Pandemonium

Title: Pandemonium (volume 1)
Author: Chris Wooding
Illustrator: Cassandra Diaz
Publisher: Graphix (Scholastic)
Copyright: 2012
Price: $12.99
ISBN: 978-0-439-87759-6
-----------
Summary and Quick Thoughts: Seifer Thombchewer (his last name from his grandfather who enjoys eating gravestones) thinks he leads a dull life. Seifer’s charismatic, he’s the star of the skullball team, and he has a loving family. Yet, he is drawn to the mountains, knowing that there is something over there and adventure is waiting. Adventure does come to him, though, in the form of kidnapping and being enlisted to pretend to be Prince Talon Pandemonium, Lord Defender of the Realm. The resemblance is uncanny, but there isn’t time to dwell on that as another force is determined on claiming part of the country. Pandemonium spends a lot of its first volume setting up the world and leaving us with way too many questions.
---------
Recommended Audience: Middle and High school readers
--------
Things to be aware of: violence, magic
----------
Further Thoughts: I know Chris Wooding for his YA work, which was a different kind of fairy story as far as I could tell. I’ve never read anything by him so this is my first exposure. Frankly, this title feels like a web comic type of story from the lack of back story to the art.

I picked up this title because it was a “Scholastic Graphic” title and thought “hey, this looks like something with potential.” My first glances, though, disappointed me. I wasn’t interested in the art and I thought it was rather weak. It looked like the artist’s first work, yet I found that as I read it, the art grew and seemed to be what the story needed, even if it is an odd pairing.

The story fits a web comic saga: spend time on the action and world building; then, start explaining stuff. In a way, it’s fine, but on the other hand, I’m worried that because of that set-up, this is all we will get from this series. I didn’t mind the adventure, but I somewhat wanted a little more information than I got about the Seifer-Talon connection (because it’s clear there is one). I certainly thought we’d get an explanation about the ring that shows up in the latter half of the book before the end, but nope. We’re left hanging, since the one character that had been explaining everything did not explain that before the end. Now, I wish this was in a web comic format so I can read more of this.

Overall, it’s a solid, fantasy story with a lot of world building, action, and good comic timing. I’m not sure I’d have purchased this based on a review, but on the other hand, it adds a nice change, especially in paperback. For some reason I keep thinking that this might appeal to readers of Amulet, but I have to admit I haven’t read Amulet yet to tell you if that is true. I’d like to see more of Seifer, but I hope that the next volume gives us a little more back story than this one.

-----
Source: Library copy.

Sense & Sensibility Marvel Adapation

Title: Sense & Sensibility
Author: Jane Austen (Adapted: Nancy Butler & Sonny Liew)
Illustrator: Sonny Liew
Publisher: Marvel
Copyright: 2010
Price: $19.99
ISBN: 978-0-7851-4829-7
-----------
Summary and Quick Thoughts: After the death of their father, the Dashwood daughters and their mother relocate to a small college. This is mainly due to their half-brother’s manipulating wife, but that’s ok as they will live happily there and marriage prospects look good. This is the story of Elinor and Marianne Dashwood, their friendship and their romances. This is just an adaptation of the classic and collects the single issues published in fall 2010.
---------
Recommended Audience: Middle, high school, and adult
--------
Things to be aware of: None.
----------
Further Thoughts: Let me begin this by the fact that I was thoroughly expecting to snark my way through this book. Seriously. After the horrendous adaptation of Pride and Prejudice (click for my review), I expected to read this for the inconsistencies and the annoying, horrendous art.

Um. I was wrong. I was so crazy wrong. I’m so glad that this one is much, much better than the first which I still can’t believe actually made the New York Times Bestsellers (according to the back cover of this one).

Full disclosure: I have not read Sense & Sensibility, but have watched a few adaptations so I know the general story…sorta.

First, the art. I expected the art not to match the covers since that was obviously what happened with the first Austen adaptation. Nope. The art on the covers totally matched what was in the comic and I was thrilled. For me, half of the story is made up in the art from the nuances to the faces, the placing of characters, and how the scene is to be understood. One highlight of this work is that the characters are somewhat like caricatures, so when we slip into chibis (tiny bodies, large heads, in manga used to convey humor and cuteness) it was a natural shift and helped to add to the scene’s humor. I also never grew tired of the possibly screwed-up proportions. It just added to the story and the illustrator did a fantastic job conveying how the characters were feeling. My only complaint is how flushed everyone looked for most of the time. Occasionally I thought “who is going to be sick now?”

