An entertaining suspenser with slyly funny writing, captivating visuals, and a cool, spunky hero.
A woman solves crimes via psychic visions of strings connecting murderers to their victims in Tobin’s fizzy graphic novel.
The story unfolds in an unusually grungy Seattle beset by so many killings by gangs and street crazies that the police turn to clairvoyants for help. Stepping up is Yoon-Sook Namgung, a 20-something woman resplendent in long pink hair and heels who has somehow been able to see black strings coiling between the bodies of murder victims and their killers ever since her own parents were assassinated. (She also sees blue strings linking people who have had sex with each other, which furnishes many awkward revelations and blackmail opportunities.) Yoon-Sook teams up with Detective Lucas Mayfield, who takes her to the cold case morgue; there, she sees a black string trailing into the distance. It leads them to a lunatic who hurls a French bulldog at Yoon-Sook and then blows himself up with a dynamite vest. Repairing to her apartment with the orphaned bulldog, Yoon-Sook sees a black string attached to herself, suggesting that she is soon to be murdered—or commit murder herself. Yoon-Sook and Lucas start sleuthing, assisted by Litty Mondo, a porn star who hires Yoon-Sook to find out who murdered her dog. Tobin populates this straightforward paranormal private-eye yarn with lots of quirky characters, gonzo scenes with comic-book sound effects (“THAKK…unhh!” is the sound of a porn star slugging her sleazy manager with a potted plant), and hilariously off-the-wall dialogue. (“The toilet didn’t work. Sager just liked sitting on toilets. They calmed him down.”) Illustrator Olivares and colorist Colella create a slightly noirish but richly colored world with lurid highlights, muscular megaliths, and goggle-eyed banshees with gaping, sharklike maws. The result is a page-turner with plenty of hang-dog wit and pictorial pizzazz.
An entertaining suspenser with slyly funny writing, captivating visuals, and a cool, spunky hero.Pub Date: May 20, 2025
ISBN: 9781960578839
Page Count: 120
Publisher: Mad Cave Studios
Review Posted Online: March 19, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
Immensely enjoyable.
The debut graphic novel from Mohamed presents a modern Egypt full of magical realism where wishes have been industrialized and heavily regulated.
The story opens with a televised public service announcement from the General Committee of Wish Supervision and Licensing about the dangers of “third-class wishes”—wishes that come in soda cans and tend to backfire on wishers who aren’t specific enough (like a wish to lose weight resulting in limbs falling from the wisher’s body). Thus begins a brilliant play among magic, the mundane, and bureaucracy that centers around a newsstand kiosk where a devout Muslim is trying to unload the three “first-class wishes” (contained in elegant glass bottles and properly licensed by the government) that have come into his possession, since he believes his religion forbids him to use them. As he gradually unloads the first-class wishes on a poor, regretful widow (who then runs afoul of authorities determined to manipulate her out of her valuable commodity) and a university student who seeks a possibly magical solution to their mental health crisis (but struggles with whether a wish to always be happy might have unintended consequences), interstitials give infographic histories of wishes, showing how the Western wish-industrial complex has exploited the countries where wishes are mined (largely in the Middle East). The book is exceptionally imaginative while also being wonderfully grounded in touching human relationships, existential quandaries, and familiar geopolitical and socio-economic dynamics. Mohamed’s art balances perfectly between cartoon and realism, powerfully conveying emotions, and her strong, clean lines gorgeously depict everything from an anguished face to an ornate bottle. Charts and graphs nicely break up the reading experience while also concisely building this larger world of everyday wishes. Mohamed has a great sense of humor, which comes out in footnotes and casual asides throughout.
Immensely enjoyable.Pub Date: Jan. 10, 2023
ISBN: 978-1-524-74841-8
Page Count: 528
Publisher: Pantheon
Review Posted Online: Oct. 26, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2022
PERSPECTIVES
PERSPECTIVES
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