Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees: Rite of Spring

I recently borrowed this book from my local library. Libraries rule!

Rite of Spring is a continuation of the series Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees, which I read and reviewed last year. In this book we flash forward eight years into the 1990s and the advent of the internet becoming commonplace in homes. With this new technology comes different ways to communicate and share/search for information, which transforms small town living and also begins to complicate Samantha's life. It turns out that people searching for murder victims can track clues and share info on message boards, which brings Monica, a persistent and determined duck, to town to figure out what happened to her brother Daniel, who was one of Samantha's victims.

Monica's momentum is formidable, which makes it compelling to see how Samantha deals with her. This book has just as many twists and turns as the original series, with Samantha trying to stay ahead of her pursuer(s) while pretending to befriend and assist them. Secretly, she is also planning a pretty vicious response of her own. Additionally, her past is explored and the origins of her murderous ways are revealed (to the reader anyhow). 

The artwork is charmingly disturbing in how it uses the cuteness of funny animals to embody horror movie tropes. The gory bits are more shocking in their realism when juxtaposed with the general picture book animal qualities. Overall, I was impressed by how well plotted and creepy this book is, and the way it ends promises more dreadful deeds to come, which I will eagerly await.

Patrick Horvath wrote and drew this series, with lettering by Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou. Horvath has written and directed a number of movies, and beyond this debut series of his he also is writing the Archie in Hell mini-series. Otsmane-Elhaou has lettered books for many different publishers and also was a co-editor of PanelxPanel, an excellent, Eisner Award-winning web journal about comics. Horvath speaks about this follow-up story arc and future installments in this interview.

The reviews I have read of this book have been positive, though some point out the let-down that can come with a sequel. David Brooke wrote that it "successfully builds on the original series with a compelling new protagonist, emotional depth, and chilling visuals." Ian Keogh called it "very readable, but not as strong as the first outing." Greg Burgas wrote about having "serial killer fatigue" in general but still found it to be "a fairly worthwhile comic."

Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees: Rite of Spring was published by IDW, and they offer more info about it here. This book is not for kids.

D'orc Vol. 1: The Book of Certain Doom

I recently borrowed (via Hoopla) and read this collection of comics that will not be available physically until October 14th. Libraries rule!

D'Orc has been a series with a lot of buzz around my local comic book shop, and I picked up and read the first issue months ago and decided to wait for the collection. I am not made of money, people! I can see why it's been popular among folx I know, because it's a fun, funny, and action-packed adventure. The main character is the titular D'Orc, a thing of legends, born from a creature of light (a dwarf) and a creature of dark (an orc), and who is prophesied to destroy the entire world.

As if that is not enough a weight to bear, he also has an undying, talking battle-shield and the ghost head of a slaughtered chicken as companions as he travels the Scar, a land between realms where there is constant strife. Almost everyone is out to kill him, and despite this all he seeks to right wrongs and defend the weak. Also, he and his compatriots seek to find the mysterious Bone Witch, so that D'Orc can learn about his origins and the shield about the soul inhabiting it.

Not just full of action, this story also has a lot of witty banter between characters, humorous situations, slapstick comedy, puns, and magical enchantments to boot. The artwork is dynamic, cartoony, and full of emotion and personality. This series is charming and exciting, a sure-fire hit for fans of fantasy and adventure tales.

This comic book series was created, written, and drawn by Brett Bean with colors by Jean-François Beaulieu. Bean has drawn many comic book series, including I Hate Fairyland, and also a number of graphic novel series for younger readers, such as Muk 'n' Honey and Zoo Patrol Squad. Beaulieu has many credits in the comics industry, including books for Image and Marvel Comics. Bean talks about his career and inspirations for D'Orc in this interview.

All of the reviews I have read of this book have been very positive. Ricardo Andrés Acevedo called it "a wildly entertaining journey packed with enough humor and bloodlust to sate even the hungriest of comic book readers." Collier Jennings described it as "a fast-paced, funny take on the fantasy genre." School Library Journal gave it a starred review.

D'orc Vol. 1: The Book of Certain Doom was published by Image Comics, and they offer previews and more information about it here. The series is ongoing, and a second trade paperback collection will be published in December.

