Losing the Girl

Losing the Girl is one of those books that has been on my to-read list for way to long, and I am very glad to have finally read it. It is the first of a trilogy, and it sets up a great many plot threads in both a compelling and moving manner. I knew vaguely that this was a book about adolescents and (maybe) some extraterrestrial hi-jinx, but it turned out to be so much more than some clever scifi romp.

The book is divided into five chapters, each one focusing on one of four teens who attend the same school. In the background of their stories is the disappearance of Claudia Jones, an honors student who attends their school. This disappearance is teased perhaps to be an alien abduction, but there is also a possibility it is linked to the presence of a homeless woman named CJ who appears around town. This mystery is secondary to the main plots, but it also provides a nice narrative through-line that builds suspense that should pay off in later books. 

The first chapter is narrated by Nigel, an African-American boy who uses humor to compensate for his struggles with his parents' divorce. He cracks wise and flirts with a lot of girls.

He has a short relationship with Emily, who is the narrator of the second chapter. She is Asian-American, and after dating Nigel, she starts pursuing her dream-boy Brett. She has a lot of choices to make when she becomes pregnant, both in terms of her relationships and her future. The third chapter is about white boy Brett, who is not a stereotypical jock but harbors a secret artistic side and an unrequited crush. The fourth chapter focuses on Paula, who I believe is Latinx, Emily's friend who gets treated poorly by her overbearing boyfriend. She has to deal with a number of complicated emotions, and she makes some questionable choices of her own. The fifth chapter returns to Nigel for a quick coda that sets up the next book.

The power in this book lays in its character-work and its artful ways of communicating feelings and emotionally volatile scenes. The artwork subtly shifts in each chapter, to capture each character's sensibility and also create unique spaces for them. So much of this book relies on verbal communication and captions, not so much action, but it still flows incredibly smoothly. The artwork is simple looking and economical, but it packs a powerful dramatic wallop. Just check out this sequence:

Losing the Girl is a page-turner that features real-feeling characters who go through realistic, complicated events. I will definitely be reading the next two books in the Life on Earth trilogy. 

This book was created by Marinaomi, an artist, scholar, podcaster, and activist who maintains multiple databases for cartoonists of color, disabled cartoonists, and queer cartoonists. She has created an array of comics in print and digital formats, including the Eisner Award-nominated Dragon's Breath and Other True Stories. She speaks about her career and works in this interview.

All of the reviews I have read of this book have been positive.  J. Caleb Mozzocco wrote, "Deceptively simple-looking, this is a genuinely complex comics work." Rob Clough opined, "There are many familiar elements of teen romance here, to be sure, but MariNaomi approaches with a level of sophistication and humanity that's rare for any story of this kind." Kirkus Reviews summed up, "A moody, compassionate reflection of adolescence in turmoil."

Losing the Girl was published by Graphic Universe, and they offer a preview and more information about it here.

Moms

Moms is a unique book, a look at the lives that are not often highlighted in popular culture or media. The main characters in this book are Korean women in their 50s, and they are a motley bunch. The protagonist of this book is Lee Soyeon, who divorced her husband years ago because of his gambling addiction. Now, working on a custodial staff in an office building she questions her life choices. Her 30-something-year-old youngest son still lives with her and struggles to make a living as a musician. She dates a skeevy nightclub waiter who only seems to come over for late-night, drunken hook-ups. And she has to contend with poor working conditions and sexism at work, which leads her on a misguided attempt to unionize. Over the course of the book, she also hangs out and commiserates some with her friends, but they have their own issues, ranging from having impotent husbands to seeking out affairs with younger men to simply losing the desire to even socialize at all.

The candor of this book is one of its greatest selling points. There is an aspect of voyeurism at play with gaining such insight into these women's lives, especially when their desires for  love, sex, and money are laid pretty much bare. I found the book very engaging and impossible to put down while also being somewhat horrified by what they had to endure over the course of their days. Plus, much of what transpires has a darkly humorous edge. It is very much like a soap opera, only with real stakes and real pain. I don't think this book will be quite to everyone's liking, but it's a memorable and moving work about resilient women. It portrays mundane lives that become extraordinary in the telling.

This book was created from his mother's notes by Yeong-shin Ma, who has published 11 books in South Korea. Moms is his only book available in English, and it was translated by Janet Hong. He speaks about his work on Moms in this interview.

The reviews I have read of this book have been predominantly positive. Rachel Cooke called it "a remarkable, joyous book," adding, "Our culture, like his, is hell-bent on rendering middle-aged women invisible, and yet here are four of them, their lives not only filling every single page of this comic, but brought to us with such intimacy." Susan Blumberg-Kason opined that "Yeong-shin Ma writes with great sympathy of the struggles of these middle-aged women, portrayed as humans and not caricatures." In a less celebratory review Publishers Weekly commented that "things tend to drag on, and the narrative feels as repetitive Soyeon’s declaration that her 'standards are high.'"

