Special review from Terry Blas

Title: The Girl Who Owned a City
Author: T.O. Nelson, Dan Jolley
Artist: Joelle Jones
Pages: 128 pages
Publisher: Graphic Universe
Published: April 2012
Where I got the book: eARC

From the back cover:

A deadly virus killed every adult on Earth, leaving only us kids behind. My parents are gone, so I’m responsible for my little brother, Todd. I have to make sure we stay alive. Many kids are sick or starving, and fierce gangs are stealing and destroying everything they find. Lots of people have given up, but here on Grand Avenue, some of us are surviving. Because of me.

I figured out how to give the kids on Grand Avenue food, homes, and protection against the gangs. But Tom Logan and his army are determined to take away what we’ve built and rule the streets themselves. How long can we keep fighting them off? We need to find another place for us to live safely. A strong place. A secret place.

In a world like this, someone has to take charge. But do I have the strength to take charge of a whole city?

Review:

The Girl Who Owned a City was one of my favorite books as a child.

I loved the idea that this was a world full of kids, all trying to survive after a virus wiped out everyone over the age of twelve. What was different about this book, and what set it apart from other stories like Lord of the Flies was that, as the title suggest, the main character is a girl.

O.T. Nelson spoke about how he wanted to write a book to show kids that they were more than what people had told them they were. He wanted to inspire them to use their brains, to think about how to do things, and not to rely so much on others. This is very apparent in the book as Lisa, struggles to help her little brother survive. She’s not struggling as much as the other kids though. She’s being smart about it, and using her head.

I won’t get too much into the plot of the book. If you want that, you can read the review I wrote here, but the purpose of this review is to talk a bit about the new graphic novel adaptation by Dan Jolley and Joelle Jones.

From what I remember, this adaptation follows the book extremely well. There’s one, maybe two things I can think of that might be different, and I say might because if they are, it didn’t take anything away from the story. Some things are inherently more novelistic and some things work better in a comic, and this is evident by certain things that were cut out, or shortened by the nature of a comic. The written adaptation is done extremely well.

The art is incredible. I’ve got every single one of Joelle Jones’s books and it’s my personal opinion that this is some of her best work. Every panel forces your attention and demands you be pulled into the story. I’d be hard pressed to find a single favorite page because the whole book is a masterpiece.

But it’s not just drawn well, the characters seem real, their acting and poses are natural and make you forget you’re reading anything at all. It’s definitely an experience and one you will be sorry you missed if you don’t check out the book.

I realize my opinion regarding the art may be biased, but it’s also right. The Girl Who Owned a City was one of my favorite books as a child and it’s one of my favorite graphic novels as a grown up.

Terry Blas is a Portland, Ore. based illustrator. His web comic, Briar Hollow, and artwork can be found at terryblas.com.

Title: American Born Chinese
Author/Artist: Gene Luen Yang
Pages: 233 pages
Publisher: First Second
Published: December 2008
Where I got the book: Library

From the back cover:

All Jin Wang wants is to fit in…

When his family moves to a new neighborhood, he suddenly finds that he’s the only Chinese-American student at his school. Jocks and bullies pick on him constantly, and he has hardly any friends. Then, to make matters worse, he falls in love with an all-American girl…

Born to rule over all the monkeys in the world, the story of the Monkey King is one of the oldest and greatest Chinese fables. Adored by his subjects, master of the arts of kung-fu, he is the most powerful monkey on earth. But the Monkey King doesn’t want to be a monkey. He wants to be hailed as a god…

Chin-Kee is the ultimate negative Chinese stereotype, and he’s ruining his cousin Danny’s life. Danny’s a basketball player, a popular kid at school, but every year Chin-Kee comes to visit, and every year Danny has to transfer to a new school to escape the shame. This year, though, things quickly go from bad to worse…

These three apparently unrelated tales come together with an unexpected twist, in a modern fable that is hilarious, poignant, and action-packed. American Born Chinese is an amazing ride, all the way up to the astonishing climax – and confirms what a growing number of readers already know: Gene Yang is a major talent.

Review:

I picked up this book after reading Yang’s latest, Level Up (review). With American Born Chinese, the book is dived in to three different stories as mentioned above. The one I found most interesting with the Monkey King because I liked him as a character. He was fun loving and really just wanted to be invited to parties. Sure, he gets a little power hungry, but he gets taught a lesson. One of the other stories follows Jin Wang trying to fit in in school. I also liked this plot line because it shows Jin’s struggle with being different. I’m not sure what’s up with all the “fish out of water” comics I’ve been reading lately. Is this a recent literary trend that I am somehow unaware of? Are foreigners the new vampires?

