Young Katherine Johnson (Family Comic Friday)

This is the second of humorous volumes on the lives of notable figures from history during their youth I've recently read by the French cartoonist Augel. This selection was chosen for Black History Month as it features noted math genius Katherine Johnson. Her work as a 'human calculator ' for NASA helped the space program win the race to the moon with the Apollo 11 landing in 1969. She was even personally requested by John Glenn to confirm his contradictory calculations during his historic Friendship 7 orbital mission in 1962.

Just like with the Agatha Christie volume, there's interactive activities for readers. Instead of solving mysteries, your tasked with solving mathematical word problems. Math not being my strong suit, I prefer solving a crime over doing algebra any day. Though I will begrudgingly admit that if I had paid a tiny bit more attention, I would have correctly solved more of those problems than I did. Though let's be honest, Augel cheated a little in that problem involving the blocks!

You explore both humorous as well as thoughtful situations in this look at Katherine Johnson. You'll experience her life as a young black girl in the segregated mountains of West Virginia as well as the stigma of being a female who's life interest were in the male dominated fields of science and math. Katherine also explored the limits of her imagination with her beloved pet chicken Luncinda, and her celestial friend, the Moon. 

Young Katherine Johnson was an adorable book. Another success by Augel. Teachers will love this book as the last 10 or so pages are a lesson guide for Black History Month, science and math and astronomy and physics. Parents and guardians will love how the young readers in their lives will learn and be entertained through reading. And maybe they'll want to do some of the extra activities and science experiments in the back of this graphic novel! There's potential for fun for the whole class AND family!

Worth Consuming!

A Christmas Carol: A Ghost Story

Charles Dickens A Christmas Carol is a favorite of mine. I make a perennial effort to enjoy the holiday classic in some way. A couple of years ago, I went to a school play. Last year I watched the historical account of it's creation in The Man Who Invented Christmas. This year I consumed A Christmas Carol: A Ghost Story by European comics creator Jose-Luis Munuera.

Originally published in France in 2022, this 2023 edition by Cinebook Expresso was one that I ordered last year. But due to a shipping delay, I didn't get it until early January, 2024. So I waited almost a full year to read this book.

The big twist is that the role of Scrooge is gender swapped. In fact most of the characters are gender swapped. Ebenezer Scrooge is now Elizabeth Scrooge. The Ghost of Christmas Present is portrayed in the appearance of a boy while Christmas Present is a woman. Only Bob Cratchit and his family seem to be the only main characters that remain in their original sex. Marley too.

From the very beginning, Munuera's version is an almost word for word depiction of the original Dickens work. So much so that I started wondering what was the point of switching genders if nothing had changed. It wasn't until Scrooge is visited by the first of the three ghosts that we see any sort of deviation from the source text. 

In the 1843 novella, Ebenezer Scrooge is despised by his father, as his mother died while giving birth to him. Here, Elizabeth Scrooge is hated by her father, as Mrs. Scrooge left him, resulting in the patriarch hating all women. That alienation of parental affection motivates her to become successful. It's Elizabeth's genius at numbers and finance that results in her becoming a shrewd businesswoman and one of the leading money lenders in all of London; if not also the most despised. In a male dominated later Victorian era England, it's no wonder that Elizabeth Scrooge is bitter against the world, in turn seeing the frivolity of the Holiday season as a waste of money and time. However, it's Elizabeth's strong feminist ideals that makes her miss the true meaning of Christmas.

When in the future, Elizabeth sees how people react in a state of almost rapture when they learn of her death. That doesn't bother Scrooge because everyone dies eventually and it brings her no closer to accepting Christmas into her heart. No, it's when she learns of Tiny Tim's tragic death does Elizabeth Scrooge change and she doesn't really even change all that much. 

When Elizabeth returns to her present day, she basically becomes the secret benefactor of Tiny Tim's medical bills. Heck, she doesn't even become a second parent to the lady like Ebenezer does in the original. Yet, Elizabeth Scrooge now seems to be engaged in an ongoing war against God, threatening to do battle with the Creator should he prematurely take the life of Tiny Tim! No joke! She actually threatens God and the Ghost of Christmas Future! 

