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toadsoup's review against another edition
4.0
Great anthology for little babus comic readers! The art and stories were precious, I just wish that they all packed a little more punch, u feel
leslie_d's review against another edition
4.0
Can I begin a post about a Kazu Kibuishi affiliated anything without confessing what a fan-girl I am of his work? No. It is a goal of mine to not only own a collection of his work, but be able to gift some away. His Amulet series is an easy recommendation for instilling that comic book addiction in your young. But like his Flight anthologies for the older crowd, Explorer curates excellent talent in which to introduce the young to potential fan-girl and -boy obsessions with various industry creators. See my review of Explorer: Mystery Boxes here and lets take a look at this installment’s theme “hidden places.”
*”Rabbit Island” by Jake Parker (Missile Mouse, illus The Astonishing Secret of Awesome Man) pp 4-19.
The rabbits have built a nice little utopia when one especially hard-working (and innovative) bunny salvages a robot and puts it to work alongside him. Soon, it isn’t only the robot who becomes unrecognizable.
I really dig the color palette, it and the staining/wash and lettering bubbles reminds me of my worn out kids comics from well, ages ago when I was a kid. Not only does it work with the tale-quality of the comic, but it affords today’s youth the experience of their parent’s nostalgia with more contemporary sensibilities. In a way, it is like Will Eisner for kids, but with Jake Parker’s singular drawing arm. And may I say that I find the finish refreshingly absent of dramatic lighting–when I say ‘shiny!’ I want to employ the Whedon-esque meaning.
*”The Mask Dance” by Chrystin Garland pp 20-37 (d)
Nathaniel Hawthorne (minus the religious moral) meets one dancing princess in this mysterious and thrilling tale of a young lady’s night out.
The dark is just dark enough and the color dazzling into appropriately garish. The painterly quality helps animate and lend the light that artificial quality that tonally unsettles. An up-and-comer to watch.
“Carapace” by Jason Caffoe (lead production assistant for Amulet series, contributor for Flight & Explorer) pp 38-55
You could easily create a moral from surviving and being nurtured by observing nature and finding a spirit guide, but “Carapace” is a story of friendship, of (im)moveable shelters. It is a nice twist on a deserted island story when the boy isn’t left completely abandoned nor is the island deserted.
Caffoe’s work with color is a stock & trade, but he tells a good story. There is a lot of text and a lot of setting, but there is also an eye for detail that draws the reader in. The island becomes less terrifying and more exotically beautiful, mimicking the camaraderie between boy and crab-ghost-from-the-shell.
*”Desert Island Playlist” by Dave Roman (Astronaut Academy, Teen Boat!) & Raina Telgemeier (Smile, Drama), colors by Braden Lamb (Adventure Time) pp 56-73. (d)
Wow, this one was creative with the playlist theme. The baby-toy is a stroke of genius and helps with the time-travel puzzle. I also appreciate that they aren’t willing to underestimate the youth-audience’s ability to get the “memory” pieces in juxtaposition to text and tale. This is a smart and beautiful story, but then it is Roman and Telgemeier.
The creators are good with movement and use the text with economy. They are as explicit with translating important visuals as is necessary, but engage the reader in creating meaning. The art is accessible, full of movement and just enough cartoon to lighten the tone.
“Loah” by Michel Gagne (The Saga of Rex, ZED: A Cosmic Tale) pp 74-91.
Loah is a special creature, but what is even more remarkable is her friendship. She sees a way out of her crumbling world and she dreams for all of the others, and swears that her friendship helps her to do so.
The movement, like the story is sweeping, but the story itself small and deceptively simple. I am enjoying this thread of neither inhabiting nor leaving these hidden places alone. I’ve been impressed with the vibrant colors up to this point, but Gange’s piece is as magical as the tale he tells.
“Radio Adrift” by Katie Shanahan (Womanthology: Heroic) & Steven Shanahan (sibling co-creators of Silly Kingdom), colors by Eric Kim & Selena Dizazzo pp. 92-109
Alright, so this one is just stinking cute. Mage-in-training, Wiya needs for her pixie egg to hatch and has attempted every sound possible. And then Radio Adrift drifts in for a limited time engagement. The focus turns outward, especially when Wiya recognizes that she has to refocus the conversation.
The style of artwork is fun, and I enjoy the light shift for the storytelling portion of the story told. This will be effortless in its candy colors, spunky characters and magical turn.
*”The Fishermen” by Kazu Kibuishi, colors by Jason Caffoe pp 110-27. (d)
The captain may have lost it (mentally and physically?), to the greed of a catch of a (literal) lifetime. The story uncovers hidden things both base and incredible, and with an old fisherman and his granddaughter at the helm it is a delightful short story.
Kibuishi is marvelous with scale as well as story. The characters are expressive. And the action sequences are fun, the illustrations managing a great deal of movement between steadying frames.
