Review: DC Super Heroes Origami by John Montroll

What happens when you combine Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, and the Justice League with the art of origami? You get the most incredible collection of paper-folding projects ever assembled. These 46 models, meticulously designed by internationally renowned origami master John Montroll, are guaranteed to amaze. With clear, step-by-step diagrams and instructions, simple squares of paper transform into Batarangs, S-Shields, Invisible Jets, Green Lanterns, and so much more. Also included in the back of the book are 96 sheets of specially illustrated folding papers to make your DC creations truly come to life.

In the six years I have been writing this blog (yep, just realised that The Book Zone was six years old last week), this is the first craft book that I have reviewed. Considering my main teaching subject is Design Technology, and much of my time is spent delivering GCSE and A-Level Graphics courses that is pretty poor, although when I'm not buried in school work I really do prefer to break away from it all by burying myself in fiction. However, when those fabulous people at Curious Fox asked me if I would be interested in a copy of DC Super Heroes Origami I could not resist.

Now I have next to no experience of origami (it's not in the Edexcel Graphics syllabus!), so I'll start off my focusing on this book's DC super hero 

angle. There are a total of 46 origami projects in the book, split into four collections: Batman; Superman; Wonder Woman; and The Justice League. This gives for a wide variety of projects, many that will be recognised by those with a basic knowledge of the DC universe (Bat-symbol; Robin; Clark Kent's glasses; Wonder Woman's tiara), and some that are a little more obscure (Krypto; Clayface; Jumpa the Kanga; Hawkgirl's made; Green Lantern B'dg). So as far as the DC universe is concerned there is pretty much something for everyone.

And now for the origami. I have discovered that I suck at origami! The book comes with 96 printed sheets, all ready for folding (once you have carefully removed them from the book), and the projects are graded simple (one star) through intermediate (two stars) to complex (three stars). At the front of the book, there are several pages of instructional diagrams that outline the basic (and not-so-basic) folds used in the proceeding projects. It is suggested that newbies practise these before embarking on the DC projects (Pah! Practice is for wimps).

Naturally I decided I was good enough to skip the one star projects and I kicked off my origami career (short-lived) with the two star Bat-symbol. It didn't turn out too badly and for a handful of minutes I felt quite proud of myself.

As they say, pride come before a fall! I then decided I must be good enough to move straight up to a three star project. How wrong I was. Wonder Woman has never looked so bad!

Seriously, talk about epic fail! And yet I have absolutely no idea where I went wrong. I didn't assume that I knew better than the instructions, and I followed them to a tee, but she just does not look like the photo example in the book. I've since gone back and tried a few more one- and two-star projects with a little more success, but I am still trying to build up to trying another three star project.

As an origami layman I would suggest that on balance this book is best suited to those with a little more experience than I possess. It is certainly not for younger children, but patient teens and adults with a good degree of manual dexterity could have a great deal of fun with this book. A work colleague who has far more experience in this field had a flick through and she felt that the papers were certainly suitable, and with a bit more general origami practice I should find even the three-star projects within my capabilities.

Review: The Fabulous Four Fish Fingers by Jason Beresford

KangaRuby bounced, Nightingale soared and The Chimp swung with Slug Boy gripped in his fingers. The scene that greeted them was truly terrible… 

After an encounter with a crisp-loving elf, best friends Gary, Bel, Ruby and Morris are given superpowers. In their new identities, The Chimp, Nightingale, KangaRuby and Slug Boy must stop super-scary (and super-hairy) villains Jumper Jack Flash and The Panteater from stealing all the sweets (and pants) in Tumchester. But first the Fabulous Four Fish Fingers need to learn to work as a team (and remember not to step on Slug Boy).

Four friends following their escapee pet parrot into a derelict house accidentally summon a crisp-loving, purple tracksuit-wearing elf named Cyril. Cyril grants the foursome one wish and after a little dithering they ask to be turned into superheroes and within minutes a brand new team of superheroes is born, each one in possession of the powers of a different animal: Gary becomes The Chimp, Ruby is Kangaruby, Bel becomes Nightingale and Morris (poor Morris) ends up as Slug Boy. 

