Midwest Book Review

January 2010

The Comix/Graphic Novel Shelf

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.


XXXDr. Seuss & Co. Go to War
Andre Schiffrin
New Press
38 Greene St., New York NY 10013
9781595584700, $29.95 www.thenewpress.com

Dr. Seuss & Co. Go to War: The World War II Editorial Cartoons of America's Leading Comic Artists was published nearly a decade ago and sold over a hundred thousand copies, introducing readers to Seuss' political cartoons. This new collection provides early work and commentary spanning six years of the war era, offering illustrated examples of changing attitudes and wartime reflections in a powerful gathering of black and white images recommended for any general lending library.


Glamor Girls Of Don Flowers TPBThe Glamour Girls of Don Flowers
Alex Chun & Jacob Covey
Fantagraphics Books
7563 Lake City Way NE, Seattle, WA 98115
1560977132, $19.95 www.fantagraphics.com

Don Flowers had a long career in newspaper cartooning that spanned over forty years and his cartoon images were at their height producing a single-panel pin-up cartoon strip named Glamour Girls. This gathers his popular cartoon pin-up girls under one cover, showcasing his skills and providing a fine collection highly recommended for any serious graphic novel and cartoon collection.


Marvel Encyclopedia HC 70th Anniv EdThe Marvel Encyclopedia
Alastair Dougall, Editor
DK Publishing
375 Hudson, New York NY 10014
9780756655303, $40.00 www.dk.com

THE MARVEL ENCYCLOPEDIA: THE DEFINITIVE GUIDE TO THE CHARACTERS OF THE MARVEL UNIVERSE has been updated and expanded to pack a huge oversized volume with over 1,200 of Marvel's finest characters. The company's best artists provide work backed by authoritative text supplied by top Marvel comic book experts in a reference powerful for new fans and any who grew up admiring the Marvel universe.


Confessions of a Swinging Single Sea TurtleConfessions of a Swinging Single Sea Turtle
Jim Toomey
Andrews & McMeel
1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106-2109
0740785516, $12.99 www.andrewsmcmeel.com

Confessions of a Swinging Single Sea Turtle provides sea-faring cartoon strip lovers yet another fine Sherman's Lagoon collection of strips; this following Fillmore the sea turtle as he searches for love using some offbeat mating rituals. Black and white and color strips alike provide a vivid, ongoing recommendation for both newcomers and prior fans.


The road to god knowsThe Road to God Knows...
Von Allan
Von Allan Studio
9780978123703, $12.95, www.vonallan.com

The teenage years are hard, and having a schizophrenic mother does not help that. "The Road to God Knows..." is the coming of age story of one Marie, a teenage girl faced with her single mother's increasingly complex schizophrenia. Forced to grow up before her time, she learns many important lessons. "The Road to God Knows..." is an intriguing and touching graphic novel with a unique art style, highly recommended.


Cartoon History Of The Modern World TPB Vol. 02 Bastille To BaghdadThe Cartoon History of the Modern World Part II
Larry Gonick
HarperCollins Publishers
10 East 53rd Street, NY, NY 10022-5299
9780060760083, $18.99 www.harpercollins.com

The Cartoon History of the Modern World Part II provides a lively survey from Bastille days to modern times and offers a hilarious graphic take on modern history's personalities and events. This concludes Gonick's award-winning series and examines world events, ideologies, and more, using funny cartoons to show how world events are linked. An easy way of refreshing one's world history knowledge, The Cartoon History of the Modern World Part II will appeal to students and adults alike.


Book Of Genesis Illus By Robert Crumb HCBook of Genesis Illustrated
R. Crumb

W.W. Norton
500 - 5th Avenue, New York NY 10110
9780393061024, $24.95 www.wwnorton.com

THE BOOK OF GENESIS ILLUSTRATED concludes nearly five years of work and comes from one of the biggest names in underground comics. This black and white collection is faithful to the actual Bible (King James Version and Robert Alter's new translation) and includes a map from Crumb that depicts the world of Abraham and eight pages of Crumb's own commentary on his intentions. The result is a 'must' for both cartoon and spiritual libraries.


Squirrel Machine HCThe Squirrel Machine
Gary Groth, Editor
Fantagraphics Books
7563 Lake City Way NE, Seattle, WA 98115
9781606993019, $18.99 www.fantagraphics.com

Set in a fictional 19th century New England town, THE SQUIRREL MACHINE details the relationship of Edmund and William Torpor, two brothers whose musical creations are built from strange science and scavenged animal bodies. Their discoveries will change the world in this fine graphic novel packed with black and white images and thought-provoking fantasy.

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

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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