IRONWOOD: A CATALINA NOVEL (audiobook) by Michael Connelly

Published in 2026 by Little, Brown, and Company.
Read by Will Damron.
Duration: 7 hours, 45 minutes.
Unabridged.

Ironwood is the second novel featuring Los Angeles County Sheriff Detective Sergeant Stilwell. He is in charge of the Sheriff's office on Catalina Island, twenty two miles out from mainland Los Angeles County. The island has about 6,000 permanent residents and hundreds of thousands of tourists every year. 

While Catalina is a beautiful place, a sheriff department posting on the island is often considered to be a punishment of sorts and the department jokes that deputies on the island are posted on "the island of misfit toys." Stilwell is sent there as a punishment, but has found a new life on the island. He is living with a local woman and is getting a real feel for rhythms and politics of the island.

The story starts with a three deputies waiting for a plane to make a surreptitious middle of the night landing. A deputy who was recently posted on Catalina received a tip from a mainland conidential informant that a Mexican drug cartel plane would be making an illegal quick landing on the island's lone landing strip. When the deputies move in to make the arrest, all hell breaks loose and Stillwell's two deputies are gunned down...

My Review

One of the best things about the Catalina novels is that they are big city crime novels and small town crime novels at the same time. Stilwell is looking into vandalism cases while also investigating a murder. This book has five different cases at various phases of development going on at the same time. Some are very local, some involve the mainland.

A Sheriff's Jeep on Catalina Island

Stilwell ties in to the larger Harry Bosch universe. I can't think of a single Connelly book that is not at least indirectly tied in to that universe, but I may be wrong. In this novel, Stilwell stumbles across evidence that reopens a cold case with Renee Ballard's team. 

I don't want to make any spoilers in a police procedural book, so I won't go on about the plot. The book is well-paced and enjoyable. I listened to the whole audiobook at a very brisk pace. I intentionally slowed myself down and took a break for almost an entire day because this book just came about and there won't be another Connelly book for a while. 

I rate this audiobook 4 stars out of 5. Very enjoyable as an audiobook.

This audiobook can be found on Amazon.com here: Ironwood: A Catalina Novel by Michael Connelly. 

FREEDOM FIGHTERS: RISE of a NATION (graphic novel) by Robert Venditti (Author), Eddy Barrows (Illustrator)

Published in 2020 by DC Comics.

SYNOPSIS

Freedom Fighters takes place on Earth X - the part of the DC multiverse where the Nazis won World War II. In this case, Superman landed in 1930s Czechoslovakia and became part of the Nazi military machine. 

Not much can stand up to the might of Superman, so the Allies fell.

In the early 1960s the last bit of American resistance died when the last American superheroes were captured and later executed on live television. When Americans stop believing in freedom, Uncle Sam disappears from Earth and goes to a netherworld called The Heartland - the extradimensional realm of ideas.

The Nazis move their headquarters to the United States and use their genetically modified squad of SS men to terrorize the population. These new SS men have all taken an injection that shortens their lives but makes them into clones of the original Plasticman. They are know as PlaSSticmen. 

But, a new generation of superheroes is determined to reignite the spirit of freedom by starting a new resistance movement to push the Nazis out of America and eventually liberate the planet...

My Review

This graphic novel seems like a great idea, but the actual graphic novel leaves so many logic holes that it doesn't even make sense following its own comic book rules.

****Warning - lots and lots of spoilers.

The whole concept of Uncle Sam just fading away like a Star Wars force ghost ony to return later has its own internal logic problems. He fades away on the night of the executions because the ENTIRE population of America loses its faith in the spirit of freedom. It has to be that the entire population 100% loses its faith because long after he has faded away he is stirred back to life by the belief of just a few people, much like Tinker Bell. 

Why did he ever disappear? He is powered by the people's belief in an American ideal. They can believe in these ideals even while they are under military occupation by a foreign power.

When Uncle Sam is awakened he laments that his friends have all died and been buried like he was. They are a lion (England), a bear (Russia), a fighting bull (Spain), a beaver (Canada), and so on.

