Review of "Animaniacs Number 10, Special Gratuitous Pinup Cover"

 Review of

Animaniacs Number 10, Special Gratuitous Pinup Cover

Five out of five stars

An explanation of how comics are made with a surprise ending

 This is a comic within a comic. It opens with a doctor telling his nurse to hold all calls while he sneaks into his private room in order to read a comic book. Suddenly, Yakko, Wakko and Dot appear and disturb his train of thought. After a bit of nonsensical dialog, the doctor pulls down a screen that shows an unshaven male writer in a minimalist room trying to generate an idea for a story for a comic book. Since they are all comic characters themselves, the four of them jump into the caption and become part of that story.

 Once the writer has experienced the necessary inspiration and the story is written, he takes it to a very skeptical editor. After significant pleading, the editor agrees to turn it into a script. From there it goes to the penciler, followed by the letterer, then the inker and finally the colorist. The result of each step in the process is shown, so the reader knows what each has done. After reading this comic, the reader will know precisely what is meant by the credits that appear in the first pages of the comic book.

 There is a lot of silly dialog, but there is a wonderful last dialog balloon. The doctor is depicted as wearing glasses with large lenses, has a long face and talks with a German accent. I was at a loss to understand why this was done until that last balloon, where the text is, “I guess Wertham was right.” Of course, once I saw that I understood the reference to German-American psychiatrist Dr. Frederic Wertham, whose book, “The Seduction of the Innocent” triggered the suppressive Comics Code Authority. That was a great touch to an oddball comic book.

Review of "The Rescue of the Danish Jews: Moral Courage Under Stress," edited by Leo Goldberger

 Review of

The Rescue of the Danish Jews: Moral Courage Under Stress, edited  by Leo Goldberger ISBN 0814730116

Five out of five stars

Chronicle of a national expression of moral courage

 Of all the nations under military occupation by Germany in the Second World War, Denmark was arguably the best off. The oppressive thumb of the Germans was rather light, the legal Danish government independently functioned for approximately three years before the members resigned as a body. This helped the Danes when they carried out their great rescue.

 There were less than ten thousand Jews in Denmark at that time, most of which were otherwise undistinguished from their fellow Danes. When the Germans got around to rounding up the Jews in an attempt to add them to the killing list, the Danish people almost universally rose up to hide them and then spirit them off to neutral Sweden. It was an incredible act of national will, unlike in other countries there were few instances of betrayal.

 As is pointed out in this book, it was a German that tipped off the Danes regarding the planned roundup, giving them time to alert everyone to the danger and take the Jews into hiding before they could be transported to Sweden. There were also almost no instances of the vacated Jewish property being looted. Their neighbors performed the upkeep tasks, so when the Jews returned, all of their possessions were as when they left.

 This book describes one of the most incredible examples of an entire nation rallying to protect the smallest of minorities. Most of the participants risked their lives when doing so, nearly always helping people that they did not know. In an age when most people acquiesced to the massive event now called the Holocaust, this book chronicles the actions of a nation that stood up against the monstrous evil.

Review of "Fossils," by Claire Llewellyn

 Review of

Fossils, by Claire Llewellyn ISBN 0763567523

Five out of five stars

Excellent primer on the creation and value of fossils

At 20.5 inches by 14.5 inches, this book would be difficult for the youngest of readers to manipulate well enough to read it by themselves. However, it would be an excellent choice for a large reading circle where one person is reading it to a large group of children. The text is large enough so that it could easily be read by children several feet away.

 Dinosaurs have always been a subject that fascinates children. The idea that creatures that large and ferocious once walked the Earth seems hard to believe and was once dismissed. Yet, they were very real, although the fossil record is still incomplete. There is nothing more impressive than going to a museum and standing next to an intact skeleton of one of the larger dinosaurs.

 This book is an excellent primer on how fossils are created, some of the living creatures that were forever preserved and how scientists put the pieces together in an attempt to understand how the creature moved, what they ate and how they reproduced. Written at the level of the second grade child, this is a science lesson of the first magnitude.

Review of "Beware Volume One," Pre-code classic comics

 Review of

Beware Volume One, Pre-code classic comics, ISBN 9781786361349

Five out of five stars

Pre-code classics with all the gore

 In the history of comic books, the year 1954 was a fundamental turning point. That was when German-born American psychiatrist Fredric Wertham published his infamous book “Seduction of the Innocent.” In it, he claimed that comic books were a serious cause of juvenile delinquency. Congressional hearings took place and in response, the comics industry instituted a program of self-regulation called the Comics Code Authority. Gone were all depictions of anything not considered bland vanilla fare, where the good guys always won, crime did not pay, and violence was minimized.

