Steady Rollin': Preacher's Kid, Black Punk, and Pedaling Papa

I got this book a few years back from a Kickstarter campaign for Birdcage Bottom Books. Steady Rollin' is a collection of previously published comics, and the only thing holding them together is that they are all autobiographical, roughly chronological, and feature the author and illustrator, Fred Noland. He is currently, in his own words, "an avid cyclist and proud papa." 

Over the course of this book he delves into lots of subjects and time periods, including looking at his upbringing as a literal son of a preacher man, his foray into the punk music scene, living in and around southern California, working at a car wash, various cycling trips, and a tense escapade where he tracked down someone who had stolen his bike. Along the way, I got a lot of insight into his politics, personality, and parenting. 

Each comic episode is a concentrated look at his life, sometimes funny, sometimes thoughtful, and always engaging. He tends to look at things, warts and all, and I appreciated the many truth bombs he dropped. At first I was disappointed that there was not a unified narrative, but I think this book has something better. Although the stories only really roughly fit together and were purposed for other venues, taken altogether they create a mosaic of man I find not only interesting and entertaining but also someone I'd actually like to meet and hang out with. I am not sure if we would get along necessarily, but I like the cut of his jib. And I really like his comics.

As I wrote earlier, Noland is a working artist, and he has produced work for many prominent magazines and venues. He has made a short graphic biography of Major Taylor, one of the USA's first global superstar athletes, and has been working on a longer one as well. He speaks more about his work and this book in this interview and also in this article.

I was not able to find many reviews of this book online, but Publishers Weekly called it a "companionable grab bag of humorous autobiographical shorts."

Steady Rollin' was originally published by Birdcage Bottom Books, but now you can get copies from Microcosm  Publishing (they offer a preview and more at the link).

The Girl Who Sang: A Holocaust Memoir of Hope and Survival

Holocaust survivors are growing older and fewer, and The Girl Who Sings is a graphic novel made to ensure their stories are preserved and told to future generations. It tells the tale of Estelle Nadel, who lived in Poland as a girl, and whose story is recorded and featured by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. It is divided into four parts, the first the lead-up to Nazi occupation, the second an account of her family hiding, the third a look at their liberation that brought new terrors, and the fourth the tale of how they finally arrived to America and struggled to make new lives.

What is powerful about this book is its first-hand account of the genocide and harrowing events of the period, ones that are being replicated in the present in multiple places despite a vow to "never again" abide such prejudice and hatred. People were labeled subhuman, detached from social structures like education, relegated to ghettos, and eventually sent to camps to either work or die. Others were killed with bullets and bombs in the course of war. I know there are those who would like to pretend none of this ever happened or even those who would like to replicate these events to perpetuate their own foul beliefs, and one of the strongest ways to combat them is to keep these stories visible. I was deeply moved by this book, more than I expected to be. It is a vital tale of survival and hope in the face of despair, and I feel it is an important story for others to see.

The Girl Who Sang is Estelle Nadel's story, but she died in 2023, and it was translated into graphic novel form here by editor Bethany Strout and artist Sammy Savos. Savos is a storyboard artist and cartoonist who has a strong sense of storytelling, character design, and emotional expression. Through the interaction of plot, words, and images the people and events depicted in this book seem palpable and alive.

 This book has received many accolades and has been very well reviewed. In a starred review from School Library Journal, Darby Wallace called it a "must have." In another starred review, Kirkus Reviews described it as "sweeping, stark, tragic, and triumphant." Emily Schneider wrote that the "metic­u­lous nar­ra­tion and insights, com­bined with Sam­my Savos’s com­pas­sion­ate artis­tic vision, ensure that this sto­ry will not be forgotten."

The Girl Who Sang was published by Roaring Brook Press, and they offer a preview and more here.

