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By: Aaron Blecha,
on 7/7/2016
By: Jerry Beck,
on 5/19/2016
Discover the art of David Palumbo, Cartoon Brew's Artist of the Day.
The post Artist of the Day: David Palumbo appeared first on Cartoon Brew.
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By: Heidi MacDonald,
on 3/31/2016
Remember the first time you saw a baby Xenomorph burst from someone’s midsection in Alien? The moment when that monster opened its jaw only to see an even smaller head inch so close to Sigorney Weaver’s face that it made you clutch the armrest of your seat even tighter. For almost 30 years now Alien has been […]
By: Heidi MacDonald,
on 10/9/2015
At the Dark Horse: CLASSIFIED! panel this afternoon at New York Comic-Con, a series of brand new licensed comics including new material from Aliens, Buffy: The Vampire Slayer, and The Legend of Korra was announced. The brand new Aliens comic is entitled Aliens: Defiance with writing from Brian Wood (Star Wars) and art from Tristan Jones (Mad […]
By: JOANNA MARPLE,
on 10/2/2015
Title: I Thought This Was a Bear Book Written by: Tara Lazar Illustrated by: Benji Davis Published by: Aladdin (S&S), 2014 Themes/Topics: aliens, Goldilocks and Three Bears, metaphysical mash up Suitable for ages: 4-7 Opening: Once upon a time there were three bears. Synopsis: An … Continue reading
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By: bookkm,
on 9/4/2015
For three years, Lyric Walker has behaved like a model citizen - in school, at home, everywhere. The wild thing she used to be cannot come out. Her home town of Coney Island has become a refugee camp for a strange race of sentient sea creatures. The hatred and mistrust between humans and these aliens - the Alpha - grows to a fever pitch when the president demands that Alpha children enter New York's public schools.
Lyric's school is first.
But Lyric and her parents have a secret that may kill them. When Lyric is forced to befriend the Alpha prince, Fathom, things become confusing all too quickly. He is untamed - as are all the Alpha - with a sense of honor that demands quick and violent retribution for the smallest of slights. Lyric only agrees to help Fathom adjust to humans when escape from the area is offered to her for parents as well as herself.
The government, itself, is split between the locals who hate and want to exterminate these interlopers and the federal government that views them as possible allies.
A subplot about Lyric's best friend's abusive step-father, and that best friend's boy friend add pathos to an otherwise action adventure sci-fi novel.
Things start out uncomfortably in this book and quickly become ugly and then uglier. Hate and what it motivates people to do is never a pretty sight.
Things I liked best about this book:
1. Cool battle scenes.
2. Lyric and Bex, her best friend.
3. Lyric's migraines turn into something significant.
4. The trial scene - wow, that was so awesome!
5. Governmental wrangling. Don't totally trust them!! Conspiracy theorists, unite!
Possible Spoiler Alert!!
I expected an underlying theme to be the warming of the oceans. I thought that was the reason these people were forced onto land. That may crop up in subsequent titles in this series - because Fathom, Lyric, Bex and all the others will return. But the reason the Alpha left the sea is pretty freaky and scary.
Enter to win a copy of YOUR ALIEN (Sterling Children’s Books, August 2015), written by Tammi Sauer and illustrated by Goro Fujita! Giveaway begins August 9, 2015, at 12:01 A.M. PST and ends September 8, 2015, at 11:59 P.M. PST.
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By: Heidi MacDonald,
on 7/2/2015
We’ve fallen a little behind on our Dynamite news so here’s a big catch-up post with all the news — and rest assured more is to come.
• Corrina Bechko (the excellent Invisible Republic from Image and Star Wars: Legacy) will write the Aliens / Vampirella horror crossover. Javier García-Miranda does interiors while Gabriel Hardman, another Beat favorite, provides the covers. A Vampirella/Aleisn team-up sounds a bit odd, but ampi can corssover with anyone, and here she investigates a bloddy mystery on Mars. OK THEN! The book comes out in September.
§ More Swords of Sorrow! A Swords of Sorrow: Miss Fury / Lady Rawhide one shot and a Cosplay Edition of Swords of Sorrow #3, inspired by cosplayer Tabitha Lyons. The scene reënects J. Scott Campbell’s cover to SoS #1 withTabitha Lyons as Red Sonja, Tasha Mackenzie as Dejah Thoris, Chiquitita Cosplay as Jungle Girl, and Mojo Jones as Vampirella.
Slated for release in September, the Swords of Sorrow: Miss Fury / Lady Rawhide special unites the rebellious Western heroine of yesteryear with the unpredictable — perhaps dangerously so — costumed crime-fighter, whether they like it or not. Written by Mikki Kendall and illustrated by Ronilson Freire, the one-shot comes with a cover by artist Mirka Andolfo.
• A 250-page artbook devoted to Jose “Pepe” Gonzalez, with an intro by Joe Jusko and hundred of images from the Vampirella artists career. Check out the gallery below, this stuff is nice.
Renowned for bringing to life the most beautiful women the art world has ever seen, Gonzalez’s career spans from drawing British romance comics to movie stars, book covers to commercial advertising. For the first time ever, author David Roach covers Gonzalez’s entire career, transcending his vast body of Vampirella work to explore the full breadth of the master’s creations.
• Alice Cooper vs. Chaos!, a five-issue miniseries pitting the world-renowned rock ‘n’ roll icon against Evil Ernie, Chastity, and Purgatori. Tim Seeley (Hack/Slash, Batman: Eternal) and Jim Terry (The Crow: Skinning the Wolves) share writing duties for the event series, with Terry performing double-duty as the series artist. Joyce Chin (Swords of Sorrow) will provide covers. This sounds weird but I guess you had to be there!
“Diving headfirst into the Chaos! universe has been incredible, like being pushed out of a plane into a combat zone filled with gods, nut jobs, and the most gorgeous women you could fathom,” says co-writer and artist Jim Terry. “I’m doing my best to keep up with it and hopefully kick in a little dramatic flair, as well as my own (and Tim’s) particular brand of madness. Add Alice Cooper to the mix and we’re hoping to leave fans breathless from action, horror, and mind-bending rock ‘n’ roll surrealism.”
• Finally, a new six issues miniseries called Voltron: From the Ashes, written by Cullen Bunn (Deadpool, Captain America) and illustrated by Blacky Shepherd (3 Days in Darkness). Set two hundred years after the events of Dynamite’s previous Voltron series, the miniseries will introduce a new team to pilot the five lions that form the Defender of the Universe. The debut issue will launch in September 2015 and feature cover artwork from acclaimed Transformers artist Alex Milne. Mecha stuff if you like that kind of thing.
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Alien Dude! #2: Mr. Evil Potato Man and the Food Fight!
