New Booklists on BookGuide: A Day Full of Graphic Novels

On Friday, September 23rd, 2022, Lincoln City Libraries staff held their annual Staff In-Service Training Day. Part of the theme for that day was sharing information about Graphic Novels and Comic Books in the libraries. All staff were encouraged to read a graphic novel, and report on it in small discussion groups — all titles discussed were then collected in this Graphic Novel reading recommendation list, including the names and branches of staff making the recommendation if they were willing to provide them. Although broken up by age category, items are not in any particular order beyond that, in order to encourage you to browse this series of recommendations!

Check out this new booklist on BookGuide at the following link:

A Day Full of Graphic Novels

Book Review: Batman '66 Meets Mr. Steed and Emma Peel by Ian Edginton and Matthew Dow Smith

Batman ’66 Meets Mr. Steed and Emma Peel

written by Ian Edginton with art by Matthew Dow Smith (YA PB (Graphic Novel) Edginton & Hoopla Digital)

 

I’ve been following the Batman ’66 comic books (and their graphic novel compilations) for several years now. Batman ’66 tells retro comic book stories in the style and tone of the late 1960s Batman TV series, which starred Adam West and Burt Ward as the dynamic duo. That TV series featured a philosophizing and sermonizing Batman, who was as likely to make speeches to the villains as to hit them. And when it did come to fisticuffs, there were plenty of silly “POW!”, “BAM!” and “BANG!” sound effects balloons superimposed over the action. The comic book recreation perfectly captures this somewhat innocent and straightforward approach — ignoring the darker tone that Batman has taken in the past 50 years, as epitomized by the graphic novel The Dark Knight, and all of the films from 1989’s Batman to the present.

 

One of the most enjoyable things about Batman ’66 is that the writers and artists have teamed up Batman and Robin with other late-1960s and early-to-mid-1970s cultural icons. I’ve previously enjoyed their meetings with Wonder Woman ’77 (a similar comics venture styled after the Lynda Carter TV version of Wonder Woman), the spies of The Man From U.N.C.L.E. and The Green Hornet and Kato. This 2017 Batman ’66 Meets Mr. Steed and Emma Peel graphic novel collects a six-issue storyline that crosses Batman and Robin over with TV’s original The Avengers — John Steed and Emma Peel. The story starts with an attempted robbery by Catwoman in Gotham City, of the famed White Diamond (on loan from the U.K.) — a robbery foiled by Steed & Peel, rather than Batman (who is attending a gala as Bruce Wayne). The caped crusaders share intelligence with Steed & Peel, and realize that an old Avengers foe — the cybernetic Cybernauts (and a vengeful operator behind them) — are in league with Catwoman, Mr. Freeze and Lord Ffogg — three of Batman’s arsenal of enemies. Batman and Robin must travel to Jolly old England to assist John and Emma in breaking up this cadre of evil and stop their pernicious plans.

 

Lots of fun, reasonably good art work, and enjoyable dialog very reminiscent of the original Batman TV series. Should appeal to fans of both franchises!

 

(If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try all the other Batman ’66 titles available through the libraries by a variety of creative teams. The libraries do NOT have all Batman ’66 titles, but there are quite a few in the collection!)

 

( Wikipedia page about Batman ’66 ) | ( Batman ’66 page on dc.fandom.com )

 

See Scott C.’s review of Batman ’66 Meets The Greet Hornet and Kato, in the March 2016 Staff Recommendations here on BookGuide!
See Scott C.’s review of the 1966-1968 Batman TV series, in the June 2017 Staff Recommendations here on BookGuide!
See Scott C.’s review of Batman ’66 Meets Wonder Woman ’77, in the June 2019 Staff Recommendations here on BookGuide!

 

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 

Have you read or listened to this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!

