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I was in middle school when the CIRQUE DU FREAK craze hit and I let it pass me by. However, a friend recommended the series to me recently, saying it influenced him a lot. So, I picked it up.
And, boy, do I have absolutely zero regrets.
This is amazing! Like, but seriously and really. The language is simple (and includes frequent explanation points), so it's obviously meant for a younger audience, but, hot damn, does a lot come across with those simple words. Here I was, an author, thinking I had to speak Shakespearean to convey anything, but the beauty, horror, and emotional connection that comes across Shan's pages are incredible.
Plus! The characters! Darren is a young boy, shockingly emotional mature, AND allowed to be emotional, the author having him cry at several points. In addition to being an excellent foil, Steve Leopard wants to Fight Everything, which reminds me a certain other star and stripe-y Steve. Annie is an on point little sister and I respect the heck out of her. Crepsley tries to come across as scary, but I can read between the lines to how he is an actual undead dork dad. Because who else sulks in the bushes for two weeks about a twelve year old who not only stole his spider, but is getting on really well with his spider. For a horror book, I laughed a lot.
I would recommend CIRQUE DU FREAK: A LIVING NIGHTMARE to everyone on the planet over age eight. I already have the second book and I'm so excited.
And, boy, do I have absolutely zero regrets.
This is amazing! Like, but seriously and really. The language is simple (and includes frequent explanation points), so it's obviously meant for a younger audience, but, hot damn, does a lot come across with those simple words. Here I was, an author, thinking I had to speak Shakespearean to convey anything, but the beauty, horror, and emotional connection that comes across Shan's pages are incredible.
Plus! The characters! Darren is a young boy, shockingly emotional mature, AND allowed to be emotional, the author having him cry at several points. In addition to being an excellent foil, Steve Leopard wants to Fight Everything, which reminds me a certain other star and stripe-y Steve. Annie is an on point little sister and I respect the heck out of her. Crepsley tries to come across as scary, but I can read between the lines to how he is an actual undead dork dad. Because who else sulks in the bushes for two weeks about a twelve year old who not only stole his spider, but is getting on really well with his spider. For a horror book, I laughed a lot.
I would recommend CIRQUE DU FREAK: A LIVING NIGHTMARE to everyone on the planet over age eight. I already have the second book and I'm so excited.
Hot Comb was another book I've been meaning to borrow from the library for awhile and finally carpe diem-ed myself into it now that my local branch is closing for a year of renovations. What I found was an opportunity, as a white woman, to peek into the relationship between black women and their hair.
Ebony Flowers' collection of short comics tells different stories of different women, but each are piercing, sweet, and heartfelt, as much full of melancholy and mourning as joy and love. I knew natural hair was a big issue, but I've never before felt the emotional undercurrent of that. Colonialism continues to suck and take away far too much. Let women and their hair be.
Ebony Flowers' collection of short comics tells different stories of different women, but each are piercing, sweet, and heartfelt, as much full of melancholy and mourning as joy and love. I knew natural hair was a big issue, but I've never before felt the emotional undercurrent of that. Colonialism continues to suck and take away far too much. Let women and their hair be.
LaGuardia is another comic that I've been meaning to read for awhile and I finally got my butt in gear since my local library branch is closing down for renovations. Nnedi Okorafor is one of those authors I watch from afar with wide-eyed wonder, and LaGuardia only confirmed that wonder. Gotdamn.
According to Okorafor's afterward, the idea for LaGuardia has been brewing in her mind since 2009, and the premise has only grown more relevant. After aliens make first contact in Lagos, humans react as humans do. Some are overjoyed and welcoming, adapting to the new technologies and reaching out to their new neighbors. Others are expanding their racist/nationalist ideologies to include extraterrestrials. Dr. Future Nwafor Chuwuebuka works at a clinic to treat floral species, and her husband Citizen is an activist for a separate "pure" Biafra nation. When a sapient plant named Letme Live begs a pregnant Future to save them from soldiers in the flora wars, she flies off to New York, days before an alien travel ban goes into effect and without telling Citizen. Immigration and border politics gain a whole new literal reality here.
LaGuardia is science fiction at its best. Okorafor takes the abstract vagaries of politics and grounds it back into an entertaining, nuanced tangible. With the heavy amount of world-building, I thought I would be scrambling, but quiet, feeling moments abound in all the moving and shaking. The story asks who are our people and makes us question what defines humanity, and does it all with great artistic flair.
There are so many good things going on in this story that there's no way I can describe them all. The plot, the characters, the art, the issues: I fell in love with comics all over again. Treat yourself to LaGuardia.
