Short Lived Comic Series #26 - George of the Jungle (Gold Key)

George, George, George of the Jungle, Strong as He Can Be!

(Tarzan Yell!!!)  Watch Out for That Tree!

Although I've never seen a George of the Jungle cartoon in my life, I've heard that song and known that one line from the song ever since I was a child.  A comedic version of Tarzan was not really a character that interested me, so I never went about looking for the cartoon or anything based on it.  In fact, the whole reason I ultimately sought out the two Gold Key comics based on the cartoon has absolutely nothing to do with the title character; rather, it has everything to do with one of the back-up stories in the comics based on another cartoon created by the same production company.  That was the character of Tom Slick.

Honestly, I'd never heard of Tom Slick until the end of 2021, when I purchased a copy of Retro Fan magazine (because it had an article about Dark Shadows actress, Lara Parker - and if it involves anything Dark Shadows, I buy it!).  After reading the article about Ms. Parker and her years as the tormented witch, Angelique, from the 1960's Gothic soap opera, I flipped through the magazine. While glossing over the article about George of the Jungle, written by one of my favorite comic book creators Scott Shaw! (and yes, the exclamation point goes there!), detailing the character's history from its creation through the comic books and eventual movie starring Brendan Fraser, I noticed a little blurb on the bottom corner of page 30 that featured the cover of Tom Swift and his Motor Cycle.  That book, first published back in 1910, seemed out of place in an article about a Tarzan knock-off, so I read what it said under the picture:

Long before "Young Adult" was a book genre, boy inventor Tom Swift was piquing the imaginations of juvenile readers ... He inspired Ward Productions' Tom Slick, shown here racing his Thunderbolt Grease Slapper in a 1967 animation drawing by Lew Keller.  (Retro Fan, No. 17, November 2021, p. 30)

Well, needless to say, my curiosity was now piqued.  As a longtime collector of children's books, I have a near complete set of original Tom Swift books, as well as complete sets of the Tom Swift, Jr. series, the Tom Swift series published by Simon & Schuster in the 1980s, and all of the Tom Swift series that have been published since.  Thus, if there was a character out there who was inspired by Tom Swift, I wanted to know more about it.  The Retro Fan article gave some details about the character, who was basically an after-thought creation by Jay Ward and his production company after ABC picked up his pitch for cartoons of George of the Jungle and Super Chicken.  ABC wanted a third character to fill the time slot being given, and Ward, a self-proclaimed fan of Tom Swift in his youth, came up with Tom Slick!

 

The more I read of the article, the more I learned.  Tom Slick was named after Tom Swift, and the article stated that "[t]he too-subtle-for-kids gag was if Tom Swift was still around, 'he wouldn't be a backyard inventor, he'd be a racecar genius,' definitely not Victor Appleton's 'Tom Swift, Jr.'" (Retro Fan, No. 17, November 2021, p. 33).  At this point, I was hooked.  I went online and discovered some of the cartoons on YouTube and watched them. Then I set about finding those two George of the Jungle comic books published by Gold Key comics back in 1969 (a very important year for me!).  I ultimately tracked them down via eBay (since I could not find either issue any any of my local comic stores, nor at any of the comic book conventions I attended) and set about reading the adventures of Tom Slick.

The first issue (February 1969) features book-end stories starring the title character, with the inside front and back covers also featuring one-page stories of George. In between the two book-end tales are a six-page story of Super-Chicken and a five-page story of Tom Slick.  The second issue (October 1969) follows the same format, but it drops the inside front and back cover stories.  The one bad thing about Gold Key comics (and a number of similar publishers back in the day) is that the issues, in most cases, do not identify the writers and artists on the stories.  Some online sources indicate that Paul Fung, Jr. may have provided the art for the second issue, but there is no confirmation for this.

The first Tom Slick story, "Monster Rally," is based on the second episode of the television series, "Tom Slick and the Monster Rally."  Watching that episode online in comparison with the comic adaptation shows that the comic pretty much nailed it word-for-word (with a few variances to account for the limited page count).  Tom has entered a race in the "gloom-shrouded Transylvanian Alps at Monte Karloff" against some frightening competitors - Lobo Fangosi (driving his Four-Claw Ferrari Road Ripper); Reggie Frankenstarn (driving the La Monsa Special); and Count Lou Gossie (driving his Red Corpuscle Bloodmobile).  While the guys and ghouls of Monte Karloff have no love for Tom, he does have the support of his girlfriend, Marigold, and his elderly mechanic, Gertie Growler.  The three monsters have cars with unique features - claws, coffins, and creepy bats - Tom manages to stay slow and steady (reminiscent of the tortoise in his race with the hare!) and win the race.

