Independent Opinions, News, and Reviews of Graphic Novels, Manga, and Comic Books
Fandom works. By which I mean, if someone likes something a creator does, they’re a lot more likely to seek out that creator’s next thing. That’s the reason I tried Show-ha Shoten! Volume 1. It’s illustrated by Takeshi Obata, who’s probably best known in this country for drawing Death Note, but I better remember him from Bakuman and earlier, Hikaru no Go. Story is by Akinari Asakura, a novelist making his manga debut. These types of shonen manga series are […]
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There is a ton of material packed into the 128 pages of History Comics: The National Parks: Preserving America’s Wild Places, with new information on almost every page. A Sasquatch introduces us to how national parks can include scenic vistas, natural wildernesses, and historic sites, answering an eagle’s questions about who creates parks and why there are so many different kinds. Along this journey, the reader visits the first parks, Yosemite and Yellowstone, and meets a wide variety of historical […]
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Out this week is a new DC animation collection on Blu-ray. The Adventures of Batman collects up the Batman cartoons that originally ran as part of The Batman/Superman Hour from 1968-1969. As you’ve likely envisioned, once I gave the timeframe, these are not outstanding examples of animation. They’re stiff, with minimal movement when they can get away with it, and even just watching one episode, I was already noticing repeated bits. The most memorable visual element for me was the […]
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In Yuu Toyota’s Cherry Magic! Thirty Years of Virginity Can Make You a Wizard?! volume 6, the psychic Adachi has told his boyfriend that he can read his mind. This is an important, adult decision, to be honest with his partner. The need to reveal his secret first arose in volume 4 and drove the conflict in volume 5. Of course, Adachi was concerned about how Kurosawa would react. However, it doesn’t turn out as Adachi feared. Instead, Kurosawa accepts […]
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The series Moriarty: Clockwork Empire concludes with issue #4, due out mid-May. (That link is about the first issue. I’ve also posted covers from the second issue, due in March, and the third issue, due in April.) The series is written by Fred Duval & Jean-Pierre Pécau and illustrated by Stevan Subic and features a steampunk flavor and the appearance of Jekyll and Hyde. This issue can be preordered from your local comic shop with Diamond code MAR23 1042 for the […]
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Trevor sleeps through biology class until spirits show him how amazing scientific discovery can be, just in time for tomorrow’s quiz. Ghosts of Science Past is a creative blend of A Christmas Carol, Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure, graphic biography, and true science comics. The ghost of Charles Darwin starts Trevor off on his adventure. He explains the scientific method before warning him he “will be haunted by three scientists” that will guide him to learning what he needs to […]
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It surprised me how much I enjoyed reading Enola Holmes: The Graphic Novels Book Two. I appreciated the idea of Enola Holmes previously — I liked the movie well enough, although I thought it would have been the same film if you’d changed her name — but it didn’t engage me. Intellectually, I was glad that this kind of character existed for a younger audience, although I had some quibbles about the premise that kept me from enjoying it myself. […]
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As many viewers of the Enola Holmes movie did, I suspect (particularly given the prominent bullet on the cover of this book), I found myself curious about the book series that inspired it. There were six young adult novels, originally, written by Nancy Springer and published from 2007 to 2010. The series picked back up after the success of the movie, with Enola Holmes and the Black Barouche released last year. It opens with a prologue in which Sherlock Holmes, […]
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