Fast Enough: Bessie Stringfield's First Ride (Family Comic Friday)

As you probably know, February is Black History Month. With the occasion, I choose a book that is part traditional children’s book and part graphic novel. This week’s Family Comic Friday looks at Fast Enough: Bessie Stringfield’s First Ride. It’s a partially fictionalized account of the childhood struggles of the first black woman to ride solo on a motorcycle across the United States.

Fast Enough: Bessie Stringfield’s First Ride
Written and Illustrated by Joel Christian Gill
Published by Lion Forge
Pages: 40
Retail Price: $17.99

Before I get into a synopsis for Fast Enough, I want to explain how this book is both a children’s book and a graphic novel. Children’s books tend to have one picture per page with a few sentences on the page describing the action. Graphic novels have what is known as sequential art. Here, You might see someone on the left of the page picking up a glass of milk. But the time the reader gets to the bottom right of the page, that person has consumed the milk and washed the glass through a number of panels or pictures showing the progression of the action.

Fast Enough has a mix of both styles of pages. Also, this book has all of the characters speaking with word balloons much in the style you see in a comic. As the age range recommended for this book is preschool to grade 3, you might say that this book is a primer into comics and graphic novels for young readers; as well as their parents and guardians.
This book is about transportation pioneer Bessie Stringfield when she was a young girl. The other boys in her town wouldn’t let her race bicycles with them. They called her too young, too slow, and too much of a ‘girl.’ But Bessie’s determination helps her to ride a bike and possibly even beat those boys by being ‘fast enough.’

Fast Enough not only has an important message about race and gender but it also seeks to educate more about the life of Stringfield when she grew up. The last 4-6 pages is filled with historical information about the accomplishments and firsts Stringfield held in the world of motorcycle enthusiasm. While I found those pages very informative, these are the most difficult pages for a youngster to follow alone.

The type set of the historical facts pages is 2-3 times smaller than in the main story. Plus, there’s some pretty big words for a preschooler here. Also, the concept of racism explained in this section will most definitely require some explanation and perhaps some uncomfortable (but manageable) Q&A sessions.

If you are familiar with my rating and reviewing of a Family Comic Friday offering, I do not judge a book on concepts explored and examined. I base my rating on the story structure, editing and artwork; all of which in this book was superb. But I do feel that adults should know of any controversial or perhaps age inappropriate sections of these books I cover. It is up to Parents to decide what is appropriate for their wards to read and what’s not.

Fast Enough dives a little into religion. Bessie’s mother has her pray to ‘the man upstairs’ for guidance on how to deal with the boys in town her won’t let her race them. The fact section also talks about Bessie’s Catholic upbringing. If religion is a bit of a caveat in your family, then this book might not be right for you.

I really enjoyed Joel Christian Gill’s look at a pioneering woman of color. It was a interesting change of pace for myself and the types of graphic novels and comics I review for this section. This book has the potential to influence and educate a lot of young hearts and minds of any race, color or gender. Countless women and African Americans and others have been inspired by Stringfield’s courage and sense of adventure. Adults, just make sure to take the journey with the young reader in your life when it comes to this work, as your guidance may help to foster the next generation of Bessies!

Fast Enough: Bessie Stringfield’s First Ride debuted in print and digital platforms on February 5th, 2019.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

The Phantom #72

Lee Falk's Phantom is on paper, supposed to be something I would be all over. Yet, of the three main Defenders of the Earth characters, he's my least favorite. I have nothing against The African 'Batman'. His origin story is really cool. He's got a great costume, an awesome wolf sidekick and a bevy of lovely ladies. It's just that his stories are sooooo boring!

It seems that every Phantom story goes around in 3s. Either The Phantom will fight the baddie 3 times, get injured 3, or get captured 3 times. In this issue in which the Phantom takes on a mad scientist, he gets captured 3 times! 4 is you count him in a cage on the front cover. 

Speaking of the cover- the mad pooch on the front isn't the Phantom's beloved wolf, Devil. This canine is the pet of our book's bad guy. 

I love the old comics of the Big Three Defuncts: Gold Key, Dell, and Charlton (Four if you count Whitman, but it's history is so tied in with Gold Key, I consider them one and the same.) Charlton may not have had the best stories or the best art or the best sales (more often than not, it was the sales), but it's a beloved part of comics history. And despite this not being my favorite story or favorite character, it is still a beloved part of my collection.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.

Robin: Days of Fire and Madness

From the cover, it appears that Robin has teamed with Shadowpact. And while the Boy Wonder does join forces with Blue Devil and Ragman, the alliance is nowhere near the focus of this volume as the cover image would lead you to believe.

