Peter Panzerfaust, Volume 3: Cry of the Wolf

    The World War II retelling of the legend of Peter Pan continues with Peter and his team of resistance fighters continuing to bring the fight to the Nazis in occupied France. The notorious Hook has supposedly been vanquished but when the Braves intercept a communique with a familiar signature, Peter is in more danger than believed imaginable. Could there be a traitor in the Lost Boys midst?

    I was more than happy with the ending to volume 2. Though I knew that Peter's story wasn't over, if that was how co-creators Kurtis J. Wiebe and Tyler Jenkins chose to end the series, I would have been satisfied with it. I was a little uncertain as to if I thought to continue the story of Panzerfaust was a wise choice. But with by the end of this volume, I not only was glad that Peter's tale progressed,  I began to long for it to not stop. Thankfully, at least 2 more volumes of this compelling series are waiting for me to find them.

    The art is still pretty rough. But it's gritty and fanciful at the same time. With the spoils of war unfolding the way they do in this book in so many unexpected ways, it actually fits in with the subject matter perfectly.

    A must read for fans of fantasy reboots, Peter Pan, or just darn good war tales.


    Worth Consuming.

    Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

DC Universe Holiday Bash III

   

Yeah, I know it's way past Christmas. But I forgot to post this review in time, so here it is...

   This volume of the Holiday Bash was probably the best of the 3 that I've read. In this collection of holiday tales, Superman and Batman compete to make the season merry and bright for a family whose home was destroyed by the Toyman, Wonder Woman visits friends and tries to get guest Artemis into the Christmas Spirit, and Tim Drake goes on patrol alone as Robin on Christmas while Bruce Wayne is out of town on business.

    Then we get the story that is based on the cover image. The strange character depicted on the front is called Shrapnel. He's a mysterious supervillain made of metal with the ability to shoot deadly metal shards from his body and is mainly an adversary of the Doom Patrol. The baddie is spending Christmas Eve in a superhero prison facility. But when his family doesn't come to visit him, Shrapnel will literally move heaven and earth to spend the holiday with his kids; inhibitor collar be damned.

    To round out the issue, the Joker regales us with a Christmas carol Arkham Asylum style. Finally, Impulse gets a lesson in the truth about Santa. In typical fashion, when the adolescent speedster finds that the North Pole is an empty frigid wasteland, he takes it upon himself to play Kris Kringle to the whole world. 

   Featuring the talents of Karl Kesel, Chuck Dixon, Jaime Mendoza, Sean Parsons and dozens more artists, writers, inkers, and colorists, this 1999 Christmas special was the perfect Thanksgiving surprise. I found this on vacation in Asheville last November and I couldn't wait to read it! I just hate that I forgot to give it the credit is justly deserves.

   Worth Consuming

   Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

One-up Trivia by Ken Weber

The idea behind this trivia book is kinda novel. You take a commonly known fact and you build from it. For example, most people know that Hollywood icon James Dean meet an untimely death in an automobile accident. But did you know that Donald Turnipseed was the driver of the car that struck Dean’s? That's one-up trivia in a nutshell.

   Now Weber will sometimes two-up or even three-up the knowledge. Working from the James Dean example, the author went on to discuss how people who bought parts of the actors car went on to suffer some bizarre accidents as well, thus, Dean's Porsche 550 Spyder is considered by many to be cursed. Then Weber goes on to discuss superstitions of famous people.

    The premise seems very straight forward. But sometimes I felt like the author was grasping at straws to make a connection. In one instance, Weber talks about the use of the first commode in space then goes on to explain how Thomas Crapper was a real person and then our factfinder rolls into a rant about fake names. Though I thought that this was a very informative book and that Ken Weber is a very clear and concise presenter of facts and figures, discerning how he connects some of these factoids left me scratching my head.

  If you enjoy learning or are a trivia buff like me, you'll enjoy this 2006 book by Running Press. Just be aware that while you learn a lot of cool stuff, you will have to make some weird connections to get to your destination.

  Worth Consuming

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

The MAD Student Survival Guide for Those Bored of Education

   There was a time when MAD Magazine was considered edgy, controversial, adult. This 2002 collection of school-themed cartoons, published by Scholastic, is proof of how far the mighty have fallen. When I was under the age of 13, I wasn't even allowed to say the word MAD. Okay, that's a bit of an exaggeration but due to it's (im)mature content, my mother wouldn't let me buy it. That wasn't so much of a problem as my dad regularly bought the publication and he let me read his copies when my mom was at work. (Plus I was more of a Cracked Magazine fan and delighted in the works of John  Severin, Jack Davis, and Sol Brodsky.)

