Review of "Super Joe: The Joe Namath Story," by Larry Bortstein

 Review of

Super Joe: The Joe Namath Story, by Larry Bortstein

Three out of five stars

Was Namath really a superstar?

 Published in 1969 shortly after the Jets won Super Bowl III, this book is very laudatory about Joe Namath. He was brash, predicting a Jets victory when almost everyone else thought it would be another NFL rout. The Jets and Namath were decisive victors in a game that is considered the turning point in equality between the NFL and AFL.

 Namath is put forward as a rebel and a star, along with his reputation as a big-time ladies man and swinger. While the Jets did in fact win their division the following year, they lost the playoff to the Chiefs and the following year they started a streak of eight seasons without a winning record. It is clear from this book that Joe Namath was the beneficiary of the media hype that playing in New York meant.

 Granted, this book was read in retrospect, but if a comparison is done of Namath with other Hall of Fame quarterbacks, his stats are significantly weaker, specifically the number of interceptions versus touchdown passes. He flashed brightly, but then faded fast. This book was written during the flash and before the fade.

Review of "The Shocking Origin of Jonah Hex," by Gray, Palmiotti and Bernet

 Review of

The Shocking Origin of Jonah Hex, by Gray, Palmiotti and Bernet

Five out of five stars

Scarred in more ways than visual

 Jonah Hex is a western character that is both a hero and a bit of a villain. Severely scarred, he projects a persona of not being a person to mess with, albeit he does exhibit a streak of kindness and willingness to aid others.  This comic describes the manner whereby he acquired the deep seated scarring of his personality.

He was a soldier in the Confederate Army of the American Civil War and his favored weapon was a hatchet. Severely wounded in an attack on a Union fort, Hex is tied to an x-cross and severely whipped. Left for dead on a floating raft, he is discovered by a Confederate family that treats his wounds and provides for his recovery. When marauding bandits attack the household, Hex fights them off and lives to exact revenge against those that wronged him.

 Origin stories always have a charm that others don’t have, for it is generally more interesting to learn how the main character came into being. This is no exception, Hex is a violent man, yet unlike the others, his violence serves a positive purpose.

Review of "Transmetropolitan: Back On the Street," by Warren Ellis and Darick Robertson

 Review of

Transmetropolitan: Back On the Street, by Warren Ellis and Darick Robertson ISBN 9781401220846

Five out of five stars

An amusing, yet dark anti-hero

 The story opens with famed and extremely talented journalist Spider Jerusalem holed up in a mountain retreat where he has gone to escape from the world. Yet, he has phone contact with the world, and he is contacted by a publisher to remind him that he received a massive advance to write two books. Threatened with legal action, Spider loads up his car and goes back to the “real world.”

 Not happy about it, he holds a grudge against everything, yet after he removes his massive growth of hair on his head, he gets back into the game. It is a world that is filthy, trashy and split into wild factions. Yet, he proves almost immediately that there is no one better at the art of expose journalism. His methods are rough, crude and just right for his job in this environment.

 One of the darkest of graphic novels, it is based on a dystopia, both in the overall environment as well as the internal structure of Jerusalem. He thinks nothing of being on either side of the getting beat up environment. Followers of the news will find several nuggets of truth in his wild and unpredictable exploits. The authors have created and produced a great character.

Review of "Chicken Soup for the Baseball Fan’s Soul," compiled by Jack Canfield et. al.

 Review of

Chicken Soup for the Baseball Fan’s Soul, compiled by Jack Canfield et. al. ISBN 1558749659

Five out of five stars

Some stories will put tears in your eyes

 These short stories are implausible to the point where they are plausible under the “truth is stranger than fiction” criteria. Some are by people whose profession is baseball, most are by people that enjoy the game. A few will put tears in your eyes.

 Some of the best are based on fans experiences with players and they are positive. The events took place before the explosion in the commercialization of the baseball autograph business. In them, the players are cordial, polite and cooperative, often going out of their way to do something positive for a fan.

 All levels of baseball, from the basics of tee ball to some of the greatest players ever are covered. The emphasis is on the positive influence baseball has on our lives, again from tee ball on up. If you are in a mental and emotional valley, this book will invert that particular curve.

