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Graphic Novel Roundup

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FBP 2

FBP: Federal Bureau of Physics vol. 2: Wish You Were Here by Simon Oliver and Robbi Rodriguez

A staff person at the comic book store sold me the first volume of FBP as a good comic for fans of the tv show Fringe, which was a really effective sales technique as well as being true. When I found myself at the comic book store again itching to buy something, volume 2 was a natural pick. Alas, it had been some time since I had read volume 1, and I felt a little lost as I made my way through this one. I vaguely remembered the characters and hoped I’d pick up a greater understanding of the plot as I moved along (sometimes you just have to trust the storytellers). It mostly worked, though I’d still recommend reading this one pretty closely upon a read (or re-read) of volume 1. It involves the two agents of the FBP visiting Nakeet, Alaska for a special experiment where they’re plugged into a machine to allow their minds to create a reality; it’s not meant to bleed into the real reality, but of course, it does in certain ways. A little confusing, but intriguing.

fables vol 22

Fables vol. 22: Farewell by Bill Willingham and Mark Buckingham

Late Fables is nothing compared to early Fables, unfortunately. I think the series really ran out of steam near the end, but this final installment is still worth a read. I’m not a fan of the final story arc between Snow White and Rose Red, which was fabricated out of nothing and undid years of deliberate character development. That arc is resolved here in spectacularly anticlimactic fashion. Other threads, too, are wrapped up very quickly. Half the volume is finishing out the main storyline and the other half consists of epilogues telling the final stories of certain characters. I rather enjoyed these (particularly the ones featuring Snow White’s and Bigby’s kids), but I’m a sucker for extended epilogues (I wouldn’t have minded if Return of the King had gone on another half an hour). And while I didn’t care for the last story between Snow White and Rose Red, I was really moved by their epilogue, which takes places thousands of years later. Not a triumphant conclusion, but not a bad one either.

exquisite corpse bagieu

Exquisite Corpse by Penelope Bagieu

Zoe is a “booth babe” with a loser for a boyfriend and no direction in life. One day while on a break at work, she’s sitting outside and notices a man standing out a window in his apartment building. She decides to ask to use his restroom, and he obliges – and they strike up a romance. It turns out he’s quite a famous novelist. Because Zoe never reads novels, she hasn’t even heard of him, which makes it easy for her to remain oblivious to a big secret he’s hiding. He’s quite a bit older than her, eccentric, egotistical. There’s definitely a flavor of a Woody Allen film to the story – until the end, which throws everything for a major loop. I was feeling pretty lukewarm to the story until I got to that point. Then I had to sit there for a long time and really consider whether I like the way it ended or not. And I ultimately decided I did. You’ll have to read to find out, but it doesn’t end like an Allen film, which I think is really the point (I avoid anything he does like the plague now). Bagieu is a French comic and I look forward to seeing what else of hers gets brought to the US.

rat queens

Rat Queens vol. 2: The Far Reaching Tentacles of N’Rygoth by Kurtis J. Wiebe, Roc Upchurch and Stjepan Sejic

I was in the comic book store wanting to buy Lumberjanes, Nimona, or the second Rat Queens, and all that was available was Rat Queens. One out of three isn’t bad (for my wallet in particular), especially when Rat Queens is as awesome as it is. The second volume collects issues 6-10, and the new illustrator (Stjepan Sejic) begins with issue 9. I really dig Upchurch’s art, but I like Sejic’s just as much (and he’s not an abuser, so extra good human points to him). His lines are a little cleaner, but each character is just as easily recognized, full of sass and personality. I could describe the plot to you, but the characters are really the draw here. We get a little backstory on them, seeing a vulnerable side to each – but no worries, there’s also plenty of bloodshed, foul language, sex, and even some full-frontal male nudity. While a good bit of the story revolves around Dee and a secret person from her past, she still remains the most unknowable to me. Wiebe really seems to love Hannah, and while this is an ensemble story, it’s easy to see how she may be the series’ overarching protagonist. And I mean, she is pretty awesome. Highly recommended.

Strangely for me, all of these graphic novels were published for the adult market. All were personal copies except for Exquisite Corpse, which was provided by the publisher.