Book Review: The Vision -- The Complete Collection by Tom King and Gabriel Hernandez Walta

The Vision: The Complete Collection

by Tom King (writer) and Gabriel Hernandez Walta (artist) (YA PB (Graphic Novel) King)

 

This graphic novel compiles the 12 issues of the monthly comic-book series Vision (from 2015) into a single volume. With the recent popularity of the limited-run TV series WandaVision on Disney+ (which I, admittedly, have not seen), the character of The Vision, from the Marvel Comics continuity, has been more popular than ever before.

 

An artificial life form, created by the Avenger’s enemy, the robotic Ultron, The Vision was designed to destroy that superhero team but rebelled against its evil creator and set out to forge its own destiny. Though The Vision was destroyed in the recent Marvel Cinematic Universe film series, in the comics, he continues to exist. This series covers a period after his relationship with The Scarlet Witch has ended, in which The Vision wishes to have a family of his own — so he creates a wife and two children. But not all is well in the perfect world he has created. In fact, lots of bad things happen and this is the story of that downfall.

 

Excellent writing and superb art, in a depressing storyline. Highly recommended for fans of Marvel Comics and the fascinating character The Vision — just don’t expect an uplifting and feel good narrative.

[ official Vision: The Complete Collection page at Marvel.com ] | [ Wikipedia page for Tom King ] | [ Gabriel Hernandez Walta on Instagram ]

 

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 

Have you read or listened to this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!

Book Review: The Wonder Twins: Activate! and The Fall and Rise of the Wonder Twins by Mark Russell and Stephen Byrne

The Wonder Twins: Activate and The Wonder Twins: The Fall and Rise of the Wonder Twins

by Mark Russell (writer) and Stephen Byrne (artist) (YA PB (Graphic Novel) Russell)

 

The Wonder Twins are characters who were introduced into the world of DC Comics back in the late 1970s. Originally created as supporting characters in one of the incarnations of the Saturday morning cartoon, The Superfriends, which starred all the main DC heroes — Superman, Flash, Aquaman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, etc.

 

Jayna and Zan were twins — sister and brother — from an alien planet, and had super powers which only became active when they fist-bumped and shouted “Wonder Twin Powers — Activate!” Jayna could shapechange into any animal, and Zan could shapechange into any form that water could take. In their cartoon TV series appearances, they were often comic relief — especially as they were accompanied by their pet space monkey, Gleep!

 

Over the years, the characters have made various appearances in DC comic books, establishing them as part of the DC universe beyond that cartoon show. However, their “origins” have been reinvented several times. In 2019, writer Mark Russell and artist Stephen Byrne started a six-issue limited series that re-established their place in current DC comics heirarchy — they are alien visitors, immigrants, currently working as interns for the Justice League in the “Hall of Justice”. The initial 6-issue mini-series was a hit and expanded to a 12-issue maxi-series. Both halves of that series were released as trade paperbacks.

 

The writing in this extended story is very humorous and pokes a lot of fun at the decades these characters have spent as “second bananas”. But, at the same time, a serious story is being told, addressing issues of racism, identity, “social justice” and how easy it is to manipulate the public. The artwork is clean and sharp and distinctive. I really enjoyed these two graphic novels, and am disappointed to know this is not an ongoing series.

[ Wikipedia history of The Wonder Twins ] | [ Wikipedia page for Mark Russell ] | [ official Stephen Byrne Instagram ]

 

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 

Have you read or listened to this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!

Book Review: Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen: Who Killed Jimmy Olsen? by Matt Fraction and Steve Lieber

Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen: Who Killed Jimmy Olsen?
by Matt Fraction (writer) and Steve Lieber (artist) (YA PB (Graphic Novel) Fraction)

Growing up and reading comic books in the 1970s, I fondly remember the wacky adventures that were had by “Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen”, in which the freckled, redheaded ace photographer for Metropolis’ Daily Planet newspaper would find himself in the most outrageous situations. But he could just push a button on a special wristwatch he wore, and Superman would be alerted that his little buddy was in need of super-assistance.

