My Favorite Books of 2020

2020 has been a long, distressing, and memorable year. It was also a year full of some great comics and graphic novels, particularly nonfiction works. Check out this list of my favorites (and follow the links to the full reviews):

Favorite Book Overall

I am a sucker for an inspirational sports story, and Dragon Hoops is that, plus a personal history, plus a look at the identity politics of high school students, plus a commentary on making comics, plus a meditation on balancing your life. It's a massive, incredible work.

 

 

 

 

 

 Favorite Adaptation

Kurt Vonnegut is one of my favorite authors, and this adaptation of Slaughterhouse-Five uses comics in interesting and innovative ways. Most adaptations don't enhance the source material, but this one does.

 

 

 

 

Favorite Nonfiction History (Younger Readers - Not by Nathan Hale)

I have liked all the entries in the History Comics series I have read thus far, but the scope and sense of humor of this book make it exceptional. The Roanoke Colony tells the tale of Native Americans, colonial America, a doomed colony, British royal politics, and pirates. I learned so much from reading it and had fun doing so, too. (Queen Elizabeth I brushed her teeth with honey, can you believe it? Disgusting!)

 

 

 

 

Favorite Nonfiction History (Younger Readers - by Nathan Hale)  

Nathan Hale makes the best history comics, so he gets his own category. Blades of Freedom, the tenth(!) entry in his Hazardous Tales series, shows just how fresh and interesting his work still is while covering a topic (the slave revolt in Haiti) that unravels a complicated web of 18th century US and European history. Another book that opened my eyes to a topic I was sadly ignorant about.

 

 

 

 Favorite Nonfiction (Older Readers)

Kent State is well-researched, based on lots of original documents, interviews, and oral accounts of the massacre of student protestors in 1970. It is a book that highlights the victims who died, showing their humanity while also exposing a system of paranoia and prejudice that sadly persists today.

 

 

 

 Favorite Fictional Biography

Not much is known about the private live of this pivotal actor, but Lon Chaney Speaks pieces together a compelling narrative that melds vaudeville, silent movies, the early days of Hollywood, and plenty of monster movie special effects. The artwork perfectly captures the time period while recreating the movies and movie posters of the day.

 

 

 

 Favorite Superhero Biography

I know that Jack Kirby is not technically a superhero, but he created enough of them in his lifetime that I am counting him as one. I loved this biography that covers his lifespan and accomplishments in a style very similar to his own. The artwork is bombastic, quite fitting for the "King of Comics."

 

 

 

 

 Favorite Superhero Book

One of the highlights of my year was getting to talk with Gene Luen Yang about Superman Smashes the Klan. Even if I had not talked to him, I would rate this work very highly. Based on a serialized radio show from 1946, this book modernizes the tale and hits on the best aspects of the classic superhero while also commenting on racism and the resilience of immigrants.
 

 

 

 

 Favorite Series for Younger Readers 

There are two books in the Investigators series so far, and my oldest child has read them with me multiple times. It's full of puns, cheesy jokes, and inventive mash-ups of characters (including a radioactive bakery-based villain named Cracker-dile, a plumber who literally has a snake for an arm, and a doctor who turns into a news copter when anything news-worthy occurs around him). Fun and addictive!

 

 

Funniest Book, AKA Best Book Featuring Guys in Bear Outfits

Eddie's Week begins with the main character having an inmate (complete with cell) installed in his living room and just gets weirder and more surreal from there. It's a unique and darkly funny book that speaks about modern life wile containing some madcap adventures.
 

 

 

 

 

 Favorite YA Book

A beautifully told and illustrated book, The Magic Fish speaks to the power of stories to convey meaning and build brides that cross time and culture. The main character Tiến is one of the sweetest and most sympathetic protagonists, and his struggles with coming out to his parents gnaw at him. The ending left me tingling.

 

 

 

 Favorite YA Biography

Even though I come from a very different background than Joel Christian Gill, I found much to relate to in this autobiography. Fights chronicles a rough childhood where he had to learn to take up for himself, often in physical ways. It's a heart-rending and inspirational work that captures the confusion and ambiguities of childhood.

 

 

 

 

OK, that's my list. Happy 2021!

Superman Smashes the Klan #1

I usually don't review monthly periodicals here, but in this case I'll make an exception. For one reason, it's a larger than usual issue, and second it's written by Gene Luen Yang, former National Ambassador for Young People's Literature. Superman Smashes the Klan is a comics series based on a series from The Adventures of Superman radio serial based on a real story. The story is set in 1946 and follows the Lee family, who are Chinese and Chinese-American and moving to Metropolis from Chinatown. As they are settling into their new environs, they encounter prejudice both subtly (from neighbors) and extremely visibly from the local chapter of the Clan of the Fiery Cross (a thinly veiled Ku Klux Klan). As the Lees live across the street from cub reporter Jimmy Olsen, their situation comes to the attention of star reporters Clark Kent and Lois Lane. And of course, Superman also intervenes.

Notably, in this story Superman recounts the tale of how he began to learn about his Kryptonian roots and encounters the substance Kryptonite for the first time. So in a clever way, Superman's immigrant status comes to bear in fantastical terms on the more terrestrial concerns of the main narrative.

Although this tale is fictional, and it contains its share of superhero tropes, it is the very human and insightful supporting characters who steal the show. The Lees are a collection of distinct individuals: the mother clinging to her old ways and wanting to speak Mandarin, the father trying his best to do right by his family but also assimilate into US culture, the headstrong older son Tommy tries to use his athletic ability to win friends, while younger sister Roberta is more tentative and suspicious. I enjoyed getting to know them in short order, and it is easy to be moved by the events that envelop them. And I also find it fascinating to see a tale originally told in 1946 is still sadly relevant and applicable to events of today.

This book's author Gene Leun Yang is one of the premier comics creators working today. He was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship and has also won the Printz Award for his graphic novel American Born Chinese. He has explored themes of immigration, belief, identity, and growing up in his many works, including The Eternal Smile, Level Up, The Shadow Hero, the twin volumes Boxers & Saints, and New Superman. It was drawn by Gurihiru, a duo of Japanese artists named Chifuyu Sasaki and Naoko Kawano who have been drawing lots of American comic books over the past decade. Most of their notable works have been for Marvel Comics, but they also have drawn a number of books in the Avatar series. Their style is clean and crisp, telling the story and introducing the characters in vibrant fashion. Yang speaks more about the inspirations behind this series in this interview.

All of the reviews I have read about this book have been glowing. Ray Goldfield called it "one of the most engaging first issues that I can remember out of DC, and I expect that the final product is going to be a modern classic." Alexander Cole wrote, "It does a fantastic job adapting the historic radio drama that helped destroy the reputation of the Ku Klux Klan in America and it’s as heartfelt and entertaining as a comic can really be." Lizzy Garcia opined that it is "an excellent Superman story and a reminder of why I adore the character so much." My pal Paul Lai also has some insightful things to say about it in his podcast.

Superman Smashes the Klan #1 was published by DC Comics, and they offer more info about it here. There will be three issues in the series.