Archive for reviews

Review: We Can Fix It!

May 20, 2013 / / No comments

wcfiLet’s face it: We’ve all had that conversation (possibly in a bar) about what we would change in our own lives if we could got back in time. Sometimes the regrets are big; sometimes they’re little. It’s always a fun thing to talk about, but I think we rarely think about what would actually change if this was possible.

Jess Fink‘s We Can Fix It (Top Shelf, 2013) is subtitled “A Time Travel Memoir” and she focuses on this very premise. The time-travel motif provides a creative frame for her to revisit various events and people in her life.

Initially, while hopping through time, she’s mostly checking in on  her teenage and college-age self, both to aid and prevent (and sometimes observe!) various sexual encounters. However, that wears thin pretty quickly and she wonders what other lessons she can offer to her past self. She drops in on herself in middle school and even younger and begins to realize the way she remembers the past wasn’t how it always happened.

Fink’s art has a curvy sweetness that always keeps the book playful. Despite many comments about future Fink’s awesome jumpsuit (which it is!), that’s really the only sci-fi touch. Mostly, Fink’s soft lines and gray washes render scenes from the early ’90s and beyond with a kind nostalgia. I greatly admire Fink’s ever-changing hairstyles and fashionable flair throughout the ages. The affection she has for her younger self clearly comes through in her drawing. Fink is adorable at all ages.

It’s a wickedly funny book with just enough touches of vulgar and gross-out humor. It works here, though, since this is all about being in Fink’s head and her unguarded honesty is a delight. While sex and sexuality initially drives the story, it quickly becomes about so much more. It’s absolutely as touching as it is profane. It feels delightfully human.

And in the end, that’s the point of this journey. The more often Fink visits and chats with earlier versions of herself (and often brings them along in her journey), the more she realizes that that she can’t fix the past because it doesn’t really need to be fixed. All her experiences — the good, the bad, the confusing — made her into the person she is today.  It’s a kind-hearted and beautiful reflection on an imperfect life.

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Review: Calling Dr. Laura

February 20, 2013 / / No comments

calling-dr-lauraMost families do have some kind of secret, but they’re mostly little ones. Most don’t involve a long-believed dead father still being alive.

Portland-based zinester and artist Nicole J. Georges was told just that during a visit to a psychic. Her graphic memoir, Calling Dr. Laura (Mariner Books, 2013), deals with the aftermath as she journeys through her family history and her own place in the world. And yes, her story does involve her calling into the Dr. Laura Program.

Georges is pretty frank about herself and her honesty makes her incredibly likeable and fun to follow. She’s sweet and sensitive — a vegan who’s happy to take in abandoned chickens and care for her beloved dogs — but she does show that her caring nature lets people take advantage of her, including a couple of girlfriends. The intimacy works for the story — it feels less like reading a comic and more like listening to a story being told you by a friend.

Georges structures the book beautifully. Scenes that take place in the present feel cinematic with close-ups of faces and complicated ink-washed backgrounds. She renders flashbacks to her childhood in a much more open style. Everything is a bit looser and less detailed, as memories often are. While Georges hops around between present and past, the differing styles make the transitions clear. All the details and memories feel relevant.

As much as Georges’ search for her father drives much of the book, it’s actually her mother that is at the book’s core. Their complicated relationship — from Georges’ chaotic, stressful childhood to the present — seems to inform most of her relationships with other women, from sisters to friends to girlfriends. It’s even important she felt the need to call Dr. Laura for advice rather than a man.

In the end, Georges does find the answers she’s looking for, but she gets a lot more than that. She gets understanding — not only of the other people in her life but also of herself.

It’s almost impossible to finish Calling Dr. Laura and not want Nicole J. Georges to be your new best friend. It’s a beautiful, powerful book by an awesome woman.

Nicole J. Georges, Cassie Sneider, Monica Gallagher and Sally Madden will be at Atomic Books in Baltimore, Md., from 7to 9 p.m. Feb. 21 (tomorrow!).

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Review: Glitter Kiss

January 18, 2013 / / 2 comments

In the first few glitterkisspages of Glitter Kiss (2012, Oni Press) by Adrianne Ambrose (writer) and Monica Gallagher (art), main character Tinka is chided by her mother for wearing too much makeup and for her skirt being too short — the first because boys don’t like girls who wear a lot of makeup and the second because boys like short skirts too much.

That’s basically Tinka’s world when the book starts — her appearance, her attitude are all treated to be for the consumption of boys and not for herself. Welcome to the world of every teenage girl.

Tinka is a typical teenage girl for the most part — Gallagher gives her flowing hair and pouty lips, but she’s not treated to be any particular beauty. Ambrose writes her as average — she’s neither anonymous or overly popular. She’s just one of the girls who filled the hallways of your high school, dealing with harassment from boys while still desiring to be with one.

Once her secret romance with Jason is discovered by his soccer teammates and he cruelly dismisses her, Tinka gets revenge, although accidentally.

Due to a thunderstorm unleashing the high school goth girl’s latent witchy powers and a tube of glittery lip gloss, Tinka gains the ability to give these boys a taste of their own medicine. She turns them into girls.

Jason manipulates Tinka into kissing him one last time and he wakes up as a girl. Tinka receeds into the background for a bit as Jason tries to make sense of his new reality. The book turns out to be nearly as much about him as it is about her.

There’s a party where people play spin the bottle and Tinka kisses a few more boys, all before realizing what’s going on.

