Geoffrey Chaucer: The Canterbury Tales

Seymour Chwast. Bloomsbury, $20 (144p) ISBN 978-1-60819-487-2

Reimagining a 14th-century masterpiece for a modern audience proves to be extremely difficult. Readers who want a very fast survey of the Tales will be satisfied, for famed designer Chwast summarizes everything, not ducking the Miller’s enthusiastic bawdiness and the Prioress’s pious anti-Semitism. Some of his updatings are clever: the pilgrims travel on motorbikes, and their dialogue frequently uses contemporary slang; in addition, the cartoony style and overall design sometimes work to emphasize a story’s point. On the other hand, Chaucer’s work hasn’t lasted so much because of the tales’ plots but because of the personality each pilgrim shows and the subtle way Chaucer handles the interaction of tales and tellers. Chwast’s more bombastic approach creates an amusing surface, but doesn’t really try to translate the substance of the original. While his bare-bones style simplifies some elements, the elements of the stories stay well-defined. (Sept.)

99 Days

Matteo Casali and Kristian Donaldson. DC/Vertigo Crime, $19.95 (184p) ISBN 978-1-4012-3089-0

Unflinchingly grim, this police noir story shows L.A. descending into hell. Random attacks by a machete-wielding killer are panicking the South Central ghetto and giving the Crips and Bloods an excuse to go gunning for each other—while a ghoulishly cynical radio host cheerleads the violence. LAPD detective Antoine Davis is all too familiar with machete slayings because he was forced to be a child soldier during the 1994 civil/tribal war in Rwanda, when the Hutus attempted to exterminate all Tutsis. Later adopted into an American family, he wants to believe he is safe from that horror, but his calm outlook begins to unravel as the scenes of brutality in front of him are interrupted by memories of the atrocities he participated in. Casali’s smart, full-flavored script is as dense with details as a prose novel. Donaldson’s art initially looks stiff and flat, but by the end it has become hauntingly convincing, too, as the ghosts from Antoine’s past intrude into his present. A harrowing, compelling look at what human beings are willing to do to each other. (June)

Celluloid

Dave McKean. Fantagraphics, $35 (232p) ISBN 978-1-60699-440-9

A work of erotica meant to be as stimulating mentally as it is visually by famed illustrator/director McKean (MirrorMask). The book’s story, of a bored woman waiting for her partner to get home from a late night at work who discovers a film projector with a mysterious pornographic scene loaded onto it, serves as simple setup for a tale told without words. McKean’s ability to master many artistic styles and use them to present an ever-changing surreal visual narrative is on full display. As the woman’s night brings her from one mysterious encounter to another, McKean employs pencils, inks, charcoals, paint, photographic collages, photography with live models and more, mixing them together as the story builds in its visual complexity. The work has a dreamlike quality throughout, sometimes confusing, sometimes nightmarish, sometimes bizarre, as shapes and people meld and twist into one another. Nothing is ever really explained or resolved, putting the burden on reader to take their own meaning away from the night’s events. (June)

Lucid: Vol. One

Michael McMillian and Anna Wieszczyk. Archaia, $19.95 (112p) ISBN 978-1-936395-04-6

Smart and beautiful, this spy/black magic thriller is a blast. Young Matthew Dee is the new head of a super-secret U.S. government agency that uses “occult technology” to protect our world from invasion by creatures from another dimension. First, however, he must team up with a female British agent to track down the human mastermind who’s collaborating with the enemy. This debut solo script by True Blood actor McMillian works some interesting changes on familiar themes; it’s fast-moving fun, but it serves largely to give the artist a chance to do virtuoso riffs. The most impressive thing about the comic is the art by a 19-year-old Polish artist. Most of Wieszczyk’s humans are standard manga-glamorous, greyhound-lean, with tangled, spiky hair and dramatically rumpled clothing; however, her vibrant coloring, striking layouts, and startling nonhuman characters are extraordinary and quite wonderful. In short, this is a book readers can enjoy for the story, but will love for its visual invention. (June)