Written by E. K. Smith
Illustrated by Peter Grosshauser
Zip Line Publishing 9/27/2014
978-0-9883792-1-3
64 pages Age 7—9
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“When the villain Mr. Evil Potato Man puts a spell on the school food, students start turning into food and a huge food fight erupts. Alien Dude morphs into a peeler and peels, then fries the giant potato. Once the fries are eaten, the spell is broken.” [publisher summary]
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Review
Alien Dude is an early reader for reluctant readers. Aimed at boys (and girls who enjoy alien superheroes), Alien Dude is an enjoyable story about a little alien-student. As Alien Dude sits, quietly working on his lessons, the lunch bell rings. He flies off to the cafeteria, but a quiet lunch will not last long. As kids eat, they start turning into items of food. Pizza, hot dogs, ice cream, and a hamburger with all the works begin popping up at lunch tables. Veggies, too. What in the name of popcorn is going on?
Alien Dude realizes the EVIL Mr. Evil Potato Man has caused the chaos. Alien Dude jumps onto his table and yells,
“Don’t eat the school food! He put a spell on the food.”
Then Mr. Evil Potato Man—the villain—yells . . .
Can you guess what he yells?
He yells,
“Food Fight!!”
The grey-scale illustrations show kids morphing into food. I would have preferred color interior illustrations. Grosshauser’s ability shines on the covers; a marvelous sight sure to catch passing eyes. The cover also masks the simplicity of the story inside. Young boys—and girls—will not be ashamed to read Alien Dude. a story geared toward reading ability, not the reader’s age. The three chapters are composed of one or two sentences per page, with large illustrated characters. Smith repeats words and simple sentence structures to build reluctant readers’ ability and love of reading.
Alien Dude has special powers, as all superheroes should possess. He can fly, fr course, but the little alien can also morph into any working object of his choice. To defeat Mr. Evil Potato Man, Alien Dude morphs into a potato peeler, following up with a slicer, and finally a fryer. Still, the spell . . . Alien Dude disposed of the villain, but the kids, they’re still cafeteria food.
Young children will enjoy the cafeteria humor and the unusual ending. However, I wonder why Alien Dude flies off rather than finish his school day. Maybe this Alien Dude’s reward for cooking the villain’s goose, so to speak. Alien Dude is a series. Book 1: Alien Dude! and the Attack of Wormzilla!!
ALIEN DUDE!: MR. EVIL POTATO MAN AND THE FOOD FIGHT! Text copyright © 2014 by E. K. Smith. Illustrations copyright © 2014 by Peter Grosshauser. Reproduced by permission of the publisher, Zip Line Publishing, Charlotte, NC.
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Purchase Alien Dude! at Amazon
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Learn more about Alien Dude! HERE.
Meet the author, E. K. Smith, at her linkedin: http://linkd.in/1CvjTyw
Meet the illustrator, Peter Grosshauser, at his short bio: http://bit.ly/1FdmW5y
Find more reluctant readers at the Zip Line Publishing website: http://zipintoreading.com/
Alien Dude! #1: Alien Dude! and the Attack of Wormzilla!!
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Copyright © 2015 by Sue Morris/Kid Lit Reviews
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Andy McBean and the War of the Worlds
Series: The Amazing Adventures of Andy McBean
Written by Dale Kutzera
Illustrated by Joemel Requeza
Salmon Bay Books 10/6/2014
978-0-69202392-1
285 pages Age 8 to 12
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“Andy McBean is struggling to survive Middle School in the soggy hills of the Pacific Northwest. He’s messy, fearful of bullies, and hates the rain. And spending much of the last year in the hospital battling leukemia hasn’t helped. Then one night a meteor storm devastates the county, cutting off power and communications. One giant boulder skids to a halt right on Andy’s front lawn. The glowing meteor draws the attention of neighbors, the media, the army, and even the new girl from Andy’s art class. He is thrilled at the notoriety, but everything changes when the meteor cracks opens and a towering machine steps out. Separated from his family, Andy must fend for himself and rescue his friends. Join Andy on this thrilling adventure as he meets an alien, learns what they want on planet earth, and devises a bold plan to stop them.”
The Story
Andy wakes one morning to find an alien pod on his front lawn. Mom’s roses are ruined. The aliens are here to collect—using a Vaporizer—all the water found on Earth, including that of humans, who are more than 60% water. These creatures travel the universe harvesting water from planets without significant life. The “Big Heads,” who bark the orders, make a decision: humans are not significant. Large tripod machines crush homes and businesses with grabbers capable of sweeping up people and holding them in a cage, until it is time to vaporize them for their watery bodies.
Andy gets away and rescues Charlie from her ruined home and then his best friend Hector. They avoid the large, bulky “Thugs,” who bully the worker aliens until they obey the Big Heads’ commands, and the crushing arms of the grabbers. Andy befriends a worker alien by the name of Been’Tok. Been’Tok, Andy, Hector, Charlie, and Andy’s dad plan to shut down the vaporizer, free the hostages, and send the aliens back to where they came from. But can an eight-year-old boy, recently recovered from bouts of leukemia treatment, save his world?
Review
Inspired by War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells, Andy McBean and the War of the Worlds actually brings the aliens to Earth. The action is fast. Andy and his friends are easy to like and fun to watch as they travel by foot. The story is believable, though Andy has several lucky escapes from the aliens (great fun!). Been’Tok is a cute, three-eyed monster with a heart and soul. He loves collecting the odd artifacts he finds while vaporizing various planets for the water his planet desperately needs. He disagrees with his commander, believing humans are significant, especially after Andy saves his life.
The cuteness of Andy McBean and the War of the Worlds reminded me of E. T., even though the two are different types of stories. Until the end, it is not clear whether Been’Tok wants to return home. He enjoys the company of Andy and his friends. The communication barriers make for some delightful scenes as Been’Tok tries to learn Andy’s language. World leaders and military might around the world meeting Been’Tok is funny. Unfortunately, there are several typos throughout the book, but I could actually ignore them—a first—thanks to the intense story that held my interest (though that does not excuse the sloppy editing). Black and white illustrations enhance the story.
Middle grade kids, especially boys, will love the world Kutzera created. The three-tiered aliens can be humorous and dangerous at the same time. Readers will find several surprises along the way and a happy conclusion. Andy is a terrific character from his loyalty to his best friend Hector, his desire to impress Charlie—the new girl at school—and his valiant attempts to move past his illness, despite his parents’ fears and coddling. Will Andy McBean have future adventures?* If he does, I hope Been’Tok finds a way to join him.
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ANDY MCBEAN AND THE WAR OF THE WORLDS. Text copyright © 2014 by Dale Kutzera. Illustrations copyright © 2014 by Joemel Requeza. Reproduced by permission of the publisher, Salmon Bay Books, Seattle, WA.