Why are they all animals and if they are all animals, why isn't Uncle Sam an eagle, or at least be able to take the shape of an eagle? After all, the UK also has a human representation - John Bull.

Also, the artist's drawing of a fighting bull makes it clear that he has never laid eyes on a fighting bull. It looks more like a horse with elephant tusks coming from its head rather than the truly fierce-looking fighting bull.

Where is there no German character to take its place among Uncle Sam and the Russian bear and the Canadian beaver? Is this living avatar of a country's spirit only a thing that the Allies get? If that is the case, why would Spain have a fighting bull in this graveyard? After all, Spain was a nominal ally of the Axis powers during World War II (Spain stayed neutral because they were so weak after the Spanish Civil War that put the fascists in power that Hitler figured the Allies would invade Spain and use Spain to invade the rest of Europe. Hitler told them to lay low and join the Axis powers later.)

Why do all of the PlaSSticmen speak with a German accent? They are supposed to be American volunteers that turn into physical clones of the original Plasticman - why would they suddenly become Germans?

Why would the Nazis move their headquarters to the United States? They were turning Germany into a 1,000 year Reich to dominate the world from GERMANY. That was pretty much the point of starting World War II. 

*****End spoilers

I really was expecting a lot more from this graphic novel. The same writer wrote the Superman 78 series and I liked it quite a bit.

I rate this graphic novel 2 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: Freedom Fighters: Rise of a Nation.

AMERICAN RAMBLER: WALKING the TRAIL of JOHNNY APPLESEED (audiobook) by Isaac Fitzgerald

Published in 2026 by Random House Audio.

I am a fan of books where the author goes on a journey and tells me about what he or she found along the way. I've followed authors on a bicycle journey from England to India, a hike from Mexico to the Darian Gap in Panama, a motorcycle journey around the borders of Chinese Turkestan, a run with a stray dog in the Gobi desert, and a drive along historic Route 66. 

I know I won't get to all of these places, but these authors have and I can learn from them.

However, I have been to the grave of Johnny Appleseed in Fort Wayne, Indiana so I was interested in seeing what else Isaac Fitzgerald could tell about the travels of the legend of Johnny Appleseed/Chapman.

Synopsis

In American Rambler, Fitzgerald starts with a two day hike in the area where John Chapman was born near Leominster, Massachusetts. It was a rough hike, but Fitzgerald basically finished it, with a little help from his parents. He then decides to truly look into Johnny Appleseed and explore the areas where he lived and traveled throughout his entire life. At first, he considered doing it mostly on foot, but he decided that he simply isn't that dedicated of a hiker. 

With the help and advice of his girlfriend, he buys a jeep and starts to explore different areas that are associated his Johnny Appleseed - a site with a tree that he actually planted, an area where he lived for a while, various Johnny Appleseed festivals, a minor league baseball team with a Johnny Appleseed-based mascot, and several stops with friends, and a lot of stories about his parents and his chaotic upbringing. 

My Review

Johnny Appleseed's grave in Fort Wayne.
It is surrounded by apple trees and visitors
pick apples and place them on the grave.
Photo by DWD

I liked the Appleseed-related material, but I quickly grew tired of all of the details about the author's personal life. I had never heard of the author, so when I started listening I assumed that he was a first time author and his editor didn't care enough to talk him into paring down his prose to make the book flow better by cutting out a bunch of the personal stuff.

Turns out that Fitzgerald is actually a minor celebrity - a regular contributor to the Today Show, a regular writer for barious publications, and the author of four books before this one.

He tried to tie in his personal stories to the Appleseed narrative, but I found the connections to be weak at best and found myself wishing he'd get back to the rambling along the trail of Johnny Appleseed that the title promised.

I rate this audiobook 3 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: American Rambler: Walking the Trail of Johnny Appleseed. 

STAR TREK / LEGION of SUPER-HEROES by by Chris Roberson (Author), Jeffrey Moy (Artist)

Published in 2013 by IDW Publishing.

