The Lakes International Comic Art Festival 2016: link to our comic creator-crammed blog in the News section below!
Audubon – On The Wings Of The World (£15-99, Nobrow) by Fabien Grolleau & Jérémie Royer.
Every single page inside is bursting with beauty, with the feathered miracles of nature which so obsessed Jean-Jacques Audubon that he abandoned his wife with her blessing to travel throughout the perilous wilds of early 19th-Century North America and draw them in all their vivid glory. Truly the man was driven, and that drive proves infectious here.
435 truly enormous aquatint prints of gobsmacking colour and beauty were the result, collected over an eleven-year period into the ‘Birds Of America’, a gigantic tome of 200 editions, few of which sadly remain intact. In December 2010 one complete collection sold of £7.3 million at Sotherby’s.
Our Jodie Paterson, an exceptional artist in her own right, recalled, “All the birds are life-size: eagles only just fit on the page, while hummingbirds swarm or else would seem lost.” Jodie also noted that there are some nice nods to these paintings throughout this book, not just when we see him in his studio but also, without signposting, as organic parts of the visual narrative, like the passenger pigeons.
The original compositions are startling: so startling that Jean-Jacques Audubon (or John James Audubon, or simply Laforêt) only found favour once he’d travelled to Britain where the art establishment revelled in what to them were extraordinary exotica, the museums of America having roundly rejected the paintings as unscientific.
“What am I to make of this fluttering feather, or the blood on the beak of the Peregrine Falcon?”
“Life, Alexander, is what I aim to represent.”
“As far as I’m concerned, it’s inappropriate for sentimentality to take precedence over the object. But here it’s the other way round. It looks as if it’s going to leap from the page! It’s too ‘romantic’.”
“For goodness’ sake, Wilson! A bird is a living entity, not just lifeless matter!”
Although to be fair, Jean-Jacques, it wasn’t quite so living after you shot it clean out of the sky.
“Yes, I represent my falcon screeching, squawking, pecking at the still-warm entrails of a duck! Devouring its flesh, his beak bloodied Yes! Yes! Yes! Precisely because that is life!”
Audubon made a lot of his drawings from life in situ, but he saw absolutely no conflict between wide-eyed adoration of his living subjects and harvesting them for further, angularly-posed inspection later on. He enjoyed hunting very much. It’s almost comical at times.
“I often say that if I shoot less than 100 birds a day, they must be rare…”
This, it should be remembered, was before Darwin’s time, and there’s an early, eerie sequence back in his adopted home of Louisville, Kentucky, in 1812, when Audubon discovers a colony of swallows – some nine thousand, he calculates – nesting at night in an ancient hollow Sycamore he hacks into by day. He lies in wait for the flock’s return then clambers up amongst them, bagging one hundred specimens for later examination. It’s their seasonal departure en masse by the end of August that confounds him, along with their return to the exact same spot come Spring.
“Such an astonishing mystery…
“It seems that these swallows leave the woods for winter – but where do they go?
“Before winter, I’ll try to mark a few.”
However, it’s his travels which we follow throughout most of the book. With but a guide, an apprentice and his art supplies, he navigates the Mississippi encountering all manner of dangers from the elements to the inhabitants; but he barely notices, for always it is the birds that take precedence, mesmerised as he is by each single sighting, or by the clouds of migrating passenger pigeons, so dense that they almost blot out the sky. Three days, they take to pass – such are their numbers!
The awe with which Audubon regarded the mysteries and majesty of nature would be lost or left weightless were the art in this book anything less than spectacular. On every single instance Jérémie Royer captures that majesty.
There are the flapping, multicoloured flocks in an almost Biblical scene as the three adventurers return to the raft they’d abandoned overnight in the wake of a raging storm to seek sanctuary in a cave… where, naturally, Aubudon seized the opportunity to sketch owls.
There’s that raging storm itself, creeping ominously across the sky as we stare into the sun on the very first, blindingly beautiful page…
… then breaking instantly on the second, the pale light on the horizon all but obliterated by unimaginably vast, rich brown clouds.
Each chapter opens with a full-page panorama: river or sea shots of jaw-dropping splendour and intensity from Missouri to New Orleans. The quality of light is exquisite. It radiates from the heavens, glows through the clouds and it shimmers on the water’s surface, while shafts of it penetrate canopies of leaves to illuminate forest floors and fauna.
