TITLE: The Batman Files
AUTHOR: Matthew K. Manning
PUBLISHER: Andrews McMeel Publishing
PRICE: $100
RELEASED: October 25, 2011

By Rob Siebert
Editor, Fanboy Wonder

In his printed page adventures it’s been established, particularly in recent years, that Batman keeps a journal at the insistence of Alfred. The Batman Files uses that concept to present us with a guide to The Dark Knight’s world, as seen from his point of view. The book also presents mock newspaper clippings, photographs (the latter of which are mostly panels from comic books), and dossiers of the inhabitants of Gotham City.

As far as Batman guide books/encyclopedias go, The Batman Files is pretty good. It’s 13.5 x 10.5 size and leather cover with a magnetized clasp make for an impressive looking book. In terms of the information provided, there was enough in here to educate even the most devout Batman fan. I’m speaking from experience on that one. Nothing amazingly eye-opening, but there were some little character tidbits that I hadn’t known.

The Batman Files is a lovely tribute to the Caped Crusader and his history. But whether or not you want to buy it really depends on what kind of book you’re looking for. As it’s formatted like an actual journal/scrapbook, it doesn’t break the fourth wall by offering first appearance dates for characters, a publishing history, or anything like that. It cheats a bit by presenting characters’ most notable stories (or at least the once in continuity) as “Related Case Files.” For instance, such files for Two-Face would include “The Long Halloween, The Eye of the Beholder, Dark Victory, etc. So if you’re looking for a more complete view of Batman’s history, you don’t want The Batman Files.

It’s also worth noting that by the time this book was released, much of its content was rendered obsolete by the DC Universe reboot. We’re not quite sure how much of it is gone, but we’re definitely looking at outdated version of Batman’s continuity.

I’m obviously being nitpicky here. One of the things that really impressed me about The Batman Files was the way Manning was able to effectively duplicate Bruce Wayne’s “voice” in this book. If you’ve read enough of his comics over the years, I wouldn’t say it’s incredibly difficult to determine things that Batman would or wouldn’t say, or to figure out how he’d say them. But doing a book like this requires the writer to not only get inside Batman’s head, but to do it at various points in the character’s life. Top that off with the task of writing in the voices of Jeremiah Arkham and the various newspaper writers and Gothamites that we hear from this book, and you’ve got a task that would be challenging for even the best of writers, and Manning deserves a lot of credit for it.

The Batman Files is a gorgeous book jam-packed with information and beautiful color artwork from (give or take) the last two decades. It’s a solid gift for Batman buffs, particularly those interested in the ins and outs of the recent mythology. From that standpoint, it’s got just about everything you’d want to know. It’s not for everyone, and the price is a bit steep, but it’s a lovely tribute to Batman and his world.

RATING: 8/10

Front page image from playeraffinity.com. Image 1 from matthewkmanning.blogspot.com. Image 2 from blog.indigo.ca. 

TITLE: The Boy Who Loved Batman
AUTHOR: Michael Uslan
PUBLISHER: Chronicle Books
PRICE: $29.95
RELEASED: August 10, 2011

By Rob Siebert
Editor, Fanboy Wonder

You’d think a book called The Boy Who Loved Batman wouldn’t be short on interesting Batman content. Unfortunately, that is indeed what Michael Uslan’s memoir suffers from. It’s still a lovely book, but it’s missing an element that would have made it a truly great read.

Michael Uslan is sometimes an unsung hero in the world of comic books. In the early ’70s, he was the first person to teach an accredited college course on comic books at Indiana University, which earned him national publicity. More famously, he tirelessly campaigned for the creation of a dark, serious live action Batman film, which in the years following the campy Adam West show, was given very little consideration by studios. Since then, he has served as a producer on all six of the live action Batman feature films (as well as Swamp Thing, Constantine, the National Treasure movies, and numerous other projects). The Boy Who Loved Batman chronicles Uslan’s journey from a comics-obsessed young boy to a man who built one of the most lucrative and beloved film franchises in the world.

