One click and this new dimension opens. A panel is the threshold to a dimension of gutters and splash pages. A dimension made of ink and Kirby Krackles. A world where a madman writes of comics and graphic novels. You are about to enter No Flying No Tights.
News From The Fallout is a macabre delight. Any fans of the Twilight Zone or old school creature features looking for a fast paced adventure might find their fix with this mini-series. From the creators Chris Condon (Ultimate Wolverine) and Jeffrey Alan Love (The Thousand Demon Tree), News From The Fallout is a nonstop sprint of a story. This miniseries is set in 1960s Nevada and follows a private in the U.S. Army named Otis Fallows, after a nuclear bomb test goes horribly wrong.
Now, with no disrespect to Chris Condon and the script, this series is carried by Jeffrey Alan Love’s art work. It really is something to behold. It exists as some sort of combination of CRT TV static and shadowpuppetry mixed with pages of background lore. Love conveys just enough detail for your brain to fill in the rest of the horrific details. He’ll show the row of fangs in shadow and the reader can imagine what else it’s hiding. There’s a narrative focus on ash and he takes that opportunity to make every scene feel shrouded in ash as well as emulate the 50s and 60s television technology with a grayscale color palette. It really sets the mood for a Cold War era monster thriller, a haunted nuclear nightmare.
While Love’s artwork is probably the best selling point, Chris Condon’s script is no slouch. Given the limitations of a narrative in six issues, Condon makes every word count. He gives each of Love’s silhouetted characters a distinct voice, making up for the lack of clarity in Love’s chosen style. Along with tight and efficient characterization, Condon created a story propelled by its own moment. Each scene crashes into the next, usually with a great amount of violence. At the beginning and ending of every issue there is background information in the form of within-universe media like menus or redacted military orders. Condon uses these glimpses into the goings on in Atomic Alley to ground the story in some form of reality.
For any librarians looking to expand their adult graphic fiction or science fiction selection, this isn’t a terrible pick. This would be right at home in a read-alikes display with Ray Bradbury or Harlan Ellison. Image comics gives no listed age rating, but I would recommend this to mainly adults based on the horror and violent elements of the entire series.
News From the Fallout By Chris Condon Art by Jeffrey Alan Love Image Comics, 2026 ISBN: 9781534335745
The monsters in horror fiction, whether those monsters are ghosts, vampires, or zombies, always seem to represent something beyond the natural fear a person would have against something with fangs and claws. Many times, these monsters are symbolic of a more universal fear involving a person’s space in society or in the universe at large (at least according to critics). Ghosts, for example, are often connected to humanity’s universal fear of death. Zombies are often symbols of death as well as disease. Author and illustrator Jon Claytor, however, presents an interesting idea in his book Nowhere, the world of zombies, vampires, and aliens represents the very modern fear of growing up.
Nowhere takes place in Beauséjour. Beauséjour, a small town in Canada and it’s where teenage Joel ends up, along with his morose mother, his verbally abusive but generally useless stepfather, and various animals. When the family’s car breaks down in Beauséjour, they stay at a roadside motel and slowly become accustomed to what makes Beauséjour different from other towns. Those differences include vampires that talk to therapists, ghosts that look like sheets and who actively engage with the living, and a massive cube that sits on the edge of town. And don’t forget about the zombies that wander around at night.
People might look at Claytor’s story and think of shows that run on late 20th century nostalgia like Stranger Things, especially when Joel finds a group of his friends close to his own age to hang out with. However, these friends don’t battle the various monsters that show up in town; they simply accept them as part of living in Beauséjour. In fact, no one within this book expresses any emotions other than melancholy, even when more apocalyptic elements start happening. Many have likely read action/adventure stories with a coming-of-age element that has the protagonist learns more about who they are and who they’re going to be due to the events in the book, but if Joel comes of age within Nowhere’s pages, Joel grows to realize that banality is the norm, which is perhaps the most terrifying thing to realize.
Banality could be used to describe the book’s artwork, which, in any other book, would be a critique, but the banality fits into the book’s overall tone. Claytor uses a deceptively simplistic art style that nevertheless depicts realistic human faces that are struggling to emote within a muted black and white world. Colors are also used sparingly, such as the blood on the vampire’s teeth when he talks with his therapist, and only provide a speck of brightness in Claytor’s universe. Even the aliens, typical grays with bulbous eyes and small mouths, approach their job of manipulation with the enthusiasm of security guards who’d much rather watch the clock tick toward the end of their shift, which is not surprising considering the universe they inhabit.
