{"id":43727,"date":"2025-03-04T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-03-04T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/?p=43727"},"modified":"2025-03-01T11:37:13","modified_gmt":"2025-03-01T18:37:13","slug":"the-twilight-children-make-tools","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/the-twilight-children-make-tools\/","title":{"rendered":"The Twilight Children \/ Make: Tools"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

THE TWILIGHT CHILDREN MIXES SPUNKY KIDS, COMPLICATED ADULTS, AND GOVERNMENT GOONS WITH MAGICAL REALISM<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Twilight Children<\/em>
by Gilbert Hernandez (author) and Darwyn Cooke (illustrator)
Vertigo
2016, 144 pages, 6.7 x 10.2 x 0.2 inches (softcover)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Buy on Amazon<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Any fan of Love and Rockets<\/em> creator Gilbert Hernandez and of Batman<\/em>, Catwoman<\/em>, and New Frontier<\/em> writer and artist Darwyn Cooke will be excited to read The Twilight Children<\/em>, a four-issue series by Vertigo collected in this soft cover book.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Twilight Children<\/em> is set in a seaside town and the cast of characters includes his familiar mix of spunky kids and \u201ccomplicated\u201d adults. There are also government goons, a metaphysical siren, and mysterious, powerful orbs. People disappear, children are blinded (yet see again), and what is the deal with the glowing balls?!?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s great to see the wonderful art of Darwyn Cooke again, but sadly he died suddenly at age 53 in May, 2016 and this may be one of his last books (reason enough to get the book). Cooke\u2019s commercial art style with lively character design and simple, bold brushwork gives a more \u201cslick\u201d look than what you\u2019d usually expect from a Gilbert Hernandez book. Dave Stewart (my favorite colorist and the best part of many Dark Horse comics!) does a spectacular job. His painterly, subtle palette and restrained use of color hold line art fits Cooke\u2019s drawing perfectly. No gradient mesh or lens flare effects, just solid sponge- and dry-brush painting. The bright and colorful seaside setting is a good contrast to the darker story elements. Also included in this compilation are some nice extras, like full-page paintings between chapters and a sketchbook of characters with storyboards by Hernandez.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Warning: Some readers may feel unsatisfied with the ending. Much is left unexplained and mysteries persist. If shows like Twin Peaks<\/em> piqued you, you might feel the same about this book. And, although the book looks like a colorful, mainstream comic, it is a Gilbert Hernandez story and is marked \u201cSUGGESTED FOR MATURE READERS.\u201d \u2013 Robert Knetzger<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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LEARN TOOLS AS YOU PUT THEM TO USE IN PROJECTS<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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Make: Tools: How They Work and How to Use Them<\/em>
by Charles Platt
Maker Media
2016, 260 pages, 8.0 x 0.4 x 9.6 inches, Hardcover<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Buy on Amazon<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the things I\u2019ve always enjoyed about Charles Platt\u2019s Make: Electronics<\/em> series (which I instigated as an editor at Make: Books) is his \u201cLearning by Discovery\u201d approach. You learn about electronics by doing the electronics and then learning about the science and engineering behind what you just did. So I was thrilled to see that in Platt\u2019s latest book, Make: Tools<\/em>, he uses the same project-based learning approach. Here, you do various, mainly wood-based, projects and learn about the tools as they are needed. For instance, in the first project, which is a wooden puzzle, saws are discussed as one is called for, then mitre boxes, clamps, rulers and squares, sanding and finishing tools. In the end, you\u2019ve been introduced to each of the the tools in action and you have a fun puzzle to show for your efforts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Charles always picks clever projects and Make: Tools<\/em> is no exception. Projects here include a set of jumbo wooden dice, a pantograph, a Swanee whistle, parquetry, some wooden and plastic boxes, basic bookshelves, and even a few useful shop jigs. Through the course of each chapter, the project reveals the tools needed and explains how they\u2019re used, their features and variations, and any safety precautions. Each chapter is also followed by a fact sheet that delves more deeply into a featured tool or material introduced in the chapter. Charles is known for his intense attention to detail and there\u2019s plenty of evidence of that here. Each of the handsomely-designed pages (photographed and illustrated by Charles and designed by his wife, Erico Platt) has a lot going on and close examination pays off. It\u2019s a fun book just to browse through. And, even if you don\u2019t build anything from Make: Tools<\/em>, the steps in the projects act as a narrative through which you can better understand how these tools are used in a variety of building situations. By the end, you\u2019ll have been introduced to dozens of tools, materials, and techniques and have gained a solid grounding in how to use them in the real world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2013 Gareth Branwyn<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Books That Belong On Paper<\/strong>\u00a0first appeared on the web as Wink Books and was edited by Carla Sinclair.<\/em>\u00a0Sign up here<\/a>\u00a0to get the issues a week early in your inbox.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Issue No. 56<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13684,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[31],"tags":[2398],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43727"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13684"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43727"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43727\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":43758,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43727\/revisions\/43758"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43727"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43727"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43727"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}