#IReadsYou Review: SUPER SONS Volume 1: The Polarshield Project

SUPER SONS V. 1: THE POLARSHIELD PROJECT
DC COMICS/DC Zoom – @DCComics

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

STORY: Ridley Pearson – @RidleyPearson
ART: Ile Gonzalez
COLORS: Ile Gonzalez
LETTERS: Saida Temofonte
EDITORS: Ben Abernathy and Michele R. Wells
ISBN:  978-1-4012-8639-2; paperback; (April 2, 2019)
176pp, Color, $9.99 U.S., $13.50 CAN

Age Range: 8 to 12

Superman created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster; Batman created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger; Superboy created by Jerry Siegel

They are the sons of Superman and Batman.  Damian Wayne is the son of Batman/Bruce Wayne and Talia al Ghul (the daughter of Batman nemesis, Ra's al Ghul).  Jonathan “Jon” Samuel Kent is the son of Superman/Clark Kent and Lois Lane.

Jon and Damian became the stars of the comic book series/franchise, Super Sons.  Now, these young heroes make their graphic novel debut in the DC Zoom original graphic novel, Super Sons Book 1: The Polarshield Project, the first book in a three-book series.  The Polarshield Project is written by bestselling novelist, Ridley Pearson; drawn and colored by Ile Gonzalez; and lettered by Saida Temofonte.  Set in the near future, The Polarshield Project finds the sons of Superman and Batman trying to uncover a global conspiracy that begins with an epidemic.

Super Sons Book 1: The Polarshield Project is set on an alternate Earth and not in the mainstream DC Universe.  In the city of Metropolis, Superman is trying to repair the sea walls that protect the city from the rising oceans.  The polar ice caps have nearly melted away, causing devastation to coastal cities like Metropolis.  Even the technology of Bruce Wayne and Wayne Enterprises is struggling to stop Metropolis from drowning.

Erratic, deadly weather forces everyone inland, tearing families apart.  When Metropolis is abandoned, Clark Kent and his family: reporter Lois Lane and their son, Jon Kent, relocate to Wyndemere.  Bruce Wayne and his son, Damian “Ian” Wayne, are also new residents of Wyndemere.

Jon Kent and Damian Wayne are opposites in every way except one; they are the sons of the world's greatest heroes, and these two boys also want to do their heroic best to help the world.  To unravel the the conspiracy of a mystery illness, this unlikely dynamic duo is forced to trust each other and to work together to save the Earth.  Joined by a mysterious girl named Candace and by Jon's friend, a teen girl named Tilly, Jon and Ian will find adventure and danger.

DC Comics' Super Sons has turned out to be an enjoyable teen superhero comic book franchise, in a decade that has seen the arrival of several stellar comic titles featuring teen heroes, including Marvel Comics' Mile Morales/Ultimate Spider-Man and Ms. Marvel.  Jon Kent's affable nature and Damian Wayne's arrogant kid-ninja-assassin are like oil and water, but writer Peter J. Tomasi made them work, in the original Super Sons series, as a believable crime-fighting, adventure-having unit.

In Super Sons Book 1: The Polarshield Project, Ridley Pearson presents his own version of Jon and Damian.  Pearson's Jon Kent is stubborn, more proactive, and uses his powers with a rapidly growing confidence.  Pearson's Damian Wayne does not at all want to be called Damian and goes by the name “Ian.”  Ian is less elite-assassin-in waiting and more like a Batman, Jr.; he is a superhero-in-training, working his way up to having his own real superhero costume.

Pearson's Super Sons is set on an alternate Earth, and the concept is a near-future scenario that is a kind of juvenile science fiction.  This world looks familiar, and young readers will recognize that story's ecological and environmental dangers could very well be our own world's fate.

I don't know to what extent young readers will identify with the characters here or how much they will recognize of our world in the world of The Polarshield Project.  I think that they will identify with the conflicts, dilemmas, and obstacles facing these young characters.  They will identify with the personal and relationship issues.  I think they will also find themselves taking in by Jon, Ian, Candace, and Tilly's call to adventure.  Ridley Pearson, known for his mystery and young adult adventure novels, offers readers engaging mysteries and thrilling adventures here.

DC Comics has been hiring the writers of bestselling young adult novels to author its DC Zoom (readers 8 to 12) and DC Ink (readers 13+) graphic novels.  On the book covers of these graphic novels, the young adult authors get top billing, but the names of the artists are at the very bottom of the cover.

In the case of The Polarshield Project's artist/co-author, Ile Gonzalez, this placement is crock of shit.  Gonzalez is every bit as important as Pearson to the creation of this graphic novel.  She has a wonderful energetic graphic style, and her rich coloring makes this story vibrant.  Here, Gonzalez's art is spiritually related to the comic book art of the early Superman and Batman comic book artists:  Joe Shuster in Action Comics (Superman) and Bob Kane in Detective Comics (Batman).

In terms of graphical storytelling, Gonzalez makes Super Sons Book 1: The Polarshield Project seem like something entirely new.  It is as if Ridley Pearson's Jon Kent, Ian Wayne, the other characters, and the world in which they live are not an alternate take of an established universe, but are instead something fresh and different.

Super Sons Book 1: The Polarshield Project is not perfect.  There are lapses in the narrative that make it seem as if a page or two is missing in some spots.  However, that does not take away from the fact that The Polarshield Project is a damn fun comic book to read.  In fact, it should say so on the cover, “Damn fun to read.”

8 out of 10

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


[This book contains two previews.  The first is preview is of Super Sons Book 2: The Foxglove Mission.  The second is a preview of Dear Justice League by writer Michael Northrop and artist Gustavo Duarte.]


The text is copyright © 2019 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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#IReadsYou Review: UNDER THE MOON: A Catwoman Tale

UNDER THE MOON: A CATWOMAN TALE
DC COMICS/DC Ink – @DCComics

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

STORY: Lauren Myracle
ART: Isaac Goodhart
COLORS: Jeremy Lawson
LETTERS: Deron Bennett
ISBN:  978-1-4012-8591-3; paperback; (May 1, 2019)
224pp, Color, $16.99 U.S., $22.99 CAN

Age Range: 13 and up

Catwoman created by Bill Finger and Bob Kane

Catwoman is a DC Comics character that is part of the Batman line of comic books.  Created by Bill Finger and Bob Kane, Catwoman made her debut as “the Cat” in Batman #1 (cover dated: Spring 1940).  Catwoman is Selina Kyle, and over her eight decades of existence, she has been a villain, an anti-hero, and Batman's love interest in addition to having a complex love-hate relationship with him.

Until it was recently made defunct, “DC Ink” was a DC Comics imprint that offered original graphic novels for readers of the “Young Adult” or “YA” demographic.  DC Ink titles, according to DC Comics, featured coming-of-age stories that encouraged teens to ask themselves who they are and how they relate to others.  [DC Ink is now known as “DC Graphic Novels for Young Adults.”]

Published in May of this year, Under the Moon: A Catwoman's Tale is an original graphic novel (OGN) that focuses on a young Selina Kyle before she becomes Catwoman.  It is written by bestselling author Lauren Myracle (the “Winnie Years” series); drawn by Isaac Goodhart (Image Comics/Top Cow's Postal); colored by Jeremy Lawson; and lettered by Deron Bennett.

Under the Moon: A Catwoman's Tale introduces 15-year-old Selina Kyle.  In her short life, she has had to put up with the string of bad men that her mother, Gayle, picks up on the job at Carl's Tavern.  The worst of the lot is the most recent pick-up, the brawny bully, Dernell.  Soon, Selina figures out that she cannot stay under the same roof as Dernell, and she leaves home.  She also eventually quits attending Gotham High School, where she has friends like Angie and Tristan.

Selina Kyle, however, believes that, at heart, she is a loner.  Still, she connects with the mercurial trio of Ojo, the leader; Yang, the computer genius; and Briar Rose, a young girl who does not talk and really does not want to be touched.  And Selina can't quite get former classmate, Bruce Wayne, out of her mind.  But the streets are dangerous, and some kind of beast, known as the “Gotham Growler,” is terrorizing Gotham City.