Moms was published by Drawn & Quarterly, and they offer a preview and more information here. By now, you may have guessed that this book contains lots of mature themes and is meant for mature readers.

Reminder: Don't do social media late at night.

Stepping Stones

I love and have read almost all of Lucy Knisley's graphic novels, and this one is her first foray into fiction. Stepping Stones is the story of Jen, a teenage girl who does not get what she wants. When her parents get divorced, her mom and she move into the country, even though she prefers city life. She has to deal with her mother's annoying, know-it-all boyfriend who keeps calling her Jenny. She has to tend to chickens and also help run the stand at the weekly farmers market, even though she struggles mightily with math. Finally, she has to share her bedroom on weekends with her mom's boyfriend's two daughters, with the older one being the golden child who can do no wrong.

All of these adversities contribute to a story that vividly portrays the sorts of emotions that go along with Jen's situation. I very much appreciated how it shows them in a nuanced way where she does not merely come off as an entitled brat, but shows how she is a child caught up in the wake of adults' actions. Also, although Jen does find certain silver linings in her new life circumstances, not everything resolves so neatly. I think the message that life often entails disappointment and compromise is a realistic one that respects what its readers might be going through. It offers no false promises. All of these messages are really driven home not only by the main narrative but also by the copious author notes that follow where it comes out that much here is based on Knisley's own childhood experiences.

I really enjoyed the artwork, which was done with pencil and digitally colored by Whitney Cogar. This technique lends a slightly sketchy aspect to an otherwise clear and cartoony style, a bit of grit that feels right with this story. It is a great complement to Knisley's clearly impressive storytelling and character work. This tale is a very human one, and the artwork brings forth a great amount of personality and feeling.

All of the reviews I have read about this book have been full of praise. Kirkus Reviews summed up, "Painfully realistic, this is a strong addition to the middle-grade shelf." Publishers Weekly wrote, "Knisley balances humor and deeply felt emotion to capture the particular unfairness of being a child at the mercy of parental decisions." Also, in a cool piece of synergy, half of the latest issue of PanelxPanel (#35) is dedicated to interviews and articles related to the book. Knisley speaks more about her work on Stepping Stones in this interview.

Stepping Stones was published by Random House Graphic, and they offer more info about it here. The book is solicited as also being Peapod Farm #1, whiich I hope means we'll get more books with these characters. I'd be glad to see how these characters cope with each other going forward.

The Story of My Tits

I have had this book on my shelf for a long time now, and I finally got to it after listening to a brief interview with its author on The Comics Alternative podcast. The Story of My Tits may have a provocative title, but it is a book full of heart, humor, and humanity. As you may guess from the title, the book is focused on particular body parts and how they inform a person's life across a lifespan. At first the narrator spends much of her childhood/adolescence pining for large breasts, as she is skinny and feels somewhat inadequate. As she gets older and in college, she finally starts developing larger ones, which changes how she is perceived by herself and others.

But this book is so much more than the story of her biological and sexual development. It is centered on her various relationships, with her parents (whose marriage is strained, although she does not notice that for a while), her siblings, and with her eventual husband and his family members. There is much to relate to in these depictions, and I loved how she does not sugar-coat the rough parts of their interactions and also how she captures funny, idiosyncratic scenes from their lives. She really captures the not-neatness of relationships as well as how they organically develop, often in surprising ways.

Things also take a few dark turns, such as when her mother develops breast cancer and has to have a mastectomy. Also, she and her husband also reel from his parents' separate bouts with cancer and other health issues. I have read a number of books about people dealing with grave illnesses, and what makes this book exceptional is how much space it spends showing the mundane, human sides of the various characters. When the main character eventually develops breast cancer and has to cope with a double mastectomy, we have had so much insight into her life and family dynamics that really pay off because so much of this book is involved with giving everything context.

 

In the end, I have to say I loved this book. It was moving, beautiful, raunchy in parts, and gorgeously expressive.

This book garnered acclaim for its creator Jennifer Hayden. It was nominated for an Eisner Award and was named on many end of year best-of lists. It was her second graphic novel, following the collection Underwire. She speaks about her work on The Story of My Tits in this interview with The Comics Alternative.

