Star Wars Adventures, Vol. 11: Rise of the Wookiees

The curtain falls on Star Wars Adventures with this volume. Though Chewbacca is the main star of this book, the focus is on the sequel trilogy and honestly, it's just not as exciting as the original films nor the prequels.

Chewie's story sees the Wookiee helping the Resistance free his native planet Kashyyyk from the First Order. The stormtroopers have taken prisoners; one of which is a mortal enemy of Chewbacca's from a neighboring tribe. In order to save his people, Chewie must overlook an age-old rivalry, even if it's at the sake of his personal pride.

Another highlight of this volume was a Tony Fleecs pencilled adventure starring R2-D2, C-3PO and BB-8, unfortunately. Sorry, but Poe Dameron's droid is just a third wheel here. However, the story was such a visual masterpiece. It reminded me of both Sergio Aragones and Frank Quietly- kinda cartoony but full of detail. 

I also enjoyed the 2-part 'Tales From Wild Space' story. The epic of Emil Graf has a perfect ending; all the while promising further adventures. I do think it was a bit annoying that it took the last 'Wild Space' adventure to finally understand why Emil Graf goes around the galaxy telling stories of the Star Wars Universe. But, I can finally say I know what the character is all about.

The 3 stories starring the newer characters were the weakest of the bunch. The Finn story and glimpse at Poe's X-Wing training sessions with Rey were just too saccharin. The only thing missing from those two tales would have been appearance from Rose Tico and that would have made both of them unreadable. Can we all just admit Poe Dameron is a fascinating character. But he's brought down by those new trilogy wet blankets Finn and Rey.

The story with Kylo Ren team-up with General Hux was the best of the new character-only stories. Maybe it's because they are bad guys. Maybe it's because the two villains want to kill each other just as much as they want to squash the Resistance. I would have loved it if IDW would have scrapped the Rey and Finn stories and stretched out the uneasy alliance between the highest ranking officers of the First Order. It would have made for a much more entertaining read and have helped to bumped up my rating of this book.

This isn't IDW's last hurrah with Star Wars Adventures. For one reason or another, Marvel, Disney or IDW (or some combination of the 3) decided it was best to restart the series at issue #1. Could it be due to the latest rise in comic book speculating? That false belief that a #1 issue sells more books... Or is it due to the fact that Dark Horse regained the licensing rights to Star Wars and IDW was looking to unload their stockpile of Star Wars stories before their contract with DIsney ran out. 

I probably won't have an answer for that anytime soon. Only 1 trade of that new series was ever published and my library doesn't carry it. Heck, I can't even find it on Amazon or favored online comic book sellers. I'm probably going to have to wait to find them individually in the bargain bins.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.

The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera #2- Yogi's Easter Parade (2023 Comic Book & Graphic Novel Reading Challenge)

I'm constantly updating my reviews when I learn more about my favorite hobby. But it's not everyday when one of the creators of a work I covered provides some insight. I publish my reading challenge posts on a Facebook group and Mark Evanier was kind enough to give some background on Hanna-Barbera's search for a comic book publisher.  

Any corrections to this review will be in bold.

The 1960s and 70s were the golden age of Hanna-Barbera cartoons. Yogi Bear, The Flintstones, and Scooby-Doo were some of the iconic successes of animation geniuses William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. Yet as successful as Hanna-Barbera was, they just couldn't compete with Disney and Warner Bros.

One could argue that the comic book presence or lack thereof, was a main influence in why Hanna-Barbera would often rank third in terms of most popular animation franchises. Just like Disney and Warner Bros. did, Hanna-Barbera partnered with Western Publishing to produce comic book adaptations of their work. 

Hanna-Barbera was very happy with Western in terms of story and art. Many of the staff at Hanna-Barbera had side gigs at Western, so the adaptations were almost like lost episodes. They were big sellers to the point that the animation studio wanted Western to increase the number of titles based on the Hanna-Barbera catalog. Yet Western would not budge on their output leaving Hanna-Barbera to find another comic book publisher. 

In 1970, Hanna-Barbera partnered with Charlton Comics to produce comics based on their product line. Charlton was more than willing to produce the desired number of works based on the world's greatest Saturday morning cartoons. Flintstones was Charlton's most popular series running for 50 issues. Almost a half-dozen spin-offs were released by Charlton based on characters from the prehistoric comedy, including titles devoted to the Great Gazoo and Pebbles and Bam-Bam. A Yogi Bear title ran for 35 issues and a Top Cat book made it to 20. 

