My 2021 Favorites!

I read a lot of graphic novels every year, and I review most of them on this blog. Check out the ones I liked best published in 2021.

Overall Favorite 

 Cyclopedia Exotica

This book is a highly detailed and moving piece of world-building that imagines that cyclops are real and have to deal with many civil/human rights issues in being accepted into society. It's funny, moving, thoughtful, and provocative. Everything I want from a graphic novel!

 

Schweizer-Hale Award for Nonfiction 

American Cult 

I learned so much about this uniquely American phenomenon from this anthology of stories. It's full of hucksters, pseudo-religion, true believers, tragedy, and existentialism. These stories lingered with me for a long time.

 

 

Favorite Adapted Webcomic

Lore Olympus

This gorgeously illustrated book retells the story of Persephone and Hades with a contemporary sensibility. Its characterizations and plotting are exceptional. It's one of my all-time favorite comics.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Favorite Adapted Digital Comic

Friday

A book by a couple of my favorite comics creators about a grown-up version of an Encyclopedia Brown/John Bellairs novel? That's pretty much a book made for me. It's a great mystery set in an appropriately creepy and idiosyncratic town with strong characters.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Favorite Book About Teaching

Are Comic Books Real?

I also read many books about teaching/education, and this one made me feel what it was like to be a public school teacher. It's frustrating, hopeful, keenly observant, and drawn in disparate styles. If you want to know what teaching is like, read this book.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Favorite Sequel

Delicates

I was skeptical that a book could live up to the quirky and moving Sheets, but this one may actually pass it in terms of strong character work and realistic adolescent situations. It's a great melding of YA and ghost stories.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Favorite Reissued Book

The Way of the Hive 

Originally published as Clan Apis, this account of the life cycle of a bee is incredibly informative and surprisingly moving. Pretty much a perfect graphic novel, but now in color!

Favorite YA Book

The Fifth Quarter

This book is mostly about youth basketball and one girl's striving to be the best player she can be, which complicates her friendships. It is also a window into a contemporary family and her mother's political aspirations. I loved so much about this book and its characters, and I am eager for the sequel.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Favorite Book Featuring A Psychopathic Pair of Underwear

Crash Site

This graphic novel combines manga with European comics conventions, telling an incredible and harrowing survival tale about a couple of drug smugglers (a woman and her dog), a horrific plane crash, and the underpants that wants to kill them both. This book book bends genre conventions and is not for kids.

 

 

 

 

 

 

That's it! That's my list. Happy New Year, everyone!

American Cult

Comics anthologies can be very uneven, but I feel that American Cult is an excellent introduction into the strange, uniquely American blend of religion/fanaticism and capitalism/exploitation that is the cult. This phenomenon is defined in an introduction to the book, and many chapters straddle the line between reporting and commenting on these movements characterized by charismatic leaders and their sometimes insane, yet still convincing (to some) preaching. There are some of the "greatest hits" one who expect of such a book, including a look at the Jonestown Massacre (Ryan Carey and Mike Freiheit) and the Manson Family murders (by Janet Harvey and Jim Rugg).

Some, like Lonnie Mann's "Orthodox Judaism is a Cult" are more potentially controversial in their takes on organized religion, while others Like Ben Passmore's examination of MOVE look at cults as political entities.

Some, like Josh Kramer and Mike Dawson's "Cults Reoriented" revealed strange connections like the one between Sufism Reoriented and the Cheescake Factory. Others are more wrenching and personal, like the particularly memorable entry by J.T. Yost, a look at a refugee from the Westboro Baptist Church.  

That the entries in this book are presented in chronological order invites comparing and contrasting them, and I learned a great deal about these various groups, even ones I thought I was pretty familiar with. This book is ideal for those interested in nonfiction, history, religion, or unique social phenomena. I got a lot from reading it.

American Cult was edited by Robyn Chapman, and she  also contributed an entry about Heaven's Gate. She has been involved in the comics industry in a number of ways, most notably as proprietor of Paper Rocket Minicomics. The book features story and art by creators I am familiar with, such as Box Brown, Mike Dawson, Mike Freiheit, Emi Gennis, and Ben Passmore, while also showcasing a bunch I am just learning about. I will definitely be on the lookout for more from them.

All of the reviews I have read of this book have been positive. Rob Clough wrote, "Chapman’s decision to sequence the stories in chronological order further cements this impression of history repeating itself. What makes this an interesting book to read is that the contributing artists use widely varying approaches." Publishers Weekly concluded, "Though these comics raise more questions than they answer, they sweep admirably through a little-understood phenomenon." Leonard Pierce called it "a pretty good reflection of its subject matter: never coherent, often shocking, full of little revelations, and liable to pull you in to its strangely riveting view of the world."

American Cult was published by Silver Sprocket, and they offer a preview and more about it here. Although it is about US history, this book features a lot of sex, drugs, and profanity, so it is suggested for more mature readers.