Graphic Novels Prepub Alert: Clowes and Vietnamerica
By Martha Cornog Sep 16, 2010This month: myth-behavior. Gods and goddesses are hot, and now Dynamite and Bluewater offer tales of the original superheroes, as do many other publishers including Capstone/Stone Arch, Cinebook, DC/Vertigo, First Second, Lerner, Saddleback, and Steerforth/Campfire. And debuting in Archie comics books: Kevin Keller, an out gay teen transferring into Riverdale High. On the media front, digital distributor OverDrive is partnering with an increasing number of comics publishers to offer e-book versions of superheroes, manga, and other titles. Check out the Publishers Weekly article here.
Amstel, Marsha (text) & Zachary Trover (illus.). The Horse-Riding Adventure of Sybil Ludington, Revolutionary War Messenger. Lerner: Graphic Universe. Jan. 2011. 32p. ISBN 9780761370734. $8.95. F
This new "History's Kid Heroes" series adapts Lerner's prose series "On My Own History," tales of youngsters who take part in historic events. Who wouldn't want to read about other kids trekking through blizzards, riding the Pony Express, or rescuing victims from the Hindenburg explosion? Sounds like a great find for reluctant readers. Three titles came out this past August, three will appear in October, and six in January.
CLAMP. Magic Knight Rayearth. Vol. 2. Omnibus Edition. Dark Horse. Jan. 2011. 640p. ISBN 9781595826695. pap. $19.99. F
One of the major magical girl manga from the 1990s is reprinted, now in a convenient two-volume mega-book edition. Gorgeous, as might be expected from CLAMP (a women artists collective also known for numerous other titles), but also innovatively plotted to include mecha elements, unusual for a shojo title. After Sailor Moon, this is among the more important and intriguing of the teen-girls-with-powers titles. The story has tragic overtones as well as an unresolved romantic triangle suggesting alternative mateships. Volume 1 comes out in October.
Clowes, Daniel. Ice Haven. Pantheon. Jan. 2011. 88p. ISBN 9780375714696. pap. $16. F
The award-winning Clowes (Ghost World) specializes in the multi-nuanced and cynical dailiness of ordinary people's interactions. His recent Wilson (Drawn & Quarterly, 2010) stars a compulsive self-saboteur who makes Harvey Pekar seem chirpy-the kind of humor that catches in your throat. Ice Haven is a small Midwestern town populated by self-deluded but sympathetic characters we all could know from somewhere. Through vignettes drawn in different styles, an underlying plot emerges about a boy's disappearance. Yet the focus remains on the townsfolk, who talk and talk yet rarely understand one another. First published in 2005 and until now, out of print.
John Carter of Mars: Weird Worlds. Dark Horse. Jan. 2011. 112p. ISBN 9781595826213. pap. $14.99. F
Tarzan may be the most famous superguy from Edgar Rice Burroughs, but John Carter has boasted his own fan club for years. This seemingly immortal Civil War veteran fights his way through increasingly fantastic, even Swiftian adventures on the red planet Barsoom, nearly-naked Martian princess Dejah Thoris by his side. She's no Princess Leia, though, and it's Carter who does all the fighting. These stories originally appeared in early 1970s comic books. The first of a trilogy of Disney/Pixar live-action films about Carter is due in 2012. Carter's adventures have never seen film since his original appearance in 1912, so this should be quite a centennial.
Kishi, Torajiro & Madhouse Studios. Devil. Dark Horse. Jan. 2011. 96p. ISBN 9781595825964. pap. $14.99. F
A U.S.-style comic, created by Japanese manga/anime artists for Dark Horse. Kinda the reverse of Original English Language Manga, right? This sci-fi take on the vampire genre sets a rogue cop and his white-bread partner against a virus-induced vampire plague. Oh, and it was the government that created the virus in the first place. Kishi is known for the eromanga Maka-Maka and Madhouse Studios for the Trigun, Paprika, and Ninja Scroll anime. In realistic manga style, in full color, and with guns way bigger than your head. See a preview here.
Love, Jeremy. Bayou. Vol. 2. Zuda. Jan. 2011. ISBN 9781401225841. pap. $14.99. F
Volume 1 took five Glyph Awards for outstanding art and a gripping story of Depression-era Mississippi where racial injustices become complicated by magical realist enemies and allies. Daughter of a black sharecropper, the feisty Lee Wagstaff must journey into an alternate world to rescue her best friend, Lily, and save her own father from being lynched for Lily's murder. Read the LJ review of Volume 1 here.
Manga Impact: The World of Japanese Animation. Phaidon. Jan. 2011. 304p. ISBN 9780714857411. pap. $39.95. GRAPHIC ARTS
British publisher Phaidon pulled in a number of British and European writers and film critics to pen the entries for this A-to-Z guide to Japanese cartoons. Includes essays as well as directory-style entries on influential creators and characters, enhanced with lavish color illustrations.
Mattotti, Lorenzo (illus.) & Claudio Piersanti (text). Stigmata. Fantagraphics. Jan. 2011. 192p. ISBN 9781606994092. $19.99. F
A hand-to-mouth lowlife makes do day to day, and then his palms begin to bleed. This apparent gift of sainthood brings certain benefits, but tragedy as well. The original Italian comic inspired a 2009 Spanish life-action film and was one of British comics guru Paul Gravett's 2004 picks for the "twenty best untranslated European graphic novels you haven't read" and only the fifth to be translated since. Intense, swirly black-and-white linework.
