A Guest in the House by Emily Carroll Review

Abby is the new and younger second wife to David, the local dentist. But she’s finding the transition to married life and being a stepmom to David’s daughter Crystal, difficult. And then she starts seeing… things… in her otherwise charming lakeside house, and finds out she’s been told lies about David’s first wife, Sheila. How did Sheila die - and what do the lighthouse and the lake have to do with it? The house’s nightly guest has some disturbing answers…

Shadow Life Review (Hiromi Goto, Ann Xu)

An elderly Japanese-Canadian widow checks herself out of the old folks’ home and goes to live by herself - much to the annoyance of her daughters! Except it’s not just the depressing atmosphere of the home she’s escaping but death itself. And guess who’s tracked her down to her new place…

Saints by Gene Luen Yang Review

Late 19th century China, and an unwanted fourth child is born to a peasant family - so unwanted, she’s not even given a real name, just a designation of the order she was born and her sex: Four-Girl. As she endures a horrible childhood, Four-Girl discovers Christianity though, unfortunately, the Boxer Rebellion is in full swing, with the rebels killing anyone from the West and/or Christian. Which side will Four-Girl choose - her country or her faith?

Boxers by Gene Luen Yang Review

After enduring a number of harsh setbacks including war and natural disaster, Chinese peasants in the late 19th century began an anti-colonial, anti-Christian uprising that grew and became known as the Boxer Rebellion (the Chinese militia practiced Chinese martial arts like kung fu which was known at the time as “Chinese boxing”, hence why they were referred to as “Boxers”). Gene Luen Yang captures the broad strokes of the historical event, from the Boxers’ perspective, in this book.

Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up with Me Review (Mariko Tamaki, Rosemary Valero-O'Connell)

This book cleaned up at the 2020 Eisners, taking home Best Publication for Teens, Best Writer and Best Penciller, so I wanted to check this out to see what all the hubbub was about (bub) even though I suspected that I wouldn’t like it much - and I didn’t! I really, really didn’t like it at all.

Nothing Can Possibly Go Wrong Review (Prudence Shen, Faith Erin Hicks)

Nerds want school funds to go to a robotics competition but cheerleaders want the cash for new uniforms - the solution? Entering the nerds’ robot – The Beast – into the Robot Rumble to try to win the $10k first prize so everyone’s covered! Nothing can possibly go wrong…

Delilah Dirk and the Turkish Lieutenant by Tony Cliff Review

Delilah Dirk and the Turkish Lieutenant is set in 1807 Istanbul but it’s a fantasy/anachronistic version of 1807 replete with flying boats, feminist protagonists and Roman-style aqueducts! Sword-wielding Indiana Jones-type Delilah’s out to steal treasure from an evil pirate villain and Selim, the titular Turkish Lieutenant, gets caught up for the ride.

Is This Guy For Real?: The Unbelievable Andy Kaufman by Box Brown Review

Box Brown returns to the subject that gave him his breakthrough in Andre the Giant: Life and Legend - wrestling, in Is This Guy For Real? And it’s for real a decent biographical comic on the great comic Andy Kaufman, mostly focused on Andy’s wrestling.

Be Prepared by Vera Brosgol Review

Be prepared - for a middling childhood memoir comic! Vera Brosgol’s latest book is about her going to a Russian summer camp as a kid and having a bit of a tough time of it. But it’s not all bad and yadda yadda yadda, learning important lessons, etc.

This One Summer Review (Mariko Tamaki, Jillian Tamaki)

Two boring teen girls spend their summer hanging out at the beach with their families. Nothing happens for 300 pages and then something does to give the narrative an unearned sense of purpose. This One Summer? This one sucks.

Demon, Volume 4 by Jason Shiga Review

It’s Jimmy and Sweetpea vs Hunter for the fate of the world in the last book in Jason Shiga’s Demon series. And it’s an absolute corker to go out on!

Top 10 Best Comics of 2017

Here’s the rub: every time I’ve done my top 10 picks for best comics of the year since the goshdarn series started, I’ve plumped for Giant Days – with good reason, it really is the best comic in the world! So this year I’m adopting a similar view that film critics have taken with Citizen Kane and “Best Movies of All Time” lists – Giant Days is the undisputed greatest, that’s a given, so let’s just push that to the side and give something else a chance! So this year’s Top 10 Best Comics list doesn’t include Giant Days but it’s definitely my actual pick for the top spot. Onto the others!

Demon, Volume 3 by Jason Shiga Review

While I’ve enjoyed Jason Shiga’s exemplary Demon enormously, Volume 3 is unfortunately the weakest book in the series so far. Which isn’t to say it’s bad but it feels a bit like filler, and repetitive filler at that, as it’s largely similar to the last volume. 

California Dreamin’: Cass Elliot Before the Mamas & the Papas by Penelope Bagieu Review

Penelope Bagieu’s California Dreamin’ is a biographical comic about the early life of Ellen Cohen aka Cass Elliot of ‘60s group The Mamas and the Papas. It’s not a bad read but it definitely has its flaws. 

Three Shadows by Cyril Pedrosa Review

A farmer, his wife and their young son live an idyllic life on their farm in the country. Until one day three ominous horsemen appear in the hills, getting closer to the house every day. They’ve come for the boy. So begins a desperate game of cat and mouse as the farmer tries to save his son from his fate, running from the horsemen across land and sea - but can anyone outrun Death?

Demon, Volume 2 by Jason Shiga Review

Jimmy can demonically possess anyone he’s near when the current body he’s in dies - he’s essentially immortal! Despite being the most wanted man in America, he decides to use his new powers to get revenge on the drunk driver who killed his wife and daughter. And then he makes a shocking discovery: his little girl is still alive - and in prison?!

Demon, Volume 1 by Jason Shiga Review

Jimmy Yee wants to die. He checks into a motel, writes a suicide note and hangs himself. And then wakes up in the motel room still alive! So he decides to slit his wrists with a razor in the bathtub. And then he wakes up in the motel room still alive! The fuck’s going on - is he suddenly immortal?!

In Real Life Review (Cory Doctorow, Jen Wang)

Being a teen is restrictive but for Anda, when she logs into Coarsegold, a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG), she’s free as her avatar. And then she meets Raymond, a player her age from China, and her world, online and offline, changes. 

The Glorkian Warrior Eats Adventure Pie by James Kochalka Review

The Glorkian Warrior lets an alien suck his brains out because he’s a big silly billy. Then he talks to his child-friend Gonk about how his brain is in his elbow or something. They re-arrange furniture. An evil Glorkian Warrior called Buster Glark steals a box of crackers from him and… yeah, unfortunately this comic is garbage. 

Shackleton: Antarctic Odyssey by Nick Bertozzi Review

Nick Bertozzi’s latest comic is about the real life story of British explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton’s 1914 expedition to traverse the Antarctic continent on foot. It’s a really good book that effectively summarises what could be considered the greatest survival story of all time.