The Adventures of Tintin: The Shooting Star

I recently went to the Herge and Tintin exhibition at the Shanghai Power Station of Art. I bought a couple of books at their gift shop. This is the first of those.

Title: The Adventures of Tintin: The Shooting Star
Date: 2009
Publisher: Egmont (Official Tintin site is here)
Writer:Herge
Artist: Herge

When a giant meteor approaches the Earth, Tintin thinks that the world may be doomed, and a crazy prophet is blaming him for the impending cataclysm. But when the doomsday turns out to be a false alarm, Tintin joins an expedition to seek out a fragment of the meteor that did strike the Earth, landing in the Arctic and carrying an newly-discovered element.

Tintin, Snowy, Captain Haddock, and a crew of eccentric scientists (and thankfully, one actually-competent seaplane pilot) find themselves in a race with a powerful corporation determined to make a profit off of the new element, and willing to resort to sabotage to achieve their goals.

This was a really fun adventure, loaded with Herge's normal array of twists and turns, on every page. I'm always impressed by how rapidly Herge can introduce new problems, perils, and twists.

With the limited cast, this story doesn't get into some of the issues with stereotypes that I've encountered in other Tintin volumes. The characters are quirky, sometimes to the extreme, and a few of the jokes around Captain Haddock's relationship with whiskey are a bit heavyhanded, but there are some good witty bits as well. The dieselpunk feel of the story provides some fun flavoring, and Herge's artwork makes great use of the small-panel layouts.

Rating: 8/10

Sky Pirates of Valendor Series 2 #4

From the Random Stack of Unread Comics.

Title: Sky Pirates of Valendor Series 2
Issue: 4
Date: 2012
Publisher: Jolly Rogue Studios
Writer: Everett Soares
Penciler: Brian Brinlee
Inker: Alex Rivera
Tones: Jet Amago
Letterer: Steve Kuster
Editor: Amy Haley
Cover: Craig DeBoard

The unlikely team of Gearz and Shyni, along with gun knight Kirby Kingsman are all that stands between the Prince and a horde of assassins.

The good news is that these ninja-types are definitely from the cannon-fodder school of ninjitsu. The bad news, they're just the distraction for a much bigger threat.

The ninja jobbers were a bit silly, but they did give the trio of heroes a chance to show off their fighting moves, and the main event featured some interesting reveals about what exactly Gearz is.

This was fast-paced light fun, that didn't take itself all that seriously, so it was easy to just enjoy the mayhem.

Rating: 7/10

Healed #5

From the Random Stack of Unread Comics. Purchased directly from the creators (and signed) in 2012.

Title: Healed
Issue: #5
Date: 2012
Publisher: Homeless Comics
Writer: George O'Connor
Artist: Griffin, S.
Editor: Tracy O'Connor

Reviews of previous issues: Issue #1, Issue #2, Issue #3, Issue #4.

Fifth and final issue in a series that examines the effect of a mysterious event that heals all human disease and effectively eliminates death from natural causes.

The writing and creativity in this issue were excellent, but the lack of resolution with this being the final issue was disappointing.

As with previous issues, this contained three stories. Two were seemingly self-contained. One of those examined the question of what happens to prisoners sentenced to life behind bars when life could now mean an eternity. The other standalone story focused on a disabled man who was somehow passed over in the Healing.

The main ongoing story hinted at big revelations, but nothing really came of it, which was frustrating because the slow-burn pacing of this series had been a strong point, so to see it end here left a ton of unfulfilled potential.

Still, the work that the series did up to this point with its fascinating concept was quite intriguing. If they ever do decide to continue the series, I would be eager to read more.

Rating: 5/10

Static Shock #6

From the Random Stack of Unread Comics.

Title: Static Shock
Issue: 6
Date: April 2012
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: Scott McDaniel
Penciler: Scott McDaniel
Inker: Andy Owens
Colorist: Guy Major
Letterer: Dezi Sienty
Editor: Harvey Richards
Cover: Khary Randolph, Emilio Lopez, Le Beau Underwood

Apparently, I bought six issues of this when it was released as part of the New 52 in 2012 and only got around to reviewing the first five. Looking back at that fifth review, I can see why I wasn't so enthusiastic about reading more.

