Artemis Fowl: The Arctic Incident by Eoin Colfer
Artemis Fowl: The Eternity Code by Eoin Colfer
I actually read these before I read the 6th Hitchhiker’s book. I’m not sure I would have bothered the other way around.
These books are okay for young adult fiction, sort of. Not terribly well written, but with some good bits. They’re short, and breezy.
Meh.
Making Comics: Storytelling Secrets of Comics, Manga, and Graphic Novels by Scott McCloud
terracinque originally introduced me to Scott McCloud through a loan of Understanding Comics, which is a very well regarded work delving into the theoretical side of sequential art.
Making is more or less the same book, but from a creator’s point of view. This book about comics (like his other two, Understanding and Reinventing Comics) is itself a comic (aside from the interstitial note sections between chapters), drawn by the creator of Zot!, which I have yet to read.
The book does a very good job of putting into plain english (and plain images) things you need to consider when embarking on doing a comic. Right now, I’m focused on improving my drawing skill in general, but it’s nice to start taking a break from that and consider the broader picture. In a sense, it takes a little of the pressure off technical mastery.
Scott McCloud himself is very self-deprecating of his technical drawing ability, which is encouraging, as he does very good work in the final review. Meaning, he has to work very hard at getting stuff to look right.
All in all, I’m glad to add this book to my drawing library, as both instructional and inspirational.
A Fictional History of the United States (with Huge Chunks Missing) by T Cooper and Adam Mansbach
Essentially this is a collection of short stories with a half-hearted attempt to sprinkle them throughout United States historical periods.
Like most collections, there were some good, some amusing, some meh. Nothing I would go out of my way to recommend to anyone. I don’t remember why I put this on my wishlist, but I got it through PaperBackSwap.com, so it wasn’t very expensive.