Review! Rolling Blackouts by Sarah Glidden

I found Sarah Glidden's first graphic memoir How to Understand Israel in 60 Days or Less so compelling and thoughtful and reflective so I was very keen to read Rolling Blackouts. It's in a similar style, but with Glidden taking more of an observer's view to the rest of her group, which comprises of two journalist friends and an ex Marine as they travel through Turkey, Syria and Iraq in 2010, pre Arab Spring. 

Glidden's two friends, Alex and Sarah, are reporters and founders of a non profit journalism site, who are researching stories of the effects of the Iraq War. They talk to refugees, an Iraqi American deportee, a UN refugee administrator, an Iranian blogger; gathering stories about their experiences in the aftermath of war. Alongside these encounters and the stories they bring, is the story of childhood friend of the journalists, Dan, who is a former Marine, and his return to Iraq. 

While in How to Understand Israel, Glidden was the centre of the story, seeking an understanding of the complicated history of her heritage, in Rolling Blackouts she becomes more of a fly on the wall as the two journalists and the ex Marine navigate their own understandings of the very complicated post war landscape of Turkey, Syria and Iraq in 2010. And in fact all the more interesting in light of everything that has happened in the last 7 years.

I really love Sarah Glidden's artwork. She has such a soft touch- subtle, with really beautiful watercolour washes, and great characters. Ugh she's good. Can't wait for next thing she does! 

Super interesting, great storytelling, beautiful artwork.

Review! Lumberjanes- Beware The Kitten Holy- Noelle Stevenson, Grace Ellis, Brooke Allen, Shannon Watters

Lumberjanes- Beware the Kitten Holy, is the compiled edition of the first four Lumberjanes comics. Noelle Stevenson of Nimona fame created it alongside Grace Ellis and it is illustrated by Brooke Allen. If you loved Nimona, I reckon you will love this too. It has all the same wit and charm and weirdness that made Nimona so great. The covers for all the issues and variants are at the back of the book along with some character designs, which feel likes a sweet bonus. Overall attention to detail in the 'field manual' format is awesome and makes for a super special book.

"At Miss Qiunzella Thiskwin Penniquiqul Thistle Crumpet's Camp for Hardcore Lady-Types, things are not what they seem. Three-eyed foxes. Secret Caves. Anagrams. Luckily, Jo, April, Mal, Molly, and Ripley are five rad, butt-kicking best pals determined to have an awesome summer together... and they're not gonna let a magical quest or an array of supernatural critters get in their way! The mystery keeps getting bigger, and it all begins here."

Five things I loved about Lumberjanes:

1- They are five unique female lead characters. And each one is Awesome. And each one adds their own skills to the group, from Kapow!ing monsters to figuring out cave riddles.

2- The weird magical creatures. Especially the cookie loving yetis. Why do so many of them have three eyes??

3- The Field Manual format. It makes for so many little jokes in the non narrative sections. The field manual chapter headings are great. One of my fave littles jokes is "Then there's a line about God, or whatever." in The Lumberjanes Pledge.

4- Exasperated camp councillor Jen, who slowly realises the monsters are in fact real and not tall tales. Also camp director Rosie who is macho and badass, and definitely knows all about the monsters hiding in the woods. 

5- The Kitten Holy!

Destination X- John Martz- Nobrow Press

 This beautiful and wee book by John Martz gave me fuzzy feelings after reading. It's simple and powerful and funny all at once. The artwork is stylish and captivating. And the book is just a really beautiful well designed object in and of itself. 

"A science fiction parable about obsession and single-mindedness, inspired by pulp sci-fi, Star Trek, ghost stories, and The Twilight Zone.

Sam is the grandson of a world-renowned space adventurer. Marvelled by his ailing grandfather's stories of interstellar travel and alien romance, he models his life after his famous relative- even though these stories may be untrue. So focussed is Sam on fulfilling what he thinks is his natural destiny in life that he becomes blind to his own reality."

Review! The Never Weres- Fiona Smyth

The Never Weres is a graphic novel by Fiona Smyth, who I was taught by in my semester away during art school at OCADU in Toronto in 2010, when she was working this book. Its a YA graphic novel set in the future:

"Late in the next century, the human race faces extinction. An incurable virus has left the world with no new babies since the last generation. Doom is all but certain, yet three of the world's last surviving teens are determined to carry on.

