Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos #132

Reprinting issue #30.

It's a change of scenery for Nick Fury and the Howlers. Instead of going behind the lines of Nazi Germany, the Howling Commandos are sent to fascist Italy; where they're immediately captured and sent to a POW camp.

Fury's men are immediately hated by the Canadian Air Force captain whose become the de facto leader of the prisoners in the camp. Capt. Andre has been able to forge an uneasy truce with his captors and any slight disruption to the apple cart could cause ripples to that relative calm. As rowdy as Fury and the Howlers get, it turns out that the Sarge's bad boy behavior in captivity is a ruse so that he can meet with the camp's commanding officer who is secretly a member of the Italian resistance against Mussolini. 

Now the mission completely changes. The Howlers are tasked with playing Hogan's Heroes by faking an escape, disguised as Italian soldiers in order to steal a massive shipment of gold in hopes of crippling Benito's war machine.

There's one thing to say about this series: no matter how far fetched and insane the Howler's missions are, they never get old. Like switching over from Germany to Italy. Or staging a robbery of Fascist gold. This story originally came out in 1966, 4 years before that amazing war-comedy starring Clint Eastwood, Kelly's Heroes, did. Since I've now encountered 2 different stories involving American troops stealing enemy gold, I'm wondering if that was something that actually happened during World War II... If so, I'd like to read a book about such heists.

Very interesting and exciting read.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Batman: The Long Halloween Deluxe Edition- Catwoman: When in Rome

I wondered for the longest time after buying this deluxe edition, brand spanking new in 2022, what the book had to do with The Longest Halloween. I figured that since it was by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale, this Catwoman solo venture was just being branded as part of the whole franchise. But that assumption couldn't be further from the case. 

In Dark Victory, Catwoman goes to Italy. It's assumed until the very last 2-pages, that Selina Kyle was attempting to get information over whom might have stolen the body of Carmine Falcone. Well, what happened to Selina in in Europe is explored here in When In Rome. Since it occurs during the events of Dark Victory, this is a midquel, I guess you could say. (Is midquel even a word?)

Needing help with the language and the customs of Italy, Selina has reluctantly hired Edward Nigma, the Riddler, as her traveling companion. Also helping with Selina's mission is a top Falcone family hit man known as The Blonde. It's pretty clear from almost the moment Selena and Eddie step off their plane that someone is trying to kill them. As the hired natives begin using weaponry commonly associated with Batman's Rogue's Gallery, it's becoming clear that somebody from Gotham is behind the plot to kill Catwoman. Could it be Sofia Falcone, who's got a vendetta against the cat thief for putting her in a wheelchair? Or, as Selena's dreams are haunted by visions of Batman could it be the Dark Knight himself trying to kill her?

I feel like I have read this story before. Some scenes seemed familiar. However, I couldn't find evidence in my reading journal that I have read When In Rome previously. I was devouring issues of Wizard and Toyfare when this book originally dropped. Maybe I'm remembering those scenes from an interview with Loeb and Sale. If I had read it before, I had forgotten enough to feel like this was almost an all-new story. 

When In Rome is a very solid mystery. It's psychological as well as a con job yarn. The Riddler was great comic relief. Sale's artwork is amazing as as usual. It's a bit cheeky. If you've ever wanted to see Catwoman's naked backside, you're almost in for a treat. Not full cheesecake, but definitely a sampling.

I've got 1 more story left in The Long Halloween storyline to read. 2021's Batman: The Long Halloween Special. Wait, that's not right. I just learned that a final chapter is coming out. A 13-chapter promised finale, The Last Halloween will start later this month. As Tim Sale had passed away about a year ago, I'm interested in knowing how much he contributed to the closer and if some sort of tribute will be forthcoming with the first issue.

It appears that The Long Halloween just might never end.

Worth Consuming!

Rating 9 out of 10 stars.

Ten Tomatoes That Changed the World: A History by William Alexander

It doesn’t happen that often. But I read something that wasn’t a graphic novel or comic book. My bride tries really hard to broaden my horizons by making suggestions of things she finds at our local library. She understands my philosophy that life is too short to not read comic books. But I think she also wants to experience the joy of finding something non-comic book related that I will read.