The second Tom Slick story, "Blimps Away!" is based on one of the final episodes of the television show, "The Badyear Blimp."  Instead of a car race, this time Tom is competing in a blimp race.  He has converted his Thunderbolt Grease Slapper into a hot air blimp and is set to win the race. But the dastardly Baron Otto Matic is determined to cheat and beat Tom.  First, he throws a melon with a bomb in it - only to throw the wrong melon, having the one with bomb blow up in his face (literally!).  Next, he tries moving the pylon the blimps are following, but falls into a hole in the street.  He tries shooting a cannonball, but hits the wrong blimp; and he fires himself into the sky on a rocket that leaves too early to hit Tom's blimp!  Once again, Tom wins the race (and during the whole race, Gertie is trying to shoot an apple place on Marigold's head, but continually misses and hits the villains trying to stop Tom!).

In reading the comics (and watching the cartoons on YouTube), I did not really see much of a connection to Tom Swift, other than the similarity in name.  Tom Slick does not come across as a super-genius inventor, and he doesn't solve any mysteries; however, he does manage to convert his Thunderbolt Grease Slapper into whatever is needed for the particular race (such as changing it from a car to a blimp in the second story above).  I supposed that could be considered a similarity, although that's stretching it, in my opinion.  Other than the reference in the article in Retro Fan magazine, I am not able to find anything that connects Tom Slick with Tom Swift.  I suppose we will just have to take Shaw's word for the fact that Jay Ward was a fan of Swift and based his character on him.

The George of the Jungle stories, which were obviously the main feature of these two issues, were not really my cup of tea.  In them, George has to help a doctor figure out what is ailing Shep, George's "bow-wow" (but is actually an elephant); he inadvertently saves a sultan's 300-pound pearl; he has to outwit a real estate mongul from taking all of his land; and he must escape the clutches of a hunter intent on getting the head of an "ape-man" for his trophy wall.  George is a dim-witted clutz who normally escape danger through his own clumsiness.  I suppose if I were a young child, I might find them amusing, but as an adult, I thought they were rather trite.  And I did not even bother reading the Super Chicken stories - not a concept that appeals to me at all.

RATING:  5 quickly-knitted bat-mittens out of 10 for introducing me to a cartoon character of years past of whom I had never heard and who has a (very) loose connection to a children's series icon!

Tom Swift Inventors' Academy, Book 8 - Depth Perception

Well, it seems this month is the month of endings.  The last book in the League of Secret Heroes series - the last book in the Blackwater saga - and now the last book in the most recent Tom Swift series (Tom Swift VI, I believe ... the original series, the "Jr" series, the Wanderer series, the Archway series, the Young Inventor series, and now the Inventors' Academy series).  I always seem to put off reading the last book in a series because I know that once I read it, that is it - the end.  No more stories with characters that I have grown to love (or merely like, as the case may be).  But putting it off indefinitely won't change the fact that sooner or later I have to pick it up and read it.  And so it goes with this final Tom Swift, Inventors' Academy book.

To date, I have pretty much enjoyed the series, even though Tom is a lot younger than any of the previous series.  But Depth Perception is probably my least favorite of the series.  Previous books had at least some level of mystery mixed in with the technological aspects of the story, but this book seems more about the technology and less about any real mystery.  There is a background mystery of sorts surrounding an armored trunk that was stolen years ago and driven into a quarry that has now been turned into a lake - the truck lies at the bottom of the lake, but a legend claims the money that was in the truck was never recovered, and the thieves never made it out to tell where the money went.  However, very little time is spent on that mystery.  The focus of the book seems to be more about the submersible that Tom and his friend Noah have created and their excitement about testing it out over Spring Break when a group of students from Swift Academy is taken to a local park to show off their latest inventions for keeping the environment clean.  Of course, that also happens to be the same park where the lake now is that holds the sunken armored truck.

While it is definitely nice to see Tom Swift focused on the technology and inventions (which has been a staple of Tom Swift since the first iteration way back in the early 1900s, unlike the recent television show that seemed to forget what Tom Swift was truly about), I much prefer when there is a mystery mixed in with the tech.  Tom Swift, Sr. plays a larger role in this story, as does Mr. Swift's friend, J.J. Jefferson, who is a famous engineering genius.  It's rather cute to see how Tom and Noah are so star-struck around Mr. Jefferson (no, not THAT Mr. Jefferson - he's a dry-cleaning tychoon, not an engineering genius!), and it reminds readers that no matter how smart Tom, Noah, and their friends may be, they are still young men and women, barely in their teens, who are easily awestruck by their so-called idols in the tech world.

There is a sort-of mystery surrounding Mr. Jefferson and what he is really doing at Lake Carlopa, but even that is minor and very quickly resolved.  In fact [AND THERE ARE SPOILERS AHEAD, SO IF YOU DON'T WANT TO BE SPOILED ABOUT THE END OF THIS BOOK, READ NO FURTHER!!!], there are actually no bad guys whatsoever in this story and no crimes are committed.  The ideas that Tom and Noah get in their head about the boat of scuba divers anchored in the lake next to the small island there is completely off-base, and it turns out that the sinking of their sub reveals just how wrong they were about what is going on at the lake.

It's truly a shame this series didn't make it past eight books (although that is two books more than the last series in the early 2000s).  While this book may not have been the best in the series, it was still a good read, and the ghostwriter(s) have managed to develop some very fleshed out characters in Tom, Noah, Sam, and Amy.  It has been a lot of fun reading their adventures, following their camaraderie, and rooting them as they ferreted out the villains and solved the mysteries.  Perhaps at some point, Simon & Schuster will give Tom Swift another try, and when they do, I'll be here, ready and waiting.

