[BOOK REVIEW] The Amazing Spider-Man: Origin of the Hobgoblin by Roger Stern

Title: The Amazing Spider-Man:  Origin of the Hobgoblin

Author:  Roger Stern

Artists:  Mike Zeck, Marie Severin, John Romita Jr., Al Milgron and Ron Frenz


Genre: Superheroes / Action / Adventure


Year Published: 1983


Year Read: 2013


Series: The Amazing Spider-Man


Publisher: Marvel Comics

Source:  Library

Content Rating:  Ages 11+ (Some Intense Moments)

Buy or Add on:  Amazon  //  Goodreads 

Introduction:

After reading “X-Men” and “Batman” comics for so long now, I wanted to try something new, so I decided to jump into the “Spider-Man” comics and behold, “The Amazing Spider-Man: Origin of the Hobgoblin” was my first introduction into the “Spider-Man” comics and now I am actually geared up to read more from the famous web-slinging superhero!

What is this story about?

Basically, this comic takes place after the events of “The Death of Gwen Stacy” and after Spider-Man had defeated the Green Goblin, Peter Parker decides to finish up his studies at college.  Unfortunately, it turns out that a mysterious man has somehow found the lost journals of Norman Osborn and discovers that Norman Osborn was the Green Goblin!  Using Norman Osborn’s notes on how to improve the weapons he used as Green Goblin, the mysterious man then created weapons similar to the Green Goblin’s and becomes known as the Hobgoblin!  Can Spider-Man defeat this new foe and find out who this foe really is?

What I loved about this story:

Roger Stern, Bill Mantlo and Tom DeFalco’s writing: I have to admit that when I first went into this graphic novel, I thought that I would never understand what was going on in this series since this was the first time I had ever read a “Spider-Man” comic.  However, not only was the writing by Roger Stern, Bill Mantlo and Tom DeFalco extremely interesting to read through, but the story was easy enough to get into since all the writers took great care in explaining to the readers about what happened in previous events and how they all tie into the current storylines.  What I loved about Roger Stern’s interpretation of Spider-Man/Peter Parker is how Peter Parker is portrayed as being good-natured and intelligent and I really enjoyed the scenes where Peter Parker is shown working on a new type of technology, such as his Spider Tracer which works like a tracking device, that could help him defeat his enemies much easier.  I also loved the way that Spider-Man is portrayed as being a wisecracking superhero while at the same time is extremely aware of the situations going on around him, which makes him a well-rounded character.  The mystery surrounding the identity of the Hobgoblin was done extremely well as readers will be sitting on the edge of their seats trying to figure out who the Hobgoblin really is and how he knew about Norman Osborn’s notes on being the Green Goblin.  I also loved the way that the Hobgoblin was not being written as just being a copy of the Green Goblin, but proved to be an extremely difficult opponent for Spider-Man for he was extremely intelligent and used Norman Osborn’s notes to his advantage.

Mike Zeck, Marie Severin, John Romita Jr., Al Milgron and Ron Frenz’s artwork:  With many different artists in this graphic novel, the artwork was extremely brilliant to look at!  I loved the way that Mike Zeck’s artwork had a retro 70’s style look as the characters look extremely realistic and the outlining for the characters are nice and bolded, which really made the characters truly stand out.  Marie Severin’s artwork makes a brilliant transition from the late 70s to early 80s style artwork as the characters are drawn in much brighter colors and have more details on their facial expressions.  John Romita Jr.’s artwork is somewhat similar to Marie Severin’s artwork as the characters’ appearances are vastly improved and I loved the images of Peter Parker having wavy brown hair and gorgeous brown eyes.

What made me feel uncomfortable about this story:

Since this comic came out during the early 80s, I knew that I was going to be reading a ton of dialogue coming from the characters.  This graphic novel actually took me two days to finish because the dialogues with each character, especially Spider-Man, were extremely lengthy.  Even though I enjoyed reading the characters’ inner thoughts on a situation, I found it a bit difficult to get through this graphic novel in one day because it took so long to read through the dialogues.  Also, another reason I gave this volume a four star rating was because the first two stories at the beginning which dealt with Roderick Kingsley felt a bit out of place for this volume since they barely dealt with Hobgoblin. 