10 Tomatoes That Changed The World is a mix of culinary history, multicultural travel guide, botany text book and farmers almanac. Just don’t expect there to be exactly 10 tomatoes being focused on in this book. Instead, after chapter 3 or 4, the focus will be on a variety of tomato and not just a single love apple that caused humanity, especially the Italians and us Americans, to vastly change how and what we ate.

Rocketing towards the end of the book, author William Alexander looks at how the Roma tomato gave birth to the modern pizza, why tomatoes from Florida taste awful (especially when raw) and if the hothouse tomatoes of Canada will save our planet from global warming. I found the history of the tomato fascinating. The author does a great job capturing how curious cooks and farmers around the world took a chance on the lowly tomato and developed the vegetable-not-fruit into one of the most abundant and popular foods on the market today. My eyes did glaze over a bit when William Alexander talked about plant genetics. But that boredom is possibly not any sort of fault of the author’s. I got bored with those sections of the Botany class I took in college. 

One thing notably missing from this book: the origins of the La Tomatina festival in Spain where people throw tomatoes at each other and if that has anything to do with throwing the savory-ish fruit at terrible comedians!

William Alexander does put a lot of himself into this book. That irked me a tiny bit until I read his ‘About the Author’ blurb on the back cover flap and realized that it was just his writing style. He’s almost like a culinary investigative reporter taking us onto the scenes of the culinary crime he’s researching. However, I did feel like there were a few times that he spent too much time on a series of clues that were just red herrings.

In chapter 10, Alexander keeps alluding to the final scene of this Chekov (the Russian playwright, not the Russian helmsman of the USS Enterprise) play in which some guy's cherry trees get cut down. It all has something to do with sustainability and ecology. I didn’t see the connection really. Truly, I could overlook some of these tangents. But the one thing about this book that still gets up my crawl has to do with a pizza maker from Naples.

In chapter 4, the author goes back in time to talk about a 19-year old pizza maker named Luigi Mattozzi. On May 4th, 1850, Luigi and his family have to move to a new apartment as that was the day all apartment leases were to be vacated citywide. 4 pages later, Mattiozzi’s family is mentioned once more in terms of describing how a period family lived in Naples. And that’s it for Luigi and the fam. So my question is- did I miss something? This seemed like such an odd thing to bring up this random guy and not tie him in directly with the origins of pizza which are covered truth and folklore alike to great detail. Yet, not having any sort of closure about this guy is keeping me up at nights!

I may have to do something I rarely ever do: write the author. I really gotta know why Luigi gets this sweeping introduction and then bupkis. 

As for reading further works by William Alexander, I am open to check out his works on the expense and headaches of gardening as well as his look at the history of bread-making. I think I understand the author’s writing style much better now. I just hope he doesn’t bring up more random people in those works without giving them a proper sendoff into the history books. 

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Santas From Around The World: Italy- La Befana (Advent 2020, Day 23)

Thus far in our Advent, it’s been quite misogynistic. Today’s chapter seeks to add a little estrogen to this Madman’s countdown to Chirstmas. We head to Italy for today’s version of Santa. Though our story actually takes place in Israel on the cusp of the very first Christmas.

Our main character is known as La Befana. And she’s got 2 origin stories. One sweet and one rather tragic. 

In the happier tale, La Befana is an old lady who one night while sweeping her house is approached by the three Wise Men for directions to the Christ child. She points them in the right direction and takes up sweeping again; but not before forgoing the chance to visit Baby Jesus with the Magi. Later on, La Befana changes her mind and with broom in hand, she heads out to find the Christ child. But she is unable to find the babe. So La Befana wanders the world in search of Jesus while leaving good little children toys and fruit. (The brats get coal, garlic or possibly onions.)

Now for the tragic version. La Befana is a beautiful young woman with a young son whom she loves very much. One day, the child up and dies causing La Befana to become maddened with grief. La Befana grows old just constantly sweeping as the act reminds her of rocking her child to sleep. 

