Tag: comic

Step Aside, Pops (Hark! A Vagrant, #2) by Kate Beaton

Step Aside, Pops (Hark! A Vagrant, #2) by Kate Beaton

An incredibly clever collection of comics with topics ranging from history to literature to pop culture and everything in between.

You don’t have to know a thing about Kate Beaton’s Hark! A Vagrant to enjoy this book. (I didn’t.) And it is so much fun.

Like any great observational comedian, Kate takes idiosyncrasies or exaggerates details to create comic gold.

For instance, here’s the dialogue from a comic about the Black Prince and some of his early exploits: “How are you feeling about being a hero of the battle of Crecy?” “Bro I am stoked.” “This is quite a momentous event so far in the war…” “Those French guys were like ‘Whoaaaaaa’.” “I keep forgetting you are sixteen.” “And my army was like eat it. Ka chow!!” pg 114

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There’s another one I liked about the Greek god Zeus going on a first date that doesn’t make much sense without the pictures so you’ll just have to check it out for yourself on page 123. Basically, it’s a play on all of the mythological stories about Zeus revealing himself to mortals as a swan, shower of gold or something else and still getting the girl. Kate has a point. I mean, how does that even work… showing up as a shower of gold. It’s ridiculous and almost begging for a comic to make fun of it. Like this one. 🙂

In addition to the observational humor, Kate takes characters from old posters, newspaper clippings or magazine photos and gives them a back story. Some of her creations are just hysterical.

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The spare and pencil-drawn style strongly reminded me of Nimona, which I also enjoyed. I highly recommend this collection for readers who enjoy comics or satire.

Thanks for reading!

SuperMutant Magic Academy by Jillian Tamaki

SuperMutant Magic Academy by Jillian Tamaki

At the SuperMutant Magic Academy, strange things happen and everyone looks different, but teenage angst and questions about reality remain the same. There is unrequited love, hormones run amok and popularity problems. There is a young man who can’t seem to die, no matter how he tries to end his life. There’s an artist who puts herself into shocking situations to underline the pointlessness of reality.

There’s a young woman with the head of a lizard who just wants to find a boyfriend and a beautiful girl with ears like a fox who occasionally has to change into a fox and hunt prey. There’s drugs and alcohol and a host of other issues, while the poor teachers are simply trying to educate the group.

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I didn’t connect well with this graphic novel and question its appropriateness for the younger end of the young adult scale. Older or more mature teens should be ok. There’s moments that make light of self harm without, what I think, is the appropriate context. There’s some sexual content that may be incredibly confusing and inappropriate for 11 and 12 year olds.

When I borrowed this from the library, I was under the impression that I could share this book with my child. After reading it, I realized I was wrong. That may have affected my opinions of SuperMutant Magic Academy. If I had just read it for enjoyment’s sake, maybe I would have thought more of its content.

Or maybe not. Jillian Tamaki gives herself, usually, just six panels to create a narrative and it isn’t enough. The jarring moments of reality left me with more questions than answers. I wanted more of a story and never really got that.

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It made me think maybe I was missing out on something. If this is based off of a web comic, maybe I would have enjoyed it more if I had read it in its original medium.

Thanks for reading!

I’m Not a Terrorist, But I’ve Played One on TV: Memoirs of a Middle Eastern Funny Man by Maz Jobrani

I’m Not a Terrorist, But I’ve Played One on TV: Memoirs of a Middle Eastern Funny Man by Maz Jobrani

Humor is an interesting concept. It varies from person to person and even day to day. Something that you find funny today might not even make you crack a smile tomorrow.

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But what I’ve discovered through watching a variety of stand-up comics is that the most successful ones tend to bring their own lives into the act in a powerful way. They distill what makes them unique and apply a humorous lens to it, making you feel like laughing or crying. It’s almost like storytelling through jokes. I feel like you have to be a brave person to even attempt it. Because what if you fail?

Have you ever watched Maz Jobrani‘s stand up? He does some storytelling and it’s rather funny. But he also has a back-and-forth with his audience, highlighting the differences between everyone but, beneath that, our essential humanness.

It is that unique voice that comes through in his memoir. He describes growing up Iranian in America and it wasn’t an easy ride. But even through his difficulties, Maz makes it amusing.

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He helped me to understand what it is like to be an Iranian in America and also a successful, stand up comic.

In addition to his life story, Maz’s detailed descriptions of other countries makes the reader want to travel to all sorts of exotic locales. This book made me want to visit Petra. 🙂 Some day, perhaps.

If you enjoyed I’m Not a Terrorist, But I’ve Played One on TV, you may want to read Sleepwalk With Me and Other Painfully True Stories by Mike Birbiglia, Shrinkage: Manhood, Marriage, and the Tumor That Tried to Kill Me by Bryan Bishop or I’m Just a Person by Tig Notaro.