Life Drawing

It had been a minute since I read any Love and Rockets, but I recently read Life Drawing to check in with what Jaime Hernandez has been creating these past several years. This book follows the exploits of Jaime's two main focal characters of late, Tonta and Maggie. Most of the book looks at how Tonta is dealing with life after high school, with her bouncing around her aunts' houses, taking drawing lessons at the local community college, maybe finding gainful employment, and fumbling toward possible relationships. Maggie keeps popping up in and around her life in surprising ways, and together they begin to work on Maggie's fear of the ocean. 

None of this plot summary really gets at what makes this book special, which includes the dialogue, interactions between the characters, and gorgeous artwork. In many ways, it reads like a grown-up Archie comic, with multiple short, separate episodes that coalesce into a narrative whole. The characters are vivid and how they interact with each feels real, funny, and moving. The issues they deal with are mundane and relatable, but the artwork is exquisite and expressive. In lieu of a preview, I am just going to post a series of random panels as rendered by Hernandez. 

I think readers new to the Love and Rockets world might need to allow themselves some time to get into this book, as it is a bit scattered on the front end, but fans will be able to visit again with a cast of old friends. I loved seeing the familiar stomping grounds being populated with newer characters, and there are a few surprises, too, including a forest spirit and a couple of weddings. It's another outstanding comic by one of this generation's best artists.

All of the reviews I have read of this book have been positive. In their starred review Publishers Weekly gushed, "Hernandez's jaw-droppingly clean line and mastery of the subtly caricatured human form make the most mundane moments vibrate with life." John Paul Bullock wrote that it "is a perfect entry point for anyone who’s recently discovered this groundbreaking series." Tom Shapira pondered the task of tackling this series for the first time and wrote, "The reviews are still good, they’ve always been good, but there’s just so much of it."

Life Drawing was published by Fantagraphics, and they offer a preview and more information about it here. This book features adult situations, profanity, sex, and nudity, so it is recommended for readers mature enough to handle those things.

Super Magic Boy Book 3: I Am A Slime Monster

In this third volume of the Super Magic Boy series, Hugo has just finished the second book of his favorite series, Sponge Man, and wants to read the third. So he and his pal Dino head to the library only to find disaster.

It turns out that the place has been overrun by a slime monster who wants to destroy all the books so that humanity will become stupid and be easier to conquer. Hugo is frightened of slime monsters, but he marshals his courage and abilities to battle this gelatinous foe. I won't spoil what happens, but I will say that all resolves well, albeit in a silly way. My kids have all read this book, and they especially loved the gruesome slime monster.

Personally, I enjoy the energetic and loopy artwork. Hugo and Dino are enthusiastic in everything they do, and that affect makes the proceedings all that more funny, fearsome, and exciting. This book is flat out fun to read.

Long-time readers of the blog might know that Jarod Roselló is a big deal in my house. We have all read both his Red Panda and Moon Bear books, and I have read a bunch of his mini- and web-comics, including the The Well-Dressed Bear Will (Never) Be Found. He speaks about his work on the Super Magic Boy series in this interview.

I Am A Slime Monster was published by RH Graphic, and they offer a preview and more here. 

History Comics: The Challenger Disaster: Tragedy in the Skies

I was home from school for a snow day on January 28, 1986, and I remember watching the Challenger disaster live on television, which made quite an impression on me. This book takes a look into the people and circumstances behind that space mission and explains just went wrong. The framing sequence here is that those seven astronauts have been commemorated in the future where humanity has moved beyond Earth to colonize outer space, and a teacher has her students giving presentations about the Challenger mission. Over the course of this book the students expound on these astronauts as explorers and also for introducing the idea of civilians traveling to outer space.

What made this particular space mission notable, even before the tragedy, was the inclusion of Christa McAuliffe, a high school teacher who won the opportunity to train as a payload specialist. Of course, a focus of this book is on her but it also makes sure to give more details about the rest of the crew. It also delves into the factors that led to disaster, exploring how the space shuttle program developed its vehicles as well as what went wrong in terms of weather conditions and O-rings. I felt that this book was very informative and engaging, another strong entry in the History Comics series.