Sure, now Scrooge makes donations to the poor and has a slightly repaired relationship with her only living relative, the gender swapped niece Winifred. However this Scrooge is not really any different to the rest of the world. She's still got a huge chip on her shoulder because she's the only female financier in a male dominated society. 

I think one of the biggest problems with this book is how Munuera portrays Tiny Tim. He's not as endearing as Dickens made the iconic character. He doesn't have that dogged determination to make the best of things despite being inflected by some dread disease. Tiny Tim also doesn't express mercy on Scrooge. Not once does this version bid tidings to all by exclaiming 'God Bless Us, Everyone!' Instead, he calls Scrooge 'Stingy', at the Cratchit Christmas meal. I think had he bestowed Christmas cheer to his father's boss, Elizabeth Scrooge might have become more bonded to the child. Instead, she's more impressed by his business acumen when Tiny Tim tells his family that he was able to figure out the value of a fairy tale characters secret bounty. 

I'm not sure who missed the point of Charles Dickens classic: Elizabeth Scrooge or Jose-Luis Munuera...

I thought Munuera's artwork was stunning. I thought I was looking at stills from an animated movie. It was so vivid and life-like. Marley's Ghost was so chilling looking. As for Elizabeth Scrooge, well she wasn't old enough to be Scrooge. In almost every presentation of A Christmas Carol on stage and screen, Scrooge is an old man. In this graphic novel, our Scrooge is maybe in her late 40s, tops. That was a big swing and a miss. 

One might argue that making Elizabeth look old and spindly prevents her from being portrayed as a strong female character. I've known several old ladies who've scared the hell out of me. Maybe Munuera could have used them to convincingly change this Scrooge in a way that was more in line with Dickens's Scrooge!

A great first half. Amazing art. But the second half fell flat and the main character just didn't look right for the part. 

Rating: 6 out of 10 stars.

Yellow Negroes and Other Imaginary Creatures (2024 Comic Book & Graphic Novel Reading Challenge)

Paris born Yvan Alagbe builds upon his childhood in Benin, West Africa and adult years back in France to study physics and math to create a series of semi-autobiographical comics. A French citizen, Alagbe knows first hand the struggles of colonial born nationals who flee to France in hopes of a better life. Despite being French, the people of Algeria, Benin and French Guiyana who come to Europe for refuge are treated by the government and its French born subjects as second class. This is primarily because they are black.

'Yellow Negroes' is Yvan Alagbe's most famous work of which this collection of stories is named after. The term 'yellow negro' is used to describe blacks who are extremely light skinned. Originally a racist term coined by American whites, the term itself has a controversial love/hate relationship among the global black community. Alagbe is known for using thick brush strokes and black ink in his art. The use of pitch black ink on stark white paper paves the way for a shocking twist reveal at the end of 'Yellow Negroes'; a story about a ersatz family of Benin refugees who become the obsession of a mysterious old man named Mario.

'Yellow Negroes' was originally published in serialized form from 1994-95 in Le Cheval Sans Tete (The Headless Horse) a French anthology series co-created by Alagbe. The story was met with international acclaim and put the artist on the forefront of French alternative comics. In 2012, Alagbe's groundbreaking story, along with several other short pieces was released. Les Nègres jaunes et autres créatures imaginaires went through several printings before being translated into an English edition in 2018 as Yellow Negroes and Other Imaginary Creatures.

The other works in this collection include the wordless 'Love' showing 2 lovers in a passionate embrace, 'DYAA' based on a fevered dream of Yvan Alagbe and 'Postcard From Montreuil' which records the daily struggles of undocumented workers in a Paris district.

This English edition was translated by Donald Nicolas-Smith. Being translated from one language to another, albeit both Romance languages, a lot of this book was a difficult read. It wasn't until after reading 'DYAA', that I learned that this was a dream of the artist's and not meant to really be understood. But a lot of the rest of this book felt very chaotic. As a fan of E.C. Comics, I loved the twist ending of the title story and I thought 'Postcard From Montreuil' was a powerful travel guide to an area of the City of Lights often not visited by tourists. 

Still, I wasn't really excited to read this book and if it wasn't that I needed it to complete my 2024 reading challenge, I probably wouldn't have read it at all.

Completing this review completes Task #35 (With the Word Yellow in the Title) of the 2024 Comic Book and Graphic Novel Reading Challenge. And with this review, my 2024 challenge is completed!

