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Graphic Novel Roundup

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Written by: Kimberly Francisco on May 5, 2015.

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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Written by: Kimberly Francisco on April 15, 2015.

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.

Comments

  1. Do you feel the Fables series is school appropriate? I ordered them, but some of the outfits the women wear in them seem a bit of a stretch for my students. But I am at a high school, so I went ahead and ordered some.

    • I think it's appropriate for high school students, but I'm not a school librarian and I'm not 100% sure on the rules for a school collection. In public libraries, it's kept in the adult section, but I recommend it to teenagers often. I can't think of anything too adult. There's a storyline about sexual assault, and there is violence too (it's about a big war, initially). But you find those things in regular YA books. The outfits are actually not all that revealing compared to a lot of other graphic novels you'd find in a YA section, particularly manga. (The covers tend to be the most revealing, not the art in the story proper.)

      How's that for a wishy washy answer? Ha! I think the best thing to do is read some of the issues yourself and then decide.

Graphic Novel Roundup

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Written by: Kimberly Francisco on February 24, 2015.

El Deafo by Cece Bell
I don’t read a lot of nonfiction, but I do have a weakness for graphic memoirs. This one is superb – perfect for middle grade readers, with vibrant cartoon-like art (that reminds me a little of the Arthur cartoons) and a winning story. It’s a great read for deaf and hearing readers alike, giving mirrors to the former and windows to the latter. Even aside from that aspect of the book, it’s just a great story about growing up, about the vagaries of childhood friendships (I think we have each had or been a Laura, a Ginny, or a Martha) and the challenges we all face as we navigate adolescence. The way the story is presented is what elevates the book above some other memoirs. The representation of the kids as long-eared rabbits is a genius idea, and Cece’s imagination of herself as a superhero looking for a sidekick is such a great parallel to the real challenges she faces. What kid hasn’t dreamed up something like this?

The Red Shoes and Other Tales by Metaphrog
This is a really slim collection of three stories by Metaphrog, two of them retellings of Hans Christian Andersen fairy tales and one original. The titular story involves a girl named Karen who is given some very fancy red shoes and finds herself unable to stop dancing while wearing them. The other Andersen tale is The Little Match Girl, and the original story is called The Glass Case, which has a similar feel to the others (un-Disneyfied and somewhat gruesome, depressing, or both). I love the rich colors on the cover, but I found the art to be mostly uninspired. Faces aren’t terribly expressive (they’re either neutral or shocked) and the colors are much more muted on the inside. (To be fair, this was a review copy; it’s possible the look will change in the final version.) The re-tellings themselves are simply done, like the original fairy tales but lacking the depth I find simple language often gives. I’m always eager for fairy tale interpretations, but this one fell short.

This One Summer by Mariko and Jillian Tamaki
I have some prejudices when it comes to graphic novels, the biggest of which is I don’t really care for black and white art. This One Summer isn’t precisely black and white (it has a purplish/bluish tinge to it), but it basically is, and that’s the main reason I passed it by when it was first published. (I pretty much read every single full-color graphic novel First Second produces.) And then it won a Caldecott Honor and a Printz Honor, so I re-evaluated. The art really is very good. With black and white art, I always have to force myself to stop and peruse it rather than breezing by it, taking it in simply as a part of the story. Some of the spreads are even quite lovely, though I’d say Jillian Tamaki’s style is more interesting than beautiful. Her characters are expressive and diverse, and her backdrops are wonderfully detailed.

Books borrowed from my local library, except for The Red Shoes, which was provided by the publisher.

Graphic Novel Roundup

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Written by: Kimberly Francisco on June 27, 2014.
 

The Return of Zita the Spacegirl by Ben Hatke
We return to outer space for this final installment in Hatke’s trilogy about Zita and her adventures on alien planets. Zita has been captured by an evildoer masquerading as an arbiter of justice and put on trial for her “crimes” from the previous two novels. Old friends return to help her escape, of course, and further adventures ensue. Hatke excels at creating truly oddball characters (aliens and robots and strange humans, too), throwing them all together, and letting them develop authentic and fun relationships with each other. The art is lovely as always and the end of the story is poignant and encourages further imagination from the book’s young readers.

