Captivating illustrations carry a so-so story.
When Buddy accepts a job at Mister Drew’s cartoon studio, he has unsettling encounters that point to something mysterious and sinister hiding behind the seemingly harmless Bendy cartoons.
This graphic novel based on the Bendy and the Ink Machine horror video game franchise takes place shortly after the Second World War. The persuasive and powerful Mister Drew appears positioned to make a difference in Buddy’s life. The boy lives with his widowed mom and Polish grandfather on New York City’s Lower East Side, and the money he’ll earn from his job as the studio’s gofer will help support them. As a bonus, he also gets to be an art apprentice. Buddy befriends Dot, who works in the story department, and the pair begin to investigate clues, their curiosity piqued by snippets from overheard conversations, a scary creature lurking in the shadows, and disturbing sights, such as an employee with ink dripping from his mouth. Buddy narrates the story, his inner thoughts appearing in rectangular boxes set against illustrations executed in gold with white highlights and black lines and shading. Even with this limited palette, Arizmendi’s art includes an incredible amount of texture and depth. Readers unfamiliar with the video game may have trouble settling into the story, and many plot points are left unexplained, making this work most likely to appeal to Bendy fans or graphic novel enthusiasts who appreciate great art.
Captivating illustrations carry a so-so story. (Graphic horror. 12-16)Pub Date: Aug. 6, 2024
ISBN: 9781339032276
Page Count: 160
Publisher: AFK/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: June 15, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2024
Characters to love, quips to snort at, insights to ponder: typical Spinelli.
For two teenagers, a small town’s annual cautionary ritual becomes both a life- and a death-changing experience.
On the second Wednesday in June, every eighth grader in Amber Springs, Pennsylvania, gets a black shirt, the name and picture of a teen killed the previous year through reckless behavior—and the silent treatment from everyone in town. Like many of his classmates, shy, self-conscious Robbie “Worm” Tarnauer has been looking forward to Dead Wed as a day for cutting loose rather than sober reflection…until he finds himself talking to a strange girl or, as she would have it, “spectral maiden,” only he can see or touch. Becca Finch is as surprised and confused as Worm, only remembering losing control of her car on an icy slope that past Christmas Eve. But being (or having been, anyway) a more outgoing sort, she sees their encounter as a sign that she’s got a mission. What follows, in a long conversational ramble through town and beyond, is a day at once ordinary yet rich in discovery and self-discovery—not just for Worm, but for Becca too, with a climactic twist that leaves both ready, or readier, for whatever may come next. Spinelli shines at setting a tongue-in-cheek tone for a tale with serious underpinnings, and as in Stargirl (2000), readers will be swept into the relationship that develops between this adolescent odd couple. Characters follow a White default.
Characters to love, quips to snort at, insights to ponder: typical Spinelli. (Fiction. 12-15)Pub Date: Aug. 3, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-30667-3
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: May 31, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2021
A few rough bits but inventive and visually stunning.
A young witch whose magic has been burned away undertakes healing journeys both physical and metaphorical in this graphic novel that was first serialized on Instagram.
Mingling riveting illustrations that incorporate fades, flashbacks, and other cinematic effects with a typographically venturesome narrative, Dhaliwal tells a tale of heroic exploits in which allegorical elements are never far beneath the surface. Burned at the stake but rescued by a pair of helpful (if often annoying) witches on a quest of their own, dark-skinned young “Singe” goes in search of her real name and the rest of her burned-away memories, as well as her lost magic, while her body slowly recovers. Along the way to a climax on the shores of Perish Lake, she meets other witches—notably Smoke Witch, a collective gathering of burnt but still aware ashes that rides the night wind—and engages in desperate struggles with three powerful, vividly portrayed demons: Disgust, Doubt, and Despair. The author’s imagination and graphic skills outpace her literary chops, but there’s plenty of entertaining friction and bonding in the colorfully wrought cast, and more than enough action in the plot to make it easy to overlook awkward phrasings and inappropriate word choices. Said plot does take some arbitrary turns, perhaps so that the ending can be left conveniently open. Still, it’s a grand adventure in a richly articulated setting, featuring a racially diverse cast and clever twists aplenty.
A few rough bits but inventive and visually stunning. (Graphic fantasy. 12-16)Pub Date: May 28, 2024
ISBN: 9781770466999
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Drawn & Quarterly
Review Posted Online: March 23, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2024
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