Marble Season

Today I will be reviewing a book called "Marble Season" by Gilbert Hernandez. It reminders me of Peanuts, without the super mature kids. It's about a young boy named Huey, and his older brother, Junior, and his baby brother, Chavo. The cool thing about Marble Season is how Huey's experiences are based on the author's experiences. I learned this in a live interview with Gilbert Hernandez at Housing Works Bookstore Café.

For example, when Huey tried to put on a play about Captain America, but nobody liked their roles, this is based on something that happened to Gilbert Hernandez. One of my favorite scenes is when Huey and his brothers are throwing water balloons at each other with an older friend, then the friend's brother comes out and puts him in a chokehold, I'm not sure if this actually happened or not, but it seemed very realistic.

One thing I noticed was that Marble Season wasn't a story with a beginning, middle and end. It was all just little things that happened to Huey and his brothers. Some things were as simple as Huey finding a rare bubble gum card or playing marbles with his friends. One other thing that I didn't notice at first  was that everything takes place in Huey's neighborhood. He's never shown when he's at school or on a trip. It's always when he's outside playing or inside reading comics. 

I remember another thing from when I went to see Gilbert Hernandez's talk, he

said that in the 60's, parents were only there to spoil your fun. He also said that old ladies with horn rimmed glasses ran the show. As I'm sure you know, it's quite different now.

The art in Marble Season seems very pen drawn. I also like how everybody from each family looks alike. Like how Huey and Junior have the same eyes and nose. I also really like the expressions of the characters. In one part, Chavo finds a dead baby bird. He reacts the same way a real child would. He acts surprised when he notices it, looks at it sadly, then walks away.

Marble Season is really fun to read. It's completely appropriate for anyone. It has very sweet and lovable characters. If you like Peanuts then you will most likely like Marble Season. If you grew up in the 60's, Marble Season will make you feel nostalgic. I would give Marble Season 5 60's comics out of 

Snake Pit Gets Old

      Snake Pit Gets Old Daily Diary by Ben Snakepit is one of the most entertaining books I’ve read in a long time. The creator, Ben Snakepit, draws three panels every day about the day. I like how not every day is exciting. In the whole book, there are probably 300 panels that show Ben at work, first at a video store, then at a printing shop.

       One thing I like about Snake Pit is that Ben doesn’t make it seem like his life is super perfect.

There are plenty of times when he makes it seem like the opposite. There are six Snake Pit books and Ben matures a lot in each one. At the beginning of this book, he buys this old, fashioned arcade cabinet for $50. He works day and night to get it working. He installs his playstation into it and rewires everything, then, to my surprise, he sells it because he needs money. These real life experiences make it a lot more interesting. I would also like to mention that Ben draws himself as a big pile of poo whenever he plays video games

The artwork in Snake Pit is very cartoony. It’s not the super best, but I really like it. In my opinion the thing he draws the best is his dog, Peeber.
I think Ben should give himself more credit. He always writes about how he thinks he sucks at drawing. Another thing I like is how he puts a theme on a lot of his drawings. Like if he eats tacos, he’ll draw himself with a sombrero. If he reads X-Men, he’ll draw himself with Wolverine claws. If he watches Zombieland, he’ll draw himself as a zombie.

Snake Pit Gets Old is really simple, but I love it. I don’t think that Snake Pit Gets Old is appropriate for the younger audience. There is some swearing & alcohol in it.  I also think that some may find it boring. Ben draws every day of the year, even if they’re boring.  I would Snake Pit Gets Old 4¾ graphic autobiographies out of 5.

Thermae Romae

My sister India has gotten really into manga, so why not review my favorite manga, “Thermae Romae” by Mari Yamazaki? It’s about an Ancient Roman bathhouse designer named Lucius who gets all his ideas from traveling down the drain to modern day Japanese bathhouses. Every chapter, he goes down a different drain to a different bathhouse. I love how he’s always completely dumbfounded at the amazing inventions that he finds in this alien world, such as fruit flavored milk and movie posters. My favorite chapter is when he’s sent to a bathtub showroom. He is thought to be a businessman and an employee is sent to show him around. The very proper employee thinks he is really weird. He arrives naked in a bathtub, he only speaks Latin and wears a bathrobe he is given like a toga.