For their hometown of Tumchester these newly acquired powers could not be more timely as two particularly nasty criminals are on the loose, their goal to steal all the sweets in town. The Panteater (an anteater who is allergic to ants) shows no mercy to anyone who gets in his way, using his super-long tongue to whisk away the pants of his victims, and now he has teamed up with a man-rabbit-pirate thing,Jumper Jack Flash, so-called because he ties people up with their own jumpers. Can the Fabulous Four Fish Fingers learn to use their new powers, and work together as a team without squabbling, in time to stop the crime wave and unmask the evil genius behind them?

 

This book is bonkers and 7+ kids will love it. Aimed at children who love the likes of Roald Dahl, David Walliams and Andy Stanton, it is a very funny, entertaining story that will have young readers giggling away incessantly. The book's author, Jason Beresford, does not yet have the writing skills to match these three kings of children's literature, but it is still a cracking read, and an impressive debut.

There are two key elements to this book's appeal. The first is the off-the-wall humour that runs throughout the whole story. I'm not just talking about the occasional funny moment, kids will find a laugh-out-loud moment on nearly every page. For me, as an adult reader, I found some this humour to be a little forced in places, as if the author was trying a little too hard to be funny, (something I never felt when reading Dahl, Walliams, etc), but I would doubt that many young readers would agree with me. The Panteater and Jumper Jack Flash are like something you might find in a Monty Python sketch, and I would not be surprised if Jason Beresford grew up on a TV diet of the best of British comedy like Python, Black Adder and Red Dwarf.

However, although the humour is what will keep kids totally engrossed in the story, the real heart and soul of the book are the characters of the Fabulous Four Fish Fingers themselves. These are a group of unremarkable children who have been friends for as long as they can remember. They are not the kind of kids who stand out at school (except for Morris, who seems to be the preferred target of his school's resident bully), and so when they acquire powers that could make them stand out from the rest it takes some time for them to come to terms with this monumental change in their lives, a change that could tear their friendship apart. Morris, in particular, feels excluded from the group because of his seemingly rubbish superhero identity and power (would you want to turn into a slug and be known as Slug Boy, but every one of the Four has to deal with their own insecurities and failings before they can gel toegterh as a team of superheros rather than just as group of friends.

As with most books if this ilk there are many accompanying illustrations, perfectly produced by Vicky Barker. Ms Barker's images not only complement the text well, they also add brilliantly to the humour, by giving readers a visual reference for the characters (and especially the wacky villains) created from Beresford's insane imagination.

The Fabulous Four Fish Fingers was published on 1 August and my thanks go to the lovely people at Catnip for sending me a copy to read. Why not head on over to the Fabulous Four Fish Fingers website at http://www.thefabulousfourfishfingers.com/ to read the first chapter and find out more about the characters.

Comic Zone: Guest Post by Will Hill (Author of Department 19)

