P. T. Barnum, prince of humbug, has fascinated the public since the mid-19th century. This story, set in 1857 during Barnum’s height of fame, reveals the wonder and some of the contempt in which Barnum’s public held him. The protagonist is a young photographer’s assistant who has scorned his family’s business of clock making to embrace this technology of the future. Of course, when Barnum sits for a portrait, the young man’s life turns on its head as he tries to find a way to impress the great showman.
This story gives an interesting peek into Barnum’s New York museum and it would be a good introductory text before a class’s unit on The Great and Only Barnum: The Tremendous, Stupendous Life of Showman P. T. Barnum (prose biography by Candace Fleming, illustrated by Ray Fenwick, published by Schwartz & Wade) or other Barnum biography. There are many historical details that add a feeling of accuracy to the story that I appreciate, such as the fluttering attentions of the bearded ladies and the brief graphic tour of Barnum’s museum, but the story falls short of what one might expect from a Barnum biography. I did not feel much of an emotional connection with any of the characters, many of whom were manipulative or conniving in one way or another. Yet it was a quick read that gave some insight into the era and Barnum himself.
The art is very old school comic style, just straight black and white lines. This gives the visuals a gritty feel, which, while mimicing our impressions of the times fairly well, can be harsh with many dark scenes. The darkness is alleviated a bit within Barnum’s masterpiece museum, but Barnum’s work was all about flash and pizzazz and this book lacks the jazziness of what I imagine Barnum’s world would have been like.
Overall, this book is a good effort, but it misses the certain spark I would expect from a Barnum tale. Quite a bit of imagination went into the story, but it felt like most of it came from Barnum himself, with his sideshow acts and clockwork people. Still, there are some fun bits and creative storytelling elements with plenty of intrigue to keep things moving along.
The Peerless Prodigies of P.T. Barnum by Jillian Lerner Art by Marc Olivent ISBN: 9780987955203 Sensorium Editions, 2012
I love Nola. I know that you’re supposed to keep a level of objectivity for reviews, but she makes it hard. She is so much what I want all comics heroines to be. She’s spunky and inquisitive, but not so much of a tomboy that she ignores her emotions. She wants to know if the new kid likes her, or how long her mom is going to pretend their lives are okay by working all of the time. Things affect her and she reacts with the most animated expressions, in face and body, which allows the reader to empathize immediately.
Her story starts off similar to a lot of elementary schoolers. She has her close friends and is at eternal odds with school and their pesky requirements of paying attention and remembering homework. Nola is far to busy having adventures to be bothered with trivial hindrances like hall passes. Though most everything takes place in her head, the dreams she holds are so wondrous it’s always fun to be taken into her schemes.
In a turn of events that only Nola could have predicted, her home of Alta Donna starts having its own problems with keeping up reality. The problem started when two new kids, a brother and sister, showed up at Nola’s school. Everyone else accepts them, but Nola knows that there is more to their story. Her poking around will unveil Alta Donna’s deepest secrets. Discoveries that will carry the reader through three volumes of adventures which challenge our beloved characters and more than anything, speak to the power of imagination.
There’s no other word for the art but gorgeous. The entire team of MiniKim, Mariolle, and Pop hold nothing back. MiniKim and Pop hold art responsibilities, and perform a stunning job. Every character and scene has a purpose. There are no buildings that just recede into the background. Every structure is someone’s house or business, and is lushly decorated as such. The character designs are just as detailed. Though all of the characters have similar shapes thanks to the cartooning, their décor and expressions leave no reader confused as to who is who. A lot of that distinction is thanks to the animated quality of the body language. Nola in particular is a very active person, so not only is her face always contorted comically, but her body is. Seemingly always in mid-run, her limbs are flailing away from her person with fantastic purpose.
While the character design is immensely engaging, the stunning gem of Nola’s Worlds is the color. The use of color in these books makes them sing. In all three books, there is hardly an instance of black. Even the characters are outlined in color as opposed to black line art. Every inch of the page is steeped in a spectrum of colors; it’s almost impossible to accept while you’re looking at it. A testament to Pop’s ability is that she is so meticulous with the color choice that there is never a doubt where the characters are, or what they’re doing. The color use adds great life to the characters, but what really benefits is the scenery. Alta Donna is a corner of paradise the way MiniKim and Pop render it. An island town, it has high cliffs, dense greens, and broad views of the ocean.
