Review of "Tales and Wails For the John"

 Review of

Tales and Wails For the John

Five out of five stars

 The title of this book is a bit misleading; it is meant to be hung on the wall next to the toilet. It’s purpose is to provide light, amusing reading to relax you as you perform the necessary tasks. It contains jokes and cartoons of a sexual nature, what was considered dirty in the sixties. There are few if any swear word, and if there are any, they are light.

Nearly all of the jokes are one or two paragraphs in length, making it easy to complete a few of them before rising up upon completion. As is always the case in a collection of jokes, there is a wide range of quality. Yet there are no stinkers for you to read while you are making a stink.

Review of "Doc Savage: The Heritage of Doc Savage: Part One," comic by Dennis O’Neil

 Review of

Doc Savage: The Heritage of Doc Savage: Part One, comic by Dennis O’Neil

Five out of five stars

Doc is a bit more human in this adventure.

 It is August of 1945 and the Japanese have just surrendered, ending World War II. There is joyous mayhem in the streets of the city and the five close associates of Doc Savage are walking to a restaurant where they have been instructed to meet Doc. They take their seats,  but Doc is extremely late.

 Agents of an enemy have followed them there for the express purpose of killing them and Doc. When they make a move, they are defeated, but not before the building suffers irreparable damage. When Doc performs a chemical analysis of the clothing of the enemy agents, he learns that they were recently in “the valley,” the isolated location in Central America from which Doc gets the gold that funds his operations.

 While the analysis is being done, we are introduced to Doc’s wife F’teena and along with the associates, we learn that she is pregnant. Doc also learns that the person behind the attack is a German officer and scientist that refuses to surrender the cause. There is an immediate departure to the valley so that the group can investigate the situation. This episode ends with a cliffhanger where it appears that Doc has been killed by a sophisticated scientific apparatus.

 The fact that he is married and about to be a father makes Doc much more human. He is also planning for his retirement so that he can spend more time with his wife and child. Yet, along with his associates, there is the lure of the dangerous adventure, something that none of them can give up at this time. The context for this multi-issue story has been well set and the strong desire to read the subsequent segments established.

Review of "Critter Origin," comic by Tom Hutchison et. al.

 Review of

Critter Origin, comic by Tom Hutchison et. al.

Five out of five stars

The story opens with a red-headed young woman wearing a cowboy hat and boots shopping at the local thrift store in Greenville, Michigan. Like all women that are on limited income, she complains about the prices and how her salary does not allow for many such purchases. She is trying to find some outfits more suitable for her upcoming time she will be spending in California.

 After her shopping adventure is over, she is walking on a dirt road through a cornfield when she is almost run over by a pickup truck. When a young girl screams help out the window, she suddenly turns into a super being clad in a skintight spandex outfit that shows every curve and groove. In a short time, she is able to stop the truck and rescue the girl from her kidnapper.

 When she arrives at a farm, we learn that the super girl’s name is Cassia Crawford where she is greeted by her friend Brenda and learns about her heritage as a super being. She acquires a costume having a belt with a buckle containing an artificial intelligence (AI) that controls the equivalent of a prehensile tail.

 Cassia is then introduced to a group of four other superbeings, quite properly composed of two male and two female members. When Cassia says that she looks like some kind of critter with that tale, the buckle changes condition, leading Brenda to believe that the buckle has selected the name “Critter” for the super powered Cassia.

 While this is not an origin in the usual term of explaining how a superhero gains their powers, it does give enough background information to get the story going. Most importantly, it generates enough interest in the reader that they want to read the next issue and tell people about the existence of this one.

Review of "Combat Photographer: The Vietnam Experience," by Nick Mills

  Review of

Combat Photographer: The Vietnam Experience, by Nick Mills ISBN 0939526085

Five out of five stars

A photographic record of the American war in Vietnam

 Photos of combat scenes were done for the first time in the Crimean War in 1853 to 1856. The images were primitive, for the exposure times were quite long. Technical progress was made, but it was not until the Spanish-American war of 1898 and the Boer War of 1899-1902 that action photos of war were made.

 Additional changes were due to modifications in the attitudes of those in charge of making war, both civilian and military leaders. As wars got larger and now had to be justified to the populations, the leaders were more willing to allow people with cameras into the actual war action. For this reason, the American involvement in Vietnam was called the “first television war. “

 This book contains a collection of images from the war in Vietnam, from happy times to combat to images of the dead lying in the dirt. There is text explaining the context of the shot, which is very helpful. What is missing is of course the reality of what was happening inside the people of Vietnam. Despite all the talk of “winning the hearts and minds” of the Vietnamese people, that never took place to the extent needed for an American victory.