The studio wasn't not happy with the artwork, believing that the publishers were just unable to get the trademark likenesses just right. The 70s were a rough time for the Connecticut based publisher. Dick Giordano had poached most of Charlton's top talent and brought them over state lines to DC Comics headquarters in the Big Apple. According to Mark Evanier, the partnership between the studio and Charlton was soon severed. It was another nail in the coffin for the dying publisher and Hanna-Barbera was without a comic book presence once again.

Hanna-Barbera decided to take its characters to New York City. But they didn't go to DC Comics. Instead, Hanna-Barbera partnered with Marvel. 

Despite being wooed by the House of Ideas, Marvel didn't devote very much attention to its new Hanna-Barbera line-up. From 1977-79, Marvel released only 6 main titles to Yogi Bear and his pals were released. Along with a Dyno-Mutt series and a fan-favorite adaptation of the massive crossover cartoon, Laff-A-Lympics. Also part of Marvel's Hanna-Barbera line was a 3-issue tabloid sized anthology called The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera. 

The first issue was a Christmas themed book. The last issue was devoted to Laff-A-Lympics. The middle issue was a rare Easter treat full of Hanna-Barbera characters, puzzles, games and other fun things to do. 

Mark Evanier penned the opening story that features nearly 2 dozen characters from your favorite Saturday morning cartoons. On Easter morning, Yogi and Boo-Boo awaken hoping for Easter Eggs. A quick search finds the Easter Bunny's allotment of eggs and a note saying that he's been kidnapped. So Yogi calls all his friends and they work to provide Easter eggs for all the kids of the Jellystone Park region while conducting a search for the missing rabbit!

Then Dyno-Mutt and the Blue Falcon team-up with Scooby-Doo and the Mystery Inc. gang to solve a caper involving a ghost and a number of missing items at a new museum. 

Evanier returns with a story involving Top Cat and his gang. Love is in the air with Officer Dibble, the cop who works the beat where Top Cat lives. However, Top Cat is suspicious of Dibble's new girlfriend when the officer gives her a check containing his life savings!

Lastly, go back in time to the very earliest days of baseball with the Flintstones. A struggling baseball team thinks that they have a superstar Babe in the making with tiny tot Bam-Bam. But a rival owner seeks to make sure the tyke doesn't make it to opening day!

The fun and games in this book include a magic trick presented by Magilla Gorilla and a find the twin game led by Captain Caveman. There's also a crossword puzzle and a word scramble for readers to do. But one must be the most knowledgeable of Hanna-Barbera fans in order to answer some of the most obscure questions.

By 1980, Hanna-Barbera had ended its partnership with Marvel. Bridges weren't burned as Marvel's Star Comics imprint did release a couple of books based on NBC's Foofur and the prehistoric prequel The Flintstone Kids. 

With exception to a few minis based on syndicated and Saturday morning toons, Hanna-Barbera wouldn't return to comics until the early 90s. Finding a home with Harvey Comics, Yogi and friends were welcomed by their new publisher. Unfortunately, it seemed like Hanna-Barbera was eternally snake-bit as Harvey ceased releasing new material by 1993. In 1995, Archie Comics signed an agreement to publish titles based on Scooby-Doo and the Flintstones. This agreement continued until 1997. A year prior, Hanna-Barbera Studios was purchased by Warner Bros. and absorbed into the Cartoon Network Brand. 

Since the merger, DC Comics has been the official publisher of Hanna-Barbera properties. In the quarter century since the purchase, DC has released dozens of titles. Scooby-Doo has been DC's most popular acquisition with 2 main series of over 250 issues and numerous spin-offs including the extremely popular Scooby-Doo Team-Up. In 2017, DC issued several one-shots pitting their most popular heroes with modern day versions of the Hanna-Barbera universe. Over the next several years, grittier reboots of characters such as Jonny Quest, Snagglepuss and the Jetsons were produced by DC with varying degrees of critical and consumer success.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Completing this review completes Task #26 (Set During a Holiday Not in December) of the 2023 Comic Book and Graphic Novel Reading Challenge.

Batman's Mystery Casebook (Family Comic Friday)

If you ever wanted to solve crimes like Batman and his cohorts, then have I found the book for you! Batman's Mystery Casebook is a young adult graphic novel that I've been looking forward to for a while. The book is so many things wrapped into 144 pages of crime fighting starring your favorite members of the Batman family. 

