Book Review: SLEEP TIGHT, ANNA BANANA

SLEEP TIGHT, ANNA BANANA
FIRST SECOND BOOKS – @01FirstSecond

WRITER: Dominique Roques
TRANSLATION: Mark Siegel
ART: Alexis Dormal
LETTERS: Marion Vitus
ISBN: 978-1-62672-019-0; hardcover (June 17, 2014) 10.5” x 7.75”
24pp, Color, $15.99 US, $18.50 CAN

Ages: 3 to 7-years-old

First Second Books is bringing Anna Banana to America.  This little star of European children’s books is the creation of Dominique Roques and Alexis Dormal, a mother-son author-illustrator team that creates children’s picture books.  Their bio says that when Dominique discovered that one of her two sons, Alexis, had become a picture book illustrator, she began writing stories for him to illustrate.

Together they have published several picture books starring Anna Banana.  Last year, I discovered that First Second Books was going to publish one of them, Ana Ana – Douce nuit, in the spring of 2014 as Sleep Tight, Anna Banana.  The title attracted me because I have a niece named Anna, so last year, I asked First Second for a copy for review.  They remembered, and I received a copy just recently.

Sleep Tight, Anna Banana introduces Anna Banana, a lively little girl who can be a fearsome tyrant to her stuffed animal toys.  These anthropomorphic stuffed animal pals are Zigzag (a rabbit), Fuzzball (some kind of Muppet-like monster), Pingpong (a penguin), Foxface (a fox), Whaley (a whale), and Grizzler (a bear).  One night, Anna is enjoying a good book, so she is not ready to settle down and go to sleep.  However, Anna’s stuffed animal friends are tired and just want to go to sleep.  Now, they have to turn the tables on Anna, but can they win?

I have been eagerly anticipating Sleep Tight, Anna Banana’s release, and having just read it, I am not disappointed.  This is a children’s picture book.  While the story is told by an unseen narrator, Anna’s dialogue is spoken in word balloons.  In a way, Sleep Tight, Anna Banana blurs the line between the children’s picture book and the comic book or graphic novel.

This format allows the narrator to tell a lively story, but Anna’s dialogue is what really punctuates the action and conflict in the story.  Mark Siegel’s translation of Dominique Roques’ exposition and dialogue seems to match Alexis Dormal’s illustrated and graphical storytelling.  This allows readers to get the best of both the picture book and comic book formats.

First Second plans on publishing a second Anna Banana book in 2015, and this first book is an excellent way to introduce what is an inspired concept for a children’s book.  Sleep Tight, Anna Banana is one of my favorite reads of the year, and my only complaint is that I wish it were longer.  Adults looking for a good picture book for readers 3 to 7-years-old will want to choose Sleep Tight, Anna Banana.

A

www.dargaud.com
www.firstsecondbooks.com

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux

The text is copyright © 2014 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for syndication rights and fees.

I Reads Happy Father's Day 2014

I Reads You wishes a Happy Father's Day to all the fathers, grandfathers, great-grandfathers (and other greats), uncles, cousins, big brothers, stepfathers, surrogate dads, coaches, and others who act as stand-in father figures.  That includes all the women out there who also stand-in as a male role model and/or provider.  Have a great day!

Deadman Wonderland: Liar Flower

I read Deadman Wonderland, Vol. 3

I posted a review at the ComicBookBin, which is in need of donations.  Follow me on Twitter.

