Seeing Red: What Time Is It?

A Review By: Amelia 

What time is it? Adventure time! For those of you not familiar with Adventure Time it’s an animated television series aired on Cartoon Network. It’s about a human boy named Finn and his best friend and adoptive brother Jake, a dog with magical powers to change shape and size, who go on quests and adventures in the post-apocalyptic Land of Ooo. It’s an adorable, surrealistic humour series that’s become so popular it’s grown into a huge franchise with merchandise, videogames, and comic books. Seeing Red is one of the many comics that Adventure Time has spawned!

In Seeing Red Marceline the Vampire Queen has to go back home for a family reunion. Normally, she would skip out, but it turns out she left her beloved axe bass behind the last time she was there and her father has decided to get rid of it! With the help of Jake the dog, Marceline travels around the dark and dangerous Nightosphere to try and find her axe and teach her father a much needed lesson about communication! 

The author of Seeing Red is Kate Leth and the illustrator is Zack Sterling. Leth is a Canadian comic artist and writer who has been posting comics online since late 2010. She’s known mostly as a web-comic artist but she has published a few anthologies and works for Adventure Time and Braves Warrior. Sterling is an illustrator, designer, and sequential artist based out of Portland. He studied at The Pacific Northwest College of Art and the Art Institute of Portland and has worked for Penguin Young Readers Group, Cartoon Network, and BOOM! Studios. You can find both Leth and Sterling on Tumblr at kateordie.tumblr.com, and zacharyxbinks.tumblr.com respectively.

In Seeing Red the plot follows Jake and Marceline as they search through Marceline’s home land of the Nightosphere for her treasured axe. It was nice to see these two characters together since Jake is so rarely seen without Finn and hardly ever alone with Marceline (since he’s still a little horrified of her being a vampire). The characters do learn lessons–especially Marceline and her father who aren’t always on the best of terms–but there’s precious little character development throughout the piece. It’s not surprising  with something as popular as Adventure Time; there doesn’t really need to be in-depth character development–you already know what the characters are like!

 

The art style in Seeing Red is the standard Adventure Time art style. Yes. It has a standard style. The characters are really minimalistic in facial and body structures and it makes them exceedingly adorable! The characters have noodle-like arms and legs and the style lacks any consistently sharp/straight lines. The landscapes are also minimalistic but that has more to do with where the story’s set than the overall style.

Seeing Red isn’t the best Adventure Time comic I’ve ever read but it was definitely a departure from what I’ve read in the past. Having Marceline and Jake go on their own adventure without anyone else really was a stroke of genius since I’ve yet to see it done before!

My final thoughts on Seeing Red is that it’s a good Adventure Time one-shot comic. I wouldn’t necessarily recommend that someone who has never seen Adventure Time before start with this comic, but having even the slightest knowledge of the franchise will allow you to just jump right in! So go for it ‘cause what time is it? Adventure time!

Zeus Grants Stupid Wishes: Possibly the Best (or the Worst) Book About Mythology You’ll Ever Read

A Review By: Amelia

Ever find yourself thinking that you’d like to learn about ancient mythology but don’t want to read thick and heavy tomes? Do you think that Loki and Thor are really awesome but thousands of years worth of long-winded weirdo Norse myths aren’t? Or perhaps you just don’t like proper prose and long to hear all the ancient myths be retold to you like a drunken buddy would. Well, if any of this applies to you, Zeus Grants Stupid Wishes is the book for you!

The book Zeus Grants Stupid Wishes is a series of shortened myths from a number of societies (Egypt, Greece, Japan, etc.) written as if a drunk person were retelling them. Yup, that’s it–that’s the book folks!

