Christopher Baldwin

Gothic romance novel fans or anti-fans will get a kick out of the satire and fun in this quick paced and original graphic novel.

Haley loves gothic romance novels and catches negative comments for it at school. When she dives in a river to save a drowning man, she enters a parallel universe...one just like her novels. While she's convinced, at first, it's her gothic romance dreams come true, things take a slightly different twist. Soon, she's not only dealing with rifts through the universe show more but an evil, which she has no clue how she can defeat.

Although I read the blurb, this read still was anything but expected. Haley is a wonderful character—overly dramatic, a true dreamer, and yet, a carries a bit of bite when needed. Her 'over-the-top' way of seeing life is endearing and funny, especially when the other characters flow in totally different directions of their own. Every one is ridiculous, and still, it's hard not to cheer for them the entire way through.

The illustrations are well done and make the tale very easy to follow. They add all the drama and settings needed to make this novel work. They allow the extreme moments and humor to wiggle its way into the drama nicely. I enjoyed flipping through these.

This is an odd tale and did make me raise an eyebrow more than a few times. So, don't expect normal because this is not it. The science fiction additions twist the satire in very original directions...and yet, it's addictive. Even when I really wondered about several twists, I didn't want to put this one down because I was curious what would happen next. show less

Spacetrawler tells the tale of six humans who have been kidnapped by aliens. You see, the galaxy is run by the Galactic Organizational Body. Earth has a seat on this congress, but it is unclaimed as we humans are not yet a space faring race. In fact, the entire solar system has been declared off-limits by the G.O.B. because we lack the advanced technology to join them. The G.O.B., on the other hand has loads of advanced technology--almost all of it created by a race called the Eebs. You'd show more think that would make the Eebs the masters of the galaxy. Wrong. Legally, Eebs are classified as "less than sentient" and thus are slaves to the rest of the galaxy. Most beings are cool with that, but you have a few with a higher morality. Some of them have banded together as Interplanet Amity and are fighting for species equality and justice. They're not doing too well. That's why they kidnapped the humans. Amity hopes that the humans can adopt the role of Earth's representatives, claim the planet's seat on the G.O.B. and lobby to get the Eebs declared as sentient.

In The Human Seat, things don't go as planned.

Why do I love the book? Probably because it's like the Marx Brothers in space. Well, maybe not quite that crazy. The story does go along peppered with jokes and hijinks. But there's also a dark edge to the series that cuts the laughter short from time to time. Even so, I want to keep reading to find out what happens next.
--J. show less

A farcical tweaking of gothic romance and steampunk that amused me with its nonsense and silliness. Amongst the many characters who become endearing despite their annoying personalities, the housekeeper is one to watch.

It sort of reminded me of Don Rosa's Uncle Scrooge books in looks and tone.

A sequel to possibly the funniest graphic novel of 2021! In this one, the Willowweep universe takes in some refugee characters from a cozy 1930s mystery universe—something like if Agatha Christie were collaborating with P.G. Wodehouse. More characters, more genre. Still very funny!