 

The Warrior, the Lover, and the Cultist: Three Brief Reviews

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With the increased flexibility at my new job, I’ve had a lot more free time in the afternoons, which means I’ve been reading a lot more. In fact, over the past week, I’ve finished six whole books, which is quite a lot for me (and I’m well on my way to finishing the seventh, which would average a book a day). Aside from dedicating my newfound afternoon time to reading, I’ve also deliberately been eclectic in what I pick up. Two of those books have been romances, two of them graphic novels (one a memoir and one fiction), and two of them YA (a cult story and a thriller).




The Divine by Asaf Hanuka, Tomer Hanuka, and Boaz Lavie
The art in this – done by twins Asaf and Tomer Hanuka – is gorgeous, with really rich colors. The story it helps tell, though, isn’t well-crafted. It aims to be a sort of mish-mash of modern war story and ancient magic, but it comes off as kind of half-baked. It’s ostensibly about child soldiers in Thailand (the story takes place in a fictional Asian country called Quanlom), but I only knew that because of the creators’ afterword, which is a good deal more resonant than their story. The protagonist is kind of dull, his best friend is a caricature, and the central conflict about two twin Quanlom kids committing acts of violence for their country (helped along by some magical powers) never gels into anything meaningful. I wish I liked this one better; it’s a fine purchase for adult collections (for the art especially), but a bit of a letdown overall.

The Earl’s Mistress by Liz Carlyle
I read a lot of historical romance, and I enjoy pretty equally books that are on the tame side as well as those that are rather spicy. This one is definitely on the spicy side. It may be the spiciest historical romance I’ve yet read, which is saying something. Isabella Aldridge goes to interview for the position of governess with the Earl of Hepplewood, and he turns her down, but offers her a different role instead, which you can guess by the title of the book. He’s kind of skeezy in the beginning, and the book gives off a bit of a Fifty Shades vibe, though the earl isn’t really tortured like Christian is supposed to be. He gets better later in the story, and this isn’t the only historical romance guilty of making its hero a little too unlikeable at the beginning. The developing affection between the two leads is done well, though. The narration by Carolyn Morris is good and the book was enjoyable enough despite its flaws – I checked out a few others by Carlyle on its merits.

The Sacred Lies of Minnow Bly by Stephanie Oakes
Kelly reviewed this one not too long ago, which made me want to read it myself. So now you have two people (at least) telling you that it’s absolutely worth a read. I normally shy away from stories set primarily in prison, but this one wasn’t all about fights and how awful prison life is (which just makes me feel sad). It was a very personal story about Minnow and how she comes to terms with what happened with the cult and what she did to land herself in the detention center (refreshingly, she actually did do what she was convicted of doing, which we learn straight off). Minnow emerges at the end of the story a much stronger person with a stronger voice and a better understanding of what she wants from her life. What really made this story stand out for me, though, was the writing. I read a lot of YA books with fairly straightforward writing styles, good for much of the fast-paced action-oriented stories I enjoy. It was nice to read a book by an author who clearly enjoys playing with language – and is good at it – for a change.

Books received from the publisher, except for the Carlyle, which I borrowed from the library.

A Memoir, a Novel, and a Graphic Novel

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Triumph by Carolyn Jessop
My interest in religious cults continues, apparently. This is Carolyn Jessop’s continuation of the story she began in Escape. It focuses largely on her involvement with the raid on the Yearning for Zion Ranch in Texas in 2008. While the children taken in the raid were eventually all returned to their families (which Jessop believes was the wrong move to make), the raid did result in several prosecutions and convictions of FLDS men for allowing underage marriages to occur. Jessop testified at some of these trials/hearings and talks a lot about how trying it was for her and her family, but that she also found courage and power in it. The second part of the book goes into how she found the strength to succeed as a single mother with eight children in a world that didn’t understand her (and vice versa). She writes about what she learned from her grandmothers and how she leaned on the welfare system as well as how she drew from her own well of strength and believes others can learn from her example. She prefaces this by stating that at her speaking engagements, many people asked her about these things and she thought it was worth exploring. I agree, but the number of Goodreads reviewers who lambast her for being full of herself or “inserting too many of her own opinions” are alarming. She believes she is strong and extraordinary, and she is. It reminds me a lot of that social experiment that went around the internet a few weeks ago where women accept compliments and then get hate for it. People tell Carolyn Jessop she is extraordinary but then expect her to declaim it. I’m glad she doesn’t.

