The Art of Sushi (2024 Comic Book & Graphic Novel Reading Challenge)

After revealing the secrets of chocolate, French graphic artist Franckie Alarcon explores the Art of Sushi. After noticing how the Japanese dish had exploded in his native France, Alarcon traveled to the land of the rising sun to research how sushi was meant to be. In his research Alarcon will learn about sushi from both a traditional viewpoint and the modernized method. The artist will venture out into the Pacific to gather seafood in order to experience the freshest sushi ever as well as trek into the mountains of Japan to witness the growth and harvesting of sushi's most underrated ingredient- rice!

It's been said that a sushi master does nothing but learn to make rice for the first 7 years of an apprenticeship. That seems to be more of a myth than anything else. Most of the sushi chefs in this book got their start cleaning bathrooms and floors the first couple of years of their education. In Japan, a master chef wouldn't dream of letting a newbie make the rice. It's too important and expensive as an ingredient to let an untrained eye muck it up. In Japan, once an apprentice is given the chance to serve customers, they practice towards the end of the shift on customers who are at the point of fullness and inebriation. That way, they aren't able to decipher if the student chef's food was edible or not!

As Alarcon learns more about sushi, he unfolds other underrated elements of sushi making. From how the right piece of pottery can reveal a lot about both the sushi chef and diner to the methods of brewing shoyu, soy sauce and sake, if Franckie Alarcon overlooked anything in the art of sushi, it was by accident for sure.

This look at sushi is more than just an exotic exploration. Alarcon examines the ways sushi has become domesticated by both dining with a Japanese couple in their home as well as visiting a pair of Michelin star sushi chefs in France. Oddly enough, it's at a farm in France where Alarcon learns about the development of sushi's most famous condiment: wasabi!

As to be expected with a graphic novel about cuisine, especially seafood, The Art of Sushi dips its toe into the choppy waters of ecology and sustainability. Clearly, the great flocks of the world's oceans have been over-fished. The dubious nature of farm raised seafood has proven to not be the answer to this problem. Most experts on food ecology would point to using plant-based substitutes as the solution. Ironically, Alcaron being a Frenchman has an answer to the problem that I've never thought of before: eat the highest quality seafood possible as a bigger price tag often means greater care has been given to the product.

A staggering fact about water conservation that just had to be shared: it takes 4000 liters of water to grow 2.2 pounds of rice! That's just insane. Needless to say, that's something I learned from this amazing culinary graphic novel that will be shared with my culinary students. Several recipes for sushi and accompaniments are included in this book as well as information on the restaurants featured and online shopping resources are included for the at home cook who wants to create sushi of their own for family and friends.

Completing this review completes Task #7 (About Food or Beverage) of the 2024 Comic Book and Graphic Novel Reading Challenge.

Gudetama: Surviving the Holidays

Gudetama. Pronounced Goo-De-Tah-Mah.

He's an anthropomorphic egg from Sanrio, creators of other such characters like Hello Kitty and Badtz-Maru. Along with his assistant, the egg-yolk leotard dressed Nisetama, Gudetama provides people advice throughout various holiday conundrums. 

Since this book covers Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa and New Year's, my original plan was to read bits and pieces of this book over the course of the next 45 days. However, this book doesn't follow any sort of calendar. Gudetama might help provide gift assistant with the employees at a local office party. Then he helps a family hosting a foreign exchange student experience Hanukkah before then helping a girl whose family gets really competitive playing games during Thanksgiving. I understand that Gudetama is a Japanese property, but I am pretty sure that they celebrate the traditional 'ber month' holidays in the same order we do in the States. 

Thus what I am trying to say is that I was hoping this book would have a survival guide section for Turkey Day, then another for the Festival of Lights, before slipping into Christmas, Kwanzaa and a quick trip through to the new year. I would have read each section as we reached the appropriate holiday. But since it didn't happen that way, I read this book in the course of one fun filled night. 