 

This graphic novel is a compilation of a 12-issue limited series that was published in 2019-2020, which attempts to capture that same “wacky” sense of adventure and outrageous humor in the modern comics-publishing era. The story bounces back and forth in time, with numerous flashbacks and flashforwards. Time periods range from the history of Metropolis before it became Metropolis, generations ago, to the current era. The story is told in small bits and pieces, and most of them open with a over-hyped splash page, which treat each part of the story as an installment in a serialized adventure.

 

The writing is…enthusiastic and challenging, and the art ranges from excellent to “what was he thinking?” The storyline is peopled by a cast of crazy and surrealistic characters. Batman and Superman (and Lois Lane) make guest appearances, in a plot in which someone appears to assassinate Jimmy Olsen, and he must go into hiding and on the run, to stay one step ahead of his enemies — only he doesn’t know who it is that’s out to get him! Could it be Lex Luthor? Or the intergalactic jewel thief Jimmy accidentally married? Or someone he ticked off in Gorilla City? Or somebody closer to home?

 

If you’re a long-time comic book fan, with an extended knowledge of Jimmy and his history in the DC comics universe, this is likely to appeal to you. If you’re only tangentially aware of Jimmy Olsen, this is NOT the story to try to learn about him for the first time. In the end, while I did ultimately enjoy this, overall, though I felt like I got a case of whiplash being yanked back and forth between multiple plot threads in multiple time periods. It was an interesting comic book experiment, even if not 100% successful!

[If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try the original Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen from the 1960s and early 1970s, with art by Jack Kirby]

[ Wikipedia page for Matt Fraction ] | [ official Steve Lieber web site ]

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 

Have you read or listened to this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!

Book Review: Nancy Drew - The Palace of Wisdom by Kelly Thompson and Jenn St.-Onge

Nancy Drew: The Palace of Wisdom
by Kelly Thompson (writer) and Jenn St.-Onge (artist) (YA PB (Graphic Novel) Thompson) 

I’m going to age myself — I grew up in the late 1960s/early 1970s, reading the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew novels with equal interest (though my favorites were the novels in the Three Investigators series, which never achieved quite the popularity of Nancy, Frank and Joe). Both Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys have gone through various transformations over time, updating the characters for new generations — though I haven’t read any of those versions from the 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s.

 

However, the cover of this new (2019) graphic novel caught my eye on the “New Materials” display in the Teen Room at the downtown library, and I’m really glad I gave it a shot. The Palace of Wisdom is a terrific update of the characters of both Nancy and the Hardy boys (who play a supportive role in this story), keeping them in their late teens (some of them have drivers licenses) but bringing them up-to-date with modern technologies, lingo and relationship statuses. Nancy is now living in River Heights, and obsessively solving crimes with the assistance of some capable tech-savvy sidekicks. When she receives an unusual anonymous message from her old home of Bayport, she feels compelled to return — where she hooks up with past friends Bess and George (and ultimately Frank and Joe Hardy).

 

The mystery she’s pulled into ties into her mother’s mysterious death years ago, though some of the new friends she makes in town have more recent losses that they’d like her to look into. The characters are all hip, fresh and sassy. The artwork is marvelous. Nancy is a much more active character than she was in the books of the 60s/70s, and a lot of fun is made (by the other characters) of her tendency to lose or forger her cellphone, leading to her getting in a lot of jams that her friends must rescue her from.

 

This graphic novel comprises a complete story, as it appeared in issues #1-5 of a new comic book — with the presumption that that comic book would continue, and this graphic novel ends on a major cliffhanger. I hope there will be additional issues, as I can’t wait to see more of this modern Nancy Drew’s adventures!

[If you’re into “retro” — investigate the old yellow-spine hardback Nancy Drew novels (a few remain in the libraries’ collection, attributed to Carolyn Keene. They’re definitely from another era, but you can see the character archetypes that have led to this new series.]

[ Wikipedia page on the history of Nancy Drew ] | [ Wikipedia page for Kelly Thompson ]

 

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 

Have you read or listened to this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!