Not Worth Consuming!

Rating: 3 out of 10 stars.

The Nightmare Brigade, Vol. 2: Into the Woods (Family Comic Friday)

Rarely after I read something do I go online to buy the sequel at full price. I mean, I've gone online to buy follow-up pieces before. But I'm a bargain hunter and I am willing to wait for a deal. Not this time!

Last month I read and reviewed the first volume of the French comic The Nightmare Brigade. As I was rushing to get the book returned to my local library, I didn't treat it as a Family Comic Friday offering. I saw it on the new shelf in the kids graphic novel section at the library. From reading the back cover I knew that this was going to be a different kind of read. But I didn't expect to be blown away by the amazing storytelling of the first volume!

When I got to the last page, I was incensed! The first volume, which collected English translations of the first two issues, closed on a cliff hanger! I couldn't believe it! The revelation made on that very last page is what made me research when the second book was coming out. Thankfully, I learned on the Papercutz website that my wait would only be a month. And as I said, I immediately ordered me a copy of book 2!

When we left the residents of the sleep clinic, amnesiac Esteban learned the truth about his missing past. To begin this volume, Esteban awakens to find he's home??? The man and woman who own the house claim to be his parents and that Esteban's time at Doctor Albert Angus' facility was a delusion. If that's all true, where are the rest of the Nightmare Brigade?

Heading to the clinic, Esteban finds it overrun by the performers of a strange circus. The clinic staff have been held hostage. Friends Tristan and Sarah are missing and Dr. Angus has been drugged and placed inside the sleep chamber. Even worse, the evil patient Leonard appears to be freed from his cell and running the whole operation!

As with volume 1, this book reprints 2 issues of the French series. With how trippy and twisty the first segment was, I was seriously wondering if my love for this series was premature. I had imagined this was what the movie Inception was like, if I had seen the film. But by the time I finished the second story, I realized that my wavering faith in The Nightmare Brigade was premature. 

I can personally attest that all of the mysteries that were put forth in the first volume are answered in this edition. I wondered if such a move by author Franck Thilliez might have been a mistake. Yet by the end of the book, there's about a half dozen more riddles that need solving. They've got me hooked again! But this time, I don't have a clue when they're gonna release book 3!

The horror!

Neither Amazon nor publisher Papercutz has a recommended age group for this book. Therefore, I'm going to have the recommendation myself. I would say based on the scary characters, the intense physiological mystery and the occasional mild swear, readers who are in grades 4th-7th should have no trouble enjoying this book. Though I wouldn't be surprised if young adult readers as well as parents and guardians become as obsessed as I am with the Nightmare Brigade. 

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

The Nightmare Brigade, Vol. 1: The Girl From Deja Vu

I've never seen the movie. But I from what I've heard and read about it, I really think that today's book is Inception for kids!

Dr. Angus runs a sleep clinic that specializes in nightmares. With the help of his wheelchair bound son Tristan and the mysterious Estoban, a doe-eyed boy with amnesia, Dr. Angus is able to dig deep into the psyche of his patients. Literally!

Thanks to computers, a special wrist device and hi-tech communications, Dr. Angus has created a way for the two boys to physically enter the dreams of others. In this dream world, Tristan can walk again and Estoban can walk through solid objects. Once the dreamer begins their REM cycle, the boys have 20 minutes to solve what is behind the patients nightmares or they will be trapped until the next sleep cycle. Good thing that every 1 minute of REM sleep in reality is equal to 1 hour of time in the dream realm.

The next patient Tristan and Estoban are assigned to help is a teen girl named Sarah. She's been having this recurring dream of being chased by angry adults. Each night Sarah dreams, the number of children dwindle. With only Sarah and a couple of other kids left, if the Nightmare Brigade doesn't act soon, Sarah might become trapped within her own mind. But why does Estoban, who has no idea who he really is, have a funny feeling that he's met Sarah before?

The Nightmare Brigade is a French comic story that began in 2018. Only this year has the series been translated into English and become available in the States thanks to Papercutz. It's been a while since I have really gotten into a new young adult series. But the Nightmare Brigade has really captured my attention! Gosh darn it that I'm going have to wait an unknown amount of time for the promised volume 2!

