Out at the end of this month is an exciting debut graphic novel by Ru Xu. NewsPrints stars an ingenious newsboy in a steampunk coming-of-age story with a modern take on gender. It’s wartime in Nautilene, and Blue, on the run from rival newsboys, has stumbled into a secret lab inhabited by an absent-minded inventor. Blue’s part of a patchwork family held together by the mayor, who also runs the paper. The inventor takes on the irrepressible orphan as an […]

Following the success of her first children’s book, The Princess and the Pony, Kate Beaton returns with the hilarious King Baby, as announced this past summer. It’s aimed at children, but I believe parents or anyone who’s had to put up with a demanding child (so, everyone) will enjoy it even more. It’s amazing how effective a drawing of, basically, an egg with a face and a crown can be when in the expressive hands of a skilled artist. With […]

I wasn’t previously aware of the work of Allen Say, but he won the Caldecott Medal for Grandfather’s Journey, a picture book about immigration and how it can leave one feeling rootless, based on Say’s grandfather’s travels. Drawing From Memory continues that theme, only this time, it’s autobiographical. It’s a beautifully illustrated memoir (with comic-format sequences) about Say’s struggles to be an artist. His dream wasn’t supported by his father, who thought, “Artists are lazy and scruffy people — they […]

Sunny Side Up is the newest work by the sibling team who created the unstoppable Babymouse. Jennifer L. Holm and Matthew Holm unspool a semi-autobiographical story about family that packs a sucker-punch, in that you won’t see it coming but it will leave you with a new perspective on how we hurt others. It’s the 70s, and Sunny’s been sent to spend the summer with Gramps. Seems ok, although she has trouble adapting to the slow pace of life in […]

Goosebumps Graphix: Slappy’s Tales of Horror is a repackaging of previous comic stories, now in full color. Graphix has had good luck with their Baby-Sitters Club color reprints, and I imagine that adding color (by Jose Garibaldi) to this volume will similarly bring in new readers. The stories come from Goosebumps maestro R.L Stine, of course. There were three previous comic adaptations, each with three stories adapted from various novels in the series. Only one from each previous collection is […]

The color reissues of the Baby-Sitters Club graphic novels continue with book two in the series, The Truth About Stacey. These volumes are based on the original novels by Ann M. Martin as adapted and drawn by Raina Telgemeier (Smile), now colored by Braden Lamb. Originally published in 2006, only the covers have changed. And it’s interesting to compare the illustration to the one used on the previous book — here, Stacey (in the background by herself) has the huge, […]

Kate Beaton (Hark! A Vagrant) created a children’s book, and for many of you, that’s all you need to know. Having actually read The Princess and the Pony, though, I can tell you that it’s cute, thought-provoking, and overturns expectations, all the qualities that make Beaton’s comics so entertaining. As in her history strips, she takes a familiar-ish setting and puts a distinctly modern spin on it. Although aimed at 4-8-year-olds, it’s got enough in it that the adult reading […]

Cleopatra in Space: The Thief and the Sword follows up last year’s Target Practice. I thought that volume was light on story, and I feel the same way about this book. I guess it’s about time I realize that while Mike Maihack draws terrific action sequences, I shouldn’t expect much more than that from this series. For instance, The Thief and the Sword starts with a 20-page chase sequence in which a new character, the thief of the title, defeats […]