Tag: graphic novel

The Homeland Directive by Robert Venditti

- Ann Leave a comment

homelanddirectiveI wouldn’t call myself a paranoid person.  I do sometimes run to get into bed and pull up the covers as quickly as possible after watching a Law and Order: SVU marathon.  After reading George Orwell’s 1984, I did start regarding every tv or computer screen with a small fear that it was a potential 2-way telescreen.  Despite this, I am typically a level-headed librarian that loves to drop the phrase “peer-reviewed research” into regular conversations. 

But Robert Venditti’s The Homeland Directive brought out the conspiracy theorist in me.  When I finished reading the graphic novel, I wasn’t convinced that the federal government was spreading an infectious disease in hopes of scaring the population into submission and setting up the head of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) for the murder of her research partner.  But when I was in the middle of the novel, it didn’t seem entirely far fetched.  Venditti was able to take me out of my own perception of the world while I read this graphic novel, and left me thinking far after I finished reading.

Pairing with brilliant illustrator, Mike Huddleston, Venditti wrote a piece that feels outrageous and real at the same time.  The illustrations are complicated and portray mood more than action, and the style changes with the setting and cast of characters.  All together, this is a stylistic, powerful graphic novel with a well edited story and smart pacing.  Everything that needs to be in the story is there, with no extras.  I would recommend this book for fans of Brian K. Vaughan’s Y: The Last Man series or Mat Johnson’s Right State.

Marbles: Mania, Depression, Michelangelo, and Me by Ellen Forney

- Ann Leave a comment

marblesCartoonist Ellen Forney’s Marbles: Mania, Depression, Michelangelo, & Me is an honest, funny graphic memoir that explores her life following her diagnosis with bi-polar disorder.  As an artist, Forney had mixed emotions about her diagnosis, ranging from excitement over joining what she called “Club Van Gogh” (the idea that creativity and great art come from mania) to frustration over the long road to recovery and finding the most effective drug cocktail.  Forney never holds back in both words and illustrations, letting the reader join her in her head and get an idea of what it is to be an artist with bi-polar disorder.

Forney uses a combination of new illustrations and samples of the sketches that came from different times during her journey to recovery.  The illustrations from her lowest depressive times are detailed, darker, and incredibly different than the cheery, simple cartoon illustrations that populate the rest of the book.  While the book can come off as a tad self-indulgent and Forney’s journey is obviously her own, this is an excellent read for anyone that is looking for insight into what the recovery journey may look like for a person diagnosed as having manic depression.  Even if it is just to help you feel like you’re a part of Club Van Gogh and no longer alone.  When you’ve finished Marbles, I would suggest picking up the beautifully illustrated graphic memoir, Stitches: A Memoir by David Small or the unsettling account of a high school relationship with Jeffery Dahmer, My Friend Dahmer by Derf Backderf.

Hark! A Vagrant by Kate Beaton

- Ann Leave a comment

Webcomics collected for the printed page rarely hang together as cohesive singular works, and this book is no exception. They also rarely deliver a consistent laughs-per-page number or manage to be as fresh on page 50 as they are on page 1; and for these, Hark! A Vagrant is indeed an exception. Kate Beaton’s comic is very funny and accessible; she pokes fun at various literary and historical figures (both infamous and obscure), in addition to hipsters and teenagers and even superheroes. If you like smarmy, witty, smart comedy and drawings that range from the moody and surreal to the supremely cute, this book is a great choice!

Since the humor is hard to describe, just check out this comic. If you like humor about 200 year old inventors or have a soft spot for Tesla…

Source: http://harkavagrant.com/index.php?id=256

For more awesome, check out Kate Beaton’s comics at their original home: harkavagrant.com.

The Night Bookmobile by Audrey Niffenegger

- Ann Leave a comment

You may have noticed that many librarians have a love affair with Audrey Niffenegger’s The Time Traveler’s Wife (case in point, Lynn just blogged about it and here I am blogging about it again). This is mostly due to the book’s bookiness–it is swelling with libraries, librarians, book artists and historical typefaces. Lucky for us, Ms. Niffenegger seems to have a love affair with Libraries, and thus continued her theme of bookiness in a graphic story titled The Night Bookmobile published in The Guardian last Autumn. The story revolves around a young woman who stumbles onto a bookmobile that holds every bibliofile’s deepest desire and a very personal collection of books:

bookmobile

You can find out what magic this bookmobile holds by reading it online via The Guardian or keeping your fingers crossed that a book version will be published in the US next fall!

P.S. Audrey Niffenegger’s newest novel, Her Fearful Symmetry, comes out at the end of September so better hurry and get your reserve on it!