*Series: The Amazing Adventures of Andy McBean
. . . . . . . #2: Andy McBean 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea 
Purchase Andy McBean and the War of the Worlds at Amazon
Learn more about Andy McBean and the War of the Worlds HERE.
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Meet the author, Dale Kutzera at his website: http://dalekutzera.com/
Meet the illustrator, Joemel Requeza, at his website:
Find Salmon Bay Books here:
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Copyright © 2015 by Sue Morris/Kid Lit Reviews
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By: Julie,
on 3/16/2015
May Contain Spoilers
Review:
I’m bummed that Touched by an Alien did not work for me. I thought there was too much telling and not enough doing, and it got annoying after a while. I hit the 52% mark and decided that this rental was going back to the library. Even though this book didn’t win me over, I am still interested in the series and I’ll probably give Alien Tango a whirl (sorry for the awful pun!). I don’t know if all of the set up is what bogged things down, so I need to do a little more research to know for sure.
I liked Kitty and her family, but the gorgeous aliens attempting to help save the world were both smug and annoying. Christopher was a jerk, and I don’t know if he redeemed himself or not because I set the book aside. Jeff Martini was too good to be true. An empath, he has an unfair advantage to wooing Kitty because he knows what she’s feeling. I thought that was kind of creepy, and it gave Jeff the upper hand in their relationship. If the Alpha Centauris weren’t such terrible liars, I could not have bought into their romance at all. Since he can’t lie to save his life, I’m taking the leap and assuming that he can’t manipulate Kitty’s feelings without her catching on either.
The book started out promisingly. Kitty is minding her own business, headed back to work after an early dismissal from jury duty, when a domestic dispute breaks out in front of her. Things get ugly when the man turns into a winged super powered being who can fling blades from his wings, causing chaos, death, and destruction. Instead of running away, Kitty grabs the only weapon in her possession, a pen, and kills the monster. I loved that! Here’s a bad ass heroine who can’t run away and save herself, but instead has to take matters into her own hands and try to stop the mindless killing that’s taking place in front of her. Things kind of took a downward spiral after, though.
When she’s whisked away back a gang of impeccably dressed, drop-dead gorgeous men, she learns that they are aliens, and they’ve come to Earth to try to save it from parasitic beings that turn people into super powered monsters. All of the background info is fed to the reader through long-winded dialog, which quickly got boring. I probably wouldn’t have read as far as I did if it wasn’t for another monster attack, and the introduction of Kitty’s mom, who is every bit a bad ass as her daughter. She’s also a secret agent, and she quickly takes charge of the alien situation. Her dad enters the picture soon after, and he’s just as fun as her mom.
The endless verbal barrages, with their accompanying info dumps, finally had me setting the book aside. I liked Kitty and her parents, though, so I’m going to give the next book a try, with hopes that once the series is more established, there will be more doing and less jaw flapping. Are any of you reading the series? What do you think?
Grade: DNF
Review copy obtained from my local library
From Amazon:
Marketing manager Katherine “Kitty” Katt had just finished a day on jury duty. When she stepped out of the Pueblo Caliente courthouse, all she was thinking about was the work she had to get caught up on. Then her attention was caught by a fight between a couple that looked like it was about to turn ugly. But ugly didn’t even begin to cover it when the “man” suddenly transformed into a huge, winged monster right out of a grade Z science fiction movie and went on a deadly killing spree. In hindsight, Kitty realized she probably should have panicked and run screaming the way everyone around her was doing. Instead she sprinted into action to take down the alien.
In the middle of all the screeching and the ensuing chaos, a hunk in an Armani suit suddenly appeared beside her, introduced himself as Jeff Martini with “the agency,” and then insisted on leading her to a nearby limo to talk to his “boss.” And that was how Kitty’s new life among the aliens began…Touched by an Alien is the thrilling first installment of the Alien novels.
The post Review: Touched by an Alien by Gini Koch appeared first on Manga Maniac Cafe.
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By: Sheila Ruth,
on 2/26/2015
By: Becky Laney,
on 1/27/2015
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By: Keith Mansfield,
on 11/15/2014
As part of their brilliant science fiction season, last night BFI Southbank saw a special screening of Contact, a movie based on the novel by SETI pioneer, Carl Sagan.
It’s not a short film, but no one in the packed audience minded that the Q&A preceding it, with Professor Brian Cox and Dr Adam Rutherford, took over an hour. Huge credit to my former employers, the British Film Institute, for not making it token, but giving us the chance for a meaty discussion on what many think is the most important question facing science: where is everybody?
This was the question posed to colleagues over lunch one day (in 1950) by physicist Enrico Fermi. It has become known as the “Fermi paradox”. The “everybody” in question are aliens … extraterrestrials.
Why should we care?
Many people think the fundamental moment in the history of Western science was when Copernicus said Earth orbited the Sun rather than the other way around. This wasn’t simply a convenient coordinate shift. It was saying Earth is not the centre of the Universe. We inhabit just one of many planets. We have no privileged position in the cosmos. We are ordinary. The same “laws of nature” that apply on and around Earth apply equally in the rest of the Universe. This has become known as the “Copernican principle” and it is the foundation of scientific thought.
We have a problem. Look out at night – look further through our telescopes (and we can look so very far) and the Universe is vast. There are hundreds of billions of galaxies, like our own Milky Way. Just within ours, there are maybe 400 billion stars, most with planets. Conservative estimates, as Brian Cox told the audience (these are based on Kepler findings) hold that one in ten stars will have habitable planets in orbits that allow liquid water on their surface.
Further, at 4.5 billion years, Earth and our solar system are relatively young. The Milky War is far, far older. inally, mathematical models show it’s perfectly possible to colonize the entire galaxy in a brief time – say, 10 million years. Yet when we look skywards, we see not the slightest evidence if any intelligence in the entire Universe, other than what we find here on Earth. This suggests we are very special indeed – the polar opposite to the fundamental principle of science.
The Arecibo message
Sagan pondered this question long and hard. In his early, pioneering days of SETI, they were actively trying to communicate with extraterrestrials and before the movie, Cox and Rutherford were sitting in front of a radio message intentionally broadcast to the stars.
Sagan also helped designed messages added to the Voyager deep space probes (Voyager 1 is now over 18 light hours away, carrying a gold record with sounds of Earth and a map of how to find its inhabitants). Since those heady days, we think more about “existential risk” – things that potentially threated our survival as a species. One such risk is contact with alien races, so we’ve become more circumspect.
Looking back, I think the novel, Contact, was important for me as both a writer and publisher. I loved the story. It combined so many elements that I’m passionate about and, foolishly at the time I thought I could have told it better! Of course that’s not true, but I would nowadays have been a good editor for Sagan, had he let me. It certainly made me realize I was capable of being a good storyteller, and my current work-in-progress is a novel that revisits this same territory. I find it unfathomable now that I asked Sagan to sign my copy of Cosmos, which he kindly did, but not my copy of Contact – what was I thinking?