 

RATING:  7 bag of Boldero Bandit's money out of 10 for keeping the series lighthearted and fun and giving readers a Tom Swift that they could really enjoy.

Tom Swift Inventors' Academy, Book 6 - Augmented Reality

Technological whiz-kids meet reality television in the latest Tom Swift adventure.  Sure, this latest incarnation of Tom Swift may not be on part with the original series from the early 20th century, or even the second series of the '50s and on, but I do have to say, the stories are rather fun in their own way.  And with the series set in a school of advanced young minds who are always creating new inventions or coming up with ways to improve on existing ones, there is definitely plenty of material for stories. Now, with the seventh book already published and the eighth book solicited, this series has already outlasted the last one - now I'm holding my breath to see if it outlasts the prior two series before that (which had 13 and 11, respectively).

 

Now, back to this series and book six - Augmented Reality.  With technology advancing as quickly as it does these days, this series has to stay on top of the ball with keeping up with the current trends and tech.  This sixth book deals with an app created by Tom's friend Noah, which allows his fellow students to collect cartoonish food by using their cell phones and hoping to collect enough as a group to feed the hungry giant reptilian monster and satisfy it before it attacks the school (virtually, of course - not in the real world!).  It seems like a fun and inventive way to get the students at Swift Academy to work together for a common goal, and the principal couldn't be more thrilled.  Of course, part of that may have to do with the fact that a television crew has caught wind of this invention and would like to film an episode of their reality TV show at the school!

The mystery this time centers around the fact that all of the students are getting into arguments, accusing one another of backstabbing, lying, and outright sabotaging their reputation and their skills - and it seems the only one benefiting from all of the drama is the reality show crew!  Tom begins to have his suspicions, but when he is shown footage of Noah - his best friend! - criticizing him and calling him out for being the son of the man who owns the school, Tom forgets about his suspicions and makes his own thoughts known about Noah and his projects.  The next thing you know, these best friends are at odds with one another just like everyone else at the school.  And when Swift Enterprises' new P.R.woman convinces the students to share with her their personal ideas and sketchbooks/notebooks for their projects so that they can be animated for the upcoming reality show, things only go downhill from there.

Although the resolution of the mystery comes as no big surprise, the fun comes in watching Tom, Noah, Sam, and Amy work their way through all of the drama to not only figure out what is going on, but who is causing it and how to stop it.  Plus, for this book anyway, it was nice to see the behind-the-scenes of reality show filming. I've always said that there is no "reality" in reality television, and while this book is a work of fiction, I have no doubt there is a lot of truth to the idea that these reality shows everyone watches are edited in such a way so as to convince viewers that there is considerably more drama going on that what really is!  And kudos to whomever came up with the name for this book - Augmented Reality.  The title not only refers to Noah's app, which creates faux food items for people to collect in the real world and feed them to a faux monster to stop him from destroying the school; but, it also refers to the television crew and the reality show being filmed, since it is supposed to be filming the reality at the school, but by the director's actions and the editing of the footage, it "augmented" the reality of what was truly going on at Swift Academy!

Thus far, this series has produced some very fast-paced stories - and with 150 pages or less in each book, it's no wonder the writer has to keep it moving quickly to reach resolution.  While the Nancy Drew Diaries series has expanded the length of their stories, both the Hardy Boys Adventures and the Tom Swift Investors' Academy seem to keep their books on the shorter side.  I'd love to see these series expand their page count as well, to allow the author to start to really develop the main characters more, so that we know more about Tom and his father's home life; Noah's, Sam's, and Amy's home lives (as we have pretty much seen next to nothing of them outside of the school setting), as well as more about Swift Enterprises.  While we have been fortunate thus far with this latest Tom Swift series with some pretty good stories, I just think some more depth to the characters, setting, and stories could result in more readers - and, of course, some marketing would help, too!  (I mean, let's face it - this series had absolutely no marketing whatsoever when it first hit the shelves, so I'm actually surprised that it has managed to hold on this long!  Perhaps with the upcoming TV show on the CW, we might see some marketing....)

RATING:  9 cartoon pork chops out of 10 for providing some proof that "reality" television is not actually "reality" after all - it is merely an "augmented" version of reality!

Tom Swift Inventors' Academy, Book 5 - The Spybot Invasion

While the stories are definitely shorter and a bit more juvenile (due to the title character's younger age), I am actually enjoying this latest Tom Swift series.  I liked the previous series S&S put out some years back, the Tom Swift, Young Inventor series, but sadly, that one did not last long - only six books.  And since this is book five, and books six and seven have already been solicited, I think this series has a good chance of outlasting the previous one.  The stories are creative, and being set in a scientific academy for students with an aptitude for creating inventions, there are certainly plenty of story ideas waiting to be told.