According to Okorafor's afterward, the idea for LaGuardia has been brewing in her mind since 2009, and the premise has only grown more relevant. After aliens make first contact in Lagos, humans react as humans do. Some are overjoyed and welcoming, adapting to the new technologies and reaching out to their new neighbors. Others are expanding their racist/nationalist ideologies to include extraterrestrials. Dr. Future Nwafor Chuwuebuka works at a clinic to treat floral species, and her husband Citizen is an activist for a separate "pure" Biafra nation. When a sapient plant named Letme Live begs a pregnant Future to save them from soldiers in the flora wars, she flies off to New York, days before an alien travel ban goes into effect and without telling Citizen. Immigration and border politics gain a whole new literal reality here.
LaGuardia is science fiction at its best. Okorafor takes the abstract vagaries of politics and grounds it back into an entertaining, nuanced tangible. With the heavy amount of world-building, I thought I would be scrambling, but quiet, feeling moments abound in all the moving and shaking. The story asks who are our people and makes us question what defines humanity, and does it all with great artistic flair.
There are so many good things going on in this story that there's no way I can describe them all. The plot, the characters, the art, the issues: I fell in love with comics all over again. Treat yourself to LaGuardia.
Allie Brosh and her MS paint art are a part of Internet history, so like a good kiddo, I pay homage to my elders by reading Hyperbole and a Half.
While some essays, like the Goose story or the singing duck, are uproariously funny, the more serious comic essays really hit home for me. As someone with depression and anxiety, a lot of Brosh's struggles were all too real. I applaud Brosh's candor. I don't know if I'll ever be able to publicly expose such an unflinching critique of the self as she does. This book took so much honesty and bravery.
I can't decide whether I recommend Hyperhole and a Half. Yes, it's a good comic, but by the end I was left alone with some uncomfortable reminders of the harsh brutality in my existence. To each their own.
While some essays, like the Goose story or the singing duck, are uproariously funny, the more serious comic essays really hit home for me. As someone with depression and anxiety, a lot of Brosh's struggles were all too real. I applaud Brosh's candor. I don't know if I'll ever be able to publicly expose such an unflinching critique of the self as she does. This book took so much honesty and bravery.
I can't decide whether I recommend Hyperhole and a Half. Yes, it's a good comic, but by the end I was left alone with some uncomfortable reminders of the harsh brutality in my existence. To each their own.
[Review from the author]
I started writing Moonrise to challenge myself, and I'm happy with how I rose to the challenge. I'd never coded anything before last November, and now my first game is out. Thank you to my partner, my friends, my family, and the LGBTQ Twitter community for your unwavering support during this process. To all the queer femmes out there, werewolf or no, this game is for you. Enjoy!
I started writing Moonrise to challenge myself, and I'm happy with how I rose to the challenge. I'd never coded anything before last November, and now my first game is out. Thank you to my partner, my friends, my family, and the LGBTQ Twitter community for your unwavering support during this process. To all the queer femmes out there, werewolf or no, this game is for you. Enjoy!
Can't We Talk about Something More Pleasant? is the final graphic novel I've been putting off reading forever, and now I'm rushing to finish before my local library branch closes for a year of renovations. Detailing the journey towards death for Chast's parents, it's a complex, masterful work. The comic medium is at its best, here.
The sharp-eyed, prolific Sam Quixote has written such a wonderful review that there's not much I can add. The Chast family's story doesn't shy away from the sordid, messy details of dying, but it relates the trials with dignity and grace for its subjects. There's a wonderful sense of balance and realness to the work.
The most heartbreaking moment is not when the parents die. No, no, the moments that broke me were when reality resisted the Hollywood-enforced narrative of dying. There was no great reconciliation. There was little beauty. The painful process was drawn out, to the point that Chast bemoans that if her mother doesn't die soon, they will go bankrupt. It is so expensive to die in America, though I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. The tension between Chast's "good daughter" ideal and the brutal, messy reality wasn't glossed over. We'd like to think that, when our parents need us, we will be able to take them in and lovingly nurse them with competence and comfort. But society, family dynamics, and relationships aren't necessarily built that way, which is why nursing homes exist.
Overall, I'm glad I read this book. I feel forewarned about things, and that means I can prepare for them. I could have no better guide than Roz Chast to do this learning.
The sharp-eyed, prolific Sam Quixote has written such a wonderful review that there's not much I can add. The Chast family's story doesn't shy away from the sordid, messy details of dying, but it relates the trials with dignity and grace for its subjects. There's a wonderful sense of balance and realness to the work.
The most heartbreaking moment is not when the parents die. No, no, the moments that broke me were when reality resisted the Hollywood-enforced narrative of dying. There was no great reconciliation. There was little beauty. The painful process was drawn out, to the point that Chast bemoans that if her mother doesn't die soon, they will go bankrupt. It is so expensive to die in America, though I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. The tension between Chast's "good daughter" ideal and the brutal, messy reality wasn't glossed over. We'd like to think that, when our parents need us, we will be able to take them in and lovingly nurse them with competence and comfort. But society, family dynamics, and relationships aren't necessarily built that way, which is why nursing homes exist.