The film’s good, but there’s so much more in the book that anyone who likes the movie would get a lot from reading the novel. It was commented that Contact is a little overlooked as a science fiction film. Very true, but with my screenwriting hat on I think that’s because there’s so much to cram in, the narrative is very linear and straightforward. And Sagan’s thoughtful climax may have been unsatistfactory for mainstream audiences used to a different style of alien encounter.
In the movie, scientist Ellie Arroway (played by Jodie Foster and the character Cox and Rutherford said was the best depiction of a scientist on screen) detects a message from aliens, using radio telescopes. This was how Sagan and fellow SETI pioneer Frank Drake expected our first contact with extraterrestrials would go, and the film describes how things might unfold after receipt – the message is written in mathematics, the only universal language. There’s still an old-school SETI community working in this area, but increasingly scientists are thinking of alternative ways to identify evidence of aliens, often in the form of (very) large scale engineering projects such as Dyson spheres or matter-antimatter burners. We’re still looking.
If you’ve not seen the movie, you really should. Here’s the trailer to whet your appetite:
It’s part of the BFI’s excellent Sci-Fi: Days of Fear and Wonder season.
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By: ChloeF,
on 10/3/2014
World Space Week has prompted myself and colleagues at the Open University to discuss the question: ‘Is there life beyond Earth?’
The bottom line is that we are now certain that there are many places in our Solar System and around other stars where simple microbial life could exist, of kinds that we know from various settings, both mundane and exotic, on Earth. What we don’t know is whether any life does exist in any of those places. Until we find another example, life on Earth could be just an extremely rare fluke. It could be the only life in the whole Universe. That would be a very sobering thought.
At the other extreme, it could be that life pops up pretty much everywhere that it can, so there should be microbes everywhere. If that is the case, then surely evolutionary pressures would often lead towards multicellular life and then to intelligent life. But if that is correct – then where is everybody? Why can’t we recognise the signs of great works of astroengineering by more ancient and advanced aliens? Why can’t we pick up their signals?
The chemicals from which life can be made are available all over the place. Comets, for example, contain a wide variety of organic molecules. They aren’t likely places to find life, but collisions of comets onto planets and their moons should certainly have seeded all the habitable places with the materials from which life could start.
So where might we find life in our Solar System? Most people think of Mars, and it is certainly well worth looking there. The trouble is that lumps of rock knocked off Mars by asteroid impacts have been found on Earth. It won’t have been one-way traffic. Asteroid impacts on Earth must have showered some bits of Earth-rock onto Mars. Microbes inside a rock could survive a journey in space, and so if we do find life on Mars it will be important to establish whether or not it is related to Earth-life. Only if we find evidence of an independent genesis of life on another body in our Solar System will we be able to conclude that the probability of life starting, given the right conditions, is high.
For my money, Mars is not the most likely place to find life anyway. The surface environment is very harsh. The best we might hope for is some slowly-metabolising rock-eating microbes inside the rock. For a more complex ecosystem, we need to look inside oceans. There is almost certainly liquid water below the icy crust of several of the moons of the giant planets – especially Europa (a moon of Jupiter) and Enceladus (a moon of Saturn). These are warm inside because of tidal heating, and the way-sub-zero surface and lack of any atmosphere are irrelevant. Moreover, there is evidence that life on Earth began at ‘hydrothermal vents’ on the ocean floor, where hot, chemically-rich, water seeps or gushes out. Microbes feed on that chemical energy, and more complex organisms graze on the microbes. No sunlight, and no plants are involved. Similar vents seem pretty likely inside these moons – so we have the right chemicals and the right conditions to start life – and to support a complex ecosystem. If there turns out to be no life under Europa’s ice them I think the odds of life being abundant around other stars will lengthen considerably.
We think that Europa’s ice is mostly more than 10 km thick, so establishing whether or not there is life down there wont be easy. Sometimes the surface cracks apart and slush is squeezed out to form ridges, and these may be the best target for a lander, which might find fossils entombed in the slush.
Enceladus is smaller and may not have such a rich ocean, but comes with the big advantage of spraying samples of its ocean into space though cracks near its south pole (similar plumes have been suspected at Europa, but not proven). A properly equipped spaceprobe could fly through Enceladus’s eruption plumes and look for chemical or isotopic traces of life without needing to land.
I’m sure you’ll agree, moons are fascinating!
Headline image credit: Center of the Milky Way Galaxy, from NASA’S Marshall Space Flight Center. CC-BY-ND-2.0 via Flickr.
The post Are we alone in the Universe? appeared first on OUPblog.
By: Nina @ Death, Books, and Tea,
on 9/13/2014
By: Heidi MacDonald,
on 9/11/2014
Script: Paul Tobin
Art: Juan Ferreyra
Letters: Nate Piekos of Blambot
Cover: David Palumbo
Variant Cover: Paul Pope, with colors by Shay M. Plummer
Genre: Sci-Fi/Movie Tie-In
Last year, Dark Horse announced they were rebooting their licensed Aliens and Predator comics, launching the first Prometheus series, and tying them all together in a shared universe. That shared universe has arrived with Prometheus: Fire and Stone #1, to be followed by three more Fire and Stone series for Aliens, Predators, and Aliens vs. Predator, respectively. Each series will run four issues, and will conclude with a single, double-sized wrap-up issue.
Reaction to the Prometheus film was divided. It stands at 73% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, which is a little surprising. Most folks I’ve talked to personally hated the movie, especially fans of the Alien series. But for me, it was a return to form for the series (and universe) launched by Ridley Scott’s initial Alien film in 1979. Prometheus, the film, had retro space suits paired with modern moviemaking sensibilities, themes of cosmic dread and cosmic creation, and questions about where are we going and where we have been. It was majestic and daring science-fiction, populated with compelling characters.
I loved the movie, and I was ready for more.
Prometheus, the comic book, captures the look of its motion picture predecessor, but the first issue isn’t clear about what questions this story is asking. The film wondered where humanity came from, and how its characters would react to the answer. Fire and Stone introduces a new ship (the Helios) and a new crew (including salvagers, documentarians, and an android) who are en route to Moon LV-223, the setting for Prometheus the film. Most of the crew thinks they’re looking for a crashed ship, which the reader knows is the Prometheus of the title. Angela Foster, the Helios’s captain, knows that Peter Weyland himself was aboard Prometheus, and presumably died on LV-223 seeking Engineers, who he believed were the creators of mankind. Angela wants to complete Weyland’s mission.