Synopsis

In one universe, a team from the DC Comic's Legion of Super-Heroes are travelling through time (as they do), returning from another successful mission.

In another universe, the crew of the Enterprise NCC-1701 is safely in spacedock above Earth, looking to get in a little maintenance and shore leave. The bridge crew is beaming down to San Francisco together.

Suddenly, a space/time event happens (as it does from time to time on Star Trek) and the two groups find themselves in a different universe where Earth is the home planet for an evil galactic empire with a familiar face as its leader.

Brainiac 5 and Spock meet and come up with the science to make things right - but it will require a lot of luck and the kind of derring-do that a team of superheroes and Star Fleet officers just might be able to pull off...

My Review

Star Trek / Legion of Superheroes was a fun kind of throw away story. I didn't get the inside jokes and comments from the DC Comics side of things because I was, until I read this graphic novel, completely unaware of the Legion of Super-Heroes. I am sure I had seen their name before, but I figured they were just a repackaging of other, more well-known superheroes into yet another combination with a new name. 

I was kind of surprised that Star Trek let their first team of characters be included in a graphic novel that included less well-known characters. Let's face it, Kirk, Spock, and McCoy have been the face of Star Trek for 60 years. In their franchise, they have to be the equivalent to at least an appearance by Batman, Superman, or Wonder Woman. Maybe even Flash or Green Lantern. 

Still, it was an okay read. Not amazing, not bad.

I rate this graphic novel 3 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: STAR TREK / LEGION of SUPER-HEROES by by Chris Roberson (Author), Jeffrey Moy (Artist)

PLANET of the APES: VISIONARIES (graphic novel) by Rod Serling (Author), Dana Gould (Author), Pierre Boulle (Creator), Paolo Rivera Chad Lewis (Illustrator)

Published in 2018 by BOOM! Studios.

When I was a kid the local independent TV station used to show movies on the weekends. They showed lots and lots of different movies, but they had a few movies that they showed on what must have been a regular schedule. One of those was the Clint Eastwood spaghetti Western franchise that began with The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. Another was the Planet of the Apes movie franchise. 

I liked the Clint Eastwood movies, but 8 year old me was enthralled at the sight of the gorilla militia soldiers on horseback with the assault rifles. They blew my mind! And the Statue of Liberty ending! Wow! Cool gorillas and a blow your mind ending! Plus, Zira and Cornelius were so smart and so funny! I was hooked!

It didn't bother me that the rest of the series failed to live up to the first movie - I watched them all whenever I could. 

The original novel has parts that are similar to the original movie except that the ape world is modern with cars, planes, televisions, and the like. In the book the astronaut is not shocked by the sight of the ruins of the Statue of Liberty. Instead, he is startled by the sight of the ruins of the Eiffel Tower.

This graphic novel follows the original script that Rod Serling wrote for the Planet of the Apes movie. The original plot to the first Planet of the Apes movie was much more like the book (but it was the still has the Statue of Liberty at the end.) They had to change the movie quite a bit due to budgetary restrictions. This was a pre-CGI world - if you wanted a modern city full of apes, you would have to make all of those expensive costumes for all of those paid actors. This was simply not going to happen in the budget for some wild science fiction movie with monkey outfits.

If you like the first and third movies in the original movie series, you will enjoy this graphic novel. I enjoyed it thoroughly. 

I rate this graphic novel 5 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: PLANET of the APES: VISIONARIES.

WASHINGTON'S GAY GENERAL: THE LEGENDS and LOVES of BARON von STEUBEN (graphic novel) by Josh Trujillo (Author), Levi Hastings (Illustrator)

Published in 2023 by Harry N. Abrams.

If you are a student of the American Revolution, you know who Baron von Steuben was. His complete name was Friedrich Wilhelm August Heinrich Ferdinand Freiherr von Steuben, and the title of Baron was most likely an exaggeration. 

If you are unfamiliar, he was a European military officer who was sort of bumming around Europe looking for a gig. He had been with the Prussian military for 17 years and had done well for himself, working his way up to the point where he was an aide-de-camp to Frederick the Great of Prussia. He had worked on creating a unit that might be considered a percurser to today's special forces because of its intense training.

