Category Archives: Review

My Last Summer with Cass by Mark Crilley

review by VJ Miller, Sr.
Words and Illos by Mark Crilley

My Last Summer With Cass is a coming of age story. Two young girls from different parts of the country meet when their parents rent cabins in Topinabee, Mich. Megan is from Illinois, Cass is from Pennsylvania. Both have a budding interest in art.

They both decide to emblazon their art together on one wall in the cabin then realize they are going to be in deep trouble. Their parents must tell the manager what has been  done to the wall. They are saved from punishment by an an unlikely source who just loves their art. It is suggested to their parents that both girls should be enrolled in art classes. Continue reading My Last Summer with Cass by Mark Crilley

The Jack Kirby Omnibus Sampler #1

review by VJ Miller, Sr.

A Little Personal History

I know this comic book of Jack Kirby illustrations is a publication of DC but I want to take you back to 1959 when I first saw a comic book with Jack Kirby art. It was a collaboration of Joe Simon writing and Jack’s renderings. The First issue of The Fly by Red Circle Comics got to my 11 year old curiosity.

I had been reading Superman and Batman comics since I was five, penciled by Wayne Boring and Dick Sprang, respectively. Jack Kirby’s rendering had something much different with the bold lines and the action scenes with larger than life characters. there was a darkness to the style that impressed my young mind. One should realize that credits were not given to who worked on any issue; I never found that out until years later. But I soon learned that I could recognize my fav artists in whatever book they were rendering even when the inkers were not always the same person.

To my disadvantage, I had never heard of Captain America that was also drawn by Jack. My only excuse was that after WW2 CA disappeared for several years. Comics back then were only a dime but I hadn’t enough dimes to keep up with all the other issues that caught my eye. Continue reading The Jack Kirby Omnibus Sampler #1