Bryson Fars: The Millionaire Creator/Jewel: The Magical Chef (Family Comic Friday)

I'm diverting a little bit on today's Family Comic Friday post. Instead of family friendly comics and graphic novels, I want to highlight a couple of books made for kids BY KIDS!

Last weekend, my bride and I went to the Geek & Grub Market at Fred Fletcher Park in Raleigh, NC. Geek & Grub is held monthly in Raleigh (with other locations like Durham, NC, Charlotte, NC and in Virginia occasionally).  There were food trucks, bakeries, toys, comics, and games. A costume contest! Prizes! Lots of fun for all ages! This month's theme was super heroes and despite the rain, there managed to be a fairly decent sized crowd. 

It was in the vendors area that I met the creators of the 2 books I am featuring, Elijah B. and Jewel L. They're siblings. Elijah was around age 10 or 11. Jewel was younger. I think she said she was 8. It's a family effort as their Dad, Ron L. is the illustrator of their books. 

Elijah B.'s book was titled Bryson Fars: The Millionaire Game Creator. It's an origin story of how Bryson Fars and his older brother and sister worked together to create a video game that combined race cars with football. Bryson is invited to showcase his new creation which gains the interest of a famous video game designer named Sizzle McDougall, who wishes to turn it into his studios' next big online offering. However, things are not all as they seem as suddenly Bryson's program seems to have a virus and cannot operate just as Sizzle is unveiling his new game, one based on Bryson's idea!

Bryson Lars is a chapter book. So I think it's something kids, especially those interested in video games and computer coding & design, will enjoy. I'm thinking those in grades 3-5 is the target audience, as some of the coding concepts can be a bit advanced. But as always, if you have a 2nd grader who can whip up a web page better than you can, then most definitely, buy them this book!

Jewel L,'s book is called Jewel: The Magical Chef. It's a fanciful book written in rhyme about a chef with magical animal friends and amazing cooking skills. One day, a wicked witch cooks up some dastardly treats in hopes of turning the children of the kingdom into goat-creatures. Can Jewel cook up an antidote to save her friends? With the delicious recipe at the back of the book, there's a very good chance that she can!

Jewel: The Magical Chef is a book that younger readers can enjoy. K-5 to 2nd is the age range I put this book. However, if you have a 3rd or 4th grader who is interested in cooking, sharing the fruit salad recipe at the end of this book would be a great way to show aspiring cooks and chefs to craft their own recipes. I'm going to share this recipe with my Culinary students next semester and they're in high school!

Plus, there's several black & white sketch pages in the back that I think you could color. So, consider Jewel: The Magical Chef to be a sort of activity book that's full of fun and perfect for a rainy summer day. By the way- I hear that Jewel L. is working on a recipe coloring book. I'll be sure to snag several copies of that for my students and other aspiring culinarians when it drops!

Both Bryson Fars: The Millionaire Creator and Jewel: The Magical Chef are available for sale on Amazon! These two children can't even drive a car and they've got a pair of books on the biggest online market platform in the world! As American Ninja Warrior's Matt Iseman says 'What's your excuse?"

Elijah B's book will help inspire children to learn about creating their own video games and computer programs (and hopefully they'll stay away from making computer viruses). Jewel L's book will inspire youngsters to cook and create their own recipes. Together, these young writers might inspire the young reader in your life to become writers as well! 

The road to becoming a writer isn't hard. It just starts with 1 sentence on a blank page!

Best of luck to all future dreamers!

Simpsons Comics Hit The Road!

The fantastic cover lets Simpsons fans know that there's a journey of great stories about to begin! 

• The Simpsons are chosen to be a Nielsen Family. Their unique viewing style results in marketers building a brand upon the Simpson name. Tired of being copied, America's favorite family goes through a number of metamorphoses. 
• The Simpsons win a trip to Scotland. Taking Groundskeeper Willie along, the family hopes to restore his honor amongst his overbearing parents and uber-successful older brother. 
•  Lisa tries to save the Aztec Theatre from destruction by organizing a film festival with a headlining film starring Abraham Simpson!

While these were fun stories, it was the shorter stories that were the best. Homer's attempt to show Lisa and her classmates the unseen side of America was a laugh out loud riot! And Comic Book Guy's look at other Bongo Comics titles that nobody wanted was a segment I wish never ended. 

