Comicsgirl

Delirium’s Party Buy on Amazon.com

I have written about as much as I ever need to write about The Sandman series itself. I think that’s pretty clear.

Part of me thinks Jill Thompson’s Little Endless is absolutely wrong and “Delirium’s Party” is no exception to that. But in Thomspon’s hands, it’s also beautiful and wonderful and childlike, like the original The Little Endless Storybook before it. But The Endless was meant to be pretty permeable and adaptable. They are archetypes you tell stories about, even if those stories aren’t necessarily adult. Why not tell children’s stories featuring them?

Delirium, the youngest of The Endless, was always the most immature and the one that mostly remained in her own little world. She never thought much beyond herself. With her love of color and excess, it makes sense she’d be the focus of Endless stories for younger readers.

In Delirium’s Party, Delirium throws a surprise party for her sad sister, Despair to cheer her up. She invites all her siblings and attempts all kinds of things — a gigantic cake, presents — to get Despair to smile.

Yes, there are plenty of jokes if you’ve read The Sandman (part of Thompson’s skill is that the characters basically behave as you’d expect them to, even if this is a kid’s tale), but it’s also innocent and completely charming. Delirium’s guileless oblivion is sweet — she doesn’t realize that you’re not really going to make an embodiment of Despair happy — and her (mostly) unwavering optimism is delightful. Even the talking dog Barnabas, who provides a voice of practicality, is kind to Delirium. In Thompson’s hands, he’s never making fun of Delirium but just trying to reason with her (and maybe get her to let him take a nap).

Thompson’s watercolors are gorgeous and playful, as always. Sure, the chibi Endless are ridiculous, but she revels in that. Delirium’s penchant for rainbows and insanity gives Thompson freedom to paint cakes covered in everything from action figures to flowers and feathers as well as Delirium’s insane “thinking cap” that consists of musical organs and pencils and bubbles. Studying the art for surprising elements is part of what makes this so much fun.

I realize that the appeal of this may just be for people who are fans of The Sandman or people who are fans of The Sandman with children, but it’s a joy in its own right. If The Sandman gave us this (and the original Little Endless Storybook), that’s a good legacy. I’d love if people pick this up without even knowing about what came before it. It’s that much fun.

Chicagoland Detective Agency #2: The Maltese Mummy Buy on Amazon.com

Our three favorite young detectives (well, two of them are young; the other is a talking dog) return in the second volume of Trina Robbins‘ and Tyler Page‘s Chicagoland Detective Agency series, “The Maltese Mummy” (Graphic Universe, 2011).

Megan wins a contest to see her favorite musician, Sun D’Arc (whose name and style evokes Japanese band L’Arc-en-Ciel — let it never be said that Robbins and Page haven’t done their research), but becomes suspicious when a new girl Jazmin seems a little too interesting in coming along and when Sun himself expresses a strange amount of interest in her friend William.

And what does all of this have to do with a traveling exhibit featuring the mummy of Ra-Hotep’s sarcophagus?

Now, of course the plot points are pretty obvious and most readers, even younger ones, will probably seem them coming. But that’s not so much the point. Megan’s a feisty heroine whose independent nature sometimes gets the better of her (she likely would’ve been better off trusting Jazmin from the beginning) but she does learn that teamwork the way to go. Even though Raf spends much of the book sick in bed, his insights do move the story forward. I wanted talking dog Bradley to have a bit more to do, but understandably, there are places dogs can’t go.

Robbins is clearly having fun and her wit never talks down to this book’s target audience. Kids are appreciated for being savvy and smart. Maybe some of them won’t quite get the jokes that compares aging rock stars to mummies, but I still love that Robbins includes those sorts of things here.

Page’s art continues to be animated and playful. There isn’t as much action here as there was in the initial volume, but his sense of page layout and facial expression keeps the book moving. He has a great way of making otherwise static scenes of two people talking seem dynamic.

I do think you do need to read the first one for this to make sense, but this is turning into a really fun little series. I’m sad there’s only going to be three of them.

For whatever reason, I feel like I don’t read too much about what Graphic Universe is doing, but as far as comics for children go, they are getting almost everything right.

Advance reading copy provided through NetGalley.

Kid’s Stuff: Making Comics for All Ages was the main panel I had wanted to see at King Con since comics for non-traditional readers is something I’m very interested in. With Nick Abadzis, Raina Telgemeier, Dave Roman and Colleen AF Venable, I knew it had a high probability of being good.

