Introducing Graphic Novels Prepub Alert

Featuring Jane Austen, Kyle Baker & CLAMP

By Martha Cornog -- Library Journal, 01/21/2010

Welcome to LJ’s new monthly Graphic Novels Prepub Alert. While we can pick out only a small selection of the thousands debuting each year, we hope this focused heads-up will prove useful beyond the titles we review in the magazine and online.

Note that LJ’s graphic novel coverage includes the print Graphic Novels column, which runs six times a year; online-only Xpress Reviews; periodic, topical Short Takes in BookSmack!; interviews with graphic novel and comics creators in BookSmack!; this new Prepub Alert feature; and occasional graphic novel annotations from other columnists such as Douglas Lord (Books for Dudes) and Neal Wyatt (Wyatt’s World; RA Crossroads).

Arnold, J.D. (text) & Richard Koslowski (illus.). BB Wolf & The 3 LPs. Top Shelf. May 2010. ISBN 978-1-60309-029-2. 96p. $14.95. F
In purportedly the real story behind the nursery tale, good-guy farmer and blues musician B.B. Wolf's just keeping his family together when he goes up against Littlepig Industries—which wants to grab all the wolves' land. Another inventive remix of classic characters, this time a parable of racism with the pigs as the bad guys. The noirish black-and-white art has all the punch of political cartoons.

Austen, Jane & Seth Grahame-Smith (text). Adapted by Tony Lee; with Cliff Richards (illus.). Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: The Graphic Novel. Del Rey: Ballantine. May 2010. 144p. ISBN 978-0-345-52068-5. pap. $14.99. F
It is a truth universally acknowledged that zombies are hot—and so are graphic novels. And didn’t everybody want to actually SEE the mayhem in this mashup? The skillful black-and-white art conveys a goofy elegance.

Baker, Kyle. BAM! The 44th President: A Graphic Novel. HarperCollins. May 2010. 160p. ISBN 978-0-06-170657-8. pap. $12. BIOG
Baker swore to put a different spin on Barack Obama in this biography. Talking it up at a convention, he painted the Prez as simply a family man who figured he’d get more time with his wife and daughters in the White House than as a senator always on the road. Whatever, this is sure to be one fab seller of a graphic biography, graced with Baker’s versatile and always topnotch art.

Briggs, Patricia & Derek Ruiz (text) & Clint Hilinski (illus.). Mercy Thompson: Moon Called. IDW. Aug. 2010. 104p. ISBN 978-1-60010-709-2. $21.99. F
Del Rey’s Mercy Thompson: Homecoming, a comics-only prequel to Briggs’s werewolf/vampire series, hit Amazon’s 2009 graphic novel best-seller list. Now IDW is translating Briggs’ mega-fan prose books into graphic novels, too.

CLAMP. Kobato. Vol. 1. Yen Pr. May 2010. 192p. ISBN 978-0-316-08536-6. pap. $10.99. F
As a condition for getting a wish fulfilled, sweet and naive Kobato has to mend the wounded hearts of the people she meets. But she has no clue about how to go about it, and she's not allowed to fall in love with them herself. This ongoing series began serialization in 2007 in Newtype USA, which ceased publication in 2008. So with readers hanging, Yen has taken over publication in paperbacks. CLAMP is a female manga collective with a large American fan club, which has probably been waiting for this one.

CLAMP & Shaenon K. Garrity. CLAMP in America: The Definitive History of the Manga Superstars in the U.S.A. Del Rey: Ballantine. May 2010. 352p. illus. ISBN 978-0-345-51002-0. pap. $27.99. GRAPHIC ARTS
Speaking of CLAMP, these women artists have a string of gorgeous hits to their credit, including Cardcaptor Sakura, Chobits, Clover, xxxHOLIC, and the recent top-seller Tsubasa, with more to come. Now fans can read their 20-year back story and gloat over their influence on the American manga industry. Indispensable for collections where manga is popular.

Kelso, Megan. Artichoke Tales. Fantagraphics. May 2010. 176p. ISBN 978-1-60699-344-6. $22.99. F
A coming-of-age story about a young girl from a family caught between sides in a civil war, set in a world similar to ours but where people have artichoke leaves instead of hair. Fantagraphics describes this as “influenced in equal parts by Little House on the Prairie, The Thorn Birds, Dharma Bums, and Cold Mountain.” Its delicate, rather impish black-and-white line work comes from the creator of the subtle and poignant Squirrel Mother.

Mechner, Jordan (text) & LeUyen Pham & Alex Puvilland (illus.). Solomon’s Thieves. Vol. 1. First Second. May 2010. 144p. ISBN 978-1-59643-391-5. pap. $12.99.
A 14-century swashbuckler based on the post-Crusades downfall of the Knights Templar, starring one of the knights who’s not taking this lying down—especially with his long-lost true love mixed up in the conspiracy. From the creators of the Prince of Persia graphic novel, with two more volumes coming.

Ono, Natsume. House of Five Leaves. Vol. 1. VIZ Media. May 2010. 208p. ISBN 978-1-4215-3210-3. pap. $12.99. F
Despite his samurai training and skilled swordsmanship, Akitsu’s so wimpy that the only bodyguard job he can find is protecting the charismatic leader of a gang of outlaws. While taking the job out of sheer hunger and also to pick up assertiveness skills from his new boss, he begins to suspect that the mysterious “Five Leaves” bunch is not what it seems. This cliché-reversing Edo-era tale comes with pleasantly quirky art and is up to six volumes in Japan.

Rostand, Edmond (text) & Kyle Baker (illus.). Adapted by Peter David. Cyrano de Bergerac. Papercutz. (Classics Illustrated). Jun. 2010. 56p. ISBN 978-1-59707-197-0. $9.99. LIT
Thinking himself unlucky at love owing to his impressive schnozz, Cyrano offers his own poetic prowess to help his rival win their mutual flame. Artist Baker (Nat Turner) more than holds up the graphics end of this classic of romance and heartbreak, originally published in 1991.

Rowson, Martin. The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentlemen. Self Made Hero. May 2010. 160p. ISBN 978-1906838-13-3. $35. LIT
In this adaptation first published in the late 1990s, British political cartoonist Rawson adds his own meta-layer of chaos over Lawrence Sterne’s bawdy satire, parodying other visual artists in the process. One reviewer called it “rude and splendid.”

Sonishi, Kenji. Neko Ramen. Vol 1: Hey! Order Up! Tokyopop. Jun. 2010. 143p. ISBN 978-1-4278-1779-2. pap. $10. HUMOR
Move over, Garfield: This cranky cat Taishou’s gonna be a noodle chef, and you’d better love his noodles, or else. An all-ages yonkoma (four-panel) goofy comedy with very popular anime and live action spin-offs in Japan.

Zahler, Thom. Love and Capes. Vol. 2. IDW. Jun. 2010. 184p. ISBN 978-1-60010-680-4. pap. $19.99. HUMOR
So who says girls don’t like superheroes? In this perky series, twenty-something Abby finds out her boyfriend’s not an accountant but a flying crime-fighter in cape and spandex. Zahler plays all the clichés for laughs through their sometimes-rocky courtship and, in Volume 2, wedding ceremony.