MAD'S Maddest Artist Don Martin Steps Out!

By Don Martin

I think this was the first collection of Don Martin cartoons. It was certainly the first collection of his that I read as a kid. I remember so many of the cartoons in that book. Coming back to it decades later, I still enjoyed Martin's silly sense of humor. And I think these early cartoons among his best.

This collection includes:
1. Fester and Karbunkle Out West
2. Fester Goes Ski Jumping
3. Fester and Karbunkle The Motor Trip
4. Fester and Karbunkle The Safe Movers
5. Fester and Karbunkle The Roller Coaster Ride
6. Sylvan Interlude in a Petunia Patch
7. Karbunkle in The Penny Arcade
8. Fester and Karbunkle in A Department Store

When I was a kid and trying to go to sleep, I would imagine the various stages of Fester's experience in A Department Store.

The Crystal Gryphon

By Andre Norton

A Witch World story.

The Dales are in danger as invaders from outside move against the lords of the Dales. The invaders have advanced technology, while the Dalesmen are still riding horses and using bows and arrows and swords and armor.
But before the time of the invasion, two children of Dales lords are promised to each other for political reasons. Kerovan's father is worried his people will reject his son as leader because Kerovan is deformed. His eyes have slit pupils instead of round and his feet are hoofed. So allying his son with the daughter of the lord of Ithdale, Joisan, will consolidate his son's position, he hopes.
Joisan and Kerovan are officially wedded, even though they never actually meet and even though they are little kids. Kerovan lives in isolation, away from prying eyes. Joisan lives at Ithkrypt and finds herself pursued by Toross, a cousin, who urges her to repudiate Kerovan and ally with him. At one point Kerovan sends Joisan a crystal gryphon as a gift and she wears it on a chain around her neck.
Joisan and Kerovan never meet before the invaders arrive. Ithkrypt is destroyed and Joisan and company are forced to flee.
Kerovan is ambushed but escapes only to discover that his mother, his sister and his half-brother are the ones who arranged for the ambush. He also finds out that they have turned the locals against him too. He decides he has no future there and travels to Ithdale, only to discover that Ithkrypt is a ruin and Ithdale is overrun by the enemy. He then sets out to find the wife he has never met, Joisan.

This book is told from the two perspectives of Joisan and Kerovan. Much of the story centers on the two as youngsters. It doesn't really start moving until the invasion, when Joisan and Kerovan are just entering adulthood. And when the best made plans go up in smoke as war swallows both their keeps.

Eric

By Terry Pratchett

Rincewind gets mistaken for a demon when young demonologist Eric summons him to do his bidding. All Eric wants is three wishes: to rule the world, have the most beautiful woman in the world and live forever.
Rincewind tries to explain that he is not a demon but Eric refuses to believe it since Rincewind is constrained by the spells he uses to control a demon. And he demands his wishes be fulfilled. Of course, this wish thing never works out the way the wisher intended and Eric and Rincewind find themselves in nearly constant danger. They finally end up in hell where they encounter some of the folks they meet during their travels and where the king of hell is being subtly undermined by his reactionary subordinates.

A typical Rincewind story, with the failed wizard stumbling from one misadventure to another, helped out by the relentless luggage. I have to admit that the Rincewind character is not my favorite of the Discworld series.

The Light Fantastic

By Terry Pratchett

Book Two in the Discworld series.

The first book ended with Rincewind falling off the edge of the world to certain death. But he is miraculously saved along with Twoflower, the tourist. Together, with the "luggage," the two continue to survive against all odds, helped this time by Cohen, the octogenarian barbarian.
But near death is not just a problem for Rincewind and Twoflower. The whole world is facing annihilation by the sudden appearance of a rogue red star. The key to the world's survival is the major spell lodged in Rincewind's head.
Meanwhile, back in Ankh-Morpork, things are unsettled at the Unseen University as the wizards try to deal with the threat posed by the red star. In the process, the head wizard is killed and an ambitious younger wizard Trymon quickly steps in to take his place.
Meanwhile, the wizards are hunting Rincewind, wanting to gain access to the major spell and they will get him any way they can, dead or alive.

This was quite a lively story. Lots of frantic action, with Rincewind and company constantly in danger but still managing to escape fairly intact. In many ways, it is quite similar to the first book in the series, Rincewind and Twoflower against all odds, only this time the odds include the end of the world.

Review by Fantasy Book Review.

