Action Presidents: George Washington ~ Fred Van Lente & Ryan Dunlavey [@HarperChildrens @fredvanlente]

Action Presidents #1: George Washington
Ryan Dunlavey, illustrator
HarperCollins
February 06, 2018
128 pages
add to Goodreads/buy from Book Depository/or Amazon

Where the history is real and the jokes are fake!

The first Action Presidents book will turn even the most reluctant reader into a history buff. George Washington, ultimate founding father and awesome American, practically jumps off the page.

We all know that George Washington was our first president and a hero of the American Revolution, but did you also know that he didn’t want to be president and had teeth so bad that he hated to smile?

Wimpy Kid meets the Who Was … series in these hilarious new graphic novels from New York Times bestselling comic book author Fred Van Lente and award-winning cartoonist Ryan Dunlavey.

U.S. history comes to life like never before! Historically accurate and highly entertaining, Action Presidents is perfect for curious minds. With timelines, maps, charts, and more, readers will keep learning until the last page.

This series has the weirdest narrator: a turkey named Noah the Historkey. There is an explanation for his name and why he's off telling these kids about history and the presidents - but it's still odd. Odd that gets your attention and makes the book a bit different, though.

This first Action Presidents has a logical choice for its subject, the first United States President, George Washington. While 'Presidents' is in the title, the book starts with Washington's early life. I will admit to knowing very little about his childhood (other than the infamous - and fictional - story of George Washington and the Cherry Tree). I liked that the book started there and told readers both that it was untrue and how it came to to be.

The book addresses Washington's adolescence,  his time in the Revolution and then as President. There was a good mix of his military life, accomplishments and setbacks and his personal life - his marriage to Martha, how his career impacted their lives, etc.

Action Presidents #1: George Washington will probably appeal more to boys than girls (at least the dysentery jokes) but is a good way to introduce or refresh American History to readers not likely to read it in other forms. (And as a fun way to get toe information, even if you will read/learn it elsewhere.)

I do wish these books had page numbers. It is easier to keep track of where you are in a book or to remember where in the book a bit of information was that you wanted to remember or share with someone.



Action Presidents #2 focuses on Abraham Lincoln . .






finished copy received from publisher, for review consideration

Top Ten Tuesday: Graphic Novels TBR

hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

This week's Ten:

10 Graphic Novels On My TBR List

Wires and Nerve, Volume 1 (Wires & Nerve #1)
by Marissa Meyer &
Douglas Holgate (illustrations)
Goodreads


Prodigy: The Graphic Novel (Legend: The Graphic Novel #2)
by Marie Lu &
Leigh Dragoon (Adapted by), Kaari (Illustrated by)
Goodreads


March: Book One (March #1)
by John Lewis &
Andrew Aydin (co-author), Nate Powell (artist)
Goodreads


Saga, Vol 1 (Saga, Volume 1)
by Brian K Vaughn (author) & Fiona Staples (artist)
Goodreads


Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Freefall (Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 9 #1)
by Joss Whedon &
Andrew Chambliss, Georges Jeanty (Artist), Karl Moline (Artist)
Goodreads


Through the Woods
by Emily Carroll
Goodreads


R.I.P.D. Volume 1 (R.I.P.D.)
by Peter Lenkov, Randy Emberlin (inks), Lucas Marangon (pencils), Steve Dutro (letterer), Dave Nestelle (colorist)
Goodreads


Doctor Who Volume 1: Fugitive (Doctor Who volume 1 (2009) #1)
by Tony Lee, Al Davison (illustrator), Matthew Dow Smith (illustrator)
Goodreads


Doctor Who: The Tenth Doctor, Vol. 1: Revolutions of Terror (Doctor Who: The Tenth Doctor #1-5)
by Nick Abadzis, Elena Casagrande (illustrations), Arianna Florian (illustrations)
Goodreads


Doctor Who: The Eleventh Doctor, Vol. 1: After Life (Doctor Who: The Eleventh Doctor #1-5)
by Al Ewing, Rob Williams, Simon Fraser (illustrations), Gary Caldwell (illustrations)
Goodreads

I seem to forget about reading the graphic novels on my TBR list (I have started one or two of these, read other books in some of the series, etc) so maybe this list will help me to actually read/finish them! (And Wires & Nerve is out today!)

