A sure bet for young readers who may be cultivating interests in ancient history.
This graphic novel collects the first three installments of young prince Ausar’s adventures in ancient Kemet.
Human civilization is 1,000 years old, and nations fight over finite resources as strange gods called “ancients” look on. Prince Ausar is the grandson of Rah, the current pharaoh of ancient Kemet. Ausar spent five years honing his impressive strength and speed under Rah, but the boy still has an impetuous streak. One day, the god and mentor Tehuti brings Ausar and several other powerful young royals—including Ausar’s sister, Auset, who can control weather and other aspects of nature; Seth, who can manipulate sand and other people’s perceptions; and Nehbet, who’s skilled in deception—to visit King Apedemak’s court in Kush. Ausar is eager to test his mettle against Kush’s son, Prince Bes, so they duel in the courtyard. Rah drilled a desire for battlefield perfection into Ausar, which pushes him to use a powerful move called “Soul Enforcement Mountain Strike.” The maneuver causes damage to the city and earns him a reprimand from his father, Geb, who wants him to be less like Rah. Meanwhile, sea monsters have begun destroying ships along the coast of Cyprus. Sobek, the god of crocodiles, warns Auset of this development and of an “aura of change” that follows the children. It turns out that war is brewing between Greece, Minoa, and other nations—including Kemet. In this richly illustrated collection, author Godoy (Cosmic Girls, 2019) and artist Lenormand (Mori’s Family Adventures: Rio de Janeiro, 2018) focus on aspects of early African and Middle Eastern history. Three adventure sequences are separated by informative sections that helpfully explain the mythology behind the characters and Godoy’s and Lenormand’s major changes; the Annunaki deities of ancient Sumer, for example, are from the planet Nibiru in this version of the tale. The sleek designs throughout offer a smooth reading experience that brings to mind Japanese manga. The characters have realistically varying skin tones; Seth has vitilligo, rendered with accuracy. The adventure will continue in a forthcoming installment.
A sure bet for young readers who may be cultivating interests in ancient history.Pub Date: Nov. 15, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-9994734-8-1
Page Count: 96
Publisher: Black Sands Entertainment
Review Posted Online: Sept. 10, 2019
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
Widely published illustrator and comic-strip artist Kuper does more than merely provide pictures for nine of Kafka's narratives. He edits the text sharply, and concentrates various descriptions into his singular scratchboard drawings. The result is unevensome pieces nicely capture Kafka's cityscapes in angular designs reminiscent of ``The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari.'' Others update the time and place, an idea that works particularly well in ``The Trees,'' a striking tale of indifference to the homeless, with menacing images of police brutality. The project, on the whole, seems a bit hastily conceived; each story begins with a powerful splash page that defies conventional graphic panel design, but then the stories often peter out, with images less and less fully imagined. Hand-lettering would also have improved the visual impact of these black and white texts. Nevertheless, a worthy companion volume to R. Crumb's recent Introducing Kafka.
Pub Date: July 1, 1995
ISBN: 1-56163-125-6
Page Count: 64
Publisher: NBM
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 1995
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A prominent critic of Chicano literature tries his hand at a novela conventional romance that tarts itself up as a postmodern study in obsession and perspective. Bruce-Novoa's debut has the makings of a modest, sociologically interesting coming-of-age narrative: the story of an assimilated Mexican-American boy in Los Angeles during the '50s and '60s. Instead, the author overreaches and turns his protagonist's first love into a goddess of mythic proportions. She's the ``American Dream,'' the blond ideal, a madonna too good to defile. Later, when Paul Valencia becomes Paul Valence, a successful screenwriter, he even claims to have inspired George Lucas's unattainable blond driving a convertible in American Graffiti. And that's just a small indication of where this ambitious novel goes wrong. The first half of the story nicely recounts the innocence and frustrations of Catholic schoolboysthe sports, the psycho nuns and the nurturing ones, and, of course, the early awareness of girls. Paul's great love is one Ann Marisse, a blond Italian- American from a large and friendly family. Despite some furtive kisses and gropings, Paul saves his pent-up sexuality for a series of less perfect girls until Ann Marisse finally gets wind of his other life and they eventually split. The novel abruptly shifts to many years later, with Paul realizing that all his film work derives from the same primal scene: his first look at Ann Marisse. Though married to a famous European actress, Paul still swoons for his ideal woman, now married to a childhood enemy. He finally returns from his long European exile to create his dreamscape in Carmel, though it's not clear whom he's enjoying it with at the self-consciously poetic end. A meta-level overlaycomplete with footnotes and commentaryweighs too heavily on an otherwise amiable and nostalgic narrative.
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1995
ISBN: 1-55885-078-3
Page Count: 286
Publisher: Arte Público
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1995
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