This moody entry in the Dark and Twisted series from Niles (Brynmore) serves as a remarkable example of how exemplary art can carry a story even as it begins to fall flat. Set in Fairfax County, Va., in 1979, the narrative finds defiant teenager Stewart befriending awkward new student Peter. Bonding over punk music, horror films, recreational drugs, and their hatred of school and meddling local police officers, the pair escape their tumultuous home lives by stealing wood from a lumber yard and building a fort in the forest. Peter’s railing against authority takes a more sinister turn, however, when he kills the school bully and reveals that he has a hit list—which includes Stewart’s mom. To keep Peter from destroying both their lives, Stewart takes drastic action. Narrated as a recorded confession from a dying Stewart 40 years later, the story captures the weight and anger of teenage estrangement, though it’s lacking in suspense. Still, the script’s predictable moments are saved by Denham’s delicately hatched linework and evocative coloring by Ryan Winn. Horror fans will pick this up just to bask in the angsty art. (July)

Reviewed on 07/19/2024 | Details & Permalink

When Fowler temporarily closed his Brooklyn comics arts bookstore, Desert Island, in 2020 to wait out the Covid lockdown, he also put out a call: “Who wants to make something?” The result is this varied, hopeful anthology of 140 one-page comics, drawn by artists from around the world and culled from 250-plus submissions first serialized on Instagram. In an introduction, comics scholar Hillary Chute calls it “a lifeboat... profoundly democratic and conspicuously positive.” Those qualities are borne out in three sections divided by theme—“Shipwrecked,” “Lost at Sea,” and “Rescued”—which all ripple with the low-grade panic common to the period, but also convey the hope for a better world. Mike Taylor’s colorfully chaotic entry declares “there should be no going back to normal,” while Brian Gillespie sees a future where “we protect the environment and throw chill parties.” Elsewhere, a grimly conspiratorial comic by Nick Forker imagines a future not “controlled by a small cabal who prey” on the marginalized. The pages are full of eclectic, frenetic drawings, shot through with a yearning for getting to “the other side.” This volume may unlock unwelcome memories, but rather than enshrine a moment in time by forcing it into sensible shape, Fowler embraces 2020’s chaos. It’s a valuable time capsule for comics scholars and a treasure for art comics collectors. Agent: Chad Luibl, Janklow & Nesbit Assoc. (July)

Reviewed on 07/19/2024 | Details & Permalink

Oscar winner Goldberg lends her trademark sass to this affable, offbeat comics series featuring a menopausal superhero. Isabel, a fast-talking matriarch drawn with Goldberg’s dreadlocks and arch glances, describes herself as having “three vices: ganja, gaming, and gardening.” She’s kept busy juggling her artistically inclined teenage grandson, Fury; her workaholic daughter, Emma; and her politico husband, Andy, who’s playing up his long-neglected Latino heritage in his bid for state senate. She’s also struggling through the pains and indignities of menopause: “It’s like I’m slowly bein’ robbed and I got no say in any of it.” But her hormone shifts unlock superpowers: hot flashes become the power to start fires, while feeling unseen causes her to become literally invisible. With help from Fury, who knows comic-book tropes, Isabel becomes a superhero and starts to defend her neighborhood—just in time to face an evil developer who’s about to evict Isabel’s neighbors. Akinboye’s classically illustrative art is simple but gets the job done, and imbues the characters with lively, expressive faces. This unique take on the superhero origin story is told with enough wit and sense of fun to keep readers, especially those eager for older heroes, turning pages. (July)

