A tale of vigilante justice with a satisfying blend of genre-specific predictability and intrigue.
A father with a troubled past searches for answers about his deceased child in writer Thompson and illustrator Jok’s gritty graphic novel.
In the not-so-distant future of 2031, amid a “cost-of-living crisis” that amplifies class divides in Florida, an ex-convict named Kim Krilicgrapples with the loss of his 5-year-old son, Charlie, who died in a mysterious disaster that Kim seems to have played an accidental role in. The story opens at Charlie’s funeral, where Kim is clearly unwanted. Already struggling to contain his rage over the tragedy, he reaches a breaking point when he sees that his son’s body is missing. In its place is an empty “burial pod” from a company called Bio-Mem, which, unbeknownst to Kim, offered to cover Charlie’s medical and funeral bills in exchange for his corpse. Thus begins Kim’s action-packed mission to find his son’s remains—even if it means that he’ll end up spending the rest of his life behind bars. Meanwhile, a romance brews between him and Reed Fisher, an agent at the company’s retail outpost who, plagued by a guilty conscience, tries to help Kim in his mission. From panel to panel, Jok’s full-color images evoke a hypermasculine, post-apocalyptic, lawless atmosphere marked by wreckage and decay—the highways stretch over what look like rivers of toxic waste, and skulls and machine guns appear in high contrast alongside cheeky hearts, flowers, and splashes of 1990s-esque blues and pinks. Despite the unique particulars of the plot, readers will find familiar elements of the post-apocalyptic genre lurking on every page, mostly in the form of archetypal characters; Kim, for one, is a classic antihero whom readers will root for from the start, despite his mysterious past and possible involvement in his son’s demise, and Bio-Mem’s Lead Broker, Ms. Wolfe, has a cool demeanor that masks a sociopathic thirst for money and power. Despite the familiarity, one will feel compelled to read on, eager to learn more about the grieving protagonist’s past.
A tale of vigilante justice with a satisfying blend of genre-specific predictability and intrigue.Pub Date: April 22, 2025
ISBN: 9781545816325
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Mad Cave Studios
Review Posted Online: Feb. 13, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 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
Immensely enjoyable.
The debut graphic novel from Mohamed presents a modern Egypt full of magical realism where wishes have been industrialized and heavily regulated.
The story opens with a televised public service announcement from the General Committee of Wish Supervision and Licensing about the dangers of “third-class wishes”—wishes that come in soda cans and tend to backfire on wishers who aren’t specific enough (like a wish to lose weight resulting in limbs falling from the wisher’s body). Thus begins a brilliant play among magic, the mundane, and bureaucracy that centers around a newsstand kiosk where a devout Muslim is trying to unload the three “first-class wishes” (contained in elegant glass bottles and properly licensed by the government) that have come into his possession, since he believes his religion forbids him to use them. As he gradually unloads the first-class wishes on a poor, regretful widow (who then runs afoul of authorities determined to manipulate her out of her valuable commodity) and a university student who seeks a possibly magical solution to their mental health crisis (but struggles with whether a wish to always be happy might have unintended consequences), interstitials give infographic histories of wishes, showing how the Western wish-industrial complex has exploited the countries where wishes are mined (largely in the Middle East). The book is exceptionally imaginative while also being wonderfully grounded in touching human relationships, existential quandaries, and familiar geopolitical and socio-economic dynamics. Mohamed’s art balances perfectly between cartoon and realism, powerfully conveying emotions, and her strong, clean lines gorgeously depict everything from an anguished face to an ornate bottle. Charts and graphs nicely break up the reading experience while also concisely building this larger world of everyday wishes. Mohamed has a great sense of humor, which comes out in footnotes and casual asides throughout.
Immensely enjoyable.Pub Date: Jan. 10, 2023
ISBN: 978-1-524-74841-8
Page Count: 528
Publisher: Pantheon
Review Posted Online: Oct. 26, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2022
PERSPECTIVES
PERSPECTIVES
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