Friday, Book One: The First Day of Christmas

I am very familiar with the name Ed Brubaker when it comes to comic books.  He is known for his crime story comics (such as Criminal, Fatale, etc.), but quite honestly, I've never read any of his work. I just recognize the name.  But when I saw this graphic novel solicited in Previews some months back, I didn't even pay attention to who was writing or drawing it.  I simply saw the description about a teenage girl who goes back to her hometown where she used to solve mysteries with her best friend, and I was hooked.  A sort-of "Nancy Drew grows up and goes back home" type of tale is something that's just too good for me to pass up.  So, I ordered it.

Friday, Book One: The First Day of Christmas collects the first three chapters of this story.  Friday Fitzhugh is an eighteen-year old college student with red hair (sound familiar?) and glasses who has returned to Kings Hill after completing her first semester of college.  Friday spent her teen years in Kings Hill, where she met her best friend, Lancelot Jones (a combination of "Lancelot" Link and Jupiter "Jones" perhaps?), and together the two of them solved a lot of mysteries, such as "The Case of the Magic Gauntlet," "The Legend of the Lime Cave," "The Secret Beneath Arcadian Hall," "The Revenge of the Sea Maiden," "Night of the Teenage Crime Wave," and "The Curse of the Viking Helm," to name a few.  And the manner in which Marcos Martin, the artist for this book, displays these past mysteries over two two-page spreads is magnificent!  Between the title themselves and the faux book covers, Brubaker and Martin pay beautiful homage to the children's mystery series of the '60s and '70s, and I would love more than anything to read these stories - and in case anyone was wondering, this takes place in the mid-'70s (as one of the panels from her senior prom shows a banner in the background that says "Class of '73").

But this story is not your standard teenage mystery.  Brubaker brings in not only some supernatural elements, but also some very human elements to give the story a very Gothic feel.  There are constant hints of supernatural, without being overtly so, and the emotional drama is sometimes more powerful than the creeps in the night.  For it seems that Friday left Kings Hill to go to college on a sour note.  Something happened between her and Lancelot, and try as she might upon her return, she can't seem to find a moment to talk to him about it.  As soon as she arrives in her old hometown, Lancelot and Sheriff Bixby (is his first name Bill?) pull her into the latest mystery.  The younger son of the town's richest family has stolen an ancient knife, and it has somehow affected his mind.  He has run off into the woods, muttering something about "the White Lady" and trying to carve symbols into a tree deep in the woods.  Lancelot and the Sheriff leave Friday at the hospital while they go to take care of something ... but Friday is left with the feeling that she should know what this "White Lady is" - but why can't she remember?

Shadowy figures in the woods.  Strange visions and haunting dreams.  Possessed men speaking in riddles.  Secrets kept from loved ones.  A town full of dark legends. And mysteries of the past coming back to create havoc in the present. Brubaker succeeds in creating a story that is "Gothic but grounded" as he says in the afterward at the end of the graphic novel.  And the ending of Chapter Three (which is where this novel leaves off) - wow!  A heart-wrenching cliffhanger that definitely leaves the reader wanting for more!  (I supposed I could go online and read Chapter Four, since this is a digital comic that is later collected, but why spoil the fun?  After all, anticipation of what is to come is half the fun!) 

A superbly written and drawn story that I would highly recommend!  I'm just left wondering how long it's going to be before Book Two of Friday comes out!

RATING:  10 classic ice-balls out of 10 for a surprising mix of mystery, supernatural, suspense, and emotion all rolled into one for a wonderful tale of a teen detective growing up!

Battle Ground - A Novel of the Dresden Files (Book 17)

What better way to celebrate my 600th blog posting than to review a book that has to one of the most exciting, heart-breaking, powerful, energy-filled, suspenseful, and outright FANTASTIC books that I have read in a while.  As I told a friend recently, reading this book was like watching the second half of the Avengers: Endgame movie.  When the blurb on the back of the book says that by the end of this novel, Harry, Chicago, and the whole world will be changed forever - it definitely means it!  I mean, quite literally, the only three words I can think to describe this book as I was reading it are:  OH MY GOD!

Battle Ground is the seventeenth novel of the Dresden Files, the series that stars Harry Dresden, a down-to-earth, every-day man who happens to be a wizard who lives in Chicago and puts his life on the line time and time again to save his family, his friends, and his city.  Jim Butcher went several years without a new Dresden Files novel, and book 16 (Peace Talks) and this book came out pretty much one right after another - and considering how interwoven they are, I can see why.  While Peace Talks was the set up and the warning of what was to come (much as Infinity War was for the Avengers), Battle Ground is, from page one, non-stop action.  Literally.  Picking up exactly where the previous book left off, Dresden, Murphy, Lara, and Freydis have left the island where Dresden buried his brother to protect (and hopefully one day save) him and are heading back to Chicago to prepare for the coming war with the Titan, Ethniu. And, as with everything else in Dresden's life, even that short trip across the lake can't be easy...