I read Simpsons comic books because they're reads that consistently boost my spirits. They may not be classics like the works of Jack Kirby or Carmine Infantino; but they never fail. My anxiety has been out of control lately and I've needed lighthearted material to help calm some very frayed nerves. These collections have been a god send. 

To whomever sold off that big lot of trades to my favorite comic book store- Thank you! I got a great deal on them as well as lots of laughs. 

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

 

Big Bad Book of Bart Simpson

Over 115 pages of Simpsons Comics stories and shorts featuring the Bad Boy of Springfield, Bart Simpson. I've several of these collections and I just keep having a ton of fun when I read them. 

The fun starts with a parody of the classic Western TV show/1999 big screen Will Smith clunker Wild, Wild West. Then Bart and Milhouse skip school and have an epic day of fun! Later, it's time for the Springfield Elementary Science Fair. The grand prize is a gift card at the Android's Dungeon and so Bart really goes all out in order to win. Only his experiment might have unleashed mutated alligators throughout the city sewer system. Better call in the national guard...

In the most surprising of surprise returns, Bart and the family visit the local wild animal park to spend some quality time with Stampy. Stampy was the elephant Bart won when he won a call-in contest on the radio in season 5. Thanks to the elephant, Bart and Lisa are able to rescue their little sister, Maggie, from a family of hyenas. 

Lisa fits into a lot of these stories. On at least 2 occasions, Lisa solves mysteries in a style similar to Nancy Drew. In another story, Lisa plays to her mischievous side, telling Bart all sorts of lies about the book he's got to read for a book report. But in typical El Barto fashion, things turn out a-okay for the boy. 

There's a slew of other Springfield characters and there's over a dozen stories in this book. It's just impossible to cover them all without spending all day writing a review. If you love the Simpsons and you're in need of some fresh stories, check out this trade paper collection of Bart-centric tales from Bongo. Affordable collections are out there in used book stores. You just have to look!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.

They Called Us Enemy (2023 Comic Book & Graphic Novel Reading Challenge)

I met George Takei in 1986. I was 8 and I had spent almost all day waiting to meet him and Walter Koening at a video store signing in Cary, NC. While Walter was busy being hugged and kissed by a bevy of fans, George was very nice to spend extra time talking with my dad and me. He talked about upcoming TV shows he was guest-starring in. He listened as I told him that 'The Naked Time' was one of my favorite Star Trek episodes, to which George proclaimed was one of his too. I told him how sorry I was to see the Enterprise explode (in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock) and Takei hinted that he might be behind a new console very soon. 

Then it was time to meet Walter Koening and he could not have been more distant to me. I immediately became a George Takei fan. In those nearly 40 years since, I may not have agreed with his politics, methods or style 100%. But I never lost my respect for him because he took time to respect me that day in Cary. 

In 2019, George Takei recounted the tragic affair of the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II in the Top Shelf published graphic novel, They Called Us Enemy. Assisting Takei in his personal recollection of his family's 3 year plus imprisonment under the suspicion of being Imperial Japanese spies were Justin Eisinger and Steven Scott. The Takei story is essentially told from 3 perspectives: George as a young child who saw the episode as a frightful camping experience, George as a young man struggling to understand his father's ability to allow his family to be imprisoned while wanting justice for all, and George as a much older man who lived to see the American government apologize for the passing of Executive Order 9066 and later allow the actor/activist chances to talk to others about the atrocities. 

The American government has made great steps to apologize for internment. Yet it seems for every step forward, our nation takes a couple steps backward. For example, towards the end of this memoir, Takei discusses Fred Korematsu's 1944 Supreme Court lawsuit on his internment. Korematsu sued for the right to remain free of the camps and lost 6-3. Then in 2018, the Supreme Court reversed Korematsu V. United States all the while simultaneously providing 5-4 favor in the ruling of Trump Vs. Hawaii, which allowed the government to restrict Muslim immigration into the US. 

At one point in the book, Takei recounts how years later he was invited to the ancestral home of Franklin D. Roosevelt. At Springwood, Takei was invited to speak about the wrongful action of imprisonment of Japanese Americans on the 75th Anniversary of EX 9066. George Takei points out that 'only in America' can someone who was wronged by a world leader actually get to discuss the issue in the very house FDR (George's jailer!) was born and raised in! While Takei admits that America provides great freedoms unlike many countries on earth, it still has a long way to go to get things right.

The artwork was by Harmony Becker. Using black and white art with gray shading, They Called Us Enemy was drawn in the Manga style.