I Reads You Review: Clive Barker's NIGHTBREED #1

CLIVE BARKER’S NIGHTBREED #1
BOOM! Studios

STORY: Clive Barker
WRITER: Marc Andreyko
ARTIST: Piotr Kowalski
COLORS: Juan Manuel Tumburus
LETTERS: Ed Dukeshire
COVER: Riley Rossmo
VARIANT COVER: Christopher Mitten (B); Mike Mignola (C); Matthew Roberts (Cards, Comics & Collectibles Exclusive Cover); Tony Harris (Phoenix Comicon Exclusive Cover)
24pp, Colors, $3.99 U.S. (May 2014)

Suggested for mature readers

Famed horror author, Clive Barker, adapted his 1988 fantasy-horror novel, Cabal, into a film entitled Nightbreed.  In both the film and the novel (sometimes listed as a novella), the focus is Aaron Boone, a young man who is an unstable mental patient.  Boone believes that he is a serial killer, because his doctor tells him that he is.  Events lead Boone to an abandoned cemetery connected to a deserted town named Midian.

There, he encounters a community of monsters and outcasts (also called the “Tribes of the Moon”), known as the “Nightbreed” (called “Night Breed” in the book) that hides from humanity.  Boone becomes one of them and protects them from an assault by outside forces, including his doctor and local police.  Boone soon becomes the Nightbreed’s savior, as he leads them on a quest to find a new home.

Released in 1990, Nightbreed was not well received, at the box office or with critics.  However, I loved the movie.  I loved its characters, concepts, setting, and Danny Elfman’s dark and beautiful score.  To be honest, I thought that there were things about the film that needed improvement, but I still loved me some Nightbreed.

In the early 1990s, Marvel Comics published Nightbreed, a comic book follow-up to the film, which ran for 25 issues, and there was also a two-issue crossover with the Hellraiser franchise (also a creation of Clive Barker), entitled Hellraiser vs. Nightbreed: Jihad.  Boom! Studios returns Barker’s “Tribes of the Moon” to comic books in a new series, Clive Barker’s Nightbreed, written by Marc Andreyko, drawn by Piotr Kowalski, colored by Juan Manuel Tumburus, and lettered by Ed Dukeshire.

Clive Barker’s Nightbreed #1 opens in the present, where we meet Dirk Lylesburg, leader of the Nightbreed, who acts as a sort of narrator.  Then, the story moves into the past.  The first tale takes place in July 1857, in a swamp outside Lacombe, Louisiana.  Two runaway slaves, a man and woman who are apparently a couple, desperately try to avoid a slave patrol.  However, an encounter with Peloquin will change their lives, especially for one of the slaves.  Next, the story moves to Boston, Massachusetts in April 1945.  Senator Harold Emery separates from his friends so that he can visit a local cathouse, where he will meet Shuna Sassi.

Normally, I would admit that there is not enough in this first issue to render judgment on the series or even to give this first issue a grade.  But as an African-American of possible Nightbreed extraction, I am so very happy that both my peoples are represented in this fine comic book, so I will give it a good grade.

Seriously, the storytelling by artist Piotr Kowalski is moody and alluring, drawn in a sharp line and with matter-of-fact compositions.  Juan Manuel Tumburus’ rich colors are vivid during the violent scenes and shimmers to give the Boston house of ill repute a magical quality that it needs within the context of this story.

Writer Marc Andreyko gets it, and what is “it?”  It is the thing that is Nightbreed, and if we can’t have Clive Barker, Andreyko is the surrogate who will return us to the world of Midian and her children, the Tribes of the Moon that are the Nightbreed.

A

www.boom-studios.com

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux


The text is copyright © 2014 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for syndication rights and fees.

Voice Over: Seiyu Academy - Two Dudes Beastin' Renjai

I read Voice Over!: Seiyu Academy, Vol. 5

I posted a review at the ComicBookBin, which is asking for donations.  Follow me on Twitter.

I Reads You Review: TREES #1

TREES #1
IMAGE COMICS – @ImageComics

WRITER: Warren Ellis
ARTIST: Jason Howard
LETTERS: Fonografiks
28pp, Color, $2.99 U.S. (May 2014)

Rated M / Mature

Trees is a new science fiction comic book miniseries from writer Warren Ellis and artist Jason Howard.  The series is set on Earth, ten years after an alien invasion of the planet.  The aliens, which resemble giant trees, essentially plant themselves at different places around the globe.  Their arrival is mostly a “silent invasion,” as they basically do almost nothing else after arriving.

