Another must-read graphic novel collection about the true believers of the music world.
Jackson’s graphic novel details the further adventures of a cast revolving around the ultimate hipster record store.
In this graphic novel, Jackson continues his chronicle of the staff and regulars at the titular Blackwax Boulevard, introduced in Blackwax Boulevard: Five Years, What a Surprise(2017). This sequel collects more of the author’s renowned webcomics and concentrates on the day-to-day events that come up in the lives of the main characters—record store owner Hardy, all-knowing cashier Marsalis, and regular customers like Veronika and Salimah—as they deal with both the challenges of keeping their ramshackle shop in business and the outside-world problems that walk through the front door. Readers follow all of Jackson’s passionate and hyper-articulate avatars as they go about their days and deal with broader issues like racism, sexism, sexual assault, and public accountability. The artwork is rendered in black, white, and gray, with exquisite cartoony broad strokes, and the stories are largely episodic, threaded together by a handful of continuing plot lines, including Marsalis’ forlorn love life and the legendary opinionated critic Chester Vick’s interview with Terry Gross for National Public Radio’s “Fresh Air” (“You know,” he tells the increasingly shell-shocked Gross, “FM radio has effectively been hijacked by the catatonically dull tastes of club hoppers from Norway – snort – and soccer moms from Michigan who grew up on 'Baby One More Time.” It’s a snappy blessing to have these immensely engaging webcomics collected in another volume. The points of view expressed in these pages never pull their punches and spare no sensibilities, with often-raw language issuing from even the gentlest of characters (“You really think,” yells a small child at one point, “I don’t hear about grown-up stuff like this at school when I’m not worrying about dodging bullets?!”). This collection and its predecessor are bracing and hugely involving.
Another must-read graphic novel collection about the true believers of the music world.Pub Date: March 3, 2023
ISBN: 9780999259658
Page Count: 202
Publisher: Frotoon Press
Review Posted Online: Aug. 25, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A clever and timely conversation on reclaiming identity and acknowledging one’s full worth.
Superman confronts racism and learns to accept himself with the help of new friends.
In this graphic-novel adaptation of the 1940s storyline entitled “The Clan of the Fiery Cross” from The Adventures of Superman radio show, readers are reintroduced to the hero who regularly saves the day but is unsure of himself and his origins. The story also focuses on Roberta Lee, a young Chinese girl. She and her family have just moved from Chinatown to Metropolis proper, and mixed feelings abound. Jimmy Olsen, Lois Lane’s colleague from the Daily Planet, takes a larger role here, befriending his new neighbors, the Lees. An altercation following racial slurs directed at Roberta’s brother after he joins the local baseball team escalates into an act of terrorism by the Klan of the Fiery Kross. What starts off as a run-of-the-mill superhero story then becomes a nuanced and personal exploration of the immigrant experience and blatant and internalized racism. Other main characters are White, but Black police inspector William Henderson fights his own battles against prejudice. Clean lines, less-saturated coloring, and character designs reminiscent of vintage comics help set the tone of this period piece while the varied panel cuts and action scenes give it a more modern sensibility. Cantonese dialogue is indicated through red speech bubbles; alien speech is in green.
A clever and timely conversation on reclaiming identity and acknowledging one’s full worth. (author’s note, bibliography) (Graphic fiction. 13-adult)Pub Date: May 12, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-77950-421-0
Page Count: 240
Publisher: DC
Review Posted Online: Feb. 29, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Using modern language, McDonald spins the well-known tale of the two young, unrequited lovers. Set against Nagar’s at-times...
A bland, uninspired graphic adaptation of the Bard’s renowned love story.
Using modern language, McDonald spins the well-known tale of the two young, unrequited lovers. Set against Nagar’s at-times oddly psychedelic-tinged backgrounds of cool blues and purples, the mood is strange, and the overall ambiance of the story markedly absent. Appealing to what could only be a high-interest/low–reading level audience, McDonald falls short of the mark. He explains a scene in an open-air tavern with a footnote—“a place where people gather to drink”—but he declines to offer definitions for more difficult words, such as “dirges.” While the adaptation does follow the foundation of the play, the contemporary language offers nothing; cringeworthy lines include Benvolio saying to Romeo at the party where he first meets Juliet, “Let’s go. It’s best to leave now, while the party’s in full swing.” Nagar’s faces swirl between dishwater and grotesque, adding another layer of lost passion in a story that should boil with romantic intensity. Each page number is enclosed in a little red heart; while the object of this little nuance is obvious, it’s also unpleasantly saccharine. Notes after the story include such edifying tidbits about Taylor Swift and “ ‘Wow’ dialogs from the play” (which culls out the famous quotes).Pub Date: May 10, 2011
ISBN: 978-93-80028-58-3
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Campfire
Review Posted Online: April 5, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2011
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