They Called Us Enemy was nominated for several awards, winning in both the American Book Award and Eisner Award for Best Reality-Based Work in 2020.

Completing this review completes Task #41 (A Memoir) of the 2023 Comic Book and Graphic Novel Reading Challenge.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.

 

Murder Book

Not even a week ago, I reviewed a true crime book about murders in New England. Now I am reviewing a graphic novel on true crime. I'm not a fanatic of the genre. My mom sure was. That and mysteries were like her bread and butter. Horror was up there too and I think her fascination with true crime and mystery was a great influence on that and vice versa. 

I'm currently down to just a handful of requirements left to read in order to complete my 2023 Comic Book and Graphic Novel Reading Challenge. I chose this book to fulfill my need for a memoir. But despite what the cover of this graphic novel says, I don't think I can truly call this book a memoir.  

Hilary Fitzgerald Campbell examines our society's obsession with true crime. When I say 'our society', I'm really talking about the good ol' U.S. of A. Sure, England has its obsession with Jack the Ripper. But, I think that's more because nobody has yet to truly solve the crimes. So when it comes to murder and how it's literally become an artform, no other country leads the pack than America. 

Campbell explores the explosion of true crime by reflecting on her upbringing while examining a trio of killers- the Zodiac Killer, Ted Bundy, and Tom Capano. Zodiac is essentially what got Campbell's mother interested in true crime as she lived within striking distance of the areas that this unknown serial killer prowled. Ted Bundy is really the figure that first gained national exposure as a serial killer. Thanks to Bundy's friendship with Ann Rule, that relationship essentially created the term 'true crime' with her groundbreaking novel, The Stranger Beside Me; though the unnamed genre had been around for centuries. Tom Capano is really just a small blip on the true crime map. But it's the first case that really peaked Campbell's interest in the subject and thus his murder of mistress Anne Marie Fahey is explored in length. (By the way, Fahey was just one of at least 3 mistresses that the wealthy, powerful and demented Capano had that readers are informed of!)

Throughout this graphic novel, Campbell explores TV, movies and now podcasts which have become fixtures of true crime. Things like Law & Order, Forensic Files, Making of a Murderer and much, much more. The whole thing with the true crime podcasts is unlike anything I've ever seen as there are seemingly hundreds of amateur detectives out there examining every aspect of both popular and under-the-rug murders, posting their work to millions of listeners and getting rich from it, as well sometimes solving murders or helping innocents receive justice. 

Without the pandemic, I really don't see these podcasts becoming so quickly ingrained in our society like they have. Its like the lockdown created a need to find solace in the pain of others and murder podcasts filled that gap. I appreciate that Campbell alluded to this. But there are so many other crimes and serial killers that the author didn't even touch upon. Ed Gein. The Son of Sam. The Menendez Brothers. OJ! And what about how both John Hinkley Jr. and David Berkowitz were so influenced by Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye that they both carried out deadly plans to varying degrees of success? 

I smell sequel! And I am completely okay with that. Though if you do, Hilary, could you make the font a little bigger??? Some of those book titles were extremely hard to read.

O other thing I am not okay with is how insecure I feel after reading this book. Yes, I have really bad anxiety. But I'm not suddenly terrified of being another notch on a serial killer's belt. Instead, I found myself today starting to worry that every woman I passed at the grocery store, coffee shop and post office was fearful that I was a secret killer from every odd look I got in my Indiana Jones Fedora, black sunglasses and blue COVID mask. Maybe they just thought I was weird. I'd be okay with that. But I'm not a serial killer.

I eat cereal... But that's a different type of cereal killer...

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

X-Men: Asgardian Wars

Recent posts of some of the artwork done in this collection from Arthur Adams is what persuaded me after all this time to dig it out and finally read it. This trade paperback collects X-Men and Alpha Flight #1-2, New Mutants Special Edition and X-Men Annual #9. The Norse god of mischief, Loki is the villain behind all of these stories. 

In X-Men and Alpha Flight, Loki offers both teams of mutants the chance of a lifetime- to finally be human. Of course, both teams don't realize that it's Loki who's working behind the curtains. So at first, most of the heroes are eager at the chance at being normal; especially characters like Cyclops, Puck and Nightcrawler, whose mutant abilities and appearances make any chance at a normal life impossible. Obviously, Wolverine smells a rat and some of the Alpha Flight team don't want to lose what makes them individuals. Thus, when things don't go perfectly, Loki reveals himself and has a massive hissy fit!

