Alphabetical Index of SLG Publishing

Sanctuary by Stephen Coughlin

Sanctuary is one of the digitally serialized comics coming out from SLG Publishing. Stephen Coughlin has created a story he calls a “Disney murder mystery” personalizing a group of animals kept in a park-like animal sanctuary. I found it funny, suspenseful, and well-cartooned. The animals are treated like people, with their own personalities and motivations, and while that’s unrealistic, it’s also entertaining. It reminded me of something like Madagascar … until the research scientists revealed their darker sides. That sets […]

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Slush Pile: Unemployed Man, Shadrach Stone, Forget Sorrow, Athena Voltaire, Screamland, Return of the Dapper Men, Sixsmiths, Francis Sharp, I See the Promised Land

All books are review copies provided by the publishers. The Adventures of Unemployed Man written by Erich Origen and Gan Golan; pencils by Ramona Fradon, Rick Veitch, Michael Netzer; inks by Terry Beatty, Joe Rubinstein; additional art by Benton Jew, Thomas Yeates, Shawn Martinbrough Little, Brown and Company, $14.99 US The superhero genre is used for satire of our current economic system, with stunning art by some accomplished veterans. The Ultimatum represents the hypocrisy of rich people who blame the […]

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Animal Crackers

Gene Luen Yang’s American Born Chinese was such an award-winning success that it’s no surprise that his earlier works would be brought back into print. Animal Crackers collects Gordon Yamamoto and the King of the Geeks and Loyola Chin and the San Peligran Order. I’m not a fan of Yang’s work that I’ve tried. I was uncomfortable seeing so strong a reliance on stereotypes in American Born Chinese, even though they were used for the purpose of saying “stereotyping is […]

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Slush Pile: SLG: Sisters’ Luck, Shadoweyes, Captain Long Ears

I’m normally, as a comic reader, focused on story first, but I was surprised to find that these three SLG Publishing graphic novels impressed me more with their illustrations than their plots. All were review copies provided by the publisher. The Sisters’ Luck by Shari Chankhamma, $12.95 I was intrigued by the premise behind this graphic novel, that of twin sisters, one of whom steals good luck from others, another who brings bad luck, but it wasn’t handled the way […]

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Zombies Calling

I enjoyed Faith Erin Hicks’ The War at Ellsmere so much that I wanted to read her previous book. I hadn’t checked it out when it was released last year because I don’t like zombies. Big mistake on my part. Zombies Calling is fun and entertaining. Joss is a geek struggling with college exams and student loans. Her roommates are Robyn, who’s girl-crazy, and Sonnet, a goth who seems a little more comfortable in her own skin than Joss does. […]

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The War at Ellsmere

I didn’t read Faith Erin Hicks’ first graphic novel, Zombies Calling, because, you know, I hate zombies. But I enjoyed The War at Ellsmere so much I need to rethink that. Juniper is a scholarship student joining Ellsmere Academy, a private girls’ school she’s attending for its excellent academic record. Being away from her home and family is a challenge for her, but her most immediate battle is with Emily, queen bee. Jun didn’t expect to make friends, which is […]

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The Super-Scary Monster Show Featuring Little Gloomy

The Super-Scary Monster Show Featuring Little Gloomy is quite a big title for this digest-sized book. Writer Landry Walker and artist Eric Jones have tried several different formats for their tales of baby monsters, but this one may be the best yet, suitable for little hands sneaking it under the covers late at night. Gloomy lives in an odd land populated by kid versions of the Universal monsters (Frank the Monster, Larry the Wolfman, the Mummy) and Carl Cthulhu, a […]

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Halo and Sprocket: Natural Creatures

I’m very happy to see Halo and Sprocket return with an all-new graphic novel. The characters — the robot Sprocket, the angel Halo, and regular girl Katie — are still exploring philosophical questions and human nature with great humor and outstanding cartooning from Kerry Callen. In Halo and Sprocket: Natural Creatures, Katie tries to explain to her roommates why people want privacy in the bathroom, societal expectations about women’s body hair, and whether you should kill spiders. The group goes […]

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