Graphic Novels Reviews, July 15, 2011
Jul 15, 2011
Archaia’s A-List “When we were considering which publishers to approach about Return of the Dapper Men,” says artist Janet Lee, “we wanted a publisher known for beautiful, high-quality books that didn’t necessarily fit the traditional comics mold.” Certainly Dapper Men’s surrealist, steampunk, art nouveau style would not be every comics publisher’s cuppa, but Archaia was enthusiastic. Upon its release, Dapper Men quickly sold over 10,000 copies, made numerous best-of-2010 lists, and grabbed five Eisner nominations (see LJ Xpress Reviews, 1/14/11).
Actually, Archaia founder Mark Smylie broke the mold when he built the company to publish his own “Artesia” series, a sweeping battle saga about a mixed-race warrior priestess with numerous lovers—Prince Valiant with breasts and a sex drive. How many comics companies are founded on a strong woman character? A poster child for adult comics, “Artesia” has never had a huge following, though admirers may be found on the web and among comics shop staff.
Fortunately, Smylie quickly added other titles, including the beloved Eisner-winning Mouse Guard and YALSA pick Gunnerkrigg Court, which features the feisty Antimony Carver. The Many Adventures of Miranda Mercury, coming this fall, introduces an action heroine of color for teens and up.
Beyond these three broadly appealing titles comes Archaia’s kids’ lineup, starring Muppeteer Jim Henson’s work: the initial release, fan-favorite Fraggle Rock, will be followed by The Storyteller, The Dark Crystal, and Labyrinth.
Eclectic’s the word. An Elegy for Amelia Johnson (LJ 3/15/11) shines as a bittersweet romance brokered by the couple’s dying friend. Coming soon is Henson’s surreal, unpublished adult screenplay, A Tale of Sand, plus Feeding Ground, in English and Spanish, which injects a supernatural vibe into hot-button immigration issues of the southwestern United States.
The Tumor, Archaia’s second 2011 Eisner nominee, pits a PI with a brain-tumor-compromised mental state against a mobster out to murder his own daughter. Another crime goodie and a third Eisner nominee is The Killer (see LJ Xpress Reviews, 7/15/10), which, together with the samurai saga Okko (see p. 64), embodies Archaia’s impressive foray into European comics. In May, BEA’s Hot Fall Graphic Novels for Libraries panel picked the spy-with-magic mashup Lucid for its striking art.
“Dapper” suggests stylish, elegant, and lively, and it is thus a good word for the Archaia line. Look for more dapper work from Archaia by year’s end.—M.C.
Brosgol, Vera. Anya’s Ghost. First Second: Roaring Brook. 2011. c.224p. ISBN 9781596437135. $19.99; pap. ISBN 9781596435520. $15.99. F
Anya Borzakovskaya has a mouthful of a name and a head full of angst. While her single mom, a Russian immigrant, studies for citizenship and cooks greasy syrniki pancakes, Anya obsesses about her weight and tries to fit in at her not-so-ritzy private school. Then she falls down a well, where she meets a ghost who wants to be her BFF. The transparent, dead Emily helps Anya cheat on tests, coaches her on looking hot, and encourages her crush on dudely dreamboat Sean. But what starts off as a hunky-dory supernatural buddy story takes a clever twist when Anya discovers Emily’s darker side and Sean’s seamier side—and manages to see through both of them. VERDICT This is a YA magical realist tale with adult appeal, featuring imperfect characters who can still use their smarts and decide to take the right course. And while it’s all about empowerment, the story is also wonderfully creepy and entertaining. The Moscow-born Brosgol effectively uses two-toned art with halftones, far better than the many indie artists who overuse gray scale and textures. A YALSA Great Graphic Novel for Teens nominee.—M.C.
Brown, Chester. Paying for It: A Comic-Strip Memoir About Being a John. Drawn & Quarterly. 2011. c.272p. ISBN 9781770460485. $24.95. MEMOIR
It’s 1996, and Canadian alternative cartoonist Brown’s (Louis Riel) live-in girlfriend finds another love. Deciding he’s done with the “boyfriend” role, Brown renounces romance and, after several years, decides to rent his partners. Gradually, he learns the ins and outs of hiring sex workers: finding appealing prospects, making contact, negotiating a successful encounter, tipping, and moving on if not satisfied. By 2003, he has found Denise, a professional escort who pleases him fully, and he falls in love with her. He does not, however, attempt to change their relationship from professional to personal. Brown draws in small, careful panels. He renders himself physically plain, and the sexual episodes, while frank, are presented in a style more clinical than erotic. The story comes across in remembered vignettes, thought balloons, and conversations among Brown and his cartoonist pals, in which they debate the merits of commercial sex compared with romance. A meaty afterword allows Brown to sound off at length about legalizing prostitution. VERDICT Candid memoirs about being a john are rare in prose as well as in comics, and this controversial and thoughtful case study should make fine fodder for classroom discussions. For adult collections, especially academic libraries.—M.C.