Unfortunately, a lot of the phrases I used for the previous issue, phrases like "too many plot elements", "not enough character development", and "convoluted mess" apply to this issue, but even more so.

I like Static Shock a lot, but this climactic episode of the ongoing storyline featured about 85 villains, guest appearances by Hardware and Technique, various alien species, an interdimensional portal, alternate timeline versions of characters, and a climactic battle where it was impossible to tell what the heck was going on. Okay, probably not actually impossible. More like not worth the effort, which is worse.

The opening bit with static hunting for the bad guys who have abducted his sister was pretty cool, and the ending epilogue bit did a reasonable job of setting up for more stories moving forward. Unfortunately, the series only went two more issues after this. It could have used some more time to move in some different directions after this opening storyline.

Rating: 4/10

Amulet Book Five: Prince of the Elves

Another volume of Amulet that the Kiddo borrowed from a friend at school. We're making fast progress on this series!

Title: Amulet Book Five: Prince of the Elves
Publisher: Scholastic / Graphix
Date: 2012
Writer: Kazu Kibuishi
Artist: Kazu Kibuishi
Editor: Cassandra Pelham

This is the fifth book in Kazu Kibuishi's epic fastasy series. My previous reviews: Book One: The Stonekeeper, Book Two: The Stonekeeper's Curse, Book Three: The Cloud Searchers. Book Four: The Last Council.

I've mentioned before that Amulet gets a lot of influence from classic sources like Star Wars and Lord of the Rings. Well, this issue goes all Pacific Rim (well, the influence is probably more from earlier mecha anime really), as Navin becomes the equivalent of a Jaeger pilot.

Meanwhile, we get an excellent origin flashback for Max, who gets a lot more depth. He also gets to show off his new power, including his alliance with a massive demonic beast that he uses to attack the weakened forces of the Guardian Council.

The character referenced in the title, elven prince Trellis, also has a lot of growth in this book, as his role in the story starts to become more clear.

This was an intense installment in the series, filled with key revelations and some major confrontations. Emily continues to grow and mature, and the villains just keep looking scarier and more powerful.

There's some great action here, most of which sets the stage for even bigger battles to come.

Rating: 8.5/10

Batwoman #8

From the random stack of unread comics.

Title: Batwoman
Issue: 8
Date: June 2012
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: J. H. Williams III, W. Haden Blackman
Penciller: Amy Reeder
Inker: Rob Hunter
Colorist: Guy Major
Letterer: Todd Klein
Cover: Amy Reeder
Editor: Harvey Richards, Rickey Purdin, Mike Marts

This is the last of an eight-issue run of New 52 Batwoman that I bought back in 2012. My reviews for the issues leading up to this one are here: Issue #1, Issue #2, Issue #3, Issue #4, Issue #5, Issue #6, Issue #7.

Based on how #7 ended, my expectation was that this would be the finish to the arc, but instead, it ended up adding another layer of complication.

Batwoman has to fight through Falchion's minions, including a more-mutated-than-usual Killer Kroc.

And again, much of the issue jumps around in time. We get to see Batwoman dealing with Maggie Sawyer on a professional, rather than personal basis. Not surprisingly, love between a cop and a vigilante and be a bit star-crossed.

This felt like it should have ended here, but it was still all pretty good, and the gaps in the overall plot continue to get filled in bit by bit. This issue was also a bit more gory than the series has generally been.

I'm curious to see how this wraps up. I may have to go searching to find #9 at some point.

Rating: 6/10

Batwoman #6

From the random stack of unread comics.

Title: Batwoman
Issue: 6
Date: April 2012
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: J. H. Williams III, W. Haden Blackman
Penciller: Amy Reeder
Inker: Rob Hunter, Richard Friend
Colorist: Guy Major
Letterer: Todd Klein
Cover: Amy Reeder
Editor: Harvey Richards, Rickey Purdin, Mike Marts

I'm reading the early issues of this series in pretty random order (my reviews: Issue #1, Issue #2, Issue #3, Issue #4, Issue #5, Issue #7), and the fact that the story is loaded with time-jumps is not helping matters.

