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Sabrina by Nick Drnaso My rating: 2 of 5 stars Around the time this acclaimed graphic novel was long-listed for the Man Booker Prize, I read it and wrote a somewhat glib, very short review. The review briefly restated my distaste for the artistic tradition within comics to which Drnaso adheres—not because I think this… Continue reading Nick Drnaso, Sabrina
Berlin by Jason Lutes My rating: 3 of 5 stars For readers and writers of contemporary fiction, history can play the role that myth once did. Just as Sophocles's audience relished the dramatic irony created by their foreknowledge of Oedipus's fate, we can read about the everyday lives of Berliners in the Weimar Republic with… Continue reading Jason Lutes, Berlin
The Eternaut by Héctor Germán Oesterheld My rating: 4 of 5 stars Though The Eternaut only appeared in an English translation in 2015, it is often considered one of the central texts in the canon of Latin American comics and graphic novels, a work of the stature of—in other national or linguistic traditions—Maus or Watchmen,… Continue reading Héctor Germán Oesterheld and Francisco Solano López, The Eternaut
Looking back, I see that I did a lot of rereading in 2018. Some of it was out of necessity (teaching), and some for pleasure. Some of it showed up in the reviews I post here, while some of it was devoted to books I've already written about in the last five years. I was… Continue reading My Year in Books, 2018
Providence Act 1 by Alan Moore My rating: 4 of 5 stars It is with hesitation that I write anything about Providence. This recent three-volume graphic novel—a prequel/sequel to the earlier works, The Courtyard and Neonomicon—represents Alan Moore's meticulously-researched and carefully-arranged synthesis of H. P. Lovecraft's mythos, whereas I am only the most casual reader… Continue reading Alan Moore and Jacen Burrows, Providence
Akira, Vol. 1 by Katsuhiro Otomo My rating: 3 of 5 stars The 1980s—the latest, the last golden age. The length and breadth of our politics, our pop culture, even our high culture, was laid down in that decade. Everyone now is either trying to overthrow it or recapture it or some incoherent combination of… Continue reading Katsuhiro Otomo, Akira
Claudine by Riyoko Ikeda My rating: 4 of 5 stars This 2018 English translation of Riyoko Ikeda's 1978 shōjo manga about the brief life and tragic loves of the eponymous protagonist is being hailed, to quote Wikipedia, as "one of the earliest manga to feature a transgender protagonist." While I'm sure this is literally true, it… Continue reading Riyoko Ikeda, Claudine
Black Dog: The Dreams of Paul Nash by Dave McKean My rating: 4 of 5 stars In one of the many brilliant parables that occur throughout English artist Dave McKean's 1990s graphic novel Cages, a character (who may or may not be a cat) briefly dies and goes to two flawed heavens in succession. Both… Continue reading Dave McKean, Black Dog: The Dreams of Paul Nash
[This post combines my Goodreads reviews of both volumes of Alack Sinner, The Age of Innocence and The Age of Disenchantment.] Alack Sinner: The Age of Innocence by Carlos Sampayo and José Muñoz My rating: 4 of 5 stars The Age of Innocence is the first of two American omnibus collections of the noir graphic novels… Continue reading José Muñoz and Carlos Sampayo, Alack Sinner
The Leaning Girl by François Schuiten and Benoît Peeters My rating: 4 of 5 stars My fourth visit to artist Schuiten and writer Peeters's Cités obscures; I have previously reviewed The Theory of the Grain of Sand and Brüsel at some length and Samaris more briefly. I will keep this one brief: The Leaning Girl is the story of… Continue reading François Schuiten and Benoît Peeters, The Leaning Girl
