Douglas Adams' The Salmon of Doubt: Hitchhiking the Galaxy One Last Time (A Madman Re-Read)

It's hard to believe that when Douglas Adams died in 2001, he had only published 11 books. That number just seems in error. Adams had released 5 volumes in the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy trilogy. Yes, I did mean trilogy.  He also released a compendium of the radio scripts for Hitchhikers. Adams also gave us 2 Dirk Gently books. The remaining 3 books were co-written by Adams about made up words, similar to Sniglets and a treatise on endangered animals. The last book, Last Chance to See was considered by the author his greatest work. Though how anything can top The Restaurant at the End of the Universe is beyond me 

Just because Douglas Adams only finished 11 books before his death at age 49, that doesn't mean he wasn't a prolific writer. He contributed a number of articles on subjects varying from computers to religious beliefs and almost everything in between; most of which were published in magazines and newspapers in the UK. The Salmon of Doubt seeks to give his fans one last conversation with the extremely witty and hilarious author while also offering what the third Dirk Gently or the sixth Hitchhikers book might have been had he survived. 

After Adams's death, a family friend was able to access the late author's computer and download a large number of his archived writings. His editor and his widow then sifted through the works, culling from not necessarily the best of the best, but a selection of works that most described the type of complicated man Douglas Adams was. 

A staunch conservationist, Adams's time dressed as a rhinoceros during a climb up Mount Kilimanjaro is documented. The author was also an unabashed techie who loved computers almost as compulsively as I love comic books. A couple of articles read like lost chapters of Orwell's 1984, giving insight into how technology will change our lives; especially in terms of how we will shop online. I also think he should be credited with being a visionary on the formation of the Google Cloud Platform, having lamented in the mid-90s how nearly impossible it was for him to write something on a computer to be reviewed by his editor on another model without just having to take his computer with him in person to his publisher.

Don't think Douglas Adams wasn't able to combine his two great passions. In 1992, he managed to convince a tech magazine to fund a trip to the Great Barrier Reef in order to determine which offered a smoother ride: a new underwater one-man submersible or a giant sting ray. Needless to say, the diving experts wouldn't let the author actually touch a ray, let alone ride one. But he did manage to see a nearly 8 foot wide specimen in action and came to the conclusion that it was perfectly designed.

If conservation and technology were Douglas Adams' passions, Atheism was his guilty pleasure/soap box. And yet throughout this entire book, there's a sort of contradiction in his lack of beliefs in a creator. An admirer and later best friend of Richard Hawkins, one of the leading Atheist scientists whose also really vocal about it, there are several writings and interviews on his lack of faith in there being a God. To him and Dawkins, everything happened by accident. But if that is the case, then how can a stingray be perfectly designed? Too many of Adams' case for evolution is that there cannot be a God involved in the process. I personally don't see why it's so wild a thought that God could design something with the intent that as it's situation changes, the creation has certain traits built into its DNA to evolve with its surroundings. Who says that God can't keep creating new stuff after a much needed rest on the seventh day?

His 25-page speech 'Is There an Artificial God?' was my least favorite entry in the entire book. It was so rambling that it took me 3 days to finish. I hate that a stupid street preacher who was probably talking more out of his rectum than through the Holy Spirit caused Douglas Adams to become an atheist. I also hate that Adams believed that all religions were all part of 'the church'. I'm sorry but the Hindu religion is not a branch of Christianity. And the work of Baptists, Methodists or even the 21st century's Catholic should not be held accountable for the sins of the Catholic Church in the 14 and 1500s!

Douglas Adams was also a noted screenwriter. Some of the best Tom Baker Doctor Who episodes were worked on by Adams in one way or another. A couple of never produced treatments for skits to be performed with Python Graham Chapman are included and they are hilarious. There's a short story from the early days of Hitchhikers character Zaphod that had merit. But since he's probably my least favorite character in the franchise, that could explain my lackluster enthusiasm for it.

The main reason why I think most people, including myself wanted to read this book is for the title story, 'The Salmon of Doubt.' Adams began tinkering with it was a Dirk Gently novel. But as explained in an interview before you get to the story, Adams began to see that it might have worked better as a Hitchhikers story. 

I don't know. I thought it was rather entertaining and I could really envision a lot of the things Dirk saying in this book as being said by actor Samuel Barnett who played the title character for 2 seasons on BBC America's Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency.  I loved the interconnected way seemingly unconnected events played out. The dialogue, which was always Adams' strong suit, was brilliant and hilarious. I just hate that it was never finished.

Perhaps the most hilarious part of this book is the ending. It's the program from Adams' memorial service. For someone who was 'convinced there is no God', he sure had a lot of prayers, hymns and preachers at his funeral. He also had Pink Floyd's David Gilmour playing 'Wish You Were Here ', which was pretty cool. And considering how unfunny things have been around the world lately, I wish Douglas Adams was here too 

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.

Survival of the Fittest: Who's Got The Best Medicine? (Family Comic Friday)

I haven't done a Family Comic Friday in a while. I haven't given up on the project. Far from it. It's just that I've not really had much time to head to my local library. Plus, for the kids section of graphic novels, they got rid of the ' New Arrivals' section, making it a bit harder to find newer stuff to review. That being said, I did find something recently new at my branch. So let's take a look at Survival of the Fittest: Who's Got The Best Medicine?

Who knew that the animal kingdom had their own version of Shark Tank? Survival of the Fittest is an invention competition where creatures create amazing new products for humans based on the special properties of their very own bodies. Judging the competition as usual are Hammerhead Shark, Cookiecutter Shark and Tiger Shark. Today's episode, hosted by Hermit Crab, the trio of predators will be shown several potential lifesaving medical marvels. 