Reviewed on 07/19/2024 | Details & Permalink

The creative team behind The Many Deaths of Laila Starr serves up a tempting blend of supernatural horror and foodie fantasy that doubles as a love letter to India. Mohan, a down-on-his-luck filmmaker, is hired by Rubin Baksh, an elegant gourmand of Nero Wolfe proportions, to collaborate on a documentary about South Asian food. Together they set off across India, filming busy outdoor markets, sun-drenched deserts, and palm-shaded beaches as they sample the tastes of each locale. What Mohan doesn’t know is that Rubin is an ancient demon who enjoys human flesh along with daal, roasted goat, and masala chai. Rubin sees himself as an appreciator of “people and flavours” and asks, “Of what value is a world that cannot allow its artists some misbehavior?” Meanwhile, two ruthless demon hunters tail the duo across the country. Andrade’s vibrant, Moebius-influenced art, drenched in rich, daring colors, lends equal vitality to the mouthwatering food, the stunning locations, and the moments of blood-soaked horror. Rubin, presiding over the adventure in voluminous white suits and tiny sunglasses to conceal his demonic eyes, cuts an unforgettable figure. Peppered with myths, culinary history, and recipes, this is a terrifying trip to savor. (Aug.)

Reviewed on 07/19/2024 | Details & Permalink

Bending real history into a fantastical tale of two young thinkers in pursuit of “the true truth,” this playful graphic novel by New Yorker cartoonist Krimstein (When I Grow Up) takes as its starting point a 1911 salon hosted by Berta Fanta at Prague’s White Unicorn Pharmacy, which Franz Kafka and Albert Einstein both attended. Riffing on Alice in Wonderland, Krimstein takes readers through the looking glass to follow Einstein’s attempt to come up with an equation to explain his theory of relativity, imagining conversations between the theoretical physicist and the writer, who was “terminally single” and “still living at home with his parents.” Characters float through watercolor dreamscapes in moody teals and tans, conveying how kooky and poetic the concept of a four-dimensional universe was and is: “Everything curls around everything else, time and space merge into a stew that can only be called space-time.” Defying the Euclidean status quo requires a leap of faith that occurs when art and science merge, Krimstein suggests­—or, in the words of a crescent moon with Kafka’s face, “Who says Euclid’s story is the only story?” Irreverent yet full of tenderness for its subjects, Krimstein’s experiment is a dizzying delight. Agent: Jennifer Lyons, Jennifer Lyons Literary. (Aug.)

Reviewed on 07/05/2024 | Details & Permalink

Smith reprints the complete 1980s run of his precocious college comic strip, much of which he later reworked into his fantasy series Bone. Published in the Ohio State University paper The Lantern, Thorn shares a cast and many plot beats with Bone, though topical characters like Voochko the Soviet pig and president “Ronnie Doody, the talking puppet” were not destined to make the transition. In his introduction, Smith comments that “where Bone is a novel, Thorn is more like a variety show.” The freewheeling fantasy indulges in anachronistic references and fourth-wall-breaking humor, as characters climb out of the page to argue with their creator, become “trapped in real life,” and cross over into another Lantern strip. Smith is clearly influenced by Doonesbury and Bloom County, but his love for an even earlier age of cartooning is reflected in the many callbacks to Pogo, Popeye, and classic Looney Tunes. The early art is rough but improves rapidly, and there are plenty of extras to satisfy the most demanding fans, including childhood artwork, story sketches, an interview with Smith, and an essay by fellow OSU alum Derf Backderf weighing in on a campus controversy caused by a Thorn story line. Though this is most valuable as a blueprint for what was to come in Bone, it’s got charm enough to stand on its own. (July)

Reviewed on 07/05/2024 | Details & Permalink

Phang (The Smell of Starving Boys) and artist Micol spin a glittering tale of Old Hollywood centered on fictional “phantom actor” Maximus Wyld. Born in 1921, the handsome and outspoken Wyld finds that his “chaotic genealogy” (Indigenous, Black, and Chinese) enables him to play all the “exotic stereotypes” of American movies, including a Tibetan monk in Lost Horizon, an enslaved man in Gone with the Wind, and Native Americans in a panoply of westerns. Among other exploits, Wyld discusses civil rights with Hattie McDaniel and Paul Robeson, beds Ava Garner and Rita Hayworth, and hangs out at the pool with Cary Grant. But despite his personal magnetism, his roles wind up uncredited or on the cutting-room floor. Micol’s loose-lined, graceful art evokes both the glamor and bigotry of the film industry, and impressionistic sequences of Wyld’s inner conflicts dazzle. The creators take pains to document the historical background and political context of Wyld’s adventures, and though some readers may question the focus on a Zelig-like composite character rather than a real figure, it serves as a metatextual commentary on erasure. Readers interested in entertainment history and the long arc of social justice will be drawn to this glimpse of Hollywood as it almost was. (July)

