Brian K. Vaughan

Great Graphic Novels (#GGN2022) Featured Review of Incredible Doom, vol. 1 by Matthew Bogart and Jesse Holden

Incredible Doom Cover Art - white text on black background dissolves into pixelated image of sky, houses, and newspaper delivery kid on bike

Incredible Doom, vol. 1 by Matthew Bogart and Jesse Holden
HarperAlley / HarperCollins
Publication Date: May 11, 2021
ISBN: 9780063064942

Set in the 1990s, four teens navigate the early, dial-up days of the Internet through the use of BBS or Bulletin Board System. Allison uses BBS as an escape from her emotionally abusive magician father and meets Samir, another teen connected to the local BBS. When they meet in person, they begin to build a relationship, but conflict arises when Allison runs away from home. In a different town, Richard is in a new school and far away from his former BBS friends. He is the target of bullies until Tina, teenage anarchist and fellow BBS user, connects him with her crew, EVOL, who rebel against social conventions. Richard finds himself becoming more and more involved with this new crew, but becoming friends with the crew is more of a challenge for him.

#GGN2019 Nominees Round Up, April 12 Edition

Speak: The Graphic Novel by Laurie Halse Anderson and Emily Carroll
Farrar Straus Giroux
Publication Date: 01/09/18
ISBN: 978-0374300289

After attending a disastrous party before the beginning of her freshman year in high school, 13 year-old Melinda starts school as a pariah. She finds herself ostracized, alienated, and bullied because she was the one who called the police to break up the party. She faces the year mostly friendless at school and unable to talk to her parents at home, unable to confide in anyone to tell them what really happened that night. Art becomes the one outlet for her to express growing her loneliness, depression, and fear. As the year progresses, she must learn how to find her voice, to tell others what happened to her on that summer night, and to stand up to the one person who continues to haunt and threaten her.

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Women in Comics – 2017 Eisner Award Nominees

The 2017 Eisner Award nominees are here and once again they include a number of female creators. Though there are too many to list, below are some noteworthy nominees that you may want to add to your reading list or library collection.

Beasts of Burden returns this year in a standalone story named What The Cat Dragged In, which earned a Best Single Issue/One-Shot nomination for Evan Dorkin, Sarah Dyer, and Jill Thompson. In addition to being a good new story in this universe, it is a great starting place for those who haven’t read Beasts of Burden in the past. This is also a great recommendation for any horror fans you may know.

Not surprisingly, Fiona Staples has two personal nominations (for Best Penciller/Inker or Penciller/Inker Team and Best Cover Artist) and a nomination with Brian K. Vaughan for Best Continuing Series all for her great work on Saga. If you don’t already have this series in your library, you should definitely consider it for your older comic fans.

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Women in Comics: 2015 Eisner Award Nominations

eisnerawards_logo_13 This month, I thought I would take a look at some of the great works by women that are nominated for this year’s Eisner Award. The Eisner Awards, or more correctly, the Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, recognize the best achievements in American comics on an annual basis. The award nominations are typically announced in April with the awards being presented at San Diego Comic Con in July. This year, some wonderful works by women are nominated and it seems like a great time to consider both those that I have previously written about and some new gems. This post won’t look at the work of all of the Eisner nominated women, but will instead focus on those that will appeal to teens and fans of young adult literature.

Ms. Marvel by G. Willow Wilson & Adrian Alphona, Saga by Brian K. Vaughn & Fiona Staples, and Bandette by Paul Tobin & Colleen Coover are three of only four titles to have received three or more nominations which doesn’t surprise me at all. Ms. Marvel has been extremely popular for the way that it has reimagined the Ms. Marvel character as a teen Pakistani-American named Kamala Khan who is a huge fan of Carol Danver and ultimately ends up stepping into her shoes as Ms. Marvel. The series received a lot of publicity for the fact that Kamala Khan is the first Muslim character to headline a Marvel series and the story has helped to keep it popular. It earned not only Eisner nominations in the categories of Best New Series, Best Writer (for G. Willow Wilson), Best Penciller/Inker (for Adrian Alphona), Best Cover Artist (for Jamie McKelvie/Matthew Wilson), and Best Lettering (for Joe Caramagna), but also a Hugo nomination and a spot on YALSA’s 2015 Great Graphic Novels for Teens list. Continue reading Women in Comics: 2015 Eisner Award Nominations

Women in Comics: Love and Relationships

Happy Valentine's Day by Song Zheng. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0. — Happy Valentine’s Day by Song Zheng. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.

With Valentine’s Day (and Galentine’s Day) just around the corner, February seems like a good month to write a Women in Comics post about books that are focus on love and relationships. Whether this means romantic love (or the lack thereof) or strong friendships, many women have created comics that focus on real or fictional relationships. Check one out to get in the spirit of the season!Soppy: A Love Story by Philippa Rice – In this volume, Rice tells the story of her relationship with her boyfriend through red, white and black images. Told through short standalone comics that form snapshots of their life together, the book alternates between funny, cute and poignant. The art style is a unique one that fits well with the stories Rice is telling and makes the book approachable to even those who do not frequently read comics. Continue reading Women in Comics: Love and Relationships