Review of "Next Men #0," by John Byrne

 Review of

Next Men #0, by John Byrne

Four out of five stars

Routine premise, solid context establishment

 While the producers of this first installment of a comic adventure series do a good job in setting the basic context for the characters and end with a solid cliffhanger, the premise is well worn. A group of five people are in some form of stasis tanks as a part of a decades long super-secret government project to create beings with superpowers. They are the remaining subjects of the experimentation, while not explicitly stated, it appears that many other failures have preceded them.

 The project is run by an unscrupulous, ruthless Senator and the people running the project are trying to shut it down quickly as a government inspector is due to arrive soon. However, the action of shutting it down causes the people to emerge from their stasis and try to determine what their situation really is. The government inspector arrives a few days early and there is some hostility to the point of a gunfight. When the inspector defends the five with powers, she is shot and seriously wounded, leading to an unorthodox team-up.

 The secret government project run by ruthless government agents that is designed to create superpowered beings has been used so often in so many forms that it is growing stale. The creators manage to rise a bit above that and create an interesting comic, even with those limitations.

Review of "Nuts," by Grahan Wilson

 Review of

Nuts, by Grahan Wilson ISBN 0399900624

Five out of five stars

Elaborate cartoons from the perspective of a child

 When you are young and under the dubious control of adults, what they say and do often seems incomprehensible. Multi-panel cartoons depicting some of the most common situations are collected in this book. Most open with a text caption explaining a situation that children encounter.

 For example, there is the caption “Remember the first time you began to suspect that there would never be an end to getting because no matter what you got there was always something else waiting to be gotten next?” No wisdom. just a fact and a statement of the basic economic principle of unlimited wants.

 Another example is, “Remember the first time you had to wait for something you really wanted, maybe because you had to save up for it, and how you wanted it more and more?” In this case, the basic principle of delayed gratification.

 Although the messages are presented in the form of cartoons, there is a great deal of wisdom in this book. In many ways it is a basic primer on what life has in store for you as you age into an adult.

Review of "School Days," by Robert B. Parker

 Review of

School Days, by Robert B. Parker ISBN 1842431722

Five out of five stars

Case taken from the current headlines

 The premise of this Spenser novel is unfortunately all too common, students at a high school engage in a mass shooting. What is different about this case is that it seems to be a completely closed case, the two boys have confessed, and all involved seem eager to wrap it up and put the boys away. There is not the slightest effort among everyone from the local police to the parents of the boys to question what made them do it or even who pulled the triggers.

 The ending of the shooting spree was rather odd, Wendall Grant surrendered to the police and his supposed accomplice was Jared Clark. Yet, he was not found at the scene. When he was apprehended, Clark confessed to being part of the crime without stating specifics.

 Lily Ellsworth is an extremely wealthy woman and the grandmother of Jared. Unsatisfied with the way the case is being handled, Lily hires Spenser to investigate the situation. While there is no evidence to suggest that Clark is innocent, Spenser finds opposition from everyone, starting with the local police that try to persuade him from doing anything. It is clear that they did not handle the active shooter event well. Even Clark wants no part of Spenser’s investigation.

 Spenser also learns that the attorney hired to defend Clark is hopelessly in over his head, a fact known to all yet not really considered relevant by everyone. As he continues to dig and prod, he encounters a criminal gang with a leader called Animal that is the local tough. He also unearths a great deal of dirt as he begins to understand how sad and twisted the life of Jared Clark is.

 Hawk is not a part of this case and Susan is attending a conference on a long-term basis. Therefore, Spenser has only Pearl as a companion as he works his way through a case where no one but the grandmother seems interested in Jared Clark, what made him what he is and what will happen to him.

 Spenser is once again a bulldog in pursuing a case, not easily dissuaded, he discovers the seedy truth about the life of Jared Clark and does what he can to mitigate his difficulties. It is Spenser as his best, prodding, poking and pushing until the truth emerges.

Review of "Young Edison: The True Story of Edison’s Boyhood," by W. E. Wise

 Review of

Young Edison: The True Story of Edison’s Boyhood, by W. E. Wise

Four out of five stars

Early life of the American inventor superstar

 Like so many people that created an incredible business enterprise when they were in early adulthood, Thomas Edison did not do well in school. Which is understandable, for it is easy to see how such a mentally talented person would be bored by a rote system designed for the lowest level of student.

 This book describes his early life, how he left home at the age of twelve to work a job on the railroad and how he worked at many jobs and long hours. Yet, he also managed to perform experiments and read books, so he was self-educated at a very high level.

