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Saturday October 1, 2022

These fall graphic novels reflect the diversity of the genre

Meghan Collins Sullivan/NPR

Review

Book Reviews

These fall graphic novels reflect the diversity of the genre

October 1, 2022 • The comics renaissance continues this season with all sorts of great graphic novels in every genre imaginable — from Below Ambition to The Night Eaters to All Your Racial Problems Will Soon End.

Thursday September 22, 2022

With 'Ducks,' the creator of Hark! A Vagrant reveals her shadow side

Drawn and Quarterly

Review

Book Reviews

With 'Ducks,' the creator of Hark! A Vagrant reveals her shadow side

September 22, 2022 • Kate Beaton, the mind that gave us perky revolutionaries and a roly-poly Napoleon, now tells the darker side of her life story: how she suffered during the two years she worked in Alberta's oil field.

Thursday July 7, 2022

Creators on the Cusp: Meet Gina Gagliano, comics crusader

Some books Gina Gagliano worked on at Random House Graphic. Meghan Collins Sullivan/NPR hide caption

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Meghan Collins Sullivan/NPR

Book News & Features

Creators on the Cusp: Meet Gina Gagliano, comics crusader

July 7, 2022 • At a time when comics and graphic novels were seldom released by mainstream publishers, Gina Gagliano worked tirelessly to put the genre on the radar. Now she's head of the Boston Book Festival.

Wednesday May 4, 2022

Through art, 'Smahtguy' tells life story of former Rep. Barney Frank

Metropolitan Books

Review

Book Reviews

Through art, 'Smahtguy' tells life story of former Rep. Barney Frank

May 4, 2022 • Eric Orner's book isn't just a great story, it's an enveloping visual experience crafted by a terrific artist; even if one paged through it without looking at the words, it would be a good read.

Friday April 29, 2022

Creators on the Cusp: Meet Roye Okupe, father of African superheroes

Sunkanmi Akinboye & Godwin Akpan/Darkhorse

Author Interviews

Creators on the Cusp: Meet Roye Okupe, father of African superheroes

April 29, 2022 • Okupe incorporates African myth and history into his books –- his "YouNeek YouNiverse." Here he weighs in on creating Afrocentric comics for a global audience — and on his new book WindMaker Vol. 1.

Wednesday March 30, 2022

Creators on the Cusp: Mariko Tamaki makes and curates LGBTQ-focused graphic novels

Meghan Collins Sullivan/NPR

Author Interviews

Creators on the Cusp: Mariko Tamaki makes and curates LGBTQ-focused graphic novels

March 30, 2022 • Our Creators on the Cusp series brings you people revolutionizing the world of comics and graphic novels. Mariko Tamaki's won a slew of awards for graphic novels and has worked in mainstream comics.

Tuesday December 28, 2021

Graphic novel 'Tunnels,' about archaeology in Israel, excavates human motivations

Tunnels, by Rutu Modan Drawn and Quarterly hide caption

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Drawn and Quarterly

Books

Graphic novel 'Tunnels,' about archaeology in Israel, excavates human motivations

December 28, 2021 • Through her work, Israeli comics artist Rutu Modan suggests that only cartoon characters can possibly reflect the cartoonish levels of greed and self-deceit revealed as her tale unspools.

Thursday December 16, 2021

James Tynion continues to surprise in 'Something Is Killing the Children'

Scene from Something Is Killing the Children BOOM! Entertainment, Inc hide caption

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BOOM! Entertainment, Inc

Review

Book Reviews

James Tynion continues to surprise in 'Something Is Killing the Children'

December 16, 2021 • The monster-fighting series has become a huge hit since its 2019 launch, so Boom! is releasing the first 15 episodes in this deluxe hardcover.

Tuesday December 7, 2021

3 YA graphic novels that highlight the timelessness of teenage themes this autumn

Meghan Collins Sullivan/NPR

Review

Book Reviews

3 YA graphic novels that highlight the timelessness of teenage themes this autumn

December 7, 2021 • Among the flood of titles aimed at the high-school set this fall, a few stand apart for their unorthodox stories, deft artwork and potent themes.

Wednesday October 27, 2021

The Greek gods — they're just like us in 'Lore Olympus'

Del Rey

Review

Book Reviews

The Greek gods — they're just like us in 'Lore Olympus'

October 27, 2021 • Rachel Smythe's smash hit webcomic, out now in graphic novel form, transports the follies of the Greek pantheon — particularly Hades and Persephone — to a modern setting of suits and sports cars.

Sunday July 25, 2021

New Graphic Novel 'Celestia' Wanders An Earth That's No Longer Home

Fantagraphics

Review

Book Reviews

New Graphic Novel 'Celestia' Wanders An Earth That's No Longer Home

July 25, 2021 • Manuele Fior's latest, Celestia, is set on a far-future Earth, wracked by climate change — but the terrors of flood and fire stay under the surface of his dreamy, hazy, philosophical story.

Sunday May 30, 2021

A Stunning Graphic Novel Uncovers The History Of Enslaved Women Who Fought Back

Simon and Schuster

Review

Book Reviews

A Stunning Graphic Novel Uncovers The History Of Enslaved Women Who Fought Back

May 30, 2021 • Wake, by Rebecca Hall and Hugo Martínez, blends passion and fact to set a new standard for illustrated history: Not just action scenes of daring, desperate women, but the struggle to make them known.