 

The Spybot Invasion features Tom and his friends, Noah, Sam, and Amy, going up against an army of cute little robots that are spying on the students at Swift Academy. Only, Tom doesn't find the strange little robots that have suddenly started appearing all over school to be that cute.  For Tom, they are a reminder of a movie he once saw that scared him - a movie "full of big-eared little monsters that looked a lot like these plastic goblins."  There are several references to the movie throughout the book, and it is finally revealed to be ... Gremlins!  Hard to think of Gremlins as being an "old" movie, but I guess it did come out more than thirty years ago at this point, so I suppose it can be considered old.  Which, of course, means I am old, too!

Anyway, the first clue that something is wrong is a conversation Tom overhears in an elevator, where one student is accusing a friend of ratting out something he said to a teacher.  A short while later, Tom overhears someone say the exact same thing he said to Amy earlier, but he can't catch who said it.  Who would want to mimic him?  And why?  Then, in one of his classes, a student is upset with her boyfriend for saying something he shouldn't have.  And more and more students begin to have fights over things that were said, but which the other party claims they never said.  And then it happens.  In class, one of the "cute" little robots repeats something that one of the students says.  Within seconds, all of the other robots begin repeating the same thing.  And thus begins Tom's latest mystery.

Lucky for Tom, he had thrown the robot attached to his locker inside his locker, so it didn't get confiscated when the principal had them all pulled away.  He and Noah take it home to inspect it - but they turn around for one second, and when they turn back, it's gone!  Something fishy is going on, and when Tom finds out that a shipment of technical supplies for his father's business has gone missing, there is a more compelling reason to uncover the truth.  Is someone using those robots to try and spy on his father?

The culprit is not really all that surprising - he is pretty easy to spot early in the story - but it is interesting to follow Tom and Noah as they navigate the clues they find to uncover the identity of the spy.  And while there are not really any life-threatening cliffhangers to speak of (which seems to be the case for most of these Tom Swift books), Tom and Noah do end up locked in a storage unit with no cell reception and no apparent way out.  Otherwise, the chapters conclude with either revelations, surprises, or simple statements of fact.  Not exactly what one would expect from a Stratemeyer series (regardless of who is publishing it now), but it does sort-of work for this series.  Tom and his friends do not need the hair-raising, death-defying cliffhangers, as their mysteries are more cerebral in nature and are more about technological tracing than finding kidnappers or swindlers or the such.

There is a fun reference in the book that made me smile.  On page 39, when Sam suggests the robot gremlins are actually an alien invasion, Noah tells her, "You watch way too much Doctor Who," to which she promptly (and accurately!) replies: "don't diss the Doctor!"  As a fan of the current Doctor Who series on BBC, I'm always pleased when books by American authors reference the show or its fandom.

RATING:  8 inflatable body protection bags out of 10 showing young readers that science can be just as much fun for kids and teens as it can be for adults!

Escaping Dreamland - a novel of friendship and children's mystery books

People who know me know that I'm not a fan of "one-off" books. I don't normally buy or read books that are not part of a series.  But, once in a while, a book comes along that piques my interest due to its connection with comics, super heroes, or, as in this case, children's mystery books.  While there are plenty of books out there that reference or utilize Nancy Drew as a part of the plot; but recently, someone mentioned this book to me that referenced not only Nancy Drew, but also Hardy Boys, Tom Swift, Rover Boys, and so many other old Stratemeyer series books.  In fact, the entirety of the book is based upon the main character's love for children's series books!  Well, in that case, I had to have it.

Escaping Dreamland, by Charlie Lovett, tells two stories simultaneously - which, I'll admit, is a bit difficult to navigate in the beginning.  The book is not just the story of Robert Parrish, a best-selling author who has a love for children's mystery series, but which love comes with a heart-breaking secret; the book is also the story of Magda Hertzenberger, Thomas De Peyster, and Eugene Pickney, three children who grew up at the turn of the century and whose lives eventually collided, the results of which have lasting impacts well into the next century!  The chapters alternate between Robert Parrish (the odd-numbered chapters) and Magda, Thomas, and Eugene (the even-numbered chapters).  Not going to lie here - about the first third of the book reads like a simply "day in the life" kind of tale, making it somewhat difficult to truly get invested in the book.  But I stuck with it, and by the mid-way point, I was definitely all in!

The story of Magda, Thomas, and Eugene begins just before the end of the 19th century.  Three very different people from very different backgrounds - one, a German immigrant who is assimilating herself into the American way of life; one, an upper class member of society who desires nothing more than to experience the freedom of the lower classes; and one, an analytical lover of science who is just beginning to discover what his feelings for the same sex mean and how those feelings will change his life.  All three live within the small confines of New York City, but it is not until they are adults that their lives intersect.  Magda is a secretary for a small publishing firm trying to make its mark in a difficult market of publishing children's series books; Thomas is a reporter whose outlook on life has changed drastically after seeing death and destruction up close and personal in the big San Francisco earthquake; and Eugene has seen a dream come true while working for Tesla, while spending his night living an entirely other (and very secret) life.  The trio happen to meet one afternoon when Tom appears at Mary's place of employment ... and the two of them share a lunch at Child's, where Eugene happens to be and overhears their discussion of The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells and joins in the conversation.  Pure happenstance sees the birth of an amazing and wonderful friendship that brings forth the most amazing stories...

