The first volume of Fence is now widely available, so it seemed like a good time to check in with the continuing series. As created by C.S. Pacat and Johanna the Mad, it’s the story of a group of boys on an elite high school fencing team. Nicholas has talent but not enough training and not the right family background. Seiji has all the advantages and is inhumanly talented. They’re roommates. The last few issues have focused on various showdowns […]

It seems lately that there’s been a mini-boom in books about how great New York City is. For the adults, there’s Roz Chast’s Going Into Town: A Love Letter to New York and Julia Wertz’s Tenements, Towers & Trash: An Unconventional Illustrated History of New York City; for the kids, there’s the TOON book Lost in NYC: A Subway Adventure and now Sean Rubin’s Bolivar. Only this one has a dinosaur! Bolivar is an eight-foot-tall grey dinosaur living in New […]

Goldie Vance volume 4 marks a few turning points in the retro-flavored series about a teen detective. This is the first volume to not be previously serialized, and it’s the first not written by series co-creator Hope Larson (although she gets a story credit). It’s also not drawn by original artist and co-creator Brittney Williams (who does provide the cover), but volume 3 was drawn by someone else as well. Volume 4 is written by Jackie Ball (who co-wrote volume […]

Lumberjanes #48 is a nice little stand-alone issue that fills out the world of the camp for hardcore lady-types. It begins with Barney distributing the new camp newsletter in a story written by Shannon Watters and Kat Leyh and illustrated by Ayme Sotuyo. The Zodiac cabin is putting together articles, sports, weather, horoscopes, cartoons, and a “weird corner”. The responsibility for that drives one contributor crazy, making her yell, “Do you know how much weird this camp has?!” Yes! That’s […]

In Mega Princess, Kelly Thompson (Jem and the Holograms, Hawkeye) brings her energetic, aware writing style to a wide-ranging fantasy adventure for kids. The mega princess of the title is Maxine (who prefers Max). It’s her tenth birthday, which means she gets the powers of all princesses. But what she really wants to be is a detective (in the cutest little blue trenchcoat). Max, accompanied by her pony Justine, gets to combine both sides of her life when her adorable […]

Abbott #1 is a terrific comic that I really wanted to be something else. As written by Saladin Ahmed and illustrated by Sami Kivelä, it’s the story of a black female investigative reporter in 1972 Detroit who stumbles across a supernatural killer. The publisher blurbs the story as her looking into “the work of dark occult forces… that took her husband from her.” I loved the setting, the detail, and the character, particularly seeing how she coped with reporters and […]

Hi-Fi Fight Club is Lumberjanes meets Empire Records with a strong overlay of first girl crush and a sprinkling of Scooby-Doo. It’s 1998 New Jersey, and 16-year-old Chris has her first job at the record store Vinyl Mayhem. She’s uncertain and worried about what’s cool, but since everyone she works with falls in that category, she’s loving the situation. Maggie is cute and friendly; Dolores tough and grumpy; Kennedy, older and knowledgeable with savior faire; and Irene is the boss […]

When comic art works well, sometimes it becomes invisible, making it easy for readers to concentrate on the events of the story. When it doesn’t work, though, the comic falls flat, and readers may not even realize why. I liked the first Slam! series, written by Pamela Ribon and illustrated by Veronica Fish. It had character-driven action and an intriguing cast. Then the series was restarted with a new artist, Marina Julia. Unfortunately, as seen in Slam!: The Next Jam […]