While lacking the excitement of Stranger Things, this book does share some DNA with an intellectual property well-known for weirdness. “Welcome to Night Vale,” a novel and podcast created by Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor, features a supernatural town where residents accept the supernatural to an absurd degree. Fans of that book/series will want to visit Beauséjour, as well as fans of shows like “X-Files” and “Supernatural,” particularly of their sillier episodes.
Nowhere By John Claytor Goose Lane Editions, 2026 ISBN: 9781773104584
Company Age Rating: 14 Years and Up
NFNT Age Recommendation: Adult (18+), Older Teen (16-18)
Before Superman and superheroes came to dominate American comics, there was an age undreamed of. Pulp fiction was gaining in popularity, and it occurred to advertising agent Joseph H. Neebe that there might be a market for comic strips based on action and adventure rather than comedy. He approached Edgar Rice Burroughs (who had just set up shop in what would become Tarzana, California) about licensing his Tarzan character as a comic strip. Burroughs, who was already aiming to make movies based on the Lord of the Jungle agreed, but this still left the question of who would draw the comic.
Enter Harold “Hal” Foster—a Canadian illustrator who had little interest in drawing comics. However, with times being tough (and about to become tougher when The Great Depression hit), Smith got the comic off the ground by drawing the daily strip in 1929. He would later return, reluctantly, to draw a full-color Sunday strip in 1931. And yet, over the next few years, Smith began to believe he could take the comics he crafted and turn them into the high art he’d wanted to create.
However, Foster grew increasingly dissatisfied with the quality of the scripts he was given. He was also unhappy with the increasingly inadequate flat fee he was paid when the writers were given a percentage of the profits. He eventually left Tarzan for a more lucrative deal with King Features, where he was given more money, creative control, and the ability to write and draw his own adventure comic, the equally revolutionary Prince Valiant.
This history is detailed in the introduction to Hal Foster’s Tarzan. The Complete Sunday Comics 1931-1937. However, it understates just how important these comics were to the medium. Legends like Frank Frazetta, Wally Wood, Bernie Wrightson and Jack Kirby all cited Hal Foster as a major influence on their own comics. And without the success of the first Tarzan newspaper comics fueled by Foster’s work, it is possible that the action/adventure comics and the later comic books might never have come about. For that reason alone, this volume is well worth studying on a scholarly level.
Another reason is Foster’s command of anatomy, which was impressive and unlike anything appearing in the funny pages at the time. Foster took his research seriously and lamented that some of the writers he worked with failed to consider things like what kind of trees were likely to line an African river. Alas, his dedication was not appreciated by his employers and one of the chief reasons Burroughs considered Foster the best artist to handle Tarzan was that he was very good at drawing attractive women. (This skill, it might be noted, was honed by Foster’s work as a commercial artist, drawing women in lingerie in catalogs in the days before photography became inexpensive.)
On that note, there is no publisher rating for this collection. The amount of sex and violence within it was shocking for its time, but there’s nothing that would be inappropriate for a teenage audience today. There are a few bare male backsides and one naked boy who comes to Tarzan’s aid in one story, but nothing more overtly sexual than various queens of lost cities informing Tarzan that he is now theirs.
It should also be noted there is some material in these comics that has not aged well. There are multiple instances of the white goddess trope, with superstitious African natives taking in a white woman as their leader. Thankfully, Smith does not present these characters as the offensive caricatures that were commonplace in other comics of the time, but the four-color recreations for this book do feature some Asian characters with dimly yellowed skin.
One final warning. At $200 this volume may be a bit expensive for a library collection. Serious collectors of Tarzan lore and comics history should consider this a must-have. However, unless one’s library has a special collection devoted to Platinum Age comics or something similar, this one may be a bit of a budget breaker.
