The Amazing Screw On Head and Other Curious Objects by Mike Mignola

The Amazing Screw-On Head and Other Curious Objects by Mike Mignola

The Amazing Screw On Head was originally a one shot comic book printed by Darkhorse in 2002. It won the humor category of the Eisner Awards for Best Humor Publication in 2003. In this volume which includes several other stories with similar themes, Mike Mignola describes how he created the story based on the idea of a childrens toy robot with different bodies and a scew-on head. There are several new stories added to this volume.

You could say that many of these stories satirize steampunk which is often very satirical. The stories have a dreamlike quality to them. The villains have a ridiculous theme to them; Emperor Zombie, Dr. Sharp, Gung The Magnificent, the bug eyed martians, and the monster at the top of the beanstalk.

The drawings use lots of dark shadows, browns, blacks, and reds. They look somewhat like the Hellboy comics which Mike Mignola draws, but with a much less malevolent feeling to them. The stories have a fable or fairytale quality to them. The heros are more odd and curious than heroic.

The stories made me smile. They were magical, filled with irrational objects, and worth laughing at. This book was on the Diamond Comics Distributors Bestseller List for October 2010.

Al Jaffee's Mad Life A Biography by Mary-Lou Weisman Illustrated by Al Jaffee

Al Jaffee's Mad Life A Biography by Mary-Lou Weisman Illustrated by Al Jaffee

Al Jaffee is a cartoonist for Mad magazine.  He also has over sixty cartoon books he has written.  He is best known for the fold-ins at the back of Mad Magazine.  He illustrated this biography with a mix of slice of life comics about his own life and light humor comics.  I like the slightly exaggerated style of the cartoons.  They remind me a bit of a kind of slightly guilty pleasure.  This book covers his whole life.

The story starts with his childhood which is quite poignant and hard.  It starts with him moving from Savannah Georgia to live with his mother in a Lithuanian shtetl (small jewish town).  Then it covers his return to live in New York city.  The story is one of hardship and suffering.  He ends up leaving his mother behind as the Jewish holocaust starts.

This biography has quite a bit of mature themes in it; his brother going mad, another brother having extreme disabilities, and being separated from his mother.  He often describes himself as a cut up and a bit out of control.  This is illustrated by a variety of escapades throughout his life which can be both ridiculous and shocking

The thing which ultimately saves him is humor.  He describes reading comics his father sends him as a child and deciding that there is a career for him in comics when he sees advertisements by Dr. Seuss.  There are quite a few cartoons from Al Jaffee's early career in this book including many from Mad magazine.  The juxtaposition between everyday life and silly humor fits well with the writing.

In what I consider the second half of the book, he gets his break when he is accepted for the New York High School for Music and Art as it is first opening.  There he meets Harvey Kurtzman and some of the early figures in comics.  This biography describes his work for many important people in the comics industry.

The second half of the book touches on the history of comic books.  It is quite entertaining.  I rather liked a few of the wordless comics on page 180.  I also like the inventiveness in this book. Al Jaffe attributes this to having very little when he was a child.  He had to make his own toys.  There are interesting cartoons of home made fishing poles, rafts, a toy truck and other toys.

This book is not in the least bit academic in style.  It is full of anecdotes, humor, and sad stories. There is no index and no lists of recommended titles.  There are some photographs from the authors life, many cartoons in full color from both the auhor's life and Mad magazine.  The book is printed on heavy stock paper.  It is published by Harper Collins under the itbooks imprint.  This is a story that makes you think.

Monster A Novel by A. Lee Martinez

Monster A Novel by A. Lee Martinez

Monster, the main character in the novel, is a cryptobiological hunter. He is one of the few humans who can see and interact with magic. Most people in the book block it out; when they see a yeti for example, they think big bear or monkey, then they remember seeing a big bear or monkey.

Monster gets entangled with a human, Judy, after she calls in animal control to deal with yetis in her freezer. As the novel progresses, we learn Judy is the key to saving the universe.

Thus ensues a metaphysical, humorous, sometimes ridiculous story about saving the universe. There are numerous encounters with odd critters; trolls, a pegasus, gnomes, a firebreathing cat, a sphinx, a walrus dog, and other things.

Monster's personal life is a bit messy. His girlfriend is a demon who leaves around devil dolls. She is wicked, but not as wicked as I would have liked. Judy, the other central character, also is not going anywhere with her life.

My favorite character was the villainness. I found her much more sympathetic than the main characters. She is polite, ladylike, keeps a garden, has lots of cats, and is almost unstoppable.

This is a light romp. It is set in the modern day. I have read most of the authors works. He writes humorous fantasy. I can recommend Gil's All Fright Diner which is his best book so far. I have been following the author closely. He has a website at http://www.aleemartinez.com

I got this book from the New York Comic Con on February 6. The book is due out in May of 2009. The copy I am reading is an Advanced Reading Copy.

Too Many Curses-- A. Lee Martinez-- Review

Too Many Curses-- A. Lee Martinez-- Review

Too Many Curses is a fantasy puzzle novel. This means, Nessy, the main character must defeat the obstacles in the book using the help of her friends and her brain. There are not too many of this type of novel written. Another very good example of this kind of novel is Mary Brown The Unlikely Ones. This style emphasizes brains over brawn.

Nessy is a kobold servant of the evil, malicious wizard, Margle the Horrendous. One day, Margle gets accidentally eaten by the Nargle, a rather ridiculous monster who takes a liking to Nessy. Note the pun (Margle versus Nargle.) There is a lot of this kind of silliness in the novel along with rhyming.

With Margle gone, Nessy still feels the necessity to take care of the accursed denizens of the wizards castle. Feeding the monsters, sweeping the floors, and making sure everything is in its proper place. This is not easy, with Margle gone things start to unravel. Beasties and terrible things start to happen.

She seeks the help of the various denizens of the castle to help her out, Dangerous Dan the skeleton (I think this is a reference to Dangerous Dan McGraw), the sword in the cabbage, the hanged man in the library (I think this may be a reference to the board game Clue.), a hero turned into a fruit bat, a wizards parts in a jar, and others. If you pay careful attention there are many references to literature and popular culture.

Because she is short, furry, and practical she cannot defeat the problems with brute force. Often what happens is a series of pratfalls and Rube Goldberg like actions to defeat her foes. For example as part of defeating a hellhound she traps it in a living carpet. It is not a your typical fantasy novel. She also goes under the tutelage of the brain in the jar to learn spells.

Ultimately, like all good heros she saves the day, but not before she has many adventures. All of the creatures of the castle go back to their proper place and she can read her novel given to her by the monster under the bed.

I enjoyed this novel. It was hard to follow and a bit silly at times. I think the novel will be panned by reviewers because of its unusual style. It is written for a general audience, but the puns will hit right on with teenagers.

I think A. Lee Martinez could very well be the next Robert Asprin of fantasy writing. He is a very good author who deserves a solid following. I also enjoyed reading Gil's All Fright Diner, and I reviewed The Automatic Detective earlier. He has a website at: http://www.aleemartinez.com/