11 September 2012

11 September 2012–No Review this week, just news

 

So, I’ve been crazy busy the past couple of days, and haven’t been able to review anything properly. However, I’m not leaving you empty-handed.

First off, 11 years ago, the face of America was changed forever when the twin towers were hit by terrorists. I like to think that we’re stronger as a nation and many signs point towards that. Stay strong America!

Heads up folks! My Favorite Martian Monkey is coming down to the deadline! we have five (Count ‘Em –5!) days to go until it closes and Steve can start the hard, arduous process of actually printing everything out. He’s got a killer stretch goal (Below):

If he hits $6,000 before the kickstarter closes, he will send out this exclusive poster, illustrated by 20 other artist friends of his! The great part is, at the time of this writing, he’s only $850 away from hitting that goal! If you haven’t contributed yet, please do so, it’s an awesome book, and well worth it! (Steve, I’m really sorry about squishing the bejezus out of the image)

The Secret of the Stone Frog dropped to stores today. A Fantastical combination of Little Nemo and Alice in Wonderland, it’s a beautiful book (link to review in the title).

The Monkey King Vol. 2 Library Binding dropped yesterday. This is the second book in a 20 book series that retells The Journey to the West, one of the four classic pillars of Chinese Literature. The artwork is absolutely amazing, and you have to check it out.

Jeremy Whitley of Princeless fame is busy working on a collection of Princeless short stories. He announced artists over at his Tumblr site. Go check it out, and if you haven’t read Princeless yet, strike yourself around the head and neck viciously and then go to your local comic book dealer/book store/amazon enabled computer and buy yourself a copy. After the bruises go down, you’ll thank me.

Lot’s of books lined up for upcoming review, including My Boyfriend is a Monster #6: Wrapped Up In You, A graphic novel adaptation of The Little Prince, and a retelling of Dicken’s A Christmas Carol that not only flips the character of Scrooge on its head, but is so visually arresting, it will take your breath away.

On a side note, I am putting together presentations regarding the use of graphic novels in the classroom, as well as book talks of graphic novels for elementary, middle, high schools and colleges. If you’re interested, please contact me and we can discuss specifics.

04 September 2012

4 September 2012–Viz-ualizing a second half

 

Alright… so, picking up from where we left off…

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Mr. Men & Little Miss Series

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Images Courtesy Viz Media

Written by: John Hardman, Michael Daedalus Kenny, Illustrated by: Matthew Britton, Victoria Maderna, Bryan Beach

Viz Media, 2012

ISBN(s): 978-1-42154-072-6, 978-1-42154-071-9, 978-1-42154-074-0 (PB)

$6.99, Ages 6+

Overview

The funny Mr. Men and Little Miss have been around since the early 80s, teaching gentle stories about proper manners and behaviors to kids off all stripes. In the New Millennium, they made the transition from print to television, starring in a wildly popular television series based off of the original works. Now, The characters are getting their own books, broken up into chapters, detailing a day in the life of a specific character.

Synopsis

If you’ve ever watched the television show, this will be pretty familiar, as the books follow the same sort of template for the most part. However, each book is geared towards a specific member of Dillydale. Other characters abound throughout the book, so everyone gets a pretty fair shake at on page time. Little Miss Sunshine spends the day leading the inhabitants of Dillydale on a singing tour of the town after finding a bus on her front lawn, riding horses with her friends, and judging the “Dillydale’s Got Talent!” show with Mr. Fussy and Mr. Rude. Little Miss Daredevil finds herself competing in “The Incredible Race” that leads her and the other contestants across Dillydale, into outerspace, and across time itself, and Mr. Bump spends an accident prone day trying to escape from the different channels in his television after a strange turn of events that suck him into his appliance.

Final Thoughts

Mr. Men and Little Miss has never really been a series to cause contention (with perhaps the exception of Mr. Rude, who, as his name implies, is rather rude), and the message that the characters pass along is one that we’re all different, and that’s quite alright. In all honestly, aside from the occasional fart joke (courtesy of Mr. Rude), Mr. Bump’s semi-constant refrain of “poopity-poop”, and Mr. Messy’s mentioning of something called “sock cheese” these books would probably right at home on Emily Post’s bookshelves. As the characters are all based off of geometric shapes, even pre-readers will enjoy looking at the images, and the Mr. Men / Little Miss books are a good starting point for emergent readers to start out with. I have a feeling that this will be popular with K-1 groups especially, but the paperback might not survive long if you have an exuberant reader. Mr. Bump and Little Miss Sunshine’s books are already out, and Little Miss Daredevil is due out in October.

