Review: The Grimm Files: How to Bake a Murder Cake

By Delicia Williams
Self-published
Purchased copy

I love fairy tales. I love zines. How could I resist the two combined in one clever package? Delicia Williams' The Grimm Files series (there are three so far) are covered using cut-down manila folders, stamped CLASSIFIED. The inside cover notes the crime catalogued within. It really gives them the presence of police file, and is more effective than if they just had a self cover. The 8-page comic inside recounts a fairy-tale crime in verse.

The first page

"How to Bake a Murder Cake" tackles Hansel and Gretel. In this retelling, the witch is the one with something to fear from these hungry children. The rhymes are sometimes strained, but the illustrations are excellent. The pages get blacker as danger looms, and the expressions on Hansel and Gretel's faces are quite frightening. There's also a wonderful bit of spot red drawn in to give extra impact to the horrid ending. There's something terrifying about the illustrations, especially when combined with the loopy lettering.

Williams also works as a penciller, and I plan to look up some of her other work. Notably, she inked and pencilled a story in the Wayward Sisters anthology, which has a foreword from one of my favorite comics artists, Faith Erin Hicks.

Review: Best Shot in the West: The Adventures of Nat Love

By Patricia C. McKissack and Fredrick L. McKissack Jr. (no author websites found)
Illustrated by Randy DuBurke
Available now from Chronicle Books

BEST SHOT IN THE WEST: The Adventures of Nat Love is a comic book based on Nat Love's autobiography and framed by letters sent to his publisher.  And Love certainly has a story to tell.  He grew up in slavery and then became one of the Wild West's most famous cowboys  - and the most famous black cowboy - due to his tremendous talents with horses and guns.

I grew up on tales of cowboys and enjoyed reading once more about the hard life those men lived.  (There is one particularly memorable scene involving an unfortunate stampede.)  Love's life was further complicated by the color of his skin.  Patricia C. McKissack and Fredrick L. McKissack Jr. don't sugarcoat the truth of history, but they do keep it appropriate for kids as young as elementary.

To me, what ages BEST SHOT IN THE WEST up is the sophistication of the art style.  Randy DuBurke's illustrations reminded me of Dave McKean.  Humans are often grayscale against full color landscapes.  It's great art, but the people are muted, with little emphasis on their expressions.  I did like that most of BEST SHOT IN THE WEST's action scenes allowed the art to carry the narrative, making good use of the medium.  At the same time, the action wasn't always easy to follow.  DuBurke tends to cut to different scenes instead of letting a single one play out over several panels.

BEST SHOT IN THE WEST will appeal to those looking to learn more about African-American (or just plain American) history as well as fans of action-adventure tales.  Nat Love's story sometimes seems like fiction rather than fact, which is the appeal of a larger-than-life historical figure.

Review: 5 Very Good Reasons to Punch a Dolphin in the Mouth

By Matthew Inman (the Oatmeal)
Available now from Andrews McMeel Publishing
Review copy



Okay, I often don't talk about what format I read a book in. I read the epub version of 5 VERY GOOD REASONS TO PUNCH A DOLPHIN IN THE MOUTH, which is relevant because the resolution wasn't all that awesome. You couldn't really zoom, which meant some bits were almost impossible to read. Judging by the reviews on Amazon, that hasn't been fixed. So printed is the way to go. Not that I expect many people to be more interested in the e-version of this. It's easier to browse through the random comics with a book or on the site than in an ebook.

I was excited for 5 VERY GOOD REASONS TO PUNCH A DOLPHIN IN THE MOUTH because I'm a big fan of the Oatmeal, author Matthew Inman's humor site. There are great infographics about such things as grammar, vocabulary, cheese, and coffee. There are also fun quizzes and some delightfully surreal comics, such as the eponymous work. It's nice to have some favorites collected and at hand.

At the same time, when idly browsing on the internet I never noticed how often Inman jokes about hookers. Not particularly good jokes, either. It got kind of uncomfortable after awhile.

Between being underwhelmed by the format and overwhelmed by (dead) hooker jokes, I was less impressed by 5 VERY GOOD REASONS TO PUNCH A DOLPHIN IN THE MOUTH. I'll continue to check the website, but I don't think I'm going to purchase the book for myself or as a gift for friends.