Written and illustrated by Wook-Jin Clark (Flavor), this book perfectly captured the holidays and the many troubles that come along with them. My first real introduction to Gudetama, I thought he was hilarious as a kind of protein packed version of Garfield, only not quite as snarky. Nisetama, while clearly an annoying soul, was a great foil to Gudetama; playing the Nermal role. I only wish this book was done in sections so as I could enjoy these two characters over the course of an entire holiday season.

And if Oni Press was to bring Gudetama back for another helping of holiday delights in the future, I would gladly put the egg and his human friend on the guest list for another round of cheer.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Santas From Around The World: Hotei, the Santa Claus of Japan (Advent 2020, Day 1)

I’m starting my Advent with the country I most want to visit and that’s Japan. With Westernization, the concept of Christmas has grown in leaps and bounds in Japan. The American version of Santa is alluring to the children of Japan as St. Nick closely resembles one of the country’s 7 lucky gods, Hotei.

Though bald, the corpulent Hotei has facial hair, wears a red suit and carries with him a large empty sack that doubles as makeshift housing for the wandering monk. Hotei is often referred to as the laughing Buddha; often because of the throngs of children who flock to him. But mostly, Hotei is happy because he isn’t confined to one place for any given time. 

Hotei’s name literally means ‘cloth sack’ and one legend about him has Hotei giving small trinkets and other gifts to the children he encounters. But don’t expect Hotei to give you that Xbox you’ve been dreaming of just because you are good. Often the children had to perform a good deed or gift Hotei with food, water or clothes in order to receive their prizes.

Along with Hotei, there’s another Santa Claus figure who has popped up in Japan in recent years- Colonel Sanders! That’s right, the legendary icon of Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) has become an ersatz Santa Claus for the people of Japan. 

Since Japan doesn’t really have any traditional Christmas foods, YUM brands, the parent company of KFC, spent millions of dollars in the past 20 years to make it’s fried chicken, mashed potatoes and biscuits the official food of a Japanese Christmas. 

With KFC becoming Japan’s official holiday food, YUM Brands has centered it’s holiday marketing campaign around Col. Sanders. His white Southern Gentleman’s suit is dyed red and a big floppy hat is placed upon the Colonel’s head as he reminds families to pre-order their holiday meals before it’s too late.

In the past decade, sales of KFC have increased over 300% every December as Japanese families race to ensure a KFC meal is served for Christmas. On December 23rd and 24th, people line around the block to pick up their buckets of chicken and fixings from their local KFC. Some families will even rent out the establishment and have family reunions and even weddings on Christmas Eve! Only the traditional wedding cake is replaced with a berry tort or tiramisu pie. 

Sorry, I don’t have a recipe for either treat. But I can provide you with a quick and easy traditional Japanese Butter Cookie recipe that only calls for 6 ingredients. Enjoy!

Batman '66, Volume 4

   Writer Jeff Parker, cover artist Michael Allred, and a slew of other great artists, colorists, and inkers present another thrilling chapter of Batman adventures based on the 1966 TV series. But this volume comes with an added bonus. Along with a King Tut caper, the Joker becoming a superhero, and the Penguin pulling a slew of crimes based on bats instead of birds for a change; Batman and Batgirl visit Japan to take on the Batmanga villain, Lord Death Man! 

   But that's not all that is included in this thrilling volume. Along for the ride is the one-shot Batman '66: The Lost Episode. That story is based on a treatment by acclaimed sci-fi writer Harlan Ellison (City on the Edge of Forever, Star Trek: TOS) that for some reason or another never made it on TV. Lucky for you, the entire original proposal is reprinted along with stunning color photos from the hit series.

    In the lost episode, Two-Face would have been introduced to the Batman '66 universe. Rumor had it that producers were seriously looking at Clint Eastwood to play the role of Gotham DA Harvey Dent, who becomes the deranged villain after half of his body is doused with acid, in season 4. But, alas Batman was canceled after just 3 seasons. Oh, and did I mention, it's written by the great Len Wein (Swamp Thing) with art by the equally great Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez (Super Powers)?