Graphic Science: Seven Journeys of Discovery

I have read a number of graphic novels by Darryl Cunningham, who has mainly focused his work on nonfiction, writing biographies about billionaires, Vladimir Putin, and Ayn Rand, as well as explorations of psychiatric conditions and science denial. He infrequently blogs here, sharing a look into some of his more recent fictional work.

I recently checked out his book Graphic Science from my local library, because local libraries rule. I had not read it before, though it has been out for some time, and I found it included biographies of several scientists whom I did not know much, if anything, about.  They are:

Antoine Lavoisier: A French chemist who named oxygen and identified it as a chemical element, beginning the system of organizing elements that eventually came to be represented in the periodic table.

Mary Anning: An English fossil collector whose discoveries changed how researchers thought about prehistoric life.

George Washington Carver: A Black-American botanist who studied ways to combat soil depletion as well as peanuts and sweet potatoes.

Nikola Tesla: A Serbian-American inventor who pioneered work with alternating current electricity and whose inventions paved the way for modern society.

Alfred Wegener: A German climatologist who explored and mapped polar regions and also put forth the first theories about continental drift.

Jocelyn Bell Burnell: An Irish physicist who discovered pulsars but was not among the recipients of the Nobel Prize this work garnered.

Fred Hoyle: An English astronomer who worked out the concept of nucleosynthesis, which is the process of creating new atomic nuclei from pre-existing neutrons and protons, and he also coined the phrase "Big Bang," ironically popularizing the term while rejecting the theory.

The images and text read in journalistic and informative fashion, showing the origins and high points of each person's lives and scientific interests. The book ranges far in terms of the topics covered, and I feel I learned much about each scientist and also got to know them as people. What is common in their stories is that they have been overlooked for awards or that their work has been misunderstood in some way. This book would be a great resource about some specific topics in science, which could be read as excerpts, or even as the seeds of a project in exploring scientists' lives and careers. It's a great collection of biographies.

The reviews I have read of this book have been positive. Johanna Draper Carlson wrote, "Reading them [the scientists] as people, some who undercut themselves with mistakes or unusual behavior, makes their discoveries all the more powerful and interesting." Joe at the Woolamaloo Gazette opined about the book that "each [chapter] shares this rather lovely approach – putting the human face on these events, people and discoveries."

Graphic Science was published by Myriad Editions, and they offer preview images and more information here. 

Hometown

Hometown is a riveting, gorgeous, and moving book. It is about a girl who appears human and lives on a world populated with with otherworldly beings and creatures. Her mother takes her out collecting, and her father and she build animals and machines. She also has five siblings:

Although all of the scenes and beings seem alien to me, to her they are commonplace and the only people, things, and places she has known. One day, a strange thing falls from the sky that makes her question everything she knows, and it wants to take her back to the place where she is from. Thus, she has to make a potentially difficult choice.

I do not want to spoil things about the plot, but I found so much of this book emotionally compelling. She feels such joy in her hometown and the questions she poses are profound and human. I found myself concerned, charmed, frightened, and tickled multiple times over the course of reading this book, and when I read it with my seven-year-old, she was rapt as well. And to think that I have not even mentioned the sumptuous artwork, done with a combination of colored pencils and watercolors. The result is a surreal phantasmagoria that is unique though calls to my mind effects reminiscent of artists like Frida Kahlo, H.R. Giger, Chris Van Allsburg, and Jim Woodring. It also has so many subtle details, some of which are funny or cute and others secret plot points. Go read this book!

Hometown was written and drawn by Shaun Tan, an artist and filmmaker who is best known for The Arrival. He has drawn multiple books that have been published internationally and can be read by people of all ages. He has also won an Academy Award for the animated short film The Lost Thing, the prestigious Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award in Sweden, and the Kate Greenaway Medal in the UK. He speaks about his work on Hometown in this interview.

This book has been very well reviewed. In a starred review, Publishers Weekly called it "a luminous and ethereal work about home and identity." April Spisak wrote, "There are so many extravagantly surreal moments within the immersive illustrations that it may take a few repeat readings for the profound messages to take root; it is to Tan's enormous credit that each time through will yield new details, both artistic and emotional." Peter Dabbene called it "a masterful graphic novel."