Being a French series, there's a few minor things that might not be appropriate for American young readers. In Sarah's dream, one of the remaining teenagers smokes. With how cigarettes and tobacco paraphernalia being erased from old TV shows and movies, such an act is considered unimaginable in today's family media. But in Europe, the fervor against tobacco is nowhere near that of Yankee opinions.

This series can also be considered a bit intense. There's a second story in this volume in which a boy has recurring nightmares of tourists turning to stone. There's a monstrous creature behind the scenes and that's one scary looking entity! I'm reminded of the Weeping Angels of Doctor Who!

Amazon rates this book as being for readers in grades 3-7. School Library Journal recommends this book for those in grades 5 and up. Based on the fear factor and some intense situations involving a one of the clinic's long-term care patients, I'm going say that I think the latter might be on to something with their reading recommendations. 

One of the most cerebral series for middle-schoolers I have read in a very long time. There's a ton of mysteries waiting to be explored with The Nightmare Brigade. I just hope Papercutz hurries up with Vol. 2. I've got to know what happens next! 

UPDATE: Thankfully, I won't have to wait long. Thanks to a trip to Papercutz' website, I leanrned Vol. 2 drops next month!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.

Algeria is Beautiful Like America (2022 Comic Book and Graphic Novel Reading Challenge)

The saying goes that the winners are the ones who write the history books. That may be the case. But that doesn't mean that the losers don't have a story to tell. Algeria is Beautiful Like America is an account of a family of French colonists to Algeria who after 50 years of settling, must flee their homes due to revolt. As the war gets more widespread, the book's featured family continues to move west before eventually returning to France in disgrace and immense financial hardship.

After years of hearing stories of her family's life in Algeria growing up, French professor Olivia Burton decides to take a pilgrimage to discover the African nation for herself. Though nearly 50 years have passed, Algeria is a nation still reeling from its war of Independence from France. A resulting civil war, terrorism and political strife has given Algeria the reputation of unsafe and unwelcoming, especially to the so-called Black Foot- French Christian and Jewish settlers of which Olivia is a descendant. 

Despite her family's misgivings, Olivia makes the trip to Algeria. But for the sake of safety and in need of an interpreter, Olivia meets Djaffar; an Algerian ex-pat who is in the country visiting relatives. Over the course of 3 days, Olivia and Djaffar will travel into the vast Algerian desert in hopes of locating her ancestral homes and anyone who might remember her family. She'll see the effects of colonialism from the perspective of Algeria's Muslim and Arab population. Before her trip ends, Olivia will also find a sort of redemptive closure that has been unattainable for her older family members.

Algeria is Beautiful like America was originally published in French in 2015 by Steinkis Editions. The volume I read was a 2018 English edition published by Oni Press. Some of Burton's story is confusing. The author's account of the Algerian Revolution is told in disjointed segments. Much of which is not in chronological order. 

I also had a lot of trouble trying to decipher Olivia Burton's definition of what a Black Foot is. Burton says that it's a French born Algerian. In my mind, that reads as a person from Algerian parents who happens to be born in the country of France. But to Burton's family, if you were born in France but happen to live in Algeria, you were a Black Foot; a term derived from the black leather footwear of early colonists. Yet Olivia's mother and grandparents were born in Algeria. I hope you can understand the confusion as I would think those family members should have been considered Algerian born French men and women. 

One element of this book that was not confusing was the artwork. The work of illustrator, Mahi Grand (La Conference/A Report to the Academy), is light years ahead of it's time. Grand uses some many creative framing techniques in this work that would make the great Jack Kirby jealous. Some of the scenes are done as photos from Burton's camera and Mahi Grand makes them almost lifelike. And the way he adapts his penciling to different decades of both French and Algerian history, it was like a team of illustrators were behind this work, not just one. 

This graphic novel memoir is something that I will not forget. I took a history class in college about Middle Eastern studies that looked at colonization from really only the indigenous perspective. It was interesting to finally get the European perspective even if it did take me almost a quarter of a century to obtain it. 

The book ends with Olivia meeting the family who now occupy the last domicile before her family returned to France. Apparently Olivia's family and the native family met during the moving process. A barrage of insults and bad blood was traded. Years later, one of the descendants says to Olivia, 'Neither you nor I are to blame for any of it. We must simply move on.' This sort of sentiment might seem passive. But it gives a promise of hope and healing. It's a message that I hope my country, America, can one day adopt especially as it seems like everything right now is at a breaking point. 