Moderated by Heidi MacDonald and shamefully under-attended (yes, I know it was 12:30 p.m. on a Sunday, so most people were probably recovering from the night before and there was a marathon going on right outside, but still …), it did not disappoint.

MacDonald opened by asking Telgemeier how her tour for Smile had gone and what sort of reaction she’d gotten. Telgemeier said it had gone “amazingly well” and talked about a girls’ school that did a school-wide purchase of Smile and she got to make comics with 150 girls. She said in two weeks and 15 stops, she was able to connect with 1,000 kids and that Smile really resonates with them.

Abadzis was asked about Laika and he said he didn’t intend it to be a young adult book and was surprised it was marketed as such. The book’s publisher, First Second told him not wot worry since it would widen the audience and not reduce. That was later echoed by Venable, since people who love comics don’t really pay attention to age groups, just if something is good. (It’s maybe the opposite way to look at this, but Laika is one of the few graphic novels my mom has read.)

Roman then talked about the history of his upcoming Astronaut Academy — it started as a webcomic and a few minicomics and then he reworked it as a graphic novel. He also said there will be a lot of new stuff in it and he redrew about 80 percent of it (so you see, you will really have no reason not to buy it when it comes out, even if you have read it online). He says he doesn’t necessarily intend to make comics for kids — it’s just what he likes.

Both Roman and Telgemeier then talked about the X-Men manga from Del Ray and how the second book was canceled (sniff) and that there wasn’t one reason, but several (but mostly, it came down to the licensing cost). I am happy they got paid for the second book, but I’m going to continue to be upset that I’ll never get to see it.

Venable talked about the series of books she writes for Graphic Universe, Guinea PIG, Pet Shop Private Eye. The series is aimed at second to fifth grades and she said she’s having fun and getting good letters from kids.

MacDonald asked about some of the covers Venable has designed for First Second, including Foiled. Venable said she’s always been a big Jane Yolen fan so it was fun for her, but she always got nervous when she had to call her to discuss the cover.

The discussion then turned to how comics get shelved in libraries and bookstores. Abadzis said that kids don’t want to read books that are too “young” for them, but comics are mostly missing those sorts of divisions. Roman said that shelving comics can be hard because usually, they can only be in one place. He was a fan of multiple sections for graphic novels — not just one huge section that has everything.

Venable said that librarians have figured this out a little bit more quickly than booksellers.

Everyone basically agreed that comics can be great gateways to reading. Telgemeier said she’s had a lot of parents say that Smile was one of the first books their children read voluntarily. Roman praised teachers for taking the initiative in introducing comics into the classroom. Abadzis agreed with all of this, but said that comics still need to get past “gatekeepers” — people who may doubt their value.

MacDonald then asked the panel what they thought of the big two publishers — Marvel and DC — and their failure to market to kids.

Roman said that the direct market is the problem — kids don’t go into comic book stores. And while I know of stores that have really wonderful sections of kids’ comics, if kids aren’t going into these stores, the comics aren’t getting to them. Roman said that other publishers — like Scholastic — are able to sell through school book clubs to kids directly.

Telgemeier brought up there’s almost too much variety in mainstream comics and it can be hard for a parent to pick which Iron Man would be good for kids. Roman said that while there are things like Marvel Adventures, kids don’t want to read Spider-man Jr. when dad is reading regular Spider-man.

MacDonald asked how kids where getting into comics. Venable said web comics were big with teens and that actually, she didn’t read comics until she discovered web comics. Roman said kids don’t discriminate about reading on a screen and that classic newspaper strips like Calvin & Hobbes and Garfield are still gateways for kids … they’re just not reading them in the newspaper (and there was some painful and knowing laughter from the audience when that was said. Or maybe just from me).

A question from an audience member asked the panelists what they thought of the floppy/pamphlet format for kids. Roman said it wasn’t dead, but it was once again the matter of the direct market. MacDonald brought up that kids are more used to reading larger chunks — like manga volumes — so floppies aren’t necessarily as satisfying. But everyone seemed to agree that electronic versions of floppies could still probably work, and no one was declaring print dead.

MacDonald asked if anyone had any final advice for kids who wanted to make comics. Telgemeier said they should learn to write short stories and start small as well as draw. Venable said they should read constantly.

I didn’t take a photo because I forgot, but it would’ve been bad anyway (it was a dark, warehouse-y space and there were windows behind the panelists) so I grabbed a panel from Abadzis’ “Cora’s Breakfast”, which he did for the Guardian before they cut their childrens’ comics pages (sigh). This story needs a publisher right now.