Finished copy provided by the publisher. The Return of Zita the Spacegirl is available now.

Andre the Giant: Life and Legend by Box Brown
Brown gives a nuanced portrait of the WWF wrestler and actor from The Princess Bride. I knew practically nothing about him going into this other than the fact that he wrestled and acted in the movie; I learned a lot while reading the book. Andre comes across as complex and not always likeable, but that’s as it should be. Brown has used multiple sources for this biography, all of which he lists in easy to read format at the end. I rarely read source notes, but these were almost as interesting as the biography itself – they reveal just how much of the book was based on others’ perceptions of Andre and how much of it was based on Andre’s own words and actions. Most of the book focuses on Andre’s wrestling and very little of it on The Princess Bride, so fans of the movie may be disappointed. Adult and older teen readers looking for an absorbing graphic biography should find plenty to like here, though.

Review copy provided by the publisher. Andre the Giant: Life and Legend is available now.

Cleopatra in Space #1: Target Practice by Mike Maihack
This book is exactly what it says: the most famous Cleopatra finds a tablet as a teenager and it sends her into space far, far in the future. She lands at a space school where she learns how to fight as well as more mundane things like algebra. She also learns she’s prophesied to defeat a great villain. This is a super fun, full-color graphic novel that smooshes together a lot of high appeal factors: ancient Egypt, space, time travel, a girl protagonist who can fight. It’s got a lot of terrific little details: the school is run by cats, a fun nod to the ancient Egyptian reverence of these animals, and Cleopatra’s future transportation apparatus is a bike that looks like the sphinx. While Cleopatra is 15 here, the book is best suited (and appropriate) for tween readers. I’ll definitely be on the lookout for subsequent volumes.

Review copy picked up at TLA. Cleopatra in Space #1: Target Practice is available now.

Hidden: A Child’s Story of the Holocaust by Loic Dauvillier
Dauvillier’s graphic novel about the Holocaust – a fictional account, not based on any one particular person – shows that it is possible to successfully address horrifying historical events with young children without traumatizing them. One night, a young child comes across her grandmother and notices she is feeling very sad. The grandmother opens up to her granddaughter and shares the story of her childhood in World War II Paris. As a child, Dounia experienced what it was like to first wear the Jewish star, then be separated from her parents and being hidden by various friends and neighbors as violence against Jewish people in France escalated. It’s told in a gentle way, with a focus on universal feelings that both Dounia in the 1940s and her granddaughter in the present day could share. The art is child-friendly and expertly conveys the emotions being expressed. A challenging venture, but well executed.

Finished copy provided by the publisher. Hidden: A Child’s Story of the Holocaust is available now.

Ariol #4: A Beautiful Cow by Emmanuel Guibert
The Ariol books are collections of slice-of-life vignettes that feature a large group of anthropomorphized animals representing kids about 8-10 years old. Ariol is a donkey who has a crush on a cow named Petula (the cow of the title), but not many of the stories actually involve Petula. Several of them are school stories. One involves a group of the kids/animals thinking they’ve come down with fleas – but is it just a ploy to get out of class? Another features Ariol and his friend visiting his grandparents; another is about school picture day. The vignettes (drawn with slightly cartoonish, but not exaggerated, illustrations) are relatable to kids with understated, authentic humor. I liked that the kids don’t always act very nicely – and that the not-so-nice behavior isn’t always followed up with a lecture from the parents on how to act nicer. Guibert shows kids as they are – you know, if they were animals and not people. There’s also some dry humor that adults will enjoy. A pleasant, low-key success.

Finished copy provided by the publisher. Ariol #4: A Beautiful Cow is available now.

Comments

  1. I am psyched to get my hands on that Zita book and get it into my library. I love it, my kids love it. I hate hearing about how "boys don't read books about girls" when I can show you so easily that everyone loves Zita.