Meanwhile, in the 21st century (2010, to be exact), Robert Parrish is dealing with his emotions after the success of his first published book.  It seems all of his dreams have come true - he is a published author, he lives in New York City, and he has the most beautiful, smart, amazing girlfriend.  So why, then, can he not get out of this rut he's in?  He can't seem to get anything new written.  He can't seem to communicate with Rebecca any more.  And when she decides to take a break and go move in with a friend for a while, Robert realizes he needs to do some soul searching.  While he may want to admit it, he knows part of the problem are the children's mystery series that he has kept hidden from Rebecca.  From the moment Rebecca first told him of her own love of reading Nancy Drew as a child, Robert thought he finally had someone with whom he could share his love and joy of children's series with - until she remarks how she has outgrown such things and moved on to real literature.  Which forces Robert to keep his continued love of those books a secret.  But it's more than that.  His love of those series books goes all the way back to when he first discovered those Tremendous Trio books in a box of his grandfather's belongings.  His father had read those books with his father, and Robert suddenly had a connection that he and his father could share.  And share they did!  Until Robert was a teenager.  And teenagers don't read such books, do they?  Robert had made a promise to his father all those years ago, and if he has any hope of getting Rebecca back, he realizes he has to not only fulfill that promise, but he needs to tell Rebecca the truth - no matter how much it hurts!

 

Escaping Dreamland follows Robert's journey as he tracks down the authors of those Tremendous Trio books - Dexter Cornwall, Buck Larson, and Neptune B. Smythe, who wrote the Daring Dan Dawson, Alice Gold, and Frank Fairfax series, and jointly, they wrote the Tremendous Trio books. Who were these authors?  Why are their books so hard to find?  Why does it seem no one has ever heard of them?  And whatever happened to the final Tremendous Trio story - the one that Robert's grandfather had the first chapter for which stuck inside his own books?

The author, Charlie Lovett, is clearly a huge enthusiast of children's series, or did a considerable amount of research.  While I will admit, it's a little unbelievable that a character such as Robert Parrish, with the availability of information on the internet at the touch of his fingers, would not know that the authors of Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys, Tom Swift, Bobbsey Twins, etc. were not real, but just pseudonyms for a plethora of ghostwriters, it was rather nice to see his reaction when he does find out the truth (which, I think, is the same way most of us fans first felt when we learned that Carolyn Keene and Franklin W. Dixon and Victor Appleton and Laura Lee Hope never really existed).  It was also great to see the Stratemeyer Syndicate and its numerous publications get the acknowledgement is deserved.  Sure, the books churned out by the Syndicate may not have been literary masterpieces as idealized by society, but there can be no denying that those series books made a great impact on countless generations of boys and girls.  And the fact that Lovett includes not only the well-known series such as Hardy Boys and Tom Swift, but also references many lesser known series, such as the Rover Boys and Ragged Dick (which came as the biggest surprise to me, as I had never even heard of that series until just a few years ago - and I am privileged enough to have obtained a complete set of that series!).

There were also some great mentions by the author about these books and characters.  On page 23, Robert reminisces about the old-fashioned language of the series "especially the almost obsessive need by the writers never to use the word said."  And he is right!  The Hardy Boys exclaimed or declared; Nancy Drew cried out or announced; Tom Swift demanded or retorted; and, as the author references here, some characters "ejaculated."  Which, back in the day, did not necessarily have the connotation that it does today, and it's pretty funny that Lovett has Robert acknowledge his own thoughts of that particular word at twelve years old, which made him laugh.

The Ragged Dick series gets its mention on page 75.  Obviously, Dick refers to the name of the title character; however, the title certainly has its own hilarious connotations.  And the fact that Lovett chose this particular book as the inspiration for Thomas De Peyster's own desire to discover what life on the streets was like is a nice way to honor the importance of those series books of yester-year.

There are so many other references throughout the book to various real series books (the Tremendous Trio and their individual series are, obviously, fictional creations for the story) that it brings to life the story, making ti feel more biographical in nature than pure fiction.  Robert's search for the identity of the authors and his (and his father's) hunt for the real-life locations that were utilized in their favorite books definitely draws parallels to the fun I and my fellow collectors have had over the years following in our favorite series characters' footsteps.  And, I'm not going to lie here, by the end of the book, I became attached to Magda, Thomas, and Eugene so much so that I hated the idea that they were now long gone, having lived their lives in the past and for whom no more stories could be told.  Or could they?  (Ask Robert!)

As far as how the title of the book fits in with the story?  Well, that definitely took quite a while to come into play, but there is a definite connection, a bittersweet one that ties all of the characters together.  Lovett has given series book collectors a definite love letter with this book, and I am definitely glad that I picked it up and read it. 

RATING:  9 conversations on the Bow Bridge out of 10 for honoring children's series and recognizing their place in history with the respect they so richly deserve!

