The Book Pirate

I was given a copy of The Return of King Doug and burned through it so fast I almost wondered how.

I think the idea behind this book is incredibly funny and something that has never been done before. The idea of “The Chosen One” has been done so many times (Frodo, Buffy, Neo, etc.) that someone was bound to put a good twist on it, and they did.

Doug Peterson is a young boy who discovers the fantasy kingdom of Valdonia. It’s at the bottom of a well that sits in the backyard of his parent’s summer cabin. Being human, the creatures revere him as The Chosen one, their commander, who will lead them into battle against the wicked Queen who has taken over their lands. Together with the magic amulet, the Heart of Agnon, they will defeat her and crown Doug their King.

Sounds great, and even Doug is in, until he realizes that he is a little boy and this isn’t a game. It’s a real battle. There’s a chance he could get ripped apart.

So he goes back home.

25 years later Doug is a lazy good for nothing that can’t keep a job. He has since fathered a boy and we pick back up when it’s his weekend with his son. They end up at the cabin, his son goes off to play and well…I think you see what’s coming.

The Centaurs and the Tum Tums are in an even worse place. If it was bad before, now it’s REALLY bad and Doug must confront his fears and his bad habits to save his son and take back Valdonia from the evil Queen.

This may sound all epic but it’s very funny as well. I have been waiting for a fantasy/comedy that’s actually good and this one satisfied me. Aside from the story, the linework by Wook-Jin Clark is fluid and beautiful and he does a terrific job of really bringing Valdonia and it’s people to life.

It seems that I might be getting what I asked for. The other day I purchased a copy of Empire magazine which told me that Natalie Portman, James Franco and Danny McBride would be starring in a fantasy/comedy called Your Highness, and just today, when I googled “The Return of King Doug” all these images of Ben Stiller popped up. Apparently, he has signed on to produce and possibly star in….you guessed it…The Return of King Doug.

The Return of King Doug is written by Greg Erb and Jason Oremland

It is illustrated by Wook-Jin Clark

It’s published by Oni Press

I have been a fan of Kazu Kibuishi for a while now, having purchased the first volume of his book Daisy Kutter at the Stumptown Comics Convention several years ago. His style pulled me in at first but while reading Daisy Kutter, the story and storytelling intrigued me. Before I knew it I had a new artist I had to follow. From there I went on to read my new favorite series, Amulet, which I am dying to read more of.

Since there isn’t a new Amulet yet, I looked around for more work by Kazu and a friend turned me on to Copper. It looked familiar. I thought maybe I had seen Copper in a previous volume of Flight but I couldn’t be sure.

This friend turned to the back of Copper and showed me that it included a tutorial on just how Kazu creates the Copper strips. He takes it from his thumbnails all the way to his finished pieces and the digital coloring section was of great interest to me.

For me, I suppose that’s how Kazu Kibuishi gets me. He dangles a lovely carrot in front of my face and before I know it I have gone on an incredible journey with his characters that seems to end all too quickly.

Copper, he tells us in the introduction, began as a sticker and t-shirt design and has since turned into something greater. The adventures that Copper and his dog/friend Fred go on are interesting and filled with meaning if you pay attention. Some of my favorites include the mushroom jumping and the spectacled, blue-haired girl who they just can’t seem to catch.

I’m gonna go ahead and say that Copper often gives me the same kind of feeling I would get when reading my Calvin and Hobbes collections. It’s filled with possibilities, imagination and things you can even learn about yourself.

I became interested in this because I read a blurb that talked about how in the first portion of the book, when the cricket appears to Pinocchio and tells him to be good, he smashes it with a hammer.

Now, it’s not that I have a morbid thing going, I am merely interested in fairy tales and their original versions so when I heard this was coming out I was more than excited.

The original tale is quite interesting and VERY different than the version most are familiar with, the Disney film. While I enjoy the Disney movie I was really taken by the things in the original version that I never knew. Like, the Blue Fairy being a little girl with sky blue hair, or Pinocchio speaking while he was being carved.

Also, some central characters are different. Like I said, The cricket, who has no name, is a ghost after the hammer incident, The infamous whale is a shark and there is even a gorilla judge.

As for plot, well, a lot of the familiar things are there but it is apparent that this was a tale written as many fairy tales are, as a cautionary tale to children. Pinocchio finds himself in many a situation. He never learns, until the end of course.

The book clocks in at 160 pages. It’s like a full fledged novel. This version also comes with a great informative introduction by Umberto Eco and an incredible afterward by Rebecca West regarding Pinocchio and the way the story has affected our culture. The new English translation is by Geoffrey Brock. Eco in his forward, sings his praises regarding his translation.

I recommend this to everyone. It’s a super fun read and you’ll feel like you know more about the story than anyone else.

Also, afterward, I drew this.

The Book Pirate welcomes a new shipmate to the crew, the Book Parrot! He is currently reading five books…updates to come.

Bust out your Crayola 120ct Crayons! It’s time for a coloring contest.

Patrick Wensink, author of Sex Dungeon For Sale!, is hosting a coloring contest where you can win fabulous prizes. And by fabulous prizes I mean a selection of Wensink’s favorite books of 2009. You can win signed copies of 4 books (Help! A Bear is Eating Me! [my review] and Fool are included, autographed BW). Oddly enough, he does not include a copy of his own book, Sex Dungeon For Sale. Perhaps Patrick does not think that highly of himself or maybe he is simply trying to save on postage. Regardless, you should totally enter.

Here’s how it works. Download and print the coloring page that you fancy. Each page is based off of a story from SD4S (My Son Thinks He’s French, Jesus Toast, Chicken Soup for the Kidnapper’s Soul). Color it in either by hand or digitally, then e-mail it to patrickwensink@gmail.com with your name, address and phone number. The deadline is December 14th. You can check out his rather random web site for more details if you still feel ill informed about this contest.

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is still sitting on the NY Times bestseller list (currently at #5). I worry about what the popularity of this book will do to the book industry. In particular, I think that this book will spawn a number or “me too” books similar to what happened after The Da Vinci Code and every book seemed to be about a hidden code.

To beat people to the punch, I have come up with some ideas:

First, Pirates make everything better.

The Old Man and the Sea and Pirates would be the perfect pop culture/classic literature crossover. I haven’t read The Old Man and the Sea but judging from the title it’s about an old man and the sea. I imagine that the the old man could run in to pirates while on the sea and, I dunno, join them while learning valuable life lessons.

Second, Ninjas make an excellient additions to novels.

Again, haven’t read War and Peace. But War and Peace and Ninjas could depic the invasion of Russia by France who hire a ninja army who get fought off by the Russians while learning valuable life lessons.

Yes, this may be a good idea.

(click for larger)

As drawn by Terry Blas.

Friend and co-worker Nathalie drew her rendition of a Book Pirate.

Nathalie has a art blog here which you can check out and she is also part of the Robopocalypse Comics Collective.