In similar ways to this book, Birbiglia, Bishop and Notaro take their lives and share them with us, the readers. They make you laugh, and like Maz, you can’t help but appreciate the brilliance and bravery of comedians. Life isn’t always funny, but it can be. It just depends on what you focus on.

Thanks for reading!

Mission in a Bottle: The Honest Guide to Doing Business Differently – And Succeeding by Seth Goldman, Barry J. Nalebuff

Mission in a Bottle: The Honest Guide to Doing Business Differently – And Succeeding by Seth Goldman, Barry J. Nalebuff

Barry Nalebuff and Seth Goldman, who are the cofounders of Honest Tea, tell how they created their bottled tea business and grew it into something more.

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I understand what they were trying to accomplish with telling their business story in a graphic novel format but it didn’t work for me.

Graphic novels are great platforms to tell stories with a lot of action, colorful figures, and fantastic backgrounds. The story of founding a business, any business, seems to take place mostly in rooms with a bunch of people in business attire. The creation of a mission statement is mainly words on a page with little to show, action-wise. That doesn’t make it less important, but simply less exciting than a superhero comic.

Even the tense moments of Mission in a Bottle, like the time when a guy thought he found a piece of a male body part in one of the brands that they were renting their bottling facility out to, just didn’t translate in a meaningful way to a cartoon format.

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Overall, I enjoyed the business story and found it inspiring. I wish Goldman and Nalebuff had written it as a traditional book rather than a graphic novel.

Thanks for reading!

Animosity: Evolution, Vol. 1: Lex Animata by Marguerite Bennett

Animosity: Evolution, Vol. 1: Lex Animata by Marguerite Bennett

Animosity: Evolution imagines a world in which animals have become sentient and all of the chaos that followed. It’s a fascinating science fiction graphic novel in which leaders among the animals have to come to grips with an additional multi-billion mouths to feed, homes to find, and society to organize.

Compounding the complexity, the animals are now just like people with individual personalities. Some are brave, others corrupt, others run vice dens with black market milk or other forbidden specialties. There’s problems with population control and predators continue to desire prey.

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A laconic wolf named Wintermute is leading the charge for the former city of San Francisco. None of the decisions she is required to make on a daily basis are simple and she’s almost universally hated, except by a few who know her well.

Meanwhile, out in the ocean, the dolphins have organized into their own blood-thirsty society. Beyond the city limits on the land, there are animals (and people) who don’t want to join a new world order in San Francisco.

I really enjoyed Animosity: Volume 1. It is a multi-layered story in a world that has a lot of potential. The characters, both animal and human, are fascinating. The relationships that they are attempting to develop are brand new and without precedent. There’s shifting power structures and social services have been completely up-ended.

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I wonder what’s going to happen next…

Many thanks to one of my local public librarians for the excellent recommendation. You rock, Ryan.

Thanks for reading!

The Autumnlands, Vol. 2: Woodland Creatures (The Autumnlands #2) by Kurt Busiek

The Autumnlands, Vol. 2: Woodland Creatures (The Autumnlands #2) by Kurt Busiek

The curious fantasy/science fiction graphic novel series The Autumnlands continues in volume two: Woodland Creatures.

In the last book, the chosen one, “Learoyd”, a violent and profanity-laden human from the future or, perhaps, the distant past, was summoned by a group of magic-wielding, sentient animals to save their world from the disappearance of magic.

But the effort of summoning Learoyd was so great, that it caused one of their sky-roving cities to crash to the earth. On the earth, there were tribes of violent and power-hungry creatures waiting for their chance to plunder the riches of the sky.

That entry ended with an epic explosion and fight with a bison tribe.

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In this book, Learoyd and Dusty, a magic-wielding pit bull who recently lost his father, venture into the wilds of earth to discover who is poisoning the animals and continue searching for a way to bring back the magic that continues to disappear from the world.

Dusty, though young, is no dummy and Learoyd isn’t quite what the animals were hoping he would be.

The great champion of legend- the hero we’d thought him to be- would have sallied forth just because it was the right thing to do. But this champion… I was learning that legends were a poor guide. He had reasons for all he did. His own reasons. Whether I understood or not…”

This graphic novel is surprising in its treatment of the themes of power, magic and betrayal. I like how the animals tell the story about how everything that happens one way, but the reality of what happens seems to be something else.

It is an interesting examination of the power of storytelling and the construction of legends. What is truth? How much is magic simply technology that isn’t understood yet?

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“This f-ing world. I thought it was a dream, at first. It comes off goofy, all badgers and warthogs in fancy robes and sh*t. Like a kids’ story. But there’s just as much sh*t here as there is anywhere, isn’t there?”

