Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales is a wildly successful series of historical stories told in graphic format. He’s also written short stories with the same style for various anthologies. In his 13th book in the series, he goes full tilt into the short story format with a series of creepy, gross, terrifying, and weird stories, most, but not all, centered around the United States.
The story is framed by his original narrators and characters from history—Nathan Hale, the hangman, the British provost, and, added in Major Impossible, Bill Richmond. Hale starts the story with his narrators peering at a sketch of the front cover, with the historical Nathan Hale explaining that “this book was created by hand by a real human artist.” There’s a humorous warning at the beginning about the scary content, then the framing plot opens.
The four narrators are sheltering from the rain under the gallows and decide to tell scary stories, starting with Captain Hale. Since it’s his thirteenth tale, he tells a scary story about a thirteen baby—the Jersey Devil. Black and white art, picked out with spots of green, illustrates the gruesome creature and its victims, ending with a short discussion on folklore and history. The provost demands a true story, so Hale begins “A Sip of Radiation” and the backgrounds glow a ghostly green as he tells the true story of Radithor, radium-infused water. The story jumps between Curie’s discovery of radium and the effects of Radithor on a welathy young man, Eben Byers, who died a gruesome death due to the “miracle cure” and ends with the radium girls and a creepy correlation between overuse of radium and the possible effects of unlimited internet use. The stories continue with the ghostly “The Demon Cat,” a grotesque tale from Edgar Allan Poe, “Hop-Frog,” and more. They include snapshots of US history, like a dream of Abraham Lincoln, a ghost story from the Civil War, and, of course, reappearances of the Jersey Devil.
Bill Richmond’s contribution, “The Boo Hag” is framed in a slightly darker green and features a cast of Black characters with creepy fleshless monsters, and placid, swirling waters in the South Carolina Sea Islands that hide dark secrets. Hale switches to a sharper contrast in “The Head in the Jar” which features the folk legend of Joaquin Murrieta. Stark white backgrounds on the small panels show the bare desert of the stockades and Gold Rush towns then switch to a mass of grays as Murrieta suffers and reenacts his vengeance in the dark of night.
The story ends with a transition that takes the readers to Denmark and introduces the berserkers of the title. Hale’s characters in this tale show sharply defined faces with pointed, craggy noses and long-haired, narrow faces contrasting with bulky, bearded warriors and fleshy tyrants. The story comes to a gory and dark end, featuring monstrous beasts and dense, packed panels showing heroes battling creatures in the dark. The stories return to the US and the true crime story of “The Butler Goes Berserk” featuring the mysterious crimes at Frank Lloyd Wright’s estate, Taliesin, committed by his butler, Julian Carlton. The collection is finished with a goofy story from the hangman, framed in glowing green and a final appearance of the Jersey Devil.
Hale ends the book with his usual meticulous research; in this case he adds additional information to the sources explaining which parts of each story are factual and which are folklore or legends. He also includes an encouragement for readers to explore short stories and some recommendations and sources.
This is a fitting transition to twelve wonderful historical graphic novels and hopefully marks the beginning of a new set of these histories. It’s also a fun way to get readers to try something new as well as stop to think a little more deeply about the media and stories they consume, since Hale includes lots of discussion points throughout the story as well as plenty of gore, monsters, and creepy happenings. A sure bet for middle school readers and anyone who enjoys creepy stories and interesting historical tidbits, this will delight both old fans of Hale and those new to his work.
Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales: Bones and Berserkers By Nathan Hale Abrams, 2025 ISBN: 9781419773204
NFNT Age Recommendation: Middle Grade (7-11), Teen (13-16), Tween (10-13)
Jade is a hot-tempered teenaged aristocrat in modern-day France. Her family has prestige but no money, so Jade’s mom keeps pushing her to cozy up to her wealthier peers—and, ideally, marry one of them. But Jade is focused on her secret passion: serious weightlifting.
In fact, Jade has already made so much progress with her lifting that it can be hard to hide her strength. Like when she gets mad at a boorish young rich boy at a party and sort of… launches him into the refreshments table. Society would never approve of her lifting weights, so Jade scrambles to explain her feat of strength before blurting out that she must have been overcome by… love!
