Complex, challenging, and ultimately rewarding.
On a mysterious island, three strangers-turned-friends find themselves in an endless loop of fighting monsters; can they find a way to break the cycle?
Harald, James, and Alma spend their days battling ferocious beasts in endless dungeons on an island they cannot seemingly depart. For the most part, the trio enjoys their group dynamics and the fighting, finding gamelike satisfaction in always having another foe to defeat. But soon, Harald begins to question the nature of their reality; could there be something more to this life than an interminable circuit of creation and destruction? Is there a way off this strange island? The trio finds that they must confront their lives and the choices they made prior to their arrival on the island. Brown’s clever mashup smashes genre constraints, rendering this akin to It’s a Wonderful Life told through a delightfully snarky gamer’s lens, absent Christmas but heavy on the monsters. The full-color illustrations add a rich cinematic quality to the already nuanced storytelling. At times,the storyline can be demanding, with its intricate plotting and frequent and dizzying temporal jumps, but for all of its seeming recapitulation and futility, a heartwarming (but decidedly not cloying) conclusion awaits and should satisfy even the most cynical readers. The three main characters appear white; secondary characters encompass a broader spectrum of skin tones.
Complex, challenging, and ultimately rewarding. (Graphic fantasy. 13-adult)Pub Date: Aug. 4, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-945820-50-2
Page Count: 340
Publisher: Iron Circus Comics
Review Posted Online: May 15, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2020
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
A fast-paced dip into the possibility of a world without human emotions.
A teenage girl refuses a medical procedure to remove her heart and her emotions.
June lives in a future in which a reclusive Scientist has pioneered a procedure to remove hearts, thus eliminating all “sadness, anxiety, and anger.” The downside is that it numbs pleasurable feelings, too. Most people around June have had the procedure done; for young people, in part because doing so helps them become more focused and successful. Before long, June is the only one among her peers who still has her heart. When her parents decide it’s time for her to have the procedure so she can become more focused in school, June hatches a plan to pretend to go through with it. She also investigates a way to restore her beloved sister’s heart, joining forces with Max, a classmate who’s also researching the Scientist because he has started to feel again despite having had his heart removed. The pair’s journey is somewhat rushed and improbable, as is the resolution they achieve. However, the story’s message feels relevant and relatable to teens, and the artwork effectively sets the scene, with bursts of color popping throughout an otherwise black-and-white landscape, reflecting the monochromatic, heartless reality of June’s world. There are no ethnic or cultural markers in the text; June has paper-white skin and dark hair, and Max has dark skin and curly black hair.
A fast-paced dip into the possibility of a world without human emotions. (Graphic speculative fiction. 12-18)Pub Date: June 13, 2023
ISBN: 9780063116214
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: April 24, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
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