Bruner Boys, Cyber Kid, Star Wars, and The Wednesday Wars

Wow, wow, wow!!! This is AWESOME! The Bruner Boys Beware AND cyber kid 303 have written to us on the same day!! And they're talking to Aaron, one of our new reader guys. So we have some actual dialogue between guys going on here. Very great! And the Bruner Boys sent in not one but TWO messages in one day. Impressive! Let's hear the first one:



YO MAN! Austin here, where is MY VIDEO. I am really excited about what I look like on video. I wonder if I'll be famous on utube. I like utube because it's like ebay. I am a ebay mainac. I mostly search HALO stuff, anyway, back to books. You know I would like to be called CAPTIN X. IF YOU DONT MIND. I got it from commander x. Any way I have dedwood jones on hold, I know it is cool.This week I am finishing Something Wickedly Weird and then finish 39 Clues and go on a roll with Deadwood Jones.

-Captain X aka Austin
ps- thanks for the free books

Yes, sir, Captain X! Crocodile Bill is working on your video (he will explain this to the rest of you dudes later) Why, yes, you could be famous on You Tube one day. Just think, millions of eager fans signing on every day to see what the Amazing Austin (aka Captain X) will say. Eager fans lining your street just to get a glimpse of you!!! Your autograph going for hundreds of thousands of dollars!!!!!

Wait, I'm getting a little carried away. Just remember us when you become a world-wide star and worth trillions of dollars.

The Bruner Boys also had a message for Aaron, who wrote about the Star Wars: Clone Wars Adventures v. 7 graphic novel a couple of days ago:

Aaron- the Bruner Boys Beware love the Star Wars Graphic Novels too! Aaron and Captain X need to hook up at Imaginon and play the online game together... www.theoldrepublic.com and read the novels together. It's great to meet other young jedi!

Come on over, guys. we'd love to sign you up. Just be sure you have permission form your parents to use the internet and that it says so on your library cards. And we'd really love to have you meet and read here!

cyber kid told us about a book that sounds really good:

O.K., the Waynes World video was soooooooooo funny. The book, The Wednesday Wars, was even funnier. I read it for Zach's book club at the Matthews library which is named The Wednesday Warriors. Anyway, it is about Holling Hoodhood who lives in a town where everybody (except him) is Catholic or Jewish. On Wednesday everybody (except him) goes to Catholic or Jewish school. This means he is alone with his teacher. It is set in the 1960's. Everybody has more important things to worry about like the death of Bobby Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. It is written by Gary Schmidt. Out of ten stars, I would give it eight.

Very good, guys! And very good to you too, Zack, for running the book club. And go back a few days and read Bill's post about a Gigantic and Most Excellent Announcement to see the video cyber kid mentioned.
Keep this good work up, guys!! And all you other reader guys too!! This makes our day!

The Very Excited CARLAMN

Trivia, Card Game and one Terrific Graphic Novel

Hello again all in the Land of Blog!!!!! I Darth Bill send you warm wishes (well as warm as a Sith can) and greetings. I am very excited because I have a very special announcement to make on this blog. It's better than flying a Tie Fighter; better than fighting Yoda in a one on one Light Saber Battle; even better than blowing something up with a Death Star. What is it you ask??????? Well, let me tell you.





First you must answer yes to the following questions:

1) Do you enjoy Comics and Graphic Novels?

2) Do you enjoy trivia and feats of knowledge?

3) Do you enjoy strategic card games?

If you answered yes to those three questions, man, do I have something to tell you!!!!!!!




Well, one of the best Graphic Novels to come out in a long time is now in the Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County System. What is the name of this great book you ask???? The name of this Graphic Novel is "The Undersea Adventures of Capt'n Eli" by Joe Piscope. What's even better is that it is just the first volume of more to come. To celebrate this new Graphic Novel Series we will be having a special "Capt'n Eli" Event here in the Spangler Library at ImaginOn on 9/10/08 from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.