Graphic Novel Roundup

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Written by: Kelly on April 24, 2014.

A Flight of Angels by Rebecca Guay and others
This graphic novel is absolutely packed with talent. It’s conceptualized and illustrated by Rebecca Guay, with stories by Holly Black, Bill Willingham, Louise Hawes, Alisa Kwitney, and Todd Mitchell. Even casual fantasy or graphic novel readers will likely recognize one or two of those names.

I love the idea beyond the book. It’s a frame story: a group of fairies and other creatures (fair and foul) discover an injured, unconscious angel in the forest. They each take turns telling a tale that describes how the angel may have gotten there, and the youngest among them will decide the angel’s fate based upon these tales. Each story explores some facet of angel mythology. I particularly enjoyed the first, written by Louise Hawes, which gives us a different version of Adam and Eve, though I think all are pretty strong.

What stands out particularly well, though, is the art. Each story is illustrated in a different style, which led me to initially think they were illustrated by different artists. This is not the case. Rebecca Guay illustrates the whole thing, and each story – including the frame story – looks like it came from a different hand. I’m pretty blown away by that, especially when I consider that the art is top-notch all the way through.

This is a beautiful book, beautifully thought-out and executed. It was selected as one of YALSA’s top 10 graphic novels of 2012, and I’m surprised I hadn’t even heard of it until I came across it in the comics shop. It’s written for an adult audience but could easily cross over to more mature teens, and I highly recommend it.

Fairest vol. 1: Wide Awake by Bill Willingham and Phil Jimenez
Fables’ popularity has brought us a few spinoffs, and this is the latest I’ve discovered. It focuses on the women of Fables. This first volume tells Sleeping Beauty/Briar Rose and the Snow Queen’s stories, which intertwine. Regular Fables readers will recall that Briar Rose was left in a rather precarious position in the main storyline; this volume gives readers an opportunity to find out what happened to her and continue her tale.

Right off the bat it was obvious to me that this was written by Willingham (as opposed to the Cinderella spinoff, reviewed below). The characterization is closer to that in the main Fables story, the humor flows better, and the story is just more interesting. Of the spinoffs I’ve tried (Cinderella, Jack of Fables, and Fairest), this is my favorite. Phil Jimenez gets primary credit for the art, and he does a terrific job. I’m such a sucker for Adam Hughes’ cover illustrations, too, which are phenomenal.

The bonus story at the end is wild. It’s a noir-ish detective story featuring Beast. I can’t say more than that. It kind of blew my mind. I still don’t know if I liked it.

Cinderella vol. 2: Fables are Forever by Chris Roberson and Shawn McManus
I guess the cover on this one should have been a giveaway, but I liked the first volume well enough, I figured I’d enjoy this one equally. It was…just OK. It features Cinderella hunting down Dorothy Gale, an assassin who worked for the shadow Fabletown and has some history with Cindy. That’s basically the extent of the story, aside from an unpleasant twist near the end which made me extremely uncomfortable.

There was a lot of Cinderella and Dorothy fighting in bikinis. As I said, the cover should have clued me in on that. It may sound like I didn’t care for this one much, but I did enjoy it. I just expected more. The idea of Cinderella as a spy is a great one. The first volume played with the traditional Cinderella story in new ways, but I felt like Roberson just phoned it in on this one. Not the best.

The Undertaking of Lily Chen by Danica Novgodoroff
This is a case of “It’s not you, it’s me.” I recognize the technical quality of the book. The art is certainly good. The story is unique and well-developed. I found the premise of ghost brides fascinating. The whole thing just left a bad taste in my mouth.

Deshi’s older brother, the pride of the family, dies, and Deshi’s parents send him out to find a ghost bride for him, so he doesn’t have to be buried and go into the next world alone. A ghost bride is a corpse of a woman – the fresher the better. Deshi lives in modern-day rural China where this very old tradition is still sometimes practiced. He falls in with a young woman named Lily, on the run from problems of her own. Female corpses, especially fresh ones good enough for Deshi’s brother, are in short supply. You see where this is going.

