Graphic Novel Challenge 2019

For the past several years I have participated in the online graphic novel challenge. This has been the only online reading challenge I have ever participated in. I completed the second tier in the challenge for this year (2018) by reading and reviewing at least 24 graphic novels during the year. I still might be posting a couple more reviews before the end of the year, but it's time to get ready for 2019. There are 5 levels this year. I know I could probably attain the Golden Age level (104 books read and reviewed during the year) if I had the time, but I always seem to get distracted. So, I'll start out simple and just try for Modern Age level again (12 books read and reviewed) and if I meet that, increase my goal. If you're interested in the graphic novel challenge, check it out here.

YOU HAVE THOSE WILD EYES AGAIN, MOOCH by Patrick McDonnell

YOU HAVE THOSE WILD EYES AGAIN, MOOCH is a Mutts Treasury collecting "Mutts" comic strips that originally ran in newspapers from December 26, 2016 – December 25, 2017. "Mutts" is a fairly simple comic usually featuring the cat Mooch or the little dog Earl. There's a whole cast of other characters from Crabby (crab) to Sid (goldfish) to Bip and Bop (squirrels). I always enjoy the “Mutts Summer Book Club” comics.

BOB ROSS: A HAPPY LITTLE DAY-TO-DAY 2019 CALENDAR

The BOB ROSS: A HAPPY LITTLE DAY-TO-DAY 2019 CALENDAR is a day-to-day calendar that features over 300 of Bob Ross's landscape paintings. In addition, there are over 60 of his quotes. Some days have a painting and a short quote. Other days are just a quote. Most days are just a painting.  Even if you don't know who Bob Ross is, this little day-to-day calendar can brighten your day and make things just a little happier.

Review: SHARKY MALARKEY by Megan Nicole Dong

I enjoy reading comics of all different types. I love "Peanuts" but also enjoy many of the strips done online at "The Oatmeal." I have a pretty good sense of humor and, for the most part, enjoy it in many of its forms. I had never heard of the webcomic "Sketchshark" before, but was looking forward to reading the book SHARKY MALARKEY (which is a collection of mostly "Sketchshark" comics) based upon reviews and comments I had read. Unfortunately, I was sorely disappointed.  The author is talented and does a great job with facial expressions. However, outside of a few comics here and there, SHARKY MALARKEY isn't very funny. It's not even very entertaining.

 

The book is divided into four chapters. The first chapter isn't titled, but is mostly about the author, Megan, and her life. The second chapter is entitled "There's a Shark in Los Angeles" and deals with the major character of Sketchshark, Bruce. The third chapter is entitled "Just Ladythings" and is another chapter dealing with Megan and issues she faces as a female. The last chapter is entitled "The Animal and Plants Channel" and has comics revolving around animals and plants. The strongest chapter in the book is the first unnamed one. However, even that has more misses than hits. "Just Ladythings" is the next best chapter, although some of the humor there is more absurd than anything else (you know things are messed-up when you have high-heeled shoes that talk). As for the other two chapters, I honestly thought they were garbage.

 

I guess there's an audience out there for SHARKY MALARKEY, but I just didn't get it. It's the first book of any kind I've read in a long time that I just kept reading so I could get to the end because it was so bad (once I start reading a book, I have to finish it, no matter how bad). I guess there are places in the world where stuff like this is considered comedy gold, but for the rest of the world, it's almost all drivel.

Book: BIG NATE: WHAT'S A LITTLE NOOGIE BETWEEN FRIENDS

WHAT'S A LITTLE NOOGIE BETWEEN FRIENDS is another collection of "Big Nate" comics. There's the usual Big Nate hijinks, but some of the storylines include Nate trying to take a decent school picture, his soccer team suffering a humiliating defeat, his dream girl Jenny moving to Seattle, and Nate trying to make an invention to make him super rich. I enjoy reading "Big Nate" comics, but I'm not a huge fan. They have pretty good storylines that capture much of the comedy and tragedy of the middle-school years. It's light, but entertaining comic reading.

STAR TREK 2019 WALL CALENDAR

The STAR TREK 2019 WALL CALENDAR features 12 images from the original Star Trek series. In addition, on the actual calendar part for each month, there is a quote from one of the characters. Unfortunately, the images chosen for this calendar aren't the greatest.  First of all while, Scotty, Bones, Uhura, Chekov, and Sulu each have a solo image, there are no solo images of Kirk and Spock (there's an image of Kirk with android Kirk). While there's a picture of the Enterprise, it's a horrible image of it. In addition, most of the images really don't fit with the months they are with. For instance, there's an image of the White Rabbit, but instead of being in April with Easter, it's in July. In short, while it's not to see some less than famous images, it seems like whoever put this calendar together, really didn't put much thought into it.