There are several cases in which readers are tasked to examine the clues. Can you solve the case before turning the next page and letting Batman do it? It's a lot like Donald J. Sobol's Encyclopedia Brown books. In fact, one of the cases is a total swipe of a famous case involving a Civil War era sword. Only this time, the mystery is set during World War I and it guest stars Hans Von Hammer: the Enemy Ace!

Batman's Mystery Casebook is also educational and a bit like an activity book! In between cases are segments that involve crime solving techniques used by Batman and your local police force's unit of crime scene investigators. Readers get to learn about finger prints, foot prints and tracking criminals. Fun is added to the education as young readers are encouraged to explore activities like practicing fingerprinting with household tools like tape, flour and a brush. Readers even get to test their skills as an eyewitness by helping the Gotham City Police Department with a crime scene involving the Penguin!

A lot of your favorite Batman villains are featured in the book. Along with Penguin, you get to help Batman apprehend The Riddler, Catwoman, Mister Freeze, Harley Quinn and the Joker. Since there are many more villains out there to be caught like Clayface and the Mad Hatter, I really hope a second casebook might be forthcoming. I just hope if this happens that the cases are a bit less loose with the clues. 

The amazing Sholly Fisch wrote this book. I've been a fan of his since Scooby-Doo Team-Up. Overall, this casebook was a dream come true for me. I've always wanted a Batman video game that was less about fighting and more about mystery solving. This casebook is probably the closest I will ever get to that wish. But I feel that in at least 2 of the cases, the solutions were more based on making assumptions about the crimes and not actual facts. I will admit that I totally goofed on the Riddler mystery and that one was my fault. But the Mister Freeze and the break-in at Wayne Enterprises didn't seem to play fair with the readers. To be fair- Donald J. Sobol was guilty of doing the same thing with some of his mysteries. 

The artwork by Christopher Uminga was awesome. Now I will admit that if you have a Batman story by Sholly Fisch, only Dario Brizuela should be doing the art. However, I can now say that Christopher Uminga is a perfect second if Brizuela isn't available. Uminga's work reminded me of that of the L'il Gotham series by Dustin Nguyen in which all of the characters are of diminutive size and just a touch on the adorable side. That is except for the Joker!

Christopher Uminga's Joker is one of the most terrifying versions of the character ever. Those dark, dead eyes. That frenzied mouth that looks part clown make-up and part hideous scars. The credits in the back of this book list Uminga's art style as one that 'blends together creepy and cute.' I couldn't agree with this assessment more!

I really enjoyed this book. Yes, a couple of cases tripped me up. For the most part, I felt that the mysteries were fair. But there are a couple that are really tricky and might just be a little too difficult. Heck, if a 45-year old Madman like myself can think things are arduous, can you imagine how tough these cases can be for the recommended readings ages of 8-12? Regardless, I really hope that this isn't the only book in the series. There's so many more crimes in Gotham that need to be solved and Sholly Fisch and Christopher Uminga are the creative team to get it done!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars. 

The Rocketeer at War

It's 1942. The United States is now at war. Heck, the whole world is at war at this point. Cliff Secord has joined the war effort and in doing so, he's given the US Army access to his jet pack and schematics. Thinking he'll get to be the Rocketeer for the Allied forces, in typical Army fashion, Secord is posted as a lowly private while big wigs and egg head types attempt to create an entire fleet of flying superheroes.

However, when the latest guinea pig to test out the flying suit dies during a training run and a Nazi spy attempts to steal one of the parts to the jet pack, fate gives Cliff a chance to be the hero he was always meant to be! The Rocketeer of the United States Armed Forces!

Why I haven't been reading and collecting Rocketeer stuff is beyond me. Well, okay. Maybe I understand why. The 1991 Disney live action film was boring to a 13 year old me. Nowadays, I view the film with older eyes and I see its brilliance. But compared to the Tim Burton Batman films and even the earlier Superman films, the Rocketeer movie was definitely designed for a more sophisticated audience and one that enjoyed the Saturday morning serials of the 1940s and 50s. 

Obviously, the main reason just about anyone loves The Rocketeer is because of its amazing creator, the late Dave Stevens. His artwork was year 3000 stuff. Though Dave Stevens operated in the comics medium, he was more than just a sequential artwork hack. We have a limited amount of work from him because Dave Stevens was his own harshest critic and was meticulous over every piece he did. Plus, if the job offer just wasn't right, he'll turn it and the heaps of cash it would have provided down flat.

