The October Girl Volume Two by Matthew Dow Smith
The email came into the inbox. I saw that it was Maverick. I opened it, scrolled through, and there she was. The floating girl in a sea of blue. Was it? Could I hope? YES! It was book two of The October Girl by Matthew Dow Smith. Oh! Sweet heaven! My ship had come in! I could read the online copy, not having to wait until the end of May 2026 to have a physical copy in my hand. I was going to be one […]
Amelia Shadows V01 Amelia Shadows and the New Head Ghost by Matthew Dow Smith
While I enjoyed the build up, the ending was too quick in the graphic novel, Amelia Shadows and the New Head Ghost by Matthew Dow Smith. We have the slow climb of Amelia and her tutor trying to beat the “New Head Ghost” her father has hired to manage their home, then BOOM Ameila figures out “the secret” to her father’s choice, why there is a new ghost in the house (and why he is so bossy), and then has more questions. It is interesting, […]
Unretouchable by Sofia Szamosi
While looking at online reader copies that were new to the site I use, I found Bad Kid (a Graphic Memoir): My Life as a Troubled Teen by Sofia Szamosi. It said it was a companion to Unretouchable. Which, of course, meant that if I wanted to read Bad Kid, my brain said, you need Unretouchable. Therefore, off to the library I went to pick up a copy via interlibrary loan. Szamosi discusses the beauty industry and how she is both part of and wants […]
The Boy Wonder by Juni Ba, Chris O'Halloran, Aditya Bidikar
When I learned that Dick Grayson was only one of several Robins I was probably in my thirties. How could this be? I mean Bruce Wayne stayed the same, why didn’t Robin? Did he really need to be Nightwing? Red Hood? Red Robin? What does this prove? Honestly, I don’t know if it has to prove anything, but in Juni Ba, Chris O’Halloran, Aditya Bidikar (and others) The Boy Wonder they collected some of the stories that focus on the newest addition the SuperHero of […]
Hinamatsuri, vols 1-19 by Masao Ohtake
After I played the Yakuza video games, I went hunting for more of the heartfelt nonsense the games did so well. The closest found was Hinamatsuri by Masao Ohtake. Now that the game series is crashing and burning, I decided to revisit Hinamatsuri – a story about telekinetic child soldiers from the future living in the modern world as normal kids. Hina is the main girl. Put time out until she stops being a WMD, she falls into a yakuza’s apartment and parks her lazy […]
The Complete Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi
There’s a point in Persepolis where Marjane says she’s too Western for Iran and too Iranian for the West. Re-reading this graphic novel with an extra decade of life and a deeper understanding of what makes the West the “West” and how we ‘other’ cultures different from our own, brings me to a more challenging conclusion. Satrapi’s tale is ‘More Western’ than Iranian. That’s not a criticism nor a reduction of the rich cultural heritage that runs through this book. It exists as her […]
