Noir-infused fantasy with high stakes, gorgeous art, and social justice themes.
In Hamilton’s graphic novel, a young scavenger searches a future dystopia for her missing best friend.
Bingo Finder and her best friend Fenn Roper spend their days scavenging the wastelands surrounding their home of Ellay, which is governed by Mayor, his wife, and their 12 children. The city has a pact with the local coyotes, who agree not to attack residents of Ellay so long as they may eat the remains of townspeople who have died by other means. One night, after Fenn kisses Bingo and leaves for a secret rendezvous, Bingo watches as Fenn throws herself from a roof and then disappears. Aided by a book she has scavenged, Bingo scours the city for clues to find her missing friend. Some of the exposition is detailed in a nightly “newsreal” that spreads propaganda about how wonderful Ellay is. Other aspects of the worldbuilding are more subtle; the naming conventions, for example, are clearly bastardizations of real-world places and things. These are not clearly spelled out, which makes for an enjoyable challenge as readers try to figure out what they mean. Tectiv is one of the more obvious examples, itself being a shortening of the word detective—the book teaching Bingo to solve mysteries has some of the letters worn from its cover. The cast’s backstories are delineated with similar subtlety by the creative team, who seed hints about the characters’ childhoods throughout (which may be expanded upon in later volumes). Matrone’s art suits the story perfectly, with its large panels and color scheme adding to the fantasy-noir vibes. The world depicted here is a true dystopia, and the graphic novel does not shy away from making statements about social justice. According to Mayor, Ellay is a “post-racial, post-feminist…post-wealth—hell, post-everything—society,” and has been for 2,000 years. The flaws in this description become immediately evident when Bingo explores different districts of Ellay; Drowntown, for example, is largely inhabited by mutants who seem to be much less well-off than the humans, especially Mayor’s family, who live on a vast plantation. The strong themes, striking art, and vivid worldbuilding make this an excellent addition to the YA graphic novel canon.
Noir-infused fantasy with high stakes, gorgeous art, and social justice themes.Pub Date: Dec. 10, 2024
ISBN: 9781545812440
Page Count: 180
Publisher: Maverick
Review Posted Online: Oct. 15, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
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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