Review of "Flash Issue #1," from Tangent Comics, by Todd Dezago, Gary Frank and Cam Smith

Review of

Flash Issue #1, from Tangent Comics, by Todd Dezago, Gary Frank and Cam Smith

Three out of five stars

Incongruous incompetent villain with high-tech gadgets

 While the writers of this comic deserve praise for establishing the context for the superpowers of the heroine, the storyline is very poor. When the hero has great powers, their adversaries must be powerful and competent. Superman had Lex Luthor and Mr. Mxyzptlk and Spider-Man had the Green Goblin and Doc Oc.

In this case the main villain is a bumbling incompetent that always manages to find a way to fail each time he has the heroine in his sights. Even though he is using very sophisticated technology. The mother of the heroine is very much a tiger mom, using every possible angle to get and keep her daughter in the spotlight. Even to the point of increasing her danger. I understand that these features are meant to be amusing, but to me they simply fall flat. Make the danger a real one, or otherwise it is hard to keep your interest.

The heroine is able to manipulate light, which is the source of the title. She is capable of coming and going in a flash of light. Nice concept, and she will no doubt appeal to girls. However, the overbearing mother will wear on readers of both genders.

Review of "Phyllis Diller’s Housekeeping Hints," by Phyllis Diller

 Review of

Phyllis Diller’s Housekeeping Hints, by Phyllis Diller

Five out of five stars

Jokes from a legend and a trailblazer

 Very underappreciated by most people other than the female comics that came after her, Phyllis Diller was nothing like her stage persona. She characterized herself as a dingbat, klutz and all around incompetent, yet she was a comedic genius. She wrote her own jokes, and her timing could be used as an educational tool. She always appeared holding a cigarette holder, even though she did not smoke. The cigarette in the holder was actually wooden. Her cackle laugh was also a signature feature.

 Phyllis Diller was the first female comic to make it as a national star and the female comics that came after do not hesitate to pay tribute to her. The jokes in this book demonstrate her comedic acumen, for they appeal to women who find the role of neat and tidy homemaker to be frustrating. The jokes are all at the level of the sixties clean, all could have, and some did, appear on network television of the sixties.

 A true comedic genius, Diller demonstrates in this book that she was an excellent writer of jokes about the lazy and incompetent housewife.

Review of Rover Red Charlie #5," by Garth Ennis and Michael Dipascale Five out of five stars

 Review of

Rover Red Charlie #5, by Garth Ennis and Michael Dipascale

Five out of five stars

Post human apocalypse from a dog’s perspective

 An incredible plague of some kind has rapidly infected humans, driving them all mad in a very short time. This led to mass suicides, murder and to overpowering indifference that led to starvation. The main characters are three sentient dogs that are traveling across the United States in order to arrive at the Big Splash, their term for the ocean. They are also looking for any surviving feeders, which is their term for humans.

 While intelligent, they are still dogs, so they occasionally frolic and play, sniffing appropriately when they encounter strange dogs. Along their travels, they encounter many human skeletons along with what appears to be senseless destruction. Eventually, they reach the ocean and splash away in joy. Yet, they discover that their joy at arriving may be very premature.

 Since this is number five in the sequence, there is nothing in the way of explanation as to precisely what happened. It is a very creative rendition of a post-apocalyptic world, the perspective of dogs and how they are surviving without humans is very well structured. Once I had finished reading this issue, I started a search for other issues as there was an urge to learn how the context was created as well as what happens after the issue-ending cliffhanger.

Review of "I’ve Got Tears in My Ears from Lyin’ on My Back in My Bed While I Cry Over You …," compiled by Paula Schwed

 Review of

I’ve Got Tears in My Ears from Lyin’ on My Back in My Bed While I Cry Over You …, compiled by Paula Schwed ISBN 0836279999

Four out of five stars

(Un)usual lyrics from country songs

 Country songs generally follow a few themes, yet each song is usually unique. This book contains lyric snippets from country songs that the compiler considered unusual. Most are very good and focus on aspects of love relationships.