L (omphaloskepsis)
http://contemplatrix.wordpress.com/2014/02/18/comics-lost-islands-found-creators/
*”Rabbit Island” by Jake Parker (Missile Mouse, illus The Astonishing Secret of Awesome Man) pp 4-19.
The rabbits have built a nice little utopia when one especially hard-working (and innovative) bunny salvages a robot and puts it to work alongside him. Soon, it isn’t only the robot who becomes unrecognizable.
I really dig the color palette, it and the staining/wash and lettering bubbles reminds me of my worn out kids comics from well, ages ago when I was a kid. Not only does it work with the tale-quality of the comic, but it affords today’s youth the experience of their parent’s nostalgia with more contemporary sensibilities. In a way, it is like Will Eisner for kids, but with Jake Parker’s singular drawing arm. And may I say that I find the finish refreshingly absent of dramatic lighting–when I say ‘shiny!’ I want to employ the Whedon-esque meaning.
*”The Mask Dance” by Chrystin Garland pp 20-37 (d)
Nathaniel Hawthorne (minus the religious moral) meets one dancing princess in this mysterious and thrilling tale of a young lady’s night out.
The dark is just dark enough and the color dazzling into appropriately garish. The painterly quality helps animate and lend the light that artificial quality that tonally unsettles. An up-and-comer to watch.
“Carapace” by Jason Caffoe (lead production assistant for Amulet series, contributor for Flight & Explorer) pp 38-55
You could easily create a moral from surviving and being nurtured by observing nature and finding a spirit guide, but “Carapace” is a story of friendship, of (im)moveable shelters. It is a nice twist on a deserted island story when the boy isn’t left completely abandoned nor is the island deserted.
Caffoe’s work with color is a stock & trade, but he tells a good story. There is a lot of text and a lot of setting, but there is also an eye for detail that draws the reader in. The island becomes less terrifying and more exotically beautiful, mimicking the camaraderie between boy and crab-ghost-from-the-shell.
*”Desert Island Playlist” by Dave Roman (Astronaut Academy, Teen Boat!) & Raina Telgemeier (Smile, Drama), colors by Braden Lamb (Adventure Time) pp 56-73. (d)
Wow, this one was creative with the playlist theme. The baby-toy is a stroke of genius and helps with the time-travel puzzle. I also appreciate that they aren’t willing to underestimate the youth-audience’s ability to get the “memory” pieces in juxtaposition to text and tale. This is a smart and beautiful story, but then it is Roman and Telgemeier.
The creators are good with movement and use the text with economy. They are as explicit with translating important visuals as is necessary, but engage the reader in creating meaning. The art is accessible, full of movement and just enough cartoon to lighten the tone.
“Loah” by Michel Gagne (The Saga of Rex, ZED: A Cosmic Tale) pp 74-91.
Loah is a special creature, but what is even more remarkable is her friendship. She sees a way out of her crumbling world and she dreams for all of the others, and swears that her friendship helps her to do so.
The movement, like the story is sweeping, but the story itself small and deceptively simple. I am enjoying this thread of neither inhabiting nor leaving these hidden places alone. I’ve been impressed with the vibrant colors up to this point, but Gange’s piece is as magical as the tale he tells.
“Radio Adrift” by Katie Shanahan (Womanthology: Heroic) & Steven Shanahan (sibling co-creators of Silly Kingdom), colors by Eric Kim & Selena Dizazzo pp. 92-109
Alright, so this one is just stinking cute. Mage-in-training, Wiya needs for her pixie egg to hatch and has attempted every sound possible. And then Radio Adrift drifts in for a limited time engagement. The focus turns outward, especially when Wiya recognizes that she has to refocus the conversation.
The style of artwork is fun, and I enjoy the light shift for the storytelling portion of the story told. This will be effortless in its candy colors, spunky characters and magical turn.
*”The Fishermen” by Kazu Kibuishi, colors by Jason Caffoe pp 110-27. (d)
The captain may have lost it (mentally and physically?), to the greed of a catch of a (literal) lifetime. The story uncovers hidden things both base and incredible, and with an old fisherman and his granddaughter at the helm it is a delightful short story.
Kibuishi is marvelous with scale as well as story. The characters are expressive. And the action sequences are fun, the illustrations managing a great deal of movement between steadying frames.
L (omphaloskepsis)
http://contemplatrix.wordpress.com/2014/02/18/comics-lost-islands-found-creators/
sianniv's review against another edition
3.0
3 stars the stories in this on was not as good/interesting as the one in the first book
satornroos's review against another edition
3.0
3.5
I actually enjoyed this more than the first one for some reason. It is a cute series with some good messages!