Trees #1 opens in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where street people battle high-tech police weaponry.  It moves to New York City where a mayoral candidate plots a strategy to use the “Trees” to his advantage.  In China, Tian Chenglei, a young artist, arrives in the city of Chu from his rural village, looking for inspiration.  At the Blindhail Station in North West Spitzbergen, a researcher discover a strange new flowering plant near the Trees.

There is not enough in Trees #1 to render judgment, on the series as a whole (obviously) or even on the first issue.  [It does not help that there are only 20 pages of story in this first issue.]  From what I’ve read at my usual comic book reference source (Comic Book Resources), Warren Ellis is exploring how the presence of the Trees shapes and forms the lives of the humans living near them.  In that way, I guess that Trees is speculative science fiction that examines a specific kind of alien arrival/invasion and its aftermath.

Jason Howard offers some beautiful art that recalls Heavy Metal magazine (circa the 1970s and early 1980s) and even the Heavy Metal-inspired Epic Magazine from Marvel Comics.  Howard’s art and storytelling is futuristic, but remains grounded and earthy, visually and graphically.  At this point, I would say that Jason Howard, more so than Warren Ellis, is the star or, at least, the stronger presence in Trees.  I must also admit that Trees #1 intrigues me enough to make me come back for the second issue.

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux


The text is copyright © 2014 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for syndication rights and fees.

DC Comics from Diamond Distributors for June 11 2014

DC COMICS

APR140290 ASTRO CITY #13 $3.99
APR140221 BATGIRL #32 $2.99
APR140206 BATMAN ETERNAL #10 $2.99
APR140227 BIRDS OF PREY #32 $2.99
APR140294 COFFIN HILL #8 (MR) $2.99
APR140182 CONSTANTINE #15 $2.99
APR140213 DETECTIVE COMICS #32 $3.99
APR140216 DETECTIVE COMICS #32 COMBO PACK $4.99
FEB140291 DMZ DELUXE EDITION HC BOOK 02 (MR) $29.99
APR140297 FBP FEDERAL BUREAU OF PHYSICS #11 (MR) $2.99
APR140235 GREEN LANTERN CORPS #32 (UPRISING) $2.99
MAR140255 GREEN LANTERN CORPS TP VOL 03 WILLPOWER (N52) $16.99
APR140156 INFINITY MAN AND THE FOREVER PEOPLE #1 $2.99
MAR140266 JLA TP VOL 05 $24.99
APR140166 JUSTICE LEAGUE UNITED #2 $3.99
APR140169 JUSTICE LEAGUE UNITED #2 COMBO PACK $4.99
APR140251 LEGENDS DARK KNIGHT 100 PAGE SUPER SPECTACULAR #3 $9.99
APR140163 NEW 52 FUTURES END #6 (WEEKLY) $2.99
MAR140256 RED HOOD AND THE OUTLAWS TP VOL 04 (N52) $16.99
APR140300 ROYALS MASTERS OF WAR #5 (MR) $2.99
APR140284 SCOOBY DOO WHERE ARE YOU #46 $2.99
APR140249 SMALLVILLE SEASON 11 LANTERN #3 $3.99
APR140199 SUPERBOY #32 $2.99
APR140194 SUPERMAN WONDER WOMAN #9 (DOOMED) $3.99
APR140196 SUPERMAN WONDER WOMAN #9 COMBO PACK (DOOMED) $4.99
APR140185 WORLDS FINEST #24 $2.99
MAR140261 WORLDS FINEST TP VOL 03 CONTROL ISSUES (N52) $14.99

DC COMICS/DC COLLECTIBLES

JAN140400 BATMAN ARKHAM CITY RABBIT HOLE BATMAN AF $24.95
JAN140398 SUPERMAN THE MAN OF STEEL STATUE BY ED MCGUINNES $79.95