Over the last few weeks, I read, Wimbledon Green, a graphic novel by the cartoonist named Seth, or Gregory Gallant.
The story is about a world famous comic book collector named Wimbledon Green. Wimbledon was a smart and determined collector and had completed many sought after series of comic books in mint condition. Of course because of all of this success, Wimbledon had many rivals in the business that would stop at nothing to see Wimbledon Green go down. The plot revolves around a comic book that was supposedly gone missing, but was found after many years. Wimbledon Green and all the comic book collectors must retrieve this comic book before one another does, stopping at no costs, even risking each others lives. The quest is broken up between little snip its of information about who Wimbledon Green really is. A very similar looking Don Green is accused of being an alibi for Wimbledon, but he proclaims else wise. Wimbledon claims to be an H. Arbor Grove, but H. himself does not agree. The book is trying to find the missing comic, but to also solve the mystery of Wimbledon Green.
Before the book starts, a note from the author is written about the artwork of the novel. It basically says that the book was originally a sketchbook exercise that he was doing for practice, which eventually sprouted into a book. In my opinion, the artwork is very done for this novel. Although maybe not his best artwork, the style of cartoon and animated drawing is what caught my attention in the first place. The novel is about a dysfunctional grown man comic book collector, I think the humorous style of artwork compliments very well. Although I do like the artwork, because it lacked detail, much of the artwork is very basic, leaving out depth of a characters feeling. You couldn’t really see much beyond happy or sad. So yes they are communicated, but not to the level you would expect in a novel.
My favourite part of the graphic novel would be pages 82-89, about half of the way through. In this part of the novel, Wimbledon Green is chasing after a man working for one of his enemies. This man holds a very rare comic book vital to many collections. Wimbledon is chasing him down, using a walky talky to communicate with is assistant. What you see is another one of his enemies using a frequency machine to listen to wait Wimbledon is saying. The enemy in a car drives away thinking he’s so smart, little did he know Wimbledon knew he was following him, and set up fake instructions. Wimbledon switched to a new frequency and gave the assistant real instructions. Then, without the second enemy, Wimbledon then chases down the enemy to retrieve the book. This is my favourite part of the novel because it shows although he looks like a bumbling fool; he is quite a smart man who can easily trick his foes. I guess this is why they hate him so much
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Monday, January 5, 2009
Street Pharm-Allison van Diepen
Over the break, I read Street Pharm, by Allison van Diepen. This is about a boy named Ty Johnson, a drug dealer, who has to battle a mysterious new dealer to stay on top of the business. Not just in sales, in customers, partners and his own life.
The main character Ty is the detective of the story. Although not a typical crime novel where they need to find who committed the crime, Ty has to figure out who this new mysterious dealer and how to send him to the police. From the beginning, you could tell Ty was very smart, sociable and confident. He is the number one drug dealer around his neighborhood, with a sure-fire team and flawless plans for any situation. The business was brought down to him from his father Orlando who is in jail. Ty lives with his mom who seems to believe all the lies that Ty feeds to her about his life. She has always been against Ty’s father and his business and does her best to steer Ty away from getting into it (Too late). Ty believes that after grade 7, he had learned all that he needed from school and started to skip. He did not believe school would help him on the streets and thought he was ready as a businessman. The book starts off when Ty gets kicked out of his school, Sheepstead Bay High School, and would transfer to an alternative school, Les Chancellor Institute of Career Opportunities. At first Ty refuses to go, but with his mom on his case eventually he attends the classes. There he met Alyse. At first seeming like a wet blanket book worm, Alyse eventually turns into his love interest of the novel. The one thing about Alyse is that she doesn’t know about Ty’s business and finds out much later in the book. Outside of his education and business, not much is said about Ty. The only other piece of information that comes up often his the fact that he works out a lot.
As said in paragraph one, there is no act of crime, but the events of figuring out who the other dealer was, and what were his motives. Ty would be considered the detective of the story along with his (literal) partner in crime Sonny Blake. Ty also has Rob Monfrey, a friend who acts as a spy in exchange for drugs for Ty new and many customers that give little bits of knowledge. The first sign of the criminal is when Ty gets a call from Rob Monfrey about a new gang of guys interrogating him about his drug dealing connections. Ty did not think much of it at first, but this is the
first appearance of them. The second appearance was when Sonny called Ty to inform him their customer Carlos was jumped and this new gang was trying to run them out of business.
A message was suppose to be given to the top of the business, Sonny and Ty. The message was: “Darkman’s in town and he’s shutting us down.”
