History Comics: The Wild Mustang: Horses of the American West

The History Comics series began last year, and I was impressed with the initial offerings. This volume, The Wild Mustang, lives up to the great start, featuring a wide range of history that touches on matters of biology, plate tectonics, politics, and culture wars. The story begins hundreds of millions of years ago when horses first evolved in what is now North America. About 150 million years ago, there were none of these creatures left there, as they had all migrated to other continents and were isolated by continental drift. It was only with the re-introduction of the Spaniards and other colonial powers that these creatures returned to where they originated.

What I liked about this book was that it takes a long view of history but also makes sure to show how these animals were used for various social and political means. Aside from agrarian labor, they were used for war purposes, for the Spanish to conquer native people or the Comanche to dominate land and property. It counters a lot of the romantic thinking of some idealistic native species that embodies the spirit of the American West, showing how they have since propagated, been hunted and slaughtered, and later protected by various laws, many championed by Velma B. Johnston (AKA, Wild Horse Annie).

This book is dense with facts, but it is still very readable and engaging. Plus, there are plenty of resources for further information in the end papers of the book, making a great starting point for eager readers. I think it would be attractive to people who love horses but it's also good for a general survey of US history and a great model for what historical research focused on a specific subject can look like. The artwork captures the energy of the animals and also communicates many shifts in scenery and tone, from pastoral plains to meat packing plants to villages to courtrooms. It's a excellent text to teach about the complexities of history in an entertaining and relatable medium.

This book's creators, writer Chris Duffy and artist Falynn Koch, have created a number of other graphic novels. Duffy has written or edited a number of anthologies, including Fairy Tale Comics, Fable Comics, Nursery Rhyme Comics, and an anthology of World War I poetry titled Above the Dreamless Dead. Koch has drawn a couple of entries in the Science Comics series, Bats and Plagues, as well as a Makers Comics book about baking. Koch speaks about her work on this book in this interview.

The reviews I have read about it have been mainly positive. Kirkus Reviews called it "A surprisingly comprehensive history of wild horses." Brett at Graphic Policy called it "a little weighty at times" but "well worth it." As of this review, it has a 4.05 (out of 5) star rating at Goodreads.

The Wild Mustang was published by First Second, and they offer a preview and more information about it here.

Fable Comics

Fable Comics has lots of "bossy" stories that come with morals that should suit a variety of young readers. Some of the stories end with a twist, sometimes with a laugh and sometimes tears. Most of these tales come from the pages of Aesop's Fables, and there are lots of familiar favorites like "The Fox and the Grapes" and "The Ant and the Grasshopper," but there is a healthy smattering of more obscure others from India, China, Europe, and Angola.

The art styles range widely in this collection, with some of my favorite artists contributing pieces that show off their finely rendered artwork and storytelling. I have to admit that fables are not exactly my favorite kind of reading, but there are far more hits than misses here. Among some of the best entries:

"The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse" by Tom Gauld

"Leopard Drums Up Dinner" by Sophie Goldstein

"The Boy Who Cried Wolf" by Jaime Hernandez

"The Demon, the Thief, and the Hermit" by Keny Widjaja

"The Hen and the Mountain Turtle" by Gregory Benton

The all-star team of creators in this book, which also includes personal favorites Corinne Mucha, George O'Connor, R. Sikoryak, and Eleanor Davis, was assembled by editor Chris Duffy. He has also edited the volumes Fairy Tale Comics,  Nursery Rhyme Comics, and Above the Dreamless Dead. He speaks more about his work on Fable Comics in this interview.

All of the reviews I have read about this book have been favorable. Marissa Lieberman wrote for the School Library Journal, "This collection of humorous, child-friendly pieces should be a first purchase for school and public library collections." The folks at Kirkus Reviews gave it a starred entry, calling it "Funny, diverse, engaging." You can read more reviews and see more previews at the multiple sites taking part in the book's blog tour.

Fable Comics was published by First Second, and they have much information and a preview available here.

Thank you, Gina, for the review copy!

Words to live by! from "The Thief and the Watchdog" by Braden Lamb

Nursery Rhyme Comics

Nursery Rhyme Comics follows the formula used by editor Chris Duffy in Fairy Tale Comics and Above the Dreamless Dead, start with some classic source material and get an all-star team of talent to illustrate those classics. I am glad to say that like those two aforementioned books, this one is also quite excellent. It features a bevy of talented artists, 50 in all, many of them well celebrated like Jules Feiffer, Roz Chast, Raina Telgemeier, Kate Beaton, Gahan Wilson, and Gilbert Hernandez.

The artwork is gorgeous and varied in superb manner. I love the multiple styles in here, and also that these nursery rhymes are depicted in punchy, one or two page spreads for the most part. Some of these adaptations are pretty literal:

A rare non-Love and Rockets Jaime Hernandez piece.

Others are set in exotic locales:

This picture just makes me smile.

Others rely on playful re-interpretation:

Dave Roman rules!

And a handful are funny, clever meta-commentaries on nursery rhymes:

Not going to lie. I laughed out loud at this one.

Taken together, this book is a treasure trove of fun, expertly crafted comics. I think it is best savored in small chunks, so that the reader can experience each nursery rhyme on its own terms without creating a blur by binging on these short tales.

All of the reviews I have read about this book have gushed as much as I have here. Kirkus Reviews gave it a starred review and summed up, "As much as the visual styles may vary, the high levels of wit and invention never falter." Elizabeth Bird wrote that this book "gives kids everywhere a new way of encountering some essential cultural touchstones." Stumptown Trade Review called it "a fun and unexpected delight."

Nursery Rhyme Comics was published by First Second, and they provide a preview and much more here.

I can't stop posting preview pages!