I don’t think anyone can argue that Uslan has lived an amazing life. His is a story of perseverance and a stubborn refusal to give up on a dream. He tells his story with a downright infectious enthusiasm that makes The Boy Who Loved Batman an all the more uplifting read.

However, as I’ve said before, I judge autobiographies not just by the story the author has to tell, but by how well the tell it, and if they can eliminate excess fluff and keep things interesting for readers. The Boy Who Loved Batman fails to do that at certain points. When Uslan talks about his relationship with his brother, certain portions of his school days, and even parts of his law career (which proved integral in his efforts to get the Batman film franchise off the ground), he sometimes goes on too long. This in turn may lead to readers skipping certain chapters altogether.

Also, while he’s been involved with all the Batman feature films, Uslan neglects to talk at length about Batman Returns, Batman Forever and Batman & Robin. He simply skips from Batman to Batman Begins and The Dark Knight. As a reader, this was frustrating. Given all the build up we get in this book as to how much Uslan wanted to portray Batman as a dark avenger of the night, I’d love to have known what he thought of Joel Schumacher’s colorful, overdramatic take on Gotham City and its inhabitants (though at one point he mentions he was a harsh critic of the now-infamous Batsuit nipples). Considering how positive and upbeat Uslan’s voice is in this book, hearing him talk about some of his films negatively (assuming he harbors some negative opinions) might have been a sharp turn for readers. But if you’re going to write a book about producing the Batman movies, you should probably make a point to talk about all the Batman movies.

Still, The Boy Who Loved Batman is a fun look not only at Uslan’s journey, but the history of the comic book medium. He talks about attending the first ever comic book convention as a boy, getting to meet and correspond with creators like Otto Binder, and how much the industry supported him when he began his course at Indiana University. Longtime fanboys will be able to relate to Uslan almost instantly, as his sheer glee in talking about Batman, comic books and superheroes is something we can easily relate to. It’s something everyone can relate to on some level.

The Boy Who Loved Batman isn’t as good as it could have been, but it conveys the message it wants to: That if you’re willing to work for them, amazing things can happen.

RATING: 7.5/10

Front page image from nj.com. Image 1 from maggiethompson.com. 

TITLE: Double Dexter
AUTHOR: Jeff Lindsay
PUBLISHER: Doubleday
PRICE: $25.95
RELEASED: October 18, 2011

By Rob Siebert
Editor, Fanboy Wonder

Double Dexter, Jeff Lindsay’s sixth Dexter book, is the worst in the series. While the TV show, which is loosely based on the books, has maintained a consistently high quality, the books seem to be getting progressively worse.

In this book, the unthinkable happens to Dexter, a serial killer who only kills those who fit his moral code. Someone catches him in the act, and then flees the scene. Dexter soon begins to receive cryptic and threatening emails from his witness, and very bad things start to happen for America’s favorite murderer. At the same time, a new serial killer shows up in Miami who brutally beats his victims to death, but doesn’t break their skin. As Dexter and his sister, Sergeant Deborah Morgan of Miami Metro Homicide, follow this new killer’s trail, Dexter must keep his private life from unravelling. Along for the ride is his wife Rita, Rita’s children Astor and Cody, his infant daughter Lily Anne, and his brother Brian (a less moralistic serial killer).

The premise of Dexter being seen by an innocent bystander has been explored on the TV show, but this is the first Dexter story in which someone has seen our main character’s dirty deeds and almost immediately become a threat to him. It’s an intriguing idea, which unfortunately isn’t used effectively until the last fourth of this book. Up until that point, much of the narrative is rather dull. One could easily skip pages at a time and not miss anything essential. For instance, a significant portion of this book is devoted to a boy scout camping trip Dexter goes on with Cody. The story between Dexter and his witness had just taken an extremely interesting twist, but Lindsay pulls us away from that to go camping. Granted, the sequence winds up furthering the witness storyline significantly at the very end, but does the end justify the means if we’ve put the book down before we get there? Probably not.

Rita’s character is also rather annoying in this book. She’s persistently nagging Dexter about buying a new house, and bumbling through sentences like a moron. In the book, she has no redeeming qualities other than simply being Dexter’s wife and the mother of his kids. She’s almost an antagonist.

Dexter’s humorous banter is rendered mostly ineffective this time around. I’m finding that the better the story is, the more effective Dexter’s wit is. In contrast, if you’re bored to death for most of the book, it becomes contrived and annoying.

Lindsay had a good premise for this book, but he failed to execute it in an entertaining way. Is it unfair to expect the books to be as successful as the show? Maybe, maybe not. But regardless, this book feels like a phone-in that’s packed with needless, uninteresting, unentertaining fluff. Lindsay can do much better than this.

RATING: 3.5/10

Front page image from litereactor.com. Lindsay image from telegraph.co.uk.
For more from Dexter and Jeff Lindsay, check out Dexter Is Delicious.

TITLE: Shockaholic
AUTHOR: Carrie Fisher
PUBLISHER: Simon & Schuster
PRICE: $22.00
RELEASED: November 1, 2011

By Rob Siebert
Editor, Fanboy Wonder

My girlfriend and I recently saw Carrie Fisher’s one-woman show in Chicago. She’s not what I would call laugh-out-loud funny. I chuckled a few times, but it wasn’t a fit of uproarious laughter. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the show thoroughly because of Fisher’s wit, candid nature, and her willingness to look at her life from a humorous standpoint. When you look at everything she’s been through, from her battles with bipolar disorder, drug addiction and weight gain, or having the role of Princess Leia follow her around all her life, there’s something about her remarkable perseverance and her lightheartedness that from a spiritual standpoint is borderline soothing to read about.

In her second memoir (the first was Wishful Drinking, upon which she based the one-woman show), Fisher talks about being treated with electroconvulsive therapy (otherwise known as electroshock therapy, thus the book’s title), her struggles with her weight, a wild yet awkward night with a senator, her insight into the life of Michael Jackson, and her relationship with her father Eddie Fisher.

Considering Fisher has a life so few of us can relate to, the fact that she writes about her life in a manner that’s so relatable is no small feat. She’s able to find the humanity in situations involving often larger-than-life personalities. This is especially true when she talks about her relationship with her father, whom she started taking care of during the last few years of his life. In their heyday, Eddie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds (Carrie’s parents) were somewhat akin to Brad and Angelina, and when Fisher famously left Reynolds for Elizabeth Taylor, it created a Hollywood scandal the likes of which we know all too well today, what with celebrity marriages seemingly ending every five minutes. Fisher dives into the early days of their relationship, her own interactions with Elizabeth Taylor, and the aftermath of her father’s death. There’s a really touching line in the book, where Fisher says: “I miss him in a very different way than how I missed him throughout my childhood. Then I missed the idea of him. Now I miss the man – my dad.” That’s something everyone can relate to on some level.

Fisher’s insight into Michael Jackson’s life is also very interesting. She wasn’t a close friend of his, but she spent some time with him through a mutual friend. The fact that fame was a constant presence in Jackson’s life, as it has been throughout Fisher’s, places her in the unique position of being able to relate to him on some level, and then convey those feelings to her audience. She talks about how Jackson’s fame seemed to contaminate everything he did, and how he struggled for the privacy we all take for granted. Fisher talks about Jackson like he was a person, as opposed to a pop star or alleged child molester.

Shockaholic will likely disappoint Star Wars fans looking for set stories, but it won’t disappoint fans of good writing. Fisher’s prose strikes a delightful balance between genuine emotion and humor. It might be called “heart-felt sarcasm. “It’s not hilarious, but it’s a lot of fun to read. I certainly wouldn’t be opposed to reading more from Fisher.

RATING: 7/10

Front page image from jamesboylan.com. Fisher image from freewomensblogs.com.

TITLE: Dust and Decay
AUTHOR: Jonathan Maberry
PUBLISHER: Simon and Schuster
PRICE: $17.99
RELEASED: August 30, 2011

By Lora Van Marel
Staff Writer, One-Woman Show

Last year Jonathan Maberry wrote Rot and Ruin, which I thoroughly enjoyed. He’s back this year with its sequel, Dust and Decay.

