Feast of Fields

Bought at my school's Spring book fair.

Title: Feast of Fields
Date: 2018
Publisher: Conundrum Press
Writer: Sean Karemaker
Artist: Sean Karemaker

Autobiographical comic telling the story of the author's mother and her time living in an orphanage in Denmark. This story does follows the natural jumping-around pattern of memories, with bits of different parts of the author's life and the stories that his mother told him about her own. The result is a flow that feels comfortable in spite of all the jumping around.

All of this is reinforced by the surreal quality of the artwork, in which dream elements are mixed with the realities of life.

This is a simple story of family connections and memories, and a very real one, but the art makes the mundane turn magical.

Rating: 8.5/10

Harley Quinn and the Birds of Prey

Bought at Boocup, Kerry Parkside Mall, Pudong, Shanghai, China

Title: Harley Quinn and the Birds of Prey
Date: 2019
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: Scott Beatty, Scott Young, Greg Rucka, Anderson Gabrych
Artist: Yvel Guichet, Aaron Sowd, Phil Winslade, Rick Burchett, Pablo Raimondi, Walden Wong, Brian Stelfreeze, Al Barrionuevo, Bit
Colorist: Tom McCraw, Hi-Fi, Brad Anderson
Editor:Alewx Galer

This is a collection of reprints, featuring characters associated with the Birds of Prey (and in particular, characters featured in the movie version of Birds of Prey) in solo action.

Harley (from Detective Comics #831, published in 2007) takes on the new version of the Ventriloquist and Scarface, and more importantly takes on the Arkham Asylum parole board (with Bruce Wayne as one of the members deciding her fate).

Black Canary, guided by Oracle, teams up with Lois Lane to break up an illegal sweatshop and it's psionic-powered foreman (From Showcase '96 #3, published in 1996).

Huntress teams up with Nightwing to investigate the mafia murder of an undercover cop (from Nightwing/Huntress #2, published in 1998).

Renee Montoya deals with harassment from a previous case where the perpetrator walked (from Gotham Central #6, published in 2003).

Cassandra Cain faces off against her father, assassin David Cain, during the epic No Man's Land event (from  Batman #567, published in 1999).

Last up, Catwoman takes on Black Mask and Sylvia Sinclair, who have taken Selina's friend Holly and Selina's sister Maggie hostage (From Catwoman #16, published in 2003.

The opening Harley Quinn story and the Lance/Lane team-up were both good, especially the interaction between Lois and Dinah, which was loads of fun in spite of a pretty generic plot.

From there, the book seemed to run out of one-shot stories and just gave us pieces of longer storylines that felt unsatisfying, and in some cases, didn't even focus enough on the featured character. There was a lot more Nightwing than Huntress in the segment from their team-up, and the Gotham Central storyline had a lot of subplots going on, and not much in the way of develop or resolution for Renee Montoya.

In spite me not being a big fan of Cassandta Cain, her origin story from No Man's Land had visually powerful moments. But again, it's a piece of a massive long-term storyline.

The Catwoman story with Black Mask felt more complete than it really had the right to thanks to a lot of recapping in the narration.

Overall, the result of this collection of fragments is a collection that has some great individual moments and some beautiful artwork, but feels thrown together, and is not as effective as it could be at introducing readers to the lineup of characters for the Birds of Prey film.

Rating: 5/10

The Dialogues

Borrowed from a friend here in Shanghai.

Title: The Dialogues
Date: 2017
Publisher: Massachusetts Institute of Technology Press
Writer: Clifford V. Johnson
Artist: Clifford V. Johnson

This is an overview of important current ideas in physics, with emphasis on cosmology, as well as a lot of material on the nature and practice of science, and some of the philosophy behind science.

All of it is presented in a series of conversations between a variety of characters, some professional scientists and some not. The conversations have the occasional awkward moment for the sake of moving the discussion along, but in general I was impressed with how naturally the conversations went, especially considering the subject matter. These were enjoyable intellectual discussions, always respectful, and full of insights and ideas. Some of the information presented gets technical, but it always quickly circles back to plain language.

There is a lot of emphasis on the idea of the multiverse, but the conversations touch on many aspects of relativity, theories-of-everything, spacetime, the relationship between science and mathematics, and even a chapter on the traditional scientific method.

The book has a diverse cast of characters, with many of them appearing in more than one dialogue. I was left wanting to learn more about several of them, past the brief glimpses we get of their lives.

Also included is a foreword by physicist Frank Wilczek, as well as extensive notes after each dialogue with recommended reading on the topics discussed.

This is a great look at science and a fascinating use of the graphic novel format.

Rating: 7.5/10

Cat Kid Comic Club

The Kiddo bought this at the Spring book fair at our school in Shanghai, China.