Thus far, I have read the first two releases from the DC Ink imprint, the debut release, Mera: Tidebreaker, and now, Under the Moon: A Catwoman's Tale.  Both are lovely reads, and Under the Moon: A Catwoman's Tale offers is a fetching coming-of-age tale about a young woman coming to terms with who she is.  Writer Lauren Myracle presents a teenage girl who says that she prefers caring about no one and no thing, and Myracle takes her on a journey to figure out how she can live to be a loner... with a few friends, of course.

The art team of Isaac Goodhart and colorist Jeremy Lawson deliver some of the most gorgeous comic book art that I have seen this year.  Goodhart's supple line work and lush inking are eye candy, and they make Selina Kyle's story a moody, urban fairy tale filled with a sense of mystery as much as it is filled with angst.  Lawson's colors make love to Goodhart's compositions, putting the moodiness in a jazz-accentuated mode.  Honestly, Goodhart and Lawson's work here reminds me of Daniel Clowes art for his classic graphic novel, Ghost World.

Letterer Deron Bennett, one of the best letterers in American comic books, changes fonts and graphic styles with subtlety and grace.  Bennett knows exactly the tone that is needed, when things should be quite, normal, and out-loud.

In the end, everything is topnotch in this hugely enjoyable read.  Under the Moon: A Catwoman's Tale is one of the best Catwoman comics that I have ever read.

9 out of 10

Under the Moon: A Catwoman's Tale contains the following extras and back matter:

• Website, phone numbers, and contact information for organization that help with stopping domestic violence, avoiding self-harm, and stopping animal cruelty.
• A page of character designs by Isaac Goodhart
• a three-page interview section in which Lauren Myracle and Isaac Goodhart interview each other
• two author biographical pages
• a  full-color preview of the graphic novel, Teen Titans: Raven, from Kami Garcia and Gabriel Picolo

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


The text is copyright © 2019 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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#IReadsYou Review: PORTRAIT OF A DRUNK

PORTRAIT OF A DRUNK
FANTAGRAPHICS BOOKS – @fantagraphics

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

CARTOONISTS: Olivier Schrauwen and Ruppert & Mulot
TRANSLATION: Jenna Allen
EDITOR: Eric Reynolds
ISBN: 978-1-68396-289-2; 8.75 x 11 – trim size (April 2020)
188pp, Color, $29.99 U.S.

Portrait d'un buveur is a French graphic novel created by Belgian comics creator, Olivier Schrauwen, and the French comics duo of Ruppert and Mulot (Florent Ruppert and Jérôme Mulot).  It was published in France by Dupuis in 2019.  Fantagraphics Books recently published an English-language edition of Portrait d'un buveur as a hardcover graphic novel entitled Portrait of a Drunk, which is the subject of this review.

Portrait of a Drunk is the story of an 18th century guy named Guy Fleming.  A sailor, he is no master mariner.  A drunk, he manages to pass himself off as a carpenter aboard sailing vessels.  It would be just fine if he were an ordinary member of a sailing crew, but he is lazy, a liar, a coward, a thief, a drunkard, and, on special occasions, a killer.  He is not a swashbuckler, but he will unbuckle his pants to urinate wherever he can, including on bar counters and on people.  His story could be a grand tale of the sea with great battles, treasure-hunting adventures, and some gallows humor, but this is simply the portrait of a drunk.

The editor of the American edition of Portrait of a Drunk recommended the book to me, which under normal circumstances could be considered a conflict of interest.  But Portrait of a Drunk is such a joy to read and to experience.  It's fucking great, and you gotta say that shit like “Tony the Tiger,” growling and letting that growl roll over the word “great.”

First, I have to say that some have referred to the pairing of Olivier Schrauwen and the French duo of Ruppert and Mulot as a “supergroup.”  The term is often associated with rock music.  A supergroup comes together when members of two or more established rock bands unite to form an all-star band.  One of the earliest and most famous supergroups was “Cream,” which featured the pairing of Eric Clapton (formerly of The Yardbirds) with Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker (formerly of John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers).  I grew up on such 1980s supergroups as “Asia,” “The Firm,” “The Power Station,” and “Traveling Wilburys.”

I cannot say that the union of Olivier Schrauwen and Ruppert and Mulot is a comic book supergroup based on their past work, of which I am not familiar.  However, I am willing to call them a union made in comic book heaven after reading this one fantastic graphic novel, Portrait of a Drunk.

I did not read Portrait of a Drunk as a narrative told in two allegorical parts, “The Blowout” and “The Hangover,” which is apparently what it is.  Of course, it is obvious that multiple artists and storytellers worked on Portrait of a Drunk.  That can be seen simply in the mixture of color, black and white, and two-color art.  If there are two story lines or two parallel narrative threads, then, one of them is a stream of conscious-like, drunken adventure in which the reader tags along with Guy.  The other is like a side-story set in surreal shadow land or afterlife dimension where Guy's victims, accidental and otherwise, gather to observe him and also to plot against him.

Portrait of a Drunk is a great high-seas adventure.  It might seem dark, but quite the opposite.  It is a black comedy that takes many of the familiar literary elements and Hollywood ingredients of the high-seas adventure and strips away the glamour.  What is left is a bumbling, rough-and-tumble, violent, piss-laden adventure with someone who is such a drunkard that he needs professional help, the kind of which I assume did not exist in the 18th century.

Often in this graphical narrative, Schrauwen and Ruppert and Mulot don't even bother with panels.  They draw Guy bumbling from one side of the page to the other – row by row until he gets to the next page and starts all over again.  While Guy might be a drunk and a killer, but he is a comic book star, no less so that Spider-Man and Batman.  His adventure here is so... well, adventurous.  Colorful and exotic, we follow Guy from one port town to another, with stops at vibrant locales and in alien lands.

There is something so alluring in Olivier Schrauwen and Ruppert and Mulot fantastic bandes dessinées.  Perhaps, it is that they experiment with the medium and with comics and push past the boundaries of the expected.  Yes, Fantagraphics Books publishes comics for thinking readers, but it is just fine that high-falutin' comics, like Portrait of a Drunk, are as fun to read as say... Batman: The Dark Knight Returns.

I can say with confidence that in this awful year of 2020, Olivier Schrauwen and Ruppert and Mulot's Portrait of a Drunk is one of the few truly magnificent graphic novels I have have come across.  And it is a fun summer read for me today, just as a Marvel comic book was for me decades ago.

10 out of 10

https://www.fantagraphics.com/
https://twitter.com/fantagraphics
https://www.facebook.com/fantagraphics
https://www.youtube.com/user/fantagraphics

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"

The text is copyright © 2020 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for syndication rights and fees.


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#IReadsYou Review: KORGI Book One: Sprouting Wings

KORGI (BOOK 1): SPROUTING WINGS
TOP SHELF PRODUCTIONS – @topshelfcomix

CARTOONIST: Christian Slade
ISBN:  978-1-891830-90-7; paperback with French flaps (May 2007)
88pp, B&W interiors; full-color, double-spread cover; $10.00 U.S.

Korgi (Book 1): Sprouting Wings is a 2007 original graphic novel from writer-artist Christian Slade.  A paperback original with black and white interior art, Sprouting Wings is the first in a series of five graphic novels featuring a young woman and her “Korgi” pup.  The Korgi series is a pantomime or wordless comic, in which the story is told without word balloons, sound effects, caption boxes, or any other kind of text.  The Korgi series is ostensibly a children’s and young readers series, but it is also an “all-ages” series that children, teenage, and adult readers can enjoy.

The fifth and final entry in the series, Korgi (Book 5): End of Seasons, is due for release some time in 2020 (as of this writing).  Christian Slade is a comic book creator and former animator for the Walt Disney Company, where he worked on the 2003 animated feature film, Brother Bear.

Korgi (Book 1): Sprouting Wings opens with an introduction from one of the book's characters, “Wart.”  He is a frog-like creature that wears what looks like one of the “sorting hats” from the Harry Potter book series.  Because Korgi's narrative is wordless, Wart's introduction provides readers with information on such things as the story's setting, environment, characters, creatures, and history.

The story opens in a faraway, pastoral land of woods, mountains, lakes, cliffs, and, of course, villages.  “Korgi Hollow” is a village that is the home of the land's last known “Korgis” (which seem like a breed of the dog type known as the “Welsh Corgi”).  Korgis live with their companions, the woodland people known as “Mollies” (humans).  According to Wart, the Korgis made the Mollies, who have little strength and very few smarts, a stronger and happier community.  Even standing on all four paws, some Korgis are as tall as the Mollies.