Last week I blogged about the book festival taking place all this week at Tales On Moon Lane, Herne Hill, London. In that blog post I promised a guest piece from Will Hill, author of Department 19, my 2011 Book of the Year, and here it is. Knowing that Will is a huge comics fan I asked if he would be interested in writing something about his favourites, and boy has he delivered something very special for us. If you are free on Thursday evening at 6pm and you are London based then you really should book a seat at the event he is sharing with Marcus Sedgwick - details can be found by clicking here. Now I hand you over to Will:

~~~

I’m a comics fan. There, I said it. I buy new comics every week, and my mum’s spare room is full of boxes of issues I bought when I was a teenager.

‘So what?’ you may well be asking. ‘Everyone is into comics these days.’ Well, you’d be half right, and you’d still be half wrong.

Comic characters have become one of THE driving forces of popular culture in the last ten years or so, fuelled by the (seemingly endless) run of big-budget Hollywood films based on them – Spider-Man, Batman, Iron Man, X-Men, Green Lantern, Superman, Fantastic Four, Thor, Daredevil, Captain America, Ghost Rider, Batman (again), Spider-Man (again) and, most notably, Marvel’s Avengers Assemble, which in three months or so has become the third highest-grossing film OF ALL TIME, behind only Titanic and Avatar. And there’s no sign of this trend coming to an end any time soon – Marvel have already announced Thor 2, Iron Man 3, Captain America 2 and The Avengers 2, DC and Warner Bros. are rebooting Superman and planning a Justice League movie and a Wonder Woman TV show, where The Walking Dead already rules the ratings. So comics are everywhere, right?

Well, as I said, yes and no. The CHARACTERS are everywhere, but the comics themselves are still a marginal art form – sales of monthly comic books have declined steadily since their high points in the mid 1990s, and the two main companies, Marvel and DC, have been on a constant mission to recruit new readers for the last ten years or so, culminating in DC restarting their entire universe and starting all their titles again with brand new issue ones.

Now, I like a lot of the films I mentioned above. But I don’t think that any of them have ever delivered the quality of storytelling that the best comic series have been able to offer. The reasons for this are what you would expect – the demands of studios and big-name stars, the need to tie in with fast food companies and toy lines, the requirement that the films be accessible to an audience that may know nothing more than the name of the main character. All of which is understandable. But is still annoying.

So – I’m going to list five of the greatest superhero comic stories ever told, and five of the best superhero titles being published today. You might not like them all, but hopefully if you give some of them a chance, you’ll find something that will make you want to keep reading. And then you can go and find the comics that you like, the ones that appeal to you – that’s the part that’s the most fun…


FIVE SUPERHERO COMICS YOU REALLY SHOULD HAVE READ

NOTE: These classic stories are all available in collected editions, from comic shops or online retailers (Book Zone note: Will very kindly took the time to provide links to these books. Clicking the images will take you to the relevant Amazon listing)


Batman: Year One (DC, 1987)

Frank Miller, one of the finest comic book writers of all time, and artist David Mazzucchelli team up to tell the parallel stories of the beginning of Bruce Wayne’s career as Batman and the arrival of a young Jim Gordon to the Gotham City Police Department. Determinedly gritty and realistic, this is one of the direct inspirations for Christopher Nolan’s series of films, and regularly acclaimed as the greatest Batman story ever told.

See also: Batman: The Dark Knight Returns (DC) and Batman: The Long Halloween (DC)

X-Men: The Dark Phoenix Saga (Marvel, 1980)

Created by arguably the greatest team ever to work on the X-Men, Chris Claremont and John Byrne, this is the most iconic storyline from their legendary run on the characters. Jean Grey’s limitless potential power is let loose by a cosmic accident, and targeted and corrupted by villains who want it for themselves. Her transformation into the Dark Phoenix and the devastation that she wreaks across the galaxy are still as harrowing as when the books were originally published, and the ending still delivers a brutal emotional stomach punch.

See also: X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills (Marvel) and X-Men: Days Of Future Past (Marvel)

Superman: Red Son (DC, 2003)

This is perhaps the greatest ‘what if?” in the history of comics, and one of the most brilliantly simple – what if Superman had crashed to earth in the USSR instead of the American Midwest? Mark Millar explores the idea brilliantly – Superman triggers a superbeings arms race in the 1950s and the expansion of Soviet influence through the world in the 1960s and ‘70s – but never lets it get too preachy or pretentious, keeping it focused on the story in hand.

Watchmen (DC, 1986-7)

Thousands and thousands of pages of analysis have been written about Watchmen, Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ masterpiece that ranks as one of the most influential comics of all time. In an alternate world where costumed vigilantes have been made illegal, the former members of a costumed team investigate the death of an old colleague, and uncover a plot to bring about a global nuclear war. Of course, it’s about so much more than that – empathy, villainy, paranoia, anxiety, retirement, redundancy, and what it means to be a hero. It’s a tough, uncompromising read, but it is every bit the work of genius that everyone says it is.

Marvels (Marvel, 1994)

Alex Ross’s astonishing painted artwork (quite understandably) became the main talking point of this four-issue series, but Kurt Busiek’s story of the birth and life of the Marvel universe through the eyes of an everyman news photographer remains perhaps the greatest examination of what living in a world full of superheroes would really be like for ordinary men and women. Showing classic moments from Marvel history from a new perspective, it’s both a clever reinterpretation and a way for new readers to learn the origins of some of the most famous comic book heroes. And the art is truly amazing.

See also: Kingdom Come (DC)

FIVE CURRENT SUPERHERO COMICS YOU SHOULD TAKE A LOOK AT


NOTE: These titles have all been launched or relaunched in the last year or so – meaning they all have recent first issues that are natural jumping-on points. They’re all available digitally through either ComiXology (or their app) or the Marvel and DC apps as single issues, or as collected editions from comic shops or online retailers.

Batman (DC)

Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo’s run on one of the flagship DC titles is already being talked about alongside the greatest periods in Batman’s long history, and with good reason. Snyder examines the role of the Wayne family in the history of Gotham City, and conjures up a new villain to sit alongside the greats that the caped crusader has fought over his long career, while Capullo’s artwork moves the story effortlessly along. It’s truly great work.

Animal Man (DC)

Jeff Lemire is one of the best writers and artists working today, and this, his relaunch of one of the veteran DC characters, is an absolute joy. Buddy Baker can borrow the attributes of animals, and Lemire shows us a happily-married family man who fights crime when his wife lets him. But when his daughter is revealed as the harbinger of something terrible, the family go are forced to go on the run. It’s dark, bloody stuff, probably too much for younger readers, but is one of the very best of the newly relaunched DC titles.

Wonder Woman (DC)

A character that has too often been reduced to eye candy is treated with the seriousness and reverence that she deserves under the watchful eye of writer Brian Azzarello, who remakes the story of Diana, formerly an Amazonian warrior princess but now the demi-goddess daughter of Zeus and Hippolyta, into a full-blown classical horror tale. Cliff Chiang’s artwork brings to life every last god, demon and monster with simple clarity.

Wolverine and the X-Men (Marvel)

The problem with trying to read any of the X-Men books has always been the groaning weight of continuity that hangs over them, making it almost impossible to just pick an issue up and give it a try. With this in mind, Marvel relaunched the two flagship X books, starting them again at new issue ones, and splitting the huge number of characters between the two books. Wolverine and the X-Men follows Wolverine’s attempt to reopen Professor X’s school for young mutants, with surprisingly hilarious results – it’s one of the funniest comics now being published, full of adventure and action and beautiful Chris Bachalo artwork.

Note: Kieron Gillen’s work on Uncanny X-Men is also outstanding, but perhaps not as accessible as its sister title.

Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man (Marvel)

The Ultimates line of comics was a way for Marvel to strip away the continuity from their superhero universe, and tell new stories with classic characters. This title was highly controversial, as it depicts a Spider-Man who is not only NOT Peter Parker, but who is also (SHOCK! HORROR!) mixed-race – the half-Latino, half African-American Miles Morales. Apparently that still matters to some people, sadly. Thankfully, the book itself turned out to be excellent – a clever, convincing look at an ordinary New York teenager trying to juggle his normal life with the demands of being a superhero, brought beautifully to life by writer Brian Michael Bendis and artist Sara Pichelli.

So there you go – go into a comic shop, pick something up and see what you make of it. Or download an issue onto your laptop, or your iPad, or your phone. Go and see where the characters that have taken over the world of pop culture actually came from, and why they’re proven to be so enduringly popular. And then when the next watered-down Hollywood adaptation is released, you can join me in telling anyone who’ll listen that it wasn’t as good as the comics…