Hometown was published by Levine Querido, and they offer a preview and more about it here. 

Thank you to Tracy van Straaten for the review copy!

A Tale of Two Travelers

I bought this book during Fieldmouse Press's annual catalog pre-sale. I got all the books, and I will be reviewing some of them here, stay tuned! First up is A Tale of Two Travelers, an adaptation of a tale from the Brothers Grimm. In this story, a tailor and a shoemaker meet up on the road to a big city, and they decide to travel together. They are a study in opposites, as the tailor is rather carefree, open, generous, and likes to leave things to chance. The shoemaker is reserved, severe, penurious, and likes to plan everything out in advance. The shoemaker gets easily annoyed by the tailor, and even attempts to leave him a few times. When they come to a point where the trip will take either two or seven days, the tailor does not take enough water to sustain him, and then the shoemaker strikes a dark bargain for his companion to survive.

I was not familiar with this story beforehand, and it is intriguing on its own, with weighty ethical and moral implications. But the narrative is incredibly enhanced by the deceptively simple artwork, which is sketchy, bold, and expert. The characters and backgrounds are rendered in remarkably economical ways that amplify the characters' personalities, the stakes of their situations, and the emotional drama. I loved reading this book, and it would be an excellent text to include in any unit or study of folktales or simply as a great diversion in its own right.

This book was written and drawn by Madita Schwenke, whose comics have mostly been published in German. If you go check out her website, you can see images from some of her other works, like Drifting and Wohnen und Wurmen. This book was translated into English by Natalye Childress, a writer and editor who trucks in comics.

A Tale of Two Travelers was published by Fieldmouse Press, and they offer preview pages and more information about it here.

Globetrotters: Nellie Bly and Elizabeth Bisland's World Tour

There are so many graphic novels published every year, and I sometimes have a hard time keeping track of what is out there. Lately, I have been checking out books (literally, from my local library) that have been nominated for awards. Globetrotters was nominated for the Eisner Award in the Best Reality Based Work category, and it is a fantastic look at a unique moment in US (and world) history. Looking for a news story, reporter Nellie Bly was sponsored by the New York World to try to travel round trip to beat the fictional journey of Jules Verne's Around the World in Eighty Days. 

Seeing their own opportunity to make a sensation, The Cosmopolitan sponsored literary writer Elizabeth Bisland to do the same, only traveling west. This books adapts both of their published travelogues that documented their much publicized and ballyhooed journeys. Both faced many obstacles, from traveling solo as women, which was frowned upon, to weather, to tight scheduling. I won't spoil things for people who do not know the history, but I will say that both arrived back in under 80 days. 

The pluses of this book are that it is very compelling in terms of the plot, gorgeously drawn, and full of interesting facts. I felt that the alternating looks at Bly and Bisland's journeys made for good competitive drama that reflected that being drummed up in the publications of the time. The artwork is obviously well-researched and detailed, and it is also dynamic and expressive in ways that highlight characters' actions and emotions. Lastly, there is a good amount of exposition that helps give more context to the places they visit, especially in terms of geography, which I found helpful. I enjoyed reading this exceptional book very much.

Globetrotters was a collaboration between writer Julian Voloj and artist Julie Rocheleau. Voloj has worked on a number of graphic novels, including the biographies Basquiat, The Story of Joe Shuster, and Ghetto Brother. Rocheleau has drawn the Eisner-nominated books Wrath of Fantomas and About Betty's Boob.

The reviews I was able to locate about this book have been positive. Ian Keogh called it "well told, intended to shock and surprise anyone unaware of the story." Robert Greenberger wrote "Julie Rocheleau’s limited color palette and cartoony expressiveness bring the pulse-pounding race to life, nicely capturing the look and feel of this bygone era."

Globetrotters was published by Abrams ComicArts, and they offer a preview and more information about it here.

Local libraries rule! 

The Conquest of the Cosmos

I love learning about space and space travel, and I've read a lot of books and seen a lot of movies/videos about them both. I've also traveled to a bunch of museums and historical sites, like the Air and Space Museum and Huntsville, AL. All this to say that I have a big background with these things, which made The Conquest of the Cosmos a joy to read.

