noflyingnotights

Seishuu Handa, a rising calligrapher based in Tokyo, is forced by his father to visit a small island town when he reacts violently to a negative critique. Known only as “the village” on “the island,” it’s a rural paradise home to a friendly community. What impact will the villagers have on Seishuu (and vice versa)? Will he get the inspiration he needs to find his creative voice? Barakamon is a…

Johnny Boo Goes Like This! vol. 7

In this seventh Johnny Boo adventure, little ghost Johnny Boo and his buddy Squiggle encounter a huge, scary-looking thing floating in the air. Squiggle shrinks it, and they soon discover that the huge scary thing is a pencil. When Johnny picks it up and starts drawing with it, they learn that this pencil is special. Johnny draws a picture of ice cream, it hums for a moment and then turns into…

Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery:” A Graphic Adaptation

Any grandparent will tell you that their grandchild can do no wrong. So Miles Hyman’s decision to turn his grandmother’s canonical short story, The Lottery, into a graphic novel would have had, if not for Shirley Jackson’s death in 1965, all the validation and approval it needed before he even set ink to paper or got an agent to sell the manuscript. However, since the original story is so short,…

Following a series of failed jobs and desperate for income, Elliot “Elly” Torres reluctantly accepts a job as a lab assistant to Doctor Vlad Stein, a doctor whose rumored reputation as a mad scientist might not be too far fetched. Once she meets him, though, it will leave her wondering just how far she is willing to go for a job. Blood Stain, by author/illustrator Linda Sejic, was originally…

Princess Princess Ever After

If I’m ever locked in a high tower and guarded by a dragon, I’d like to be rescued by royalty on unicorns. I’d also prefer my guard dragon act more like a chubby house cat than a fierce fire-breathing reptile. Basically, my ideal outcomes for a princess-locked-in-a-tower scenario resemble Princess Princess Ever After by Katie O’Neill. Sadie is a kind and gentle exiled princess who is locked in a…

Avatar the Last Airbender: Smoke and Shadow, Part III

The Fire Nation is undergoing a crisis: the Kemurikage and the New Ozai Society wants to overthrow Fire Lord Zuko. Zuko and Aang have discovered the secret of the Kemurikage , and the truth is worse than the legend. Meanwhile, the New Ozai Society under Mai’s father Ukano rebels in the streets, and Zuko decides to use the military to enforce order. As chaos threatens to engulf the Fire Nation…

The Science of Sports with Max Axiom

Connecting complex concepts to a series of visuals doesn’t make those complex concepts easier to understand. Assuming that graphic novels are “easy” or appropriate for “reluctant readers” is like assuming that a videotaped philosophy lecture with subtitles should be easier to understand than the lecture without subtitles. The medium may have changed slightly; the message has not. High school…

Paper Girls, vol. 1

I first heard about Paper Girls when social media exploded with praise for it within hours of the first issue’s release. Difficult to describe, my best summary would be that it’s like a cross between E.T.: the Extra-Terrestrial and the comic series Morning Glories by Nick Spencer and Joe Eisma. E.T. was emblematic of a type of story told in the 1980s where teens in the suburbs were faced with…

Invincible Iron Man, vol. 1: Reboot

Tony Stark is a man of many hats. He is a futurist. He is a philanthropist. And, most famously, he’s a superhero—the Invincible Iron Man. Or so he’d like to think. Tony’s old enemy and ex-girlfriend Whitney Frost (aka Madame Masque) is gallivanting around the world, procuring various items of arcane power—the sort of artifacts magicians go through a lot of trouble to keep out of the hands of…

There’s been something of a golden age for graphic novel memoirs aimed at middle grade readers in the past few years with fantastic titles like Smile, Sisters, El Deafo, and The Dumbest Idea Ever being released (second dumbest idea ever: attempting to read The Dumbest Idea Ever while walking to the school cafeteria). Given this slate of hits, the readers I work with are more enthusiastic than one…

Dragon Ball Full Color: Freeza Arc, vol. 1

The first volume of Dragon Ball’s Freeza Arc takes readers to planet Namek—the original home of Piccolo and Kami, Earth’s former guardian—and introduces Freeza, a central villain in the Dragon Ball universe. Following Vegeta’s retreat from Earth and the deaths of their comrades, Bulma, Gohan, and Kuririn board a ship on their way to planet Namek. Gohan and Kuririn are training, and as expected,…

Naruto: The Seventh Hokage and the Scarlet Spring

I consider Naruto to be the Harry Potter of manga. They’re both coming-of-age series that debuted and reached their respective peaks around the same time, sold zillions of copies, and inspired plenty of copycats. Droves of fans were sad to see both series end, but each has tacked on an extra story to keep the mythos alive. Harry Potter has its Cursed Child, and Naruto has cursed children of its…

Kyoko Hori lives a secret life she’s never shared with anyone. At school, Hori is idolized and her friends know her as the most popular, stylish girl around; her makeup and clothes are never less than perfect. At home, however, Hori is completely different: her workaholic parents are never home, so the moment she returns from school, she wipes off all her make-up, changes into a comfortable pair…

Extraordinary X-Men, vol. 1: X-Haven

Apart from mutants, there exists a divergent strain of super-powered humanity created by alien manipulation—the Inhumans. Rather than developing superpowers at puberty as mutants do, an Inhuman’s powers are activated through exposure to the mysterious gas known as The Terrigen Mists. A recent attack on the Inhumans’ secret city released an uncontrolled wave of The Terrigen Mists on Earth and…

Princess Decomposia and Count Spatula

Princess Decomposia is a young princess of the underworld forced to take on royal duties long before her time. She has her own duties, but her father, the king, doesn’t feel quite well. Ever. So Decompsia is forced to pick up the slack, constantly dodging others seeking her attention, and buried under a mountain of paperwork. To top it off she has to hire a new cook as well! Luckily she hires…

Harley and Ivy: The Deluxe Edition

Harley and Ivy: The Deluxe Edition is a treasure trove of comics featuring Gotham City’s most famous gal pals, as originally envisioned by Harley Quinn’s creators Bruce Timm and Paul Dini. All of the stories in this collection were plotted by Dini and, with one exception, he scripted all of them as well. And while Timm only provided the artwork for one of these comics, his unique, kinetic…

Interview: Cathy Camper Journeys to the Center of the Earth

Cathy Camper and Raul the Third launched into intergalactic travel with their first graphic novel, Lowriders in Space. This middle grade adventure follows three friends-slash-mechanics as they compete to create the best lowrider car in the galaxy. The highly anticipated sequel, Lowriders to the Center of the Earth, came out July 5th from Chronicle Books and features an even greater mix of fun,…