This issue brings us the origin of Gotham's Weeping Woman, a few bits of interlude including a nice scene with Kate and Maggie and their relationship, and a couple of fight scenes.

The art really stands out here. This has been my favorite Batwoman issue in terms of art. The use of splash pages and the flow of the action scenes is great, and the artwork on the quieter moments is pretty effective as well.

There is some nice character development, even if the overall progress of the plot is somewhat choppy.

Rating: 8/10

Axis Powers Hetalia Artbook Artestella Piccolo

There was a small anime/cosplay convention today at Hub Mall in our neighborhood in Shanghai, China. I got this from a vendor there.

Title: Axis Powers Hetalia Artbook Artestella Piccolo
Date: March 2012
Publisher: Gentosha
Writer: Hidekaz Himaruya
Artist: Hidekaz Himaruya

I have not read all that much Hetalia, but this looked like an interesting find, so I picked it up. There is not much English in the book, but the artwork is lovely throughout.

The book contains a nice collection of portraits of the major characters in the series, along with a section showing the drawing process, and a nice collection of rough sketches.

Rating: 8/10

Magic: The Gathering #4

We're back in Shanghai, and I brought about 50 or so comics from the random box of unread comics in our storage unit to add to the supply we have here. This comic comes from that batch.

Title: Magic: The Gathering
Issue: 4
Date: March 2012
Publisher: IDW Publishing
Writer: Matt Forbeck
Artist: Martin Coccolo, Christian Duce
Colorist: J. Edwin Stevens, Baileigh Bolten
Letterer: Shawn Lee
Editor: Carol Guzman
Cover: Karl Kopinski

Hero isn't ready to fight villain. Villain threatens innocent townspeople. Hero bravely fights villain. Villain is winning. Help arrives for the hero in the nick of time.

I'm pretty sure I mentioned (in my review of the second issue) that this story feels very generic. (Note, I also reviewed #1 here; I apparently skipped #3, but that does not seem to have been a problem).

Unfortunately, with the big confrontation between reluctantly heroic planeswalker Dack Fayden, and evil planeswalker Sifa Grent taking up all of this issue, there really isn't a chance for much character development, or even to see more aspects of the Innistrad world beyond "generic gothic horror setting".

There was nothing terrible about this. The art was good. The use of a purple wash to convey "night" looked a bit odd but the visual storytelling was generally fine. There was some action and heroism, but in the end the story was just not all that special or memorable.

Rating: 5.5/10

Batwoman #7

A cover variant that I got in 2012 when I was reading a bunch of DC's New 52 titles. It ended up in the random stack of unread comics after I hit New-52-burnout a few months in.

Title: Batwoman
Issue: 7
Date: May 2012
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: J. H. Williams III, W. Haden Blackman
Penciller: Amy Reeder
Inker: Rob Hunter
Colorist: Guy Major
Letterer: Todd Klein
Cover: Amy Reeder
Editor: Harvey Richards, Rickey Purdin, Mike Marts

The last issue in this run that I read was #3 (reviewed here), which had Batwoman going up against the urban legend figure known as the Weeping Woman.

Now, the Weeping Woman has been revealed to be part of something larger, a criminal gang with supernatural abilities and connections led by a man named Falchion. The opening scene sets up their confrontation, but this issue is almost entirely flashbacks. There is enough here to piece together the basic scenario but it's got probably a few more parts in motion than it really needs to have.

I did like the modern urban fantasy vibe that smoothly meshes high tech cop drama with supernatural magic, and it sets up what looks to be an epic showdown that will hopefully be worth the convoluted path getting there. I do have issue #8, so I should get to find out soon.

Rating: 6/10

Myths Stories (Chinese Classical Stories Series)

I picked this up at the gift shop of the Shanghai Museum and read it with the Kiddo (currently age 9, but only for a couple more weeks).

Title: Myths Stories
Date: September, 2012
Publisher: China Intercontinental Press (Chinese Classical Stories Series)
Writer: Xiao Li

Softcover full-color graphic novel of about 200 pages, telling a dozen stories from  Chinese mythology, beginning with a creation myth.

