Three new illustrated books: LEWSER!; BOG BODIES; I WISH

LEWSER!: More Doonesbury in the Time of Trump
GARRY B. TRUDEAU
Andrews McMeel Publishing
$16.99 oversized paperback, available for pre-order

Rating: 3.75* of five

The Publisher Says: A mirthful and merciless skewering of the Trump administration from the senior statesman of political cartooning, Garry Trudeau.

From the Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist whose acclaimed Yuge!: 30 Years of Doonesbury on Trump blew up the bestseller list, G.B. Trudeau's third (and final?) collection of Doonesbury Trump cartoons takes readers through the dark heart of Trump's presidency and into 2020 election mania. Including two years' worth of original Doonesbury Sundays, full-color spreads, and 18 previously unpublished strips, the completion of Trudeau's Trump trilogy arrives just as the 2020 election is in full swing.

I RECEIVED A DRC OF THIS TITLE FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA EDELWEISS. THANK YOU.

My Review: You already know if this book is for you. If you voted for 45 (why are you reading my reviews, for a start) you shouldn't even acknowledge it exists. If you didn't vote at all, pre-order it immediately for July delivery. If you didn't vote for 45, but voted, well...do you like banging your fingers in filing-cabinet drawers? Do you laugh at car wrecks? Your jam awaits.

For my part, I'm just thrilled that Garry Trudeau still has the mental and visual acuity to mirror that which is painfully obvious in terms both amusing and enlightening. Even though it's a bit much taken all together. Maybe space out the read.

In a cartooning career spanning decades of political chicanery, I don't think Garry Trudeau's ever had a target-rich environment like this one. Even Nixon, as horrendous a person and a president as he was, couldn't match this "administration" for vileness. His appointees, while evil, weren't incompetent and downright stupid like 45's are. Well, you either know that or reject knowing that already; this isn't a sophistic enterprise but a tendentious one. You've been informed. Decide according to your prejudices what to do about buying the book.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

BOG BODIES
DECLAN SHALVEY (writer); GAVIN FULLERTON (artwork); REBECCA NALTY (colorist)
Image Comics
$12.99 oversized paperback, available for pre-order

Rating: 4* of five

The Publisher Says: An Irish gangster on the run after a job gone wrong stumbles upon a young woman lost in the Dublin mountains. Injured and unarmed, the unlikely pair must try to evade their pursuers and survive the desolate bog that has served as a burial ground for unspeakable murder throughout history. DECLAN SHALVEY (INJECTION, SAVAGE TOWN) and GAVIN FULLERTON (Bags) deliver a cold and poignant story of crime, survival, and regret.

I RECEIVED A DRC OF THIS TITLE FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA EDELWEISS. THANK YOU.

My Review: This May 20, 2020, release from Image Comics is deeply Irish, using lots of Irish cuss words and ones we in the US think of as swear words...ladies in the audience, "cunt" does not mean the same thing in Ireland!...which you'd do well to consult the Urban Dictionary about as you run across them.

The flat, brutal art and the dark, flat colors are a fine tonal match for the story of Killian, a small-time wise guy and a major fuck-up whose rope has finally run out. The son of a murdered gangster, he followed in his dad's footsteps without the talent for it. It has led to the moment in this story, a brutal life's summation and judgment; it's a morality tale, of course, but it's got a few little grace notes. Is there some hope for Killian in the afterlife, after the major cock-up that's led him to his end?

Mad Maureen, the old woman who lives in a conveniently remote place, is a sheer delight. Her weird world, the one her nephew Keano...aging in an unforgiving world as "the Bishop"'s enforcer...has made for her. It suits. It really suits. Madness is always lonely; Maureen's isn't. She has plenty of company courtesy of Keano and the Bishop.

So at the end of the story, all the chickens come home to roost. There's closure. It's like the closure of a coffin lid, yes, but it's not less satisfying for all that. What it isn't is, well, conventional.

If you're up for a dark and cruel story of consequences and simple but brutal endings, this is your noir jam. Apart from the Irish-slang issues, it's a good solid crime read.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

I WISH
TOON TELLEGEN (poetry); INGRID GODON (artwork); DAVID COLMER (translation)
Elsewhere Editions
$14.00 ebook, $22.00 hardcover, available now

Rating: 4* of five

The Publisher Says: Bestelling Dutch children's author Toon Tellegen matches 33 imaginative prose-poems prompted by the statement "I wish" with luminous, old-fashioned portraits by Ingrid Godon in this beautiful, unique volume perfect for thoughtful young readers.

I Wish pairs writing with a gallery of portraits inspired by old-fashioned photographs - faces staring out at us with the serious, veiled expressions of a bygone time. Scattered among the paintings are young children, men and women, and babies, speaking through Toon Tellegen's yearning language. Like dozens of confessions poured from the page, the writing presents a glittering kaleidoscope of wishes, from imagined feats of heroism to reciprocated human love.

I RECEIVED A DRC OF THIS TITLE FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA EDELWEISS. THANK YOU.

My Review: Toon Tellegen is a Dutch poet whose work I've liked (Letters to Anyone and Everyone was a hit with me, illustrated by Jessica Ahlberg instead of Ingrid Godon's artwork inspiring Tellegen as in this book), aimed at younger readers though it is. Permaybehaps that's why I liked it from the moment I discovered it, come to think on it; unlike most poetry, it isn't gawdawful pit-sniffing slef-absorbed and -referential narcissism and condescension. It conveys its message simply and directly, though that message is subject to the reader's interpretation. The two pieces below will demonstrate that the knowledge one brings to the read will shape the poem's meaning.

CARL
I have a little list of conditions I have to fulfill to be satisfied with myself. When I read that list, I think, there are two things I can do: either make a list that's even shorter or never be satisfied with myself. What should I do?

JULIA
When I'm sad I always think: and the saddest is yet to come... Then, besides being sad, I'm scared too.
Why do I do that?
When I'm happy I never think:
and the happiest is yet to come...
When I'm happy, I'm always just
happy.

An adult reader will sense different layers of meaning; your twelve-year-old niece will feel understood, most likely, and thus happily seen and heard. It's a wonderful gift to be given at that age. Feeling seen is a jolt, an emotional high, for adults who can command it in so many more ways than a tween can. This book is for that tween, to elicit the joyous sense of release that is Existing in the World.

Don't hesitate: This moment, this quarantined and isolated moment, is the perfect time to give this gift to the young person in your life.

And, if I'm fully honest, yourself as well.