White Bird

Bought at the Foreign Languages bookstore in Shanghai, China. Christmas gift for my son.

Title: White Bird
Date: 2019
Publisher: Alfred A Knopf
Writer: R.J. Palacio
Artist: R.J. Palacio
Inker: Kevin Czap

This graphic novel companion-piece to Palacio's prose novel, Wonder, takes place in the same continuity, telling the story of Julian's Grandmere and her story of survival in Nazi-occupied France during World War II.

Sarah tries to live a normal life, doing her best to put the horrors of the war far from her mind. It's not too difficult at first, as life in the "free" region of France has not changed much. But the horrors are coming faster than Sarah imagines, and in a single terrible day she is separated from friends and family and forced into hiding, depending on the support of a fellow student and his family to care for her and hide her.

White Bird mixes historically-accurate reality that holds back none of the terrible details of Holocaust, and punctuates it with fairytale moments of magic realism that are highlighted by the beauty of the artwork.

The story takes a big step toward redeeming Julian, the "villain" of Wonder, without ever making his present-day situation the focus. The story is full of moments of tragedy and acts of selfless courage, and it does a great job of incorporating small details through both words and art.

Rating: 9/10

Doomsday Clock Part 1

Bought at Boocup, Kerry Parkside Mall, Pudong, Shanghai, China

Title: Doomsday Clock
Issue: Volume 1
Date: 2019
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: Geoff Johns
Artist: Gary Frank
Colorist: Brad Anderson
Letterer: Rob Leigh
Editor:Brian Cunningham, Robin Wildman

Hardcover collection of the first six issues of Doomsday Clock, a DC-Universe/Watchmen crossover.

So first of all, The Watchmen did not need a sequel. It stands very well on its own, and the self-contained story and universe of the Watchmen is in some ways part of the point of why it is so good.

That being said, a lot of this was entertaining, even if in places it felt a bit like reading Watchmen fanfic.

We get a new Rorschach, and he's a pretty interesting character. We get a new pair of costumed criminals from the Watchmen universe with a solid backstory and pretty interesting chemistry between them.

We also get the return of a number of key Watchmen players, including (of course) some brought back from the dead).

And we get Superman, the Batman, the Joker, and a bunch of DC heroes and villains. The Watchmen world (I'm sure it's been given an Earth-Number, because of course it has, but I don't know which it is and whether it's a number between 1 and 52) is descending into nuclear war after Adrian Veidt's attempt to force world peace has, to the surprise of no one as Lex Luthor snarkily points out, collapsed under the weight of human nature.

And things aren't much better on Earth, um, is it 1 or 2 these days? Anyway, in whatever slightly-off version of the standard DC Universe this is, there is a conspiracy theory that claims that almost all superheroes and villains are actually government agents simply playing their roles while the US government, well, controls them.

This conspiracy has taken hold of the public consciousness and the result is anti-superhero (dare we say, anti-mask?) sentiment in the streets and rising international tensions. In short, similar circumstances that the Watchmen world faced in the original story.

And somewhere, Doctor Manhattan is manipulating things from behind the scenes.

This collection covers six issues and spends a lot of the time introducing the new characters, which is fine because they're pretty interesting. The rest of it alternates between a fairly intriguing plot with many moving pieces, an assortment of bits that are just violence for the sake of showing that various characters are violent, and bits from a series of Nathaniel Dusk noir films that play a similar role in this series to Tales of the Black Freighter.

Overall, this was an interesting enough story to keep me entertained. It's certainly no Watchmen, but that may be an unfair standard of comparison. A lot of attention to detail went into this, it's visually effective and introduces new characters that hold their own in the company of some iconic creations.

Rating: 6/10

The Sands of Time: Accidental Time Machine

First review of 2022. Second volume of this ongoing series by students at my school.

Title: The Sands of Time: Accidental Time Machine
Date: 2022
Publisher: Knowledge Sprout
Writer: Intisar Alkhatib, Carl Wasing
Artist: Kitty Li, Koki Kin, Airi Iyama, Annyka Ma, Gyeonga Seo, Yewon Jeong, Maxon Jin

Picking up where the first volume (reviewed here) left off, this story continues the adventures of a group of young friends sent back in time and looking for a way home. Amy, Chelsea, Brandon, Frank, and James find themselves in Old Kingdom Egypt, where they contend with desert heat, unfamiliar cultures, the hazards of the Nile river, and a hidden maze beneath the Great Pyramid.