This story picks up just a few months after the first book ends and has Benny, Nix, Lilah, and Tom prepared to leave behind their town of Mountainside and go in search of the jet they saw. They see the jet as a sign that there is more out in the Rot and Ruin, and wonder if someone else has gotten technology to work again and civilization is really rebuilding itself. A tragic event in Mountainside pushes their departure date up, and they end up in the Ruin earlier then expected. This earlier journey comes with unforeseen challenges. When the group gets separated out in the Rot and Ruin each panics and copes in their own way, and not everyone survives this story…

What I was expecting to be a book about a long journey in search of answers turned into a slight repeat of Rot and Ruin. Instead of moving forward, the reader gets more zombies and killing, the return of Gameland, and maybe Charlie Mathias. While the first book was heavy on the ethical discussion of killing zombies (one of the things I loved the most about it), this book doesn’t address that much at all.

What stands out the most in this story is the strong character development.  Everyone that was introduced in the first book thoroughly grows and becomes someone the reader cares about. Benny is becoming “warrior smart” just like Tom taught him. Romance is one of the tools that Maberry uses to build his character development, making the romantic storylines a much heavier focus then before.

I did enjoy this book, even though it wasn’t what I was expecting. It was more of a typical zombie book. There was a lot of fighting and escaping zombies, which was certainly the focus. However, there were still some surprises along the way, like a battle with a freakin’ rhinoceros! We also saw the introduction of many new characters including some awesome bounty hunters that I want to know more about. Some of these new characters have zombie cards (a concept introduced in the first book) shown on the end pages too.

Though a majority of the book consisted of battles, there was still huge emotion behind each page. This was something that Maberry did so well in his first Benny Imura book, so I was very glad to see that again. The reader can feel fear, sadness, and guilt the whole way through. The combination of violence and emotion make this a very fun read.

Dust and Decay reads like a lot of second novels in trilogies. There are a lot of unanswered questions, so I would be very surprised if Maberry doesn’t write another Benny Imura book.  I liked reading this book and I read it fast, though I was a bit disappointed that this was almost a repeat of Rot and Ruin with a few tweaks. I’m holding out hope that a third book is on the way that will make this second book worthwhile.

RATING: 7/10

Front page image from more2read.net. Maberry image from chicagoreader.blogspot.com.

TITLE: Darth Paper Strikes Back – An Origami Yoda Book
AUTHOR: Tom Angleberger
PUBLISHER: Amulet Books
PRICE: $12.95
RELEASE DATE: August 23, 2011

By Rob Siebert
Editor, Fanboy Wonder

I took a look at The Strange Case of Origami Yoda shortly after Primary Ignition began, and really enjoyed the book’s quirkiness. Thus the sequel, Darth Paper Strikes Back, was a natural pick up for me. Thankfully, it offers more of the same.

In Darth Paper, Dwight, the peculiar boy who gives advice to his classmates via an Origami Yoda puppet (and quite good advice at that). has been suspended for allegedly using the puppet to threaten another student. As the school board contemplates whether to send Dwight to a reform school, it’s up to his classmates to assemble yet another case file, this one in defense of Dwight and the Yoda puppet. Meanwhile, another origami Star Wars puppet has emerged at Ralph McQuarrie Middle School (if you get that reference, you’re cool). Darth Paper has arrived, and the power of the Dark Side is with him…or something like that.

What’s really cool about this book from an adult’s perspective is the overall theme: That someone shouldn’t be chastised or labeled an outcast simply because they’re different. This is illustrated particularly well in the conflict between the school board and Dwight’s friends. Like a band of rebels fighting against an evil Empire, they’re trying to shake the school board’s strict definition of unacceptable behavior, so they can see that Dwight is simply trying to express himself. There’s a beautiful message in there about how school administrators, who are supposed to be nursing children’s minds and allowing them to grow, sometimes lose sight of that when they get bogged down by rules. Kids might not directly pick up on it, but it’s there.

The rest of the book consists of little stories about kids and their encounters with Origami Yoda. Pretty standard morals lessons, but some of them are touching nonetheless. For instance, there’s one about a girl who doesn’t smell very good, and Origami Yoda ends up revealing that she comes from a poor family with no washing machine. Ergo, the kids find a way to work around the issue without hurting her feelings. The Earth won’t necessarily move, but they’re sweet little stories.

