I’ve been reading and making comics since I was a young kid. I’m very interested in the history of comics, and I love to see new combinations of content and form. My own graphic novels, such as Constitution Illustrated and Masterpiece Comics, use parody and pastiche to comment on and reinterpret historical and contemporary texts. I’m charmed by the earnest retelling of literature in old comic book series like Classics Illustrated, but I’m much more excited to see graphic novels that dig deep into texts and reinvent them in idiosyncratic ways.
This satiric, beautifully drawn update of Gustave Flaubert’s novel Madame Bovary brings the story to the 1990s. Simmonds’ writing is witty and well-observed, with blocks of prose interspersed among the flowing panel sequences. It’s a rich, layered reading experience, deeper than those graphic novels which only emphasize the visuals. Simmonds writes as elegantly as she draws, with subtlety and style.
Gemma is the bored, pretty second wife of Charlie Bovery, the reluctant stepmother of his children and the bete-noire of his ex-wife. Gemma's sudden windfall and distaste for London take them across the Channel to Normandy, where the charms of French country living soon wear off. Is it a coincidence that Gemma Bovery has a name rather like Flaubert's notorious heroine? Is it by chance that, like Madame Bovary, Gemma is bored, adulterous, and a bad credit risk? is she inevitably doomed? These questions consume Gemma's neighbour, the intellectual baker, Joubert. Denying voyeurism, but nevertheless noting every change in the…
A wild reimagining of Dante’s Purgartoriofeaturing Gary Panter’s character Jimbo, a punk everyman he created in the 1970s. Panter is known for drawings that are organic, energetic, and intense, and here his oversized page designs are especially concentrated, decorative, and hypnotic. His commitment and obsession are palpable, and there’s a lot to unpack and explore. While following the outlines of Dante’s story, Panter mixes in literary and pop culture references (from Aristophanes to Frank Zappa) to immerse you in his world.
In this spectacular graphic novel, Panter has transformed his protean punk hero Jimbo into the protagonist of a reinterpretation of Dante's Purgatorio. After years of comparing Dante and Boccaccio to find commonalities between the two, Panter developed a narrative of his own that includes literary and pop references regularly injected throughout the captions of the reinterpreted cantos.
There’s no shortage of worthy graphic novel adaptations of Shakespeare, but Wimberly’s is a standout. His remix of Romeo and Julietfocuses on the supporting characters and moves the setting to 1980s Brooklyn. Hip-hop and graffiti culture commingles with the swordplay. Wimberly samples Shakespeare’s text in his dialogue, and he adds dynamic page layouts, vivid character designs, and evocative colors to reinvent the tale.
PRINCE OF CATS is the B side to Shakespeare's Romeo and
Juliet, played at an eighties block party in a NY where underground sword
dueling blossomed alongside hip-hop, punk, disco, and no wave. It's a
deconstruction of Romeo and Juliet's romantic meta narrative focussing on the
minor players with Tybalt at the center. RONALD WIMBERLY's critically-acclaimed
first work, returns with a new cover.
This is a great introduction to the Taoist philosophy of Zhuangzi, as rendered by Taiwanese cartoonist Tsai. These short comic strips are instantly inviting, and rendered in an animated, funny style that feels effortless. Tsai emphasizes the humor and subversive qualities of the original text, but his approach is reverent, too, as he lays out Zhuangzi’s deep lessons on each page.
During a period of political and social upheaval in China, the unconventional insights of the great Daoist Zhuangzi (369?-286? B.C.) pointed to a way of living naturally. Inspired by his fascination with the wisdom of this sage, the immensely popular Taiwanese cartoonist Tsai Chih Chung created a bestselling Chinese comic book. Tsai had his cartoon characters enact the key parables of Zhuangzi (pronounced jwawngdz), and he rendered Zhuangzi's most enlightening sayings into modern Chinese. Through Tsai's enthusiasm and skill, the earliest and core parts of the Zhuangzi were thus made accessible to millions of Chinese-speaking people with no other real…
This hefty collection of Ray Bradbury adaptations is also a great representation of a beloved era of American comic books. These 1950’s stories were first published by EC comics in their titles Tales from the Crypt,Weird Science, and more, which featured short (6-8 page) stories illustrated by some of the best cartoonists of the day: Wallace Wood, Jack Davis, B. Krigstein, among others. Many were written by Al Feldstein, who also adapted the Bradbury fantasy and science fiction stories reprinted here. They’re well-crafted stories with ornate art; you can see the loving care invested by the creators. The comic books were originally printed in garish color (which has its charms), but the black and white reproductions in this volume show off the meticulous brushwork and unique styles of the artists.
Between 1951 and 1954, EC Comics adapted 28 classic Ray Bradbury stories into comics form, scripted by Al Feldstein and interpreted and illustrated by all of EC's top artists: Johnny Craig, Reed Crandall, Jack Davis, Will Elder, George Evans, Frank Frazetta, Graham Ingels, Jack Kamen, Bernard Krigstein, Joe Orlando, John Severin, Angelo Torres, Al Williamson, and Wallace Wood. This special companion collection to our EC Comics Library series features all 28 stories with stunning art reproduced in generously oversized coffee table dimensions!Highlights in this singular volume include: "Home to Stay"— a clever combination of two Bradbury science fiction stories that…
In this book, R. Sikoryak tackles the monstrously and infamously dense legal document, iTunes Terms and Conditions, the contract everyone agrees to, but no one reads. In a word-for-word 94-page adaptation, Sikoryak hilariously turns the agreement on its head—each page features an avatar of Apple cofounder and legendary visionary Steve Jobs juxtaposed with a different classic strip such as Mort Walker’s Beatle Bailey,or a contemporary graphic novel such as Craig Thompson’s Blanketsor Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis.
Adapting the legalese of the iTunes Terms and Conditions into another medium seems like an unfathomable undertaking, yet Sikoryak creates a surprisingly readable document, far different from its original, purely textual incarnation and thus proving the accessibility and flexibility of comics.
Writer, reader, editor, reviewer, publisher… those are all parts of me. With a lifetime of experience in the “words” industry, I have a pretty good handle on what makes a book not just good, but hot. I say this with the understanding that each reader brings their own histories to the reading experience, and what one person may like, another may not. Nonetheless, I offer you my professional and personal favorites in the mystery/thriller/suspense categories. It is my sincere hope that you find these books as addictive as I’d found them. Superb and clever writing, engaging characters, unpredictable plots—yes, please! Though I occasionally step outside my comfort zone, I'm consistently drawn back to these categories.
Liza O’Connell was a horror buff in every sense of the word. But there was one deadly nightmare she would never be able to talk about … her own. A friend murdered. A business in trouble. A marriage struggling to survive. And that’s just the beginning.
When salon owner Carrie King discovers Liza dead in the back room of her shop, everyone becomes a suspect, even her. As tensions in the community rise, so does the death toll, and now the local cops believe there’s a serial killer on the loose. The question is … are the two investigations connected?…
Liza O’Connell was a horror buff in every sense of the word. But there was one deadly nightmare she would never be able to talk about … her own.
A friend murdered.
A business in trouble.
A marriage struggling to survive.
And that’s just the beginning.
When salon owner Carrie King discovers Liza dead in the back room of her shop, everyone becomes a suspect, even her. As tensions in the community rise, so does the death toll, and now the local cops believe there’s a serial killer on the loose. The question is … are the two investigations connected?…
