9 posts tagged “graphic_novels”

What if Vampires ruled 1960s London?  That is the thought that must have inspired Mark Ricketts when he came up with the idea for Night Trippers, a graphic novel with sex, drugs, rock & roll, and vampires.

Dorothy (Dot, for short) is a nurse at a hospital and one night when she is making the rounds, a mysterious man appears and attacks on of the patients with a wooden stake.  The patient disappears in a cloud of dust, and the attacker flees.  Little does Dot know, she is now a part of an undead subculture that has been manipulating swinging London for the past decade.

I heard about this graphic novel when I was read "Graphic Grown Up" in the August issue of Library Journal.  It included a list of comics and graphic novels to recommend to adults that want to try out the format.  This one caught my eye because of the colorful cover.

The art style is very different from any other graphic novel I have read.  The characters all seem to have very sharp edges, be it in their facial features or their Twiggy-style bodies.  But it worked for a story about fanged villians.  And for some reason, the "hero" of the story immediately made me think of Johnny Depp...might just be because one of his first lines sounded like something Jack Sparrow would say.

The story pokes a lot of fun at 60s culture and it would help the reader if they are familiar with the time period, especially the music.  I had a good time reading it, and even though Ricketts wraps most of the plot up by the last page, he leaves enough open that he could return to these characters later on. 

3.5 out of 5 - If you're in need of a graphic novel with vampires and a sense of humor about itself, Night Trippers is a great place to start.

Official Night Trippers website here with preview images from the graphic novel!

If the artwork on the cover of Stitches seems familiar to you, it's probably because you've seen David Small's illustrations in such classic children's picture books - like Imogene's Antlers.  But Stitches is not for kids...

Imagine you are 11 years old.  Imagine you go into the doctor's office, thinking you're just going to have a growth removed from your neck.  When you wake up, half of your vocal chords have been removed, along with your thyroid and the only sound you can make is a pathetic "Ack" noise. 

This happened to David Small when he was growing up, and this event, along with the general dysfunctional-ness of his family, is the story he tells us in Stitches, a memoir told in graphic novel format.

This format works perfectly for his story - The book opens with all the way the family "speaks" to each other without actually saying anything - his mother slams the cupboard doors shut in the kitchen while cleaning up, his brother bangs on his drum set - the images explain it all, text is unnecessary.

David is a shy child,  too shy speak up and the wordless panels reflect this solitude.  He lives in his head, with the cartoons he draws, the characters he reads about.  His main way of getting attention from family was to let himself get sick so his parents  would take care of him.  When the operation occurs and he loses the ability to speak, the wordless panels take on a sense of frustration because now there are so many things he wants to say.

The story of the operation is just a small part of Small's memoir, though this event effects the rest of his life.  Growing up in the 1950s, you just didn't talk about certain things, and the poor kid stumbles through life, discovering things at all the wrong times.

Small's art is simple and expressive.  It's as though he has been working all these years on children's books to hone his skill enough to create this book.  Considering what he has become today, the book is both disturbing and inspiring. 

5 out of 5 stars, best graphic novel I have read all year.

In rural Korea, some time ago, young Ehwa lived with her widowed mother.  She is an innocent child, believing everything she is told by her friends and many days she wanders home, deep in thought about their stories.  But soon her mother sets her straight, the rain comes, and Ehwa feels a little older.

The easiest way to describe the story of 'The Color of the Earth' would be to say it is the Gilmore Girls in rural Korea.  Ehwa and her mother have this beautiful relationship and while the book mostly focuses on Ehwa's coming-of-age story, there is a large part devoted to her mother and her life as a widow in a small town. 

But there is a lot more to it than that, as I found by reading last few pages of the U.S. edition.  Originally published in Korea in 2003, Color of the Earth was a groundbreaking manhwa (Korean for graphic novel) because of its focus telling the story of being a woman through female characters, a very feminist comic in a genre that tended to focus on the masculine world. 

The artwork is gorgeous, and it helps that the book is about the size of a normal hardback so the images have plenty of room to breathe.  One page might have a quick succession of panels, the next might be a two page spread of Ehwa wandering through a field with peach blossoms dancing around her in the wind. 

This is the first book in a trilogy - The Color of Water and The Color of Heaven are the next two volumes.  I cannot wait to read the other two stories to see where life takes Ehwa as she matures from child to adult. 

I just happened to pick up both of these books at the same time, each of them recommended by two different friends for different reasons.  But I found it interesting to read them one after the other, since they are connected in a few different ways.

'Barefoot Gen' is the story of a Japanese family living in Hiroshima during WWII (based on the actual life of author/artist Keiji Nakazawa).  Their father does not agree with the war or Japan's part in it.  My knowledge of the pacific front is very low - everyone tends to focus on the European front in school, books, movies etc. And even less do we hear about what life was like for the normal people living in Japan at the time.  When Gen's father openly criticizes the Japanese government (and by doing that, insulting the Emperor), his family is shunned by the town.  Abused even. 

I found some of the violence a bit shocking, but then again, its a very militaristic culture.  The father is constantly beating the boys when the misbehave, and other random people also smack them around!  Not sure if this is just a convention of the manga medium or actually reflective of the time.  Still, it happened a LOT. 

The drawings are very simple, reminding me of Persepolis, where the point was for this man to tell his story, not make great leaps and bounds in the art and style of Manga. 

I found this book fascinating and think it would be great to give to a teen who loves manga, slip a little history in there.  I've only read volume 1 but I'm looking forward to the rest of the series and seeing what happens after the bomb falls.