This graphic novel revisits some key moments in space travel, from the launch of Sputnik, through the space race, to the Apollo 11 mission. As you can see from the excerpt below, it relies heavily on verbal humor and dialogue juxtaposed with static or repeated images. 

I love the caustic humor of this book, which skewers both the USSR and USA space programs, exposing the mania of the Communist and Capitalist drives to overcome each other, the callous treatment of animals and people in the nascent days of space travel, and the allocation of resources that might have been applied to other social needs. Not all of the humor is so critical but more situational, like imaging Buzz Aldrin insisting on playing "Spanish Flea" on a loop during the trip to the moon while he and Neil Armstrong mercilessly razzed Michael Collins that he was going all that way and was not getting to walk on the moon. I am not sure all of this would be as funny to someone not decently versed in space history, but those who are this book is well worth checking out.

The Conquest of the Cosmos was written by Alexandre Fontaine Rousseau and drawn by Francis Desharnais, translated into English by Pablo Strauss. Rousseau has written a number of graphic novels, including Vampire Cousins and Les Canots de Satan. Desharnais has drawn several graphic novels, including Little Russia and Art Wars. Strauss has translated two other graphic novels, Camp Spirit and What If We Were.

This book won a BDGest'Arts Award for its original publication, which was in French. I was not able to find many reviews of this book in English, but the one I did find was positive: Al Mega wrote, "This is historical satire with teeth, but it never forgets to be fun."

The Conquest of the Cosmos was published by Pow Pow Press, and they offer a preview of the French version here.

Housecat Trouble

I got this book with my kids at HeroesCon this year, and I finally pried it away from them long enough to read it. I am glad I did, because it is a charming and fun book. And best yet, there's a sequel to check out.

Housecat Trouble stars Buster, a yellow housecat, kitten almost, whose owner goes away for a day. Far from being a chill day of relaxation, Buster instead learns that his house is being overrun by a horde of monstrous house spirits. Fortunately for him, two stray cats Chauncey and Nova happen upon the scene and hatch a plan to deal with them.

Of course, the plan faces some complications, including machinations by crows and stray dogs. Still, the trio face these obstacles with ingenuity and bravery, making for tense chases and athletic feats. The artwork is well suited to the many facets of this book: It shows cute animals, conveys emotion and tone with skill, creates suspense and tension, and also jokes through situations, poses, and facial expressions. Also, the book has nuances, as the house spirits are also a little scarier than I expected, and Chauncey and Nova's tale of how they came to live in the wild is heart-breaking. Overall, I found it a delight to read, especially as a cat-owner. 

Housecat Trouble was written and drawn by Mason Dickerson. As far as I can tell, it is his first graphic novel, and it has a sequel subtitled Lost and Found. He speaks about his art in this interview.

The reviews I read about this book have all been positive. Stephanie Tournas called it "a hilarious coming of age story and personal odyssey, with witty and amusing repartee and immensely appealing graphic art." Alea Perez summed it up, "A charming, humorously silly, and unexpectedly touching story about the power of friendship and loyalty in the face of adversity."

Housecat Trouble was published by Random House Graphic, and they offer a preview and more info about it here. 

Spider-Man: Mighty Mayhem!

My oldest kid loves this series, and I cannot believe I have not reviewed a book from it until now. Spider-Man: Mighty Mayhem! is the fourth Mighty Marvel Team-Up book by Mike Maihack, who is best known for his Cleopatra in Space series of graphic novels that were also adapted as a cartoon series. In this book the web-spinner teams up with Thor and a gaggle of Asgardians who have run afoul of the Enchantress. She was scheming to steal powerful magical artifacts, and was thwarted by Odin but not before she could transform him, the magical items, and all the Asgardians into mundane animals and household objects. 

Thor (in frog form) enlists Spider-Man to help find the artifacts before the Enchantress, and they journey across the different realms in order to fulfill their quest. Along the way, they encounter frost giants and other assorted obstacles, and there are lots of funny scenes, witty banter, and action sequences to enchant and delight readers. 