There's the extremely sharp teeth of the sea urchin that never gets dull as a potential new type of surgical scalpel. Mosquito shares a new form of syringe that is based on the bug's proboscis and is supposedly painless. And much more innovations based on the animals in the sea, land and air are in store!

And don't think that the sharks don't get in on the act too! Great White Shark has an idea to eliminate post-operative infections by having all of the equipment in the operating room textured like the sandpaper skin of those predators of the deep.

I loved the idea behind this book. There's a design segment at the end of the book that explains how such animal based technologies are in the planning stages at current time; along with hyperlinks to help young readers learn more about these amazing inventions. (You'll have to type those out as this is not a digital book that I reviewed.)

I only wish that I could have understood what was going on between the host, Hermit Crab and contestant Octopus. Was the 8-armed invertebrate flirting with the crab as he kept changing shells during every commercial break? Was the Octopus just being friendly? Was there mischief afoot? I really couldn't tell. Those interludes were pantomimed and I really could have used some words, or narrator descriptions to fully follow along with that part of the story.

I also felt that another contestant should have won, having a much better invention than the winner. But that's more of a matter of personal preference and nothing against the quality of this entertaining and educational graphic novel.

There's at least 1 other book so far in the series. 'Who Will Come Out on Top?' is about engineering innovations . If you have a young reader in your life who loves science, especially when animals are involved, this is a series that needs to be introduced to them! The vocabulary and some of the concepts are a bit advanced. I'm thinking that without a trusted adult to read along with, this is a book suited for 4th graders through 6th. 

With the inclusion of the shark tank of judges, this series makes a great summer read!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Why There's Antifreeze in Your Toothpaste: The Chemistry of Household Ingredients by Simon Quellen Field

This book intimated me at first. Many, but not all, of the chemicals, minerals and polymers referred to in this book have an illustration of their molecular structure. Since carbon atoms are assumed to have bonds with 4 hydrogen atoms, their presence is shortened with a straight line that is often off kilter to represent another shared bond with another hydrogen atom.

In other words, to keep the image of molecular structure from being too cluttered, it's simplified with straight lines and angles. I forgot to mention that atoms that share electrons are represented with parallel lines, adding to the confusion. The first 3 chapters are filled with a glut of information about how electrons are shared and atoms are removed within their structure, I kept having to refer to the introduction that explained all of that complexity of everyday chemistry. 

I was about ready to trash this book. But the next morning, I found myself explaining some of the chemical makeup of  teen favorite foods, such as Flaming Hot Cheetos. Food dyes in foods are a big political issue right now and I had some students asking about if their favorite snacks were going to be discontinued. I really didn't understand why brominated vegetable oil would be in orange soda in the first place. Thanks to this book, I now understand that orange flavonoids are composed of fats which do not bind with water. That means without the emulsifying effect of the bromides, your orange soda will separate like an unshaken bottle of Italian dressing. Plus it wouldn't look orange. Having just read about all that in this book, I was able to explain that thanks to the government ban, you would still have your favorite foods. Only, I imagine your unopened bottle of Sunkist is going to look very different in the next couple of years.

I started to see that the teaching resource that I was hoping this book would be in my culinary classes actually coming to pass. But I was still overwhelmed by the writing since this was a college level read. So I set a goal to read 5 pages a day. Eventually I began to learn about how emulsifiers, cleansers, flavoring agents and food dye are not just made but crafted into other products that we use in our everyday lives. Not all of it bad, either.

The antifreeze mentioned in this book is actually a natural chemical that by itself does prevent products from freezing. But without another chemical agent added to the antifreeze that helps prevent damage to vehicles, it's not toxic to humans.

If you teach CTE Culinary Arts or Foods and Nutrition Courses in either middle or high school, you should get this book! If your department head is anything like mine, you're expected to cross teach from a variety of subjects in hopes of boosting those ever important testing scores. This book can help you work on making Chemistry and bio-sciences more relatable to your students. Just don't feel bad if you have to do a review of that section on how to read and understand a structural formula more than once. Lord knows that I was still checking it over with just a couple of pages left to read. 

Maybe I should have paid better attention in Chemistry when I was in high school...

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Lies You Learned at School by Michael Powell

A pick up from a dollar book sale. This book attempts to factually dispute the myths and legends we've been taught in grade school. It's kinda like a textbook version of TV's Adam Ruins Everything, without the abrasive, whininess of Adam Conover.

When author Michael Powell talks about how George Washington really didn't lie about chopping down a cherry tree, much less actually cut such foliage down to sizes, Powell is great. I learned a lot of inside detail about the midnight 'ride' of Paul Revere, that Mount Everest is NOT the tallest mountain in the world and baseball wasn't invented in the US of A. However, I felt completely lost when Powell attempted to explain how certain mathematical theories such as '2+2=4' have been taught in error.

You know, that's kinda the danger when you write a book that covers a myriad of all topics. No matter how well you might understand a subject, that doesn't mean that you were meant to explain it to others. I think if Powell had stayed away from the complexity of the sciences and focused more on the human element, (and general fun facts debunked) I would have enjoyed this book more thoroughly. He had me when talking about how that apple probably never fell onto Sir Isaac Newton's crown. But when the author tries to explain the science behind the theory of relativity, I was begging for a chance to turn the page.

There will probably be some of you readers who prefer Powell's explanations of equations instead of the truth behind whether Mussolini made the trains on time. However, if you are like me and you can't visualize math without a step-by-step graph on how to solve for X, then you may not enjoy this book completely. This is a book that has a little bit of everything. I just don't think it's a book that will appeal to everyone.