Please leave a comment and let me know what graphic novels/comics are on your to-read list - or which are your favorites!

Sailor Twain ~ Mark Siegel review

Sailor Twain: Or: The Mermaid in the Hudson
First Second
October 2, 2012
400 pages
add to Goodreads/buy from Book Depo/or Amazon

When Twain, captain of the Lorelei, a river boat travelling the Hudson River, finds an injured mermaid on the deck, Sailor Twain begins -- as does the beginning of a journey Twain never imagined.

Twain isn't seduced by the mermaid as he found her (and not she him) and hasn't heard her song, but he falls under her spell in a different way. Deciding to keep her on board, nurse her back to health, he also decides to keep her a secret. Twain's life becomes increasingly difficult with his new acquaintance and his secret.

Sailor Twain is a story where mermaids are part of fiction - through a reclusive author and their writings - as well as through other characters beliefs and/or possible interactions.



I don't read a lot of graphic novels -- okay, let's be honest, I'd only read the Buffy Season 8 ones already -- but the story of Mark Siegel's Sailor Twain sounded interesting to me when I saw it on Library Thing's Early Reviewer's page. Then I saw that it was an (adult) graphic novel.

But it was about mermaids and something I would have read as a novel sans 'graphic' prefix, so it would be unfair to let the genre stop me.

I think it'd also be unfair to let it stop anyone else who doesn't ordinarily read graphic novels from reading Sailor Twain. Yes, it's a graphic novel, but it's very much not a comic book. It has a pretty complex story line that unravels over it's 400 pages.


The illustrations were very nice. Some were more detailed than others and even though having some drawings left more as line drawings has bothered me before, it worked here.

Sailor Twain is an adult graphic novel. The mermaid is topless throughout the story and there are some 'erotic' scenes/images, content. Overall, however, I wouldn't say it goes past YA (or older YA).

I will say that the ending did not work for me. It seemed rushed and left me feeling like I had missed something - that or as if a character's actions didn't fit/hadn't been worked in enough. Whatever exactly it was, I was expecting a bit *more.*



Rating: 7/10


thank you to the publisher and Library Thing's ER for providing my copy to review

Buffy Season 8 Vol 8 ~ Joss Whedon et al review

Buffy Season 8 Volume 8: The Last Gleaming
Joss Whedon (Author), Jane Espenson (Author), Scott Allie (Author), Georges Jeanty (Author), Karl Moline (Author)
Dark Horse Comics
June 21, 2011
160 pages
Amazon/Goodreads

Buffy Season 8 Volume 8: Last Gleaming is like a big season finale – or a season finale and the couple of episodes that lead up to it and really introduce what’s going to happen.

Spike’s back in the picture and has knowledge of another evil facing the world that Buffy and company will have to deal with. Or face possibly world ending badness. Or maybe even something worse than that.

Of course, he shows up on a ship piloted by bugs . . . Spike’s sort of the insect-y Doctor Who here (especially after you see his arrival on Earth).

It wouldn’t be “Buffy” without some sort of a betrayal and this one’s big. Can Buffy get past it and manage to save both the world and all her friends and Slayers?

You’ll just have to see.


This was a good finale while still leaving quite a few things open for the Season Nine comics that are coming (soon, it seems). It brings Buffy, Angel, and Spike back together for the first time since BtVS Season Three – for better or for worse. Buffy’s reaction to Spike being back in the picture did seem a little strange given where they were at the end of Season Seven. A lot of relationships (especially those involving Buffy) have had their own life in the comics, though. (Her feelings – or even attitude – towards Spike do seem to fluctuate for seemingly no reason. I’m hoping that changes for Season Nine.)