 Many inventors have developed their creations in the United States, yet despite the impressiveness of the people on that list, Edison still heads the list and laps the field. He developed the research lab and not a day can go by without using his inventions. It is also clear that he was an integral part of the invention process at his labs.

 Edison’s early life was one of incredible inquisitiveness and constant exploration. As long as such children manage to survive to adulthood, they tend to be very successful. Edison barely survived, being rescued from almost falling for a train, he was saved by being pulled up by his ears. Which led to his near deafness, a trait that never slowed him down.

 This is a fun book to read, while targeted at the YA market, adults can enjoy it as well. Especially the parents of extremely inquisitive children.

Review of "Once-Told Tales of Old New England," from the Berkshire Traveler

 Review of

Once-Told Tales of Old New England, from the Berkshire Traveler

Four out of five stars

Some ghost stories with a couple that are true

 All regions have their specific ghost stories, in the United States there are those of the Native Americans as well as those of the people of European ancestry. There are six short stories in this collection. The first three are basic ghost stories that are similar to those of other locations. There is the murdered traveler that is never identified, the mysterious horse-drawn carriage that never reaches its destination and a ghost boat with a literal skeleton crew.

 The fourth story adjusts the mythical story of Pocahontas to what is more historically accurate. Story number five is a brief history of Sgt. Robert Shurtleff, a brave soldier in the American revolutionary army. That soldier was in fact Deborah Sampson, a woman that fought well and was honored for her gallant actions. The last story is a letter from Philip Ashton to his grandson. In that letter he described his experiences that were similar to those depicted in the book “Robinson Crusoe” by Daniel Defoe.

 These stories are good ones, with three fiction and three fact, there is a good balance. Quite frankly, the factual stories were the best of the six.

Review of "How to Remove the Cotton From a Bottle of Aspirin," by Rube Goldberg

 Review of

How to Remove the Cotton From a Bottle of Aspirin, by Rube Goldberg

Five out of five stars

Goldberg at his wacky best

 Rube Goldberg was known for his cartoons where he creates extremely elaborate mechanisms to perform simple tasks. Those mechanisms are constructed using a sequence of incongruous and wacky steps, few of which are even possible. This book contains two of the wildest.

 For example, on page 48 there is the step:

“The fisherman hits a well-padded surface, causing only a minor dent in his skull. The impact brings two sticks of uranium together thereby setting up an atomic reaction in a series of steel balls containing a mixture of plutonium and bad night club air. The resulting explosions propel a boxing glove into space with great force.”

 The nonsensical nature of these contraptions is what makes them amusing. There is no seriousness to what is meant to be satire of the modern complex world. As always, Goldberg succeeds in achieving his goals.

Review of "Moonshine #1," by Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso

 Review of

Moonshine #1, by Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso

Five out of five stars

Excellent setting of the context

 The timeframe is America during Prohibition with several forces at play. There is the expert creator of moonshine in very rural West Virginia and the big city gangster that samples the product and wants a lot more. He sends his reluctant agent. a man name Lou Pirlo, down to West Virginia in order to convince the maker, a man named Hiram Holt, to sell all his production to the gangster.

 The story opens with agents of the FBI in the process of raiding one of Hiram’s stills, only to encounter violent and deadly opposition. It is strongly hinted that the opposition is in the form of a powerful wild animal.

 Lou goes to West Virginia and after encountering many scenes based on cliches regarding the rural folk, Lou manages to come face-to-face with Hiram. Hiram proves to be a very hard sell, while he values money, there are other factors that he will weigh. When Hiram is informed about the mess made of the FBI agents at his still, he takes Lou along in order to show him what he and his boss is facing.

 When he is leaving, Lou has a flat tire and when he is walking to seek assistance he comes across a wild dance gathering in a clearing around a raging bonfire. All of the people there appear to be black. There is the hint of some form of voodoo in action and the story ends there.

 With at least three forces in conflict, Hiram’s, the gangsters and the federal agents, there is sure to be more violence. Neither of the three appears to have any willingness to back off from their position, more federal agents will appear when the first group goes missing, the gangster will not take anything other than an enthusiastic yes for an answer and Hiram seems capable of defending himself against the forces of the other two.

 Prohibition was a wild time in the United States, the incredible profits to be made led to the rise of powerful criminal forces as well as a strong federal response in federal law enforcement. From this first round, it is clear that this is going to be a great story, there is a powerful trio of opposing forces with little incentive to back down.