Butcher holds back no punches in this book.  Right off the bat, Dresden and gang find themselves fighting a kraken before they can even make it to the Chicago shore line.  Already weary and worn down, Dresden still fights with everything he has, alongside the vampire queen of the Red Court and the Valkyrie and the cop.  But just when all seems lost, unexpected help arrives from Dresden's own padawan - he has definitely taught her well!  Molly Carpenter my be the Winter Lady now, but she is still Dresden's friend first and foremost, so when he's in trouble, she'll be there!  And this first fight sets the stage for the 500+ pages of story to come, as all kinds of nightmarish creatures begin swarming the streets of Chicago.  So many, in fact, that the members of the Accord are not able to contain them and keep the regular humans from seeing what is going on.  Thus, change #1 - the mundane human world is about to discover the supernatural world exists right alongside them, and it will forever change the landscape of Chicago!

Amidst all of the fighting, though, Dresden begins to discover things about himself, as well as about the White Council.  There are still secrets, and Dresden does not like the idea that the Council is keeping things from him - particularly when it seems they are bound and determined to undermine his new role as the White Knight for Mab.  But Dresden does what Dresden always does - he looks out for his family and friends, and the for the city around him that cannot defend itself from the nightmare about to be unleashed by a destructive Titan, and the Council and their rules be damned.  Of course, Dresden has been gradually building up his own army who will stand with him no matter what - Murphy, who may be human, but she is one heck of a fighter; the werewolves, who call anytime they are needed; Butters, who now wields the Sword of Faith; Toot-Toot and his guard of little folk, who can be quite formidable when they need to be; and Michael Carpenter, who still believes in his friend and will stand by him to the very end.  But this Titan is something more powerful than any of them have ever faced, and with its coming comes change #2 - the city of Chicago is more than half demolished, as the Titan destroys building after building, reducing the city skyline with a mere thought!

One thing I definitely have to mention here - from the very beginning of the series, Dresden has had a little Volkswagon Beetle that he referred to as "Blue Beetle," which I always assumed was because it was painted blue.  I mean, let's face it - a big-time author like this could not be referring to the old Charlton/DC comic book hero, could he?  Well, in this book, Butcher answers that question once and for all.  When Murphy shows up to rescue a wounded Dresden, he climbs onto the back of her motorcycle and says, "This is Valkyrie.  I've got Booster Gold" (p. 207).  A simple, throw-away line, and yet those seven words (eight, if you count "I've" as "I have") answer everything!  Because as any DC Comics fan knows, Blue Beetle and Booster Gold are BFFs that were the comic relief of the Justice League for many years, and even today, they are the Laurel and Hardy of DC Comics.  So, for Butcher to finally acknowledge this comic book reference - well, it made the geek in me totally geek out and cheer when I read the line!

But the joy doesn't last long, as the battle gets more intense, more fierce, and more deadly - and one of Dresden's closest allies is taken out.  And when I say taken out, I don't mean knocked out, injured severely, or maimed.  I mean TAKEN OUT.  Someone dies.  Someone close to Dresden, someone I thought Butcher would never, ever write out of the series.  It's a meaningful death, as it very nearly breaks Dresden and opens him to the full fury of the Winter Knight burning with him.  But it's also a tragic death, as it is not a nightmarish creature of the Never-Never that kills this person.  No, it's another human that has become so unhinged by everything happening in Chicago right now that he can't make sense of anything and ends up shooting this person without warning.  So, yes, it is the villainous Titan and her group of baddies that cause the death, but the tool is a simply human being who is brought to madness by the sight of everything that is happening.  Which makes the death more real, more sad, and more devastating to Dresden and to the reader.  This is most definitely, without a doubt, one of the biggest changes in the series (we'll call it Change #3 with a capital "c").

Oh, but it doesn't end there.  The battle is huge, and the members of the Accord have a plan to stop the Titan before she can obliterate Chicago and move on to the world.  And wouldn't you know it, Harry Dresden is smack dab in the middle of that plan - in fact, the most important part of the plan.  Because he is the only one who can actually trap the Titan.  Because you can't actually kill the Titan (none of them have that kind of power, even combined), but the Titan can be contained.  And by the end of the battle, there are a number of revelations that come to light that basically show us change #4 as it relates to "Gentleman" John Marcone, change #5 as it pertains to the White Council's decision about Dresden after everything is over, and change #6 as it concerns Dresden's marital status (yeah, you don't really think I'm going to spoil THAT one, do you?).