Overall, I'm glad I read this book. I feel forewarned about things, and that means I can prepare for them. I could have no better guide than Roz Chast to do this learning.
"We shouldn't have let him go so easy. We should have locked him up, or, better yet, killed him. [...] to my very great regret, I know the man. He may seem foolish and laughable, but he is a calamity. Strange powers gather around his head, breathe evil luck into his empty chest. He has no care for his place in this realm, and he doesn't respect anything but himself! Even if you say there's no kind of way, the plan is airtight and the bonds are unbreakable, John Constantine will still prove you wrong. He'll find the angle we've overlooked, because we want things. John Constantine, he doesn't want anything, but he wants it forever and all to himself." --Papa Midnite
I begin with this very long quote because I like it. Papa's got John summed up nice and neat.
My partner was surprised I picked up the second volume of Constantine: The Hellblazer, since I had a rough go of the first one. In my defense, did you know that libraries have books in them, just laying around, and they're FREE? Fascinating.
Volume two picks up three weeks after the first left off. John and Oliver are dating. Oliver is hilariously blasé about the magic thing, and John hasn't met the kids yet. Oliver's unimpressed reaction to Swamp Thing in the shower is juxtaposed to his utter horror of "is that an answering machine???" It is a delight. In non-domestic news, we find out who was behind all that background craziness from last volume: the demon Neuron, who has stolen Papa Midnite's business empire and wants to set New York City up as a fast-track to hell.Joke's on him though because New York is already hell.
With this volume, I think I found my footing more in John Constantine's character. He's an idiot, but he's a very powerful, heart-of-gold-with-a-side-of-black-lung idiot. As Oliver puts it, he tries to do the right thing, but the right thing is hard to do. Sometimes there are no good choices. The art in the previous volume was spectacular, and this one takes it up another notch to spell-binding. Like, can I have that as a poster? Damn.
In contrast to John's clearer character, the plot got (un)holy. In the first volume, John's reaction to the tame demon Blythe confused me, and this volume's continued antagonism confused me more. A lot of the ending didn't make sense, from what I know of the DC universe from Sandman. Demons can't imprison souls higgly piggly, and the breaking of lore made the resulting queer tragedy seem all the more shoe-horned in. Like the author got three-quarters into the story and declared, "oh wait, we can't let John have nice things! What's a good deux ex machina?!" It might have been better if Oliver was more fleshed out. As is, his character does a 180° so fast my head spun.
Overall, Constantine: The Hellblazer was a middle-of-the-road experience. It was kind of pleasant, in the way having fish nibble the dead skin off your ticklish feet is kind of pleasant, somewhat spine-tingling, but also irritating. That's probably the only kind of joy DC Comics allows their gritty heroes to have.
I begin with this very long quote because I like it. Papa's got John summed up nice and neat.
My partner was surprised I picked up the second volume of Constantine: The Hellblazer, since I had a rough go of the first one. In my defense, did you know that libraries have books in them, just laying around, and they're FREE? Fascinating.
Volume two picks up three weeks after the first left off. John and Oliver are dating. Oliver is hilariously blasé about the magic thing, and John hasn't met the kids yet. Oliver's unimpressed reaction to Swamp Thing in the shower is juxtaposed to his utter horror of "is that an answering machine???" It is a delight. In non-domestic news, we find out who was behind all that background craziness from last volume: the demon Neuron, who has stolen Papa Midnite's business empire and wants to set New York City up as a fast-track to hell.
With this volume, I think I found my footing more in John Constantine's character. He's an idiot, but he's a very powerful, heart-of-gold-with-a-side-of-black-lung idiot. As Oliver puts it, he tries to do the right thing, but the right thing is hard to do. Sometimes there are no good choices. The art in the previous volume was spectacular, and this one takes it up another notch to spell-binding. Like, can I have that as a poster? Damn.
In contrast to John's clearer character, the plot got (un)holy. In the first volume, John's reaction to the tame demon Blythe confused me, and this volume's continued antagonism confused me more. A lot of the ending didn't make sense, from what I know of the DC universe from Sandman. Demons can't imprison souls higgly piggly, and the breaking of lore made the resulting queer tragedy seem all the more shoe-horned in. Like the author got three-quarters into the story and declared, "oh wait, we can't let John have nice things! What's a good deux ex machina?!" It might have been better if Oliver was more fleshed out. As is, his character does a 180° so fast my head spun.
Overall, Constantine: The Hellblazer was a middle-of-the-road experience. It was kind of pleasant, in the way having fish nibble the dead skin off your ticklish feet is kind of pleasant, somewhat spine-tingling, but also irritating. That's probably the only kind of joy DC Comics allows their gritty heroes to have.