At this moment the only information known was the name Darkman. Rob Monfrey added that he had a big Miami corporation. After doing some investigations Ty fished out some more information: Late twenties, real name Kevin King, Miami crip connection, family is big in Miami drug scene, brought three guys with him from Florida and has a girlfriend named Leanne. The big question on Ty’s mind was why did Darkman come down to Brooklyn. Although he was in jail, Ty’s dad had more information on Kevin and called Ty. It turns out, when Orlando was in the business himself, Kevin’s older brother Max tried to take him out, but Orlando stopped him and sent him back to Miami. Ty thought Kevin would be there to avenge his older brother, but the truth of the matter was that Kevin was there to show up his brother and do the job that he couldn’t do.
Back at school, kids were talking about how famous singer K-Ron was in Brooklyn for a while. When Ty heard this, he was quite confused. K-Ron was an old friend of Ty’s and always called when he came to town. Not only a friend, K-Ron was a loyal customer to Ty, but when he offered up drugs to him, K-Ron turned him down which really confused Ty. That same day Rob Monfrey, still a double agent, confirmed that Kevin’s right hand man, Crow, and girlfriend, Leanne, were ready to take him out. Later on in the novel, Crow and Leanne actually help take out Kevin.
Although confused about K-Ron and his confusing actions, all were cleared up when Sonny called Ty to tell him that K-Ron was arrested by the police for drugs, and that he pointed out Sonny and Ty as his dealers. Although once his dealers, but not now, Ty then knew that Kevin had somehow got to K-Ron, probably with blackmail.
After being accused by the police, shot the week after, Ty had finally had enough of Kevin, and enough clues to make a move to get him arrested. From then on, the novel stops giving out clues and starts the actual plan to take out Kevin.
The three quotes that I have chosen are a testimony of Ty’s character These quotes verify who he is and how he acts upon situations in his life. The first quote is:
“Time management is everything. If a brother wanna get ahead, he gotta use every minute to better himself. Everything I did made me better-tougher, stronger, richer, smarter-or I didn’t do it.”
This quote shows that he is very goal driven and wants nothing but the best. I chose this quote because as the novel progresses, Ty’s “motto” is constantly reflected upon in the book as Ty handles the situation with Darkman. He never wastes time and is always on top of what he does. Even if it meant doing something he regretted along the way, Ty did what was best for him.
The second quote is:
“I used some of what I learned in that book to make up my own personal code.
1. Know your enemies. Understand them. Figure out their next move before they do.
2. Never show weakness.
3. Rely on number one, no one else.
4. Control your physical instincts. Don’t let anybody pressure you into sex or a fight unless you’re in control of the situation.”
This quote is one that goes into detail of the first. Not only does it further your knowledge of Ty’s goal driven mind, it also shows how strategic he takes life. All points of this code could be taken for a game strategy guide (except for the second sentence of the fourth point, but what matters is the first sentence). This personal code is repeated (in Ty’s head) numerous times and proves to people his street smarts intelligence.
The third and final quote is: “One good thing came out of it: I learned never to give up control again. Not for a day, an hour, a minute.”
This quote comes from a story Ty told about his personal experimentation of drugs. After having a negative outcome, he knew that in order to keep his life straight, he would stay away from using drugs. The quote presents a time when Ty did something that didn’t benefit him (See quote one). It also shows that he is not overconfident. A boastful and arrogant person would bend the truth and try to convince people that what he did was good. Ty realized the bad that came from this time, and learned from his mistakes, which proves he is a down-to-earth guy.
The main character Ty is the detective of the story. Although not a typical crime novel where they need to find who committed the crime, Ty has to figure out who this new mysterious dealer and how to send him to the police. From the beginning, you could tell Ty was very smart, sociable and confident. He is the number one drug dealer around his neighborhood, with a sure-fire team and flawless plans for any situation. The business was brought down to him from his father Orlando who is in jail. Ty lives with his mom who seems to believe all the lies that Ty feeds to her about his life. She has always been against Ty’s father and his business and does her best to steer Ty away from getting into it (Too late). Ty believes that after grade 7, he had learned all that he needed from school and started to skip. He did not believe school would help him on the streets and thought he was ready as a businessman. The book starts off when Ty gets kicked out of his school, Sheepstead Bay High School, and would transfer to an alternative school, Les Chancellor Institute of Career Opportunities. At first Ty refuses to go, but with his mom on his case eventually he attends the classes. There he met Alyse. At first seeming like a wet blanket book worm, Alyse eventually turns into his love interest of the novel. The one thing about Alyse is that she doesn’t know about Ty’s business and finds out much later in the book. Outside of his education and business, not much is said about Ty. The only other piece of information that comes up often his the fact that he works out a lot.