Queen of the Black Black

Megan Kelso. Fantagraphics, $19.99 trade paper (160p) ISBN 978-1-60699-459-7

This long-out-of-print collection of short stories by Kelso (Artichoke Tales) is an intriguing and evocative look into her early work, quiet little tales filled with realistic emotion and more than a little narrative ambiguity. The stories touch on a variety of experiences, such as childhood perceptions of a grownup party, youthful and innocent sexuality as expressed via imaginative role-playing, commitment to the arts at the expense of one’s social adventures, the realities of being “the other woman,” unplanned pregnancy, and more. There are also a couple of very bizarre flights of fantasy that are qualified head-scratchers, but the charm of Kelso’s art and writing make them as welcome as any of the other concoctions that flowed from her pen onto the page. Kelso’s art is simple and somewhat “cartoony,” but the style meshes perfectly with the book’s thoughtful narrative qualities. Kelso’s strength is a gentle understanding of the various undercurrents of longing and memory that motivate us, and these stories show that in abundance. (July)

Cyclops

Luc Jacamon and Matz. Archaia, $19.95 (118p) ISBN 978-1-936393-11-4

In a futuristic world in which international peacekeeping forces have been privatized, the main character, Doug, becomes a “cyclops,” a global soldier whose helmet, fitted with a camera, allows the images he sees to be broadcast to the masses. This means that men like Doug aren’t just soldiers, they’re also celebrities, and, in a global industry in which war and media have become one, he has no choice but to play both roles to the hilt. In glossy, brilliantly colored panels, the story unfolds, with geostrategic alliances and political maneuvering underlying every noncovert action. When footage of Doug in the midst of heroically saving a political figure makes the global airwaves, he becomes a world-class celebrity, and his life gets even more complicated than it was as a peacekeeper/mercenary soldier as he moves on to “photogenic missions,” which make up the substance of a television-style show to be broadcast to the masses. Jacamon and Matz are known both in the U.S. and in Europe for their previous collaboration, The Killer. Sharp art, relevant political commentary, and sexy, action-packed story make this another winner. (July)

Tale of the Waning Moon, Vol. 2

Hyouta Fujiyama. Orbit/Yen, $12.99 trade paper (176p) ISBN 978-0-316-17801-3

Ryuka, in search of love, is trying to reach the Moon Spirit Ixto, and a series of chores have to be done before he can get there. Helping him, Ryuka has such things as a cat boy and someone who can transform back and forth between a human and a horse. This is a yaoi series, centering on erotic relationships between men, with a character named Widow the main exemplar, though his relationships are gratuitous and not based on love or affection. There are quite a few details and characters, causing some confusion—those who did not read the first volume will have a hard go of it. Artwork for yaoi is often, though not always, drawn with finesse and beauty, so by comparison the art in this manga is quite basic. This is a light read and high fantasy mixed with some homoeroticism, and while parts can be confusing, the detail on folklore and spirits is fascinating. (June)

The Twilight Experiment

Justin Gray, Jimmy Palmiotti, and Juan Santacruz. DC Comics, $17.99 trade paper (144p) ISBN 978-1-4012-3055-5

Longtime collaborators on such series as Power Girl and Jonah Hex, Gray and Palmiotti take a chance on less familiar material, and the result is mostly good. The story begins with the climactic final battle between Serenity and the Righteous, the last remaining superheroes on Earth. Serenity sacrifices her life to defeat the megalomaniacal Righteous; however, it turns out that she has a superpowered son named Michael hidden in a satellite. The narrative splits its focus between Michael and his first journey to Earth’s surface, and Rene, a paramedic who lost her sister during Serenity’s battle with Righteous. Rene and Michael end up working together to save the world, as they discover that they are connected in a way they never imagined. The writing is snappy and often funny, and Santa Cruz’s vibrant artwork is a treat. Unfortunately, the story feels rushed, and neither Michael nor Rene get the multidimensional characterization they need. Righteous is the most compelling character, as, in spite of his methods, his ultimate goal was peace and stability on Earth; he’s a nuanced villain who adds much to the story. (June)