Rating: 6 out of 10 stars.

The Unstoppable Wasp #1

From 2016, the character of Nadia Pym (later Van Dyne), was created to reflect the character Evangeline Lilly played in 2015's Ant-Man film. Why they don't instead call her Hope in this comic is beyond me. If you're going to mirror the movie universe, go all out and do it right. Or don't do it at all. If I had anything to say about this book, I wouldn't advised Marvel to just scrap it.

First of all, readers are supposed to forget nearly 50 years of comic book history. Instead of being killed by Communists, Hank Pym's original wife survived long enough to have a child. The child, a daughter, was raised by the Red Room, the same clandestine Soviet training center that created Black Widow and all of her 'sisters'. Now free from Russian/Soviet influences, Nadia makes her way to NYC and seeks to become a superhero like her famous father.

Oh, geez. I'm having trouble with this review. I've been frustrated with my fellow fans today about being so negative and anti-woke. I really like to think I'm a little more open minded. I like issue writer Jeremy Whitley. I've interviewed him before. I am a big fan of his Princeless world of books. I just didn't like this book. 

In reaction to SHIELD's lack of respect for women scientists, by book's end, Nadia creates a think tank that specializes in women and STEM studies in order to save the world. My culinary field is considered a career and technical education subject of study. My department strives to empower minorities and females in an industry that is dominated by men. So I am all for STEM and STEAM, as Culinary arts are a form of art. I just didn't like this issue!

This story just felt too saccharine for me. Maybe it's because Nadia is a millennial or a member of Gen Z. Maybe Nadia is just too positive and cheerful; like Santa Claus, at Disneyland... getting laid! Something about this issue just rubbed me the wrong way. 

I looked at some other reviews of this book, and I think I've put my finger on what was getting on my nerves. A lot of readers seem to have the same complaint. It's how she and her teen friends talk. If you thought Cher in Clueless was bad, you will hate the dialogue in this book! Maybe it's because I am in my 40s. I am sure my parents and grandparents hated how I talked. It's that generation thing, surely. Though I don't recall any of my high school students from my past 5 years of teaching ever talking like this. It's almost like how DC writers in the late 60s and 70s would be criticized over how these 'old fogeys' didn't understand how modern teens of the time talked. I like Jeremy Whitley. I just don't think he was ever around teens in the mid-2010s. 

A good story that is just a bit out of touch with today's youth. Maybe if the dialogue was more realistic and not in YEET-speak. Thank God my students don't talk like this. I don't think I could continue working with them if they did.

Rating: 4 out of 10 stars.

Two-Fisted Science

If I wasn't such an admirer of Richard Feynman, I think I would have been annoyed to no end with this graphic novel. Two-Fisted Science is a 2001 anthology series devoted to anecdotes and historical accounts of some of the world's greatest scientists. Galileo, the eternal rivals Sir Isaac Newton & Robert Hooke and Niels Bohr are featured in this collection featuring the talents of Steve Lieber (Whiteout), Jim Ottaviani (Hawking) and Colleen Doran (Amazing, Fantastic, Incredible: A Marvelous Memoir). But the big star of this book is Feynman!

Two-Fisted Science is 128 pages, plus material on both inside covers. There's an entire section that's over 50 pages long starting Feynman, plus a story that is spread out through the whole book in multiple parts. That means about 75 pages of this book is devoted to the bongo-playing, safe-cracking renegade of the Los Alamos division of the Manhattan project. Over 50% of a book about different scientists through is history is about 1 Nobel Prize winning physicists!

Again, for a fan of Feynman, I don't mind the extra attention on him. But that really throws off the pacing of this book. I think the multi-parter alone would have been just fine to keep things on track. Lots of anthologies do this in order to have a running thread that helps keep readers grounded to the central theme of the collection. Lots of anthologies will also have a single section that might be devoted to just one person or event. Either literary device is perfectly acceptable in the execution of a collected work. But not both. 

Quite a bit of the Feynman material seemed familiar to me. I've read a couple of books about him as well as the Manhattan Project. I had thought maybe that would explain the deja vu. However, upon checking through the archives of this blog, I've discovered that one of the books I've read, Fallout: J. Robert Oppenheimer, Leo Szilard, and the Political Science of the Atomic Bomb, was written and illustrated by a team that featured Ottavini, Lieber and the creator of the segmented Feynman story, Bernie Mireault. I've got a feeling that some of the material of that book was used here. However, I don't own a copy of Fallout, so I am not really sure. But I really think I've read some of this material before!

A very good read. It was just unevenly edited and may have featured material previously published elsewhere. And let's be honest here- isn't that EC Comics homage cover just freaking gorgeous? 

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

The Cartoon Guide to Physics (2022 Comic Book and Graphic Novel Reading Challenge)

This 1990 illustrated guide to physics is broken into 2 parts: mechanics and electricity AND magnetism. The first segment can be summoned up by Isaac Newton's 3 law of motion.

1. A body at rest persists in its state of rest, and a body in motion remains in constant motion along a straight line unless acted upon by an external force.

2. A body's acceleration is directly proportional to the force exerted on it and is in the same direction as the force.

3. To every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.

(from owlcation.com)

Add in gravity, a bunch of equations that supposedly proves the theories behind the science and some history, you've got section one in a nutshell.

Section #2 isn't quite so clear. There's a lot about magnets. A lot about how we get electricity thanks to particle charges. Add in the best explanation I have ever seen about Einstein's theory of relativity that didn't use the old adage about putting your hand on a hot stove for a minute vs. spending 30 minutes with a beautiful woman. Then throw everything out with the paradoxes of quantum mechanics and I might be able to explain how to change a light bulb while putting a magnet on the door of your fridge. 