As successful as Pop is, she is not the only talent on the team. As a result from a French comic team, Nola’s Worlds allows for some great crossover influences that American comics rarely experiment with. Nola’s Worlds owes a debt to animation influences, as well as manga. Nola has panicked sweat beads, or large fountain-tears just as often as any shojo lead would. What’s more, the page layout is approached so differently. It is still arranged left to right, top to bottom, but how the characters and items are placed on the page can be quite different. The most obvious change is that the gutters don’t matter that much. They’re they, but objects, people, and conversations will disregard them. Things are drawn into them, on top of them, through them, and while that is a new reading experience, surprisingly it works very well. It’s never crowded, but very kinetic, and keeps your eyes focused on exactly what the story wants you to see.
I want to go on and on about Nola’s Worlds, but we could be here all day. Suffice to say, Nola’s Worlds is an electric adventure of imagination and I’m so very pleased that it came to our shores.
Nola’s Worlds, vol. 1-3 by Mathieu Mariolle Art by Minikim, Pop Volume 1 ISBN: 9780761365020 Volume 2 ISBN: 9780761365044 Volume 3 ISBN: 9780761365051 Lerner Publishing, 2009
Lou is just your average twelve-year-old – too shy to talk to the boy she has a crush on, tormented by the mean girls in school who don’t like her fashion choices, and stuck with a single mom who can’t cook and prefers to spend her time gaming rather than writing her science fiction novel. Then there’s her best friend Mina and the cute grad student who moves in next door that Lou thinks would be perfect for her mom.
In the first volume, Secret Diary, we never actually see Lou’s diary except on the endpapers, but we do learn a lot about her emotionally immature mom (who’s a lot more like a big sister than an authority figure), about Lou’s oddities that make her stick out in school (she prefers to design her own fashion – and makes interesting choices for presentations in front of the class), and her cynical best friend, Mina. Then there’s Lou’s crush, Tristan, her nasty grandmother Memaw, the kitten Lou rescues, and a tentative relationship between neighbor Richard and Lou’s mom. At the end of the story, Richard takes off before Lou’s mom can bring herself to say what she feels and Tristan moves without warning, leaving Lou devastated.
In the second volume, Summertime Blues, Lou is miserably contemplating a summer in a small boring village with nothing to do but listen to Memaw and her mother shriek at each other. Lou also forces her mom to work on her book by taking away all her gaming and electronics, hears from Tristan, and learns that maybe Memaw isn’t quite as bad as she seems – and the sleepy small village might be interesting after all, especially when she meets a strange boy named Paul.
The art is divided up into small panels, although the book itself is picture book size. The colors are glowing pastels with slick pink and purple panels for the excerpts from Lou’s mom’s novel. There are lots of comic style action exclamations, silly faces, and exaggerated emotions. It’s easy to follow and blends well with the text. The predominance of pink and soft hues is going to make this a hard sell for boys, but most girls, especially those who like slice of life, realistic stories will be eager to pick it up.
I’m a little doubtful about the content. It is a French import, so there are some cultural differences. Lou’s mom wears fairly skimpy clothes, occasionally flashes her undies when she’s hanging around home with just her daughter, and her science fiction epic looks a lot more like a rather poorly written romance novel, especially as she’s obviously writing her fantasies about Richard into it. In the second volume they encounter drunken soldiers on the train and Lou’s mom flashes back to how annoying a local suitor was when she was a teen – grabbing her breasts, among other things. She also gets drunk, which leads to a temporary truce with her mother. These are all minor things, but as this is one of those titles that are precisely poised in the middle – too old for most elementary kids, too young for most teenagers – it’s difficult to know where one would place it in the library.
