YIKES! I read a lot of books in June, at least for me … and for once they’re more book-books and less comics-oriented (not that that’s a bad thing). Let’s dive in, shall we?
The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece by Tom Hanks
I loved this first novel by that guy named Tom Hanks, who may be more familiar to the world as an actor, director, writer, producer, and just general nice guy. It combines my two great pop culture loves—comic books and movies—into the story of … well, “the making of another major motion picture masterpiece.” Hanks is an incredibly descriptive writer and he takes the reader through the deal-making, casting, prep, filming and post-production of a new movie, Knightshade: The Lathe of Firefall, the latest in a series of movies based on a comic book series published by Dynamo and set to appear on a streaming service called (ironically) Hawkeye. Writer/director Bill Johnson is no stranger to blockbuster films, and when he hires major star Wren Lane to star as Knightshade, he hits the jackpot. Not so much with her co-star, OKB, who is hired to play Firefall. Hanks wisely brings along cartoonist R. Sikoryak to illustrate three different comic book segments (one from the 1940s, one from the underground comix era of the 1960s, and one from today), to show the story in its original form. Hanks’s love for movies and his well-realized characters—and incredible descriptions of the movie-making process—make this a must-read for any pop culture fan. Bonus: You can have lots of fun casting the movie version, but of course director Bill Johnson HAS to be played by Hanks himself.
Remain Silent by Susie Steiner
DI Manon Bradshaw returns in this, her third and final outing. This time around Manon is off cold cases and heading up the investigation into what appears to be the suicide of a Lithuanian working in the UK. But it’s more complicated than that, and this book touches on the immigrant problem in the UK, nationalism, and modern-day slavery. If that’s not enough, Manon has her hands full at home with a toddler and her partner, Mark, who has pancreatic cancer. Once again author Susie Steiner mixes together police procedural and personal lives with great skill, but this one fell a little flat for me. Still, it has its moments (don’t eat the lasagna!) and I will miss Manon, who has all the makings of a great BBC or ITV copper show. Susie Steiner died in 2022, and the acknowledgements page at the end of the book is kind of heart-breaking when she writes about being ill. RIP Susie and Manon.
Drowning: The Rescue of Flight 1421 by T. J. Newman
I was not a big fan of T. J. Newman’s first book, Falling. When I read that one and reviewed it on GoodReads in 2021, I started with “It’ll make a great movie, but … it kinda sucks on the page.” I gave it a 3-star rating, only because GR wouldn’t allow me to give it a 2.5-star one.
I like Drowning a lot better, even though it is a disaster movie on paper and makes me nervous to fly. Will and Chris have lost their oldest daughter, Annie, in a swimming pool accident years before and have become over-protective parents with younger daughter Shannon, who is now nine years old. Their grief has broken up their marriage and when it comes time for Shannon to travel from Hawaii to the mainland to go to summer camp, papa Will insists on flying with her. The plane crashes into the ocean just after takeoff and Will and Shannon are stuck onboard the sunken aircraft, with a dwindling air pocket. It’s mama Chris to the rescue, who just happens to be some kind of uber-underwater welder, and with that fact you have the type of giant coincidence of convenience that often ruins novels for me. But here it works, and Drowning is a beat-the-clock thriller with a lot of science, engineering, and heart thrown together in equal measure. Not sure I could sit through the movie on this one (it’ll never be shown on a plane, that’s for sure!), but former flight attendant/bookseller Newman has created a great summer beach read that flies along, not once crashing.
Wishful Drinking by Carrie Fisher
I recently came across my old Playbill magazines from the Broadway shows I saw when I visited New York City over the years, and among them was one for Wishful Drinking. I saw Carrie Fisher’s one-woman show on October 22, 2009 (I also kept my ticket stub!) and loved it. I didn’t even know it existed until I spied a young woman dressed as Princess Leia walking around Times Square. At first I thought she was cosplaying—what with the ear-muff wig and white, flowing gown—but then it became apparent she was wearing a sandwich board advertising discount tickets to the show. I saw it at Studio 54, the famed disco of yore, and loved it. At one point, she pointed to where I was sitting in the audience and said something like, “And in 1980, I got laid, right up there!”
Jump through hyperspace to now and I got curious if the HBO special still existed (it does and it’s wonderful), which is basically a recording of Carrie’s show and I also found this book version. It reminds me a lot of books I read as a kid, with only 156 pages and really big type, although the subject matter—Carrie’s life—is quite a bit more on the adult side. Read this and watch the special on HBOMax or just plain dumb ol’ Max, or whatever that idiot who’s running Warner Discovery decides to call it by the time you’re reading this, but let’s just say I enjoyed this printed version immensely. It reminded me how much I miss the wit and presence of Carrie Fisher in this world. She was known mainly for one thing, but she was so much more.