Jade’s matchmaking mother is, of course, thrilled. She would be a lot less thrilled to know that the only boy Jade actually likes is a groom in a rich family’s stables—a groom with huge muscles, whose workout routine Jade is determined to discover. Not that Jade has time for romance anyway – she’s juggling friends and frenemies, high school and high society events, all while keeping her weightlifting a secret. But with multiple boys now pursuing her, romance may be in Jade’s future whether she’s ready for it or not.
Originally a successful French webcomic (Colossale), Colossal is a fun rom-com with a shojo manga vibe and an oddball premise that grabs your attention. Who would expect the feisty young socialite to be obsessed with weightlifting? But Jade’s passion for lifting isn’t just a weird quirk: the story weaves it into her backstory and the way she thinks. Jade can be impulsive and irritable, though she usually keeps her temper in check. Early in the book, she sometimes imagines using her huge strength to punch people she finds annoying, which feels a little extreme, but Jade stops doing it after the first few scenes. She often fumbles social situations, but she cares about her friends and doing the right thing.
The rest of the cast has plenty of personality, too. There’s thoughtful Alexander, the groom Jade likes, who is much more than an enviable set of muscles; his employer, a rich mean girl who is struggling to fit into high society; the handsome but unpleasant rich boy who becomes far more interested in Jade after she pitches him into a buffet; Jade’s new friend, a do-gooder who convinces Jade to help with a charity function; and a cute but ruthless boy who discovers Jade’s weightlifting secret and demands she train him. There are also various family members and Jade’s supportive and quirky weightlifting buddies.
The art style is grounded in realism but with touches of a more fanciful shojo manga style. It focuses on the characters, giving them expressive (sometimes comically exaggerated) faces and postures. Their outfits change frequently to fit the occasion as the plot romps through lively scenarios and settings: riding lessons from Alexander, a stag hunt, preparing and staging a costumed charity ball, working out at the gym, hosting a sleepover, and more. Backgrounds are mostly minimal, with just enough detail to establish the settings.
There is no nudity (though Alexander sometimes gets shirtless for non-sexual reasons), but there are a few references to sex and a few swear words. Mostly, though, the story is funny and silly, with some heartfelt moments and sweet emotional connections between characters. Hand it to fans of rom-coms and shojo manga who like the sound of the premise.
Colossal By Rutile Willcox Art by Diane Truc Abrams, 2026 ISBN: 9781419777813
Company Age Rating:Â 14-18
NFNT Age Recommendation: Older Teen (16-18), Teen (13-16) Creator Representation:Â French, Mauritian, Character Representation:Â French,
I’m always interested when Marvel brings out new all-ages, or child-friendly comics. While interest in the classic superheroes comes and goes over the years, there’s always at least a few elementary-age readers who want books about their favorite superheroes and finding titles that are age-appropriate can be a challenge, especially with today’s additional challenges. In 2023, they brought out a new trilogy of Spider-Man chapter book comics by Mike Maihack and they’re continuing the trend this year with a trilogy focused on Iron Man by Dean Hale and Douglas Holgate.
Iron Man loves saving the day and using his tech, but he does not love it when the phones aren’t working… and people start throwing around words like “magic” and “wizard!” When he encounters a strange, octopus-like alien monster, even his suit’s A.I., Franklin, can’t figure it out. Will he have to break down and call in, gulp, a wizard to help? Turns out he doesn’t need to call him – Doctor Strange is already here and ready to chat with the truly massive octopus-space monster that has appeared. But can the two work together to save the day – or will Iron Man let his devotion to tech and competitiveness get in the way of helping others?
Holgate’s art is crisp and contemporary. He keeps the familiar costumes of superheroes, from Iron Man’s suit to appearances by Ms. Marvel and Spider-Man. He even keeps Tony Stark’s iconic facial hair, but gives the art his own unique spin. Stark is a rather weedy little man, who strongly objects to Doctor Strange having a similar mustache. He neatly blends the tech of Iron Man’s suit with the gooey alien creature. With Iron Man in the grip of its green, dripping tentacles, starting at him with its giant, bulging red eye, the suit looks almost like a toy action figure. Readers will also notice a resemblance between the overlays and maps of Iron Man’s suit and the diagrams and flashing lights of Doctor Strange’s magic.