The art in Thermae Romae is not like traditional manga. It has a few similarities with manga, but it’s really its own thing. I really like the way Mari draws Lucius’s reactions to modern tech. His eyebrows raise up on his forehead and his mouth gapes open. She makes it clear that Lucius has a lot of trouble communicating with the Japanese.

I am going to give a warning to parents. There is naked people in da book. Apart from that, Thermae Romae is perfectly clean. It has educational pages in the back of each chapter. They tell you about Ancient Rome and modern day Japan I would give Thermae Romae 5 Roman legionnaires out of 5. 

There is a movie of Thermae Romae. I have not seen it yet.

Pang, The Wandering Shaolin Monk

Today I’m going to review a book I have owned for a long time. It’s called “Pang, The Wandering Shaolin Monk” by Ben Costa. It’s the story of a young monk named Pang. Pang was separated from his brothers when the monastery he lived in was attacked by the Chinese Emperor’s men. He is always attacked by soldiers in the cities he passes through.

                    Pang is very passive, but he is always put in positions where he has to fight or innocent people will get hurt. I really like Pang’s character. He he’s just a really likeable guy. He just always seems very clueless in the most ridiculous situations, like he has no idea what’s going on when he watches a puppet show because he lived in a monastery his whole life.

                       Pang, The Wandering Shaolin Monk is actually educational. The first time I read it, I knew so much about Shaolin.

        I really like the art in Pang, The Wandering Shaolin Monk. I’m certain that it’s drawn with a paintbrush and colored with a computer. The way the eyes are drawn is so simple but so effective. I never thought that vertical lines would make such perfect human eyes, but they do. One thing I like is how all of the side characters look different from each other. In Pang, The Wandering Shaolin Monk, there are some pages packed with text, and some packed with scenery.

                      Pang, The Wandering Shaolin Monk is very child friendly. There’s only one scene with blood in it. Even then the blood looks like tomato sauce. If you like action, then you will like this. If you are into romance, then you will like this because there is a relationship between Pang and a village girl named Yang Yang. I would give Pang, The Wandering Shaolin Monk 5 evil emperors out of 5.

I would also like to mention that Pang, The Wandering Shaolin Monk is self published by Iron Crotch University Press.

Kill Shakespeare

         “Kill Shakespeare” by Andy Belanger, Anthony Del Col and Conor McCreery is a very cool two book saga. It takes place in a parallel universe where Shakespeare lives in a magical world with all his creations. The main character in the story is Hamlet. It is foretold by the witches from Macbeth that Hamlet will become the shadow king and overthrow the evil King Richard. He wants Shakespeare’s magic quill that makes what you write come true.

          WARNING. The next paragraph contains massive spoilers. If you don't want to have the book
spoiled for you, skip over the next paragraph. Things turn out differently than in the original Shakespeare plays.

         Richard tries to trick Hamlet into killing Shakespeare himself, but then Falstaff finds Hamlet and tells him of Richard's treachery. They meet up with General Othello, Iago & General Juliet. At the same time, Richard joins forces with the even more treacherous Lady Macbeth and murders her husband, Macbeth. After a while, Iago betrays the heroes and is cast away. At the end, Hamlet convinces Shakespeare to fight with them. The heroes win, Othello gets his revenge against Iago, and Romeo & Juliet are reunited.

            The art in Kill Shakespeare has lots of straight lines instead of curvy ones. I really like how the illustrators drew King Richard. They really went into depth with his hump and deformed hand. The hand is my favorite. It’s horribly ragged and skinny. The way he holds it shows how he has no control over it. I also like how you only see Macbeth’s face once. All the other times there’s a shadow cast over it.

            Kill Shakespeare is very bloody. There is lots of fighting between characters. If you are a parent, I would suggest that you proofread this book to make sure that it’s okay for your child. Apart from that, it’s really fun to read. Every time I read it, I see something that I missed before. You do need to be familiar with a few Shakespeare plays to enjoy this book. I would give Kill Shakespeare 41/2 out of 5 magic quills.