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Today's second Ypulse Youth Advisory Board review comes from Michael Hayball for dystopian fiction Renegade X. As always, you can communicate directly with any member of the Ypulse Youth Advisory Board by emailing them at youthadvisoryboard at ... Read the rest of this post

oil on illustration board, 16" x 20"

Hi everyone and Merry, Merry, Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy Holiday Seasons from the Jolliest Sith ever to slide down as many chimneys as Santa on Christmas Night.....Darth Santa Bill!!!!!!!! Well I don't know if I will get another post out until the holiday season is over or not, so I want to wish everyone a wonderbar holiday time of year thing!!!!!!

Now I have to share a clip from one my favorite Songs and Holiday Specials ever, I bet you have already seen it and can guess the name of it. Check it out:






Now for a couple of reviews of two awesome Graphic Novels I just recently finished!!!!!!!!!


Wolverine: First Class - The Rookie by Fred Van Lente, Andrea DiVito and Salva Espin - Well let me just get this off my chest. This Graphic Novel was awesome and I blew through it so fast I read it a second time. This GN collects Wolverine: First Class issues #1 - 4 and includes Wolverine's first appearance from way back in Hulk #181 when comics cost a whole 25 cents. Wolverine is one of my all time favorite comic book heroes and in this GN teams him up with one of the newest and youngest X-Men Kiity Pryde. The GN begins with their first meeting and adventure and leads onto other stories in which they take on the likes of Sabretooth, The High Evolutionary, the Man-Beast amongst others. This GN is really well written and not just about punching out the bad guys and fighting with your partner. The stories have depth, action and make you think. In short this is how Graphic Novels should be done. Thumbs up!!!!!!!





Lions, Tigers and Bears Volume 2 by Mike Bullock, Jack Lawrence, Paul Gutierrez and Bob Pedroza - This my friends is a Graphic Novel that was alot of fun to read. I reviewed Volume 1 on April 23, 2008, but you don't necessarily have to read Volume 1 to enjoy Volume 2. To see my review of Volume 1 Click Here. This Graphic Novel is about a boy named Joey and his friend Courtney. It is also about the stuffed animals they own that come to life whenever children are in danger from evil beasties. Joey owns some stuffed animals called the Night Pride which consists of Pallo - The Leader of the Pack (an African Lion), Venus – Guardian of the Pride (a Bengal Tiger), Minerva – Huntress of the Shadows (a Black Panther) and Aries – Warrior of the Night (a Siberian Tiger). The Night Pride are the elite protectors of "The Stuffed Animal Kingdom" a land where all stuffed animals are real. In this volume King Bear is betrayed by his brother to the evil beasties and not only is the Stuffed Animal Kingdom at risk, but all children in our world. For you see once the beasties are in control and the stuffed animal protectors conquered, the beasties will be coming for the children in the real world. Check out this really well done GN for a really exciting story that you will devour and be finished reading before you know it. Great stuff!!!!!!!!

Have a good one all and Peace Out,

Bill

I'm pretty sure the title of this post is the ONLY way I could fit this picture in with this weeks' SFG theme but I'm cool with that if you are. Hooray for more fan art!

More here: http://slatermark.blogspot.com
Hope y'all likes!
- Mark

Hello all, yes once again it is I, the slightly schizophrenic Sith/Pirate/Ninja Bill!!!!!!!!

I am appalled that in a recent post here at our ever-so-friendly blog that my very character and nobility was attacked by a certain Melanie person:

"Just goes to show, you can't trust boys! Bill, Bill, Bill . . . I'm at a loss to understand how you can spell miscellaneous right and get scissors so very wrong. :) Hmmm, perhaps those short words are trickier for you than the long ones."

At first I found it impossible to believe that I the one, the only Sith/Pirate/Ninja Bill had misspelled any words at all (I'll have you know that at Sith School I always won the Spelling Bees). Well just to make sure, I went and checked with that Jedi sympathiser Carl to see if indeed anything had been misspelled (as loath as I am to admit it, he is a very good speller). He pulled out this huge book that I had never seen before which he said was called a dictionary. He said that it contained most of the correct spellings of words in the English Language. To my horror he opened up this huge tome of knowledge and confirmed what Melanie had said. I had indeed misspelled a word. Imagine my horror and dismay!!!!!!! Better yet, take a look at it:

Nooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What is this evil contained in this "Dictionary" that tells me I am wrong!!!!!!

I could not believe it to be the truth so then I went to confront the "sophisticated" Melanie to challenge here to a duel to reclaim my honor. What was the outcome, you ask? Well, let's just say that this massive tome that is called a "Dictionary" can be used for more than looking up words:

Ahhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That hurts!!!!!!!!!! I beg of thee to stop!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Of course, I had left my trusty lightsaber in my other pair of pants at home and had totally forgotten about my "Flashing Book Holders of Death" My wounds were most grevious, but I will return stronger and more unpleasent than ever!!!!!!!! This I swear!!!!!!