The text of the story is a bit wordy for a comic, but I’m not sure if there was any way to get around that. The narrated bits seemed out of place, but necessary. Having not read the text though, I cannot tell you where the liberties were taken for this story and what was original. I did feel that there were no essential parts left out this time like the major plot point missing in the Pride and Prejudice adaptation.

I’m impressed. I look forward to the next adaptation of Austen into comic style and hope that this success is only the beginning of more. Considering I’ve never read any other Austen (only got half-way through Emma), I’m hoping for an adaptation of Persuasion, as that movie adaptation only confused me. I’d also like to see how Mansfield Park could be improved upon as I tried to read that and couldn’t believe the stuff that character went to.

If you’re looking for more girl-centric stories and something that is mostly clean, this is a good selection. Well done Marvel. Not what I expected at all.

------
Source: Library copy.

Baby's In Black

Title: Baby’s In Black
Author: Arne Bellstorf

Illustrator: Arne Bellstorf
Publisher: First Second (:01)

Copyright: [May 8] 2012

Price: $24.99

ISBN: 978-1596437715
-----------
Summary and Quick Thoughts: Before The Beatles made it big, they were performing in Germany. Instead of four band members, there were five and this was before Ringo. Paul, George, John, Pete, and Stu were performing a crazy amount of time in a club in a not so great part of town. This is not that story though. This is the story of Klaus, who discovers The Beatles and brings in his friends, including Astrid Kirchherr, whose eyes meet Stuart Sutcliff’s and the rest follows their tragic love story.

---------
Recommended Audience: adults

--------
Things to be aware of: smoking…in every panel
----------

Further Thoughts: I’m not a Beatles Nerd. I’m not necessarily a lover of The Beatles, but don’t mind when The Philosopher Musician puts their music on (probably one of the few things we can agree to in his car). I adored the movie Across the Universe (my intro to most of The Beatles music). I read the YA book that borrows from the song Across the Universe, but like A Million Suns, I had to be filled in by The Philosopher Musician regarding The Beatles and how the songs tied into this book and the YA books.

So, that explains my reaction to this book: lukewarm, excepting the last chapter, which almost made me cry.

The Philosopher Musician should really do this review. Instead, he’s busy with school work.

Baby’s in Black is the love story of Astrid Kirchherr and Stuart Sutcliff, the “fifth Beatle.” He’s really a trapped artist along for the ride because he likes John. Throughout the story, we watch as Astrid works on her English, Stuart works on his German, and they fall sweetly in love. He moves in, discovers his passion for art, watches his friends get deported, watches them come back, and so on and so forth. Then his health starts to deteriorate. He has “episodes” until finally he succumbs in a simply wordless (ellipses-filled) final chapter that pulls on your heart strings.

The last chapter is beautiful. I cannot express how the scenes, at first confusing, express emotions and words not said. You’ll want to cry reading the story, especially if you don’t know how the love story ends.

Sadly, I can’t say I liked the art much. Half the time I was thinking “which Beatle is that?” I couldn’t tell who was who, but after a while, I knew who Astrid was, I knew who Klaus was, and I knew who Stu was. Any “Beatle” that spoke was just “A Beatle” in my mind and for scenes where I couldn’t tell anyone apart, I just decided “dialogue.”

Overall, to sum it up, Baby’s in Black is a reference to a title of a Beatles song, which I did not know and wish I had known earlier. This book could have benefited from an intro instead of the small epilogue we got. Get it for the Beatles Lovers, but pass if you don’t have the budget.

------
Bonus:

Source: NetGalley

Sherlock Holmes and the Adventure of the Cardboard Box (#12)

Title: Sherlock Holmes and the Adventure of the Cardboard Box (#12)
Author: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (Retold by M. J. Cosson & Murray Shaw)

Illustrator: JT Morrow & Sophie Rohrbach
Publisher: Lerner Publishing

Copyright: 2012

Price: $27.93

ISBN: 978-0761370901
-----------
Summary and Quick Thoughts: Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson are called to help Lestrade investigate a mysterious package with disturbing contents sent to Miss Susan Cushing. Told in a bland tale about a bland adventure

---------
Recommended Audience: Upper Elementary

--------
Things to be aware of: Gross box contents
----------

Further Thoughts: When poking around Netgalley for interesting graphic novels to read I saw this title and thought “OH MY GOSH, Sherlock Holmes and the Adventure of the Cardboard Box sounds great. What could be so mysterious about a cardboard box?” Sadly, it did not live up to the greatness that the title implies. If anything, I figured it’d be some hilarious zombie story that had me in stitches. Instead, it is the mystery of Miss Susan Cushing receiving a mysterious box with severed [spoiler] in it. BORING.

