Review - Athena : Grey Eyed Goddess

Review - Athena : Grey Eyed Goddess
by George O’Connor
First Second

Greek gods are hot. Not as hot as vampires. Not even as hot as zombies. But they are inching their way up in the young peoples psyche. And George O’Connor is creating a series of graphic novels based on the myths of Ancient Greece which helps increase the awareness. This book tells a handful of stories relating to the goddess Athena is the second, and newest in the series.

Starting with the origin story of Athena, where she is cracked out of Zeus’ skull a fill grown adult woman. We are also told of how she won her aegis in a contest, how she and the other Olympians won an epic Battle of the Gigantes. And most entertaining for me was the tale of Perseus and his quest for the head of the Medusa.

I liked this story because anyone who reads comics has also seen the movie Clash of the Titans. Where Harry Hamlin kicks the ass of the Ray Harryhausen creatures with his great hair. This version of the story of Perseus shoes him kind of as a hick, who gets a lot of help from Athena and Hermes. In the book, Perseus even gets scoffed at when he asks for a helmet of invisibility (as he received in the movie).

I enjoyed the artwork. Its style is of line and ink. The colors are, for the most part, muted. But there are a couple pages, where the action is most intense, where more vibrant colors are used. What is also really nice is that O’Connor give all the gods very expressive features. After all, weren't the ancient gods subject to the same emotional foibles of us mortals? We see Athenas rage against Arachne. Her determination and despair is shown as she battles Pallas.

I suspect many libraries will be picking up this series. It has all the requisites to attract unknowing Children’s librarians. It’s well reviewed in all the usual sources, covers an area of the school curriculum that we are constantly being asked about. It’s not too expensive and thankfully, its a very good book.

Review - Peaceful Warrior: The Graphic Novel

Review - Peaceful Warrior: The Graphic Novel
written by Dan Millman
art by Andrew Winegarner
New World Library

Since I don’t pick up the graphic novels anymore, sometimes things come in that I would not even consider purchasing. Case in point is the graphic novel adaption of the book Way of the Peaceful Warrior by Dan Millman. I had heard of this book, which first came out in 1980, but didn’t really know much about it.

Millman tells the tale of how he goes from a self absorbed undergrad obsessed with girls and gymnastics to a peaceful warrior at one with the universe. With the help of his mentor who he calls Socrates and others like Joy and Joseph, Millman is able to slough off his closed mind and body and achieve true awareness.

As I was reading this, I wondered if Millman had seen Star Wars too many times. Socrates is the Obi Wan trying to guide the impetuous Luke Skywalker/Dan Millman to look beyond himself to understand the big picture. Socrates tells Millman, “I call myself a warrior - a peaceful warrior - because the important battles we face happen inside us. And even now, as we speak, invisible forces - forces of light and darkness - are fighting a great battle.” And other gems like, “right now you’re like a fly sitting on a TV screen - you see the dots in front of you, but you’re missing the big picture.” The book is filled with dialog like this.

The artwork is pen and ink. It’s pretty good but somewhat undeveloped. Certainly not done in a superhero style. But the figures, backgrounds, and layouts are not anything special. The end biographical sketch of thew artist Andrew Winegarner mentions that he is working on an adaption of Gilgamesh. I’d be curious to see it to find out if he has learned anything from this project.

This book is not a classic and is certainly an optional buy for any library. Our copy of the text version of Peaceful Warrior has circulated over 30 times, so some people are interested in it. I’m not sure if people who read comics would be the same type of people.