Hal Foster’s Tarzan: The Complete Sunday Comics 1931-1937 By Dian Hanson Art by Hal Foster TASCHEN, 2026 ISBN: 9783754402641
Related media: Book to Comic
NFNT Age Recommendation: Adult (18+) Creator Representation: Canadian,
After the death of her husband Paulo, Julia reluctantly adopts the garden plot he left behind. She’s distressed one day to find it wrecked, dirt everywhere, plants destroyed. She determines the culprit must be a mongoose because only an animal could have been so ruthless. To her great frustration, no one in her life believes it exists or takes her seriously. As she begins to see traces of it everywhere the mongoose becomes an obsessive focal point for Julia as she wafts through a new period of her life.
A few years ago I lost my mom and discovered that when someone close to you passes, there’s this distinct before and after that suddenly redefines the timeline of your life. You can never return to the before and the after is so incredibly weird that it’s hard to describe to someone who hasn’t been there. It’s this bizarre time and place where nothing feels right, where isolation creeps in even when you’re surrounded by well-meaning people, and where you feel out of step with the universe.
Julia is in this strange after place and she’s struggling in the free-fall of grief and mourning after losing Paulo. She sleeps a lot, eats very little, and can’t get back into her routine. But she’s coping just fine, if you ask her. Her family tries to be helpful, but they’re each dealing with their own issues and tend to get under each other’s skin.
Don’t go into this book expecting to see a well defined path through grief or mourning. This is an exploration of the experience of grief and specifically not dealing with it. There is a lot of symbolism and moments that are left up to interpretation, allowing for different understandings from different readers. It’s a deft way to represent the individual responses to loss that show up in our lives and a subtle but impactful investigation of a difficult set of emotions.
Author and illustrator Joana Mosi uses a minimalist, but effective black and white drawing style to convey her story. There are noticeable empty spaces between panels, which also occasionally appear out of order to convey the fragmenting and mixing of Julia’s memories and thoughts. As if the book itself were making physical space for her brain fog. There are memories we don’t see and photos in Julia’s physical space are represented as blank picture frames, further defining an undercurrent of before and after.
There really aren’t any content warnings other than the obvious devastating loss that occurs before the story begins. Some readers might come away from this feeling like they didn’t fully understand everything on every panel or how everything connects, but this is a story where confusion is an important part of the experience. The ending is left somewhat open-ended, mirroring the process of grieving.
This book is best suited for the adult collection but I could see older teens connecting with it as well. Mosi has said that she conceived the idea for this book after the loss of her father and she has such a good grasp on the range of feelings and numbness that Julia experiences that I wonder if there are some autobiographical elements quietly tucked in. I think if you have been in that strange “after” time brought on by a major death in your life, you’ll connect with Julia and her story, even if your grief took a different path. Readers who are less familiar with mourning will still understand Julia’s very human response to such a traumatic event in her life.
The Mongoose By Joana Mosi Pow Pow, 2025 ISBN: 9782925114475
NFNT Age Recommendation: Adult (18+), Older Teen (16-18) Creator Representation: Portuguese, Character Representation: Portuguese,
If Dracula himself had a drop of blood for every retelling and reimagining of his story as written by Bram Stoker, then he might never have to bite another neck to sustain himself. Since stories about Dracula (and about vampires that owe so much of their aesthetic to him) are so prevalent, doing one that’s wholly original is about as difficult to find as it is to find a vampire that loves the sun. Woodstake: Three Days of Peace, Music, and Blood Vol. 1 is writer Darin S. Cape’s and illustrator Felipe Kroll’s attempt to retell the Dracula mythos, setting it at a very famous music festival synonymous with the 60’s and the Summer of Love.
The story follows Jon Harper, an aspiring music journalist. Along with his girlfriend Nina and their buddy Artie, Jon attends Woodstock to interview Jimi Hendrix, an interview that could bring notoriety to Jon’s fledgling rock magazine. However, Dracula also awakens near that famous field in New York, and he is not spreading peace and love, but is spreading death and newly turned undead. Along with a suspiciously knowledgeable coroner, Jon and his crew might be the only ones who can stop Dracula from turning Woodstock into a wholesale slaughter.
Those familiar with Stoker’s original work might snicker as they see names from the original novel reused (Jon Harper for Jonathon Harker, for example) and Dracula fans reading this could easily turn it into a scavenger hunt as they look for references in Stoker’s novel, but those fans would miss the compelling story. Cape goes beyond simply retelling Stoker’s tale with a psychedelic 60’s paintjob; he tells a solid vampire story that captures the time in which it was spawned. This can be seen in the lingo used by the characters as well as the names of chapters that reference songs of that era. Through this work, Cape manages to show his love for both Dracula and the 60’s.