We meet a Korgi pup named “Sprout,” and his young female Mollie companion, “Ivy.”  While harvesting berries with the rest of the Mollies and Korgis, Sprout chases a flying insect.  When he does not return, Ivy goes looking for him.  After they reunite, Sprout and Ivy go on a great adventure and face many dangers.  The most dangerous is the monster who lives beyond Korgi Hollow, the gigantic “Gallump,” who wants to make a soup out of Sprout and Ivy.  Can the two escape Gallump and his minions and also keep them from finding the locations of Korgi Hollow?

THE LOWDOWN:  I first read Korgi (Book 1): Sprouting Wings thanks to a review “galley” copy I received from the book's publisher, Top Shelf, back in 2007.  I never got around to reading the books that followed in the series, but I meant to do so.  My 2007 review of Sprouting Wings turned out to be an enduring favorite with readers.

Christian Slade’s art recalls the pen and ink book illustration of the first half of the 20th century.  The art is drawn entirely in pencil art, with Slade using cross-hatching and line work to add exacting detail to the drawings of characters and settings.  Slade's art also has that gentle lamp-lit quality found in some of Walt Disney's animated features and short films.  I think this Disney-esque style is perfect for a children’s illustrated book or comic book.  I see Korgi (Book 1): Sprouting Wings being as much a picture book as it is a graphic novel.

Sprouting Wings' story has a tender hook – a young heroine and her pet playing in the safe magical woodland.  The thrills, drama, and conflict come from the danger lurking behind a tree, like “Creephog, the creature that is always spying on Sprout and Ivy.  The villains are dangerous enough and so imaginatively designed and illustrated as to interest a young reader.  In fact, the danger and thrills are considerably less intense than the content found in some of Walt Disney's most beloved and famous animated features.  Nothing in Korgi (Book 1): Sprouting Wings is as scary as the enormous black dragon into which Maleficent transforms in Sleeping Beauty (1959).

There is something about Korgi (Book 1): Sprouting Wings that I find attractive – something more than the prettiness of the art.  That something may be that Slade's illustrations make me think of J.R.R. Tolkien's beloved children's fantasy novel, The Hobbit (1937), which I have read more times than I can remember.  Heck, if you gotta remind a reader of something he loved as a child, there aren't too many better reminders than The Hobbit.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Comic book readers who enjoy all-ages comic books like Andy Runton's Owly series and also Jeff Smith’s Bone comic book and graphic novel series may also like Korgi (Book 1): Sprouting Wings.

A-
7.5 out of 10

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


The text is copyright © 2020 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for reprint and syndication rights and fees.


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#IReadsYou Review: ECTYRON: The Invasion from the Red Star Nebula

ECTYRON: THE INVASION FROM THE RED STAR NEBULA
CANDLE LIGHT PRESS/Warning Comics – @candlelightpres @attila71

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

STORY: Carter Allen
SCRIPT: John Ira Thomas
ART: Carter Allen – @attila71
LETTERS: John Ira Thomas
COVER: Carter Allen and Christopher Martinez
BACK COVER: Will Grant
ISBN: 2370009462269; paperback
28pp, Color, $5.00 U.S. (2019)

Ectyron: The Invasion from the Red Star Nebula is a 2019 comic book published by Candle Light Press (CLP).  It is written by CLP stalwarts Carter Allen (story) and John Ira Thomas (script/letters) and drawn by Allen.  This comic book focuses on a group of monster fighters:  Ectyron, a giant-sized chicken; Jake and Iowa of “Sustenatione Stabilitas Base,” and AtoM.I.K.E.

Ectyron: The Invasion from the Red Star Nebula is the third book in the “Ectyron” series.  All three books employ certain elements of particular Japanese science fiction sub-genres.  There is “kaiju,” a term used to describe a genre of Japanese films that feature giant monsters, and the term is also used to describe the giant monsters themselves.  [Godzilla is an example of a kaiju.]  AtoM.I.K.E. is “tokusatsu” which includes the “mecha” or giant robot superheroes.  [The American franchise, “Power Rangers,” is based on tokusatsu.].

Ectyron: The Invasion from the Red Star Nebula opens on Main Street in an unnamed American small town.  The country is in an uproar over America's “kaiju problem,” and American's favorite faux news and reactionary-corporate propaganda network is the most uproarious.  When his power warns him of an impending kaiju attack, AtoM.I.K.E. does more than talk, as he takes to the skies.

Meanwhile, in the Great Basin Desert at the “Sustenatione Stabilitas Base,” a convoy of black SUVs arrives carrying a squad of black-suited men that look like MiB agents.  When the agents try to infiltrate the base, Jake and Iowa try some penetrating of their own with laser pistols and mecha.  With our heroes hands full on two fronts, the question is where is Ectyron?  Guest stars include Maddy Coil, Mectyron, and Ogon' Podsolnukh.

Ectyron: The Invasion from the Red Star Nebula is, thus far, my favorite Ectyron title.  It easily surpasses the previous releases, Ectyron: Rise of Nemehiss (the second) and Ectyron Against Lagaxtu (the first).

Once again, cartoonist, designer, and comic book creator, Carter Allen, fills one of his comic books with Godzilla-sized creations, which includes monsters, beasts, machines, contraptions, and heroes.  It is all pure comic book fun.  This time, however, he draws the story entirely in pencil; with the exception of a few chapter heads slash faux-covers, this comic book is pencil-art glory.  A skilled illustrator, Carter uses his pencils to create shades, textures, and gradations that are finer than a welfare check on Christmas Day.  The underbelly of Mectyron's armor and the peacock-like wonders of Ecytron's feathers are simply beautiful examples of inking and “feathering.”

Writer John Ira Thomas delivers some of his most sparkling dialogue, communicated to us via his classic lettering fonts.  This is truly a funny comic book, but Thomas' script also offers a deft mix of action and adventure that will keep readers glued to the story.

Ectyron: The Invasion from the Red Star Nebula certainly strikes me as something that would make excellent source material for either live-action or animated television and film and also for a novel.  Best of all, this comic book seems to be the perfect realization of Ectyron, so I hope we get more like it.  I heartily recommend Ectyron: The Invasion from the Red Star Nebula to those who read Godzilla and Power Rangers comic books and are in need of some real kaiju and tokusatsu comic book power.  Oh, and I like Will Grant's back cover illustration.

10 out of 10

http://candlelightpress.tumblr.com/
www.warningcomics.com

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


The text is copyright © 2019 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for syndication rights and fees.

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#IReadsYou Review: MERA: Tidebreaker

MERA: TIDEBREAKER
DC COMICS/DC Ink – @DCComics

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

STORY: Danielle Paige – @daniellempaige
ART: Stephen Byrne
COLORS: David Calderon
LETTERS: Joshua Reed
EDITORS: Ben Abernathy and Michelle R. Wells
ISBN:  978-1-4012-9339-1; paperback; (April 2, 2019)
208pp, Color, $16.99 U.S., $22.99 CAN

Age Range: 13 and up

Mera created by Jack Miller and Nick Cardy

Mera is a DC Comics character that is part of the Aquaman line of comic books.  She was created by writer Jack Miller and artist Nick Cardy and first appeared in Aquaman #11 (cover dated: September 1963).  Mera is “queen of the sea” and Queen of Atlantis to Aquaman's “king of the sea” and King of Atlantis.  Once a supporting character, modern versions of Mera emphasize her own super-human strength and magic power (to control water), and she is portrayed as a superhero.

DC Ink is a DC Comics imprint that offers original graphic novels for readers 13-years-old and older.  DC Ink titles will feature, according to DC Comics, coming-of-age stories that encourage teens to ask themselves who they are and how they relate to others.

Mera: Tidebreaker is the title that kicks off the DC Ink line.  It is written by novelist Danielle Paige (the Dorothy Must Die series).  It is drawn by Stephen Byrne, colored by David Calderon; and lettered by Joshua Reed.  Mera: Tidebreaker focuses on a teenage heir to the throne who believes that murdering a prince of a rival kingdom will allow her to rule her kingdom independently.