Comics for the week of November 3, 2010

Kevin Smith's Kato #5
Wolverine #3
Batman and Robin #16
Izombie #7
Sweet Tooth #15
Scarlet #3
Batman/Catwoman: Follow the Money
New Avengers #5
Detective Comics #870
Wonder Woman #604
Uncanny X-Men #529
Madame Xanadu #28
Incorruptible #11
Superboy #1
Fantastic Four #583
Generation Hope #1
Irredeemable #19

Comics for the week of October 27, 2010

Fantastic Four #584
Started getting this when Mark Millar started writing it a couple years ago. He's since left the title and the stories have become a little convoluted.
Kick-Ass 2 #1
Speaking of Mark Millar, here's the beginning of the second part of the Kick-Ass book.
Daredevil #511
Continuing the Shadowland cross-title storyline, I'm ready to stop getting this book.
Thor #616
With the Matt Fraction reboot after the crappy Siege storyline, I hope this book picks up.
Fables #99
Continuing to be the top of the stack each month.
Jack of Fables #48
Not quite as good as Fables, unless the Page Sisters are in the issue.
Justice League of America #50
I should have stopped this book 30 issues ago. But after 50 months, I'll still getting it for a little longer.
Echo #25
I missed out on the Strangers in Paradise, but this SciFi adventure is really cool.
Teen Titans #88
With JT Krul taking over, I'm hoping this title gets to be more stable in its pacing.
Morning Glories #2
With multiple printings of the first couple issues, I'll try this title for a couple months.
Zatanna #6
Paul Dini left Gotham City Sirens and is now writing this book. I'll keep getting it until he leaves.
Enslaved (free)
A prequel to a video game. A SciFi mashup with the Chinese story Into the West. Meh.
Spider-Man Saga (free)
I guess they are going to redo the Spider-Man universe. Who knew MJ and PP broke up? I do now after reading this.

Comics for the week of October 20, 2010

Irredeemable #18
One of the most entertaining ongoing series I'm picking up. Just imagine a fucked up JLA while reading this title.
Casanova #4
Last part of a mini-series. It's strange but not too out there.
Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne #5
I guess this is going to be one of those universe spanning events. Since I get most Bat books, I'm getting this limited series also.
Ultimate Comics New Ultimates #4
Not too much interested in the Ultimate line. Getting this for the Frank Cho artwork.
X-23 #2
Marjorie Liu impressed me with the Black Widow book she initiated. But after 5 issues stopped and started writing X-23.
Deadpool #28
I started picking up Deadpool because I liked what the writer Daniel Way was doing with Wolverine. But I'm getting a little tired of it.
Batman and Robin #15
Grant Morrison is telling tales within tales with this Bat book. I always find it interesting and usually have to go over it a couple times.
Sweet Tooth #14
Post apocalyptic goodness with great characters and suspense. Another title I look forward to each month.
Daken: Dark Wolverine #2
A holdover from the Wolverine: Origins book. I'll give it a story arc and see if I want to continue picking it up.
Tales of the Dragon Guard: Into the Veil #2
Soleil dribbles out books every so often. I try and get each of them. Usually they have very good art and a story that's a little different than usual.
Morning Glories #3
I'm getting this one since the first issue with into 3 or 4 reprints. Haven't read any of them yet.
Orc Stain #5
Love the art. Highly detailed with clever designs, it's still worth picking up even though the story hasn't really kept my interest.
Warlord of Mars #1
It's a retelling of the John Carter books which I really like. We'll see if it's worthy.
New Avengers #5
I'm getting this for the first story arc. I plan on stopping it once its complete.
Dragon Age #5
Based on the video game and written by Orson Scott Card, I needed to get this book to see what its all about.
Valkyrie #1
The only reason I picked this one up was because of the cover.
S.H.I.E.L.D. #4
Convoluted, with long gaps between issues, I really don't understand this book. But if Galileo can beat off Galactus, I'm willing to keep getting this title.
The Thanos Imperative #5
The last vestige of the Annihilation storyline from 2006. After Nova, Guardians of the Galaxy, War of Kings and other cosmic Marvel books, I'm not stopping now.
Victorian Undead Special #1
The limited series where Sherlock Holmes beats up zombies in Victorian London was fun. Now I guess he takes on Mr. Hyde.

Comics for the week of September 15, 2010

Batman #703
Birds of Prey #5
X-23 #1
Daken: Dark Wolverine #1
Hercules: Twilight of A God #3
Joe the Barbarian #7
Morning Glories #1
Zatanna #5
Batman and Robin #14
American Vampire #6
Tales of the Dragon Guard - Into the Veil #1
Irredeemable #17