The creators have done a great job keeping the general spirit of the characters – Tony Stark comes off as a rather whiny and immature personality, which is very true to his character – while keeping the comic both appropriate and approachable for younger audiences. A brief resume of Iron Man’s history is included for kids who don’t know it and this will certainly interest them in exploring other characters, both old and new, like Doctor Strange and Ms. Marvel.
Iron Man Something Strange  Vol. 4 By Dean Hale Art by Douglas Holgate Abrams, 2025 ISBN: 9781419774591
NFNT Age Recommendation: Easy Readers (5-9), Middle Grade (7-11)
In 1978, North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il had South Korean actress Choi Eun-hee kidnapped because he loved her films. Spat’s graphic novel recounts this true story, interspersing it with a reimagining of a folktale that Korea’s first kaiju film, Pulgasari, was based on. This serves two purposes – it becomes an allegory for political strife in both Koreas, but its also a failed South Korean film that Kim wanted remade. To do so, he later captured Choi’s director ex-husband, Shin Sang-ok, as well.
This dual story-telling format means that Spat has quite a bit of ground to cover. This includes Choi and Shin’s first meeting, their romance, film careers, marital troubles, kidnapping, reuniting, and escape in less that 200 pages. It’s hardly enough time to sketch in details even if half the pages weren’t devoted to a folktale where a blacksmith’s daughter’s relatively carefree life is upset when the king kidnaps her father for forced labor. She must work with her fellow townspeople and some magical beings to rescue or avenge their loved ones.
However, the brevity works. There’s certainly enough story to fill volumes of nonfiction prose, but as an enticing introduction to Korean history and folklore, this shines. Readers are likely to finish this with many questions that are readily answerable with a bit of research. The downside is that occasionally the narrative feels abrupt as it switches between Choi and the pulgasari story. This is amplified by the spare art style. Sheree Domingo’s art style emphasizes emotion and vibe. For instance, Choi on a picnic with her children versus Choi as an actress talking to the press with Marilyn Monroe could almost be different graphic novels entirely – a great representation of the different eras of Choi’s life. The color palette consists mostly of blues and yellows, with occasional reds. Otherwise, it’s mostly black and white and contained in the expected panels. Domingo breaks free with phenomenal full page spreads where the passage of time occurs in torn off calendar pages or film cels.
There is something a little off-putting about the speech bubbles font in the English translation that isn’t present in either the Korean or German text. There is also a full-page panel featuring a protest that has footnoted translations placed rather awkwardly. The volume ends with a few pages of text that give a more succinct timeline, which is appreciated. It also may delight readers of a certain age since it mentions Choi and Shin’s involvement in the Three Ninjas movie franchise.
I happily recommend Madame Choi and the Monsters: A True Story for library collections as an interesting insight into Korean history. The kidnapping and strange behaviour of Kim Jong-Il is a great hook to draw readers in before giving them a greater insight into Korean culture and history. Aspects of Korea’s arts are trending these days with the love for K-pop, manhwa, and K-dramas continuing to rise, so that may translate into greater interest in Korea as a whole.
This title is geared towards adults not only because of the serious subject matter, but it does contain a couple panels of nudity in addition to domestic violence and infidelity. There is on page violence, but it is more disturbing for implications rather than the imagery.
Madame Choi and the Monsters: A True Story By Patrick Spat Art by Sheree Domingo Abrams, 2024 ISBN: 9781914224225Â
NFNT Age Recommendation: Adult (18+) Creator Representation:Â German, Character Representation:Â Korean, North Korean, South Korean,
There’s a trope that consists of teens discovering they have powers. This trope did great for Marvel’s X-Men back in the 1960’s, and it’s one that still gets brought out whenever there is a special boy or girl discovering they have a destiny and a decision as to what they’ll actually use their powers for. Will those powers help others or, perhaps unintentionally, harm them? That is the dilemma facing Rowan Sterling, the teen heroine of The Harrowing, written by Kristen Kiesling and illustrated by Rye Hickman.
