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 […]

Out this week is a reissue of The Baby-Sitters Club: Kristy’s Great Idea, this time in full color. If you’re wondering why, a key clue is the top line of the book’s cover: “A graphic novel from the bestselling author of Smile, Raina Telgemeier”. The author of the original story, Ann M. Martin, has swapped places with her. Before, the idea was to move a beloved series of children’s novels to a new format; now, Raina is the hottest thing […]

Cleopatra in Space started as a webcomic, but when it was picked up for print publication, author Mike Maihack created a new story that explains the title heroine’s origin. His design, as you can see from the characters on the cover, is cute and snappy, punctuated by Egyptian-themed futurism, and his work is full of action and movement, as though it was animated. Cleo is the historical going-to-be-queen of Egypt, but she chafes at her coming responsibilities and so welcomes […]

After the immense success of the best-selling, Eisner Award-winning Smile, it’s no surprise that Raina Telgemeier has created another graphic memoir. Sisters takes a somewhat wider view, looking at her family, particularly her relationship with her younger sister. The book is structured around a family road trip from California to Colorado in a minivan driven by their mother and including Raina, the five-years-younger Amara, and youngest brother Will. They’re going to a family reunion, but first, they have to survive […]

Due out at the end of February is Jimmy Gownley’s new book. Unlike his popular series Amelia Rules!, The Dumbest Idea Ever! is non-fiction, the story of how he became a teenage comic artist. Young Jimmy is a comic fan who gets good grades and plays on a championship basketball team, but his stellar school career gets derailed by chicken pox followed by pneumonia. After a month sick at home, he has trouble keeping up and feels aimless when he […]

You’ve likely read something like the plot of The Lost Boy before — kid moves to new house with a history, discovers a fantasy world beyond the gate / through the trees / inside the cupboard. In this case, Nate finds a reel-to-reel tape recorder under the floorboards. The long-disappeared Walter Pidgin had used it to record his observations about the odd things he saw, things no one else seemed to notice. Things like a grasshopper in a suit and […]

Raina Telgemeier’s Smile, about her adolescence, was one of my best graphic novels of 2010. Now, as she moves into fiction, she’s put out another outstanding title. Drama is one of the best graphic novels of 2012. It’s the story of Callie, who’s the set designer for the school play. She’s got a crush on her friend Greg, but after telling him of her feelings, he starts avoiding her. (Kids. Easier not to talk about something than face the difficult […]

Raina Telgemeier, previously known for her excellent work adapting the The Baby-Sitters Club into four graphic novels, tells in Smile her own teen story, one of much dental trauma. One night, sixth-grader Raina trips and falls at a Girl Scout meeting. She hits the ground, is shaken for a moment, but sits up thinking everything’s ok … until she sees blood on the ground. Her front teeth are gone. (A personal note: about the same age, I had a similar, […]