   But I remember that the MAD's of the 70s and 80s tackled issues like Nixon and Watergate, The Sexual Revolution, Women's Lib, Gorbachev and his silly birthmark, the Gary Sex scandal, and Iran-Contra. This was biting stuff that stuck it to the man or whoever else was in charge. It was the print version of the attitude of founder William Gaines (creator of EC classics like Weird Science and The Vault of Horror.) Gaines saw first hand what happened when government got involved in your business from the aftermath of the 1950s comics scare and created MAD as a way to skewer the traditonal (and often flawed) American Way of life. 

   
   The MAD Student Survival Guide is a strange mixture of classic Gaines and the modern DC versions of the title. Dave Berg's 'The Lighter Side Of...' is featured throghout the book as are Drawn Out Dramas, those great tiny cartoons by Sergio Aragones. Classic MAD artists like Al Jaffee and Don Martin are featured too. But the majority of the features in the book is the modern day drivel that MAD is now known for. Though a feature about the types of lunches packed by mom, that featured an up-and-coming Amanda Conner, was a delight.

    The new MAD is like those classic kids magazines from the 70s and 80s: Dynamite and Hot Dog. But those titles, the brain child of future DC EIC Jeanette Kahn, were from day one geared at kids. MAD wasn't! EC Comics were more known for having an adult auidence. But thanks to the coming of the Comics Code, William Gaines had to switch the format from a 4-colored comic to a black and white tabloid style in order to be free from the CCA's censoring body. 

    For almost 40-years, MAD was the authority in satire and biting wit and gave birth to such institutions as National Lampoon, Saturday Night Live, and even a live-action series on FOX called MADTV. But when Gaines died in 1992 the title's spirit of piss and vinegar died with it. The effects of Gaines death was both immediate and lingering. The company was bought out by Time Warner and the publication was looked at as just another title in the conglomerate's vast catalogue. 

    Sales were deemed more important than Gaines' attitude that MAD was a labor of love. Eventually, the title was consumed by another Time Warner property DC Comics and slowly became more of kids publication. MAD is now like like a Doberman pincher with all of it's teeth removed- and kinda sad. Sometimes, things are best left alone... this book being one of them.
   

   Rating: 5 out of 10 stars.

The Weapon of A Jedi: A Luke Skywalker Adventure by Jason Fry

  

  The Weapon of a Jedi is the third (and for me, final) young adult novel in the Journey to Star Wars: the Force Awakens series. 

   The events in this book occur shortly after the Battle of Yavin. Here, Luke Skywalker is sent on a mission to infiltrate some Imperial codes but the Force has other plans for the aspiring Jedi and he crash lands on a mysterious planet that houses an abandoned Jedi temple. There, Luke continues his training but Skywalker must protect the historic site from poachers and the Empire or countless centuries of Jedi lore will be lost forever.

     This series of books are supposed to offer clues and hints for Episode VII. But just like the Force Awakens, there is nothing about Luke Skywalker's current state of health. In fact, the very small opening scene and closer that takes place 30 years after the events of Return of the Jedi does nothing to offer the reader anything about Episode VII except introducing the reader to an X-Wing pilot that I don't even remember being in the film. 

   I really felt that this book would be the one that would explain everything. In reality, I could have skipped this book. The story by Jason Fry was quite good. But if you think you have to read this book before you go to theatres to see The Force Awakens- save your cash on popcorn and jujubes instead. This book will be waiting for you on store shelves nationwide. And if you wait long enough, you might even find it on discount. 

   I wish I did...

   Worth Consuming

   Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Fable Comics (Family Comic Friday)

 

   First it was nursery rhymes, then came fairy tales, now editor Chris Duffy along with Jaime Hernandez, Liniers, George O'Connor, Roger Langridge, and dozens more cartoonists and writers tackle the world of fables in Fable Comics. 

   Fabulist Aesop is featured heavily in this book but it's not all about him. Fables from China, India, and the United States are featured in this anthology. Just about all of your favorite fables are featured here including THE FOX AND THE GRAPES, THE TORTOISE AND THE HARE, THE BOY WHO CRIED WOLF, and CITY MOUSE AND COUNTRY MOUSE (my all-time favorite.)

     But the feature that I thought stole the show were about the Greek god Hermes. George O'Connor, whose 'Olympians: Ares: Bringer of War' graphic novel I reviewed last year, crafts no less than 4 adventures about the Speedster in this book. Each story was sly, fun, and the harken back to the early Flash comics of the 1940s. They were so good, I was hoping that with each turn on the page that I'd be meet with another Hermes adventure.

     This 2015 collection is the third in a series that I hope will continue on for years to come. (May I suggest Tall Tales for volume 4?)  Each story is crafted by a different art team and ranges from silly to tragic. But every story was extremely entertaining. 

    Worth Consuming

    Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Happy New Year, 2016!

May Your 2016 be purrrrrfect!