I think my main issue arose when Deshi and Lily started developing romantic feelings for each other. Deshi was romantically involved with Lily even while he was still considering killing her to bring home as a ghost bride. I think Novgodoroff was trying to show how tough parental pressure can be – and Deshi’s parents are certainly awful. But it didn’t work for me. I suppose as a woman, I automatically place myself in the girl’s shoes, which made me consider how I’d feel if a boy was considering killing me while he was kissing me. This is mainly Deshi’s story (despite the title!), but Novgodoroff does tell a good portion of it from Lily’s point of view, so sympathizing with her seems to be intended as much as sympathizing with Deshi is. It just made me feel icky, and not in a nice way.

A Flight of Angels and Cinderella purchased, Fairest borrowed from the library, Undertaking of Lily Chen provided by the publisher. All titles are available now.

Graphic Novel Roundup

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Written by: Kimberly Francisco on December 5, 2013.

A few snappy reviews of some graphic novels I’ve read lately. Descriptions are from Worldcat, followed by my own observations.

Foiled and Curses! Foiled Again by Jane Yolen and Mike Cavallaro
Aliera is a star at fencing, but at school no one notices her–until her
new lab partner Avery begins flirting with her. Aliera’s mother just
bought her a foil from a garage sale, and it has a strange jewel
attached to the hilt. Will Aliera’s first date be ruined when magical
creatures try to steal her foil?

I wanted to love these books. I have fond memories of Jane Yolen’s novels from when I was a kid. Alas, these didn’t have the same magic. There’s a lot of telling, the pace is erratic, and the fantastical elements seem a bit jumbled. It should still be of interest to kids who like fencing (or are simply intrigued by it) – each section is headed with a fencing term and Aliera gets a lot of chances to use her weapon during the course of the story. (Cavallaro does an excellent job with the art; the writing doesn’t meet its quality.)

Sumo by Thien Pham
Scott, abandoned by his girlfriend and having lost his dream of playing
professional football, is offered a position in a Japanese sumo training
“stable,” where he seems to find himself again.

This is a short book that tells three parts of Scott’s story in alternating times, with a different color scheme for each time. Near the end, the switches between each of the three threads become more frequent, until they converge at a single point. At that point, the images and text parallel each other. The style is effective, though it doesn’t prevent the story from being a bit slight. It’s gorgeous to look at – the marriage of text and art is done very well. This is a good example of the format being right for the story.

Monster on the Hill by Rob Harrell
In a fantastical 1860s England, every quiet little township is
terrorized by a ferocious monster–much to the townsfolk’s delight! Each
town’s unique monster is a source of local pride, not to mention
tourism. Each town, that is– except for one. Unfortunately, for the
people of Stoker-on-Avon, their monster isn’t quite as impressive. In
fact, he’s a little down in the dumps. Can the morose Rayburn get a
monstrous
makeover and become a proper horror? It’s up to the eccentric Dr.
Charles Wilkie and plucky street urchin Timothy to get him up to snuff,
before a greater threat turns the whole town to kindling.

I loved this one. It’s a light-hearted action-oriented story with a lot of humor and heart. The concept is clever and a little bit cute; I love how it’s unexpected, but also plays with the idea that humans (including kids) love to be scared sometimes. It reminded me a bit of a cross between Giants Beware and the movie Monsters Inc. It’s a beautiful production all around – lovely full-color art that demands to be pored over.

The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe and Benjamin Harper
Retold in graphic novel form, the narrator tells the reader about the murder he committed, and the terrifying aftermath.

I’m still not quite sure if this reproduces Poe’s text precisely or condenses it in some way, but the text itself isn’t the creepiest part of this adaptation. That honor belongs to the art. Though it isn’t quite my style, it does manage to convey a great mood. It’s got lots of shadows and a color palette consisting of mainly black and some blues. The eyes of both the narrator and his victim are particularly well-done (and integral to the story).