Final Thoughts:

Overall, even though this volume was extremely lengthy and some stories felt out of place, “The Amazing Spider-Man: Origin of the Hobgoblin” is a great introduction to the Hobgoblin and “Spider-Man” fans will definitely enjoy this volume!

[BOOK REVIEW] Batman: The Long Halloween by Jeph Loeb

Title:  Batman:  The Long Halloween

Author:  Jeph Loeb

Artist:  Tim Sale

Genre: Superhero / Action / Adventure


Year Published: 1996


Year Read: 2013


Series: Batman


Publisher: DC Comics

Source:  Purchased

Content Rating:  Ages 13+ (Some Language, Death, and Violence)

Buy on:  Amazon  //  Book Depository 






The Origins of Harvey Dent has begun!

Introduction:

Now, I have been reading many Batman comics whose stories dealt with Batman defeating one of his greatest foes, the Joker.  But, I had always wanted to read some “Batman” stories that dealt with another one of Batman’s greatest foes, Two-Face!  I got interested in Two-Face’s story when I saw one of the episodes on “Batman: The Animated Series” that dealt with the origin tale of Two-Face and I was amazed at how well that episode portrayed the relationship between Batman and Two-Face.  So, this caused me to pick up a Batman comic book that deals with Two-Face and lo and behold, I found “Batman: The Long Halloween!”

What is this story about?

Carmine “The Roman” Falcone was Gotham City’s untouchable Crime Lord and District Attorney, Harvey Dent, Batman and Captain James Gordon were all trying to take down this crime lord for months now.  However, the actual story starts when “The Roman” was throwing a wedding party for his nephew Johnny Viti, but later on, it turns out that somebody had murdered Johnny Viti and later on, a gang called “The Irish.”  This then leads to many murders that are directly involved with “The Roman’s” family and the serial killer became known as “Holiday” since the killer only kills people on various holidays such as Thanksgiving and Christmas. Can Batman, James Gordon and Harvey Dent catch this serial killer before it is too late?

What I loved about this story:

Jeph Loeb’s writing: Now, I had seen many different versions of Harvey Dent’s origins including the animated series’ version and Nolan’s famous “Batman” film, “The Dark Knight,” but I really enjoyed Jeph Loeb’s version of Harvey Dent and how he made his character mysterious.  Jeph Loeb had done an excellent job at writing this story as the serial killer starts killing certain members of “The Roman’s” family on holidays such as Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Eve and I loved how all thirteen chapters in this book is titled a different holiday like Chapter Two is titled “Thanksgiving” and Chapter Three is titled “Christmas.”  I also loved the way that Jeph Loeb made this story similar to a crime noir as the mystery of the story involves Batman, Harvey Dent and James Gordon trying to figure out who the “Holiday” serial killer is and how they will stop him from killing anymore victims and I loved seeing the scenes of the “Holiday” serial killer murdering people as there are no words accompanying the evil deeds and the artwork pretty much does the talking for those scenes.  I really enjoyed the turbulent relationship between Catwoman and Batman as we are left in the dark about Catwoman’s true motives for helping out Batman even though she is a world class burglar and it was interesting trying to figure out what her true motives are.  The way that Jeph Loeb portrayed Harvey Dent’s mysterious and intense character was extremely well done as Harvey Dent also wants to protect Gotham City from crime, but he seems to want to do things the hard way to get the job done.  What was so amazing about this story was the fact that Jeph Loeb introduced many of Batman’s greatest enemies (the Joker, Solomon Grundy, Poison Ivy, The Scarecrow, and the Mad Hatter) into this one story and they all play a huge role in Batman trying to discover “Holiday’s” secret identity.

Tim Sale’s artwork:  Tim Sale’s artwork in this graphic novel was just astonishing as the artwork is dark and gritty and it really fits well with the dark tone of this story!  I loved the way that Tim Sale drew Batman himself as Batman looks large and intimidating in every image and I loved the way that Tim Sale drew Batman’s cape as twirling around Batman, giving a frightening feel to Batman’s presence.  I also loved the way that Tim Sale drew the shadowing around the characters’ bodies during the night scenes (although the majority of this comic takes place at night) which really made the images extremely creepy to look at.  What I really loved about Tim Sale’s artwork is when the scenes of “Holiday” murdering various victims are in black and white colorings which really made these scenes truly stand out from the other scenes.