Thursday May 27, 2021

Legendary Manga Artist Kentaro Miura, Creator Of 'Berserk,' Has Died

Dark Horse

Book News & Features

Legendary Manga Artist Kentaro Miura, Creator Of 'Berserk,' Has Died

May 27, 2021 • Miura was one of the most influential manga artists in the field; his signature series, Berserk, ran for over 30 years and melded sword fights, supernatural elements and knotty moral dilemmas.

Sunday May 2, 2021

Comics Hero Barry Windsor-Smith Is Back, And He's Brought Something Monstrous

Fantagraphics

Author Interviews

Comics Hero Barry Windsor-Smith Is Back, And He's Brought Something Monstrous

May 2, 2021 • Windsor-Smith is known for his work on Conan the Barbarian and lots of X-Men titles. Now, he's back with a passion project about a man subjected to ghastly secret government experiments.

Wednesday March 17, 2021

An Author Replies To The Unspeakable In Her 'Elegy' For Lynching Victim Mary Turner

Elegy for Mary Turner: An Illustrated Account of a Lynching, by Rachel Marie-Crane Williams Verso hide caption

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Verso

Review

Book Reviews

An Author Replies To The Unspeakable In Her 'Elegy' For Lynching Victim Mary Turner

March 17, 2021 • Using original illustrations, archival documents and handwritten text, Rachel Marie-Crane Williams memorializes one black woman, and 10 men, who were killed by white residents in Georgia in 1918.

Sunday February 28, 2021

King Cat John Porcellino On Comics, Zines And Trying To Make The World Less Crazy

Self-portrait of John Porcellino Copyright John Porcellino/Courtesy of Drawn & Quarterly hide caption

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Copyright John Porcellino/Courtesy of Drawn & Quarterly

Author Interviews

King Cat John Porcellino On Comics, Zines And Trying To Make The World Less Crazy

February 28, 2021 • Cartoonist and zine-maker John Porcellino has been a hugely influential figure in the world of zine-making. As several of his classic books are reissued, we talk to him about his life and work

Sunday January 10, 2021

To Adapt 'After The Rain,' Artists Cross All Kinds Of Boundaries

Abrams ComicArts - Megascope

Review

Book Reviews

To Adapt 'After The Rain,' Artists Cross All Kinds Of Boundaries

January 10, 2021 • A new graphic novel adaptation of Nnedi Okorafor's story "After the Rain" sets straightforward art against scattered, skewed panels to produce a sense of primal struggle between order and chaos.

Saturday October 31, 2020

Inks And Colors Rescue 'Blue In Green' From Plodding Plotting

Image Comics

Review

Book Reviews

Inks And Colors Rescue 'Blue In Green' From Plodding Plotting

October 31, 2020 • Writer Ram V takes on a classic music-biz myth in his new graphic novel: The devilish crossroads deal. But it's illustrator Anand RK's loose, jazzy, clever art that really makes this book sing.

Thursday October 15, 2020

Underestimating These 'Maids' Is A Fatal Mistake

Fantagraphics

Review

Book Reviews

Underestimating These 'Maids' Is A Fatal Mistake

October 15, 2020 • Katie Skelly's uncanny new graphic novel retells the real-life story of sisters Christine and Léa Papin, who were working as maids when they brutally murdered their employers.

Sunday September 13, 2020

'The Contradictions' Chronicles A Classic College Experience

Drawn & Quarterly

Review

Book Reviews

'The Contradictions' Chronicles A Classic College Experience

September 13, 2020 • Sophie Yanow's new graphic novel chronicles her time studying abroad in Paris; it's not suspenseful or eventful, but Yanow's combination of perception and humility makes for an engaging read.

Sunday August 16, 2020

Feeling Deluged By News? Let 'The Daughters Of Ys' Wash Over You

First Second

Review

Book Reviews

Feeling Deluged By News? Let 'The Daughters Of Ys' Wash Over You

August 16, 2020 • M.T. Anderson's new graphic novel — with gorgeous art by Jo Rioux — adapts the old legend of the drowned city of Ys, giving it better, fuller female characters and a timely environmental message.

Wednesday July 15, 2020

With A Glug Of Potion And A New Translation, 'Asterix' Aims To Conquer America

Papercutz

Review

Book Reviews

With A Glug Of Potion And A New Translation, 'Asterix' Aims To Conquer America

July 15, 2020 • Europe's favorite cartoon Gaul has bopped plenty of Romans, but he's never really hit big in America. A rebooted version of Asterix, with a new translation from the French, is aimed at changing that.

Saturday April 18, 2020

'Apsara Engine' Doesn't Break The Graphic Novel Rules — It Ignores Them

The Feminist Press at CUNY

Review

Book Reviews

'Apsara Engine' Doesn't Break The Graphic Novel Rules — It Ignores Them

April 18, 2020 • Bishakh Som's new comics collection is uncanny and hard to categorize — science-fictiony, mythic and humanistic, without making any particular assumptions about where humans as a species are going.

Sunday April 5, 2020

Grim Reaper Comedy 'Melancholia' Is Surprisingly Uplifting

Dark Horse

Review

Books

Grim Reaper Comedy 'Melancholia' Is Surprisingly Uplifting

April 5, 2020 • Nicholas Gurewitch scratched images into clay with a stylus for this tale of Death's visit to an analyst — who helps him come to terms with Death Jr.'s lack of interest in the family business.

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