MBR: The Comix/Graphic Novel Shelf

[Midwest Book Review]

The Comix/Graphic Novel Shelf

Fiji Random Vol. 1
Justin Raimey
Black Streak Books
490 S. Raccoon Rd Ste F6
Youngstown, OH 44515
9780984864843 $15.95 www.blackstreakbooks.com

Printed in black-and-white with a few color pages at the beginning,
Fiji Random Vol. 1 is an off-the-wall Original English Language manga
- that is, a graphic novel featuring characters deliberately drawn in
a style similar to that of Japanese anime and manga. A wacky comedy,
Fiji Random intersperses the hijinks of its main story with "random
moments", that is, pages of vertical four-panel comic strip gags in
the style of Japanese "4-koma" humor comics. The main character, Fiji,
is a dark-skinned, fiercely willful girl who is addicted to video
games; her sister is calmer, and it's a minor miracle either one of
them are relatively rational when they're being raised by a mother
with violent mood swings (played for laughs, of course). One morning,
Fiji awakens late for school to discover that her mother is making
delicious food for someone else - a foreign exchange student! The day
only gets crazier as she encounters a menacing figure from her past,
perverted child sidewalk pirates, and finally, the new foreign
exchange student - who turns out to be from a crime-ridden island
nation! Accidental homicide, over-the-top showdowns, even abuse of the
laws of time (for a good purpose), and more hectic insanity fill this
wonky, lighthearted read, ideal for fans of manga-style comedy.

The Mysterious Death of Tom Thomson
George A. Walker
The Porcupine's Quill
68 Main St., PO Box 160
Erin, ON Canada N0B 1T0
97808898434866, $22.95, www.porcupinesquill.ca

Visuals can often speak things words cannot. "The Mysterious Death of
Tom Thomson" is an original graphic novel from George A. Walker,
providing a wordless story, processing the narrative entirely through
black and white imagery, following the story of Tom Thomson, a painter
who faced premature death and left his legacy with the famed Canadian
Group of Seven Painters. "The Mysterious Death of Tom Thomson" is a
fine addition to community library art and graphic novel collections.

Zombie Parents
Jerry Scott
Andrews McMeel Publishing
1130 Walnut Street
Kansas City, MO 64106-2109
9781449409739, $12.99, www.andrewsmcmeel.com

ZOMBIE PARENTS provides another fun Zits comic collection and focuses
on parents and their frustrations dealing with teens. It provides a
fun new collection of the latest Zits misadventures and focuses on
parent/teen encounters, providing zany and hilarious comics that are
perfect choices for Zits fans. ZOMBIE PARENTS joins the other Zits
collections and provides an excellent survey!

Andrews McMeel Publishing
1130 Walnut Street
Kansas City MO 64106-2109
www.andrewsmcmeel.com

Any lending library collection strong in Dilbert books will relish the
latest Scott Adams collection, TEAMWORK MEANS YOU CAN'T PICK THE SIDE
THAT'S RIGHT (9781449410186, $12.99). It's another fine Dilbert
gathering that creates a book from full-page color panels of published
strips, and provides a zany set of experiences of an employee who
lacks inspiration but works in a cubicle world that revolves round the
concept of teamwork. Its dysfunctional presence and warped viewpoints
are celebrated in a hilarious collection especially appealing to
business holdings. Stephan Pastis' BECAUSE SOMETIMES YOU JUST GOTTA
DRAW A COVER WITH YOUR LEFT HAND (9781449410230, $12.99) is a fine
Pearls Before Swine gathering and cartoonist Pastis' 12th collection,
and provides black and white and some color images of hilarious animal
characters and ironies. From Pig and Zebra to Rat and images of Pastis
himself, this is another fun gathering for past and new fans of the
Pearls Before Swine comic collection.

James Bond Omnibus Volume 003
Ian Fleming, James Lawrence, Yaroslav Horak
Titan Books
144 Southwark Street, London SE1 OUP, UK
9780857685889, $19.95, www.titanbooks.com

James Bond Omnibus Volume 003 presents seven of Bond's dangerous
missions and is the third installment in the classic 007 comic strip
adventure, recommended for Bond and graphic novel fans alike. This
gathers the first period of writer Jim Lawrence's stories and provides
classic adventures, including Kingsley Amis' controversial post-
Fleming story Colonel Sun. It's a powerful collection highly
recommended for any fan of Bond's action-packed adventures.

