Batman, Volume 7: The Wedding

author: Tom King
name: Wayne
average rating: 3.55
book published: 2018
rating: 3
read at: 2018/11/05
date added: 2018/11/05
shelves: graphic-novels
review:
'Batman, Vol. 7: The Wedding' by Tom King with art by Tony S. Daniel and Mikel Janin seemed like it was going to be a grand story in the long tradition of comics. I felt weirdly let down by all the hype. Let me explain why.

Two words: Booster Gold. The first half of this volume is a story of Booster Gold trying, and failing, to deliver the appropriate gift to Batman for his wedding. The problem is that Booster is in the wrong timeline and he keeps getting stuck. Worse still, he keeps screwing things up in prime Booster fashion. Which has little to do with the upcoming wedding.

The back half of the volume is a bit better and features things I'd read in the deluxe wedding album like the Joker showing up at some random soul's house because he's convinced his wedding invite will show up there. And there's the big issue leading up to the wedding with lots of big art panels by artists past and present.

Overall, I liked it, but I guess I was looking for more actual wedding story. The art is solid enough. I just wanted more epic and less mundane.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from DC Entertainment and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.


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Small Country

author: Gaël Faye
name: Wayne
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2016
rating: 3
read at: 2018/08/09
date added: 2018/11/03
shelves:
review:
'Small Country' by Gael Faye with translation by Sarah Ardizzone is a coming of age story set against a civil war in a small African country.

The main character is Gabriel, and the book is framed as a memoir he is writing in his 30s now that he lives in France. It tells the story of his family in 1992 living in Burundi. His Rwandan mother escaped her own atrocities years earlier and Gabriel and his family seem to have a pretty good life at the beginning of the book.

The looming future hangs over the book, but it seems like it takes a while to start. When it does, Gabriel sees it affect those around them, including himself.

I felt a little detached from the main character. He was hard to feel empathy for, and I can't understand why. Is it because this is a story we are familiar with in more recent news? Maybe it's because Gabriel himself seems a bit detached about things. I liked the book, but not as much as I imagined I might.

I received a review copy of this ebook from Hogarth, Crown Publishing, and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this ebook.


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Anne Arrives: Inspired by Anne of Green Gables

author: Kallie George
name: Wayne
average rating: 4.38
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2018/11/03
date added: 2018/11/03
shelves: childrens
review:
'Anne Arrives: Inspired by Anne of Green Gables' adapted by Kallie George with illustrations by Abigail Halpin is the first book in a new early reader series, and I found it as charming as the book it's based on.

Told with easy fonts, less words, and lots of pictures, this book follows the early days of Anne arriving at Avonlea. She meets Marilla and Matthew and has an incident with a nosy neighbor.

All the familiar elements are here and with the abridgment, nothing feels really forgotten. The illustrations are a real nice addition, and this would be a good gift for a young reader to introduce them to a classic series.

I received a review copy of this ebook from Tundra Books, Penguin Random House Canada and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this ebook.


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Scarlet Book One

author: Brian Michael Bendis
name: Wayne
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2010
rating: 4
read at: 2018/11/03
date added: 2018/11/03
shelves: graphic-novels
review:
'Scarlet Book One' by Brian Michael Bendis with art by Alex Maleev was an interesting story and not one I expected to see coming from DC.

I'm familiar with Brian Michael Bendis' work at Marvel on titles like Daredevil, The Avengers and others. This time around the character is an original creation, and one who seems to push at boundaries of the comic panels.

When we first meet redheaded Scarlet, she is standing over a corpse and seeming to talk directly to us. Who this woman is and the events that brought her here will be revealed, but she is the victim of a seemingly corrupt system, and she wants our help to do something about it.

It's a striking call for help. Made moreso by Alex Maleev's photorealistic art style. The characters look like they were shot on film, then colored over. As a style here, it's impressive. Overall, I really enjoyed reading this one.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Jinxworld, DC Entertainment, and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.


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The Snow and the Sun / La Nieve y el Sol: A South American Folk Rhyme in Two Languages

author: Antonio Frasconi
name: Wayne
average rating: 4.00
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2018/11/02
date added: 2018/11/02
shelves: childrens
review:
'The Snow and the Sun/La Nieve y el Sol: A South American Folk Rhyme in Two Languages' by Antonio Frasconi is full of the author's woocuts, which is the reason I liked this book.

The story here is from a textbook from Argentina with translation by the author. The story starts with a simple question about why the snow hurts our feet, and continues to build on a causal list of things that are interrelated. The narrative runs from snow to sun to rat and cat to man and on and on, finally coming back to snow.

Originally published in 1961, I liked the bilingual nature of the text. I really liked the original woodcuts present here in multiple colors.

I received a review copy of this ebook from Dover Publications and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this ebook.


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Encyclopedia of Black Comics

author: Sheena C. Howard
name: Wayne
average rating: 4.62
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2018/11/02
date added: 2018/11/02
shelves: non-fiction
review:
'Encyclopedia of Black Comics' by Sheena C. Howard is an A to Z look at people of African descent who have had a hand in creating and discussing comics and comic strips.

I knew about famous contributors like Morrie Turner and Christopher Priest. I'm a fan of Joel Christian Gill's work in Strange Fruit and Tales of the Tenth. I was less familiar with some of the pioneers like Sam Milai. I confess to being surprised that George Herriman was an African American. Along with these there are founders of comic book conventions, scholars of sequential art, webcomic artists and so many more.

Throughout the book are some examples of artwork. Each entry is a page or so. It's all interesting and fun to page through and I learned so much. I'm glad there is such a resource out there.

I received a review copy of this ebook from Fulcrum Publishing and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this ebook.


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Simone de Beauvoir (Little People, Big Dreams)

author: Mª Isabel Sánchez Vegara
name: Wayne
average rating: 4.00
book published:
rating: 2
read at: 2018/10/29
date added: 2018/10/29
shelves: childrens, non-fiction
review:
'Simone de Beauvoir (Little People, Big Dreams)' by Ma Isabel Sanchez with art by Christine Roussey is about a very independent woman and famous feminist.

Simone was born into a wealthy family in Paris. Her father encouraged her to read. When the family's fortunes changed, and she saw how her mother worked more than her father, she started to have the ideas that would make her an early feminist. She became a philosopher and writer, and we learn that she had some interesting friends.

I've liked this series for the simplified biographies and different artists for each book. This time around I was really not fond of the art. The story is less interesting it seems like too.

I received a review copy of this ebook from Quarto Publishing Group-Frances Lincoln Childrens, and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.


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