McMillian, Michael & Anna Wieszczyk. Lucid. Archaia. Jan. 2011. 112p. ISBN 9781936393046. $19.95. F
In a world where international spies use secret magical powers, Combat Mage Michael Dee fights to keep America free from evil. Magic, science, aliens, and apparently Arthurian legend all get into the mix as well as a gorgeous blonde as Dee's partner. Check out the unique and attractive art from Polish artist Wieszczyk.
Murray, Doug & others. Athena. Dynamite. Dec. 2010. 104p. ISBN 9781606901144. pap. $14.99. F
In this work by Murray, Fabiano Neves, and Paul Renaud, the goddess Athena wakes up in a hospital in modern day Greece, with no memory of her past life. But her history and powers do catch up with her, of course. Quite lovely art, with some goddess nudity.
Nicolle, Malachai & Ethan Nicolle. Axe Cop. Vol. 1. Dark Horse. Jan. 2010. 144p. ISBN 9781595826817. pap. $14.99. F
Plot and characters from a five-year-old, drawn up tongue-in-cheek with the serious skill of his Eisner-nominated older brother. A cop with an axe, a part-avocado sidekick, Ninja Moon Warriors, gun-toting dinosaurs, and much more. Originally a webcomic that made its debut last January, the series went viral shortly after, and the sudden attention crashed the site a few times. Read about it here.
Phelps, Earl R. Silent Protector: One Man Making a Difference. Phelps Publishing. Jan. 2011. 96p. ISBN 9781887627078. pap. $15.95. F
He's wearing spandex on the cover, but retired heavyweight champ C.C. fights crime through his rep as a boxing champ, not superhero. Taking aim internationally, from Africa to Europe and the Caribbean to the Galapagos, he first comes up against a former pro wrestler who's gone on a rampage. In a novel twist, C.C.'s main protection is the bulletproof outfit his chemist wife constructed for him. Phelps is the author of How To Draw Multicultural Supercharacters and several other how-to-draw books.
Ririko, Tsujita. The Secret Notes of Lady Kanoko (Warau Kanoko Sama). Vol. 1. TOKYOPOP. Jan. 2011. 192p. ISBN 9781427820112. pap. $10.99. F
Kanoko isn't the most social junior high schooler, and her hobby is keeping a detailed journal of classroom drama rather than jumping into the thick of things. But eventually Kanoko gets drawn into relationships herself. How will she document her own role in this chronicle? The first of three volumes.
Sava, Scott Christian. Animal Crackers. IDW. Jan. 2011. 152p. ISBN 9781600106194. pap. $11.99. F
From kid-friendly comics veteran Sava (Dreamland Chronicles) come lions and tigers and bears for Owen and Zoe. After Magic Animal Crackers give the kids the power to turn into any animal they want, unsavory circus profiteers want to appropriate the pair's talent for their own ends. But the magic can be used for good as well as evil, and Owen and Zoe manage to save the day.
Sato, Daisuke (text) & Shouji Sato (illus.). Highschool of the Dead. Vol. 1. Yen Pr. Jan. 2011. 160p. ISBN 9780316132251. pap. $13.99. F
The manga equivalent of The Walking Dead, a high school-centered zombie apocalypse that's not funny at all. Breakdown of moral codes and collapse of society appear inevitable. Already licensed for translation in Spain, Germany, Brazil, Taiwan, Canada, and France, it's up to six volumes in Japan and still coming out. The zombie-crawl crowd should eat this one up. There's an anime version, also.
Simone, Gail (text) & Jim Calafiore (illus.). Secret Six: Cats in the Cradle. DC Comics. Jan. 2011. 144p. ISBN 9781401230210. pap. $14.99. F
If you root for loveable villains, discover the Secret Six, on the good side more often than not but getting pretty dinged up along the way while dishing out superpowered chaos. This volume centers on the hunky Thomas Blake, a.k.a. Catman, who takes off to Africa to tear up the guys who kidnapped his son. This won't be pretty. Simone is one of the best writers in comics; a reviewer called this plot arc "one of the most twisted, darkly humorous, badass, and downright entertaining things she's ever read."
Stueve, Aaron & various. Legend of Isis: Return of the Scarab Queen. Bluewater. Jan 2011. 96p. ISBN 9781450723817. pap. $15.99. F
Now it's the Egyptian goddess Isis who has to adjust to the modern world: for her, it's 21st-century Los Angeles and big-time culture shock. Bluewater broke into the god biz last March, with Jason and the Argonauts and Wrath of the Titans.
Tran, G.B. Vietnamerica: A Family's Journey. Villard. Jan. 2011. 288p. ISBN 9780345508720. $20. AUTOBIOG
On his website, Tran describes this as "a graphic memoir of my family's survival and escape during the Vietnam War, and reinvention in its aftermath as refugees in the United States." His excellent color art suggests the European style of Joann Sfar. This could make the top nonfiction GNs of 2011 lists and become a worthy addition to the growing roster of quality war-themed comics.