If this is a Sherlock Holmes story, I have yet to read this one or even hear about it or see it adapted with Jeremy Brett. Unless it was ages ago and I forgot, which tells you what I think the fate of this book will be: forgotten.

The text is unappealing. The art is unappealing (to me). The text is badly done: told not shown, not spiced up a bit. The words probably borrowed from Doyle or they were adapted to make it a more interesting and easier read for kids. Alas, it comes off stiff and dull. The art is not my thing at all. The characters are all bizarre shapes and Sherlock is a different skin tone than everyone else. Not to mention his chin: it grows, it shrinks. The only character who seems consistent and true to the tale is Dr. Watson.

Despite the word “adventure” in the title, this Sherlock Holmes lacks it. Pass for better adaptations, which I know are out there.

------
Bonus:

Source: Netgalley.

Pilot & Huxley: The First Adventure

Title: Pilot & Huxley: The First Adventure
Author: Dan McGuiness

Illustrator: Dan McGuiness
Publisher: Scholastic Graphix

Copyright: 2011

Price: N/A

ISBN: 978-0-545-26504-1 (Paw Prints Edition has no ISBN).
-----------
Summary and Quick Thoughts: Huxley’s parents have disappeared, so what is a kid to do? Go visit his best friend Pilot and threaten that they hate him and have run away. Oh wait, that note was written by Pilot when he found out that Huxley erased over his game data on a video game that he rented. Wait a minute…that game is overdue! Normally, this wouldn’t be a problem, but today, that particular video game from Awesome Video is needed by the aliens because it has the pass code to help them take over the world! In this mad cap adventure, Pilot and Huxley find themselves zapped to another dimension where Huxley is a curse word and Pilot’s crazy Internet theories make sense.

---------
Recommended Audience: Middle School and up

--------
Things to be aware of: Mild potty humor
----------

Further Thoughts: First off, every once in a while, I find when I read that the characters have voices. Oddly enough, I heard Pilot & Huxley as South Park characters. Why do I bring this up? In the fun epilogue, Pilot suggests that Cartman from South Park should play Huxley. How odd I heard them as South Park characters but as the two other kids (not Kenny and not Cartman). The aliens even had a voice, which was the typical grumbly alien voice. Pity Death didn’t sound like Death from The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy.

I had a bit too much adventure in this one. There was a bit of potty humor in the story (to get on a “bus” you have to go through its butt, eww), oddball foreshadowing, and just stupidness and sillyness after another. As I looked at where this ended up in my collection (J GN at the moment), I asked myself who is this for?

Middle school boys. I suspect they will eat this title up as it is almost as crazy as a ride as Hitch Hikers Guide or maybe some of the cartoons on TV today (i.e. The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy?) where one silly thing ends up being explained by another and it somehow makes sense because you are in a different universe.

As to the art work, it is very (I think) crude and I can tell it was digitally done. On the other hand, when taken in context as to who the audience is, it works. It does lend itself to having a South Park feeling though, which might annoy parents.

------
Bonus:

Source: Library copy.

MangaMan

Title: MangaMan
Author: Barry Lyga

Illustrator: Colleen Doran
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin

Copyright:  2011

Price: $19.99

ISBN: 978-0-547-42315-9
-----------
Summary and Quick Thoughts: Comic book worlds unite when a rift in one comic book world is opened and that rift grabs a character from the other comic book world. Manga character Ryoko is brought into the American style comic, a “real world” that doesn’t realize it is even in a comic book. Ryoko knows better though, although, he spends time adjusting to the new rules. Marissa, once a popular queen bee, now a questionable freak who goes around in costumes, is the love interest of this tale and learns from Ryoko the secrets of comic books. An intriguing premise, a great diversion, MangaMan is certainly a fun read, but this reader found she had conflicting emotions about this book.

---------
Recommended Audience: high school, teens, anime/manga fans, comic book fans

--------
Things to be aware of: a sex scene that, after the fact, seems pointless except for humor
----------

Further Thoughts: Let me address the sex scene first. You know it is coming when they kiss first the “real world way” then “the manga way.” A lovely two page, manga-spread, shows them kissing then quickly undressing, then BAM, a point is made and we move on. O…k…? Felt kind of pointless.

