Marie Severin, Rick Geary, Joe Orlando and dozens more fan favorite artists bring the 1970s back to life in The Big Book of the 70s.
While not everything that made the 70s my favorite decade is adequately covered in this book, there's a lot of biggies here. The Pet Rock. Watergate. Vietnam. Punk and Disco. This book is supposed to be about 1970-1979. Yet, a good portion of this book looks at the years that led to the Me-Decade as well as the aftermath of the decades that followed. But then again, any history book worth it's salt must focus on both the cause and effects of history!
I did learn a lot about things of the 70s that I knew very little to nothing about. Things like how the Sex Pistols got their name. Just who is Gary Gilmore? And there was tons of fun facts peppered throughout this book.
I wasn't such a big fan of the writing. The Witching's Jonathan Vankin does a good job at presenting the facts. But he puts too much of his own commentary into the book. I was quite surprised how anti-Jerry Brown the author is. Same with Jimmy Carter. But he really skewers Reagan and portrays the 80s icon as a demon. Quite unfairly, I must say...
One subject I was surprised is absent here was the rise of the gay community. Harvey Milk is completely absent from this book. There's also nothing about the Black Panthers. And this has got to be the first book I've ever read that covers the 1970s and doesn't dip it's toe into the sensationalism that is Jim Jones and the Jonestown massacre!
Maybe not the most complete look at 10 turbulent years in world history. But you learn things that have been glossed over in American history as well. I didn't know we had a meat shortage in the 70s and I am a professional chef. But hey, we got to learn about the 1970s in graphic novel/comics form. And that's pretty groovy!
Worth Consuming!
Rating: a very fitting 7 out of 10 stars.
A wonderful mix of all-new and classic DC mysteries starring Scooby-Doo and the Mystery Inc. Gang.
My love for Scooby has been rekindled over the years thanks to Scooby-Doo Team-Up. Unfortunately, it was cancelled just as Cartoon Network and Boomerang announced an all-new team-up cartoon series. I'm hoping that the popularity of that series might bring back SDTU.
The Scooby-Doo Team-Up duo of Sholly Fisch and Dario Brizuela usher in Scooby's birthday/anniversary in 2 of the 3 all-new stories. I loved the mash-up of voice actors names in the first story. But that second tale was quite predictable.
In my heart of hearts, I hoped for a team-up story. My favorite of all the Scooby TV shows was The New Scooby-Doo Movies in which stars from the 1970s and way before that meet up with those meddling kids and their dog to solve mysteries that more often than not were fronts for crime. Dick Van Dyke, Mama Cass, Laurel and Hardy, The Harlem Globetrotters and of course, Batman & Robin were just a handful of celebs who joined forces with Scooby and friends.
While we didn't get a Batman & Robin style superhero team-up (which episodes inspired SDTU), one of the reprinted stories was indeed a crossover. This one adventure has Shaggy finding a Hawaiian tiki while getting ready for a garage sale. It turns out to be the very tiki that cursed the Brady Bunch all those years ago. And the professor who seeks it, played by Vincent Price, returns to purchase it fair and square, along with a fashionable lamp...
One character that I was quite glad not to see was Scrappy Doo. The cousin Oliver of the Mystery gang; if I never encounter that annoying pup again in my life, it will be too soon!
Sadly, for this 50th anniversary special, one member of the team was notably missing- The Mystery Machine. That flower-powered trusty ole' van didn't appear in one single panel- new or classic! Shame, DC! SHAME!
I would have liked one or two classic pre-DC stories in this anniversary special. Or even a fun reprinting of Laff-A-Lympics in which Shaggy and Scoob star. But I guess, I will just have to try and find those in my hunts of bargain bins and comic conventions nation wide someday.
A fun but slightly incomplete celebration of Scooby-Dooby-Doo!
Worth Consuming!
Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.
A young cartoonist learns about her mother's life growing up in China's Cultural Revolution in the biographical graphic novel: We Served The People: My Mother's Stories.