Much of this is based on Audubon’s writings, though artistic liberties are documented in the back along with a few reproductions of Audubon’s own art prints pertaining to the graphic novel itself, including the Great-Footed Hawks and the eye-popping (and quite frankly mad) composition of the Carolina Parrots, both of which showcase Audubon’s ability to animate with wings braced for fight or flight.
SLH
Buy Audubon – On The Wings Of The World and read the Page 45 review here
Mirror vol 1: The Mountain s/c (£13-99, Image) by Emma Rios & Hwei Lim; Hwei Lim & Emma Rios.
“Nothing is
entitled to anything.
“Only humans dream they are.”
This is a story which will give you much pause for thought and, perhaps, hit you hard in your heart.
But it’s also an inspiring tale, an elevating one, during which individuals learn and grow – change or are changed – and adapt. It’s a book of perspectives, as we shall shortly see, partly about man’s proprietorial nature, and humanity’s ability to empathise, think it does, or fails to. It is especially astute and eloquent about how we regard and treat animals – even our environment. Colonists are no more than visitors, after all…
A bright and beautiful comic full of fresh colours and organic designs, to read this is like being given glimpses through an ornate window.
There’s no hand-holding, no unwieldy exposition, just key conversations overheard about dominion, control, captivity, desire to be free, the need to be free and to be both recognised and understood as an individual. You may wish to rewind multiple times, as the narrative does itself, in order to discern precisely what’s at stake. I found reading chapters in reverse order the second time round to be most illuminating and ever so satisfying. Then I went forward again.
The window aspect is emphasised by the arched panel frames on the very first page, then Emma Rios’ illuminations of Hwei Lim’s script for the first of the parallel back-up features called ‘The Hand That Holds The Leash’. It is daubed in purple-blossom washes along with a landscape overlooking the cathedral-like Esagila compound at the heart of the young Irzah Colony. From a distance it looks as though it could have been fashioned from glass.
Come to think about it, Kazbek the scientist too is painted by Rios to resemble shards of glass, reflecting the sky’s lilac colours as he sits calm and relaxed in the open-air gazebo or porch surrounded by the greenery of a substantial garden. Set around page four of the first chapter, Kazbek is being instructed by Elena, chancellor of the Irzah colony, to get rid of “the dog” once it’s recaptured. It’s a dispassionate match of verbal sabres:
“She is much more than a dog.”
“Why do you say so?”
“She truly loves the boy.”
“Heh… nothing knows true love better than a dog…”
“If you think so highly of dogs, why would you have me get rid of her?”
“If you think so highly of dogs, why do you try so hard to make them human?”
Elena concludes with a flourish:
“Yes, I’m being selfish. I’d rather be human and selfish than the noblest of dogs. The hand that holds the leash, not the neck wearing the collar. What about you?”
Our first encounter is a mere five years after the colony’s formation. This prologue is called ‘The Boy And His Dog’. And you would be forgiven for imagining that Sena was a dog to begin with, for young Ivan’s at cheerful play with her. But we’re already fast-forwarding through time between panels as the towering Kazbek interrupts school class, stick clasped behind his back.
“My apologies. I’m in need of Ivan’s assistance again.”
As Kazbek approaches outside, Sena’s delighted bark turns to a growl.
“Come. It is time.”
“Do we have to? She’s not fully recovered yet… “
Notice the cages and lab coats on the very first tier, above.
The Irzah colony was built around the Esagila compound which itself is a spaceship long since vertically anchored, having flown not once since it landed. Why Elena and Kazbek came there, and it what state, I will not say, but I will tell you that Irzah’s an asteroid, although that wasn’t always the case.
They released some animals into the terraformed wild and something strange happened: they became sentient, self-aware, clairvoyant; they became Guardians – but of what? Now Kazbek seeks to replicate this evolution by creating animal-human hybrids, and he’s had some success in Sena and Phinx, while former lab rat Zun is partly the result of Ivan’s own prowess as a mage. The origins of Aldebaran, the imposing but gentle albino Minotaur, classically cloaked in red, are far more startling and something else altogether.
I’m reluctant to give you much more than that, except that as the story opens, Lesnik the bear, thought to be one of the original Guardians, lies dying in human captivity following yet another of Sena’s attempts to stop the experimentation and liberate the hybrids. When you see the laboratories you will understand why. But, as I’ve intimated, everyone has a distance to travel over the course of this book, having come rather a long way already.