I like the premise. I like the idea, but I found myself in a multiple reader situation.

My comic book loving self (the part of me that enjoys Batman) loved the idea. It was fun, quirky, enjoyable, and for some reason hopes for more in that we find out what the rift is about.

My manga self (the part of me that enjoys a variety of manga) was offended. Every manga trope was thrown in, but the tropes, to me, seem to be from the 1970s: boys with long hair, boys who look like girls, mecha*, fighting (see Dragon Ball, seriously, the art is SO similar). Not exactly tropes I’ve seen recently, but I’m realizing I’ve been sort of out of touch. Either way, that is what is holding me back from really enjoying this story. Oh, not to mention that at first glance, please pardon this, it looks like references to tentacle porn (Wikipedia it…at home). There is of course a reference by a character about the manga porn and tentacles, but that’s not a large portion of mainstream manga and I’d like to think Ryoko isn’t from one of those books. In fact, he seems to come from a manga that has everything from giant monsters to magic to fighting to on and on.

So, I had The Philosopher Musician read it and after some thought and seeing his reaction, this book is better suited to guys. Girls want to know why Marissa is acting that way. Guys just want to be entertained. There is certainly a little of everything for both groups to enjoy the story.

Overall, Barry Lyga seems to be doing what he does well: taking stereotypes and overdoing it (Fanboy and Goth Girl) to the extent it may make some readers cringe. Looking at the catalog, this isn’t a wildly popular book, even with an endorsement on the cover from Jeff Smith (Bone). If you are looking to add more, interesting one-shots to your collection, go for it, but this is better suited for readers who like their super hero comics or Barry Lyga. Basically, save your money if you need to (although, if you do want it, wait for paperback as it may just have a better chance in paper back instead of hard cover).

*Mecha – Giant robots. Larger than life robots, piloted by humans. Animes like Gundam, Escaflowne, Neon Genesis. (Mom: my high school obsession, the anime Big O. Roger Smith piloted a Mecha).

------
Bonus: I saw Barry Lyga speak at WildCat Comic Con a few weeks ago. While I still have some mixed feelings about the book, I have a slightly new respect for it. If money is tight, wait for the paperback. I'm curious to see what the formatting of that will be because I do sort of think the hardcover doesn't work.

Source: Library copy.

The Wallflower, Vol. 2-3

Title: The Wallflower (Yamatonadeshiko Shichihenge) 2 and 3
Author: Tomoko Hayakawa

Illustrator: Tomoko Hayakawa
Publisher: Del Rey Ballentine Books

Copyright: 2004 (2); 2005 (3)

Price: $10.95

ISBN: vol. 2 0-345-47949-1 / vol. 3 0-345-47999-8
-----------
Summary and Quick Thoughts: Horror geek Sunako is still her dark and dreary self, despite the attempts of her gorgeous roommates, especially Kyohei, to transform her. Yes, she trimmed her bangs and maybe she’s trying a little on her appearance, but she just wants to be in her dark world. Unfortunately, her world is changing as she has a female friend (a beautiful creature with a crush on one of her housemates) and is finding that she’s friendly to her room mates. In these volumes, there is the school festival, a trip to the hot springs, Sunako’s first kiss (although she was possessed), and fighting, fighting, fighting. Will her roommates ever be able to change her?

---------
Recommended Audience: Teens

--------
Things to be aware of: sexual innuendoes, blood, horror, murder, sexism
----------

Further Thoughts: I’ll admit I had high hopes for this series, but as I ended volume 3, I just couldn’t help but feel this is dragging on. Instead of one continuous story line, this just seems to be story after story with no regard to physics or normalcy. While sometimes I want fluff, I don’t like my fluff like quite this. Sunako’s attitudes have hardly changed over the books and I feel we aren’t reaching any decent plot goals yet (i.e. maybe she won’t wear a hat to school or maybe she’s keeping her hair brushed). It is obvious who is in love with her and he’s hinting majorly what she needs to do to win his love (“be yourself!”), but she doesn’t care. I’m also finding the constant nose bleeds to be annoying, the guys interrupting her personal time annoying, and her general whining about how she just wants to be in the dark, well, annoying. Not to mention, the constant back and forth about how she should cook and clean and look beautiful while it is still cool for her to kick butt. If you want to promote stereotypes, go for it, but this promotes stereotypes and wishes to shoot them down (be beautiful but be yourself too). I think I’ll pass on the rest of this series.

------
Bonus:

Source: Library copy.