Rowan lost her mother to very tragic circumstances, but her mother may have left the girl with a powerful legacy. Her first intimate moment with her best friend Lucas and his touching of her hand leads to her discovering that she is a Harrow, someone who can touch a person and see their future, particularly the violence they will commit. She goes to her father for help but is instead taken to a secret facility called Rosewood where she meets other Harrows who use their gifts to find potential murderers before they commit heinous crimes. She mostly enjoys her time at Rosewood, but she also discovers that something sinister is going on within Rosewood’s walls, one that might put Rowan’s love interest in danger.
Kiesling’s story focuses on Rowan’s experience not only discovering her powers but finding out secrets about her family. That focus allows the reader to see the entire story through Rowan’s eyes: experiencing the innocence of attempting to make a friendship more, discovering the frightening power that she has once she takes her gloves off, making friends at Rosewood, and discovering something shady is happening. The story might seem like a familiar one, but Rowan, being a three-dimensional and relatable character who is trying to discover who she is, keeps the story from seeming trite. Adding another layer to Kiesling’s coming-of-age tale is the moral questions it asks about predestination and the ethics of punishing someone before they commit a crime.
And speaking of Rowan’s eyes, they see a lot of death and Hickman does show the kind of violence that a Harrow might experience. What prevents this book from being thrown immediately into the adult collection is Hickman’s artistic choices. Characters look human but not overly realistic, and most of the colors are very muted grays until a splash of orange, red, or black appears on the page and immediately draws the reader’s eye. Hickman depicts death, sometimes very violent death, but the art also reduces the gore factor and leaves it more fitting for its teen audience.
The Harrowing is a good book for YA collections because of the themes of growing up and the burdens of having psychic powers. This book is an especially good fit for those teen patrons who like horror and action-adventure reads as well as those who like protagonists who are going through many of the same non-psychic trials of growing up.
The Harrowing By Kristen Kiesling Art by Rye Hickman Abrams, 2024 ISBN: 9781419760846
Publisher Age Rating:Â 14-18 years NFNT Age Recommendation: Adult (18+), Older Teen (16-18), Teen (13-16)
It might be hard to believe, but there was a time when Marvel superheroes weren’t necessarily everywhere. They couldn’t be streamed directly into your television any time you wanted. Many of these heroes may have already found their way onto lunchboxes and underwear, but the one place kids were guaranteed to find their adventures was on the comics rack. For a few cents from a hard-earned allowance, a kid could catch up on the latest adventures of Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four. This is the world Patrick McDonnell, creator of the comic strip Mutts, remembers fondly and his book The Super Hero’s Journey clearly shows his love for these heroes.
Doctor Doom has realized another nefarious plot that will bring him closer to his goal of world domination. Superheroes are too busy arguing with each other to stop Doom’s plans; things look dire. Luckily, Uatu the Watcher has decided he must no longer merely watch and must once again interfere (his usual M.O., honestly) in order to set things right, all while creator McDonnell illustrates what these comics truly mean to him and why they have stood the test of time.
This particular work is hard to categorize. If just looking at the overall plot, it seems like a book that could be stuck in a library’s children’s department until a well-meaning parent checks it out for their child to read. However, McDonnell is doing more than just reskinning a story and calling it his own. He’s incorporated biographical information about himself and how as a child he was drawn to these heroes. He’s brought in quotes from deeply spiritual writers like Eckart Tolle and Henry David Thoreau. This book is less a story on defeating Doctor Doom than it is defeating mental and spiritual obstacles that hold humanity back, an idea he claims that Marvel books illustrate. This deceptively simple story is a love letter to the Marvel Universe that also introduces a discussion of what these stories say about the human and superhuman condition.
The panels McDonnell chooses also illustrate that this is more than just another story where superheroes ban together to stop a greater threat (no offense to Thanos and Avengers: End Game). The panels incorporated into this book show his admiration for comic book luminaries like Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko. McDonnell also inserts his own drawings, which add a surprising humanity to these superhumans. Uatu goes from looking like an omniscient cosmic being to just a Good Samaritan who wants to help the people he’s found stranded on the road.
While this book would be ideal for any adult collection frequented by patrons who love not just the Marvel movies but the Marvel books of yore, it might also be a hard sell for some. Librarians may find they have to contextualize the book, explaining that, although McDonnell might be known for a comic strip with cute animals, this super hero’s journey is quite ambitious.