Young Star Wars fans will also appreciate that Angleberger’s inner fanboy is brightly on display in this book. It’s filled with Star Wars quote, doodles of Star Wars characters, and instructions on how to make Star Wars origami. I chuckled more than once.

There’s a teaser at the end of Darth Paper which suggests Angleberger will be back for more origami space antics, and after reading Darth Paper, I can say with absolute certainty that I’ll be back. These books aren’t Catcher in the Rye, but they’re heartfelt, and immensely enjoyable. Or as Origami Yoda would say…”Immensely enjoyable they are.”

RATING: 9/10

Front page image from starwars.com. Darth Paper image from origamiyoda.com. 

TITLE: Mega Man Tribute
FOREWARD BY: Hitoshi Ariga
ARTISTS: Various
FORMAT: Softcover
PUBLISHER: Udon Entertainment
LIST PRICE: $39.99
RELEASE DATE: August 10, 2011

By Justin Polak
Co-founder, Ambassador to the Mushroom Kingdom

My dad kicks ass. For most of my life, my dad has been ordering comics and memorabilia from the same comic book store. When I was younger, he ordered me the Archie Sonic the Hedgehog comics, for example. Inevitably, time flew on by and I got less and less free shit from my parents.

That’s why it came as a complete surprise to me that my dad handed me Mega Man Tribute, a whopping 300 page art book drawn by many people around the world. These people include everybody from recognizable talents to average Sniper Joe’s with a deviantART account. As someone who is completely in love with most Mega Man games, I dropped everything I was doing at the moment after my father handed me the book and looked through every page. I sure picked a good day to visit the folks!

The book opens with a foreword from manga artist Hitoshi Ariga. To sum things up, he points out that, in his opinion, each player who plays any Mega Man title has a unique experience through the games’ notorious difficulty. This leads to all players creating a vision of some sort which Ariga dubs “My Mega Man.” He then ties the “My Mega Man” ideal with the book by saying that the featured artists are sharing their own unique vision of how they carry Mega Man with them, and that perhaps you will find a similar “My Mega Man” within the pages ahead. Or maybe you’ll be interested with a vision that doesn’t match your own.

Despite how much I liked the spirit of the foreword, it didn’t matter to me, and I mean that in the best way possible. I honestly enjoyed every page in this art book. Sure, there were some interpretations that were downright weird, but I can’t deny that I enjoyed having my perception challenged. Plus, that’s to be expected with a wide variety of art styles. You name it, Mega Man Tribute has got it. There are pages that could pass for official artwork, anime flavored action, 3D art, parody pieces (both in universe and pop culture) and freaking handmade dolls! As the saying goes, that’s just the tip of the iceberg (you have no idea how hard it was to resist making a half-assed Ice Man pun there instead).

What surprised me about this book is how many Mega Man-related memories it brought up as I was flipping through its pages. Most of these memories weren’t necessarily about playing the games, either. I thought of the time a neighborhood buddy and I used to make up our own Mega Man adventures when we used to play outdoors as kids. I remembered that I used to dress in a blue sweat pants and shirt combo to express my love for the original series.

I also was reminded of something I completely forgotten. For years now, Mega Man 3 has inexplicably cued Led Zeppelin songs in my head. I’m not even a big fan of them! Turns out that I recalled that my father happened to be going through a Zeppelin kick around the time I was playing MM3 nearly every weekend when it first dropped (wow, remember when there was only three Mega Man games?). “The Battle of Evermore” often accompanied my ass getting handed to me in Wily’s castle.

I guess my ultimate point is that if a simple art book can conjure up lost memories, especially from a person that has an above average long term memory, it must be doing something right. I do have to warn potential buyers that most of the art is based off the original series, including the newer Mega Man 9 and Mega Man 10. Although the book advertises having artwork also based on Mega Man X, Mega Man Zero, Mega Man ZX and Mega Man Legends, there is only a decent chunk of MMX and MML art to be found, with very little MMZ and MMZX. The original series has always been my favorite branch of Mega Man, so that didn’t bother me a bit, but others may not be as pleased.

