Review: Amelia Earhart: This Broad Ocean

I began writing this review April 29, 2011 then a bunch of stuff happened.  I made it as far as the first 2 paragraphs.  I’ve completed it just now and I feel the exactly the same.

I don’t usually write reviews for the Dollar Bin.  I tend to convey my opinions on the audio recordings.  However, after I finished reading the Eisner nominated  Amelia Earhart:  This Broad Ocean by Sarah Stewart Taylor and Ben Towle I just had to get my thoughts and emotions out now, so here I write.

I want to start by telling you that multiple times through my reading experience I felt my whole body well up with emotion.  I found myself just grinning and tearing up all at the same time.  (Did I mention I was reading this in the middle of a crowed restaurant?  Well I was and the threat of out-pouring emotions was a little embarrassing.)  Ben Towle has the incredible ability to give characters with simple black dot eyes the most amazing range of expression.  I truly felt every bout of anxiety, moment of anticipation, and glimmer of hope along with Amelia and the rest of the cast.  Even has I flip through the book to write this review I keep catching myself grinning as I scan the panels.

Sarah Stewart Taylor’s tale of Amelia Earhart as told through the eyes of the young Grace Goodland, writer of the self published local newspaper, The Trepassey Herald,  couldn’t have been told any better.  Grace is a pioneer of her own merit and is the perfect conduit to relay such a powerful example of hope and inspiration.  Her story is both informational and encouraging.  The scenes depicted as the tale is told are well paced and so full of hope and wonder.
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Review: Dr Who Season 6; Part 1

In the nearly 50 years since it first broadcast there have been 11 different men to play the mysterious Doctor Who.  For me, at the end of last year’s Fifth Season, Matt Smith’s Doctor ranked second to last, only above Paul McGann’s 8^th Doctor and that’s because McGann only had the one two-hour movie.

I don’t lay the blame for my dislike of Smith’s Doctor on the actor, but instead what he was given to work with.  Matt Smith has taken the best parts of all the previous Doctors and come up with something new. 

The Doctor is over 900 years old, has had dozens of companions (mostly human) and has spent the bulk of his known life not only on Earth but defending it from all sorts of invasions, yet, this Doctor seemed to be baffled by even the most simple of human interactions.  I felt as though I’d spent a dozen episodes watching the really smart kid in school, who had a kind of book smarts, but not an ounce of common sense nor the first clue how to relate to the other students. 

After watching Season 6, Part 1 on DVD (on sale now by the BBC) Matt Smith’s 11^th Doctor is now in my top 5 incarnations, somewhere between Colin Bakers criminally too-short run as the 6^th Doctor and Christopher Eccelston’s lonely, tortured 9^th Doctor.

So what’s changed between the two seasons?  Well, The Doctor has settled into his new regeneration for one thing.  Gone is the Doctor who jumps up and down in the middle of the room screaming at the top of his lungs, “Look at me and how wacky and strange I am!”  That has all been replaced with a man who might still be all of those things, but has learned to temper that side of himself.  He is man who feels comfortable with his two companions Amy and Rory.  For the first time that I can remember the Tardis feels like a home and The Doctor has a family.

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Advance Review: Welcome to Oddville by Jay Stephens

Do you remember the first time you read Chris Onstad’s Achewood? Well I do. It took me a good six strips before something clicked and I “got” it. Achewood is an idiosyncratic strip that can take a while to get into. But once you become accustomed to the characters and Onstad’s sense of humor the strip is hilarious. Welcome to Oddville by Jay Stephens was the same way for me. Stephens’s characterization and sense of humor took me a while to understand. But once I got it I realized the subtle brilliance of his work.

Welcome to Oddville HC (released through AdHouse Books this week) collects the entire strip which originally ran in The Toronto Star’s Brand New Planet from March of 2003 to the Summer of 2007. Stephens has a quick wit and sharp writing which lends itself perfectly to the traditional newspaper comic strip. Stephens has had a long career in comics and television. He created the animated television series Tutenstein and The Secret Saturdays. He has also worked on countless books, comics and strips, including The Land of Nod, Jetcat Clubhouse, Chick & Dee and Cartoon Network Action Pack. He was also a frequent contributor to Nickelodeon Magazine.

