Mi Barrio
Robert Renteria, Corey Blake, and Shane Clester. Writers of the Round Table (NBN, dist.), $14.95 trade paper (80p) ISBN 978-1-61066-000-6
This inspirational title, produced by the business books–into–comics outfit Writers of the Round Table, adapts businessman Renteria's 2008 memoir about his hard-knock life into a punchy, easy-to-digest story. Renteria grew up with a single mother in a rough Los Angeles neighborhood during the 1970s, where he did everything that should have gotten him killed: running with gangs, selling drugs, the works. A stint in the military straightened him out, but didn't provide many prospects for employment. After knocking around in Chicago, Renteria convinced the owner of a laundry sales company to take a chance on him. Cut to years later, and Renteria is a wealthy salesman who has started his own company and now also mentors and lectures about getting out of the ghetto grind (his quick answer: hard work). Clester's art is more highly accomplished than is usually seen in true-life graphic adaptations, and while Renteria's tendency to gloss over the details can leave his story feeling sketchy at times, it's a work whose hard-won sense of hopefulness outweighs any hint of preachiness. (Aug.)
The Influencing Machine: Brooke Gladstone on the Media
Brooke Gladstone and Josh Neufeld. Norton, $23.95 (192p) ISBN 978-0-393-07779-7
Gladstone, cohost of NPR's On the Media, and noted illustrator Neufeld (A.D.: New Orleans After the Deluge) make a formidable pair in this fascinating history of media's influence. Gladstone is both narrator and visual tour guide, popping up throughout Neufeld's panels as both her contemporary self and wittily camouflaged alongside historical figures. From the "Acta Diurna" posted in ancient Rome to the outcries over President Adams's Alien and Sedition Acts and McCarthy's Red Scare, Gladstone traces not only the birth of the press but also its various muzzles. The press will not always stay silent, as she illustrates with Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers, and Woodward and Bernstein's uncovering of the Watergate scandal. Yet government opacity still abounds, and Gladstone pointedly wonders if secrecy really makes us safer. One of the most intriguing sections deals with bias, a term tossed around so often it's become almost meaningless. Gladstone points to seven key biases that cognizant media consumers should worry about: commercial, bad news, status quo, access, visual, narrative, and fairness. These dovetail nicely into a frank discussion of war journalism, which highlights Neufeld's considerable skills, with each panel bursting with situational details. Gladstone's is an indispensible guide to our ever-evolving media landscape that's brought vividly to life. (May)
Delirium's Party: A Little Endless Storybook
Jill Thompson. DC/Vertigo, $14.99 trade paper (64p) ISBN 978-1-4012-2477-6
The Endless--six quasi-mythological figures created by Neil Gaiman in the pages of the Sandman comics--return in their child-size versions in this whimsical tale of sibling dynamics by acclaimed artist Thompson (Scary Godmother). Delirium, accompanied by her loyal dog Barnabas, is hell-bent on throwing her dour sister, Despair, the most wonderful birthday party ever. The little girl stays true to her name, and Thompson's illustrations capture the manic energy Delirium pours into party planning. When the rest of the family arrives--brothers Destiny, Dream, Destruction and sisters Despair, Death, and Desire--Delirium promises a party they won't soon forgot. But nothing cracks Despair's grim facade (even presents) or move her to utter anything other than "..." It isn't until Delirium puts aside her own assumptions about what makes the perfect party and sees the event through her sister's eyes that she realizes what's missing. Thompson's watercolors bring this eccentric family to life, from the frenetic Technicolor whirlwind of Delirium doing everything in her power to coax a smile out of her sister to her cloaked and hooded siblings presenting Despair with increasingly elaborate birthday presents. (May)
