Graphic Novel Roundup

So April was Graphic Novel month at Chez Laura.



Stitches: A Memoir by David Small
Yes, it is another graphic memoir about a dysfunctional childhood - but it's a really good one! The story is compelling - Small went into the hospital to have a growth removed and woke up without one vocal cord, rendering him mute and only found out later that he had cancer and wasn't expected to survive. And the art is very nice.



Robot Dreams by Sara Varon
This wordless and sweet tale of friendship between a dog and a robot is a perfect example of the Graphic Novel as a purely visual medium. Lovely.



The Golem's Mighty Swing by James Sturm
A 1920s Jewish baseball team, the Stars of David, run into trouble on tour and agree to a publicity stunt - creating a Golem. Sturm's first graphic novel about baseball and racism is fascinating and powerful, though I liked his later book Satchel Paige: Striking Out Jim Crow more.


Houdini: The Handcuff King by James Lutes and Nick Bertozzi
I love graphic novels that tell short, self contained stories, especially when the stories are true. This one is about a particular trick that Harry Houdini once did - jumping into the Charles River with his hands and feet bound in chains. Really cool.



Fables: Sons of Empire by Bill Willingham et al.
The fourth Fables graphic novel I have read this year is one of the better ones. Picking up where Fables: Wolves left off, the adversary plots the destruction of the Mundy world and Bigby and Snow White deal with family matters. The series is still well worth reading, but I wasn't too fond of the art in the second half.



The Wall: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain by Peter Sis
Brilliant non-fiction children's graphic book about growing up in Czechoslovakia during the cold war. Sis includes contextual political and cultural information and parallels it with the story of a boy who drew - a boy very much like himself. A brilliant story and a brilliant way to teach kids history. Loved it.


The Professor's Daughter by Joann Sfar and Emmanuel Guibert
Strange and wonderful graphic novel about the mummy of Imhotep IV falling in love with an Egyptologist's daughter in Victorian London. Gorgeous art.


The Eternal Smile: Three Stories by Gene Luen Yang and Derek Kirk Kim
Graphic novel month continues with these three short, fascinating and stylistically different stories exploring what these three people want in life, their various escapes from reality and the reconciliation of real life and ideal life. It doesn't quite live up to the genius of American Born Chinese, but I don't think anything could have.