For example, two of them are “My tears have washed ‘I love you’ from the blackboard of my heart” and “You’d make an angel want to cheat.” In the not so great, there is, “If I don’t love you, grits ain’t groceries.”

 Even if you are not a fan of country music, which describes me, you can still appreciate the creative metaphors for life found in these lyrics.

Review of 'More “Who’s In Charge Here?”' by Gerald Gardner

 Review of

More “Who’s In Charge Here?” by Gerald Gardner

Three out of five stars

Public figures with inserted gag lines

 This book takes photos of public figures and inserts gag dialog balloons. While a few of them are admittedly funny, others are very lame, even for the early sixties. There is a famous photo of Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev and John Kennedy, and the dialog balloon emanates from Khrushchev, and he is saying, “Same to you fella.” There is another with Richard Nixon and a black man with a dual dialog balloon where they are saying, “Swa-nee, how I love ya-“

 This book was no doubt considered funny when it was published, but the humor simply has not aged well. In most cases it is also necessary for the reader to recognize the primary personalities in the images. Without that, there is little opportunity for the image plus caption to be considered funny.

Review of "Pink and Say," by Patricia Polacco

 Review of

Pink and Say, by Patricia Polacco ISBN 0590542109

5 out of five stars

True story of boyhood heroism

 It is not commonly known that boys in their mid-teens served in both armies during the American Civil War. Sheldon Russell Curtis was fifteen when he was wounded in battle and separated from his unit of the Union Army. He laid on the ground for two days, moving in and out of consciousness. He was found by Pinkus Aylee of the Forty-eighth Colored of the Union Army. Pinkus then was able to carry Sheldon until they managed to get to safety at the home of Pinkus’ mother, Moe Moe Bay, a slave.

 She was able to nurse Russell back to health, it was his first experience with black people. When he was billeted near Washington D. C., Sheldon was able to shake hands with President Lincoln, so there was a transitive handshake relationship between all people that shook Russell’s hand after that.

Marauders were running wild in what was slave territory, and they eventually came and killed Moe Moe and took Pinkus and Sheldon prisoner. They were transported to the most vile of POW camps in the Confederacy, Andersonville. Approximately 13,000 Union prisoners died there. While Sheldon survived his ordeal, Pinkus died in the camp.

 This story is true and was handed down through the generations in the Curtis family. Sheldon told his daughter Rosa, who told it to her daughter Estella, who told it to her son William, who told it to his daughter Patricia, the author of the book. It is a sad story of the difficult times when a great war was fought over what differences in skin color meant to social structure.

Review of "Barefoot Gen: A Cartoon History of Hiroshima, Volume One," by Keiji Nakazawa

 Review of

Barefoot Gen: A Cartoon History of Hiroshima, Volume One, by Keiji Nakazawa, ISBN 9780867196023

Five out of five stars

Riveting tale of the most horrific of events

 The author was six years old and present when the atomic bomb was exploded over Hiroshima. Fortunately, there was a concrete wall between him and the explosion, so he was spared the devastating effects of the heat of the flash. Therefore, he was an eyewitness to the horror of people walking around where their flesh was literally melted from their bodies. His family dwelling collapsed and some of his family members trapped, later killed by the firestorm that engulfed the city.

 This graphic novel is a graphic depiction of those events that were literally seared into the city and into his memory. It depicts a family (the author’s) that did not follow the official line of Japanese greatness with inevitable victory in what was becoming more and more a suicidal war. His portrayal of their struggles to find sufficient food and overcome the ostracism of others is a bit of fresh air in the usual depiction of the Japanese people blindly following their leaders. Willing to die for the Emperor without questioning the purpose.

 One negative aspect is the depictions of people being brutally punched by neighbors, parents and siblings. Not simple slaps but punched powerful enough to bounce them off the walls. It is puzzling why the author decided to include these scenes.

 This is one of the best graphic novels ever written. The anti-war message is powerful, specifically the reality of the consequences of an atomic war and what it does to living beings. Based on one of the most significant and destructive events of all time, this book could serve as a resource in the teaching of history.