Aminder Dhaliwal

Great Graphic Novels (#GGN2022) Featured Review of Cyclopedia Exotica by Aminder Dhaliwal

Cyclopedia Exotica by Aminder Dhaliwal
Drawn & Quarterly
Publication Date: May 11, 2021
ISBN: 9781770464377

In this thought-provoking and humorous comic, six cyclopes negotiate love, life, and the pressures of being “other” within the dominant “two-eyed” culture. Readers are introduced to characters including Etna, a ground-breaking cover model; Pol and Latea, lonely cyclopes looking for love; Bron, whose self-hatred led him to failed eye surgery; and Pari, a young woman with a two-eyed spouse who’s about to become a mother. The stories take place in everyday spaces of interaction, ranging from dog parks to doctors’ offices, highlighting the subtle bigotry hidden in even the most mundane of places.

Great Graphic Novels (#GGN2022) Featured Review of The Dire Days of Willowweep Manor by Shaenon K. Garrity and Christopher Baldwin

The Dire Days of Willowweep Manor by Shaenon K. Garrity and Christopher Baldwin
Margaret K. McElderry Books / Simon & Schuster
Publication Date: July 20, 2021
ISBN: 9781534460874

After jumping into the river to rescue a handsome young man on a dark and stormy night, Haley wakes in Willowweep Manor, a gothic mansion like those in her favorite books. She learns that the manor—and its caretaker brothers—are the only things keeping evil at bay in the “real world.” Together with this sibling trio, Haley must channel her knowledge of literary tropes to save Willowweep from an evil slime bent on destruction, all while becoming the hero of her own story.

Great Graphic Novels (#GGN2020) Nominees Round Up, March 21 Edition

The Faithful Spy: Dietrich Bonhoeffer and the Plot to Kill Hitler by John Hendrix
Amulet Books
Publication Date: September 18, 2018
ISBN: 978-1419728389

In 1930s Germany, pastor and theologian Dietrich Bonheoffer watches as his country is taken over by a madman. Adolf Hitler is incrementally growing power, committing atrocities against humanity, and despite all odds, not being stopped. When Hitler claims to be ordained as Germany’s leader by God himself, bringing the German Church to be one with the Nazi party, Dietrich knows he can no longer stand for Hitler’s falsehoods. To save his country and humanity from Hitler’s megalomania, Dietrich knows that to be true to God, he must turn his back on two of the tenets he has held most dear in his life of faith—the sanctity of country and the sanctity of all human life—and join fellow German conspirators in a plot to kill Hitler.

Continue reading Great Graphic Novels (#GGN2020) Nominees Round Up, March 21 Edition

#GGN2019 Nominees Round Up, November 15 Edition

Woman World by Aminder Dhaliwal
Drawn & Quarterly
Publication Date: September 11, 2018
ISBN: 978-1770463356

After a birth defect wipes out the entire male population and the world is set into a post-apocalyptic environment, women are left to rebuild society. Woman World shows what this possibility could look like and does so with wit, dark humor and honesty in a collection of short comics. The reader follows one village in its rebuilding phase, with only one woman having lived through the dying off of men, and weaves current pop culture throughout the narrative. Woman World asks important questions such as: Will a population of just women be peaceful? Will they have the same romantic problems? Were all men like Paul Blart, Mall Cop? Should their new flag depict Beyonce’s thighs?

Continue reading #GGN2019 Nominees Round Up, November 15 Edition