A vibrant, delightful tale of life, death, and all the amusing stuff that comes after.
Two English brothers, one dead and one alive, face off against a powerful, otherworldly group in this debut graphic novel.
After their father dies, Tibbs and Victor Baz inherit the bulk of his vast estate. They’re set for life, only Tibbs suddenly and inexplicably dies the same day as the reading of the will. He awakens in Terra Mortuum—he’s now gray and mostly skeletal but still wearing his snazzy trench coat and red scarf. He quickly earns a gaggle of posthumous friends, from Slimy Bob to whip-smart pilot Ada. But the afterlife, even with a bureaucracy and an established city like “Necro England,” is confusing and chaotic. This may stem from the Brotherhood of the Watch, a nefarious organization with chapters in the afterlife as well as the mortal world. The group, it seems, wants Tibbs and Victor’s deceased father, who oddly hasn’t shown up in Terra Mortuum. Victor and some allies, including his mother, search for his dad’s body while fending off red-cloaked Brotherhood members. As Tibbs and pals look for answers to the afterlife’s perplexities in northern Terra Mortuum, both brothers have a chance to stop a sinister plan already under way that threatens many. Howell’s story isn’t always easy to follow, though the plentiful exposition eventually clarifies most of it. But the quirky novel is consistently funny, sporting witty dialogue and visual gags. Historical figures, for example, crop up in Terra Mortuum, including Shakespeare, who turns out to be a jerk and a mean drunk, and Hitler, who offers unexpectedly sound advice. The characters, too, especially in the afterlife, display plenty of personality, like Clyde, who tends to yell whatever pops into his head. The author’s artwork also shines. Although most people in Terra Mortuum appear monstrous, their comically animated faces give them immense charm. Similarly, violent turns rarely seem intense, as even explosions burst with bold, lovely colors. The story ultimately winds down, delivering a sublime visual and narrative denouement.
A vibrant, delightful tale of life, death, and all the amusing stuff that comes after.Pub Date: April 29, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-5255-9257-7
Page Count: 216
Publisher: FriesenPress
Review Posted Online: Jan. 13, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A Rand primer with pictures.
A graphic novel for devotees of Ayn Rand.
With its men who have become gods through rugged individualism, the fiction of Ayn Rand has consistently had something of a comic strip spirit to it. So the mating of Rand and graphic narrative would seem to be long overdue, with her 1938 novella better suited to a quick read than later, more popular work such as The Fountainhead (1943) and the epic Atlas Shrugged (1957). As Anthem shows, well before the Cold War (or even World War II), Rand was railing against the evils of any sort of collectivism and the stifling of individualism, warning that this represented a return to the Dark Ages. Here, her allegory hammers the point home. It takes place in the indeterminate future, a period after “the Great Rebirth” marked an end of “the Unmentionable Times.” Now people have numbers as names and speak of themselves as “we,” with no concept of “I.” The hero, drawn to stereotypical, flowing-maned effect by illustrator Staton, knows himself as Equality 7-2521 and knows that “it is evil to be superior.” A street sweeper, he stumbles upon the entrance to a tunnel, where he discovers evidence of scientific advancement, from a time when “men knew secrets that we have lost.” He inevitably finds a nubile mate. He calls her “the Golden One.” She calls him “the Unconquered.” Their love, of course, is forbidden, and not just because she is 17. After his attempt to play Prometheus, bringing light to a society that prefers the dark, the two escape to the “uncharted forest,” where they are Adam and Eve. “I have my mind. I shall live my own truth,” he proclaims, having belatedly discovered the first-person singular. The straightforward script penned by Santino betrays no hint of tongue-in-cheek irony.
A Rand primer with pictures.Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-451-23217-5
Page Count: 144
Publisher: NAL/Berkley
Review Posted Online: Dec. 2, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2010
Lush visuals bring this thoughtfully constructed tale to life.
Wondrous visitors encounter a desperate pocket of humanity.
Lori, a white orphaned teen who’s finally been adopted after bouncing around various foster homes, awakens to discover that nearly everyone has disappeared. The rapture? Maybe. She runs into her classmate Annette, who has brown skin and curly black hair, and they partner up to scavenge for food. The pair tries to evade several threats, such as the large Wolves and a gang called The Dogs. Supernatural Giants arrive, seemingly from space, speaking an impenetrable language of “musical chiming and weird bass-rhythms.” Lori and Annette then meet Beatrice, an older white woman who shares important observations about the Giants and Wolves. The tone of the story then subtly shifts from post-apocalyptic desperation to one that’s somewhat playful. After a certain point, a visual element that appears early on takes on clear significance and meaning in the context of the story at large, offering a subversively humorous twist for readers to consider and a creative element that deviates from other alien invasion narratives. Hans’ artwork and paneling fill each scene with wonders. An interaction with a giant sees the red, violet, and pink figure standing against a bright, otherworldly white-and-blue backdrop with dark contours. Elsewhere, Lori and Annette pause at night as they behold ominous shadows, their foggy breath forming clouds, and they hear a “KRRNCH” sound. The quick-moving plot wraps everything up neatly.
Lush visuals bring this thoughtfully constructed tale to life. (character designs) (Graphic science fiction. 14-adult)Pub Date: Nov. 12, 2024
ISBN: 9781534387072
Page Count: 104
Publisher: Image Comics
Review Posted Online: Aug. 17, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2024
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