Spy vs Spy: An Explosive Celebration
by Antonio Prohías; ed. John Ficarra (Liberty Street, 2015)
Hardcover, 250+ pages, featuring newly colourised versions of Antonio Prohías’s classic Cold War espionage gag strip (plus newer material by Peter Kuper and one-off Spy vs Spy illustrations by various artists). A beautiful collection, though somewhat overpowering when taken in large doses.
Mr Browser and the Mini-Meteorites
by Philip Curtis; ill. Tony Ross (Andersen, 1983)
Though Spiky Jackson is nominally the protagonist, Curtis treats the entirety of Chivvy Chase School as one communal character. In this instance the alien invasion threat is thwarted due to adult intervention—inherently something of a let-down. Tony Ross’s illustrations add pep.
Classroom Peanuts
by Charles M. Schulz (Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 1982)
A 200-page large-format compendium, five black-and-white dailies or one colour Sunday per page. Peppermint Patty and Sally feature most often, and school is where Sally is at her funniest. Given how wearisome themed collections can be, this one holds up remarkably well.
A Necklace of Raindrops
by Joan Aiken (Doubleday, 1968); audiobook read by Lizza Aiken (ABC Audio, 2016)
A collection of short stories for very young children. Aiken employs the same sort of text repetitions often seen in picture books, and structures her tales around wondrous impossibilities strung from matter-of-fact child logic. Lizza Aiken’s narration captures the dreamy storytelling essence.
The House that Sailed Away
by Pat Hutchins; ill. Laurence Hutchins (Greenwillow Books, 1975)
The title promises hijinks and adventure, and the book is certainly written as if it’s funny… but the sardonic mother-in-law jibes grow quickly old, and Hutchins hardly covers herself in glory by portraying Mother as a pitiable lump of vagueness and domesticity.
Poirot Investigates
by Agatha Christie (The Bodley Head, 1924); audiobook read by David Suchet (HarperAudio, 2012)
Poirot is well suited to the short story form—a less faceted character than Holmes but more endearing and also more inclined to solve cases from the evidence at hand. Hastings, however, narrates like Bertie Wooster and makes a poor Watson substitute.
Doctor Who: The Masque of Mandragora
by Louis Marks; dir. Rodney Bennett (BBC, 1976)
Tom Baker is in fine fettle as the Doctor swashbuckles around a rather small-looking historical adventure, countering an alien threat that he himself has enabled. Elisabeth Sladen brings matchless nuance to her performance. Giuliano narrowly survives a foreshadowing of Blackadder’s Lord Percy.
Mr. Pump’s Legacy
by Hergé; trans. Leslie Lonsdale-Cooper & Michael Turner (Methuen, 1987) [from Le Testament de Monsieur Pump, 1951]
![Book cover: “Mr. Pump’s Legacy” by Hergé; trans. Leslie Lonsdale-Cooper & Michael Turner (Methuen, 1987) [from Le Testament de Monsieur Pump, 1951]](https://www.derelictspacesheep.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Herge_Mr-Pumps-Legacy.jpg)
Hergé’s children’s adventure series opens here with a comedic salvo (a four-page cameo from the speed-obsessed Mr. Pump) before settling into the improbable thriller/action sequences and manifold lucky escapes that dominate early Tintin volumes. Eyebrows raise at such derring-do from pre-teen protagonists.
Sunset at Blandings
by P.G. Wodehouse (Chatto & Windus, 1977; revised Everyman’s Library, 2015)
The final, unfinished Wodehouse novel. Much like Pratchett’s ‘The Shepherd’s Crown’, the un-fleshed-out text stirs memories of what was, while throwing light on the authorial process. In this instance, Plum-worship has led to the adding of copious and mostly inconsequential third-party annotations.
Murder on the Ballarat Train
by Kerry Greenwood (Penguin, 1991); audiobook read by Stephanie Daniel (Bolinda, 2009)
As with ‘Flying Too High’, the mystery is not so much solved as forced to recognise the unstoppable poise and authority of Miss Phryne Fisher. An easy read of historical interest and with characters made even more memorable by the TV series.