Bad analogies aside, I did like this book. The third story line featuring the most offensive Chinese stereotype I didn’t enjoy. I found it unfunny and annoying after a while. It lacked any sort of character development that the other two plot lines did so well. I was caught slightly off guard when the book managed to tie all the tales together. I didn’t really expect that and had mixed feelings about it.

Closing Thoughts: A decent “fish out of water” story.

Question: Are there any “fish out of water” stories that you’ve really enjoyed?

Title: Anya’s Ghost
Author/Artist: Vera Brosgol
Pages: 221
Publisher: First Second
Published: June 2011
Where I got the book: Library

From the back cover:

Of all the things Anya expected to find at the bottom of an old well, a new friend was not one of them. Especially not a new friend who’s been dead for a century.

Falling down a well is bad enough, but Anya’s normal life might actually be worse. She’s embarrassed by her family, self-conscious about her body, and she’s pretty much given up on fitting in at school. A new friend—even a ghost—is just what she needs.
Anya could really use a friend. But her new BFF isn’t kidding about the “Forever” part . . .

Review:

The story in Anya’s Ghost was not what I was expecting. Based on what I read, I went in to it thinking this was a story about a ghost helping an unpopular girl in high school. Half-way through the book it takes a weird turn which really made this book standout compared to other “fish out of water”/”unpopular in high school” stories out there.

Anya is kind of a social outcast in high school. She’s moody and has a bit of an attitude. There’s this boy she has a crush on and he might like her too if only he would notice her. When Anya falls down an abandoned well and befriends a ghost, she may have just found the help she needs to get the guy’s attention. But when the guy turns out to not be what Anya expected, the ghost doesn’t give up. Instead the ghost starts to become Anya and forces control over her life. Now, Anya must find a way to get rid of the ghost before it starts hurting her family.

I really enjoyed this book. The story became a little on the dark side near the end, but that felt like a breath of fresh air that prevented Anya’s Ghost from become just another “Casper the Friendly Ghost”-like story. I read this book a couple weeks ago and forgot to post about it (it has since been returned to the library). The author/artist apparently lives in the Portland area which would explain why suddenly everybody on facebook was talking about this book’s release party. It’s worth checking out. I was able to get it from my local library no problem.

Closing Thoughts: Anya’s Ghost’s target audience is probably teenage girls, but it was interesting enough and Anya is tough enough, that it is really a good all around read.

Question: A lot of the graphic novels I have been reading have been published by First Second. Why have I not heard of them before this month?

Title: The Griff
Author: Christopher Moore and Ian Corson
Artist: Jennyson Rosero
Pages: 160
Publisher: William Morrow
Published: July 2011
Where I got the book: Library

From the back cover:

Outrageously funny New York Times bestselling author Christopher Moore and award-winning screenwriter-director Ian Corson team up for a wacky and entertaining graphic tale of alien invasion and a motley crew of Earthlings trying to stay alive and, oh, yeah, save humankind.

The mayhem begins when an ancient alien beacon is unwittingly activated, summoning behemoth spaceships from the far reaches of the galaxy. Hovering in Earth’s atmosphere, they release a biblical stream of pods that transform into minivan-size, people-eating, flying lizardy things that look like mythological griffins. Destroying communications, emergency, and military infrastructure, they systematically kill everyone on the planet. Well, almost everyone.

A pesky trio of New Yorkers isn’t about to roll out the red carpet—or roll over and die—for these unwelcome intergalactic marauders. Unlikely heroes Mo, a snarky, Gothy game-goddess; Steve, a skateboard-punk schwag whore; and Curt, the obligatory buff commando expert in weaponry (and a genius with cosmetics), are going to take it to the aliens—and Florida is where the fight is. Armed with M-16s, a BFG (big f**king gun), and a surplus of guts, they’ll battle their way from the Big Apple to Orlando, where a downed spacecraft is the most awesome new attraction.

And in the Sunshine State another pair of courageous (and pretty damn lucky) humans who have outwitted the toothy Überlizards await: Liz, a babelicious killer whale trainer at Ocean World, and Oscar, a chain-smoking middle-aged professional squirrel (seriously—he’s paid to wear that squirrel costume).

Once united, the intrepid warriors will attempt to infiltrate the alien spacecraft, defeat the spacer invaders, and save (what’s left) of the world—and, if Steve plays his cards right, begin the fun of repopulating Earth all over again.

