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Book Expo America 2009 – Part 2

Reported by Linda Yau and Jilly Gee
Photographs by Linda Yau

Sorry for the epic delay, folks! Co-contributor Linda will find a way to verbally punish me, rest assured!

It was Friday through Sunday that the Exhibition Hall was open to attendees. Within the Exhibition Hall, attendees were able to see the appearances of authors and celebrities, all the while fighting through crowds of other people to get somewhere.

Weeks before the show, there was an announcement of which authors were set to be making appearances, and for this I was quite excited. There were big names, such as Julie Andrews. Mary Higgins Clark, Meg Cabot, and Nicolas Sparks, which were ticketed events that I didn’t get to see. However, there were about 40+ pages of authors actually appearing, so I was mostly in the Exhibition Room on Friday, waiting. Autographs were separated into “Traditional” and “In Booth” sections. I actually got to see Anthony Zuiker, creator of hit television show CSI. I also waited to see A.J. Jacobs, and let’s just say that I was really pleased to meet him. I also got to meet Marie Etienne, face to face for the first time. She is the author of a previous book I reviewed, Confessions of A Bipolar Mardi Gras Queen.
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Josei Review: Object of Desire

Object of Desire
Story and art by Tomoko Noguchi
Published by Luv Luv Press, imprint of Aurora Publishing
ISBN-10:  1934496499
ISBN-13:  9781934496497

Review by Jilly Gee

Object of Desire is a collection of five, short love stories for ladies; six, if you count the two-chapter one as two. Five different, unrelated stories, five different leading ladies, three of which are a little ditzy. For the lucky ladies who weren’t ditzy, the guys turned out to be cheaters. Actually, all of them were cheaters with the except of one. I suppose the theme of this graphic novel should be “boyfriends who are jerks”.

Kako wants a guy to admit that he only wants to have sex with her instead of going through the motions of being her boyfriend and trying to hurry their dates along so they can go to a hotel. She finally meets that guy! They have sex, they actually have an amazing date, he tells her about his girlfriend…

Atsushi is constantly sleeping around with women other than Atsuko, she’s even caught him at it, and yet she still clings to him and obsessively texts him. The conclusion may have been sweet, but the premise of this story just doesn’t make any sense. She has threatened to break up with him if he cheats on her, and he actually tries to hide this cheating from her despite the fact that he thinks she is annoying and doesn’t want to be her boyfriend in the first place.

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New York Comic Con 2009

Reported by Jilly Gee and Linda Yau
Photographs by Eric M. Chu and Linda Yau

First day of NYCC

After a very cold week in New York City, the Jacob Javits Center was host to the fourth New York Comic Con. Similar to San Diego’s Comic Con, NYCC is the East Coast’s representation of this American tradition. NYCC welcomes all types of fans, so there was programming suitable for industry professionals, video gamers, science fiction lovers, fantasy enthusiasts, Japanese animation, cosplayers, and even children.

This was the Journal of Lincoln Height’s first time attending the NYCC, which is also a companion con to the New York Anime Festival. Continue reading “New York Comic Con 2009”

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Yaoi Review: Oh My God! vol. 2

Oh My God! Volume 2
Story and art by Natsuho Shino
Published by Deux Press
ISBN-10:  1934496448
ISBN-13:  9781934496442

Review by Jilly Gee

I’m beginning to have doubts that any couple at all will come out of this series in the end, let alone Jade and Yuto.  Nothing has changed between them from the first volume to the end of this one, no closer to each other than they were before.  Individually, however, they have come to realize some things.  More than just the clingy puppy from the previous volume, Jade purposely tries to get Yuto to handle some things on his own, to test his theory that the boy does indeed have powers himself and maybe even to boost Yuto’s defenses.  Yuto, however, is a bit slower to catch on; while he did realize rather quickly how to purify the ball, he still wonders why it is that he is able to do so.  They had both better speed up their grand revelations a bit, seeing as how the mysterious enemy has realized that something is out there disrupting their plans and the minions have started menacingly throwing their muscle around.
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Yaoi Review: Mister Mistress vol. 2