   I really loved this volume. It continues to build on the Batman '66 mythos and pits both classic Batman TV series and new Batman comics villains in that funky little corner of the DC Universe. I'm starting to see this book in the light of other comic books based on unused plans for shows that got canceled much too soon (IE Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season 9.) 

Lord Death Man by
Sandy Jarrell.

   But this edition holds a place very dear to my heart for another reason. Earlier, I mentioned the Lord Death Man story. Well, it just so happens late last year, I got to meet the artist for that issue, Sandy Jarrell, at a convention in Raleigh. He was doing blank sketches and I commission him to make me a piece with the caveat that he could draw it of any Batman villain, except for the usual suspects of Joker, Catwoman, Riddler, and Penguin. Well, an hour later and Jarrell presented me with my very own sketch of the Japanese Batman adversary. It was so awesome looking, people kept asking to buy my book! (Get in line, folks...)

   Batman '66 is a fun little series that despite getting cancelled recently, doesn't look like it's going to go away anytime soon and I am glad. Right now, Batman and the Man from UNCLE are teaming up in a miniseries and I hope DC has that smarts to either return Batman '66 to store shelves or kept pairing the Dynamic Duo up with more legends from the swinging 60s.

   Worth Consuming

   Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.

Hello Kitty and Friends/ The Bravest Warriors 2014 Free Comic Book Day (Family Comic Friday)

  

   This 2014 Free Comic Book Day offering features everybody's favorite cat from Japan- Hello Kitty. Now, let me stop right here and say that yes I know that the creator of Hello Kitty said recently that his character is actually a little girl in a cat mask. But, if you look in this book, you will see her parents and a sibling. They are drawn to look like cats. So am I to believe that the whole family dresses up as furry felines just for fun? I'm not buying it.

   Plus as a child I had friends who were related that owned an oriental grocery and a Filipino restaurant. I spent many a weekend afternoon at their parents shops. While there, we ate Botan Rice Candy by the bucketful and we delighted when we got a free Hello Kitty sticker in the box as a prize. We considered Hello Kitty to be a cat back then and for the sake of this review- a pussy cat she will remain.

     The book was released to coincide with the 40th anniversary of Hello Kitty back in 1974! The publishers at Perfect Square were just getting ready to drop a hardcover collection of 40 stories by some of the best in the business. So, this was a very small way to advertise it. Hardcore fans of Hello Kitty along with newcomers will delight at her exploits, some of which are reprinted here in America for the first time ever.

   Hello Kitty has universal appeal, but the book might be too young for those who are not hardcore fans of the young cat as there are absolutely no words in this book unless you count sound effects. This reader would make an excellent picture book as would the digest collections of the original Japanese comic. And yes- the SFX have been changed from Japanese to English so you can put away your Japanese to English dictionaries.

    One thing you should know if you are on the hunt for the books advertised in this free comic, even though it was published in comic book form, the digest themselves are not considered graphic novels. Amazon has these volumes for about $10 apiece and you can find these books at your family bookstore or library.

   The second feature in this book was a new title called 'The Bravest Warriors.' This book is like a Where's Waldo book in that you must find their pet, a little guy called Catbug. It would've helped if the author had thought to include a pic of just what Catbug looks like. Once I found a picture of him in an ad for this series in the back of the book, I was able to find him. This book too is not considered a graphic novel but can be found on eBay, Amazon, and other online retailers.

   This book was a fun trip down memory lane for me and if you grew up with Hello Kitty, it could be like opening a time capsule. Fun for the whole family but more than likely to appeal to kids under the age of 7.

  Worth Consuming

  Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Fantastic Four / Iron Man: Big in Japan #4

 

In the final issue, the FF and Iron Man find themselves not only betrayed, but also having to team with Mole Man in order to save the world. You might actually feel a little sorry for the pint-sized megolmaniac when all is said and done.

The art continues to dazzle but is also very strange. It’s like the whole gambit of Manga styles rolled into one. I’m usually not a  fan of Manga, but this series works. Plus, I liked the idea of having an Iron Man masks with an open and close jaw. It’s freaky cool.