The artwork is vibrant and energetic, and I loved getting to see so many different characters featured in an accessible and wonderful way. I very much enjoyed this romp across the Marvel Universe, and what is more, my oldest child declared it the best and their favorite of the four books. And each one is stand-alone, so anyone can pick up and get into the fun without knowing much about superheroes.

I was only able to locate two reviews of this book, and they were both positive. J. Caleb Mozzocco called it "a gentle, all-ages adventure with more jokes than fights, and another swathe of the Marvel Universe appealingly rendered in Maihack’s lovely style." Robert Greenberger wrote, "Aimed at readers 6-9, the book will most definitely satisfy and amuse them."

Spider-Man: Mighty Mayhem! was published by Abrams Fanfare, and they offer more information about it here.

Science Comics: Elephants: Living Large

August 12 is World Elephant Day, and in advance of that I decided to review this entry in the Science Comics series, Elephants: Living Large. What this book really drives home are that elephants are intelligent creatures with complex social relationships and that child-rearing is where those relationships are created and realized. Following the viewpoint of Duni, an 8-year-old female elephant, the reader gets to know the other members of her family and see what happens to them as they get older, some leave the fold, and all have to learn how to survive among predators and shifting food and water sources. Also touched upon is one of the greatest dangers: humans who hunt the elephants for sport and the ivory in their tusks.

Like the best books in this series, Elephants balances an engaging narrative with facts and information. It taught me about some interesting things, for instance how elephants trunks work and how they use them to eat, drink, communicate, and explore their worlds. It also led me to look at these creatures and their behaviors in a nuanced way. The artwork is expressive and well suited to telling a great number of elephants apart from each other, no small feat of storytelling. I highly recommend this book as one of the strongest in a very impressive series of graphic novels.

Elephants was written by Jason Viola and drawn by Falynn Koch. Both have contributed multiple volumes to the Science Comics series, with Viola also having written a book about the Digestive System and Polar Bears. He also has written an entry in the History Comics series, The Prohibition Era. Koch has drawn books about Bats, Plagues, National Parks, The Wild Mustang, and baking, as well as three entries in the History Smashers series.

All of the reviews I have read about this book have been positive. Johanna Draper Carlson called it "heart-warming and affecting." Omar wrote that it "has the right amount of content... presented in such a way as to grab and maintain one’s interest." School Library Journal opined, "this book is just right for animal lovers and budding ­zoologists."

Elephants: Living Large was published by First Second, and they offer a preview and more information about it here. 

Our Little Wild Time

Earlier this year, I read and reviewed Steady Rollin', a collection of autobiographical comics by Fred Noland, which I loved. I got this book, Our Little Wild Time, as part of Fantagraphics' annual sale, and I could not wait to dig into it. It is a collection of mostly fictional works, originally published as mini-comics, about murderers, cholos playing putt-putt, drug addicts, and artist George Grosz. What I admire most about this book is its frenetic energy. These stories may be brief ones, but they are impactful and impressive.

Also, Noland draws some of the best faces in comics. Growing up, I was obsessed with reading Basil Wolverton's Wolvertoons book with its variety of fantastic and grotesque portraits, and Our Little Wild Time is right up there with its gallery of mugs. Just take a look at these:

Fred Noland is a working artist who has worked for many prominent magazines and media venues. In addition to Steady Rollin', he made a short graphic biography of Major Taylor, the bicyclist who was one of the USA's first global superstar athletes, and has been working on a longer one that will be published later this year.

I was not able to find many reviews of this book online, which is a shame because I feel it deserves wider recognition. Ryan Carey called it a "solid" if "dated" collection of tales, a book to grab when he wants "to be entertained by something seedy, sleazy and, at its best, maybe even a little dangerous."

Our Little Wild Time was published by Fantagraphics, and they offer a preview and more information about it here. This book features a fair amount of nudity, sex, and violence and is recommended from readers mature enough to deal with those things.

All the Hulk Feels

I recently borrowed All the Hulk Feels, because it had been nominated for (and won!) an Eisner Award. Libraries RULE!

This picture book is a short tale about the Hulk and Bruce Banner, as they deal with the latest scheme from their arch-foe the Leader. His evil intention is to divide the scientist and green goliath so that he can free a crew of supervillains and rule the world. So he purposefully annoys Banner with things he hates, like playing certain songs on the radio and putting pickles on his hamburgers (Banner apparently abhors pickles).

