WG 2010-19: Getting Graphic
Posted in Weekly Geeks on June 2nd, 2010 by admin – Be the first to comment
This week’s WG is about graphic novels. Now, despite the fact that I’m married to a webcomic artist, my experience with comics is extremely limited. I am slowly (oh, so slowly) working my way through the Death Note
My to-be-read pile has quite a few goodies, however, including The Crow
I am also, ostensibly, writing my own graphic novel. As of this writing the story, dialogue, and storyboarding is all finished. All that’s left is the actual drawing. You know, just a minor step.
by Chris Wooding: I received this book for Christmas and was surprised to find that the embossing on the cover protruded a half a centimeter, which is way too thick to fit very well on a bookshelf. But that’s neither here nor there in the long run. The story itself has a pretty standard set-up: Luke gets his hands on a supposedly dangerous comic-book that turns out to actually be dangerous. He gets sucked into its horrific world and his friends go in after him. Luckily, there are plenty of twists to keep things interesting, such as the motives behind the existence of Malice, Kady’s past, and Justin’s secrets. The art, unfortunately, is pretty poor, to the point where I was having trouble distinguishing between the characters. I was a little disappointed in the ending as well, which is more or less a cliffhanger to be (presumably) resolved in the next book. I understand the purpose behind that tactic, but I was a little disappointed nonetheless. I think, had the story wrapped up in a single volume (or I had the second volume at hand), I would have felt differently. I could see someone in their early teens really enjoying this.
by Dean Koontz and Queenie Chan: I’ve read the first three Odd Thomas novels. I really enjoyed the first one (Odd’s a pretty nifty character) but the second two, not so much. So when I heard the new graphic novel was actually a prequel to the first book, I got interested. And you know, it was pretty okay. The art wasn’t stellar but it was actually pretty fantastic to actually get to see Pico Mundo, Stormy, and the rest. And since it was just pictures and dialogue, most of Koontz’s purple prose was left out, making it a much tighter story. If other Odd Thomas comics come out I’ll probably look them up.
by Marisa Acocella Marchetto: This is the true story, told as a graphic novel, of a NYC cartoonist and her battle with breast cancer. She is diagnosed mere weeks before her wedding to restauranteur Silvano Marchetto, and between that, her job, and the constant nuisance of models hitting on her fiance, things start to get a little harried. The comic format lends levity when needed, but never detracts from the serious parts. Since Marchetto describes every excruciating step of her diagnosis and treatment in great detail, I learned a lot about the process. My mom had breast cancer a few years ago (she survived and is doing fine now, thank goodness), but since I was living 700 miles away at the time I didn’t really experience it first-hand. I don’t usually like reading survivor stories, but this one was pleasantly non-glurgy, even if I couldn’t always relate to her fashionista tendencies. This is something I would urge all women to read, especially those dealing with a recent diagnosis. It’s funny and touching and ultimately uplifting.