#graphicnovel

“You get what anybody gets. You get a lifetime.”
The#bookoftheweek is DEATH The Deluxe Edition, by @neilhimself
There is nothing about this book that can’t pass as perfect. @Chris Bachallo work is amazing as usual, and goes great with Gaiman’s words. The stories about how Death comes to earth for a day once every Century, are beautiful, and bittersweet, just like Death herself.
The art gallery is huge, the covers and other art by McKean (another all time favorite) are haunting, and the last story with a little cameo of some chainsmoker bastard from Liverpool reminded me of that aftertaste only the comics of the 90’s used to have. 10/10 will Read again.

The Montague Twins Vol. 2: The Devil’s Music by Nathan Page & Drew Shannon. Alfred A. Knopf / RH Graphic, 2021. 9780525646808. http://www.powells.com/book/-9780525646808?partnerid=34778&p_bt

Charlie, Pete, and his brother Al are in a band, The Bony Fingers. After their supernatural adventure in the first book, Rowan is continuing to teach them a bit of magic. But a shadowy group of faculty at the university has some concerns about that plus a new member – an uncle the boys have never heard about. There’s also a handsome and mysterious rock star, Gideon Drake, who recently showed up in town and started hanging out. It’s a minor spoiler, but the reason he’s there has something to do with Millie, a girl who also goes to Central High and who, nearly catatonic, almost falls into the harbor in front of the lighthouse. As romances start to develop and a group of mothers protests against rock and roll, there’s some question about what’s up with Gideon (and whether or not it’s demonic).

This is an odd and pleasant follow-up to the first book in that it doesn’t have a rigid mystery plot. I’d have thought this series would have gone toward more a predictable, straightforward Hardy Boys-type plots but Page and Shannon are letting the characters dictate the direction of the series. The result is a great read with beautiful art set in New England in the late 60s (I think) featuring concerned adults, realistic high school kids, and a developing storyline that seems to be setting things up for later books. Here’s hoping there are a lot of those.

Horse Trouble by Kristin Varner. First Second, 2021. 9781250225870. 288pp. including an author’s note, photos of Varner as a kid (including a few riding her horse), plus a few pages sharing sketches and her process for creating comics. http://www.powells.com/book/-9781250225870?partnerid=34778&p_bt

Twelve-year-old Kate hates being chubby and loves riding horses. She goes to school with her popular best friend Becky. Tuesdays and Saturdays she takes riding lessons at Millcreek Farm, where she also helps out to help pay for them. There are mean, unpleasant girls at both school and the barn, and Kate’s brother and his friends are jerks too. The fact that Kate keeps falling off horses as she’s training for competitions doesn’t help her self-esteem, either. The book is about her growing up a little, figuring out that she’s maybe somewhat cool (as is her brother), and that she’s more than a little awesome at riding, too.

My friend Marin has loved riding since she was a kid, and this book demystifies that for me. (My dad loved horses, too, but I’ve preferred motorcycles since my saddle came off an out-of-control horse running at full gallop on a beach.) This book has definitions of specialized vocabulary about horses and riding in “footnotes” that I found really helpful. I now know that the person who saddled the horse I fell off of probably wasn’t paying attention. That horse maybe have been bloating, which allowed the saddle to slip.

Worth noting: The drawings are charming, as is the use of red ink as an occasional accent color. I’ve read that it’s especially hard to draw horses well, and the horses in this book look spectacular, as do all of Kate’s falls and competitions.

