Reading Time

(originally published in ADW #46)
We read a lot in Casa Vega. Not only comics and weekly magazines, but lots and lots of books. We make bi-weekly trips to the library where we check out multiple books as well as utilize the wonderful public library online system to request books that our tiny branch doesn’t carry.

One of the books I recently checked out was the Pulitzer Prize winning The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay written by Michael Chabon. This is, simply put, the best book I’ve ever read.

The story is a great tale of a Jewish family in Brooklyn that opens their doors to a cousin whose gone through quite the ordeal to flee Nazi-invaded Prague. Josef Kavalier (the recent immigrant) finds a kindred spirit in his cousin Sam Klayman (the Brooklyn native), and they quickly strike up a lucrative partnership in the burdgeoning comic book scene.

Love, family, friendship, loss and war all follow in this beautifully written yarn. This is a book for everyone, and hands down the greatest book I’ve ever read. Chabon has crafted an absolute masterpiece. I love the book so much that I’ve decided I have to buy a copy and keep it on Kal’s shelf so he can discover it himself when he gets older.

Another book, this one I actually own, is quite possibly the most important book in my collection. Year’s Best Comic Stories: 1981 was the very first comic book my oldest brother ever gave to me. It was Spring 1982, and this book changed the course of my life.

I read the very first story “To Kill A Legend,” an alternate Earth Batman tale where the Phantom Stranger comes to Batman and tells him that his parents will be killed the next evening on an alternate Earth. Batman decides against Robin’s urgings to go to this alternate Earth and stop the murder of his parents. Absolute brilliance ensues.

As a child I loved it. Every inch of this book. The great stories, the amazing art. It all sealed the deal. I had to be an artist. Without this book, Lord knows what my career path might have been. As mathematically gifted as I was, this book was the guiding light of my career. This book let me know that a perfect marriage between words and images was truly a work of art. It’s because of this book I am here today. I owe it and my brother so much. It really did help open my eyes to a whole new medium, and a whole new way of expressing myself.

Books I Like

So I've written a few "Books We Like" columns for ADW. The section should really be called "Books I Like" as I'm the only person who has reviewed a book so far. I'll be posting a few of these small book reviews over the next few days.


The Yankee Years by Tom Verducci and Joe Torre
A wonderful account of Joe Torre’s dozen years at the helm of the New York Yankees. At heart, the book is about trust and what happens when that trust is broken. Games are recounted in great detail, but the passages I was most drawn to were those on the human elements of the player’s ego and Torre’s deft handling of often explosive situations. The book also offers a rare and unprecendented look into not only the club house (Cone, Jeter, Giambi and Pettitte are some of the current players who speak on the record), but also to the front office (and the changing face of statistical analysis) of the Yankees. This book is a great read for both sports and non-sports fan alike.

A very good read

I don't read as many books as I should. I read a ton of comics, magazines and websites, but full on books... not so much. With my monthly (most times bi-weekly) trips to the library with my daughter I've started to check out and read more books. When my wife was on her way to the library last week to pick up a non-fiction story book ("with a beginning a middle and an end, which also had a cause and effect" as Scrappy would explain) she asked "should I get you anything" as she walked out the door. I replied "Sure, take a look and see if they have The Book of Lies by Brad Meltzer."

Now, I must admit that the only reason  know of Brad Meltzer is because of his comic writing. He had multiple New York Times best-selling books before jumping into the fray at DC Comics. He had a great story arc in Green Arrow (Archer's Quest), followed by what I consider to be the most important in-continuity comic of the last 20 years Identity Crisis. After that he took some time away from comics to write another novel followed by his relaunching of the Justice League of America (two great arcs in The Tornado's Path and The Lighting Saga). 

While reading about his latest novel (in Wizard) I was heavily intrigued. Meltzer had made his name as a mystery/thriller novelist. For his latest work he was going to marry his love of mysteries with his love of comics. Specifically his love of Superman and the man who created him Jerry Siegel.  

The story centers on Cal Harper and his tragic life who quickly gets embroiled in a deep mystery that starts to unravel when his ex-con father suddenly reappears in his life. What ensues is a mystery so deep and far-reaching that we learn about why a young Jerry Siegel created a Superman (a bullet-proof man because he missed his father who was shot to death) and how this all ties into Cain (who killed his brother Abel) from the bible. 

In essence, this is a story about redemption, the bond between fathers and sons, and the magic of story-telling. A very well crafted thriller.