But why? Captain Foster announces her intention to find answers to one of the many cameras aboard the Helios, but we don’t know why it matters to her. It’s true that Fire and Stone is simply the first issue of not only a four-part series, but also of an entire line of shared-continuity books, but in the first act of Prometheus the film, we understood that Elizabeth Shaw, played by Noomi Rapace, had a belief in God that was sometimes in opposition to her scientific beliefs. Meredith Vickers, played by Charlize Theron, was a Weyland Corporation representative there to enforce the rules even as she clashed with David, Michael Fassbender’s android, who chased after human affectations and modeled his speech patterns after Peter O’Toole’s Lawrence of Arabia.
In contrast, Fire and Stone’s characters sometimes reveal bits of backstory — the captain keeps her true purpose on LV-223 a secret, the astrobiologist has a mysterious illness, the documentarian is romantically involved with a member of the crew — but there are no compelling character moments in this issue. Even if Captain Foster’s job is to simply complete Peter Weyland’s mission, an implied “me too!” is not a very compelling character motivation.
But at least in the absence of rich characters worth investing in, Fire and Stone offers an interesting plot. After a one-page prologue set in the time period of the film, the comic jumps ahead to the year 2219, roughly 130 years after the Prometheus the film and about 40 years after the events of Aliens and Alien³. When the salvage crew of the Helios lands on LV-223 — though there is some uncertainty on their part if they’ve landed on the right moon — they find a world that has been irrevocably changed by the events of the film. It’s different from the LV-223 we’ve seen before, but it’s still recognizable as existing in the Aliens universe. The Helios crew explores with even less care than their Prometheus counterparts, which will surely enrage the same segment of the audience who thought the Prometheus crew were crazy for taking their helmets off, breathable atmosphere or no. But this seems consistent with the Weyland-Yutani protocols (or lack thereof) for exploring new worlds that we’ve seen in the films. The characters make bad decisions, which leads to dangerous situations, which is another hallmark of stories set in an Alien universe.
Juan Ferreyra’s art is another high mark for the book. There are a lot of Helios crewmembers introduced in just a few pages, and their depictions remain clear and consistent throughout. The illustration and coloring styles (and the spacesuits) remind me of European sci-fi comics in the vein of Métal Hurlant. The colors in particular are crisp and bright, which is something I’ve come to expect from recent Dark Horse books. Once the Helios lands and the crew leaves the ship, the book reveals LV-223 mostly through two-page spreads, breaking away from the single-page claustrophobia of the scenes set on the ship, an effective way to pull the reader’s attention across the expanse of a strange and unexplored world.
Paul Tobin is the only credited writer in the advance review copy I received, but much of the press for this shared universe reboot talks about the “writers room” approach to all of the books. Tobin is joined by Chris Roberson on Aliens, Joshua Williamson on Predators, Chris Sebela on Aliens vs. Predator, and Kelly Sue DeConnick on the crossover finale issue, and as the group’s lead writer. Tobin’s Prometheus is designed to be “the warm, beating heart of all of these books,” according to AvP’s Sebela in an October 2013 interview with io9. Which might be true, but in addition to jumping the Prometheus story into the timeframe of the Alien films, the tone and atmosphere of this issue is much closer to stories about xenomorphs than the one we’ve seen about Engineers. “Why are we here?” is replaced with “Get out of there fast!” as the “beating heart” of this story’s engine.
That could be great news if you loved the Alien quartet of films and were disappointed in Prometheus’s ties to the series. But for anyone looking forward to Prometheus, the comic, carrying on the spirit of Prometheus, the film, it’s a disappointment.
By: DanP,
on 8/22/2014
If you share my jealousy of Peter Capaldi and his new guise as the Doctor, then read on to discover how you could become the next Time Lord with a fondness for Earth. However, be warned: you can’t just pick up Matt Smith’s bow-tie from the floor, don Tom Baker’s scarf, and expect to save planet Earth every Saturday at peak viewing time. You’re going to need training. This is where Oxford’s online products can help you. Think of us as your very own Companion guiding you through the dimensions of time, only with a bit more sass. So jump aboard (yes it’s bigger on the inside), press that button over there, pull that lever thingy, and let’s journey through the five things you need to know to become the Doctor.
Being called two-faced may not initially appeal to you. How about twelve-faced? No wait, don’t leave, come back! Part of the appeal of the Doctor is his ability to regenerate and assume many faces. Perhaps the most striking example of regeneration we have on our planet is the Hydra fish which is able to completely re-grow a severed head. Even more striking is its ability to grow more than one head if a small incision is made on its body. I don’t think it’s likely the BBC will commission a Doctor with two heads though so best to not go down that route. Another example of an animal capable of regeneration is Porifera, the sponges commonly seen on rocks under water. These sponge-type creatures are able to regenerate an entire limb which is certainly impressive but are not quite as attractive as The David Tenants or Matt Smiths of this world.
Although alien invasion narratives only crossed over to mainstream fiction after World War II, the Doctor has been fighting off alien invasions since the Dalek War and the subsequent destruction of Gallifrey. Alien invasion narratives are tied together by one salient issue: conquer or be conquered. Whether you are battling Weeping Angels or Cybermen, you must first make sure what you are battling is indeed an alien. Yes, that lady you meet every day at the bus-stop with the strange smell may appear to be from another dimension but it’s always better to be sure before you whip out your sonic screwdriver.
The Hubble Ultra Deep Field telescope captures a patch of sky that represents one thirteen-millionth of the area of the whole sky we see from Earth, and this tiny patch of the Universe contains over 10,000 galaxies. One thirteen-millionth of the sky is the equivalent to holding a grain of sand at arm’s length whilst looking up at the sky. When we look at a galaxy ten billion light years away, we are actually only seeing it by the light that left it ten billion years ago. Therefore, telescopes are akin to time machines.
The sheer vastness and mystery of the universe has baffled us for centuries. Doctor Who acts as a gatekeeper to the unknown, helping us imagine fantastical creatures such as the Daleks, all from the comfort of our living rooms.
The majority of time-travel narratives avoid the use of a physical time-machine. However, the Tardis, a blue police telephone box, journeys through time dimensions and is as important to the plot of Doctor Who as upgrades are to Cybermen. Although it looks like a plain old police telephone box, it has been known to withstand meteorite bombardment, shield itself from laser gun fire and traverse the time vortex all in one episode. The Tardis’s most striking characteristic, that it is “much bigger on the inside”, is explained by the Fourth Doctor, Tom Baker, by using the analogy of the tesseract.
It’s all very well saving the Universe every week but what use is that without a signature look? Tom Baker had the scarf, Peter Davison had the pin-stripes, John Hurt even had the brooding frown, so what will your dress-sense say about you? Perhaps you could be the Doctor with a cravat or the time-traveller with a toupee? Whatever your choice, I’m sure you’ll pull it off, you handsome devil you.