What made me feel uncomfortable about this story:

Since this story deals with the murders of several characters, there are many scenes where characters are killed off in gruesome ways, which they are mainly shot in the head.  These scenes are also graphic as there is blood everywhere where the characters are shot.  Anyone who is uncomfortable with violence in graphic novels might want to steer away from this graphic novel.  Also, there is some brief language in this graphic novel, although the language is not as strong as you would sometimes see in mature stories

Final Thoughts:

Overall, “Batman: The Long Halloween” is one of the best “Batman” stories about Two-Face ever told and anyone who is a fan of the “Batman” comics should definitely check this graphic novel out!  Also, if you want to read some other great “Batman” comics, here are some recommendations:

Batman: Year One

Batman: The Killing Joke

Batman: The Dark Knight Returns

[BOOK REVIEW] Edwina, the Dinosaur Who Didn't Know She Was Extinct by Mo Willems

Title:  Edwina, the Dinosaur Who Didn't Know She Was Extinct

Author:  Mo Willems


Genre: Dinosaurs / Friendship / Humor


Year Published: 2006


Year Read: 2010

Publisher:  Disney-Hyperion

Source:  Library

Content Rating:  Ages 4+  (Nothing Objectionable)

Buy on:  Amazon  //  Book Depository 

 

When I first read “Knuffle Bunny,” I thought to myself that I would probably never read another book with so much sarcastic humor.  Well, I was wrong when I recently picked up this book called “Edwina the Dinosaur Who Didn’t Know She Was Extinct” which is also written by Mo Willems and when I read this book, it was so hilarious and cute!  This book is basically about a dinosaur named Edwina who was well liked in her neighborhood except by a kid named Reginald Von Hoobie-Doobie, who tries to think of ways to prove that Edwina is extinct.  This book clearly has the pure essence of comedy that you would rarely find in picture books!

Mo Willems has done it again in his talent of producing pure comedy and cute illustrations in the world of children’s books.  Mo Willems has done an excellent job at writing this book as it is full of humor, especially during the scenes where Reginald tried to prove to everyone that dinosaurs are extinct and the hilarity that ensues when people kept on ignoring Reginald’s protests.  Mo Willems has done a great job at making Edwina a truly loveable character as she would help anyone out in their time of need, especially Reginald who tries everything to make her life miserable.  Mo Willems’ illustrations are truly hilarious and cute as he draws Edwina as a large yet motherly looking dinosaur who has pink toenails and fingernails, a pearl necklace and a straw brimmed hat that makes her look like she is actually apart of the society that she is in.

“Edwina the Dinosaur Who Didn’t Know She Was Extinct” is the perfect book for children who love pure comedy and love reading books about dinosaurs.  I would recommend this book to children ages four and up since there is nothing inappropriate in this book.

[BOOK REVIEW] Leonardo the Terrible Monster by Mo Willems

Title:  Leonardo the Terrible Monster

Author:  Mo Willems

Genre: Monsters / Friendship / Humor


Year Published: 2005


Year Read: 2011

Publisher: Disney-Hyperion

Source:  Library

Content Rating:  Ages 4+ (Nothing Objectionable)

Buy on:  Amazon  //  Book Depository 

 I have been reading Mo Willems’ books for a long time and I have recently stumbled upon his book called “Leonardo the Terrible Monster!”  “Leonardo the Terrible Monster” is a children’s book by Mo Willems which is about a small monster named Leonardo who tries to be a scary monster, but cannot do so effectively, so he tries to find a child that he could easily scare.  “Leonardo the Terrible Monster” is a truly brilliant book that children everywhere will easily love for many years!