When the friends stumble upon the decades-old mystery of a missing girl, it leads them deep into a shocking secret buried long ago. It will take all their skills to uncover the truth that just might save the world."

It's a super cool concept for a dystopian future, with the main characters as the youngest people alive. There is a big science industry looking into cloning, but there are huge ethical debates about cloning humans, even if it has not been successful to do so yet.  Mia, Xian, and Jesse attend a school, which seems to be mostly run by robots, with loads of empty classrooms, as there are no longer younger students to fill them all. The illustration are great, especially the busy street scenes, where there is so much story telling packed into the details.

My five favourite things about The Never Weres:

1-The story is narrator by a character called 'Storybot Sasha', which is pretty cool, as it means we know some kind of consciousness continues after the time of the ageing population, even if it is a robot future. It's also a really handy tool to keep the reader up to speed in what is actually a pretty complicated story.

2-I'm fairly sure its set in a futuristic Toronto.

3- The protests and riots of pro- or anti-clone groups is a really cool addition. Of course there would be a lot of political action in this dystopian setting. Often in similar story settings there is a powerful government quashing any criticism or chance of uprising, however allowing characters to protest makes for a pretty interesting subplot:

"Even as the city's population dwindles, the occurrence and ferocity of protests and riots are on the rise. Anarchists, anti-governments militias, and end-of-the-world cultists commonly take to the streets. But no gorups clash more than the pro- and anti- cloning activists."

4- Mia's parents want to send her to a survival camp. Because of course if things continue as they have been, with no cure in sight, then at some point it really will be a case of survival. Mia's arguments about leaving her mark on the world with her art are powerful too, because if the human race really is ending, leaving a trace of humanity in art could be beautiful

5- Xian's robot cat, Loly! Just the coolest thing ever.

The Never Weres is published by Annick Press and can be purchased on Amazon.

Review! Nimona- Noelle Stevenson- Harper Teen

Nimona by Noelle Stevenson is just really great. You should read it. I could just leave it at that but I want to go on about it a little more. The story started as a hugely popular web series, which I was aware of but didn't keep up with (what a dummy), and was quite rightly snapped up by Harper Teen. The story follows Nimona and is set in a medieval/futuristic land, where Lord Ballister Blackheart is the villain to hero Sir Ambrosius Goldenloin. The pair are arch nemeses, though they used to be close friends, with Goldenloin working for the Institution of Law Enforcement. Nimona offers her services to Blackheart as his side-kick, with her power to instantly change form (shark, cat, dragon, human, anything) and thirst for destruction wreaking havoc throughout the kingdom all the while exposing the Institution and Goldenloin's less than heroic intentions. 

Laura Sneddon wrote a great review of the graphic novel for the Independent, which sums up lots of my feelings very succinctly. 

Here are my five favourite things about Nimona:

1- The humour in the details. There is so much wittiness to be found in background details and sound effects. Some personal favourites: Grumble. Bonk. ARROOOO. Fooooosh. KCHOOOM. Scoot. Shuf.

2- The science fiction/ medieval combo. Goldenloin and Blackheart are knights with armour and capes. There's jousting and a King and dragons. The guards carry spears. There's a market, everyone is wearing tunics. But also there are science labs to steal secret plans from and phone calls on screens and computer files to decode and TV news and a hospital with drips and labcoats and giant KKCHOOOM blasting lazer guns. 

3- Nimona as an anti-hero. Nimona is a loveable ball of energy, who is trying to bring down the not-so-heroic Institution, but she is also incredibly destructive, murderous and violent. She is brilliant twist on the 'strong female character' as Laura Sneddon discusses, as she is literally the strongest person in that world: "That strength and her unique ability to blend in with her surroundings, disguise her own leanings into the dark side." It's hard to place where Nimona lies on the Hero to Villain scale, something that makes her so unique and interesting.

4- Nimona's body and style. That sounds creepy... but her body shape is awesome. She has a kick ass hair do; pink/purple and half shaved. She wears a short tunic/chain mail dress. And she is curvy and strong. Blackheart and Goldenloin are tall and skinny (and strong), and Nimona really contrasts with them as this curvy, short, feisty, ball of energy. 

5- Goldenloin Blackheart relationship. Are they just old friends? Was there any more to it? Either way their reconciliation in the end is a beautiful way to finish the book.

A photo posted by RuthLily (@ruthlily) on Jul 5, 2015 at 9:08am PDT