Julius Schwartz’s First Signature on His Book

Because I am doing my best to post daily… here’s a little trivia picture for you.

Before editor emeritus Julius Schwartz passed away, he wrote a (now out of print) biography called Man of Two Worlds: My Life in Science Fiction and Comics . KC, of course, pre-ordered a copy, and it arrived right before we were to go to a convention where Mr. Schwartz was appearing. Since the two of them had worked together before the older man’s retirement, we had no problem going up and saying hi while the show was getting started. KC asked for a signature, and the result is as seen here.

Now, you will notice that Mr. Schwartz got KC’s name wrong, but, well, he was getting on in years. The reason I’m talking about this is that, since the book was just out, and since this show was his first public appearance after that, this is (as confirmed by Mr. Schwartz himself at the time), the first copy he signed to anyone. Which I think is kind of neat.

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My Neighbor Seki Volume 1

My Neighbor Seki Volume 1 by Takuma Morishige is something truly unusual — a refreshing read that celebrates curiosity, creativity, and imagination. It’s the kind of series that would never be created over here, but not because of weird cultural reasons or fan service or any of the other manga stereotypes. I can’t see someone here putting out a successful series about subtle battles with authority, about doing your own thing on your own. In this country, it would be much larger and feature direct confrontation and validation of Seki’s activities, instead of simply being a small dose of weirdness.

My Neighbor Seki is quiet but fascinating. Yokoi and Seki sit next to each other at the back of the class. Seki doesn’t pay attention — instead, he does bizarre, wonderful things at his desk, distracting the good girl Yokoi from her work.

For instance, Seki uses erasers (a lot of erasers) to create a domino chain of effects. Or he turns chess pieces into warriors for a battle. Or he creates animations out of go pieces or sets up a mail service for class notes or knits or does origami.

Sometimes the events leave the classroom. One story features outdoor activities, as Seki paints cat faces using a line marker (normally used for ruling a field). Another has an insensitive classmate interfering with a Ouija board reading during science lab.

My favorite was the disaster drill chapter. Seki has been playing with a robot family — only since he’s Seki, they don’t battle, they have cozy domestic scenes — and takes them along to do the right things during the practice emergency.

Seki never gets caught by the teacher — he’s got an almost magical ability to clear his activities away in a second — but Yokoi is often called out for not paying attention. Their emotions, expressed silently (or through internal monologue), are cartooned beautifully, as are Seki’s activities, particularly those that feature a slow reveal of what he’s actually doing.

This series is marvelous. I never knew what would happen next, and reading it made me appreciate the wonder in everyday activities while being more content with small moments of imagination. (The publisher provided a review copy.)

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Murder With a Twist

If you miss William Powell and Myrna Loy in The Thin Man movies, have I got a new mystery novel for you! Out in early May is Murder With a Twist by Tracy Kiely, a modern, gender-flipped version of that premise.

Nic (Nicole) Martini used to be a New York City police detective (until she was shot and went on disability leave). Nigel is her flippant husband, with plenty of inherited money and a crazy family.

They’re back in the city for Christmas when Nigel’s cousin Daphne enlists their help. Another cousin, Audrey, is about to celebrate her 25th birthday, when she’ll get full access to her trust fund. Everyone in the family knows her husband Leo is a sleazy gold-digger, but Audrey won’t listen. He’s disappeared, and she’ll be heartbroken if he isn’t back for her party. The family, lead by tyrannical Aunt Olive, wants Nic to find Leo for Audrey.

Leo has been borrowing money from loan sharks, which takes Nic back into her old police haunts as the two figure out what the loser has been doing. Meanwhile, Nigel has acquired a giant bull mastiff named Skippy, who provides much of the humor, as the horse-like dog accompanies them everywhere.

Much of the appeal comes from the various conversations and descriptions of a modern moneyed world. I don’t normally figure out the mysteries I read, and I didn’t totally solve this one, but I did successfully deduce much of the background before the resolution, which made me feel special (although it may be a side effect of the author’s character descriptions). I appreciated the way that the people that got killed all deserved it, or at least wouldn’t be much missed.

It’s a breezy read that blends light-hearted incidents with revelations of family secrets. I’d eagerly read more if it became a series. (The publisher provided an advance digital review copy.)

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Food Wars: Shokugeki no Soma Volume 4

Food Wars! Shokugeki no Soma Volume 4 tells us the resolution to the danger nice country girl Megumi faced in the third volume. Bad boy protagonist Soma has challenged the judge/instructor who threatened to expel her to a cook-off.

For some reason, the former graduate judge is stubbornly refusing to reward creativity or initiative until overruled by his boss and forced to participate in the contest. That raises the stakes, since if Soma can’t rescue Megumi, he’ll also be out of the prestigious school. Making everything about head-to-head competition certainly ratchets up the drama.