  This book is a compilation of the issues of “Beware” from January 1953 through January 1954, right to the point where the code was activated. As such, it depicts gore, violence against people, horrific killing monsters, ghosts and hauntings, human dismemberment and even cannibalism. While the extreme censorship was unwarranted, it is easy to see where the simple-minded would be a little disturbed by the stories.

 Yet, when compared to the modern world of the killer/slasher, stupid and ultimately dead teenager movies, this stuff is quite tame. This book is an excellent look back to what was in many ways a golden age of comics. Mindless entertainment that spurred the imagination of young people but did nothing to twist them into the deviants that Wertham claimed they would become.

Review of "Justice League Quarterly #2," DC comics

 Review of

Justice League Quarterly #2, DC comics

Five out of five stars

A parody of Marvel characters

 Even though this was published by rival DC Comics, the main theme of this publication is a parody of characters appearing in Marvel Comics. The primary character is called Mr. Nebula and he is a satirical representation of Galactus, the destroyer of worlds. In this case, his powers and aims are in extreme redecorating, with wild and colorful designs and rearrangements his mode of operation. His herald in this case is the Scarlet Skier, which is based on the Silver Surfer of Marvel.

 Tired of working for Mr. Nebula, the Scarlet Skier flees from Galactus and is in hiding on Earth. His former employer is determined to find him, so Earth is in grave danger from being subjected to an extreme and unwanted makeover.

 To succeed, Mr. Nebula must overcome the Justice League, led in this case by the Martian Manhunter. The dialog is generally snarky and at times over the top to the point of absurdity. For example, there is the caption, “Kirtan-Rodd has been transported to a dimension of unconnectedness, of enformed madness, of swirling colors and unbelievable outrageous forms!” Note also the name of the character, another that appears is Dr. Doolotz.

 One of the least serious comic stories you will ever read, at times the captions must be read slowly, or you will likely miss out on some of the rapid fire satirical and at times nonsensical jokes.

Review of "Yeh Shen: A Play," by Brenda Parkes

 Review of

Yeh Shen: A Play, by Brenda Parkes ISBN 0763567485

Five out of five stars

Cinderella story from China that dates from the ninth century

At 20.5 inches by 14.5 inches, this book would be difficult for the youngest of readers to manipulate well enough to read it by themselves. However, it would be an excellent choice for a large reading circle where one person is reading it to a large group of children. The text is large enough so that it could easily be read by children several feet away.

 This story will be recognized by all that read it or have it read to them as a variation of the Cinderella story of Western literature. The main character (Yeh Shen) is a poor girl that is forced by her stepmother and stepsister to do all the work in their house. Her only friend is a fish that she brings rice to and communicates with.

  The stepmother tries to sever the bond between Yeh Shen and the fish, but there is magic involved. When the local king has a spring festival, Yeh Shen attends in very elaborate garments provided to her. When she encounters her step relatives she is forced to flee, and she leaves one of her slippers behind. The young king saw her at the festival and has his servants scour the kingdom in search of her. They eventually find her in the most unlikely of places and Yeh Shen is identified as the woman at the festival. The king and Yeh Shen are married and are happy for the rest of their lives.

 The story known as Cinderella is one of the oldest and independently cross cultural of all the fairy tales. The basic story is identified as appearing in Greece in the first century BC and identifiable variants are present in the folk tales of many cultures. Therefore, this is a great book for multicultural studies, for it demonstrates that some ideas are of general human origin and independent of a specific culture.

Review of "U. S. Cavalry," by John Selby

 Review of

U. S. Cavalry, by John Selby ISBN 0850450829

Five out of five stars

Synopsis of the history of the U. S. Cavalry forces

 As odd as it may sound, there is still a role for a limited number of cavalry in the U. S. military. Who can forget the image of mounted U. S. special forces troops riding into combat in Afghanistan in the first years of the twenty-first century? Those men were the latest iteration of a long tradition of mounted troops in the U. S. military. This book is a short history of their role in the nations wars.

 For obvious reasons, major history of the cavalry in U. S. wars took place in the Revolutionary, Mexican and Civil Wars. Yet, in popular culture, the image that most comes to mind is the cavalry riding to the rescue in the western movies. That has a historical basis, the long distances involved in the lengthy war between the U. S. and Native Americans required both sides to be mounted and capable of rapid and sustained movement.

 This book is an excellent primer on a branch of the military that was once key to winning battles yet has now largely been relegated to an occasional action.