Book Awards Reading Challenge

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eisner_award#Best_Graphic_Album

1991 Elektra Lives Again, by Frank Miller and Lynn Varley
1992 To the Heart of the Storm, by Will Eisner
1993 Signal to Noise, by Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean
1994 A Small Killing, by Alan Moore and Oscar Zarate
1995 Fairy Tales of Oscar Wilde Vol. 2, by P. Craig Russell
1996 Stuck Rubber Baby, by Howard Cruse
1997 Fax from Sarajevo, by Joe Kubert
1998 Batman & Superman Adventures: World's Finest, by Paul Dini, Joe Staton, and Terry Beatty
1999 Superman: Peace on Earth, by Paul Dini and Alex Ross
2000 Acme Novelty Library #13, by Chris Ware
2001 Safe Area Goražde, by Joe Sacco
2002 The Name of the Game, by Will Eisner
2003 One! Hundred! Demons! by Lynda Barry
2004 Blankets, by Craig Thompson
2005 The Originals, by Dave Gibbons
2006 Top 10: The Forty-Niners, by Alan Moore and Gene Ha
2007 American Born Chinese, by Gene Luen Yang
2008 Exit Wounds, by Rutu Modan
2009 Swallow Me Whole, by Nate Powell
2010 Asterios Polyp, by David Mazzucchelli
2011 Wilson by Daniel Clowes (tie)
2011 Return of the Dapper Men by Jim McCann and Janet Lee (tie)

Laika by Nick Abadzis

Pages: 203
First Published: 2007
Genre: graphic novel, history
Awards: Eisner Award
Rating: 2.5/5



First sentence:


I am a man of destiny...I will not die...


Comments: This is the true story of the Russian space program in it's infancy. They stunned the world when they sent up the first satellite, Sputnik. The Premier wanted to send another one up within a month on the celebration of the October Revolution. So this time they decide to send a dog into space but because of the short time frame they cannot work out a plan to bring the dog back, she will die in space.

The book concentrates on the scientists and dog handlers working on the program within a 'know what you need to know' atmosphere. No one knows the reality of the situation until the end. The book particularly centers on a woman who is newly hired to work as the dog handler; she is a great animal lover and becomes attached to the dogs, especially the one who will eventually die in space.

Honestly, this book did nothing for me. The story did not tell me anything I did not already know. I found the fact that the dogs talked to the woman to be rather disconcerting. I realize it was supposed to show that she felt she was communicating with them, but still....talking dogs in a true story put me off. I also found the pages very cramped. There were way too many frames per page for the size of the pages and everything felt squished on the page, leaving the print rather small to read. You need a good light when reading this book. In all it did what it was supposed to do, retelling the story from a human point of view but it left me bored. Obviously it is a sad story and perhaps if I was a dog lover I may have enjoyed it more. If you like books like Old Yeller perhaps this might be more your style than mine.

Fables: 1001 Nights of Snowfall
Bill Willingham, et al.

I'm a big fan of Fables judging from the fact that I actually read what volume I can find, which somehow translates to my reading the series out of order at times. Yeah, tsk tsk tsk. But this anthology is special indeed. It's not exactly part of any of the ongoing Fable arc but more of a backstory (uh, backstories) that give us a glimpse of the lives of our favorite Fables before they all sought refuge in Fabletown.

And what better way to start the storytelling than to have Snow White sent as an ambassador to the Arabian Fables? All stories therefore follow the route we all know as Scheherazade's plight with the Sultan when Snow White realized that she had to keep her wits with her in order to relay her mission not to mention keep herself alive in the process.

Ten stories in all, eleven if you include the backbone, A Most Troublesome Woman illustrated by Charles Vess, which basically covers Snow White's arrival at the palace and her eventual discussions with the Sultan that goes on until the end of the book. Ten stories? Yes, ten. Some give light to what we know of our favorite Fables. Others are new tales of Fables even I barely know (or I'm not sure if they even appeared in any of the Fable volumes just yet).

The Fencing Lessons is the real story of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves in relation to the series, obviously. Remember in the first volume where Snow White was easily angered at the mere mention of the dwarves? Here we meet a very much in love newlyweds - Snow White and Prince Charming - so the question remains, what happened? Well this one sheds some light into the topic and somehow started the breakdown of the marriage. Lavishly painted by John Bolton and well told in fact. Though I think Snow White here pretty much resembled Chinese actress Shu Qi on a handful of angles. Seriously.

The Christmas Pies is a short and sharp story on how the Reynard the Fox outwitted the goblins and helped a bunch of animals escape the homelands.

A Frog's-Eye View is the heartbreaking tale of Prince Ambrose, the frog prince. We are familiar with him as the janitor of Fabletown yet we have no idea of his story altogether. Oh goodness, probably the saddest part of the anthology altogether and ably illustrated by the much-loved James Jean.

The Runt is Bigby's story, of how he came to be the Big Bad Wolf we used to hate in the tales. Again we encounter Mr. North as Bigby's father.

A Mother's Love is a very short tale of loss and enchantment.

Diaspora Part 1 bring us the sisters Snow White and Rose Red around the time they were fleeing the soldier's of the Adversary. Along the way they encountered the Gingerbread House where uh, they find the witch in the oven. Yes, that's Frau Totenkinder. This is where the story break into The Witch's Tale, in which the powerful witch detailed her betrayal and eventual accumulation of power through the practice of her craft. Then Diaspora 2 concludes with the sisters taking the witch with them and ended with a wolf. Oooh and uh that part we all know from the short story included in Fables: Legends in Exile.

What You Wish For is basically a short story telling people to be careful. Hahaha!

Lastly, Fair Division as illustrated by Jill Thompson, is Old King Cole's tale of sacrifice during the time of his and other Fables' escape from the homelands.

Whew.

The stories are all so engaging I didn't want it to end. In fact I reread it just now. I've probably reread it twice since I finished it a month or ago. Well, considering that I can't find a copy of Wolves and I'm itching to ramble about Sons of Empire already I only have this to reread. So yes, I jumped over Wolves. Hahaha.

And I can't seem to choose a favorite from among the stories though I love Diaspora (with The Witch's Tale included) since we see the difference between Snow White and Rose Red more clearly and the sibling dynamics is so real. Plus, I always have a soft spot in me for Frau Totenkinder. And now I know why this witch is helping Fabletown. I adore the drawings done by Tara McPherson. It's whimsical, colorful and so cartoony and somehow brings us back to the times when we were kids and fighting with siblings and such. Or maybe that's just me. Then the shift to Esao Andrew's take on The Witch's Tale is simply unnerving.

Oh poor Ambrose! Now I understand him more! And King Cole as well! And like it or not, even Prince Charming.

Can I stop now before I ramble myself into oblivion?

Oh and people new to Fables can actually pick this up ahead of any of the available volumes as it is a prequel. I can imagine those reading this one first and then pursuing the series altogether. The nuances of characters will make more sense or there's a deeper understanding to them once you've read this one. I mean deeper than your previous knowledge of them through the different volumes obviously.

I'll stop now.

Get this, read this and enjoy!

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Fables: 1001 Nights of Snowfall won the Eisner Award for Best Anthology in 2007.