Mera: Tidebreaker introduces Mera, teenage royalty and heir to the throne of Xebel.  Once one of the seven kingdoms of Atlantis, Xebel now is oppressed by Atlantis.  Xebel seethes with the potential for rebellion against Atlantis.  Mera's father, Ryus, expects his daughter to marry Larken, the son of the ruler of “The Trench,” a kingdom allied to Xebel.

The Xebellian military plots to overthrow Atlantis and break free of its oppressive regime, and one of the most important moves in this rebellion is finding and assassinating Arthur Curry, the long-lost prince and heir to the throne of Atlantis.  Mera decides to take that mission on herself, as she believes that killing Arthur will allow her to sit on the throne of Xebel without having a man at her side.

Arthur lives on land, in the beach town of Amnesty Bay.  Mera not only takes her first steps on land, but she also gets sidetracked when she finds herself having unexpected feelings for the target of her assassination mission, Arthur.

I first came upon Mera as the dutiful, but powerful wife of Aquaman decades ago.  While the comic books I read depicted Mera as quite the fighter in her own right, I would never have imagined a Mera comic book like Mera: Tidebreaker.  This graphic novel explores the themes of duty, love, heroism, and freedom with depth and substance.  Mera is a strong, complex, and messy character in ways that makes it hard for the reader not to attach herself to this engaging young woman.

I think what makes Mera: Tidebreaker work is that writer Danielle Paige presents Mera's coming-of-age as a work-in-progress.  The hero, in this case, Mera, does not learn about herself and her place in the world, nor does she develop relationships with others.  Instead Mera is learning about herself and her place in the world.  She is developing relationships with others.  Mera's journey is ongoing; nothing is really complete, and there are few if any easy answers.  Every resolution is part of an evolution, so, without spoiling things, I can say that Mera: Tidebreaker looks as if it will be the first in a new original graphic novel series.

Stephen Byrne tells this tale in brawny, effective graphical storytelling.  [It is hard for me to believe that this is the same Stephen Byrne who drew the recent, detestable Wonder Twins comic book.]  Byrne tells Mera: Tidebreaker as if it were some hot, television teen soap opera, using intense emotions and powerful moments of drama and confrontation to shape the characters.  Byrne makes Mera: Tidebreaker a cover-to-cover read.  [I read it in one sitting.]

Colorist David Calderon uses his colors to accentuate Mera: Tidebreaker and to give it an unusual visual appearance.  I might describe that appearance as some kind of realism.  Joshua Reed's lettering is effective and effectively sized and placed to make the story flow smoothly.

Mera: Tidebreaker has an all-around excellent creative team, and they make this the high-quality launch an imprint needs, especially DC Ink, with its particular ambitions.  One might even argue, that Mera: Tidebreaker gives young readers the kind of select original graphic novel that older readers take for granted.

8 out of 10

[This book contains a preview of the original graphic novel, Under the Moon: A Catwoman's Tale, from writer Lauren Myracle; artist Isaac Goodhart; colorist Jeremy Lawson; and letterer Deron Bennett.]

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


The text is copyright © 2019 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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#IReadsYou Review: ALABASTER SHADOWS

ALABASTER SHADOWS
ONI PRESS – @OniPress

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

STORY: Matt Gardner
ARTIST: Rashad Doucet – @RashadDoucet
COLORS: Rashad Doucet
LETTERS: Ryan Ferrier
EDITORS: Jill Beaton and Robin Herrera
ISBN: 978-1-62010-264-0; paperback (December 9, 2015)
192pp, Color, $12.99 U.S.

Rating: All Ages

Alabaster Shadows is a 2015 original graphic novel (OGN) from writer Matt Gardner and artist-colorist Rashad Doucet.  Alabaster Shadows focuses on the new kid in town who discovers that there are incredibly weird things going on in his new neighborhood.  Letterer Ryan Ferrier completes the book's creative team.

Alabaster Shadows opens as Carter Normandy and his parents and his sister, Polly, arrive at their new home in the neighborhood of “Alabaster Shadows.”  Carter thinks that all the houses look the same, but on the first morning in the new house, he discovers a peculiar water leak, which seems to defy the laws of physics.

Carter is starting to believe that there is something weird about the neighborhood.  At the “Community Center,” the odd Mr. Randolph asks Carter and Polly to let him know if they see anything weird.  However, Miss Priscilla Crowe, head of the Community Center,” can barely tolerate the children.  Carter's homeroom teacher, Ms. Frump, also a child-hating old hag, seems to be up to something with Miss Crowe.

Luckily, Carter finds a group of friends that seems like the perfect fit.  There is Harley, a fan of the conspiracy theory magazine, “Weekly Truth Journal,” and her skeptical brother, Warren.  Dudley is the quiet boy who likes to draw... when he isn't talking about the monsters under his bed.  Monsters under his bead, you say?!  Yes, Alabaster Shadows apparently has a monster problem, to say nothing of the otherworldly places from which these monsters originate.  Now, it is up to Carter and his friends to solve the mysteries of Alabaster Shadows and to keep these monsters from crossing over into their world, or suffer dire consequences.

I discovered the existence of Alabaster Shadows the graphic novel in a press release.  At the time, I thought the name of the artist, Rashad Doucet, sounded familiar and was one I should know.  [That is a short story for another time.]  I eventually cashed in some Barnes & Noble credit and bought a copy of Alabaster Shadows.  Coming across the press release was probably serendipity because the purchase was more than worth it.

Alabaster Shadows is one of the best “graphic novels for kids” that I have ever read, and I have been reading quite a few in recent years.  I would say that its target audience is probably from 8 to 12-years old or the “middle grade” readers.  However, if you are a fan of classic juvenile novels or famous children's fantasy and adventure literature, then, even your older teen, adult, or AARP heart will love the fantastic read that is Alabaster Shadows.

Using terms like enchanting and endearing may seem a bit too sweet.  Terms like mesmerizing, engaging, and enthralling might seem to be over-the-top or pretentious.  But damn, y'all, it's true.  This is a freaking, flat-out, great comic book and graphic novel.  Dammit!  I want a sequel, now!

Matt Gardner's story collects elements from H.P. Lovecraft, Scooby-Doo cartoons, Tom Sawyer, the Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew, The Three Investigators, and juvenile science fiction, among other things.  He puts it all together and creates something new that snaps and crackles like sparks from a downed electrical line.  The world of Alabaster Shadows is so big that one book cannot contain it.  Alabaster Shadows' cast, young and adult, are also a lively, likable bunch; it's like we can never get enough of them.  Hopefully, readers will see them again.

Rashad Doucet's illustrations either seem to fly off the page or seem to be pulling away from the page.  Doucet has taken the static images of comics and has found a way to make them move and groove like animated images.  Even the facial expression are dynamic; emotions and emotional states are never in doubt.  Doucet's coloring is dazzling and life-like; it is as if the colors don't want to recognize any borders in their bid to bring the drawings to life.

I must not forget to mention Ryan Ferrier's lettering, which is steady.  There are times, however, that Ferrier conveys the story in lettering that has a machine gun rhythm, perfectly capturing those moments of the story when the reader is not supposed to go slow.

I am surprised (and disappointed) that I have discovered how good Alabaster Shadows is practically four years to the day it was first published.  But it is never too late to discover a read that blows your mind.  Alabaster Shadows should be a perennial, an evergreen graphic novel, always ready to be discovered by new readers or rediscovered by readers who will look at it and say, “Let's do it again.”

10 out of 10

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


https://onipress.com/
https://twitter.com/OniPress
https://www.facebook.com/onipress
https://www.instagram.com/onipress/
https://www.youtube.com/user/onipress
https://www.pinterest.com/OniPressOfficial/

Buy Alabaster Shadows #1 as a digital comic at comiXology.

The text is copyright © 2019 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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#IReadsYou Review: MAN IS VOX: Paingels (Expanded Edition)

MAN IS VOX: PAINGELS (Expanded Edition)
CANDLE LIGHT PRESS – @candlelightpres

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

WRITER: John Ira Thomas – @johnirathomas
ARTIST: Carter Allen – @attila71
PENCILS: Carter Allen
INKS: Carter Allen; Jeremy Smith (“Dessert” story)
LETTERS: John Ira Thomas
COVER: Carter Allen
ISBN: 978-0-9895376-9-3; paperback – 7.5 x 0.8 x 9.2 inches dimensions (September 18, 2017)
292pp, B&W and Color $39.95 U.S.