Illustrator Kroll’s highly detailed style of digital painting helps the book go beyond simply setting Dracula at Woodstock. Thanks to Kroll’s nearly photorealistic images, the faces of many characters have distinct features and shading that make them look more like Polaroids taken during the concert. Dracula also benefits from this aesthetic. Not only has he traded in the black cape for a denim jacket, but his lined and rugged features have him looking more like a music lover who hitchhiked from very far away and less like a Transylvanian count, which is an important aspect of the character many adaptations miss. Dracula, as the ultimate apex predator, blends thoroughly in with his prey, even taking up smoking weed, until he is ready to strike.
If you have patrons that love vampire stories, especially retellings that add a completely different vibe like Alex de Campi’s Dracula, Motherf**ker!, then this book should join the ranks of the other vampire-centric books in your adult graphic novel collection. Just note that, since this is volume 1 in a series, there may be more stories that will either build on this first volume or tarnish the entire story.
Woodstake: Three Days of Peace, Music and Blood By Darin S. Cape Art by Fellipe Kroll SHP Comics, 2026 ISBN: 9798992749915
NFNT Age Recommendation: Adult (18+), Older Teen (16-18)
It is All Hallows’ Eve. It is a night of foreboding, even without a storm brewing. Some believe it is a night when the boundaries between life and death are thinner, and evil things walk abroad.
The date means little to highwayman Dick Turpin, and his partner in crime, Tom King. They already live a life where the boundaries between life and death are thin. And they think there’s no evil things about but them.
They may be wrong.
When an accident overturns the carriage that was their quarry, Tom is quick to enact a new scheme. He poses as a nobleman, with Dick as his manservant “Richard,” hoping to secure the nobles’ luggage and ride off with it untroubled.
However, the scheme goes overlong, as the two parties join to seek shelter and soon find a seemingly abandoned monastery. Alas, whether it is due to the night in question or whether their presence awoke it, some ghostly presence takes exception to the intruders. Soon the scoundrels are facing closing walls, stinking clouds and swarms of rats. To say nothing of the deadly touch of the specter clad in plague doctor’s garb…
Dick Turpin and the Vengeful Shade is an interesting blend of historic fiction and horror. Of course, there is no record of the infamous British thief ever fighting a ghost. Yet writer Steve Tanner pays as much attention to historical accuracy as he does craft in spinning a ripping yarn.
The story draws upon two main conflicts. The first is that between the Church of England and the Catholic Church. The second is Plague of 1563. History buffs will appreciate this attention to detail and how it plays into the ghost story to make it a little more grounded. Not that this matters much to Dick Turpin himself, who spends most of the story wishing he could shoot something. He’s also none too choosy about it being the ghost, Tom King (who takes a bit too much pleasure in playing the noble and bossing him around) or the various nobles and servants annoying him. This adds humor, which offsets the horror, along with a noble lady who speaks of the stories of Dick Turpin ravaging the women he encounters and then being a bit slow in agreeing with her husband in finding the prospect dreadful.
The artwork is of similar craft and quality. Roland Bird, best known for his work on Legion of Super-Heroes, is in fine form here. He proves equally adept at drawing animals, period costumes and supernatural strangeness. He is well-backed by the color art of Brett Burbridge, which adds an evocative and somber aura to the finished artwork.
As with their recent reprint of Dick Turpin and the Crimson Plague, Time Bomb Comics does not offer a rating for Dick Turpin and the Vengeful Shade. However, despite a lack of nudity or any sexual content beyond references to ravaging, I’d still suggest this one be kept in the adult collection. While the horror elements and bloodshed might be acceptable for most teenagers, I feel the historical elements and slow-boiling story will appeal more to adult audiences.
Dick Turpin and the Vengeful Shade By Steve Tanner Art by Roland Bird Time Bomb, 2020 ISBN: 9781916465343
But I’m going to try, because the book deserves it.
Pastimes is a collection of four-panel vignettes by Saguenay-born Pascal Girard about his life as a 40-something man with a family. STICK WITH ME HERE!