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.

Completing this review completes Task #2 (Set in a Foreign Country) of the 2022 Comic Book and Graphic Novel Reading Challenge. 

The Secrets of Chocolate (2022 Comic Book & Graphic Novel Challenge)

French comic book creator Franckie Alarcon is given the assignment of a lifetime! He's to follow confectioner Chef Jacques Genin for a year in order to create a graphic novel that unlocks the mysteries of Chocolate! During his time, Franckie will learn how cocoa beans turn into cocoa and then later chocolate. He'll explore the challenges chocolatiers face both professionally and personally during the holiday rushes of Christmas, Easter and Halloween. 

After the holiday rush, Franckie spends a week as an intern at Chef Genin's chocolate works. The pace is grueling. Then Franckie heads east to Peru to visit a fully operational cocoa plantation while being introduced to the global initiatives of fair trade and eco-friendly indigenous farming techniques and the protection of endangered heirloom crops.

I found Alarcon's book fascinating. As a professional chef and culinary instructor, I find it increasingly difficult to get high-schoolers to want to read. So, I am on the lookout for alternative texts in order to teach cooking techniques to them. And I know that I at least learned a lot. Unfortunately, due to a scene involving 'sexual chocolate', I don't think I'll be able to use this book in schools.

There are 2 types of chefs in the world. Bakers and those who can do everything else. I am not a baker. But I can do chocolate work. Still, despite being able to do it, I've had trouble trying to understand some of the process. Thanks to Franckie's illustrations, I understand the cocoa development process. Though, I still don't know why white chocolate isn't chocolate if it has cocoa butter in it! 

Chefs have very strong opinions about work ethic, food, taste and quality. Chef Genin and his sous chef, Sophie are not afraid to share theirs! And they pass along a few recipes as well. One thing to keep in mind is that all of the recipes are based on the metric system. I'll need to use the Google measurement converter tool before I tackle some of them however.

When it came to the recipes, I had trouble with Chef Genin's definition of a praline. His have zero nuts of any kind in them. I checked and both American, French and Belgian praline recipes call for nuts- just different types. All Genin's pralines call for are butter, sugar and fruit. No nuts and No chocolate! For a book about the revelations of chocolate, Franckie Alarcon spends a lot of time on a cocoa-less confection!

Franckie also eats a ton of chocolate. Considering how much the author eats in a year, I'll never understand how he didn't gain any weight. That is unless he took a lot of liberties and decided to not drawn himself getting bigger over time!

Though The Secrets of Chocolate debuted in American retail outlets last year, this book is actually a lot older. Alarcon's quest occurred between 2013-14. It then was published a few months later in French. This book probably would have come overseas sooner if not for the pandemic. 

I really enjoyed this book. Though it wasn't a bad read I had to take my time with it. It was very technically and quite philosophical. Plus, I feel like too much time was spent on non-chocolate candies. That being said, I'm actually looking forward to more time with Franckie Alarcon. His Art of Sushi dropped just last month and upon completing this visual journal of sugary delights, I placed an order for it at my favorite LCS.

A shining star in the growing trend of culinary graphic novels.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Completing this review completes Task #44 of the 2022 Comic Book and Graphic Novel Reading Challenge. 'About Cooking/Food.'

Asterix Omnibus, Vol. (2022 Comic Book & Graphic Novel Challenge)

How many American students can recall the adventures of Asterix the Gaul when learning French in elementary or college? I know I am one of them!

Created by Rene Goscinny & Albert Uderzo, Asterix debuted in the pages of the French comic mag Pilote in 1959. The series takes place around 50 B.C. during the Roman occupation of Gaul (now modern day France). Only Asterix's village remains unconquered by the Roman Empire. That's all thanks to a special potion that gives Asterix and his kinsmen tremendous strength and resilience. 

The Roman Empire will do anything to get their hands on this secret and that's the subject of the first Asterix story. Titled 'Asterix the Gaul', readers are introduced to a tiny Gaul powerhouse that looks like a cross between Marvel Comics' Thor and a Smurf. 