Fortunately, a little kid gets the duo a crayon and they begin writing notes back and forth to each other, which leads to a surprisingly poignant moment. The plot of this book is pretty predictable, but how it executes the plotting and hits its emotional beats is what makes it successful. The highly expressive artwork carries the entire enterprise into being an exceptional book. I love how it balances silly situations and serious concepts.

This last point should be no surprise as this book was drawn by Caldecott Award winner Dan Santat. He has many picture books to his credit, most notably The Adventures of Beekle. He also has drawn a few graphic novels, including A First Time for Everything and the new Sashimi series. He speaks about his work on All the Hulk Feels in this interview.

This book has been well reviewed. Kirkus Reviews wrote, "Author/illustrator Santat breathes new life into the nature of comic-book conflict, exploring the emotional stakes of a consciousness divided." Eric Smith called it "a fantastic picture book with an important story." Susan Harari wrote, "The emphasis on when it’s OK to feel upset and how to strategize about ways to calm down are cleverly worked into what many kids will already know about the Hulk, making this a win for both young readers and adults."

All the Hulk Feels was published by Abrams Fanfare, and they offer more info about it here.

Billy Bat, Volume 1

Set in 1949, Billy Bat tells the tale of Kevin Yamagata, a Japanese-American artist who has hit it big with his popular new series Billy Bat.

As you can see, that comic is a cartoon noir, with lots of subterfuge and, it turns out, communist spies. Everything is going all right until one day, Kevin learns that his character may be based on one that originated in Japan, where he was stationed during World War II. 

Even though the stories that character Billy Bat has are not based on any story he's consciously read, he feels obligated to travel to Japan and track down the original artist in order to get his blessing and also head off any issues with plagiarism. What Kevin finds in Japan instead turns into a tangled web of murder, politics, ancient texts, graffiti, tattoo artists, and communist spies. And the reaches of this conspiracy range far, maybe even beyond planet Earth. There are plenty of twists and turns in this single volume, likely a portent of the amount of suspense to follow.

The kick-off to this series was made by writer/artist Naoki Urusawa and Takashi Nagasaki. Urusawa is an internationally known manga creator, winner of the Shogakukan Manga Award three times, the Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize twice, two Eisner Awards, and the Kodansha Manga Award. His works have been some of the most celebrated of recent times and include Asadora!, Monster, 20th Century Boys, and Pluto. Nagasaki is also an award winning manga writer/editor with a long list of credits. Billy Bat has been completed in Japan for some time and only now being published in the US, and editor Kriistina Korpus explains more about why in this interview.

All of the reviews I have read of this book have been positive. Matthew Orozco opined that it is "an enthralling, genre-defying series that combines mystery, historical fiction, conspiracy theory, and metafiction, unfolding across multiple eras and continents." David Brooke called it "exactly the kind of ambitious, unpredictable storytelling that has made Naoki Urasawa one of manga’s most celebrated creators." Kara Dennison wrote, "The art is wonderfully dissonant, slipping easily between stylized mid-century cartoons and a more settled, faded realism."

Billy Bat was published by Kana, and they offer more information about it here.

Dogs on Dates

Dogs on Dates began a few years ago as a series of strips on Luke Healy's Instagram account, and I have been looking forward to this book. It follows the lives of Brad and Bernie, a couple of gay dogs whose "meet cute" involves a broken plate glass window and a shared ambulance ride. 

What follows is a series of dates, some quotidian and others quite outlandish, and the duo gets to know each other. Much of the book is composed of single page strips that depict a single date, though there are some extended sequences where some of their more complicated adventures occur. These sequences are suspenseful and well-plotted, making them real page-turners. Also, the character designs, gestures, expressions, and interactions make these cartoon dogs palpable and relatable.

Overall, I loved getting to know these characters and seeing how their relationship develops and unfolds. There is lots of drama and emotional baggage, from meeting parents to dealing with employment issues to learning about past relationships, but this book presents them in frank, refreshing, and utterly charming ways. It made me laugh and worry and my heart melt. It is a feel-good read, in a wonderful and substantial way, a reaffirming tale that shows the realities and absurdities of love.

