Although it was written in 2000, and much like political cartoons, some references are dated, I have enjoyed seeing that some of the commentaries of Vermont politics remain unchanged.

It is clear to me that Blamire has a love of the golden age of comics. The satirical comic book cover images are both hilarious and nostalgic with a touch of genius.

This is one of those books that I can read repeatedly and be continuously entertained and inspired with new ideas.

I am an immediate fan of this game. The setting reminds me a bit of my two favorite tabletop roleplaying games: ‘Shadowrun’ and ‘Changeling: The Dreaming’. The City of Mist combines the real world and the fantasy world. Like other PBTA games, this one focuses on group play instead of individual storylines.

Lords of the Cosmos is a quintessential homage to 80’s culture. On the surface, it appears to reference ‘Heavy Metal’ and influenced by the artwork of the bands of Iron Maiden and Metallica.

As I read more of the story, it was fun to see also inspirations from the 80’s cartoons and toys as well.

Erika Chappell did a fantastic job designing the game and she did a great job putting in the intricacies of aerial combat in the rules-light system. The book is 300 pages long and is an amazing example of a steampunk setting.

I got on interlibrary loan the 1984 children’s book, “Trouble for Trumpets.” The book has never been reprinted and is incredibly hard to find. When I do find it on Amazon or eBay, it usually runs for around $800.

I am quickly becoming a fan of comic anthologies and this did not disappoint. The book consists of 7 stories, each one doing its own interpretation of a cryptid. Some stories are fun, others are kind of dark, but I really enjoyed seeing innovative versions of these monsters, and was happy to learn about new ones as well.

For those who like to read about mythical monsters and those who are avid comic anthology readers, this is a great book.

Huygen created an academic guidebook for the reader which is imaginative and engaging. Rien Poortvliet’s detailed illustrations also give the reader the hope and expectation that anyone could run into gnomes while enjoying the wilderness and it would be completely normal.

Chantler is a perfect example of how comics can be one of the best ways to tell a heartfelt and moving story in over 200 pages while only having less than a page of dialogue.

His use of expressions and pace-setting is genius and is a must-read for anyone who is a fan of the 20s, Jazz, or loves graphic novels.

This past week was more reading bedtime stories. A couple of years ago I was lucky to find the entire Sweet Pickles series by Ruth Lerner Perle and Jacquelyn Reinach. They were originally released in the late 70s with Weekly Reader.

I read Tony McMillen’s newest book, AttaBoy.

Tony made the book in a treasury size and it was a great idea to have the book in a larger than normal comic book size format.

I really loved the story. It was a combination of classic Nintendo game instructional manual with symbolism and parallels to the narrator’s personal history.

This past week I read the DC Comics 1988 mini-series “The Weird”. With the Big Two publishers, I have been recently gravitating to stand-alone stories and so I discovered this four-issue mini-series.

The book raises many questions to the reader regarding our connection to social media and how we create personas about ourselves to the public. I appreciate how Baker’s story allows the reader to come up with their own judgments and just let the story focus on the characters and not necessarily the setting.

More for nostalgia's sake, I dug out my reference book I purchased back in 1995, “The Fantasy Role-Playing Gamer’s Bible” by Sean Patrick Fannon. The book is such a fun resource for those who want to discover old-school games and also great for folks who want to learn about how to get into role-playing games.

The Story Hour by Standard Education Society is what I read this past week. It is a collection of fables, stories, and poems. Some of them do not translate well to the modern audience, but most are just as imaginative and magical as anything a child would read now.

I dug out the 1976 book, ‘Secret Origins of the Super DC Heroes. It is mostly a collection of reprinted origin comics of 10 major DC characters back in the ’30s and ’40s.

The artwork, writing style, and layout of the panels are great examples of the golden age of comics. The book contains 18 reprinted stories. These are always fun and nostalgic reads.

First, it was nostalgia reading the strips, and then as I put on my cartoonist hat, I really began to appreciate how Prohias was able to say a complete story without words and embrace the rare quality of having both protagonists also be antagonists.

It is a great reference book for comic scriptwriting and very easy to follow along. I recommend it to folks who are starting to write and it is also a great reference and reminder book for seasoned writers too.

The story is pretty weird, and it seems a bit haphazard, but I am also assuming it is a collection of serialized stories. It basically reminded me of a magical unicorn version of “Quantum Leap”.

I loved that my memories of the book stayed true. I think this book really launched me into the idea of world-building, as Berenstain showed the history, culture, and activities of trolls in a fun and entertaining way that inspired me as a child to make my own worlds.