Cory O’Brien, the author of the book, is serious about mythology. At least according to him. He has a website where he posts his retold myths and apparently birds freak him out. If you go to his website (http://bettermyths.com/who-writes-this-shit/) he impresses how much he hates birds pretty quickly. Does this tell you anything about his writing style, his method, his credentials? Nope, but it does show you he has a sense of humour and that’s important since he’s written such a tongue-in-cheek book! Don’t believe me? Well, enjoy this excerpt from the Norse section from a myth titled (or re-titled rather) "Thor Gets Jacked":

                                     

                                    “… Freyja is like “Hey, Thor, what’s good?”

                                    And Thor is like

                                    “SOMEONE STOLE MY HAMMER.

                                    WAAAAHHHH.”

                                    and Freyja is like “Shut the fuck up, man.

                                    We can solve this mystery.

                                    Loki, did you steal the hammer?”

                                    And Loki is like “Nope.”

                                    And Freyja is like “Well, I’m out of ideas.”

                                    and Loki is like “I know, right?...”

                                                                                                (page 71)

Take a good look at that excerpt, I assure you that is exactly how it is typed and formatted in the book. So, yeah, you can imagine how reading a whole book like that is. Now, that being said, despite the abuse of CAPS lock and the constant swearing (not that I’m against constant swearing myself, but it does kind of distract) I did really like this book. People who aren’t fond of blue humour (FYI, blue humour is material that’s typically considered more “adult”) probably won’t dig this book and the overall prose (if it can even be called prose) can get old real quick but, honestly, if it bothers you that much just spread your reading out over a few days and you’ll be fine.

My final thoughts on Zeus Grants Stupid Wishes is that it’s pretty good. A little strange, a little frustrating if read for long stretches of time, but pretty good nonetheless. The humour will keep you coming back and, if you’re lucky, you might even learn something about mythology!

Under the Night Sky: It’s a Book Trying to Teach Life Lessons… Trying Being The Key Word

 A Review By: Amelia

Winter is my favourite time of year; and that’s not just something I say because I’m Canadian! I really do love winter! I love the snow and the cold air. The hot chocolate and how it gets dark early. And anyone from a Northern climate will fondly remember snow days during the school year! I only wish I lived far enough north to see the Northern Lights every winter. They’re just so magical, how they swirl around between the stars in bright purples and greens. It’s why I was drawn towards Under the Night Sky when I was browsing through the kid’s bookshelves. It’s a whole book about the Northern Lights! Sort of. But I’ll get into that later.

The story of Under the Night Sky is that of a working, single mom who breaks her routine one night and rushes her son downstairs to join their neighbours as they spontaneously decided to celebrate the beauty of the Northern Lights. The beauty of nature provides the mother and son with a special moment they can look back on with great happiness.

Amy Lundebrek, the author of Under the Night Sky, was born in Wisconsin and currently lives in Minnesota. She has a B.A. degree in Biology and enjoys outdoors stuff like hiking and camping, canoeing and snowshoeing. Under the Night Sky, which is her first published book, won a gold Mom's Choice Award in 2008 and a gold Moonbeam Award in 2009. As far as Anna Rich, the illustrator, well, I couldn’t seem to find a lick of information about the woman! She’s illustrated lots of other children’s books (that much is obvious from a Goodreads page listing her works) but when her name is entered into a search engine, there seems to be nothing (at least nothing I could find) So sorry Anna Rich, I’ve got nothing to tell the people about you!

Anyways, on to other matters–like the characters! There are two main characters in this piece: the community of people living in a blue collar kind of apartment building, and the aurora borealis, aka, the Northern Lights. Okay, so the Northern Lights can’t really be a character, so I guess that leaves the blue collar families. The main focus is on one family consisting of a single mom working the late shift at a factory and her son who is maybe growing up to fast because of his mom working the late shift. I don’t know to tell you the truth. There’s not much character in the characters! I think the characters were supposed to develop during the mother/son exchange that happens, but it only showed how the mother loves her son and, in a kid’s book, was there going to be any other feelings between a mother and son besides love?!