We Served The People: My Mother's StoriesWritten and illustrated by Emei Burell
Published by Archaia/ BOOM! Studios
Pages: 160
Retail: $24.99
From 1966-1976, millions of children were uprooted from their homes and sent to work in rural populations of China. The idea was to strip away the last vestiges of Capitalism from Communist China. One way to do that was to move children from modern cities to work on farms and plantations. The idea was that this most simple was of life would make the citified children of China less Westernized. But it actually had a reverse affect on Emei Burell's mother.
We Served The People is a first person account of a Chinese young woman's time working for a rubber plantation nearly 800 miles away from her family in Beijing. As one of the only women taught to drive and operate trucks and tractors, 'Mom' learns about engineering first hand. This opens her up to wanting to get her degree in engineering when she was finally allowed to return to the capital city to be reunited with her family.
I feel like there's a sequel to this story because there's this huge build-up towards getting Emei Burell's mother to Sweden where she will eventually continue her college education in the sciences. But before she ends up in Sweden, the story ends. Yet, I really feel that Mom Burell was just getting started.
For a book advertising the impact of the Cultural Revolution on a person, We Served The People was more passive. Red Scarf Girl is an excellent prose account of Ji-Li Jiang's mis-education at the hands of a program that experts agree was a giant step backwards for China. Jiang's memoir tells more of how she had to change whereas this graphic novel is more about the aftermath of the lost years of education at the hands of the Mao Zedong school of thought.
The stories in the book were very interesting. I just expected more accounts during the Cultural Revolution instead of afterwards. Emei's mother spent almost a decade away from her family. But not even half of this book is devoted to that time of separation. I was just left wanting more.
One thing that I was quite upset at having too much of is something I mentioned recently in another review. It's the waste of paper. In between the stories, BOOM! Studios and Archaia put 2-4 solid read pages as dividers. I'm sure that the cost of red ink isn't cheap. Plus, there's the fact that the first 10 pages of this book are blank as well. If you had omitted all of that, you would have shaved 30 pages from the book and probably could've sold it for under $20.
Comic book publishers have got some great stories, such as this one, to tell. But in order to survive this hostile economy, brought upon thanks to a pandemic and exorbitant production costs, changes to how our graphic novels are printed must occur. Please, don't go digital only! But consider trimming those blank pages in order to make graphic novels of historical importance, like We Served The People more affordable.
We Served The People: My Mother's Stories is currently available in print and digital formats.
Worth Consuming!
Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.
This is a re-read for me.
The Big Book of Urban Legends is a collection of the best of the best tales told from a friend of a friend. The vanishing hitchhiker. Mikey from Life Cereal commercials died eating pop rocks and coke. The madman under the car waiting to slice the ankles of ladies putting their groceries in their car. And dozens upon dozens more.
And let's talk about the art talent. Arthur Adams (Fantastic Four), Fred Hembeck (Fred Hembeck Destroys the Marvel Universe), Trina Robbins (Wonder Woman) and so many more.
One thing I didn't realize until reading this again is that the artists did not write the scripts. The book itself comes from noted folklorist Jan Harold Brunvand (Curses! Broiled Again!) It's so amazing how varied the storytelling was. I did not originally suspect that one writer was involved.
A great read. I'm not known for reading very many things one than once. That I read this over 200 page collection once more speaks volumes.
Out of print. But still on Amazon! If you love Urban Legends- this is a must read!
Worth Consuming!
Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.
We all know that Paul McCartney died in a fiery car crash and was replaced with the winner of a Beatles look-a-like contest. Or did he? Explore the myth and legend of the death of one of the Fab Four in Image Comics' new graphic novel: Paul is Dead!