Audiobook borrowed from my library.

Beastkeeper by Cat Hellisen
I read Hellisen’s YA book, When the Sea is Rising Red, a few years ago and was impressed by the lovely writing but let down by the story. The blurb for her middle grade, Beastkeeper, was intriguing and the book was short enough that I felt like I wouldn’t be wasting too much of my time if I ended up not enjoying it. It’s about a girl, Sarah, whose mother leaves her one day, and whose father slowly starts turning into a beast. He leaves her at her grandmother’s house and she learns of a curse going back two generations in her family that causes a person to turn into a beast when they fall in love – or something like that. The mythology is interesting but it just never really came together. I’m still a little puzzled by it. Moreover, the characters always felt like they existed at a remove from the reader, something that may just be characteristic of Hellisen’s writing, as I felt this way about her other book as well. Promising, but ultimately just OK.

Review copy received from the publisher. Beastkeeper is available now.

Dragons Beware by Jorge Aguirre and Rafael Rosado
The first book in this graphic novel series for kids, Giants Beware, was a favorite of mine in 2012, and I was part of the judging panel that chose it as a Cybils winner that year. Dragons Beware brings back all of the delightful characters – fierce fighter Claudette, her little brother Gaston who has a fondness for baking (but has resolved to give it up until he too can learn to fight), and her friend princess Marie. This time, they take on the dragon that maimed her father in order to reclaim his sword. This book chronicles yet another funny, exciting adventure with full-color, expressive artwork. The characters genuinely care about each other, they’re all brave in their own way, and Aguirre and Rosado clearly respect their individual strengths. While Claudette is a tomboy, the book handily dismisses the notion that a girl who want to be a princess and loves frilly dresses (Marie) can’t also fight and be brave and save her friends. And Gaston is precious as ever as he learns to accept his own uniqueness rather than trying to emulate others. Another home run.

Finished copy received from the publisher. Dragons Beware is available today!

Graphic Novel Roundup

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Saturday was Free Comic Book Day, which is also known as “the only day out of the year Kimberly actually spends money on comics.” It would seem to fly in the face of a day that celebrates free comics, but actually, buying from a comics shop is good practice for FCBD.

Courtney Crumrin vol. 1: The Night Things by Ted Naifeh
I kind of want to hug this book. I wavered between liking it and loving it after I first finished, but the more I think about it, the more I come down on the side of love. It’s a book for kids that’s also quite dark, but in a wry, wink-wink way that I adore. Courtney is a middle-schooler whose parents drag her to a new town to live with her creepy old uncle Aloysius in his creepy old house so they don’t have to pay rent. Uncle A is more than he seems, of course, and he bonds with Courtney in a distant sort of way. This volume is a collection of short stories where Courtney gets up to things – things involving goblins and changelings and other nefarious magical beings. Courtney feels like a really authentic middle-schooler. She’s surly and unpleasant, pouts a lot, and has trouble making friends. She’s also independent and curious and smart. Naifeh pokes a lot of fun at Courtney’s parents and others of their ilk, social climbers who love to spend other people’s money, including Uncle A’s. He also has no problem making children casualties of the night things, but it’s never done to tug on your heartstrings – you’ll likely laugh instead (and then feel a little bad about it, but not that bad).

Fairest vol. 4: Of Men and Mice by Chris Roberson and Shawn McManus
This installment of Fairest, the Fables spin-off that focuses on the female characters, takes place right after the end of the 20th Fables trade. This is important to know, since there’s no preamble or recap and you’re just thrust right into the thick of things, spoilers and all. That’s fine for me – I had read the latest Fables fairly recently so it was fresh in my mind. What I was disappointed about, though, is that this was a Cinderella story. Cinderella has her own Fables spinoff where she goes on secret agent 007-style adventures, so I’m confused as to why this installment also focused on her. It also seemed like a bit of a rehash of the first Cinderella trade since it involved Cindy’s maniacal fairy godmother (who is now more like a dotty old aunt you never liked, which is ok I guess, but also undoes a lot of the character development from previous volumes – more on this later). It also involves huge rats and Cindy’s vengeful stepsister. So, lots of Cinderella backstory. It’s not bad. I didn’t love it. I keep trying to recapture the magic I felt when I first read Fables, and unfortunately this didn’t do it. I would recommend it only for completists, probably, which I suppose is what I am. Despite the fact that at the beginning, Cindy is tied to a chair Black-Window-Avengers-movie-style, except for some reason she’s only in her bra and panties. Sigh.