Journey to Munich

By Jacqueline Winspear

Europe right before the start of World War II and things are becoming very tense, especially in Germany. An very important Englishman has been arrested in Germany and Maisie Dobbs is sent on a mission to rescue him.
Maisie Dobbs will be travelling in disguise as the man's daughter because the daughter is too ill to travel. Of course, things are never quite as simple as she was told. For one thing, she has taken on a side mission to contact the wayward daughter of a wealthy and powerful businessman who has abandoned her baby and is partying with the Nazis in Germany. And for another thing, when Maisie finally gets to see the arrested man, he is an imposter and not the man she is there to rescue.

It's odd how differently readers can view a story. I chose this book because I read it was one of the best in the Maisie Dobbs series. But I found it to be too long  and rather boring. Not a lot happens and I was ready for it to be over way before the ending. It's not a bad read but it isn't exactly action-filled and there is a lot of backstory of Maisie's past life that I wasn't familiar with.

Review by Publishers Weekly.

The Color of Magic

By Terry Pratchett

The first book in the Discworld series where the reader is introduced to the main character, Rincewind, the sort-of wizard. (He flunked out of wizard school and only knows one spell. But that one spell is so powerful, he doesn't dare use it and he doesn't even know what it does.)
Rincewind has a knack for languages, so when a tourist arrives at Ankh-Morpork, Rincewind is the only one who can communicate with him. The tourist, Twoflowers, is loaded with gold and the denizens of Ankh-Morpork are eager to relieve his of all his gold. Rincewind is given the task of keeping Twoflower safe and serving as his guide. Which is going to be a real challenge as everyone who crosses Twoflower's path immediately has plans to murder him and take his trunk full of gold. What the thieves don't realize is that the trunk has a mind of its own and is absolutely loyal to Twoflower and extremely protective of its contents and very capable of defending itself.

A romp of an adventure as Rincewind and Twoflower tumble from one disastrous encounter to another. It ends in cliffhanger, though, which is more than a little annoying.

You're the Greatest, Charlie Brown

By Charles M. Schulz

Peanuts cartoons copyright 1963 & 1964. Charlie Brown has a sore elbow from too much baseball and Snoopy has to get a rabies vaccination and other silliness. Even fifty-plus years later, the Peanuts strip is still a wonderful read.

The King Is a Fink!

By Brant Parker and Johnny Hart

The Wizard of Id cartoons, copyright 1964, 1965, and 1969.

Medieval shenanigans starring a cruel king, an incompetent wizard, revolting peasants and a cowardly knight. A popular daily comic strip for many years.

The Amazing Mrs. Pollifax

It was a simple assignment. Meet the woman at the hotel and give her the money and the passport. For her security, a man would discretely follow Mrs. Pollifax everywhere she went. And if worse came worse, she had the name of a super-secret contact to turn to for help.
Mrs. Pollifax checked into the hotel, went into the dining room with the signal book and waited. But as soon as the woman sat down, the police showed up. The woman slipped away and left Mrs. Pollifax to face the police alone.
In police custody, they wanted to know why Mrs. Pollifax was consorting with a wanted fugitive. Of course Mrs. Pollifax fobbed them off, claiming not to know the woman and that she thought her just a homeless person. The police allowed her to return to her hotel, but they kept her passport. Now she was stuck in Turkey, unable to leave and knowing that the woman would never return to the hotel again. The assignment was a failure. And it was apparent that someone tipped off the police as to the assignation: a mole within the CIA organization.
And now Mrs. Pollifax's backup man was dead, shot through the heart. Was she next? And what about the desperate woman she had been sent to Turkey to help?Good thing she has an ace in the hole: the super-secret contact. Or is it?

This was an exciting read, as Mrs. Pollifax and the friends she makes along the way struggle from misadventure to misadventure, facing seemingly insurmountable odds yet coming out on top at the end.

Think Thinner, Snoopy

By Charles M. Schulz

Peanuts / Charlie Brown cartoons copyright 1975.

Less Charlie and the other kids and more Snoopy. The Snoopy cartoons are funny but his skills border on the mystical. How can the kids compete with that?

Crock : There's No Escape from the Legion!

By Bill Rechin and Don Wilder

Crock comic strips, copyrighted 1981, 1982, 1983.

Led by their cruel commandant, Crock, the soldiers of the Legion do their best (which isn't all that great) to follow orders and defeat the enemy.
Fortunately, the enemy isn't all that smart either.

One of my favorite comic strips, but both Bill Rechin and Don Wilder are gone and new strips are no longer being created.

Hagar the Horrible : Helga's Revenge

By Dik Browne

Hagar the Horrible comic strips copyrighted 1982 & 1983.

Hagar and his crew doing their "Viking" thing while Helga keeps the home-fires burning.