Now, now, now… I do believe we talk about the lessons this children’s book tries to teach and yes, it does have to do with the mother/son exchange mentioned just above. Under the Night Sky is about a whole group of working class parents that are trying to surprise and enlighten their children through the Northern Lights, which are admittedly pretty magical; but then again, I don’t know what the Northern Lights have to do with the ‘touching’ mother/son moment the two main characters have but I guess Lundebrek thought it would be meaningful. The whole exchange is a strange one-liner morality lesson in the midst of star-gazing: "When you get older, you and I might disagree about some things...Just remember these lights, how they dance." (pg. 20)

What does any of that mean right? I think it comes off a little phony trying to tack on a coming-of-age story or an awakening story or whatever she was going for. The (quote, unquote) lesson that should have been learned from Under the Night Sky is nature’s power, and beauty, and ability to transform the ordinary into something spectacular. You could have even had the theme of transformation apply to the child. Since the mother obviously wants him to end up doing better than working in a factory like her, she could have pointed to the sky and made a comment about how anything has the ability to transform and be magical. But instead the lesson taught is about how she wants the best for him and when he doesn’t remember that he should remember the Northern Lights. There are other overtones as well, such as friendship and community, but nothing is developed enough to really understand what is going on.

The art style of Under the Night Sky is quite lovely and is probably my favourite thing about the book. It looks like oil paints on canvas with many textures and visible brush strokes and blended colours. The outdoor scenes that take place under the Northern Lights are dark and jewel-toned, done mostly in tones of green and purple and it is very pretty. The illustrations are dark and mysterious, and you get a strange sense of fantasy from it that is probably appropriate for anyone who is a committed or even a casual naturist or stargazer!

Under the Night Sky’s best feature is by far Rich’s pictures. They make the story magical where the writing fails. Not to mention that there needed to be an explanation about what the Northern Lights are! They’re never even named (as the Northern Lights or the aurora borealis) and if it’s their purpose to be the focal point of the story, they need more information! Of course the story does have its good points. It was nice to see a book celebrating single-parent families as they are rare. And it’s always nice to see books about rejoicing in nature as we often take it for granted.

My final thoughts on Under the Night Sky are that it’s okay. It’s not the best children’s book I’ve ever read, but it’s not the worst. What was the biggest problem for me was that it just didn’t seem to fit together. The mother/son relationship, while cute, didn’t offer enough character development or a big enough life lesson to be anything other than something that felt tacked on: like an afterthought. There was no information about the Northern Lights, and, if it weren’t for the beautiful artwork, this children’s story just wouldn’t have a leg to stand on!

Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea: Between Good Young Adult Fiction and Bad

A Review By: Amelia 

I’m always looking for new and interesting young adult fiction. I’ve found that in the last few years young adult has become worse, and in a way, much better. There are the authors that are still trying to categorize YA and pander to young readers by putting in pointless romances and attempt to use slang appropriately. Then you have the authors that realize that young readers have as varied a taste in books as adults and that we shouldn’t treat them like idiots. The young adult book I just finished up, Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea, seems to an equal mix of the two types.

“You stop fearing the devil when you’re holding his hand…” Nothing much exciting rolls through Violet White’s sleepy, seaside town… until River West comes along. River rents the guest house behind Violet’s crumbling estate, and as eerie, grim things start to happen, Violet begins to wonder about the boy living in her backyard. Is River just a crooked-smiling liar with pretty eyes and a mysterious past? Or could he be something more? Violet’s grandmother always warned her about the Devil, but she’s so knee-deep in love, she can’t see straight. Could she be headed for disaster?

April Genevieve Tucholke is a full-time writer who digs classic movies, redheaded villains, big kitchens, and discussing murder at the dinner table. She and her husband–a librarian, former rare-book dealer, and journalist–live in Oregon. Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea is her first novel with the sequel Between the Spark and the Burn coming out this August.

