A delightfully quirky series whose eccentric charms haven’t faltered.
In this seventh installment, the sleuths from Griswold’s Grammar School unravel yet another case involving a mysterious portal and a time-bending troublemaker.
Once again, the six young British gumshoes find themselves in the midst of something both puzzling and strange. As puberty looms, the group—three girls and three boys—has become divided along gender lines. The girls begin to watch an unusual student who is always—and somewhat anachronistically—rambling on about communists, while the boys start investigating a malevolent trio of classmates. With the discovery of a wormhole in their science lab and the changing of recent events, the group must converge and figure out a way to stop the time-traveling wrongdoers from rewriting history. As Allison’s series has progressed, the characters have aged with it, bringing increasing complexity to each case but maintaining its whimsy and never taking itself too seriously. Like its predecessors, this volume relates a complete case and works well as a stand-alone, though it has enough quiet in-jokes to reward devoted followers. Allison’s attention to detail in his characters is playful, with an especially keen eye to his protagonists’ stylish sartorial choices. However, those seeking diversity may be happier elsewhere; his mainstays are nearly all white, save for one who is black.
A delightfully quirky series whose eccentric charms haven’t faltered. (Graphic mystery/fantasy. 10-14)Pub Date: May 17, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-62010-390-6
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Oni Press
Review Posted Online: Feb. 19, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
Designed to look like a weatherworn comic found in the woods, this outrageously imaginative graphic novel touts itself as the “first extraterrestrial comic book on earth.” Through a series of untitled nonlinear vignettes, the wide-eyed and seemingly innocent-looking alien characters embark on a series of adventures (and misadventures) that capture intrinsically human characteristics. In some episodes, bright, boldly colored cutesy aliens—who bear a toy-like resemblance—juxtapose violent situations, portraying both beauty and horror, in smart cohesion. Evincing the cruelties, the comedies and the oft-bizarre traits of the protagonists through an inventive and unique format, Trondheim distinguishes himself as a trailblazer in the youth graphic-novel market. Readers will be delighted by the wordless tale with its endearing, yet rascally alien characters and the sometimes crude plot that encompasses a variety of motifs, from invoking compassion to scatological humor. Not for the younger set, but an accomplished offbeat selection worth considering. (Graphic novel. 12-14)
Pub Date: May 1, 2006
ISBN: 1-59643-095-8
Page Count: 96
Publisher: First Second/Roaring Brook
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2006
BOOK REVIEW
Though classified as a graphic novelist, Delisle has claimed territory all his own as a graphic-travel memoirist.
Insightful, illuminating memoir of a year under a totalitarian regime.
In 2005-06, Delisle (Shenzhen: A Travelogue from China, 2006, etc.) accompanied his wife, who works as an administrator for Doctors Without Borders, to the country recognized by the United Nations as Myanmar. The United States and other democratic countries, however, still call it Burma, refusing to recognize the legitimacy of the military junta that seized power in 1989. As in the illustrator’s previous adventures in China and North Korea (Pyongyang, 2005), the focus is less on politics and more on the lives of the people he encounters—though such lives are profoundly shaped by politics. He comes to accept checkpoints and censorship as routine, and he does his best to find a suitable home, survive with intermittent electricity and Internet access and take care of his toddler son Louis, whose charm transcends cultural borders. The author also fears malaria, bird flu and poisonous snakes, though the DWB medical community provides more comfort than much of the Burmese citizenry enjoys. Delisle writes and illustrates a children’s booklet on HIV, an important contribution to a country in which heroin and prostitution are rampant. As in previous volumes, his eye for everyday detail combined with droll, matter-of-fact narration humanizes his 14-month experience in a country that might seem traumatic, even intolerable, in other hands. “There were no demands and no uprisings either,” he writes. “Things are always very calm here, thanks to a regime that creates paralysis by fomenting fear on a daily basis.” The undercurrents of Buddhism throughout the book culminate in his visit to a temple, where his meditation proves transformative.
Though classified as a graphic novelist, Delisle has claimed territory all his own as a graphic-travel memoirist.Pub Date: Sept. 16, 2008
ISBN: 978-1-897299-50-0
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Drawn & Quarterly
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2008
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