Book Review: Superman Smashes the Klan by Gene Luen Yang

Superman Smashes the Klan
by Gene Luen Yang (YA PB (Graphic Novel) Yang)

Acclaimed Asian-American graphic novelist (American Born Chinese) Yang provides his take on one of the giants of the comic-book industry — Superman. Yang took the plot of an early 1940s-era 16-episode Superman radio serial, “The Klan of the Fiery Cross”, and beefed it up with additional subplots and a stronger sense of social justice.

 

This storyline is set in the early days of Superman’s existence — it is a late 1930s setting, and Superman as a hero has only recently begun his exploits. In fact, he still hasn’t fully realized the full range of his own powers — he can’t fly, use heat beams or x-ray vision from his eyes, or exhale frost breath.

 

The story of Superman Smashes the Klan focuses on the Lee family, who are moving from Chinatown into Metropolis proper, and who begin to face both outright and subtle racial discrimination. One of the fellow baseball team members of the “Unity House” baseball team that a Lee teenager joins, turns out to be the nephew of the Grand Dragon of the local branch of the Klan of the Fiery Cross (a thinly veiled version of the KKK). The plot involves the Lee family getting further and further involved in a disturbing battle against racists, and Superman learning about his own true alien nature and the abilities he’s never been aware that he had.

 

I anticipated not liking this, but exactly the opposite was true — the storytelling and artwork here were superb, and Yang’s extensive afterword notes helped to explain a lot of the time-period-sensitive references in the story. This isn’t really a “superhero” story — it’s more a story illustrating how anyone can stand up to racism and fascism. I enjoyed this one so much after reading the library copy, I went out and bought a copy for my own collection.

[If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try American Born Chinese also by Gene Luen Yang.]

[ DC Comics’ Superman Smashes the Klan web page ] | [ official Gene Luen Yang web site ]

 

Fan of superheroes? Check out our If You Like Superheroes on Film and TV list on BookGuide!

 

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 

Have you read or listened to this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!

Book Review: Once and Future, Vol 1: The King is Undead by Kieron Gillen and others

Once and Future, Vol. 1: The King is Undead
by Kieron Gillen (writer), Dan Mora (artist) and Tamra Bonvillain (colorist) (741.5 Gil)

This one caught my eye on the “new books” display at the downtown library, and I’m glad I gave it a try. “Once & Future” is a exciting fast-paced graphic novel story that is like a crossover between Thomas Malory’s Le Morte d’Arthur and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Volume 1, “The King is Undead” compiles the first six issues of what has turned into an ongoing monthly comic-book storyline.

We jump straight into the action, as a British ultranationalist sect steals a historical artifact unearthed by archaeologists from a lakebed in Cornwall — the scabbard supposedly used by King Arthur to hold Excalibur — a magical totem that has the ability to heal grievous injury, and which that sect believes they can use to resurrect the long-dead Arthur.

Meanwhile, senior citizen Bridgette McGuire, former monster hunter, slips away from her senior care facility and enlists the aid of her grandson, Duncan, to uncover one of her caches of monster hunting weaponry. Also bringing in Duncan’s would-be girlfriend, Rose, a historian, they begin a quest to try to prevent the horribly-revived King Arthur from gathering the powerful tools he would need to begin a cleansing purge of all but the loyal Celts in England.

The writing is fast and furious, but the characters are well realized. The artwork, by Dan Mora and Tamra Bonvillain is uniformly good, particular the coloring by Bonvillain and the facial expressions by Mora. The story is heavily laden with Arthurian mythology, but with a modernized twist. And the plot allows Gillen to shine a damning light on the causes of ultra-nationalism, both today and back in history.

I really enjoyed this fantasy/horror/adventure tale, and look forward to future volumes. This first volume was released in graphic novel form in August 2020, and was a 2020 nominee as “Best New Series” in the Will Eisner Awards.

[If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try Camelot 3000 by Mike W. Barr and Brian Bolland, The Once and Future King by T.H. White or Le Morte d’Arthur by Thomas Malory.]

[ publisher’s official Once and Future series web page ] | [ official Kieron Gillen Tumblr blog ]

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

Have you read or listened to this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!

