Dead Reckoning is an imprint of the Naval Institute Press dedicated to graphic novels and focused on military history and biography. That’s specialized, but this release, authored by Ben Towle, has the potential to greatly expand their readership. Who can resist stories of brave animals? Four-Fisted Tales: Animals in Combat contains short pieces about various creatures who’ve fought in wars. The title is a little odd, as few animals can make fists, but it’s a reference to Two-Fisted Tales, the […]

A friend turned me on to this short but gorgeous comic by Letty Wilson from the small, UK-based Quindrie Press. Two knights, friends, are returning from a skirmish when they encounter a mysterious knight in red armor who challenges them. That’s the panel that won me over. (It helped that I had the tiniest whiff of being reminded of Good Omens.) The resulting battle has unforeseen consequences. The story is about obsession and friendship and memory and fear and identity. […]

I really love this job. I get to check out books I would never have otherwise seen and learn about little-known but impressive work. Take, for example, Friday Foster: The Sunday Strips, a reprint collection due from Ablaze next month. Friday Foster was a comic strip created and written by Jim Lawrence and illustrated by Jorge (aka Jordi) Longarón. It was explicitly brought about to address the lack of Black comic leads in syndicated comics and ran from 1970-1974. Friday, […]

Shirley and Jamila Save Their Summer was recommended to me for a reason that should become obvious shortly. Jamila Waheed is new to the neighborhood. She wants to play basketball, but her mother is forcing her to go to summer science camp. The local basketball court is too far away for her to go by herself, her mom thinks. Shirley Bones is incredibly observant, to the point of scaring people with what she finds out about them. She comes up […]

The Valley of Fear is the least-known of the four Sherlock Holmes novels, and I’m not sure why that is. It was written late, first appearing in 1914, but it’s a good mystery. Like most of the other novels, there’s a lengthy digression where Arthur Conan Doyle writes an adventure story to explain the modern-day murder. In this case, it’s loosely based on the Molly Maguires, a secret society amongst Pennsylvania coal miners that controlled through violent intimidation and murder. […]

After reading all of the comic adaptations of The Hound of the Baskervilles I could find — nine of them, all told — for an upcoming article in Sherlock Holmes magazine, I was beginning to despair at finding a classic, faithful presentation. So many of them were “punched up”, made more dramatic in ways that didn’t serve the story. SelfMadeHero had a faithful adaptation, to go with its other Sherlock Holmes graphic novels, but it’s hard to find in print […]

Bullet is a sweet little superhero story that’s almost done crowdfunding. It’s (accurately) described as follows: After college student Dale DeSouza suddenly develops super speed, he splits his time between fighting villains and courting one of the researchers helping him find out more about his powers. Story is by Randy Stone and Jordan Alsaqa with art & color by Kath Lobo. It’s a forty-page stand-alone, professionally done. There are a few fights, a few romantic moments, and a life-changing choice. […]

Out in early November is the collected Alice in Leatherland. It’s the story of a children’s book author who finds satisfaction and love by moving to a big city and working in a sex toy store. As written by Iolanda Zanfardino and illustrated by Elisa Romboli, Alice is almost too good to be true. She’s optimistic and romantic and believes in happy endings. Her innocence makes people want to protect her — except for her girlfriend, who belittles her and […]