Tom Swift Inventors' Academy, Book 4 - The Virtual Vandal

The young inventor is back in the fourth novel of his latest series from Simon & Schuster. While it has been a number of years since the last Tom Swift series (the Young Inventor series back in the mid-2000s), it seems S&S is hoping that this one will fare better than the previous one, which only lasted six books before it was cancelled.  Like both of the current Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew series, this one is in first-person narrative and usually runs 150 pages or less - which means the stories are quick, leaving little room for in-depth descriptions or much characterization.  Yet, despite these drawbacks, this series has actually been pretty fun to read so far.

The Virtual Vandal finds Tom and his friends, Noah, Sam, and Amy, preparing for a summer camp, where the students of Swift Academy of Science & Technology will field test their inventions in a competition against other advances technological schools to see who can come up with the most ingenious tech to help better the world.  Tom and Noah are hard at work on a device that will help seed clouds to create rain, while Sam and Amy are working on a secret project that they won't even tell their best friends about. And while all the other students from the three schools are working hard to perfect their own inventions, the one thing that everyone is raving about and can't get enough of is Noah's latest creation - a virtual reality world that is set up to look like Swift Academy - only, the kids are able to make their own modifications and create their own features in the game - from making the second floor into a zombie apocalypse to having a dinosaur poster come to life and attack the players!  But Noah, Tom, Amy, and Sam have a secret of their own within the game - for only they know how to get into the basement of the "school," and it is there that they have set up the means to leave messages for one another...

What I find interesting is that the title would seem to indicate that the vandal is somehow attacking through the virtual world, or that he or she is somehow disrupting the virtual game - but nothing could be farther from the truth.  The mystery, instead, focuses on the inventions on which the students at Swift Academy are hard at work.  Before the camp even begins, some of the students face problems with their creations.  They appear to be simple mishaps, or perhaps misplaced parts.  But soon enough, the problems get bigger and more students are affects.  And when everyone gets to camp, it seems all of the students are Swift Academy have had their inventions tampered with, including Tom and Noah's!  Well, all except one, that is.  It seems that Sam and Amy's invention has not been tampered with at all. And a rumor is quickly spreading that Sam is the one behind all of the vandalism in an effort to ensure she wins the competition!

The identity of the vandal doesn's really come as any big surprise - however, that is not to say the book doesn't offer up a big surprise for long-time Tom Swift fans.  The book features the return of an old Tom Swift character, someone who was a sometime nemesis of the genius inventor - Andrew Foger! For those who don't know (and I was one of those!), online research reveals that Andy Foger was Tom's antagonist in the early books of the first Tom Swift series, and the character popped back up again in the Tom Swift, Young Inventor series in the mid-2000s (which I did read, but I didn't recall Andy from that series).  It's nice to see that the author at least brought back some of Tom's history into this series - I guess we will have to wait and see whether Andy pops up again in this series to create trouble for Tom and his friends...

At only 141 pages, the story moves long at a pretty swift pace (pun intended!), but I think had the author been given more pages to work with, the story and characters could have been fleshed out more to create a great tale with more suspects and some additional time for the vandal to create havoc among the students.  Maybe now that Penguin has purchased Simon & Schuster, the Stratemeyer properties (Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys, and Tom Swift) will be allowed to have longer stories that will allow for more characterization, more plot development, and richer, detailed descriptions to help make the story even more engaging.

RATING:  8 survival cabin shipping containers out of 10 for showing readers just how ingenious Tom Swift and his friends can be!

Tom Swift Inventors' Academy, Book 3 - Restricted Access

It's funny - growing up, I never really enjoyed any of the so-called "boys' series" - Hardy Boys, Tom Swift, Ken Holt, Rick Brant - for me, these stories were more about adventure and less about mystery, and for me, it was all about the mystery that attracted me to series books.  As an adult, I'm still not much of a fan of the older boys' series (although I find the Ken Holt series rather humorous for reasons I won't go into here...); however, I do find that some of the newer series, such as the Hardy Boys Adventures, are rather well-written and enjoyable.  This latest incarnation of Tom Swift is one I'm finding rather enjoyable also, and the third volume is a perfect example of why.

Restricted Access is the story of what happens when you take a group of seventh graders and do a "lock-in" in a top-notch, highly-sophisticated tech lab such as Swift Enterprises. I give the author credit on this one - a good hi-tech mystery of who causes the lockdown at Swift Enterprises, why did they do it, and how will they get away with it?  Throw in some Poseidon Adventure antics, as well as some Die Hard moments, and it definitely gets the reader's attention and keeps them turning page after page!

An interesting side-story in this mystery is the reporter who is trying so hard to follow Tom around as a part of a piece he is doing on his father's school - only, Tom does not want to be interviewed, so he does everything he can to avoid the man (who happens to be an old college friend of Swift, Sr.).  This ultimately leads to an unexpected turn of events - The reporter's son, Rowan, becomes Tom's shadow, with a small camera and microphone in his shirt to record everything, and joins Tom and the rest of the seventh grade on their lock-in at Swift Enteprises!