As said in paragraph one, there is no act of crime, but the events of figuring out who the other dealer was, and what were his motives. Ty would be considered the detective of the story along with his (literal) partner in crime Sonny Blake. Ty also has Rob Monfrey, a friend who acts as a spy in exchange for drugs for Ty new and many customers that give little bits of knowledge. The first sign of the criminal is when Ty gets a call from Rob Monfrey about a new gang of guys interrogating him about his drug dealing connections. Ty did not think much of it at first, but this is the
first appearance of them. The second appearance was when Sonny called Ty to inform him their customer Carlos was jumped and this new gang was trying to run them out of business.
A message was suppose to be given to the top of the business, Sonny and Ty. The message was: “Darkman’s in town and he’s shutting us down.”
At this moment the only information known was the name Darkman. Rob Monfrey added that he had a big Miami corporation. After doing some investigations Ty fished out some more information: Late twenties, real name Kevin King, Miami crip connection, family is big in Miami drug scene, brought three guys with him from Florida and has a girlfriend named Leanne. The big question on Ty’s mind was why did Darkman come down to Brooklyn. Although he was in jail, Ty’s dad had more information on Kevin and called Ty. It turns out, when Orlando was in the business himself, Kevin’s older brother Max tried to take him out, but Orlando stopped him and sent him back to Miami. Ty thought Kevin would be there to avenge his older brother, but the truth of the matter was that Kevin was there to show up his brother and do the job that he couldn’t do.
Back at school, kids were talking about how famous singer K-Ron was in Brooklyn for a while. When Ty heard this, he was quite confused. K-Ron was an old friend of Ty’s and always called when he came to town. Not only a friend, K-Ron was a loyal customer to Ty, but when he offered up drugs to him, K-Ron turned him down which really confused Ty. That same day Rob Monfrey, still a double agent, confirmed that Kevin’s right hand man, Crow, and girlfriend, Leanne, were ready to take him out. Later on in the novel, Crow and Leanne actually help take out Kevin.
Although confused about K-Ron and his confusing actions, all were cleared up when Sonny called Ty to tell him that K-Ron was arrested by the police for drugs, and that he pointed out Sonny and Ty as his dealers. Although once his dealers, but not now, Ty then knew that Kevin had somehow got to K-Ron, probably with blackmail.
After being accused by the police, shot the week after, Ty had finally had enough of Kevin, and enough clues to make a move to get him arrested. From then on, the novel stops giving out clues and starts the actual plan to take out Kevin.
The three quotes that I have chosen are a testimony of Ty’s character These quotes verify who he is and how he acts upon situations in his life. The first quote is:
“Time management is everything. If a brother wanna get ahead, he gotta use every minute to better himself. Everything I did made me better-tougher, stronger, richer, smarter-or I didn’t do it.”
This quote shows that he is very goal driven and wants nothing but the best. I chose this quote because as the novel progresses, Ty’s “motto” is constantly reflected upon in the book as Ty handles the situation with Darkman. He never wastes time and is always on top of what he does. Even if it meant doing something he regretted along the way, Ty did what was best for him.
The second quote is:
“I used some of what I learned in that book to make up my own personal code.
1. Know your enemies. Understand them. Figure out their next move before they do.
2. Never show weakness.
3. Rely on number one, no one else.
4. Control your physical instincts. Don’t let anybody pressure you into sex or a fight unless you’re in control of the situation.”
This quote is one that goes into detail of the first. Not only does it further your knowledge of Ty’s goal driven mind, it also shows how strategic he takes life. All points of this code could be taken for a game strategy guide (except for the second sentence of the fourth point, but what matters is the first sentence). This personal code is repeated (in Ty’s head) numerous times and proves to people his street smarts intelligence.
The third and final quote is: “One good thing came out of it: I learned never to give up control again. Not for a day, an hour, a minute.”
This quote comes from a story Ty told about his personal experimentation of drugs. After having a negative outcome, he knew that in order to keep his life straight, he would stay away from using drugs. The quote presents a time when Ty did something that didn’t benefit him (See quote one). It also shows that he is not overconfident. A boastful and arrogant person would bend the truth and try to convince people that what he did was good. Ty realized the bad that came from this time, and learned from his mistakes, which proves he is a down-to-earth guy.
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