they can enjoy next year while they wait for the turkey and trimmings to finish cooking!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Murder, New England: A Historical Collection of Killer True-Crime Tales by M. William Phelps

I know what you are thinking- I read a book. Not a graphic novel. Not a comic book. And not just a book about super heroes, cooking or culinary, I read an honest-to-god true crime anthology!

Now, I've read these types of books before. But I'm not like the average true crime buff. The story has got to really pique my interest. I like Sherlock Holmes, Victorian Era, serial killer stuff. Erik Larson's Devil In The White City was a perfect combination of those macabre interests.

This previous father's day, I took a day trip to Bald Head Island. While we waited for our golf cart reservation to come up, my wife and I perused the island library, which is a tiny single room building with no A/C. There's not even a full-time staff. The idea is to give a book/take a book. Or make a donation, which is what my wife and I decided to do. 

As we were about to leave, I saw this book in the window. My wife, being from New England, would really enjoy this I thought. So I showed it to her. My bride was very interested and upon reading about some of the tales, which take place around that Victorian Era, I wanted this book too!

Since my wife had a bunch of other things on her list and I didn't bring a book to read at the beach, I drove into this collection of 8 true crime stories. 

Stories include:

• Pre-Colonial Times: What could be the first recorded event of spontaneous combustion. Or it could be one of the first times that an accusation from a ghost (during someone else's dreams) doomed a man to death by hanging.
• Post-War of 1812: A he said/she said tale of a murdered single mother. The teenage victim who survived the assault isn't a very good witness. But the man accused isn't a very nice person when he drinks. Who was telling the truth?
• The Mafia in New England. Not really a true crime tale as much as a historical account of how the Irish mafia went from being the #1 crime family in Boston, dropping to #2 after the rise of the Italians and then coming back into control of Beantown thanks to the demented Whitey Bulger.
• Modern Times- A trio of teens who get high and enjoy true crime TV shows plan the perfect murder; only to really make a giant mess of things!
• More Modern Times- A woman brings her husband breakfast one morning. She found him lying in a terrible pool of blood. And she blames the family horse on the crime!
• And From This Sure Ain't Sesame Street File- the landscaper and handyman for TV's Big Bird, Carol Spinney, is the prime suspect in the disappearance of a respected school employee.

M. William Phelps is an engrossing writer. He does seem to put his opinions into the story. But Phelps isn't the first such writer of true crime to do this. I think it would be kinda hard to write about these types of grisly tales and not need to express some of your disgust at these repulsive acts. Plus, the author isn't a journalist per say. As long as he wasn't on the 11 o'clock news doing a report on a recent killing, I don't think Phelps is in a situation here where he must keep his opinions to himself and just relate to facts.

Now I do think something is seriously wrong with the editors at Lyons Press because I found several inaccuracies that just didn't make sense. On the back cover, when talking about the trio who plan the perfect crime, it says they murdered a grandmother. Yet in the segment about them, it's plainly mentioned that the woman killed was one of the guy's aunts and that she had never married or bore children. There's no way this woman could have been a grandmother!

There's also an instance during the segment where the lady accuses her horse of killing her husband. That murder occurred in 2006. According to Phelps, the last murder in that community was in 1980. But about a paragraph later, it's mentioned that there was 'that murder in 1983'. So which is it 1980 or 1983? Really, I think the editors should have caught this. 

Another issue I had, and I really don't think it is the author's fault, is the spacing of the sentences. There's several sentences where there's no space between the period and the start of the next sentence. Several words are done like this as well. I understand that Phelps uses quotes from the time periods. And sometimes the letter S looked like a F. People omitted letters and used commas in their place. That kind of stuff I overlook. It's the errors that are riddled throughout the author's commentary that are hard to forgive. And yes, I checked. This was not an advanced reader copy that I got my hands on.

I would love to read another book by M. William Phelps. The two books advertised on the last page of this one look interesting. The Devil's Rooming House, about the first female serial killer and The Devil's Right Hand about the tragic life of the Colt family. Hopefully, the editing is better in them.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

The Founding Foodies: How Washington, Jefferson, and Franklin Revolutionized American Cuisine by Dave DeWitt

I managed to rescue this book from the library of the Art Institute of Raleigh-Durham when it closed in 2018. I thought that my mother-in-law would enjoy it (and she did). However, once returnedm it just stayed on my to-read shelf until recently.

The Founding Foodies is a scholarly work intended to explore the culinary impacts on American society made by George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Ben Franklin. In reality, the author should have just focused on Washington and Jefferson. Ben Franklin is maybe mentioned 15 times in this book and really the only thing I learned about him in a culinary stand point was that when Franklin was ambassador to France, he ate so much rich food that he had to resign his commission due to gout. 

Benjamin Franklin is known for his many inventions. The biggest impact of these innovations to the world of food has got to be the Franklin stove. Yet, Dave DeWitt doesn't talk about Franklin's appliance at all. Not even in passing.

If the name Dave DeWitt means anything to you, that's because he's both the creator of Chile Pepper Magazine as well as the Fiery Foods and BBQ Show extravaganza held annually in Albuquerque, New Mexico. For the sake of transparency, I have met Dave DeWitt back when I owned a hot sauce store and I have been a subscriber to Chile Pepper Magazine for decades (although DeWitt is no longer affiliated with the publication). Despite the acquaintance, I am not being compensated for this review.

Thomas Jefferson is the main focus of this book. The third POTUS is responsible for bringing French cuisine to the American populace. While Dave DeWitt gives a ton of praise to Jefferson, thankfully the food historian doesn't gloss over the fact that Jefferson owned slaves and that he really did a number over the whole Hemmings family.

George Washington's impact on how American's eat is more on the agricultural side. Jefferson was a Renaissance man. Washington was an everyman. Washington brought composting and use of manure into vogue with the American farmer. These strides helped to make our nation a land of plenty. But once again, Washington was a slave owner. Though our first president seemed to be a little more benevolent or at least fairer in treatment than Jefferson was to his slaves. But not by much.

DeWitt spends a little bit of time examining American food norms prior to the American Revolution. But one of the author's main focuses is on spirits. Fresh drinking water wasn't as readily available as one would think. So distilled beverages were a necessity. As were hot beverages, as the high temperatures killed microbes. While I did know that the Revolution changed us from a nation of tea drinkers over to a land of coffee addicts, I didn't realize that our independence made us whiskey connoisseurs.

While beer never really has lost its hold on the nation, tariffs on wheat, barley and hops from England led to Americans making their own alcoholic beverages. Rum was a biggie at first. But English controlled sugar cane fields and molasses supplies put a kibosh on that. Enter whiskey! Our abundance of eye and oak helped create bourbon and American pubs and bars were never the same. 

Also of alcoholic note- hard ciders. Though once beer became favorable to Americans again, it took a back seat. Though, DeWitt's discussion of the drink inspired me to try a hard cider for the first time just last week. YUM!

DeWitt includes quite a few recipes in this book. Many of which I am interested to try. Especially the peanut soup. I fell in love with the dish when I went with my parents to Mount Vernon. Only imagine my heartbreak when I learned that the recipe I devoured wasn't the recipe of George Washington's. Apparently, you don't get to eat at his homestead. I apparently had my peanut soup at a nearby inn.

I learned a lot about early American food history. Some of which I think will be beneficial to my culinary teaching career. I would love to devote a week of French inspired foods to my students and the teachers in our upcoming food ventures. I just don't think most of what I learned about distillation is things I can share with high schoolers.

Worth Consuming.

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.