Title: Cat Kid Comic Club
Publisher: Scholastic / Graphix
Date: 2020
Writer: Dav Pilkey
Artist: Dav Pilkey
Letterer: Dav Pilkey
Colorist: Jose Garibaldi, Aaron Polk
Editor: Ken Geist

Lil' Petey (AKA Cat Kid) and Molly the telekinetic tadpole (see Dog Man: Fetch 22 for her origin story; my review is here) hold the first meeting of their new comic club. But the other tadpoles are not making things easy. There's the issue of bickering to deal with, but an even bigger problem is that no one has the confidence to get started on making a comic.

The plot here is simple, but the point of this book is more inspiration than story. The message is that there is no wrong way to make a comic, and the Comic Club drama is interspersed with samples and previews of comics in all kinds of styles: Stick figures, b/w, color, collages, photo comics, haiku comics (photo haiku comics, actually!), and comics made with clay, cardboard, and recycled toys.

The examples are lots of fun, and the message is a great one for young comic creators who might not be ready for something like Understanding Comics (my review of that one is here).

There are some funny moments, but it's the creator's obvious love for comic creation that really shines through in this book.

Rating: 7.5/10

Arthur Spiderwick's Field Guide to the Fantastical World Around You

Another entry that doesn't fit the really strict definition of a comic, but a beautifully illustrated work. From my school library.

Title: Arthur Spiderwick's Field Guide to the Fantastical World Around You
Date: 2005
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Writer: Tony DiTerlizzi, Holly Black
Artist: Tony DiTerlizzi

This is a companion book to the Spiderwick Chronicles novel series by DiTerlizzi and Black, with a few references to the stories, including an addendum by one of the main characters.

But primarily, this stands on its own as a gorgeous interpretation of the natural history of faerie and mythical creatures from elves to sea serpents to sprites and boggarts. DiTerlizzi's illustrations are lovely, and there are some very clever details. His merfolk were among my favorites, with their "hair" serving as gill filaments. There is a good mix of original ideas and traditional folklore in the descriptions, and some nice hints of stories to be discovered.

This would serve as an excellent roleplaying supplement for a GM who enjoys homebrewing creature stats, and it is an entertaining and inspiring read on its own.

Rating: 9/10

Supergirl: Being Super

Bought at my school's Spring book fair.

Title: Supergirl: Being Super
Date: May, 2018
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: Mariko Tamaki
Artist: Joelle Jones, Sandu Florea
Colorist: Kelly Fitzpatrick
Letterer: Saida Temofonte
Cover: Joelle Jones, Kelly Fitzpatrick
Editor: Paul Kaminski, Andrew Marino, Robin Wildman

Trade paperback collection of Supergirl: Being Super issues #1-4 from 2016-2017.

It feels like rebooted origin stories are getting to the point where they are separated by months, rather than years these days. So I had a bit of trepidation approaching yet another origin reboot (putting aside the question of whether this was main-canon continuity or not; that's also something that's become more and more fuzzy these days).

But this was really good. Not for the plot, necessarily, although the plot did its job adequately. It was the dialogue and supporting cast that really made this work. Kara Danvers of (Smallville stand-in) Midvale, Kansas, turns sixteen years old, having hid the powers that make her different from her peers since childhood, only to have those powers fail her when she needs them most.

In the face of tragedy, Kara begins to question everything about her life, and she uncovers the secrets that will set her on the path to, well, to being super.

Kara's interactions with her friends were interesting enough that I was to some extent disappointed that this is essentially the story of her leaving home to start her hero's journey. I would happily read further adventures of Kara's best friend Dolly, without needing a bit more superhero stuff. And her relationship with her parents was intriguing, and definitely worth further exploration.

The villains introduced here (two new ones and one very familiar one) are likely to be seen again and all of them have plenty of story potential.

Joelle Jones does great work with the art all through the series, ending with an awesome visual on the last page.

This was a great fresh start for a classic character, and I would be happy to have this be the definitive Supergirl origin story moving forward.

Rating: 8/10

Dog Man: Mothering Heights

Bought at Foreign Languages Bookstore, Shanghai, China.

Title: Dog Man: Mothering Heights
Publisher: Scholastic / Graphix
Date: 2021
Writer: Dav Pilkey
Artist: Dav Pilkey
Colorist: Jose Garibaldi

So, as it turned out, Dog Man: Grime and Punishment (reviewed here) was not the end of the series. This new installment includes a romantic subplot between Chief and Nurse Lady, a bit more about Petey's mother (hence the title), giant evil animated sippy cups, lots of malic acid, and some references to the first law of thermodynamics. Oh, and poop jokes. Lots of poop jokes, because apparently the series had not actually moved beyond poop humor so much as to take a brief scenic detour away from it.

