Graphic Novels

Translated as "drawn strip," bande dessinée (BD) embodies a European comics tradition that expanded into album format after World War II, when manga took hold in Japan. Ever since, BD styles have cross-pollinated with artists East and West. These "albums"—comics between book covers—are typically larger yet run shorter than American graphic novels.

Quite a few North American publishers translate Franco-Belgian titles for U.S. readers, including Little, Brown (Hergé's doughty Tintin) and Pantheon (Marjane Satrapi's "One Book" favorite Persepolis, LJ 2/15/03; 9/1/04). Even Marvel picked up the roguish Sky Doll from French publisher Soleil (LJ 9/15/09).

Since its 1976 founding, NBM (Nantier Beall Minoustchine) has boasted an impressive BD-originated lineup. Noteworthy titles include the goofy and satiric Dungeon series (LJ 9/15/05), Stéphane Heuet's lovely adaptation of Proust's Remembrance of Things Past (LJ 9/1/02), and Lewis Trondheim's humorous stories of everyday life in Little Nothings. NBM also publishes the four-volume Louvre Collection, each from a different creator, so far including the puckish Glacial Period (LJ 5/15/07) and the more Kafkaesque The Museum Vaults.

Since that same year, Fantagraphics has showcased experimental work from around the world, including Europe. Lately, it has spotlighted Jacques Tardi, with West Coast Blues (see review, p. 82), and YALSA nominee You Are There. Jason's The Left Bank Gang won several awards (LJ 11/15/06), and Fantagraphics translates his large and witty output.

Founded in 2006, Roaring Brook imprint First Second already has an impressive BD catalog. For younger ages, The Three Shadows, Sardine in Outer Space, Tiny Tyrant, and Little Vampire join older-reader romantic comedies Gus & His Gang (LJ 1/09) and The Professor's Daughter (LJ 1/08), while the recent and politically nuanced Alan's War and The Photographer (LJ 5/15/09) have captured YALSA nominations.

Also dating from 2006, the British company Cinebook was formed explicitly to bring popular BDs to North American markets and currently offers 29 titles. All Cinebook series have track records abroad, especially Lucky Luke for kids and Largo Winch for 15+ (LJ 11/15/09). The attractive Star Wars-ish art of Orbital (see review, p. 82) typifies the overall quality, and at least half are all-ages. Orbital and Green Manor both have YALSA nominations.—M.C.

Bashi's "nylon road"—a play on the Silk Road, that ancient caravan route crossing Persia—led her to Europe at age 38. Bashi follows a boyfriend to Switzerland, where she is ambushed by a succession of former selves at different ages, all reacting to her new European life. This device frames Bashi's internal conflicts in a way both lighthearted and intense as she comes to terms with living in a Westernized country. Through flashbacks, we learn about the Islamic Revolution, her marriage to a repressive man and their subsequent divorce—she gave up her child as the price—and her later career as a successful designer. Perhaps her teenage Marxism, the Shiite fundamentalist repression that followed, and Westerners' obsession with "trivial" pop trends all overly suppress individuality. Bashi never does draw conclusions but comes to embrace her many selves while leaving readers to ponder. The stylish, two-toned art brings to mind Cancer Vixen. VERDICT A perceptive and nuanced take on repression, freedom, and women's lives; recommended for teens and up. Also, an excellent readalike for Persepolis.—M.C.

The superb Astro City, begun in 1995 and winner of numerous Eisner and Harvey Awards, embraces and expertly incorporates everything that's cool about superheroes—great powers, the battle against evil, cosmos-spanning adventure—interwoven with intricate world building and brilliant imagination. But instead of foregrounding action, Busiek (Marvels; JLA/Avengers) masterfully tells compelling, character-driven stories with an emotional range, depth, and realism that resonates—sometimes spotlighting the heroes but often focusing on regular humans living with the superhumanity around them. This sixth volume begins a three-book story arc set in the 1970s, introducing two black inner-city brothers whose terrible childhood encounter with the superhuman world has turned one to petty crime and one to life as a police officer. Against a backdrop of social unrest, increasingly violent superhuman conflict, and national tragedy, their bond is tested by threats both human and supernatural. Anderson's excellent artwork, realism-based but versatile, contributes much to the success of the series; acclaimed painter Alex Ross collaborates on character designs and provides covers. VERDICT Ideal for superhero lovers tired of the same old hero vs. villain dustups; highly recommended for teens and adults.—S.R.