There is so much that happens in this book, there is no possible way I could go into all of it.  I will say it was well worth the read and well worth the wait.  Now comes the impossible task of waiting for book 18 (tentatively titled Twelve Months) and book 19 (set to be called Mirror, Mirror).  Here's hoping there's not as much a delay here as there was between books 15 and 16!

 

EXTRA - this book also contained a short story at the end titled "Christmas Eve," which is clearly set after the events of this book.  It's a touching little story that reminds readers of exactly what, and who, Dresden is fighting for in his battle against the supernatural baddies!

RATING:  10 unassembled bicycles out of 10 for giving readers the payoff they deserve with this climactic battle that is unparalleled in scope and suspense!

Nancy Drew Mystery Stories #5 - The Secret of Red Gate Farm

I have been holding off posting this one because I was waiting for our Central Florida Sleuths group to have its discussing meeting on this book.  We have had to reschedule a couple of times due to various issues, but we finally managed to hold a meeting and discuss the fifth Nancy Drew mystery!  And this time around, I was inspired by the articles Pam Hancock wrote for The Sleuth a couple of years ago digging into the history behind The Clue in the Jewel Box to actually do some digging into the history surrounding the book and the time period in which it was written, and it is utterly amazing how much one can discover about the elements of the story when you look into what was happening in the world at the time the book was written (and this likely applies to not just Nancy Drew books, but pretty much any book you pick up and read!).  The more I started looking into things I was reading in this book, the more excited I got and the more research I wanted to do.  And this, my friend, is one of the many things I absolutely love about reading!

The Secret of Red Gate Farm, the sixth Nancy Drew mystery story, was originally published in 1931.  The credit for the outline is given to Edna Stratemeyer Squier, while the book was actually ghostwritten by Mildred Augustine Wirt Benson.  The story was later revised by Lynn Ealer in 1961 during the period when the Stratemeyer Syndicate was revising all of the first 34 books, to shorten them from 25 to 20 chapters, heighten the action in the stories, and remove dated references and stereotypes.  The story centers around Nancy, Bess and George helping out a young woman and her mother save their farm, and along the way, they put a stop to a group of counterfeiters who are generating false bills on the woman's property (keeping their criminal activity a secret by pretending to be a nature cult).  The original story was actually pretty engaging, and Nancy's determination to not only help Millie Burd and her grandmother save their farm, but to also figure out just what that nature cult is up to, truly shines in the story.

It would be interesting to learn where Edna Squier came up with the plot for this mystery.  The Syndicate had previously used counterfeiters in one of the Hardy Boys' mysteries (The Secret of the Old Mill, written by Leslie McFarlane and published in 1927), and perhaps that inspired Edna with this plot.  What is coincidental is that in 1930 (likely the same year this book was plotted), an infamous counterfeiter, Victor Lustig, began counterfeiting hundreds of thousands of dollars in counterfeit notes, using associates to get the bills in circulation.  This is similar to the criminals in Red Gate Farm,who use their "nature cult" members to get the fake $20 bills into circulation.  Lustig was eventually caught when his love interest made an anonymous tip to the police, which led to Lustig being arrested in 1935.  Interestingly enough, in Red Gate Farm, it is the leader's wife who warns Nancy away and gives away the fact that something criminal is taking place near the farm.  While it is unlikely Lustig's story inspired Red Gate Farm (since he was not arrested until four years after the book came out), it is interesting to note the similarities in the criminal actions and ultimate outcomes!

 

Another interesting aspect of this book is the use of codes.  The Black Snake Colony (more on that later...) uses number codes to pass on information among its members.Nancy is able to copy down part of one of the codes in Chapter Three (00308 06420 23145 06548 30061), but try as she might, she is never able to decipher the code.  By Chapter Fifteen, having been unsuccessful at cracking the code, even with the help of a code book given her by her father, Nancy ultimately does something very uncharacteristic for her - she turns over the code to the authorities (pp. 133-35).  What is even more unusual for this book is the fact that the actual key to the code is never revealed!  While government agents tell Nancy they deciphered the message (a special meeting was to be held in a cave near Red Gate Farm - p. 197), they never actually say how the code worked.  So, the reader is left with a real mystery of how to unravel the code itself.  FUN FACT - the agents inform Nancy that the code she gave them was turned over to the "Bureau of Cryptography" (p. 196), who cracked then code.  This is likely a reference to the real cipher bureau created back in 1919 after World War I by Herbert O. Yardley, which agency was known as the Black Chamber, or sometimes as the Cipher Bureau.