Comments

  2. I have a couple of Jane Yolen's novels on my shelf but they don't circulate well. Perhaps if I tried the GN version kids might be more interested in the content :s
    – Krys

Graphic Novel Roundup

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Written by: Kimberly Francisco on July 31, 2012.

Explorer: The Mystery Boxes edited by Kazu Kibuishi

I love the Flight anthologies for their art, but the stories themselves are very hit and miss. Explorer is the version for younger readers, and this is the first volume I’ve tried. I found it pretty similar to the “grown up” Flight anthologies: great art, inconsistent storytelling. The unifying theme is a box of some kind, and the artists are free to interpret it as they wish. In one story, a boy finds a mysterious box in his closet and is soon visited by wizards willing to pay a high price for it. In another, a box is the mechanism by which a butter spirit is trapped.

My main issue (with this collection and the Flight anthologies on the whole) is that so many of these stories are very slight or clearly just the beginning of a longer tale, which makes them pretty unsatisfying. But as far as art goes, you can’t beat these anthologies. (Kibuishi’s offering, which closed out the collection, was the real stand-out in both art and story.)

Legends of Zita the Spacegirl by Ben Hatke

I reviewed Zita the Spacegirl back in 2011 and was pleased to find that Hatke wrote a sequel. The follow-up is just as fun and lively. After the events of the first book, Zita has become a celebrity. She signs autographs and is the envy of robots everywhere, and one robot in particular. In fact, this particular robot is so envious that it starts impersonating Zita, causing all sorts of trouble. And then there’s that planet that needs saving, and Zita still wants to find a way home…

Hatke’s artwork is colorful and eye-catching, comparable to Raina Telgemeier. This volume is a little less self-contained than the first, but most readers shouldn’t mind – it means there is more to come.

The Amazing Screw-On Head and Other Curious Objects by Mike Mignola

This is a collection of short stories by the renowned Hellboy creator, and two of them won Eisner awards. I may be committing blasphemy here, but I don’t understand why. The stories seemed inane to me, like they were bizarre simply for the sake of being bizarre. I found Mignola’s take on Jack and the Beanstalk to be minorly enjoyable, but the rest were not my cup of tea in the slightest. Similarly, the artwork is not my style. 
In reading reviews of this collection, many fans state that this is not the ideal place to start reading Mignola, but I can’t say I’ll give anything else a shot. (As always, your mileage may vary.)

The Marvelous Land of Oz by L. Frank Baum, adapted by Eric Shanower

I love these books and I love Eric Shanower for doing them so well. I don’t think I’ve read this book since I was a kid, and as I read Shanower’s adaptation, I’m reminded of the wonderful wordplay and dry humor Baum was so good at. I’m also reminded of just how good the sequels are and how much readers miss when they stop at book one.

I love how vibrant the colors are here, and I mostly enjoy Skottie Young’s artwork, although I tend to prefer Shanower’s (included in this compilation are several alternate covers done by him). Some of Young’s characters seem a bit more frightening in appearance than I think they’re meant to be, particularly the Scarecrow and Jack Pumpkinhead. Those are minor quibbles, though, as Young’s art superbly captures the spirit of the books and is infused with energy.

The third compilation is already out and the fourth is in the works. I don’t buy many comics for myself, but I’m considering purchasing these – they are that good.

Comments

  1. I think that the gorgeous art in the Flight series can make up for any weak storytelling. After all, you know a new story is only a few pages away!

  2. I've had the second Zita sitting on my shelf for a couple weeks now, and I'm really eager to read it. The first one was wildly popular with my middle schoolers and, well, I'm always taken with robot story lines.

  3. I know you're not taking recommendations, but if you were…I'd say to give Mike Mignola's The Chained Coffin and Others a try.

    Also, fun fact: the mermaids in the wonderful "The Third Wish," which is a short story from Mignola's Strange Places, inspired the mermaids in Monstrous Beauty.

Graphic Novel Roundup

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Written by: Kimberly Francisco on April 12, 2011.
It was another comics-reading weekend for me, and I feasted on a crop of middle grade books plus one for adults.  Fortunately for me, I enjoyed them all and wouldn’t hesitate to recommend any of them.