Answers in the Form of Questions: A Definitive History and Insider’s Guide to Jeopardy! by Claire McNear
I cut the cable cord years ago, so I haven’t been a regular viewer of Jeopardy! in quite a while. When I was able to watch it, I would go in spurts: Sometimes I’d be quite into it and watch it religiously—and, as they say, “play along at home”—other times, not so much. I do remember the James Holzhauer episodes, and that particular contestant—with his aggressive betting style and encyclopedic knowledge—figures into Clair McNear’s book about the history of the fabled TV game show, which for many years was, of course, hosted by “Who Is Alex Trebek?” McNear’s book is part history, part insider’s guide, and part exposé, especially of the messy afterlife of the show after Trebek passed away and the new executive producer decided he was the best person to host (that didn’t go well). When the book is about the history of the show (and the exposé part—you can argue that McNear’s online reporting on the show brought down that producer and ushered in the Ken Jennings/Mayim Bialik era of hosting; for the record, I much prefer Jennings), it’s great, but when it gets to the “insider’s guide” part, it’s way to inside-baseball for me. Buzzer techniques, player stats, preparation, etc.—plus a peek behind the curtain of some other trivia contests that help prospective contestants prepare—is all a bit too much and my eyes glazed over while reading some of this. Jeopardy! was always a window to the past for me, a TV show that remained comfortably stuck in a time warp, with very little change beyond does Alex have a mustache this season and is there a new set, so I do kind of miss it. This book was a mostly welcome trip down memory lane for me, and an agreeable peek behind the curtain.
Creepy Archives Vol. 1 by Various
I grew up in the 1960s with Warren magazines an almost-constant companion, including their Famous Monsters of Filmland and their comics publications, Creepy, Eerie, and Vampirella. When Creepy and Eerie were good, they were VERY good, and these Archive editions—now starting to become available from Dark Horse in paperback for a reasonable price—showcase just how good they were, a true successor to the EC Comics crown. This first volume of the Creepy Archives includes the first five issues, with the likes of Frank Frazetta (covers for issues #2 through 5 and his last actual comic book work), Reed Crandall (whose work is absolutely stunning, reminiscent of great illustrators like Charles Dana Gibson), Gray Morrow, Angelo Torres, Joe Orlando, Al McWilliams, and my personal favorite, Al Williamson, teamed up with his frequent writing partner, the great Archie Goodwin, who is either story editor or just plain ol’ editor of these issues, and who wrote a lot of the stories. Williamson’s classic tale, “The Success Story,” tells the story of a cartoonist named Baldo Smudge who uses way too many ghost artists, is from issue #1, reprinted here, and sets the stage for the upcoming issues. One small complaint: Some of the reproduction in this volume is a bit sub-par, particularly the Reed Crandall story from Creepy #2, “Spawn of the Cat People,” which has really dark zip-a-tone marring the story. When the artists stick to line-work, though, the repro is great. The quality of Warren’s comics publications were up and down over the years, but you can’t go wrong with these very first issues. Next up is the paperback edition of the Eerie Archives, Vol. 1, which reproduces Eerie issue #s 2-6 (issue #1 was an undistributed ashcan, made for copyright purposes).
Confabulation: An Anecdotal Autobiography by Dave Gibbons
I thoroughly enjoyed this trip through the life and career of comic book writer/artist Dave Gibbons. Known chiefly through his collaboration with writer Alan Moore on Watchmen, Gibbons has had a rich and wonderful career (mainly) drawing for both US and UK comics. The format of this autobiography is interesting and imminently enjoyable; Gibbons has opted to take an alphabetical tour of his life, with short, well-written anecdotes about everything and everyone from Aliens to “Zanga, Man of Mystery”, with numerous stops in between. He’s a warm and engaging writer, too, and totally honest; you will learn why he and Alan Moore no longer speak, and a lot more Watchmen-oriented dish. I wish more famous comic book artists would do something like this … it’s a great format and profusely illustrated, with wonderful design and production values.
Marvel Value Stamps: A Visual History by Roy Thomas
When I was religiously buying Marvel Comics in the mid-1970s, I ignored Stan Lee’s almost-command to cut up my copies to collect something called “Marvel Value Stamps.” This was according, to Roy Thomas, Marvel’s editor-in-chief at the time, Stan’s idea. You clipped out 100 different “Value Stamps,” which appeared in various Marvel titles over a period of time (1975 for Series 1 and 1976 for Series 2), sent away—and paid for—a little booklet to paste them into, and “redeemed” them for stuff at comic conventions, like San Diego and New York. Yes, all of us “Marvel Zombies” would have to purchase TWO copies of each book to have the stamp to get whatever prize was being offered and maintain a complete comic book.
This thick book from Abrams ComicArts presents all the Marvel Value Stamps from both series. Series 1 featured 100 portrait-style stamps of Marvel characters, and Series 2 featured “puzzle” stamps, made up of ten pieces each, which—when pasted together—revealed one larger image; there were ten separate images. But the fascinating part of this book for me was how it captures a microcosm of the publisher for two years during the 1970s. The Value Stamps appeared on the letter columns of each issue and shared space with letters from fans, some of whom went onto become either “big-time fans” or comics professionals themselves. Those pages also featured—my personal favorite part—house ads for other Marvel publications. The book meticulously shows all the stamps, where the art for each stamp came from (all of them were sourced from original Marvel comic book stories and covers), and lists where and when the stamps originally appeared, also noting any multiple appearances. Also included is an introduction by Roy Thomas and the actual albums themselves (a rare find 40 years later). This book really surprised me: I expected a stamp-by-stamp overview—kind of like Abrams’s X-Men Trading Card book—but not this deep dive into Marvel history circa mid-1970s. It’s a really beautiful book, too, wonderfully laid-out with tons of color art. If you’re like me and have a constant hankering for Marvel Comics history, this is the book for you.
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