Comic Stack 04/01/15 – 5 Graphic Novel Recommendations

I’m going to be a little lazy this week because I haven’t had a chance to read any of my comics this week or last week, which is why I didn’t post last week (also it was my birthday week last week). I’ve been traveling with work and working on a new project, which has made me choosier about what I’ve been reading, and sadly, it hasn’t been my comics. I have a load of comics waiting for me to read them, though, and I’ll be sure to get back on my #1s next week (hopefully).

This week however, I thought I’d do something a little different and recommend five graphic novels for readers that aren’t necessarily of the X-Men or Batman variety, that can be picked up by serious and casual readers alike.

Julio’s Day by Gilbert Hernandez

I cheated on this one and just copied and pasted a mini-review I wrote for this when it first came out. I’m sorry… sorta. This is a slice of life comic that opens up with the birth wails of Julio and ends with his death rattle 100 years later in the same house and in the same bed. Even though there are many iconic things that happen from 1900 to 2000, the comic kept the impact of such events insular, choosing to focus on the small scale impact of these events and how they did or didn’t affect Julio’s family. Things like the stock market crash happened and the family acknowledges it, but what does it mean to a family that’s already poor? What does it mean to a family already used to just getting by? This book also focuses on the people in their communities and how they impacted Julio and his family’s life, as well.

This story was filled with dark family secrets, loneliness, betrayal, mental health issues, racism, turning sexual tides, and many other things. While that seems so much for one graphic novel, the pains and joys in this story are told with such simplicity, often times without words or with only dialogue that says so much without the characters ever going into full details such as Julio’s sister telling him, “I don’t feel so sad when somebody dies, Julio, because they fly away to explore the stars and planets. When it’s our turn we join them in exploring the universe.” The art, the pacing, everything was just right for this story.

Chew Vol. 1: Taster’s Choice by John Layman

The story revolves around Tony Chu, an ex-cop who now works for the FDA. Tony is a cibopath. That means he gets psychic impressions from anything he eats—except beets. He lives in a world where the FDA is now running things after a severe case of avian flu killed millions of people. Because of this, chicken is banned, replaced by a chicken substitute while the real thing is considered a black market commodity. Tony is recruited—but not entirely by choice—by the FDA after using his “gift” to bust a serial killer. They want him to use this same gift to help their special crimes division. And this is where Tony’s adventures really begin.

The premise of the series sounds a bit bizarre, but the story is well-written and fast paced. It’s full of dark, dry, morbid humor. You’re not overwhelmed with information about this new world. It’s presented to you in bites (no pun intended). I found by the third part that I was totally immersed in this story and really laughing out loud at some of their antics. I have to applaud the writer for creating this imaginative world where food plays such an integral role right down the name of every character—both major and minor—in the series so far.

Other reviews of the series: Taster’s Choice Review by Wendy.

Princeless Book One: Save Yourself by Jeremy Whitley

Princeless follows the quest of Princess Adrienne to free herself and her sisters from their fate of waiting for a prince to save them from their towers. From the beginning Adrienne has rebelled against the idea of princesses being passively saved by princes, asking her mother, “Who has the kind of grudge against this beautiful princess that they would lock her in a tower?”

This is a cute story, for sure, but it’s so much more than that. Adrienne questions a world where women are expected to be second class citizen. Yes, this is a story about gender binary, but it’s not preachy. It’s a cute story whose moral simply is girls can be strong and boys don’t always have to tough, that boys and girls aren’t boxed in by their gender. This is exactly the kind of story I want to read to my daughter. I love comics, but it’s often hard to find something age appropriate or that I’m willing to expose my children to the “lessons” in them. Read my full review here. Read Wendy’s review of volume two here and a chat with the creator, Jeremy Whitley.

28 Days Later by Michael Alan Nelson

There are so few comics that are made based on a movie rather than vice versa that really impressed me. At the heart of things 28 Days Later really is Selena’s story. American journalist, Clint, tracks Selena down at a refugee camp in Norway after the events of the movie 28 Days Later. He wants to enlist her help in getting into London, which has been quarantined, so he can tell the real story of what happened there. How could that go wrong? End sarcasm.

The readers are shown Selena’s life before the infection. It’s just glimmers of who she used to be intertwined with the action of the story and doesn’t intrude on the main storyline. Looking back on this comic now it kind of reminds me how of Michonne was handled in the show when they started showing more of her back story, but this predates that (I believe, but I could be wrong) and that is not a bad thing. I’m a sucker for good back stories.

Saga, Volume One by Brian K. Vaughan

I love this book, but it took me forever to read it because I wasn’t sure I’d like it. After getting the first issue free, I was immediately hooked. Two soldiers from opposite sides of a war fall in love and bring a life into the world. Now, they’re fleeing to find a life for their family. This is part military sci-fi, part romance, and all excellent. However, I will admit that it is strange and it won’t be everyone’s bag. However, I can’t recommend it enough. It’s just so completely different from what readers might expect. There’s so much I want to say about it, but it would just spoil the whole thing. You can check out a review by Wendy here, though, for volume 2!

HONORABLE MENTION

Rat Queens, Vol. 1: Sass & Sorcery by Kurtis J. Wiebe

I’ll let the description speak for itself:

A pack of booze-guzzling, death-dealing battle maidens-for-hire, and they’re in the business of killing all god’s creatures for profit.

It’s also a darkly comedic sass-and-sorcery series starring Hannah the Rockabilly Elven Mage, Violet the Hipster Dwarven Fighter, Dee the Atheist Human Cleric and Betty the Hippy Smidgen Thief. This modern spin on an old school genre is a violent monster-killing epic that is like Buffy meets Tank Girl in a Lord of the Rings world on crack!

Despite the LoTR reference, this was absolutely superb! Thanks again to Wendy for gifting it to me for my birthday last year!