Batman Chronicles volume 1 (Graphic Novel)

The Batman Chronicles is a volume of Batman comics originally published in the late 1930s-early 1940s. There are several comics with in this chronicle, I did not read all of them due to time, but I read about 5-6 of them. It is hard to summarize what happened in these comments so I will try my best.

In the first comic, Bruce Wayne is sitting with Commissioner Gordon at his home. Gordon receives a phone call that Lambert, a chemical king, has been murdered. Gordon asks Bruce if he wants to go with him and Bruce says sure why not. When they get to Lambert's home they find him dead and his son sitting there as a suspect. The son tells the story of how he found his father and tells them something his father said before he died. Gordon gets a phone call by a man who is in hysterics about someone threatening his life. Bruce tells Gordon that he sees nothing going on at Lambert's house, so he's going to go home. Suddenly Batman ends up at Steven Crane's house, the man who was being threatened, he is dead, however Batman shows up in time to catch the killer coming out of the house. Batman retrieves a piece of paper from the killer and goes to the destination he believes where the real killer is located. Batman appears and ends up saving the day by catching the mastermind behind the killings.

Each one I read it was basically the same story with just a different character. These early comics I found a bit funny because of the way they were written. It was as if he was thinking, oh I'll put this here and have him say this. This comic book was very colorful and easy to read. I have to say that Batman comics have come a long way since the 1930s and 40s.

At first I thought graphic novel meant that its pictures and writings were graphic, meant for mature audiences only. However, it was explained to me that graphic meant the graphics within the book. I realize that there are graphic novels out there that are extremely graphic, so it makes me wonder if those should be called something else or should normal comic books be shelved elsewhere in a library and a bookstore. I found the book I read in the graphic novel section at a bookstore. And despite there being murders and Batman beating guys up, I don't consider this "graphic," I consider it just a comic book. Didn't there used to be a section in the bookstore for comic books? Or have they all been in the graphic novel section?

Fiction recommendations:
Batman: the Dark Knight returns by Frank Miller
JLA: Justice for All by Grant Morrison

In sticking with the Batman theme, I recommend the titles above for further Batman reading.

Non-Fiction recommendations:
Understand Comics by Scott McCloud
Making Comics by Scott McCloud

These books are good for those people who don't quite understand comics and maybe by reading books on making them, it will give them a better insight on how they are made and why they are designed the way they are.

Death Note (4) by Tsugumi Ohba (Manga)

This was my first time ever reading a manga book. I honestly did not know what one was until about a year ago when a co-worker was reading one at lunch. Back then I had decided I'd probably never read one of those books. I am eating my words right now. I had this perception that this book was going to give me a headache and it was going to be difficult to understand. I received no headache and despite coming into the middle of the series, I managed to understand the book.

I went to the library to find this particular title, which had been recommended to me by my co-worker. Unfortunately, the library did not have the first volume, so I settled for volume 4. It was a bit difficult coming into a series not really understanding the storyline, but I caught on. In volume 4, L who works with the police is trying to figure out who has been murdering police officers and other people. He has chosen to do these things horrible things in order to rid the world of the violent criminals and create an ideal society, having the notebook allows him to do all these things. He believes it to be Kira and/or the second Kira. Kira is someone who is carrying this notebook that is basically the death note. All the Kira has to know is the name of the person and what they look like, once that is known they can write that person's death note in the notebook and they will die. This process is helped by what is called a Shinigami, which I interrupted as a demon who is attached to the Kira. L believes that the main Kira is one of the investigator's son, his name is Light. L includes him in on the investigation in order to get close to him and confirm his suspicions that Light is the Kira. Light discovers who the second Kira is, Misa Amane, basically a copycat Kira, he befriends her in order to throw L's suspicion off. Misa Amane, 2nd Kira, chooses to utilize the notebook after her parents were killed and there was an attempted attack on her life. L figures out that the two Kira's have joined forces in order to throw him off. Light's plan is to kill Misa and L, but Misa (2nd Kira) ends up helping Light Misa gives up her notebook, which gives up her Shinigami and her memory of the Shinigami but not her memory of Light. Light turns himself in saying he "thinks" he's the Kira. L has him arrested and discovers that no murders occur while Light is in jail. Light has buried the death note and with that the memories of his Shinigami, Ryuk, and Kira.

The series then continues in volume 5, which I have contemplated reading just to see what more begins to happen. It was a bit different reading this book from right to left, top right to left. This is a manga series that I highly recommend reading and that is coming from someone that until now has never read from this genre.

Recommended Fiction:
I'd recommend reading the beginning series of Death Note but I'm also recommending these two books.

Bleach by Tite Kubo
Naruto by Masashi Kishimoto

Recommended Non-fiction:
My Manga World by Jeannie Lee. This book shows you how to draw manga, this book might help someone who is unfamiliar with manga.

Manga for the beginner: everything you need to know to get started right away! by Christopher Hart