Leonardo was a terrible monster since he could not scare anyone and he did not have distinguishing features like Tony, who has thousands of teeth and Eleanor, who is so big.  One day, Leonardo got an idea to get the most scared kid to scare and finally, Leonardo found a kid named Sam who was a huge scaredy –cat.  Leonardo then creeps up behind Sam and…

Oh man! I never thought that such a book with the title “Leonardo the Terrible Monster” would actually turn out to be a hilarious and cute book!  Mo Willems has done a brilliant job at both writing and illustrating this book that it has become an instant favorite on my “Mo Willems” bookshelf!  The first thing about this book that surprised me was the cover of this book as the title looks like it is written like those introductions in the old western films, especially when the top part of the cover says “Your Pal Mo Willems Presents.”  I also have to admit that the title surprised me since I thought that when it said that Leonardo is a terrible monster, it meant that he was the most ruthless monster to ever to be seen, but it turns out that he was called “terrible” because he cannot scare anything.  Mo Willems makes this book simple yet creative at the same time as there might be about five to ten words per page, but the story is still hilarious enough to catch children’s interests.  I also thought that the message at the end of this book was really cute as friendship is more important than trying to prove to people to be something that you are not.  What I really loved about this book were the illustrations themselves as they are totally hilarious and my favorite images were of Leonardo’s monster friends, especially the image of Eleanor as we only see her huge legs since she is so big!  I also really loved the images of Leonardo himself as he is shown being a small monster and has light olive fur and a blue tongue.

Overall, “Leonardo the Terrible Monster” is a truly hilarious book that both children and adults will enjoy for many years!  I would recommend this book to children ages four and up since there is nothing inappropriate in this book.

[BOOK REVIEW] Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! by Mo Willems

Title:  Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!

Author:  Mo Willems


Genre: Animal / Humor / Manners


Year Published: 2003


Year Read: 2011


Series: Pigeon

Publisher:  Walker Books Ltd

Source:  Library

Content Rating:  Ages 3+  (Some Rude Behavior)

Buy on:  Amazon  //  Book Depository 

 

I have read many books by Mo Willems that have been honored with the Caldecott Honor award, which included the “Knuffle Bunny” series.  Now I have recently read “Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!” which is actually Mo Willems’ first children’s book and is a Caldecott Honor book and it is about how the Pigeon keeps asking the audience if he could drive the bus after the bus driver leaves to run an errand.  “Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!” is truly a memorable book that children can read over and over again!

At the beginning of the book, a bus driver comes by and tells the audience that he has to leave to do something, but before he leaves, he warns the audience, “DON’T LET THE PIGEON DRIVE THE BUS!” After the bus driver leaves, the pigeon comes by and starts asking the audience if he could drive the bus.

Wow!  I never would have thought that a book a pigeon just asking the audience if he can drive the bus throughout the book would be so interesting to read!  Mo Willems has done an awesome job at both illustrating and writing this book about the pigeon asking everyone if he could drive the bus.  What I found so interesting about this book was the fact that the only illustrations shown in this book were mainly of a blue pigeon and a bus driver in a grey and green uniform who only shows up at the beginning and end of the book, but Mo Williems did a great job at making this book extremely hilarious by giving out different expressions for the pigeon which ranges from excitement to anger.  Mo Williem’s writing is extremely simple yet witty at the same time as it goes to show that you do not have to have long sentences to make a great book!  What I really loved about Mo Williems’ writing is the dialogue that the Pigeon is given as it is hilarious and witty to listen to and my favorite quotes from the pigeon were, “Pigeon at the Wheel!” and “No? I never get to do anything!”

All in all, “Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!” is truly one unique and hilarious children’s book that every child who love witty humor will definitely get a kick out of it! I would recommend this book to children ages three and up since there is nothing inappropriate in this book and the format is simple enough for small children to understand.

* 2004 An ALA Notable Children's Book for Younger Readers
* 2004 Buckaroo Book Award
* 2004 Caldecott Honor
* 2004 Charlotte Zolotow Award Nominee for Highly Commended Title
* 2005 Flicker Tale Children's Book Award
* 2005 Golden Archer Award for Primary
* 2005 Kentucky Bluegrass Award for K-2
* 2005 Vermont's Picture Book Award: Red Clover
* 2006 South Carolina Book Award for Picture Book Award
* 2009 Indies Choice Book Award for Picture Book Hall of Fame

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!

Happy New Year's Everybody!!! May your year be a great one!!!

