Dragon Age: the comic

This is one for the gamers out there, a sequel of sorts to the ‘Dragon age’ games. Set in a world of magic and dragons ‘Dragon age: The Silent Grove’ could also appeal to fantasy readers. It follows King Alistair as he looks for his answers about what happened to his father. If you are familiar with the games, then you will enjoy seeing more of characters that you have had many conversations with in the games. If not, then you get to know people quickly, but it does assume some knowledge of the universe. This is not surprising seen as it is written by the person responsible for the storylines of the games. The story follows fantasy conventions and there aren't ay real surprises. Warning, this does end on a cliff hanger and is not a self contained work.

The artwork is beautiful, and it really works. It’s pretty to look at and makes pages without dialogue really work. A decent read.

Not one for children though, but when you think about it ‘Dragon age’ tend to have an 18 certificate. So you need to treat this graphic novel the same way. It will get gamers reading while they are waiting for the next game in the series.

A geek's story

A quirky graphic novel, which follows the life of Simon, an illustration student. He also happens to be a complete geek and has friends to match. Life does not go as he expects, and he ends up getting a job as an exhibit in an alien zoo.  

Tune:Vanishing Point is the first volume in a series. It does not really live up to it’s blurb because this book is more about Simons student life and his family, only briefly touching on the alien zoo. I suspect that the 2^nd volume will be more interesting because that looks like it will follow his life as an exhibit.
The characters in the book are likeable, maybe it is because I’m somewhat of a geek that I appreciate where they are coming from. The romance is rather sweet. The art work is similar to a manga style but not enough to alienate those who prefer more traditional graphic novels.

This will probably be appreciated by young adults, there is some swearing and sexual references, so not for children. An decent enough read that makes me want to find out what happens in Volume 2. (If only to find out why the series is called ‘Tune’)

Kids graphic novel fun

Squish 3 ‘The power of the parasite’, is a fun graphic novel aimed squarely at kids. I have not read the first two in the series, but I don’t believe it is necessary to enjoy this book. The story construction is very clever,  two tales in one. The first involves Squish, an amoeba who is forced to go to swim camp, he can’t swim, and to top it all makes an iffy, new friend. The second involves Squish’s favourite comic book hero, and you actually get to read the comic when Squish sits down to read it. The superhero character faces a similar dilemma to Squish, but comes at it from a completely different angle. Children get a relatable character and an action packed superhero tale in one book. I would have loved to have read this as a child.

The artwork is simple, but it does really work for this age level. What I really like about this book is that there is a useful moral story about doing what is right and not following the crowd. I think that this would be a good book to give children who are suffering the results of peer pressure. Children’s reading groups would find a lot to discuss in this book about the characters actions. It could even be used in a lesson on friendship. A surprisingly good read, even this adult laughed at some points in the book.

Hard Sci fi

The Moon Moth is an adaptation of a short story by Jack Vance, illustrated by Homayoun Ibrahim. It’s a complicated story about an ambassador who goes to a completely alien planet and has to find a criminal. It does take a lot of concentration to follow the story; admittedly I had never read the original. I wonder if I had whether it would be an easier read. It is nice to see that not only traditional classics are being adapted into graphic novel format, and I applaud this brave publishing endeavour.

The artwork is decent and tells the story as best as it can. The way the aliens communicate is hard to depict and the artist has some ingenious ways of showing this.

I’m not sure I’d recommend this for a reading group because of the complicated storyline, unless it was read alongside the original short story. I think ‘hard sci fi’ fans will love it, just not my cup of tea.

What the Dickens.... Batman?

I thought I’d review something to tie-in with Charles Dickens Centenary. I didn’t want to go the obvious route of a straight adaptation, so I found ‘Batman Noel’. This is basically a retelling of ‘A Christmas carol’ but with characters from the Batman universe. The most interesting idea, and the one that really grabbed me is the Batman is Scrooge. It came as a shock reading it, because Batman’s nearly always pictured as the hero. The author cleverly plays with the readers expectations all the way through, and there are some unexpected moments. I tried to guess who the different ghosts and characters would be in Gotham, I didn’t always get it right. I like books that surprise me and this one did. The characters draw you in and there is an uneasiness throughout the book that Batman may have finally turned too dark.

The artwork is beautiful, breathtaking at times, a painted style that tells a lot of the story for you. Yes, I know graphic novels should do that anyway, but some artworks just do it better.

There’s a bit of bad language in the book, but I suspect some teenagers would love it. Reading groups who don’t do graphic novels would enjoy comparing it with the original ‘Christmas Carol’

A must read.

1960s relived

‘Baby's in Black’ is a touching love story, and there is added interest because it involves someone who used to play with ‘The Beatles.’ Set in 1960s Germany, it follows Astrid and her friends. She is a photographer and gets persuaded to go to a rough part of town to see an unknown band.

The art style is very reminiscent of the 60s. Black and white line drawings work really well and make it surprisingly very easy to tell the characters apart. It works so well that some pages have no dialogue but still tell an emotional story.

This is a biography; I really didn’t know much about the people involved (apart from ‘The Beatles’). No knowing who Astrid was does not matter. The characters are well realised and so sympathetic that the reader is really hoping things will turn out for the best.  It is translated from German but it has been done so well that the reader doesn’t realise it’s a translation.

There’s mention of drugs, cigarettes and alcohol, so this  is not for children. Teenagers would get something out of this because of the realism of the club scene. It is an unusual love story that could appeal to anybody.

A classic biography with a new twist

An intriguing graphic novel, ‘Dotter of her father’s eye’ is the story of two father/daughter relationships. One is that of the a semi-autobiographical account of the writer whose father was a James Joyce expert. The other is of James Joyce and his daughter. I am not a fan of James Joyce, so I didn’t quite get a lot of the references, however, I don’t think that is important to appreciate this book. It’s quite a feminist tale; both protagonists are trying to do things that are not necessary acceptable to the older generation in terms of what women should be like. I did prefer the James Joyce story to the modern one, but that’s because there is more of an emotional undercurrent to it. This is Mary Talbot’s first foray into graphic novel writing, and I am intrigued to see how she follows this book up.

The artwork by Bryan Talbot, is as always really well done and conveys a lot of emotion. The only issue I had was that sometimes it took me a while to work out which girl’s story I was reading. The solution is to remember their hairstyles.

This would be good for any reading group who are reading a James Joyce book. It just shows a different side to the man and the effect he had on those around him. It would probably be a good first graphic novel for those book clubs who enjoy the modern classics. Please note, this is not for children.

Baseball story for girls

‘Play Ball’ is all about baseball. Do not let that put you off; the reader does not need that much knowledge of the game to enjoy this graphic novel. It tells the story of 2 sisters who move to a new school, one is your typical boy mad girl, the other is a total tomboy who loves baseball. In America, girls play softball not baseball, I think it’s the same problem that girls’ football used to have. So the tomboy decides to play baseball, against all rules and conventions. In doing so, she makes everybody’s’ lives more difficult.

The artwork is very clear, and is in the form of line drawings. This book did remind me somewhat of the old Bunty style stories, and that is not a bad thing. The non-colour aspect could put some younger readers off the book.

This is an equality story that also touches upon the value of teams and what happens when parents split up. So if you want a girl power story for teenagers then this is the graphic novel to read. It could be aimed at younger readers but there is the odd mild bad language that could upset parents. I’m not sure whether boys would like it, but it could be a good reading group book to get young people talking about the issues it touches.