Star Trek: New Visions (series) by John Byrne (via Hoopla)

Star Trek: New Visions (series)
by John Byrne [available only via Hoopla] 

Back in 1977-1978, the Bantam publishing company released a series of 12 Star Trek Fotonovels, which took stills from popular episodes of the 1966-69 NBC TV series Star Trek, super-imposed text in word balloons, and basically retold the plots of those 12 episodes of Trek in a different format. These were moderately popular but never went beyond the first 12 volumes.

Star Trek: New Visions is a modern take on that, but with a serious twist. Legendary comic book artist and writer John Byrne has been a fan of Classic Trek for many years, and starting in 2014, he began a creative experiment that has been quite successful. Byrne had access to clean, sharp still images from screen captures from all 79 original Star Trek episodes, as well as the Star Trek feature films featuring the classic cast, and even the subsequent later generations of Star Trek. In Star Trek: New Visions, Byrne creates all new adventures of the Enterprise and its crew, combining still images from existing episodes with digital trickery and some new computer-generated artwork. These “new episodes” are presented in comic-book/graphic-novel format, as single issues, and have later been compiled into multi-story larger collections. Byrne opened New Visions with a two-issue sequel to the classic Trek tale, “Mirror, Mirror” (in which several Enterprise crew members are thrown into a dystopian alternate reality and have to survive long enough to make their way back to their own reality). As of 2018, 21 individual issues of New Visions have been published, and Byrne has indicated he plans to wrap up the series in just a few more issues. This is a shame, as Byrne is an excellent storyteller and definite has a good handle on these classic Trek characters — these really do feel like they could have actually been legitimate episodes of the original series.

Although the libraries don’t have physical copies of the Star Trek: New Visions volumes on our shelves, some of them are available through the graphic novels collection of our Hoopla digital offerings. If you love Classic Trek, I highly encourage you to sample New Visions…it’s the closest thing I’ve found the style and tone of the original series!

[If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try tracking done some of the highly-collectible 12 original series Star Trek Fotonovels. Our local libraries don’t own any, but you can regularly find them in used book stores, and a few are available through InterLibrary Loan from other libraries around the country.]

[ publisher’s official Star Trek: New Visions web site ] | [ official John Byrne web site ]

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library

Have you read this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewers recommendations!

Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons

Watchmen
by Alan Moore (writer) and Dave Gibbons (artist) [741.5 Moo]

This was quite a dynamic and complex novel; it is a graphic novel in that it is several comic books combined and that the nature of the story is dark and violent at times. The story is set in 1985 but different than our real 1985. In their past a few ordinary people were masked crime fighters, kind of like Batman, but a group of them formed and worked together. In time the government legally put a stop it – except for two that they hired to work for them, one of which had a sort of accident making him more than human. Disbanded, they mostly fell out of contact with each other over the decades. However one of the members refused to give up his masked hero lifestyle and discovers that one of their own had been brutally murdered – the police, not knowing his hidden identity think it’s just another murder. From here he decides to find the others to let them know and warn them they might all be in danger. He’s right; they are in danger, so the question is who and why. This would make the story a mystery but it’s so much more than that; as things progress with the investigation and the group coming together (somewhat) again, there are layers of romance, history, science fiction, and even a comic in a comic that all swirl through the pages. There is a lot more the take in than what is in the text boxes so I suggest you take your time looking closely at the graphics as well; it’s in part for this reason I’m sure I’ll read this again. I highly recommend this book to those who enjoy multifaceted novels that provide plenty to think about including relationships, morals, ethics, history and people. It’s not always told in a linear fashion and the point of view jumps from character to character so there are always multiple interwoven stories going on at once. I was fortunate enough to read it without having the ending spoiled for me and I hope the same is true for you if you decide to read it. As I mentioned it is violent and graphic in nature at times, but it also contains nudity and adult themes so read at your own discretion. I have not seen the movie at this point in time so I can make no comparisons between book and movie.

[ official Watchmen page on the DC comics web site ] | [ Wikipedia page for Alan Moore ]

Recommended by Kristen A.
Gere Branch Library

Have you read this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewers recommendations!

