Posts Tagged ‘graphic novel’
I talked briefly about this graphic novel the other day, and now I’m gonna talk about it some more! 20th Century Boys, by Naoki Urasawa was serialized between 1999 and 2006. This is worth buying the omnibus editions, each one is around $18 and includes three-ish volumes.
think back to your childhood. Did you and your friends have a secret hide out? maybe a treehouse, or behind a garden shed? Did you come up with play acting adventures with your friends? Maybe one of you (or all of you!) were superheroes?
I’ll come back to that in a minute, but first I want to talk about the art style of 20th Century Boys. Urasawa’s art style is fairly realistic, and there is a ton of detail. Much of the first volume takes place out doors, there is just the right amount of detail (in my opinion) of the landscape – backyards, trees, walking through a shopping district, etc. There are tons of references to 60s and 70s rock music, and to world events that happened during that time. I don’t know all the correct art terms, I just know that I like this style a lot! With all the detail, you can reread over and over, and you’ll always find something that you didn’t notice the last time.
here is a nice piece of full color art at the beginning of the first volume:
ok, back to what I started with:
sounds like you had a similar childhood to Kenji and his friends. In the late 1960s, their “hang out” was a spot in an empty field. They made up stories, listened to rock music on a portable radio, dreamt of joining a rock band, and did all the normal silly things that 12 year olds do. They even came up with a secret symbol:
I think readers of any age will enjoy 20th Century Boys, but I think readers of a certain age, say, 40 years and older, will especially appreciate it. Our childhood memories are fuzzy, we know we hid in tree houses, or in alleyways, we know we made up stories with our friends, but it’s been enough years that we don’t remember the specifics.
In the first volume, most of the story line takes place in the late 90s. Kenji is grown up and is managing his family’s convenience store. He’s still friends with Keroyon and few of his other childhood friends, but he’s completely lost touch with Donkey and Yukiji. When Kenji learns that Donkey has committed suicide, he goes to the funeral in shock. Why would happily married Donkey jump off a building to his death? And why did Donkey sent Kenji a letter right before he died?
A bunch of friends who are drawn back together after one of them kills themself, and they have to remember what they did as children? This sounds like it could be a Stephen King novel, doesn’t it?
But the world doesn’t stop because some rando jumped off a building. Thanks to the newspapers sold in Kenji’s store, we get a view of strange happenings in the world – religious cults, unsolved disapearances, terrorism, mysterious diseases, and even stranger, more and more people are using the symbol that Kenji thought was their childhood secret.
Danica Davidson wrote her first novel at age seven, and hasn’t stopped. With a writing career that spans media, mid-grade fiction, non-fiction, book and tv reviews, and even how-to books, if there is a story out there to be told Danica knows how to tell it and how to talk about it. She’s published reviews and articles at Booklist, Anime Insider, iF magazine, Otaku USA, and Graphic Novel Reporter; talked about pop culture at CNN and MTV; and worked on the English adaptations of manga series such as Millennium Prime Minister and Bride’s Story. Her newest projects include a series of Minecrafter adventure novels for young readers, and a Barbie graphic novel.
There’s saying you’re going to do it all, and then actually going out and doing it all. Danica does it all, and she let me pick her brain on how in the world she got involved with so many amazing projects and how she puts all of her geeky loves together to one incredible career that includes novel writing, pop culture, and graphic novels. She’s a writer, not an artist, and if that’s confusing, head over to Smack Dab in the Middle for a great article on how a storyteller who isn’t an artist creates graphic novels. The more I learn about Danica, the more impressed I am, and I think you will be too. Learn more about her work at her website or her Amazon page, and feel free to say hi to her on twitter, @DanicaDavidson.
Little Red Reviewer: Some of your most recent Minecrafter books for mid-grade readers include Down Into the Nether, The Rise of Herobrine, and Attack on the Overworld. How did you get started with writing stories that take place in the Minecrafter world? How is writing stories for younger readers different than writing for an adult audience?
Danica Davidson: It was all a very fun and surprising turn of events. After I’d sold my first book, Manga Art for Beginners, an editor at the same publisher asked if I had any book ideas involving Minecraft. There was some talk of doing a nonfiction book, but I ended up pitching a children’s book. It started as a single book, and now it is a series in this order: Escape from the Overworld, Attack on the Overworld, The Rise of Herobrine, Down into the Nether, The Armies of Herobrine and Battle with the Wither.