The characters in this piece are a group of teenagers: all seventeen (at least, I think they were all seventeen). There’s Violet, the main protagonist. She’s a shy girl, a little snobby (she’s from old money), and likes to read. The story is told through first person perspective so you garner the most information about her. Unfortunately, she’s such a dull character her perspective quickly becomes quite boring and repetitive. Take for example her brother Luke. He’s a sexist pervert, content with treating his sister like garbage in the sake of coolness and drinking whatever liquor is available to him. Or at least that’s how Violet paints him in first person. He’s always got his hands all over a girl named Sunshine, a kind of vapid, flirty girl who’s friends with his sister, and Violet is certain it’s to make her uncomfortable. You learn at the end that it’s because they actually like each other but Violet’s a pretty self-centred/oblivious character and it escapes her until after she’s had her ‘life-changing, eye-opening’ moment. What I did like about Violet’s character was that she had no interest in boys… well, until she met River, but I’ll get to him in a moment. Violet is perfectly content to make small talk until she dies–she’s a whole person without having a man in her life and that’s a pretty refreshing character trait in young adult fiction! Of course she does meet a boy and after that all she can think about is him, but (again, I can’t say too much without giving the whole point of the story away). Alright, onto the last character, the main antagonist: River. He’s a suave, handsome, talented, multi-faceted lair that Violet can’t help but fall in love with. Unfortunately, even with all that going on for him, he’s as flat and plain as a playing card. All the characters are. Tucholke tried, she really did! You can tell in her lovely prose that she attempted to make human characters people could relate to, but they just ended up coming off flat.

Speaking of Tucholke’s lovely prose, I must say something about the location: a small and quaint seaside town in Oregon. It reminded me a little of the small town I spent my teenage years in, so it was easy for me to visualize all the small stores and the resident quirky townsfolk. Violet and Luke also happened to live in a huge, expansive Manor right beside the sea cliffs with a thick forest on the other side. It has a ballroom full of oil paintings and an attic packed with antiques and mysterious letters written by an eccentric grandmother. It’s a beautiful setting and in a way, it became its own character. Certainly it’s the most interesting character! Tucholke’s elegant prose suits description much better than it does dialogue!

This book had reviews written on it that called it a ‘terrifying and hypnotic debut’. It’s not. They only way this book could be considered hypnotic is that it’s dull enough to put you to sleep. Don’t get me wrong, Tucholke has writing talent–her descriptions are a thing of beauty, full of words that left me longing to re-read some classic gothic novels–but as far as character and story development goes, there’s a long road yet to travel.

My final thoughts on Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea are that it’s more or less mindless, young adult pap. It’s not anything that it’s advertised to be: it’s not sexy, it’s not romantic, it’s not reminiscent of classic gothic horror; it’s just… so uninteresting. Don’t get me wrong, this book is not by any means a total waste of time, but I suggest you go into it not expecting any of the things the reviews on the front cover say!

Oglaf: It’s Dirty, It’s Funny, It’s Oglaf!

A Review By: Amelia

Web comics can be an intimidating thing to get in to. Some you can read on a one-shot basis like Dinosaur Comics. Others you have to start at the beginning or you’ll be so lost and it will be more of a hassle than a joy. Homestuck, I’m looking at you for that one! And what if you’re looking for something in between that? A web comic that has one-shot panels but also panels that form an ongoing story? Well, I think you’ll find this review is for the comic you’re looking for (barring the fact that it does have a lot of sex in it, but more on that later)!

Oglaf comics are a weekly comedic web comic centred on a medieval fantasy realm that are mostly one-shots. The comics follow non-repeating characters but there are continuing storylines/repeating characters (like the Apprentice storylines that make up 90% of the beginning of the comics life). And yes, like I briefly mentioned just above, Oglaf has a tonne of nudity and sex–so here’s the mandatory disclaimer: if you are under the legal age in your region, or have a poor opinion of sex, humour, dragons, elves, sorcery, semen or any combination of the like, this comic (and review) is not recommended for you! The Oglaf comics are updated weekly on Sundays at http://oglaf.com!