The Challenger Disaster was written and drawn by Pranas T. Naujokaitis, who has written and/or drawn several books over his career. He is also known for the mini-comic Laffy Meal. He speaks about his work on this book in this interview.

The reviews I have read about this book have been mostly positive. Sophie Brown called it "a great book that conveys a huge amount of detail without ever feeling overwhelming or dry." Kirkus Reviews summed it up as "a well-researched, idealistic tribute." In a starred review for School Library Journal, John Peters praised it for "artfully incorporating a solid payload of information within a well-developed frame story."

The Challenger Disaster was published by First Second, and they offer a preview and more information here. 

Hoops

I loved reading Hoops, a fictional account of the first Indiana high school girl's basketball tournament in 1976. The books follows the Wilkins Regional High School girls’ basketball team through their bumpy inaugural season. The boy's Bears team is a perennial state power that gets lots of accolades and attention, but the start-up girl's squad suffers in comparison. Those players have to practice in the elementary school gym, deal with tension from peers who think they should stick to cheerleading, and struggle to find funds for basic things they need to run the team, like uniforms, equipment, and buses.

I will try not to spoil much, but they have trials and successes, and luckily they find someone who helps them not only advocate for the team but also find ways to pay for uniforms, travel, and everything they need to compete. This is historical fiction, but it is based firmly on real events, and it is a great way to revisit the recent past and see how it differs from our current realities, and why things are more equitable after Title IX was more fully realized. 

However, this book is not a dry history lesson. It is full of great character moments as well, and it's easy to root for the upstart team, mostly seen through the eyes of Judi. The game and action sequences are exciting and vivid, and the artwork is very clear and inviting. Fans of history, sports, and sports stories will find much to entertain them here.

Hoops is the debut graphic novel by Matt Tavares. He is a long-time children books' writer and illustrator, with more than 20 titles to his name. He speaks about his work on his graphic novel in this interview.

All of the reviews I have read about this book have been positive. Kirkus Reviews summed it up as "a winning tale, all the more exhilarating for its links to history." Beth Kanell called it "a page-turner where determination and hope fill every page." Ofama Umesi opined that it is "delightful and informative on a historical level."

Hoops was published by Candlewick Press, and they offer a preview and more information here. 

The Knives: A Criminal Book

The Knives is the latest entry in the Criminal series, a stand-alone graphic novel that works on its own and also displays all the hallmarks of excellence of these comics. This particular volume is one that weaves together several tales and features characters who have appeared in prior stories, operating an as introduction to this world and these comics in advance of the premiere of the Amazon adaptation. One of the main plot threads is about a writer that mirrors some of Brubaker's experiences in Hollywood, and the others involve an orphan being raised by an ex-boxer/current bar owner/keeper of the peace, a kidnapping scheme, a doomed love story, and an ex-soldier falling back into a pattern of violence.

If have ever read Criminal, many of these themes and stories are familiar, but I still feel that good genre work done with skill and craft is worth reading. And this book features exactly that. There are suspense, intrigue, interesting character moments, sex, violence, and questionable moral choices abounding. The artwork is aptly atmospheric and expressive. I have consistently loved Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips' collaborations, and this one is as good as any of their past work. If you are looking for some entertaining crime noir readings, this book is a good place to start.

The reviews I have read about this book have been mainly positive. Zac Owens called it "a book I truly loved to read." In a starred review, Thomas Batten summed up, "This ambitious and elegiac crime thriller is among the best of Brubaker and Phillips’s highly acclaimed collaborations." Steve Baxi has some issues with this book retreading familiar territory but also admits it is "charming more often than not."

The Knives was published by Image Comics, and they offer more information about it here. This book contains violence, sex, and profanity, and it is suggested for readers mature enough to deal with those things.