Advanced cartoonists may prefer a longer book, like McCloud’s, but this book has all the secrets beginners might need.
People are always asking writers, “Where do you get your ideas?” This book actually answers the question.
Everyone knows that the best way to get a child to do something is to say it’s forbidden. McLachlan has given this book the subtitle “Ten Secrets to Creating Your Own Comics,” so that readers think they’re gaining forbidden knowledge. Some of the information isn’t much of a secret. The first tip is: “Comics marry pictures and words….” But the author’s really talking about much bigger ideas, like the different ways that words and pictures show the passage of time. He talks about the way a word or a picture can inspire readers, telling them that “the comic panels invite the reader to imagine what has happened between them.” None of this is hidden knowledge (Scott McCloud discussed most of the same topics in Understanding Comics, 1994), but it’s valuable information. The sections about generating ideas give very practical advice, especially the pages on “brainstorm doodles.” The sample comics that appear throughout the book aren’t quite so impressive (ROBIN HOOD: “Marian, would you like to join us in our forest?” MARIAN: “Sure wood!”), but the techniques they demonstrate are worth learning.
Advanced cartoonists may prefer a longer book, like McCloud’s, but this book has all the secrets beginners might need. (Nonfiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 15, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-926973-83-8
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Owlkids Books
Review Posted Online: July 16, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A striking glimpse into Chinese girlhood during the 1970s and ’80s.
Beginning with a breathtaking dream of riding a golden crane over the city of Wuhan, China, Liu Na, recounts her subsequent waking only to discover that Chairman Mao has passed away. The 3-year-old finds this difficult to process and understand, although she is soon caught up in the somber mood of the event. From there, her life unfolds in short sketches. With this intimate look at her childhood memories, Liu skillfully weaves factual tidbits into the rich tapestry of her life. In the section titled “The Four Pests,” she explains about the four pests that plague China—the rat, the fly, the mosquito and the cockroach (with an additional explanation of how the sparrow once made this list, and why it is no longer on it)—and her stomach-turning school assignment to catch rats and deliver the severed tails to her teacher. In “Happy New Year! The Story of Nian the Monster,” she explains the origins of Chinese New Year, her favorite holiday, and her own vivid, visceral reflections of it: the sights, sounds and smells. Extraordinary and visually haunting, there will be easy comparisons to Allen Say’s Drawing from Memory (2011); think of this as the female counterpart to that work.
Beautifully drawn and quietly evocative. (glossary, timeline, author biography, translations of Chinese characters, maps) (Graphic memoir. 9-12)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-7613-8115-0
Page Count: 96
Publisher: Graphic Universe
Review Posted Online: April 24, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2012
BOOK REVIEW
Livelier than the typical history textbook but sillier than the many outstanding works on the Civil War available for young...
Travel with Nathan Hale back to 1861 for the famous Civil War battle between the USS Monitor and the CSS Virginia, the war’s first ironclad ships.
Unless readers have read Hale’s One Dead Spy (2012) first, they may well wonder why the famous spy Nathan Hale, hanged for espionage in 1776, is telling this future story of naval warfare during the Civil War. It turns out that Nathan Hale—the spy, not the author—was standing at the gallows when he was swallowed by a giant book of American history. He lives to tell about it and, presumably, other tales of America for future volumes of Hazardous Tales. This volume, completed prior to One Dead Spy, is a wild ride of a graphic novel, featuring not only Nathan Hale, but his hangman, a fox representing Gustavus Fox, Assistant Secretary of the Navy, and the various participants in the battle. Sketched, inked and colored in Photoshop, the two-color, frenetic volume succeeds in presenting the chaos of war. The backmatter is notable for its informative biographies of key players, a timeline, and a small but well-selected bibliography.
Livelier than the typical history textbook but sillier than the many outstanding works on the Civil War available for young readers, this will appeal to both history buffs and graphic-novel enthusiasts. (Graphic historical fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-4197-0395-9
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: June 12, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2012
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
bookshelf