There are two authors/illustrators that work on Oglaf: Doug Bayne and Trudy Cooper. Bayne is an Australian animator, actor, and writer and Cooper is an Australian cartoonist and illustrator. Both their primary works include Oglaf and Platinum Grit (http://www.platinumgrit.com).

A personal favourite of mine

The art style of Oglaf is really quite wonderful considering how some people get away with doodles and dot eyes for web comics! Not that I don’t love me some dot eyes, but Oglaf’s  realistic form with correct human proportions and anatomy–and trust me, you’ll be seeing a lot of anatomy if you catch my drift–is quite beautiful. All the comic panels are also in colour which is always nice. My one qualm with the art style is that all the faces are quite similar. The female faces are slightly more varied, as I believe a lot of that comes down to hair style; unfortunately though, the male faces are all kind of the same: eyebrows, eyes, noses, their expressions. It’s not a huge issue and it certainly doesn’t detract from the overall experience, it’s just something you’re bound to notice after prolonged readings.

 My final thoughts on Oglaf are that it’s my favourite web comic and if you’re looking for a new comic to slate a thirst of hilarity and sexiness this is the comic for you! The art is great, the stories never fail to amuse, it updates weekly and since it’s mostly one-shots you can jump right in to the newest ones or go through the huge archive, and, hell, who doesn’t love a good NSFW comic every now and again?

Tell Me Something about Buddhism: Questions and Answers for the Curious Beginner

A Review By: Amelia

Buddhism has always made me curious. It’s not a religion, it’s a loose philosophical system that billions of people practice even today, and to me (I’m a staunch non-religious person) that’s just fascinating. But where does one start with Buddhism? Which books should I pick up? What research should be done to open my horizons, so to speak? It’s a system that’s been in place thousands of years and is moulded differently in each area that it is practiced and to just jump in seems daunting. Tell Me Something about Buddhism is a book that realizes that it’s daunting and will help guide you through a number of the bigger questions of Buddhism.

For anyone curious about the teachings of Buddha and modern Buddhist practice, "Tell Me Something about Buddhism "offers the perfect introduction. Written by Soto Zen priest Zenju Earthlyn Manuel and organized in an easy-to-use Question and Answer format, this brief book answers the many common questions people have about Buddhism.

The author of Tell Me Something about Buddhism is Zenju Earthlyn Manuel (Zenju is her dharma name meaning complete tenderness). Manuel was ordained a Soto Zen priest September 2008 and along with her writing career in the field of Buddhism, she’s been a guest teacher at Spirit Rock Meditation Center, Green Gulch Zen Center, and the East Bay Meditation Center in Oakland. She holds a M.A. degree from U.C.L.A. and a Ph.D. in Transformation and Consciousness from the California Institute of Integral Studies. So, all in all, this is a lady that knows what Zen is all about.

Manuel, who has been involved in Buddhist practice for over twenty years, after an L.A. upbringing in an African-American Christian church, intertwines throughout the book her personal experiences as one of the first African-American Zen priests. Her life in the Sangha, her teaching in local communities, and her travels around the world meeting other Buddhist practitioners enliven her answers to the most fundamental questions about Buddhist practice. Some of her answers are brief, some in-depth, others still are personal and reflect more of an opinion than an outright answer, but she is a highly qualified woman and you’ll know more about Buddhism after finishing this book than when you began. She writes, "Had I not opened myself to the many teachings from the earth, such as Buddha's wisdom, it would have been nearly impossible to survive the fires of my soul."

Tell Me Something about Buddhism is an interesting little book. It doesn’t cover everything you’ll need to know about Buddhism–I don’t think any one book could ever do that–but it does give you just enough basics on things like who was Buddha to why do monks, nuns, and priests shave their heads.

My final thoughts on Tell Me Something about Buddhism are that it’s good. It’s not exactly a book that you can pick up and fall into without some prior interest in Buddhism but, like the title says, it’s a good place to start for a curious beginner!

Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon: 90s Girl Power Galore!

A Review By: Amelia

If you were born in the 1990s, you’ve seen Sailor Moon (or at the very least heard of it). It was the first anime that I, and a lot of other kids, were exposed too, and it was definitely the first time I had ever seen a group of girls with such badass powers and attitudes! I mean, she fights evil in the moonlight and finds love in the daylight! What’s not to love about that?

Now, for those of you who don’t know, the story of Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon follows the adventures of the reborn defenders of a kingdom that once spanned the solar system and the evil forces that they battle to defend the entire universe from annihilation. The series is a fantasy and are heavily symbolic and often based on mythology.

The writer and illustrator of Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon is Naoko Takeuchi who is a Japanese manga and anime writer/artist. She started at age 19 and her works include Chocolate Christmas, Maria, and The Cherry Project, and other course Sailor Moon which has risen to one of the most popular and recognizable manga/anime characters!

As mentioned above, the series surrounds the exploits of guardians that defend the universe from annihilation. These super-powered protectors are a group of teenage girls called the Sailor Scouts that go to school, deal with their personal lives, and fight their enemies ruthlessly from day to day. There’s a Sailor Scout for every planet (including the no longer classified as a planet Pluto!) and there’s even a few Sailor Scouts that make an appearance through time travel, inter-dimensional travel, etc. Unfortunately, through the twelve volumes of the series you don’t really get much character development – at least from anyone but Sailor Moon herself. In fact, the other Sailor Scouts don’t even have that many speaking lines and I’d say that the villains that they fight got to say more than any one Sailor Scout!

The art style in Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon is a very exaggerated style. The characters all have long and fantastic hair, long and fantastic legs, and short and fantastically revealing skirts! Everyone is meant to be jaw-droppingly gorgeous, but I actually found myself unable to get by the facial design of the characters: it was the mouths. They were too small and way high up the face and apparently, that’s just not something my brain is able to see, accept, and move on from! Other than that though, everything was incredibly beautiful–especially the panels that showed landscapes and the outer space shots. The Sailor Scouts hair and bodies were beautiful, landscapes were breathtaking, and the action sequences (though very short) were all nicely done. Really, what I’m getting at is that everything but their little mouths was great!

All in all, Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon was a great manga. I would have been happier with a different facial design and I definitely could have done with a little more character development from the Sailor Scouts–especially the badass Sailor Mars!–but other than that, this manga series was such a fabulous blast from the past! It took me back to when I was six and ran around the house pretending to be Sailor Mars! And more importantly than nostalgia, this manga/anime gave me confidence in being a girl! Here’s a group of teenage girls that kick more ass than anyone else I’ve yet to know about and I think that’s something that’s still very needed in the media!

My final thoughts on Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon are that it’s pretty great. I, personally, am not a big fan of the way the faces are drawn, but the stories are so ridiculously over the top and, more often than not, almost too strange to follow cohesively, but my god what a trip down memory lane! It’s a girl powered romp through amazingness and if you watched the Sailor Moon anime as a child I suggest you look into the manga series for nostalgia–you won’t be disappointed!

Tomb Raider The Lost Cult: Fanfiction At It’s Best

A Review By: Amelia

Fanfiction is hit or miss: sometimes it’s amazing, sometimes it’s tripe, and, of course, more than often, it’s full of graphic sex between characters that should not be having graphic sex. Seriously. They should not be having sex… But anyways, what was I saying? Oh yes, sometimes fanfiction is amazing and I can tell you now, Tomb Raider: The Lost Cult is just such a fanfiction!

After destroying years of his research on the ancient Méne cult, archaeologist Professor Frys is murdered by an unknown assassin. Lara Croft knows her colleague must have stumbled upon a dangerous secret–and someone took his life to ensure it would remain in the shadows. She jets around the world and quickly discovers that what’s happening is much bigger than she could have ever imagined as an ancient and deadly cult hopes to bring about the end of the world.