UCLA physics and astronomy professor Larry Gonick teams with Discover Magazine's Art Huffman to teach the laws of the physical universe in The Cartoon Guide to Physics. The duo do their best to explain physics. It just whenever you add letters to numbers (or substitute them), my eyes glaze over. 

For a very long time, I thought I just couldn't understand math. Then in my senior year of high school, I was finally diagnosed with math dyslexic. Once I understood that, my love of science abounded to a point that I daily use physics, chemistry, biology and even math in my career as a professional chef and culinary teacher.

As part of the reading challenge, I was to read a book about science. Since I enjoy physics, especially time travel and how simple machines work, I gave this book a chance. 

There are 2 hosts for this book. The adventurous Ringo and his fellow astronaut, an unnamed hostess with the letter L on her belt. Ringo tends to get into trouble and gets easily confused. The hostess usually conducts her experiments with panache. Their visual aids make the confusion brought upon by the equations easier to understand many of the principles explored in this book. But I think an animated version would be a lot more helpful that using charts with arrows flowing this way and that. 

Of the books I have read for this challenge, this has taken me the longest. Some nights I could breeze through 2-3 chapters. On others, I could only make it through a single chapter before my brain just turned to mush. I learned a lot. But when it comes to the theoretical stuff, I think I am just too much of a realist (or maybe a literalist) to understand it all.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.

Completing this review completes Task #48 (About Science) of the 2022 Comic Book and Graphic Novel Reading Challenge.

Hawking

I became a huge fan of Richard Feynman thanks to the 2013 graphic novel work by Jim Ottaviani and Leland Myrick. When I feel like being brainy while getting in a good laugh or two, I play the lectures of Feynman on my computer. It's great background noise when you are surfing the web or updating book reviews. 

This was a guy who was building the first atomic bomb one minute and then sneaking out of Los Almos to play bongos at a local club the next. He was so serious and yet chill. And he was fun as well as funny as hell!

So when Previews announced the release of Ottaviani and Myrick's Hawking, I was first in line for the book. I love Stephen Hawking. I read his manga opus, A Brief History of Time when I was in the fifth grade (for fun; not a requirement.) I've followed Hawking career ever since, enjoying his hilarious appearances on The Simpsons, Futurama and The Big Bang Theory. 

So how was this book? Was it all I hoped it would be cracked up to be? In short- NO!

This book was an almost complete 180 turn from Feynman. While Dr. Feynman was the life of the party, Professor Hawking was a massive stick in the mud. Prof. Feynman was willing to accept concepts that didn't gel with his personal philosophy. Dr. Hawking tries to change those rejected ideas to fit into his view of the universe. But above all, this book was boring!

I was hoping for a more personal look at Stephen Hawking's personal life. His struggle with ALS has been in inspiration for me and countless others. While his personal life is glossed upon, this book was more of a treatise on cosmology and physics.

Only Stephen Hawking can make his insanely complex concepts seem simple. Ottaviani and Myrick are no Stephen Hawking. I literally was bored to tears with this book. It's also why it's taking me up till now to have finally completed this. I had to take breaks in order to overtake the mind numbing!

Sadly, Stephen Hawking also seems to have been a bit of a jerk. Understandably, suffering from something as crippling as ALS is enough to make anyone sour. But way before he started to show symptoms, Hawking seemed a bit of an ass. I really felt sorry for his first wife.

Should Jim Ottaviani and Leland Myrick do a third graphic novel based on a famous scientist, I would read it. It's not exactly that the creative team did a poor job on this. The true life of Stephen Hawking wasn't as enjoyable as the myth the late physicist had built up around himself. But I would recommend that they maybe not spending quite as much time on really difficult physics. It just wasn't as enjoyable read as it could have been as I didn't think that the creators really understood the mind of a master thinker; no matter how tarnished his armor now is in my mind.

Rating: 6 out of 10 stars.

The Wrong Wrights (Secret Smithsonian Adventures #1) (Family Comic Friday)

Young Eric loves airplanes. So when he and three classmates win a trip to the Air and Space Musuem in Washington DC, he's in heaven. But all is not great as somebody has tampered with the timeline!

Where did all the planes go? Why are there hot air balloons in their place? It's up to Eric, his buddies and a friendly tour guide named Al and his computer Smitty to save history.

The kids are sent back in time to New York 1909. Eric and company are decked in holographic period clothing and wear a compact version of Smitty on their wrists. The Wright Brothers are about to debut their wonderful flying machine to a skeptical public. However, there's saboteurs afoot looking to wreck the Wright Brothers flyer and it's up to the time travelling students to protect the plane. But it's going to be a challenge as the baddies looking to ruin aviation forever are from the future as well.

The Wrong Wrights was awesome. I am an advocate for comics doing so much more than just entertaining. This 2016 graphic novel is the first is a series from Smithsonian Books called Secret Smithsonian Adventures. The book's authors Steve Hockensmith and Chris Kientz do a fantastic job. The kids and their enemies of time are really memorable characters. Plus they make history and science fun. The writers also know how to embellish the story enough to not lose the historical significance of the events in history the kids are trying to restore.

I also liked the art and colors by Lee Nielsen. Each character has a distinct look that allows you to know who is who is different outfits. The mysterious main baddie is super creepy looking. Plus the illustrations of the flying machines, especially the Wright Brothers flyer look amazing.

If the Wrong Wrights is any indication of the overall future quality of this series, then fans are in for a treat. (There’s at least 1 other book already published.) I think this has great potential and will be a favorite among readers, parents, and teachers.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

1977: A Madman Turns 40: 2017- Day 137

 

 For today's A Madman Turns 40, we look at Wernher Von Braun. The Father of Rocket Science passed away on this day in 1977. 