On the other hand, it’s genuinely hilarious. I found myself laughing again and again at Neel’s witty jokes, from a little peek inside the heads of Lou’s mom, Lou, Richard, and Tristan to Lou coming home from school after a dramatic presentation at school: “This is weird. For creative arts class you didn’t get a grade, just the address of a child psychiatrist.” The second book is a little more serious, with Lou thinking a little more about how her behavior affects others and Lou’s mom finally deciding to grow up a little.
In conclusion, I’d say don’t risk it in a school library and put it in young adult if you have an extremely conservative town, but otherwise it’s a fun series that will be popular with 10-12 year olds. As always, Lerner’s library bound graphic novels are extremely expensive, but their paperbacks hold up well and are worth purchasing.
Lou!, vol. 1-2 Secret Diary and Summertime Blues by Julien Neel Vol. 1: Secret Diary, ISBN: 9780761387763 Vol. 2: Summertime Blues, ISBN: 9780761387770 Lerner/Graphic Universe, 2012 Publisher Age Rating: 9-14
Miss Annie, the intrepid kitten of Miss Annie: Freedom, is back in a second adventure. After her cautious foray into the outside world during the day, she’s ready for a real adventure; outside at night. She has her own cat door and she can come and go as she pleases. With her new and experienced friends Zeno and Miss Rostropovna, she is excited about the wonders and delights of the night…or is she? Miss Annie’s thoughts about hunting birds, “We get enough to eat. Why should we hurt innocent little birds?” are too philosophical for the older cats who tell her “Nothing alive is innocent.” She’s confused by the courting cats that she thinks are silly but she’s content to wait for something more interesting to happen. Unfortunately, the next interesting thing that happens is a lot of naughty behavior that gets her just what she thinks she wants, locked outside for the night. There’s a scary and dangerous cat fight and in the end old Zeno is dead. But Miss Annie finds a special friend for her mouse friend Keshia and names him Zeno and after some talk with Miss Rostropovna she accepts that her world continues. There are mouse babies – and a hint of a new human baby too.
This second story alternates between the cats at night, as they search for danger and excitement and Miss Annie’s misadventures during the day. The dark panels showing night action are in sharp contrast to the generous speech bubbles and the cats are mysterious and even frightening at night as they face danger and death. Their eyes glow against the dark blues and blacks of the panels and light lines show movement and sound as they prowl the roofs at night. The daytime scenes are as delightfully catty as the previous story, showing a mischievous, sulking, and guilty Miss Annie as she gets into one mess after another. Throughout the story, Miss Annie subtly grows until in the final panels she’s a full-grown cat, happy and content with her small world and purring with pleasure.
This second volume is more philosophical than the first, as Miss Annie and her friends talk about innocence, what they want out of life, danger, and ultimately death. The thoughts of the cats are human, but still catlike “It’s not always wise to live your life too carefully. But remember that he died defending his territory, like a true cat.” Miss Annie tells her new mouse friend that his name is Zeno “But remember not to be TOO wise or TOO careful.” Miss Annie is naïve and innocent, but learns some painful lessons on her night out.
There are some scratches and blood during the cat fight, the death of Zeno, and oblique references to courtship, kittens, and mouse babies. Overly sensitive children (and parents) might find some aspects of the story upsetting, but those who enjoyed the gentle humor and philosophy of the first title will want to read this second story and there are many good points to spark discussions between children and parents or teachers. Children who want lighter cat stories will prefer Ashley Spires’ Binky or Konami Kanata’s Chi’s Sweet Home, but there’s plenty of action and humor in addition to the more philosophical moments to attract most elementary readers to this series.
Miss Annie: Rooftop Cat by Frank Le Gall Art by Flore Balthazar, Robin Doo ISBN: 9780761378853 Lerner Graphic Universe, 2012 Publisher Age Rating: 7-10
Miss Annie, a small black and white kitten, lives with her family, The Dad, The Mom, and Sarah. Alone in the house, she guards and protects, fighting a leaf, prowling through the house and longing to go outside. When she meets her first mouse, despite her instinct to eat it, she ends up giving it a name – Keshia – which she knows from Sarah is what a person calls her very best friend. Together they talk about their dreams; Miss Annie dreams of going outside and running free with no rules, while Keshia wants to stay safe in her hole, meet a nice boy mouse, and have a big family. When Miss Annie finally gets her dream and goes outside, she learns from a wise older cat, Zeno, that freedom isn’t everything she expected and comes with a lot of dangers and rules to follow, just like inside. Zeno introduces Miss Annie to Miss Rostropovna, another seasoned cat who shows Annie some of the dangers of the outdoors. At the end of the story, Miss Annie has learned that freedom isn’t the rule-free paradise she expected, but it’s still a wonderful thing.