E. E. Knight grew up in Minnesota but now lives in Oak Park, Illinois. He tried journalism, photography, retail jobs, and software development before discovering he could get paid to make up stories and put them down on paper. Aside from The Lost Cult he is also the author of the Vampire Earth series.

The characters of the piece are Borg, an incredibly buff and famous mountain climber that lost his arms in an accident but continues to climb with the aid of two very high-tech prosthetic arms. Ajay, Lara’s former friend and failed protégé now turned evil cult activist. And–of course–Lara Croft, infamous archaeologists/tomb raider and all-round gun wielding, ass kicking, bitchingly awesome woman!

Ajay and Borg are very well-rounded original characters and seem very fleshed out within the piece. The backgrounds of the two characters are believable and realistic: maybe even more than Lara Croft’s own background. You will never see Ajay and Borg in another piece of Tomb Raider work (be it comics, videogames, books, etc.) but within The Lost Cult they fit with the plot well and interact with Lara like they’ve been with her since the very beginning.

As for Lara herself she’s done amazingly well. When you look at the videogames that the books draw her character from you really do realize how little you learn about Lara within them. Honestly, within the first game she just felt very cookie-cutter character: like, this is what we know about badass characters now let’s add tits and now they’re female. She’s evolved mightily since then within the videogame world, but for authors to write books about her from those first few games is very impressive. In The Lost Cult you’re immediately presented with a Lara Croft that is not only intelligent and knows how to kick ass, but has regrets about her past and actual human emotions surrounding things like loss and betrayal; she even shows sexuality beyond just having big tits as she develops ‘crush’ like feelings for Borg and often finds herself thinking how she’d like to get to know him beyond working with him. E.E. Knight took a character that was cold as ice and made them into a human: even more than that, Knight was able to explain why in other instances Lara needs to come off as cold as ice.  

All in all The Lost Cult is a seriously amazing book. The story is compelling and exciting as Lara runs around the world to protect it from a cult hoping to raise primordial gods–I mean, what’s not to like there? Knight more or less pits Lara against Cthulhu and that’s awesome! Plus he’s managed to create new characters that fit within the Tomb Raider universe really well: so well that characters that are brand new will seem like they’ve belonged to the Tomb Raider franchise for years. Even more than that though, Knight took a character that’s already been developed and delved even further into her with whole new angles to look at Lara from and be creating compelling reasons as to why she would act this way given what we’ve seen of her in the videogames!

My final thoughts on Tomb Raider: The Lost Cult are that it’s amazing considering how it’s literally just a fanfiction about a videogame franchise! The author pulled off something really remarkable and really just went above and beyond what I expected, especially with his portrayal of the characters. Honestly, it’s an amazing piece of fiction and fans of Lara Croft’s exciting exploits should not miss out on this book!

The Real Ghostbusters Omnibus: I Ain’t Afraid of No Ghost!

A Review By: Amelia

If there’s something strange in your neighbourhood, who ya gonna call? GHOSTBUSTERS! If there’s something weird and it don’t look good, who ya gonna call? GHOSTBUSTERS! So goes the immortal words of the Ghostbusters–my favourite thing of all time. Seriously, my favourite thing of all time. The movies, the cartoons, the soundtracks, the videogame, and nowadays, The Real Ghostbusters comic book omnibuses.

So, what are the comics all about? Well, forget Egon's rules–the streams have been crossed, the dead have risen, and a free-roaming apparition is part of the gang! It’s The Real Ghostbusters, ladies and gentlemen, the comic series based on the cartoon of the same name, and in this first volume omnibus collection the issues #1–14 of the classic NOW Comics series are featured as they were published back in the 1980s in their 32 page, monthly colour comic format! Some comics are one-shots (their stories are told from start to finish in one issue) and others are an over-arching story that covers several issues but it’s always a classic Ghostbusters storyline!