Taking over for Dave Stevens in this miniseries is writer Marc Guggenheim and the art team of Dave Bullock and J. Bone. The quality of both the story and art are great. But the artwork is much better. That's probably because the plot borrows heavily from other World War II franchises. There are elements of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Captain America: The First Avenger and the war books of DC Comics. It all made for a great story. Just the level of creativity was lessened in my mind. 

I did think it was odd that J. Bone's amazing artwork in the first chapter gets temporarily replaced by Dave Bullock in the next and then no more Bullock. I would have been okay if the two artists switched tasks every other issue as that would have made for an even pattern in the art. Sorry, but I like patterns and symmetry and what I just described is asymmetric as I don't know what. 

Okay. This wasn't a perfect read. But I had a lot of fun reading it and I want more. Technically, I got some more with a 4-part prose story by Liza Morton. 'The Rivet Gang'  is set towards the end of the second World War. It has Secord and his girlfriend, Jenny Blake, taking on an all-female group of criminals that are using a stolen prototype of the Rocketeer's suit. 

That backup story was really good. Very creative with some great dialogue and an awesome set of twists and turns. In some ways, it was a better story than the main feature. Just why couldn't this have been done in comic book form as well? Yes, there's some great illustrations peppered in. It's just not the same however...

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Star Trek: The Key Collection, Vol 2

I really enjoy reading the Gold Key Star Trek books. True, they are filled with errors, inaccuracies and glitches. But they are still amazingly creative stories that bring the original Enterprise crew back to life.

When I reviewed Volume 1, I noted that the tunics worn by Kirk and Sulu were green and not gold. While Captain Kirk did wear a ceremonial tunic that was green, that shirt is not the worn being worn by him in these books. Then I read an article on Mental Floss. 

A couple of days ago, I learned that the 3 tunics worn by the crew of the Enterprise were supposed to be the colors of red, blue and GREEN! However, due to the lighting of the sets, the green uniforms came out appearing as yellow/tan on screen. I've got some mild color blindness issues, especially with green. Thanks to that online article, I now understand why it feels like my brain was always playing tricks on me when I watched classic Trek. I always felt like when I looked at Kirk or Sulu or Chekov, I was seeing 2 colors at once and I really was!

As for some of the other errors, I don't think I can excuse them anymore. In the forward of the previous volume, the editors remarked on how many of the problem with the early Star Trek books was the fact that artist Alberto Giotlitti and Nevio Zaccara both had never watched the show. They mostly had stills from the series and props to work with in order to craft the artwork. This is why Gold Key printed Kirk's tunic as green- because it was! However, we're now covering books 9-16 and it's 1970-71. The artwork problems should be fixed by now!

The Federation phasers look more like a Klingon disruptor. Spock's ears are the size of my feet! And for some reason, Bones' tunic is green instead of medical officer baby blue. And Scotty isn't wearing his engineering reds. The bridge of the Enterprise- it looks impressive but it's not the Enterprise. The very act of transporting from ship to planet also looks really different- cool- but different. But since none of the artists ever watched the TV show, I can't fault the creative license. 

I will say that the likenesses of the main characters are second to none. By issue #16 of Marvel's Star Wars series, the art team still couldn't get Luke Skywalker to look like actor Mark Hamill. By issue #16 of this old school series, not only does Spock look like Leonard Nimoy, I'm expecting him to jump off the page. Alberto Giolitti's work is that lifelike! But not all Klingons look like French wrestler turned actor Maurice Tillet!

As for the writing, I did see a large jump in quality. Len Wein pens these stories and you can tell that he at least had watched the series. I'm not sure if he was a Trekkie as some of Spock's dialogue seems too emotional. But if you really think about it, it's hard to not be emotional. I tried to write some Vulcan appropriate dialogue in my head recently and it's darn near impossible. But everybody else sounds pretty close to their onscreen counterparts. 

This was a fun read. Quite flawed. But it was an enjoyable adventure that I wish to continue by getting my hands on the remaining 30 some odd issues that I don't own.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Skulldigger and Skeleton Boy

The story of Skulldigger and Skeleton Boy is the Black Hammer universe's version of Batman and Robin. There's also some element of Hit Girl from Kick-Ass. But when you throw in the arch-villain of the sadistic Grimjim, this story is definitely of the Dark Knight with Jeff Lemire flair. 

An unfortunate but inadvertent dropping of this book resulted in me seeing a scene that looked rather tragic and sad. So I held off on reading this library find for a while. But it's time for the books I checked out to go back, so I had to read it. I'm very glad I did. 