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Mameshiba: We Could Be Heroes!

mameshiba

Image Courtesy Viz Media

Written by: James Turner, Lark Pien, Illustrated by: Jorge Monlongo, Lark Pien

Viz Media, 2012

ISBN: 978-1-42154-128-0 (PB)

$6.99, Ages 7+

Overview

Mameshiba (literally “Bean Dog”) are cute little bean dog creatures who have adventures that can get pretty wild at times. Each Mameshiba is named for the bean that it is (Edamame, Chili, Cocoa, Red, etc.), and the adventures they experience have to be seen to be believed!

Synopsis

A collection of short stories, interspersed with little “one shots” let us experience the wild times the Mameshibas have – from helping Chili Bean win the confidence to profess his love, to Cocoa doing a bang up imitation of Godzilla, to traveling to a mystical world under Red Bean’s bed – this is some crazy stuff. If you take a dash of Adventure Time, mix in some Regular Show, give it it’s own zany spin, and then add the cutest little legu-nines this side of Japan, and you’ll still not appreciate Mameshiba. The artwork gets a little busy at times, but is still clean and understandable, while the stories are interspersed with little trivia bits (for example, Boiled Bean explains that farmers will sometimes feed small magnets to their cows to prevent ingested metals from injuring the cow.)

Final Thoughts

Out of all the books I read this week, this was the one I kept coming back to. My youngest absolutely loves this book (he’s four), and he wants me to read it to him over and over again. Mameshiba may have you scratching your head at first glance, but a page or two in, you’re totally hooked. While the sheer volume of the stories may be intimidating to some readers, they move quickly, and the “shorts” in between stories help resituate readers quickly and painlessly. This is another great book for emergent readers, but I’m thinking more along the lines of 1 – 3 grade. Regardless, this is promising to be a fun series. Mameshiba is out now.

03 September 2012

3 September 2012–Viz-ualizing Some awesome things

 

Alright, I’ll knock it off with the bad puns one of these days. Seriously though, Got a *huge* book rundown for you this week: Giant robots, fairies, and bean dogs (to name a few). First however, the news -

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A while back, I reviewed Raina Telgemeier’s new book Drama on the GNReader. Well, gentle reader, Drama came out on Saturday, and from early feedback, it has been a huge success! I am happy to report that Raina is out promoting her new book now, and is super excited to be meeting her fans. If you would like to see if she’s going to be at a bookstore near you soon, please check out her website at http://goraina.com/.

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Don’t forget! The Re-issue of The Monkey King Vol. 1 is due out tomorrow. Also keep in mind that this is the library binding (hardcover with reinforced spine).

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Since we’ve got a lot to review this week, let’s get to it.

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Voltron Force

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Images Courtesy Viz Media

 

Written by: Brian Smith, Illustrated by: Jacob Chabot

Viz Media, 2012

ISBN(s): 978-1-42154-153-2, 978-1-42154-154-9, 978-1-42154-155-6 (PB)

$7.99, Ages: 8+

Overview

Set approximately five to seven years after the seminal 80s cartoon (which I watched religiously as a kid!), Voltron is back, and still doing battle with the forces of evil. Bringing back the original pilots (Lance, Hunk, Keith, Pidge and Princess Allura) who are now training three new Alliance cadets to help pilot the lions. King Lotor (The ruler formerly known as Prince… Lotor) is back, and pitching Robeasts like they’re going out of style. New to this series is Haggarium, a power source of pure evil (allegedly created from the witch Haggar, creator of Robeasts in the original Voltron) that has poisoned both King Lotor and Daniel, one of the Alliance cadets. These three books focus on stories that are exclusive to the print media, being companion pieces to the television series.