This event will involve:
1) Collecting game cards (relating to "The Undersea Adventures of Capt'n Eli" card game), through searching for Trivia Posters posted throughout the Spangler Room. To obtain a game card you must answer the trivia questions correctly.
2) Playing the super cool card strategy game (with the cards you collected through the trivia contest) with other kids who come to the event.
3) Obtaining Official Membership as a "Seasearcher" with all its rights and privileges.
4) Getting the chance to be one of the first people to check out from the library "The Undersea Adventures of Capt'n Eli."



This event is going to be a blast matey!!!!! So if you live nearby, be sure to try and make it here. If you have any questions, please just post to the blog or give a call to the library at 704-973-2720.

To see my review of this Graphic Novel click HERE!

Also to learn more about "The Undersea Adventures of Capt'n Eli" go to its Web Site at http://www.captneli.com/

Hope to see you here, Captain "Bootstrap" Bill Aaaarrrrrrhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Undersea Adventures of Capt'n Eli

I have to say gang, this is one very excited Sith here. Jay Piscopo the writer/artist/creator of the soon to be massively popular "The Undersea Adventures of Capt'n Eli" agreed to do an interview with me on this blog site. Now this graphic novel may not be in our system yet, but believe me when I say it's coming and when it gets here........baaaammmmm!!!!!!Before I show you the interview (see next post) let me give you a quick review of the first volume (I will make a special anouncement when it is offically in the PLCMC Collection) of this graphic novel series:

The Undersea Adventures of Capt'n Eli: The Mystery of Me, The Mystery of the Sargasso Sea; Plus Much More!!!!! by Jay Piscopo -

First let's introduce some of the characters:


Capt'n Eli - As a baby, Eli as he is to be named, is found beached in a highly advanced pod that has floated underneath the seas, with the baby in suspended animation, by an elderly lighthouse keeper and his wife. They decide to raise him as their own and because of his love of all things relating to the sea, he earns the nickname "Capt'n Eli" from his adopted father "Pops." Capt'n Eli shows a great proficiency with technology and other skills needed to command the sea along with special abilities, such as being able to hold his breath underwater for long stretches of time. Capt'n Eli is almost always accompanied in his adventures by Barney, his dog who is far from your ordinary dog, and Jolly Roger, a parrot who is 200 years old and speaks over 70 languages (See cover of Volume 1 above to see what Barney and Jolly Roger look like).

Commander X - It is rumored that Commander X is a descendant of Captain Nemo himself. Commander X explores the depths in a sub with a distinct hammerhead design. He was a hero in World War II and leader of "The Big 3." The Big 3 were made up of Commander X, The Savage Sea Raider and The Radioactive Human Sun. After the war he disappeared and has just recently reappeared on the scene. Although he was a hero in World War II, he is a mystery to all now. Some consider him a villain for sinking ships for reasons known only to himself. While others still look on him as a hero for he always takes mercy on his enemies and has rescued many seafaring vehicles from certain doom. Number 1 is his mechanical First Mate.

Not Pictured (except for the evil Hydrons):

The Seasearchers - A famous exploration team led by Professor Wow whose headquarters is their giant submarine known as "The Seascape." The rest of the crew consists of:
Dr. Amelio Bolo - Pilot and Inventor of the Hydrocopter.
Red Pepper - Engineer and designer/pilot of the Earthsub.
Commander Mark Fathom - Pilot of the Trident and Chief of Security.

The Aqarians - Pretty much the equivalent of surface dwellers, except they live beneath the sea. Their greatest city, in which their king rules, is Aquaria.

The Hydrons - The evil enemies of the Aquarians.

There are lots more characters, both friend and foe, to be found in this terrific book. I just wanted to give you a quick overview of some of them and let you discover the rest.

The first story "The Mystery of Me" introduces us to the main character of the graphic novel Capt'n Eli. This is Capt'n Eli's origin story and introduces many characters and asks many questions that you will be intrigued to learn about in future stories. In this story he joins the Seaserchers and also meets for the first time Commander X.

The second story in the book,"The Mystery of the Sargasso Sea," is an adventure tale that involves the mysterious Sargasso Sea that has been a floating burial ground for ships throughout history and the even more curious Bermuda Triangle where both ships and other seafaring vessels, planes even, have mysteriously disappeared never to be found again. This story involves time travel,Christopher Columbus, some of the very interesting history (or would that be future????) of Commander X, and lots of battling with the Hydrons. This is such a cool story!!!!!!