The panels are arranged in slightly overlapped sets of eight, each one focused on the movements of Miss Annie. Pouncing, trotting, purring, listening, and pouting, she weaves her way through the pages showing a delightful variety of perfectly drawn cat behaviors and emotions. The anthropomorphism in the text never extends too far into the art, so while Miss Annie thinks about how she’s helping her family, the reader sees her displaying natural cat behaviors – pouncing on stockings, curling up on chairs, and batting about yarn and other forbidden delights. The colors shift from strong earth-hued décor; oranges, browns, light greens and blues, to a softer, darker palette for the scenes during the night. The various cats and Keshia are strongly drawn with distinctive faces and colors. The humans are only shown from Miss Annie’s point of view so they’re basically a collection of legs and reaching hands, but they still manage to be distinct and develop personalities through their dialogue and reaction to Miss Annie. Miss Annie herself is, of course, the most intimately drawn with emotions shown through her changes in body language and expressive ears.
There are plenty of cat-themed graphic novels, from the always-popular Garfield to the hilarious Binky by Ashley Spires and super cute Chi’s Sweet Home by Konami Kanata. Miss Annie brings a more reflective story with strong and intriguing art to the collection. Young and old readers alike will enjoy this sweet and slightly humorous story and look forward to more adventures of Miss Annie as she explores the outside world.
The only drawback to this new series is Lerner’s high pricing – they offer a choice between expensive library bound editions, $25 to $30 apiece, or paperback. However, I’ve had generally good results with their paperbacks and while Miss Annie will be popular I don’t see it needing the heavier binding of, say, a Star Wars comic, so your library should be safe with the very affordable paperbacks.
Miss Annie: Freedom! by Frank Le Gall Art by Flore Balthazar, Robin Doo ISBN: 9780761378846 Lerner Graphic Universe, 2012 Publisher Age Rating: 7-10
Like chocolate and peanut butter are mixed to create a sweeter dessert treat, the Tricky Journeys series of graphic novels combines the classic trickster tales of various mythologies with the Choose Your Own Adventure series of books to create something truly unique and wonderful. Numbering six volumes at the time of this writing, each of these books centers upon a different mythological trickster animal – Coyote, Rabbit, Fox, Raven, Monkey, and my personal favorite, Anansi The Spider.
Each of the books reads like a traditional multiple-ending novel. The reader starts at the beginning of the book and reads along until they reach a point where they can make a choice. For instance, Monkey – who is a Prince –has grown bored with his life of luxury and decides to go off on an adventure. But where should he go, he wonders? The reader is given two options; should Monkey go into the mountains or should he go out to sea? The reader then skips ahead or goes back to the indicated page and continues reading along until they get another choice. Eventually, the reader will reach an ending for the story. Not all the endings are happy, however, as Monkey has the chance of becoming a pirate captain, getting arrested, winding up trapped under a mountain forever, or even getting turned into an ice cream sundae as a punishment for his rudeness!
Each volume has at least six potential “journeys” for the reader to take with the trickster hero. Interestingly, the Fox and Raven in these stories are women, so this series is no boy’s club, which is a nice touch given the male-dominated bent of most trickster stories. But what truly sets this series apart from other collections of trickster tales is the illustrations.
While this is not the first time the Choose Your Own Adventure format has been used in a graphic novel, it is the first time I have seen the concept executed so well. While the novels aren’t made entirely of comic pages, there is an even mix of comic pages and pages with text and illustrations, with only the “Choice” pages being made entirely of text. Each volume has a different illustrator, but all of them use a cartoony style that is sure to appeal to young readers.