In this prequel to Briggs's popular paranormal fantasy series, Mercy is just trying to escape her were-coyote upbringing and get into teaching work. But the location of her job interview has plunked her smack into a werewolf war, and the vampires are taking sides. With Mercy's stubborn streak, she won't skedaddle like überwerewolf and former mentor Bran demands, so she takes a job in a Volkswagen repair shop, where crusty boss, Zee, is no mere human either. No surprise that Mercy helps her old werewolf colleagues stomp the outsiders, setting up for segue into the novels. Francis Tsai's and Amelia Woo's painted art, especially their beautiful wolf depictions, make this all visually believable. There's considerable nudity—all the were-beings must be naked to shape-shift—but it's handled nonexplicitly. VERDICT With a strong and likable main character, an action-rich plot, and capable art, this origin story edited by David Lawrence should please many devotees of the original series as well as attract new Mercy fans. Best for teens and up but probably better shelved in adult collections to match the original series. [See Martha's Q&A with Lawrence, Tsai, and Woo in the 12/3/09 edition of LJ's BookSmack! e-newsletter.]—M.C.

With this typically wide-ranging, hilarious, and excellent volume, America's foremost exponent of educational comics finally completes his largest project, begun in 1977 with the first comic-book issue of his Cartoon History of the Universe. Perhaps because Gonick has published a separate Cartoon History of the United States, there's a strong focus on the rest of the world here. He looks in on 17th- and 18th-century Asia and Africa before digging into the complicated events of the French Revolution, the rise and fall of Napoléon, and the efforts leading to the abolition of slavery in England in 1833 (over 30 years before the United States managed it). After dealing with a variety of "isms" (socialism, anti-Semitism, electromagnetism), the modernization of Japan, and the inventions of the telegraph and the comic strip, Gonick does cover America's decisive involvement in World War II and ends with the 2003 invasion of Iraq (of which he's clearly critical). VERDICT At every step, Gonick offers comical, pomposity-skewering, and occasionally bawdy commentary, along with humorous footnotes on topics ranging from voodoo to Japanese beer. As always, highly recommended for adults.—S.R.

Popular newspaper mainstay The Family Circus (originally called The Family Circle, until the magazine of that name objected) began on February 29, 1960, one round panel per day of observational humor on the trials and joys of life with children. Its earliest installments, collected in this attractive hardcover with Sunday pages in full color, are all about the trials. Mom Thel and little Billy, Dolly, and Jeffy are recognizably themselves in look and personality—but Dad, a chunky figure here named Steve (later changed to Bill), is completely different from his current incarnation, far more harried and less genial than he eventually became. By the end of 1961, he's beginning to mellow, and Keane's Catholicism starts to find its way into the cartoon, but the heartwarming (to some, saccharine) sentiment of later years is largely absent here among the hectic bustle of kids being kids. VERDICT Besides the daily laugh, the cartoons provide a window into suburban life of the time, featuring cocktail parties, drive-in movies, and milkmen; the kids even add a bomb shelter to Dolly's dollhouse. Easily recommended for all collections.—S.R.

"It is like confessing a murder," wrote Darwin, foreseeing that his complex work would upset millennia of theological tradition about the origins of life forms. Indeed, the creationism wars continue today. Now Rodale's lovely and multitextured version introduces a more accessible Darwin, no less complex—or fascinating. The graphic novel follows Origin's original chapters, combining snippets of Darwin's text with quotes from letters, illustrative examples from his time and from the present, and occasional invented dialog. Fuller's images of people seem clumsy, but her full-color plants, animals, charts, maps, and scientific accoutrements are attractive and effective. In drawings of three saber-toothed cats, for example, we can observe the "imperfection of the geological record" when only one animal perishes in a bog preserving the full skeleton. An afterword from Keller brings the scholarship up-to-date, from Mendel's pea plants to Wilson's sociobiology. A brief bibliography would have been a useful addition. VERDICT This new version well conveys both the science and the wonder of Origin. Highly recommended for high school age and up. Consider also Jay Hosler's more lighthearted The Sandwalk Adventures for tweens and up.—M.C.