The humor is bone-dry, the emotional points land with humor, and the other material… well, if you’re a fan of the works of Larry David, you’re in for a treat. Much of these comics come from Pascal’s every day life as a social worker for a hospital and the family he has at home and, subsequently, he experiences many baffling social interactions that result in confusion, frustration, or uneasiness (or a combination of all three). He’ll say the inside thoughts out loud and face the consequences. Not in a way that’s noble, but in a way that reminds us that our actions have consequences.
Pascal clearly loves his wife Rebecca and five-year-old daughter Lucie, and even though the strips don’t suggest much struggle past what could be expected in parenthood, the comics do a good job of showing that these struggles still exist. His little girl is obsessed with dying, a subject that gives both her and her father anxiety; it’s often a gateway into a larger subject—of the author losing his younger brother when he was also five-years old. Pascal is getting older; he has to put more of an effort in staying in shape, making healthy choices for himself, and going out to those loud, crowded, dive-y venues for the punk and hardcore music he tends to favor late at night is getting more difficult these days (though he doesn’t give it up, even sharing certain aspects of it with his daughter).
The strips don’t dabble in mature themes like sex, but death, recreational drug use, aging, and uncomfortable social interaction are explored. Not every page is a winner, but there are definitely a number of belly-laughs for me.
I would first describe the book as “cozy.” No Flying No Tights has reviewed literally thousands of comics that are visually complicated and layered and colorful and perhaps epic works of art and Pastimes… is not any of that. Nor does it need to be. The drawings are simple outlines, there is no color, but the characters are still expressive and the visual components of the punchlines land.
I find the book incredibly endearing. It’s not a deep exploration of things that we might think of as we age – perhaps sacrificed for the sake of humor—but it does suggest that there is more going on. Pastimes is deeper than just 4 panels of funny drawings. It’s a light in a dark hallway. And not just because I am also an aging punk rock adult who sees themself in Pascal’s work and therefore established a deep empathetic connection to his life with the first comic and see it as some sort of signal that everything is going to be okay.
Probably.
Maybe.
But the only way to find out is to pick this one up and read it yourself!
Pastimes By Pascal Girard Pow Pow Press, 2025 ISBN: 9782925114543
NFNT Age Recommendation: Adult (18+), Older Teen (16-18), Teen (13-16) Creator Representation: Canadian, Character Representation: Canadian,
Stephanie wrote this autobiographical comic based on her own life, growing up in an evangelical community and trying to mash that upbringing into a secular world that had her questioning her core beliefs as a young adult. Luckily, she met James during this time. He was attending seminar and deep in research about the religion, which helped both of them navigate their growing romantic relationship.
Stephanie covers a broad range of topics and emotions that many women will find familiar and intimate, including desire, being comfortable with your own body and thoughts, motherhood, loss, and faith. And she presents them through a lens of lived experience rather than as a prescription you should follow.
As you might expect from the title, color plays an important role throughout Stephanie’s story of growing up, maturing, and coming to terms with herself. Flashbacks and childhood memories tend to be presented in grayscale with a hint of sepia. She uses the most vibrant colors for childbirth and memories with her son. I found the most interesting correlation was when her memories mixed the two to signify that she wasn’t sure of herself and her own thoughts. Especially when exploring how she imagined herself based on her upbringing versus what she was feeling in her body in the moment.
Because of these interactions, and because she doesn’t shy from exploring all of childbirth, there are many depictions of the naked female form represented throughout the book. None of these are sexualized; however, this is clearly meant to be for young/new adults into their maturity and would be best suited for an adult collection in a public or academic library. Give this to your patrons who are feeling disconnected from their childhood, their own body/thoughts, or from their faith. While there aren’t any “answers” presented in Stephanie’s narrative, her story might help others find peace within themselves.
Everything in Color A Love Story By Stephanie Stalvey 23rd St., 2026 ISBN: 9781250347800
A young boy navigating a near-future world that is both like ours, and also not. A story woven through with commentary on where we find ourselves today.
Street Noise Books brings us Hybred from Jamie Mustard and Francesca Filomena. Set in an alternate future, the book introduces us to Johnny James, 9 years old when the story begins. Mixed race, outcast, and living in a slum walled off beside the bright lights of Follyland, the rich and shining section of city just next door, Johnny splits his time between a home for boys and his fractured family, living life alongside gangs, despair, and a consistent stream of violence.
