The Wild: The Secret Journeys of Jack London by Christopher Golden and Tim Lebbon YP FIC GOLDEN

Everyone knows that Jack London knows adventure. His stories of survival and danger in the harshest of climates were all based on his own travels as a young man. What people don’t know is of his secret adventures, adventures too unbelievable to write of…until now! 17 year old Jack London sets off for the Yukon during the Gold Rush. There he finds desperate criminals, harsh freezing weather, and a mysterious beast in the woods. Jack finds that the beast is actually the mythical Wendigo, a cursed once human creature that must feast on human flesh. Jack is saved by the Wendigo by a beautiful woman, but she holds secrets darker and more dangerous than even then Wendigo.

This is a cracking good start to a new series. Fans of adventure books should love seeing a young Jack London battle the elements and mystical creatures. The gritty realism of the first half of the book grounds the more fantastic elements very well. It makes the danger seem more present and severe. Jack is tough, smart, and resourceful but he’s not superhuman, so when he faces such grueling conditions and dangers it is made more exciting and believable because of his limitations. Pushing the limits of human limitations is ultimately what a lot of great Jack London books are about and the essence of great adventure. If you want a well written, action packed read then The Wild is your next can’t-put-it-down book. And if you enjoy this book definitely check out the main character’s actual books in FIC LONDON.

The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare illustrated by Faye Young YP FIC SHAKESPE

Bassanio loves the fair Portia, but needs money to woo her. He calls upon his best friend and mentor Antonio who makes the mistake of borrowing from the banker Shylock.. Shylock hates Bassiano for a previous cruelty at the hands of his best friend, Antonio and for Antonio undermining Shylock’s business, so his terms of failure to pay on time are quite severe: a pound of flesh from nearest Antonio’s heart. When a turn of fortune forces Antonio to be late in payment, Shylock takes Antonio to court seeking his pound of flesh and Antonio’s life.

This is a part of a series of manga Shakespeare tales some of which I reviewed here. I quite like the elfin, fantasy style they use here. They do a good job of making Shylock look sinister and evil without looking like a stereotype. The layouts are quite good and there is a lot of fun and playful visuals with the romantic plot of the book. I do recommend reading this to anyone that would like to get into Shakespeare but is put off by the language, because visuals help make the action clearer. I will say that this book has some of the same problems of the play. The play can certainly be read as anti-Semitic. A great deal of learned scholars have argued that issue for many years, but it FAR too complicated to be settled by one blog post. The Merchant of Venice is a brilliant play and has a lot to say about mercy, justice, love, marriage, and bigotry, so it should absolutely be read and this is a great way to read it.

Hexed by Michael Alan Nelson YP FIC NELSON Art by Emma Rios

Luci Jennifer Inacio Das Neves, Lucifer for short, is a good thief. She steals magical items for her employer and only friend, but when a former employer she ripped off finds her and forces her to pull a job she unwittingly starts a war of the magic using underworld.

this is great new hero that uses intelligence more than raw power. She’s troubled, feisty, and cool. The book is a mix of fantasy and crime fiction, which has been done to DEATH, but Hexed makes it fun and fresh. A lot of the praise goes to Emma Rios. The art has a manga inspired look but with a European flair. This first adventure is fast paced and has loads of good twists. It introduces a lot of interesting characters and ideas that we don’t get to learn about, but that’s what future volumes are for. If you like Anita Blake, Buffy, or other chicas that kick monster butt check Hexed out.

Flash: The Dastardly Death of the Rogues by Geoff Johns Illustrated by Francis Manapul YP FIC JOHNS

The Flash is back and on the attack! Barry Allen is back from being trapped in the speed force since literally the 80s and is ready to get his life going again. Unfortunately, while he’s trying to solve Central City’s cold cases a brand new case hits his desk. Someone dressed like one of Flash’s old rogues winds up dead and Flash is the killer! At least that’s what the Rengades, time travelling cops that stop criminals from the past say. They have all the powers of his deadliest rogues, and have trained to fight his most deadly nemesis with the exact sane powers of him the Reverse Flash, Professor Zoom. How can Flash stop himself from committing a murder before the Future Cops stop him from stopping himself?

