ABQ Graphic Novel Book Club discussion

Time of the meeting is 2-4pm. Location is in the community room at the Lomas Tramway Library.

It's the summer, which means we can read twice the amount of comics!

For this meeting, we will be discussing My Favorite Thing is Monsters, and we will try out reading an online comic.

The Last Mechanical Monster is an Eisner nominated comic, that can be read in it's entirety. Click here to start the reading:
http://lastmechanicalmonster.blogspot...

This is a tale that brings back a classic Superman villain. The comic is only about 170 pages. Please let Heather know if you would like her to show you how to check out an e-reader from the library.

Results from the meeting:
This is the first time we have had two selections chosen for the book club and it couldn't have worked out better. For those who weren't able to get a hold of the Monster book time were able to read the online robot book, so we each learned about another book to enjoy.

So here is a breakdown of the numbers;
My Favorite Thing is Monsters: 9, 8, 10, 9, 9, 8
Mechanical Monster: 9, -, 8, -, 7, 7

Our comments:
Favorite:
The art blew me away and it was "an orgasm for my eyeballs." I loved her relationship with her brother.

A master class of the comic medium, and my favorite part was with the floppy bunny.

A great collage of what she believed her world to be in the 60s.
"The story meandered and needed to get to the main points of the book quicker."

It is possible that this book may be turned into a movie, but the format for the story as it is seems perfect. The notebook paper format was a perfect choice.

We discussed the importance of young students being exposed to stories in different forms and it's ok to have several interpretations of art.

Mechanical:

The evil scientist seems to be "a real Trump character with a super inflated self image." The book was very witty.

A great homage to Eisner.

I really liked how the evil scientist slowly believed through cognitive therapy.

Mechanical Monster is like the film "Up", but from the point of view of the villain. The ending was refreshing and it's good that Superman wasn't actually in the story, just part of the history before the story.

A few of us felt the editing was a little patchy and wanted it to be fine tuned further.

Other works mentioned:
Film "A Monster Calls." My Favorite Thing Is Monsters reminded a few of us of this film and is highly recommended. It's the story of a boy who sees a monster he created himself. You can check out the DVD from the public library, or if you are one of those folks who signed up for HBO (GOT) it will be available 9/3.

Film "The Perks of Being a Wallflower." recommended. Both the book and the film are available through the public library.

All Stephen King films in general, but we agreed that the perfect format for a film seems to be a short story and we saw "Shawshank Redemption" as a great example.

"Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" and "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" were brought up as good examples of book to film to reinvented film franchises to enjoy. All available in book and film format through the public library. Yes, even the renditions you don't like so much.

Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" is a good example of a film that is good for students to watch before reading the book. Several versions (Even the Dicaprio one) are available through the public library.

Films "Star Wars." We discussed whether these films hold any kind of special nature to them since they are coming out at a rate of one a year. The amazing choices make the few originals seem less important.

Film "Ghost in the Shell." A couple of us (myself included) admitted that we actually liked the movie.

Film "Spiderman: Homecoming." Several of us were impressed with the film and Tom Holland (who was in Billy Elliot: The Musical) gave an outstanding performance.

Comic series "Punisher." The new comics coming out are "hardcore and highly recommended." Punisher is now featured in the Netflix show Daredevil.

Fil "Death Wish" releases November 22nd and a few of us expressed mild interest in seeing the film, and a few others are skeptical that it will be any good.

By the way, the dashes in the rating system indicate that either a member did not have the chance to read the book, or they had read so little of it that they didn't feel comfortable judging the book yet.