Todd Klein's Blog, page 14

Incoming: ABSOLUTE PROMETHEA BOOK 1 2025 Reissue

Images © DC Comics

A new printing of this large, beautiful boxed hardcover has arrived here. It seems the same except for the replacement of the America’s Best Comics logos with DC ones. It’s the best edition of Promethea. Suggested retail price is $100, check your comics retailer or Amazon for details, release date is March 25, 2025.

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MR. TWIGG’S MISTAKE by Robert Lawson

Illustrated by the author

Mr. Twigg works in a factory that makes Bities breakfast cereal, which is mostly made of peanut shells, corn silk, and coffee grounds. It does have one unique ingredient they call Vitamin X, which the company says promotes growth and health. One day Mr. Twigg makes a mistake when mixing the ingredients, and all the Vitamin X for a large batch goes into one Bities box. That box ends up in the home of Arthur Appleton. He lives in a country house with his parents, and enjoys playing in the nearby fields.

Then Arthur finds a small creature that seems distressed and unable to move. He takes it home, where his father identifies it as a young mole. Arthur decides to make it a pet, and names him General De Gaulle. The mole is weak and hungry, and looking for something to feed him, Arthur opens and tries the box of Bities. A few flakes and some water satisfy the small mole, and his life as Arthur’s pet begins. But something strange is happening: General De Gaulle is growing more quickly and larger than any mole ever. Arthur and his Uncle Amory, a naturalist, figure out it’s the food, and eventually learn about the amazing growth properties of pure Vitamin X. The mole continues to grow well past a normal size, and he and Arthur have fun as the boy teaches him all kinds of tricks. Then they run afoul of a cranky neighbor, Mr. Snarple. When the mole starts digging into his garden, Snarple is determined to put a stop to it, and to General De Gaulle as well.

Fun story, great illustrations. I didn’t quite buy the ending, but otherwise it works well as a tall tale, and is often funny.

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My Music: PARTING THOUGHTS

Franceen and I married in May, 1973, and while we had some good times, the arguments and fighting grew to the point where neither of us was happy. In the summer of 1975, she moved out to live with some girlfriends across town. This song, written August 11, 1975, and recorded around 1978, expresses my feelings at the time. Parting Thoughts.

Franceen had worked for a while, then decided to go back to school. I was still working full time at Fedders Air Conditioning making installation and use manuals, but we were falling further into debt every month, so I took a second job at Builders’ Emporium, similar to Home Depot, in the evenings to try to catch up financially, photo above. I worked in the cash office and didn’t like it much, but it helped our bottom line. Once Franceen moved out, I gradually paid off our debts over the next two years. We divorced in 1976. She went on to new adventures, eventually moving to the Boston area and marrying again. I saw her occasionally when she was in New Jersey, but never regretted our split.

Parting Thoughts is © Todd Klein, all rights reserved.

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Rereading: GHOST LANE by Jane Louise Curry

Cover art by Victor Mays

A standalone British mystery, complex and interesting. Twelve-year-old Richard Morgan is spending the summer in the tiny English village of Gosford while his father rehearses and prepares for a role at the Glyndbourne Opera nearby. The two Americans soon make friends and get to know everyone in their village, and Richard is particularly fascinated with the large manor house where elderly Mr. Drew and his son George live. It’s full of rare and precious antiques collected by Mr. Drew’s deceased wife. Richard’s new friends, the only other children in the village, are young Nolly and his sister Fan, and the three are frequent tea guests at Goslings, Mr. Drew’s home. Then a series of odd events bring in the police, and Richard becomes an amateur detective to try to figure them out. Furniture has been removed from Goslings, but then found on the grounds outside. Nolly and his friends find evidence of a secret passage, and connections with a smuggling ring, but could Mr. Drew be involved?

Exciting, clever plot, and good characters and setting. Recommended.