 

Now, with respect to the name of that so-called nature cult in the book: The Black Snake Colony.  Where wold such a name come from?  One of my fellow book club enthusiasts suggested it might stem from a criminal organization at or around the time the book was plotted and written.  Some research reveals that it is possible the name could have come from a number of different places:  (1) perhaps from the snake-handling ministers who became popular in the 1920s and into the '30s, who garnered some large followings - with the "Black Snake" in the book a reference to the nefarious nature of the cult leaders; or (2) perhaps the Black Snake Affair from the 1800s, in which smugglers off the coast of Vermont used a ship named the Black Snake to conduct their criminal activities; or (3) perhaps from the nature cults that were becoming quite a major fad in California in the 1920s and into the '30s, with leaders who focused mainly on getting rich, with the "snake" reference in the name simply alluding to the fact that the leader of the cult was a "snake-in-the-grass."  Whatever the reason, there is no doubt that Maurice Hale and his cohorts were, indeed, "snakes" for the way they took advantage of and used their followers!

 

Moving on to a more surprising and funny element in the story ...  in Chapter Sixteen, George and Bess tease Nancy about the son of one of the other boarders at Red Gate Farm, who seems to have taken a shine to Nancy.  When George pokes fun at her, Nancy retorts with, "Oh, go climb a sour apple tree!" (p. 141).  This was a phrase I had never heard before, so I looked it up.  According to Robert Hendrickson in his book Talking Turkey: A Food Lover's Guide to the Origins of Culinary Words and Phrases, this particular phrase comes from the early 1900s (or possibly even before that) and means "go to blazes" (or "go to hell")!  I have to say, that's quite a strong phrase for Nancy Drew to be using, especially towards one of her best friends.  I'm guessing this would be like saying "darn" instead of "damn," or "heck" instead of "hell" - a more polite way of saying something that would otherwise be considered vulgar.  Which, thinking about it, actually fits with the original Nancy Drew as written by Mildred Wirt.  That original Nancy was very outspoken, super-determined, and not afraid to speak her mind to authority figures or anyone else.

 

Another humorous moment from the book is found in Chapter Ten.  When Bess tries to milk one of the cows at Red Gate Farm, she ends up trying to milk it from the "wrong" side.  Like Bess says in the book, "Whoever heard of a cow with a right or wrong side?" (p. 90). Well, color me surprised that this is an actual thing - although not exactly "wrong vs. right" as much as "left vs. right." According to a Norwegian author, Aslaug Engnaes:

According to Engnæs, you milk the cow from the right – simply because you always use your strongest arm on the teat farthest away from where you are sitting. This means that for a right-handed person, sitting on the right-hand side of the cow is the usual choice. But to follow her logic: a left-handed milkmaid should sit on the left.

 

The cow herself has no preference. For her, the key elements are kindness, regularity and the fact that the milkmaid knows what she is doing. Twice a day. Every day of the week.

(Thanks for Kevin Denis for providing the source:  Homestead - how to hand-milk the cow).  And this only goes to show - you're never too old to learn new things, even if it does come from a Nancy Drew book!

One last thing I want to mention is the timeline for this mystery.  In most cases, it seems Nancy and her friends manage to solve each mystery in a few days, or in some cases,  few weeks.  In this book, however, Nancy, Bess, and George basically spend all summer (or more!) at Red Gate Farm while solving this mystery.  By carefully following the days referenced in the book, it would seem the following is the timeline for Red Gate Farm:

 

DAY ONE - Chapters I - IV

DAY TWO - Chapter V

DAYS THREE & FOUR (Raining) - Chapter V

DAY FIVE - Chapter V

DAY SIX - Chapter VI (the girls leave for Red Gate Farm)

DAY SEVEN - Chapter IX (the girls wake up on their first day at Red Gate Farm)

DAY EIGHT - Chapter X (the other boarders arrive)

DAYS PASS - Chapter X ("the days at Red Gate Farm passed very pleasantly)

DAY (one day) - Chapter XI

DAYS PASS - Chapter XI (the girls "bide their time for a few days")

DAYS PASS - Chapter XII (the days "passed swiftly and were very pleasant ones...")

DAYS PASS - Chapter XIII (the "next few days at Red Gate Farm were quiet ones...")

DAY (one day) - Chapter XIV

DAY (one day) - Chapter XXIV

WEEKS PASS - Chapter XXV ("Nancy's weeks had stretched on and on...")

 

Thus, as it can be seen, it is likely that Nancy and her friends spent an entire summer, if not longer, at Red Gate Farm helping Millie and her grandmother save the farm and rid them of those pesky counterfeiters.  And, since they were paying the Burds to stay there, that would have been a considerable sum that the Drews, Marvins, and Faynes would have shelled out for the girls to remain at Red Gate Farm for three months or more.

