Lunar New Year Love Story

I bought this 2024 graphic novel after last year's Lunar New Year. My favorite comic shop, who makes great recommendations, ordered it, knowing I love holiday books. So I had to wait almost an entire year to read. I collect holiday comics and graphic novels for all seasons and occasions. This is my first involving Chinese New Year. However, it very well could be a Valentine's Day read.

Val loves Valentine's Day. She dreams of a romance like those 80s flicks where a pair of unlikely people find true love. However, when Val learns that her mother really isn't dead but instead left her and her father at a very young age, Val is convinced she is cursed to never find love. 

During a Lunar New Year celebration, Val vows to give up on finding true love. With a 1-year deadline, looming Val runs into Leslie, a young man from a wealthy family who goes to a private school across town. But things are complicated by the fact that Leslie likes to take things very slow. Plus, he seems to have a lot of female friends who act like they're more than friends. 

As the year comes to a close, Val's heart is mixed up in a love triangle between Leslie and his cousin. It appears that the other boy is Val's true love; only it's causing bad blood between the cousins. With the announcement that he's moving back to Korea, Val decides to runaway on love herself, doomed to become the latest victim of her family's relationship curse. 

Lunar New Year Love Story is over 300 pages. The first 60 pages all involve Valentine's Day. The spirit of St. Valentine is a major character in this story and hearts and chocolates play important roles. Despite that, this is a very Asian graphic novel. Val is Vietnamese. Leslie is Chinese. The cousin is Korean. I did not know until reading this book that all 3 cultures celebrated the Lunar New Year! So it's kinda culturally insensitive to only wish a Happy Chinese New Year during this time of year. 

I was on the fence about keeping this book after reading it as it was a romance. I should have known that this was going to be an amazing work since it was written by Gene Luen Yang and I've never had any qualms with his epic storytelling. The art is by Leuyen Pham. My first encounter with her work. But it was equally as amazing as the storytelling. 

Today is Lunar New Year. So it's too late to read for that holiday. But with Valentine's Day still a couple of weeks away, there is still time to read while covered under the awning of the holidays of the season. Had I known that this book took place during high school, I would have read this book for my Family Comic Friday reviews. But the couple on the cover looked like adults to me. Don't let the age of the characters full you. This was a very mature read. If you've ever complained that Hallmark has never made a Lunar New Year movie, this book could be the inspiration to the adaptation of your wish come true!

Gosh darn it! This was a perfect read. I'm going have an honest to goodness romance in my holiday collection!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.

Fangs

What happens when a 300-year old vampire and a modern werewolf fall in love? Sarah Anderson's Fangs attempts to answer that question with a series of small snapshots of the process of finding your 'soul' mate. From those awkward introductions to navigating the rules and norms of each species to the first fight and ultimately moving in together, this was a creative story that really made me chuckle. 

I made a trip to the library today and I thought I had my reads all ready and picked when I came across the graphic novel Halloween reads display. I saw Fangs sitting there with it's simple scarlet cloth bound cover and stunning 1920s styled image of the Vamp on the cover and I just had to have it. The back cover offers zero information about what the story had to offer. So, I really have to take a leap of faith with this graphic novel and I must say that trust fall paid off. 

The idea of 2 monsters falling in love isn't really new. Frankenstein's monster has his bride. And when it comes to inter-species marriage between monsters, naturally you refer to The Munsters. But having a vampire and a werewolf getting along like this is a fairly new thing. I mean doesn't Hollywood basically tell use that the two types of monsters hate each other as mortal (or is it immortal) enemies?

Fangs is both an allegory for interracial relationships and a text book for modern dating and cohabitation which these days seem to be anything but normal. 

It's a light read with hints of the Addams Family, The New Yorker Magazine and Sex and the City. This is something that your typical non-graphic novel reading friends could enjoy along with you!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out 10 stars. 

Weird Love, Volume 1: You Know You Want It

Commie bad boy hunks. Mentally unhinged debutantes. Free love hippies, mini skirts, and Ronald Reagan?! It's all found in this edition of Weird Love: You Know You Want It!

Weird Love is a comic anthology from IDW Publishing and Yoe Books. The collaboration reprints some of the wildest, weirdest and down right prudish stories taken from the romance comics of the 1950s, 60s and 70s! 

I'm a fan of comics of all eras but my heart is firmly rooted in the Silver Age of comics when the Comics Code was just taking affect. There were so many titles out there trying to be lurid without attracting attention from politicians and angry moms. It's rather funny in an uncomfortable way.

A lot of these stories are like B-movies. They're so bad, that they're good! Fans of MST3K, Svengoolie and Ed Wood will delight in these forgotten gems from yesterday.

My wife got me this for Christmas. I have no idea where she got it. She's pretty well okay with a lot of oddball comics I bring in, including kids stuff. But the romance stuff, she tends to find that laughable and a little silly for a grown man like myself to read. But my mother had a bunch of them from when she was a girl and I being hooked on anything comic book related, gobbled them up. So, for me, it's not odd for men to read romance comics. 

But still, I'm a little mystified that my wife got this for me. I'm wondering if some of my buddies at my favorite comic book shop made the recommendation, as they know I am a huge fan of any type of comic book from this era. I guess that's one mystery I've leave unsolved.

This book was a thrill to read. I wouldn't mind reading more in the series or some of the sister books like Haunted Horror. I've read several other collections from Yoe Books and they always seem to find some great stuff. This edition does disappoint!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Deadman: Dark Mansion of Forbidden Love #1

    Boston Brand, the Fearless Deadman, is summoned to a creepy Victorian Mansion by a woman seemingly in distress. Only this lady is a ghost and once Deadman enters the domicile, he finds himself trapped, not only unable to leave the building but now unable to past through walls. Obviously, Deadman is trapped. But he’s found a way to travel the house, as the girlfriend of the mansion’s new owner, Berenice, can see him. However, she can’t she the dark menace that is threatening her and her lover. Now the two must team together if they have any hope of discovering the secrets of the Dark Mansion of Forbidden Love.