Mister Mistress, vol. 2
Story and art by Rize Shinba
Published by Deux Press
ISBN-10:  193449643x
ISBN-13:  9781934496435

Review by Jilly Gee

While the first book in the series had Rei simultaneously torturing and pleasuring Fujimaru for the seemingly selfish reason of feeding himself the sexual energy he needs as an incubus and Fujimaru loudly proclaiming the injustice of having to do these things with another man, the second book has Fujimaru saddened that he is seemingly just food and nothing more to the incubus, and Rei actually looking at Fujimaru with concern and trying to find out what the boy is feeling.  More is revealed about Rei’s relationship with Fujimaru’s grandfather when Fujimarau, a little jealously, questions Rei about it.  Not only is their relationship getting delved into, so is the fantastical side of the plot as a succubus comes into the picture and reveals more of Rei’s past and threatens his future.
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Book Review: Free Radical

Free Radical
Written by Michael Myette
Published by Pemberton Mysteries
ISBN-10:  1563154161
ISBN-13:  9781563154164

Review by Jilly Gee

With funding for his experiments having been pulled and the closing of his lab coming up, Matthew Quinn worked non-stop for days to find out why his polymer kept the mice alive.  Even if more funding had been forthcoming, he still would have worked those sleepless nights and days; Quinn was a workaholic, driving his girlfriend further and further away.  When he finally figures out why the polymer works and how to do it without the nasty side effects, Tasha tells him she’s had enough and dumps him right before he is kidnapped on the orders of Vladimir Michinski, a businessman who hides his illegal dealings behind legimate businesses, wants to patent the forumula as his own.  Defying the weak scientist stereotype, Quinn escapes from Michinski’s men and keeps his formula, but loses his freedom, having to hide from both Michinski and the police when Michinski frames him for a murder.
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Comic Review: World of Warcraft: Ashbringer #1

World of Warcraft: Ashbringer #1
Written by Micky Neilson
Art by Ludo Lullabi and Tony Washington
Published by WildStorm

Review by Jilly Gee

The first of a four-part miniseries titled Ashbringer, this comic shows readers the life of Alexandros Mograine, starting from the time that he first picks up the object that would become part of the legendary Ashbringer sword.  Highlord Mograine worked with other humans and dwarves, trying to find a way to stop the Scourge and their plague from turning everyone into undead.  Not just a story about being all heroic and saving humankind, Highlord Mograine also has his faults, as a father who shows favortism, as a human who cannot separate the "not-as-bad" undead from the "really bad" undead and forces the same punishment on them all.
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Book Review: Animus

Animus
Written by Seonna Hong with Shenne Hahn
Images and story by Seonna Hong
Published by Baby Tattoo
ISBN-10:  0972938850
ISBN-13:  9780972938853

Review by Jilly Gee

Labeled as a "moving pictures book" on its cover rather than a "pop-up book" and closer to the size of a paperback than the more common textbook-sized pop-up books for children, Animus appeals to adults just as much as to children, maybe even more so.  Instead of the bright colors or sparkly extras seen in the children’s section of bookstores, the protagonist wears ordinary, easy-on-the eyes outfits and wanders around in a world with realistic, earthy colors.  Though the colors may not be fantastical, this does not make the book feel any less magical than other pop-up books.  As could happen only only in a Disney movie, the adorable little girl that is the main character is inexplicably friends with all the woodland creatures and shops in a quaint town that readers are unlikely to see likes of in this day and age.
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Yaoi Review: Kiss All The Boys vol. 3

Kiss All the Boys 3Kiss all the Boys, vol. 3
Story and art by Shiuko Kano
Published by Deux Press
ISBN-10:  1934496456
ISBN-13:  9781934496459

Review by Jilly Gee

The good news is that Tetsuo is no longer impotent.  The bad news is that it’s thanks to his feelings for Tamaki, the same guy his son, Haruka, likes.
 Some more good news is that Tamaki returns Tetsuo’s feelings.  Some more bad news is that Haruka finds all this out in the worst way, by interrupting their spontaneous groping and fondling session in the middle of the living room. Continue reading “Yaoi Review: Kiss All The Boys vol. 3”