Instead, Tim Drake is recruited by a special forces unit comprised of metas and war legends. The descendants of the Losers and Enemy Ace are a part of this team. As is a special Weird War Tales/Land That Time Forgot character. Plus there is the mysterious leader: The Veteran. Nobody really knows who he is. Batman says that he's just a legend made up by the war department; "always the last person to die in a war." Sgt. Rock supposedly was killed by the last bullet fired in World War II, so my bet is on him! Only now with enhanced powers and abilities.

The secondary story has a long thought dead romance of Tim Drake's returning from the grave. A demon holds her fate in the palm of it's hands. In typical Batman fashion, the resurrected lover can be with Tim Drake again if she kills Robin! Drake's solution to this pickle is both clever and funny!

Heck, there were a lot of funny moments in this book!

I find myself trying to choose between the Robin and the Nightwing series of the late 90s/early 2000s. I'm trying to make a little bit of room in my collection. I really thought Robin would be the one to go. But after this wild ride, I am thinking that Dick Grayson may have to say adios. 

A wonderful collection of stories by Fables creator Bill Willingham with really striking art by Green Arrow's Scott McDaniel. This and the rest of my Robin collection is definitely a keeper!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Superman Vs. The Amazing Spider-Man in The Battle of the Century

This 1995 joint publication reprints the very first DC/Marvel crossover ever! In 1976, worlds literally collided as the Man of Steel and your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man fought against each other and then joined forces against the combined might of Lex Luthor and Doctor Octopus!

You might also note that I did not refer to this book as having reprinted the first DC/Marvel collaboration. In 1975, DC and Marvel were approached by MGM Studios to craft a joint adaptation of The Wizard of Oz. Having great success with this venture, the two publishers finally decided it was time for their most famous characters to meet!

I wasn't born when this team-up occurred. But as a kid, I saw ads for it in back issues and I salivated over it. But for some reason or another, I never could find a copy of this. Then last year at a con, my search was finally complete as I found this banged up copy for only a buck!

Gerry Conway, a veteran at writing both Spider-Man and Superman, wrote the script. Ross Andru was on pencils and Dick Giordano did inks. 

Carmine Infantino and Stan Lee were the editors on this. It was during this time, Infantino expressed frustration at not getting a chance to be DC's head editor due to the lengthy tenure of Julius Schwartz. Lee made all sorts of promises to Carmine and eventually poached the DC man when his contract came up later in the year. This is why Infantino worked on the Marvel Star Wars series in 1977-78. But Stan Lee was known to make promises that he never intended to keep and made Jim Shooter EIC instead in 1978. 

Superman Vs. Spider-Man follows the tried but true (but not always the best) rules of first time ever crossovers. The first act has both Superman/Clark Kent and Spidey/Peter Parker acting independently of the other. And of course, the lives of both run socking parallel. 

The second act has the real villains pulling off their master scheme. Some misunderstanding makes our heroes believe that the other is behind the attack. Epic battling ensues.

Then in our final act, our heroes discover that neither is a baddie. So Superman and Spider-Man team up to put the true foes behind bars. Then you get a hinted promise of a rematch/continued rivalry to conclude the yarn.

A couple of years after this book, the two heroes would met again. This time against Doctor Doom and the Parasite. I've actually read that one previously. A few years ago, I found a pocket paperback reprinting of that story. 

While the story was chopped all to hell to fit a paperback's format limitations, I enjoyed that team-up just a little bit better. Maybe that's because with the two already knowing each other, Superman and Spidey don't spend half the book fighting each other. Plus there is a great twist as Kent goes to work by J. Jonah Jameson at the Daily Bugle and Parker becomes the new Daily Planet photographer.

A good read that doesn't disappoint but really doesn't do much on surprises either. An important milestone in comic book history on so many levels, any copy of this story is a must for collectors!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.

Bongo Comics Free-For-All! (Free Comics Book Day 2018)

The final Bongo Free Comic Book Day offering. Late last year, Bongo shut down it's presses and closed it's doors after nearly 20 years in existence. The loss of Bongo Comics was maybe not the biggest story in comicdom. But I sorely felt the loss as these Simpsons themed comics have been something that the TV show hasn't been in a very long time- funny!

While I got quite a few chuckles out of this issue, I was bit disappointed as the creativity normally found in these books had disappeared. In the first story, Lisa becomes the new sidekick to Krusty the Clown. But when a mishap with a microwave puts the comedian in the hospital, it's Lisa who becomes the star of the show. 

I'm not even going to question it. I know that Lisa taking over for Krusty was the plot of an episode. When it occurred, I'm not sure. But I am pretty sure it was sometime in the past 8 years. While Bongo does add a very slight twist to the plot, I felt cheated out of a completely all-new tale. At least the other two stories aren't rip-offs of previously aired episodes. I think.