Ralph Azham Book 1: Black Are The Stars by Lewis Trondheim. Translation by Kim Thompson and Joe Johnson. Colorign by Brigitte Findakly. Super Genius (Papercutz), 2022. 9781545808795. 150 pp. http://www.powells.com/book/-9781545808795?partnerid=34778&p_bt

Lewis Trondheim has a new book in English! It’s the first part of what was, in French, an amusing 12 volume epic. This one contains three of the original books. It features an a fantasy world full of anthropomorphic characters, strange creatures, and magical artifacts reminiscent of Trondheim and Sfar’s Dungeon series. Characters like Ralph who are blue have special powers – in his case it’s ridiculous (at least at first) – he can tell how many kids a person has. (He develops a more useful and deadly power that involves the ghosts of those one has killed as well.) Over the course of the books Ralph goes from hapless outcast to the kind of direct, plain talking hero I find it easy to root for (though he’s still an idiot sometimes). The whole series is, at least in part, about family, the one you’re born with and the one you choose. Great stuff. The fact that Trondheim’s wife B. Findakly colored his comics makes the art the much more fun.

If this sounds familiar it’s because Fantagraphics published the first French book as a single volume years ago, but then didn’t publish the rest. (It looks like Papercutz is going to though!) It’s worth noting that Papercutz published another book by Trondheim in 2021, a wordless graphic novel titled The Fly. It’s something kids and adults would love. And as I write this it’s still possible to find episodes of Fly Tales, the cartoon based on it, on YouTube.

Treasure in the Lake by Jason Pamment. Harper Alley, 2021. 9780063065185. 208pp. http://www.powells.com/book/-9780063065185?partnerid=34778&p_bt

Iris and Sam love exploring the woods around the lake near Bugden, the town where they live. Sam loves being there more than Iris does, though – she wants to leave Bugden and see the world, maybe as an archeologist, while he seems content to stay there for life. In fact Iris just got into a school in the city, and she’s desperate to go there instead of Bugden High. So when her mom seems cold on the idea, Iris gets upset and heads to the river to be alone for a bit. The river suddenly dries up and Iris makes a big big discovery – long-buried train tracks and a city that is normally hidden in the river. Iris drags Sam into the lost town to look around. They have a falling out when Sam wants to leave (he wants to see Bugden’s new statue revealed). Iris stays there and, after the bell in the old clocktower rings, she has an adventure that is supernatural or in a different time or both. It’s all rather sweet, and it involves Ben, the old guy who passes Sam and Iris on the street early in the story.

Pamment is an Australian animator, director, and designer in addition to being an author-illustrator. His art looks as if it glows! If you don’t believe me, there are amazing cover blurbs endorsing this graphic novel from Kazu Kibuishi (Amulet), Ben Hatke (Zita the Spacegirl) and Shaun Tan (The Arrival). You can see an animated trailer for the book (which shows how great the cover is) at Pamment’s website, http://www.jasonpamment.com/

Himawari House by Harmony Becker. First Second, 2021. 9781250235565. 384pp. with a note on the use of accents in the book + early sketches in the back. http://www.powells.com/book/-9781250235565?partnerid=34778&p_bt

Nao moves from the U.S back to Japan, where she was born, to study Japanese for a year between high school and college. She lives in shared housing with four others: Hyejung, from South Korea, who is studying for university entrance exams in Japan; Tina from Singapore who is doing the same; and two young Japanese dudes, the friendly Shinichi and very quiet Masaki. As Nao reconnects with her childhood self and tries to figure out if she’s gaijin or Japanese, the five form the type of fast, deep friendships that can only happen when everyone is in a new place, trying to help each other. (The other characters inner live are explored a bit in the book, too.) The story includes crushes, holiday parties, karaoke, part-time jobs, a charming grandma who lives down the street, and the best use of accented English I’ve ever seen in a book.

Worth noting: When the characters speak a language other than English, the language is in the word balloons along with English. It makes for a great chance to practice another language if you know a little of it, and it’s so much better than putting translated language in English between << brackets like this >>, which is what I saw in a lot of comics when I was a kid.

Becker previously drew George Takei’s graphic memoir They Called Us Enemy.