Von Braun, in civilian clothes along with high ranking
Nazi officials during a rocket test, 1941.

     Von Braun is controversial figure. He developed Nazi Germany's rocket program, in particular, the very nasty V2 rocket. Von Braun also used Jewish slave labor to build the deadly tools of World War II against the Allied forces. When the US government announced in 1945 that they had assigned the rocket scientist and his associates to America in hopes of boosting our defense programs, many people were up at arms.

     Von Braun did maintain throughout his life that he was not a Nazi. He would state that he was forced to join. Failure to do so could have jeopardize not only his life but that of his family or friends. In 1946, the German would also convert to evangelical Christianity and renounce his part in the Nazi war effort. From that day forward, he would also refuse to participate in the production of American weapons. 

Von Braun surrendering to Allied agents during the
last days of WW2. He had broken his arm in a car accident a few days prior.

      Von Braun's non-violent new way of science actually wasn't too upsetting to the US military. They were in the beginning days of space exploration and actually jumped at the chance to have Von Braun head up that program. Plus, if the Army could turn his space exploration rockets into weapons later on- it was a win-win. (Although now more of dove than a hawk, the scientist did develop ideas for orbital defense against the Russians during the Cold War. Back then, a good defense against Communism wasn't considered war-like but a part of everyday survival.)

The scientist celebrating the landing of Apollo 11 on the moon,
July 1969.

      Thanks for Werhner Von Braun's efforts in the field of rocketry, the US won the space race. He helped create the Saturn V rocket that would provide enough thrust for American astronauts to enter the stratosphere. Later he would become the director of the Apollo Program, resulting in a manned moon landing in July, 1969.

       About three years later with his mission accomplished, Von Braun retired from NASA. He would work in the private sector for a few years before ultimately having to retire for good due to failing health. A life-time smoker, Von Braun would battle cancer a couple of times. Finally in 1977, he succumbed to pancreatic cancer.

       The world lost a science superstar that day. His work with rockets would go on to inspire countless TV and movies about flying rockets to the farthest reaches of space. Eventually, those shows would inspire a little-known director in Southern California to create a film about wars in space. The rest would be Madman history.

      So that's my look at my birth year for today. Come back soon when I'll discover another glimpse at my favorite year.

Mad Scientist Academy: The Dinosaur Disaster (Family Comic Friday)

Meet Ken, the Monster Boy…
Wolfgang, the Wolfboy…
Thora, The Bug Girl...
The Lagoon Boy, Tad…
Miss Scarlet, the vampire…
And the robot moppet Nicole…

    Class is in session for the Mad Scientist Academy. It’s the students first day and their new teacher is Dr. Cosmic. Though he’s a mad scientist, he’s also a pretty bad one. None of his experiments seem to go right and his newest exhibit on dinosaurs has a lot of bugs in the system. 

    While Dr. Cosmic searches for his missing pet dinosaur, Oscar, the children are tasked with answering a series of riddles based on the robotic dinos placed throughout the exhibit. Something causes the dinosaurs to run amok. As a result, the pupils must find the off switch before the entire school comes crashing down. Armed with their new hi-tech textbooks, their wits, and Wolfgang’s lunch, can the kids save the school from disaster or will they become a T-Rex’s next meal?

     The Dinosaur Disaster is the first in a new series of books by author/ illustrator Matthew McElligott. This book mixes humor, monsters, and science to create a book that was both entertaining and educational. This book made learning really fun, even to an old war horse like me who has watched his share of the Jurassic Park movies.

     This book was published in 2015 and McElligott just released book two of the series- The Weather Disaster in May. Be sure to check out his website. It’s got lots of great videos, activities, and cool experiments to try at home. But if you decide to become like Dr. Cosmic, be sure to have an adult on hand for safety’s sake just in case. 

   A great graphic novel series that’s got lots of promise. And from looking at some of the other books McElligott has written, I wanna check out his Benjamin Franklinstein series that combines history with silly monsterized versions of famous people. 

   Like the back cover says Mad Scientist Academy is “packed with monstrous facts and ferocious fun’ but there’s nothing here that should scare the adventurous reader in your home.

    Worth Consuming

   Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.  

Secret Coders (Family Comic Friday)

  When a young girl named Hopper transfers to Stately Academy, it’s a rough transition. Her basketball skills aren’t up to par with the rest of the team, nobody wants to sit with her at lunch, and the really difficult Mandarin teacher is, in reality, her mom! But when she finally makes a new friend named Eni, the pair uncover a secret involving the birds at the school, it opens Hopper up to the world of computer coding. With a myriad of mysterious numbers and locked doors, Hooper and Eni work together to undercover the mystery of Stately Academy.

  Written by Gene Luen Yang (American Born Chinese) with art by Mike Holmes (Adventure Time), 2015’s Secret Coders is a great new series that combines science, mystery, and technology. The book is designed like a graphic novel with mystery activities that the reader is encouraged to solve along with Hopper and Eni.

  Yang was just recently selected as the National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature and I think that this book is an excellent reason why the author was chosen. Already an accomplished writer as well as a teacher in computer science, Gene Luen knows what it takes to make learning fun for kids, such as turning a graphic novel mystery into an undercover manual for computer programming!

  I wish him well in his tenure as a literary ambassador!

  Secret Coders ends with a cliffhanger. Usually, this is a pet peeve of mine, but I got this at the library and it’s the first book in the series, so I can overlook it. However, it won’t be until August of this year before book 2 drops! That’s a long time for kids to wait for a book sequel! (Heck, it’s a long time for me to wait! and I’m 38!!!)