The book's author Luke Healy is a cartoonist, comedian, and screenwriter. He has made all sorts of comics from short-form to graphic novels like Self-Esteem and the End of the World and The Con Artists. I feel the need to read more of his work soon.

All of the reviews I have read of it have been positive. Lindsay Pereira wrote, "There is a lot of sensitivity on display here, especially when one considers that these feelings are being filtered through the lives of two anthropomorphic canines." Jeff Provine highlighted "the genuine humanness of two guys just trying to be a couple in a world packed with awkwardness and responsibilities as well as amazing snacks and belly laughs." Killian Fox called it "an endearingly scrappy piece of work whose charms make up for its occasional misfires."

Dogs on Dates was published by Drawn & Quarterly, and they offer an excerpt and more here.

 

My Life in 24 Frames Per Second

Anime seem omnipresent in contemporary times, and I feel I did not know much about it before I read this book. Rintaro is a veteran anime director who has an impressive body of work to his credit. My Life in 24 Frames Per Second is a different sort of artistic endeavor for him, a manga memoir of his life and work in the cartoon industry. This book melds his personal and professional lives, beginning with him as a child and his family dealing with the fallout of World War II.

He and his father end up having a tenuous relationship, though they do share a love of cinema. Rintaro begins working in animation at the tender age of 17, and the rest of the narrative traces his circuitous rise to being one of the most storied and influential people in his field. Along the way, he worked at multple studios and collaborated with such titans of the industry as Osamu Tezuka, the god of manga, and Masao Maruyama, another founder of Madhouse Studio. He worked on seminal TV series like Astro Boy and Kimba the White Lion as well as directing the groundbreaking film Galaxy Express 999. Seeing the behind-the-scenes goings-on of these projects lends a lot of insight into how much work, uncertainty, and ingenuity went into these classic works.

I love how this book humanizes the people who may seem like otherworldly figures because of their accomplishments. Rintaro comes across as a driven but ordinary person, trying his best to realize his dreams. Also, it is clear that many of these anime/manga artists really overworked themselves with their projects, some to the detriment of their personal lives and health. This is a very engaging and eye-opening book that educated me tremendously about anime. 

My Life in 24 Frames Per Second has been nominated for an Eisner Award, and all the reviews I have read of it have been positive. Publishers Weekly concluded their starred review, "This meticulous portrait of a life in animation glows with love of the art form." Orrin Scott called it "a powerfully personal story written like a screenplay."

My Life in 24 Frames Per Second was published by Kana, and they have more information about it here.

I borrowed this book from my local library. Libraries RULE! 

Wrestle Heist

Any new series by Kyle Starks is a reason for me to celebrate, especially when he draws it as well. I love his pacing, dialogue, and way of weaving familiar pop culture tropes into new and interesting tales. Wrestle Heist features Sterling Steele, a former professional wrestler who has been done wrong by a crooked promoter. In order to get some revenge and also give him a proper nest-egg, he sets out to rob the box office haul from the biggest event of the year. 

In order to pull off a job of this scope, he needs a crew, and a lot of the fun in this book comes from the powerful personalities of that crew, including luminaries like Gravedigger and Bearwolf. Their interactions and relations are nuanced, peppered with snappy patter and well-developed backstories. If it was not clear enough that this book is a love letter to 1970s/80s professional wrestling, the book also features plenty of back matter that hilariously parodies the pro wrestling magazines of the era. I cackled out loud at them more than once. This book has it all: thrills, action, and laughs, plenty enough to suit fans of pro wrestling and/or crime caper tales. I daresay its my favorite Starks book yet.

Every review I have read about this series has been positive. Mike Eakins called it "a masterclass in storytelling." Chris Coplan wrote, "The character work is not only interesting, but it bucks expectations." Fred Morlan opined, "Stark has a singular genius for writing bizarre idiots."

Wrestle Heist was published by Image Comics, and they offer a preview and more information about it here. 