So cute!

Jellaby, Volume 1
Kean Soo

I am such a sucker for the cute, and Jellaby is about as cute as they come.  Portia has just moved to a new city with her mom (her dad mysteriously disappeared sometime before) and is having trouble making friends.  One day (or night, rather), she decides to investigate the woods behind her house and finds a big purple monster she names Jellaby.  Jellaby doesn’t speak, but he (or she?) is very friendly and communicates in ways that don’t require words.  Portia makes an unlikely friend in Jason, a boy who is always being picked on by the school bullies, and together they try and hide Jellaby from the adults of the town, ultimately hatching a plan to somehow return Jellaby to his home – wherever that may be.

I really enjoyed the art in Jellaby.  It’s done in mostly whites and purples, with some black thrown in when Portia experiences a flashback.  You’d think with all that purple and a cute, cuddly monster (seriously – cutest monster ever), the book would fall on the wrong side of saccharine, but it doesn’t.  It’s got a warm-hearted story about friendship at its center (friendship between Jellaby and Portia as well as that between Portia and Jason) and a good dash of adventure.  The wordless panels are among the best in the book at conveying emotion and creating character.  My only complaint is the book leaves us with a major cliffhanger – and now I have to hunt down volume 2.  Oh well.  I’m much more forgiving of this with comics than regular books.

Robot Dreams
Sara Varon

Sara Varon has done something pretty brilliant: created a dialogue-free (and nearly word-free) treatise on friendship that isn’t your usual warm and fuzzy fare.  A dog buys a robot, puts him together, and they become fast friends.  They visit the library together, visit the beach, go for a swim…which is a mistake for the robot, because he starts to rust.  Soon, he can’t move, and the dog leaves him on the beach.  The dog comes back to try and rescue the robot later, but the beach is closed.  Time passes and the dog makes other friends while the robot lays on the beach, dreaming about being rescued, going on adventures, and generally living (as much as a robot can live) again.  Eventually, the summer rolls around again and the beach re-opens, but things don’t happen as you think they would.  Robot Dreams is one of those books that deserves repeated readings.  Bonus: multiple uses of reference books!

Zita the Spacegirl
Ben Hatke

The concept of this one is simple: A mysterious device zaps Zita’s friend through a portal to an alien world, Zita follows, and adventures ensue.  The alien world they are transported to is in the path of an asteroid, and the indigenous people have walled themselves up with Zita’s friend held captive, believing he will save them.  Zita meets up with a motley band of adventurers (not your usual band – more than half of them are robots) and must battle strange-looking aliens and double-crossers and hostile landscapes in order to rescue her friend.  Adventure, humor, bright colors, odd tentacled creatures (Zita finds a whole reference book of odd tentacled creatures, in fact) – what more could you want?  Bonus: the volume tells a complete story!

Hereville: How Mirka Got Her Sword
Barry Deutsch 

The tagline for this book is terrific: Yet another troll-fighting 11-year-old Orthodox Jewish girl. How can you not want to read this book now?  I loved two major things about Hereville: its tongue in cheek plotline (involving a rampaging, talking boar and a fight with a troll) which is funny but also a terrific adventure, and its insight into Orthodox Jewish life, which is incredibly fascinating to someone who knows almost nothing about it (me). Deutsch sprinkles Yiddish words and phrases throughout the book, defining them at the bottom of the page.  The lifestyle of the religion is an integral part of the story and informs the interactions between the characters, who are likable but also have believable faults.  Mirka herself is an engaging protagonist, feisty, full of energy, argumentative, and always talking back to her decidedly un-evil stepmother.  The art is terrific too.  This is a particularly well-done graphic novel that stands apart from its fellows.