  That being said, there are lots of unresolved conflicts such as the troubling dynamic of Hopper and her mom, why her father just up and disappeared, and what really is going on at Stately Academy. Hopefully, Yang will include a good 2-3 page ‘Story So Far…’ summary in volume 2.

  Worth Consuming

  Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Feynman

   It seems like everywhere I go right now, Richard Feynman is there. From a factual account of the Oppenheimer's involvement in the Manhattan Project (Fallout) to Jonathan Hickman's alternate history of the program in the pages of the Image series of the same name to an article about the strange quirks of famous people on Cracked.com; I just keeping running into Feynman. Why, even his van achieved some notoriety when it appeared on an episode of the Big Bag Theory a couple of weeks ago. It seems that the noted mathematician and physicist has achieved that rare rock star status of Einstein or Hawking in which they are more than science royalty but pop culture icons!

   From my recent readings, including this graphic novel by Jim Ottaviani (who also wrote Fallout) and Leland Myrick, Feynman has become my personal favorite genius (he's also Sheldon's on Big Bang Theory.) Feynman is very down to earth and while he looks at the mysteries of the universe with an analytical mind, he's not opposed to the idea of a creator nor does he claim to know or even understand all of the puzzles of science. 

   From Feynman's odd hobby of picking locks while at Los Alamos to his attempts to join a Carnival krewe in Brazil, it didn't matter if the subject was trivial or not, as long as his continuing self-education exercised his mind it was a subject worth studying for the Nobel Prize winner. This book maps just about every step of Feynman's life, but it's not in linear order. Just as his autobiographies rambled out of sync with his personal timeline, this graphic novel jumps from time period to time period. Thankfully, unlike Hickman's 'Manhattan Projects', Ottaviani and Myrick are keen to inform the reader of the year in which events unfold.

    While I enjoyed the heck out of this book, it was not an easy read. But that's okay. Complexity doesn't have to equal enjoyment. In at least 2 sections of this book, Ottaviani and Myrick place Feynman behind a lectern as his attempts to explain to the reader his award-winning theory on QED. It has something to do with how light particles reflect off of a surface but not at the same time or in the same fashion every time. (Please, don't ask me to explain more because I would be doing a terrible disservice to both the genius behind the theory and to you my loyal blog readers.)

    Even though understanding his groundbreaking theories were not easy for me to accomplish, I am in no way turned off by Richard Feynman or his work. In fact, the author posted an extensive assortment of suggested readings on Feynman that have inspired me to pick up a few in the coming new year. I am particularly interested in his mostly autobiographical works 'Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!' and 'What Do You Care What Other People Think?'

    Feynman is an interesting read that like the physicist himself, challenges the reader to think, expand, and grow with every life experience. Don't be intimidated by scientific jargon in this 2011 work because even the late physicist's didn't have all the answers either. Look at this as a doorway to world of new ideas and when someone says to you that graphic novels are kids stuff, show them one of Feynman's formulas and ask them if they think a 5-year old could solve it or not? 

   Worth Consuming

    Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Black Science Volume 1: How to Fall Forever

   

  This volume marks my final selection of science-themed graphic novels that I got recently at my local library when I was on a huge sci-fi kick. Black Science is a lot like the 90s Fox show Sliders, in which a group of scientists created a portal to parallel earths. Only something or someone caused the machine to go wonky and now until they can repair the portal, the scientists, their annoying lab liaison, and a couple of kids who are visiting their dad's lab find themselves jumping from parallel earth to parallel earth when the device infrequently repowers itself. God help them if they arrive on a hostile planet with 24-hours to kill before their next transition.

    Out of all of the sci-fi themed books I checked out, this was my favorite. I'm not sure why. The story, like I said, borrows heavily on the plot of Sliders. But I liked that show and this book is what could've happened if Sliders aired on HBO instead of Fox. There's sex, gore, violence, action, and a heck of a lot of plot twists and turns as the team encounters leapers from parallel earths. Plus, just who is behind the sabotage of the interdimensional portal?

    One thing I see as a potential problem for this book is that characters die about as frequently as people named 'Stark' or 'Snow' on Game of Thrones. Something's going to have to happen soon to rectify this or there won't be any characters left. But, it's that 'no one is safe' mentality that put me at the edge of my seat and running to my local library the next day to check out volume 2. Sadly, someone beat me to it...

    A great offering by Rick Remender (Age of Heroes), whose writing gives this book a modern feel, mixed  with the fantastic 50s Weird Science vibe that comes from the art by Dean White (Hulk) and Matteo Scalera (Deadpool Team-Up.

    Worth Consuming

    Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.

The Manhattan Projects, Volume 2: They Rule

    The scientists of Los Alamos have declared their independence from the United States. Now teaming with the scientists of Star City, the Soviet equivalent of the Manhattan Projects, the world's most brilliant minds seek to become the masters of not only the world but the universe as well. But it will not be easy as President Truman has unleashed the Illuminati, a mad assortment of super-powered humans upon the base with only one mission- take the base- leave no prisoners- kill everyone!!!

    I'm still a fan of the groundbreaking series by Jonathan Hickman, but I didn't enjoy this volume as much as the previous one. For one thing, last volume seemed to follow the timeline of 1940-1945-ish pretty well. Yes, this is a fictional account of the Manhattan Project but the plotting was so well done that I was able to appreciate my knowledge of World War II history in regards to the events that transpired in the comics.

