I'm Reading Comeeks

My ordinary life is about a classroom of students, who are dealing with the slice-of-life problems kids experience in school.  However, the kids are slightly less than ordinary.  One of them is a robot (with a giant key sticking out her back) invented by a loopy child genius (who loves sweets).

One chapter focuses on an attempt to take a test, but being completely unprepared for it, but then includes borrowing an eraser that turns out to be made out of sand.  Another chapter focuses on two of the kids attempts to build a house out of cards and avoiding one crisis after another, until finally a ceiling lamp just falls on the whole thing.

There are puns, haiku and random deer.  

It's just quite odd and a little bit charming.  The storyline isn't really compelling, yet I'll probably grab the next one just to see what other weird events will happen.

Manifest Destiny Vol. 3 Chiroptera & Carniformaves

Manifest Destiny has been working in a morally grey area for the entire story, but in this volume we move from ambiguity to downright genocide.  Things are not going well for the expedition.  They've spotted another arch and following their mission, head straight towards danger.  Not every member of the crew is down with that however and a mutiny that has been brewing since the discovery of the toad creature starts to manifest (harhar).

When the crew discovers intelligent life this throws another consideration into their mission.  Although the 'birdbears' can communicate with humans it doesn't change the fact that they consider humans a 'delicacy.'  Can they work together to vanquish a greater evil and then what?  Their mission dictates that they 'take care of' any dangers future settlers might face...

Taking into account the time period that the story is presenting, I can understand why the authors chose to take the story the way they did, however it was still tough to watch.  And yet, the story is as compelling as ever.  This was probably my least favorite volume (by far) but I need to find out what comes next.

Giant Days Volume Two (including issue #5 which is the cover).

Just a whole lot of goofy fun, addicting to read.  I love the art style, the characters, the weird situations, the discussions.  Pretty much everything.  I still think I may like Bad Machinery a bit more, but Allison, Treiman and Sarin a really creating some great stuff all around.

Paper Girls

This was really interesting and even though there were some parts that made me cringe (Mac's being a total homophobe mainly) it was realistic and there was some growth and change by the end that was interesting to see happen.  Also, I kept getting surprised by the bizarre twists and now I have to know what will come next.  Also the '80s hair and clothes are funny.

Adventure Time Vol. 8

Somebody stole LSP's star (again?) and everyone is called on to give their alibis.  Spoiler: They never find it.  Wut!?

Finn finds an awesome laser shooting sword, but it only works if he's at 100% health, which means turning into a cowardly ranged fighter.  

Also everyone forgets how to cook.

How are these things connected?  It involves a crazy hag witch, a giant terrifying meatball man and a journey to the moon.  Just read the comic.

My favorite part of this volume was actually the first page.  Just loved the references to the ending theme of the television show!

Chris Oliveros' The Envelope Manufacturer was quite a trip.  It was a bit confusing to keep who was speaking straight and exactly what was going on, but it was basically the story of a desperate man trying and failing again and again to keep his envelope manufacturing business from failing.  Others try to convince him of the futility of his efforts, but he keeps muttering to himself, just one more chance, if he could just, they just need a couple months of orders, then the debts can be paid the the machines fixed or updated...etc.  It was a bit depressing, but the art kept me going.  Loved the style of his slightly off-kilter jittering lines.  Also the business wear and tiny shoes.

B.P.R.D. Hell on Earth continues with this slightly less action packed, a bit more introspective volume as Johannes questions his humanity, without a body, can he still empathize with those who feel, with those who can die?  Great art as usual, I especially enjoyed the Modern Prometheus section with art by Tedesco, Stewart & Robins.  Johannes has long been one of my favorite characters of the series.  Despite his in-corporeality has always seemed a little more grounded than Abe or Liz, who are prone to fits of angst and sturm and drang.  I also have, more than any other character in the series, envied his 'power.'  

No Brow again provides me with a great book, Fantasy Sports by Sam Bosma was totally awesome.  It immediately reminded me of Adventure Time, and definitely holds it's own in that comparison.  Of these three, I'm most looking forward to reading the next volume of this series.  I can't wait to see what Wiz-Kid and Mug get up to in their next adventure.  I loved that while being totally hilarious and action-packed Bosma gives a cool message about not judging people by their outward appearances and a bit of Girl Power to boot.  Awesome, loved the style, the vibrant colors and the bigger than life characters.  Can't wait to see where this goes next.