New Mutants Special Edition starts off with the newest generation of gifted mutants enjoying a day at the beach. At this point in time, Storm of the X-Men, has lost her powers. Yet, she valiantly leads the New Mutants with bravery and bravado. This very much intrigues Loki who kidnaps Ororo. While under her spell, Loki offers her all the powers of a god, as long as she'll become his betrothed. 

The New Mutants are dispersed all through Asgard and placed in ideal situations in hopes that the youth will enjoy their new surroundings and forget the whole thing about their teacher getting taken. It seems to work at first. But as memories of their past on earth start breaking through, the teens manage to find themselves. But the collective whole of the New Mutants just isn't enough to take on Loki and his newly juiced up bride-to-be Storm!

The New Mutants story continues in the X-Men annual. Somehow the X-Men have been alerted to Loki's plot and still angry over the Norse deity's actions with Alpha Flight, the mutants are looking for payback.

Chris Claremont penned all 3 stories. They're reflections of his skill as a writer as well as his annoying tendency to turn mutant tales into soap opera fodder. Paul Smith and Bob Wiacek were the artists on the X-Men and Alpha Flight. Adams penciled the New Mutants story and the annual. While Smith and Wiacek's art was good, Art Adams work was light years ahead. Let's face it, Adams is a master and if he only had a body of work that equalled Kirby or Ditko, he'd be a serious contender for Mount Rushmore of Artists contention. 

A good collection of stories. Some of your favorite Asgardians guest stars in these pages. But no appearance from everyone's favorite. That's right; Beta Ray Bill is nowhere in sight. Neither is this golden haired impostor named Thor.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.

Captain America #750 (2023 Comic Book & Graphic Novel Reading Challenge)

A team of about a dozen talents crafted this special anniversary issue to both versions of the Sentinel of Liberty: Steve Rogers and Sam Wilson.

There are 2 main stories in this oversized special. The first is an origin into how Sam obtained his own version of Cap's shield. Story #2 has Steve Rogers and his dwindling number of pals from over 80 years of crime fighting celebrating the life of a fallen ally.

The Steve Rogers story follows the recent events of 'Cold War' in which a secret organization called Outer Circle, worse than Hydra and AIM combined, is targeting the original Capt. as well as his friends and loved ones. This feature also ties into the upcoming Captain America Finale one-shot that has some fans speculating if Steve's about to be put on ice once again. (J. Michael Straczynski and Jesus Saiz are about to helm a new Captain America series later this year. Whether this series is a reboot, reset or continuation remains to be seen.)

After the two main stories, there are several shorts that examine the history of both Captains. While the Sam Wilson refresher mentions him as the Falcon helping the people of Jamaica, there is nothing about how the hero was originally a sleeper agent created by the Red Skull. Steve Rogers and his wavering faith in the American government is ignored in these tales as well. Readers catch a glimpse of Steve and Sam taking on the Hate Monger. But Steve's time as Nomad, the unaffiliated Captain persona and that time Red Skull used a cosmic cube to turn Rogers into a member of Hydra are omitted as well.

What promises to be a tribute to the spirit of Captain America really only focuses on Steve Rogers and Sam Wilson. Bucky Barnes appears. But no reference to his time as Captain America is mentioned. And to not have even a passing tribute to Isaiah Bradley, the first Captain America, who was also a black man, seems like an offense to the character and his growing legion of fans. 

Captain America #750 shows a lot of the good. But this book is not all peaches and cream. The racism Sam Wilson experienced as a member of the Avengers and from those who consider a black Captain America to 'not be their Captain' is explored. Steve's childhood as a bullied child is also explored. However, when it comes to the wrongs both characters have committed as symbols of the American Dream, this oversized issue is lacking. 

And no reference to the werewolf Captain America?! Come on, Marvel! That's a beloved segment of Captain America history! For shame...FOR SHAME!

Featuring the writings of Tochi Onyebuchi, Jackson Lanzing & Collin Kelly.
Artwork by R.B. Silva and Carmen Carnero.

This book was recommended by the staff at Acme Comics in Greensboro, NC and Totally Awesome Comics in Mebane, NC. 

Completing this review completes Task #38 (Recommended by a Comic Book Store) of the 2023 Comic Book and Graphic Novel Reading Challenge.