Engaging but best understood by initiates.
An ambitious biography—in graphic-novel style—of an early Anabaptist martyr.
Intriguing watercolors—evocative of both Hieronymus Bosch and 1970s op art—precede the opening pages. Each of nine subsequent chapters begins with one calligraphic title page and one page of pseudo-medieval art. The first chapter grabs readers’ attention by depicting beheaded saints—heads held in their hands—and showing several frames of a gang of boys beating another boy and calling him a bastard. A young, bloodied Felix Manz speaks plainly of his absentee father, who was a priest. A double-page spread gives an overview of the setting of Manz’s childhood in the church-ruled city of Zurich, known for its mercenary fighters. Readers meet Manz’s devoted mother, join a crowd celebrating Zurich’s patron saints, learn of Manz’s privileged schooling, and glimpse his nascent religious fervor. The chapters that follow use accessible language and abundant visual cues in softly colored, action-packed art. Other historical figures come into play as Manz journeys from eager university student to zealous reformer to renegade leading an intentional Christian pacifist community. Under penalty of death, Manz refuses to stop performing adult baptisms—considered heretical—and he utters some of Jesus’ final words as he dies. Despite the thoughtful introductory note from Landsel and abundant backmatter, readers who lack a background in Christian theology and Reformation-era history may be perplexed.
Engaging but best understood by initiates. (historical figures, timeline, historical notes, Felix Manz’s hymn, bibliography) (Graphic nonfiction. 13-18)Pub Date: March 21, 2023
ISBN: 978-1-63608-053-6
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Plough
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2023
Painfully real.
In imaginative, often funny autobiographical vignettes, a comics creator depicts life with myalgic encephalomyelitis, or chronic fatigue syndrome.
Years before she’s diagnosed with ME, Brunton is forced to take to her couch, miserable and in pain. The vignettes take place over several years, as readers see Brunton, who reads White, go through multiple hair colors and styles. Some episodes are fully realistic depictions of a creative young woman learning to live with a life-altering illness, and others are fantastic visions of her imagined worlds. Lovingly detailed, black-and-white cartoons of idealized mobile beds and homes include a snail shell, a giant cake, and a multipage spread of a tower home with a bed flume, talking goats, and a room dedicated to Halloween costumes. Brunton rarely offers medicalizing details about the symptoms she experiences, with only brief mentions of headaches, fevers, and brain fog. Instead, she focuses on some of the infuriating aspects of ME, including its unpredictability, post-exertional malaise, and the exhausting grind of despair and grief. She falls for a few wellness scams and is gaslit by labor-intensive diets that can’t possibly be implemented by anyone who needs their claimed benefits. The final comic ends with Brunton, in bed long enough for her hair to grow, pondering the fantasy and science-fiction comics she wants the energy to write. This honest work depicts a bleak but not comfortless world familiar to many readers with chronic illness and disability.
Painfully real. (Graphic memoir. 13-18)Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-72846-293-6
Page Count: 152
Publisher: Graphic Universe
Review Posted Online: Aug. 2, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2022
PERSPECTIVES
A superfluous offering.
A young readers’ adaptation of Batchelor’s 2017 profile of the same name for adult readers, co-publishing with a new version of the adult original.
Along with lightly massaging his text, the author adds a chapter that takes the Marvel universe story up to Lee’s death in 2018 and details the horrific elder abuse that marked his last years. Taking an evenhanded stance on the ugly squabbles that developed between Lee and artists like Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko over who played just what roles in developing the foundational Marvel characters, he nonetheless perceptively argues that Lee’s distinctive voice was his greatest contribution because it created and, over decades, established a uniquely human, flawed superhero archetype. But he makes more debatable claims too, for example, about the vast extent of Marvel’s cultural influence, and sometimes assumes the role of apologist, as when he soft-pedals the sexism of projects like Savage She-Hulk and Stripperella. Problematically in terms of audience appeal, Batchelor stuffs his account of Lee’s career trajectory from office boy to international icon with more than enough minor detail about sales figures, corporate maneuvering, marketing deals, failed publications, personnel shifts, and the like to glaze the eyes of most fans. Readers who really can’t get enough about the comics biz will gravitate anyway to the marginally longer edition for adults.Nine drawings of Lee and associates and a scanty selection of photos and covers offer inadequate visual relief from the densely packed pages.
A superfluous offering. (notes, index) (Biography. 14-16)Pub Date: Oct. 15, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-5381-6205-7
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2022
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