graphic novel – Reading for you

Dead parent problems

The last book I read about a death of a parent was one where the children were being taught to grieve. It was sad, but was not sad the way this one is. This one has the oldest daughter not even getting the chance to grieve because she has become the head of the household, as her father falls into grief that he can’t come out of.

This book reminds me a little of bit of I Kill Giants, in that there there is something the reader doesn’t quite see, in the beginning, that would explain what is going on, and why Marjorie is trying to go to school and run the family laundry.

And then, into her life, comes a ghost. He is the ghost of a young boy, looking for a purpose, or looking for a friend. He wants to help, but he doens’t know how.

And a good story need a villion, and although there is a mean girl, Tessi, that is not the bad guy, not really.

Poor Marjorie. My heart ached for her. I had to know what happened, and stayed up late to finish graphic novel.

Would recommend it to anyone who wants a good read. You don’t have to have lost a parent or loved one to sympathize with Marjorie.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

Supergirl: Being Super

The original Supergirl was invented in the early 60s. It was still the time of silly, light stories, and her stories, set in an orphanage were light humor, and odd adventures, such as her dressing up like a fairy godmother to entertain kids, or her boring a hole through the earth so people could look through it and see the leaning tower of Pisa.

I grew up on this Supergirl, and though that it was odd that she would have to be reinvented. But in looking at the old stories, though I loved them as a kid, they seemed odd, a time of orphanages, and having to be perform to be adopted seemed much older than the 60s, more like something out of an Little Orphan Annie musical.

So, I shouldn’t have been too surprised that someone has decided that she needs to be updated. Because, she does. And though I love the CW TV version of her, I find this retelling to be well written, interesting, and well rounded.

The basic facts are still the same. She is still Kara from Kyrpton, and her parents put her on a ship to escape when she was a young child. Only in this version, she isn’t discovered by Superman, but by a rural couple, and raised by them, rather the way Superman was, if his parents had not trusted the government.

Like the Superboy of old, this Supergirl has to hide her powers from everyone but her family. She has to hold back in sports. And this works, as she grows up to have good friends, and a good life.

Of course, something has to happen to make her become a hero, and something does happen, but that is the story you have to read.

The pacing was good. The friends of Supergirl seemed fully formed. She has a lesbian best friend, and it is just part of the story.

This first collection of the first four books of the series held my attention, was fun to read, and makes me wonder if they will continue the series from here, now that they have established her as a character.

I would recommend this to people who remember the original Supergirl and what to see a well done retelling, as well as people who have never heard of Superman’s cousin, and wonder what all the fuss is about.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest reivew.

AFAR, projecting out there

Afar by Leila del Duca
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Lovely colorful book, set in the distant future, in a desert community where Boetema and her brother Inotu must make their way int he world while their parents have gone off to earn some money. The only problem is, Inotu has gotten in trouble, and Boetema keeps going on spirit trips every time she falls asleep.

The places are real, and she wants to go back to the same places again, but can’t figure out why. Meanwhile, the two have to keep alive.

Good story telling. Lovely pictures, as you can see below. The brown scenes are the here and now part of the story, and the colorful ones are for when she is spirit traveling.

Good, quick read. Makes me wonder if there will be a volume 2, as this ending leaves a bit of things open. Oh, and Agama Wanwatu is caracturer from her myths, who is now a constellation which includes the North Star. (For us it would be Ursa Minor ).

Agama Wanwatu

Market scene

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Let me sell you a bridge

The Bridge: How the Roeblings Connected Brooklyn to New York by Peter J. Tomasi
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I grew up on the West Coast of the United States. The big important bridge here is the Golden Gate Bridge. Many people think that the bridge itself is the Golden Gate, but the bay that it crosses is what bares that name. It was built during the depression, and despite it being there, along with the Bay Bridge, the Richmond Bridge, the San Mateo Bridge, and the San Rafael Bridge, ferry service still happens across the bay.

When the start of this story happens, there are ferries that go across the East River, but because of the ice, they have trouble getting across, or the pilots can not stere, or they are drunk. For whatever reason, the father of Washington Roebling was not happy with the state of the ferry services, and so proposed that a bridge be built and he would design it, along with his son. This all was taking place a few years after the American Civil War, in 1869, and it was not completed until 1883. This was one of the first of its kind, and it killed many people, including, almost killing Washington Roebling himself.

It is all an amazing story, filled with great detail, and tragedy, and joy, and all those things you want in a good story.

That a great thing to have it in such an accessible book. It is a little wordy, for those who want to look at pictures only, you can get the heart of the story, just thumbing through it, but to find out the suffering, and courage it took to keep going, and completing the bridge, it helps if you read all the words.

It was hard to choose which illustrations best represented what you would find in this book, but these are the ones I chose.

A great way to learn about New York history.
Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

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A Dark time in Poland

You can’t just kiss anyone you want by Marzena Sowa
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Although it isn’t named, this story is taking place after World War II in what, in the west, was known as the Eastern Block, the Eastern European countries that the Soviets took over. The children are being taught to love Russia and especially Stalin. It is at one such screening of a propaganda film that the little boy, in the title of the story, tries to kiss a little girl, and she screams. The film is stopped, and he is questioned, more than one would imagine for such a minor incident. His father is a writer, and the authorities think he is writing something that he shouldn’t.

This is all being told from the view of a child. The child knows his father writes, but doesn’t quite understand, in the beginning, why this is bad. As the child says in class “We can think whatever we want, but we can’t say it.”