Great stuff. Not everyone’s cup of tea. But, just bizarre enough for me to love!

Worth Consuming.

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Fantastic Four / Iron Man: Big in Japan #3

 

The Fantastic Four, Iron Man, and a curator from the Japanese Kaiju museum follow a lead to the Artic or is it Antarctica? Either way, where they’re going is freezing cold. Once at their location, the heroes find the culprit being the recent giant monster attacks and this Kaiju makes the other guys look like ants.

If you have a problem with eyeballs, this issue might not be for you. But, with it’s daft cartoonish style and wicked designs pulled from the demented minds of Mike Allred and Lovecraft, and clever easter eggs, then you’ll really enjoy this series.

There is a brilliant cliff hanger that introduces a new player to the game whom I didn’t see coming and I really should have. It makes perfect sense, especially based on the theories about the early exploits of the Fantastic Four in issue #1. Hope I didn’t give away too much of a spoiler. 

Worth Consuming.

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Fantastic Four/ Iron Man: Big in Japan #2

As a slew of giant monsters return to destroy Tokyo, the combined forces of the Fantastic Four and Iron Man attempt to find a way to repel the Kaiju and save the city. Here, Iron Man’s role bumps up just a notch, with his turbo boosters and laser beams turning him into a smart weapon. It's also an efficient way to the travel when fighting creatures that are 30-stories high.

The art continues to be borderline Simpsons/ Manga. I don’t know whether to love it or hate it. Thankfully, the story is so bizarre and so excellently done, I often can overlook my disapproval of the artwork.

Worth Consuming

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.

FANTASTIC FOUR/ IRON MAN BIG IN JAPAN #1

The Fantastic Four and Tony Stark are asked to help open a museum in Japan dedicated to the island nation's rich history of battling giant monsters. Only this museum seems to be conducting some questionable genetic research on the side and that may be the reason a batch of giant monsters once again have Tokyo in their crosshairs.

This is a really strange book. The characters look like Matt Groening drew them. Mutliple Manga art techniques are used throughout the book as well. The writing is really well done what with its unique theories about the Giant Monster or Kaiju genre, such as why the FF no longer battle gigantic monsters as in their early days and why don’t you see Godzilla destroying Tokyo that much anymore. 

Clearly this is a love letter from two Marvel artists to the Kaiju cinema and culture of Japan. Why Iron Man is involved in it is unclear. He’s more of a background character at this point with very little to do but flirt with Japanese girls. Young, school-aged Japanese girls. Ick!

Worth Consuming.

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Gaijin: American Prisoner of War

This graphic novel from 2014 recounts the internment of Japanese Americans after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. The story is about a half-Japanese boy named Koji, who is forced into a prisoner of war camp on the suspicion of his father, who's visiting his ailing father in Japan, of being a spy for the Imperial Japanese. Not willing to allow her preteen son stay in a prison camp by himself, Koji's white American mother joins the internment camp as well.

   On the streets of San Francisco, Koji is viewed as the enemy and a possible spy or enemy agent of the Japanese. In the camp, Koji is also an outsider, particularly amongst the teen boys because of his mixed heritage. Koji is bullied, his mother is accused of being a whore, and the commander of the camp sees him as a trouble maker. With the help of a wise elderly Japanese man, Koji is given one last chance to find himself. But when the detention site is forced to move from the shipyards of Alameda to the New Mexican desert, Koji must decide to run from himself and flee with some of the boys in the camp or to finally make peace with his jumbled status, accepting his incarceration and transfer East with his mother.

    The setting of this story is 100% true. During World War II, Japanese Americans along the West Coast of the United States were forced to leave their jobs and home and were imprisoned in about a dozen camps nationwide. The camps were converted barns, with manure and filth everywhere or makeshift barracks hastily and dangerously erected. These sites were overcrowded and there was not enough food, provisions or decent care for the hundreds and thousands of prisoners encamped. Reports have said that a hardened prisoner at Alcatraz in 1942 had it better than the American POWS whose only wrong was their nationality or heritage.