Review:

Christopher Moore is one of my favorite authors. All of his novels have been greatly enjoyable and hilarious. When I heard he was going to write a graphic novel, I was worried. First it was an original story instead of an adaptation of one of his other books. Second, he was writing it with Ian Corson, a screenwriter for movies I’ve never seen. Then there was the artwork. I hated it. For graphic novels the art style can easily ruin it for me, but since I heart Christopher Moore, I was willing to overlook it. However, in the end I was disappointed with The Griff on so many levels that this review will probably be the last time I mention it or acknowledge its existence.

The story in The Griff centers around an invasion of dragon-like aliens who are eating away at the human race. Survivors are forced to hide underground and be on the run constantly. It’s your typical “us versus them” scenario that can be seen in many, many movies. That’s not too surprising. Moore and Corson originally intended for The Griff to be a movie, but when that failed that eventually decided on the graphic novel format. I don’t want to say this is a problem because of the graphic novel format in general, but I think I can get away with saying that novels are a medium that allow more character development than graphic novels. Graphic novels typically only have 140 pages to get their story across and those pages share the space with art while novels can be 200+ pages of words describing and evolving the characters. The characters, one of my favorite trademarks of a Christopher Moore novel, in The Griff are sorely lacking in the development department. None of them are that interesting and in the short span of the book I never really cared for any of them. There’s the tough girl, the hapless male, the army guy, the guy you kind of want to see die, etc.

Another problem I faced with the book was that a lot of action would take place on a single page and it can sometimes be confusing how all the images fit together. Some pages seem more like a collage than a story. I know they are limited on space but jumping from point A to point C while ignoring what happens in between is not the best way to get there. This is especially noticeable in the action sequences where dialog isn’t spoken and the pictures are forced to speak for themselves. It leaves the reader to infer a lot of details about the story.

Closing Thoughts: Dismiss this book. It’s not worth your time.

Question: Maybe it’s just me, but The Griff led me to believe that everybody on the east coast own a submarine and knows how to drive them. Ture or False?

Second Opinions:
comic book newbie
Kleefeld on Comics
The Crawlspace

Title: Level Up
Author: Gene Luen Yang
Artist: Thien Pham
Pages: 160 pages
Publisher: First Second
Published: June 2011
Where I got the book: Library

From the back cover:

Dennis Ouyang has always struggles in the shadow of his parents’ expectations. His path is laid out for him: stay focused in high school, do well in college, go to medical school, become a gastroenterologist. It may be hard work, but it isn;t complicated… Until suddenly, it is.

Between his father’s death, his academic burnout, and his deep (and distracting) love of video games, Dennis is nowhere near where his family wanted him to be,. In fact, he’s just been kicked out of college.

And that’s when things get… weird.

Four adorable -and bossy- angels, straight out of a sappy greeting card, appear and take charge of Dennis’s life. And so Dennis finds himself herded back onto the straight and narrow: the path to gastroenterology. But nothing is ever what it seems when life, magic, and video games collide.

With deceptively simple, cute art by Thien Pham, and a magical-realist plot that keeps you guessing up until the last moment, Gene Yang has returned to the subject he revolutionized with American Born Chinese. Whimsical and deadly serious by turns, Level up is the next step in a powerful tale that Yang has made his own: coming of age as an Asian American.

Review:

Pardon my graphic novel kick as of late. I am reading books, honest. I’m close to finishing two book at the moment. But i’ve also been dividing my time between comics because they don’t take nearly as long to read. It also doesn’t help that I keep coming across comics that look interesting, and my library has copies in their system.

Obviously the first thing that attracted me to Level Up by Gene Yang is the numerous video game references. I’m a gamer and books/comics about video games or video game culture interest me. The main character, within the first couple of pages, discovers Pacman for the first time and his life changes forever. I think all gamers remember that first time they played a game. For me is was Christmas 1990 when my parents gave me and my siblings an NES with Mario Brothers 3. One of the things I liked about this book is that it didn’t stereotypically make fun of gamers. Instead this book turned out to be surprisingly heartfelt which I was not expecting at all.

The main character, Dennis, is torn between doing what he wants to do and trying to live up to his parents expectations. He would rather spend his days playing video games with his friends but ends up attending medical school even though he is pretty apathetic towards it. His parents want him to become a successful doctor but Dennis can stay focused on the difficult school work. To help him stay focused, four angels mysteriously appear and start doing his laundry, clean his apartment and make him food so he stay focused on his studies. It’s slightly weird but at the same time it’s both funny and interesting.

I went in to this comic expecting it to be lighthearted but it turned out to be surprisingly deep. Dennis deals with the loss of his father and the pressure to live up to his father’s expectations. This is an enjoyable comic which is totally worth a read.

