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Month in review

Reviews:
American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang
Blocked by Geoff Ryman
A Busy Day at the Farm by Doreen Cronin
Calamity Jack by Shannon Hale, Dean Hale and Nathan Hale
The Cat in the Hat Comes Back by Dr. Seuss
The Cat Who Wasn't a Dog by Marian Babson
Coolies by Yin
D.A. by Connie Willis
Detective Small and the Amazing Banana Caper by Wong Herbert Yee
Doctor Who and the Talons of Weng Chiang by Terrance Dicks
The Dollhouse Murders by Betty Ren Wright
The Far Shore by Elizabeth Hand
Ghost Ship by Dietlof Reiche
Goodnight Goon by Michael Rex
Henry the Sailor Cat by Mary Calhoun
Henry's Show and Tell by Nancy Carlson
Her by Laura Zigman
I Love You, Mama, Any Time of the Year by Nancy Whilte Carlstrom
I Spy a School Bus by Jean Marzollo
The Knight at Dawn (Magic Tree House #2) by Mary Pope Osborne
Little Bo by Julie Andrews Edwards
Lost and Found by Jane Sigaloff
The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown
Monsters vs Aliens: Team Monster by Gale Herman
My First Time Board Book by Elizabeth Hester
Nana Volume 3 by Ai Yazawa
Nation by Terry Pratchett
Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan
Olivia Acts Out by Jodie Shepherd
Rules of the Net by Jennifer Guess McKerley
Shadowland (Mediator #1) by Meg Cabot
Shooting an Albatross by Steven R. Lundin
Sugar Time by Jane Adams
Time and Time Again by James Hilton
Ultimate Spider-Man Vol. 13: Hobgoblin by Brian Michael Bendis
Viking Ships Before Sunrise (Magic Tree House #15) by Mary Pope Osborne
Wally the Walking Fish Meets Madinson and Cooper by Gary Lamit
The Woman Who Wouldn't by Gene Wilder
Why I Will Never Ever Ever Ever Have Enough Time to Read This Book by Remy Charlip
Zak: The One-of-a-Kind Dog by Jane Lidz
Zombie Queen of Newbury High by Amanda Ashby

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2 stars: OK
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Ultimate Spider-Man Vol. 13: Hobgoblin: 02/21/10

I've been a Spider-Man fan on and off since I was about Harriet's age. I stopped reading the comic regularly when I left for college. That was right around the time that the "graphic novel" was coming into its own as a genre. Comic book publishers scrambled to revamp their series to fit the longer and darker format. Now a younger generation is growing up on comics and graphic novels (I'd hazard the novels more so than the comics) and there are series aimed at tweens and young adults.

While my local library was still closed for the move to its new location, I was frequenting the Dublin branch instead. It also has a collection of graphic novels but the choices are more limited and haphazard. For instance, they have only one volume of Ultimate Spider-Man. It happens to be Volume 13: Hobgoblin by Brian Michael Bendis (originally issues 72-8). What an odd place to start but I thought I'd give it a try.

Graphic novels are a balance between the artwork and story. Hobgoblin has a good story. It has the competition between Peter Parker and Harry Osborn and the love triangle around M.J. There's also a crossover with Nick Fury for an added bonus. These things I liked.

I guess for things to be "Ultimate" the typical emotional angst of the Spider-Man series needs to be cranked up to eleven. Even that I can handle. It seems to be the direction the series has gone in recent incarnations.

What turned me off though was the artwork. Every character seems to be in a perpetual state of saying "Duh!" with their lower jaws jutting out and their lips puckered and turned in impossible directions. I suppose it's to show their emotional states but they look like cavemen! The treatment on MJ was especially unflattering. She's not necessarily supposed to be supermodel gorgeous but her artistic treatment just seemed cruel to previous incarnations.

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