The Xander/Dawn relationship isn’t as squicky as I would have thought. It’s been developed well throughout this season and progressed slowly enough that it doesn’t seem sudden or out of nowhere at all. It will still seem strange to some people, I’m sure, but it’s been done well and I kind of like it. (It’s growing on me.)

I liked the art in this volume. The baddies were really unique and the colors were great. Except for I think two instances the characters were easily discernable (but I figured one out). The main few characters – Buffy, Dawn, Xander, and Spike, especially looked great.

I’m still not sure how much I love this way of doing Buffy, but I still love the characters and the Big Bads. There were seasons of Buffy I didn’t like (not the same ones most people didn’t like!), too, and I still adore the show. I think I’ll still read Season Nine to see where it all goes.

8/10

read thanks to NetGalley and Dark Horse

Buffy Season 8 Vols 6 & 7 ~ Joss Whedon, et al

Buffy Season 8 Volume 6: Retreat
Jane Espenson, Joss Whedon, Georges Jeanty, Andy Owens, Jo Chen
Dark Horse Comics
March 16, 2010
144 pages

Goodreads/Amazon

A note on the series as a whole so far: As a girl, I really wish all the Buffy women didn’t suddenly get tiny waists and big busts when they moved to comic form – that and maybe they could find a bra every once in a while? And why does Buffy have wrestler (male WWE type) thighs and arms but look like she got implants? I can understand that this is a comic, but it’s also Buffy, it’s based off a character that for seven years was portrayed by an actress, can’t we draw her? [End rant. Sorry-ish.]

With the Slayers under attack, they have to get away. They barely make their escape to . . . Nepal. Yep, Nepal. And Oz is there. Oz and his wife and baby.

Oz’s wife will teach the Slayers how to hide their powers so that Twilight can’t find and kill them. Buffy and the other Slayers discover what it’s like to be normal girls again. For good and bad. And Willow finds out

if she can give up her magic.

But, magic-less, will they actually be safe from Twilight and his army or will he still find them?


It’s still really hard to tell the characters apart sometimes – and who new ones are. I didn’t know Oz was Oz for a long time. The Twilight plot (and name) is interesting and they’re definitely doing a lot that can be done in print form but not on a television show but it’s missing that oomph.

After all, it does end with the main character (Buffy) in the air saying, “What the hell?”

7/10

Buffy Season 8 Volume 7: Twilight

Brad Meltzer, Joss Whedon, Georges Jeanty, Karl Moline, Andy Owens, Michelle Madsen

Dark Horse Comics
October 19, 2010

160 pages
Goodreads/Amazon

Twilight: Buffy Season 8 Volume 7 was one that I half really, really

enjoyed and one that I half didn’t much like.

What’s pretty fun in this is that Buffy has some super powers – more than her usual Slayer powers. Her exploration of those powers, along with some help from Xander, leads to a lot of fun both for them and the reader. It’s possibly far-fetched (but isn’t Buffy really?) but it’s done well and enjoyable. Plus, the interaction between Buffy and Xander is great and harks back to the old school Buffy days.

The Big Bad is also revealed in this volume, though, not with much explanation. And it does need some explanation.

There’s also a lot of sex. A lot. With Buffy’s super hero-y powers involved. Something else that doesn’t necessarily fit where the seven seasons of television Buffy got us, either, in this reader’s opinion. Maybe I just am not used to the comic medium, but the way things developed and established in the seven seasons of the series seem to not be completely relevant in this eighth season sometimes throw me.

I’m still going to read Volume 8 because of the character that makes an appearance at the end of Volume 7 – I really want to see where that goes. I also want to see if all of these plot points can be pulled together and everything can be resolved to my liking.