Welcome to Oddville centers loosely around Jetcat a kid superhero and her adventures saving Oddville from doom and destruction. In the first two pages alone we are introduced to Fire, Sloshy (a snowman) and Bandage. The whole cast of characters are quirky and eccentric. I think my favorite character is Petty the Snail. I love his passive despondency. He is a bit of a downer, but he goes along for the ride (though not entirely happily or willingly).

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Shawn Says: Spotlight on New Releases May 4, 2011

In which Shawn looks at the New Releases and lets you know which books she is most excited about!

1) Tiny Titans TP Field Trippin’

Aw Yeah Titans! I seriously adore this book and everything about this book. Art Baltazar and Franco are magical together. I love the characters, the coloring, the play-on-words, the paper. Everything. Tiny Titans is perfect for young fans and old fans. It is a great book to read with your kids to introduce them to the world of superheroes at a young age. This book is incredible playful and silly. It is a perfect escape from some of the other darker comics out there. Every now and again you need a breath of fresh air and Tiny Titans is a cool summer morning.

2) Edge of Doom #5

There is absolutely nothing wrong with dark and twisted books, I personally like to mix it up now and again. So if you are looking for something a little more mature than Tiny Titans allow me to introduce to you Edge of Doom. The first four issues of this series were basically one-shots that didn’t have any connecting story threads. All of that changes in the fifth issue. Writer Steve Niles throws us for a loop and completely changes the entire direction of the series. And I loved it! I really enjoyed the way this series wrapped up. I love cheesy horror and that is exactly the elements that he played up in this issue. Kelley Jones’s art was dead on in this issue (and the entire series for that matter). I love his monsters. His art was great on both the close-ups and on the wide-angle shots.

3) Delirium’s Party A Little Endless Storybook

Delirium’s Party is a follow up to The Little Endless Storybook (which was re-released this week also). I am a sucker for anything Sandman so I naturally had to pick up Delirium’s Party. I love the fun cover design and feel of the book and the way it looks like a children’s book. Jill Thompson’s watercolors are beautifully rendered. She puts so much detail into each page that you really have to slow down in order to take it all in. It is a fun and cute story.

Review: Batman: Brave and the Bold Season 1; Part 2

Comic fans are an extremely fickle lot.  Look on any message board and you’ll see page after page of concern among comic readers about the monthly decline in comic sales and how the reading demographic is gradually getting older and older and how we’re not grabbing the younger readers. 

Look a little further down on the same message board and you’ll hear those same fans complain about the latest Batman animated series Batman: The Brave and The Bold.  There will be a chorus of people complaining that it is too campy, that the stories are too light-weight, that Batman is too jokey, that he should work alone for the most part, and that *gasp* Kevin Conroy isn’t doing Batman’s voice! 

Is the dark, gritty, and oft-times depressing Batman: The Animated Series really the best way to introduce new younger readers still in single digits age-wise to Batman?  Wouldn’t a show with a lighter tone and brighter palette that pairs him up with characters from every corner of the DC universe be a better way to go?  Give the kids a taste of what DC has to offer in a fun way and like crack dealers where the first taste is free, the kids will come back and pay for the comics.

Even though this series is aimed at kids, I love it.  The 9 year old in me is has a towel pinned around his neck while jumping on the couch with joy when he hears the theme song and he cannot wait to see who the guest star is that week so getting my copy of Batman: The Brave and the Bold-Season One; Part Two made me a very happy 9 year old.  The adult in me who read the original comic series this cartoon is based on loves not knowing who the guest star that week will be and how Batman interacts with the different characters.  The mentor/apprentice relationship with Blue Beetle, the friendly rivalry with Green Arrow, or his exasperation with the over-enthusiastic Aquaman are all great.

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