Mood:
caffeinatedTopic: Other Non Comics Works
TODAY'S FEATURE - Blog #3552:  (Vinnie) This past weekend, I decided to take a peek at the new comics mailed in for possible review, or picked up at comic cons my dad has been to recently, and this was the first to catch my eyes. What grabbed my attention was a drawing of a cute little pig on what appeared to be a childrens book. It was gleefully smiling and staring at me. The children's book that I'm writing about is called "Piñata". This story is about Jorge, a custom piñata maker, who has made a pig for what appears to be his granddaughter, Lola. It explained how he made the piñatas, but with a bit more of creativity. The whole thing, in fact, is a rhyme. The story started with Jorge making the pig in a cauldron with special "ingredients" such as "a dash of hope and a sprinkle of light". Afterwards, we witnessed him doing the final touches of a duck that was headed to a festival. We find the duck winking as she is carried out the door. That is when we learn everything is not as they seem. This is what the publisher says about "Piñata": "PIÑATA CHILDREN’S BOOK - Written by Ken Locsmandi & Sebastian A. Jones - Art by Tomo - Concept and Layouts by Darrell May “They want the candy!” A group of delusional piñatas believe that they are worshipped when chosen to go to the “party.” Not until they see a video tape of their true fate are they smacked into reality. The group of piñatas must then band together to escape their certain demise. Yet in the end, they realize that sacrificing themselves for the happiness of others, the essence of being a piñata, is the best thing in the world." Here is what I found when reading the storyline: [SPOILER] We then can see that these piñata's can talk! Two other piñata's are there, Miguel, a monkey, and Cynthia, a dog (who names the pig, Pancho). They tell him where the duck was headed to. However, Miguel and Cynthia think that going to a fiesta is like being royalty. Their thoughts are far from correct. That night, Pancho was stuffed with candy, as it was Lola's birthday. Later that night, Donna (the duck that previously headed to a festival) returned with half of her body missing! The three were all terribly frightened. Donna told them not to be scared, as being a piñata was a celebration. Donna brought along the recording of the event. Miguel, Pancho, and Cynthia all watched in terror at the events happening at the festival. They all decided to try to do "surgery" on Pancho to remove the candy. It worked, but the next day, Jorge refilled the candy. Later that day was the fiesta, and Jorge tied Pancho hanging from a tree. Jorge went back inside to get the kids, and in the mean time, Pancho unravelled himself. He quickly hid behind the shrubbery out of sight. He overheard the disappointment in Lola's voice when she, Jorge, and the other kids went outside. Pancho, knowing that she was sad, decided to do the right thing. He tied himself up again, and swung, until he was in position, and then rocket-pooped a candy at the door. "It was a direct hit on the door!" Everyone came running to see what had hit the door. When they looked outside, little Pancho was back! Lola took a bat against Pancho's side, and candy went flying! That same night, when Jorge was cleaning up the yard after the festivities, he was aboout to throw Pancho away, when Lola stopped him. He remembered that the piñata is a gift in itself. He did not throw it away. The final page shows Lola sleeping, with Pancho on her drawers, with a ribbon around his stomach, where he had been hit. [END SPOILER] After the story ends, it shows the "candy thieves", a group of mice seen on most of the pages of the story. After that, there is a step by step guide on how to make your own "Pancho"! Overall, it was a cute book that many children would definitely enjoy. Honestly, it was one of the best childrens books I've seen. I give the book "Piñata" a comic book grade of Very Fine/Near Mint (VF/NM), a 9.0 out of 10.0 grade scale. If you would like to purchase this book, you can order it on strangerkids.com. ~Vinnie!