I use a different “voice” in my writing depending on the audience. For kids’ writing, it’s a different vocabulary and style. It’s much more “pure” and unfiltered than adult writing. Kids tell it like it is. I’ve been writing ever since I was little, so I go back and read stuff I wrote when I was eleven to tap back into that exact voice.
Transmetropolitan Volume 1
Posted on: April 8, 2015
Transmetropolitan Vol 1 by Warren Ellis, artwork by Darick Robertson
published in 2009
where I got it: published new
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Journalist Spider Jerusalem has been hiding in a mountain cabin in the woods for a while. He’s gotten rough around the edges, his hair is down to his waist, he hates everyone. Hard to believe he’s only been out there a few years. One best-selling book was all it took for him to get more than his fifteen minutes of fame, and when the attention stopped agreeing with him, he went up the mountain and promised never to come down. Except for the pesky fact that he’s still under contract with his publisher for two more books.
And how the hell do you writing a biting political book out in the woods? You don’t. Spider is going to have to return his natural habitat. The City. It’s loud, it’s filthy, it’ll hate him right back, it’s full of noise and insanity and things happening. In short, it’s the perfect place to complete his contractual obligations. Thanks to his still existing journalism contacts, he’s able to get his old job back. Luckily it comes with an apartment. That’s a shithole. Now, not only does he have two books to write, but he’s got newspaper deadlines to meet, a city that evolved into who knows what without bothering to tell him, and an assistant who doesn’t take any shit from him.
Digger, by Ursula Vernon
Posted on: October 16, 2014
Digger, Vol 1, by Ursula Vernon
published: this volume was published in 2012, but the webcomic has been going since 2005.
where I got it: purchased new
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When I peruse the graphic novel section of my local comic shop, I’m not interested in 99% of what I see. I walk by, and very little of it catches my eye. No offense superheroes and dark noir, but you’re just not my thing. Could be that local comic book owner guy is really into superhero stuff, and not so much into other stuff. Different strokes for different folks.
Lucky for me, I ran into a copy of Ursula Vernon’s Digger Vol 1 at a Half Price Books store. Having no idea what the story was about, and not quite sure what the critter on the front cover was (She’s a wombat, by the way), I bought the graphic novel because Ursula Vernon’s name was on it.
A few quick items of business before I getting into the nitty gritty: It won the Hugo (and multiple other awards) for a reason, and I really gotta introduce local comic shop owner guy to this series. Graphic novels that don’t look that interesting got you down? Digger is the cure.
it’s Digger!
First off, Digger isn’t a what, Digger is a she. She’s a wombat, and she does what wombats naturally do: She digs and burrows and explores. She’s also intensely pragmatic and practical. When a pocket of bad air causes her to tunnel through someone’s floor and into a space that is decidedly not home, she decided to explore. Because how else is she going to find her way home? Perhaps whoever she meets can help her find her way home. She quickly meets a Statue of Ganesh who can talk, a Hyena like creature whose name has been eaten, a shadowchild who doesn’t know what he/she is, a helpful librarian, the Ganesh statue’s overly enthusiastic guard, and a prophetic snail. The story almost has an Alice in Wonderland feeling, except this Alice is a practical, no-nonsense engineer Wombat.
Actual Wombat
Timey wimey comic book heaven.
Posted on: May 19, 2011
Doctor Who: The Forgotten (graphic novel), by Tony Lee with artwork by Pia Guierra
published in Nov 2010, from IDW
where I got it: purchased new
why I read it: simply couldn’t resist.
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I either need to stop going to the comic shop, or just start signing my paychecks over to them. And come on, could you say no to this? Do you really I could say no to this? didn’t think so!
Finding themselves in a strange museum and with no sign of the TARDIS, a fascinated Martha Jones wants to go exploring, but The Doctor finds he’s lost his memory. He knows who he is, knows what he is, but he can’t seem to remember anything before his current regeneration. Even stranger, they find this is a museum dedicated to The Doctor himself! Along with the artifacts, keys, seals and stones is a room with images of all of the Doctor’s previous incarnations, and special items they carried – an umbrella, psychic paper, a cat brooch, sound familiar? Martha suggests he take a good look at the objects, perhaps it will help bring back his memories.
As Martha pushes The Doctor to remember everything he can as fast as possible, it quickly becomes apparent something much more sinister is going on. The museum is crawling with Autons, spiders, Clockwork Men and video cameras. Someone is watching, and waiting.
Number 10, I found you!