    But in this volume we jump from President Truman to newly appointed Commander-In-Chief John Kennedy. Where did Eisenhower go? If in this timeline Kennedy became the 34th president instead of the famed General, then it was Hickman's responsibility to inform the readers that Kennedy's presidency begins in 1952. That's just one of several diversions from our timeline that the author neglects to alert us to. Instead of captions stating 'now' and 'then,' I really could have used some dates.

    Another problem I have with this volume is the level of violence. If this edition was Spinal Tap's amp, the violence would be set at 11. Volume 1 wasn't for the faint of heart, but compared to this collection, the last book was an anthology of nursery rhymes. I also felt like the shock factor added to the mix detracted from the story itself.

    Thankfully, the last chapter opens the Manhattan Projects up to a new dimension of possibilities. For some time, the deranged mind of Robert Oppenheimer has been like a vault that isn't water tight and every once in a while the safe's contents leak out, allowing the reader to catch a glimpse of his fractured psyche. But the last chapter titled 'Finite Oppenheimers' we see just how many multiple personalities the demented physicist has absorbed throughout the multiverse. Let's just say it's a lot and they're not all happy to have become a part of Oppenheimer's think tank collective.

    Worth Consuming

    Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.

FBP: Federal Bureau of Physics, Volume 1: The Paradigm Shift

    The laws of physics have been severely broken. With time paradoxes, quantum tornadoes, and gravity failing as often as the sun rises and sets, things on planet earth have changed. For example, when you call 911, you are asked if your emergency is in regards to medical, fire, or physics.

   Enter the FBP- Federal Bureau of Physics and agent Adam Hardy. For the government agency, these calls seem like just another day at the office. But when Adam becomes temporarily stranded in a bubble universe, he learns that their may be something sinister behind the weakening of the fabric of the universe. In a world where the 'impossible is always possible' Adam and his team must get to the bottom of the quantum entanglements or the fate of not just the world, but the entire universe is doomed. 

    If it seems like I've been on a science graphic novel kick lately, it's not my fault. My library just happened to get in a bunch of science themed books in recently and I decided to snatch up several volume 1s in order to decide if there were any new series to get into since 'Fables' is almost through. So far, I'm batting 2-2. 

  FBP was exciting and unexpected. The book has so many twists and turns and shocks that I was pleasantly surprised that I had no idea where the members of the FBP were going to go next. So many comic series these days are about as predictable as the weather in San Deigo but that is not the case here. Also, with so much happening in the realm of physics, not every mystery is revealed and that is a good thing as I'm set up and ready for volume 2.

   Another good thing about this book is that the writing is so good that even the 'boring' parts are great. In The Phantom Menace, the Star Wars prequel was ruined by lengthy scenes involving intergalactic trade treaties. But in FBP, even the agency's struggle to achieve federal funding is as interesting as the time vortexes that haunt one of the characters in this book.

    If you like the X-Files, CSI, Doctor Who, and science in general then this is the series for you.

   Worth Consuming

   Rating: 9 out of 10 stars (as the art was a little rough at times but it still made for an engaging read.)

Fallout: J. Robert Oppenheimer, Leo Szilard, and the Political Science of the Atomic Bomb

 

 I figured since I was reading a fictionalized account of the Manhattan Project (The Manhattan Projects, Volume 1) then I would also read a factual account. 

   Man, I wish that statement was true...

   When I checked out the premiere volume of the Manhattan Projects, I had no idea that it starred characters such as Einstein and Oppenheimer. It was just dumb luck that I also checked out this graphic novel about the development of the atomic bomb. But after I read the Manhattan Projects, it made perfect sense to read this next. But I read the fiction graphic novel over a week ago, what took me so long to finish the non-fiction edition?

    Even though Fallout is a graphic novel, it is packed with lengthy excerpts of letters, journals, and official testimonies. And when I say lengthy, I'm not lying. A report on the loyalty of Dr. Oppenheimer was over 8 pages long. Even longer was the notes and 'director's cut' commentary at the end of the book which was over 30-pages long. (It was that section that took me forever to complete.)

   This book starts from the very beginning of the Manhattan project with Leo Szilard employing Albert Einstein to write a letter to President Roosevelt asking him to beat the Nazis to the development of the atom bomb. It then moves to Chicago, where scientists build the first atomic pile underneath a squash court at the University of Chicago. (Imagine the disaster that would have happened if that have overloaded!) Finally, we wind up at the research base in Los Alamos, New Mexico where the first nuke was tested.

    The last half of the book focuses on the fallout of Truman's action to drop the bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. When you build a weapon, the natural inclination is to make it better and badder. Thus, the team at Los Alamos is tasked with building the Hydrogen Bomb, which makes the first nukes detonated look like firecrackers. 

    Over time both Szilard and Oppenheimer become repentant over creating the Bomb. Their reluctance to continue building more powerful nukes causes the men to become the subject of investigations over their loyalty to the US. As a result, Oppenheimer is brought before the Atomic Commission and must restore his good name or face becoming blackballed by losing his security clearance.

   Fallout was an eye-opening experience at the development of the nuclear bomb. It was so good, I'm inspired to read and research more about the Manhattan Project. Jim Ottaviani, the book's author, at the end of this book recommends to readers that they should read Maus if they only read another graphic novel about the horrors of World War II (Challenge accepted... Yes, I've never read Maus. But I will now!) Well, aside from that classic, if you want to learn more about the horrors of nuclear war, it's history, and the harsh impact of spending a lifetime working with radioactive materials- then you must read Fallout!

   Worth Consuming

   Rating: 9 out of 10 stars (Only because that previously mention notes section is just so gosh darn long. But that too IS worth reading.)
     