You'd think someone with an almost unibrow would not care for No Brow press, but it's the opposite.  I love pretty much everything No Brow has published.

These two collections host an amazing variety of artists and illustrators who bring so much to the page it's almost difficult to read, since each page is absolutely arresting.  Visually stunning, full of engaging and thought provoking stories, each artist brings their own twists, but somehow add to a magnificent and flowing whole.

I'd highly recommend this to new comers to comics, you can see a ton of different styles and ways that artists are bring graphic fiction to life.  You will meet artists whose work you will no doubt need to read more of and illustrators whom you'll wish you had prints of on your walls.

Thanks No Brow!

Hereville: How Mirka Caught a Fish; part of the Hereville series about young adventurer and member of an Orthodox Jewish family.  These two things don't always go hand in hand.  She doesn't want to stay at home and sometimes questions the lessons of Fruma, her step-mother.

In this volume Mirka is left to take care of her younger sister Layele, who's personality is always at odds with Mirkas.  While Layele wants to follow Fruma's every direction and stay inside and clean, Mirka wants to march off into the forest to have adventures.

The two get into trouble when Layele discovers a magical fish and makes some unfortunate wishes.  Mirka's rash decisions and Layele's naive wishes land the pair and Fruma in deep trouble.

Lessons abound here, but they don't stop the story from being fun and suspenseful.  The fact that I'm not Jewish (let alone Orthodox) doesn't stop me from both being entertained by and educated by the graphic novel.  I'd highly recommend this to any Middle-School aged kid.

Comics Squad Vol. 2 Lunch: This collection of many different comic artists follows the theme of school lunch and was highly entertaining and nostalgic for me.  I loved it.  This would be a great introduction to kids comic artists, such as Jeffrey Brown, Jennifer Holm Sara Varon and Cece Bell.

I would not be surprised at all that, if they'd not heard of these artists before, after reading this comic readers will run to the library to read El Deafo, Star Wars Academy, Baby Mouse and Bake Sale among others.

From the origins of the Lunch Ladies to archaeological dig sites, these comics are hilarious, diverse and absolutely unputdownable.  

As I read this I kept thinking to myself, this reminds me so much of Bad Machinery, the art, the humor...oh wait.  It's by the same person.  

That said, if you like Bad Machinery, then pick up this series because it's basically a college aged version of the same.

Allision's brand of humor, for me at least, doesn't get old.  He sets us up with another loveable bunch of weirdos and their odd life dillemmas.  It's a bit more realistic (so far) than Bad Machinery, which often featured odd creatures and mystical goings on.

Each character has their own charm, but I have to admit Susan Ptolemy is my favorite.

I also read Bad Machinery: The Case of the Lonely One and it continues to actually make me crack a smile and laugh audibly as I read it, which has become ever more rare in my reading habits.

Unlike many comics, the characters here change and evolve through each volume, as they "grow up."  I love the messages here, where one character wonders what the difference one year between being twelve and turning thirteen, makes.  How does one become a teenager and stop being a kid?

Good stuff either way.  These series are a bit zany, but coming-of-age comics at their heart, and just chock full of characters and plots that make compelling and engaging stories.

Fight Like a Girl A young girl takes on an epic quest in an attempt to save her brother from illness.  If she's able to pass 9 trials the pantheon of various gods (Loki, Chronos, etc. etc.) will save her brother, but if she fails, she's dead.

I enjoyed the fact that it was her brain that made her weapon work, if she could imagine it, then she could use it.  However, I wasn't really that interested in her fate.  We also never even got to see an interaction with her brother, so it was hard to sympathize with her or him.  It needed a lot of work in the story and plotting department.

The artwork too was just ok, nothing to write home about, but not awful either.  If comics got grades this would be about a C+.  It's not surprising there was an ad for the Princeless series in this one.

Alabaster Shadows Carter Normandy and his family are new residents of the Alabaster Shadows community and things aren't starting out great.  Sure, Carter makes friends with three other students right away, but only because the three of them all get caught up in a strange conspiracy.  Carter found an underwater city in his basement.  Harley and Warren have dreams and theories and Dudley listens to strange creatures chant beneath his bed.

