A light, breezy mystery that will leave readers looking forward to the next episode.
Vermont private eye Jonathan Levy investigates the disappearance of a mysterious woman’s daughter in Norman’s third graphic novel in a series, illustrated by Bakst.
Levy begins this episode by visiting his partner Alexa Sands’ gallery collection of 22 photographs, all taken on the same day and featuring the same elegant, older woman sitting in the background; Sands has no idea who she is. By the show’s end, all the photos have sold but one of war brides arriving on a steamship in Halifax in 1938, which Sands claims isn’t her own. Levy and Sands decide to call the number on the photo and are surprisingly connected to the aforementioned older woman: “I am at the inn at Montpelier, Room 105. My name is Bettina Eldersveld. I am Dutch by birth.” It turns out that she has a case for Levy, who’s a Montpelier-based private detective: She wants to know what happened to her daughter, with whom she hasn’t had any contact in 45 years; the only clue she has is a postcard. Alongside this central mystery is the story of the developing relationship between Levy and Sands, who are engaged to be married. In this volume, Sands introduces him to another aspect of her life: séances. She won’t get married, she says, until she has approval from the spirit world. Somewhat oddly inserted into all of this is the abrupt appearance of scenes from Veronica Lake movies; it’s eventually revealed that there’s a film festival in town, and Sands feels some sort of spiritual connection with the actor. This aspect of Norman’s series entry never fully coheres with the rest of the work, and the actual detective work on display is brief to the point of lacking adequate suspense. However, there’s a soft, gentle, and playful tone to the work that will appeal to readers looking for a nontraditional detective story. Bakst’s painterly grayscale artwork is likewise low-key, with smudged edges that give most pages an expressionistic look.
A light, breezy mystery that will leave readers looking forward to the next episode.Pub Date: Nov. 19, 2024
ISBN: 9781578691807
Page Count: 58
Publisher: Rootstock Publishing
Review Posted Online: Nov. 12, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A clever and timely conversation on reclaiming identity and acknowledging one’s full worth.
Superman confronts racism and learns to accept himself with the help of new friends.
In this graphic-novel adaptation of the 1940s storyline entitled “The Clan of the Fiery Cross” from The Adventures of Superman radio show, readers are reintroduced to the hero who regularly saves the day but is unsure of himself and his origins. The story also focuses on Roberta Lee, a young Chinese girl. She and her family have just moved from Chinatown to Metropolis proper, and mixed feelings abound. Jimmy Olsen, Lois Lane’s colleague from the Daily Planet, takes a larger role here, befriending his new neighbors, the Lees. An altercation following racial slurs directed at Roberta’s brother after he joins the local baseball team escalates into an act of terrorism by the Klan of the Fiery Kross. What starts off as a run-of-the-mill superhero story then becomes a nuanced and personal exploration of the immigrant experience and blatant and internalized racism. Other main characters are White, but Black police inspector William Henderson fights his own battles against prejudice. Clean lines, less-saturated coloring, and character designs reminiscent of vintage comics help set the tone of this period piece while the varied panel cuts and action scenes give it a more modern sensibility. Cantonese dialogue is indicated through red speech bubbles; alien speech is in green.
A clever and timely conversation on reclaiming identity and acknowledging one’s full worth. (author’s note, bibliography) (Graphic fiction. 13-adult)Pub Date: May 12, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-77950-421-0
Page Count: 240
Publisher: DC
Review Posted Online: Feb. 29, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Using modern language, McDonald spins the well-known tale of the two young, unrequited lovers. Set against Nagar’s at-times...
A bland, uninspired graphic adaptation of the Bard’s renowned love story.
Using modern language, McDonald spins the well-known tale of the two young, unrequited lovers. Set against Nagar’s at-times oddly psychedelic-tinged backgrounds of cool blues and purples, the mood is strange, and the overall ambiance of the story markedly absent. Appealing to what could only be a high-interest/low–reading level audience, McDonald falls short of the mark. He explains a scene in an open-air tavern with a footnote—“a place where people gather to drink”—but he declines to offer definitions for more difficult words, such as “dirges.” While the adaptation does follow the foundation of the play, the contemporary language offers nothing; cringeworthy lines include Benvolio saying to Romeo at the party where he first meets Juliet, “Let’s go. It’s best to leave now, while the party’s in full swing.” Nagar’s faces swirl between dishwater and grotesque, adding another layer of lost passion in a story that should boil with romantic intensity. Each page number is enclosed in a little red heart; while the object of this little nuance is obvious, it’s also unpleasantly saccharine. Notes after the story include such edifying tidbits about Taylor Swift and “ ‘Wow’ dialogs from the play” (which culls out the famous quotes).Pub Date: May 10, 2011
ISBN: 978-93-80028-58-3
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Campfire
Review Posted Online: April 5, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2011
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