Fables: 1001 Nights of Snowfall
Bill Willingham

The lone comic book for adults I read this past weekend, 1001 Nights of Snowfall was one of the most enjoyable.  I’ve waxed rhapsodic before about how much I love the concept of Fables – all the characters from fairy tales and legends you’ve known about since you were a child are living in New York City as exiles, having fled a terrifying adversary that conquered the Homelands.  Despite its fairy tale background, this series is decidedly for adults.  While I mostly read books for kids, it is nice to step outside of that and read something written for people my own age every once in awhile.

1001 Nights of Snowfall uses a twist on the story of Scheherezade as a frame tale: in Willingham’s version, Snow White travels to the Arabian lands to try and broker an alliance with the Sultan in their fight against the Adversary.  Instead, he takes her captive and threatens to chop off her head in the morning.  To keep him placated, she tells him stories, and those stories just so happen to be the origin stories of the characters we’ve come to know and love throughout the series proper: Snow White herself, Bigby, Old King Cole, the Frog Prince, and more.  It’s a great way for Willingham to showcase his creativity, bending the stories we know from our childhoods to suit the characters he’s created.  As a bonus, each of the stories is illustrated by someone different, and if you read comics at all, you’ll recognize at least some of the names (Derek Kirk Kim, for example, is featured).  Great for fans and also a good entree to the series for those new to it.

Comments

  1. Jellaby looks way cute. I am going to have to hunt that one down.

    You already know how much I adore Robot Dreams. I picked it up at random from Book People probably the first week I was in Austin because it had Robot in the title and I've read that thing multiple times since.

  2. Love love love Robot Dreams. It's on our 5th grade reading list! Which makes it *slightly* easier to sell a wordless book to parents of older kids. But only slightly.

    I did it for book club last year and wow, did the kids have a totally different take on the ending. (They DID NOT like it– it was too sad!) We had to have a long conversation about the meaning of the word "bittersweet."

    1001 Nights of Snowfall is still my favorite in the Fables series, but I can't sit still today because Rose Red *should* be on my doorstep when I get home!

  3. Jennie – my boyfriend totally just brought home Rose Red a few minutes ago during my lunch! I leave for TLA tonight but I'm wondering if I can accidentally take it with me…

  6. These all look fantastic. I can't figure out why I'm not able to really get into graphic novels. The only one's I've enjoyed so far have been Shaun Tan's work. Hopefully I'll get over the hurdle on that soon.

Graphic Novel Roundup

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Written by: Kimberly Francisco on December 15, 2010.
As I’ve mentioned before, I’ve been successfully converted to the graphic novel format and really enjoy reading them.  Below are some of my most recent graphic novel reads and my thoughts on each.  What I’ve discovered is that many of the much-hyped graphic novels have disappointed me lately – but I just received a fresh batch of the newest titles, so I have faith I’ll find some to love soon.

Bone, Volumes 1 and 2
Jeff Smith

I love this series, and I’m not the only one – I’m currently trying to track down Volume 3 and having trouble.  They keep disappearing from the library and not coming back.  While this can be frustrating, it’s also a bit gratifying to know that kids love to read them.  Fone Bone, Phoney Bone, and Smiley Bone are three cousins kicked out of Boneville due to Phoney Bone’s con man ways.  They find their way to a valley full of adventure and meet a slew of interesting characters: a snarky dragon, terrifying “rat creatures,” a cantankerous grandma who races cows, and a lovely young woman named Thorn with whom our protagonist, Fone Bone, promptly falls in love.

Each volume is a single standalone story with elements of a main story arc worked in to tie them all together.   I think the story and the art really work well together here, and both shine equally. The art is clean-cut with solid colors and easily decipherable gestures and facial expressions.  I particularly love how Smith draws the Bone cousins – they’re adorable and look like marshmallow-colored Smurfs.  The art helps to illuminate the text, and both pull equal weight in the storytelling.  The story itself is interesting and well-paced, plus frequently laugh out loud funny, always a good thing.  Bone is a really good example of the graphic novel format and I think it appeals to a wide range of ages.

