Die Weiße Iris by Fabcaro
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

What an exemplary inclusion to the decades of tales of Asterix. The story and plotting is excellent and the artwork stellar. In these days of almost entirely rotten comics out-put, this volume should lead on to what comics should be today.

Involving story, i love the silly Tony Robbins-type character out to turn the world around with mind games. The idea this is to increase the power of Cesar aids in the hilarity of it all. I love the clever writing of seducing one to use as a pawn to attempt to overcome the Gauls. Then also there’s the resolution to it all. The use of stage is brilliant as a metaphor of the showman being undone. Perfect.

Involving artwork, this hits levels above what Uderzo drew. The rendering and inking is skilled wonder. There are a slew of individual panels that are mezmerizing.
One in particular I love is a brilliant rendering of what ‘Light Rail’ might’ve been like hundreds of years ago. I especially love the different faces of the horses struggling.
As I worked in government on light rail projects, I see the depiction in this volume being more practical than what’s being built today!

Bottom line: I recommend this book. 10 out of ten points.
I obtained this English version via NetGalley.com.

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The Haunted Man and the Ghost’s Bargain by Charles Dickens
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This is more a book to be at the end of October than Christmas. I don’t care for horror stories. Many of Dickens are along those lines. This is the closest I’ve read yet. Though I didn’t care for the very dark aspects, it’s the construction of the story that stinks.

A muddled mess of poor plotting and storytelling. I know Dickens had his own financial issues. This may have been shuttled through to meet whatever requirements were required to exchange story for shillings.
Dickens would have been best to have edited this to a good half of what it is. The droning on and on and on of darkness and shadows and such silliness. Same with dialogue.

The relentless pounding of darkness in the first two parts and then the flip to a, relatively, happy ending is far too contrived to be considered good writing.

Bottom line: I don’t recommend this book. 3 out of ten points.

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Godzilla: Here There Be Dragons by Frank Tieri
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I’ve been rather uber-critical of recent (Past 20 years) comics. I find this above most. There is a very good story included. The conspiracy theory angle is as much a part of our wonderings of history as that documented. I just wish this volume had better explored the ideas, intertwining the conspiracy with the drive of the book. I’m just very glad the angle was presented and included in the tale.

The plotting is wonky with far too much real estate dedicated to interior prison scenes and too much silly fighting of monsters. Structuring the story via the Queen and Drake to the prisoner to the monster would’ve worked better.

The critique of the artwork is about the same as I’ve written of other recent comics. The style is Lladro where Armani was needed. A grittier style was essential to give the book the weight it needed. Full sets of teeth and perfect nails are impossible of any working pirate back then.

There are a series of historical inaccuracies begging why use historical figures at all to avoid the trap? Example was mention of mutinies, which rarely occurred. The Media presents such silliness which makes little sense when cooped on a finite area of a ship. Democracy reigned with ships’ crew to keep all alive.

Still an admirable effort to present the story. The ability to read this prior to publication is due to access via NetGalley.com

Bottom line: I recommend this book. 7 out of ten points.

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The Cricket on the Hearth by Charles Dickens
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A klonky tale that juggles a bit much, but wraps nicely.
The writing is typical Dickens with his melancholy trappings. This should end joyously, but that is not Dickens’ drive.

The interactions written by each couple is exemplary prose. Each character well defined to enhance each couples interactions. Certainly, the strength of the book. I’d like to have read Dickens’ writings of each couple in separate volumes.

Strung together, Dickens seems to have struggled to get it all to fit. Maybe he should have focused on individual couple.

Nevertheless, a fine book.

Bottom line: 8 out of ten points.

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Bugs Bunny’s Christmas Funnies (Dell Giant #3) 1952 by various stories
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

100 pages of real comic book content! Outstanding artwork (Especially the Walt Kelly ‘Sniffles’ story.) and great stories. This is beyond what comics are supposed to be.

The first story is lengthy in typical comic book terms, running nearly 35 pages. It’s a clever story of Bugs Bunny, his pals, escaped circus animals and how Santa Claus can solve a problem and a problem solved for Santa.
There are a number of short tales with the Chuck Jones’ 3 Bears, Daffy Duck, Panco Vanilla, etc. Most are Christmas related. There are also some games and crafts included and the 2 pages written story.
All of the stories are great to excellent with such clever writing that would be above the heads of young today.

The Sniffles tale is Walt Kelly producing top level illustration work and a great story of Jack Frost.

Bottom line: I recommend this book. 10 out of ten points.

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The Frontier Overland Company by William W. Johnstone
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The endless Johnstone Clans continue with still another one involving a couple blokes running a stagecoach company in unfriendly territory. This features a large cast, but a cast of typically strong Johnstone characters. The character I liked best – and would think a good helmer of a Johnstone series – is Hunt.

The plot of this book should’ve stretched three books and another example of the overlong Johnstone book for sales purposes. This is a very good tale and a plotting not found of the few hundred Johnstone books I’ve read. So much happens that the book does get exhausting at points.