And the boys get to learn exactly how their behavior affects girls when they face it themselves. (Ambrose doesn’t shy away from showing the cruelty of other girls, too, though.)

Gallagher has fun with the boys being perplexed by their different bodies. She plays with posture — when the boys stood tall and strong, they hunch as if trying to hide themselves as girls. Movement and facial expressions are exaggerated (Jason’s mom, who is not nearly as confused by her son’s transformation as she should be, dresses him in a ridiculous outfit for a party). While most of her characters are attractive with their manga-inspired big eyes, she draws a wide variety of body types. Her world feels inclusive beneath the glamor of her art.

Ambrose’s writing is snappy and funny and always unexpected. Her dialogue is smart but feels natural and scenes transition easily between slapstick and heartfelt. There’s a definite playfulness to what she’s doing here and her message never drags it down. I love watching these fictional boys transform — both literally and figuratively — in their understanding of women. She also allows Tinka to learn how to be comfortable with herself, as a girl, and the conclusion to her story (and Jason’s) feels appropriate and satisfying.

Maybe something of a strange complaint, but with its title, all-female creative team and pink cover, this book won’t get into the hands of the people who would probably get the most out of it — teenage boys. While it’s a delightful story for teenage girls (and people who once were teenage girls), I do wish more teenage boys could be taught that girls are people too.

Still, I have some hope some smart teenage girls will leave this lying around where their brothers may pick it up. Even without that happening, it’s still an intelligent and witty glimpse into the pressures all teenagers face in trying to relate to each other.

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Review: Getting Married and Other Mistakes

November 16, 2012 / / One comment

I’m at a point in my life where I feel like I know as many people taking their relationships to the next level (either by getting engaged or married) as I know people ending their long-term relationships. I don’t think either is better than the other. To me, it’s about the choices people feel necessary to make. It’s about the choices that are the best for who they are.

Barbara Slate‘s witty and insightful Getting Married and Other Mistakes (Other Press, 2012) is all about a woman making the best choices for herself. Our narrator, wedding photographer Jo Hudson, has just had her husband leave her for another woman. As she tries to make sense of her current situation, she reflects on other choices — mistakes — she’s made in her life and with men, including listening to both her mother and her friends rather than herself.

Slate seems very much inspired by pop art, with close-ups of faces filling entire pages. Colors are almost all bright and primary — pure whites, bright greens, deep blacks and bright red — and fill large expanses of her open artwork. The multiple flashbacks are in black and white (although with Jo’s red hair and lips providing a pop of color) and these alternating elements give the book an interesting pace.

Slate’s cartoony and loose artwork has an unrefined quality at times, but it works for the story she’s telling here. Jo, with her short, spiky hair bears a clear resemblance to Slate herself, and while I wouldn’t necessary assume this is autobiographical, it’s clearly personal. Slate’s style gives this book a playful intimacy. It feels like a book your best friend would do.

But it’s a very internal story. While other characters do show up, like Jo’s friends, loves, mother and therapists, we’re always in Jo’s head, even when we’re observing her. Given that this story is about a woman discovering her own voice and what she wants, that’s appropriate, but Jo’s relentless focus on herself isn’t always the most exciting. Still Slate’s humor and honesty keeps the book dynamic and surprising.

In the end, Getting Married and Other Mistakes isn’t necessarily about making mistakes so much as it is from learning from them. Through Slate’s whimsy and wisdom, Jo found out who she was and who she wanted to be. That’s not a mistake at all.

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Review: Legends of Zita the Spacegirl

November 9, 2012 / / No comments

After saving the world (well, a world) in Zita the Spacegirl, Zita’s back and dealing with her new-found notoriety (aided in part by Piper, of course) as well as more galactic threats, robots and other assorted creatures in Ben Hatke‘s sequel, Legends of Zita the Spacegirl (First Second, 2012).

After a robot accidentally replaces Zita, she finds herself on the run from the law. She’s aided by the beautiful and mysterious Madrigal and a living ship as she has to get back to her friends and stop another threat.

Light on dialogue and heavy on action, Hatke pushes the plot forward at every moment.  His style is a little bit looser than it is in the first book but still retains the dynamic, animated quality the first one had. Colors are a bit more vibrant and bold than they were in the first book. Hatke’s skills at presenting the openness of space or vast landscapes is complimented by the intimacy of his smaller moments. He uses the space of his pages and panels well.

His images and creatures continue to be creative and delightful. Hatke is a wonder at building worlds were anything is possible and so giant space heart monsters and living ships that look like flowers don’t feel out of place. He’s clearly having fun and it’s hard to not get caught up in that.

Silent scenes (although some are peppered with sound effects) do more to convey Zita’s wonder, fear and perseverance than any dialogue could. She’s growing into a strong and capable young heroine (and her interest and fascination with Madrigal points to a possible future path for Zita). She’s fun, likeable and a realistic little girl and I can see why people of all ages continue to connect with her.

Still, the book has a manic, breathless quality and I felt we didn’t get to spend at much time with Zita since she was always on the move. The other returning characters also suffered a bit — Piper, especially, isn’t given much to do — and the new ones drop in and out. I imagine Madrigal will be showing up again but while I loved the way Robot Zita’s story was resolved, it felt a little rushed.

But there’s more Zita stories coming and as much as I’d love for Zita to get back home, I want to follow her planet-hopping adventures for as long as possible.

Ben Hatke will be signing copies of his books at Big Planet Comics Vienna (11 a.m. to 1 p.m.) and College Park (3 to 5 p.m.) on Nov. 10. This was rescheduled from Nov. 3.

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