Midwest Book Review

January 2009

The Midwest Book Review is an organization of volunteers committed to promoting literacy, library usage, and small press publishing. We accept no funds from authors or publishers.


Image from Amazon
The Cream of Tank Girl
by Jamie Hewlett & Alan Martin

Titan Books
144 Southwark Street, London SE1 OUP, UK
9781845769420, $29.95 www (dot) titanbooks (dot) com www (dot)
amazon (dot) com

The Cream of Tank Girl comes from a cult icon and celebrates the 20th anniversary of her appearance with the release of a fine new book, THE CREAM OF TANK GIRL. 8 monthly comics, 6 graphic novels and more have appeared from the Tank Girl icon - and this hardback coffee-table art book presents some of the finest - and many unseen - art from her creation. A winning, involving pick any graphic novel library will appreciate.

Image from Amazon
Bleach SOULs. Official Character Book

Tite Kubo

Viz Communications Inc.
295 Bay Street, San Francisco, CA 94133
9781421520537, $14.99 www (dot) viz (dot) com 1-800-394-3042

Printed right-to-left (in order to keep the integrity of its "unflipped art") and in black-and-white (with a handful of color pages and a bonus set of color stickers and mini-poster), Bleach Official Character Book Souls is not a graphic novel per se, but rather a companion volume to the action-packed, wildly popular "Bleach" manga and anime series about "Soul Reapers", guardians who escort human souls to their destination, battle evil spirits, and maintain balance in the spirit realm. Packed with exhaustive information on the characters, storyline summaries of "Bleach" volumes 1-21, a bonus manga story, the original "Bleach" one shot, and an interview with Tite Kubo, Bleach Official Character Book Souls is a "must-have" for any serious collector of the series and the perfect catch-up guide for anyone just getting into the latest "Bleach" manga or anime episodes.

Image from Amazon
The Soddyssey
by Batton Lash

Exhibit A Press
4657 Cajon Way, San Diego, CA 92115
9780981551906, $17.95, www (dot) exhibitapress (dot) com

Swamp Monsters have legal troubles too. "The Soddyssey: And Other Tales of Supernatural Law" delves into the one thing effective against all supernatural creatures, at least in these regards, lawyers. Laugh out loud funny, it's a reprint of several issues of the comic book series 'Wolff & Byrd', a legal team specializing in the supernatural. A new spin on both horror, fantasy, and the courtroom drama, "The Soddyssey" is an enthusiastically recommended pick for humor and graphic novel fans.

Image from Amazon
Charley's War: Return to the Front
by Pat Mills and Joe Colquhoun

Titan Books
144 Southwark Street, London SE1 OUP, UK
9781845767969, $19.95 www (dot) titanbooks (dot) com

UK comics writer Pat Mills and artist Joe Colquhoun provide a fine military graphic novel highly recommended for any military library and many a collection specializing in graphic novels. In 1916 one Charley lies about his age to enlist and flight on the battlefields of France. Recovering after battle, Charley has been resting in the UK and returns to the front lines only to find some of his comrades are as dangerous as the Germans they are fighting. Lovely detail makes for an unusually well done, complex story.

EDITOR'S NOTE:

The Midwest Book Review is an organization of volunteers committed to promoting literacy, library usage, and small press publishing. We accept no funds from authors or publishers. Full permission is given to post any of these reviews on thematically appropriate websites, newsgroups, listserves, internet discussion groups, organizational newsletters, or to interested individuals. Please give the Midwest Book Review a credit line when doing so.

The Midwest Book Review publishes the monthly book review magazines "California Bookwatch", "Internet Bookwatch", "Children's Bookwatch", "MBR Bookwatch", "Reviewer's Bookwatch", and "Small Press Bookwatch". All are available for free on the Midwest Book Review website at www (dot) midwestbookreview (dot) com

Anyone wanting to submit books for review consideration can send them to:

James A. Cox, Editor-in-Chief
Midwest Book Review
278 Orchard Drive
Oregon, WI 53575-1129

To submit reviews of any fiction or non-fiction books, email them to Frugalmuse (at) aol (dot) com (Be sure to include the book title, author, publisher, publisher address, publisher website/phone number, 13-digit ISBN number, and list price).

James A. Cox, Editor-in-Chief
Midwest Book Review