Debeurme, Ludovic. Lucille. Top Shelf Productions. 2011. c.544p. tr. from French by Edward Gauvin. ISBN 9781603090735. pap. $29.95. F
Lucille and Vladimir grow up wounded youngsters in a French fishing village, Lucille anorectically rebellious against her standoffish mother and the slights suffered as a plump little girl, and Vladimir an uneasy bully who must coax his hard-drinking fisherman father home from the bars—a violent dad who hangs himself after a fight with a neighbor. Meeting by chance, the teens form a quick and surprising bond and run away together. Their developing romance falters from their wounds, and Part 1 ends after a crisis. Debeurme uses fine-line simplicity to portray his characters, who initially appear rather one-dimensional. But as the story develops, the characters become more complex and the art more gracefully realistic, tracking Lucille and Vladimir’s maturation into a larger world. VERDICT This coming-of-age story won several European awards upon its publication in France in 2006, and Top Shelf’s translation marks Debeurme’s English-language debut. It evokes great sympathy for its characters, young and old. While the art works, a partial color wash as per the cover would have enhanced the interior. A readalike for Craig Thompson’s Blankets; owing to nudity and sexual content, for older teens and adults. The sequel, Renée, just appeared in France.—M.C.
Delgado, Ricardo. Age of Reptiles Omnibus. Vol. 1. Dark Horse. 2011. c.400p. illus. ISBN 9781595826831. pap. $24.99. F
No New York gang rumble, in West Side Story or elsewhere, could be as gorgeous or as bloody as the dinosaur dust-ups so abundant in this wordless collection. Probably no actual dinosaur conflicts could be, either: the color choices are pure speculation, the depicted population density improbable, and—according to a Smithsonian article—many of these saurian species never coexisted in place or era. Age of Reptiles began in the 1990s as Eisner-winning comic books and grew into three series. In Tribal Warfare, a clan of Deinonychus steals the eggs of a marauding tyrannosaurus that chased them off their hard-earned prey. The Hunt follows a young allosaurus that takes revenge on the pack of ceratosaurs that slaughtered its mother. Never before collected, the final series, The Journey, follows a mass migration of numerous dinosaur species. All three stories appear here in Delgado’s clear-line, you-are-there realism. VERDICT Understood as nature fantasy (reversing James Gurney’s Dinotopia) rather than paleontological nonfiction, this collection emerges as a classic of storytelling and a sumptuous meal for dinosaur geeks, tweens and up. Note that frequent and explicit violence may limit placement. Dark Horse confirms that Delgado is planning future volumes.—M.C.
Hub. Okko. Vol. 3: The Cycle of Air. Archaia. 2011. c.104p. tr. from Japanese by Edward Gauvin. ISBN 9781932386929. $19.95. F
Okko is a ronin, a wandering, masterless samurai, hunting demons in the feudal-Japan-styled Pajan Empire. His three faithful sidekicks are Noshin, a sake-loving monk who can conjure spirits; Noburo, a mysterious masked warrior; and Tikku, an orphan pledged to Okko’s service, who is also the narrator. In this volume, Lady Mayudama entreats Okko to rid her daughter of nighttime terrors. Noshin finds the culprit to be a cursed shamisen (a lutelike musical instrument), but now a bunraku-suited killer seeks Noburo’s head. Each of the projected five volumes in this series—which was originally published in France and blends elements of manga with European bande dessinée art—can stand alone, but the previous volumes add helpful backstory about the characters. Okko himself evokes Ogami Itto of Lone Wolf and Cub but is less realistic, with a craggier, impassive face and a more obscure past. VERDICT The characters play off one another with anger and humor in all the right places, and the plots blend plenty of bloody action with dark intent, demonic possession, undead vengeance, and, occasionally, a bit of skin. The beautifully detailed art, unfortunately reduced slightly, invites leisurely perusal over a jaw-dropping sweep of setting and story. Recommended for adult collections.—M.C.