Man is Vox: Paingels is a 2004 original graphic novel published by Candle Light Press (CLP) and created by writer John Ira Thomas and artist Carter Allen.  Last year, CLP released an updated edition of the graphic novel, Man is Vox: Paingels (Expanded Edition).

This is a kind of overview.  Man is Vox: Paingels follows a man who is essentially a killer on the search for a psycho who kills some women.  He abuses in terrible ways those women that he does not kill.  The Fearsome Shade, Mr. Way, the Shotgun Bride, the Husband, Samdy Lockney, The Beacon, Insides, and Dilmus:  they are all on or in the orbit “The Beacon.”

Abortions; many Beacons; clothes make the man, and Sid S, the serial killer of children.  Mr. Way and the Fearsome Shade have to put an end to the Beacon, but who are they really?  Who are Mr. Way and the Fearsome Shade to confront the Beacon for his crimes, especially against Ms. Lockney?

2015 was Candle Light Press' 20th anniversary.  [In fact, there is a book celebrating that anniversary, CLP20: Twenty Years of Candle Light Press (http://candlelightpress.tumblr.com/clp20.htm), a book to which I have contributed a few notes.]  Since then, CLP have been releasing new editions of a few of their early graphic novels, including Man is Vox: Barracudae, the Man is Vox OGN that precedes Paingels.

John Ira Thomas and Carter Allen tell Paingels via a Baskin-Robbins like palette of graphic styles and illustrative mediums (so to speak).  Traditional color comic book art; traditional black and white art; a child's crayon drawings; charcoal; vector art; ink; finger puppet theater; 8-bit video game graphics; cut outs; torn pages; woodblock engraving-like art; and faux family photo album, among many.

When I first read Man is Vox: Paingels, I could not think of many points of references for my subsequent review of it.  Fifteen years later, however, I think I have one.  With surrealism on high and touches of Meshes of the Afternoon, Man is Vox: Paingels (Expanded Edition) is a trippy reading experience.  Much of the narrative deals with what goes on in the human mind – the interior life and the mental experience.  So Paingels makes me think of Noah Hawley's television series, “Legion” (FX).  Paingels simply does not display the self-indulgence and narcissism, nor does it possess the lack of self-control and lack of self-awareness that can be brought on by having the kind of large budget that a major Hollywood studio can gift a “genius” showrunner.

Man is Vox: Paingels (Expanded Edition) is an adventure in original graphic novel reading.  It is not really meant to be read in one sitting, which I certainly did not do.  Some chapters, I read over a period of several weeks.  Other chapters, I read in rapid succession.  I have to be honest; Paingels is not my favorite Candle Light Press book by far.  However, the characters are simply lovely, so much so that I want to engage Paingels just to read about them.

http://candlelightpress.tumblr.com/
https://www.facebook.com/candlelightpres/

7 out of 10

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


The text is copyright © 2019 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for syndication rights and fees.

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Review: ECTYRON: Rise of Nemehiss

ECTYRON: RISE OF NEMEHISS
CANDLE LIGHT PRESS/Warning Comics – @candlelightpres @attila71

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

STORY: Carter Allen
SCRIPT: John Ira Thomas
ART: Carter Allen – @attila71
LETTERS: John Ira Thomas
COVER: Carter Allen
BACK COVER: Will Grant
28pp, Color, $5.00 U.S. (2018)

Ectyron: Rise of Nemehiss is a 2018 comic book published by Candle Light Press (CLP).  It is written by CLP stalwarts Carter Allen (plot) and John Ira Thomas (script/letters) and drawn by Allen.  This comic book focuses on Ectyron, a giant-sized chicken that battles monsters known as “kaiju.”  This term is used to describe a genre of Japanese films that feature giant monsters, and the term is also used to describe the giant monsters themselves.  [Godzilla is an example of a kaiju.]

Ectyron: Rise of Nemehiss opens in South Chippewa Basin, Lake Michigan.  The USCGS Narcissus, a shallow water submarine, has been chasing a sonar shadow that suddenly changes from shadow to monster.  Meanwhile at “Sustenatione Stabilitas Base” in the Great Basin Desert, kaiju fighter Jake is working on the latest kaiju-fighting vehicle.  “Tonnerre Blue,” a “suborbital hopper” that can transport and fight in the battle against the kaiju.

Jake and his colleague, Iowa, will need this new kaiju-fighting tech when the giant-goose kaiju, known as Nemehiss, terrorizes a small Minnesota town.  The kaiju fighters will also need all the help they can get... from Ectyron!

Ectyron: Rise of Nemehiss, like the previous Ectyron Against Lagaxtu, is the kind of monster comic that writer, artist, cartoonist, designer, and graphic novelist, Carter Allen does so well.  His Gozilla-sized creations, which includes monsters, beasts, machines, contraptions, and heroes, are pure comic book fun.

The Ectyron series offers big monster fun told with big illustrations and graphics.  John Ira Thomas' dry humor adds a nice touch, and his dialogue, as polished as the kind you would find in a screenplay for a big Hollywood event movie, helps the readers take the action seriously.  Ectyron: Rise of Nemehiss is both monster comic book and sci-tech action adventure.

The truth is that readers get a little more than they expect from Ectyron: Rise of Nemehiss.  In fact, they get enough to want more.  Plus, the back cover features another delightful Will Grant full-color illustration.  [Since the publication of Ectyron: Rise of Nemehiss, CLP has published a third Ectyron comic book.]

8.5 out of 10

http://candlelightpress.tumblr.com/
www.warningcomics.com

Reviewed by Leroy Douesseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


The text is copyright © 2019 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for syndication rights and fees.

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Review: LIFEFORMED: Hearts and Minds

LIFEFORMED: HEARTS AND MINDS
DARK HORSE COMICS – @DarkHorseComics

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

STORY: Matt Mair Lowery
ART: Cassie Anderson
LETTERS: Cassie Anderson
EDITOR: Rachel Roberts
COVER: Cassie Anderson
ISBN: 978-1-50670-937-6; paperback; 6” x 9” (September 20, 2019)
200pp, Color, $12.99 U.S., $17.50 CAN (September 4, 2019 – comic book shops)

Age range: 12; Genre Science Fiction, Action/Adventure

Lifeformed: Hearts and Minds is a 2019 young adult, science fiction graphic novel from authors, writer Matt Mair Lowery and artist Cassie Anderson.  It is a direct sequel to the 2017 original graphic novel,  Lifeformed: Cleo Makes Contact.  Lifeformed follows an 11-year-old orphan and the shape-shifting alien she befriends as they travel the countryside in the wake of an alien invasion... and fight back.

Cleo Elward was a typical 11-year-old girl on the verge of teen brat-hood, when the unbelievable happened.  The sky above her hometown was suddenly filled with strange airships, heralding an alien invasion.  Cleo's loving and doting father, Alex Elward, a single-parent, was killed during first wave of the attack.  Within moments of Alex's death, an alien arrived and approached his corpse.  The alien shifted its form so that it resembled Alex.  This alien shape-shifter, who turned out to be a rebel helped the now-orphaned Cleo escape the invasion by traveling the countryside.  Now, Cleo and alien-dad-Alex survive together and act as a tiny insurgency against an invasion.

Lifeformed: Hearts and Minds finds Cleo, who has fully left behind the life she knew, fighting for the future of Earth. Cleo and Alex now make a fearsome fighting team in a guerrilla war against the invaders, but this duo is actually two complex individuals and personalities, each with his or her own desires.  Alex, with increasing frequency and intensity, is experiencing the real Alex Elward's memories of his daughter and of being a father.  Now, Alex is suddenly more protective of Cleo, but he is also more controlling about their movements and activities, especially of Cleo's.

Meanwhile, Cleo's intelligence and curiosity and developing personality want to explore, regardless of the rules “new daddy” is setting down.  Escaping at night or whenever Alex sleeps, Cleo explores the city to its edges, ducking alien patrols.  Then, she meets a strange alien and a group of “soldier spawns” acting more peculiar than usual.  All the while, Cleo does not know that a recent adversary has returned to stalk her.

