I've enjoyed many of Donna Barr's graphic novels, both her "Desert Peach" series (about WWII General Rommel's much prettier - and very, very gay - brother) and her "Stinz" tales, about a clan of centaurs living in what looks like Austria during the early 1900's. This collection focuses on Stinz' experiences during wartime, and it's been on my bookshelves for at least a couple of decades now, so I thought I'd try and get it moving!

The stories meander between domestic comedy (including any scene with Stinz and his wife), rural humor, sarcasm, and occasional political commentary (such as some of the grimmer scenes of wartime), but for the most part it's lighthearted. This volume opens early in Stinz' life, so we get to see him as a roistering adolescent; then we get glimpses of him as a proud father (including a charming tale of getting his nervous young son's first set of real horseshoes - but only on the front feet, as little colts tend to kick!). There's another tale in which Stinz encounters a ferocious Friesian stallion while taking a shortcut through the fields, and we get to see the thoughts of both Stinz and the stallion regarding proper horse-posturing and dominance, with the stallion rather baffled at this horse-with-a-man's-face. And then there's the dramatic chase sequence between Stinz and a pack of wolves - only there's a werewolf in there somewhere...

Great fun, very charming, lots of heart!

I plan to leave this book somewhere near the Radisson on Saturday afternoon, while visiting this year's Granite State Comicon. Hope the finder enjoys the book!

*** Released for the 2014 You're Such an Animal release challenge. ***