A tale of vigilante justice with a satisfying blend of genre-specific predictability and intrigue.
A father with a troubled past searches for answers about his deceased child in writer Thompson and illustrator Jok’s gritty graphic novel.
In the not-so-distant future of 2031, amid a “cost-of-living crisis” that amplifies class divides in Florida, an ex-convict named Kim Krilicgrapples with the loss of his 5-year-old son, Charlie, who died in a mysterious disaster that Kim seems to have played an accidental role in. The story opens at Charlie’s funeral, where Kim is clearly unwanted. Already struggling to contain his rage over the tragedy, he reaches a breaking point when he sees that his son’s body is missing. In its place is an empty “burial pod” from a company called Bio-Mem, which, unbeknownst to Kim, offered to cover Charlie’s medical and funeral bills in exchange for his corpse. Thus begins Kim’s action-packed mission to find his son’s remains—even if it means that he’ll end up spending the rest of his life behind bars. Meanwhile, a romance brews between him and Reed Fisher, an agent at the company’s retail outpost who, plagued by a guilty conscience, tries to help Kim in his mission. From panel to panel, Jok’s full-color images evoke a hypermasculine, post-apocalyptic, lawless atmosphere marked by wreckage and decay—the highways stretch over what look like rivers of toxic waste, and skulls and machine guns appear in high contrast alongside cheeky hearts, flowers, and splashes of 1990s-esque blues and pinks. Despite the unique particulars of the plot, readers will find familiar elements of the post-apocalyptic genre lurking on every page, mostly in the form of archetypal characters; Kim, for one, is a classic antihero whom readers will root for from the start, despite his mysterious past and possible involvement in his son’s demise, and Bio-Mem’s Lead Broker, Ms. Wolfe, has a cool demeanor that masks a sociopathic thirst for money and power. Despite the familiarity, one will feel compelled to read on, eager to learn more about the grieving protagonist’s past.
A tale of vigilante justice with a satisfying blend of genre-specific predictability and intrigue.Pub Date: April 22, 2025
ISBN: 9781545816325
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Mad Cave Studios
Review Posted Online: Feb. 13, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
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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