Ghostopolis
Doug TenNapel

A living boy named Garth is accidentally sent to the spirit world by an inept ghost-catcher.  While the ghost-catcher mounts a rescue, Garth finds himself pulled into a quest to take down a shady ruler of the entire spirit realm.  This one didn’t really do it for me.  It has a lot of gross-out humor (as in, jokes about bug guts and decomposition) that doesn’t seem very well-placed or contextualized, and as a result it’s not funny.  That said, I can see how a certain audience would find it hilarious. A subplot featuring Garth’s grandfather, who Garth meets in the spirit world, introduces some tenderness and real depth, and I wish it had been developed more fully.  The art is good but not enough to counteract everything else.

Fables, Volumes 1-12
Bill Willingham

Fables, a graphic novel series for adults, is consistently good.  The premise is this: all of the fable and fairy tale and nursery rhyme creatures we know so well from our childhoods are real.  They’ve been driven out of their homelands by the Adversary and have taken refuge in New York City.  The main story arc involves the Fables attempting to discover who the Adversary really is and mounting an attack against him.  There’s plenty of action and clever subplots and great uses of the fairy tale tropes that Willingham so cleverly turns on their heads.  The characters are also three-dimensional and have a depth you’d find in a really well-written novel.

The art, done primarily by Mark Buckingham, is serviceable and pretty standard for comic books.  The covers of each individual issue, done by James Jean, are really the stars, though, and I could spend a long time just staring at them. 


I skipped Volume 13, the Great Fables Crossover, since it mainly features a character I don’t care for who got his own spinoff series, and it doesn’t advance the overall story arc.  Volume 14 was just released on December 7 and I am eager to get my hands on it. 

Scott Pilgrim’s Precious Little Life
Bryan Lee O’Malley

I don’t give many one-star reviews, but this one earned it.  The characters (in particularly Scott Pilgrim) are unlikeable, transitions are sloppy and confusing, the artwork is mediocre, and the story – which could have been interesting – falls flat.  The series has a sizable following and many of my friends really dig it, but I can’t see the appeal.  For the record, I didn’t care for the movie either (it too closely approximated the book!).

The Sons of Liberty #1
Alexander and Joseph Lagos

I put this one on here and now that I’m attempting to tell you about it, I’m having a hard time recalling what it was about.  Not a good sign.  In Colonial America, two runaway slaves are attacked and develop special powers, making them akin to superheroes.  There’s a bit with Benjamin Franklin and a man in a cave.  It’s possible I just should have read more closely, but the story was so slight – it’s more like half a story.  I realize this can happen in comic books, since they’re episodic and short by nature, but it didn’t really work here.  I feel like all I got was exposition. When I reached the end, I didn’t feel like anything had been resolved, and I also felt no compunction to seek out the next volume.

Amulet: The Stonekeeper
Kazu Kibuishi

I’ve mentioned before that I really enjoy Kazu Kibuishi’s art.  It reminds me a lot of the art in Bone, with clean lines and bold colors, plus frequently adorable-looking characters.  Kibuishi’s stories about a boy called Copper and his dog Fred are cute and fun.  Unfortunately, I felt his foray into fantasy was not quite as successful.  The good artwork is there, but the story – involving a brother/sister who must team up in order to rescue their mother with the help of a mysterious magical amulet – doesn’t even try to offer anything new to the genre.  It’s possible that it would satisfy comic book lovers who don’t mind a rather ho-hum story, but I require a bit more creativity and less predictability.  I haven’t bothered reading the sequel.

I brought three more graphic novels home today: Lola by J. Torres and Elbert Or, The Dreamer by Lora Innes, and Trickster, a collection of Native American Tales edited by Matt Dembicki.  I also have Gene Luen Yang’s Prime Baby waiting for me at the library.

Comments

  1. I also did not enjoy Scott Pilgrim at all. It just felt very undeveloped to me,so I stopped after volume one. I actually really enjoyed the movie (especially the cinematography), however.

  2. I liked Scott Pilgrim. I know the art and dialog wasn't that great but it was extremely funny to me. Maybe partially relatable? Not to me personally but to many people I know. And like JPet (your new nickname, btw) said, the film was well done. It was better than the book.