Don’t forget a good sense of humour to compliment your dashing visage. When Doctor Who was created by Donald Wilson and C.E. Webber in November 1963, the target audience of the show was eight-to-thirteen-year-olds watching as part of a family group on Saturday afternoons. In 2014, it has a worldwide general audience of all ages, claiming over 77 million viewers in the UK, Australia, and the United States. This is largely due to the Doctor’s quick quips and mix of adult and childish humour.
You’ve done it! You’ve conquered the cybermen, exterminated the daleks, and saved Earth (we’re eternally grateful of course). Why not take the Tardis for another spin and adventure through more of Oxford’s online products?
Image credit: Doctor Who poster, by Doctor Who Spoilers. CC-BY-SA-2.0 via Flickr.
The post An Oxford Companion to being the Doctor appeared first on OUPblog.
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By: Zoe,
on 8/17/2014
Imagine packing up your home, leaving Earth and setting out to travel across space to colonise a new planet.
The journey will take so long you’ll be put into a cryptobiotic state. But there is absolutely nothing to fear: You’re on sleek new spaceship, looked after by a team of well-programmed robots, and everything has been carefully thought through. When you finally arrive at Nova Mundi (it only takes 199 years to get there), you’ll be woken up to a delicious breakfast and the start of a whole new and wonderful life.
It sounds great, doesn’t it?
And so it is in Cakes in Space by Philip Reeve and Sarah McIntyre. Astra and her family are on their way to their new home but – you’ve guessed it – something goes wrong. Astra wakes from her suspended sleep, and feeling peckish goes off in search of a chocolate biscuit.
The Nom-O-Tron (a highly developed version of Star Trek’s Replicator) satisfies Astra’s request, but when she’s tempted to ask for something a little more outlandish (how many times have you seen the word “Ultimate” used to describe a dish?) something goes awry. Soon Astra is hurtling through space surrounded by cakes which have learned to evolve. Cakes which are fed up of being eaten themselves. Cakes which have developed a killer instinct.
Will Astra be able to save her family from the Ravenous Crispy Slices and Ferocious Fruit Cakes stalking the spaceship’s corridors? How much more complicated will things get when a second front opens up and her spaceship is raided by alien life forms known as Poglites, desperately searching for their holy grail, that technology which they haven’t been able to master: SPOONS.
Yes, this is a totally surreal and deliciously outrageous story of friendship, ingenuity and hundreds and thousands.
It’s fast-moving, exciting, just ever so slightly scary in that enjoyably adrenalin pumping way and above all it’s FUNNY! Add into the mix some genuinely beautiful writing (sometimes young fiction is all about the plot and the language – especially for an adult reading it aloud – can be somewhat unremarkable, but Reeve at times writes sentences which I found myself wanting to copy out), a plot which will enthral both boys and girls of a wide age range, and the subtle inclusion of some philosophically meatier issues (the consequences of greedy desire, the demonisation of that which we don’t know and can’t name) and you’ve got yourself a remarkable book.
Image: Sarah McIntyre. Please click on the image to be taken to the original blog post – well worth reading!
McIntyre’s illustrations are a crazy but perfect mix of 1950s brave new world sleekness and outrageous sponge-and-icing based fantasy. I’m delighted that Astra’s family are mixed race (this isn’t mentioned in the text at all, but how great to see some diversity just as-is, without it being an issue in the book).
The top-notch content of Cakes in Space is matched by a stunningly produced physical book. Like last year’s Reeve and McIntyre production, Oliver and the Seawigs, this is first being published as a small hardback in pleasingly chunky, strokingly hand-holdable format. Everything about the book is appealing.
After indulging in a solo read, I read this book aloud to both girls over a couple of days last week. Before we’d even finished the books my girls were off to raid the cutlery draw in the kitchen for highly prized spoons to create a collection of which any Poglite would be proud.
Carefully curated, they labelled every spoon with where it had been found in the galaxy, its rarity and its monetary value (I can see how this could develop into a Top Trumps game…)
Spoons are one thing, but cake is another, and I couldn’t resist the opportunity to host our own mini Cakes in Space party. We baked a host of fairy cakes and then turned them into KILLER CAKES…
Lollies made great eyes on stalks…
… as did Maltesers and Aero balls.
We had fun making teeth out of snapped white chocolate buttons, tictacs and rice paper snipped to look like rows of sharp teeth.
We also had some Ferocious Florentines and Sinister Swiss Rolls (helped along with edible eyes).
Other characters from the book were also present: The Nameless Horror was a big bowl of wobbly jelly dyed black with food colouring and with licorice shoelaces reaching out across the table, and jars of purple gloop (thinned down Angel Delight, again dyed to give a good purple colour) with gummy snakes in them made perfect Poglite snacks. Alas these were guzzled before I got to take a photo!
Preparing for the party was at least as much fun as the party itself…
Great music for a Cakes in Space party includes:
Other activities which would make for a great Cakes in Space party include:
We’ve all heard of Death by Chocolate, but what’s the nearest you’ve come to being killed by a cake?
Disclosure: I received a free review copy of Cakes in Space from the publishers.
In Mark Frost's second book of the Paladin Prophecy series, Alliance, we pick up right where we left off with Will and his friends. The Paladins are still after him, and the group must outwit them to find the secret of the school, and Will's own family history.
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By: Heidi MacDonald,
on 7/24/2014
By Kyle PinionDark Horse Editor in Chief Scott Allie has pulled together a wide array of young and up and coming talent for the upcoming four interlocking mini-series that revolve around the Aliens, Predator and Prometheus franchises entitled “Fire and Stone”. The majority of those creators joined him on stage for Dark Horse’s panel on the subject and included Paul Tobin (Prometheus), Chris Sebela (Aliens vs. Predator), Chris Roberson (Aliens), Joshua Williamson (Predator), Juan Ferrerya (Prometheus), and Ariel Olivetti (Aliens vs. Predator).
While the majority of the discussion held therein was for the most part news that has already been reported in the previous months leading up to the end of year release of this long-anticipated “mega-series”. There were a number of items worth noting:
- The collaborative process between the entire team has been a smooth one, despite a significant bump caused by notes given by Fox and Ridley Scott’s team regarding some of the content and the narrative direction of the series, causing much of each creative teams’ work to be scrapped. Though Tobin made note that the studio has now opened up “more of the tool-box” for their usage.
- This change of direction from Fox is one of the major factors that caused the eventual release delay of each series.
- Originally, Williamson was slated for an Aliens comic before the “Fire and Stone” concept came into place, and while he was sad to see the take that he and Allie had worked out not see the light of day, he believes this new effort is equally as exciting.
- Each team member stressed that the chemistry of their writers’ room approach was a big part of why this project came together as well as it did, despite significant rewrites being needed.
