Comic Crush Saturday: April 18th, 2020
Welcome to Comic Crush Saturday, our bi-weekly feature focused on the graphic elements of the book world. Comics became a huge part of my life a few years ago when I started reviewing them (and comic related TV shows) on Forever Young Adult. I’ve maintained a pull list through my local comic shop, Isotope Comics, and even got Kelly to start one ;). You’ll find mini-reviews, what we’ve read recently, and more so check it out!
Featured Reviews of the Week
Something is Killing the Children, Vol. 1
by James Tynion IVon March 26, 2020
IndieBound
Goodreads
When children begin to go missing in the town of Archer’s Peak, all hope seems lost until a mysterious woman arrives to reveal that terrifying creatures are behind the chaos - and that she alone will destroy them, no matter the cost.
IT’S THE MONSTERS WHO SHOULD BE AFRAID.
When the children of Archer's Peak—a sleepy town in the heart of America—begin to go missing, everything seems hopeless. Most children never return, but the ones that do have terrible stories—impossible details of terrifying creatures that live in the shadows. Their only hope of finding and eliminating the threat is the arrival of a mysterious stranger, one who believes the children and claims to be the only one who sees what they can see.
Her name is Erica Slaughter. She kills monsters. That is all she does, and she bears the cost because it must be done.
GLAAD Award-winning writer James Tynion IV (The Woods, Batman: Detective Comics) teams with artist Werther Dell’Edera (Briggs Land) for an all-new story about staring into the abyss.
Collects Something is Killing the Children #1-5.
The title alone drew me into this novel but once I saw that James Tynion IV was writing it under Boom!, I was sold.
I love me some good horror, no matter the medium, but there’s something about horror comics that are especially terrifying. The right artist can keep me up at night, and this is definitely one of those times. From the color to the gore to the atmosphere, I had to read this with the lights on.
Central to this story are Daniel, the sole survivor of the most recent child massacre, and Erica Slaughter, here to kill what’s killing the children. The two of them are working through some shit and it’s the worst-best pairing. Tynion spends time setting up the universe but not the motivations of any of the characters, leaving us with questions but not confusion. There are Stranger Things and It call backs, for sure.
The Supernatural fan in me, combined with my childhood fav Are You Afraid of the Dark, loved everything about this graphic novel and I can’t wait to see what happens in volume 2.
James has a special Something is Killing the Children package up for auction as part of the #Creators4Comics!
Green Lantern: Legacy
by Minh Lê, Andie TongPublished by: DC Comics
on January 21, 2020
Pages: 144
IndieBound
Goodreads
The owner of the Jade Market has a secret--one that will soon change her grandson's life.
Thirteen-year-old Tai Pham lives in the apartment above his grandmother's store, where his bedroom is crammed with sketchpads and comic books. But not even his most imaginative drawings could compare to the colorful adventure he's about to embark on.
When Tai inherits his grandmother's jade ring, he soon finds out it's more than it appears. Suddenly he's being inducted into a group of space cops known as the Green Lanterns, his neighborhood is being overrun by some racist bullies, and every time he puts pen to paper, he's forced to confront that he might not be creative enough or strong enough to uphold his ba's legacy.
Now Tai must decide what kind of hero he wants to be: will he learn to soar above his insecurities or will the past keep him grounded?
Green Lantern is one of the few “main” superheroes I don’t know much about so Green Lantern Legacy was such a treat! Though I am not as familiar, I do have some sense of the Lantern universe. I appreciate how close this story stayed to the original universe. This might be my fav of the middle grade novels!
Lanterns aren’t born but chosen, so imagine Tai’s surprise when the ring chooses him. I love that Minh chose for Tai to inherit the ring from his grandmother, honoring the family legacy. It’s easy to read the cultural subtext here.
This book is full of complex characters and stories, from the larger universe (Sinestro and John Stewart) to the local story (ending vandalism). I highly recommend it for the everyone but especially for reluctant readers. With its bright art and charming characters, it’s sure to be a hit with the middle grade age group.
Minh also has an auction up for #Creators4Comics!
What We Can’t Wait For
Miss Peregrine’s meets Scary Tales to Tell in the Dark? Sold. Also, Cat clued me into metal barre and yoga and I already know I’m going to be OBSESSED.
Jennifer Strange
by Cat Scully, ScullyIndieBound
Goodreads
When her father disappears, Jennifer Strange moves in with her estranged sister Liz in Savannah, Georgia, one of the most haunted places in the United States. When the ghosts begin to tear Jennifer and Liz's lives apart, the sisters must learn to trust each other again if they hope to uncover the truth about their family history. If they can’t sort out their differences, they’ll not only destroy the veil between the living and the dead, but fall into the hands of a rival family that wants them dead.
Cat Scully's illustrations bring the ghosts and demons of her fictional world to eerie and beautiful life, harkening back to the style of SCARY STORIES TO TELL IN THE DARK and Ransom Riggs' MISS PEREGRINE'S HOME FOR PECULIAR CHILDREN.
Best News of the Week
PLEASE READ: Comics creators and supporters have come together to help save the industry. Much like indie bookstores, comic stores work on small margins but are vital to their communities. Comic stores and creators are facing an even more dire situation – the sole comic distributor shut down, meaning stores have no single issues to sell and creators have halted work. Imagine if book printers just stopped printing books…Indie bookstores would die and authors would face losing 50% of their sales. Comic stores are dealing with that now, coupled with the fact that many of them can’t stay open due to logistics (it’s hard to mail single issues and they don’t have warehouses like indies).
Unlike my book habits, I prefer to read comics, graphic novels, and manga in physical media. Bookstores do not stock single issues and their graphic novel and manga sections are generally severely lacking. Plus, they don’t have the expertise – The owner of my shop helped Chris pick out my Christmas gifts (I owned NONE of the books he recommended and he knew that plus he knew what I would want to read!) and he constantly emails me to recommend books or remind me when my fav series are coming out.
I’ve made orders and bought GCs for my local (Isotope) and if YOU want to help creators and the stores that serve them, I recommend checking out the #Creators4Comics auctions on Twitter.
Anyone else obsessed with all the newly adopted pets on the internet? Noelle and Molly named one of their kittens after a character in the Witch Boy series (which is a fav around here!).
Me to Netflix: GREENLIGHT THEM ALLLLLL.