Some readers may already be picking up on something here.  Dudley, Warren...Carter and the nice man who tries to help the kids called Mr. Randolph all have something in common.  They share their names with characters from H.P. Lovecraft stories.

And that's what this comic is about, middle school kids facing eldrich horrors and the evil adults (all strangely women so far) who summon them.

Definitely a fun story for kids in grades 5+ I'd say.  It's not too scary, but has it's moments (the shadow creatures I found the most chilling). The art wasn't my favorite, but I enjoyed the characters and the story quite a bit.

Kind of!  Using this beautiful guide as a starting point I decided to make some interesting plant containers to add a little green in my grayish winter world.

Since I wanted mainly to use stuff I already had instead of going out to buy more junk, I just went through my basement to gather most of the supplies (except the plants, which I did buy from a local nursery).  

I think they turned out okay, but I certainly didn't follow the instructions of the book exactly, especially since I only was able to find two vessels that had covers.  So I ended up with only one true 'terrarium.'  The rest are open at the top, but I like that I ended up with an interesting arrangement of various glass container plants.

The other thing I would note, is if you're just beginning make sure to find a nursery that employs helpful people.  The one I went to seemed like a nice place and was very well-stocked, organized (except for having very few signs) and clean.  However, of the two people I spoke to, one was nice, but unknowledgeable, and the other ignored me in favor of a cat.  

I'm not kidding.  I was told to go back to one section of the store for plants that are good for terrariums and 'fairy gardens' and there would be someone back there.  At first there was nobody there, so I just started to look around.  While I was browsing through plants, with the helpful signs that said, "2" Plants 1.99," a woman entered the room.  I looked up and said, "Hi!" hoping to get her attention.  She completely ignored me and proceeded to walk through the room, stopping to greet a cat that was wandering through, she put down a box, talked to the cat, then left, all while I stood nearby, waiting to talk to her.  She never even looked at me.

So, even though I felt that I came prepared, with a list of items from the Terrarium book, nothing in the store was labeled.  So I ended up just trying to remember what the plants in the pictures (the book had really great images) looked like and then just picking plants that were pretty (and cheapish to tell the truth).

Then I went home and laid down a lot of newspaper, set out all my supplies and set to work.  I had a bunch of rocks, most of which were from various public beaches in Door County, Wisconsin and beaches around the Seattle area.  I also had some mulch left over from a different project, lots of beach glass also left over, wooden chopsticks, a vinegar bottle, some various other glass vessels and a whiskey bottle that ended up just being too small.  Water to pour in and water to spray in depending on the vessel and shells to decorate.

It was quite a process and it was a lot harder than I thought it would be to plant things using only chopsticks to dig holes and plant delicate little plants.  I made a huge mess, so it was good I put down the newspaper.  I even accidentally set down a box on one of the little plants, luckily it was a hardy little guy and managed to get by only losing one fuzzy leaf.  

But, I did have a good time, even though my results weren't quite as cool as the projects in Terrariums Reimagined.  This project might be more fun in the summer, outdoors.

I did this about two-weeks ago, and I'm happy to report all the plants are still alive!  (For now).  The book is definitely a good guide and I'd definitely recommend it for anyone interested in making cool terrariums.  The directions are very easy to follow and even if, unlike me, one wants to follow the directions exactly and purchase the materials specific to each project, it wouldn't be very expensive to do so.

The next project I plan to do is making paper, if I ever find those supplies somewhere...

I know in that Fail post I made on the 1st, I said I'd update with a new challenge, "later in the day."  Well, obviously that didn't happen.  I came up against some obstacles (Already!  I know!) in my new plan and had to re-think.  

The basic idea is this, in addition to the comic books I read, I also check out a ton of crafty books (cookery and writing mostly).  Some of them have really awesome recipes or projects that I gaze at and think, I could do that!  Of course I usually don't follow up.

So, I thought this year I would challenge myself to create something each month from one of the craft books I check out.  I had initially planned make the first post of the challenge with pictures of what I'd done, thinking that I had the supplies all set and ready to go.