- Kelly Sue DeConnick, who is also writing the finale of the series in Prometheus Omega, was credited as the key driver of research regarding incorporating Prometheus into the Alien and Predator universe. According to Allie, she brought an entire pink binder full of Prometheus theories from the internet.
- Ferrerya was brought on board to the project because of his design skill, and that was an angle that the team wanted to make sure was highlighted. Roberson likened Ferrerya’s map-making abilities to being “one step away from a DnD campaign”.
- Paul Tobin was brought in for the Prometheus series because of his previous work with Ferrerya on Colder.
- Williamson discussed the eponymous Predator of his Predator series, named Ahab, who is indeed hunting for a “white whale” though the identity of said target had to remain a secret. He also was proud of the fact that Ahab already has an action figure, which could be found at the Dark Horse booth on the show floor.
- Williamson also discussed his protagonist, Galgo, who will be appearing in Prometheus first, followed by Aliens v Predator, eventually becoming the lead in Predator. The writer made sure to mention the morally grey nature of the character, and also his verbose nature.
- Sebela, regarding Aliens vs. Predator, stated that he spent his entire childhood trying to figure out a way for Xenomorphs and Predators to fight and couldn’t pass up the opportunity to do the same in comics. Allie felt as though Sebela’s horror background was a particularly strong fit for the “monster-like” material in his series. Olivetti expressed excitement for the cinematic nature of the visuals he is producing, a first for him in comics.
- When asked if the stories connect, the team stressed that the books could be read independently of one another and readers could get a satisfying story that way, but they would see the larger picture form if they wanted to read the entire event.
- The chronology of “Fire and Stone” was also cleared up, as Aliens is a pseudo prequel to the other tales, and takes place between scenes of Aliens (the film), Predator takes place after the other minis and Prometheus Omega is the finale.
- In response to a question regarding previous usage of “The Space Jockey” and the mythos built around it in previous Dark Horse Aliens comics, Allie said those stories will not come into play with Fire and Stone.
- Bouncing off of that, Roberson made mention that the key directive was to “start from the films and go from there”, and the only films that team really concentrated on were: Prometheus, Alien, Aliens, and Predator. Sebela, when asked, said that the two Aliens vs. Predator films were not canon to his series.
- When the divisive nature of Prometheus amongst fandom was brought up, Paul was quick to point out that he wasn’t interested so much in leaving any elements of that film behind, so much as he wanted to highlight the parts of it that worked well, specifically the concept of scientists going on a mission and realizing that things are far bigger than they ever imagined. Ferrerya then joked that he was excited to bring back the biologist and cartographer characters that everyone “loved” from the film.
- Allie made sure to underline that theme was key driver in the storytelling of each mini-series, particularly the idea of the “stewardship of life”, which runs in the background of the Alien and Prometheus films particularly. Roberson also made mention that the parallels that run between the androids in Aliens and Prometheus was a major influence.
- And yes, there will be Black Goo! Which, according to Roberson’s read of the notes they received from Fox, is called “accelerant”. They declined to go into further detail regarding the role it will play in the stories themselves.
- Prometheus and Aliens will both be due out in September, Aliens vs Predator and Predator will see release in October. The Prometheus Omega one-shot is set to arrive in February. Each series will be a 4-issue mini respectively.
By: Becky Laney,
on 7/17/2014
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The Stinkbug Chronicles #1: The Invasion has begun!
By George Reagan
Illustrations by Lucia Benito
Published by CreateSpace 3/18/2014
1-49486752-2
Age 7 to 9 56 pages
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“Nine-year-old Brandon Phillips loves insects of all kinds. When he chooses to study stinkbugs for the 4th Grade Science Fair, he learns there is more to these peculiar creatures than meets the eye—or the nose! Join Brandon as he begins the exciting journey of learning about and becoming best friends with Walter, a stinkbug that is no pest at all, along the way the two buddies embark on new adventures and learn valuable lessons about life.”
Opening
“Oh no! The invasion has begun! I really hate this time of year.”
Review
Tawny, Brandon’s sister, hates stinkbugs—any insect, really—but Brandon loves this time of year when all things insect embark upon the world. Much to Tawny’s disgust, Brandon begins catching stinkbugs for his science fair project. He plans to study why stinkbugs act differently than other bugs act, yet he has no other bug to compare with the stinkbug. Tawny sneaks a label onto Brandon’s greenhouse stinkbug home—a hamster cage—calling it the Stinkitorium and the name sticks.
Brandon’s science fair does not go as planned, but he does return home with one remaining stinkbug: the stinkbug that followed Brandon around, watching his moves. Walter, the name Brandon gave this mysterious bug, could also speak to Brandon. We find this out more than halfway into the story. From this point on, any physical action stops. The story becomes a conversation between Brandon and Walter. We learn that Walter is not a stinkbug, which would explain why he could survive a flush down a toilet.
In reality, Walter is an alien sent to protect Brandon from alien forces out to destroy Earth. According to Walter, humans are not capable of fighting this alien, but he and the other stinkbug-aliens can. This also means we humans need to stop flushing stinkbugs down the toilet. The story ends with Brandon feeling safe with Walter’s presence and protection. The danger still lurks, apparently waiting for book two.
The Stinkbug Chronicles #1: The Invasion has Begun could become a good chapter book series if the writing—which is rather good—actually told the story, the story the title suggests, rather than meandering with introductions. The Invasion has Begun could have gotten off to a bang-up start. Nothing close to an invasion happens, though Walter does speak of an invasion.
It takes over half the book just to find out Walter can speak. This should have occurred early in the story. All the early chapters—6 ½ out of 8—revolve around catching stinkbugs for a failed science project, which is unneeded backstory. Weave this into the story later, if a reason should present itself. Get right into the story: Walter can talk, is an alien, and here to protect Brandon from an impending alien invasion. Get on with the invasion that “has begun.” Yes, I do realize it has a double meaning: the invasion of bug season/invasion by aliens bent on destroying Earth. The story ends on a down note of Brandon stating he feels safe from an impending invasion. Boring! The ending should have me anxious to read book #2: Don’t Let that Bully Bug You! I should end the story wanting to read more, wanting to know what will happen next. I felt none of those things.
The Invasion has Begun felt like a safe story. A story to test the waters. Granted one of the main characters is a stinkbug, not your everyday leading man. The stinkbug angle gives the story intrigue before a word is ever read. It made me curious. So curious, in fact, that I read the book just minutes after opening the postal bag. I hate stinkbugs, and yes, they go right into the toilet for a one-time swimming lesson that each one fails. Walter would have been back in my living room taunting me, and I would be happy to have him. I like Walter. I believe this is the first story I have ever read with a stinkbug as protagonist and may be the only book ever to have such a co-leading character. Take advantage of this. Get Walter in the story pronto.