Author Chris Schweizer deserves high praise for what he has accomplished with these scripts. Each book represents a sort of “best of” album for the hero in question, with most of the most famous stories for each character being retold depending on the path taken. The final page of each volume also discusses the original tales, the morals they teach, the lands that they came from and the people who told them. While this is educational and a nice closer for those children who want to read more about a given mythos, parents and educators should be prepared to discuss the realities of slavery and race issues as several of these conclusions do briefly discuss how various stories made their way to America through the oral legends of slaves without explaining precisely what that entailed.
This series is a must have for any graphic novel collection. Each volume is a wonderful introduction to the wonders of mythology for young readers. But more importantly, the stories are fun, well-illustrated and teach valuable moral lessons in a format that can slowly introduce those readers to more difficult books.
Tricky Journeys Series 1-6 All volumes written by Chris Schweizer
Volume 1: Tricky Coyote Tales ISBN: 9780761366010 Artist: Chad Thomas
A mix of horror, comedy, and romance; this first book in the new series My Boyfriend is a Monster takes the traditional archetype of opposites attract and gives it a twist by switching genders and having the female protagonist, Dicey Bell, as a jock and the male protagonist, Jack Chen, as a science nerd (one who happens to wear a studded leather wristband and has an eyebrow piercing). Jack is involved in special research which excuses him from most of his classes meaning that their two worlds would have rarely met on their own. However, a health class egg project throws the two together. Proximity breeds understanding and the two soon find their relationship moving beyond just class partners…all of which is interrupted by a pending zombie apocalypse. While the story concept is interesting and the art enjoyable, the actual pacing of the story is awkward as frames will jump hours and days on the same page with little to no explanation. The book includes a chat transcript at the end which ties up any loose ends and questions. Also of interest is a blurb from the artist on character design. This book is perfect for readers who might not be ready for The Walking Dead, but still want a dose of pending zombie mayhem.
My Boyfriend is a Monster #1: I Love Him to Pieces Story by Evonne Tsang; Art by Janina Görrissen ISBN: 978-0-7613-6004-9 Graphic Universe/Lerner Publishing Group, 2011
Lerner’s Graphic Universe imprint moves into mysteries with their retellings of some of Sherlock Holmes’ famous cases. The books are short but decent adaptations that should pique the interest of young mystery fans, as long as they are careful readers willing to pay attention to the smallest details.
When selecting adaptors for their Sherlock Holmes series, Lerner decided to go with Murray Shaw who wrote the Match Wits with Sherlock Holmes series in the 1990s. Both he and writer Cosson do a competent job of abridging Holmes’ adventures, though it is uncertain whether young readers will get all of the subtleties of some of the cases. For example, in Sherlock Holmes and a Scandal in Bohemia, a king contracts with Holmes and Watson to retrieve a photo of him with a popular opera singer. Older elementary school and middle school aged readers are unlikely to pick up that the relationship between the king and the singer was more than mere dating and therefore will not understand much of the urgency of the story. On the other hand, modern parents who are unaware of the original Doyle stories may raise eyebrows at Holmes’ peculiar and not necessarily court-sanctioned brand of justice. In both Sherlock Holmes and the Adventure at Abbey Grange and Sherlock Holmes and the Adventure of the Blue Gem, the criminals are allowed to go free in the end.
The flavor of Doyle’s British voice is retained and the stories all three have a matter-of-factness that is reminiscent of Donald Sobol’s Encyclopedia Brown mysteries. Adapting the stories means that some details have been left out, so readers will need to be careful and pay close attention in order to solve the crime along with Holmes….
Sherlock Holmes and a Scandal in Bohemia: On the Case with Holmes and Watson, #1 Hardback: ISBN 978-0-7613-6185-5, Paperback: ISBN 978-0-7613-6197-8 Sherlock Holmes and the Adventure at the Abbey Grange: On the Case with Holmes and Watson, #2 Hardback: ISBN 978-0-7613-6189-3, Paperback: ISBN 978-0-7613-6200-5 Sherlock Holmes and the Adventure of the Blue Gem: On the Case with Holmes and Watson, #3 Hardback: ISBN 978-0-7613-6190-9, Paperback: ISBN 978-0-7613-6202-9 Author: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle; Adaptors: Murray Shaw and M.J. Cosson; Illustrator: Sophie Rohrbach Lerner/Graphic Universe; November 2010
Lerner has a new series coming out from its Graphic Universe imprint. The series–called History’s Kid Heroes–tries to bring “…historical fiction into the graphic novel format using strong characters and exciting storylines” but only partially succeeds.