I didn't.  What I thought would be a quick search turned into an extensive excavation which didn't ultimately turn up the supplies I know I have somewhere.  I almost caved and went out to buy more stuff...but part of the whole point of this is to use up stuff I have, so I've been continuing to search, clean and clear out crap...which is a good thing to do anyway.

So, I hope to have the first project ready sometime this month, but I don't know exactly when.

Above are pictured some of my favorite cook books, which I use fairly often, most by Isa Chandra Moskowitz, who is amazing (I was lucky enough to grab one of her homemade cookies at a signing once)!  I have made her East Coast Coffee Cake from the brunch book more times (with more variations) than I can count.  The pic below of the cupcake with a strawberry on it is her recipe, Lemon vanilla cupcake with lemon frosting, and is probably the best cupcake I've ever made (pictured with a carrot/orange/raisin cupcake frosted in either almond or chocolate).  The other picture is the second best, a chocolate cupcake with a mocha frosting.  I shared them with the folks at my local library branch who have to process all those hoards of comics I order.  Always thank your library staff!  (I speak as a cake loving librarian...)

I picked up the Vegetarian Epicure (book 2) at a library book sale once and have cooked a ton of recipes out of it, including a really awesome recipe called, "Smothered Potatoes," which I could eat as a meal any day, so good.  Basically it's just potatoes, covered with a spiced yogurt (including cumin, garam masala, tumeric, bay leaves, red pepper flakes) and baked.  So easy, so delicious.

My favorite thing in the world pumpkin whoopie pies, I got from the Chole's Vegan Desserts book, I also made her Lemon Olive-Oil Bundt, delicious with a lemon glaze.

So, I'll keep clearing out and hopefully have something interesting done by the end of January to share.  Until then, enjoy this recipe for Pumpkin Whoopie Pies you can see in a google preview here: Whoopie!

Working on it!

The Dharma Punks - When the heart of a group of friends splits the rest are left to pick up the pieces.  For Chopstick this means getting deep into a nihilistic brand of Buddhism, refusing to care about the material world (or anyone in it).  Funny to read this after I recently finished, 10% Happier...a book looking at how meditation changed Dan Harris' life for the better.  This is a punk coming-of-age story, exploring religion, identity and morality.

Get Jiro; Blood & Sushi - Before Jiro came stateside he had a few bones to settle with his Yakuza family.  Jiro's dad is the head of a large Yakuza family, but, unlike his father or his older brother, he has no taste for bullying and senseless violence.  He keeps his true passion a secret, crafting sushi.  However, soon his apprenticeship to a master sushi chef is found out and a bloody family feud ensues.  Over-the-top, entertaining, a fast-paced action story, though I have to say I enjoyed the zanier first volume a bit more.

Trick 'R Treat; Days of the Dead - In the fashion of Bradbury's Halloween Tree story, this comic book explores the history behind the best holiday of the year, a holiday where friends come together, neighbors take part in true generosity and people are encouraged to participate in creative activities, costume play and exploration.  Anyway.  I love Halloween and though I didn't love all of these Halloween history vignettes, the end was worth the wait.

Oyster War - A very strange tale, based somewhat on true events, but with plenty of just weird bits to keep me entertained.  I loved the main character and his determination to put an end to the damaging activities of the oyster pirates.  Hilarious and definitely something different.  For fans of Far Arden or A Crab Story.

Bandette; Stealers Keepers -  Bandette is back!  I missed her!  I wanted a candy bar so much after reading this lovely comic book.  I'd highly recommend it for fans of the movie Amelie or classic heist films.  Bandette has a lot of the quirkiness of Amelie in her and in the back of the book the authors explain some of their influences (including the movie).  There is also an illustrated novella at the end that adds even more depth to this fun world.

Kids Comics!  Hooray!

My favorite of the bunch was definitely The Lunch Witch, about a down on her luck witch taking a job as a lunch lady, which she finds quite to her liking...until a young girl figures out her secret and starts to blackmail the hag.  Kids who like peculiar stories, told from an atypical point of view would like this, this isn't about a kid getting super powers or defeating evil.  For fans of Roald Dahl or Norton Juster.