Well enough of this unpleasent incident, lets talk about books:

Tiger Moth: Kung Pow Chicken & The Pest Show on Earth both by Aaron Reynolds and Erik Lervold – Is there anybody still out there who is not familiar with the greatest insect super powered ninja fighting team of Tiger Moth (a moth, duh!!) and his apprentice Kung Pow (a pill bug; what the heck is a pill bug?)? If not, it’s time you do! The Tiger Moth graphic novel series is both great fun and hilarious to the max!!!! In “Kung Pow Chicken” Tiger Moth’s apprentice Kung Pow is left on his own to save his mentor from the villainy of Weevil. Will Tiger Moth be saved from insect eating spiders? Will Kung Pow prove that he is no chicken? Read this graphic novel to find out the answer to this and many other questions you have not even yet begun to form!!!!!! The next adventure entitled “The Pest Show on Earth” brings back Tiger Moth’s archenemy Weevil this time in the guise of a carnival employee that comes to town. Tiger Moth and loyal apprentice Kung Pow visit the carnival and spot the evil Weevil (that was fun--it rhymes; say it three times really fast) immediately. What can his evil plan be this go-round? Loyal readers, you must read this graphic novel to find out! Is the suspense killing you yet? Read and all will be answered. Remember, as Tiger Moth says: “When two birds fly, only one stone can be thrown.” Great wisdom are there in these words. Other Tiger Moth titles include: The Dung Beetle Bandits, Tiger Moth Insect Ninja, The Fortune Cookies of Weevil, and Tiger Moth and the Dragon Kite Contest. Many of these titles can also be downloaded onto your computer. All you have to do is go to the Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg Catolog and download away!!!!! This series rocks, so check it out now!!!!!!

X-Men Fairy Tales written C.B. Cebulski and illustrations by various – This is a really fun graphic novel that takes fairy tales from around the world and puts them with X-Men characters. You don’t have to be familiar with the X-Men to enjoy the stories, but if you are, it’s an extra kick. The fairy tales covered are: “The Peach Boy” inspired by the Japanese fairy tale “Momotaro;” “Faith in Friends” inspired by the African fairy tale “The Friendship of the Tortoise and the Eagle;” “Restless Souls” tapping some of the spooky traditions of New Orleans; and “To Die in Dreams” taken from some of the Brothers Grimm’s most exciting fairy tales. The stories are really good reads and the art just awesome. So if you are a fan of the X-Men or Fairy Tales or both, this graphic novel is well worth checking out and reading. Also the library system has another graphic novel along the same line “Spider-Man Fairy Tales” staring everyone’s favorite wall crawler along with characters associated with him. Really just great stuff!!!!!

Twisted Journeys: Captured by Pirates by Justine & Ron Fontes with illustrations by David Witt – Now I know everyone out there is probably familiar with the choose your adventures type books, if not, I’ll elaborate. These are the fun types of books where, based on what decisions you make, the books take different directions and different storylines. Well, combine this strictly text-based type of book with a graphic novel and you get the Twisted Journey experience. “Captured by Pirates” is too cool and what’s even better is there are other books in the series. Captain Bootstrap Bill gives these books a hardy Aaaarrrrrrrrrr!!!!!!!!!

Bone: Ghost Circles by Jeff Smith – Well, the seventh volume in the Bone Graphic Novel Series has finally come out and it was well worth the wait. As the title to this volume intones, things get real scary and serious in this one. The villagers and Veni Yan Monks are really put to the test by the “Lord of the Locust’ and his armies. Everything goes crazy with a volcano eruption and the appearance of “Ghost Circles” everywhere. The Bone cousins (Phoney, Smiley and Fone Bone), Thorn, Gran’ma Ben, and the recently returned Bartleby are also being pursued by the forces of the “Lord of Locust” and just manage to stay one step ahead. But how long can their luck hold? What is a Ghost Circle? Who lives and who dies? Only one way to find out, read the book. You won't be disappointed.

Well, gotta go now guys. As always, peace,

Bill

Here in California, where you could make a good case for food being the universal religion, parents begin early to introduce kids to world cuisines. While Aline’s been cooking up Stone Soup, we’ve been making a stew of cookbooks and food reference books for kids. Amy Wilson Sanger’s board books for Ten Speed Press run the gamut from Hola, Jalapeno! to First Book of Sushi. They’re for very young children so let’s say they’re pre-cookbooks: culinary orientation for still-diapered multicultis. Speaking of which, Sarah Gilbert’s blog of her 7-month-old’s first sushi offers further inspiration (and references the Asian celebration of baby’s first meal). If sushi is a winner with your pre-schooler, Tuttle’s Sushi for Kids by Kaoru Ono and Hiromi’s Hands by Lynne Barasch will appeal. Recipe books that kids can cook from: coming soon!