The Backstagers, Vol. 1: Rebels Without Applause by James Tynion IV and Rian Sygh

The Backstagers, Vol. 1: Rebels Without Applause
by James Tynion IV (writer), Rian Sygh (artist) and Walter Baiamonte (colorist) [YA PB Tynion]

Being active in the local community theater culture, this youth graphic novel caught my eye on a library book display. The “Backstagers” are a group of oddballs and misfits who serve as the backstage crew for theatrical productions at an all-boys private high school. This first graphic novel follows new transfer Jory, as he looks for an after-school group he could potentially join. The on-stage Drama Club isn’t a good fit, but he immediately bonds with the quirky gang who build the sets, create the props, and run both sound and light for the shows.

If that were all that this story were going to cover, it would have been enough — “introverted loner finds group of fellow quirky oddballs that he can belong to”. However, this is also a storyline with a strong dark fantasy element to it. The doors at the back of the crew area lead to a series of tunnels, storerooms, and, ultimately, other doors to other dimensions. The tunnels and rooms change their configuration every time you enter them — sometimes even while you’re in them! In fact, an entire backstage crew from the late 1980s disappeared in the tunnels and was never heard from again.
While newcomer Jory is the central protagonist, every member of the Backstagers gang is a well-rounded character, and has a moment to shine — Hunter (the whiz with power tools), Aziz, Sasha, and Beckett (the light/sound board operator who’s created his own little fiefdom, powered by an energy crystal taken from one of the alternate dimensions in the tunnel labyrinth. This “Volume 1” paperback compiles four comic book issues, and the storyline continues/concludes in “Volume 2”. The art is pretty good, but the character of diminutive Sasha is drawn as if it stepped out of a cross-breed between big-eyed Disney animation and Japanese manga. That’s one element I didn’t care for.
Overall, this was an entertaining read, though the heavier the dark fantasy element became, the less I cared for the story. Your mileage may vary. I look forward to reading the rest of the story when the libraries add the second volume as a paperback.

[ official The Backstagers web site ] | [ official James Tynion IV web site ] [ official Rian Sygh web site ]

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library

Have you read this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewers recommendations!

Fables 3: Storybook Love by Bill Willingham

Fables 3: Storybook Love by Bill Willingham

This is the third part of the Fables series that I’ve reviewed before and I highly suggest you read those before reading this one. The first story arc in this book is American Jack Tales: Bag of Bones, which is a rather short story. It’s set in the American South during the Civil War. Jack, who is one of the characters we usually see in the modern day story, was around in the South at this time and after winning a card game is given a bag to hold anything and everything, even Death himself. It’s pretty amusing but does contain nudity, so it’s not something for all readers. The next story in this book is Sharp Operation + Dirty Business, staring Briar Rose and Bigby (the Big Bad Wolf). It’s explained that Briar Rose’s condition still persists and that anytime she pricks her finger not only does she fall asleep but everyone in the same building does as well. This is a potential threat to FableTown’s security as they don’t want their identity known to the wider world. Here’s the problem, someone has, sort of, figured it out. I’ll let you read it and find out how they deal with this person. Storybook Love is the big story in this volume and begins when Snow White and Bigby are drugged. They wake up to find themselves in the middle of the wilderness, camping, with no recollection of how or why they are there. They have a suspicion that the unusual situation is hostile, not a friendly practical joke, and it turns out they are right. Bigby, who hides his wolf form in human skin most of the time, transforms into his true form to help them both escape. This series is so full of surprises that I don’t want to spoil the plot by saying any more. Barley Corn Brides is the last story in this volume and is pretty short. It’s about the smaller residents on Fable Farm and how they built up their colony from just a few men who made the initial journey into our world, to the small village they have now thanks to the same sort of seed which Thumbelina came from. I would highly recommend this book to you if you are into story book type fantasy, for adults. It’s very well written and illustrated. The characters develop a lot over the stories from volume to volume and little bits of their mysterious past in the Fablelands get revealed ever so slowly.

