Fascinating and engaging, a complicated queer story depicted without apology.
A handsome, charismatic character speeds boldly through a unique life story.
Joe Carstairs, born in London in 1900, was rakish, dapper, and determined, a skilled, confident lover and a self-appointed ruler of a Bahamian island. If this sounds like the stuff of classic cinema, that’s by design—Carstairs lived on her own terms, from cradle to grave, in an exhilarating fashion. With bold, high-contrast images of cityscapes, war zones, raucous parties, and sexual encounters, and a story that glides smoothly from scene to scene, this stylish graphic biography beckons seductively to curious readers. Carstairs “came out of the womb queer,” smoked cigars at age 8, and drove field ambulances as a teenager during World War I. Her driving obsession became a lifelong thrill for speedboats, which she raced competitively. In adulthood, she dressed primarily in men’s clothing, enjoying relationships and affairs with more than a hundred women—including leading actresses and British socialites. But the wealth that purchased Carstairs’ personal freedoms also allowed her to exercise power over others. In the mid-1930s, she bought a Bahamian island, where invited guests enjoyed lavish soirees, while Black residents of the island were held to strict standards. Carstairs prohibited alcohol, made church attendance mandatory, and served as the island’s doctor, judge, baby namer, and banker. At the wheel of a speedboat or in a lover’s quarrel, the elision of broader societal context feels natural, but on Carstairs’ island, narrative neutrality sometimes feels akin to absolution. This sense is underscored by caricature-ish depictions of “Black” features—broad noses, thick lips, and white eyes set against inky skin. These images implicitly, uncomfortably, celebrate the unconventional late-era colonialist’s legacy, and readers may well hesitate to join the party.
Fascinating and engaging, a complicated queer story depicted without apology.Pub Date: Feb. 17, 2026
ISBN: 9781638991571
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Iron Circus Comics
Review Posted Online: Sept. 27, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2025
An accessible, informative journey through complex issues during turbulent times.
Immersion journalism in the form of a graphic narrative following a Syrian family on their immigration to America.
Originally published as a 22-part series in the New York Times that garnered a Pulitzer for editorial cartooning, the story of the Aldabaan family—first in exile in Jordan and then in New Haven, Connecticut—holds together well as a full-length book. Halpern and Sloan, who spent more than three years with the Aldabaans, movingly explore the family’s significant obstacles, paying special attention to teenage son Naji, whose desire for the ideal of the American dream was the strongest. While not minimizing the harshness of the repression that led them to journey to the U.S.—or the challenges they encountered after they arrived—the focus on the day-by-day adjustment of a typical teenager makes the narrative refreshingly tangible and free of political polemic. Still, the family arrived at New York’s JFK airport during extraordinarily political times: Nov. 8, 2016, the day that Donald Trump was elected. The plan had been for the entire extended family to move, but some had traveled while others awaited approval, a process that was hampered by Trump’s travel ban. The Aldabaans encountered the daunting odds that many immigrants face: find shelter and employment, become self-sustaining quickly, learn English, and adjust to a new culture and climate (Naji learned to shovel snow, which he had never seen). They also received anonymous death threats, and Naji wanted to buy a gun for protection. He asked himself, “Was this the great future you were talking about back in Jordan?” Yet with the assistance of selfless volunteers and a community of fellow immigrants, the Aldabaans persevered. The epilogue provides explanatory context and where-are-they-now accounts, and Sloan’s streamlined, uncluttered illustrations nicely complement the text, consistently emphasizing the humanity of each person.
An accessible, informative journey through complex issues during turbulent times.Pub Date: Sept. 8, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-250-30559-6
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Metropolitan/Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: Aug. 17, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2020
An erudite and artful, though frustratingly restrained, look at Old Testament stories.
The Book of Genesis as imagined by a veteran voice of underground comics.
R. Crumb’s pass at the opening chapters of the Bible isn’t nearly the act of heresy the comic artist’s reputation might suggest. In fact, the creator of Fritz the Cat and Mr. Natural is fastidiously respectful. Crumb took pains to preserve every word of Genesis—drawing from numerous source texts, but mainly Robert Alter’s translation, The Five Books of Moses (2004)—and he clearly did his homework on the clothing, shelter and landscapes that surrounded Noah, Abraham and Isaac. This dedication to faithful representation makes the book, as Crumb writes in his introduction, a “straight illustration job, with no intention to ridicule or make visual jokes.” But his efforts are in their own way irreverent, and Crumb feels no particular need to deify even the most divine characters. God Himself is not much taller than Adam and Eve, and instead of omnisciently imparting orders and judgment He stands beside them in Eden, speaking to them directly. Jacob wrestles not with an angel, as is so often depicted in paintings, but with a man who looks not much different from himself. The women are uniformly Crumbian, voluptuous Earth goddesses who are both sexualized and strong-willed. (The endnotes offer a close study of the kinds of power women wielded in Genesis.) The downside of fitting all the text in is that many pages are packed tight with small panels, and too rarely—as with the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah—does Crumb expand his lens and treat signature events dramatically. Even the Flood is fairly restrained, though the exodus of the animals from the Ark is beautifully detailed. The author’s respect for Genesis is admirable, but it may leave readers wishing he had taken a few more chances with his interpretation, as when he draws the serpent in the Garden of Eden as a provocative half-man/half-lizard. On the whole, though, the book is largely a tribute to Crumb’s immense talents as a draftsman and stubborn adherence to the script.
An erudite and artful, though frustratingly restrained, look at Old Testament stories.Pub Date: Oct. 19, 2009
ISBN: 978-0-393-06102-4
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Norton
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2009
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