The Invasion has Begun, a new chapter book series, is well written, if off topic. Writing a good story takes more than great writing. It takes writing a story that matches the title—or a title that matches the story. I thought the story would climax at the science fair, but that ended without fanfare. As a reader, I feel cheated. Will I believe the next book will finally involve the impeding invasion? No. From what I have read, book 2 is about Brandon and a school bully—not about an alien invasion as referenced in book 1. I’m afraid this entire series, which might be good as standalone books, never addresses the alien invasion that Walter has come to protect Brandon. Instead, the series diverts into message stories. The stinkbug Walter is nothing but an analogy. From a PR Mr. Reagan placed on Piece of Cake PR:
“I’ll be using the stinkbug analogy to draw young readers’ attention to a range of important issues they might encounter at home, at school or in the neighbourhood. These will include bullying, good sportsmanship, protecting the environment and understanding children with Asperger’s Syndrome; everything will be addressed in a fun and light-hearted approach, even if the final message is quite a serious one,” says Reagan.
Would I like to read book 2? Yes, I thought I would, until realizing that the setup in book 1 is nothing but a red herring. As I said, the writing is very good, but kids expect consistency. Tell them the series is about an impending invasion and a little alien who has come to protect a kid, and that is the story they expect to continue reading. Not life lessons. Not school bullies—unless they are the attacking aliens. “Life lessons” may find their way into the story, but as the only the reason for the story? Book 1 sets up an impending invasion. I feel cheated, as will kids. Kids will feel cheated and not care about book 3. I’m not even sure this is a series as the story does not continue in the next book, and probably goes off subject again in the third book.
The Stinkbug Chronicles could become a new, well-received chapter book series. The idea is different and unusual. But once you state that Walter is there because of an impending invasion and to protect Brandon from that invasion, you must stay on point. Kids will be disappointed.
THE STINKBUG CHRONICLES #1: THE INVASION HAS BEGUN! Text copyright © 2014 by George Reagan. Illustrations copyright © 2014 by Lucia Benito. Reproduce by permission of the publisher, George Reagan, Gloucester MA.
Buy The Stinkbug Chronicles at Amazon
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Learn more about The Stinkbug Chronicles HERE.
Meet the author, George Reagan, at his website: http://www.reaganwriting.com/
Meet the illustrator, Lucia Benito, at her website: tuolvidastodo.com
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Also by George Reagan
Longshot—Somewhere Between Slim and None
Also by Lucia Benito
Amira Goes Night Night
The Tale of East – A Little Elephant with a Very Long Trunk
Danny and the White Horse
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The Adventures of Jake and Moon Granny: Space Pirate Panic!
by Jaye Seymour
illustrated by Alma Borrego Martinez
978-0-98593783-6 10/10/2013
Age 7 to 9 122 pages
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“Help! Great Uncle Raymond and his pet fire newt, Flamer, have been kidnapped by te smelliest space pirates in the universe. It’s up to Jake and his granny to rescue them, with a little help along the way from some burping green aliens. But first they’ll need to make it through the spaceship-crunching meteor shower in one piece . . . Will the contents of Moon Granny’s favorite red handbag be enough to defeat Blackbeard and his beastly buccaneers? Or will she and Jake be forced to walk the plank…in space? Hold your noses and burp along with Jake and Moon Granny on their stinky, star-crossing adventure. But whatever you do, don’t press the red button! Or was it the yellow one?!”
Opening
“Jake’s grandmother lived a LONG way away.”
The Story
Bloodthirsty Blackbeard the Bad and his Beastly Buccaneers (pirates) kidnapped Jake’s Great Uncle Raymond. Granny stops by to see Jake and then takes him along in her quest to save her brother. Jake pilots Granny’s spaceship for the first time. In a panic, Jake presses the don’t-ever-touch-under-any-circumstances red button, sending them zooming into space. They finally spot Blackbeard’s bullet shaped spaceship and must somehow get Uncle Raymond and his pet fire newt off the ship. Will they call police or find their own way of rescuing Raymond?
Review
Space Pirate Panic contains the meanest, smelliest pirates in space, a granny who is in charge of alien relations, dust control, and cheese tasting on the moon where she lives. Then there is Jake, age unknown, who wishes he had a “normal” grandmother; one that showed up to school functions, knitted him awful sweaters, hands out pocket money, and he could visit every weekend. Until his granny shows up . . . then he realizes he likes his granny just the way she is. I like that beginning. Jake wants a normal life in comparison to other kids, until he realizes—with granny’s visit—that he has the best grandmother.
The action—and humor—are non-stop once Jake sets off in granny’s spaceship. Jake does get one of his wishes when Swish, the family cat, takes off with Jake’s green space gloves. Granny knits Jake new gloves on the way to Zabalon. Jake pushes a button Granny has just told him not to push, the trip to the Zabalon King goes smoothly, they spot Blackbeard’s ship and . . . well, there is no climatic moment. While there is a struggle, it is rather tame and ends too conveniently. The best part of the ending is the twist, but that is easy to figure out early in Uncle Raymond’s rescue.
I liked Space Pirate Panic but hope in the next book things do not resolve so easily—and quickly—for Jake and Granny. I’d like to know Jake’s age. Maybe things occurring so smoothly was appropriate for his age group. In any case, Space Pirate Panic is loaded with action, the adventure is interesting, the enemy is humorous, and Uncle Raymond can cause trouble, making me think Blackbeard kidnaped Uncle Raymond because of more than a desire for one million moon dollars. It is odd to think an old woman flying a not-top-of-the-line spaceship would have one million moon dollars for a ransom. Then again, the kidnappers are space pirates and dirty ones at that. I can’t wait to read the next book in this unusual space adventure. Kids age 7 to 9 will enjoy Jake & Moon Granny: Space Pirate Panic! This is also a great book for Hi-Low readers.
JAKE & MOON GRANNY: SPACE PIRATE PANIC! Text copyright © 2013 by Jaye Seymour. Illustrations copyright © 2013 by Alma Borrego Martinez. Reproduced by permission of the publisher, Jaye Seymour.
Buy Jake & Moon Granny: Space Pirate Panic at Amazon
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Learn more about Jake & Moon Granny: Space Pirate Panic HERE.
Meet the author, Jennifer Moore, aka Jaye Seymour, at her website: http://jennifermoore.wordpress.com/
Meet the illustrator, Alma Borrego Martinez, at her website:
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By: Mike Cressy,
on 5/16/2014
(I didnt’ realise I had such treasures lurking in the bottom of my “throw-it-all-in-there” cutlery drawer!
That’s some real nice artwork!
Alien is 37 years old, Aliens is the one that turns 30 this year.