Boxers

Gene Luen Yang crafts an incredible account of the Boxer Rebellion. While the main characters are fictional, I learned a ton about a part of World History that a week ago, honestly, I couldn't have told you anything about other than I know that the combatants were the Chinese vs. Missionaries. And it turns out that I wasn't even 100% correct about that.

Yes, Christian missionaries, primarily from the Catholic Church, were working to convert the heathen natives of China. However, it wasn't the ruling government who was rebelling. The ruling house in China at the time was pretty much powerless because of a conglomerate of British, German and even the American government, pushing to colonize China. The monks and nuns of the Catholic Church were seen as foreign devils, seeking to pervert the people of China to follow Christ and thus becoming enslaved by Western ideals. To become a Christian meant permanent banishment from your family and possibly your community in China. 

Little Bao is a young boy who sees a missionary destroy one of his village's beloved idol gods. Eventually, some of the villagers become followers. But in reality, some are using their new found religion as an opportunity to bully their own people. Any attempt to resist a missionary or one of their followers is met with government force as the foreign government officials in Peking see the church as a way to subdue the masses. 

When a beloved member of Little Bao's village is killed for attempting to save a town from foreign government brutality, the boy begins a pilgrimage to Peking in hopes of freeing China from it's devilish overlords. Using the lessons in the martial arts that he learned from his fallen mentor, as well as encouraged by visions of the first Emperor of China, Bao leads a group of men to the capital city. Along the way, he gathers countless followers including a group of women martial artists. But once at his destination, the leader of the Boxers, those devotees of kung-fu who fight with their hands and their passions, will find that the situation within the walled community isn't so black and white as war makes even the most noble of intentions become corrupted.

What makes this work so unique is that this is not the end of the story. 2013's Boxers tells of the Boxer Rebellion from the side of the Chinese population who believed that the foreign bureaucrats and missionaries were evil invaders who turned their disciples into traitors. Volume 2, titled Saints will show a different perspective of the conflict. Only it's not from one of the foreigners but of a native Chinese citizen who finds not just safety and religion, but a sense of belonging they never received from their blood family.

I personally own the copy of Boxers that I read. I waited a very long time to get a copy of Saints before reading. While that book is about a third of the size of Boxers, I didn't want to wait a long time to read it. I was also concerned that I might forget something. if I waited. The Boxer Rebellion is so complex. It's not a 2-sided coin kinda thing. There's so many parts, players and philosophies behind what transpired in the very early 20th century in China. I'm very glad at Gene Luen Yang's attempt to present both sides of the story. It's a creative yet bold endeavor from a creator that my fandom is growing with every work of his I read. I look forward to seeing that other side, much sooner than later, thankfully. I think it's going to add so much depth to this already weighty story.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles

I know. I read an honest-to-God novel and it wasn't based on a comic book or superhero or established TV show or film. I was inspired to find this book after seeing the trailer for the upcoming series Paramount+. But I don't have that streaming service. So I took a shot to see if my local library had the book on hand. I guess I hit the bullseye because I found it. Boy, was that one of the smartest moves I've ever made in my 40 plus long years of being an avid reader!

The story is about a Russian aristocrat at the dawn of the Russian revolution. It's 1922 and the Bolsheviks have taken power and are creating the foundations for establishment of the Soviet Union. Count Alexander Rostov has been summoned to a tribunal.  Declared an enemy of the state, normally Rostov would be taken to a firing squad and shot or shipped off to Siberia. However, because of a poem he wrote that inspired the spark of the October Revolution, he is sentenced to permanent house arrest at the Hotel Metropol for the rest of his life. 

Should he exit the doors of the Hotel, Count Rostov will be executed. Over the span of 4 decades, the confined gentleman will make do the best he can, living in exiled luxury as guests and staff of the Metropol come and go while the Soviet Union grows into a world power.

My first experience with writer Amor Towles, I was enthralled by this 2016 work. It was pure magic. After the first 100 pages, I was no longer a reader. I too was a resident of the Hotel Metropol. I could not stop reading this book. The desire to read another page turned into an extra 5, 10, 15 pages before I realized it was way past my bedtime and begrudgingly needed to call it a night.