The boss has one good observation, though. He won’t let Soma be the one determining Megumi’s fate — since that would just mean she’d wash out later if she wasn’t able to succeed on her own skills. Although she would never have spoken up in the face of authority, now that she’s in this situation, she has to demonstrate her own value.

The competitions are the most attractive scenes to me. They’re where the drama comes down to the basic question of “who wins”, plus, they are the sections most focused on actual food. I learn things about various cuisines and how to prepare and combine ingredients, and the taste descriptions are ridiculously over the top. There are even recipes included!

I was pleasantly surprised by how the volume later provides an explanation for the judge’s arrogance. He’s a cautionary tale of placing the drive for success over everything else (even when stubbornness is necessary in the face of prejudice). In contrast, Soma and Megumi’s relationship (as well as their other friends) will, we’re led to assume, prevent Soma from making the same mistake.

This volume also sets up the next challenge, one where everyone individually competes to make a new egg dish for a fancy hotel breakfast… after staying up all night! Typically, we’ll find out the results in the next book.

Thankfully, the only significant fan service this time is on the cover. I’m not sure why the need to advertise something that isn’t even reflective of the contents, but I suppose some people will buy the book for that reason. (The publisher provide a review copy.)

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Meteor Prince Volume 2

Meteor Prince Volume 2 concludes the short series by Meca Tanaka.

The alien prince, Io, has in this volume developed an only-in-manga tic — whenever he touches his crush, Hako, he’s struck by lightning. That’s in keeping with the goofy humor of this story, but it’s also a convenient plot twist to keep things from getting too physical too quickly. Hako is in love for the first time, and an inability to touch means the story says romantic, not salacious.

The two go on their first date, but his beauty gets in the way, since she’s insecure about keeping his attention. That’s just a prelude to the main conflict, where Tania, Io’s real soulmate, appears on Earth, and (thanks to manga logic) decides to steal him away from her.

The art is fun, sparkly, and active, with plenty going on and lots of emotion. Plus, the aliens’ ability to transform themselves makes for all kinds of imaginative events and images. The two-volume length is just about right, since it allows for a few twists and turns, but it doesn’t make too much out of a silly starting idea.

The themes are a bit deeper than expected, though, as Io prefers romantic choice over destiny (or a pre-selected partner). There’s a point where he says, “I choose love over my planet” when I was reminded of the abdication of the Duke of Windsor. Also, as Io and Hako actively decide to be in a relationship, they find themselves becoming closer together in “wavelength”. She has always had to be strong, due to her bad luck, regardless of her feelings, and letting go of that to trust Io is an ongoing challenge.

Their now-recognized relationship translates into more opportunities for humor, as the couple progresses through stages of growing closer, including meeting Hako’s parents, her brother being kidnapped, and Io’s brother threatening to destroy the earth. The ending is bittersweet, full of sacrifice, but hopeful. (The publisher provided a review copy.)

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Sleepless Knight

Sleepless Knight by James Sturm, Andrew Arnold, and Alexis Frederick-Frost uses the characters from the Adventures in Cartooning series of kids’ books about making comics to tell a straightforward (if goofy) story. The only nod to the series’ history of instructional how-tos are a few endpapers showing how to draw the book’s four main characters: the Knight, Edward the horse, a rabbit, and a bear.

The Knight and Edward are going camping. Although poor Edward is completely overloaded with unnecessary stuff, the Knight adds one more thing: “I can’t sleep without my teddy!” After the beloved bear is found, the two unpack and set up camp, with a fire and plenty of marshmallows. There’s a talking rabbit and a little bit of danger to get the adrenaline pumping, and Teddy gets lost once again.

Visually, the cartooning is fun, although I found it odd how Edward was drawn with his saddle on even when he’s tossing and turning on the ground, trying to sleep. For those interested in making comics, there are lots of interesting sample panels here, but I miss the guidance of the lessons in previous installments. I preferred combining education with a picture book format — but there’s a reason the approach has changed. This is aimed much younger than the how-to books, for 3-to-5-year-olds instead of 6-to-10-year-olds, and intended as an introduction to the series. (The publisher provided an advance digital review copy.)

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Meteor Prince Volume 1

As portrayed by Meca Tanaka, Meteor Prince is silly comedy, but there’s nothing wrong with that. Hako is the Queen of Bad Luck, known for having things fall on her. A naked guy falls out of the sky and says he’s an interstellar prince and she should be his queen. They’re made to mate with each other, soul mates according to his culture. She refuses, saying humans need to be in love first, so Io hangs around to learn what that means. I get the feel of a modern-day Lum: Urusei Yatsura , with a wacky alien who loses his clothes and engages in romantic hijinks.

