A classic crime story with lively twists and engaging illustrations.
A gangster returns home to England to save his niece in Thomas’ graphic novel crime saga.
Late at night on the streets of Brighton, England, a young woman named Grace is attacked by an unknown assailant, who’s directed to do so by an older man in a car. She’s quite familiar with her city’s seedy underworld, and she lands some good blows against the driver but is eventually abducted. Grace has been dating Ian Woods, the son of local crime kingpin Harry Woods; Grace’s uncle, John Bannan, had dealings with the Woods that forced him out of town years earlier. Now he’s back and ready to settle old scores, and with the help of his longtime friend, Matty, he starts brawling his way through the city. Back at the Woods’ camp, no one is happy to see John’s sudden reappearance; his arrival on the scene coincides with the Woods’ dangerous deal with a group of Albanian sex smugglers, which is threatening their empire. It isn’t long before John and Matty get pulled into the fray. Thomas’ sharp writing offers plenty of suspense, while also layering in rich history. Every character hints at deeper stories and festering betrayals, which makes this graphic novel feel realistic and gritty. Characters speak in the hard-boiled manner that one expects from a pulp-inspired story: “I never wanted to be a bastard. it’s just all I’ve ever been good at,” John narrates early on. Secondary characters keep the narrative fresh, and Matthews’ retro illustrations fit the tone perfectly; his clever use of blue, orange, and black hues give even expositional scenes a sense of cinematic movement and scope. The ending feels a bit rushed as it ties all the different plot threads together, but there’s at least one great surprise that readers may not see coming, and plenty of exciting action sequences throughout.
A classic crime story with lively twists and engaging illustrations.Pub Date: Feb. 4, 2025
ISBN: 9781545815915
Page Count: 152
Publisher: Mad Cave Studios
Review Posted Online: Dec. 17, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
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
Even so, this remains Macbeth, arguably the Bard of Avon’s most durable and multilayered tragedy, and overall, this enhanced...
A pairing of the text of the Scottish Play with a filmed performance, designed with the Shakespeare novice in mind.
The left side of the screen of this enhanced e-book contains a full version of Macbeth, while the right side includes a performance of the dialogue shown (approximately 20 lines’ worth per page). This granular focus allows newcomers to experience the nuances of the play, which is rich in irony, hidden intentions and sudden shifts in emotional temperature. The set and costuming are deliberately simple: The background is white, and Macbeth’s “armor” is a leather jacket. But nobody’s dumbing down their performances. Francesca Faridany is particularly good as a tightly coiled Lady Macbeth; Raphael Nash-Thompson gives his roles as the drunken porter and a witch a garrulousness that carries an entertainingly sinister edge. The presentation is not without its hiccups. Matching the video on the right with the text on the left means routinely cutting off dramatic moments; at one point, users have to swipe to see and read the second half of a scene’s closing couplet—presumably an easy fix. A “tap to translate” button on each page puts the text into plain English, but the pop-up text covers up Shakespeare’s original, denying any attempts at comparison; moreover, the translation mainly redefines more obscure words, suggesting that smaller pop-ups for individual terms might be more meaningful.
Even so, this remains Macbeth, arguably the Bard of Avon’s most durable and multilayered tragedy, and overall, this enhanced e-book makes the play appealing and graspable to students . (Enhanced e-book. 12 & up)Pub Date: Sept. 9, 2013
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: The New Book Press LLC
Review Posted Online: Nov. 6, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2013
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