I realize that Ewan McGregor is playing Count Rostov on the live action series. Yet no matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't picture anyone else in the role other than Kenneth Branagh. Turns out I wasn't alone in this as the Murder on the Orient Express director was on tap for the lead role for a very long time. As much as in my head, I kept hearing Branagh speaking in that French-Belgian accent as Hercule Poirot, I can't get past hearing McGregor as Obi-Wan Kenobi instead of a Russian polymath of refinement every time I watch the trailer for the forthcoming series.

I wish I could say that this book was perfect. It was pretty darn close. If not for having recently read the massive graphic novel Petrograd, I would have been a lot more lost understanding the early days of the Soviet Union. While written by an American, this book is very Russian. The more you know of the country's rich cultural history, the better you'll enjoy this book and I just don't know jack about Tolstoy, Chekov and their kin. Thankfully, there's so much heart and wonderment in this book, it makes up for those gaps in my knowledge. 

This book is like a dream come true for me. I've always wanted to get stuck in an airport or be snowed in at an all-inclusive ski resort or have to spend a season at a research base in Antarctica. A Gentleman in Moscow was a chance to live those bizarre fantasies vicariously through the writing of Amor Towles. Unlike most novels I read, this novel is something I see myself making another stay at Hotel Metropol!

Worth Consuming!

Ratiing: 9 out of 10 stars.

The Adventures of Blanche

The Adventures of Blanche collects the complete Blanche Trilogy. Created by Rick Geary, this is a whirlwind epic that takes place at the turn of the 20th century all the way through to the beginning of the Jazz Age. Blanche is a young woman with a musical gift. Her talents take her first to the Big Apple, where she is admitted into a training program. Then Blanche is hired to work in a Hollywood that is just in it's infancy. Her adventures wrap up in Paris, where she is hired to score a surreal play created by artist Pablo Picasso.

In the midst of all three adventures, Blanche becomes embroiled with mysterious figures, labor disputes, and strange cults. With a new introduction that frames Blanche's letters back home as being those of his grandmother's, as well as a heavy dose of historical figures, you really wonder if these stories really happened. That adds a dose of realism to the whimsy. But, I doubt that a young woman of this time period would discuss some of the rather 'shocking for the time period' observations to her mother and father; albeit in a series of letters.

I bought this book not for the subject matter but for the writer/artist. Rick Geary is noted for his true crimes graphic novels. They are some dynamic reads. But they are also difficult to come by. The Adventures of Blanche has got that nostalgic flare, which is prevalent in Geary's non-fiction works. But that 'just the facts' approach that Rick Geary takes to his works is missing here. 

I enjoyed this book. But as space in my graphic novel collection is at a premium, it's not a Rick Geary book that holds a deep connection to me to keep. I'll let this one go for some trade credit and the hope that I can find a True Victorian Crime GN for cheap in the future.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.

The Manhattan Projects, Volume 4: Building

    

  Oppenheimer makes a deal with President Kennedy in an attempt to take over the Projects, resulting in the incarceration of the entire team. Meanwhile, in the brain of Oppenheimer Prime, the Blues go for the nuclear option in a final bid of ridding the physicist of the evil Reds. But a forgotten player in this epic series will have the last say over who takes final control of Robert Oppenheimer and the Manhattan Projects as well.

    Volume 3 lacked the 'oomph' of the previous two volumes. This volume is a return to the level of quality storytelling that got me hooked in the Manhattan Projects in the first place. With tons of twists, turns, and shocking reveals, a history major like me has no idea where this series is gonna go next and that's a GREAT thing!

     There's only one volume of the exciting series left for me to read. Jonathan Hickman has crafted a story that is nearly flawless. It's so good, I don't want it to end, but I also want to know how things wrap up. That is a sign of a master storyteller.

    Worth Consuming!

    Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Incognegro: A Graphic Mystery

   I normally stay away from crime books. But, after reading Ed Brubaker’s Criminal books, I decided to give this book a try.

   In this historical crime fiction tale, a pale black man who can pass for white travels to the segregated South in hopes of revealing the atrocities of lynch mobs to his readers up North. In the midst of his latest investigation, the hero learns that his brother is facing a lynching after being accused of killing a white woman. But, when the girl turns up alive, our hero must figure out who the victim really was.

   A very powerful book. Very gritty. Lots of swears and racial slurs. That includes the “N” word. Along with the nudity, this probably wouldn’t pass muster in high school libraries. But, with its important message, I feel like if any kid aged 13-18 wanted to read this book, parents should at least examine it for themselves and open an important dialogue about racism and bigotry. This book would be perfect for college lit courses.

   Worth Consuming.

   Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.