Now, this may sound somewhat contrived, but little Rowan is rambunctious and keeps disappearing on Tom.  Plus, it adds to the list of suspects, when Tom begins to wonder if Rowan was a plant by his father, who is using him to get the inside scoop of Swift Enterprises?  Add to the fact that Rowan's smaller stature allows him to get into places (such as air ducts) much easier than the older children, and suddenly there's the potential for a fifth member to the Formidable Foursome (yes, Tom's friends Noah, Amy, and Sam are all back for this adventure).

Not gonna lie here - for more experienced readers, the culprit in this book is obvious from the beginning and very easy to spot.  You may not know how or why he is doing what he does, but there's no doubt who it is.  That being said, once the lockdown happens, it is fun following Tom and Rowan through the air ducts, then with Sam, climbing up the elevator shaft, then with Noah, working their way through the maintenance halls hidden behind the regular halls, and finally, with Amy, as they all race to stop the intruder from stealing Swift Enterprise secrets!

With only 135 pages of story and a bit larger font, the story races pretty quickly without a lot of character build up, and that is the only real thing lacking in this series.  I wish Simon & Schuster would realize that allowing the writers to flesh out the stories and the characters would make for even better tales and would likely increase their readership (and sales!).  Yes, through the action in each story, we learn a bit about each character, but the supporting characters get virtually no characterization other than just their name and purpose for being in the book.  I'd love to learn more about Tom Swift, Sr. ... about Tom's mother who passed away ... would have loved to have gotten some more background and information on Mr. Kavner (the reporter).

But, for what it is, the plot and story were good, and I did rather enjoy it, moreso than the last one, and perhaps as the series continues, the characterization will improve and the stories will start to increase in page count and details.

RATING:  8 tiny gray Chihuahuas out of 10 for finding new ways to use technology to create a good little mystery.

Tom Swift Inventors' Academy, Book 2 - The Sonic Breach

This latest incarnation of the Stratemeyer Syndicate's young boy inventor continues with the second volume in the Tom Swift Inventors' Academy series - The Sonic Breach.  I was never a Tom Swift fan back in the day (my first real introduction to the character was back in the mid-1980s with the Wanderer publication, where Tom Swift was in space in the future), but I did fairly enjoy the 6-book series from the early 2000s - so I figured I would give this series a shot.  The first book was okay, with decent enough writing, and the second book is pretty much the same (making me think it was the same author who wrote both stories). Not sure, though, how I feel about Tom and his friends being so much younger (while they do not specify the characters' ages, the feel of the story is that they are in upper middle school or perhaps the lowest grade of high school - much younger than any of the earlier incarnations of the character).

The Sonic Breach at first seems to focus on an upcoming robot battle among the students - these genius level students are tasked with the job of creating robots that will battle each other in a competition.  Tom, of course, is grouped with his friends Noah and Sam, who believe they have created the ultimate fighting robot.  The story (and ultimate mystery) changes gears, though, when the students all get the same text message, warning them about a pop quiz coming up in their next classes.  You see, the teachers at Swift Academy of Science and Technology have had the sudden inspiration of testing their students on nearly an everyday basis, to see if they are actually studying the material.  And the students are tired of the numerous pop quizzes - so someone developed an app that will allow students to post about the quizzes to their friends and classmates, to give them the heads up before they hit their next class.  But, isn't that cheating, Tom wonders?  Especially when the tone for the incoming texts is set at a decibel that cannot be heard by adults?

As Tom and his friends try to upgrade and prepare their robot for the ultimate challenge, Tom is left in the quandary of what to do about the app.  Who created it? Since it doesn't allow students to reveal questions or answers, is it cheating or not? Should he tell administration?  Should he tell his father?  All of those questions become even more difficult to answer when he finds out who is actually the creator of the app!  Of course, this isn't really much of a mystery, now is it? Well, how about when someone highjacks the app, starts charging for the use of the app, and starts allowing students to post pictures of the quizzes and provide answers to their friends and classmates?!?!  Now that's a mystery that Tom, Noah, Sam, and Amy will have to solve before the true creator of the app takes the fall.

Yes, the mystery does involve a bit of cyber-tech (such as hacking and such), but it's not overly technical, and quite frankly, Tom does very little of the work. It seems Noah is the one who does most of the technical work in this mystery, with Tom sitting on the sidelines trying to catch clues from everything Noah discovers and does.  And once again, with only 130 pages of story, there is little time for true character development (although readers do learn a bit more about Amy's personality and background in this book).  I really wish S&S would allow these authors to flesh out these stories, to provide more character revelations and growth so that readers actually get to know the characters and they are not simply two-dimensional people who could really be just about anyone these days.  Seriously, the idea behind this latest series (Tom and his friends being students at an advanced school of learning) is actually a cool idea with lots of opportunity, particularly if they were high school students with a lot more freedom (and the ability to drive!).  But S&S, along with so many publishers today, seem to think that books aimed at the young reader market have to feature middle school children as the crime-solvers.  Ah, well, it's probably just me wishing for the books of the old days....

Interestingly, there is no author bio at the end of this book, although there is a brief few page preview of the next book in the series, Restricted Access.  I guess since they no longer preview the next book title at the end of the story like they did back in the day, giving a brief preview like this is a way of whetting readers' appetites for the next mystery.

