Archive for February, 2009

RASL Vol. 1: The Drift

February 22, 2009 | Trades

RASL Vol. 1: The Drift Jeff Smith Cartoon Books $13 (U.S.) 112-page paperback **** (out of five) From the moment the first trade paperback for Jeff Smith’s new series, RASL, slips out of the crisp, white mailing envelope, it’s clear something is different. The words catch the eye almost immediately: “Mature content”. This book won’t be part of any story time with the kids all curled up in their jammies, like so many people have done with Smith’s bestselling series, Bone. While that nine-book collection – which features an array of cute characters, lots of humour and sword-and-sorcery action aplenty – has now been passed on from the adults that read it when it was first published to their kids (especially thanks to the recent colourized Scholastic editions), the writer/illustrator freely admits he wasn’t really aiming to make a kids’ book. With his follow-up self-published project, Smith has assured his intentions won’t be mistaken and put his work out there for only adults to see – and the results are pretty impressive, so far. With the gorgeous use of thick, black inks and on clean, white pages, Smith introduces RASL, a very naughty man who’s gotten a hold of some amazing technology that allows him to hop from dimension to dimension. Why all the hopping? There’s lots of rare art and other goodies to be stolen from those parallel worlds. When one little thieving trip goes off the rails, RASL finds himself being hunted by a gun-toting creep who seems to have the same ability he does – and a much more deadly sense of right and wrong. When someone close to RASL pays the ultimate price for his crimes, the thief becomes the hunter as he starts world hopping for a different reason: Revenge. With a gritty book that features smoking, drinking, stealing, sex, strippers, fistfights and murder, Smith shows his creative versatility and opens readers minds to worlds of possibilities. (This article was first published in the Toronto Star)

Burma Chronicles

February 22, 2009 | Graphic novels

Burma Chronicles Guy Delisle Drawn & Quarterly $19.95 208-page hardcover **** (out of five) Another year, another long stay in a country where the peoples’ rights are abused and the leaders are corrupt. Such is life for Canadian ex-pat Guy Delisle. After working in the animation industry in North Korea and China and keeping a quirky illustrated diary of his surreal experiences in those places that became the books, Pyongyang and Shenzhen, Delisle finally gets to spend some quality time with his family. But since his wife, Nadège, works with Doctors Without Borders, Delisle, along with their infant son, Louis, get to spend that time together in Burma. From examinations of the stained red smiles of the betel nut-chewing denizens of Rangoon to futile attempts to see house-imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi and long looks at Buddhism, life under military rule, censorship and the rampant use of heroin, Delisle presents a raw, compassionate and yet often humourous and optimistic look at a corner of the world many choose to turn a blind eye to. (This article was first published in the Toronto Star)

Bat-Manga: The Secret History Of Batman In Japan

February 22, 2009 | Trades

Bat-Manga: The Secret History of Batman in Japan Chip Kidd, Geoff Spear, Saul Ferris Pantheon $69/$60 (U.S.) 384-page hardcover *** 1/2 (out of five) Batman is arguably among the top three most recognizable comic book characters ever created. Alongside icons like Superman and Spider-Man, the Dark Knight has achieved untold success not only on the printed page in his 80 years of existence, but on TV, in Hollywood films and in extensive merchandizing. Perhaps nowhere is the true global impact of the Batman brand on more glorious display than in the pages of Bat-Manga: The Secret History of Batman in Japan. The brainchild of acclaimed book designer Chip Kidd, Bat-Manga collects not only many of the long-lost original Japanese Batman comics of the mid-to-late 1960s, illustrated by Manga icon Jiro Kuwata, but also examines much of the vintage Japanese merchandizing centred around the character from tin and inflatable toys to action figures, puzzles, games, clothes and more. Full of colourful pages mixing vibrant illustrations and nostalgic kitsch, this thick tome is sure to bring the “Bang! Zap! Pow!” to Bat-aficionados everywhere. (This article was first published in the Toronto Star)

French Milk

February 22, 2009 | Graphic novels

French Milk Lucy Knisley Touchstone/Simon & Schuster $17.50/$15 (U.S.) 188-page paperback ** ½ (out of five) The only thing worse than an old person mourning the loss of their youth is a young person mourning the loss of their youth. Art student Lucy Knisley is about to turn 22 and her mother is closing in on 50, so they decide to take a trip together to Paris for a month of food, fun, culture and bonding. To commemorate this adventure, Lucy keeps an illustrated journal of their exploits, documenting everything from the layout of their apartment to the details of their many meals and the varied historic and culturally relevant spots they visit. The only flaw in this plan is that, while the art is nice, neither Lucy, nor her mom, do or say anything of particular interest or insight. They’ve both been to Paris before, so the “oooh, aaah, isn’t that something new” factor isn’t there; too many pages are devoted to what was consumed by the pair (and if you’re that interested in this subject you’d be better off reading Tucker Shaw’s Everything I Ate); and while the book promises to be full of introspection and mother-daughter bonding, it often just comes off as a spoiled art student whining about getting old (at 22!) and how hard life is before she truly knows how true that really is. (This article was first published in the Toronto Star)