Back in early 2018, writer Matt Mair Lowery, the co-author of the Lifeformed graphic novels, contacted me via Twitter.  He offered my a PDF review copy of Lifeformed: Cleo Makes Contact.  I was surprised by his slide into my Twitter DM's, as I had never heard of him or his comic book.

Lowery's outreach turned out to be a good thing.  Lowery and artist Cassie Anderson created in Lifeformed: Cleo Makes Contact one of the best young adult graphic novels that I have read over the past few years.  At the time, it was my duty, not so much as a reviewer, but as a devotee of the comics medium to tell comic book fans and readers how good Lifeformed: Cleo Makes Contact was.

Lifeformed: Cleo Makes Contact's themes of courage and choice resonate throughout the narrative of Lifeformed: Hearts and Minds as much as they did in the original.  Hearts and Minds also focuses on the themes of hope and of offering a helping hand.  In Hearts and Minds, Lowery and Anderson give an intimate view on Cleo's internal struggles and dilemmas and, to a lesser degree, on similar struggles of other characters in the story.  What the authors seem to suggest is that any character totally focused only on what he, she, or it wants ultimately finds despair instead of hope.  Characters that in the end despair cannot offer a helping hand, and, quite frankly, are finally incapable of recognizing help when it is sincerely offered to them.

Cassie Anderson's illustrations and graphical storytelling remain powerfully dramatic.  Anderson is imaginative in her use of color; every page has an unexpected hue that makes the reader take a harder look at the action on the page.  Her lettering emphasizes Lifeformed's quiet and contemplative side, so that, while Hearts and Mind is a science fiction thriller, it is also an exploration of the hearts and minds of the characters.

I hope young readers and mature readers discover the new graphic novel, Lifeformed: Hearts and Minds, and the original, Lifeformed: Cleo Makes Contact.  They're both so f—cking good.

9 out of 10

Lifeformed: Cleo Makes Contact review is here.

Cassie Anderson:
cassieanderson@wwdb.org
https://twitter.com/CassieDoesArt

Matt Mair Lowery:
mattmlpdx@lifeformedcomic.com
https://twitter.com/mattmlpdx
http://www.lifeformedcomic.com

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


The text is copyright © 2019 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for syndication rights and fees.

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Review: BINGO LOVE

BINGO LOVE (OGN)
IMAGE COMICS/Inclusive Press – @ImageComics

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

STORY: Tee Franklin
ART: Jenn St-Onge
COLORS: Joy San
LETTERS: Cardinal Rae
EDITOR: Erica Schultz
COVER: Genevieve Eft
ISNB: 978-1-53430750-6; paperback (February 2018)
88pp, Color, $9.99 U.S.

Rated “T / Teen”

Bingo Love created by Tee Franklin

Bingo Love is an full-color original graphic novel written and created by Tee Franklin and drawn by Jenn St-Onge.  It is the story of two women who meet as school girls and fall in love, but are forced apart by the obligations of family and society.  Bingo Love's creative team includes colorist Joy San and letterer Cardinal Rae.

On February 10th, 1963, at a church bingo game, Hazel Marie Johnson meets the new girl in town.  To Hazel, Mari Annabelle McCray smells like cocoa butter and is a “honey glazed goddess.”  Mari also turns out to be the new student at the high school Hazel attends, and Hazel is immediately smitten with her.  It turns out that Mari is also attracted to Hazel and indicates this by delivering a kiss on Hazel's cheek.  Soon, the two are inseparable.

In the 1960s, however, society does not tolerate same-sex couples, nor do families.  Hazel and Mari are forced apart, and Hazel settles for marriage to a young air force pilot, James Aloysius Downing.  Fate, on the other hand, is not willing to let family and society have the last say in Hazel and Mari's tale of young love.

Bingo Love is both sweet and relentless.  The art by Jenn St-Onge is composed in large, puffy circles that result in characters with big heads and large facial features.  This is both sweet and cute, but St-Onge is able to convey emotions large and small and expressive and intimate.  St-Onge gives the story so much emotional resonance with her joyful compositions.  Joy San's joyful coloring makes St-Onge's illustrations leap off the page, turning this story into a dance and celebration of love.  The lettering by Cardinal Rae carries the story forward as if it were a wave determined to transport a love story across the world.

Tee Franklin's story and script is the relentless part of the creation.  Love is love.  Those meant to be will be, whether the whole damn world likes it or not.  Tee Franklin delivers a LGBTQ manifesto as a candy shoppe milkshake that is a stubborn, unstoppable taste sensation.  Hazel and Mari's love is not normal or abnormal; it simply is.  Normal and abnormal are just labels.  Love is love; beyond labels, this is Bingo Love.

9 out of 10

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


The text is copyright © 2018 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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Review: FARLAINE THE GOBLIN Book 7: "The Final Land"

FARLAINE THE GOBLIN No. 7
STUDIO FARLAINE – @TreeGoblin

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

CARTOONIST: Pug Grumble
COVER: Pug Grumble with Jean-Francois Beaulieu
VARIANT COVER: David Petersen
ISBN:  978-0-9890058-7-6; paperback (September 2018)
68pp, B&W; $5.00 U.S.

All-Ages

Book 7: “The Final Land”

Farlaine the Goblin is a series of fantasy graphic novels published by Studio Farlaine and written and drawn by the cartoonist who goes by the nom de plume, “Pug Grumble” (but who was previously credited as “Anonymous”).  Mr. Grumble has been providing me with PDF review copies of the recent Farlaine editions.

Each Farlaine comic book/graphic novel is published as a paperback (landscape dimensions 11.8” x 7.75”).  The story focuses on Farlaine the Goblin, a tree goblin and a shaman from the forest of Fin-Din.  He has spent years wandering the many “Oddlands of Wug” in search of a forest that he can call his own.  Farlaine has two companions.  The first is Ehrenwort, a tree he carries in a sack on his back; Farlaine also talks to Ehrenwort, whom he describes as his “Verdan.”  The second companion is a “Tink” whom Farlaine met in an earlier adventure in the “Tinklands.”  A rotund, mechanical fellow (think Star Wars' BB-8 with two wheels), he has been named Drowsy by Farlaine.

Farlaine the Goblin: Book 7, The Final Land opens to find Farlaine, Ehrenwort, and Drowsy leaving The Winglands, or at least trying to leave.  And the bully dragon our heroes met in The Vaultlands (Book 5) is still vexing them.  To complicate matters, fate takes the gang back to The Tinklands, the home of Drowsy!

Now, The Tinklands, lacking “Tinks,” is up for grabs.  Fill it up with enough of something, and that is what that land becomes.  For instance, The Tinklands could become a peg-leg land!  For Farlaine, this could also become the end of his journey.  He is running out of lands, and Ehrenwort may be dying.  To save her, Farlaine and Drowsy will have to use all of their imagination, but most of all, they will need to call forth what is good and true within them.

Pug Grumble gave me copies of Farlaine the Goblin, Trade Paperback, Volume 1, which collects the first three graphic novels in the series, and also Book 4 back in 2015.  I read them and fell in love with Farlaine the Goblin.  I have been a fervent supporter of Grumble's efforts, and I have been doing my part to spread the good word about a certain goblin's good work.

Now, we come to the release of the final book, Farlaine the Goblin: Book 7, The Final Land.  It is fitting that Book 7's variant cover edition features cover art by David Petersen, whose Mouse Guard fantasy comic book series, became a huge hit after Petersen originally self-published the first issue.  Farlaine is like Mouse Guard in that both are great fantasy comics not published by biggest North America's biggest comic book publishers.  Yet both Grumble and Petersen's talent and work shine, and their comics are as good as anything published by a major comic book publisher.

When I read Farlaine, I feel as if I have entered a venerable library, and after perusing the shelves, I have found a leather bound volume.  Upon opening it, I discover something old, but timeless.  Farlaine the Goblin is a new work, but it brims with old magic, as if it belongs right alongside The Hobbit and The Wind in the Willows.  I feel that way whenever I reread the first issue of Neil Gaiman's beloved fantasy comic book series, The Sandman.  While Farlaine the Goblin is new and unknown to so many readers, readers that will discover it in the future will discover a classic fantasy tale infused with the sense of magic that classic fantasy must have.

