Vance's Summer Reading List

I love Summer Reading List time at NoaF because my life is generally an overwhelming, downhill-rolling snowball of demands on my time/mental capacity, so I sometimes find myself suddenly realizing in horror that I haven't actually held a book in my hands for weeks at a time. But our Summer Reading Lists give me a chance to blow the dust off of my TBR pile and actually make some kind of plan-of-attack. These are the books I'll be laying siege to over the next three months.


1. Bone: The Complete Cartoon Epic by Jeff Smith [Cartoon Books, 2004]

At WonderCon this year, I told my daughter she could pick out a book at the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund table, and with wide eyes she selected the 1300-plus page complete edition of Bone. She's a couple of hundred of pages in, but I'm planning on stealing it from her. Or at least installing my own bookmark that I can march forward after she's in bed for the night. This all-ages comic is truly epic in scope, unfolding the story of three Bone-creatures who get kicked out of Boneville and wind up unwittingly sparking a battle of good and evil between the forces of The Spirit of the Locust, great dragons whom very few people still believe in, bizarre "rat creatures" who inhabit the forest, and the disbanded kingdom of humans who are caught in between. The black-and-white illustrations (just black and white, no grey, even) owe a debt to Walt Kelley's Pogo comics, and are tremendously engaging. It's like Lord of the Rings, but funny.

2. The Sculptor by Scott McCloud [First Second, 2015]

Author of the seminal Understanding Comics, Scott McCloud's new graphic novel received all kinds of raves upon its release last year. It's a story that takes the idea of pouring your life into your art in a very literal direction, and I'm very much looking forward to reading something that I think will have a lot of interesting things to say about the emotional process of creativity. The premise of asking the question "What art would you make if you knew you had less than a year to live?" is a profound one, and one that, as a songwriter particularly, resonates very deeply with me.


3. Radiance by Catherynne Valente [Tor, 2015]

I picked this one up after reading the glowing review that appeared here on Nerds of a Feather because the prospect of exploring the solar system as depicted in early silent films sounded amazing and fun. But I have to admit, I've started this one already and I'm not sold. It's not particularly fun and the narrative device of different characters essentially monologing each chapter has me pretty put-off by the unmotivated infodumping. May have to put this aside in favor of something else on this list and circle back.



4. The Sundial by Shirley Jackson [Ace Books, 1958]

I love me some Shirley Jackson. I was browsing aimlessly in my local used book shop and found an ancient paperback of this book lying sideways on the wrong shelf, so I counted it a happy accident and snapped it up. The back matter suggests that a bizarre family gathered together in their large home receives a vision of the apocalypse and has to decide what to do about it. I can pretty much guarantee that the decisions they make won't be what you'd consider solid, healthy, well-reasoned ones.



5. Harry Potter À L'École des Sorciers by JK Rowling [Folio Junior, 2011]

Tia recommended revisiting Harry Potter via audiobook, and I'm attempting something...similar? This week I finished the entire French course in Duolingo, and in my hubris, I ordered the first Harry Potter book in French. They still talk too fast for me in the French movies I have on DVD, and I needed to do something to expand my skills and keep learning, so I thought this might be a good way. I have Google Translate on my phone for words I don't know, and an optimistic outlook that may or may not disapparate once I actually attempt this feat. I'm about thirty years past when they say the best time to learn a new language is, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.


6. Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire [Tor, 2016]

The premise of this book is so amazing it feels like one of those "How did nobody think of this before??" moments: what happens to kids like Dorothy after Oz, or the Pevensie kids after Narnia, or any of the countless child protagonists we all grew up identifying with after they are forced back into the hum-drum everyday of life-as-we-know it? If the premise wasn't enough to hook me (and it would've been), Joe Sherry's enthusiastic review helped seal the deal. It's currently checked out at my local library, and I wait for its return...


Posted by Vance K -- Cult film reviewer and co-editor of Nerds of a Feather, Flock Together since 2012. Studier of foreign languages on iPhone apps since 2014.

Thursday Morning Superhero

This past week I began reading Bone with my children and it has us all captivated.  My five-year old daughter and I are about halfway through the second book.  We are trying to catch up with my eight-year old who is tearing through the series.  I love it when a book captures his attention the way this series has.  It makes me a proud dad to see him using his spare time to park himself in front of a comic book.  If anyone is looking for a great all-ages book with humor, action, and a strong underlying mystery, look no further.  I knew there had to be a reason why Jeff Smith gets his own panel at SDCC every year.

Pick of the Week:
Batman #44 - Jock sure knows how to draw a stunning book.  I have always enjoyed his work, but it truly shines when he draws the Dark Knight.  I feel Batman, in a way, really returned to form this week.  Scott Snyder took us through Batman's investigation of a 15-year old boy who had been murdered and dumped outside of Gotham.  While it was a bit cliche, it was nostalgic and brought me back to when I first started reading Batman. Through the inner dialog provided by Snyder and the rough, dark tones of Jock's art, it really immersed me in the mind of Batman as he struggles with his detective work in a world he helped create.  I am very excited about where the next arc might lead.

The Rest:
The Walking Dead #146 - Very subtle issue of the Walking Dead and one that clearly shows that Rick is hanging on by a thread.  His time as the leader of the group may be coming to an end very soon.  People are asking for revenge, but Rick wants to take the high moral ground.  Given everything that Rick has led the group through, it is hard to believe that his desire to stop the killing is what is finally going to cause him to lose his followers.  I guess when you are living in a situation where your biggest threat is a bunch of individuals who wear zombie skins in order to control a massive heard you don't want to sit idly by.  Darn zombie apocalypse. 


Darth Vader #9 - Things get a bit awkward in this issue as Vader is forced to assist an Imperial investigator who is attempting to find out who hijacked a boatload of credits from an Imperial cruiser.  If you recall, Vader teamed up with Aphra to make the heist look like an accident from an asteroid collision. The dialogue between Vader and the investigator is quite entertaining, as both hint at to what really happened, but are forced to go through the motions of the investigation together.  It will be interesting to see how this investigation unfolds, but I am more curious as to why Aphra is seeking out a retired military clerk on Naboo.  The plot thickens. 

Star Wars: Shattered Empire #1 - The "Journey to Star Wars: The Force Awakens" began in comic book form yesterday.  Following the toy hype of Force Friday, which was awesome and has me obsessed with BB-8, Marvel debuts this issue which picks up during the celebration on Endor.  It was exciting to see new characters and side stories mixed in with Return of the Jedi and I look forward to seeing how Imperial forces were able to regain some power in the wake of the loss on Endor.  Seems like another must read for a Star Wars fan.




POSTED BY MIKE N. aka Victor Domashev -- comic guy, proudly raising nerdy kids, and Nerds of a Feather contributor since 2012.