6/10

Buffy Season 8 Vols 4 & 5 ~ Joss Whedon, et al reviews

Time of Your Life (Vol. 4)
Joss Whedon (Author), Jeff Loeb (Author), Karl Moline (Illustrator), Andy Owens (Illustrator), Eric Wight (Illustrator)
Dark Horse
May 19, 2009
136 pages
Goodreads/Amazon

In Volume 4 of Buffy Season 8, Time of Your Life, Buffy travels (not on purpose) 200 years into the future and meets Fray, a Slayer there. Time of Your Life’s plot is about the two of them and Buffy helping Fray fight baddies and save herself –and Buffy get herself back to the present.

If you don’t read Fray or know about it already (which I did not), this will be one confusing read. There is slang that Fray uses that confuses Buffy (and unsuspecting readers) making these issues hard to understand. Buffy, and unfamiliar readers alike are thrown into a confusing world.

The art doesn’t help much, either. It’d beautiful but doesn’t work well for Buffy. Fray’s sister looks more like Buffy usually does than Time of Your Life’s Buffy does. And a big reveal at the end is slightly spoiled because it’s hard to be sure how the character actually is.


Another storyline with Dawn is interesting because we get to learn more about why she’s a giant. And it fits with the usually Buffy rules (and the consequences characters usually face).

This volume really lost me, however. It left me wondering where the girl power I love Buffy for has gone. We’ve seen some naked (or almost) girls but I really want some of that girl power back, please.

5/10

Predators and Prey (Vol. 5)
Joss Whedon (Author), Jane Espenson (Author), Steven S. DeKnight (Author), Drew Z. Greenberg (Author), Jim Krueger (Author), Doug Petrie (Author), Georges Jeanty (Illustrator), Cliff Richards (Illustrator)
Dark Horse Comics
October 7, 2009
144 pages
Goodreads/Amazon

Predators and Prey: Buffy Season 8 Volume 5 was probably the least realistic, strangest, and most out-there volume so far . . . and also the one I enjoyed most. Go figure. Without giving too much away, Harmony gets a The Hills-esque reality show, Slayers become hated, evil robotic toy vampires are discovered, a haven for Slayers may or may not be what it seems, Buffy and Andrew have to work together to find a group of rogue Slayers, and Buffy has to help Dawn (again).

See, kind of crazy – and I left some stuff out.

This volume is definitely not trying to do things that could be on a show, it’s taking full advantage of it’s medium. And for this instance, at least, it works.

Both Harmony and Kennedy (who I didn’t recognize for a bit – again I’m having some trouble recognizing characters in their comic form) were much less annoying than I found them on the show. I think my reaction to Harmony was due to her different location, etc. Kennedy however might have been different than on the show.

The evil robot vamps cats wanting to eat the girls’ ovaries (seriously) brings me back to the girl power thing (the lack thereof), though. I don’t know if this is supposed to be some reverse girl power thing. But having one of your ‘villains’ want to eat the Slayers’ ovaries is … I don’t even know.

Buffy and Andrew’s trip seemed to be back to Slayer Buffy and I really liked that. The story with Faith once again required you to know Faith’s back-story to really understand and enjoy it.

“Living Doll” was a bit creepy and didn’t do that much, but it was a nice resolution for Dawn. I also enjoyed the artwork there.

8/10

Buffy Season 8 Vols 2 & 3 ~ Joss Whedon, et al reviews

No Future for You
Brian K. Vaughan (Author), Joss Whedon (Author); Georges Jeanty (Illustrator), Cliff Richards (Illustrator), Jo Chen (Illustrator)
Dark Horse Comics
June 11, 2008
120 pages
Goodreads/Amazon (Bargain Price right now)

No Future for You: Buffy Season 8 Volume 2 is all about Faith. It’s hard to summarize these without giving spoilers so my synopsis will be super short: Giles approaches Faith about a new Slayer who has been killing other Slayers. He tells Faith that if she kills that murderous Slayer, he, Giles, will give her the money to go wherever she wants.

Faith accepts and we see her go on the mission – and what she learns about the girl as well as what memories (flashbacks, really) it brings up of Faith’s life.

It’s still (as in Volume 1) really necessary to have seen the show – or at least somehow know what happened – to truly understand and get these storylines. A lot of Faith’s past pops up, in flashbacks, and without knowing her story, readers won’t get what they are.