The characters in the comic are the Ghostbusters–duh! Plus, Janine and Slimer make reoccurring appearances and each storyline of course has a cast of ghosts and villains that the Ghostbusters go up against. You don’t get much character development within the comics but I went in knowing everything about the characters already, so it didn’t bother me. Although since the comics follow the cartoon Ghostbusters and not the movie Ghostbusters if you’ve never seen the cartoon it might be tough goings for you. You know, just something to keep in consideration.

The art style in The Real Ghostbusters Omnibus is very 1980s–which is appropriate because that’s when the series was first published. It’s really bright and colourful with lots of neon colours and opposing colours all used within a single panel of the comic–it might sound overbearing but it was actually a nice change of pace from the gritty, shadowy, dark comics I usually read. Sure, they aren’t the prettiest characters, or the most realistic, but it’s in the style of the classic cartoon and that’s enough for me!

So how do the comics stand up? Personally, I’d say really well. They aren’t going to be winning any awards for writing or illustrations, but it’s fun nonetheless! It’s a total blast from the past and, c’mon, who doesn’t love this classic franchise?

My final thoughts on The Real Ghostbusters Omnibus are that it’s pretty amazing! I’m a huge Ghostbusters fan–especially of the cartoon–so having all of the comics collected into one, big, handy omnibus is amazing! Not to mention that it’s all just so deliciously eighties: the colours, the plotlines, the jokes, the drawings–everything! It’s a comic series that really will appeal to everyone, well, at least everyone who ain’t afraid of no ghosts!

Mommie Dearest: The Origin of the Exposé

A Review By: Amelia

What is it about celebrities that are just so damn fun to read about? Tabloid magazines are filled with hokey stories that just can’t possibly be true, yet people keep eating them up and demanding more… and I’m a little ashamed to say it, but I’m one of those people! I know, I know, but I just can’t help myself–celebrities salacious lifestyles are just plain entertaining! Mommie Dearest, being the first, is probably the most tantalizing of them all!

Mommie Dearest, as mentioned above, was the first ever Hollywood exposé and it took the world by storm as Christina Crawford wrote about her life growing up with Hollywood starlet and diva Joan Crawford as her mother. By Christina’s accounts, which she claims all true, life with the rich and famous Joan Crawford was not all it was cracked up to be!

The writer of Mommie Dearest, as mentioned above, is Christina Crawford–the eldest adoptive child of Joan Crawford. She was one of four adopted children and a first hand witness of Joan Crawford’s personal and private life. Her account of her family life has been under heavy fire since it was first published with the two youngest children of Joan (among others) denying the stories of abuse but others, including Joan’s second child Chris, confirming everything that his eldest sister has to say.

In the book, Christina tells many stories of childhood abuse at the hands of her mother. She tells stories of how her mother would come into her room at night and tear it apart only to have her clean it up again, or how she was constantly battling with alcoholism and engaging in affairs with men Christina and her siblings were forced to call Uncle and, she claims, even secret affairs with women. Christina even goes so far as to suggest that she and her three siblings may have been adopted for publicity purposes as Joan’s career went down the drain in the thirties. It’s a book that shows a dark side of Joan Crawford–perhaps a dark side of most Hollywood parents at the time–but, because it’s a book written from childhood memories and long burning grudges and emotions, some of it might be highly exaggerated.

Some people have claimed that everything in the book is a lie, but others confirm it. I, personally, believe

most of what Christina has to say, I mean, why write it if not to earn some feeling of having taken revenge? Her mother wasn’t fit to raise a child–let alone four–and if Christina needed this book to make herself feel better, I say why stop her? Of course what you believe after reading it might be something else entirely.

My final thoughts on Mommie Dearest are that it’s a good book: whether or not it’s all true. There’s just something about seeing the dark side of people that appeals to me and Joan Crawford–or, at the very least, Christina Crawford’s vision of her mother–is as dark as they come.