J's Pages

by Terry Pratchett 

An amusing tale in the Discworld series (as opposed to the somber ones?) where the understaffed and incompetent Night Watch is confronted with two problems. The first is a new recruit who knows the laws and actually tries to enforce them. The second is a great dragon--a creature that's supposed to be extinct. Hijinks ensue.  

Check it out.
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Labels: CheckItOut, Discworld, TerryPratchett

// posted by John @ 11:58 AM 0 Comments

by Frank O. King 

Volume five of the Gasoline Alley collection continues the shenanigans. The spirit of the times is reflected as the stock market craze hits the Alley denizens. Skeezix is mostly unaware of a large inheritance he has tied up in legal wranglings. Instead he's more concerned about playing with his friends, forming the "Alley Rangers". The adult Alley gang continues to take road trips as neighbor Avery converts his tin lizzie into a mobile home. Walt, meanwhile, takes little jaunts out to the farm, and down to Florida and, later, Brazil.

Check it out.
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Labels: CheckItOut, FrankKing, GasolineAlley

// posted by John @ 11:53 AM 0 Comments

by Frank O. King

This fourth volume in the series continues to chronicle the antics of Walt Wallet, his family, and the neighbors of Gasoline Alley. Well, the neighbors provide less antics as the storylines focus more on the growing Wallet family. Probably the longest tale running through these years details yet another attempt to take Skeezix away from Walt. I think if all of these happened to someone in real life, they'd need therapy. Fortunately, in the comics we can have some drama with a happy ending all but guaranteed. 

Check it out!
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Labels: CheckItOut, FrankKing, GasolineAlley

// posted by John @ 11:46 AM 0 Comments

by Harlan Ellison

This one's a sad tale of a young man trying to escape. Rusty Santoro is a high school student nurturing a dream to become an industrial designer. He's also the former leader of the Cougars gang, having left both his position and the gang itself. Both actions violate the social norms of his world. It's not a pleasant tale, but Mr. Ellison makes the city and Rusty's dilemma come to life. In the process, he evoked memories of my own youth, my dreams, and my fear of mundanity. It's definitely a novel worth checking out. 

LibraryThing link

Labels: CheckItOut, HarlanEllison

// posted by John @ 11:40 AM 0 Comments

by Frank O. King

As I set out to write this review, I discovered that I've never written up my thoughts on the first two volumes of the series. My bad. Overall, I've been enjoying these collections of the earliest Gasoline Alley comic strips. Not only are the comics amusing, but they offer a glimpse of another world--mid-America in the 1920s.* The picture is enhanced by the extensive articles and notes added by the publishers at Drawn & Quarterly Books.

The strips from 1925 & 1926 focus more on the romance between Walt & Phyllis Blossom and less on Skeezix's shenanigans. They illustrate a culture with strict gender roles and social mores. I'm assuming they've been exaggerated a bit to draw out the storyline and work in a few gags. There also seems to be more travelling involved in this volume than in the previous ones. If I were inclined to count them, I think its possible that more of the strips are set "on the road" than in Gasoline Alley. Makes me wonder how the characters can afford such a lifestyle. But that's taking the book way too seriously. I'd much rather move on to the next volume.

________
*Note: That world is a far from perfect world. The racial stereotypes in the art are painful. The writing is a bit better, though still reflects the biases of the time. Read at your own risk. 

Check it out. 
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Labels: CheckItOut, FrankKing, GasolineAlley

// posted by John @ 5:20 PM 0 Comments