Sisters, by Raina Telgemeier

Sisters by Raina Telgemeier

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Older sisters everywhere will nod their head in understanding and solidarity as they read Telgemeier's autobiograpical graphic account of her childhood relationship with her younger sister, a sort of follow-up to Smile. The story moves between a family road trip from San Francisco to Colorado in Raina's early teen years and various points in the sisters' history prior to that journey. Like many such relationships, the Telgemeiers' involves conflict, disappointment, frustration, but also occasional flashes of tenderness and understanding. At the same time we see the larger issues facing them: their parents' troubled relationship, the addition of a younger brother, the younger girl's prickly personality. Sisters makes me want to sit and sip cocktails with Telgemeier while we trade stories about our horrible and wonderful younger siblings.

Disclosure: I received an electronic ARC of the book from the publisher for review purposes.



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Above the Dreamless Dead

Above the Dreamless Dead: World War I in Poetry and Comics by Chris Duffy

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I admit that I don't read a lot of poetry: I usually have to read it aloud or in my head, so it's slow going. Also, I have a fear of not getting The Point based on years of missing the fact that the tree in Stanza 11 represented the writer's angst about his lover's shoes during literature courses. Thus, I was a little reticent going into Above the Dreamless Dead (FYI, I received an e-galley from the publisher for free). But the combination of the graphics and the poetry, instead of adding a layer of obfuscation and interpretation, helped clarify the authors' intent and bring it to lifhee for me.

The verse here comes from the "trench poets" of World War I, with a few popular songs of the era thrown in. Appearing in time for the 100th anniversary of the formal start of the war, the book depicts the horror of what many consider the first modern war: the squalor in the trenches, the horror of gas attacks, the gallows humor of the troops, and the lasting aftermath for those who survived. The black-and-white artwork complements the poetry well rather than drawing too much attention; it's simultaneously beautiful and horrible. Artists' notes at the end of the book provide insight into why certain design elements were incorporated or why a particular style was chosen. (I missed these until after I'd gone through the poems, so I'll have to re-read the book; I'll probably get the print version so I can move back and forth between the notes and the poems more easily.)

AtDD is a great example of how graphic art and words can be paired to create a work that is greater than the sum of its parts.






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Hidden

Hidden: A Child's Story of the Holocaust by Loïc Dauvillier

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Who knew that an adorable book about the Holocaust was possible?

In this sweet-yet-heartbreaking graphic novel, we travel back in time as grandmother Dounia tells little Elsa about her life after the German occupation of France began during World War II. Dounia’s happy life of school, friends, and a crush on a boy changed overnight. The basic elements of the story are familiar. First, come the stars sewn onto clothing and the friends and teachers who suddenly shun Dounia. Her parents try to soften the blow by explaining that they have become a family of sheriffs, hence the yellow stars they must wear. Then, the pounding on the doors in the middle of the night. From there, the story portrays the brighter side of humanity. Hidden by her parents in the false bottom of an armoire before the soldiers burst in, Dounia is rescued and spends the next years being sheltered until the end of the war. I’ll leave the rest of the story for readers to discover.

This child’s-eye view of the French occupation is a perspective I’ve rarely seen. Here the approach works, mixing the horrifying with the bittersweet through the filters of childhood. The artwork--full of somber blues and browns--depicts Charlie Brown-like characters with heads disproportionate to the bodies, again reminding the reader that this story, despite the deadly serious themes, belongs to a child. I would totally give this book to one of my elementary school niecelets following a discussion of what transpired during WWII.




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Saints, by Gene Yang

Saints by Gene Luen Yang

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Saints is a fabulous mirror to Boxers, depicting the side of the same events from the perspective of a Chinese Christian girl, Boxers' girl with a face like an opera mask. That said, this isn't a pretty story and the only saint here is Joan of Arc, who makes periodic hallucinatory appearances much like the gods and goddesses in Boxers do. One has to wonder how the events of the conflict would have unfolded if not for the superstition, ignorance, racism, and hatred on both sides. Or even the misery on a micro-level, such as a grandfather who declares a child as a cast-off, people who make assumptions about others' activities, and religious nutbags and zealots a-gogo. Despite all this, these books are incredibly written and drawn, providing a worthy container for the content.



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Boxers, by Gene Yang

Boxers by Gene Luen Yang

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Going into "Boxers," I knew next to nothing about the Boxer rebellion (thank you crappy education). I had seen mention of it once or twice (including in the book "Midnight in Peking") but was short on the details. So, I can't speak to the historical accuracy of the book, although in a story such as this what "history" says and the reality may not be particularly close.

That said, I think that Yang does a bang-up job distilling the history into a tale about real people's lives. We follow the Righteous brothers from their start in one small village until the aftermath in Beijing. The artwork shows the duality of their story. On one hand, you've got the cartoonish peasants in panels of browns and grays, with our hero being a sort of Joe China. The other side of the coin shows the lavishly drawn and brightly colored gods into which the brothers (and their supporters) believed themselves transformed during battle. We see it all from the brothers' perspective: the training, the journey, and the slaughters. I could understand why the Boxers felt justified in what they were doing. Doesn't make the whole killing-women-and-children thing less horrible, but you see their perspective (fueled by superstition, religion, and probably opium).

Interestingly, Boxers is half of a pair of graphic novels, with the other (Saints) presenting the rebellion from the perspective of a Christian Chinese girl who we briefly meet in Boxers. I think it's a great idea on Yang's part, to tell the story of a place and time in history whose interpretation depends mainly on which side the interpreter was on.

Disclosure: I received an e-copy of the book via NetGalley.





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Smile, by Raina Telgemaier

Smile by Raina Telgemeier

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Having nearly knocked two teeth out about a month into my 7th grade year, I empathized with poor Raina more than the average reader (happily, after being moved back and splinted into place for a couple months, my teeth survived). A heartfelt, well-drawn (figuratively and literally) story.



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Neonomicon, by Alan Moore

Neonomicon by Alan Moore

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I haven't read any Lovecraft, so I can't speak to how this story compares to the original. However, despite being a brutal read, it did have its moments. I particularly enjoyed the "meta" aspects of it: the little bits of commentary about Lovecraft in a story riffing off of Lovecraft, the mention of plush Cthulu's, etc. And the illustrations are fabulous, with a wonderful level of detail.



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Hark, A Vagrant

Hark! A Vagrant by Kate Beaton

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Intelligent, wry humor based on history and literature and great illustration that includes the occasional ass joke. What's not to love?



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