If you are like me, you’ll find complete enjoyment out of this wonderful art book. Mega Man Tribute shows just how much the blue bomber has impacted the world and stirred the imagination of many different kinds of people. Get out there, get your wallet ready and purchase this collection!

RATING: 10/10

Front page image and preview images from udonentertainment.com.

TITLE: Supernatural: Coyote’s Kiss
AUTHOR: Christa Faust
PUBLISHER: Titan Books
PRICE: $7.99
RELEASED: July 12, 2011

By Rob Siebert
Editor, Fanboy Wonder

This was a tough book for me to critique, for a very simple reason: I’ve never seen a single episode of Supernatural. I’m not opposed to the show at all. I’ve just never seen it. But I took it on because, for some strange reason, I’m sometimes curious to see if the author of a book like this can pull me in, even though I’ve never seen the show and have no clue who the main characters are. I think it’s an interesting test. Sometimes the author in question is able to do it, but mostly it doesn’t work out. Coyote’s Kiss falls into the latter category for the most part.

The premise of the TV show is that Sam and Dean Winchester, two brothers whose mother was killed by a demon, and are trained by their father to fight evil supernatural entities. They travel around the country doing just that. This book brings them to the Arizona/Mexico Border, as they investigate a series of brutal murders. They soon discover these deaths are the work of a Borderwalker, a creature which can travel between dimensions. The brothers are joined early on by a new female character, Xochi, who can certainly give them a run for their money in terms of fighting ability.

What I’ve read about this book, and how Faust’s writing relates to the show, indicates that she’s done a good job being faithful to the characters and their little quirks. But if that’s the case, I might be inclined to steer clear of Supernatural. Sam and Dean are basically two catalog models who make bad jokes. Xochi is sort of your typical native-to-the-area character who has all the connections, and helps point the brothers in the right direction. Faust tries to create sexual tension between Dean and Xochi, but it falls about as flat as the humor. In essence, the book read like a well-researched, fairly well written piece of fan fiction.

One thing I will give Faust credit for is her use of action. This book uses a surprising amount of gore in the action sequences, which could serve as a pro or a con depending on your tastes. Personally, I found the high intensity sequences to be a welcome break from the stale dialogue.

To me this book’s biggest flaw lays in the stale state of the interactions  between the characters. In truth, I actually dreaded having to pick it up, but forced myself to for review purposes. In the end, I’m going to cut this book a bit of slack, simply because I don’t know the universe it exists in, and I still don’t know the characters very well. But that’ll only get you so far with me. Still, I imagine Supernatural fans will enjoy the book, as that’s obviously the audience this book is going for.

RATING: 4.5/10

Cover image from zap2it.com.

TITLE: All Your Base Are Belong to Us: How Fifty Years of Videogames Conquered Pop Culture
AUTHOR: Harold Goldberg
PUBLISHER: Three Rivers Press
MSRP: $15.00
RELEASED: April 5, 2011

By Eric Stuckart
Creator, Destroyer

Gamers are a fickle crowd. After a couple of decades of being patronized, we’re a crowd of people that don’t like being pandered to or spoken down to in a manner that would further justify that pandering.

However, we’re also a crowd that tends to just as often almost — I said almost — deserve that very patronization that we so claim to despise. And while Harold Goldberg’s All Your Base Are Belong to Us does a wonderful and informative job of detailing some half a century of video game history, such is my biggest problem with the book.

I suppose that a problem like that is easily overlooked, but when you’re reading a book whose sole purpose — it says so on the cover — is to explain how video game culture was able to overcome all of the stereotypes and obstacles that were in its way, clunky dialogue that feels the need to reference video games in a way that’s unnatural and unnecessary doesn’t help.

