The Animal People by Stanton A Coblentz is a 1967 novel that was published originally as The Crimson Capsule. Two guys in the 1960's are dumped by the same gal so they agree to get locked in a capsule with a special gas that puts them into suspended animation. They wake up in a shitty future with mutants and ape men. Some humans are treated as slaves so they free them and kick the mutant's asses. I forget what happened to the ape men and there's a girl in there somewhere. It's nothing much other than a quick read but there is a green house gas warning in the book. I wonder how much earlier than that they were talking about it. Takes a while for things like that to work themselves into the collective consciousness then actually do something about it. I don't think we'll need to worry about the green house effect, we're more likely to drown in our own filth and blood first.
The Art Of Herge Vol 1 1907- 1937 by Phillippe Goddin is the first volume of a three part series that explores the life and art of Herge. He's the guy who created Tintin. It's part biography, part art book and $40. There are lots of pictures, artwork, and details about Herge's life and the time he lived. He was born in 1937 and we get to see a lot of his early school and scouting art. Herge was an avid Boy Scout. He did scouting stories with art panels and blocks of text below but no word balloons. That would come later after he had seen some American comics. Tintin came in 1929 and that strip looked a lot different than the version most readers are familiar with. I started reading these books in 1971 when you could hardly find them in English. In 1972 the bookstore in The Bay would start carrying them. I had 2 or 3 in French before I had them in English. I couldn't read them but I could look at the pictures. They were nice and what attracted me to the books. That the actual story was good and there was humor was a bonus.
Wolf Speaker - The Immortals 2 by Tamora Pierce is the second of that series. It was ok but not a keeper. We learn more about the gal who can talk to critters as she developes her magical skills and solves some problem.
Stepsister From The Planet Weird by Francess Lantz is a kids novel that I picked up for the dumb reason that I had seen the tv movie years ago. Some aliens who normally live as non solids come to earth to live as solids. The dad likes being a human but the daughter doesn't. She longs to go back to the freeform life they had until she gets some friends and such. The book is ok, lots of fish out of water type stuff, but not a keeper. Good thing it was only 80 cents. I'll get more than that in credit when I trade it in for more used books.
Spin And Marty by Lawrence Edward Watkin was more entertaining than the previous book. I had seen the tv program Disney made out of the novel. I remember liking that series when they were on the Mickey Mouse Club when I was a kid. The first series of 3 were put onto dvd a few years ago when Disney was doing the Walt Disney Treasures dvds. They stopped doing the series in 2009 after 9 years and thirty volumes. The novel was written in 1942 under the title Monty Markham which Disney changed for the TV show. A rich kid goes to stay for the summer at a boys ranch. He doesn't want to be there and it takes a while for him to get over that and make some friends. There are the usual kid antics that you'd expect, but with horses and wilderness, and Marty grows up some by the end of the book. I'll keep this one. I have a nice little section of Whitman books on my keeper shelf. I'll probably read this one again.
1941 by Bob Gale was ok, lots more detail than the movie he wrote. The movie is more fun to watch. I know it did poorly at the Box Office but I still get a kick out of it. The damage to property is astounding and when they push the house off the cliff it always makes me laugh.
Walt Disney's Pinocchio adapted by Jay O'Brien is a modern version of a Big Little Book. This is a short adaptation of the original novel by Collodi that was published in 1967 by Golden Press under the Golden Star Library imprint. It's a pretty quick read, the pages are small and the text large. There are lots of pictures from the Disney Pinochio movie. I got it really cheap and added it to my Disney book collection.
The Art Of Herge Vol 2 1937-1949 by Philippe Goddin continues the life of Herge. Of interest is Herge's war years and the creation of the Herge studio. Herge comes off as a bit of a cad for me when he has an affair with the 18 year old daughter of a friend while they are all on vacation. Herge and his wife had a poor relationship from the sounds of it. It was in the early part of this period that the format for the Tintin books was changed. The b&w illustrations were now going to be color and the book were reduced to 62 pages from about double that. I have some of the reprints of the early b&w version of the stories and they are very different. The art isn't as polished as the later versions.
Emperor Mage - The Immortals 3 by Tamora Pierce is another in the same series. This one we meet more godlike critters and stuff while our heroine goes up against a creepy Emperor. Not a keeper.
The Art Of Herge Vol 3 1950-1983 by Philippe Goddin is the last part of Herge's life. He grows very popular around the world and it takes longer and longer for him to finish an adventure. He finished 23 stories and and died with the 24th barely started. He leaves his wife in the late 1950's and takes up with the 19 year old artist in his studio. They remain together for the rest of his life but they only marry near the end when the divorce laws change in Belgium. He sounds like a sad guy some of the time. He had some nervous breakdowns from over work and stress. Like the other books there are lots of illustrations to go with the text. Lots of little bits and pieces that you wouldn't see normally like sketches, page roughs, advertising art, christmas cards and a ton more. There are over 750 pages in the three volumes and they're really packed with art on every page. A really good series of books that were worth the read.
Tunnels by Roderik Gordon and Brian Williams is a book about a secret community living under the earth below England. Some kid gets mixed up in their intrusions into our world. Not a keeper. They have been sequels but I won't bother with them.
The Realms Of The Gods - The Immortals 4 by Tamora Pierce is the last of the series. Now I can pack them up for selling back to the used bookstore. Not a bad series but not something I would bother to read again.
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