Santiago, Wilfred. 21: The Story of Roberto Clemente. Fantagraphics. 2011. c.200p. bibliog. ISBN 9781560978923. $22.99. BIOG/HIST
Born in Puerto Rico, Roberto Clemente overcame family poverty, racial prejudice, and the language barrier to be voted the National League’s Most Valuable Player for 1966. With a career batting average of .317 featuring spurts up to .414, he led the Pittsburgh Pirates to two World Series victories. Known for his humanitarian work, Clemente was killed in a 1972 plane crash while on a mission to get medical supplies to earthquake-ravaged Nicaragua. Santiago begins in the voice of a fan attending the 1972 game of Clemente’s 3000th hit, then jumps back to the champion’s childhood and energetic career. Clippings and headlines add perspective throughout. A telling touch: the white speech balloons contain Spanish, while those for English are colored orange, effectively making the Americanos—not the Boricuas—the “other.” VERDICT Puerto Rican–born Santiago’s (In My Darkest Hour) limber black-and-white art depicts superbly the kinetic excitement of baseball at its fanwise best, conveying Clemente’s skill and warm humanity on and off the diamond. Highly recommended for tweens and up: buy several. Note that the Roberto Clemente Sports City complex in Puerto Rico (http://64.78.33.77/rcsc21/index_en.cfm) encourages donations to carry on his legacy.—M.C.
Tardi, Jacques. The Arctic Marauder. Fantagraphics. 2011. c.64p. tr. from French by Kim Thompson. ISBN 9781606994351. $16.99. F/SF
Praised in the United States last year for It Was the War of the Trenches (English translation), Tardi excels in dark plots intercut with puckish humor. This is one of his earliest works, published in France in 1972, and goes heavy on the puckish in a steampunk parody of turn-of-the century pulp, complete with the look of woodcut engravings. In 1889, a steamer dodging ice floes in the northern Atlantic runs across a mysterious ship trapped atop an iceberg. The steamship sends a rescue party, young passenger Jérôme Plumier among them, which boards the trapped vessel only to find the entire crew flash-frozen at their posts. Suddenly the steamer explodes, trapping the rescuers on their icy perch. After a few of them are rescued weeks later, these mysteries coalesce and unravel as seen from the viewpoint of Plumier, who is seeking his eccentric and supposedly dead uncle. VERDICT What appears at first to be a stylish set piece of supernatural horror devolves into a delightfully preposterous sf comedy with unexpected twists. With its gorgeous scratchboard art, this will entertain anyone who likes Victoriana send-ups and a ripping good yarn. Recommended for teens and up.—M.C.
Venditti, Robert (text) & Mike Huddleston (illus.). The Homeland Directive. Top Shelf Productions. 2011. c.152p. ISBN 9781603090247. pap. $14.95. F
It’s good feds against bad feds when a cabinet minister decides to persuade the public that more trackable behavior is in the service of antiterrorist surveillance. But since his incentive involves virally induced “justified” death for thousands along the way, infectious disease specialist Dr. Laura Regan throws in with the good feds to stop a developing plague and expose the minister. Not that she has much choice: the bad fed operatives are out to kill her since she created the vaccine that could stop their plot cold. Venditti’s (The Surrogates) cat-mouse thriller demands edge-of-your-seat attention while raising serious questions about terrorism, personal privacy, and government responsibility. Occasional levity comes through the clueless office drones supporting the minister’s plot as well as the mobsters to whom the good guys are forced to turn for help. Huddleston keeps the various character groups and settings separate through spare, realistic art with striking color washes linked to plot elements. VERDICT With excellent writing and plotting, relevance to contemporary issues, believable if sometimes briefly drawn characters, and dead suitable art, this is highly recommended for teen and adult collections.—M.C.
ABOUT COMICS
Ito, Kinko. A Sociology of Japanese Ladies’ Comics: Images of the Life, Loves, and Sexual Fantasies of Adult Japanese Women. Edwin Mellen. 2011. c.237p. illus. bibliog. index. ISBN 9780773414204. $129.95. SOC/GRAPHIC NOVELS
While Japanese shojo (girls’) manga won American hearts beginning with Sailor Moon, the U.S. manga market for adult women remains underdeveloped. But it’s not for lack of Japanese material, as Ito (sociology, Univ. of Arkansas) makes clear in this scholarly yet readable overview. After an introduction that discusses manga’s popularity in Japan, Ito traces the manga market for postcollege women from the form’s antecedents in the Heian literary world through pre–World War II magazines. As manga exploded in popularity in the early 1980s, “ladies’ comics” diverged from shojo into a genre for adults. Love, romance, and sex were early themes, whereas today’s titles have diversified to include, e.g., career dilemmas, while still keeping the focus on emotions and relationships (many stories are based on letters from women readers). Horror and historical drama are popular as well. Some titles feature frank depictions of sexuality or health-related problems. Ito believes that these manga can provide pragmatic advice and help women feel that they are not alone. VERDICT Ito’s excellent study echoes comics artist Trina Robbins’s dictum that women do read comics if they’re offered comics they like. A required purchase for many academic and larger public libraries.—M.C.