Finally, let's talk about the cover art.  The original art was provided by Russell Tandy, who was not only painting the covers for the series, but he also provided the interior illustrations as well.  The original cover features Nancy hiding in some shrubs, watching a group of cult members perform some kind of ritual in the distance.  The cult members are wearing white robes and hoods, and in all honesty, the way they are depicted, they resemble the KKK more than anything else!  The hoods on the internal illustration are square, as if they were cut from pillow cases (which Nancy does at one point in the book); but on the cover, they are tall and pointy.  In 1931, when this book was published, the KKK had been using those infamous white robes and hoods for approximately 10 years, so perhaps Tandy had seen them and used them as reference for the ones in the book.  When the cover art was later updated by Bill Gillies, Nancy went from kneeling in shrubs to standing behind a tree, and the large group of cult members was reduced to just two, shown only from their back as they entered the cave, and their robes look more ghostly and less like the KKK.  Leads one to wonder if either Grosset & Dunlap and/or the Stratemeyer Syndicate realized the connection people were making and had Gillies change it so that people who saw the cover would not assume the KKK were involved in the story.  Gillies' cover is still used on this book today, being one of the few books that Rudy Nappi did not update when he was hired to do new covers for the series (The Clue in the Diary being the other book).

 

Overall, this book proved to be an interesting and entertaining read, with a story that holds up well even under today's standards.  I personally think this is one of the books in the series that is an example of why Nancy Drew has endured for nearly a century now and continues to inspire her readers, both male and female alike!

 

RATING:  10 postmarks from Round Valley out of 10 for proving once again that a female detective can be just as daring, just as determined, and just as delightful to read as any male detective!

Short Lived Comic Series #18 - Johnny Jason, Teen Reporter (Dell Comics)

One of the biggest reasons why I love comic conventions (particularly the smaller, local conventions) is that there are always plenty of back-issue comic book boxes to comb through.  Some dealers have their comics in alphabetical order, others have then categorized by theme, others by publisher, and still others simply throw out the comics with no order whatsoever, and you have to really dig to find some great treasures!  No matter which way I find them, it's always the thrill of the hunt that excites me and has me spending literally hours making my way through box after box after box, hoping to come across some obscure book that catches my eye.  And such is the case with this latest short-lived comic book series.

I discovered the first issue of Johnny Jason, Teen Reporter a year or more ago (right before COVID hit) in a box full of old Dell / Gold Key comics that a dealer had set out.  The title of the comic, as well as the tagline - "A Daring Teenage Reporter Uncovers a Menacing Plot Against Wilton High School" - easily caught my attention.  The cover sported painted art of a young man lifting another young man, apparently about to throw him, while in the background, a number of young men and women watch with anticipation.  The title, the tagline, the cover - they all are very reminiscent of those series books of the '50s and '60s, so I splurged and bought the comic.

This issue of Johnny Jason, Teen Reporter sports a cover date of Feb-Apr 1962, and it was numbered as No. 1302 (which number is apparently part of the "Four Color" comics numbering - which, it seems, a lot of Dell Comics followed that numbering, regardless of what the actual title to the book was).  There are absolutely no credits provided in the book, so the writer and artist(s) are unknown.  Online research shows that Don Ameson was the editor for the comic.  And upon further research, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that this was not a one-off comic (as Dell Comics was known to do quite a number of one-off stories).  A second issue of Johnny Jason, Teen Reporter was also published later that same year with a cover date of June-Aug 1962.  Oddly enough, the second issue was numbered as No. 2 rather than whatever the next "Four Color" numbering would have been.  Perhaps Dell was hoping since the series spawned a second issue, it might actually spring into an ongoing series.  Sadly, though, that wasn't the case.

The first issue features a story titled "Johnny Goes Dancing" - not exactly the most thrilling title in the world, but it definitely tells the reader what to expect from the story!  Green City's leading newspaper has decided to start a column for, about, and by teenagers, and as you can probably guess, young Johnny Jason, who already edits his own school's newspaper, gets the job.  His first assignment is to cover a dance at Sheridan High (in the tough section of the city), where the students have gotten together to raise money for new equipment for their school basketball team.  When Jason and his girlfriend arrive, however, they discover the dance is a bust, thanks go a neighborhood gang who has threatened everyone away from the dance in order to take their money instead!  Jason and Sheridan High's gym teacher go to confront the gang, which results in a big fight!  As with the series books I enjoy, everything works out in the end - the kids all return to the dance, the money is turned over to the school for basketball equipment, and Jason gets a fantastic story for his first article.  A couple of interesting things I did note about the comic - first, I thought the cover depicted Johnny himself as a part of the scene taking place, but it turns out the scene is actually the gym teacher lifting up one of the gang members, as he prepares to throw him to the ground!  Odd that they would not include the title character on the cover.  Second, it is strange that Johnny himself does very little to solve the mystery or fight the gang members - he pretty much stands in the background and lets the gym teacher, Mr. Barker, take the lead.  Third, the tagline on the cover is misleading, as it claims there is a plot against Wilton High School (where Johnny goes to school), when, in the story itself, it is Sheridan High on the other side of town that is actually facing the menacing plot.