Asterix's best friend is the gentle giant Oberlix. As a tot, Oberlix fell into a vat of the potion and thus never needs a power up. With his massive strength, the dimwitted Oblerix always carries with him a menhir, a gigantic oblong stone carving.

The other main character of this series is the Druid Panoramix, sometimes known as Getafix in American translations. Panoramix is responsible for creating the potion that gives Asterix his strength. The Druid uses a golden scythe to properly harvest the mistletoe and other ingredients for the mighty elixir. 

In the second Asterix adventure, 'Asterix and the Golden Sickle', Panoramix's blade is damaged. Needing a new one right away, least his potions lack their oomph, Asterix and Oblerix travel to another town in hopes of buying a new blade. The pair wind up mixed up in a racket to make counterfeit blades involving the Gaulish black market, petty thugs and corrupt Roman officials.

The third story, titled 'Asterix and the Goths' takes place immediately after story #2. Panoramix is able to make his special potions and attends an annual meeting of Druids. At the convention, Panoramix is kidnapped by Goths (modern day Germany) and it's up to Asterix and Oblerix to rescue their magical friend.

As of 2021, there have been 39 official stories starring Asterix. Since 2020, American kids publisher Papercutz obtained the rights to publish the tales to English audiences. So far the first 15 stories have been collected in omnibus form with a couple of modern adventures being released individually. 

I feel like there are a lot of influences on adventures of Asterix. The rapid-fire dialogue is straight out of 1930s Hollywood comedies. The goofy characters invoke thoughts of Herge's TinTin. The swashbuckling aspects remind me of the Uncle Scrooge tales of Carl Barks and Don Rosa. The fluid artwork has touches of Disney and Peyo. And the name puns and inside jokes usually involving creative fonts is all very British. So I felt very at home with this book.

The irony of Asterix is that the real hero of Gaul is Oberlix. He never has to refill on the magic potion. So, Oberlix could just wipe all the Romans off the face of Gaul and be done with it. If he was vindictive enough, Oberlix probably could become the new village chieftain. But deep down all Oberlix wants is to fill his belly with boar and beer. Is that all of us, really?

The tales of Asterix are fun reads for all with a little something for everyone. There's adventure, magic and humor. And maybe even a little educational what with the phrases in Latin and encounters with historical figures like Caesar and Cleopatra. Sometimes the plot seems to go in circles. Especially with the main 3 characters winding up in prison a lot. But there's enough creativity to keep those running jokes from getting stale. 

Rene Goscinny and Albert Uderzo hit upon a magic formula in Asterix. Could it be in the art?Is it the storytelling? Heck, it might be the Druid's mistletoe! Regardless, these stories are a timeless delight that will enchant any reader!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Completing this review completes Task #15 of the 2022 Comic Book and Graphic Novel Reading Challenge. 'Translated from another language.'

Cinegeek (English Edition)

Cinegeek (English Edition)
Written and Illustrated by Pluttark.
Published by IDW.

Movie Trivia

• John Wayne’s real name was Marion.
• For the movie Babe, film makers used dozens of pigs because those suckers get big pretty quick.
• In Bollywood films, male and female actresses weren’t allowed to kiss on screen until the 90s.
• Adam West turned down the role of James Bond because he felt only British actors should play the part.
• There’s actually a movie called Nudist Camp Zombie Massacre about undead exhibitionists.

Get Your Cinegeek On

If any of these factoids caught your interest then Cinegeek is the book for you. This IDW publication is a fascinating combination of Sunday comics, Hollywood trivia, and fun & games. The book is written and illustrated by French cartoonist Pluttark.

Pluttark devotes a semi-regular cartoony column on movie history on the social media site Cinegeek. He covers everything from the earliest of silent films to recent motion pictures such as Michael Bay’s Battleship. Pluttark’s art and sense of humor go hand-in-hand. His tiny drawings border on caricature while many of his jokes are dripping with sarcasm. But there’s a real fanatic devotion to the material he documents in this book. There’s nothing remotely hostile to Cinegeek, no matter how terrible a film referenced within this book may be.

A Fan of Many Genres

Pluttark appears to be a huge fan of sci-fi and Japanese Kaiju. In those posts, the cartoonist really thrives. Being also French, Pluttark peppers about 10% of the book to the cinema of his native land. However, those references to the films of France are pretty darn obscure.
One thing I enjoyed the most in Cinegeek were the quizzes. Pluttark might draw 10 bad guys and you have to guess who they are. You may also be required to tell the name of the film in some cases. But those darn additions of French movies were what keep me from earning a perfect score every time! I want a retest!!!