Berlin: City of Stones is about Germany before WWII.  Again, the focus is on everyday people, their lives, and their reaction to what their government is doing (the rumor of weapons being stockpiled even though Germany wasn't supposed to be doing that).  Again, I felt as though I learned a bit while reading through the stories, especially about the Communist party in Germany. 
The art is a bit more advanced than Barefoot Gen, but not by much.  A few times I had an issue with telling the female characters apart.  If it hadn't been for their male counterparts, I might have had issues following the story. 

If you're looking for a way to vicariously learn about history, these two books should fill that need and get you thinking about the other side that we don't really get to see in 'Band of Brothers' or 'Saving Private Ryan'...not that they were misunderstood, but just in general what was going on with the average person during those war years.

So, did text books pretty much ruin history for you?  All those boring pages and pages of names and dates, with the same old bits repeated year after year (found American, Revolt, Repeat) until you got out of high school?  Well, what if those history lessons had a bit more intrigue to them? 

Rick Geary's Graphic Novels are devoid of superheroes or dream masters.  Instead, Geary uses his talents as a writer and as an artist to tell the stories from history.  His main series - Treasury of Victorian Murder - covers such classics as the Assasination of Abraham Lincoln, Jack the Ripper, The Lindbergh Kidnapping and Lizzie Borden. 


                                                                                Researched and readable, these books are great primers for
someone who wants an accessible version of the facts before diving into a 500 page book on the subject.  Part True-Crime novel and part history lesson, Geary's black and white ink drawings are simple enough in their style that readers unfamiliar with the graphic novel format shouldn't feel overwhelmed. 

I for one had no interest in reading about Jack the Ripper, but Geary's book (which uses the primary source of a London citizen's diary from the time to frame the story) was so easy to read, that I did find myself wondering about the mystery afterwards. 

So next time you're struggling to find a book, ask a librarian for one of Rick Geary's graphic novels.  You'll be able to finish the thing in one sitting and afterwards you'll have some extra bits of knowledge floating around in your brain.  And who knows, you might ignite a passion for history that you didn't even know you had. 

Sometimes it takes all the running you can do to stay in one place. 

Local is a collection of stories, told in graphic form, all of them revolving around the life of Megan as she tries to find herself out in the big wide world.  It starts when she ditches her boyfriend and leaves town.  Each chapter is about here, though sometimes indirectly, such as the issue about the rock band from her home town that breaks up.

Local is gorgeous.  Ryan Kelly's black and white drawings fit perfectly with these coming of age stories.  Panels with no text have just as much to say as ones full of dialogue.  Kelly draws Megan with such love, you can actually see her growing up from issue to issue. 

I found myself immediately drawn into the story and the characters.  I highly recommend this collection if you want a break from superheroes and dark stories.  Megan's life is both strange and familiar at the same time.  You'll probably recognize a little bit of yourself in her.  The desire to understand why you're here, what you're meant for, and where you belong.

5 outta 5

Well, the wait is finally over.  The adaptation of Alan Moore & David Gibbon's highly acclaimed graphic novel Watchmen has finally hit the big screens (and the REALLY big screens - I saw it at the IMAX).

So...is it even remotely possible this film will be anywhere near as good as the book?  Of course not.  I mean, how can it be?  Really, the movie is a total fanboy experience.  The writers almost seemed afraid to change too much, worried that they would upset someone by cutting their favorite moment.  Many scenes are word for word and shot for shot from the panels of the book.  Some things are cut (Black Freighter, the giant amount of backstory that would be impossible to cover) yet the movie still clocks in at almost 3 hours. 

The story of Watchmen of both simple and very complex.  What would the world be like if masked vigilantes and superheroes really existed?  How would this affect society, culture, and the outlook on life?  And, above all, who watches these "Watchmen"?

Like the comic book, this is not a superhero movie ala Dark Knight or Superman (and the weakest points in the film are where it acts like maybe it wanted be) but a murder mystery.  At it's core, it's about the one remaining vigilante - Rorschach - trying to solve the brutal murder of his old co-worker, the Comedian.

Rorschach steals the show, as he does in the book. (Jackie Earle Haley manages to even pronounce "HURM" correctly)  He is the Dark Knight of the series (even sounding a bit like Christian Bale's Batman).    Billy Crudup plays Dr Manhattan in a certain grace (though this movie has a bit more blue butt and penis scenes than I expected!).  The Comedian (played by Jeffrey Morgan, best known in my circle of friends as the Dad on Supernatural) is probably one of the most interesting characters as he is both repulsive and attractive at the same time.  Malin Akerman as Laurie Jupiter does a very good job, as do Dan Drieberg as Night Owl and Matthew Goode as Ozymandius.

If you haven't read the comic, you won't be lost but you might be confused.  The only Superhero in this movie is Dr Manhattan, the rest of the characters are merely normal people that have taken the law into their own hands. Zack Snyder's slo-mo fight sequences that were fine in 300 are distracting and out of character in this movie and may confuse viewers not familiar with the comic into thinking that they all have superpowers (at least, it confused a few in my group).  Otherwise, I didn't feel the movie was too hard to follow.

Diehard fans might be upset that bits and pieces were changed or left out, but overall I think the film succeeds in doing what it was supposed to do.  It's a 3 hour love letter to Watchmen (I believe Snyder called it "a trailer for the comic").  The opening sequence, set to the music of Bob Dylan's The Times They Are A'Changin' is very well done, setting up the entire alternate universe and taking you from the 1940s to the 1980s.  The actors look so much like their book counterparts at times that it is eerie. 

The movie is visually stunning and well acted, but very exhausting.  I don't know if I'll be able to watch it again in it's entirety until the DVD release.  Not the best movie ever, but it could have been so much worse.  I'd say a solid 4 outta 5 stars.