All of the reviews I have read of this book have been very positive. Rob Clough called it "a funny, bawdy and poignant memoir about body image, relationships, family and loss." In a starred review, Publishers Weekly concluded, "Hayden has created a heartfelt and often hilarious tribute to her life—and to the resilience of women everywhere." BookDragon wrote, "Hayden’s lively memoir-thus-far is such an affirmation of love and life – albeit without any rose-colored glasses, thank you very much! – that you’re going to need to set aside some solid time to just bask in her accomplishment."

The Story of My Tits was published by Top Shelf, and they have more info about it here.

This book features adult content, some nudity, and profanity, so it is suggested for readers mature enough to handle those things.

Getting Married and Other Mistakes

Jo is a photographer who excels at shooting weddings, but when her own marriage ends in divorce she falls into a depression and starts looking at her life choices. First, she examines her relationship with her mother and how much she was prepared to attract and marry the right kind of man.

Next, she tries some casual sex to see if that will snap her out of her funk.

Finally, she ends up seeing a few different therapists in order to get a clearer picture of her life and choices.

Along the way, she comes to various realizations about herself, her upbringing, and why she feels the ways that she does. Also, she does not find any snap answers or solutions, and she continues to make some questionable choices, such as dating a much older man. Her friends weigh in on her misadventures, which adds another facet to the proceedings as well as a good dose of humor.

Getting Married and Other Mistakes could be very cynical and cold, but instead it reads in a positive and charming manner. Jo is a strong character, and gaining insight to her thoughts is not just a cliched exercise in New Age self-realization. The various other characters are not always so well defined, but they are memorable and realistic for the most part, excepting perhaps her mother, who is utterly non-reflective and conniving, a complete nightmare.

The art, as can be seen in the excerpted panels, is crisp and very clean, with vibrant colors enlivening the pages. I like the style, which is a mix of pop art and sequential art. The book is perhaps a bit text heavy at times, but I feel that the interplay with the words and the illustrations is clever and used to good effect.

The book's creator, Barbara Slate, is a long-time comics maker, with three decades of credits ranging from Angel Love at DC to Yuppies from Hell and Barbie comics at Marvel as well as a slew of Betty and Veronica comics from Archie. She also wrote an instructional art book called You Can Do a Graphic Novel, which she talks more about in this podcast interview and this interview article.

Most reviews I have read about this book have been positive, though there are some that find major issues with it. Jeannine at Closing Chapters called it "both witty and poignant." Irene S. Roth called it a "book every woman will relate to." The reviewer at Publishers Weekly offered a less enthusiastic response, "Slate’s attempt to present an insightful message of empowerment through a light and ostensibly funny narrative is flattened by art that is, even for the undemanding genre of chick lit comics, overly simplified."
 
Getting Married and Other Mistakes is published by Other Press. They offer a preview and more here.

Bottomless Belly Button

This long, involved graphic novel reads very much like a Jonathan Franzen novel. By this I do not mean to say it is derivative but that it succeeds in experimenting with narrative form and also delivering quite powerful emotional reactions with economy.

Bottomless Belly Button follows the Loony family during a 6 day long family reunion. The cast of characters includes the grandparents, the matriarch and patriarch of the family, a couple who have been married 40 years and have decided they want a divorce. Also there is their oldest son, Dennis, who comes with his wife Aki and their infant son Alex. Dennis is the "good son" and his own marriage is not great. He takes his parents' announcement particularly hard. Middle child Claire is a divorcee accompanied by her teenage daughter Jill. Rounding out the cast is Dennis, the youngest son, a stunted, loner film school graduate. He is depicted cartoonishly as looking like a frog. Over the course of the 6 days, we get to see how the Loonies interact, look into their love lives, and share in their thoughts and feelings.

This graphic novel was made by Dash Shaw, a prolific artist, animator, and musician who has created a number of other sequential art works such as Bodyworld, Goddess Head, and The Mother's Mouth. His works push the boundaries of what comics can depict, and they have been published in the US and abroad. Most recently, Shaw has been working on an animated feature, The Ruined Cast. He speaks more about his life and career in this New York article.

Reviews have been positive, ranging from gushing to more measured. The New York Times called BBB engrossing and offered that the book "packs a wallop." Craig Taylor wrote that Shaw flirts with "navel gazing" but succeeds in depicting "small moments of change with the clarity of a novelist." Charles Hatfield opined that "Shaw's grasp of the family is admirably complex" and also wrote positively about how the book "is full of formal gambits that are meant to render legible things that are usually not caught by comics: dust motes sparkling in sunlight, the glare of fluorescent lights, what it feels like to immerse your body in seawater." I echo his conclusions that this BBB is "not perfect" but it is "a very strong, very cool book."

Bottomless Belly Button was published by Fantagraphics, who provide a good number of links and previews here. A video trailer and sizable excerpt is also available here at Shaw's website.