Cinegeek is 90 plus pages of trivia fun and challenge. It’s not a bad deal for the cover price $14.99. However, there is a French language version of this book. So unless you can ‘lire francais’, stick to the IDW published edition that debuts in stores today.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Tib and Tumtum #1: Welcome to the Tribe (Family Comic Friday)

 

   For today’s Family Comic Friday, I went back to France for inspiration. The series is called Tib and Tumtum. Tib is a young caveboy who has a red birthmark on his face. Teased by the other kids in the tribe, Tib often plays by himself. One day, he comes across a small dinosaur that he names Tumtum.

    But dinosaurs are supposed to be extinct. Is Tumtum the real deal or is the thunder lizard a figment of lonely Tib’s imagination?

    I really enjoyed this sweet graphic novel by French cartoonist Grimaldi. It was funny and it was fun. Though this volume reads as a complete story each page contains it’s own punchline. So it’s very easy to find stopping points without being broken down into chapters.

   I also liked how this adventure was framed as the untold story of the cave people who created the paintings in Lascaux. It kinda made this story seem more real.

     There’s currently 2 volumes in the Tib and Tumtum series. Both are for readers in grades 4-6. But I think with a helpful adult, children in grades 2-3 could enjoy this book as well.

    Available on Amazon and libraries nationwide, this is a great book filled with memorable characters, thrills, and a few chills, that anyone should make a part of their child’s reading tribe.

   Worth Consuming

   Rating: 10 out of 10 stars

A Goofy Guide To Penguins (Family Comic Friday)

   Some of my favorite cartoons to watch as a kid involved the Disney character of Goofy in a parody of the Wide World of Sports. Goofy would be in this documentary about certain types of sports. I remember there was a short about winter sports and another about the Olympics. There might have even been one about fishing or water activities in general, but I'm not certain which or both is accurate.
    In those cartoons, a narrator would tell you about the history of the sport Goofy was participating in and then Goofy would screw-up in hilarious ways. I loved how Disney crafted something that was both fun and educational. I guess that's one reason I became an educator as I wanted learning to be fun. So when I saw A Goofy Guide to Penguins at my local library, my mind immediately went back to those old Disney cartoons and I thought that this would make a great review for Family Comic Friday.
    Despite the title, this is not a Disney publication nor does Goofy appear in this book. Published by Toon Books, A Goofy Guide to Penguins is written by French humorist Jean-Luc Coudray with art provided by his twin brother Phillipe. If you are familiar with my Family Comic Friday article, you might recall that Phillipe Coudray was featured for his Benjamin Bear series last year.
    The Coudray brothers worked together to craft a satirical look at Penguins. While there are little snippets of factual information about the flightless birds from the Antarctic, the majority of the book is filed with silly riddles and one-page sight gags. That does not mean that I didn't enjoy this book. It just was more funny as opposed to educational than I would have like. 
    Making up for the lack of educational aspects to the book, the editors included a 2-page spread of 100% real facts about Penguins. I wish they had done a better job on that section. It seems that 2 pages just wasn't enough space as several of the illustrations had little or nothing to do with the subject matter, especially one diagram about high and low pressure weather systems. That one just seemed really random.
     I applaud the Coudrays and Toon Books for trying to make learning fun with this edition. But it needs a little work if both parties are looking to make 'A Goofy Guide' into a series of books. My advice would be to make the funny to educational ratio about 55:45 like those old Disney cartoons. This book is more 80% silly to 20% learning.
    Nevertheless, this was a good book that will delight young readers from ages 5-9. Oh, and yes, though written by a pair of French brothers, this edition was published 100% in English!

   Worth Consuming

   Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

The Wild Piano: A Philemon Adventure (Family Comic Friday)

   Philemon is a young lad who discovers a secret world one day when he accidently falls into his family's well. In this fantastic world, Philemon learns that the letters on a map that spell out Atlantic are actually a series of hidden islands in the shape of each letter. In his first adventure, the young lad met the first outsider to discover the islands, but they got lost along the way back home. With the help of his uncle and his talking donkey, Philemon ventures back to the                A-T-L-A-N-T-I-C in order to save his friend but ends up having to fight for his life by battling a living breathing wild piano.