The second issue provides a bit more accuracy on the cover to match the story inside.  The painted art shows Jason carrying on unconscious girl away from the crashed plane, while two thugs are chasing them down.  The tagline reads, "A Death-Defying Plane Ride Leads Teen Reporter, Johnny Jason, and a Young Movie Star Into Terror and Trickery, as Treacherous Kidnappers Close in on Them..."  This pretty much sums up the adventure inside, which is simply titled "The Brat."  And let me tell you, the young movie star, Shelley Marks, is definitely a brat!  She is rude to everyone, including her parents, and very incorrigibly entitled.  The excitement begins on the very first page, when she is kidnapped!  Fortunately for her, the kidnappers blow a tire, and she is rescued while they escape.  Johnny is sent to get the story, spending the weekend at the Marks' family ranch outside of Green City.  He is somewhat awed by her stardom, but the ranch foreman, Chuck, is not thrilled with the attention Shelley is showing Jason.  Shelley decides to show off her flying skills by taking Johnny on an impromptu plane ride, which results in them crashing in the mountains nearby.  Before you know it, the kidnappers show up and take both Shelley and Johnny hostage in an isolated cabin.  But our young reporter manages to escape with the movie star in tow and are ultimately found by a search party.  Upon return to the Marks' ranch, Johnny shocks everyone by revealing the truth behind the kidnapping and unveiling the true mastermind behind the whole thing.  Shelley learns some humility, Chuck admits his feelings for Shelley, and Johnny once again walks away with a great story!

While neither story is "exciting" by today's standards, they both fit the standard formula for pre-teen series stories of that day.  A teenager has some great and sometimes threatening adventures while trying to help someone in need and ultimately stops the criminal and saves the day!  Both comics feature a full 32-pages of story and art with absolutely no ads.  As I don't have a lot of Dell Comics in my collection, I'm not sure if this was a standard for their comics of that day, but I definitely like the idea of getting my money's worth.  Even the inside front and back covers, as well as the back cover, feature one-page comic strips detailing some aspect of newspapers and reporting the news (the first issue showed how a newspaper is printed, what's in a newspaper, and the aspects of a newspaper reporter's life, while the second issue highlights the war correspondent, famous journalists, and the history of how news has been spread over the years).  Thus, back in 1962, for 15 cents, a comic fan got a quite a lot!

 

I really wish there was a way to find out not only the author of the stories, but the artists as well - both for the interior pages and for the covers!  It would be amazing to track down the original art for these two covers - truly a collector's dream to have something like that in his or her collection!

Overall, I enjoyed both issues and wish the series had continued.  While Johnny Jason never made any other appearances in Dell Comics, interestingly enough, he did appear again in 2018.  It seems Dark Horse Comics published a series of comics based on the successful Mystery Science Theater 3000 television show.  However, instead of dealing with cheesy movies, this time around, the comic book series dealt with what they deemed to be cheesy comics.  And, wouldn't you know it, the first comic they feature is our very own Johnny Jason, Teen Reporter!  I am in the process of tracking down these issues so I can add them to my collection with my Johnny Jason comics.  After all, I can't be a true collector unless I have everything, right?

RATING:  8 stolen cash boxes out of 10 for some great series book stories in comic book form!

Goldie Vance, Book Two - The Hocus-Pocus Hoax

BOOM! Studios' popular little sleuth is back in her second prose novel, once again written by Lilliam Rivera with illustrations by Elle Power and Mel Valentine Vargas.  The comic books published by BOOM! have been a lot of fun to read, and I am absolutely thrilled that they expanded the character from the comic page into full-length prose novels.  The first book, The Hotel Whodunnit, captured the spirit of Goldie Vance, and so I had no doubt this second novel would be just as good.  And I was right!