What I Hate: from A to Z

Roz Chast. Bloomsbury, $15 (64p) ISBN 978-1-60819-689-0

The remarkably straightforward title tells the reader exactly what to expect: 26 cartoons (plus a couple of bonuses), each accompanied by a short paragraph of the author’s musings on what’s illustrated. Chast’s nervous cross-hatching and wiggly, double-penned lines are perfect for this catalogue of urban anxiety. Subjects range from the understandable (doctors, getting lost, going blind) or the commonplace (flying, heights, nightmares) to the bizarre, such as when she calls balloons “imminent explosions” or ponders spontaneous human combustion. Her memory of trying to make Jell-O 1-2-3 is both nostalgic and immensely creepy. Readers will find it most amusingly shocking to run across a worry they thought was uniquely theirs—realizing that someone else has considered all the ways you could die at a carnival is perversely comforting. The cartoons range from sequential, with four subpanels, to simple, stark images, such as a child being abducted by a kite. Others are packed with details of fearful faces or overwhelm the image with text; Chast uses whatever works best for the concept. With its variety of topics, this slim hardcover makes for an entertaining, rewarding flip-through. (Oct.)

Habibi

Craig Thompson. Pantheon, $35 (672p) ISBN 978-0-375-42414-4

Thompson’s (Blankets) first graphic novel in seven years is a lushly epic love story that’s both inspiring and heartbreaking, intertwined with parables from both Islam and Christianity. Sold into marriage as a young girl, Dodola endures life as the wife of a scribe until she’s captured by slave traders and brought to Wanatolia to be auctioned off. But before she can be sold again, she escapes, taking with her an abandoned toddler named Habibi. The pair runaway to the desert, taking refuge in an abandoned boat, where they survive for nine years, with Dodola teaching Zam the ways of the world through stories from the Qur’an and the Bible. When Zam is 12, he secretly follows Dodola and realizes that she has been prostituting herself to passing caravans in order to acquire food. They are separated when Dodola is taken against her will to become part of a sultan’s harem, leaving Zam alone in the desert. Six long years pass as the two struggle to find their way back to each other and, overcoming enormous odds, eventually end up far from the ancient desert landscape in a contemporary metropolis that underscores Thompson’s subtle ability to blend the timeless and the current. In addition to richly detailed story panels, the gorgeous Arabic ornamental calligraphy makes each page an individual work of art. (Sept.)

Tokyo on Foot

Florent Chavouet. Tuttle, $22.95 (208p) ISBN 978-4-8053-1137-0

In Chavouet’s debut effort, he presents a view of Tokyo unlike anything found in a travel guide or map book. The opportunity for his own view came during a six-month visit to Tokyo while tagging along with his girlfriend, who was interning at a company there. Each day, Chavouet, armed with “a lady’s bicycle and a folding chair,” set out to sketch real people engaged in nothing more than the business of their daily lives, however curious, interesting, or mundane. While he documents the people and places of Tokyo in his book, he also shares humorous anecdotes about his own experiences of living in the city. What sets the book apart from the typical guide is that Chavouet doesn’t merely show Tokyo in his illustrations or provide a convenient map book for the prospective traveler. Instead, his window into the cityallows him to showcase his profound talent as an artist. His drawings are so wonderfully idiosyncratic and so beautifully detailed that what must have been a labor of love for him is no less a labor of delightful artistic genius. (June)

Isle of 100,000 Graves

Jason and Fabien Vehlmann. Fantagraphics, $14.99 trade paper (56p) ISBN 978-1-60699-442-9