It is a gripping, sad, thoughtful story of the little things you can do to not have the “state” take over your very thoughts.

Good, quick story. Recommend it highly. Very well translated.

Here are some examples of the artwork, which says so much with just a few pictures and words:

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

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Calamity Jane in a Graphic Novel

Calamity Jane: The Calamitous Life of Martha Jane Cannary by Christian Perrissin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

How much do you know about Calmity Jane? Do you confuse her with Annie Oakley? Was she at the Battle of Little Big Horn? Did she really merry Wild Bill Hickok?

This graphic novel tries to answer the questions about her life, but she was apparently a good story teller, and much of what we know of her comes from letters she wrote to her daughter, but never sent. The authors used documents that were as close to the sources as they could, since Calimity Jane had many things written about her while she was alive, dime store novels, her own tall tales, that were simply not true. The authors admit that it is hard to figure out what truly happened, but that they are trying to come close, and still tell a good story.

One thing that I didn’t realize is that she only dressed and acted as a man in the beginning, and after that, she dressed in pants, but was known to be a woman.

Interesting read, interesting story of an unusual woman.

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Robbing banks is for kids

4 Kids Walk Into A Bank by Matthew Rosenberg
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I almost didn’t finish this book. It is very odd, but very compelling.

It is full of fbombs, and other swears, but that wasn’t the problem I had with it at first.

It is that each chapter opens with the kids playing, and talking while they are playing. Sometimes they are playing D&D, or some role playing game. Sometimes it is an arcade game, and one time it was just them playing in the yard. Once I got used to these odd beginnings, then I really got into it.

It really does read like what would happen if some kids decided to robe a bank.

It won’t say it is funny or fun, but it is compelling.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

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Ghosts in the library

Archival Quality by Ivy Noelle Weir
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I wouldn’t say this book is semi-autobiographical, but the author does know about mental illness and archiving medical history.

Cel, the main character, has such a job, and the mental illness, but she loves the structure of doing this sort of work.

If you pick up and only read the first few pages, you might say, “what the heck is going on,” which is what I did, but then I got past that, and realized that this was a pretty cool little story of the bad things that happened to people of mental illness in the bad-old-days.

Well written, and it shows that the author know from where these expereinces and feelings come from.

You have to be in the mood, a bit, because this is quick, but not easy. There is pain and sadness, but homor too.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

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New and Old New York

Tenements, Towers & Trash: An Unconventional Illustrated History of New York City by Julia Wertz
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Amazing.

If you ou have never visited New York. If you live in New York. If you have heard of New York, this is the book for you.

It sounds odd, but I poured over every drawing, in this book, every short story she wrote, and illustrated.

The subhead of the book sort of says it all An unconventional illustrated history of New York City

This is very different from her other books, such as Fart Party, Drinking at the Movies and the Infanite wait.

But, as one musician said to me, when brining out an album which was completely different from anything she had ever done “that is why I do it. If i wanted to do the same thing again, I wouldn’t release a new album.”

It is 282 pages of amazing drawings, of New York, then and now, and it makes me wish she would take the time to do this same loving treatment to other cities that I love, such as Los Angeles and San Francisco.

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Out in the Canadian Bush

Susanna Moodie: Roughing It in the Bush by Carol Shields
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I will start by saying that I have never heard of Susanna Moodie, but then I have not read nearly enough Canadian history. This shows me that I really should. I saw that Margaret Atwood had written the introduction, but I decided I needed no introduction, so plunged right into it.

Going in cold, without any background of Canadian history made this all the more intriguing. Susanna was born an aristocrat in the early part of the 19th century, int he UK. When her father dies, she has no money for a dowery, so must find a suiter who does not care about such things.. She, like most of the upper class, was not taught to take care of herself, or any domestic duties. She wanted to write, and did so. She ends up marrying a retired military officer, but finds that his pay will not support her, so decide to move to Canada, because it is cheaper there. She and her husband are not told that they are really moving into the wilderness, and they will have to do everything early settlers have to do for themselves.

And example of the protagonist at the beginning of the story.

And how she looks after she have moved to the “bush”, and lived there for a while:

This reminds me a little bit of The First Four Years, but Laura Engles Wilder, but Laura grew up in the wilderness, and did know how to do things, like milk cows, and bake bread. Susanna had no clue how to cook, or do any of these things. And she has to learn, and learn quickly. She does make friends with the local First Nation people, as well as a man of color, who sells her a cow, so she can have milk.

Life is not easy, but Susanna goes into it determined, and it is an interesting transformation. The story follows her life from when she is a young woman to when she is an elderly woman. Through it all she has a sense of humor, and strives on.

Apparently, according to the prolog of the book, this was originally going to be a movie, but it never got made. And once I read that, and saw Margaret Atwood mentioned again, I decided to read the introduction, and learned how important Susanna Moodie was to Margaret, and why she wrote a poem about her, and how others have brought her up in their works.

I really enjoyed reading this. It makes me want to read the original book. It makes me want to read more about Canadian History. It makes me realize how ignorant I am of women writers in the 19th century.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in Canadian History, interested in Women’s history, interested in writings about what it was really like to live in the bush.

My only problem with this book, and the reason it does not get the final star is that the illustrations sometimes go “off-model” and look wrong, or the poses would look ackward. It is a minor thing, but bugged me.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

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