What Johnny learns from a young age is that those who give up, do not survive. And Johnny is determined to survive. Through years of childhood and into adulthood, Johnny crosses paths with a range of characters, all the while hiding the secret that he is even more different than those around him can know. As everyone claws their way toward survival, Johnny’s love of art may be his path toward safety, but only if he can endure the dangers laying in his way.
Written entirely in narration, Hybred doesn’t use paneling or text bubbles to deliver its relatively short narrative. Instead, the series of standalone, full-spread images and text blocks carry us through each moment of Johnny’s story. Written and with art direction from Mustard, this book tackles a lot—race, inequality, mental health, exploitation, and more—all grounded in an examination of the role that art can play in shaping society. It’s an ambitious and admirable undertaking to address so much in a singular story. Unfortunately, the scope of the themes ultimately harms both Johnny’s narrative and the broader ideas Hybred seeks to convey.
The story itself is never given room to breathe, unfolding in a series of vignettes that never quite find cohesion, while the dramatic conclusion of certain plot points happens largely in summary and off the page. Quiet storytelling and ambiguity can be immensely powerful. The challenge with Hybrid is the size of the gaps the reader is left to fill themselves. Similarly in theme, Mustard turns a lens on vitally important social issues, but in packing so many in with such passionate intensity, it becomes a struggle to walk away from the book with a greater understanding of any idea in particular. In trying to show us all the sights along the way, Johnny’s story struggles to reach a clear destination.
But this is not to downplay what the book does achieve. Not only does Mustard approach the writing with vision, but Filomena’s painted illustrations bring a wealth of character and visual style to the story. Reminiscent at times of Dave McKean’s art, Filomena’s hazy and stylized approach fills the book with life, blending rich colors with striking visual designs that showcase this strange-but-familiar world and the multitude of characters who inhabit it. Pages move from more cinematic presentations to portraits to paintings that demand focus on key elements of the story. Across the range of palates and scenes, Filomena’s style invites the reader to keep looking, following Johnny into this strange alternate world he is navigating.
Throughout Hybred, there are moments of drug use, violence, death, strong language, racism, human trafficking, and sexual themes. With only a couple exceptions, the book does not linger overly long on these moments—and with the early portion of the book framed through a child’s eyes, some of the darker plot points are clearer to the reader than they are to Johnny himself. Nevertheless, the often bleak combination makes the book best suited for adults alongside some older teens who know what they’re in for. In the end, I wish I liked Hybrid more than I did. It’s a respectfully ambitious undertaking from a writer who clearly has a lot to say, and I admire any piece of art that’s willing to aim big. Additionally, Filomena’s art deserves to be seen as it brings this complex tale to life. Hybred doesn’t achieve much of what it sets out to do, but I respect its vision even as I wish more of Johnny’s story had landed effectively along the way.
Hybred A Graphic Novel By Jamie Mustard Art by Francesca Filomena Street Noise Books, 2025 ISBN: 9781951491437
From studying under J.R.R. Tolkien in university to fighting the rise of fascism in the 20th century to serving as a powerful creative force behind the most famous works published by George Orwell—23rd Street Books dives into the life of Eileen O’Shaughnessy in Mrs. Orwell, written by journalist, author, and filmmaker Andrea Chalupa with art by Brahm Revel.
Mrs. Orwell opens with our introduction Eileen O’Shaughnessy (later Eileen Blair), studying at university under the esteemed Professor Tolkien, partying at night, and chafing against the strict social standards which hold women back in the name of propriety. At a party, she crosses paths with a writer named Eric Blair, who publishes under the name George Orwell.
With shared interests in art and politics, the two find a deeply passionate connection, somewhat to the dismay of Eileen’s brother with whom she lives. From marriage to traveling conflict zones in Europe in search of political movements and armed resistance to the rise of fascism and the brewing storm of what would become World War II, Eileen and her husband find themselves tested as they fight for both their ideals and their lives.
A talented writer on her own, Eileen throws herself fiercely behind supporting her husband’s work, serving as editor, typist, and muse for numerous of his publications, especially influencing his most famous titles, Animal Farm and 1984. With a world in violent chaos and a marriage fraught with turmoil and infidelity, this graphic novel shines a light on two incredibly influential writers—only one of whom remains widely known today.