Above the Dreamless Dead: World War I in Poetry and Comics

Above the Dreamless Dead was published to commemorate the 100 year anniversary of the start of World War I. It contains a multitude of Trench Poetry by a long list of poets: Rupert Brooke, Wilfrid Wilson Gibson, Robert Graves, Thomas Hardy, Rudyard Kipling, Francis Edward Ledwidge, Patrick Macgill, Wilfred Owen, Issac Rosenberg, Siegfried Sassoon, Osbert Sitwell, Charles Sorley and Edward Thomas. These poems capture high art, the horrors of war, and also some of the profane responses from a number of soldiers. Very helpfully, the back matter of the book gives more information about their individual lives as well as a separate section that describes the context of their poems.

The poets are paired with a number of equally diverse and talented artists, including Hannah Berry, Stephen R. Bissette, Eddie Campbell, Lilli Carre, Liesbeth De Stercke, Hunt Emerson, Garth Ennis, Simon Gane, Sarah Glidden, Isabel Greenberg, Sammy Harkham, David Hitchcock, Kevin Huizenga, Kathryn Immonen, Stuart Immonen, Peter Kuper, James Lloyd, Pat Mills, Anders Nilsen, Danica Novgorodoff, Luke Pearson, George Pratt, Carol Tyler and Phil Winslade.

The poem adaptations are split into three sections: The Call to War, In the Trenches, and Aftermath.

From Thomas Hardy and Luke Pearson's "Channel Firing"

From Isaac Rosenberg and Peter Kuper's "The Immortals"

From Osbert Sitwell and Simon Gane's "The Next War"

The results are a wide range of powerful and provocative images. I really like the use of black and white to highlight the dark lines and contrasts, as well as the alternations between realistic and cartoony styles. These poems do not shy away from grim realities, loss of faith, or any type of politeness. The Great War, with its bloody and brutal combat, stripped away a lot of veneer and nicety of society and left those who fought it reeling and forever changed. Those are the kinds of sensibilities exposed throughout this volume, with some interspersed bursts of raunchy humor contained in the war songs that lighten matters up.

This is one of the tamer parts of the songs.

I would not say this is a book for young students, but it is a record of the time and a compilation of many works that would be excellent for high school students to contend with.

Chris Duffy edited this literary volume of comics. He also edited Fairy Tale Comics, one of my favorite books for younger readers. Duffy is a veteran in the field who edited Nickolodeon Comics for 13 years, as well as the Bizarro Comics anthology for DC Comics and Spongebob Squarepants comics for Bongo Comics.

All I have read about this book contains great praise. In a starred review Publishers Weekly wrote that "the real strength of the anthology comes both from the poems selected for it and the variety of visual approaches." Paul Gravett remarked that it provided great evidence that "the marriage of poetry and comics is a deeply fruitful combination." Rob McMonigal recounted his favorite entries from the book and concluded that it was "a great anthology series and well worth picking up."

Above the Dreamless Dead was published by First Second, and they provide a preview and much more here.

And a great, big thank you to Gina for the review copy!

Fairy Tale Comics: Classic Tales Told by Extraordinary Cartoonists

This book features an all star team of creators retelling an all star team of fairy tales from across the world. I felt it was a very impressive collection of well drawn and expertly told tales. It is hard to pick one story as my favorite, but if I had to narrow it down to two, I am very partial to Luke Pearson's version of the Japanese tale "The Boy Who Drew Cats"

and Joseph Lambert's retelling of a Br'er Rabbit tale "Rabbit Will Not Help."

Also, Graham Annable's wordless version of "Goldilocks and the Three Bears" had me laughing out loud.

Nevertheless, there is a wide range of excellent work contained in this book, told in very different styles and covering many kinds of stories, horrific, funny, sad, and adventurous. Among the other strong works in these pages are:

Gilbert Hernandez's bright retelling of "Hansel and Gretel"

His brother Jaime Hernandez giving us a spacy, wonderful "Snow White"

Comics veteran Ramona Fradon drawing the surreal and magical "The Prince and the Tortoise"

David Mazzucchelli's take on the creepy "Give Me the Shudders"

Craig Thompson sharing "Azzolino's Story Without End"

Raina Telgemeier's fun and feisty "Rapunzel"

Charise Mericle Harper's version of a strange English tale " The Small-Tooth Dog"

Gigi D.G.'s expressive version of "Little Red Riding Hood"

Brett Helquist's textured and impressionistic version of "Rumpelstiltskin"

And these are only some of the stories contained in this anthology! I did not think any one of them was a clunker, and what is more, there are endnotes that I found helpful when I ran into a story I did not know and wanted to learn more about. I also like the range of creators, and I am glad to have seen some relatively new folks mixed in with established ones I was very familiar with.

Editor Chris Duffy gathered all of these artists and stories, and he also wrote the adaptation to "The Prince and the Tortoise." A veteran in the field, he edited Nickolodeon Comics for 13 years, as well as the Bizarro Comics anthology for DC Comics and Spongebob Squarepants comics for Bongo Comics. For more about this book and how Duffy chose the stories and artists he did, check out this interview at Good Comics for Kids.

All of the reviews I have read thus far have been very positive. Publishers Weekly wrote, "Duffy has assembled a dazzling lineup of comics versions of more than a dozen fairy tales in this hilarious follow-up to Nursery Rhyme Comics." The librarians at Stacked were more measured but still called it "a great collection for young readers who may come to many of these stories with new eyes, never having read them anywhere else before." Michael May summed up the book nicely as "a fascinating look at modern culture through the lens of classic stories, but that’s what grown-ups are going to get out of it. For children, it’s simply an exciting, funny, beautifully drawn collection of unique versions of their favorite tales."

A preview and more are available here from the book's publisher First Second.

Thank you, Gina, for the review copy!