This is an extremely gritty book. But I enjoyed the heck out of it. The violence was gratuitous and there were a couple of scenes that show body parts exploding. This typically isn't my thing (and the main reason I've never seen the film Scanners) but for some reason, I was hooked. It felt like the sort of film Tarantino and Sam Peckinpah would have made if they ever decided to get together to do a superhero flick.

I was also a big fan of the artwork. Tonci Zonjic's artstyle is just so minimalist and classic. It reminds me of the late Darwyn Cooke. And I'm not the only one who feels this way. If I'm not mistaken, in the sketchbook section of this read, Jeff Lemire likens Zonjic's work to that of Darwyn Cooke's and I could not have agreed more. 

I really don't feel like this story is over. However, news reports claim that Jeff Lemire is closing the doors on the Black Hammer universe in the next year or so. If that's the unfortunate case, then I really hope Jeff Lemire brings Skulldigger back. There's just so many unanswered questions, like what was Detective Reyes' past history with the vigilante? She mentions a past with Skulldigger in issue #1 and has her reasons for wanting to arrest him. But, then that whole vendetta is glossed over and on the occasions when she does met up with Skulldigger, the two act like they've never meet before.

I'd also like to learn more why it seems that the Chief of Police seems glad that Skulldigger is killing all of the criminal elements of Spiral City. I'd like to learn more as to why it seems like the law enforcer has given up hope in the services of his police force. There seems to be a powerful origin story waiting to be uncovered here.

This story cannot be over. It had better not be. However, it's been about 3 years since Skulldigger and Skeleton Boy was published and time is running out. If that's all there is to this cast of characters, I am going to be sorely disappointed.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Salt: A World History by Mark Kurlansky

I know it doesn't happen often. But I do occasionally read full length prose novels. I've been trying to make it a point to read 10 pages a day of material related to my chosen degree and teaching field: culinary. I get all sorts of professional training for the teaching part of my job. But I noticed that I wasn't doing much to continue my learning in the culinary field. 

I actually started this book in 2020. I had gotten through about 200 of the 442 pages of this book. And then the pandemic hit and I wanted nothing to do with reading books that weren't fun or escapist in nature. 

After reading a book about the history of the tomato, I decided to dive back into this book by award-winning journalist, Mark Kurlansky. I was a big fan of Kurlansky's 2006 work The Big Oyster; an extensive look at America's obsession with oysters and other types of shellfish. I had seen this work on library shelves previously and had it on my wish list to read some day when I found a used copy for only a buck. 

Salt: A World History is a huge read for a single book devoted to one (and the only) edible rock. From prehistoric day need through the rise of the Greeks and Romans all the way through the American Revolution to the restructuring of global powers after World War I and II, everything you needed to know about salt is in this book. Just about every chapter begins with the process of how a particular civilization gleaned or produced their supply of salt. Then we see how salt was needed to preserve meats and other foods. Finally, we examine the dreaded salt takes and subsequent wars and/or revolutions that came about because stupid politicians decided that filling their coffers were more important that filling the cupboards of the general populace. 

After a couple hundred pages of what feels like the same chapter just with the names and locations switched, the readings got a little boring. Once we got into the last 150 years of history, things changed and the book got rather interesting. Refrigeration ended the need for so much salt. Since cold air could keep your food as fresh as salting it, but with much less effort, the way people prepared foods changed. The need for salt nosedived. As a result, governments that relied on revenue from salt increased the taxes and tariffs imposed on the mineral and people revolted. 

I did not know how vital it was for the Northern forces to destroy the South's ability to produce salt in order to win the Civil War. I had heard Gandhi marched to the sea. But I didn't know that he went there to protest England's ban on even the poorest of Indian citizens from harvesting salt privately. I had no idea about China's ingenious way of using the natural gas found among salt deposits as a way to heat their home, much less to fuel their public bus lines. Plus, I didn't know how the search for salt itself was vital to the discovery of petroleum in Pennsylvania and Texas! There was a ton of fascinating stuff to learn about salt in the modern era of world history. 

I noticed that cod is talked about a lot in this book. That's because about 5 years prior, Kurlansky wrote a historical account of the North Atlantic fish. I'm betting he got a lot of inspiration to write this book from his research on cod. I own that book and I think after I read a couple other culinary related books, to switch things up, I'll be learning more from Mark Kurlansky. 

Salt was interesting. It was also a bit repetitive. I guess there are only so many ways to make the millennial age old process of obtaining salt seem different before you run out of ideas. Definitely a good read. But one that only the most serious of food lover, professionals and scholars are going to enjoy as this is a very complex book on one of the world's most vital resources.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.