I enjoyed the first volume of Oddly Normal and it's nice to see that the story is continuing on in an interesting direction.  Oddly questions what her new friends think is cool when they are excited by her description of the "Hokey Pokey" dance and their disinterest in super hero Waterboy, who is also one of her new classmates at school.  This issue focuses more on Oddly's developing friendship with Reggie, Misty and Ragnar as well as a look at her parent's history.  Still, it was sweet and there was a bit of foreshadowing at the end that may lead to a more action packed third volume.

Upside Down: A Vampire Tale & Upside Down: A Hat Full of Spells were the first two books in an adorable series about a family of vampires living in a mad scientist's piano.  Harold, a young vampire, loves candy.  So much so that when he visits the dentist he has to have his teeth pulled.  In shame he decides to run away from home and pretend to be a regular bat.  That's when he comes across Vermillion, a witch who wants to rule the world.  Hearing about the Professor's new potion, a potion of immortality she decides to seduce him and steal the potion.  In the second volume, just when the weird family of bats, cats, vampires and dentists thinks they can settle down, Vermillion's threat returns in the form of her hat, a witch is never destroyed until her hat is destroyed...with all these hats scattered around town, chaos ensues.  Cute stories, would be fun Halloween reading for kids.

All of these graphics would be perfect for around Halloween, since they involve witches, monsters and more, but mainly in a fun and not too scary way.  Great for before and after Trick or Treating.

(I love Halloween, even in January I'm still reading Halloween themed books...)

Trying to get all the comics cleared off my couch, bedside table, computer chair and yes, floor.  I swear, they aren't being ruined!

Punks Git Cut - I got two paper cuts from this 'zine collection.  One right on my knuckle, it bled for an hour.  Not only the paper in this witty collection was cutting.  For people who listen to the Awesome Snakes, Aquabats! or even the Mountain Goats.  What I enjoyed most: Poem written from the perspective of Imhotep in the movie The Mummy.

Jem and the Holograms Volume 1 Showtime - I thought I would just flip through this slightly massive first volume, but instead I got sucked in.  A story that could have been too saccharine was pretty good.  What I enjoyed most; While Jerrica & whatshisface got the first kiss, Kimber and Stormer's romance takes center stage and all the characters create a diverse group, especially pleased to see underrepresented body types.

The Oven - Syd and Eric want to have a kid, but it turns out to be much more complicated than they thought in this population controlled dystopian future.  I wish I knew a little more about the characters.  What I liked most: the author describing speculative fiction as a tool to give herself a 'laser-like ability' to focus on particular topics, such as gender, or the environment.  I will definitely look for more of her work.

See You Next Tuesday - Somewhat reminiscent of the television series "Broad City."  It seems like the kind of book/humor people either love or hate.  The comic is single illustrations, shorter and longer pieces and notes, most of them self-deprecating, many including poop and fart jokes.  Despite saying people would either love or hate it, I liked it.

Frankenstein Underground - Truthfully, I was just glad not to be reading about Abe Sappy-ian for a change.  Frankenstein's Monster has been wandering the Earth, from Germany to France and finally finds himself underground, in a mythical city buried for years and re-discovered by members of the Heliotrope Society, but things have gone horribly wrong...What I liked most: I just love the illustrations, although I enjoyed the story I may have enjoyed the additional sketches included at the end of the comic the most.

Sherlock Holmes and the Necronomicon - Way to make the mythos and Holmes boring.  This was just mind numbing, how I wished Moriarty had even one witty line in here, but the writing was as dry as chalk dust from a euclidean scholar's blackboard.  Dull.

Happy New Year!  

So, I failed my goal this year.  By a lot.  I only read about 250 some comic books.  I missed the mark by over 100 comics!  I'm not going to say that the challenge was impossible.  I think reading a comic a day and ending up with 365 is not only doable, but probably surpassable.  I bet many people read more than 500 comics a year.  

I just don't think I can be one of them.  Even when I had a month where I did manage to fill every day with reads and reviews I got really burnt out on it.  Everything suffered, my reading, my writing, my thinking, until I just stopped everything altogether and went into stagnant mode.

Some of the comics I reviewed were lovely and some were truly awful, but the more I read the less I was able to enjoy those wonderful comics.  I started to see reading as a chore rather than a challenge and that's not a good way to approach books.