This was a nice introduction to Chinese legends, with a variety of characters and stories, all brought to life in vivid color. The art style was fun, with manga facial expressions and particularly nice work on the clothing and hairstyles of characters. All of the action is a bit cartoonish, even in the case of a couple of the stories that take a grim turn.

Aside from the first couple of stories, there is not a lot of connection between the tales, and there isn't much context provided as to where these stories fit into Chinese mythology as a whole, but it was still an excellent sampling of a real wealth of lore that will be unfamiliar to many Western readers.

The dialogue has some moments where the translation could have been better, including the odd inclusion of the name "Hercules" for what is clearly meant to be a Chinese god or demigod.

But the book keeps the dialogue short and simple, and the artwork fills in gaps and smooths over the minor translation issues. All of the text and dialogue is presented in English and Chinese.

Rating: 7.5/10

Wonder Woman #8

From the random stack of unread comics.

Title: Wonder Woman
Issue: #8
Date: June, 2012
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: Brian Azzarello
Artist: Cliff Chiang
Colorist: Matthew Wilson
Letterer: Jared K. Fletcher
Editor: Matt Idelson, Chris Conroy
Cover: Cliff Chiang

Diana and Hermes enter the Underworld to free Diana's friend Zola from imprisonment in the realm of Hades. If you have read your mythology, you probably realize that this kind of quest usually doesn't end well.

Generally speaking, I'm not a fan of the version of Greek mythology that shows up in Wonder Woman comics. I've also seen a LOT of versions of the underworld in one incarnation or another over the years. So I have to admit that I was pleasantly surprised in both regards with this story.

The Greek gods were written in clever and original versions that kept the flavor of the stories. The underworld was imaginative and creepy, with Cliff Chiang's artwork doing an excellent job of bringing life (well, undeath, really) to the vision.

Diana spouts a lot of cliches in the dialogue, and she kind of blunders into big trouble as the story unfolds, but it was still a fun read that kept me interesting in seeing what was coming on the next page.

Rating: 8/10

Rival Angels: Rookie Year Volume 4

A friend picked this up for me and got it signed for me at Anime Milwaukee 2017.

Title: Rival Angels: Rookie Year Volume 4
Date: 2012
Publisher: Rival Angels
Writer: Alan Evans, Justin Riley
Artist: Alan Evans
Colorist: Aaron Daly

As a WWE fan, this series continues to impress me with its clear love for pro wrestling. This issue tool place almost entirely at a single PPV show, the Rival Angels Federation's equivalent of Wrestlemania.

All four of the "Upstarts", who have been the focus of the comic, have matches on the card, with Sabrina "Ultragirl" Mancini pulling double duty. She's got her first title match, the finals in the TV title championship, followed by an "I Quit" match inside a cage with Hell's Belles faction leader Chloe DeSade.

Doing an entire wrestling card in comic form in a challenging endeavor, as the pacing of comics isn't going to work as well as video for capturing the action, and there is the danger that the story will seem repetitive with multiple matches needing to be covered. This volume does an impressive job of handling those challenges, making good use of backstage subplots to break up the action happening in the ring, and providing good variety in the matches themselves.

Plenty of classic wrestling tropes were on full display here, with matches won by outside interference, post-match beatdowns, and drama between the commissioner and the talent.

The dialogue could be a bit stilted at times, especially when going for humor, and the attempt to portray the announce team doesn't quite feel "real", but there is no denying the fun of this series.

The final match was a great climax to the Ultragirl's first really big rivalry, and the storyline following the ppv event set the stage for some new directions as the series moves into its second season.

Rating: 8/10

Captain Underpants and the Terrifying Return of Tippy Tinkletrousers

This was a gift to the Kiddo from his cousin when we were visiting family over the summer.

Title: Captain Underpants and the Terrifying Return of Tippy Tinkletrousers
Publisher: Scholastic
Date: 2012
Writer: Dav Pilkey
Artist: Dav Pilkey

The Kiddo and I read the first volume of this series and skipped directly to this one (the ninth), which was probably not the best way to approach this. This book relies fairly heavily on what has come earlier in the series to set things up.