Although a typically cheerful shojo heroine, Hako has a quiet sorrow, since when she was younger, she was called cursed and teased by other kids. She’s afraid of those she gets close too winding up hurt. Having a guy interested in her despite her “curse” fulfills dreams she didn’t even realize she had. He has enhanced healing, can grow wings after kissing birds, shape-shifts, and has other superpowers capable of protecting them both. It’s hard to disagree with his planet’s idea that the two are meant for each other.

He does exaggerated things just to see her smile and addresses her fears without her having to speak about them. It’s a charming, childlike view of love that is nevertheless comforting. Although the series tackles the expected stereotypical events — a beach trip, watching fireworks in a yukata — Io’s naive ignorance gives them all a fresh feel.

I think this is only a two-volume series, and I’ll definitely check out the next to see how this star-crossed couple manages to work things out. (The publisher provided a review copy.)

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Women’s Short Hair as a Political Issue

This comic by Rhea Ewing about short hair on women is thought-provoking, as a summary of how to turn bad reactions into self-affirmation.

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Pope Hats #4 Announced for June

AdHouse Books has announced that the next issue of Ethan Rilly’s Pope Hats will be available in June. It’s a short story collection, which means we have to wait longer to find out what’s going on with Frances and Vickie, from the two previous issues, but it’s in full color. And honestly, anything Rilly draws, I’ll read. Issue #4 can currently be ordered with Diamond code APR15 0977, and there is a PDF preview available at that link.

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One Bad Day

In One Bad Day by Steve Rolston, Marie and her buddy Justin are hanging out, chatting and buying cigarettes, when she sees an old friend get hit by a van. This disturbing coincidence puts in motion a chain of events that will force her to commit acts previously unthinkable when she’s only trying to get to a cousin’s birthday party that she’s been guilt-tripped into attending. There’s also a bald hit man, his shallow girlfriend, a shady transaction, and several guns and chase scenes.

Marie is a regular girl. She tries to do the right thing in cases where that’s as simple as acknowledging a greeting or trying to contact an injured friend’s parents. It’s not her choices that bring about violence; instead, it’s a comment on how close to the edge we live without noticing. Our society isn’t the safe fiction we like to believe it is. Terrible things can happen to decent people without them deserving it.

At the same time, the reader remains aware that this is a story. It’s plausible, but for many of us, this is the closest we’ll come to this kind of violence. There’s a thrill to experiencing that roller coaster without having to deal with the consequences.

Rolston’s cartoon-like style maintains the reader’s separation. Through its simplicity, it reminds us that this is a simplified view of events, selected by the author. Rolston doesn’t skimp on details or backgrounds, though, and the pacing is excellent. The dark green and white printing makes the book distinctive without interfering with readability.

“Light-hearted” is a strange adjective to use for a crime thriller, but that’s the unusual achievement demonstrated here. Rolston has created a fun adventure read that shows how easy it is to have a really bad day.

Steve Rolston has a website. He has also illustrated

– Pounded, a punk rock soap opera, written by Brian Wood

– Mek, written by Warren Ellis (and published as a flipbook with Reload)

– a short story in Four-Letter Worlds, written by Jay Faerber, about an apartment dweller sensitive to noise.

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Eggvengers — Printable Avengers Costumes for Your Easter Eggs

Easter is a little over a week away, and if you’re looking for a new way to decorate eggs for the kids, here’s a clever set of downloads. HalloweenCostumes.com has posted a set of printable egg costumes titled “Eggvengers: Age of Yolktron“. (Warning: AVOID if you can’t stand egg puns.)

(Picture makes me think dying most of the eggs pinkish first would be tricky. And the Hulk egg? That’s from an ostrich!)

The post has, for each character, a printable sheet that creates a circular stand for their costume, some kind of “head”piece, and an accessory. An Iron Man egg, for example, with the right mask is easy to make, although I’m sad that they didn’t include Thor’s flowing golden locks.

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Terms of Service Explains Big Data in Comic Form

Josh Neufeld has illustrated a lot of great graphic journalism (reportage in comic form), including The Influencing Machine (about the media), A Few Perfect Hours … and Other Stories from Southeast Asia and Central Europe (travelogue), and one of my favorites, Titans of Finance . His latest project, published last fall, is “Terms of Service: Understanding Our Role in the World of Big Data”. Written by reporter Michael Keller, this online graphic novella was published by Al Jazeera America and discusses the implications of sharing personal information online.

It’s a lengthy, substantial, well-researched read, and I’m glad to see a news outlet sponsoring this kind of format. I hope they do more. There are some great questions raised and ideas explored here, including how easily privacy violations become standardized and expected and how there’s a kind of “digital peer pressure”, where others using services to interact with us incorporate our information in those services regardless of our choices. Who decides what story is told about us, once all these digital facts are connected?

They’ve also made it available for download (click the cloud button with the arrow at the top right), a very smart idea for those of us who hate fixed-format layouts on our laptops. Ironically, to participate in the comments (as the author has done), you have to sign in with the kind of social media account they’re questioning.