The City Of Belgium by Brecht Evens. Drawn & Quarterly, 2021. 9781770463424. 336pp. http://www.powells.com/book/-9781770463424?partnerid=34778&p_bt

The City of Belgium starts with a guy getting ready to move, calling friends to figure out what he’s going to do on his last night in town. It ends with a conversation on a beach that he’s not involved in. In between is a lot of partying, some drama, and a ton of conversations. The voices are amazing, and like in Evens’ other graphic novels they’re lettered in a different color for each character. The flow is great, especially the effortless way the book shifts focus from one character to another and back again (and no one draws characters in conversation better than Evens). But the star of the book, as with Evens’ others (The Making Of, Panther, The Wrong Place) is his art; it feels both loose and exact. Characters’ morph from panel to panel, expressing deep feelings and drunken boisterousness and all-out sadness. And so often in this book I’d turn a page and just stop and say, “Wow!” There’s so much going on on some pages while on others the drawings are minimalistic – but they’re always fantastic. I borrowed this copy from the library but I’m going to immediately buy one for myself – it’s perfect for dipping into here and there, and it will easily double as a compelling coffee table art book for folks to flip through.

Daredevil: Know Fear by Chip Zdarsky (writer) and Marco Checchetto (artist). Colors by Sunny Gho. Marvel, 2019. 9781302914981. Contains Daredevil #1 - 5. Publisher’s Rating: T+. http://www.powells.com/book/-9781302914981?partnerid=34778&p_bt

Daredevil is recovering from an injury but heads out into Hell’s Kitchen to fight crime anyway. When he takes on three men breaking into a store, one of them dies of head trauma not long after. Should he continue to be a hero? (He asks himself this question a lot, and also discusses it at church quite a bit.)

Detective Cole North has just transferred to New York from Chicago. He sees costumed “heroes” like Daredevil as sadistic criminals, and refuses to turn a blind eye to their activities as other cops do. He’s determined to bring Daredevil to justice.  

Complicating the story: Wilson Fisk aka The Kingpin is the current mayor of New York City. And Punisher thinks Daredevil may be coming over to his way of thinking (it’s better to kill criminals than to arrest them). And there’s also a visit at the end of the book from a less-than-friendly neighborhood Spider-Man.

I’ve already read through the 4th volume of Zdarsky’s Daredevil run – the entertaining epic that continues across the books contains Elektra, an affair with a bookstore owner, a gang war, and, of course, Bullseye. The 7th volume is due out in spring of 2022. Don’t look at the later volumes’ covers if you want to avoid spoilers.

Otter Lagoon (Sueño Bay Adventures Book 2) by Mike Deas and Nancy Deas. Orca, 2021. 9781459819641. http://www.powells.com/book/-9781459819641?partnerid=34778&p_bt

Jenna is a rule follower, but she’s breaking more than a few as she tries to raise money to help Charlie, an injured dog. When she discovers a glowing object in Otter Lagoon after a dog-walking mishap, she pretty quickly understands it’s the egg of a moon creature, specifically the very large Luner Serpentis. (Her little brother Sleeves has discovered one of its teeth, which also glows.) Jenna decides to try to make money by selling the eggs to exotic animal dealers, which angers the sea serpent, putting a vehicle ferry and the people on it in danger.

Spouses Nancy and Mike Deas live on an island in British Columbia, so it’s no wonder rainy Sueño Bay feels so close to home. (I live in Seattle.) After reading this one I immediately went back and read the first book in the series, Shadow Island, which involves the same four friends, a raccoon-like supernatural creature, and a harsh gym teacher. I love the ambiguity of the characters’ ages and the fact that everyone knows the town is home to supernatural creatures.

½ der Illustration für @zeit Recht und Unrecht - über die rechtsextreme Szene in Cottbus. #illustration #graphicnovel #editorialillustration #diezeit #drawing
https://www.instagram.com/p/CGkh_7AjY97/?igshid=ws3vnhroc3b6

2/2 der Illustration für @zeit Recht und Unrecht - über die rechtsextreme Szene in Cottbus. #diezeit #cottus #illustration #editorialillustration #graphicnovel https://www.instagram.com/p/CGkh2ScjVWt/?igshid=1j514ds0zwee3

With my own characters I don’t need much anatomy reference etc. so I prefer to have a bit fun with these. I usually just jump straight into doing pages and do refs like this on the side for the purpose of clothing and acting.

