THE GIRL WHO OWNED A CITY

Just as ideologically unsettling—and patchwork—as ever, Nelson’s 1975 post-apocalyptic tale gets a noir graphic adaptation.

Seeing the danger in trying to live apart after a virus kills off every adult and adolescent, Lisa organizes a growing crowd of the less-aggressive surviving children into an armed militia. Declaiming dictatorially that the new community is her property because “if the city belonged to no one in particular… Everyone would just squabble all the time,” she insists that it be run her way, by her autocratic rules. By the same token, when, after several increasingly violent skirmishes, the brutal Chidester Gang invades, she heroically confronts their hideously disfigured leader and through force of personality singlehandedly drives the bandits off. In the dark but sharply drawn art, Lisa’s scowling, angular features amply convey hardnosed determination as she draws crowds of worshipful followers and defeats the toughs by claiming the moral high ground. Whether she merits it is a matter for discussion—but though this doesn’t equal Jennifer Armstrong and Nancy Butcher’s Fire-us series (not to mention Lord of the Flies) for credibility, the premise is a proven one for young audiences. (Graphic science fiction. 10-13)