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Meet the Cornerwitch

This wonderful comic by Sam (whose identity is apparently not public) surprised me and made me think. S/he describes it as “a short comic about witches and wishes and wanting things”. I love the colors and the imagination and the way it took a turn I did not expect.

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Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone – J.K. Rowling

This is the first book in the famous Harry Potter series. Harry is an orphaned child that lives with his aunt, uncle, and cousin. Harry is despised in the family, and his aunt and uncle always favor their son, Dudley. In an unexpected, unanticipated turn of events, Harry finds himself with a large man that says he is a wizard. Next thing he knows, he is on his way to a school of magic called Hogwarts.

That is not all. All his life he was told that his parents had died in a car crash. Harry finds out that it was not a car crash, but an evil wizard that killed them. He also found out that he survived when the very same wizard tried killing him when he was an infant. He knows that this wizard will not simply leave him alone, so what will he do?

The first time I read this book was much after the rest of my friend group had. It was one of my first novels that was over 500 pages. I was amazed by what I read. I have read the book multiple times after that, each time understanding more of the story.

-Kabir Menghrajani

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Book Review of “The Great Zoo of China”

“The Great Zoo of China” was published in 2015 and was written by Matthew Reilly (http://ift.tt/1eTIm8a). Mr. Reilly has published 18 novels.

I obtained a galley of this novel for review through http://ift.tt/1kLmqP3. I would categorize this novel as ‘R’ as there are instances of Violence and Mature Language. This Thriller novel is set in contemporary China. The primary character is Dr. Cassandra Jane ‘CJ’ Cameran.

Dr. Cameran is 36 and has spent her professional life working with and investigating salt water crocodiles. After an accident that nearly killed her, she left the swamps of Florida to take a position in the San Francisco Zoo as a veterinarian. She is contacted by a friend and asked to take an all expenses paid trip to China to write an article for National Geographic.

Once there, she discovers that the Chinese have found living dragons, and have built a huge ‘zoo’ for them to live in. She, and a couple of other American journalists, are there to get an exclusive look at the zoo and write articles about it before it is announced to the world. The zoo looks new and incredible, but before long the dragons turn on their captors and Dr. Cameran, and the others, finds herself struggling to stay alive.

I liked this novel. It reminds me a lot of Jurassic Park. The finding of real dragons was an interesting plot twist, and Dr. Cameran is a very strong female character, much like Lara Croft. Some of the actions seemed a little far fetched to me, but then that is not unusual for Thrillers. I spent a little less than 7 hours with the novel and found it enjoyable. I give this novel a 4 out of 5.

My book reviews are also published on Goodreads (http://ift.tt/GEtCy2).

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Carla Guelfenbein won the Alfaguara Novel Prize 2015 – The Trade

A force write novels deep psychological subtlety, using language that has both direct and sentimental, Chilean writer Carla Guelfenbein has forged an important literary reputation in his native country. Reputation that, starting today, will extend to the Spanish-speaking world in general. This morning, his latest novel, “ Contigo en la distancia” , was awarded the Alfaguara Prize for Novel in Madrid, announced a jury chaired by the Extremadura writer Javier Cercas.

Of Russian-Jewish origin, and daughter torn country was Chile in the mid-70s, the work of Guelfenbein is the staging of a mental battle to redeem the past and conquer their ghosts. The 1973 coup that brought Pinochet to power, was a blow to his family, who was forced to emigrate to England when the writer was a little girl. His mother, Eliana Dobry, had been detained, without knowing anything about it for weeks, due to its socialist militancy. She would never return to Chile, for he died in London. His daughter, who at that time was only 18, did not return to his homeland until 1987.

This policy framework and existential references shapes the universe that happen Guelfenbein stories. His characters bear the burden, often unknowingly, the weight of long hard years full of fear and nostalgia, family stories that were exchanged in dark tragedies. Was 40 when he published his first novel, “ The reverse of the soul” (2003).

Javier Cercas, president of the jury that awarded this literary prize (considered one of the most important in the Spanish language), he referred to “ Contigo en la distancia” as “a novel of literary narrative suspense built with great efficiency around a memorable female character and power of genius. The author has managed to weave love and enigmas with a write to the complex and transparent. Three voices very well assembled illuminate dark areas of lies and truth, talent and mediocrity, success and failure. ” The plot of the book takes place in Santiago, Chile’s capital, and its pages the stories of three different generations, tied together “for a poetic secret that is both an existential secret” tacked.

This is the eighteenth edition of this award, whose award is endowed with $ 175,000, a sculpture by Martín Chirino and simultaneous publication in all Spanish-speaking countries. Last year’s winner was the Colombian Jorge Franco, author of great literary works like Rosario Tijeras or Melodrama , for his novel “The outside world”.

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