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.

A Quick & Easy Guide to Queer & Trans Identities

A Quick & Easy Guide to Queer & Trans Identities is just what it says in the title, an accessible primer on LGBTQIA+ matters for those who would like to know more. It is divided into pointed chapters that answer specific questions, namely defining the terms queer, gender identity, gender expression, dysphoria, and asexuality. It also explores the concept of coming out as well as provides some elementary information about healthy relationships. 

The book presents serious material in a breezy and whimsical way. Its narrators are a group of snails who are observing a queer educator campout, providing an outsider/insider viewpoint. As you can see from the excerpt below, the artwork is playful and expressive. 

I really like the pastel color scheme, as well as the blue/green/yellow strips that follow each chapter that feature Sproutlings, a bunch of fantastic woodland creatures that enact the ideas contained in each chapter. All in all, I appreciated just how much information this book communicates in a fast and friendly way. It also contains a few activity pages in the back, as well as a list of great online resources. It's a great introduction for anyone wanting to learn more about the basics of LGBTQIA+ identities.

Cartoonists and illustrators Mady G and Jules Zuckerberg collaborated on this book. Mady G has made lots of shorter comics and has worked for a number of high-profile illustration clients. Zuckerberg has also illustrated the Printz Honor book Queer Ducks (And Other Animals). They both speak about their work on this quick & easy guide in this interview.

Most of the reviews I have read about this book have been positive. Alec Chunn wrote, "Though the book is slim, it effectively covers a broad swath of identities and topics." Becca called it "witty, engaging, and down-to-earth." Johanna Draper Carlson was less taken with it and opined, "the book often reads as a decorated lecture."

A Quick & Easy Guide to Queer & Trans Identities was published by Limerence/Oni Press, and they offer a preview and more information about it here.

The Well

I recently got to know about Jon Allen's Ohio Is For Sale series and read the first collection of those strips. They feature a cast of 20-something characters, depicted as animals but who have real human problems and relationships interspersed with some fantastical elements.  The Well is the latest book set in that universe, and it was available from my local library. Libraries RULE!

The star of The Well is Veronika, a reserved 24-year old who lives with her parents, has a jerk boyfriend in a band, and who has not had a job in about a year.

This situation changes when the band goes on tour, she gets to crash at her boyfriend's gross apartment, and she gets a job coding for a local energy drink/wellness company. She settles in smoothly at first, makes a couple of work friends, Persephone and Dave, and gets into a new pattern. Dave is a go-getter who obviously has a crush on her while Persephone is an open lesbian who has learned not to get involved with straight women (maybe), but they all get along and occasionally go out for drinks. Their dynamics are fun to see, but something is not right with the company's owners.

Her bosses Susan and Jake are distant and weird, and eventually it's revealed that they are running illegal experiments involving the toxic morass that lies below the building as well as the huge creature that lives there. Veronika figures out that something hinky is going on, but she and her co-workers still get roped into the situation. What follows opens her eyes to how she views the world and her role in it.

The artwork in this book is very clean and simple, with bold characters rendered in black, white, and grayscale. This style belies a complexity of character and plotting, and this book is incredibly compelling. I read the whole thing, more than 700 pages (!), in one sitting. It is a master class in graphic storytelling, and I cannot recommend it enough. There are two other books, Julian in Purgatory and The Lonesome Era, available from this series, and I need to get my hands on them ASAP.

All of the reviews I have read about this book have been positive. François Vigneault wrote, "Over the many pages of this book Veronika clearly emerges as Allen’s most well-rounded and engaging protagonist yet." Phantastic Reads opined, "I love Allen’s deceptively simple art, and he’s got some really fun backgrounds in this one. The creeping suspense is a great counterpoint to Veronika’s very real personal problems, and it all comes to a head and wraps up beautifully."

The Well was published by Top Shelf Productions, and they offer a preview and more here. For those interested, Allen speaks about his work on this book in this interview. And if it is not clear by now, this book is not for kids.