Mind the Gap, Volume 1: Intimate Strangers

This book collects the first five issues of a comic book written by Jim McCann and drawn by Rodin Esquejo. McCann won an Eisner Award for his book Return of the Dapper Men, and he also worked on a series of comics about Hawkeye and Mockingbird for Marvel Comics. Esquejo has been mostly known as the cover artist for Morning Glories. All these proceedings in this book are well communicated by his clear, fluid artwork. McCann speaks more about the origins and intent of this series in this interview.

The plot follows Elle Peterssen, a wealthy, young woman who was attacked in a subway station and is in a coma. No one, not even she, knows who assaulted her or why, and almost everyone from her over-bearing father, jerk brother, distant mother, and hard luck ex-boyfriend are suspects. Add to the mix that Elle's spirit seems to be floating around in the ether overseeing things and a suspicious doctor who hides information while knowing way too much about her and her situation, and the result is a pretty compelling and interesting mystery.

Reviews I have read about this volume have been largely positive with some reservations. Booklist's Snow Wildsmith wrote, "This first volume sets up the rest of the series, but even when it is trying too hard to be cool, the story is still engaging." The Patient Comic Addict offered this opinion: "While it can be wordy and expository at times, the story is quite compelling." Francesca Lyn summed up, "the strong characterization and well-written dialogue on Mind the Gap is enough to keep me entertained while I try to figure out just what is going on."

 The regular series and this collection are published by Image Comics. A sizable preview is available here from Comic Book Resources.

Return of the Dapper Men

This gorgeously drawn graphic novel is part fairy tale, sci-fi story, mystery, and adventure yarn. And I warn you now, my description is not going to do it justice. The story takes place on the world of Anorev, where not many people live. Those who do live there are only children under age eleven. Clocks do not work; books are not read but used for stacking into rudimentary ladders. There are robots living underground, a giant angel statue looming over town, and a curious boy named Ayden, who is the only one who wonders why the world is the way it is. His curiosity leads him to question why time has stopped , and his actions bring about the arrival of 314 very dapper men who can fly and who have both mysterious motives and some answers.

Jim McCann and Janet Lee created this book. McCann, the author, began his career writing for music videos, television, and theater, and he also has written a series of comics about Hawkeye and Mockingbird for Marvel Comics. Lee is an artist who lives and works in Nashville; she has shown her artwork in galleries across the world. This interview with both creators casts light on how this collaboration came about.

Like fashion icon Tim Gunn, who wrote the introduction, most reviewers are impressed with this book. Comic Book Resources' Doug Zawisza celebrated it, writing that it reminds him "of everything comics can be." Reviewer Jonathan Pilley "can't recommend it enough, whether you're a young child with a robot friend or an adult who needs a reminder that even the innocence of childhood is fraught with grown-up decisions." Jill Pantozzi gushed about the book, calling it "a fairytale for a new generation."

Tim Gunn's introduction is available here from the book's publisher Archaia. A video preview is available here.