A twisted relationship searingly plays out amid beautifully delineated pastoral scenes of the American West.
A graphic novel explores the relationship between a man and a centaur in 19th-century America.
Evander Rook, a centaur and formerly a Southern Unionist, gets hired by a sinister sphinx, Elen. Evander’s task is to kill Asa Langley, who’s the director of central west operations for Wakefield Steel and “crazy enough to eat the devil with horns on.” Instead of murdering Asa, Evander works for him, and a turbulent romantic entanglement develops. The pair travels through the United States. After first meeting in Iowa, they make a stop in Davidson, “a shithole town in Wyoming” that has a mine, and the Colorado territory Lynd, where Asa wants to build a railroad connecting to Denver. Evander and Asa consider living in Deseret, a provisional Western state that the inhabitants believe was Jesus’ final resting spot; it’s also a place rich in uranium, copper, and iron. After the duo’s plans are disrupted, Evander eventually gains information about some puzzling questions, helping him make an important decision about his life and relationship with Asa. Using minimal and muted color tones reminiscent of sepia photographs, Orlesky skillfully renders images of an older America, though one inhabited by both humans and nonhumans. In this engrossing series opener, the engaging drawings depict multiple intriguing angles. One frame zooms in on Evander’s hooves crossing a railroad bridge while the next pulls back to show the centaur and a man as small shapes silhouetted against a panoramic sky. Marred by inner pain, Asa and Evander conceal it with laconic language. Their psychological battle, as they struggle not to kill or be killed, can get intense (and confusing), but wordlessly touching each other seems to bring them relief. Through Orlesky’s haunting illustrations of the uninhabited Western landscapes, wide open and natural, readers will get the sense of a land filled with promise and possibility that men like Asa exploit for personal gain.
A twisted relationship searingly plays out amid beautifully delineated pastoral scenes of the American West.Pub Date: Sept. 9, 2025
ISBN: 9781545820445
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Mad Cave Studios
Review Posted Online: Aug. 1, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Utterly charming and swoonworthy.
Two beloved characters from artist Eunnie’s Instagram feed get a full-length graphic novel treatment.
Readers meet college student Momo just as she’s about to encounter PG for the first time. It’s not an ideal meet-cute, however. Momo is doing her friend Kayla a favor by dropping off some class notes at Kayla’s friend Lea’s dorm room. When scantily clad PG answers the door, Momo is immediately flustered by how gorgeous she is—but she learns that PG has a reputation for seducing women and avoiding serious commitments, the exact opposite of Momo, who’s never dated anyone. Still, after witnessing a fraught situation at a nightclub, Momo overcomes her shyness to check on PG. They have an open conversation and a romantic dance. Running into each other around town turns into texting, which turns into mutual big feelings. Readers will fall in love with both young women as they fall in love with each other. Their conflicts give them depth and feel believable for their stage of life, their different but equally relatable backstories are fleshed out, and the satisfying resolution inspires happiness. Well-developed friendships play smaller but still important roles. The appealing artwork features clean, pastel-tinted backgrounds and doe-eyed characters with expressive faces. Momo has dark brown skin and wavy brown hair; PG is Vietnamese American.
Utterly charming and swoonworthy. (Graphic romance. 14-adult)Pub Date: Oct. 17, 2023
ISBN: 9780593403228
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2023
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
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