    Philemon is a popular French cartoon series that recently has been translated into English by the fantastic young adult publishing series Toon Graphics. Not only does the company introduce American readers to some of Europe's most popular comics and artists, but they include extensive learning guides and activities for aspiring cartoonists. It's both fun and educational without being too overt about it!

   Though many of the books reissued by Toon Graphics are aimed at kids, I've learned quite a bit over the past year about many European artists that I otherwise might have overlooked. This series was created by the late Frederic Othon Aristides (AKA Fred) in the early 70s. A French artist born into a Greek immigrant family, the book's ocean motif filled with surreal characters is a fusion of both Fred's heritage and birthplace.

   The back of this book likens the Philemon series to Alice in Wonderland meets Gulliver's Travels and Les Miserables. I can see that but when a co-worker asked me what this book was like, I responded that it was like Monty Python meets the Smurfs. I think both descriptions are accurate. With whimsical beasts, absurd officials, Victorian photography, and the wildest imagination this side of a school full of kindergartners, this book will challenge and delight.

    The Wild Piano is the second book in the series. 'Cast Away on the Letter A' is the first book but my library didn't have it, nor does this book say 'Volume 2' on it. However, you really don't need the book to be caught up with the action in the series thus far. But that doesn't mean you should skip it. I'm on the lookout for Cast Away and I hope to be able to travel with Philemon to all 8 islands of the  A-T-L-A-N-T-I-C.

   Worth Consuming

   Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Benjamin Bear in Brain Storms! (Family Comic Friday)

  

The French are known for many things: fine wine, exquisite cuisine, the impressionists, free jazz, their oft occurrence of surrendering... But one thing the French don't get enough kudos is for their comic strips and graphic novels. That's one reason I choose this book as my selection for this week's Family Comic Friday. 

   'Benjamin Bear' was created by Eisner Award nominee Philippe Coudray and is the star of a series of books that collect one-page strips based on a particular subject. The title for this volume is Brain Storms and each cartoon features the brown bear and his forest friends solving tricky riddles (such as the brilliant method of proving that 4+4 can =9) and other problems such as how two people in separate cars can cross a river using only 5 stepping stones and still be able to drive on the other side.

  Published by Toon Books, this volume is considered a 'level two' comic in that it's easy to read and is recommended for readers in grades 1 and 2. But I don't see older readers not delighting in this series as well. This book does have some punchlines and words that might be a little too difficult for younger readers to understand, so a parent, older sibling, or other guardian might need to help explain those. 

   The art is quite simple in that old-school Parisian style. One thing I must say about French cartoonists- they are simplistic to the Nth degree, yet they're every bit as imaginative and stunning as a Jack Kirby or Neal Adams. Oh- and though this is a French cartoon, it's published in English! So you can put away your handy dandy French-to-English dictionaries.

    I found this 2015 book on the new arrivals shelf in children's section at my local library. There are two other volumes in the series thus far. I highly recommend this book and if the rest of this series is as good as this one- I tout them too! The Benjamin Bear books can be found new and used on Amazon. Prices vary but this volume starts at about $7 plus any shipping or tax costs.

   Worth Consuming

   Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.

Ariol Volume 1: Just a Donkey Like You and Me

   Ariol is about a young donkey and the other assorted animals he goes to school with. Pining for the love of Petunia, his class’s beautiful heifer, daydreaming of his hero Thunder Horse with another fellow classmate who happens to be a horse, and playing gross practical jokes with his best friend, Ramono the pig. The perils of being a student have never been explored with such reality and humor as portrayed by farm animals. It’s like Freaks and Geeks meet Tiny Toons.

There were times I read this going “Man, that happened to me in school once.” What’s even more amazing is that this book was translated from it’s original French and yet has a very American appeal that doesn’t seem forced or fudged like when you watch a Godzilla film.

It’s quite spectacular fun and parents will approve, ever with some gross humor, because of the realistic portrayal of the pain and wonder that is growing up. Having these all-star animals makes this book more relatable to children and has a grown-up reminiscing appeal as well.

Worth Consuming.

Rating: 10 out of 10 stars