One of the first and many occurrences of this take place in the prelude chapter. “I passed indistinguishable tall apartment complexes with ratty balconies like something out of Gears of War.” Really?!!? I dunno, maybe I’m being a jerk here, but I don’t really think of video game landscapes when I see things in real life. At least not in that sense. I mean, from time to time, maybe, but the bigger point is that I don’t need a bunch of quirky analogies thrown at me in order for me to tackle a three hundred plus page non-fiction book. Also, some of Goldberg’s stories venture into TMI territory just ever so slightly. I didn’t really feel the need to know that Rockstar Games’ Sam and Dan Houser were rambunctious and fought a lot as children. Perhaps it’s just me.

Fortunately, that’s the biggest issue I have with the content at hand, and there’s a ton to dive into. The histories of everything from the early days of Pong and Atari and the precursor to that, all the way to developer Chair Entertainment and their masterpiece downloadable title Shadow Complex get a very in depth treatment. Through the use of hundreds of interviews that took a few years to conduct, there’s a lot to be found within the pages of All Your Base.

Some readers may be turned off by Goldberg’s sometimes conversational style, which once again contradicts the goal to allow gamers and gamer culture to be taken with an air of seriousness, and he tends to overuse certain phrases. Part of me kind of wishes I had kept count of the word ‘crestfallen,’ because for a word that I’ve never heard people use often, it was very noticeable. Also, some may be equally turned off by the general lack of Eastern developers discussed in the book. Aside from a chapter on Nintendo and some very interesting back story on game designer Shigeru Miyamoto, there weren’t any chapters devoted to any other Japanese developers. At the end of the book, there were a great many stories that I was hoping to read.

That being said, I would have loved to read anything about Capcom, Squaresoft and Enix (in their early, pre-merger days), Konami or Sega, but for all I know, Goldberg could have tried to get a hold of those companies and failed. Either way, it’s a glaring omission to an otherwise very interesting read. Ultimately, I don’t think that All Your Base Are Belong to Us really explains how video games conquered pop culture; that’s a very lofty goal that I’m not sure gamers are yet able to achieve. And besides, the stories and information more than make up for that — occasional awkward dialogue notwithstanding — and that’s the important part.

RATING: 8/10

Photo of Goldberg from randomhouse.com, All  Your Base… meme image from the internet.

TITLE: If You Ask Me (And of Course, You Wont)
AUTHOR: Betty White
PUBLISHER: Putnam Adult
LIST PRICE: $25.95
RELEASED: May 3, 2011

By Rob Siebert
Editor, Fanboy Wonder

Like her or not (I’m not sure anyone hates her), Betty White is hot these days. A super bowl commercial, a Saturday Night Live gig, a sitcom in Hot In Cleveland, movies, and now a new book. At 89 years old, Betty’s on fire.

Unfortunately, this book is pretty high on fluff, at least from my perspective. Had they put me in charge of titling this book, I’d have gone with A Slice of Betty. For better or worse, that’s what this book is. You get a decent sense of who White is as a person. Some of this is accomplished through genuinely moving insights on life, but more of it is done with fluff, or stories about her Super Bowl commercial or life on the Hot In Cleveland set, and they really don’t amount to very amusing content. A lot of those stories end with something like “Oh, I’m so lucky,” or “They’re such good people!: That’s awesome, Betty. But it doesn’t necessarily make for good reading.

Image from buzznet.com.

What’s interesting is that Betty White has already written numerous books, both about her life and about her love for animals. So this book really only covers the things White has gotten publicity from lately. I’m guessing the publisher saw the opportunity and said: “Easy money!”

Still, the book does contain a few gems of awesomeness. When it starts, it’s essentially words of wisdom from Betty. For instance, she at one point talks about how your life can be enriched when you have numerous passions instead of one. That’s the kind of content I was hoping for from this book. Not a Betty White self help book, but a “this is what I’ve learned in 89 years” type thing. I think that would have been really inspiring. Instead, we get chapters about things like Betty meeting Koko the signing gorilla.

At 272 pages, the book is fairly short, and the chapters are only a few pages long. It’s harmless enough, but it could have been much more. White is a strong writer, but I have little doubt that this was yet another case of: “Hey! You’re a celebrity! Here’s a book deal! Let’s cash in on some of your recent publicity!”

Sorry Betty. The book’s got heart, but it’s not your best outing.

RATING: 5.5/10

Front page photo from screened.com.