    The Dark Mansion of Forbidden Love was a short lived horror anthology series that had a bent towards Gothic love stories. Starting in 1971, the romance angle was scrapped after only 4 issues and rebranded Forbidden Tales of Dark Mansion. But an already over-saturated market of horror comics was too much for this struggling title and it was cancelled after 15 issues.

    Deadman is a B-list character of the DC Universe that’s become a bit of a cult favorite. Great art by Neal Adams and Jim Aparo and some pretty epic team-ups with Batman has made the character a 70s legend. Having read and collected quite a few Deadman comics as well as the Showcase Presents treasury of Dark Mansion/ Sinister House titles, I was intrigued when this book was announced a few weeks ago.

    Let’s talk about the artwork first. There’s an almost painted quality to the pages crafted by Lan Medina (District X). The faded tones make the scenes a little more spooky and I felt like I was watching the opening act of an old scary movie from the 70s on a projector or fuzzy TV set. I really enjoyed it.

    Now, the story. There’s a great mystery here- 3 actually. 1) Why is Deadman trapped? 2)Why can Berenice see Deadman? 3) What’s the sinister secret to the mansion? There’s some other minor plot points but they are such surprises, I don’t want to spoil them. And for these reasons along, I am interested in coming back to this series at some point. But as with many mysteries, not everything is clear- YET!

    But the series runs for $5.99 per issue. The plus side is that this book, which is 48-pages, is presented in prestige format and is ad free. But, still, for a bargain hunter like myself $6 is still pricey. So, I may wait for this to be collected to finish out the story. But if money was not an issue, I’d been getting every issue new on the day it would drop.

A Gothic love story set in the modern day with some spooks, chills, and things to go bump in the night.

  Worth Consuming

  Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Princess Decomposia and Count Spatula (Family Comic Friday)

  

 Poor Princess Decomposia! Her father, the king, is a bit of a hypochondriac and hasn't left his bed for years. Thus, the Princess has become the unofficial official head of state. With very little time to herself and even fewer friends, she's very lonely, overworked, and unappreciated. So when the castle cook quits suddenly, the Princess must act quickly and she immediately hires a pastry chef who happens to be a vampire without fangs but a very mean sweet tooth.

    Armed with Count Spatula's vast array of culinary masterpieces, Decomposia is on the verge of finally succeeding as the Underworld's de facto leader. But as their friendship grows, a budding romance between the princess and chef begins to blossom. Soon, Decomposia starts to find time for herself and actually enjoy life. But when the rest of the castle staff begin to gossip that the zombie Princess is falling for a vampire, will the two live happily ever after or will the king put an end to this affair before love finally gets a chance to bloom?

    Princess Decomposia and Count Spatula is just such a great book. I love the title which is a play on Dracula. I thought the art though a little rough, was very whimsical and appropriate for this story. The plot was excellent and the dialogue was very clever. Each character had their own unique voice and dialect. And Imagination! WOW! Besides the numerous unique monsters that appear throughout this book (including a super creepy eyeball creature) the recipes that Spatula devices are culinary dreams!

As a professional chef, I think this book was neat and something needed in the comic book world. There're all sorts of titles devoted to superheroes, scientists, writers, soldiers, reporters, and the like. But where are the graphic novels about chefs? 

    If you've got an aspiring chef home then this is the book for them!  This is the type of book that as a kid if I read this, it would have inspired me to have become a chef a lot sooner that I did. It's got wonder, whimsy, and most of all heart. It's a true winner.

    The only thing I wish this book would've done was to explore the monster realm a little more. There's quite a bit about the goings on of the castle. But considering how wondrous the castle employees are, I'm sure the residents of the Underworld are just as creative. Maybe there'll be future volumes of the adventures of Princess Decomposia and Count Spatula. We can only hope!

A very quick read, this book, published by First Second, is geared for those in grades 6-10. It teaches valuable lessons about delegating, honesty, and friendship. Also, if you read a little between the lines and look at the potential romance of a zombie and a vampire, there's also a little lesson about race and how it can transcend cultures and overcome prejudice. Who knew graphic novels could be so deep?

   Worth Consuming.

   Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Marvel Romance Redux: Restraining Orders Are for Other Girls

I’ve one last Valentine’s Day themed comic to review this year. Marvel Romance Redux takes classic Marvel romance comics and replaces all of the original dialogue with crazy new stuff. For example, one story has a psychotic girl becoming a scientologist in order to win the heart of her favorite action movie star. Another story has a girl secretly ratting out her friends for buying answers to college exams and ends up falling in love with the dealer.

This isn’t a new concept. I have a few books like this. They’re pretty clever, though every once in a while you get a story that’s just plain “stoopid.” In my opinion, if 75% of the redone tales are funny, then the comic is a win. Sadly, Kyle Baker writer and artist of many great comics, including his run on Plastic Man, is by far the worst of the re-storytellers.

There are at least 4 more books in the Marvel Romance Redux line. I just happened across this in a dollar box a few years back. If I find the other titles- SCORE! But, I’m not going to actively pursue the rest of the book either.

There is a series called “What Were They Thinking?!” by Titan books. I really enjoyed that series and if they ever decide to make more of them, I’ll consider paying full price for them. I advise if you like parody books like this one I just read, you should find the Titan Books series. You’ll be glad you did.

Worth Consuming.

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.