The last story in the book, "The Return of Baron Hydro," take us back to the days of World War II. The Big 3 (Commander X, Sea Raider, and the Human Sun) take on Baron Hydro and his Hydrons. This story is action packed and just a whole lot of fun!!!!!!!!

I really can't emphasize enough how cool I think this graphic novel is and how much I am looking forward to future releases. Also did you know that there is a tatical (super cool) card game that goes along with the Capt'n Eli Graphic Novel Series. Did you know that the library maybe (ah, who am I kidding, I should say most certainly) planning a fun and exciting "Undersea Adventures of Capt'n Eli" Special Event in the near future (Can you think games, comics, graphic novels, trivia, and more?????)? Stay tuned Bloggers, fun is right around the corner.

Well a big Hardy, Har, Har all,

Bill

P.S. To see and find out out even more cool stuff about Capt'n Eli check out: http://www.captneli.com/

An Interview With Jay Piscopo of "The Undersea Adventures of Capt'n Eli"

Jay Piscopo at this years Heroes Con in Charlotte from June!!!!

And now without further commercial interruptions is my interview with the one, the only Jay Piscopo - writer/artist/creator of "The Undersea Adventures of Capt'n Eli:

1) What were the first book and/or books you read as a kid that made you think “wow?”

The first comic I ever read was Adam Strange. He transported millions of miles in a Zeta Beam
to a planet called Rann- I was amazed! The only comic books I saw were in the local barber shop
and they were all Adam Strange. For years I thought all comic books were about him!

My favorite book, as a kid was Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes. It was really cool to see a young hero involved in the American Revolution.


2) What gave you the idea for “The Undersea Adventures of Capt’n Eli” and such characters as Capt’n Eli, Barney, Roger, The Seasearchers, The Big 3 and Commander X?

A lot of the influences for the characters and stories come from the different "ages" of comics.
Commander X and the Big 3 are influenced by the mystery men of the Golden Age.
Capt'n Eli is very much like Silver age characters like Jonny Quest and Aqualad.
The Seasearchers, Silver Age again. The Challengers of the Unknown were an influence.
Another of Capt'n Eli's influences is Tom Swift and other boy inventors in early science fiction. Barney has a lot of my dogs in him (including my own) and Roger the parrot is that part of me that can’t (or won’t) shut up.


3) Who do you consider some of your biggest influences as a comic/graphic novel creator?

I love Charley Parkers work-he -invented webcomics with Argon Zark-
Herb Trimpe Steve Rude and Howard Chaykin have always been favorites of mine.
It was the biggest thrill when did pin ups for our first issue. Three artists I always think about that are no longer with us are:
Jack Kirby, Alex Toth and Wallace Wood. Studying the work of these three artists could teach you a lot about making and enjoying comics.


4) Why do you think it's cool for boys to read?

Imagination is cool. Knowledge is cool. Wisdom is cool. All of these can come from reading.


5) Is it cool for boys to write/draw? Why?

Expressing yourself and finding ways to communicate better is always very cool. Writing and drawing is a great way to organize your ideas and express them to others. Writing and drawing puts ideas into action.


6) Who was your favorite comic book character when you were a boy? Do you have a favorite character now?

I would go through phases. First it was Adam Strange and the Flash. Nowadays, I love whatever character I’m working on in the moment. I like Sea Ghost (a Capt'n Eli character) quite a bit and Commander X and Eli, of course.


7) What is your favorite sport?

I like playing softball and watching basketball.


8) What do you like to do for fun?

My work is fun, but I watch too many movies and I read a lot of old comic book scans on the web.


9) What is the favorite book you have written and/or drawn?

I love Capt'n Eli ! Wait till you see issue#3!


10) Which do you like better--cheeseburgers or pizza? What do you like on them?

Hamburgers right now as I think I’m becoming lactose intolerant. I love an even mixture of ketchup and mustard just like Dairy Queen Brazier sauce.. You asked!


Well I want to thank Mr. Piscopo for sharing some of his time with us and for creating such a great graphic novel series that I totally love. Check it out and I'm sure you will soon feel the same way.

May the wind always be at your backs me harteys,

Bill