George isn't a particularly loveable guy, but it's a Samaritan gesture in helping an accident victim that puts two hit men on his trail. Unfortunately for them, George isn't particularly predictable either, even if he's a married salesman a bit bored with comfy middle-classdom. Fond of blues albums and scotch and lulled by a charmed existence—so far, that is—he survives several attempts on his life, pays the hit men back in spades if rather messily, and then goes after their boss. All this is told in skillful, slightly untidy black and white, as befits an everyman noir thriller told in flashbacks and glimpses. Tardi is a multiple-award-winning French cartoonist, and Manchette is the author of the original 1970s crime novel. VERDICT This will appeal to fans of classic French cinema such as Goddard and Truffaut films, where all the characters have grime on their souls and nobody among the victims, killers, crime-fighters, or bystanders is anyone you'd especially like to meet. With violence plus occasional nudity and sexual content; for adult collections.—M.C.

As a 23rd-century boy, Caleb barely escapes with his life when isolationists blow up a conference in support of humans joining the multispecies galactic confederation. But 20 years later, humankind is brought into the organization—with grudging accommodation all around—and now he's a rookie peacekeeping agent in the Interworld Diplomatic Office, partnered with a mysterious gender-indeterminate Sandjarr. With the recent human-Sandjarr conflict and galaxy-wide distrust of humans, the pair is under close scrutiny. Their first assignment: prevent a nasty squabble between the planet Upsall's Jävlod folk and a human squatter colony on Upsall's moon. But unforeseen enemies lurk in high places, and the deadly stilvull vermin don't take orders from anybody on either side. Caleb and Mezoke do succeed in their mission, yet the point is not their heroics but the overwhelming difficulties associated with any intergroup diplomacy. VERDICT The art is excellent, and if you loved Star Wars, you'll love Orbital's creatures, here looking rather frayed around the edges in settings suggesting a blobbier Blade Runner. Good for sociopolitical class discussions, these two volumes finish the story, but the series is continuing. Recommended for teens and up.—M.C.

If the hit movie Mean Girls came too close for comfort for many teens, here's a just-for-laughs version they can simply enjoy. New student Lauren fumbles her way up her school's social hierarchy, but then the girls in the snotty cheerleader clique all accidentally guzzle superserum. Now Queen Cliquette Tiffany can fly, Ashley can smash things, Destinee gains invisibility, and Brittany shape-shifts. Naturally, they wreak gleeful havoc school-wide, so class nerd Ronald—who was testing the superserum on his rats—sneaks the stuff into Lauren's drink so she is able to read minds and can try to foil the cliquettes. (In a fun twist, the serum works only on females.) The final showdown pulls in the grizzled inventor of the original serum and two "special agents" out to annex these superpowers for the feds. But all ends surprisingly well. VERDICT Lively, stylish art and the amusing plot should make this attractive to girl readers, and many guys will like it also. For teens and up.—M.C.

"Dedicated graphic novel readers on the whole still turn to the Web, to their local comics shops, and to friends who share their reading interests rather than the library staff as potential advisors," writes librarian Goldsmith (director of branch services, Halifax P.L.s, N.S.). Her aim with this guide is to get librarians onto the radars of fanboys and fangirls and train reader's advisory (RA) pros in which comics to offer to whom. She addresses how to advise comics-savvy readers of all ages as well as nudge "traditional" readers toward graphic-novel options and suggest interplays of graphic novels with films and gaming. As background, Goldsmith provides annotated lists of sample titles by genre and type (e.g., wordless, adaptations, anthologies) as well as a varied if brief list of professional resources and an excellent "Graphic Novels 101" appendix for advisors new to comics. VERDICT Goldsmith's distinctive approach addresses a gap in the literature and supplements more broadly based books like David S. Serchay's The Librarian's Guide to Graphic Novels for Children and Tweens (LJ 9/15/08), Robin E. Brenner's Understanding Manga and Anime (LJ 9/15/07), and Michael Pawuk's Graphic Novels: A Genre Guide to Comic Books, Manga, and More (LJ 7/1/07) that do not address the RA perspective. Recommended.—M.C.