Fables vol. 21: Happily Ever After by Bill Willingham and Mark Buckingham
This is the penultimate trade of Fables and I really wanted to love it, but it traffics in a lot of what another reviewer called “assassination of character development.” It undoes the growth between Snow White and Rose Red (throwing in what would otherwise be an interesting back-story, were it not completely out of the blue and contrary to their respective personalities) and retcons Bigby’s character as well. It sets up a final showdown between the sisters for the last volume, which I can’t say I’m excited about. I’ll certainly still read it, but Fables was best for me in the beginning, apparently. Willingham does begin wrapping up some of the more minor characters’ arcs with short-short stories (some only a single page) between issues. These are interesting but of varying quality. It’s a disappointing last story arc, but it has extraordinary art (as always) and it’s worth the read just to see how it all shakes out.

Graphic Novel Roundup

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Fables vol. 20: Camelot by Bill Willingham
I feel like the shine has worn off the Fables story somewhat. After the main story with the Adversary was resolved, new antagonist Mister Dark carried the Fables crew through several more successful issues. But since the defeat of Mister Dark, the series has been floundering. In volume 19, Willingham killed off Bigby and left Snow White trapped in a castle. This volume does precious little to move that along (Snow White isn’t seen except in flashbacks). Fables characters who die aren’t ever dead permanently, so there’s some spellcasting on the part of the other Fables to bring him back, but I can’t say I was terribly interested. The Camelot of the title references Rose Red’s wish to help rebuild by rebooting the Camelot concept – you know, because it worked so well last time. For a reader who was obsessed with Arthurian legend as a teen, this held surprisingly little interest for me. Not much seemed to happen – a few subplots but nothing terribly exciting – and I’m still annoyed at what was done to Snow in volume 19 anyway. Both volumes 19 and 20 seem to undo a lot of the character growth done in previous issues, and certain parts of 20 hint at even further undoing in future installments.

The art is, as always, gorgeous, remaining one of my favorites among comics. The cover art in particular is stunning, whether it’s James Jean in previous volumes or Daniel Dos Santos on this one. Fables has a set end date with collected volume 22 later this year. Fables as its worst is still better than a lot of the other stuff out there (and this volume isn’t bad per se), so I’m sure I’ll keep reading until the end. I hope it can go out on a high note. We’ll see.

Gotham Academy by Becky Cloonan (issues 1-6)
This relatively new comic is about Gotham Academy (bet you didn’t see that coming), a prep school for the elite kids of Gotham. It differs from a lot of other comics focused on Gotham because the characters most people know are only peripheral (Bruce Wayne is a benefactor of the school and drops by occasionally, but it’s only a cameo). The book’s main characters are the school’s students, mainly Olive, who has a hole in her memory and whose mother is in an institution; and Maps, a younger kid obsessed with maps (hence the nickname) who becomes Olive’s sidekick.

Strange things go on in the school and Olive, Maps, and a group of other quirky kids and teens investigate. Some of the things have to do with Olive and her inability to remember parts of her past, and this storyline makes up the main plot of the first six issues. This is a fun comic with a lot of humor and great Easter eggs for DC readers, though it’s also perfectly accessible to people who haven’t read much (or any) DC – like myself. It was recommended to me by someone with more knowledge of comics who also knows my love of heist stories and mysteries featuring teenagers (my boyfriend), and his recommendation was spot on. The art is clear, detailed, and moody, making significant use of light and shadow, perfect for a mysterious old school with secrets in its bones. Issues 1-6 comprise the first collected volume, which will be published June 17. I’d easily recommend it for comics-loving tweens and teens.

Personal copies.