The middle story has Bart bored out of his mind during Summer vacation. Milhouse is away at camp and Marge won't let Bart waste the day playing video games inside. In order to keep himself occupied, you know that mischief will abound wherever Bart goes!

This issue wraps up with Kang and Kodos going on a human hunt. Needing an earthling to probe and observe, they scrap the bottom of the Springfield barrel by kidnapping Cletus, the slack-jawed yokel! But don't feel bad for the hillbilly as your favorite tentacled aliens have finally meet their match!

Overall, I enjoyed this book. Even the first story wasn't terrible. It's just that every year I look forward to two comics every Free Comic Book Day: The Tick and this one. I felt that my annual loyalty was betrayed instead of rewarded with a story with a plot ripped from a fairly recent episode. Looking back at Bongo's liquidation, I'm wondering if the company had let go most of their staff at the time of this book's creation. Thus, ideas (and I'm sure morale) were at an all-time low.

Worth Consuming- but I'm not 100% happy about it!

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.

My Weird But True! Fact-a-Day Fun Journal (A Family Comic Friday Extra!)

I don't really understand the concept behind page-a-day books. Are they an alternative for a calendar? If not, are you really only supposed to read just 1 page a day? Well, it's February 1st and I am reviewing the National Geographic Kids' My Weird But True Fact-a-Day Fun Journal. So, if you are thinking that I didn't follow the rules, you are absolutely right!

I've organized and maintained a reading program through my wife's medical clinic. Every once in a while, I come across a book that I want to read before I donate it. Most times it's to ensure that something is age appropriate. But this time was all about my curiosity. 

I like fact books. You can learn some really off-the-wall stuff. But having read a bunch of fact books in the past, I find myself having to cull through 9 facts I already knew before I got to a completely new one. That's not the case here. With information about weird holidays, gross bugs, yummy sweets and more, I actually learned quite a bit of new stuff! 

One cool thing about this book is that each day has children doing some sort of activity. Some things are as simple as answering a question like 'If you were a dog, what type would you be and why?' Other days have you drawing a picture of your favorite food. In others, you are challenged, like to come up with as many words as possible from the words 'Valentine's Day.' I felt like I was reading an issue of Highlights!

The book is set up like a journal. Meaning, the reader is supposed to write in the book their thoughts and feelings. In order to give a complete review, I made sure to do the activities. But I did not write in the book. I'm donating this to a child in a low-income family. No way am I going to give them an already written in book. 

This is a cool book for parents and kids. Weird facts are always the best! But like myself, I find it impossible that many kids are going to only one page per day. There might be that one kid. The one whose never late to class or out sick from school. But other than that, all the other children are going to enjoy the heck outta this book in a day or two flat!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Charles M Schulz's Lucy (Family Comic Friday)

This week’s Family Comic Friday is actually perfect for the entire family! If you are age 3 or 93, who doesn’t like Charles Schulz’s Peanuts? Today’s review looks at a collection of classic and new Peanuts stories starring everyone’s favorite crabby sister and busy-body- Lucy Van Pelt!

Charles M. Schulz’s Lucy
Stories and art by Charles Schulz, Jason Cooper, Vicki Scott, Scott Jeralds
Inks by Paige Braddock and Justin Thompson
Pages: 96
Retail Price: $14.99
Published by kaBOOM! Studios

The focus of the Peanuts cartoon has always been Charlie Brown and his faithful dog, Snoopy. But the best lines and funniest acts of practical jokes and grumpiness come from Lucy. The sister of Linus, Lucy bosses everyone around. It’s probably because she’s the oldest of all the characters.

This collection of everything Lucy is culled from over 50 years of Peanuts comic strips and the Peanuts comic book from kaBOOM! The Schulz strips have been remastered. The inks have never been clearer and the colors have never been so popping!

What’s extremely impressive about this book is how well other writers and artists such as Scott Jeralds and Vicki Scott capture the look and essence of the Peanuts gang! There have been other comic books based on comic strips and they pale in comparison to the genuine article. But that’s no so here! The world of lil’ folks created by Charles Schulz is alive and well in this book!

Parents and guardians will delight in not having anything objectionable in this volume. There are a couple of sections featuring quotes by Schulz about his inspirations in creating the Peanuts characters. While quite insightful, there are a few big words on those pages that younger readers might need some help with. But there’s only a two or three of those sections and they are only a page in length each.

With stories themed around baseball, a school science fair, the Christmas stress of being watched by Santa, and an art lesson by Linus on how to draw his sister, there’s a little something for everyone in this hardcover collection.

Charles M. Schulz’s Lucy was originally supposed to debut in print on January 30th, 2019. The book has been delayed by the published until February 5th. It can be purchased as a hardcover via Amazon or your favorite local bookseller or comic book shop.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.