Squire

Squire is a book I have had on my to-read shelf for too long, and I am so glad I finally got to it. It is about Aiza, a young woman who belongs to the Ornu people, who have been recently conquered and absorbed by the Bayt-Sajji Empire. Her people are looked at not even as citizens, and she resents their treatment as thieves and scoundrels. After persisting against her parents, she enlists in the squire training program in the Bayt-Sajji army. If she successfully completes the training to become a squire she will become a citizen and be on the pathway to become a knight, a storied and prominent position.

Looks glamorous, yeah?

As a recruit, she has to contend with harsh living conditions, highly competitive peers, and the difficult tasks set for them by military leadership. Aiza hides her identity as a Ornu from everyone, and over time she begins to learn more about the history of the conflict, the intentions of the military, and what being a citizen and a knight actually entails. These are some harsh realities, but she finds hope and encouragement from some unlikely allies, as well as a lot of prejudice and fear from her compatriots when they learn where she's from. 

This book is set in a fantasy version of Jordan and Turkey, and it touches upon many themes and issues that persist in the Middle East both past and present in terms of conflicts between different social groups and the mythologies perpetuated to enforce unity. The artwork is gorgeous and colorful, and the characters are vivid both in terms of their relationships, the plotting, and how they are drawn. I got very swept up by this book, and I found it nearly impossible to put down after I was about a quarter way through reading it. I feel it is exceptional and works on so many levels, as a fantasy tale, a modern parable, and a suspenseful action story. 

I should also add I really appreciated the final section of the book, which is full of story ideas, initial designs, and lots of information about the amount of research and design that went into this book. Making comics, let alone a graphic novel, is a lot of work. It's good to see more about the process so that younger readers can appreciate what it takes to be comics artists themselves. 

The two who put so much time and effort into making this book are writer Nadia Shammas and artist Sara Alfageeh. Shammas has written a number of graphic novels including the Ignyte Award-winning Where Black Stars Rise and Ms. Marvel: Stretched Thin. Alfageeh also has illustrated the picture book Not Yet: The Story of an Unstoppable Skater. Both collaborators speak extensively on their work on this book in this interview. 

Squire won the 2022 Harvey Award for Best Young Adult Book, and it has received many positive reviews. In their starred review, Publishers Weekly noted, "Alfageeh’s arresting visuals conjure a richly detailed, sun-drenched world in which impressive architecture fills open landscapes populated by visually diverse and complex characters." Kirkus Reviews called it "an engaging graphic novel that examines the nature of prejudice and the cost of imperial expansion." Helena Ramasroop wrote, " It was charming and unexpectedly humorous while also tackling important topics like prejudice, colonialism, justice, and the purpose of history."

Squire was published by Quill Tree Books, and they offer a preview and more here.

The He-Man Effect: How American Toymakers Sold You Your Childhood

I am a big fan of Brian "Box" Brown, a comics artist who uses a clean, minimalist art style to tell many a nonfiction tale. Here, I expected to get a story about toys and toy companies, but I got so much more. This book touches on many aspects of the social studies, including history, government, and psychology in explaining the arcane and calculated strategies that have shaped modern generations. This book begins with a look at propaganda from World War I and then traces how the strategies used to sell war to a population were turned to selling goods to people, notably toys, comics, and cartoons to children. 

Box Brown goes way-back to the roots of the propaganda.

Along the path of this explanation, Brown touches on many issues, including the work of psychologist (and Sigmund Freud's Nephew) Edward Bernays, a pioneer in the field of public relations; the evolution of public domain; the importance of children engaging in imaginative play; the great toy boom set off by the popularity of Star Wars, and Ronald Reagan-era policies that deregulated the connections between advertising and children's programming. As you can see, if you are interested in tracing a great many social issues about nostalgia, marketing, and public consciousness, this is the book for you. It critiques our modern culture, delving deeply into what shaped it and what we might do differently in terms of being a literate person in the 21st century. What could have been a trifling book about playthings turned out to have much more gravity.

This book's author Box Brown has drawn a number of nonfiction graphic novels. including ones about Andre the Giant, Andy Kaufman, Tetris, and Cannabis. He also published the fictional biography Child Star. Of late he is publishing a web-comic about the state of Cannabis in the USA, Legalization Nation, and is the midst of Kickstarter campaign to fund a print compilation of those strips. He speaks about his work on The He-Man Effect as well as a number of his other works in this article.

All of the reviews I have read of this book have been positive. Kirkus Reviews summed it up as "a boffo cartoon history of the deliberate manipulation of children's minds." April Spisak called it "another clever, sharp, and well-researched graphic novel that explores a pop culture non-fiction topic in close detail." Timothy ONeil wrote, "It can sound hyperbolic to call this book important, but it really is... The way nostalgia and brands have been entrenched in our culture is only growing bigger, and it’s important to understand how we got here."

The He-Man Effect was published by First Second, and they have a preview and much more information here.

Four-Fisted Tales: Animals in Combat

Four-Fisted Tales is a highly entertaining and informative book that taught me all sorts of things about animals in combat. Apparently, the US military has been using dolphins for all sorts of missions (allegedly, because lots of info about it is classified) for decades. Among the many things I also learned from this book are that World War I soldiers marshaled fireflies to help create natural light at night that did not give up their positions, rats can be trained to be highly effective at detecting land mines, and slugs were used to protect soldiers from mustard gas. Also, there are fascinating stories about animals like dogs and bears that not only served as mascots for specific units but also got involved as actual combatants. Truth is truly more fascinating than fiction. 

From a heroic tale about a messenger dog named Satan.

What really makes these tales work is the masterful artwork that portrays various species not only with accuracy but also feeling, as well as detailed depictions of vehicles, buildings, landscapes, and other realistic features that make the environs of each panel live and breathe. Consequently, Four-Fisted Tales invites multiple re-readings, as it is easy to breeze through the whole book due to its fascinating subject matter and clear storytelling, but it also features intricate artwork that can be pored over again and again. Additionally, the war stories are compelling in and of themselves, without sugar-coating so even the more whimsical tales remind readers of the grim realities of battle.

This book's creator Ben Towle is a professor of illustration at The Columbus College of Art and Design. He has been nominated for 4 Eisner Awards, and is known for comics that tell fantasy tales, like Oyster War, and others that are nonfiction graphic novels like Amelia Earhart: This Broad Ocean. He speaks about his work on Four-Fisted Tales in this interview.

A 2022 Eisner Award nominee for Best Publication for Kids, this book has been well-reviewed. Rob Clough wrote, "Towle tells stories that are cruel and absurd as well as frequently funny and even inspiring, and it’s important to acknowledge that it’s all part of the war experience." Greg Burgas opines that it illuminates "a neat aspect of a depressing part of history – war ." Publishers Weekly called it an "undeniably captivating book."

Four-Fisted Tales was published by Dead Reckoning, and they offer more information about it here.

I had the pleasure of getting a copy of the book from Towle at HeroesCon this past weekend. He drew a lightning bug in my copy, and he is a swell fellow!