Billy Bat, Volume 1

Set in 1949, Billy Bat tells the tale of Kevin Yamagata, a Japanese-American artist who has hit it big with his popular new series Billy Bat.

As you can see, that comic is a cartoon noir, with lots of subterfuge and, it turns out, communist spies. Everything is going all right until one day, Kevin learns that his character may be based on one that originated in Japan, where he was stationed during World War II. 

Even though the stories that character Billy Bat has are not based on any story he's consciously read, he feels obligated to travel to Japan and track down the original artist in order to get his blessing and also head off any issues with plagiarism. What Kevin finds in Japan instead turns into a tangled web of murder, politics, ancient texts, graffiti, tattoo artists, and communist spies. And the reaches of this conspiracy range far, maybe even beyond planet Earth. There are plenty of twists and turns in this single volume, likely a portent of the amount of suspense to follow.

The kick-off to this series was made by writer/artist Naoki Urusawa and Takashi Nagasaki. Urusawa is an internationally known manga creator, winner of the Shogakukan Manga Award three times, the Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize twice, two Eisner Awards, and the Kodansha Manga Award. His works have been some of the most celebrated of recent times and include Asadora!, Monster, 20th Century Boys, and Pluto. Nagasaki is also an award winning manga writer/editor with a long list of credits. Billy Bat has been completed in Japan for some time and only now being published in the US, and editor Kriistina Korpus explains more about why in this interview.

All of the reviews I have read of this book have been positive. Matthew Orozco opined that it is "an enthralling, genre-defying series that combines mystery, historical fiction, conspiracy theory, and metafiction, unfolding across multiple eras and continents." David Brooke called it "exactly the kind of ambitious, unpredictable storytelling that has made Naoki Urasawa one of manga’s most celebrated creators." Kara Dennison wrote, "The art is wonderfully dissonant, slipping easily between stylized mid-century cartoons and a more settled, faded realism."

Billy Bat was published by Kana, and they offer more information about it here.

Cold War Correspondent

A new entry in the Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales series is always a welcome addition to my library, and this one, Cold War Correspondent, is exceptionally well done. It focuses on the conflict known as the Korean War, and it is told through the accounts of Marguerite Higgins, an enterprising and intrepid reporter who had to contend with firefights, evacuations, and rampant sexism. Her personality really shines through in this book, and it is rewarding to learn about her and how she does her job. Anyone interested in what a war correspondent does has a front seat view into that occupation, warts and all.

Reading this book, I also learned that I was ignorant about much of the origins and goings-on of this conflict. It is chock full of facts and excellent storytelling, so I felt that I could experience history as a compelling and informative narrative. I know that Hale did a superb job encapsulating an entire war before, but the job here he does of detailing the beginnings of the Korean War is just as comprehensive and gripping. This series is still the gold standard of nonfiction historical graphic novels.

This book's author, Nathan Hale (not related to the Revolutionary War spy) is a highly accomplished graphic novelist. I love his work so much that I named one of my annual favorites list categories after him. Aside from his great success with this series, he has also published a couple of fictional graphic novels One Trick Pony and Apocalypse Taco. He has also drawn a few others, including Rapunzel's Revenge and Calamity Jack.

All of the reviews I have read about this book have been positive. Kirkus Reviews summed it up as "exciting reportorial derring-do." Youth Services Book Review gave it 5 out of 5 stars and wrote, "I’ve never known much about the Korean War but now I do after reading the 11^th in the Hazardous Tale series."

Cold War Correspondent was published by Amulet Books, and they offer a preview and more here.

Crater XV

This sequel to Far Arden picks up on the exploits of Army Shanks, who is equal parts government agent, roustabout, explorer, and Popeye. In this book, his tale involves him running into a woman who may or may not be his lost love from his orphanage days.These days she is running with some wayward Russians who may be about to launch a rocket from their ship (or they might be dangerous smugglers). Add to this situation 15-year-old Wendy who just wants to get off of Earth via a top secret Canadian space expedition project, a bunch of government agents, and a couple of ragged and worn astronauts, and what results is a book that covers a whole lot of ground, but does it artfully, with a sense of humor and adventure.

The characters are strongly depicted, full of emotion, history, conviction, and longing, but most impressive is the artwork and how it conveys action, movement, and the surrounding environment in such a fulsome manner. It also combines words with pictures in innovative and arresting ways. This cartoon world is so realized and lively that it propels the narrative like a rocket.

This book's creator Kevin Cannon has a growing number of impressive works under his belt, including the collaborations with Zander Cannon (no relation) Evolution, The Stuff of Life, T-Minus, Bone-Sharps, Cowboys, &; Thunder Lizards, and the electronic comic anthology Double Barrel where this story was first serialized.  His art and storytelling are exemplars of economy, wit, and energy.

All of the reviews I have read about this book have been overwhelming in their praise. Seth T. Hahne frankly stated, "I love these books more than I love the vast majority of comics that I love." Publishers Weekly wrote, "Few cartoonists know better the meeting place between grief, humor, and adventure like Cannon, and this second Shanks story is further proof of his abilities as a storyteller." Greg Burgas called it "better than its predecessor." Mike Young rated it 10/10, and Jeremy Nisen raved, "Nothing in the comics canon (pardon the pun) currently merits a higher recommendation in this reviewer's opinion."

A preview and much more is available here from the book's publisher Top Shelf.

Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451

The title of this classic Cold War and censorship novel comes from the temperature at which paper supposedly combusts. In the near future, firemen set fires, not fight them. Houses are fireproof and books are illegal because of the ideas they could give people. Firemen enforce the law, burning books and making sure their owners are arrested. Guy Montag is a fireman who is disturbed when he witnesses a woman setting herself on fire rather than give up her books. He catches a glance of some words and risks stashing a few books to see what is they contain.

Ray Bradbury wrote this forward-looking work as a commentary on the problems of contemporary American society. He also forecasted a number of things, including the growing dependence on media (in the form of wall-size screens) and the use of earphone radios (think Bluetooth). A National Medal for Arts recipient and Science Fiction Poetry Association Grandmaster, Bradbury has written numerous works, most notably the The Martian Chronicles stories and the novels Something Wicked This Way Comes, The Illustrated Man, and Dandelion Wine. His works have been adapted into all types of media, including movies, television programs, and comics. This interview with Bradbury explores the process of making this adaptation. Both Hamilton and Bradbury contributed to this interview about the book.

Tim Hamilton adapted this novel into graphic novel form. He has worked as an illustrator for a couple decades now, drawing for publications ranging from MAD to The New York Times. He drew the long-running comic book series The Trouble with Girls and also adapted Treasure Island into a graphic novel. This interview touches on Hamilton's work, career, and art on this book.

This well-done adaptation appeals to many people. Chris Singer called it a "terrific adaptation."A student at Teen Ink wrote that it would be better to read the novel before the adaptation, but NatalieSap offered that "it can be a gateway to reading Bradbury's original, or even stand alone." The School Library Journal concluded that it was "an excellent companion to an excellent novel."

A teacher's guide, videos, and other information are available here from the book's publisher Hill and Wang. A preview is available at Amazon.com.

Laika

In 1957, a stray dog became the first living mammal to go into space. Laika was nicknamed "Muttnik" in the US, a reference to the first satellite put into orbit. Nikita Khrushchev, the premier of the USSR at the time was famous for his dramatic actions as well as his antagonism toward the west. Sputnik took the world by storm, and he meant the Laika episode to add even more momentum to the view that the Soviets were technologically superior.

This book details Laika's transformation from stray dog to cosmonaut. Some parts are imagined, as tales of her life before she came into the space program are entirely speculative. Writer/artist Nick Abadzis creates a realistic and touching account and combines it with well researched stories about the main caretaker, Yelena Dubrosky, and the chief designer, Sergei Pavlovich Korolev. The result is an affecting story that combines love, duty, and determination to create one's own destiny. By the end of the book, the effects and sacrifices linked to this historic space mission are made clear. It is a dazzling combination of fact and fiction.

Nick Abadzis wrote and drew this work. He has worked on numerous comics projects since 1987, with work appearing in Marvel UK books and Deadline magazine. He also moonlighted as a writer for the Bob the Builder TV series. His work on Laika has won him many accolades, including the 2008 Eisner Award for Best Teen Graphic Novel. The book appeared on many different "best of" lists, including Publishers Weekly's Best Books of the Year, the Young Adult Library Services Association's Great Graphic Novels, and the New York Public Library's Books for the Teen Age Reader.

The book's publisher First Second is renowned for its quality graphic novels. Reviews of the book are overwhelmingly positive, as seen in this array here from the publisher and these from Goodreads. A short interview with Abadzis about his career and work on Laika is available here.

The book's official site has a wealth of resources. Additionally, some preview pages are available here.

T-Minus: The Race to the Moon

The race to put a man on the moon was one of the greatest competitions of the Cold War, and almost everyone is familiar with the end of contest and Neil Armstrong's famous speech from the lunar surface. What is not as well known is all of the hard work, calculations, and failures that preceded this great accomplishment. T-Minus captures many of the struggles that took place within both the US and the Soviet space programs beginning at T-minus 12 years before the first moon landing in 1969 (that would be 1957 for those of you who don't want to do the subtraction).

Movies like The Right Stuff and Apollo 13 show us the exploits of the astronauts, but they don't show as much about the engineers, technicians, and mathematicians who made space travel possible in the first place. Jim Ottaviani has almost cornered the market in terms of creating graphic novels about mathematics and scientists and here he shows just how much they contributed to the great success Armstrong eventually was celebrated for. However he does not give short shrift to the pilots and other space travelers. He paints a picture of them as people brave and capable enough to fly vehicles that were basically fancy projectiles.

This book contains a wealth of resources provided in an accessible manner. There is a time line of dates that runs parallel to the narrative, chronicling successful and failing launches. The important players in the story are identified clearly, credentials listed, and acronyms explained in footnotes. There is even a bibliography for further reading toward the end, neatly disguised as a newspaper page.

T-Minus would be a great resource for learning about Cold War positioning or aeronautic engineering. More information about the content of the book and Ottaviani's aims as an author can be found in this interview done by Tom Spurgeon. For all of the technical and historical information given, the narrative still flows well from moment to moment, capturing the wonder and spectacle of space travel as well as the tragic moments that often accompanied failure. Reviews online are frequently positive, noting the good blend between facts and drama, such as these by Ted Anderson and Jack Shafer.

The art is crisply presented in black and white. It was drawn by the Cannon brothers, Zander and Kevin, who are frequent Ottaviani collaborators. More about them can be seen at their blog Big Time Attic.

For more science-centered graphic novels, visit G.T. Labs, Ottaviani's official site.
On the T-Minus page, there are teacher resources, preview page links, and other links to space-related websites.