But, court politics pushed him out.

Part of Benjamin Franklin's mission to France was to find competent military officers to come to the newly formed United States and help Washington create an army out of the volunteers. Sometimes, Franklin got swindled, but with Baron von Steuben he got an officer who was way better than anyone expected.

Baron von Steuben was the real deal. He found Washington during that horrible winter at Valley Forge and was appointed the Inspector General of the Continental Army. He went to work and helped train the men he found there into an actual respectable army. He cleaned up the camp based on what he knew from multiple campaigns as part of the Prussian army - latrines, organized cooking areas, standards for cleanliness, etc. 

Then, he trained the men how to properly handle take verbal commands, march, handle their weapons, fire artillery, and more. He wrote the actual handbook that the U.S. military used, at least in part, for the nearly 70 years.

All while not speaking a word of English. Also, all while being gay.

Yes, there have been gays in the U.S. military since the beginning. Baron von Steuben and his entourage of young men (who translated for the Baron) came in and got the U.S. army straight (pun intended.)

This graphic novel biography of the Baron does a thorough job of telling the details of his life, but does not gloss over his sexuality since it is an important part of his career in the Prussian military (there were a lot of gay leaders in what was undoubtedly the most powerful military in Europe at the time) and the reason he was released from a position he held with the tiny Principality of Hohenzollern-Hechingen (they were not so fond of homosexuality) right before he headed for America. 

The graphic novel often becomes an exploration of being gay in the 1700s and 1800s. At first, this irritated me a bit. I was wanting to get into the story of Baron von Steuben and the Continental Army much quicker. 

But, when I looked back at it, I realized that I learned about a lot of people that I had no idea were gay and that, for some of them, this was a major news to me -a a person that has actively read history for decades. For example, young Frederick the Great of Prussia and John and Abigail Adams' son Charles. In the case of Charles. I knew that he had died at the age of 30, but what I had read described Charles as just a hopeless drunk that died from alcoholism.

This graphic novel implies that Charles Adams died from a broken heart because his father forcibly ended his relationship with the son of Hercules Mulligan (featured in the musical Hamilton) when a bit of research told me that he likely died from a lung infection like TB.

I was going to rate this graphic novel 4 stars out of 5 because it kept wandering away from the topic of Baron von Steuben. But, I learned so much when the book did this that I realized that that what I thought was an annoying waste of time was actually very educational. I rate this graphic novel 5 stars out of 5.

This graphic novel can be found on Amazon.com here: Washington's Gay General: The Legends and Loves of Baron von Steuben.

BATMAN: THE CULT (graphic novel) by Jim Starlin (Author), Bernie Wrightson (Illustrator)

Originally published in 1988 by DC Comics. 
Republished in 2024 by DC Comics.

Synopsis

The homeless in Gotham are disapearing and Batman investigates in Batman: The Cult. As he moves into the sewers, he is taken captive by a mysterious man named Deacon Blackfire, a a man who was operating on the surface with a ministry designed to help the homeless and downtrodden in Gotham's worse neighborhoods.

Of course, that was a cover. It turns out that Blackfire is an ancient man who has lived in the shadows in an around Gotham for centuries.  He is powerfully charismatic. When combined with traditional brainwashing techniques, even the strongest of personalities break and fall under his sway. He has an army of the city's forgotten people eager to inflict their version of justice on Gotham City, including Batman himself!

As the city's leaders fall prey to vicious attacks it is up to Alfred and Robin to retrace Batman's steps, save Batman, and save the city...

My Review

I've read some unispired graphic novels this summer (summertime is graphic novel time for DWD's Reviews), but I found this one to be a pretty tight story that worked. It gets off to a befuddled start, but once it gets going it's well worth reading. 

Bonus: the modification of the Batmobile into a monster truck was a lot of fun - and it made sense!

I rate this graphic novel 5 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: Batman: The Cult.