I actually enjoyed this more than the first one for some reason. It is a cute series with some good messages!
antlersantlers's review against another edition
2.0
This was a definite disappointment. I think perhaps [b:Explorer: The Mystery Boxes|12833770|Explorer The Mystery Boxes|Kazu Kibuishi|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1327971266s/12833770.jpg|17984108] was so unusually strong and dark, that I expected more even though [b:Flight Explorer|1803934|Flight Explorer, Volume 1|Kazu Kibuishi|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1347883832s/1803934.jpg|1803136] wasn't particularly great either. These were full of smiley, friehdship, work together, believe in yourself boring nonsense that it was actually pretty tiring. The one exception was [a:Chrystin Garland|7055316|Chrystin Garland|https://www.goodreads.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-d9f6a4a5badfda0f69e70cc94d962125.png] (Lady Garland! She's great!). Her story was dark and weird and her art was absolutely stunning. It was also really really interesting to see [a:Jason Caffoe|4107843|Jason Caffoe|https://www.goodreads.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-d9f6a4a5badfda0f69e70cc94d962125.png], the lead production assistant on the Amulet series, drawing in a different style from Kibuishi. In the Mystery Boxes, their two stories were almost visually indistinguishable. Here they were quite different, but both were still beautiful.
bookhound36's review against another edition
2.0
I loved the first collection...these were kind of silly and not nearly as good.
ricksilva's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic novel anthology edited by Amulet creator Kazu Kabuishi.
This is an anthology of fantasy stories loosely themed around the idea of islands. It opens with Jake Parker's cute fable about an island of hardworking rabbitfolk and the discovery of a useful robot who proves to be a bit too useful.
A pair of stories hit the "stranded on a desert island" idea."Carapace" by Jason Caffoe is a cute tale of the friendship that develops between a castaway and the ghost of a giant crab. Featuring giant crab theology! Dave Roman and Raina Telgemeier's "Desert Island Playlist" is an oddly surreal story that plays around with nonlinear time.
Michel Gagne's "Loah" is a mythic story of ancient fish seeking a way to escape disaster.
The amusing "Radio Adrift" by Katie Shanahan and Steve Shanahan involves a mage-in-training working to complete her pixie-hatching project and an unusual radio station that she tunes in to.
Editor Kazu Kibuishi contributes a classic fish story with "The Fishermen" that does a nice job of character development in the short space it has to work with.
My personal favorite was the very creepy "The Mask Dance" by Chrystin Garland.
All of these stories were good, and the artwork, while varied in style, was all fantastically colorful and imaginative. The tone of the stories varies a lot with the broad theme, but if you enjoy a general sense of myth and wonder, you will definitely find a lot to like in this volume.
This is an anthology of fantasy stories loosely themed around the idea of islands. It opens with Jake Parker's cute fable about an island of hardworking rabbitfolk and the discovery of a useful robot who proves to be a bit too useful.
A pair of stories hit the "stranded on a desert island" idea."Carapace" by Jason Caffoe is a cute tale of the friendship that develops between a castaway and the ghost of a giant crab. Featuring giant crab theology! Dave Roman and Raina Telgemeier's "Desert Island Playlist" is an oddly surreal story that plays around with nonlinear time.
Michel Gagne's "Loah" is a mythic story of ancient fish seeking a way to escape disaster.
The amusing "Radio Adrift" by Katie Shanahan and Steve Shanahan involves a mage-in-training working to complete her pixie-hatching project and an unusual radio station that she tunes in to.
Editor Kazu Kibuishi contributes a classic fish story with "The Fishermen" that does a nice job of character development in the short space it has to work with.
My personal favorite was the very creepy "The Mask Dance" by Chrystin Garland.
All of these stories were good, and the artwork, while varied in style, was all fantastically colorful and imaginative. The tone of the stories varies a lot with the broad theme, but if you enjoy a general sense of myth and wonder, you will definitely find a lot to like in this volume.
rainbowbookworm's review against another edition
3.0
As with every anthology, there are some gems and there are some duds. However, this one has mostly gems. I loved Loah's (Michel Gagné) story and illustrations and liked almost all of the other stories for various reasons. You may be asking yourself, "Why only three stars then?" Well, it is because, although the stories are good, I wonder how well I'll be able to remember them in the future.
elizabethlk's review against another edition
4.0
3.5 stars.
I didn't enjoy this as much as I did the first book in the series, but it still made for a fun little read. Best artwork was probably in The Mask Dance and in Loah. My favourite story was probably Radio Adrift, although I also had a soft spot for Carapace and Desert Island Playlist.
I would recommend it for anyone in need or want of a decent middle-grade comics anthology. I already have the next of the series checked out of the library.
I didn't enjoy this as much as I did the first book in the series, but it still made for a fun little read. Best artwork was probably in The Mask Dance and in Loah. My favourite story was probably Radio Adrift, although I also had a soft spot for Carapace and Desert Island Playlist.
I would recommend it for anyone in need or want of a decent middle-grade comics anthology. I already have the next of the series checked out of the library.