Reviewed on 07/05/2024 | Details & Permalink

Blas (Lifetime Passes) teams up with newcomers Newton and Anslow for a beguiling fable set in New York City’s queer demimonde. Stifled by a career-driven mother, recent high school grad Blanca flees Boise, Idaho, for the Big Apple to pursue her dream of becoming a fashion designer. There, she befriends a close-knit cadre of multicultural creative types, including models and photographers, who offer her temporary lodging in their shared West Village brownstone and an entrée into their social set. Putting her plucky determination and dress-making skills to the test (“Wow, I know a queen who would love to wear that!” one of her roommates gushes over a sketch), Blanca quickly becomes ensconced in the neighborhood’s swirling, wisecracking milieu. But with financial trouble brewing at the beloved local drag hangout and her mother in hot pursuit (she’s hired a professional investigator to track her wayward daughter), the clock on Blanca’s ambitions may soon run out. Anslow’s bubbly character designs, accented with glowing colors by Claudia Aguirre, energize the heartfelt narrative, which humorously touches on coming-of-age tropes and the value of found family. Glamorous queer aesthetics, fairy tale optimism, and earthy sincerity uplift this breezy coming-of-age tale, which will appeal to fan’s of Ai Yazawa’s Paradise Kiss series. (Aug.)

Reviewed on 07/05/2024 | Details & Permalink

In this stunning graphic memoir debut, painter Heffernan sets out with her infant son on a hike that begins in the tradition of the flaneur and ends as a survival story. Their walk in the woods offers plenty of time for contemplation of the past and present. Heffernan addresses her deceased mother and recalls her childhood as the youngest of a large Catholic family, who shared a world of imagination and stories with her closest sister. But Heffernan is unprepared for the wilderness, and the seductive mystery of nature dissolves when she realizes she is lost and will have to spend the night outdoors with her baby. After her initial panic, she finds an inner resolve that propels her toward survival (and the nearest highway). The work is a love letter to the strange, intimate, and ecstatic wrung from everyday life. Heffernan’s detailed, finely wrought pages are punctuated with her own bright, surreal paintings, as well as those by the likes of Artemisia Gentileschi, El Greco, and Vermeer. As Heffernan shows, the imagination requires care and attention—much like nature. This vivid narrative is a breathtaking homage to both. Agent: Lyn DelliQuadri, Lahr & Partners. (Sept.)

Reviewed on 07/05/2024 | Details & Permalink

With an immersive multigenerational story line and distinctive artwork, Otero’s debut graphic novel charts the ripple effects of wartime decisions. In the words of Ro, an Argentinean college student living in her late grandmother’s house, on “the chain of happenstances that led to my existence... Mussolini’s persecutions are at the top of that list.” In a series of flashbacks, Ro narrates her grandmother’s story: after Vilma’s communist parents flee fascist Italy for Argentina, Vilma and her brother Antonio form a close bond; she even keeps his cross-dressing a secret. When her parents force Vilma to work in a factory at age 12 to put Antonio through school, he promises to return the favor. After he chooses marriage to a woman for whom he must provide instead, Vilma becomes the bitter grudge-holder Ro knew as a child. Vilma dislikes most things, but especially politics—they upended her life once, and she wants nothing to do with “the wrong crowd” again. As Ro comes to resent her friends for ditching her for guys, and shrugs off present-day political unrest, she fears that she’s “going to end up alone,” like Vilma. But with help from her grandmother’s ghost—a shape-shifting portrait drawn in shimmering rainbow pencil marks—Ro realizes she can take charge of her life in ways Vilma couldn’t or wouldn’t. Otero’s brightly colored characters are doll-like yet full of passion, outrage, and schemes, and her storytelling is just as bold and memorable as the drawings. It’s an impressive achievement. (Aug.)

Reviewed on 06/28/2024 | Details & Permalink