The Book Binge: The Books in Question With Summary and Mini-Reviews.

This post shall be a record of Sawyer Willis' book binge that took place during Winter Break of '10/'11. The following titles will also have a brief summary and a quick review. If the title in question hasn't been read yet, the review shall go up before Spring '11 semester starts up again. Without further rambling, the following titles are (in order of purchase):


Comics and Sequential Art: Principles and Practices from the Legendary Cartoonist, Will Eisner.
(Not yet completed.) A book that goes into techniques and theories used in comics. Part of a trilogy on cartooning by Will Eisner. 


The New Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain, Betty Edwards.
(In progress.) A drawing book recommended by many people. Many of the exercises in this book are used in art classes across the country. This book says that it doesn't teach the reader how to draw, but more rather, how to see. I am currently recording my thoughts and progress as I go through this book on this blog.

Percy Gloom is hungry.

Percy Gloom, Cathy Malkasian.
(Second reading required.) This graphic novel follows Percy Gloom as he seeks out his dream job. Plenty of pondering about death and existential stuff in this book. Because of the themes, this will require a second read through before I can give a review. Although, I can say that the artwork is excellent.


What It Is, Lynda Barry.
(Yet to arrive.) It's a graphic novel about creative writing, it seems. I got this book because of an excellent interview of Lynda Barry. 


What I Did., Jason.
This is a collection of three comics by Jason, Hey, Wait... , Sshhhh! , and The Iron Wagon. Jason uses simple and clean artwork to tell stories through anthropomorphic animals. This does not lessen the emotional impact of the stories, if anything, it makes it stronger. This follows Scott McCloud's theory from Understanding Comics: that we are able to relate to simpler images more than realistic images.

Hey, Wait...

The first one, Hey, Wait... follows two boys and something happens to one boy after the they form a Batman Fan Club. Sshhh! is slightly more confusing than the first story. Far as I can tell, it follows a bird-man through his life, and apparently, several deaths. The whole story is wordless, leaving the images to tell the story. Very effectively at that. The Iron Wagon is an adaption of a 1909 mystery novel. It's a mystery. I'm not gonna spoil it, however I feel that this is the weakest story of three. However, the first two were still good enough for me to purchase the next four books...


The Left Bank Gang, Jason.
(Yet to arrive.) The premise is that F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, James Joyce and other literary giants are living in Paris. And they are comic writers. The latter half of the book is of them robbing banks. Interesting, no?


Almost Silent, Jason.
(Yet to arrive.) A collection of four comics by Jason. You Can’t Get There From Here is about a "love triangle involving Frankenstein, Frankenstein’s Monster, and The Monster’s Bride" (Amazon). Tell Me Something seems to be about a love lost and found again, with plenty of flash backs. Meow, Baby! is a collection of short stories by Jason. The Living and the Dead is a deadpan take on zombies.

No explanation needed.

Low Moon, Jason.
(Yet to arrive.) A collection of five deadpan short stories.


I Killed Adolf Hitler, Jason.
(Yet to arrive.) A hitman from the future is hired to time travel in the past to kill Adolf Hitler. And of course, the plan gets fucked up.


Steppenwolf, Hermann Hesse.
(Not yet completed.) An existential novel. Something about a sick intellectual being unhappy and all that shit. 


Keep an eye on this space for reviews and more books (maybe)! Hooray for books and bibliophilism (erotic moan).