Also, there is time travel involved. Complete with full-on time travel paradoxes that would make the X-Men universe proud. On top of that, this book serves as an origin-story for George and Harold.

And finally, the ending is pretty wild. That's all I'm going to say as far as that goes.

Unfortunately, the "origin" portion drags a bit, making the middle of this book something of a slog (to the extent that a middle-grade mixed-prose-and-sequential book can qualify as a slog).

More unfortunately, a major subplot involves some very sexist tropes in which the bullies are repeatedly humiliated with things that get the rest of the school to perceive them as feminine. I'd really like to be past this sort of thing, but here it is again.

The Kiddo did laugh at most of the jokes, and the time travel stuff got him thinking a bit, but there was enough negative here that I'm not particularly eager to check out #2-8.

Rating: 4/10

Darth Vader and Son

This is what the Kiddo picked out on our recent visit to Million Year Picnic in Cambridge MA.

Title: Darth Vader & Son
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Date: 2012
Writer: Jeffrey Brown
Artist: Jeffrey Brown

Star Wars: Episode Three-and-a-Half. This collection of charming cartoons imagines Lord Vader raising four-year-old Luke Skywalker. The kid has all of the expected quirks of a four-year-old, and he seems a bit hesitant about the whole dark-side thing.

Cartoons cover a bunch of classic parenting scenarios, but the real cleverness of this collection is the author's knack for slipping in bits of dialogue from the Star Wars films into those parenting situations. There are also guest appearances by characters and creatures from across the Star Wars galaxy.

By blatantly avoiding any attempt at canon or continuity, this book manages to use familiar characters and images in some really funny ways.

Both myself and the Kiddo were laughing all the way through.

Rating: 8.5

Castle Waiting Volume 1

From the school library. This was a pretty awesome find, considering it's a high school library in Vietnam!

Title: Castle Waiting
Issue: Volume 1
Publisher: Fantagraphics
Date: 2012
Writer: Linda Medley
Artist: Linda Medley
Letterer: Todd Klein
Editor: Gary Groth

This is an amazing example of fantasy done without the need for epic battles, and really, barely any battles at all. Beginning as a clever retelling of Sleeping Beauty, Castle Waiting continues the story long after the "happily ever after", describing the fate of the residents of the sleeping princess' castle after she has left for a new life with her handsome prince.

The castle goes one to become a refuge for those in need and for those who don't quite fit in. Two stories then take center stage: The tale of Jain, a young mother-to-be fleeing a bad marriage and making her way to the castle, serves to introduce the castle's residents and sets up a bunch of subplots as the characters all interact with the newcomer, and eventually with the new baby.

From there, the story changes focus to Sister Peace, a nun who comes from a rather unique background and who went on to join an even more unique religious order.

The artwork is lovely, but an even greater strength is the dialogue, which is endlessly intriguing, and constantly taking the reader in unexpected directions. Classical fairy tale themes are nicely interwoven with some feminist sensibilities, as well as a good sense of humor.

This book is completely charming from its lighter moments to its more serious storylines.

Rating 9.5/10

Angel & Faith #17

Last summer at MASSive Comic Con, someone was giving away some issues of this series, and I ended up with two consecutive issues. This is the first of those.

Title: Angel & Faith
Issue: 17
Date: 2012
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Writer: Joss Whedon, Christos Gage
Artist: Rebekah Isaacs
Colorist: Dan Jackson
Letterer: Richard Starkings, Comicraft's Jimmy Betancourt
Editor: Scott Allie, Sierra Hahn, Freddye Lins
Cover: Steve Morris

I really have no right to complain about this being hard to follow, given that I'm jumping into the series at issue #17, not to mention that it's an adaptation (continuation, really) of a show I've only ever seen one episode of. So this gets a pass from me on needing a scorecard to figure out who is who and what is going on.

There are basically two parallel stories happening. The first involves Angel and Faith doing some fairly standard detective work to try to figure out who stole the body of Giles during his funeral. This is with the intention of eventually resurrecting Giles.