The Hocus-Pocus Hoax (they really like their "h" alliterations, don't they?) presents Goldie with a magical mystery.  The Crossed Palms Resort Hotel, where Goldie's father works as a manager and Goldie works as a valet and assistant hotel detective, is hosting the League of Magical Arts Convention!  The owner of the hotel, Mr. Maple, has worked very hard to convince the League to hold its convention at his hotel, and he's determined that absolutely nothing will go wrong while the guests are at his hotel!  This, of course, means that anything that can go wrong, will.  And, with Goldie Vance around, you can bet your bottom dollar that a mystery is bound to rear its ugly head.

It stars off with a simple silver ring (one of the magician's tricks) misplaced.  Then another magician's Chakra Cards are not where they are supposed to be.  Then some flash paper goes missing.  Then three rabbits mysteriously disappear!  What at first seemed to be forgetfulness turns into a full-fledged mystery that Goldie has to solve before the star attraction - Dr. Von Thurston, magician extraordinaire - suffers a set back of his own.  Of course, not only does Goldie have to contend with the fact that she must do her investigation on the "hush-hush," since the guests cannot find out crimes are being committed at the Crossed Palms, but she must also deal with the persistent interference of Von Thurston's son, Derek, who is a self-professed part-time detective.  Goldie actually gets a taste of her own medicine (just ask the hotel's real in-house detective, Walter Tooey!) as she struggles to find clues and stay one step ahead of the villain behind all of the missing items.

Is it a case of a jealous magician?  Or perhaps it's a case of a bitter assistant?  Or maybe even a sneaky competitor who wants to see the Crossed Palms lose business?  Goldie has more questions than answers - but she does have her usual crew to help her out - her best friend, Cheryl; her fellow valet, Rob; and her something special crush, Diane, with whom she continually has to postpone or interrupt their first date due to the unexpected mystery that has fallen in her lap.  Goldie and her crew set about to discover just who is sabotaging the magicians' acts and ruin the convention that they have worked so hard to make perfect.

Once again, Rivera manages to provide a story that would make Goldie Vance's creators proud!  The characterization is spot on, and the mystery is filled with plenty of misdirection, red herrings, and subtle clues to keep the reader engaged right up to the big reveal. Goldie has all of the enthusiasm, spunk, and smarts that make her a great detective and a fun read.  And while the inclusion of Derek Von Thurston at first is a bit annoying, it isn't long before the reader realizes that there is more to Derek than the one-dimensional bother he first appears to be.  The reader, right along with Goldie, begin to see Derek in a different light as the story progresses, and he actually turns out to be a valuable assistant (so would that make him an assistant assistant detective?).

The final eight pages of the story are in comic form, with the art by Mel Valentine Vargas.  While it is clear that Vargas attempted to keep the look of Goldie and her cast consistent with original Goldie artist Brittney Williams, unfortunately the art falls a bit short.  The characters look quite a bit older in Vargas' art, and they don't have that innocent appeal that Williams brought to them.  Elle Power, who provided the cover and the pattern illustrations throughout the book hits the mark a bit closer to Williams' style, and unsure why they did not use Power for the comic pages as they did in the first book.  (And, for that matter, I'm disappointed we only get one set of comic pages in this book, while we got two sets in the last one!)

 

One little editing snafu that I did have to mention, as it stood out so strikingly.  At the conclusion of the book, a server brings a vanilla cake to the table where Goldie and her friends are preparing to watch the big finale of the magic convention (p. 227).  Yet, on the very next page, Cheryl exclaims, "Chocolate cake!" (p. 228)  Not sure how this got through the editing process, or if perhaps it was a magic trick of a cake changing flavors (that would certainly fit with the story!), but in any event, it made me giggle and did not really detract from the enjoyment of the story.

Overall, the book is a winner, and I am keeping my fingers and toes crossed we will get more books in the future (even though there are none currently listed on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or any other bookseller website).  It would be a shame to see this series come to an end, when Goldie Vance has so much potential and so many more opportunities for great stories to be told!

RATING:  9 abraca-yoga classes out of 10 for keeping the sunshiny world of Goldie Vance alive and providing readers with a truly enjoyable mystery worthy of the teen detective!

Enola Holmes and the Black Barouche - the seventh Enola Holmes mystery

It's been eleven years since the last Enola Holmes book was published.  That's more than a decade since author Nancy Springer provided us with one of her uniquely peculiar stories starring the irreverent and unstoppable younger sister of Sherlock and Mycroft Holmes.  When The Case of the Gypsy Goodbye was published and I read it, I pretty much expected that to be the end of the series.  And for quite a while, that was.  Until Netflix aired the movie based on the first book.  It was an enjoyable adaptation, and while the movie featured quite a bit more of Sherlock than the book did, it still managed to capture the true spirit of Nancy Springer's character.  And obviously it inspired new interest in the series, because here we are with the seventh book in the Enola Holmes series.  It's been quite a wait, but it was well worth it!