Jack is the main character of Half a Knight. An underpaid apprentice blacksmith with an attitude and scorn for authority figures.

Happy Valentine’s Day everyone! Wanted to draw something for the theme, so here’re Jack and Perrine from my current graphic novel-in-works, Half a Knight.

Even though I love drawing pages it feels nice to draw something else once in a while!

Watch where you point that thing! You could poke someone’s eye out.

Despite currently having my focus on finishing the script I had to do an art test for Half a Knight (working title) #1’s cover. An anti-heroic fantasy graphic novel I’ve been working on. Y'know, to feel that I’m actually progressing somewhere. My current aim is to start working on the art in a couple of weeks, and hopefully having the first arc done and printed for 2019’s comic festival. Curious to see how that goes.

Hope you’ve all been doing great! I can’t wait to get back to drawing stuff.

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee was published on this day in 1960. We’re so excited for readers to experience the beloved classic in a whole new way in graphic novel form. To Kill a Mockingbird: A Graphic Novel goes on sale 10/30!
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#tokillamockingbird #tkam #tkamgraphicnovel #harperlee #atticusfinch #scout #booradley #americanclassic #greatamericannovel #graphicnovel

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee was published on this day in 1960. We’re so excited for readers to experience the beloved classic in a whole new way in graphic novel form. To Kill a Mockingbird: A Graphic Novel goes on sale 10/30!
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#tokillamockingbird #tkam #tkamgraphicnovel #harperlee #atticusfinch #scout #booradley #americanclassic #greatamericannovel #graphicnovel

Apologies if you tried to get a copy of Andromeda last week and couldn’t.
Apparently it was sold out from my store’s inventory and I didn’t notice .
More copies are now available!
Link in my bio. www.zeburnay.bigcartel.com
#graphicnovel #comic #selfpublished #andromedacomic #art #artistsoninstagram
https://www.instagram.com/p/CE1oUhGDv45/?igshid=liebxwhbi8zw

Planning on slipping in a copy of my limited edition @rickandmorty cover in a random order of Andromeda this week.
Got some copies in the mail today and they turned out really cool!
www.zeburnay.bigcartel.com (link in bio)
#andromedacomic #comics #makingcomics #graphicnovel #artistsoninstagram #art #rickandmorty
https://www.instagram.com/p/CEkQm8Yj4vL/?igshid=v6425hhf1sq6

I was very excited to attend @lakesinternationalcomics this year but then the pandemic came along. Luckily, the LICAF team launched a virtual con to help us creators reach more people. Check out the site, they did a wonderful job.
Small correction: the book is actually £22.5 / €25.
See you in 2021, LICAF!
#andromedacomic #comics #makingcomics #graphicnovel #licaf #virtualclocktower #virtualcon #art #artistsoninstagram
https://www.instagram.com/p/CEHEVDBD6Gy/?igshid=1kho7gbnm7sc3

Hace unos días atrás terminé el talle de @decur “Domar al Leon”. Decur es Guillermo Decurgez. Su última novela gráfica es una locura “ when you look up” Bella! En fin…
No fue fácil domesticar a la fiera, me gusta la novela gráfica, el formato, las diferentes posibilidades que da para narrar una historia larga o una súper corta cómo está. Sin dudas un ejercicio intenso, que me llevo nuevamente a los acrílicos y sus mañas.
Gracias Guille por los consejos y guía!
Desliza para ver toda la historia. Espero les guste!!
#decur #paolazakimi #graphicnovel #shortstory
https://www.instagram.com/p/CNc7ArPn81e/?igshid=woel19tndak7