Posted on: May 16, 2011
In continuation of my post from yesterday, specifically my teary eyed pseudo love letter to a handsome, mysterious, and nameless gentleman (well, he has a name, I just don’t know what it is) who has left me forever, it thrills me to say
I found you Number Ten!!
at the comic shop!
Sometimes you just gotta blow your entire month’s entertainment budget at the comic shop. you just gotta. And I don’t know about you, but I think this is the perfect addition to my ongoing obsession. see?
Happy Girl Genius Day!
Posted on: January 12, 2011
It’s January 12th, and you know what that means!
Happy Birthday Kaja Foglio, it must be Girl Genius day!
Not familiar with Girl Genius? Imagine if your favorite action adventure steampunk graphic novel was also a sex comedy. with talking cats. Now make it funnier. Now add some Jagermonsters.
and a giant squid? wearing spectacles?
anyways, if you’re looking for something a little lighter, a little zanier, a little sexier, a little genius check yourself out some Girl Genius. Written by Phil and Kaja Foglio (yes, *that* Phil Foglio), Girl Genius offers adventure! romance! mad science!
and jagermonsters!
Go check out my reviews, you can find them under the “Manga/Graphic Novels” tab up top. It’s cool, I’ll wait.
the very, very, very first page of the webcomic is here and go check out Kaja’s Live Journal. Wish her a happy birthday, and while you’re at it, check out the GG novel, Agatha H and the Airship City, from Nightshade Books.
und mebey Iz forgot to menshun, dere iz de jagermonsters.
I can’t believe it’s the end of November!! When did that happen?
It happened sometime after we talked about over 20 graphic novel and manga series here on the Little Red. twenty series? more than 25 posts? Personally, I think that’s pretty cool. And it sure blew up the words “manga” and “graphic novel” in my word cloud. I wonder how long it’ll take everything else to catch up.
Does that mean this is the end of graphic novels and manga here on Little Red? Hell to the no! Thanks to discussing graphic novels with other bloggers, I’ve got copies of Maus II, Blankets, Persepolis and a bucket of other goodies screaming READ ME!! And they will be read! I’ve got more Phil Foglio and Ai Yazawa to publicly drool over! I’m just not going to torture you with it every day. Links to discussions of graphic novels, comics, manga, and all things visual will always be able to be found under the Manga/Graphic Novels tab at the top of the page.
As much as I love graphic novels and all their iterations . . . I am very excited to back to the business of novels. scifi, fantasy, steampunk, weird stuff, speculative stuff, more weird stuff. You know, the good stuff. Reading a quicky graphic novel nearly every day in November actually freed me up to read more speculative fiction, so I’ve got some treats lined up for you! In the next week or so you can look forward to reviews of novels by Lavie Tidhar, Joe Abercrombie, George R R Martin, Mary Doria Russell, Ursula K LeGuin and more.
December is gonna be an awesome month.
How about you?
What did you think of Graphic Novel November? success? epic fail? somewhere in the middle?
What reading goodies have you got on deck for December?
Graphic Novel November continues with something action packed, laugh out loud funny, and just plain bizarre. It’s like the 80’s are happening all over again!!
One of the strangest movies ever to hit the silver screen in the 80’s, The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension was a science fiction action comedy romance featuring a rock star surgeon (seriously, he had a rock band, and was a neurosurgeon. Often on the same day) battling aliens and saving the earth. I’d like to think if this movie was made today, mainstream audiences would be a little more accepting. The movie tanked, but to this day has a rabid cult following. And really, do Buckaroo Banzai fans come in any flavor other than rabid?
A fter their guidance counselor father is brutally murdered by a deranged student, the Locke siblings Tyler, Kinsey and Bode move cross county with their mother from California to rural Massachusetts. The family mansion, known as Keyhouse, sits on the end of the island village of Lovecraft. The children explore their new home, and try to come to grips with their father’s death.
Key house is full of magical doors. There is a door that makes you old, and one that makes you young. A door that changes your sex, and one that lets you teleport. But the doors are hidden, and some of them require a key. Bode finds a door that turns him into a ghost, and meets his echo in the wellhouse. Of course his older brother and sister don’t believe him. Everyone just thinks he’s acting out. His only friend is his echo, and she promises to be his friend, if he’ll help her with just a few little things.
Meanwhile, back in California, Sam Lesser, their father’s killer, escapes his mental hospital prison, and begins hitchhiking across country. He’s got a job to finish, and the means to do it. Someone has promised Sam eternal freedom, if he brings her two very specific keys, both of which are hidden somewhere in Keyhouse.
the Little Red Reviewer 
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