I appreciate your reading this childrens book that was presented to me at the 2011 ComiKaze Expo as I walked by the Stranger Comics / Stranger Kids booth! It is amazing to me that out of the two short boxes of comics / graphic novels / books / TPBs etc., that have come in from either comic cons or via the mail, that you chose this book to blog about today! I know that Stranger Kids had a lot of sales of this childrens book during the ComiKaze Expo. It definitely was a hit during the two days of that convention! For those of you that didn't get a chance to see / purchase the book at the con, here are a few links to view it closer: Here is the web site to buy the book. Here is the Facebook Fan Page for Stranger Kids. There is a Facebook Fan Page for Stranger Comics, but the content on that page is not entirely age appropriate for this particular blog post on Stranger Kids' books, so I am not posting a link to it here. My Thanks to Sebastian and Darrell for the courtesy they extended myself and my wife, Tina during the ComiKaze Expo. ~ Michael Note: Vinnie makes it to as many conventions with me as he can. He collects the 'Amazing Spider-Man' comic book series, but is open to read other titles from publishers that print titles that are age appropriate for him. He also has been attending 'behind the scenes' events, such as the one he blogged about ht here: Vinnie's Special 'Look at The Captain Rochester Party for the Artists' at the recent 2010 Comic-Con International: San Diego! He really had fun meeting and having dinner with Sergio Aragones, Bob Burden, Scott Shaw! and others there at this exclusive after hours Comic-Con Party in San Diego! Also...If YOU liked Vinnie's guest review blog today, you may also enjoy reading Vinnie's other reviews on: Dorothy of Oz Promo Comic Book for the Upcoming Film, Zombie Ranch #2, Yets! #2, The HTHGNP: Red Phones, The Strand Prophecy by JBB Winner, Stuff that Dreams Are Made of - The Mini-Comix, The Adventures of Faithboy #1, Mouse Guard: The Black Axe #2 of 6, Yogi Bear Film (DVD), Jim Henson's Fraggle Rock Vol 2 #1 of 3, Space Punks #2, Jim Henson's Fraggle Rock Vol 2 #2 of 3, Kleeman and Mike #1, Mortifera #3, Classics Illustrated #142 Abraham Lincoln - 8th Edition, 2011 FCBD Edition - Mouse Guard / Dark Crystal Flip Book, Fraggle Rock Volume 2 #3 of 3, Bear and Fox #2, Space Punks #1, The Daughters of Merlin #1, Sea Ghost #1, Mouse Guard: Legends of the Guard #4 (of 4), Clutch Cargo DVD, The All New Super Friends Hour Season 1 DVD, The Ultimate Underdog Collection Volume 1, Planet Hulk, Coraline, Ponyo, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Sonic the Hedgehog TPB Vol 1, Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs, The Possum #1 comic book, Vinnie's Take on Berona's War: Field Guide, just to name a recent few!
BTW, You can 'follow' this Blog by clicking the 'Follow' Button at this NetworkedBlogs app! We currently have over 2,615 'Followers'! Thanks to ALL of YOU that have already clicked that button! And for those of YOU that haven't yet... I would appreciate it if YOU would!!! ~ Michael D Hamersky Note: My online 'Local' Comic Book Shop (LCBS), carries many different genres of comics, magazines, graphic novels, and comic con promotional items. Possibly even copies of the item that was reviewed here today...!If I have it... You can find it 'Under The Big Top Of Comics' at: ComicBooksCircus.com. If it isn't available in my online 'Local Comic Book Shop, (LCBS), then you may be able find it in my Amazon affiiate link, as seen here: Comics & Graphic Novels The screen display resolution is best seen at the setting of 1024 x 768 on your laptop or desktop computer. NOTE: All images and characters within this blog post are copyright and trademark their respective owners.
To mail printed items to us for possible review, send to: Make It So Marketing Inc., PO Box 130653, Carlsbad, CA 92013, USA  Also, if you are a Facebook member, I would have liked you to have sent me a 'Friend Request'. However, I have reached the maximum limit of 5,000 Facebook Friends and Fan pages in my network already, so I've added a New 'Facebook Fan Page' for myself so that even more of YOU can 'Like' what I am doing, and be interactive with me and others there. Here is the link to that 'Facebook Fan Page': Michael D Hamersky On Comics! Please click the 'Like' button on that page! |
(Michael) Thanks, Vinnie! 
My thanks again to all of YOU reading this blog and the archived blog posts, now over 3,551 total posts in number! I do appreciate your continued reading and support of this Blog!
at Amazon!
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celebratory
Be sure to stop by my table at the 2011 Nuke The Fridge Con on December 10th, should you be in the Los Angeles Metro Area. 
NOTE FROM THE BLOGGER:
The interior pages are twenty pages of story, and then two pages of pinups by Chris Thorne, shown to the left, who was at the table when I visited. (Thanks, Chris for pointing out that those pages were yours, and for showing me your great sketch cards you have illustrated! I'll mention more on those at another time.)
So when he asked me if I had read it before, I had to honestly say no... and was pleased to receive a copy for possible review!
... 
The role of Jefferson Monroe was played by Kevin Schultz, while the role of Amy Monroe was played by Tammy. 
That would be a short story about Ted Cassidy, better known as 'Lurch' on 'The Adams Family', that ran from 1964-66.