Lim’s colours for the main event are less impressionistic than Rios’ but equally lambent. Both artists employ a great many arches and curves in the exquisite architecture, and even rat-monkey Zun’s descent to Ivan’s room is choreographed like a helter-skelter ride.
Lim’s landscapes are magical, exotic, with some far-east influences in some of boughs, branches and blossoms, while her Frozen Forest where the Guardians reside is both of this world and other.
You can tell how much time has been spent and how much fun has been had by both artists coming up with designs for this society’s fashions. Each one of their creatures is as alive with humanity and individuality, with superb, sinuous body language. The lettering is species-specific too, which is rather telling, don’t you think?
SLH
Buy Mirror vol 1: The Mountain s/c and read the Page 45 review here
Libby’s Dad (£6-00, Retrofit / Big Planet) by Eleanor Davis…
“Do you 
really not know what happened?”
“Don’t tell her, she’s too young.”
“I am not.”
“Libby’s Mom told everyone that Libby’s Dad said he was gonna shoot her. With his gun.”
“WHAT? SHOOT LIBBY?”
“SHHH! No, shoot Libby’s Mom.”
“Oh my God!”
It’s pool party time for the girls at the recently divorced titular dad’s new house. He’s even bought them all KFC, so he can’t be that much of a nutter, right? Except Taylor’s Mom clearly thinks he might be, because she’s not let Taylor come, much to the other girls’ dismay and disgust. Fun and frolics are being had by all, and Libby is enjoying hosting her friends, with nary a parental Armageddon in sight.
Later on in the day, though, when the girls are all settled down in their PJs enjoying a good old bedtime gossip, there’s an unfortunate accident involving a bottle of nail polish and a pristine carpet. Ah… Suddenly, no one is too keen to tell Libby’s Dad… But, what’s there to worry about? He couldn’t really be a headcase who might shoot someone just for ruining his brand new deep pile, could he…?
Ha ha, this took me straight back to a forgotten memory when, aged six, I accidently smashed my mother’s favourite garden ornament – some grotesque, huge, fake Greek urn – with a badly placed football rocket shot (my five-a-side cohorts will tell you I haven’t got much more accurate in the intervening four decades, either). I felt so distraught I sent all my mates home before slinking inside to confess. No idea why I was so worried, she was perfectly alright about it. My dad, meanwhile, was well chuffed as he’d always hated it! Libby’s Dad, though…
Fantastic little bit of absurdity illustrated in a kaleidoscopic manner akin to the maestro of farce himself, Brecht THE MAKING OF Evens. Though where Brecht puts watercolours of every hue straight down without the need for pencils, Eleanor here uses nothing but. Pencils, that is. Though the only time she breaks out the regular, grey, boring type is for the speech bubbles and lettering!
I was particularly intrigued by the fact that she seems to have done most of the shading with a rough surface underneath, which due to the mild brass rubbing-esque effect, has given a subtle sense of additional texture and thus depth. I very much applaud the fact she seems to come up with a different style for practically every story she does as very neatly evidenced in her excellent HOW TO BE HAPPY collection, which featured one of Stephen’s favourite covers of 2014!
JR
Buy Libby’s Dad and read the Page 45 review here
The Fix vol 1: Where Beagles Dare s/c (£8-99, Image) by Nick Spencer & Steve Lieber.
“If you liked 
classic crime comics like CRIMINAL and 100 BULLETS we apologize in advance for letting you down.”
Having read over 100,000 solicitation summaries over the past 25 years – most rammed full of po-faced hyperbole – it’s refreshing to read something that redirects a mug of tea right through your nostrils.
It also sets the tone perfectly for this is far closer to the mischief-riddled THIEF OF THIEVES, except that these contemporary criminals here have zero finesse, cannot conceive of pre-planning and couldn’t even spell ‘fiscal prudence’. Thanks to Steve Lieber there’s even some fine visual slapstick as the buffoons who pass for our heroes only just get away to steal another day.
Let me be perfectly clear: if I were a betting man I wouldn’t bet on these two.