[BOOK REVIEW] Wolverine: Old Man Logan by Mark Millar

Title:  Wolverine:  Old Man Logan

Author:  Mark Millar

Artist: Steve McNiven


Genre: Superhero / Action / Adventure


Year Published: 2009


Year Read: 2012


Series: Wolverine


Publisher: Marvel Comics


Source:  Library

Content Rating:  Ages 16+ (Gory Violence)

Buy on:  Amazon  //  Book Depository 
 

Brief Introduction:

Now, everyone knows that I am a huge fan of Wolverine, so when I heard about this unique little story called “Wolverine: Old Man Logan,” I just had to try this comic out!  Luckily, I was not disappointed with this story as “Wolverine: Old Man Logan” was one of the most intense and possibly terrifying stories I had ever read about Wolverine!  With spectacular writing from Mark Millar and dramatic artwork by Steve McNiven, “Wolverine: Old Man Logan” is definitely one comic book you just have to check out!

What is the story?

In the future world, the United States is being ruled by the villains of the Marvel Universe (Dr. Doom, Norman Osborn and the Kingpin) and all of the superheroes were killed off, except for two heroes: Wolverine and Hawkeye!  Wolverine is now living peacefully with his family as he swore off ever using his claws ever again since a horrible incident happened that dealt with him using his claws.  One day however, the evil Hulk Gang wanted their payment in rent from Wolverine and if they do not get their rent money, they will kill Wolverine’s family.  So, Wolverine goes on a cross country journey with his partner, a now blind Hawkeye, to get some money for Wolverine to pay the rent.  Unfortunately, even though Wolverine is trying to live a peaceful life, he will soon realize that in a world ruled by villains, he will always be a target and he might have to compromise his stance on not fighting anymore once his life and family are being threatened!

What I loved about this comic:

Mark Millar’s writing: After reading Mark Millar’s fantastic run on “Ultimate X-Men,” I just knew that I had to give this book a try and when I did, oh my goodness, I was totally blown away by this story!  Mark Millar had done a fantastic job at giving us a really dark and dystopian world where super-villains ruled the United States and Logan decides to give up being “Wolverine” after a tragic event happened in his past.  I loved the way that Mark Millar developed Wolverine’s character and the fact that there would be a day where I would see Wolverine become a pacifist was really surprising to me.  I also enjoyed the back story about why Wolverine became a pacifist and what happened to him in the past was a truly terrifying and emotional moment in this book that will make you really sympathize with Wolverine’s predicament.  I also loved the idea about this being a “what if” story about what would happened if the super-villains ruled the world and all the super heroes were killed?  It rose up so many interesting scenarios in this comic about what the super villains would do once they take over the world and how the world would look like.  Apparently, the world is full of people being killed for no good reason and the endless changes to the United States such as California now being called “Hulkland.”  I also loved the way that Mark Millar portrayed Hawkeye and Wolverine’s relationship with each other as Hawkeye is always cheerful and can still fight extremely well even when he is blind and I loved the fact that they still remain friends after all the hardships of living in a villain ruled world.

Steve McNiven’s artwork: Steve McNiven’s artwork was just so fantastic in this comic! I loved the way that Steve McNiven made the characters looks extremely realistic.  The characters’ facial expressions are done extremely well as there are shadows on the characters’ faces whenever they are having dark thoughts.  I also enjoyed how detailed the bloody scenes were as blood squirts everywhere whenever the characters are cut up as it gives the scenes a much more frightening feeling.

What made me feel uncomfortable about this book:

~A huge warning for anyone reading this comic~

This comic has oodles and oodles of blood and gore throughout!  I had never seen a “Wolverine” comic that had so many scenes of people being killed in the most brutal ways (being cut up) and anyone who does not like seeing any kind of strong violence in a comic might want to skip this comic.  Also, there is some language in this comic, although not as strong as something you would see in Scott Snyder’s “American Vampire” or Neil Gaiman’s “Sandman” series, so for anyone who does not like reading language in a book, they might want to skim over these words.  I took off half a star because I felt that the beginning was moving a bit too slow and it was not until the middle of the story where things really started to pick up.  Also, the story might be a bit confusing for anyone who does not read “Avengers” or any other Marvel comics since it manages to combine most of the Marvel characters into one story (I know I got really confused when the Avengers were mentioned since I barely read the “Avengers” comics (big X-Men fan here).

Final Thoughts:

Overall, “Wolverine: Old Man Logan” was a really interesting read for me since I usually do enjoy the usual dystopian future storylines and this one was really creative and unique to read through.  Wolverine fans will definitely enjoy this fantastic one shot story of everyone’s favorite claw wielding mutant!