Paul is Dead: When The Beatles Lost Paul
Writer: Paolo Baron
Artist: Ernesto Carbonetti
Publisher: Image Comics
Code: FEB200089
SRP: $16.99
Paul is Dead is a trippy narrative about the conspiracy theory that Paul of the Beatles died and was replaced by a doppelganger to prevent mass chaos from fans of the Fab Four. In November 1966, Paul gets in a fight with the other three members of the Beatles. He angrily drives off to his home, runs into a tree and is burnt to a crisp in a fiery death.
Right off the bat, I know that Paolo Baron is an unreliable narrator. Some put Paul's death on January 7th, 1967. And he was decapitated not immolated by flames. Or maybe he was? The legend of Paul's death has been a thing for over 50 years. And the facts of the story have changed. Or it could be that nobody really can agree on how the Beatle really died.
Just because I call writer Paolo Baron unreliable as a storyteller, that doesn't mean that he is a bad storyteller. I had thought I knew for sure that Paul is really alive. But with the twists and turns Baron puts on this story, including experiencing an acid trip with John Lennon during a key part of tale, has got me questioning that urban legend once more. I usually hate open-ended endings. But this time around it really works.
One neat aspect of Paul is Dead is that for about most of the middle act, John, George and Ringo play detective. According to the myth, the British government covered up the death of Paul to prevent a riot (and possible plague of teenage suicides), as the UK was in the midst of albeit waning Beatlemania. To have the other members playing Holmes and Watson brought a new dynamic to this myth and I loved it. I just wish that Paul is Dead went more in that direction instead of possibly having Paul return from the dead having faked his death for the sake of some personal tranquility. But this all takes place just as John has dropped that acid I mentioned earlier, so for all we know, Lennon dreamed it all!
I was in love with the artwork. Ernesto Carbonetti uses technique of caricature and psychedelics mixed with water-color looking paints to give a drug addled view of the late 60s. Those colors in Cabonetti's palette were so very much from the Summer of Love. Be sure to check out the artist's process further in the sketchbook section at the end of Paul is Dead.
Now here's where I express a little bit of frustration with this book. And it's geared to the publisher and editing team at Image Comics. Comic books and graphic novels these days are not affordable. Not at regular price. This book is 126 pages long. But the first 9 pages are mostly either blank pages or of a rough sketch of Paul's famous bass guitar. The last 4 or 5 pages of this book are the same way. If Image (and other publishers guilty of this sin) would stop adding such unnecessary filler to their books, you could reduce the cover price another buck or so. Instead of cutting talent, Image and company need to cut waste such as this!
Paul is Dead was an uncertain mystery that will leave you guessing until the very end. As well as days after you've finished it. It's a look at a 1960s pop culture conspiracy that has spawned countless theories. Why, there was even a rebuttal from 'Paul' in an episode of The Simpsons, where if you play the credits backwards, the singer claims "Yes, I am very much alive!", to the tune of 'Maybe I'm Amazed.' But we all know that's fake, right?
Paul is Dead: When The Beatles Lost Paul debuts in print and digital formats on June 3rd, 2020!
Worth Consuming!
Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.
Almost exactly one year ago I wrote up a top 10 list. It was of the 10 comic book series based on TV shows that I wished to own at least 1 book of. It took about 3 months from crafting that wish list that I finally found a copy of this comic I am reviewing today.
I'm in my early 40s. But I can say with certainty that Car 54, Where Are You? is one of my all-time favorite sitcoms. It used to come on Nick at Night back in the 80s or way early 90s and I thought it was such a hoot. It starred New Yorker Joe E. Morris as Officer Gunther Toody and Fred Gwynne (The Munsters) as his partner Muldoon.
Together, they patrolled the mean streets of New York taking down bad guys, helping old ladies cross the street and more often than not getting the two confused.
One of my all-time favorite episodes is when the old couple move into a building under the guise of opening a legit business. But in reality, they are thieves who hope to access the vault of the jewelry store on the other side of the wall to their property. But thanks to the help of Toody, Muldoon and the rest of their precinct, the crooks end up going straight thanks to all the business that they're getting. The great end gag was that on the other side of the jewelers, another pair of crooks have 'opened shop' and you know that the process will start all over again.