The Super Hero’s Journey By Patrick McDonnell Abrams, 2023 ISBN: 9781419769108
Publisher Age Rating:Â Preschool and up NFNT Age Recommendation: Adult (18+), Older Teen (16-18), Teen (13-16)
Oh, how tough life must’ve been back in the late 1700s! Our narrator, Abigail Adams, takes the reader through the history of democracy from as far back as we know to the present day.Â
We are taken on a journey through the beginning ideas of democracy from Ancient Egypt to its spread and rise in popularity throughout Europe. The book focuses on how democracy came to be how it is today in the United States. It chronologically explains not only major events and turning points, but highlights lots of interesting facts.
Author, Don Brown, doesn’t sugar coat this story either. It was clearly not a smooth, straight path to arrive where America is today. Examples include startling events such as the entire Roanoke colony failing to survive, and disappearing after being one of two colonies sent by King James I to colonize in Virginia. Meanwhile the colony in Jamestown barely survived and even had to resort to eating their deceased neighbors to prevent starving to death. It is not graphic or inappropriate for children, the author simply shares harsh facts of the challenges people faced. It ends on the note that things are not perfect and there are still areas in which America can improve to ensure a free and fair democracy for all.
Author and illustrator, Brown, has a simplistic drawing style that makes reading a densely fact filled book like this a lot more fun. Oftentimes, pictures add a lot of clarity for the reader, such as providing a map of the location discussed, or visually showing the struggle that people faced. This adds a lot of clarity for readers who could be unfamiliar with some of the vocabulary used. To end tis work, there is a timeline included, a short biography of Abigail Adams and a very well done section of references that include corresponding page numbers.Â
Overall, this is an awesome nonfiction graphic novel. It is packed with information, nicely illustrated and includes a full reference list at the end. I have never read a middle school graphic novel that has so much detail and is so well researched. I am really impressed with this book and look forward to learning more by reading the rest of the books in this series.
Big Ideas That Changed the World, vol 4: We The People Vol. 4 By Don Brown Abrams, 2022 ISBN: 9781419757389
Publisher Age Rating:Â 8-12
NFNT Age Recommendation: Middle Grade (7-11), Tween (10-13)
HelloLucky, a stationery company owned by sisters Sabrina and Eunice Moyle, has produced a small line of board books and picture books, distributed through Harry N. Abrams. The Cosmic Adventures of Astrid and Stella is the first of a series of graphic novels for beginning chapter readers. Although it’s a new format for them, their trademark color and cheerfulness can be seen throughout this peppy adventure.
Astrid, a unicorn with a pink mane and purple horn and Stella, a flying squirrel with a fantastic hairdo, are taking off for outer space! If they can get their rocket going. With the help of their robot, Bobo, and despite multiple snack and dance breaks, they manage to blast off into space! Their lighthearted adventures continue onto the planet Caturn, where the inhabitants are threatened by the evil Kittywonkus, and then the beaches of planet Bloop, where they meet a whale in need of some good advice.
The pages are liberally sprinkled with rainbows, stars, and bright colors while the text is positively peppered with exclamation points. They battle Kittywonkus with a hose and the threat of being petted “against the grain” and spend much of their time on Caturn cuddling the kitties. On their way to new adventures, they see what appears to be a parade of giant balloon-like space creatures and join them, finding themselves at the beaches on Bloop, a planet that looks like a giant striped beach ball. The two main characters bounce exuberantly through the story, dealing with frustrations and setback with humor and plenty of snacks and dance breaks.
At just over 100 pages and with the silly story and child-like characters, this is aimed at a young demographic, those ready to move from early readers to chapter books. However, it’s actually a fairly complex book to read. The narrative throws a lot of unexpected changes at the reader, as part of the silly, surreal feel of the story and the art is crowded with a wealth of shapes, colors, and odd characters. Readers who are still focusing on the mechanics of reading are likely to find this frustrating. However, those who are already fluent but prefer shorter, illustration-heavy stories and readers who want a quick, comforting and funny story, will enjoy this wacky adventure.
Libraries building their beginning graphic novel collections should consider this if they are looking for more silly stories for younger readers or have the budget to fill in with additional titles, having purchased core works like the Branches and Acorn series.