Review of "Buffalo Bill’s Boyhood," by Elmer Sherwood

 Review of

Buffalo Bill’s Boyhood, by Elmer Sherwood

Four out of five stars

Great adventure story, even if embellished

 While William (Buffalo Bill) Cody was a real person that was engaged in adult actions at a young age, there is little to no evidence that some of the exploits in this book actually happened. Yet, they are exciting to read, they will stir the imagination of boys that follow the genre of the western.

 While his father (Isaac Cody) died from the stab wounds of an attack by a pro-slavery advocate, the real story is more involved. His father lived for some time after the attack, his death was largely due to a respiratory infection. Cody’s claim that he was a rider for the Pony Express and experienced great danger is also disputed.

 Cody was a great showman he was not above engaging in creative exaggeration. That is the case with this author as well, still it is a fun and easy book to read.

Review of "Star Trek Fotonovel #1 City on the Edge of Forever," created by Gene Roddenberry

 Review of

Star Trek Fotonovel #1 City on the Edge of Forever, created by Gene Roddenberry ISBN 9780553113457

Five out of five stars

Captures the charm and sadness of the original series episode

 No episode of the Star Trek original series captures the enormous burden of responsibility that the captain of a starship must bear. With many dangers in the universe and the ship constantly moving into unknown and uncertain territories, disaster with the loss of millions or billions of lives are always a potential consequence of the captain’s actions.

 This episode also introduces an incredible, even godlike, entity. The Guardian of Forever is the most powerful object to ever appear in Star Trek, yet it is neither machine nor living being. Yet, it is eternal, capable of displaying all that has happened in the universe since it’s creation. It reminded me of the Akashic records of theosophy. It is the equivalent of a god, capable of providing access without actually altering the events.

 The Enterprise encounters massive waves of time and space distortion and in an accident, Dr. McCoy is injected with an overdose of a drug that leads to wild paranoia and psychosis. He beams down to the surface and jumps through the Guardian, going back into the past and fundamentally altering the present. Only the Enterprise landing party is spared the changes. Determined to restore the world as they know it Kirk and Spock go back in time.

They land on Earth in the 1930’s at the peak of the Depression. They are in a city in the United States and must somehow use Spock’s tricorder to determine what it is they must do. Overcoming enormous technical hurdles, Spock manages to learn that in order for their world to live, one person, a good-hearted woman and Kirk’s love, must die.

 This is one of the best written and acted episodes of the original series. The viewer feels Kirk’s anguish at what he must do. Never has it been more clear that Captain Kirk is fundamentally an island in his position as commander of a starship. It is also an expression of the phrase to appear later in the Star Trek franchise, “The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.”

 This presentation of the episode in the form of the fotonovel, equivalent to a graphic novel where the images are stills from the episode, is very well done. The humor and dead serious goals of Captain Kirk and Spock are captured. It is a book you keep on the shelf as you know you will reading it again. An urge similar to rewatching the episodes of the original series.

Review of "Kingsman: The Red Diamond 1 of 6," by Rob Williams and Simon Fraser

 Review of

Kingsman: The Red Diamond 1 of 6, by Rob Williams and Simon Fraser

Four out of five stars

Introduction of a James Bond familiar

 This comic is the first of a six part series featuring a snappy dressing Englishman called Eggsy. In keeping with the Bond character, the opening captions have him in a car with a sexy woman and the discussion is hot with promise of sexual action. The setting is London and Eggsy is an agent for the British government. He receives a call on the videophone in a public cash machine informing him that a member of the Greek royal family has been kidnapped and threatened with death. Eggsy is to drop everything and attempt a rescue.

 While the agent is talented, that skill set is dwarfed by that of his car. It flies, exudes bombs and Eggsy uses it to rescue the Greek prince. In true Q fashion, he also has some rather effective gadgets on his person, and he exhibits some incredible athletic ability during the rescue. At the end, when the Greek prince is unappreciative of his acts, Eggsy does something that leads to the threat of his being fired.

 The story then takes a different turn, where Eggsy meets his mother, and the British class-conscious social mores are in full view. When Eggsy visits a bar in the area of his youth, he meets people he knew and is reminded of where he came from. When he asks a woman to go with him to another place, he is rebuffed with the standard comment, “You think you are better than us.”

 What makes this story resonate is that the private life of the hero agent is that of an ordinary man. He has been successful and is wealthy yet cannot escape his roots. Wearing the sharpest clothing leads to resentment rather than respect. It ends with an event that no one could envision James Bond experiencing.