On the one hand, the History’s Kid Heroes series offers a unique addition to graphic novel collections. Historical fiction can be hard to find in graphic form, especially for younger readers, and the series’ focus on kids as heroes creates stories which should catch the attention of juvenile library patrons, particularly those who like disaster stories. The creators offer up tales that feature a both boys and girls, always a nice touch. It is sadly still too rare to see African-American characters in graphic novels, so the inclusion of Sam Deal–who helps the famed Pea Island (NC) African-American rescue crew–is welcome. Trover’s art ties the series titles together. His style is simple, but effective. His panel layouts are clear and easy to follow. He has a good eye for historical details which get the point across without crowding the page and his characters’ faces are expressive and engaging.
Unfortunately the series has some issues which keep it from being the best it can be….
The Lifesaving Adventure of Sam Deal, Shipwreck Rescuer Written by Candice Ransom; Adapted by Amanda Doering Tourville; Illustrated by Zachary Trover Hardback ISBN 978-0-7613-6177-0; Paperback ISBN 978-0-7613-6196-1 Lerner/Graphic Universe, October 2010
The Snowshoeing Adventure of Milton Daub, Blizzard Trekker Written by Margaret K. Wetterer and Charles M. Wetterer; Adapted by Emma Carlson Berne; Illustrated by Zachary Trover Hardback ISBN 978-0-7613-6175-6; Paperback ISBN 978-0-7613-6194-7 Lerner/Graphic Universe, October 2010
The Stormy Adventure of Abbie Burgess, Lighthouse Keeper Written by Peter Roop and Connie Roop; Adapted by Amanda Doering Tourville; Illustrated by Zachary Trover Hardback ISBN 978-0-7613-6172-5; Paperback ISBN 978-0-7613-6191-6 Lerner/Graphic Universe, October 2010
Megan is the new girl in town, a manga-reading, goth-dressing, haiku-writing vegetarian. Raf is the son of a pet food store owner who only wants to be left alone to finish the computer program he is writing. When the two of them meet, it isn’t friendship at first sight, but soon they’re caught up in a mystery at Megan’s summer school. Can they find out why the students at Stepford Academy are so unnaturally happy all the time or will they be zombified first?
Robbins has been a force in American independent comics since the 1960s, so it’s wonderful that Lerner has her writing for their Graphic Universe imprint. As expected from someone who has been working in comics for so long, her story is fun, interesting, and a good set-up for the series. She begins building two very interesting characters in this first volume. Instead of trying to make the story “manga style” or some such nonsense, Robbins makes Megan a manga fan, someone with which readers will easily identify. Megan’s love of haiku may not be as familiar to the older elementary school crowd, but it matches with her Japanese-American heritage and so is easily explained. Plus, being a poetry-loving vegetarian pairs up nicely with her Gothic clothing and makes her seem like a fun 13-year-old that 9-year-old readers can look up to. Raf isn’t as well-developed here, though we get the basic sense of who he is and that allows him room to grow in future volumes….
Chicagoland Detective Agency, No. 1: The Drained Brains Caper Written by Trina Robbins; Illustrated by Tyler Page ISBN 978-0-7613-4601-2 (hdbk); 978-0-7613-5635-6 (pbk) Lerner/Graphic Universe, September 2010
Lou is just your average twelve-year-old – too shy to talk to the boy she has a crush on, tormented by the mean girls in school who don’t like her fashion choices, and stuck with a single mom who can’t cook and prefers to spend her time gaming rather than writing her science fiction novel. Then there’s her best friend Mina and the cute grad student who moves in next door that Lou thinks would be perfect for her mom.