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Rereading: THE SILVER STALLION by James Branch Cabell

Generally considered the third book in Cabell’s “Biography of Manuel,” my 1926 first edition copy is part of what became known as the Kalki edition because of the silver stallion in a circle on the covers and title pages. Many of these were later partially rewritten by Cabell, but not this one. It takes place in the years following the disappearance and presumed death of Manuel, as recounted in “Figures of Earth.”

In this book we learn more about the friends and close allies of Manuel, a group that, with him, formed the Fellowship of the Silver Stallion. We can assume that was Manuel’s horse, named Kalki, who was on his war banner. Once Manuel is gone, the Fellowship breaks apart, and we follow each member through the rest of their lives. Some go off to new wars and adventures in far countries, some remain alongside Manuel’s wife Niafer to help build Manuel’s legacy and found the cult or religion based on his memory and deeds, or at least the highly exalted version they tell. The tales are varied, interesting, and at times funny or tragic, and always imbued with Cabell’s witty insights into human nature. It has some parallels to the way Jesus’ legend may have been transformed by his disciples, or perhaps King Arthur’s story was enhanced by storytellers who didn’t know him, if he existed at all.

I enjoyed reading this, it felt new. I hadn’t read it since the Ballantine paperback edition of the early 1970s, and I suspect I wouldn’t have understood it as well back then. While the setting is medieval, Cabell brings us behind the curtains to show what the people involved were really like, each with their own strengths and flaws. A fine book and recommended. I regret I’ve never seen the later edition illustrated by Frank C. Papé.

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Rereading: THE COURT OF STONE CHILDREN by Eleanor Cameron

Cover art by Trina Schart Hyman

This 1973 novel by Cameron takes place in San Francisco of the present day, but the heart of the story is in France in the late 1700s.

Nina and her family have moved from a small desert town in eastern California to a tiny apartment in San Francisco, where her father was able to find accounting work after illness lost him clients where they were. Nina misses her old home town, especially the small museum where she used to help out. She can’t seem to make friends or fit in since the move, and she hates their apartment. Then a chance encounter in the park leads her to the French Museum, a private collection in a French villa moved and rebuilt here. Nina becomes friends with the museum staff, and soon has another friend, a girl she meets in the old villa rooms, Dominique. There’s something strange about Domi and her reactions to the world outside the museum, and Nina finally realizes Domi is a ghost. The ghost of a girl who lived in that old French villa with her family, and who is trying to solve a mystery surrounding her father, who was killed by Napoleon’s troops back in the day. Nina is soon swept up in this mystery too, and with her new friends, begins to delve into the history, though she can’t explain why she’s so interested without telling about Domi, which she’s afraid to do.

A fine book, beautifully written, wonderful characters, and fascinating historical story. Recommended.

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My Music: HEAVEN OR HELL

This song began as a wordless blues progression created with my Kansas City friends John and Sue in 1972. When I put a CD of that music together I called it “Good Times,” but I’m not sure that was something we called it then. It was fun to play on the guitar, even solo, and in 1974 I wrote these words for it: Heaven or Hell.

I recorded it around 1978. Wish I could still sing and play that well!

I’ve never been a very religious person. My parents were, especially my mother, and as a family we attended the Presbyterian church in Pluckemin, NJ when I was a child. I also went to Sunday School there until in my high school years I opted out of both except to join the family in church for holidays. My favorite thing about church was always the music. Later my parents and brothers joined a Baptist church and became “born again” Christians. I was asked to join there too, and declined, though again I did attend with the family once in a while.

While I am not without beliefs in things beyond the real world, they aren’t something that fits well with any organized religion that I know of. My favorite church has always been the great outdoors and the natural world. I did continue to enjoy sacred choral music and Christmas carols, and for many years a favorite event was “Christmas in Carol and Song” at Rutgers’ Kirkpatrick Chapel in New Brunswick. I had friends in the choirs there, too. If it’s a contradiction to enjoy singing songs about baby Jesus while not quite believing in his story, I guess that’s a typical human trait. In any case, I still feel the same way.

