Warriors, Spider-Man, Copper and Missle Mouse Oh My!!!

Hello all in the Land of Blog, tis I, Darth Bill. I have been away for awhile fighting evil and righting wrongs with my boys Batman and Captain America (hey I can dream, right?). But I finally took a break and read a bunch of Graphic Novels and would like to talk with you about them. So lets get to it:


Warriors, Ravenpaw's Path: Shattered Peace by Dan Jolley and James Barry - This is the first in a Graphic Novel (GN) series, taken from Erin Hunter's outstanding Warriors Book Series, featuring Ravenpaw and his best friend Barley (oh if you didn't know the Warriors Books and Graphic Novels are about cats living on their own). In this story Ravenpaw, a courageous and kind feline, has parted ways with his former clan named ThunderClan. Ravenpaw has settled on a farm with another stray cat named Barley who has lived his entire life on the farm. At first, Ravenpaw finds peace and comfort on the farm with his friend...until one night when they are visited by a pack of strays looking for help. The strays have a mother cat who is ready to give birth to kittens and they desperately need protection from the constant snow that has started to fall. Barley is suspicious of these strays, but Ravenpaw accepts them in the barn for as long as they need. The kittens are born, time moves on, Barley grows more uncomfortable with the new arrivals and Ravenpaw is reminded of clan life, which a part of him misses. Things are about to happen that will change Barley's and Ravenpaw's lives forever. To find out what that is check out the Graphic Novel and give it a read. Also, just to wet your appetite there will be a sequel to this GN. Great stuff!!!!!!!!




Marvel Adventures Spider-Man: Thwip! by Paul Tobin, Matteo Lolli and Jacopo Camagni - This Graphic Novel collects Marvel Adventures Spider-Man issues 53 - 56 and it opens up a whole new world for our favorite web-slinger. In the first story Peter (Spider-Man for those who need to buy a vowel) meets a bunch of new friends/foes who appear they will be around for the foreseeable future. Two of these people are mutants: Emma Frost (whose power is telepathy) and Sophia Sanduval (otherwise known as Chat and she has the ability to talk to animals). Emma discovers through her telepathic abilities that Spider-Man and Peter Parker are one in the same and shares this information with Chat who really likes Peter a lot (like in a boyfriend way). Is this good or bad for Peter? Only the future can tell. In the next story we meet another new girl in Peter's life, Gwen Stacy (she was actually introduced in the first story) and her father George Stacy who just happens to also be a Police Captain. To make matters more complicated for Peter, George Stacy figures out that he is also Spider-Man. Yikes, three people discovering your secret identity all within the period of a couple of days!!! The last two stories have Spidey teaming up with Captain America and the team of Cloak and Dagger to take on such villains as Tombstone and The Mob. Things are getting complicated in Peter Parker's life and this really leads to some great stories. Highly Recommended!!!!!

The Mutant Team of Cloak and Dagger

Copper by Kazu Kibuishi -This is an outstanding GN by the writer and artist Kaza Kibuishi who is also well known for such GN's as the Amulet Series - Amulet. Book 1, The Stonekeeper (you can see the review of this book through the Book 2 link), Amulet. Book 2, The Stonekeeper's Curse (of which the third volume will be coming out soon). This GN focuses on short stories about a boy named Copper and his best friend Fred (who also happens to be his dog). Copper is in general very optimistic about life and Fred is a bit of a pessimist. The stories are fun to read with each having a touch of the bizarre, weird, funny and sometimes deeper meanings (things that make you go hum.....). Really a bunch of fun, so give it a try.




Missile Mouse: The Star Crusher by Jake Parker - If you have not heard of Missile Mouse yet, boy are you in for a treat with this Graphic Novel. Missile Mouse has appeared before in Flight Explorer which was released in 2008 and reviewed by myself (click here to see the review). Incidentally, a Copper story also appears in the Flight Explorer GN.




Anyway, Flight Explorer is not the GN I'm talking about right now, but the most awesome "Missile Mouse: The Star Crusher" GN. In this GN Missile Mouse finds himself in hot water with his superiors at the GSA (Galactic Security Agency) whose responsibility it is to protect all known Outer Space and it's planets. He is in trouble for a mission that went bad that involved him finding a Star Compass (of great value, we learn later) which was then stolen from him by a bounty hunter known as Gurne. His commander does not take into account that Missile Mouse was at a severe disadvantage as he had just fought a Giant Space Slug that was on the space ship along with the Star Compass. Missile Mouse learns through his commander that Gurne is working with the RIP (Rouge Imperium of Planets) which is actively working on bringing back an ancient weapon of mass destruction known as a Star Crusher. Star Crushers were used in an old war in which both sides used them to create Black Holes that destroyed everything. Missile Mouse is tasked with stopping the RIP from recreating the Star Crushers with the help of a scientist named Ulrich (whose race was responsible for creating them) and Agent Hyde, a relatively new recruit to the GSA. If you like high action, plot twist, great artwork, space adventure, green slime and a mouse with a mission, this is definitely the Graphic Novel for you!!!!! Great stuff!!!!!!! Check out this preview if you don't believe me:





Later and peace all,

Bill

For the First Time--Video Dunks!

The NCAA tournament starts for real today. My beloved Tarheels aren't even in the Big Dance this year and the mighty ACC teams look flabby this year, so the tourney won't be as exciting for me this year as it ususally is. But our March Madness Slam Dunkers show no sign of getting soft. We've got some first-rate reviews today, so SLAM! DUNK! Here they come:

Michael:

Flight Explorer, Volume 1
In this continuation from the popular Flight series, the best cartoonists have been chosen to do this amazing comic book. There are mini-comics from Kazu Kibuishi's Copper, Kean Soo's Jellaby, and other comics from Rad Sechrist and Bannister. From purple monsters, to space mice and space girls, to mushrooms that talk, it's all possible in this book. Go beyond anything you could ever imagine and check it out!