Calamity Before Jane

I recently borrowed this book from my local library. Libraries RULE! Calamity Before Jane is a biography/history book for younger readers, and I feel it is very successful in deflating romantic myths about the American West. When this book opens, Jane (born Martha Jane Canary) is a performer in Buffalo Bill's Wild West show, telling her tales to an audience in upstate New York. She happens upon a couple of young runaway orphans and tells them about her own tough childhood. She is run-down, barely able to tell her own tall tales, and adding insult to injury, they rob her after she passes out.

What we know to be true: Jane's dad moved the family around a lot, trying to get rich by mining gold, gambling and later farming. Her mom died when she was young, and she had to take up the housework before she decided to strike out on her own. She had to fend for herself in places of ill-repute, learning to ride a horse and shoot along the way. She drove cattle and was a US Army scout. The rest may or may not have happened.

All in all, the brown and grey coloring of this book matches the dour town of the story, which is enlightening in how it dispels the typical "cowboys and Indians" tenor of many Western tales. This book does not sugarcoat the treatment or depictions of Native Americans, describing how it avoids the stereotypes used to portray them as wild people. It also touches on their genocide, the pointed decimation of the American buffalo, and later small inclusions in traveling shows like Buffalo Bill's. 

Bolstering the story are informative essays by Dr. Susana Geliga that add more context to Jane's life and times. There are also copious period photos in the inside covers and endpapers that show readers more about the reality of her life, and they also reveal how much reference work went into the drawings. I feel like this is an excellent source for learning about American history for readers of any age.

Cartoonist Noah Van Sciver wrote and drew this book. He is one of my favorite comics creators, the Ignatz Award-winning author of the graphic novels Beat It, Rufus, One Dirty Tree, The Hypo: The Melancholic Young Lincoln, Saint Cole, and Fante Bukowski.

All of the reviews I have read about this book have been positive. Kirkus Reviews called it "engaging and eye-opening." Publishers Weekly wrote, "Gritty illustrations and ample 19th-century vernacular render a thought-provoking portrait of the rapidly changing era." Melanie Jackson described it as "fun, lively."

Calamity Before Jane was published by Toon Books, and they offer more information about it here.

Flocks

I have been meaning to read this book for a long while now, because I had bought a mini-comic that was a draft of one of the chapters years ago but never followed up because of life and who-knows-what-else going on. Happily, I found it in a library. Libraries rule!

Flocks is an incredible book, a candid look at a person who was assigned female at birth and raised in a conservative, Christian family in Louisiana. What I think makes this book exceptional is its combination of imagery, plotting, and exploration of religious belief. It is drawn in a mostly realistic style, though the main character is almost always depicted as a button-eyed rag doll. It is almost viscerally painful to read about how isolated that L. felt during childhood, being constantly faced with contradictory feelings to what was being preached at church. Being so completely othered and trying to reconcile thoughts with religion is one tremendous struggle, and I found it very powerful that they did not shy away from sharing just how profound their religious faith was to them.

I do not think it is too much in giving away the plot that L. eventually transitioned to being a man, but what makes this book special is just how much detail and nuance is given to that journey from childhood, through finding solace and kindred spirits through academics, and to adulthood and building a family. He also does not necessarily vilify his family, as they are depicted as supportive in some ways even if they do not always understand or approve of what they see happening. Ultimately, this book is about communities and relationships and how they can damage and/or validate you. Flocks is an insightful and moving account of one person's figuring out who he is and all of the fallout and victories that accompany the process.

L. Nichols wrote and drew this book, and they are artist and illustrator who publishes work with the Grindstone Comics imprint. They have also published a follow-up book I Am Only A Foreigner Because You Do Not Understand that continues looking at their continuing transition to a more nonbinary identity. They speak about their work on Flocks as a mini-comic as well as their other comics work in this interview from 2013 (pre-transition) and also this one from 2018 (post-transition).

I was not able to locate many reviews of this book, which is a shame. Publishers Weekly named it one of their Big Indie Books of 2018. Meepelous wrote, "L.’s irresistibly charming drawings demonstrate what makes Flocks so special: L.’s boundless empathy.”  Blackraven called it "an odd little gem."

Flocks was published by Secret Acres, and they offer more info about it here. Trigger warning: this book features a lot of emotional trauma, some sexual situations, and depictions of self-harm.