The angle of the stagecoach brings traveling characters and the stagecoach business and those running the local towns into a story that is headlines by the two running the featured stagecoach company. The story is so well written that all of the characters involved are not mixed up or similar.

The only troubles I came upon could have been due to this being read pre-store appearance via NEtGalley.com. Lots of editing missteps which does mix up characters and spellings. That and the length that should’ve been edited into other books. Especially considering this book leaves a cliffhanger to point to the second entry.

This is one of the better Johnstone Clan books in recent years with an exciting plot and worth the reading journey.

Bottom line: I recommend this book. 8 out of ten points.

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Martinis and Murder by Henry Kane
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I see folks often reviewing and complaining of books that show age. Almost always that is of political views. This is one I can point to that is making the mistake I see & hear in current video on television and movies. This book is thick with the lingo that floated around New York City at the time. So, even at that time, the book was hardly readable outside of New York City or such urban areas. I can get through it due to being so familiar with the period. I can’t see a regular Joe getting through this book at all easily.

The larger problem is the structure of the plot that is much as a drying swamp with dialogue being the cypress knees. A reader, today, trying to negotiate the book will often get hung up throughout and. likely, give up.

This is poorly plotted and the writing it too obtuse.

Bottom line: I don’t recommend this book. 4 out of ten points.

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The Cat Who Dropped a Bombshell by Lilian Jackson Braun
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

First, this book is meaningless without reading the series in order. This could be read alone, but there is so much that bleeds from the last book, 5 books ago, 10 books ago, etc. that this entry will make far less sense.

As I’ve read these in order over the past three years (With hundreds of other books interspersed in between), I’ve wondered when i would wrap it all. Aiming for the 3 year anniversary August 22nd.
In that three years I’ve more and more enjoyed the romps through Pickax than any other series I’ve read. Hope to find another so intriguing and fun.

This next to last entry is more visiting with fictitious friends, felines and families of Pickax. Much has occurred in between novels. Significant alterations in Pickax life is written here.
These books started as a mystery series. As the series as gone on, the series has become more of a 400 Miles North of Everywhere soap opera. A soap opera I don’t mind reading.
Though, there are a few troubles in the book.

As with the last couple books, there is significant repetition of situation in this book.
Also, with the thought others were writing these last few, I noted sentences and paragraphs that are reminiscent of ones found in earlier books. Was this Braun losing new ways to write or ghost writers swiping from other books? Apparently, the publisher is not talking.

Something I also noticed in this book is a significant mark of empathy of Qwilleran. In other books close friends die and he is written as carrying on without a care. In this one he is written to mourn of the four deaths of folks close to him that occur in this book.

Bottom line: I recommend this book. 5 out of ten points.

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Kodocha: Sana’s Stage, Vol. 01 by Miho Obana
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

Note: As I continue to create comics, I’m trying to slip in comic trade paperback material.

This is such simplistic, poorly rendered, plotted and laid out book, that I wonder how it got produced. Was this originally 3 times the size and reduced to the typical manga trade paperback size? The type is at times so tiny, eye strain should be anticipated.

The plot weaknesses should have been noted to the writer to clean up before publication. The streamlining of a large amount of repetition of dialogue and situations could’ve aided the written problems here.

The artistic problems are, again, the faulty of an editor that should’ve flagged poor story layouts that should’ve been noticed in the thumbnail stage.
The artist did negotiate the repetition well be not drawing the same drawings of repeated scenes.

Characters are stereotypical and the story is much the same.
Drawings of characters are unoriginal. Typical absence of setting is a significant setback.

Bottom line: I don’t recommend this book. 3 out of ten points.

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The Cat Who Went Bananas by Lilian Jackson Braun
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

First, this book will only be valued by those who have been reading the entire “Cat Who” series. Anyone else will be lost and bored to sleep. That’s true for most of the series.

This 27th in the series was poorly plotted and written. The narrative and dialogue reads as previous books, but the overall book reads as pieces and parts strung together with an editor not paying attention. A rush to deadline?

This the first I’e noticed stark repetitions of paragraphs from other parts of the book. There are over-long narratives from characters that are unneeded and slow down the novel.
In earlier novels there was typically a murder or two and the main character solved the murder, with aid from his cats.
In this one deaths are alluded to, motives for murder established and a strong narrative of a murderer laid out. In the end, it all added to nothing more than speculation nothing more.

Within a 10% of the book, I knew what was to occur and how. Sadly, that is what occurred. A better writer(s) would have written a better book.
The lowest of the Braun books I’ve read…so far.

Bottom line: I don’t recommend this book. 3 out of ten points.

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Guardian Angel Getten Volume 1 by Minene Sakurano
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Standard, if not stereo-typical, manga story. Boy, girl, 14-year-olds, conflict, magic.
This one very poorly illustrated and poor layouts.
Clearly sailor Moon was an influence. Those involved shoulg’ve studied the story telling.

Bottom line: I don’t recommend this book. 4 out of ten points.

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