They do, however, have an ace up their sleeve. It’s delivered in the form of a very specific car radio halfway through the first chapter after the dysfunctional duo’s old people’s home heist, during which they are gentle, respectful and far more considerate than their absentee orderlies and supervisor. That car radio changes everything you thought you were about to read, but then that’s what this comic does: confound your expectations at every comedic corner over and over again.
Sometimes it’s no bad idea to return to the scene of a crime; sometimes you simply have no choice. In this instance Roy and Mac have no choice at all because they are the crime’s investigating officers. I’m sorry…? That’s right, they may be criminals, but they’re not career criminals. They are career cops.
There’s some wicked humour to be gleaned here from artfully juxtaposed panels, fast-forward shenanigans and flashbacks to boot. There’s even more wicked humour every time sex-obsessed film producer Donovan shows up. Those are sequences you’re least likely to feel comfortable discussing with your parents (probably). Donovan may have a one-track mind, but displays lots of leeway when it comes to how he’s prepared to drive.
Roy and Mac’s much bigger problem, however, is that not only are they strapped for cash, but they’re heavily in debt. The good news is that they’re in debt to Josh and Josh is a gentle, easy-going gourmet cook who loves his dogs very much. The bad news is that the dogs are rescue pit bull terriers, and I was lying about the “gentle” and “easy-going”.
Lieber’s ability to wring maximum comedy from nuanced expressions – and indeed not-so-nuanced expressions when things go spectacularly shit-creek in a split second – is exceptional. Both creators know that it’s all in the timing, and here it is fiercely fine timing. Speaking of shit-creek, half the humour lies in waiting for you know that it’s almost inevitable.
“I wish we could chalk this up to being a learning experience…
“But that would require learning something.”
What they have learned is that modern crime is virtual. The only people who carry cold, hard cash are old age pensioners, hence the heist, and it’s true. It is not unusual for someone to pay by credit card for a two-quid Lizz Lunney comic at Page 45 after they’ve asked for a Student Discount.
What you will learn is the lack of wisdom in sticking someone up with a shotgun while wearing a distinctive floral shirt… then interviewing the victim without changing first. And at this point I would like to thank all the shoplifters who’ve taken the trouble to identify themselves in advance with very specific, stand-out tattoos.
Typically, Roy cannot resist pushing things as far as he can. Here he is with Mac by his side, covered in roses, trying to see if they’ll come out smelling of them against all odds. By his second salvo he’s actually pointing at Mac!
“Never mind that. How about how tall they were?”
“I dunno – I didn’t really get the best look at them. The one with the gun in my back was a little taller than the other guy – ”
“Like, how tall? About my partner’s height, or taller?”
“Ehh – probably about right.”
“Mm, and build? Again, compared to my partner here.”
“Yeah, ‘bout the same, I guess, I dunno?”
“Sure, sure. It can be difficult to recall these things, I understand – but what about their clothing? Their shorts maybe. Any distinctive colours, or patterns…”
I swear on the Bible, that’s only the beginning of Roy’s brazen bravado as he takes every opportunity to really relish committing almost every crime conceivable then flaunting the flimsiest of cover-ups.
Don’t worry: by the end of almost each chapter our champ chumps have their grins wiped right off their gormless faces. Sometimes it doesn’t even take that long.
SLH
Buy The Fix vol 1: Where Beagles Dare s/c and read the Page 45 review here
The Wormgler (£2-00, self-published) by David Frankum.
A neat little
number with a cardstock cover, slipped inside a CD sleeve and signed with good cheer by David.
I’m a sucker for packaging, but not form over content.
Fortunately the form is very much a reflection of that content, and these eight invigorating pages of intrigue will take you much further than you can imagine.
Framed in black and told in a strict 3 x 3, nine-panel grid with a regular beat, I like the subtle shading at the corners, off-setting the regimented gutters. It’s also reminiscent of old-school cine-camera film-footage, as if the whole thing is an ancient recording left for posterity which you’ve been lucky enough to stumble upon. Will its mystery – its message – be of some import? I should say so.
We begin with a man in black suit and tie bearing a briefcase, the bowler hat suggesting a man on a mission. Either that, or he works for Homepride.
Is that the horizon we spy behind him or something else? The briefcase is set on the floor, its combination lock opened, and out fly a flock of origami early birds. They catch worms and dutifully drop them, with improbable accuracy, into the briefcase. Step one.