This story had a lot more going on than the first volume, which focused heavily on Amy and the setup for the unintended time-travel. Here, there is more room for the characters to shine individually, and more plot twists. The character of Isis, who helps guide the kids to their destination, was a fun addition to the cast.

The artwork does a nice job of blending Egyptian imagery with anime-influenced style.

Rating: 8.5/10

Updated All-Time Top Rated Comics

Here is my updated list of all of the comics I've rated a 9 or above. Four new books (3 9's and a 9.5) were added to this list in 2021.


9/10

All In The Family Part Two: Angel
Amulet Book Two: The Stonekeeper's Curse
Amulet Book Seven: Firelight
Arthur Spiderwick's Field Guide to the Fantastical World Around You
Boxers
Dog Man And Cat Kid
Dog Man: Grime and Punishment
The Flutter Collection
Ghosts
Guts
Life With Archie #16
Lumberjanes Volume 3: A Terrible Plan
Lumberjanes Volume 4: Out of Time
Lumberjanes Volume 5: Band Together
Machiavelli
Rival Angels Season 3 Volume 2
Saga Compendium 1
Small Town Type #1
Understanding Comics
Warriors: Graystripe's Adventure
We Won't Be Erased
With the Light Volume 2

9.5/10

Amelia Rules: When the Past is a Present
The Arrival
Castle Waiting Volume 1
I Kill Giants
A Monster Calls
The Prince and the Dressmaker
Vietnamerica: A Family's Journey

10/10

Bone: The Complete Cartoon Epic In One Volume

Looking forward to reading more great books in 2022!

2021 Comic Review Recap

With Covid continuing to be an issue, and with travel restrictions in place, 2021 was a lot like 2020 in terms of lack of travel. We did manage a trip to Chengdu and Leshan around Christmas, but otherwise we spent our time in Shanghai. I wanted to try to read 100 books in 2021, which I managed to do (actually read 101), but since I don't count individual issue comics toward book-reading, the Random Stack of Unread Comics was pushed aside once again. This was not that big a deal, since with no traveling there was no chance to replenish it. I had a decent number of graphic novels among the 101 books, and those made up the majority of my contributions to this blog in 2021.

My total number of reviews in 2021 was 27, down 3 from last year.

Highest Rated Comics in 2021

Feast of Fields (8.5)
Roller Girl (8.5)
A Wish Fulfilled: Accidental Time Machine (8.5)

Arthur Spiderwick's Field Guide to the Fantastical World Around You (9)
Saga Compendium 1 (9)
Small Town Type #1 (9)

A Monster Calls (9.5)

Lowest Rated Comics in 2021

Harley Quinn and the Birds of Prey (5)
Jedi Academy: The Force Oversleeps (5)

Avengers Endgame Prelude (4)

I'm looking forward to some more graphic novels (I have several on my to-be-read shelf, plus delving back into the remaining Random Stack of Unread Comics in 2022!

The Imitation Game: Alan Turing Decoded

This was my last comic read in 2021. I got a bit busy with work/life, so I'm only getting around to posting now. 2021 comic review recap posts will up be next.

From my school's Fall book fair.

Title: The Imitation Game: Alan Turing Decoded
Date: 2016
Publisher: Abrams Comic Arts
Writer: Jim Ottaviani
Artist: Leland Purvis
Editor: Orlando Dos Reis Nicole Sclama, Carol Burrell

Graphic-novel biography of Alan Turing, told through memories and interviews in the aftermath of his death. There were a lot of fascinating bits of history in this story, and some insights into Turing himself that were intriguing. The story doesn't always deliver the depth that I would have liked, especially as someone who knew only some spare details about Turing's life and works.

The author does not shy away from Turing's sexuality, or the results of the sentence that was carried out on him, but there is no explicit material.

The illustration style works well, especially in some of the more introspective and dreamy sequences.

This was a good read, but it felt fragmented in places, suggesting that there was more to the story beneath the surface, and to some extent that was intentional as much of Turing's life remains, well, enigmatic.

7/10

2021 Recap: My Top 5 Books (Prose or Comics) Read in 2021

 

My 5 Favorite Books Read in 2021

5. Molly House by A.R. Pip

4. Saga: Compendium One by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples

3. Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson

2. Seraphina by Rachel Hartman

1. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot