Big Mushy Happy Lump

Big Mushy Happy Lump by Sarah Andersen 125 pages

This book is hilarious as was the last book by this author. A lot of it is depressingly relatable and the rest of it is comically so. I admire how the author can make herself so clear with just drawings, the reader knows exactly what the characters are feeling, I guess I'm just impressed by people who can draw. It's a quick read that can pick up your spirits and cause you not to take yourself so seriously.

Giant Days, vol.1

Giant Days, vol. 1, by John Allison, ill by Lissa Treiman, 128 pages

Susan, Esther and Daisy are vastly different, but that doesn't stop them from being the best of friends in this weird new world called college dorm living.  Is... that enough? Because that's kind of all there is to this.  It's not bad- it's like watching a 30-minute sitcom.  There are some cute parts, some laughs, and some heartfelt/"real" moments of friendship and forgiveness.   Totally worth reading if it's laying around and you're looking for something light. 

The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage

The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage: The (Mostly) True Story of the First Computer by Sydney Padua, 315 pages

The Thrilling Adventures... is an entertaining mish-mash of comics, history, alternate-history, computers, math, Alice in Wonderland, steam-punk, Victorian England and postmodern self-referential meta-footnotes.  I had to use three bookmarks to keep my place in the main text, endnotes and appendices (and I still got a bit confused on occasion).   But overall, it's an outstanding introduction to Charles Babbage and Ada Lovelace's (almost) creation of the first computer and computer programs, though most of the book is set in a pocket universe and imagines a history that never actually came to be.

Padua grapples a bit with the question of who was Ada Lovelace?  Supergenius mathematical prodigy and co-inventor of the computer, or an empty symbol for politically correct feminists?  While this question is never definitively answered (the primary sources regarding Ada are sadly slim when compared to her male contemporaries), Padua does make a strong argument for a Lady Lovelace who tends toward the former description instead of the latter.  I have to admit to getting lost in some of the math and engineering discussions periodically, but Padua's humor and wonderful drawings helped pull me along through these technical sections.  I also loved the frequent guest appearances by Lovelace and Babbage's Victorian buddies including Charles Darwin, Michael Faraday, Charles Dickens and Charles Dodgson (aka Lewis Carroll).

Recommended for those who enjoy Kate Beaton's comics, those interested in steam powered computers, lovers of enormous rambling footnotes and Ada Lovelace groupies.

Ms. Marvel Vol 1: No Normal

Ms. Marvel Vol 1: No Normal, by G. Willow Wilson, ill by Adrian Alphona, 120 pages

I am so excited by this new Marvel incarnation- Kamala Khan is a Pakistani-American teenager who gets super-powers and takes on the moniker of Ms. Marvel.  Is it a great story?  Not more so than the usual Marvel series.  But I get so pumped when I see a comic book featuring a character who is not cut from the traditional comic hero cloth.  She is a "she," she is Muslim (the first Muslim to have her own comic book series, says Wikipedia), not white, daughter of immigrants, the main plot is not about meeting a guy, and the depiction of her is just so honest.  Kamala Khan wants to be a good Pakistani daughter, and she wants to abide by her family's rules, but when she obtains great powers, she remembers that the Quran states that "whoever has saved one person, it is as if he has saved all of mankind."  Talk about feeling torn.  I don't feel the need to finish out this run, but it is so refreshing to know that it exists.  I would encourage young women interested in comics to check this out.

Watson and Holmes: a Study in Black

Watson and Holmes: a Study in Black, by Karl Bollers, ill by Leonardi and Stroman, 144 pages

Jon Watson is recovering from the horrors of fighting in Afghanistan, while working as a doctor (well, ok- a medical intern) in a hospital in Harlem. When he meets a PI by the name of Holmes (NO ONE calls him Sherlock), their paths merge; Watson's hospitalized victim of a drug overdose is found to have overdosed on truth serum.  This leads them down the paths of drug dealers, hit lists, computer encryption, and babies found in dumpsters.  It is a fascinating re-envisioning of the classic Sherlock Holmes characters, and works quite well with African-American main characters and taking place in New York City.

Black Canary and Zatanna: Bloodspell

Black Canary and Zatanna: Bloodspell, by Paul Dini, ill. by Joe Quinones, 144 pages


The story is thus: Black Canary went undercover to break up a heist, but things are getting scary now that everyone else involved is mysteriously dying.  She calls on the only person she can trust- her good friend Zatanna, who tries to use her powers of magic to figure out what dark powers are working and how to save her friend.  I'm not very well-versed in my caped superhero stories, but I'm always happy to see strong, female superheroes not depicted as sexual objects.  As usual, there is a fair amount of objectification, regardless, but at least these are two strong female characters who save each other instead of calling in the Avengers all of the time.