If you like this, there are paper copies, as well as all the rest of the series is on Hoopla. Please note is that these stories were published in the volumes reviewed here and as deluxe volumes, which are hardback and longer, so there are only 14 of them. The stories line up fairly evenly but sometimes the shorter ones get shuffled around a bit differently in the different volume lines. Originally they came out as comic books, not graphic novels, so you could go that route too if you wanted.

[ Wikipedia page for Fables ] | [ official Bill Willingham web site ]

Recommended by Kristen A.
Gere Branch Library

Have you read this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewers recommendations!

Wonder Woman '77 Meets the Bionic Woman by Andy Mangels and others

Wonder Woman ’77 Meets the Bionic Woman
by Andy Mangels, Judit Tondora & others [YA PB (Graphic Novel) Mangels (and) Hoopla]

A few months ago, I reviewed Wonder Woman ’77 Vol.1, which was a marvelous recapturing of the style of superhero storytelling as seen in the old Wonder Woman television series starring Lynda Carter. Since then, I’ve had the pleasure of reading Wonder Woman ’77 Vol 2, and this, Wonder Woman ’77 Meets the Bionic Woman.

This cross-over title was a whole lot of fun, especially for somebody who literally grew up on both of those television series. Wonder Woman’s pilot aired in 1975, and the series ran for three seasons from 1976 to 1979. The Bionic Woman, starring Lindsay Wagner, also ran for three seasons, from 1976 to 1978. Each series also had some bumps in its network run — Wonder Woman began as a 1940s era series on ABC, before moving to CBS and updating to a contemporary (1977) setting. The Bionic Woman also began life on ABC, as a spin-off of The $6 Million Man, then moved to NBC for the final part of its run. Both featured strong action-oriented female leads, and both featured wild and outrageous science fiction and/or fantasy plots, that often strained viewers credulity.

I mention the outrageous storylines specifically, because they tie directly into this cross-over tale. This trade paperback combines the six-issues of a comic-book miniseries, written by Andy Mangels with art by Judit Tondora. Diana Prince (Wonder Woman’s civilian cover identity, a government intelligence agent), and Jamie Sommers, a bionically enhanced intelligence agent (for a different agency) encounter each other while at an East Coast conference when they both have to help stop a terror attack. The two women bond over their similar lives and are soon assigned, by their respective agencies, to work together to investigate a vast international conspiracy. It turns out that villains from multiple episodes of each of the series, all of whom were responsible for creating lifelike androids that were tools of evil megalomaniacs, have teamed up to combine their knowledge and goals. And they’re all working for a WWII Nazi mastermind, who wishes to invade Diana’s homeland, Paradise Island, and wipe out the Amazon Princess’s family and friends.

The plot of this six-part storyline is really dark, and totally nuts, but still a hoot to read. We have guest appearances but many, many supporting characters from both shows’ casts, and artist Tondora does a fairly good job of having the huge cast of major characters all strongly resemble the actors who orginally played them (particularly Fritz Weaver as one of the mad scientists, and Richard Anderson as Oscar Goldman and Martin E. Brooks as Dr. Rudy Wells). Tondora’s depictions of both Lynda Carter and Lindsay Wagner aren’t perfect, but they’re successful more often than they’re wrong, and this really does feel like it could have been a TV mini-series crossover event. Some of the plotline and dialog is a bit hackneyed, but they that could also be said about both of the TV series at the time as well.

Overall, though I truly enjoyed this time capsule event — it is set in the late 1970s, and definitely felt accurate for the setting. And, seeing two of TV’s most memorable TV heroines fighting side-by-side against an army of Nazi soldiers and Fembot female androids is marvelous fun. I went out and bought this one for my own collection, but you can enjoy it here at the library!

[If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try Wonder Woman ’77 Volume 1 and Wonder Woman ’77 Volume 2, by Marc Andreyko, or The Bionic Woman graphic novels on Hoopla.]

[ official DC Wikia entry for this mini-series ]

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library

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