Delighted with his haul, our man on a mission snaps his case shut and walks towards a tall tower on the horizon. You know, if that’s the horizon. He presses its exterior elevator button and obviously he’s going up.
Wrong! Step two.
There I will leave it. I’ve taken it as far as the interior art which I’ve photographed for you – against two different backgrounds, on a whim, in case you’d like to see if they have different emotional resonations for you – and leave you to burrow solo on a far from random but certainly surreal journey.
I’ll only add that – because it gives nothing away – I loved the fresh growth, as if like leaves on a rejuvenated, blooming spring tree.
There have been clues.
SLH
Buy The Wormgler and read the Page 45 review here
Our Mother (£7-00, Retrofit / Big Planet) by Luke Howard…
“I am 
the wood car that mom made…
“I will come back at the end of the story.
“I am made with great love and care…
“My body is of sturdy cherry that has been sanded.
“I am a gift handed down from a parent to child.
“I will bring great comfort to those in need.
“But I will also bring back bad memories.
“I’m a very complicated car.”
Quite so. It’s also a little fibber because I’m pretty sure, unless I’ve missed something, that it does not return. However, I was so delightfully bamboozled as to what the hell was going on by the time I’d finished, I’d forgotten all about the car until I returned back to the beginning for a second approach. Having just re-read this pink, white and brown trick or treat, I’m still no wiser as to whether this is one contiguous story or in fact several very, very different vignettes of completely different genres that continually reprise throughout. I think it’s the former, but it’s still got me puzzling over it!
After our one-page automobile themed introduction, the strips come thick and fast in two- and four-page spurts. Between mental breakdowns, imposter moms, malfunctioning robotic sentries from the future, dungeoneering kids fighting mud monsters, mad scientists trying to communicate with intelligent simians, one-way time-travelling portals, a random guilt-tripping photo-story and errr… a farting, talking hotdog bringing this exercise in insanity to a conclusion, you’ll be just as entertained and confused in equal measure as me, I suspect.
It’s either one of the most esoteric themed concept anthologies you’re ever likely to come across, on the topic of mater familias, or something even cleverer than that. I still think there is a tenuously, tautologically twisted thread running riot right through this. I really am going to have to go back for a third read to try and work it out. Brilliant stuff! Fans of Michael BIG KIDS DeForge, Box AN ENTITY OBSERVES ALL THINGS Brown and Malachi FROM NOW ON Ward this one is for you, trust me.
JR
Buy Our Mother and read the Page 45 review here
Mighty Jack (£10-99, FirstSecond) by Ben Hatke…
“Maddy?
Wh… where… Maddy! There you are! What were you doing? What if…?”
“She’s fine, Jack. Trust me.”
“Who… how did you know my name?”
“Easy. Your sister told me.”
“Nice try. Maddie doesn’t talk.”
“As you say.”
Jack’s not a fan of the summer holidays. You’d think any kid would be, but for Jack the prospect of looking after his autistic younger sister Maddy every day, whilst his single mother works all hours just to pay the bills, is not his idea of fun. But during a trip to the local flea market, Maddy mysteriously breaks her silence to persuade Jack to swap his mother’s car for a packet of seeds.
As you can imagine, his mother is not best impressed, but when Jack and Maddy plant the seeds in the back yard, resulting in a most unusual and not entirely hazard-free garden overnight, well, the summer suddenly seems to come alive with the prospect of adventure. Plus giant, pink pumpkins with huge teeth, mud-flinging plant hands, onion babies running amok, chillies that make you leap a hundred feet in the air, and last but certainly not least, a dragon…
Extremely entertaining take on the classic Jack and the Beanstalk yarn from the creator of the excellent series of ZITA THE SPACEGIRL books. Despite the lack of a volume number, MIGHTY JACK is most definitely going to be a series of books too, rather than a one-off. In fact I don’t want to use the words cliff hanger, but oh dear, I just did, didn’t I? Probably should be stalk hanger but you get my drift…
Fans of Ben’s previous works will definitely enjoy this, and with two strong female characters in the form of sister Maddy and neighbour Lilly, it’s clearly aimed at both boys and girls. There’s a surprising amount of emotional darkness, peril and mildly sinister activity going on too. Not perhaps Doug GHOSTOPOLIS, BAD ISLAND, CARDBOARD TenNapel levels, but not far off. Perfect for living up an otherwise dull summer holiday, in other words!
