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New to graphic novels? Join cartoonist Jessica Abel for a quick tour! |
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THE ADVENTURES OF LUTHER ARKWRIGHT
To correctly service his visionary sf story of a multiverse being destabilised by madmen tunneling through parallel Earths, and the emergent superhuman trapped in a backward Puritan alternative Britain who discovers the actual truth behind the insanity even as he achieves his own conceptual breakthrough, Bryan Talbot had to invent a vocabulary. One that was fifteen years ahead of its time. (more)
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PALOMAR
Hernandez weaves an intricate tapestry of lives, invents such a fully realized world that it's impossible to engage PALOMAR casually. In its first handful of pages, he introduces a core of characters followed through more than just hundreds of pages or years and years: they grow older, change, and. They fall in love. And everyone that lives has babies. Almost. (more)
PERSEPOLIS
Though it deals with political executions, bombings, torture and what to my eyes are horrific assaults on basic human liberties, PERSEPOLIS is a collection full of hope. When Satrapi's beloved Uncle Anoosh is captured as an enemy of the State, it's not the tragedy of his fate that sticks to your bones. It's the memory of Anoosh and little Marjane sitting up all night telling stories over cups of hot chocolate that warms you. (more)
BACCHUS: IMMORTALITY ISN'T FOREVER
BACCHUS is Eddie Campbell's answer to mainstream comics - a fun-hearted departure from his poignant autobiographical Alec tales, it's undoubtedly my favorite work to come from the resurgent British comics scene of the eighties. With these early stories, Campbell creates something that looks like an adventure serial, is at times a biting satire, and often a journey into historical legend. (more)
THE BEAST TRILOGY
European science fiction can be a different beast from the clean, almost antiseptic machine stories we know from traditional American sci-fi. It tends towards the political, the psychological, the surreal, and the intensely personal, with moments of very strange humor. It can also be quite messy, a cacophony of mad ideas and melancholy emotions. (more)
SHRIMPY AND PAUL AND FRIENDS
Shrimpy is small and mean; Paul is larger and gentle. They make their home in a world that percolates with life in the freaked out manner of an old Warner Brothers cartoon. SHRIMPY AND PAUL has all the wonderful qualities of a work in which one loses itself -- unique figure design, well-paced movement, and a subconscious reference to the over-ripe animations of the 1920s and 1930s. It has the added benefit of being a fascinating read. (more)
BUDDHA: KAPILAVASTU
The joy of reading BUDDHA comes from seeing a master of his craft take an intelligent, adult script and illustrate it with a traditional cartoon approach. While this is some heavy subject matter, Tezuka renders it with a light touch. Realism is shoved aside in favor of caricature, giving this ancient tale new life for a modern audience. (more)
GREETINGS FROM HELLVILLE
Everything by Thomas Ott is covered in hair. Millions of white lines swarming over black, making every panel come alive as if it's constantly moving. Psychologically, everything squirms. Ignoring the horror genre's easy morality and condescending smirk of curve-ball endings, Ott's work is patient and anxious, abrupt and subtle, ugly and beautiful. (more)
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