Farlaine the Goblin: Book 7, The Final Land is a great final volume.  Its themes of forgiveness, redemption, friendship, reinvention, and discovery make this story sparkle with possibilities.  That makes Farlaine seem as if his story is ending with him being a goblin in full.  Farlaine the Goblin: Book 7, The Final Land is not about finality.  Farlaine will go on “happily ever after” even if his creator never engages him again.  He will always be there waiting for new readers to enter a library or a bookstore and to discover his journey.

10 out of 10

http://www.farlaine.com/
facebook.com/FarlianeTheGoblin
twitter.com/treegoblin

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


The text is copyright © 2018 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint syndication rights and fees.

-------------------------

Review: THE FUN FAMILY

THE FUN FAMILY (OGN)
IDW PUBLISHING/Top Shelf Productions – @topshelfcomix

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

CARTOONIST: Benjamin Frisch
ISBN:  978-1-60309-344-6; paperback with French flaps (July 12, 2016)
240pp, Color, $24.99 U.S. (Diamond: APR16-0643)

The Fun Family is a 2016, full color, original graphic novel written and drawn by cartoonist, Benjamin Frisch.  Published by Top Shelf Productions (an imprint of IDW Publishing), The Fun Family focuses on the growing dysfunction of an American family, whose head of household is a popular newspaper comic strip creator.

The Fun Family introduces beloved cartoonist Robert Fun.  He has earned a devoted following for his circle-shaped, newspaper comic strip, “The Fun Family.”  Robert celebrates the wholesome American family by drawing inspiration from his real home life.  He is married to Marsha, a devoted mother and housewife.  They have four children:  Robby, Molly, Mikey, and J.T. (an infant when the story starts).

Unlike its comic strip equivalent, the Fun Family, however, has some dark secrets, and their idyllic world begins to collapse after two events.  First, Robert's mother, Virginia (“Grandma” to the kids), dies, and then, Robert's creepy menagerie is discovered.  Now, the children must rescue their family, but they will also have to escape the cycle that will have art imitating life imitating art.

One of the most famous “circle-shaped” newspaper comic strips of all time is The Family Circus, which was created, written and drawn by the late Bil Keane.  Cartoonist Benjamin Frisch uses the iconography and visual cues and themes of The Family Circus to create The Fun Family.  Robert Fun even draws a comic-within-a-comic that is virtually identical in graphics, shape, format, and themes to The Family Circus.

That is where the similarities end.  The Fun Family is a riveting read, shocking and poignant in equal doses – so much so that reading this graphic novel can be a disconcerting experience at times.  I want to avoid spoilers by saying that the parents, Robert and Marsha, are the big problems in this scenario.  They are aided and abetted by the “professionals” trying to help them, Dr. Leonard Cohen and Dr. Guru Cohen and also by a “ghost.”

Cartoonist and comic book creator, Jessica Abel, is quoted as saying of The Fun Family, “Simply wrenching... Benjamin Frisch subverts the iconography of family cartooning, exposing the seedy underbelly of America’s obsession with the perfect family.”  That is true, and The Fun Family is a blast to read.  I could not stop reading it once I started.  I highly recommend The Fun Family, which is still in print two years after its debut (http://www.topshelfcomix.com/catalog/the-fun-family/935).

9 out of 10

http://www.topshelfcomix.com/

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


The text is copyright © 2018 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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Review: MARCH: Book Two

MARCH: BOOK TWO
TOP SHELF PRODUCTIONS – @topshelfcomix

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

WRITERS: John Lewis and Andrew Aydin
ARTIST: Nate Powell
EDITOR: Leigh Walton
ISBN: 978-1-60309-400-9; paperback with French flaps – 6.5" x 9.5" (January 20, 2015)
192pp, B&W, $19.95 U.S., $25.95 CAN

Congressman John Lewis is Georgia’s Fifth Congressional District Representative (GA-5, Democrat).  Lewis was also one of the “Big Six” leaders of the American Civil Rights Movement (with the others being Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., James Farmer, A. Philip Randolph, Roy Wilkins, and Whitney Young).  Before such fame and accomplishments, he was born John Robert Lewis in February 1940 to sharecropper parents, Willie Mae (Carter) and Eddie Lewis.

In 2013, Top Shelf Productions began publishing a series of three graphic novels, entitled March, that would chronicle the life of Congressman Lewis, from his childhood to his college-age youth as a participant in and organizer of dangerous protests.  The story ultimately moves into Lewis' years as a leader in the Civil Rights movement and as someone who shaped and influenced change, politically and socially.  March is written by Congressman Lewis and Andrew Aydin, one of Lewis' top advisers, and is drawn and lettered by Nate Powell, an award-winning illustrator and comic book creator.

March Book Two (January 2015), like March Book One, uses the inauguration of President Barack Obama (January 20, 2009) as a framing sequence.  The story then moves back to November 1960.  After the success of the Nashville sit-in campaign to desegregate lunch counters, the Nashville Student Movement is ready to make its next moves.  The students want to desegregate fast food restaurants and cafeterias and movie theaters so that that black people can receive the same service that white people do.  John Lewis is more committed than ever to changing the world through nonviolence — but he is about to become involved in his most perilous venture yet.

In 1961, the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) plans to test a recent favorable Supreme Court ruling, Boynton v. Virginia, which outlawed racial segregation on buses and in bus terminals.  CORE called this program Freedom Ride 1961, and the young activists involved are dubbed “Freedom Riders.”  However, these “Freedom Riders” plan to go into the heart of the deep south in order to segregate bus terminals in cities like Birmingham, Alabama and New Orleans, Louisiana, and they will be tested as never before.  They must face beatings from vicious white devils... (I mean) civilians, police brutality, imprisonment, arson, and even murder.  With their lives on the line, these young activists also face internal conflicts that threatens to tear them apart.

I never doubted that March Book Two could be as powerful as March Book One, but now, I think that Book Two passes the first book in terms of intensity.  Book Two also chronicles how John Lewis and his fellow activists attracted the notice people like Martin Luther King, Jr. and Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, who would become powerful allies.  We also witness Lewis get elected chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), thrusting the 23-year-old into the national spotlight.  We see Lewis become one of the “Big Six” leaders of the civil rights movement and a central figure in the landmark 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.  March Book Two also depicts the speech that Lewis gave at that historic march, and, at the back of this graphic novel, the original version of Lewis' speech is reprinted.  The section of the story that deals with the “negotiations” involved in getting Lewis to make changes to his speech is riveting.

However, the spine of March Book Two is the harrowing depiction and recounting of “Freedom Ride 1961.”  Lewis and Andrew Aydin's script, narration, and dialogue are some of the most powerful that I have ever read in a comic book.  As I read those glorious pages, I felt as if my blood was freezing, at the same time that my heart was a'pounding.  If Lewis and Aydin's text about the Freedom Riders was reprinted without the art, it would still be compelling and effective.

I could say the same thing about the art.  If Nate Powell's illustrations and graphics for March Book Two were reprinted without the text and word balloons in an art book, they would still be all-powerful and potent storytelling.  Even as pantomime comics, Powell's work here would force us to understand every bit of Lewis' story as told by the Congressman and Mr. Aydin.  Powell is easily one of the very best comic book illustrators of the still young twenty-first century.  He is in my Top 10.

Fortunately for us, Lewis, Aydin, and Powell work as one almighty comic book creative team.  On that ride back through time, they transport us onto the buses for the most perilous bus rides in American history.  Because of the felicity with which they tell this story, Lewis, Aydin, and Powell honor not only Lewis' story, but they also honor the men and women, black and white, who put everything on the line for freedom and equality.  March Book Two was and still is 2015's best original graphic novel and best work of comics.

10 out of 10

For more information about the March trilogy, visit here or at http://www.topshelfcomix.com/march

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


The text is copyright © 2018 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for syndication rights and fees.

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Review: THE MAN FROM THE GREAT NORTH

THE MAN FROM THE GREAT NORTH
IDW PUBLISHING/EuroComics – @IDWPublishing

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

CARTOONIST: Hugo Pratt
TRANSLATION: Dean Mullaney, Simone Castaldi, and Ariane Levesque Looker
COLORS: Annie Frognier and Patrizia Zanotti
EDITOR: Dean Mullaney
ISBN:  978-1-68405-058-1; hardcover – 8 1/2” x 11” (October 2017)
104pp, Color, $24.99 U.S., $33.99 CAN (November 21, 2017)

Hugo Pratt (1927 to 1995) was an Italian comic book creator and artist.  Some consider him to be among the first literary and artistic comic book creators, and his best known work is his Corto Maltese series, which he produced from 1967 to 1988.

