Mark Russell (illus. Steve Pugh), The Flintstones, Vol. 1 & 2 (2017)Two volume collection of Mark Russell's run of
The Flintstones, in which Bedrock is a satire of late-20th-century US society. Fred and Barney struggle with the guilt of having participated in an unacknowledged genocide during their military enlistment; consumerism is rampant; the electorate is easily led; Mr. Slade and his rich friends are out for nothing but ever-increasing wealth; and the Church of Gerald is making it all up as it goes along. Guest appearances by Carl Sagan, Tony Danza, and the space aliens who use Bedrock as a party planet for spring break.
Weirdly poignant, uncomfortably on the nose, and I ache for Bowling Ball and his best friend the Vacuum Cleaner (an armadillo and miniature elephant, respectively--I'm a little surprised I can't find fic of them!) Also, someone had too much fun writing puns for all the background signs.
Mariko Tamaki (illus. Steve Pugh), Harley Quinn: Breaking Glass (2019)Delightful graphic novel providing an alternate origin story for Harley Quinn, in which she is an at-loose-ends Gotham High School student, taken in (commendable) by a drag queen and taken in (reprehensible) by the Joker. Her best friend Ivy (who has not yet taken on he 'Poison' moniker) is a shining example of a teenage activist, working to save the neighborhood (and the drag queens, and the community garden) from gentrification, teaching Harleen about intersectionality and community organizing as she goes. The Joker, sheltered by his family's millions, walks away free at the end--or would have, if not for Harley deciding she has her own scores to settle...
Beautiful, understated art by Steve Pugh, and Harleen is an absolute delight. (She is also a nightmare child! But she is above-all a delight and a pleasure to have in
class the drag club.) Sadly, this volume appears to be an outside-of-continuity one-off, because I would happily read more.
Ronald Wimberley, Black History in its Own Words (2017)Cartoons of Black celebrities and historical figures, each with an inspiration quote of theirs. The art is simple and impactful, the quotes powerful, and the selection of figures is an interesting mix of people I was and was not familiar with.
Originally a series published at The Nib for Black History Month 2014 and 2015; Wimberley drew an additional series just for this book in 2017.
Merlin Sheldrake, Entangled Life, The Illustrated Edition: How Fungi Make Our Worlds (2023)Author's abridgement of the original edition, but jam-packed with stunning photos of fungi, many taken with an electron microscope. I really liked that the edition was laid out to really let you enjoy the photographs (pages and paragraphs ended at the same time, making it easy to really
look at a photo before you turned the page). Flipside, what I wouldn't have given for endnotes! Quite often the author mentions some cool thing in an offhand way, but you're left to do all the sleuthing on your own, with no hints as to sources. Maybe someday I'll read the full version, in order to get the more in-depth versions of all these stories.
Remy Charlip, Arm in Arm (1969)Delightfully witty and playful picture book. Text and illustrations intertwine to craft narrative inversions of each other, and sometimes straightforward old-fashioned puns and jokes. A classic, and I'm rather surprised I didn't first encounter it on my mother's bookshelves.
Lois McMaster Bujold, The Vor Game (1990)Another read-aloud-over-dinner-prep book. Re-read for me; first read for
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grrlpup. Grrlpup and I skipped the early Miles novels because she struggles with MilSF, but we looped back to pick up this one before starting
Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen.
Vor Game is a stronger novel than I remembered, although there's still that strange shift in register between the Kyril Island and Hegen Hub sections. Grrlpup liked it because it has so much Gregor content (although she would have liked a lot more!)
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