Meanwhile, the second storyline has some sort of alternate-rules zombie bad guy deceiving a crew of young women (slayers?) with a promise to resurrect a dead friend of theirs. This half of the plot also features flashbacks to a group of young dabblers in the supernatural years back in London.

The interplay between Angel and Faith was strong, with some good dialogue, and nice progression on the unraveling of the mystery elements of the story.

Meanwhile, the battle between the bad guys and their (outmatched but scrappy) victims was enough to at least evoke some sympathy.

I wouldn't say this has me looking to go out and buy more of these, but I am looking forward to reading the next issue which I already have.

Rating: 5.5/10

Little White Duck: A Childhood In China

From the school library. This Friday is the last day to check out books, so I'll probably grab one or two more graphic novels and/or manga.

Title: Little White Duck: A Childhood In China
Publisher: Graphic Universe (Lerner Books)
Date: 2012
Writer: Na Liu, Andres Vera Martinez
Artist: Andres Vera Martinez
Letterer: Na Liu, Andres Vera Martinez

This is a collection of stories from the writer's childhood in China during the 1970s, beginning with the death of Chairman Mao Zedong. Events of the Cultural Revolution and the beginnings of China opening up to the world are seen through the eyes of a child who is focused on the day to day events of her life more than on the large scale events around her.

The stories are charming and the illustrations beautiful. There is family drama, and glimpses of both the traditional lifestyles and the transition into a modern economy.

The stories vary in tone quite a bit. One has the main character and her sister embarking on schemes to hunt rats after their school has demanded each student bring in a quota of four rat's tails as part of the campaign to eliminated the "four pests" (flies, mosquitoes, rats, and sparrows, which were later removed from the list and replaced by roaches).

Another story retells the traditional Chinese New Year myth, and then presents the New Year preparations and celebrations in the main characters family.

This is meant for a middle-grade audience, and it includes some basic Chinese vocabulary, maps, and a simple timeline of the history of China. Some young readers my be disturbed by some images of animals being killed (mostly for practical reasons, but there are some abusive behaviors involved).

I found this to be a well-written personal insight that was full of interesting detail. The individual vignettes don't have a lot of thematic connection, but they feel like the kind of things that an adult looking back on childhood would pick out when telling their story.

Rating: 8/10

O P Q: Adventures In Substitute Teaching

Here is one that I got at MeCAF.

Title: O P Q: Adventures In Substitute Teaching
Publisher: Anne Thalheimer
Date: 2012
Writer: Anne Thalheimer
Artist: Anne Thalheimer

Autobiographical minicomic about the artist's experiences as a substitute teacher, covering for pretty much all grades and subjects.

I loved the facial expressions in this. Thalheimer has some great visual reactions to all of the situations she gets into, whether it be bait-and-switch assignments at school, adorable preschoolers, obnoxious middle-schoolers, or having to teach gym class.

As a teacher myself, I could appreciate a lot of the situations described in this comic. I also learned some things about public school subbing that were new to me.

There were some great anecdotes, especially toward the end, and I would have love to see even more details of the day-to-day interactions with the students.

Rating: 7/10

The Sensational Spider-Man #33.2

This is another book that I picked up on Free Comic Book Day from New England Comics. It's not an actual FCBD giveaway, just a random comic from the box of extra freebies at NEC.

Title: The Sensational Spider-Man
Issue: 33.2
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Date: October, 2012
Writer: Tom DeFalco
Penciler: Carlo Barberi
Inker: Walden Wong
Colorist: Antonio Fabela
Letterer: VC's Clayton Cowles
Cover: Simone Bianchi
Editor: Tom Brennan

I haven't really read much from Marvel during this timeframe, so I have no idea what is up with that numbering system.

NYPD detective Carlie Cooper finds herself in the midst of a case involving human trafficking, immigration, elements of the Russian mob, and the new incarnation of the Vulture.

While Cooper pursues the case through her channels, with help from Peter Parker, Spider-Man is going after the bad guys using his own methods. This story didn't duck the complexities of the human trafficking and immigration issues, and it had a pretty interesting cast of minor characters, all pursuing their own agendas.

Detective Cooper is particularly interesting as she grapples with issues of what is right versus what is the law.

Rating: 7.5/10