The Cosmic Adventures of Astrid and Stella Vol. 1 By Sabrina Moyle Art by Eunice Moyle Abrams Amulet, 2022 ISBN: 9781419757013
Whenever a movie adaptation of a popular book comes out, some people will bombard their social media with angry posts proclaiming that this movie will fall way short of the book’s genius. It’s a popular and well-worn refrain to say that the book is always better than the movie and people could spend all day compiling examples that prove the validity of this statement, but is the same true for the visual medium of graphic novels? Graphic novels tell a story visually, just as a movie does, through the use of comic panels and word balloons, and may sometimes even utilize sound effects like POW!, but is the retelling of a story through a visual medium automatically a lesser representation of the original work? The graphic novel adaptation of Joe Hill’s Rain, adapted by writer David M. Booher and illustrated by Zoe Thorogood is evidence to the contrary.Â
People who have read Joe Hill’s novella are familiar with the premise: One day, instead of water droplets falling from the sky, needle-like crystalline shards descend from the clouds, shredding any living thing that isn’t under cover. This day was supposed to be the best day of Honeysuckle Speck’s life, the day she moved in with her girlfriend Yolanda, but the rain came and punctured her happily ever after. After surviving the storm and burying her girlfriend, Honeysuckle goes on a quest that takes her outside of the city and under a sky that could any minute rain death upon her.Â
Joe Hill’s original story does what great apocalypse stories do best: it makes clear the always-present danger of this new status quo while showing moments of humanity from its characters. Honeysuckle has already had so much taken away from her that she makes the perfect protagonist that could survive a rain of crystal nails. Booher’s story doesn’t miss any of these fundamentals that made the original work. There seem to be some changes here and there, but they also weren’t drastic enough to change the story’s overall tone and conflict.Â
Does adding artwork to Hill’s tale add or subtract to what the original created? It’s one thing for Hill to describe with text what a rain of crystal nails would do to a human body, but Thorogood’s artwork shows how one can be visceral even without a slaughterhouse’s worth of blood. In apocalyptic television shows and movies like I am Legend and The Walking Dead, images of life after that apocalyptic event serve to constantly remind the viewer that the reliably civilized world these characters have occupied for a majority of their lives no longer exists, and Thorogood’s artwork is a constant reminder that every moment for Honeysuckle Speck and the other people occupying this universe is a fight to survive.Â
It’s possible that Joe Hill-written graphic novels like Locke & Key and Basketful of Heads are already in a library’s collection, and this book could fit right alongside it, as well as find its way into a collection on its own merit. By reimagining Joe Hill’s story for a new medium, Booher and Thorogood not only create a harrowing, heartfelt apocalyptic tale; they have also created an example of how telling a story through a visual medium doesn’t diminish it.
Joe Hill’s Rain By David M. Booher Art by Zoe Thorogood Abrams, 2022 ISBN: 9781534322691
Publisher Age Rating: 13 and up Related media: Book to Comic
NFNT Age Recommendation: Adult (18+), Older Teen (16-18) Creator Representation: Gay, Character Representation: Lesbian,
In the opening pages of The Realist, a young girl realizes that pet cats are not as compliant as stuffed animals and a high school boy experiences a class lecture from controversial Israeli professor Yeshayahu Leibowitz while simultaneously debating how to break up with his girlfriend. In this way, the commonplace and the existential entwine throughout the panels of this third collection of comics from Eisner winning cartoonist Asaf Hanuka.
Published by Archaia, The Realist: Last Day on Earth collects many of Hanuka’s weekly, autobiographical comic strips and cartoons, each delivered within a single page. The topics are wide ranging. As an Israeli artist grappling with life as a secular family amidst an often-religious society, Hanuka’s work deals a lot with politics, religion, and social issues. He recreates heated debates about Judaism with family members and displays consideration for the deeply engrained faith evident in the landscape around him, even as someone who does not necessarily believe the same. He reckons with a national situation rapidly changing, and often not for the better.
The collection never strays too far from the religious-political violence of Hanuka’s homeland, while some of his observations about modern politics find international relevance amidst the years of the Trump presidency and the coronavirus pandemic. Hanuka’s observations are sometimes precise and biting, other times esoteric, inviting deliberation rather than making a statement.