 People in front and behind the cameras died in order to make these images. Yet, despite the power of the pictures to denote the action in Vietnam, they do not include the reality that would forever prevent the United States and the South Vietnamese from winning the war.

Review of "Graduate #004," comic by Jon Hughes and Celia Calle

 Review of

Graduate #004, comic by Jon Hughes and Celia Calle

Four out of five stars

Appeals to most skinny teen girls

 This comic opens with a caption where a very thin girl is lying down struggling to get into her jeans. In the next caption she is padding her bustline with tissues. From there she puts on platform shoes and stands up exposing a lot of skin between her navel and the top of her jeans. After a proclamation that she is Invincible Girl, she looks in the mirror and then backs the whole thing off, changing to normal teen clothes.

 Her name is Natalie and while she clearly has some kind of superpowers, she is a very reluctant hero. When walking down the street, she is approached by a boy that is a kindred spirit possessing powers. Natalie gives him the major brush off. She goes into a supermarket and when she realizes that it is about to be robbed at gunpoint, she goes to the attendant and asks to use the restroom. Her goal is to change into her superhero costume, but the attendant disallows her request. She ends up telling the gunman and the male clerk to turn their backs while she strip changes.

 All of this is amusing to an older male, but I doubt that girls beyond the skinny girl body type will find it funny. Natalie is very much a skinny teen girl with issues about belonging, she just happens to have powers that are largely undefined in this issue. I do have to admit that the modest approach in turning from normal to powerful is a plot device that I had never seen before.

Review of "Attack Force Z," DVD version

 Review of

Attack Force Z, DVD version

Four out of five stars

Fiction based on history

 When the Japanese invaded the area of the Western Pacific in 1941-42, their occupation was a harsh one. The people native to the areas were brutally treated and often killed for minor transgressions. Due to the wide area occupied by the Japanese and the difficulty of mounting large scale amphibious operations, the Allied forces formed a set of small commando teams that would engage in quick strikes against high value targets.

  This overall unit was called Z Special Unit and was primarily made up from Australian and New Zealand volunteers. During the war, small teams from this unit engaged in some very successful raids, particularly against Japanese shipping docked at Singapore harbor. The rate of survivability of the members of a mission was very low, it was not unreasonable to consider them suicide missions.

 This movie features a team of five members of the Z Special Unit going ashore from a submarine in order to find what may be survivors of the crash of an Allied airplane. Only the commander knows all of what they are there for and there is a significant Japanese presence on the land. After some fighting and with assistance from the non-Japanese locals, the team discovers that there were survivors of the crash and the viewer learns why they are considered so valuable.

 While there are some incredulous moments in the action, it is generally realistic. By this, the end results are a questionable outcome with deaths among the members of the Z Special Unit. The Japanese are depicted as being brutal in pursuit of their goals. There are no super soldier moments, they are all depicted as no more than well trained soldiers. It is a good movie and while a work of fiction, it could and likely did happen.

Review of "Prophet #1," by Rob Liefeld & Dan Panosian

 Review of

Prophet #1, by Rob Liefeld & Dan Panosian

Five out of five stars

The context of a hero and his companion is established

 As the first issue of a comic dedicated to a new super(soldier/hero), this comic must establish enough background so that the reader can understand the basic premises. It opens with Johnny having a dream where he is battling a small army of metal robots. He slices and dices them very well until he is stunned by what he encounters. At this point, his partner Kirby wakes him up so that they can proceed on their mission. At this point they are in a plane en route to engaging in a two-man assault on a snowy mountain research facility.

 In a manner similar to the diminutive Steve Rogers being transformed into the powerful Captain America, Johnny was transformed by a Dr. Wells into a large and powerful being. This was done in Germany during the period around the Second World War and the goal of the research was to make a super soldier powerful enough to turn the tide of the war. Kirby, who bears a striking resemblance to Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., was a lab assistant to Dr. Wells and befriended Johnny. Once the required background is established, Johnny and Kirby parachute into the mountain research facility and immediately experience the ending cliffhanger.

 The first few pages have several quotations from the Christian Bible, hinting at some link between the title and the Bible. A prophet tends to sway and convince minds by emotions and preaching, there is nothing in that area concerning this powerful being. At least so far. The background has been set to generate interest in the reader concerning subsequent issues.