Alicia
I continue to have very mixed feelings about this series. The art has really grown on me - especially the emotive qualities that the small facial gestures of the fox are able to express - and it is very evocative of a future rural fantasyscape that's directly based in our current reality. The story is interesting; the framing of trauma and violence as an illness and abuse as all-consuming of not just the abuser and their victim(s) but also the community is a very interesting and real, valid posit. I'm waiting for Book 3 to reassess on the whole from issue 1.
Strange for a book to feel so wordy but yet so slim. This didn't quite work for me - pulling towards the edges of nihilism in both directions of the Good Guys and the Villains, and doesn't do a great job of threading the space between or presenting an idea of what would fill that space.
I can see this being adapted into a successful and entertaining television show - the semi-rogue AI, the 60s suit-and-tie detective vibe - especially if the nebbish protagonist is played as the straight man foil the writing strives to make him here.
Charming and funny and insightful and free from the kind of self-seriousness that most parenting advice books are full of. In Moe's words, one of the biggest takeaways about life from parenting is “Being fun is more fun than not being fun, duh.” Having a laugh over the ridiculousness and challenge of turning out a good little human is a good way to keep the fun in the madness. He also manages to avoid gender essentialism, other than to comment on the prevalence of these expectations and to offer that they are in some ways inescapable, despite their silliness.
Betz-Hamilton tells her absolutely wild story with such a crisp, matter-of-fact Midwestern goodness of heart. I cannot imagine the pain and struggle of her upbringing, her financial struggles, and the big reveal of the culprit behind so many years of abuse. How powerful, to have translated all of that into her drive to learn and to help others.
It made me stinkin' mad to discover that this is the way Marvel chose to close the book on the FF. To retcon over 50 years of storytelling with the pathetic machinations of one evil genius whose entire motivation is his lust for Sue and resulting hatred of Reed (and, by extension, their whole family and range of associates and friends and and and...) feels almost disrespectful to the universe that so many brilliant writers and artists created before this fizzle.
The story on its own would have been two stars - at most - for me, but for the inclusion in this volume of four beautiful pages of Marvel royalty talking about their favorite FF covers through the years. A great overview of the way cover art has changed through the years, and interesting to hear the perspectives of artists and writers on what makes a cover a stand out.
The lovely and inspiring story of a brilliant woman who fell in love with numbers and didn't let being told “girls can't” and “women don't” get in the way of her learning and dreaming.
I especially appreciated the numerous notes at the end of the book regarding Sophie's life, and the writing and illustration processes. Barbara McClintock's art is dreamy and poetic, and learning about her strategy for coloring Sophie's life is very interesting.
“Sometimes, troting on my bludy pads threw a Yuman zone, such as RiverWalk Estates, along such rodes as Hummingbird Way and Slow Stream Ave or even Melody Manner Passage, seeing so many grate Dens, with lites like indoor suns, and water shooting majik lee out of theregrass at will, seeing that long line of Kars trot away so proud every morning full of Yumans, and the other splenders Yumans could do, such as make grass short, such as cause flowrs to grow inside there Dens, I woslike: Why did the Curatr do it so rong, making the groop with the gratest skills the meenest?”
Fox 8 has learned to speak, read and write “Yuman” by listening to bedtime stories at the window of a house, and herein writes on his observations, adventures, and questions to us. A sweet, small piece encouraging humans to view ourselves through the eyes of another species.
CW: violence against animals by humans
It is rare for a book of this kind and size to fill me with awe and hope and thanksgiving as much as the story of Doc and Jim Key has. An incredible true story of kindness and connection between humans and our other animal brethren. An outstanding picture-book biography, wonderfully researched (and cited!), and gorgeously illustrated. Teachers and librarians: please add this book to your syllabi and collections. The world will be better for the children having read it.