Enola Holmes and the Black Barouche brings about a number of changes to the series.  First, and foremost, is the fact that Enola no longer needs to hide from and constantly try to evade her brothers.  Sherlock and Mycroft are fully aware of their younger sister's detective adventures, and they have resolved themselves to allow her to have her independence and pursue her own livelihood, even though that is not what proper young girls do in the late 19th century.  Second, and more on the superficial side of things, is the change in publishers and cover art.  While prior books sported more obviously painted covers, this latest book features a cover whose image of Enola is somewhat reminiscent of Millie Bobby Brown's version of Enola in the Netflix film.  Additionally, the title drops "The Case of the..." and merely utilizes Enola's name to headline the mystery title.

The mystery in this book involves a young woman who has just been notified that her twin sister is dead; however, she does not understand what happened, as she knows she would feel it if her sister was gone, and the fact that her sister's husband had her cremated without even telling anyone raises questions in her mind.  Enola is only too happy to take the case, especially when her brother inspects the supposed ashes of the woman's sister and announces that the remains belonged to an animal, not a human! Enola does what she does best - disguises herself as a woman on a mission to discover her family tree, which leads her to Dunhench Hall, where the Earl of Dunhench (the man who married her client's twin sister) resides.  Enola manages to deceive her way into the home, despite the period of mourning the house is under, and she quickly learns that the Earl does not seem to be mourning much at all.  Unfortunately for Enola, he also sees through her disguise, and soon enough, she finds herself captive in the house!

There's plenty of adventure in this book, and while the villain in the story is not necessarily a surprise or even a secret from the reader, the truth about what happened to the missing woman (as well as the Earl's previous wife!) is what Enola and her brother endeavor to find out before it's too late.  Enola has plenty of opportunity to utilize her talent for disguising herself, and she even puts the talent to use on her client when they concoct a daring plan to trick the Earl into revealing himself.  And ultimately, it is the clue of the "black barouche" that provides the answer to where Enola's client's sister has disappeared to, and it will take all her wits (as well as those of her brother) to outwit this dangerous Earl and thwart his plans for his poor wife.  Now, I'll be honest here - I had no idea what the word "barouche" meant, so I had to look it up.  The dictionary describes a barouche as a four-wheeled horse-drawn carriage with a collapsible hood over the rear half, a seat in front for the driver, and seats facing each other for the passengers, used especially in the 19th century.  Thus, reading this book further expanded my vocabulary (although when I will ever get the chance to use this word again remains to be seen!).  

Hopefully, Springer has more books planned, as I rather enjoyed re-entering the world of Enola Holmes.  Plus, there were a few things in the story that made me go, "Hmmmm..."  Like, for instance, the client's twin sister was named "Flossie."  Could the author have been a fan of the Bobbsey Twins growing up, and this is a nice little nod to the younger Bobbsey Twin girl?  Then there is the name of Enola's client - Letitia Glover.  Since her twin sister, Felicity, had the nickname of Flossie, wouldn't it stand to reason that Letitia would have a nickname - perhaps Lettie?  And if so, would that be a nod do the Dana Girls' nemesis from the Stratemeyer series?  Maybe I'm just looking for connections where they don't exist, but it would be a pleasant surprise to find out that Springer enjoyed reading the same mystery stories I did growing up and decided to throw in a few Easter eggs for other fans!

The one thing, however, I did not particularly like was the fact that the front listing of books in the series has the original six books listed.  The problem is, the sixth book in the series, rather than being The Case of the Gypsy Goodbye, it is listed as The Case of the Disappearing Duchess.  A quick search online reveals that for reasons unknown, the current publisher decided to change the name of the sixth book in the series.  You can still find Gypsy Goodbye on Amazon and other booksellers online, but at the same time, you can find the same book with its new title as well.  Sadly, I suspect that the publisher changed the name due to the reference of "gypsy" in the title, and it leaves me wondering if any elements or words within the story itself have been changed to appease today's politically-correct, woke climate.  The book is a period piece, and it in no way demeaned or insulted any person or group of people with its title, and this growing trend to cancel, erase, and otherwise overwrite anything that could potentially offend someone is ridiculous.  I guess I should be glad I got the book back in 2010 when it originally came out, so that I have it in its original, intended condition.

But, aside from that, The Black Barouche was a great way to bring Enola back to readers, and now that she is back, I'm looking forward to seeing more of her!

RATING:  10 uncharacteristically awkward watercolor paintings out of 10 for reviving such a wonderful series with a superbly written mystery that leaves the reader wanting for more!