On a side note, the book I have (and not sure if this will be corrected in future printings), but the names of the chapters 3 and 4 in the table of contents are opposite of what they actually are in the book - in the table of contents, Chapter 3 is "The Restoration Deliberation," while Chapter 4 is "The Notification Escalation" - but in the actual story, the names are opposite.  (And yes, the chapter names are still in the same format as the title of Big Bang Theory episodes, so I'm assuming this will be an ongoing thing for this series - which is a plus, in my book!)

RATING:  6 all-white fencing uniforms out of 10 for reminding readers that just because we have the technology to do things, it doesn't always mean it should be used in such a way!

Tom Swift Inventors' Academy, Book 1 - The Drone Pursuit

As the old saying goes, if at first you don't succeed, try, try again! And that is something Tom Swift knows something about. Not only is he an inventor from days of old, but the character has been reinvented not once - not twice - not even three times! No, Edward Stratemeyer's creation has been reimagined, recreated, and reinvented a total of five times since his original incarnation back in the early twentieth century. First, there was simply Tom Swift. Then, there was Tom Swift, Jr. Then, when Simon & Schuster took over publication, Tom Swift was sent into space. Then, to take advantage of the success of the Hardy Boys Case Files and the Nancy Drew Files, Tom Swift was reborn yet again. In the early twenty-first century, with the reboot of both the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew, Tom Swift saw publication yet again, this time as the Young Inventor. Now, in 2019, Tom Swift is given life one more time in Simon & Schuster's latest revival of the character in the Tom Swift Inventors' Academy series.

The one thing I've noticed about Tom Swift is that with each new series they come out with, Tom is updated and the stories are more focused on the up-and-coming technology of the time. And, of course, that makes sense when you are working with a series that is technology and invention based. The Drone Pursuit, which is the first book in this new series, centers around a new drone that Tom and his best friend, Noah, have built. They are planning to enter it into the upcoming competition and are testing it out in the school halls when it gets confiscated by the school janitor, who takes it down to the basement. Oh, and shortly thereafter, Tom and Noah, along with their friend Amy (who has a photographic memory) discover that the janitor bears a very strong resemblance to a criminal hacker known as Shadow Hawk. Who was never captured. And who could very well be working in the halls of Swift Academy. The question is - - why?

The story plays on the technology of today - cell phones, computers, video feed, drones, tracking, robotics, etc. And the students at Swift Academy are all top notch in the field, constantly experimenting and creating new things. Plus, with the school located right next to Swift Enterprises, the major tech company owned by Tom's father (Tom, Sr.), it makes it the perfect place for a hacker to come in and try to sneak into the Swift Enterprises' computers through a back door in the system. And when Tom, Noah and Amy discover that Mr. Conway (the janitor) has a computer in a locked basement room that somehow manages to not get shut down when a virus affects everything else in the school, the kids realize that they have to figure out what is going on fast, or Swift Enterprises' secrets could be stolen!

The ghostwriter for the series does not really give any introduction to the two main characters, Tom and Noah - rather, the reader is simply dropped in the middle of class with them as they are testing the drone.  Throughout the story, a few tidbits about them and their family and past are dropped, but not so much as to allow the reader to really get to know them. It's almost as if the reader is expected to know already who Tom Swift is and just go with it. And while the standard chapter "cliffhangers" are not overly exciting, the story itself does move at a pretty good pace, and there are some suspenseful, as well as humorous, moments throughout the books (the closet scene is definitely both!).  Also, with only 130 pages of story, there is not much time for lots of character development and rich descriptions - perhaps as the series progresses, the writer(s) will provide more info about Tom, his family, his background, etc., so that readers will have a good, well-rounded character, rather than a simple two-dimensional cut-out of a techie-kid.

One thing that I do have to mention, however, is the chapter names. Whoever had the idea to use chapter names that are very reminiscent of the episode titles of The Big Bang Theory deserves a raise. I love them!!  "The Evasion Equation."  The Communication Complication."  "The Extraction Distraction."  All of the chapters are named in this fashion, and I hope the publisher continues this, as it definitely brought a smile to my face with each one I saw!

And for those who are wondering - yes, as with the last Tom Swift, Young Inventor series, the books are written in first person (just like the Nancy Drew Diaries and Hardy Boys Adventures).  This seems to be the latest trend, so I doubt very seriously Simon & Schuster will publish any future Stratemeyer property series in third person - that seems to be a thing of the past (just like internal illustrations, which is something I still miss from these books).  Something interesting, though, that neither the Hardy Boys nor the Nancy Drew books do - this series has an author page at the end which simply reads: "Victor Appleton is the author of the classic Tom Swift books."  Not sure what prompted this author page blurb, or why they acknowledge Victor Appleton, when it is simply a pseudonym for who knows how many ghostwriters over the years.  Will be curious to see if this author page continues in future books of this series.

RATING:  7 weird ghost texts out of 10 for bringing this classic character back and providing a fairly palatable story that is worth the read.