Jason and Vehlmann’s story of a young girl seeking the help of pirates to track down her lost father mixes elements of grim family drama with light and dark comedy to create an engrossing story that keeps readers surprised with sudden twists in both plot and mood. Gwenny, a girl living with her abusive mother, finds a treasure chest in a bottle, identical to the one that her father found before leaving her family. Gwenny leaves home and persuades a crew of pirates to seek the treasure on the isle of 100,000 graves, but it turns out the maps are actually a trap created by a school for executioners to gather live test subjects. The execution school is played astonishingly well for laughs, as its story is told through the perspective of a young student, Tobias, who decides to help Gwenny on her quest. As a pitched battle breaks out between the pirates and executioners that threatens to destroy the school and the island, Gwenny discovers an unexpected twist in her father’s disappearance. Jason’s characteristic style of animal people with minimal expressions conveys a surprisingly wide array of emotions, even when one wears a hangman’s hood showing only eye holes and a thin mouth. Short and yet complex, it’s a strong story with unexpected laughs. (June)

Orcs: Forged For War

Stan Nicholls and Joe Flood. Roaring Brook/First Second, $17.99 trade paper (204 p) ISBN 978-1-59643-455-4

Spawned from author Nicholls’s series of novels featuring the titular creatures, this comes as a real surprise. Coupled with Flood’s deceptively simple and clear visual storytelling, the story centers on a troop of Orcs bound in service—or, more accurately, slavery—to a vicious, magic-wielding queen and tasked with protecting a secret weapon under the control of a goblin sorcerer and his underlings. The Orc commander, Stryke, must lead his soldiers and maintain order in their occasionally fractious ranks while also putting up with abuse from both the queen and the goblins, whose race has long been bitter enemies with Stryke’s people. Not to be confused with the variety made famous by Tolkien, the Orcs of this narrative are noble warriors from whose point of view the reader witnesses events and immediately comes to sympathize with their situation. A cracking good tale from start to finish, this is strongly recommended for those who seek a realistically violent and profane heroic fantasy. (Oct.)

Willie & Joe: Back Home

Bill Mauldin. Fantagraphics, $29.99 (288p) ISBN 978-1-60699-351-4

This time capsule is the second collection of Mauldin’s cartoons from Fantagraphics, this time covering the post-World War II period of 1945-1946. Pulitzer Prize–winner Mauldin is best known for drawing foxhole-level realistic images of everyday soldiers Willie and Joe on the European front for Stars and Stripes. In this follow-up collection, the problem of “what do we do with them now that the war is over?” is apparent both in the explicit content of the single-page cartoons as well as Mauldin’s struggles to find suitable subjects. The book would have been much improved with annotations for the images, explaining long-forgotten political arguments and names. The linework and chiaroscuro are amazing, but too often the subjects are of little to no meaning to modern readers, especially once Mauldin gets into the anti-Communist propaganda or forgotten foreign controversies of the time. Editor Todd DePastino’s introduction, covering key events in Mauldin’s life during the creation of these cartoons, is essential to comprehending some of the content, but other cartoons—such as those featuring forgotten veterans, lying politicians, or creeping consumerism—are universal. Best for those who already know Mauldin’s skill and want more examples of his work with characters now out of infantry uniform. (Aug.)


Batman: Knight and Squire

Paul Cornell and Jimmy Broxton. DC, $14.99 (160p) ISBN 978-1-4012-3071-5

Cornell (Captain Britain and MI13) and Broxton present a high-spirited series of the loosely connected adventures of the Batman and Robin of Great Britain. Often hilarious and yet at times also heartwarming and tragic, the book follows Cyril Sheldrake, the vigilante crimefighter Knight who inherited his castle and superhero identity from his father, and Beryl Hutchinson, who became his sidekick Squire when she convinced him to turn his life around and live up to his legacy. Filled with verbal references and sight gags enough to keep even the most knowledgeable anglophiles busy keeping track of them all, the five stories introduce a wider world of British superheroes and supervillains. From a magical pub to an army of occult Morris folk dancers to Beryl’s first date with her superhero boyfriend, they’re all lighthearted adventures. The final story is most impressive, a confrontation between a knock-off British version of the Joker and his original American counterpart that highlights a clash between modern, grittier comics and their more fun-loving predecessors, which builds to a thrilling finale. Broxton’s artwork is superb, bringing to life British cityscapes, villages, and ancient places while also providing charming designs for all the newly created heroes and villains and sprinkling gags throughout the backgrounds. (July)