In 1929 France, an orphaned acrobat becomes a cabin boy in His Name was Ptirou. Slice of 1929 cruise ship life, this comic provides a fictional backstory to the creator and main character of Spirou Comics. Spirou et Fantasio is a famous Franco-Belgian comic begun in 1938 and still inContinue Reading
Kamo, a sixteen-year-old boy, is dying from a defective heart. Crimson from the underworld offers him a deal. Trap twelve spirit souls that will allow Crimson to live again and Crimson will repair Kamo’s heart permanently. Despite a non-Japanese author, the artwork has an authentic manga feel. The ambience isContinue Reading
Another sword and sorcery tale without the quest from Vol 1. Emerane and her friends destroyed the Cult and saved Umber in Vol 1. But who will rise from the ashes to run the city now. The government is corrupt and working solely for the rich. The city’s peacekeepers areContinue Reading
Unusual artwork is used effectively in a murder mystery set in a traveling circus. Spectacle Vol 1 is good until the unsatisfactory conclusion. Twins Anna and Kat are members of a traveling circus. Anna is the fortune teller. Kat is a knife thrower. When Kat is murdered with her ownContinue Reading
“It all started with a tooth. A metal tooth that could bring the dead back to life.” Green Lantern senses an evil presence emanating from the deep recesses of the Batcave. The Joker escapes from his electronic cage. Batman is given a dagger by his ex, Talia, to help himContinue Reading
Night’s Dominion Vol 1 contains great artwork and an interestingly imagined medieval world. However, the plot contains a rather generic revolution story reminiscent of Les Miserables. Emerane is a master thief. When she and a band of other rascals led by a minstrel take on the cult of Uhlume, violenceContinue Reading
Archie Coe, hypnotist, cat whisperer and sucker to every dame he meets. The art and dialogue both up the 1940s noir feel in Archie Coe Vol 1. Jack Midland hires Coe to find the reason his wife, Hope, is frigid to him since their marriage. Hope insists that she andContinue Reading
Families are messed up. Even, maybe especially, famous ones. The author of All the Answers is Michael Kupperman. He is a famous, Eisner Award-winning artist and writer. However, he continues to be haunted by his father’s aloof attitude toward him throughout his childhood and adolescence. The author believes that hisContinue Reading
“For never was a story of more woe than this of Juliet and her Romeo.” Shakespeare’s words are the best part of his plays. However, I look to Manga Classics to shorten classic literature to manageable lengths. By including the entire play using Shakespeare’s original words, this book is justContinue Reading
Ho hum space POW camp story. With this author’s background, it is surprising that Stalag-X contains nothing innovative or even interesting. A mysterious prisoner, known only as Joe Human, gets swept up in a space battle. Taken prisoner by the alien Krael, the other POWs at Stalag-X hate him forContinue Reading
Lisa is a new detective in Sweden. Up first is locating a missing person, who is deep in the raggare culture of vintage American cars and rockabilly music. His parents report him missing after he misses the annual local car festival, Motorcity. I expect more exotica from Europe Comics. SettingContinue Reading
Despite being depressingly far from the suggested age for The Ghost the Owl, I loved this middle grade (ages 9-12) comic. The story was intriguing. The artwork is unusual but superb. It merges a picture book and a graphic novel into a surreal dream world of the afterlife. A girlContinue Reading
SHOCK Anthology is a collection of 21 completely different stories from Aftershock Comics. Fluctuating genres and art keep any one person from liking all the stories. However, there is something for everyone within: horror, sci-fi, memoir, adventure and some with apparently no plot at all. The new Neil Gaiman isContinue Reading
Fourteen years, deaths, illnesses, corruption and kickbacks! Who knew a history of the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge could be so interesting? It takes a family (and a lot of immigrants) to build the Brooklyn Bridge in The Bridge: How the Roeblings Connected Brooklyn to New York. The story beginsContinue Reading
The Float is a city floating on the sea of an alternate version of Earth. It originated with a rebel armada from an England-like land. The Float is ruled by the Clans, who are descendants of the original ships’ officers. The Family, descendants of the original crews, keeps the ClansContinue Reading
Batman Detective Comics Vol 5: A Lonely Place of Living (Rebirth) mines the history of the Robins instead of including a straight-out mystery like the other volumes in this series. Be prepared for Red Robin (Tim Drake) from two timelines and universes. The older Red Robin has come back toContinue Reading