It was nice to see more of Faith explored. Fans of hers will especially like to see more of her. Volume 2 contains No Future for You Numbers 6 through 9 so it’s four parts of Faith. The last part of Volume 2 is Anywhere But Here, involving Willow and Buffy as well as Xander and Dawn.

Anywhere But Here is not part of the arc of the earlier parts but does provide some answers that help the series overall.

Art wise, in some of the flashbacks, it was slightly difficult to tell who a few of the characters were – tell them apart. The dialogue, though, was true to the characters and it was nice to see an arc over several of the issues.

Wolves at the Gate (Vol. 3)
Drew Goddard (Author), Joss Whedon (Author), Georges Jeanty (Illustrator), Jo Chen (Illustrator)
Dark Horse Comics
November 12, 2008
136 pages
Goodreads/Amazon

Volume 3 starts with the one shot “A Beautiful Sunset” and then has the four issue, “Wolves at the Gate” that finishes the volume.

Wolves at the Gate got back to the Buffy TV concept of having a Big Bad with Buffy having a confrontation with the Twilight, a mysterious villain in the first installment.

Then things get . . . interesting with a relationship that comes out of seemingly nowhere.

And then it’s story arc time again with the Wolves at Gate four issues. Old characters come back to help the new gang (much, much bigger and much more well-armed than the old ‘gang’) fight the baddies of this volume.

Volume 3 is much more like the television series (if they’d had a gigantic travel budget?). More relationships are developed in this volume giving one character in particular more depth and making him more relational to readers.

I will admit that one aspect of this volume seemed, to me, to not fit with the usual story lines – or with the characters. I wasn’t sure if it was done because this was a comic and it could be done in a few pages and then moved on from. It was a left field sort of thing. It seemed like something for comic boys (to me, it did) but not a true Buffy thing.

I’m not sure this is truly sticking to the Buffy strengths – it does, but then loses its way a little.

6/10 for both

Long Way Home (Buffy S8 V1) ~ Joss Whedon review

(Sorry there was no additional post yesterday; crazy thunder(and lightning)storms came out of nowhere so I had no internet.)

Long Way Home: Buffy Season 8, Volume 1
Joss Whedon (author), George Jeanty (illustrator)

Dark Horse

December 1, 2010

136 pages
Goodreads/Amazon

*Review contains spoilers for finale of Buffy (TV finale) and probably random spoilers for the show. Reviews of the next seven volumes possibly will, too.*

The Long Way Home: Buffy Season 8, Volume 1 brings up back into the world of Buffy Summers and her Scooby gang. At this point they've closed the Hellmouth – and collapsed all of Sunnydale in the process. Still grieving from lost friends and lovers, the Scoobies are moving on and doing what they do best: Working from somewhere akin to any army base Buffy and most of the newly called Slayers are working at defending the world kind of like she did before, just on a much, much larger scale.

Readers are thrown right into the action as we’re shown what the gang is doing –and how they’re doing it.

And, oh yeah, Dawn’s a giant.

(Synopses for this series are going to be super short since they’re 100-150 page comics.)

Starting this was different for me since I don’t read comics- or graphic novels – but seeing new Buffy was definitely of the good. I liked that the characters did look older (since there’s supposed to have been a gap between the end of the series and the start of this eighth season. It was also nice that hings from Angel Season Five were used – whether they were built on or discredited.

You do definitely need to know Buffy and Angel, the television series to fully understand what’s going on in Buffy Season 8, but tha’s who this is aimed at really – BtVS and AtS fans – so that’s understandable.

A few parts were confusing to me – I had trouble understand just what was going on, etc but that could just be me not being used to the medium.

The art was fantastic and it both represented the characters well and is gorgeous.

I'm definitely interested in where the rest of this goes. Right now it's reading like good (beautifully illustrated) fanfiction that has some of Joss Whedon's signature whit.

8/10

(read first thanks to Dark Horse and NetGalley)