On the night of the first Noel, La Befana hears of the birth of the Savior. In a delusional state, La Befana believes that the baby is her missing child. So, La Befana goes to the manger, but Jesus and his family have moved on. La Befana later finds Jesus as an infant and realizes that it’s really the son of God instead of her child. Jesus takes pity on her and bestows a blessing of being the godmother of all. 

Why La Befana decided to relocate to Italy for her gift giving is unclear. In fact, the legend of La Befana is a relatively new tradition, having only really been universally adopted by the boot shaped nation around the turn of the 20th Century. Some do speculate that La Befana is based on ancient Roman legend. Yet why it took almost 2000 years to morph into a story about an old woman is anyone’s guess. But what I do know is that it’s best not to try to stay up to watch her dropping off your gifts. Sneaky little Italians will get a swift bump on the noggin with her broom.

For today’s cookie, I am sharing with you a sugar cookie recipe with a twist. Made with ricotta cheese and lemon, this classic from Betty Crocker offers up 2 traditional tastes of Italy. Enjoy!

Brina the Cat #1: The Gang of the Feline Sun (Family Comic Friday)

Hey there, cat lovers! Family Comic Friday is proud to introduce to you Brina the Cat! This Italian import is the newest feline superstar to come your way from Papercutz!

Brina the Cat #1: The Gang of the Feline Sun
Written by Giorgio Salati
Art by Christian Cornia
Published by Papercutz
Pages: 88
Retail: $14.99

Brina is a city cat. She has traveled to the mountains for a holiday with her people, Sam and Marge. Brina enjoys some minor freedom, roaming the backyard to the cottage her masters have rented. But when she meets a one-eyed wild cat name Vespucci, Brina begins to hear the call of the wilderness.

Running away from home, Brina learns what it means to be independent. This freedom means scrounging for your next meal, fighting off predators and angry humans, and trusting in the other members of your new family. In this case, it's Vespucci and his followers; the Gang of the Feline Sun! But is this truly the independent lifestyle that Brina yearns for? 

Brina the Cat is a new series brought to you by Papercutz. Brina's debut first saw print in 2018 in her creator, Giorgio Salati's native Italy. Now Brina and her owners come to you in this fantastic English translation! 

The interesting thing about this story was how evenly balanced this story was between Brina and her human owners. Lots of these type of stories about a pet's desire to live 
unencumbered usually focuses on just the pets. You might get a scene or two in which the humans are quite sad over the disappearance of their beloved animal. But the story is mostly from the eyes of the pets. Not here!

Giorgio Salati shows the reader the anguish of owners Sam and Marge as they desperately try to find Brina. This really helps the reader to  desire that Brina and her family ultimately reunite. Showing the story from the human's perspective adds a layer to depth to the story. Just as Brina meets an assortment of animals on her venture, Sam and Marge meet some interesting characters as they search for their missing sweetheart. Showing both the pet and owner sides of the story make for a very satisfying ending!

(Speaking of which, read all the way to the very back cover for a much needed and appreciated secret final scene to this adventure!)

I wish I could say that this was the purr-fect graphic novel starring cats. But there were a couple of scenes of animal cruelty that really stung. I understand that the writer felt that he needed to add those scenes to help make the reader more sympathetic to a couple of the characters. However with a suggested readership of ages 8-12, those scenes could be considered too intense for young readers

If the young reader in your life can't stand to view those ASPCA commercials in which Sarah Mclachlan sings while showing images of mistreated puppies, then this book may not be right fit just now. Or you could use this book as a teachable moment to teach about the proper care of a pet. Maybe Brina and company will even inspire you to adopt a kitty or doggie in need of a forever home!

Papercutz has introduced families to a variety of cats over the years. From the pusses in the work's of Smurfs' creator Peyo to the meatloaf known as Sushi in the adventures of Cazenove and Richez's Cat  and Cat, Brina the Cat is the newest star of the Papercutz family. With a second volume debuting in stores this Summer, be sure to make Brina a part of your graphic novel family today!

Brina the Cat #1: The Gang of the Feline Sun debuted in print and digital formats on January 14th, 2020.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.