13.Feb.2011 Oishinbo: Vegetables by Tetsu Kariya and Akira Hanasaki
In this volume of Oishinbo the topic of pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizer is very prevalent throughout. Organic grown vegetables is the way to go. Which is all nice and everything, but I’m not sure if it’d change my grocery shopping habit. I find it hard to justify the double or triple price of organic food [...]
26.Dec.2010 Oishinbo: Japanese Cuisine by Tetsu Kariya and Akira Hanasaki
Oishinbo (美味しんぼ, lit. “The Gourmet”) is a long-running cooking manga published between 1983 and 2008, but only in 2009 it is published in English in thematic compilation volumes (7 volumes so far), which means they contain “best of the best” and do not follow the original manga chronological order. There are a few minor storylines [...]
18.Oct.2010 Mouse Guard: Fall 1152 by David Petersen
I am never a fan of war stories. I avoid them like a plague. I don’t exactly hate them, just have very little to no interest in them. Unfortunately war stories with mice made little difference to me, as Mouse Guard was far from rocking my boat. The illustration is very beautiful and the mice [...]
18.Jul.2010 The Push Man and Other Stories by Yoshihiro Tatsumi
This must be the bleakest graphic novel/manga I have ever read. I was intrigued when I saw this copy at Sydney Japanese Foundation Library. The book is designed and edited by Adrian Tomine (whose Shortcomings I have yet to read), and includes Tomine’s introduction. Yoshihiro Tatsumi is known as “the grandfather of Japanese alternative comics”. [...]
16.Jun.2010 The Sandman Vol 3: Dream Country by Neil Gaiman
I wonder how many Sandman I should read before I “get” it. I liked Dream Country a tiny bit more than the first two, but still not as much as I would’ve liked. People say the series gets better from the third series and above, that’s why I continued reading. In this third volume, the [...]
02.Jun.2010 Pedro and Me by Judd Winick
I have to thank Michelle for this one. If not for her glowing review I wouldn’t have picked up the book judging from the cover. It looks like some cheesy TV series from the 90s (not the first one, the second one below. I put the blue cover first because I just don’t like that [...]
11.May.2010 The Contract with God Trilogy by Will Eisner
“Will Eisner, born in 1917, saw himself as “a graphic witness reporting on life, death, heartbreak, and the never-ending struggle to prevail.” The publication of A Contract with God when Eisner was sixty-one proved to be a watershed moment both for him and for comic literature. It marked the birth of the graphic novel and [...]
26.Apr.2010 Pride of Baghdad by Brian K. Vaughan and Niko Henrichon
Pride of Baghdad is graphic novel based on a true story of four lions that escaped from Baghdad Zoo after American bombing in 2003. Since the animals have dialogues, obviously it’s highly fictionalized. One may read it as an allegory of the Iraqis. I just read it as what it is. Do you like Disney’s [...]
13.Mar.2010 Skim by Mariko and Jillian Tamaki
Skim is a graphic novel by cousins Mariko and Jillian Tamaki. It covers the issues of growing up, and about being gay at that. As the cousins grew up in Canada, there’s also a touch on growing up with Asian ethnicity in Canada. The style of illustration is one of the most unique I have [...]
07.Feb.2010 Bone: Treasure Hunters and Crown of Horns (Last 2 Volumes)
Like all good adventure story, Bone is ended with a great battle between good and evil ala The Lord of the Rings (not that I’ve read or watched LOTR). Bone series has been such a fun journey and I’m sad that it has ended, though the ending is pretty open to possibility of a sequel. [...]