In this issue, Toody and Muldoon are assigned to fill in for the local truant officer. Meanwhile, a baby-faced bank robber has arrived in New York looking for his next score. But the patrolmen of car 54 mistake the baddie as a kid and they end up chasing the lad back to school!
This book read so very much like an episode of that classic early 60s show. I laughed so many times. And the artwork was very, very good. Quite impressive for the time period when the work was done so fast (and without much research) that you often couldn't tell the difference between Lassie and Timmy.
The ad on the back cover for a Car 54 board game and a pair of hand puppets was so cool. It was worth a couple of the extra dollars I spent on this book.
I would have liked more Car 54. No. I am not being ungrateful for owning the one issue. There was a back-up story in this comic but it had nothing to do with the TV show. Instead, it's about this moppet name Marisa and all the mischief she gets her dad into after a recent snowfall.
Car 54 had an amazing cast of characters. Al Lewis, who would go play Grandpa on The Munsters along with Fred Gwynne. Charlotte Rae who would become Mrs. Garrett on Diff'rent Strokes and The Facts of Life. Plus Nipsy Russell, Ossie Davis and Paul Reed. I had rather that 6 pages of Marisa be changed to a short about one or more of the impressive ensemble.
Man, this was a great read. Brought back a ton of memories. But above all, it provided some laughter and joy during a time in world history where there's very little job to be found.
Worth Consuming!
Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.
The idealistic storybook lives of Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys is over. Brothers Joe and Frank are at odds with each other. Their father was killed by a dirty cop. Nancy's father turned state's evidence and lost his law license. The town of River Heights is in serious economic peril if the new company from China bypasses them for another burg. But this is nothing compared to the death of one Nancy Drew, female super-sleuth!
Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys: The Death of Nancy Drew #1
Written by Anthony Del Col
Art by Joe Eisma
Published by Dynamite Entertainment
Rating: Teen Plus
Retail: $3.99
The Death of Nancy Drew is a sequel to Anthony Del Col's previous Dynamite team-up of the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew. Following up from 2017's The Big Lie, things definitely went from bad to worse. And as Joe Hardy investigates Nancy's mysterious death, the teen detective begins a slow spiral into paranoia for he's convinced that the accident was no accident!
The artwork in this series is covered by Joe Eisma. The Morning Glories artist goes full noir in this series, thanks in very large part to colorist Salvatore Aiala.
Fans of gritty reboots like Riverdale, or even the new Nancy Drew series on TheCW, will love this new mystery series from Dynamite Entertainment. Writer Anthony Del Col (Kill Shakespeare) has already riled up fans of Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys by killing off one of the most beloved characters in teen fiction. In this first issue alone, not only is Nancy Drew no more and the Hardy Boys are no longer a team but other characters from young adult novels are seeing their lives upended.
For example, the Bobbsey Twins, whom I didn't know were even affiliated with Nancy, Joe or Frank, find themselves facing poverty after their father loses his business due to some questionable practices. Whose next on Anthony Del Col's hit list; The Box-Car Children? Encyclopedia Brown? It's seems like nobody from our childhood who solved mysteries is safe!
Speaking of childhoods, this is a teen and older rated series. This a quantum leap from those original chapter novels first published in the 1940s and 50s. This is a Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys mystery is that is little bit more grown-up.
This series is dropping at the perfect time. A new release in the second wave since comics returned, those of us who have been closed up inside their homes for nearly 2 months will have a chance to exercise our brains in this intriguing mystery. This new miniseries will make you ponder. Everything you thought you know about the teen mystery sleuths of your youth is wrong!
Can you solve the mystery before it's too late?
Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys: The Death of Nancy Drew #1 will debut in print on Wednesday, June 3rd, 2020!
Worth Consuming!
Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.