This is a fast paced, rollicking good time with excellent art, I hadn’t seen Francis Manapul’s work before this, but I love it. It is highly stylized and slick and goes great with the rich colors they use for the comic. they do a great job of making Flash’s enemies seem dangerous and cool (which is a tough feat considering how lame they usually come off!) This is pretty straight forward superhero fare with a bunch of fights and action, which is never a bad thing in my book. The far and above best part of the comic is when Flash’s Rogues meet the future Renegades and they all have a mega super battle of awesome and identical powers with Flash in the middle. It was a super awesome battle royale. This is a good read for fans of old fashioned super heroics

Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne by Grant Morrison art by various artists YP FIC MORRISON

Bruce Wayne (the ORIGINAL BATMAN duh!) is coming back…THROUGH TIME!!! But if our Batastic hero makes it through the various time jaunts to the present he will destroy the Earth! For when Darkseid hit Batman with the omega effect (in Final Crisis YP FIC MORRISON), the Bat was charged with a sort of omega energy that will destroy all time if he ever returns to the present. One problem: NOTHING STOPS BATMAN!!! So as Bruce travels through time one of humanities greatest heroes is soon to become the universes greatest villain! And that is if and only if he survives cavepeople, witch hunters and ancient evils from beyond time and space, pirates (even Blackbeard!), cowboys, gangsters that want to frame his dead father for killing his mother, and assorted superhero ‘friends’ trying to kill him to save the universe!

Grant Morrison delivers again in another inventive and wacky Batman story that rewrites the mythos of the Bat and the entire Wayne family. Morrison has had an epic (and sometimes overly complicated) story that rewrites Batman’s entire past, kills him, sends him through time, and resurrects him. This is a great and weird piece in his bizzaro puzzle. The art changes with each time period but is excellent throughout. The work remains tense, because while you never really buy Batman would die from some measly pirates or pilgrims, you will wonder how he can defeat the Darkseid Curse. I do recommend starting with early Morrison Batman tales, but this book can be thoroughly enjoyed by comic book and Batman fans without knowing the full back story.

Blood on My Hands by Todd Strasser YP FIC STRASSER

When Callie Carson finds her ex ‘friend’ Katherine (number one mean girl, queen bee in school) lying on the ground outside a party with a knife in her she assumes it’s another one of her mean spirited pranks. However, upon pulling the knife from Katherine she realizes:

1. It’s REAL!

2. Katherine is ding dong dead!

3. She isn’t alone!

Her picture is taken with a cell phone and is online faster than you can say, “Viral.” Now everyone thinks Callie is a murderer and has to find the real killer. But how do you find a killer when over half the school has a motive?

Okay, so right off the bat it is a little, tiny bit hard to feel for Callie after pulling such a bonehead play like assume a knife is fake and play Sword in the Stone with a dead body, BUT the book being from her perspective helped me warm up to her within a few chapters. Callie used to be a willing salve to Katherine’s evil whims and the book has loads of flashbacks showing how MEAN Katherine really was and giving Callie plenty of suspects. It reminds me of a faster paced and shallower version of Rosebush by Michele Jaffe (YP FIC JAFFE). It isn’t that it is completely shallow; just that Strasser’s recent thrillers are fun, suspenseful, quick reads and Rosebush succeeds in being something more. There are a good amount of twists and turns, a rekindled romance, and a nicely satisfying ending. The ending was more believable than a fair amount of teen murder mysteries and thrillers. The choice Callie makes at the end may leave you wanting to strangle her (I did!) or you may think she makes a good choice. If you want a good mystery and you enjoy teen thrillers, especially if you liked Strasser’s last thriller Wish You Were Dead, then you should have a fun time with Blood on My Hands.