IDW Publishing is currently publishing new English-language editions of Pratt's graphic albums and comics.  One of those is a full-color graphic novel, The Man From the Great North.  It was initially entitled Jésuite Joe and was serialized in the French comics magazines, Pilote.  Jésuite Joe was then collected as a graphic album in 1980 in France (by Dargaud).  In Italy, it was published as L'uomo del grande nord (The Man From the Great North) and was one of four graphic novels that Hugo Pratt contributed to Italian publisher Edizioni Cepim's “One Man, One Adventure” series.

IDW's The Man From the Great North is the first English-language version of Jésuite Joe (according to the publisher).  IDW's edition includes Pratt's original 48-page version of Jésuite Joe and also 21 pages of storyboard material that Pratt produced for a 1991 French film based on the graphic novel and directed by Olivier Austen.  The storyboards are integrated into the original graphic novel to produce an expanded version of the Jésuite Joe graphic novel.

IDW's The Man From the Great North also has five pages of watercolors studies and five spot illustrations that Pratt produced for Jésuite Joe.  Pratt also produced 19 pages of a second Jésuite Joe story that he never finished, and that is reprinted in this book.

The story focuses on Jesuit Joe, who is a “Métis,” an ethnic group in Canada and part of the United States that is descended from indigenous North Americans (Native Americans) and European settlers.  In Joe's case, he is of French-Canadian (father) and Mohawk (mother) descent.

The Man From the Great North's story takes place in 1912 in Canada (the “Great North”), and for most of the story, Joe is dressed in the uniform of a Royal North West Mounted Police (RNWMP), specifically a corporal's uniform.  Joe finds the uniform in a cabin shortly before he kills two men who hat shot into the cabin.  Next, he encounters a Cree medicine man in the middle of some kind of ceremony involving a baby stolen from white settlers, and Joe kills him.

Thus, begins Jesuit Joe's spree of killing and violence that includes a Catholic priest, family, Indians, and the man who is tracking him, Sergeant Fox, among others.  All the while, Jesuit Joe is looking for something... something ephemeral... or absolute.

In his essay, “Whatever became of Jesuit Joe?”, Gianni Brunoro writes that Hugo Pratt “...was interested in telling stories about ideas.”  Brunoro writes that Jesuit Joe may have been “an ideologically completed story,” so for Pratt, there was nothing to which he should return.  Something else worth noting:  in his forward to Jésuite Joe, written in 1991, Pratt talks about writers who influenced this creation, including Jack London and Zane Gray.

For me, Jesuit Joe seems like an idea, a story about a guy going through the wilderness of the “Great North,” killing people at just about every stop because that is what he does.  His motivation is inscrutable, unless a reader wants to admit that Joe does things simply because he wants to do those things.  He is simultaneously ephemeral, a force of nature, and a personification of death.  One can see that this story and character seem like ideas inspired by the works of Jack London.

The story in The Man From the Great North is impressionistic and is told in illustrations that are abstract when they are not treading the ground of realist art.  The influence of the great American cartoonist, Milton Caniff, is evident on The Man From the Great North, as it is on Pratt's Corto Maltese series.  The storyboard pages are loose and seem immediate and relevant, but do not show the influence of any particular artist or writer.  They seem like pure Pratt.

This story, with its wraith-like character who wanders a sometimes dream-like wilderness landscape, seems to me to be about inspiring the reader's imagination.  Pratt seems to tell us to follow Joe and make of it what our imaginations will.  I find that this story does indeed arouse my imagination, and I cannot help but be intrigued and emotionally involved in it.  The violence (murder, kidnapping, assault, rape, etc.) moves me.  I feel something... and some things I should not admit...

There will be no more Jesuit Joe by Hugo Pratt.  I want more because this story moves me.  There is no beginning, middle, and end in a traditional way; in fact, The Man From the Great North seems like a small section of a larger story.  Like Pratt's other work, this is a work of graphic fiction and graphic storytelling that grabs the reader in ways that larger, more developed comics do not.  That is the reason why Pratt is always worth reading, but concerning Jesuit Joe, this is the end.

9 out of 10

[This book includes a forward by Hugo Pratt, and an essay, “Whatever became of Jesuit Joe?” by Gianni Brunoro.]

EuroComics.us

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


The text is copyright © 2018 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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Review: BLACK [AF]: America's Sweetheart

BLACK [AF]: AMERICA'S SWEETHEART
BLACKMASK STUDIO – @blackmaskstudio @BLACKsuprppowrs

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

STORY: Kwanza Osajyefo – @kwanzer
DESIGNER: Tim Smith 3
ART: Jennifer Johnson
LETTERS: Dave Sharpe
COVER: Sho Murase
ISBN: 978-1-62875-191-8; paperback (Tuesday, February 13, 2018)
Diamond Distributors code: SEP171271 (in comic book shops Wednesday, January 31, 2018)
80pp, Color, $9.99 U.S.

T/Teen

Black [AF]: America's Sweetheart is a 2018, full-color, original graphic novel.  It is set in the world of Black (now known as Black [AF]), the 2016-2017 six-issue miniseries created by writer Kwanza Osajyefo and artist-designer Tim Smith 3.  In the world of Black, only Black people have super-powers.  Black [AF]: America's Sweetheart is written by Osajyefo; drawn and colored by Jennifer Johnson; and lettered by Dave Sharpe.

Black [AF]: America's Sweetheart introduces Eli Franklin, a 15-year-old African-American girl adopted into a white family that lives on a ranch in Helena, Montana.  When she is a small child, Eli discovers that she has abilities that other people, including other children, do not have.  After he discovers Eli's powers, her father, a high-ranking government and White House official, tries to keep Eli's power secret.

However, once Eli becomes a public figure, her father manages Eli as a superhero, named “Good Girl,” who does good things to help people.  Good Girl is effectively a public relations stunt to tamper the fear of white people.  White people are angry because only black people have super-powers, and, in their fear, believe that all black people have or will have powers.  Eli is happy to do her part to make people less fearful, but someone with a connection to Eli's mysterious past is determined to put an end to Eli's mission.  The story also features a guest appearance by “X” of the original Black miniseries.

In a world that fears and hates them, what if only black people had super-powers?  That is a bold and crazy premise; that is a bold and crazy and ballsy premise from a group of African-America comic book creators, especially when one considers that much of the American comic book marketplace caters to older white males.  The six-issue Black miniseries was refreshingly confrontational, and it was unapologetic in its political and social themes and commentary that came from an African-America and Black American perspective.

Black [AF]: America's Sweetheart is less confrontational, but absolutely does not shy away from the original comic's politics.  It is just a bit clever about the way those politics are presented.  It is beautifully drawn and colored in a clean style that is similar to the graphics used in kids' graphic novels.  However, the fear-of-a-black-planet theme resonates throughout this original graphic novel (OGN).  White people in America are still afraid of super-powered black people, but the focus of Black [AF]: America's Sweetheart is Eli Franklin's quest to find her place in a society that fears her.  The story is not as much about a search for identity, which is what her adversary wants – to make Eli understand who and what she really is or who and what she was meant to be.

Eli's quest is played out in a massive, battle of super-powers that takes up about half this OGN's story, but that battle allows Osajyefo space to play out messages and themes involving the oppression of African-Americans and Black people, in general, by a society that wants to simultaneously enslave them and to exploit their powers and abilities.  What he means is white people making black people chattel slaves again – using black slave labor for the white oppressor's gain.

So, on the surface, Black [AF]: America's Sweetheart is about a teenage Black superhero, the first black person to put on a costume and use her powers as if she were a comic book superhero.  It is a superhero graphic novel for teenagers.  Just beneath the surface, however, Black [AF]: America's Sweetheart returns to the themes and motifs of the Black miniseries.  It is like hiding medicine inside candy in order the trick the kid into taking the medicine he or she needs.  Bravo, Mr. Osajyefo and Ms. Johnson.  We are ready for a second spoonful of medicine.

9 out of 10

blacksuperpowers.com

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You'


The text is copyright © 2018 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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