As with most of the more recent Dog Man books, the serious stuff here was quite well done, and never felt like it slowed things down or weighed things down. The bathroom humor has never been a favorite of mine, but my son (13 now) still finds it hilarious. The main source of much of this was Molly the psychokinetic tadpole, who is Lil' Petey's best friend, which seemed a bit weird because this wasn't an aspect of her character in previous appearances.

I did feel like this relied a bit too much on tropes and gimmicks from previous installments, while not adding too much to the longer-term plotlines. That being said, it was still cute fun, with several really great jokes.

Rating: 7/10

Diary of a Wimpy Kind: The Deep End

Bought at the Foreign Languages Bookstore, Shanghai, China.

Title: Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Deep End
Publisher: Amulet Books (a division of Abrams; series website at wimpykid.com)
Date: 2020
Writer: Jeff Kinney
Artist: Jeff Kinney

Following the mayhem that resulted from their home improvement efforts (As seen in Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Wrecking Ball, reviewed here), the Heffley family is stuck living in Greg's grandmother's basement. As stir-craziness sets in, the sudden acquisition of a camper provides a possible escape for the rest of the summer, so it's road-trip time!

First of all, after complaining that the ending of the previous book felt like too much of a no-consequences reset, it was nice to see that there were, in fact, some consequences and continuity from the events of Wrecking Ball. This series works better with a bit of continuity.

This installment starts slow. We've already seen the family trip adventures a couple of times now, and in the beginning, it's the usual stuff, with Greg's mom set of ruining everyone's fun for the sake of, well, having fun. This interaction has never been very entertaining, and it's not any better here.

What is a lot better is a subplot that begins when the family arrives at the Campers' Eden campground. Greg actually has a pretty fun adventure with a crew of kids who are regulars at the camp. They end up in a battle with a gang of teenagers who have been using a giant slingshot to lob watermelons at the campers in the lake. Greg's new friends have a lot of personality, which is a nice change from some of the throwaway characters encountered in previous books, and it really helps improve this story in terms of plot and humor.

The jokes build up nicely toward the end, and there is even a bit of a happy ending.

Between this book, Wrecking Ball, and Rowley Jefferson's Awesome Friendly Adventure (reviewed here), Jeff Kinney's most recent works have been a lot more appealing to me than his earlier stuff.

Rating: 7/10

The Baby-Sitters Club Volume 4: Claudia and Mean Janine

Bought at my school's spring book fair.

Title: The Baby-Sitters Club
Issue: Volume 4: Claudia and Mean Janine
Publisher: Scholastic / Graphix
Date: 2016
Writer: Raina Telgemeier, Ann M. Martin
Artist: Raina Telgemeier
Colorist: Braden Lamb
Letterer: John Green
Editor: Cassandra Pelham Fulton, David Levithan, Sheila Keenan

This is Raina Telgemeier's adaptation of one of the original Baby-Sitters Club novels by Ann M. Martin. I haven't red any of the original prose series, but this was a good solid bit of family drama with humor and heart. It doesn't quite hit at the personal level that Telgemeier's autobiographical works do, but it was still quite engaging. Although this is the fourth volume in the series, it stands alone quite well and tells a complete story.

That story focuses on the sibling rivalry between younger sister Claudia, who is into art, fashion, and Nancy Drew novels, and older sister Janine, who excels at school and loves coding and web design. Their lives are thrown into disarray when their grandmother suffers a near-fatal stroke, and the events that follow bring them apart, and then eventually together. Meanwhile, the Baby-Sitters club launches into summer with a new playgroup project that gives the other club members a chance to shine, and provides some comic relief.

Telgemeier's artwork is always wonderfully expressive, and it really shines in a lovely scene with Dawn and Kristy playing in the barn on Kristy's family's property, as well as in some nice quiet moments between Claudia, Janine, and their grandmother, Mimi.

Rating: 7.5/10

Small Town Type #1

 Finally back to the Random Stack of Unread Comics!

Title: Small Town Type
Issue: #1
Date: 2008
Publisher: Fat Cat Funnies
Writer: Ian Nichols
Artist: Ian Nichols

So, apparently I reviewer issue #3 of this series (here), but never got around to reviewing the first two. Fixing that now.

Small Town Type is Ian Nichols' reinvention of the Superman story. I love the visual style of the big moments in this opening chapter, but the dialogue in the small moments are equally captivating. The voice of the (so far, unnamed) main character is deep and real, and the little interactions of small town life give the story heart.


There isn't a ton of plot in this issue, but that actually works well, keeping the focus on the big event that initiates the classic hero's journey while developing the lead character through dialogue, internal monologue, and day-do-day interactions.

This is a great start to a story that feels comfortably familiar but still intriguing.

Rating: 9/10