An entertaining sendup of campus life.
Students launch a crusade to keep their campus from being strip-mined in Justus and Sturges’ graphic novel.
When gold is discovered beneath Rhode Island’s Halcyon Burke University, the greedy Board of Regents immediately resolves to bulldoze the campus so as to mine the trove more expeditiously. Standing in the way is the interim student government—they’re in office only over winter break—consisting of the president, Parker Myles, an idealistic coed; Malakai Lux, the nerdy secretary; Jean Genie, the nonbinary treasurer who finances the group with poker winnings; and nice-guy Vice President Hutch Hamlin. Their opposition to the university’s destruction gets a boost from an obscure provision in HBU’s charter: If the student government thinks the school is violating its principles, they can declare a “state of emergency” and call a referendum that could block the board’s plan. Their scheme is challenged when the permanent student government returns to campus and declares their support for bulldozing the campus. They’re headed by president Braden Carlock, a rich jerk whose dad is a regent, and Vice President Josh Garner, a rich dimwit whose only talent is improvising drinking games. (“I deal out two cards. Whatever they add up to, that’s how many drinks you take.”) Up against the wealth and cunning of the rich kids and the regents, Parker and her underdog posse seem so overmatched that even her mom tells her to give up. The story frames a broad satire of a college culture that, as in all campus comedies, is split between party animals, earnest misfits, and haughty hierarchs. The plot is full of cartoonish contrivances and the characters are stereotypes, but the stereotypes are sharply drawn and the gags are often funny and spot-on about the ridiculousness of academic folkways. (“Is it true that you once single-handedly dispersed a Nazi rally in Leeds with a flame-thrower?” gushes a starry-eyed Parker to her anarchist punk professor.) Joe Eisma’s well-executed art captures a wealth of expressive detail—pinched scowls, vapid smirks—that makes the characters more vibrant.
An entertaining sendup of campus life.Pub Date: March 11, 2025
ISBN: 9781545816103
Page Count: 180
Publisher: Maverick
Review Posted Online: Jan. 20, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A clever and timely conversation on reclaiming identity and acknowledging one’s full worth.
Superman confronts racism and learns to accept himself with the help of new friends.
In this graphic-novel adaptation of the 1940s storyline entitled “The Clan of the Fiery Cross” from The Adventures of Superman radio show, readers are reintroduced to the hero who regularly saves the day but is unsure of himself and his origins. The story also focuses on Roberta Lee, a young Chinese girl. She and her family have just moved from Chinatown to Metropolis proper, and mixed feelings abound. Jimmy Olsen, Lois Lane’s colleague from the Daily Planet, takes a larger role here, befriending his new neighbors, the Lees. An altercation following racial slurs directed at Roberta’s brother after he joins the local baseball team escalates into an act of terrorism by the Klan of the Fiery Kross. What starts off as a run-of-the-mill superhero story then becomes a nuanced and personal exploration of the immigrant experience and blatant and internalized racism. Other main characters are White, but Black police inspector William Henderson fights his own battles against prejudice. Clean lines, less-saturated coloring, and character designs reminiscent of vintage comics help set the tone of this period piece while the varied panel cuts and action scenes give it a more modern sensibility. Cantonese dialogue is indicated through red speech bubbles; alien speech is in green.
A clever and timely conversation on reclaiming identity and acknowledging one’s full worth. (author’s note, bibliography) (Graphic fiction. 13-adult)Pub Date: May 12, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-77950-421-0
Page Count: 240
Publisher: DC
Review Posted Online: Feb. 29, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A fast-paced dip into the possibility of a world without human emotions.
A teenage girl refuses a medical procedure to remove her heart and her emotions.
June lives in a future in which a reclusive Scientist has pioneered a procedure to remove hearts, thus eliminating all “sadness, anxiety, and anger.” The downside is that it numbs pleasurable feelings, too. Most people around June have had the procedure done; for young people, in part because doing so helps them become more focused and successful. Before long, June is the only one among her peers who still has her heart. When her parents decide it’s time for her to have the procedure so she can become more focused in school, June hatches a plan to pretend to go through with it. She also investigates a way to restore her beloved sister’s heart, joining forces with Max, a classmate who’s also researching the Scientist because he has started to feel again despite having had his heart removed. The pair’s journey is somewhat rushed and improbable, as is the resolution they achieve. However, the story’s message feels relevant and relatable to teens, and the artwork effectively sets the scene, with bursts of color popping throughout an otherwise black-and-white landscape, reflecting the monochromatic, heartless reality of June’s world. There are no ethnic or cultural markers in the text; June has paper-white skin and dark hair, and Max has dark skin and curly black hair.
A fast-paced dip into the possibility of a world without human emotions. (Graphic speculative fiction. 12-18)Pub Date: June 13, 2023
ISBN: 9780063116214
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: April 24, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
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