As discussed in the note at the end of the book, Mrs. Orwell serves as a work of historical fiction that nevertheless draws heavily from recorded fact. It even includes a reading guide for anyone wanting to dive deeper into Eileen’s life. While never shying away from the complexities and failings of either Eileen or Eric, the main focus remains on recognizing and celebrating Eileen’s work and the vital role that art and resistance play in the face of violence. The characters are layered, revealing facets of themselves through engaging and entertaining dialogue, while Chalupa carries us through a great span of time including major historical events on the world stage. It’s a great deal of content to cover in a book of this sort, and if Mrs. Orwell has any flaw, it’s that there’s not quite enough time to unpack some of the history, particularly in the book’s later portion.
Nevertheless, in tackling themes of fascism, war, censorship, art, and media—there’s a wealth of material here that remains all too relevant today. But in addition to uncovering lesser known biography and vital discussions about the nature of creation and resistance, the book is also simply fun to read. Entertaining and often funny, it succeeds on a narrative level as much as a historical one. It’s a feat to balance all these elements, and Chalupa has written a striking story about two passionate, flawed, messy, creative, and highly influential people which brings them to vibrant life within these pages.
And speaking of vibrant pages, Revel’s shifting palate of art is a delight from start to finish. Colors and tones shift across the story, as do the layouts and structures of each page. With a careful eye for pacing and visual storytelling, Revel keeps the art grounded without being afraid to weave in flashes of stylization and dramatic representations of emotions alongside the more focused, powerful moments the book has to offer. Heightening both humor and heartache, Revel’s visuals are a vital aspect of the book’s appeal. The grit feels real, as does the threat of war and death. At the same time, we get soft romantic interludes, mixed realities where fiction intrudes on the present, and appropriate weight given to the heavier themes the book holds in store.
23rd Street Books lists this title for adult readers. There are smatterings of violence, sexuality, and language throughout, but the book never lingers on the more mature elements or presents them in graphic detail. At the same time, with a strong historical focus alongside a range of complex topics and themes, it’s likely the book will appeal most to older readers and those already familiar with Orwell’s work. It could also be a good companion read for older students studying Orwell’s life and writing. Overall, Mrs. Orwell is an excellent read in its own right, while also bringing to life a figure often lost in the obscurity of history. A woman who refused to accept the bounds society placed on her, a fighter who dreamed of a better world, a writer who left her mark for generations to come—more people should know the name Eileen O’Shaughnessy, and this graphic novel is an excellent step in ensuring that her life and accomplishments are not forgotten.
Mrs. Orwell By Andrea Chalupa Art by Brahm Revel 23rd Street Books, 2026 ISBN: 9781250877857
Company Age Rating: Adult
NFNT Age Recommendation: Adult (18+), Older Teen (16-18)
One click and this new dimension opens. A panel is the threshold to a dimension of gutters and splash pages. A dimension made of ink and Kirby Krackles. A world where a madman writes of comics and graphic novels. You are about to enter No Flying No Tights.
always seem to represent something beyond the natural fear a person would have against something with fangs and claws. Many times, these monsters are symbolic of a more universal fear involving a person’s space in society or in the universe at large (at least according to critics). Ghosts, for example, are often connected to humanity’s universal fear of death. Zombies are often symbols of death as well as disease. Author and illustrator Jon Claytor, however, presents an interesting idea in his book Nowhere, the world of zombies, vampires, and aliens represents the very modern fear of growing up.
If Dracula himself had a drop of blood for every retelling and reimagining of his story as written by Bram Stoker, then he might never have to bite another neck to sustain himself. Since stories about Dracula (and about vampires that owe so much of their aesthetic to him) are so prevalent, doing one that’s wholly original is about as difficult to find as it is to find a vampire that loves the sun. Woodstake: Three Days of Peace, Music, and Blood Vol. 1 is writer Darin S. Cape’s and illustrator Felipe Kroll’s attempt to retell the Dracula mythos, setting it at a very famous music festival synonymous with the 60’s and the Summer of Love.
upbringing into a secular world that had her questioning her core beliefs as a young adult. Luckily, she met James during this time. He was attending seminar and deep in research about the religion, which helped both of them navigate their growing romantic relationship.
find ourselves today.
force behind the most famous works published by George Orwell—23rd Street Books dives into the life of Eileen O’Shaughnessy in Mrs. Orwell, written by journalist, author, and filmmaker Andrea Chalupa with art by Brahm Revel.