JR
Buy Mighty Jack and read the Page 45 review here
Ghosts (£9-99, Scholastic) by Raina Telgemeier…
“Carlos, 
are we gonna meet any ghosts today?”
“Oh! Well… they usually can’t be seen this early in the year, but as we get closer to autumn, you’ll notice them more.”
“Told you he was lying…”
“I’m not lying. Ghosts really do hang out there.”
“No, that’s…”
“OKAY. PROVE IT!”
“MAYAAAA!”
“I have to talk to a ghost, Catrina!”
“What do you want to ask it about?”
“I want to know what happens when you die.”
“Uh-huh, and I want to fly. But it’s not like that’s ever going to happen.”
“Dying isn’t pretend, Cat. It’s real.”
So Raina Telgemeier returns with her fourth original graphic novel following on from SMILE, SISTERS and DRAMA. She clearly likes her one-word titles, and obviously prefers to make it abundantly clear what you’re going to get! And you will get ghosts here, lots and lots of them. In that respect, though, it’s a little bit of a departure from Raina, or perhaps more precisely a broadening of the fictional brushstrokes, from entirely contemporary matters which she does so well, to include some more supernatural, fantastical elements. With that said, the true heart of the story still revolves about the relationships between the three main young characters: Carlos, the local boy familiar with the ectoplasmic entertainers of the area, and sisters Catrina and Maya, who’ve recently moved to wet and windy Bahia de la Luna due to Maya’s cystic fibrosis.
Carlos likes Catrina, who definitely fancies Carlos but is too shy to show it and thus maintains an aloof and arrogant facade. Catrina and Maya do get on in typically rollercoaster sibling fashion, but not surprisingly Catrina, despite having much compassion for her sister’s condition, takes the restrictions it places on her own life with a typical touch of excess teenage angst at times. Maya, meanwhile, thinks Carlos is wonderful and wants him to introduce her to the ghosts, which he does with some unexpected consequences… Despite the unsettling and upsetting emotional element to the story with Maya’s life-shortening illness, it still has plenty of the mischief that Vera Brosgol produced by combining schoolgirls and spooky apparitions so very well in ANYA’S GHOST.
It’s definitely a step on in the sophistication of Raina’s story-telling, which has been developing nicely since SMILE, and indeed, whilst her art style hasn’t changed dramatically, it is becoming ever more polished. For what on the surface appears to be a relatively simplistic, colourful, cartoony style, akin to the likes of the animation on the likes of the STEVEN UNIVERSE show, there’s frequently a lot of detailed work in there.
There are a couple of other interesting factoids probably worth mentioning about Raina, who is considerably more well known in her native continent than over here, and her output. In 2015, her previous books accounted for a staggering 11 million dollars worth of sales… beaten only by a certain Robert Kirkman with his zombie army of WALKING DEAD trades. SMILE, SISTERS and DRAMA all being New York Times #1 bestsellers. Which probably all explains why the first print run for GHOSTS was a staggering 500,000 copies, a record for an original graphic novel. Irrespective of whether her material is to your particular taste or not, I think it’s absolutely brilliant that all-ages material is selling so well.
JR
Buy Ghosts and read the Page 45 review here
Princess Princess Ever After h/c (£11-99, Oni) by Katie O’Neill…
“You heard 
what she said… and she means it. I thought the tower was the only place for me. But then you came. Somehow, seeing how excited you were made me want to escape. But now…”
“I’ll protect you, Sadie! I have a sword, a unicorn, and kick-butt hair!”
“It’s true, your hair is kick-butt. And I trust you.”
Who better to rescue a princess in distress than a princess not in a dress? Katie O’Neill’s very sweet take on how a princess can be just as capable and daring-do when it comes to staging a rescue and helping another princess overthrow her villainous sibling, finding true love with each other in the process, certainly has its heart in the right place, but I couldn’t get completely past the thin storyline and stilted dialogue. Nice, clean, colourful art though, again a very cartoony style that’s obviously influenced by many a current TV show.
If the aim of this is purely in helping educate teeny-tinies about sexuality, then I think it hits the mark perfectly, job done. As the delightful John Allison has insightfully written on the back cover (not on each one obviously, that would take forever) “… a big-hearted fable where the boxes we’re expected to fit into are simply dragons to be slain.”
