October 27, 2018 Johanna Mysteries Leave a comment

The Question of the Dead Mistress

Fifth in the Asperger’s Mystery series, which started with The Question of the Missing Head by E.J. Copperman and Jeff Cohen four years ago, The Question of the Dead Mistress is as enjoyable as any in the series, simply due to the character interactions. Samuel, who has Asperger’s syndrome, runs an agency called Questions Answered. Each of the volumes is spurred by an unusual question, which usually leads to a murder to solve. In this case, the question is, “Is […]

September 16, 2018 Johanna Other Prose Leave a comment

Doctor Who: Tales of Terror

What an odd but effective mash-up. Doctor Who: Tales of Terror is a collection of twelve scary stories, each featuring one of the twelve Doctors. This would make an excellent Halloween gift for your favorite Whovian. I wouldn’t have thought to put the two together, but then I remembered that Doctor Who has lots of monsters in it, and particularly the fourth Doctor specialized in horror tales. This was put out by BBC Children’s Books, so nothing in it is […]

September 15, 2018 Johanna Books About Comics Leave a comment

The Two-Pencil Method

It’s been fascinating to see Mark Crilley’s how-to books move from genre, with the Mastering Manga trilogy, to a story about learning how to draw, to a set of illustrations with a wide variety of influences, to hyperrealistic art. His latest how-to book continues in the vein of that last one, although it could also be classed as almost fine art. The Two-Pencil Method: The Revolutionary Approach to Drawing It All is a series of instructions for using a regular […]

September 14, 2018 KC Books About Comics Leave a comment

20-Some Things I Learned From DC Comics Absolutely Everything You Need To Know

Review by KC Carlson DC Comics Absolutely Everything You Need To Know is a brand-new, 200-page book, published by DK, packed with information about the entire DC Universe (and its history). However, unlike previous DC Comics books from DK, it has a somewhat skewed sense of the minutia of the DCU that matches up with mine, so I’m finding it particularly entertaining and quite funny/absurd in places. I suspect the books’ four authors — Liz Marsham, Melanie Scott, Landry Q. […]

September 9, 2018 Johanna Other Prose One comment

Lyric McKerrigan, Secret Librarian

I loved the concept of Lyric McKerrigan, Secret Librarian when I heard about it, and I’m pleased to report that the book was as good as I hoped. Jacob Sager Weinstein wrote and Vera Brosgol (Leave Me Alone!) illustrated this twist on a classic spy adventure. Doctor Glockenspiel threatens to unleash an army of giant moths to eat the world’s books unless he’s given a lot of money. When the world’s best secret agents fail, it’s up to Lyric McKerrigan, […]

September 1, 2018 Johanna Other Prose 2 comments

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: A Picture Book

I can see some of the critics I read in grad school frothing at the mouth. A kids’ picture book retelling a TV show? Degradation of the format! How dare those purveyors of mass media trash infect our previous children and their literary tastes? I think it’s a clever idea. In Buffy the Vampire Slayer: A Picture Book, Kim Smith turns the fan-favorite series into a bedtime story with adorable younger versions of the cast. I loved it from the […]

August 31, 2018 KC Books About Comics 3 comments

Justice League: 100 Greatest Moments: Highlights From the History of the World’s Greatest Superheroes

Review by KC Carlson Well, right off the bat, I have to reveal that I’m mentioned in the introduction of this book by Robert Greenberger because I assisted (along with about nine other comics individuals, as well as members of Facebook groups) in nominating specific selections to be considered. Since I did this at least two years ago (and my brain is now two years further into senility), I don’t have the faintest recollection about what I contributed — but […]

August 26, 2018 Johanna Mysteries One comment

Classic American Crime Fiction of the 1920s

Mystery fans, if you’re interested in learning more about the history of the medium, there’s a super-sized — over 1100 pages! — volume coming out this fall you’ll want to check out. Classic American Crime Fiction of the 1920s reprints four significant mystery novel launches, plus the inspiration for one of the classic gangster movies. And they’re all annotated by Leslie S. Klinger, who did The New Annotated Sherlock Holmes (and is responsible for getting Holmes into the public domain). […]

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