Heaven or Hell is © Todd Klein, all rights reserved.

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Rereading: THE GUARDIANS OF THE HOUSE by L. M. Boston

Cover and illustrations by Peter Boston

Another short book by Boston, this one features an old house full of strange and wonderful masks and statues that is no doubt based on her own ancient home near Cambridge, England, also the setting of her Green Knowe books, but this one is not directly connected to those.

Tom Morgan has moved with his family from the country to a housing estate where everything is too new and ugly. Everything but the old house at one edge of the estate, where only an old woman and her gardener live. Everyone thinks she’s a witch and the house is haunted, but Tom is determined to get inside to explore, and when both inhabitants go out, he sneaks in. Tom is amazed by all the statues and masks, some quite ancient, and three of them seem to beckon him to adventures in their homelands far away. Tom finds himself first in a jungle, then under the sea, and finally in a desert cave. Each place has dangers and strange stories to reveal.

As with all Boston’s work, beautifully written and recommended.

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Rereading: RINKITINK IN OZ by L. Frank Baum

Cover and illustrations by John R. Neill

The tenth Oz book by Baum is mostly about new characters, with Oz villain the Nome King and other Oz familiar characters only coming into the story in the last few chapters. One nice feature is a new map showing many of the countries around Oz for the first time, and the story takes place in several of them.

We begin on the small island of Pingaree in the Nonestic Ocean, which I think is loosely modeled on Hawaii. There Prince Inga and his parents, King Kitticut and Queen Garee enjoy a happy life. Pearl fishers on their coast find many fine pearls, which they take by boat to the mainland, where they trade them with the kingdom of Rinkitink for everything they need not found on their island. One day, King Rinkitink arrives on Pingaree for a visit, bringing his talking goat Bilbil, who he rides like a horse. Rinkitink is a fat, jolly man who loves to sing songs and make jokes. He’s left his kingdom secretly because he’s tired of his royal duties. The royal family of Pingaree is happy to host him.

Suddenly, Pingaree is attacked by a large fleet of boats full of warriors from islands further north, Regos and Coregos. Pingaree is caught unawares, and all the citizens and their riches are captured and taken away as hostages except for Prince Inga, Rinkitink, and Bilbil. Inga knows of some magic pearls that will help him rescue his people, and soon these three are off on a rescue mission, but even with magic help, can they overcome a vast army?

Fun story, I enjoyed rereading it, though Rinkitink’s songs and jokes are not as amusing as he and Baum think they are. Recommended.

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My Music: PLANTED

Todd at Monticello, VA May 1974

Franceen and I had married in May 1973. My high school friend Randy was my best man at the wedding. He was also my boss at the company co-owned by his father, and where Franceen also worked. As I was finding out, Franceen liked to stir up trouble, and she stirred it up between Randy and myself to the point where I decided I needed to work somewhere else. I cut my long hair and landed a job in the publications department of Fedders Air Conditioning in Fords, NJ, an easy drive from where we lived in Highland Park. I now had to wear a jacket and tie to work, and work was much less interesting, though I did get to use some of my art skills in creating air conditioner manuals. I felt kind of trapped in a corporate job with a bunch of older guys, and I was not happy about any of this. You can see it in my expression above, and in the song: Planted.

The song was written in January 1974 and recorded around 1978 in my living room, like most of what I’ve shared so far. At the end, you’ll hear some crowd sounds from this album, Environments 3. A Wikipedia article says: “The sounds of a spontaneous gathering in Central Park, April 6, 1969, with strolling musicians, dancers, anti-war protesters, and fragments of conversations.” I wasn’t there, but the album reminded me of similar gatherings I attended in Kansas City with friends in a park there. My recording has some unintended clicking and creaking sounds caused by an open mike that I didn’t notice until too late, but they’re a minor flaw I think.

Planted is © Todd Klein, all rights reserved.

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