Beyond that, whilst it is lovely, and fun, it’s basically a very simple story and that dialogue is so badly in need of loosening up. It’s all a bit Emma Watson’s enunciation in the first Harry Potter film…
JR
Buy Princess Princess Ever After h/c and read the Page 45 review here
Arrived, Online & Ready To Buy!
Reviews already up if they’re new formats of previous graphic novels. The best of the rest will be reviewed next week while others will retain their Diamond previews as reviews.
Jerusalem h/c (£25-00, Knockabout) by Alan Moore
Jerusalem s/c (3 volume Slipcase Edition) (£25-00, Knockabout) by Alan Moore
Mooncop h/c (£12-99, Drawn & Quarterly) by Tom Gauld
Snow White: A Graphic Novel h/c (£17-99, Candlewick Press) by Matt Phelan
Velvet vol 3: The Man Who Stole The World s/c (£13-99, Image) by Ed Brubaker & Steve Epting
The Arab Of The Future vol 2: 1984-1985 (£18-99, Two Roads) by Riad Sattouf
Carthago h/c (£23-99, Humanoids) by Christopher Bec & Eric Henninot, Milan Jovanovic
The Cowboy Wally Show (£9-99, Quality Jollity) by Kyle Baker
I Die At Midnight (£13-99, Quality Jollity) by Kyle Baker
Jim Henson’s Labyrinth Tales h/c (£14-99, Archaia) by Cory Godbey
Lumberjanes vol 4: Out Of Time s/c (£13-99, Boom! Box) by Noelle Stevenson & Shannon Watters
Grizzly Shark vol 1 s/c (£11-99, Image) by Ryan Ottley
Adventures Of Supergirl s/c (£14-99, DC) by Sterling Gates & Bengal, various
Constantine The Hellblazer vol 2: The Art Of The Deal s/c (£14-99, DC) by Ming Doyle, James Tynion IV & Riley Rossmo, various
Justice League vol 7: Darkseid War Part 1 s/c (£14-99, DC) by Geoff Johns & Jason Fabok, various
Justice League vol 8: Darkseid War Part 2 h/c (£22-99, DC) by Geoff Johns & Francis Manapul
Astonishing Ant-Man vol 2: Small-Time Criminal s/c (£14-50, Marvel) by Nick Spencer & Ramon Rosanas, Annapaola Martello, Brent Schoonover
Doctor Strange Omnibus vol 1 h/c (£67-99, Marvel) by Stan Lee & Steve Dikto
Power Man And Iron Fist vol 1: The Boys Are Back In Town s/c (£14-50, Marvel) by David Walker & Sanford Greene, Flaviano
Rocket Raccoon & Groot vol 0: Bite And Bark s/c (£31-99, Marvel) by Skottie Young, others
One-Punch Man vol 8 (£6-99, Viz) by One & Yusuke Murata
News!
ITEM! The Lakes International Comic Art Festival 2016 is almost upon us (October 14-16) and we’ve published the Page 45 blog starring:
Adam Brockbank,
Ben Haggarty,
Bryan Lee O’Malley,
Dan Berry,
Dave McKean,
Emma Vieceli,
Felt Mistress,
Hannah Berry,
Isabel Greenberg,
Jonathan Edwards,
Katriona Chapman,
Paul Thomas,
Sean Phillips,
Tillie Walden,
Tom Gauld
and the magnificent AveryHill Publishing…
… ALL OF WHOM ARE SIGNING WITH US FOR FREE!
You’ll find times and other details there, but so much more besides!
There’s the Sarah McIntyre surprise!
Discover how you can receive one of these beauuuuuuuuuuutiful original sketches Sarah has so generously drawn just for you in Kendal.
Page 45’s new service to collect comics in Kendal for FREE!
Every year we hear, “I was so hoping you’d bring [insert graphic novel title]. Now you don’t have to hope; you can ensure that we do just for you. Order online on this here website and select “Collect in Kendal for FREE!” (Or whatever it says.) Still don’t understand? There’s an illustration in the blog.
Panel featuring Broken Frontier’s Andy Oliver, AveryHill’s Ricky Miller, Katriona Chapman and silly old me…
To help new, prospective or current comics creators get noticed, reviewed, racked and even independently published.
Plus all the #LICAF links you could possibly need to enjoy this festival to the max!
– Stephen
