Myths Stories (Chinese Classical Stories Series)

I picked this up at the gift shop of the Shanghai Museum and read it with the Kiddo (currently age 9, but only for a couple more weeks).

Title: Myths Stories
Date: September, 2012
Publisher: China Intercontinental Press (Chinese Classical Stories Series)
Writer: Xiao Li

Softcover full-color graphic novel of about 200 pages, telling a dozen stories from  Chinese mythology, beginning with a creation myth.

This was a nice introduction to Chinese legends, with a variety of characters and stories, all brought to life in vivid color. The art style was fun, with manga facial expressions and particularly nice work on the clothing and hairstyles of characters. All of the action is a bit cartoonish, even in the case of a couple of the stories that take a grim turn.

Aside from the first couple of stories, there is not a lot of connection between the tales, and there isn't much context provided as to where these stories fit into Chinese mythology as a whole, but it was still an excellent sampling of a real wealth of lore that will be unfamiliar to many Western readers.

The dialogue has some moments where the translation could have been better, including the odd inclusion of the name "Hercules" for what is clearly meant to be a Chinese god or demigod.

But the book keeps the dialogue short and simple, and the artwork fills in gaps and smooths over the minor translation issues. All of the text and dialogue is presented in English and Chinese.

Rating: 7.5/10

Ladies of Literature Volume 1

I picked this book up in artists alley at Anime Boston. Technically an art zine, rather than a comic. Reviewing it anyway.

Title: Ladies of Literature
Issue: Volume 1
Publisher: Arielle Jovellanos
Date: 2013
Editor: Arielle Jovellanos, Janet Sung
Artist: Trung Le Nguyen, Amanda Scurti, Yssa Badiola, Alex Bahena, Grace Fong, Karina McBeth, Laura MacMahon, Kirsten Sjursen-Lien, Pablo Leon, Xiao Li, Erica Chan, Katrina Richter, Andy Lee, Abigail Malate, Chantal El-Bikai, Viktoria Ridzel, Rachel Royale, Jackie Yang, Jenny Xu, Desiree Surjadi, Michelle Hiraishi, Penny Candy Studios, Lily Pfaff, Lily Luo, Brigid Vaughn, Kristen Acampora, Amelia Chia, Grisselle Rivera, Diana Huh, Katy Farina, Janet Sung, Kristen Davis, Emily Ho, Arielle Jovellanos, Ava Nguyen
Cover Lettering: Paulina Ho

 This is a benefit zine collecting artists' interpretation of, well, exactly what the title suggests: Female characters (and a few female authors) of all genres of literature.

I loved the diversity of the characters covered here. Everything from Greek mythology to Shakespeare to Jane Austen to current hits like The Hunger Games and Harry Potter to childrens books. It was particularly awesome to find some of Tamora Pierce's characters here. There was a character from Battle Royale, and the same artist also did a character from one of the Animorphs books. Other authors represented included Tolkien, George R.R. Martin, C.S. Lewis, Hans Christian Andersen, Phillip Pullman, Roald Dahl, Sue Monk Kidd, and Diana Wynne Jones.

The interpretations showed a great diversity of styles, and were a lot of fun to see.

I loved so many of these, but Katy Farina's rendition of Molly Weasley was completely made of win. A couple of other favorites were Katniss Everdeen by Laura MacMahon, the characters from Tamora Pierce's Tortall books by Grace Fong, and Virginia Woolf's Orlando as depicted by Kristen Davis.

This was a lovely book and I look forward to the second volume.

Rating: 8/5/10