Keegan89:

Book: The Devil’s ArithmeticAuthor: Jane Yolen

This praiseworthy book focuses on a Jewish girl named Hannah, or Chaya when spoken in Hebrew. Devil’s Arithmetic follows Chaya as she makes an unexpected journey back in time to World War II. There she is captured by the Nazis and put into a concentration camp. This book is an amazing story describing her life during the Holocaust. This story shows how prisoners struggle to survive. This story was magnificently written and depicts the pure horror of the holocaust.

Dakotat T:

The next book I'm going to review is another book by Roald Dahl entitled The Twits. it is about a married couple named Mr. and Mrs. Twit. They hate everything that is good. They are the nastiest people you'd ever meet. Finally, Muggle Wumps have had enough. They, like Matilda and the BFG, come up with a devious plan to get a fraction of their revenge. This is a short, but meaningful book . It was very interesting, but mainly written for younger kids.

And now for something totally different. Justin B and Brian B were here at Imaginon today because Brian came to see the Treasure Island play. So they got their free books for writing reviews and also gave us a couple of video reviews! Brian talked about the play and Justin told us about The Brixton Brothers. (I couldn't be there but a certain master spy with an eyepatch filled in for me. BTW, Justin has a Boxcar Children book and Brian has Free Baseball)

Thanks, everyone! Well done! Because Brian reviewed the play, he gets a three-pointer. Justin gets one for his review, as do Michael, Dakota T, and Keegan89. Here are today's standings:

Michael--13 points

Dakota T--16 points

AXEL--12 points

Chandler--2 points

Brian B--9 points

Justin B--6 points

Shannon--3 points

Demitri--3 points

Keegan89--2 points

Josh--6 points

Dakota T still has the lead but Micheal and AXEL are still right behind. Yet the others can still catch up at any moment. Just like in the NCAA tournament, anyone can come and upset the leader. Oh, man, they're going to be dunking on the court and on the blog!! Keep tuned in for more excitement!!

Carl

Readin', Readin', Readin'--Rawhide!!!!!

Hello, all you Cowpokes out there in The Land of Blog, it's me Bad Bart Bill!!!!!! The shooten-ist, ropin'-ist, cattle-stealingest bandito south of the Mason-Dixon Line!!!!! Yep, I'm a fairly dangerous character ifin ya get my drift!!!!!! If ya want to see me in action, check out this little trailer here (I'm the guy with the cigar and poncho. Also I go by another name; Clint Eastwood).

Pretty Cool Right!!!!!! I'm a Good/Bad Man and ifin ya say different, get ready to draw Pilgrim!!!!!!

And now for some book reviews:

Lions, Tigers and Bears (Volume 1): Fear and Pride – Joey and his mother are moving out of his Grandmother’s house. Joey is afraid because he knows there are monsters underneath beds and hiding in closets and without his Grandmother’s presence, he knows that they will get him. Fortunately for Joey, his Grandmother knows these things to be real also. As a going away present, she gives him a package with four stuffed animals called The Night Pride. The Night Pride consists of Pallo - Leader of the Pack (a Lion), Venus – Guardian of the Pride (a Bengal Tiger), Minerva – Huntress of the Shadows (a Black Panther) and Aries – Warrior of the Night (a Siberian Tiger). These stuffed animals come to life whenever a child is in danger from Evil Beasties that come out in the night. One night, from out of his new closet in his new bedroom, two Evil Beasties, Mumbler and Grumbler, attack and Joey’s Night Pride comes to full-blown life to defend him. When the fight is over, Joey finds himself in the world where stuffed animals are real all the time. This is just the beginning of a wonderful book that is really great fun and promises further volumes in the near future.

Star Wars: The Last of The Jedi – The Desperate Mission by Jude Watson – This is the first book in “The Last of The Jedi” Series. The Clone Wars are over and Emperor Palpatine along with Darth Vader rule supreme. The Jedi are all but extinct, having either been betrayed by the deadly Order 66 and killed by the very Republic Clone Troopers under their command, or hunted down and killed by Lord Vader. Obi-Wan is one of the few Jedi remaining alive and his mission is to ensure that young Luke, who is being raised on Tatooine by his Aunt and Uncle, is kept safe from the Empire until he is of age to make a difference in the future. While on Tatooine caring out this duty, he hears that an old acquaintance named Ferus Olin, who at one time was a padawan but walked away from the Jedi Order before the end of the Clone Wars, is in deep trouble on the planet Bellassa. With the help of an “old friend” he is convinced he must leave Tatooine temporarily to help Ferus. Little does he know all that this “help” will involve. This is a great read and a great series and I highly recommend it to all!!!!!

Flight Explorer: Volume 1 edited by Kazu Kibuishi – This is really a wonderful collection of short stories by extremely talented and inventive writers and illustrators collected in one Graphic Novel. Some of my favorite stories in the collection (although I really liked them all) were Missile Mouse in “The Guardian Prophecy” (lots of action and adventure), Fish N Chips in “All in a Day’s Work" (Get this; a cat and a fish are galactic protectors of the planet Earth. Sounds funny, right? Well, the story is even funnier than you think. I just love it.) and “Big Mouth” (this one is so hilarious that I’m not even going to try and explain it; just read it). Do yourself a favor and give this Graphic Novel a try. The art work and stories will blow you away. You will not regret it, I promise!!!!!

Well, until next time all. Happy Trails,

Bad Bart Bill