Attack of the Killer Facts by Eric Grzymkowski

   Killer Bacteria! Alien Abductions! Odd Laws! Paranormal Activity! Freaky Weather! Human Oddities! Filled with 1,001 weird and bizarre bits of trivia, Attack of the Killer Facts is the ultimate bathroom reader for fans of the strange and macabre.

    Written by budding Jeopardy contestant Eric Grzymkowski, Killer is Facts is just one of several books written by the gang at the Daily Bender; an informative blog created by Adams Media. Though these fact books are considered 'bathroom readers' you don't have to enjoy them on the porcelain throne. 

   I love reading about weird and odd things and with over 1000 crazy tidbits of subjects ranging from the search for Bigfoot to the odd collections of serial killers, there was tons of new stuff for me to learn. Some of these facts were completely new to me- so new, I couldn't believe them! But each fact comes complete with a list of references so you can further your research like I did when I looked up Lina Medina, who at 5 years old, was documented as the youngest female to ever give birth!

   One thing that each of these facts also contain are jokes and I could do without them. Grzymkowski seems to think he's better suited at comedy than fact finding as he includes an often inane quip at the end of every factoid he presents. 99% of these kneeslappers produced groans instead of gaffaws. Still, even with these stinkers, the amount of interestingly odd facts are enough for me to give another one of Adams Media's readers a try. I just probably will chose one of the publisher's other authors over another offering by MR. Grzymkowski.

    A fun read that suceeds at being a poor man's Ripley's but fails at being another '1,001 Gross Jokes...'

   Worth Consuming

   Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.

The Manhattan Projects, Volume 1: Science. Bad.

Everything you know about the Manhattan Project is a lie. First of all- the quest to create a nuclear bomb was just a cover for a slew of experiments involving time drive, alternate dimensions, and other types of fringe science. Besides, we had the bomb years before we even used it...

   Well, that's according to the new series I started reading: The Manhattan Projects. The brainchild of Jonathan Hickman, I first learned of this series when I was getting his autograph at a convention a few years back. The guy in front of me had just about every issue getting signed so, I took some time to examine them (from afar, of course.) 

   The covers look almost identical to the cover to this premiere volume. They have a large black circle in the middle with the MP logo, art and writer credits, issues number, and price. Unlike Einstein being on this book's cover, the individual issues might have a subtle pop art-style difference like a color wheel or the Soviet Hammer and Sickle. 

    When my local library finally decided to pick up this series, it took me even longer to get into to it as volume 1 was checked out for several months. When I finally got my hands on it last week, I both slapped my forehead for taking so long to get into this dynamic series and did a small victory dance for finally getting this book into my possession.

    All of your favorite physicists from the Second World War are in this book. Oppenheimer, Fermi, Feynman, Daghlian, and the previously mentioned Albert Einstein. But by volume's end, the way you look at any of these pioneering scientists may just change how you look at American History and physics itself. 

     Hickman's brave new world is exciting and the art by Nick Pitarra. His style is very similar to that of Frank Quietly. The inking is pencil thin and with muted color tones and some gritty detailing, it's the perfect visual pairing with Hickman's unique look at 1940s science.

    If you like alternate timelines, historical fiction, time travel, or just science in general- you must read this book. I'm going to bet that Manhattan Projects is the series most of you, my dear readers, aren't reading! Run, do not walk, to your local comics shop or demand that your librarian carry this series.

   Worth Consuming

   Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.

Muddy Max: the Mystery of Marsh Creek (Family Comic Friday)

is a clean kid. I didn't say clean cut- he still gets into trouble (and by the end of this book, he'll get into a bunch.) No, Max is a clean kid because his mom and dad are absolutely terrified of him getting the slightest bit dirty. So why did they move to the town of Marsh Creek, a burg so muddy, it oozes everywhere from the bubbling creek that gives the township its name?
   
   As Max's parents get even more obsessive about his cleanliness, the lad and his buddy Patrick, an electrician whiz, go on the hunt for answers. The mystery as to Max's need to be clean deepens when Max discovers a picture of a baby with his parents. The kid definitely isn't Max and when his folks freak out over the picture, our young hero decides to finally get down and dirty.

   Now Max has his answer as to why his parents don't want him to get the least bit dirty as mud gives the youth incredible super powers. After a few successful missions, Max decides nothing is wrong with getting a little dirty and becomes Muddy Max. But when the mud begins to not want to come off, maybe there is some to his folks' OCD.

   Muddy Max was a great story and it's a perfect selection for Family Comic Friday. It's got a clever plot, some great dialogue, intriguing characters, and a bunch of great mysteries to solve- like how did Max get his powers and just what about that picture of the mysterious child?Not only is this book entertaining, it's also educational.

   But it's a subtle teaching method, like that in Schoolhouse Rock! Also in the back of the book is a selection of fun things for kids to learn and do. With a variety of experiments, a tech lesson on facial aging programs, and much more, the special section at the book's end makes the muddy fun come alive.
 
    There's even an art lesson in the special section. It explains some of the artist's inspiration for some of the creative things Max makes with mud. I wish some examples of the art would've been published instead of just a few websites and book references. Another thing I think is missing from this books is a writing activity. With all of the experiments in this book, an opportunity to get kids writing something like an experiment log or even a chance to create a new type of dirty superhero (or even a villain for Max) would've been appropriate. But maybe those are activities that could be added to future volumes.

     Though Muddy Max has a definite ending there's a number one on the book's spine. So hopefully there will be some sequels. This potential series is so good, it would be a shame to let it go to waste. The publisher, Amp! Comics for Kids, also offers bulk discount rates for teachers as well as teaching guides. With a subplot on bullying, this story has both a social and scientific educational impact for kids.

  An classic series in the making that I highly recommend.

    Worth Consuming

   Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.