Closing Thoughts: Hey look! I didn’t mention Scott Pilgrim once during my review of this video game themed comic. Oh wait, I just did.

Question: Other reviews of this book talk about Dennis’ Chinese heritage. I, however, completely forgot he was Chinese unless another character mentioned it. Is a character’s heritage important to the story?

Title: Very Near Mint
Author: Justin Peterson
Pages: 156 pages
Publisher: 43rd St Comics
Published: March 2011
Where I got the book: From the author

From the back cover:

Colin Turner and Sam Jones own a pretty awesome comic book shop, the Splash Page. Business is great, they have a brand new employee, Nate, and Colin’s ex-girlfriend Mackenzie is back.

Everything seems like it’s fantastic…

That is, until this week’s new comic books don’t show up. Then things get really complicated and everything starts getting messed up and other important stuff also happens, but we don’t want to spoil it for you… That’s what the internet is for.

Review:

I have a theory that Scott Pilgrim has ruined comics for the foreseeable future. I Googled my theory to see if I was correct and it turns out I was. People like to compare other comics to Scott Pilgrim as if SP is the new standard by which all comics should be judged. Very Near Mint is no exception to this rule. Rightly so, I can see why. Both are comics grounded in geek and pop culture references that comic book nerds find amusing. But that is where the similarities end in my opinion. VNM is based more in reality than SP ever was. You wont find any extra lives or hammers that work well against girls. Aside from the occasional meta-joke, VNM is grounded in reality. If I were to compare it to anything, it would be the TV series Clerks (based off the movie, but I liked the show better).

VNM centers around Colin (fantastic name for a lead character BTW) and Sam (a pretty mediocre name, but it works) who run a comic book shop. One day, their new comics fail to show up and the comic nerd revolt, nearly tearing apart the newly hired employee. To make matters worse, a rival comic book shop opens up across the street. Is this just a coincidence or is something more sinister going on here?

I liked VNM. Its mixture of geek humor and witty dialogue make this an enjoyable read. Art styles can easily ruin a graphic novel for me. SP was a little too manga for me, but VNM is more on the realistic side of things, and the artwork lends itself nicely to the humor. If you look closely you can see little touches throughout the comic like the designs on people’s shirts or the odd in-comic comic book covers.

This is only the first volume and ends on a cliffhanger of sorts leading in to the eventual volume 2. In the end, as much as I hate to say this, fans of SP will like this book. It is very similar in tone but manages to be different enough to where it’s not trying to copy SP‘s formula. You’ll have a hard time finding this book I suspect. It’s not even on Amazon because it was self published by Justin Peterson through a Kickstarter project. You can, however, easily purchase a copy (physical or digital) at verynearmint.com.

Closing Thoughts: How successful can a self-published comic be? It’s clear Justin has put in a lot of work not only writing, drawing and publishing this book.

Question: Will graphic novels ever escape the shadow of Scott Pilgrim?

Bookhunter
by Jason Shiga
Sparkplug Comics, May 2007
144 pages

In a world where books have their own special task force, Special Agent Bay of the Library Police gets tangled up in a complex crime of rare books, card catalogs, and forgeries. It’s pretty ridiculous but also pretty fun.

As it turns out, an English Bible published in 1838 is on load to the Oakland Public Library when three days before the book is scheduled to be returned to the Library of Congress, they discover that it has been replaced with a well crafted forgery. Agent Bay must race against the clock to track down the thief and recover the rare tome before Uncle Sam comes to collect.

There’s probably more action than works in Bookhunter. Agent Bay is the stoic type who thinks a lot and only speaks when he reaches a conclusion. It was reminiscent of those pulp fiction books where the reader and hear the internal dialog of the detective but he speaks only a few words to other characters. Only in this book the reader can not hear what Agent Bay is thinking.

Speaking of action, there are gun fights, jumping from roof to roof, car chases featuring a bookmobile, and a creative use of the card catalog system to elude capture. I’m actually quite impressed on how much action Shiga managed to create around the premise of a Library Police force. Having said that, there is a little bit of violence and very mild language which keeps this book from being appropriate for all ages. If that doesn’t bother you though, you should definitely check out the book through your library, the author’s web site, or go buy a used copy (it’s out of print it seems).

Stumptown Trade Review has brought it to my attention that you can read the comic Bookhunter by Jason Shiga in its entirety here.

Coincidentally, last week I checked Bookhunter out from the library last week and will be posting a review about it tomorrow. Apparently I liked it or else I wouldn’t be telling you that you can read it for free right now.