I didn’t particularly like how much Learoyd uses profanity, but it certainly gives him character.

This series is for adults. It contains adult themes, nudity, profanity and violence. And yet, I think it is worth the reading.

It asks big questions. It uses fantasy to explore strange worlds and the human condition. Recommended.

Thanks for reading!

I Hate Fairyland, Vol. 3: Good Girl (I Hate Fairyland #3) by Skottie Young

I Hate Fairyland, Vol. 3: Good Girl (I Hate Fairyland #3) by Skottie Young

Skottie Young‘s gorgeously-drawn and cleverly-written comic series I Hate Fairyland continues in Volume 3: Good Girl.

Gertie is still desperately trying to get home and kill as many cute and fuzzy things as possible while she does so.

But first, she wants to meet her favorite marauding hero, Gwag, a hard-core barbarian at Dungeon Festexpocon!

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“This line is ridiculous. Why in the world would anyone want to spend all their time, energy, and money to attend Dungeon Festexpocon just to wait in lines the whole time?” “Says the girl about to stand in that line.”

Gert is so relatable. She’s the unfiltered impulses that run through your mind. Difference is, we quash those ideas and she lives them.

“Lesson one: the lifeblood of any good quest is alcohol!” True.

After some hijinks, Gert does some soul searching and decides she has to change her ways… again. You’d think that premise would get old after awhile, but Young manages to keep it fresh and his readers guessing.

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As I mentioned earlier, the art continues to be a delight. No one does adorable, gore-covered critters and fantasy scenes quite like Young.

Added bonus, everybody’s favorite long-suffering guide through Fairyland, Larry, gets his own backstory in this book.

“Sorry, I must have dozed off. What were you talking about?” “I was talking about how terrible your life would be if you never met me.” “Yeah, you’re probably right.”

Highly recommended for graphic novel fans. Reminder, this series is for adults only. Don’t be fooled by the pastels. It can be crass, violent, gross, or a mix of all three of those things. It also has plenty of heart.

Thanks for reading!

The Books of Magic by Neil Gaiman

The Books of Magic by Neil Gaiman

Tim Hunter is destined to become a great magician… isn’t he? Four magical beings take him on realms other than his own, to educate and warn Tim about the path he is about to embark upon.

It is up to Tim to choose his destiny. Great power comes at great cost and it may be more than he is willing to pay.

“Child, magic exists. There are powers, and forces, and realms beyond the fields you know.”

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The worlds Neil Gaiman has created in The Books of Magic are haunting and layered and will stick with you after you’ve finished the story and closed the book.

So… typical Gaiman then.

“The true Atlantis is inside you, just as it’s inside all of us. The sunken land is lost beneath the dark sea, lost beneath the waves of wet, black stories and myths that break upon the shores of our minds.”

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Beyond the story, the artwork is beautiful in each volume, but different from artist to artist. Not in a jarring way, just noticeably different.

“It’s like there’s a whole other world, that I never knew existed, side by side with the old one.”

Recommended for adults or mature teenagers. There are some scares and thrills on this fantasy journey through other worlds.

Thanks for reading!

Kin (The Good Neighbors, #1) by Holly Black

Kin (The Good Neighbors, #1) by Holly Black
goodneighbors

Rue’s mother has always been a little different. She talks to plants, hangs out naked in the yard and seems ageless. Rue knows her mother is not like other parents. But then, one day when her mom disappears, Rue begins to see strange things- creatures with horns in the coffee shop, a winged girl hanging out in the high school hallway- and she realizes that she’s different too.

Where has her mother gone and is Rue going crazy?

“You know how sometimes, when you glance at something out of the corner of your eye, it looks different for a moment? Well, sometimes when I look straight at a thing, it looks weird too. And those moments are stretching wider and wider.” pg 5.

I enjoyed the faerie lore in this graphic novel: “If an older mortal is beautiful or good at riddles, we might take them, but we always leave something behind in exchange. Sometimes we glamour wood to take on their appearance or we abandon a faerie in their place.” pg 36.

This book deals with surprisingly dark themes so I wouldn’t let my tween read it. The story contains (non-explicit) drug use, rape and kidnapping. It should be ok for most mature teens.

The artwork is pretty. The people aren’t depicted like normal every day people (especially the faeries) but, for the most part, I don’t think the artist over-sexualized the women. That’s one of my pet peeves with graphic novels: when they depict females as ridiculously proportioned pin ups. But, like I said, this one isn’t over-the-top.

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The faeries are quite creepy too: “Let me tell you a story. … Long ago, mortals called us the fair folk, the people of peace, the good neighbors. They called us these things not because we were fair or peaceful or good, but because they feared us. As they should. As they will again.” pg 77

Recommended for readers who like dark fairy tales and fans of Holly Black.