Synopsis

While not really breaking any new ground in terms of originality, Voltron Force is still a blast. Too often, when series get rebooted, the original characters are relegated to a few early stories or episodes and then forgotten all together. In this series, the original crew is there, playing an integral part in the new crew’s training and growth. The villain, who played a part in the original show is back and more evil than ever, and the story feels like only a few years have passed since the original show.  The artwork is crisp and reverent to the original, while the characters all stay true to their original incarnations. It’s obvious that the folks working on the series now watched the show when they were young, and hold it in high regard.

Final Thoughts

When I originally heard that Voltron was getting a reboot of sorts, I rolled my eyes, fearing it would be a pale imitation of the original. Imagine my delight when I read these books (I don’t have cable or satellite) and discovered that they’re staying true to the original material as possible. Reading these books, I was hit with a huge wave of nostalgia, and had to turn on Netflix to watch a few episodes of the original series. Another great thing about the book series is the fact that Pidge’s high-pitched, nasal voice is silenced (The only complaint I had about the original series). This is one of those series that can really brings dads and sons together, and I highly recommend it for libraries. The storylines are nothing objectionable and will prove to be popular, especially with action oriented kids or Power Rangers fanatics. The first three books listed above have already been released, with another three scheduled to be released through February of 2013.

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Redakai

Redakai_01_Cover 

Image Courtesy Viz Comics

Written by: Aubrey Sitterson & Mike Raicht, Illustrated by: Write Height Media & Dan Ciurczak

Viz Media, 2012

ISBN: 978-1-42155-336-3 (PB)

$7.99, Ages 8+

Overview

In the world of Redakai, there is an element that is integral to everything – Kairu. When used for good, it helps guide the life of the universe. If it falls into the hands of evil, it can be the most destructive force in the world. However, not everyone can harness the power of Kairu, but those that can have the potential to become Kairu warriors, possibly even a powerful Redakai. Three kids, Ky, Maya and Boomer are three Kairu warrior trainees who are trying to prevent the evil Lokar and his groups of E-Teens from gaining more Kairu.

Analysis

For something that travels across familiar ground, Redakai does a good job of making the journey feel fresh, Ky, Maya and Boomer all have relatable traits that kids can easily recognize, while the villains are mean. but not too scary. The artwork is clean and crisp, and the messages presented are well thought out and executed.

Final thoughts

Redakai is one of those books that you don’t have to worry about if your child gets ahold of it. The battles are exciting without being bloody or even overly violent, and there’s very little chance of nightmares in young readers. If you have a kid (or kids) that are into the trading card game or television show, this is definitely going to be a must have addition. Redakai Vol. 1 is due out October 2012, and volume 2 is due out February 2013.

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Winx Club

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winx 2

Images Courtesy Viz Media

Created by: Iginio Straffi, Translated by: Viz Media

ISBN(s): 978-1-42154-159-4, 978-1-42154-160-0 (PB)

$7.99, Ages: 6+

Overview

Bloom is just your typical 16 year old girl. She loves to hang out with her friends, playing with her rabbit, and dreaming about getting her first scooter. However, a chance encounter with another young woman in the park reveals a whole new world of possibilities. As it turns out, Bloom is not just your typical 16 year old girl – she’s a fairy. He new friend Stella invites her to Alfea and the Fairy school so she can learn to harness her new powers. Along the way, she’ll make new friends, meet new enemies, and have the adventure of a lifetime!

Analysis

Originally created in Italy, and later translated into English, Winx Club has been around for a while as  toys, television shows, apparel, and video games, however the books are finally being published in English. The stories follow the original storylines and emphasize the empowerment of the female characters, their ability to triumph over obstacles and get along with others. The artwork is bright, friendly and very clean. While libraries may catch some flack from some people claiming the characters play to stereotypes, I really think they’re looking at the varnish and not the building. Winx is first and foremost a tale about the power of friends and the power to believe that one can do anything they want to – especially through hard work and dedication. While I personally would not pick the books up on a whim, I feel that the message contained within is very empowering to young ladies, and can be a good “hook” to get girls into reading graphic novels. The first two books (listed above) are already out, the third book is due out this month.

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Well, I’ve spent all weekend working on this post, and I’m still not done. I think this is going to be one of those rare 2 part posts. I’ve still got two more book series to cover, but I’m out of steam tonight. Stay tuned for tomorrow, where we take another trip into nostalgia (perhaps not as old as one would think), and meet some creatures that are decidedly different… and cute… and oddly enough…. tasty.