   You might think with the prejudices Koji experienced in San Francisco, maybe the internment camps were for the good and safety of the Japanese Americans. But with very little choice, these families were left with no win solutions. They had to sell or rent their possessions and property and suspend their livelihoods.  After the war, some families would return to their homes only to find that the unscruplous whites that they trusted their estates to sold them off or claimed legal but unethical squattership. So much for looking out for the safety of our fellow man...

     As for Koji and his mother- they are fictional characters but they are based on the exploits of artist and writer Matt Faulkner's great aunt. She was a white American married to a Japanese man. The two had a daughter who by December 7th, had a daughter as well. Not willing to see her daughter and granddaughter detained, Faulkner's aunt went into the prison camps with them until eventually finding sponsorship for the family to move to Chicago under parole conditions.

   The story of the Japanese American internment is sadly a forgotten part of American history. I don't recall ever learning about it in school or college and I was a History Major. It wasn't until I saw the 1999 film 'Snow Falling On Cedars' that I even learned of the plight of the Japanese American during World War II. I learned about the Dust Bowl- a lot! Why not this?

   It may not seem like a very important part of American history. But not 15 years ago, we almost repeated history when such camps were suggested after the events of 9/11. Thank God we didn't listen to those voices calling from the desert again.

    Gaijin is a dynamic story that left me speechless. It should be required reading in schools. I wish had a couple million dollars because I'd snatch the rights to this book up and make it into a feature film. It's that good and that important to not just American history but to the survival of the human race as well.

    Worth Consuming

   Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.

The Wolverine (2013)

The Japan Saga is supposed to be the quintessential Wolverine solo story. Written by Chris Claremont with assists and pencils by Frank Miller, the story is Wolverine at his best both as a mutant hero and as an honorable rogue. So, when it was announced that the next Wolverine film will be set in Japan, I was immediately thrilled to the possibilities.

The opening sequence in which Logan is a POW outside of Nagasaki at the end of WWII was awesome. I thought to myself that I am in for a treat. Instead, I feel like I was sorely tricked. The film, while made years after X-Men 3, takes place just a few months after the events in which Wolverine kills Jean Grey. Haunted by her ghost, he’s a shell of his former self and unwillingly goes to Japan to honor an old debt.

Right off the bat, things just don’t seem right- Logan loses his mutant healing factor and can be killed. Hmmm…. This sounds oddly familiar to the Death of Wolverine story arc getting set up for a September climax in which the clawed one supposedly dies. My theory is that by having Wolverine die, it reboots his healing factor and he emerges bigger and badder than before. That’s what happens at some point in this film and I would not be surprised if that happens next month.

Along with some anemic fight scenes and a convoluted family battle over a pharmaceutical company, I wasn’t very happy with The Wolverine. The only real saving grace is the addition of Wolverine’s true love Mariko. Played by first time actress Tao Okamoto, Mariko’s character as well as her childhood friend Yukio, steals every scene that they are in.

Usually, a love story is box office poison to a superhero film (See Superman II.) But since Wolverine’s Japan saga is a love story underneath the layers of honor, Yakuza, and gore, it makes sense that those scenes are the best scenes in the entire film.

There’s a very confusing character named Viper. She’s a mutant geneticist, who has the ability to produce toxins that can damage even Wolverine. But she’s supposedly based on Madame Hydra in the comics. With the whole “Hail Hydra” storyline in both Winter Solider and Agents of SHIELD, I’m not sure if this Viper person has anything to do with that or not. Since Fox owns the rights to X-Men, I doubt it, but it makes for some confusing settlement of tangled plotlines and in-house box office politics.

Speaking of Fox, the secret scene at the end of the film is awesome. I won’t spoil what happens but it sets up this year’s X-Men Days of Future Past feature. Despite my dislike of this film, the extra scene had me pumped ready to see the next film as soon as I can find a copy of it for rent or cheap!

Not Worth Consuming.

Rating: 4 out of 10 stars.