Independent Opinions, News, and Reviews of Graphic Novels, Manga, and Comic Books
It’s been a while since I’ve caught up with the mismatched couple, school prince Yamato and shy Mei, at the center of Say I Love You. I liked the emotions she expressed as she began to understand the value of friendship and feeling loved, but I wondered how the series could continue for this long (14 volumes in Japan, 11 so far here) with just them at the center. That’s a hint, since the series doesn’t stay focused on just […]
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Donovan Day explores a music fan’s biggest fantasy in Get Back: Imagine… Saving John Lennon. The teenage Lenny, named after John Lennon, is staying with his grandpa in New York City. He meets a beautiful girl named Yoko while busking in the subway. Then he discovers his iPod, loaded with a ton of classic rock songs, lets him time travel back to the time of the tune he’s listening to. As he and Yoko explore this ability, we find out […]
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Friday Barnes, Girl Detective by R.A. Spratt is an amusing blend of boarding school antics and mystery-solving. Friday, as the overlooked daughter of supersmart academics having to find her own way, reminded me a bit of Meg, from A Wrinkle in Time. Only instead of science fiction, this series is based in detection, starring a pint-size Sherlock. Friday “largely raised herself” and “found it was best to go unnoticed as much as possible.” She reads widely, including detective fiction, and […]
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This month’s Diamond Previews catalog, used by comic shops and their customers to determine what to buy in the comic months, has the theme “How to Draw” to “pay tribute to the DIY spirit”. That means a number of publishers are reoffering books about making comics. Here are some I recommend you should be aware of, complete with this month’s ordering codes. The DC Comics Guides to Creating Comics — Writing (JAN16 1915), Pencilling (JAN16 1916), Inking (JAN16 1917), Coloring […]
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Coming out in March is a new miniseries written by the talented Roger Langridge (Abigail and the Snowman) that takes on a particular interest of mine: the world of Sherlock Holmes. Illustrated by Andy Hirsch (Adventure Time), The Baker Street Peculiars has the premise that Holmes is a sham. (So not for those humorless Sherlockians!) He’s been written all this time by Mrs. Hudson, using the pen name of John Watson (because, of course, male writers are treated better — […]
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The concept of Shuriken and Pleats — schoolgirl ninja — is short but interesting. Sadly, the execution is slow and obvious. Author Hino Matsuri is best known for the popular Vampire Knight series, which I don’t remember being this patchy in plotting. The young female ninja is Mikage, whose older master wants to adopt her and take her back to Japan with him. There, she plans to enroll in school, but she quickly finds herself protecting a younger man, part […]
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To celebrate their 40th anniversary, independent and Eurocomix publisher NBM has unveiled a new logo, shown here. They’ve changed their name from “NBM Publishing” to “NBM Graphic Novels”, reflecting their speciality, and dissolved their ComicsLit imprint, moving the titles to the main brand. The adult graphic novel imprint, Eurotica, will remain independent and separate. From the press release, in which NBM Publisher and founder Terry Nantier discusses the changes, “After many milestones over these decades helping to open up the […]
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I’ve been covering Mixtape, the slice-of-life indy comic written by Brad Abraham with art by Gervasio and Jok, for four years now. The first issue came out in April 2012 from Ardden Entertainment. As I said then, It’s the story of a group of friends, about to be high school seniors, and the choices they make. … The title emphasizes how important music is to these kids. This is soap opera from the nostalgic perspective of the older and wiser, […]
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