Though the global is a constant theme in The Realist, there is plenty of space in these pages for the personal as well. As Hanuka relates to his wife and raises two children, there are plenty of anecdotes about domestic life. He ruminates on trading bus trips for riding a scooter. He considers family vacations and what his life might have been if he had lived in a different city, a different country—the course of everything else spinning out from there. In the midst of it all, Hanuka contemplates what it means to be an artist, to be a human, in a world where such things are not always easy, nor do they always make sense. The resulting collection is global and personal, widely human and intimately personal to the man himself.
Depicting all these things, Hanuka’s work is realistically stylized, moving between grayscale and a wide range of colors, between carefully detailed scenes and characters navigating an uncertain void of possibility. The consistency of the visuals speaks to the creator’s depth of experience, deploying humor and exaggeration alongside more somber emotions as the scene requires. There is a solemn angst, a grief, running through much of the book, and Hanuka captures this quietly across the expressions on his characters faces, across each gesture and the sometimes fantastical scenarios and scenes he imagines to explain the concepts he is seeking to capture on the page.
In the end, I recognize that I am not the target audience for Hanuka’s work. Some of what he delivers here resonates clearly, while much of it is interesting but always with a level of inescapable distance from the lived reality he is describing to my vastly different life on another portion of the globe. Some readers will no-doubt enjoy crossing that divide for a time; others may struggle to remain engaged.
with the same style for various anthologies. In his 13th book in the series, he goes full tilt into the short story format with a series of creepy, gross, terrifying, and weird stories, most, but not all, centered around the United States.
her to cozy up to her wealthier peers—and, ideally, marry one of them. But Jade is focused on her secret passion: serious weightlifting.
and goes over the years, there’s always at least a few elementary-age readers who want books about their favorite superheroes and finding titles that are age-appropriate can be a challenge, especially with today’s additional challenges. In 2023, they brought out a new trilogy of Spider-Man chapter book comics by Mike Maihack and they’re continuing the trend this year with a trilogy focused on Iron Man by Dean Hale and Douglas Holgate.
In 1978, North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il had South Korean actress Choi Eun-hee kidnapped because he loved her films. Spat’s graphic novel recounts this true story, interspersing it with a reimagining of a folktale that Korea’s first kaiju film, Pulgasari, was based on. This serves two purposes – it becomes an allegory for political strife in both Koreas, but its also a failed South Korean film that Kim wanted remade. To do so, he later captured Choi’s director ex-husband, Shin Sang-ok, as well.
There’s a trope that consists of teens discovering they have powers. This trope did great for Marvel’s X-Men back in the 1960’s, and it’s one that still gets brought out whenever there is a special boy or girl discovering they have a destiny and a decision as to what they’ll actually use their powers for. Will those powers help others or, perhaps unintentionally, harm them? That is the dilemma facing Rowan Sterling, the teen heroine of The Harrowing, written by Kristen Kiesling and illustrated by Rye Hickman.
It might be hard to believe, but there was a time when Marvel superheroes weren’t necessarily everywhere. They couldn’t be streamed directly into your television any time you wanted. Many of these heroes may have already found their way onto lunchboxes and underwear, but the one place kids were guaranteed to find their adventures was on the comics rack. For a few cents from a hard-earned allowance, a kid could catch up on the latest adventures of Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four. This is the world Patrick McDonnell, creator of the comic strip Mutts, remembers fondly and his book The Super Hero’s Journey clearly shows his love for these heroes.
democracy from as far back as we know to the present day. 
proclaiming that this movie will fall way short of the book’s genius. It’s a popular and well-worn refrain to say that the book is always better than the movie and people could spend all day compiling examples that prove the validity of this statement, but is the same true for the visual medium of graphic novels? Graphic novels tell a story visually, just as a movie does, through the use of comic panels and word balloons, and may sometimes even utilize sound effects like POW!, but is the retelling of a story through a visual medium automatically a lesser representation of the original work? The graphic novel adaptation of 
In the opening pages of The Realist, a young girl realizes that pet cats are not as compliant as stuffed animals and a high school boy experiences a class lecture from controversial Israeli professor Yeshayahu Leibowitz while simultaneously debating how to break up with his girlfriend. In this way, the commonplace and the existential entwine throughout the panels of this third collection of comics from Eisner winning cartoonist Asaf Hanuka.