I still have stacks and stacks of comic books everywhere, which became a problem in itself.  Even a thin comic (which of course, not all of them are) can become daunting when it's in a stack of 20 other comics, graphic novels, and other books, all demanding attention.

I had to set up a folding table to hold all of the books.  In December I dismantled the table as part of my New Years plan to reduce the amount of books I have checked out at a time.  So far this has meant that instead of having a table full of books, I now have stacks of books on other various surfaces.  Despite the fact that I made a concentrated effort to read it all and get rid of it all, each time I made the trip to the library to return a stack, there were more waiting to be picked up.

It seemed like for every book I returned there were two waiting to be brought home.  Even now I have a total of 72 books checked out and 75 books requested at the library.  This is actually a vast improvement from a month ago.  I even returned some books unread!  Gasp!

Anyway, I'm thinking a new challenge is in order for 2016.  I'm still going to be reading comics, obviously, I still have a crap ton sitting waiting to be read.  I will still do my best to review them, but I'm not going to task myself with writing reviews for every comic I read or doing a daily update, sorry!  Instead, I hope to make something a little less slap dash, even if it ends up being less often.

What I've come up with instead is going in a slightly different direction.  I hope to update with that new goal (which is still a challenge, but hopefully one that won't drive me as crazy as this year of immersive comic reading) later in the day. 

Until then, happy reading.

The sequel to Apocalypse Bow Wow (which I haven't read yet) features a group of dogs and one cat, living in a broken and abandoned neighborhood waiting for their beloved owners to return.

They need food and Rat tells them of a nearby Twonkie factory that is ripe for the picking, except for one small problem, it's guarded by a cat.  Thinking that a single cat would be no problem for them they set out to the factory only to discover that the loan cat is actually a lion and they have no chance of beating him...or do they.

Using not one but two plan Bs the team take on the lion.  In the background of the story a naked man keeps appearing out of nowhere, complaining about a clothes eating time machine and searching for something, but what?  Is he one of the pets owners?  Who is this time travelling naked weirdo?

I'll definitely tune in next time to find out.  I'm not sure if this will end up being my humorous, easy reading graphic novel or not.  I am also looking forward to reading the next Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tale book.

These are two great examples of wonderfully illustrated graphic memoirs that not only tell a personal narrative, but explore universal themes of relationships, self-actualization and coming-of-age.  

Fitzgerald's art is beautiful, I was drawn especially to her depictions of photobooth pictures, she does an amazing job capturing the emotion in expressions.  

Long Red Hair was the more memoirish of the two, while Photobooth captures both Fitzgerald's personal history with photobooths, but also delves into the interesting history of the invention of the photobooth and the processes that go on inside them.

Each of these graphic novels were beautifully drawn and very well laid out.  Compelling reading.  It's always neat to read about someone's life whose path is so completely different from one's own and learn about obsessions and communities one would never even imagine existed.

I hadn't given much thought to the photobooths I very occasionally see, and to find out some of the background story to the film Amelie was very fun, as I really enjoyed that movie.  To know that there was a real person and real history influencing that character is not surprising, yet I hadn't ever considered it before.

I also really enjoyed reading these two works together, because one gave me insight into the other.  I'd recommend it!

For those who have enjoyed Calling Doctor Laura, Gabrielle Bell's graphic memoirs or books that combine personal history with non-fictional accounts, like Yo, Miss or any of Guy Delisle's travel chronicles.

If you've seen the film, "We Are the Best," this graphic novel, Never Goodnight, is the inspiration for that movie.

It follows three friends as they discover punk music and decide to form a band together.  They cut and dye their hair, they bang on pots and pans, deal with idiots at school and have drama with their families and boys and drinking.

I loved the artwork and the eye-rolls and personality given to each character.

Having now read both the graphic novel inspiration and the film, I have to say, I loved both.  I love the drama created by the film, but I also loved the more realistic nature of the graphic novel, which though still containing dramatic moments, felt more subdued and real to life than the movie.

I would recommend checking this graphic novel out, then taking a look at the movie too!

For those who've enjoyed: (I highly recommend Skim, too).