Benny and Penny in The Toy Breaker Buy at Amazon.com

I love Toon Books and I would love to see them on every child’s shelf. It delights me that they’re getting plenty of honors reserved for children’s books because they absolutely deserve it. So you can probably tell in what direction these reviews are going to go in.

Benny and Penny in The Toy Breaker
This is the third in Geoffrey Hayes’ stories about two mice siblings — Benny and Penny. Brother Benny is a little older than sister Penny, but the two (for the most part) get along. This has them trying to hide their toys from their cousin Bo, the “toy breaker” in the title.

Bo means well, but he’s a kid who hasn’t quite grown into himself yet and so he’s more destructive than he means to be. Benny and Penny are a little mean to him, excluding him from their games since they’re fearful he’s going to ruin their toys. By the end, though, the siblings understand how harsh they’ve been to Bo and they all find a way to play together happily.

It’s a sweet story told in language kids can relate to. I think we all knew a kid who tended to break things accidentally (Hayes himself mentions a neighbor, Skippy, in the back, who did that very thing) but Hayes pushes for understanding rather than exclusion. His art remains forever adorable — the little animals that populate this book are cute without being cloying. His art reminds me of classic comic strips and the retro feel of the book is appealingly innocent. The seeming simplicity of this book belies a great message for kids without ever being preachy.

Zig and Wikki in Something Ate My Homework Buy at Amazon.com

Zig and Wikki in Something Ate My Homework
The first Zig and Wikki book, on the other hand, is a little bit different for Toon Books. Written by Nadja Spiegelman with art by Trade Loeffler, it follows two aliens named Zig and Wikki as they try to find a creature on earth to complete Zig’s homework. In the process, they learn about diets and eating habits of various creatures as well as the food chain. Readers learn about each as facts appear on Wikki’s screen.

As far as a beginning science book goes, it’s a lot of fun and I can imagine the content appealing to boys quite a bit. Zig and Wikki are odd-looking (Zig has one eye and tentacles for arms and Wikki is basically a monitor) and the animals they encounter — flies, frogs and more — are of the “gross” kind. Loeffler’s art is cartoony and playful, but it’s almost too cute in some cases — his adorable raccoon trying to eat an adorable frog is a bit jarring, even though that’s reality (luckily, the frog escapes). Spiegelman incorporates the “educational” parts into the story easily and I think even I managed to learn something. I hope we get to see more of these two aliens and their adventures in the future.

Toon Books’ offerings continue to be strong and they’ve already created an incredibly impressive catalog. Buy these for the children in your life. Or yourself. I am obviously far out of the target age range, but I love them.

Review copies provided by the publisher.

No Girls Allowed Buy at Amazon.com

No Girls Allowed: Tales of Daring Women Dressed as Men for Love, Freedom and Adventure (2008, Kids Can Press) is a collection of stories of women from history who impersonated men for whatever reason. It’s created by two women — writer Susan Hughes and illustrator Willow Dawson and aimed at intermediate readers.

Given all of the above, aren’t you as baffled as I am that I have not picked this up before?

I love the diversity of the stories here — Hatshepsut and Mu Lan were already familiar to me, but I loved Alfhild, a Viking princess who became a pirate. Even more fun was James Berry, a woman whose real name isn’t known (she could be one of two people) who originally dressed as a man to become a doctor in the early 19th century and then stuck with her male identity for the rest of her life.

The thread that runs through all of these stories is that these women felt limited in their roles as women — they couldn’t rule or fight for their country, they couldn’t travel freely. Further complicating some of their stories was the matter of race or religion — Esther Brandeau at some points tells people she’s Catholic, although she’s Jewish. Ellen Craft impersonates a white man so she and her husband can escape slavery. While it’s disappointing that these women didn’t have the freedom they desired, it’s fun seeing how they gamed the system.

Hughes’ writing is fast-paced and informative. She gives depth to history while still sharing the facts of these women’s lives. She never bogs down the stories and provides entertaining biographical sketches of each of these women. I definitely felt like I learned something and I’m pleased by the “Further Reading” page in the back because I’d definitely like to know more.

Dawson’s art is stylized and quirky and communicates these stories well. She makes good use of contrast and negative space and the thick black outlines give her characters each a distinctive look. While it’s aimed at younger readers, the art has a surprising sophistication and maturity. It’s definitely not a book that talks down to kids, either through the art or writing. It looks very cool.

Seek this one out. Buy it for your local library. Buy it for your niece or daughter. It’s a delightful testament to what comics can do, and is a pretty fun call-to-action of what women can become when they put their minds to it.