Book Review: I'M ONLY IN THIS FOR ME by Stephan Pastis

I’m a huge “Pearls Before Swine” fan and I was very happy to read a copy of I’M ONLY IN THIS FOR ME. I’M ONLY IN THIS FOR ME is a collection of “Pearls” strips that originally ran in newspapers from March 3, 2014 to December 6, 2014. The book has an introduction from Pastis about the time he ran for political office. This brief introduction is really the only thing in the book that is even slightly connected to the front cover which features a strongly political theme of Rat running for President. I enjoy the book even more because of the cover: it’s a complete misnomer designed to sell more books during the highly political year of 2016. The book is filled with strips that feature the usual “Pearls” humor: witty one-liners, extensive verbal gags, and bad puns. There aren’t as many long running storylines as in some of the other “Pearls” collections. However, the book does feature a running storyline about Stephan Pastis being kicked out of his house by his wife Staci. There’s also a storyline where one of the Crocs goes on “Wheel of Fortune” with Andy Capp and a guy from the comic “B.C.” Lemmings are also featured in several strips. There’s an absurd storyline that deals with Jim Davis and Garfield. However, out of all the “Pearls” collections out there, I’M ONLY IN THIS FOR ME is one that you have to own because it features the three strips that were guest drawn by Bill Watterson! Bill Watterson came out of his comic self-exile to draw those three strips so they could be auctioned off for charity. That makes I’M ONLY IN THIS FOR ME a must-have book for most comic-strip fans.

Graphic Novel Review: SNOWPIERCER, VOL. 1: THE ESCAPE

 

I first became acquainted with SNOWPIERCER, VOL. 1: THE ESCAPE after having watched the movie starring Chris Evans. I enjoyed that movie and after learning it was based on a graphic novel, I wanted to find and read the original story. The story is set in at an undetermined date in the future. The Earth has been turned into a frozen wasteland (by human hands and not nature) and a remnant of humanity survives by living on a giant train of over a 1,000 cars that travels around the globe non-stop. The rear cars contain the most poor and impoverished people while the most wealthy and affluent are near the front of the train. After an attempted coup years before, the rear of the train has been quarantined from the rest of the train and there are rumors that the train officials are considering dumping those cars as soon as they can. Proloff, a refugee from the rear, escapes and is wanted to be seen by the top officials. Some want to use him to advance their political careers while others just want to see him out of curiosity. However, as Proloff is escorted through the train, it becomes clear that things aren’t exactly as they seem and his only chance for survival is to make it all the way to the engine.

SNOWPIERCER is a graphic novel that was first published over thirty years ago in France. It’s amazing how relevant many of the issues the book raises still are. In some ways the story is even more relevant today as society wrestles with climate change and our impact upon the environment. There are moments that the story drags, but not so much that it distracts from the overall story. Personally, I really enjoyed reading SNOWPIERCER, VOL. 1 THE ESCAPE and I look forward to reading the other three volumes in the trilogy.