~~~

Huge, huge, huge thanks to Will for taking the time to write this epic guest post for us. The launch of the DC New 52 was the push I needed to start buying comics as well as collected editions, and although I have not yet tried Ultimate Comics: Spiderman, I can wholeheartedly agree with Will's other comic recommendations as I am still really enjoying every one of them. Comics are a great way to get boys excited about reading, especially when they get into a story and spend weeks looking forward to reading the next monthly issue, and these days it doesn't matter if you don't live anywhere near a comic store. As Will said, they can be enjoyed just as much on an ipad or computer screen and with superheroes now a massive part of our everyday popular culture there has never been a better time to start buying them for your kids. 

Review: The Avengers - The Ultimate Guide To Earth's Mightiest Heroes!

Discover everything about Earth's greatest super hero team in The Avengers: The Ultimate Guide. The story of every single member, from their powers and their allegiences to their enemies is explored in detail and every page is packed with enough comic-book art to satisfy the most avid fans.

Ask the average man in the street which companies publish great comic books and they will no doubt answer Marvel and DC. Ask anyone who loves comic books and you will probably get a longer list, and Dorling Kindersley will be in there, and in my opinion should be right near the top. DK publish the most stunning guides to some of Marvel's and DC's most loved creations and over the past couple of years I have slowly been adding these DK books to my collection. I will write another day about some of these books, but wanted to bring this one to your attention first as it is simply stunning, and could be a great way of getting a reluctant reader boy into books.