Zombie Parents
Jerry Scott and Jim Borgman
Andrews & McMeel
1130 Walnut Street
Kansas City, MO 64106-2109
9781449409739 $12.99 www.andrewsmcmeel.com

Zombie Parents and Other Hopes For a More Perfect World is the latest
anthology of "Zits" newspaper cartoons (and the fifteenth "Zits
Sketchbook" collection featuring a handful of rough sketch originals
of certain comics interspersed with the funnies). "Zits" chronicles
the proud(?) parents of teenager Jeremy, as well as his friends and
his girlfriend, and gets its zeitgeist from humor that reflects the
times - from Jeremy's cell phone text obsessions to the fallout when
his parents stumble across the "full access" version of Jeremy's
Facebook page on his unattended laptop. "'Jeremy got a traffic
ticket?? I didn't know he liked jazz! Who is that girl he's kissing?
We didn't know any of this!' 'Reading your kid's facebook page is like
meeting him for the first time all over again.' 'Who gave him
permission to have a life?'" The titular Zombie Parents strips are
especially hilarious, showing Jeremy's imaginative speculations of how
his life might be better if his parents were flesh-eating undead
monstrosities - at least there would be no pressure to be home at
mealtime! Zombie Parents is in black-and-white with color Sunday
strips, and its off-the-wall art style hits just the right blend
between caricature and pure fancy. Best of all, Zombie Parents is just
plain funny from cover to cover, and highly recommended.

Atomic Comics
Ferenc Morton Szasz
University of Nevada Press
Mail Stop 0166
Reno, NV, 89557-0166
www.unpress.nevada.edu
9780874178746, $34.95, www.amazon.com

"Atomic Comics: Cartoonists Confront the Nuclear World" by Ferenc
Morton Szasz (Regents Professor of History, University of New Mexico),
is an descriptive analysis and history of the impact the 'atomic age'
has had upon popular culture in terms of comic books, newspaper comic
strips, and cartoons. One of the benefits of this popularizing media
was to inform the general public of many of the political, economic,
scientific, and potential hazards issues arising from advances in
nuclear technologies. The use of the 'superhero' and science fiction
characters beginning with Buck Rogers and Flash Gorden, aided in the
development of a nuclear age vocabulary and the popularizing of the
positive potential of nuclear energy. A highly recommended addition to
personal reading lists, as well as community and academic library 20th
Century American History collections "Atomic Comics: Cartoonists
Confront the Nuclear World" is a seminal work identifying the
perspective that cartoonists brought to nuclear issues that was to
prove enduringly influential upon public opinion -- an influence that
continues be felt to this very day.

The Mighty Alice
Richard Thompson
Andrews & McMeel
1130 Walnut Street
Kansas City, MO 64106-2109
9781449410223, $12.99, www.andrewsmcmeel.com

Bringing back charm and mischievousness to the funny pages, "The
Mighty Alice" is a compilation from Richard Thompson, multi-award
winning cartoonist. His work Cul De Sac, following the titular Alice
and her family as they the challenges of everyday life and the curious
ideals of young Alice. "The Mighty Alice" is presented in full color,
and a treat for those looking for a new cartoon strip that evokes the
memories of Calvin and Hobbes.

Only Skin
Sean Ford
Secret Acres
75-22 37th Ave., #452
Jackson Heights, NY 11372
9780983166287 $21.95 www.secretacres.com

Only Skin: New Tales of the Slow Apocalypse gathers the previously
serialized black-and-white comic epic by Sean Ford into a single
graphic novel - with the addition of several dozen new pages, and an
improved ending! A dark portrayal of rural America, seen from the
perspective of orphaned siblings, Only Skin details the problems of
people struggling to survive amid poverty and local corruption.
Something is causing townspeople to disappear into the woods without a
trace. But which is more evil - the lurking horror of ghosts, the
hypocrisy of seemingly ordinary people who sell each other out for
personal gain, or the murderous impulses of human hearts? Grim and
suspenseful, Only Skin is as memorable as it is unsettling, and highly
recommended for connoisseurs of quality independent graphic novels.

Frazer Irving
Nathan Wilson and Eric Nolen-Weathington
TwoMorrows Publishing
10407 Bedfordtown Dr.
Raleigh NC 27614
9781605490397, $15.95, www.twomorrows.com

MODERN MASTERS VOLUME TWENTY-SIX: FRAZER IRVING chronicles a fine
artist best known for his work on DC Comics' titles Batman and Xombi.
He also was the co-creator of the steampunk Gutsville, is a musician
in the band Atom Heart Brothers, and here provides insights into his
works and influences. Black and white images from his digital and
artistic renderings accompany in-depth interviews covering the art he
penciled for a range of plots and characters, making this a
recommendation for any interested in comic book illustration and its
evolution.

James Bond Omnibus Volume 003
Ian Fleming, James Lawrence, & Yaroslav Horak
Titan Books
144 Southwark Street, London SE1 OUP, UK
9780857685889, $19.95, www.titanbooks.com

James Bond Omnibus Volume 003 presents seven of Bond's dangerous
missions and is the third installment in the classic 007 comic strip
adventure, recommended for Bond and graphic novel fans alike. This
gathers the first period of writer Jim Lawrence's stories and provides
classic adventures, including Kingsley Amis' controversial post-
Fleming story Colonel Sun. It's a powerful collection highly
recommended for any fan of Bond's action-packed adventures.

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