I’ve been reading lot’s more comics recently, both for work as I continue to develop two seperate comics courses for middle and high schoolers, but also for personal pleasure. I’ll still do bigger reviews for comics that I want to dig a bit more deeply into, but for now enjoy a pre-Thanksgiving meal of some (mostly) light and fun comics.
Going to sleep is probably one of my favorite things in the world; that said, I also feel like I’m constantly craving just a few more hours in the day. The Sleepless by Victor Manibo tackles the premise of what a world without sleep might look like, wrapped up in a cyberpunk-noir trenchcoat. I appreciated a lot about this book, and it surpassed my expectations knowing that this book both grew out of NanoWrimo and also is written by an author whose later work I have DNF’d. It’s a solid read, especially for people interested in exploring how a Cyberpunk society might come to be.
Read if Looking for: near-future cyberpunk, greedy CEOs, chaos bisexual best friends, jacked drug dealers
Avoid if Looking for: scientific rigor, happy endings, multidimensional side characters, romance plotlines
For me, C.S. Pacat has been a relatively no-brainer author for me. Their works are rarely perfect, but have consistently captivated me. Some are ruthless and full of content warning-worthy topics (Captive Prince), and others are overdramatic sports comics about a bunch of queer teens in a fencing club. Dark Rise seemed like a natural book that I’d love. However, I found it extraordinarily lacking compared to Pacat’s other works, and I struggled a lot with this one.
Read if Looking For: books with stereotypical emo haircuts, evil vs good as a core motif, YA that flirts with BDSM subtext, YA fantasy tropes of the 2020s
Avoid if Looking for: books that do more than set up a sequel, female viewpoint characters who have the same main character energy as the males, well-adjusted romance plotlines
Wish fulfillment (and how it can go horribly wrong) has been a mainstay in storytelling for a long, long time. I, like many of my generation, remember reading and analyzing The Monkey’s Paw in high school English class. In recent years, I haven’t found myself drawn towards stories featuring wishes, as I haven’t seen new ground being broken on a thoroughly explored idea. Eight Billion Genies changed that. Charles Soule and Ryan Browne created something really special with this one, and at 275 comic book pages, it’s a quick read.
Read if Looking for: ensemble casts, stories spanning centuries, mischievous (but not evil) genies, whimsical art
Avoid if Looking for: morality lessons, stringent wish fulfillment adherence, innovative villains, genies with any relevance to their mythological origins
Inconsequential history facts can be a ton of fun. Apparently in the 1910s, the US government considered importing hippos as a new source of meat during food shortages. If the cocaine hippos of Columbia (and really any other invasive species) have taught us anything, it likely would have been a horrible idea with lots of downstream consequences. Thankfully, that world didn’t come to be, but it did result in a set of novellas and short stories by Sarah Gailey reimagining this possible history, blended with some Western set dressing, which was a premise too intriguing to pass up. I ended up liking River of Teeth (novella #1) quite a bit, but was mostly disappointed by Taste of Marrow (novella #2).
Read if Looking for: bloodthirsty hippos, tropey characters, criminal crews totally not breaking the law, a queernormative American history, relaxed reads
Avoid if Looking for: thought-out alternate histories, meaningful Western elements, consistent characterization
I shouldn’t have been surprised at how controversial Joe Abercrombie’s new release would be in parts of the fantasy fandom. The Devils is a departure from Abercrombie’s reputation as a character-focused writer interested in deconstructing classic fantasy tropes, and a popular author straying from their niche invariably invites criticism. At its core, this is a misfit adventure novel with a collection of villain archetypes as major players in an ensemble class. I thought the book was fun, a great audiobook to listen to at the gym, but probably not one that’s going to get recommended by me unless it’s a unique fit to someone’s requests. Had a great time with it though.
Read if Looking For: villain of the chapter, big personalities, extended fight scenes
Avoid if Looking For: a carbon copy of First Law, historical accuracy, a book impossible to call ‘safe’
I’m all about unapologetically queer books, and The Chromatic Fantasy definitely fits that brief. This book isn’t a tour-de-force on the trans experience, but it’s an extremely fun romp a book with great art that didn’t disappoint in the slightest. I need to wait a week or two to see if this has the emotional staying power to crack my top 10 of the year, but I think it’s got a pretty good shot.
Read if Looking For: tricksters and thieves, anachronism and whimsy, more color than a chameleon at a rave
Avoid if Looking For: fully coherent plots, historical accuracy (or even consistency in the intensity of historical inaccuracies), memorable villains, books without nudity
I have made the ill-advised decision to attempt to complete a second r/fantasy bingo challenge this year, this one comprised of nothing but comics and graphic novels. I’m really feeling the urge to read more kick in. Anyways, I immediately started hunting for some promising anthologies and I came across this. As with all anthologies, you’ll find some you resonate with more than others, but overall I found this collection to have a disappointing perspective and not as much editorial vision as I would have hoped.
Read if Looking for: uplifting queer vignettes, cute forest critters, a diverse range of art styles
Avoid if Looking For: introspection into what it means to be nonbinary, the dark side of nature, plenty of adult nonbinary representation
Kat Leyh is a pretty huge name in middle grade comics. To my knowledge, Thirsty Mermaids is her first take on an adult story, and I found it a roaring success. The type of book I finished in a single day because I kept telling myself ‘just one more page’. Sometimes graphic novels can really push you to slow down and grapple with difficult ideas, but other times you just want a fun romp of a mermaid cracking leg jokes as she tries to figure out how they work. This book was perfect for a lazy Saturday, though I sort of wish I’d read it in the middle of summer while at the beach.
Read if Looking For: heartfelt and cartoonish adult comics, found family vibes, eldritch ocean aunties, casual queer representation
Avoid if Looking For: dense or ambitious graphic novels, innovative take on mermaids
A Mexican horror novel following a ship captain of a ship transporting vampires, playing off elements of Dracula (which I haven’t read). It’s an excellent translation, and a dip into the more Literary side of horror than I normally go for. This was a good reminder of why I was a bad English major in college, and why genre fiction is my happy place over Literature. However, I’m glad I read this, and I think it’s much better at engaging with vampires’ historic associations with queerness in interesting ways than most other queer vampire books I’ve read.
Read if Looking For: intense focus on internal monologue, dream sequences, horror of the unseen, prose like liquid silk
Avoid if Looking For: direct plot or prose, ethical gays, paranormal romance elements, cute rats, protagonists who don’t sexually harass people, vampires with major speaking roles
Marked for Plot 