Published to tie in with the recent film release, The Avengers - The Ultimate guide To Earth's Mightiest Heroes! is the perfect book for anyone who has enjoyed the movie. Most young readers may think that The Avengers are made up of only Captain America, Iron Man, Hulk, Thor, Hawkeye and Black Widow, but this book will show them that the history of The Avengers goes back a very long way (September 1963 to be precise), and that over the years more than one hundred characters have come and gone from its ranks. This guide gives details of every single one of them and I think boys will spend many a happy hour poring through this volume, memorising names and images so that they can impress their friends with their new found knowledge of The Avengers.

This volume is filled cover to cover with lavishly and lovingly produced pages that tell readers everything they need to know about their favourite superheroes, and introduce many characters that even some die-hard fans may have forgotten about. Big name characters like Iron Man and Captain America (and some of the key villains from the Avengers stories) are given the honour of double page spreads that give key data about the character and their powers, and this is generally accompanied by a lengthier column of text that gives even more background to their history as an Avenger. Readers are also treated to a beautifully rendered full page image of these main characters, as well as smaller images of them as they have appeared in marvel comics through the ages. Lesser know characters are not afforded as much page space, but we are introduced briefly to each and everyone one of them.

The Avengers - The Ultimate guide To Earth's Mightiest Heroes! is more than just a who's who though. It also includes page after page outlining the major storylines and events, organised decade by decade, and my Amazon wishlist has multiplied in length as I now realise just how many classic stories I need to read.

It is very obvious to me that The Avengers - The Ultimate guide To Earth's Mightiest Heroes! is written by people who love comics, and whether you are a long time fan of The Avengers, or a 9+ boy who has only just discovered them through the recent film I think you will love this book as much as I did. They thanks go to the wonderful people at DK for sending me a copy to review.

Coming Up In 2012 #14: Atomic! by Guy Bass

My original intention had been to run the Coming Up In 2012 throughout January only, but the response from publishers and authors has been so fantastic that I still have a few more for you. Today's is from Guy Bass, the hugely talented author of Stitch Head, Dinkin Dings and Secret Santa. February 2nd saw the release of the first book in his new series - it's about superheroes so I'm sold on it already. Here's Guy to tell us some more about the books:

My name is Guy and I’m addicted to superheroes. I’m a superheroholic.

I’ve been wanting to write about superheroes for years – professionally, that is. I spent most of my childhood (and a fair chunk of my adulthood) reading superhero comics. In my younger days I made up scores of my own heroes and villains and sent them on adventures or pitched them against each other. My brother and I came up with hundreds of characters – men, women, children, robots, monsters, robot-monster-children... We mapped out worlds and histories spanning hundreds of years, ending up with an entire universe (and the odd parallel universe) to play with. We’d write stories, draw comics, or, more often than not, act out epic, noisy, house-and-garden-spanning battles that would almost always result in Mum shouting at us. We’re in our mid-thirties now, so the battles are slightly less epic. But we still fight... and we still get shouted at.

All of which sort of led me to write Atomic! It’s a comic adventure (and an adventure comic – I’ll explain later) about Jonny and Tommy Atomic, the twin sons of the world’s greatest superhero. They’re also the world’s best kept secret – no one even knows they exist. Their father, Captain Atomic, is always busy saving the world, so he keeps Jonny and Tommy hidden away on a giant, invisible island in the sky, under the watchful eye of their uncle, Dogday (who happens to be super-intelligent talking dog) and Aunt Sandwich (who’s a hamster. Just ‘cause.)

Jonny and Tommy’s adventures kick off with Issue #1: The Vengeance of Vinister Vile. Jonny and Tommy are sent to school and have to pretend that they’re ordinary nine year-old boys. Jonny takes his secret identity very seriously but Tommy just wants to show the world what he can do, which (among other things) involves putting a crocodile in a swimming pool. Then in Issue #2: The Madness of Madame Malice, the boy’s mother – who is also the world’s most famous super-villain, Madame Malice – escapes from prison and tries to convince the boys that villainy is a lot more fun than heroism.

So, what can you expect from Atomic! – apart from heroes and villains, prison breaks, epic battles, rampaging monsters and a hamster with a ray gun? Here’s what: comics. The best thing about Atomic, without a doubt is that it’s part comic. Whenever anything really exciting happens, especially when things explode or fights break out, the book turns into a comic. I’m beside myself about this. It’s panel upon panel, page upon page of ridiculously awesome artwork by Jamie Littler. It’s some of the best, most dynamic, book illustrating I’ve ever seen. I could (and probably will) wax lyrical about the look of these books for weeks on end.

As they say in comics - see you in the funny papers!