Dugout: The Zombie Steals Home (Family Comic Friday)

Gina and Stacy are twin sisters. They both love to play baseball. They're rivals in everything they do. Gina and Stacy might also be witches. Their grandma certainly is.

When sibling rivalry involves the sisters going through Meemaw's trove of enchanted ingredients and casting spells on each other, Gina and Stacy unearth a zombie in their hometown... literally.  

Dugout: The Zombie Steals Home was published in 2019 by Graphix. I thought with baseball being a summer pastime, that this book might be a fun late July read. And I was right! Written and illustrated by Scott Morse, this was one of the freshest, funniest, and freakiest books I have ever read. I did not want the adventures to end!

The dialogue is really what won me over. Stacy's baseball team, The Oakvale Rooks, was composed of 9 hilarious little leaguers. I felt like I was reading a book set in perhaps the funniest of all all-ages baseball universes: The Sandlot! The quick wit. The banter. The spoonerisms and malapropisms. It was brilliantly written.

The artwork took a little while to win me over. Once the characters went from static to frantic, the pace of the artwork zoomed into the stratosphere. Morse's work on this book reminded me a little of a cross between the master artists of EC Comics and the all-ages work of Eric Powell. 

As for age appropriateness. I would say readers 9 to 12 will really enjoy this book. There is some witchcraft, which I didn't expect as I neglected to read the back cover intro. (Yes- I only judged a book by it's cover and it's a good thing I did!) However, it was on the level of Bewitched instead of something like The Conjuring. The zombie main character does look a little bit like he came from a George Romero zombie flick and there is a poltergeist giving Gina fits throughout the second act of the book. So there is a bit of an element of fright.

I really felt like this was a flawless read. Perfect for the dog days of summer or for just when the major league regular season is dying down and the playoffs are starting to heat up. Really, the only issue I had with this book was the publication date!

I mentioned earlier that Dugout was published in 2019. That's 5 years for those of you keeping score. It also means, that this book, which was clearly intended to be the kickoff to a new series, didn't get the attention it so deserves! I really feel like if Netflix turned this book into a streaming movie (animated, of course), it would do so freakin' well. I consider this opener to be The Sandlot of this generation. It's that good.

A spooky, smart fun read with a lot of laughs, this is a book parents and guardians of young readers should jump on board with, as long as the subject matter is deemed appropriate in your household. Hopefully, if this book catches fire, it might encourage Graphix and Scott Morse to continue the misadventures of Gina, Stacy and the Rooks of Oakvale!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.

Lords and Ladies by Terry Pratchett

The Wyrd Sisters have returned from a lengthy trip abroad. Much has changed since Granny Weatherwax, Nanny Ogg and Magrat Garlick were last in Lancre. The King has decided to marry Magrat. Magrat just doesn't know it yet. Nanny Ogg's son Jason has been perfecting his craft as an ironsmith. And a new generation of witches have been going up the mountain to perform some spells much to Granny's dismay. (They haven't been wearing any drawers!)

It's the dancing that's the real problem for Granny. (When it comes to prancing around without your drawers on, if you got it, flaunt it) No, it's the mere act of dancing so close to the circle of stones called The Dancers. See, this area of the mountain is very close to a weak point in the dimension that Discworld occupies. For the stars are lining up just right and when that happens it will allow the elves to enter Granny Weatherwax's domain.

Elves are not those cute little sprites we all love. They might look all sweet. But, they're actually cruel and mean. And they once tried to imprison Granny Weatherwax when she was a wee lass. It's a sort of personal history that makes Granny hate elves.

The witches stories are generally not my favorite Discworld tales. I didn't like Equal Rites that much. And I hated Carpe Jugulum. But I'm trying to read the entire series and due to how much I enjoyed Unseen Academicals, starring the Wizards, I was in the mood for some magic.

Lords and Ladies was one of the best out of this entire series of Discworld. It was extremely funny with some awesome quotes that I don't think I'll ever forget. Plus, there were some moments that were darn right scary. And it's pretty hard for a book without pictures to scare me.

One issue that I have with the Discworld books are how metaphysical that they can get. The floating planetoid has a unique magical field that has been established all the way since the opening chapter of the very first novel, The Colour of Magic. While this element allows for some hilarious moments, I feel that Terry Pratchett relied on this too much as a crutch. The late author never seemed to run out of ideas. Yet that creativity would get to the point that Pratchett had trouble putting his stamp on the final product.

 Lords and Ladies doesn't fall into that trap. At less than 400 pages, this is one of the shorter Discworld novels. The pacing felt right. The plot didn't drag. And everything seemed to wrap itself up in a tiny little package.

I've got 16 Discworld books left to read. Two of them focus on the Wyrd Sisters. If they are as good as Lords and Ladies was, I will jump at the chance to own them immediately! I just got to find an affordable copy.

A must for fans of comedic fantasy!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

The Witch's Vacuum Cleaner and Other Stories by Terry Pratchett

• A Television set that sends viewers back to prehistoric times.
• An amateur wizard with a 400 year old toothache.
• The Hobbit; if told using a hot air balloon to travel with.
• A town in Wales that experiences a number of Wild West troubles after coal is found prompting a coal-rush.

     These are just a few of the tales found inside this collection of short stories by the late Terry Pratchett (Discworld.) This is the second such volume and it was a delight to read. All of these stories were written by Pratchett when he was a junior newspaper writer at the young age of 17. 

While none of Pratchett's characters from his dozens of Discworld novels appear in this book, you can see the wheels of creativity turning in the young writer's head. The stories of wizards and witches are precursors to Rincewind, the Wyrd Sisters, and other practitioners of magic. The Wild West Wales tales are early attempts at satire and parody. While his stories of wee people, time traveling appliances and rebellious ants are the foundations of Pratchett's mastery at word puns and using asterisks to convey additional humorous asides*.

Once again, reading something from Terry Pratchett has thrown me off my game. I just want to read more or his stuff everytime I get my hands on something of his (instead of my usual plan of just reading comic books.) Plus, I find myself trying to emulate him more and more in my writings. And that's quite a challenge as you aren't supposed to imitate other writers. Yet, I find that Terry Pratchett writes often how I think: witty, somewhat odd, and full of additional words because hey, I love the English language!

I adore how totally different words sound the same and have completely different meanings. I love how you can make puns out of those and I just marvel at how Terry Pratchett could do it and now be corny or dumb-sounding doing it. 

This book might be considered for younger readers because of the age at which Pratchett was when he wrote this. But I've found very little objectionable in Pratchett's Discworld series. So perhaps a 12-year old might enjoy Feet of Clay or The Hogfather. Besides, I know of writers in their 80s who wrote children books and nobody said that they could only write stories for the elderly to enjoy. (There's that Pratchett wit coming out of my head again...)

A great short story collection that has me looking for the first collection.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

*This aside, while not so much funny, is an example of what I was talking about previously.