An impressive, memorable anthology highlighting writers and artists of color.
A collection delivers comics by artists of color from around the world.
Bringing together short graphic narratives from 32 contributing artists, debut editor Stotts has crafted a group exhibition that showcases the deep and diverse talent available in the realm of comics. The anthology is a response, in part, to the dearth of creators of color represented in mainstream comic publishing. As Shing Yin Khor writes in the foreword: “We are tired of the scraps being offered to us at the traditional publishing table, when we have already proven...that there is both an audience and a market for our voice and our work.” The pieces are united by aesthetic and theme. Each is colored mostly in black and white, with select use of red to highlight elements within the narrative. Each deals in some way with the idea of fire, and many feature storylines that revolve around loneliness, inadequacy, untapped ability, and unexpected friendship. Some pieces miss the mark, providing either too little or too much information to hook the reader in just a few pages. Others use simplicity to their advantage, as in the cinematic “Cactus Flower,” by Sarah DuVall, in which lush panels and a few sparse words document a woman’s mysterious magical rite. The equally laconic but visually busy “Metta Helmet,” by Deshan Tennekoon and Isuri Merenchi Hewage, offers a fable on the contagiousness of kindness. In “Breathe,” Kiku Hughes creates an apocalyptic folk tale from the distant future that is as universal as it is inscrutable. Other standouts include the fantastical “Firefly” by Myisha Haynes, the abbreviated space opera “Pulse” by Der-Shing Helmer, and the heartwarming “Starfall” by Ash G., which ends on the lovely sentiment—shared by two young seekers—that “we’ll find the answers without hurting anybody, won’t we?” The comics are meant for readers of all ages, and while each is accessible enough for youngsters to enjoy, most grapple with larger concerns that are relatable to a much older audience. Both longtime fans of comics and readers new to the medium should find plenty here to entertain and inspire.
An impressive, memorable anthology highlighting writers and artists of color.Pub Date: Jan. 11, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-9982828-0-0
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Beyond Press
Review Posted Online: Oct. 5, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2017
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A first novel, this is also a first person account of Scout's (Jean Louise) recall of the years that led to the ending of a mystery, the breaking of her brother Jem's elbow, the death of her father's enemy — and the close of childhood years. A widower, Atticus raises his children with legal dispassion and paternal intelligence, and is ably abetted by Calpurnia, the colored cook, while the Alabama town of Maycomb, in the 1930's, remains aloof to their divergence from its tribal patterns. Scout and Jem, with their summer-time companion, Dill, find their paths free from interference — but not from dangers; their curiosity about the imprisoned Boo, whose miserable past is incorporated in their play, results in a tentative friendliness; their fears of Atticus' lack of distinction is dissipated when he shoots a mad dog; his defense of a Negro accused of raping a white girl, Mayella Ewell, is followed with avid interest and turns the rabble whites against him. Scout is the means of averting an attack on Atticus but when he loses the case it is Boo who saves Jem and Scout by killing Mayella's father when he attempts to murder them. The shadows of a beginning for black-white understanding, the persistent fight that Scout carries on against school, Jem's emergence into adulthood, Calpurnia's quiet power, and all the incidents touching on the children's "growing outward" have an attractive starchiness that keeps this southern picture pert and provocative. There is much advance interest in this book; it has been selected by the Literary Guild and Reader's Digest; it should win many friends.
Pub Date: July 11, 1960
ISBN: 0060935464
Page Count: 323
Publisher: Lippincott
Review Posted Online: Oct. 7, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1960
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
Coelho's placebo has racked up impressive sales in Brazil and Europe. Americans should flock to it like gulls.
Coelho is a Brazilian writer with four books to his credit. Following Diary of a Magus (1992—not reviewed) came this book, published in Brazil in 1988: it's an interdenominational, transcendental, inspirational fable—in other words, a bag of wind.
The story is about a youth empowered to follow his dream. Santiago is an Andalusian shepherd boy who learns through a dream of a treasure in the Egyptian pyramids. An old man, the king of Salem, the first of various spiritual guides, tells the boy that he has discovered his destiny: "to realize one's destiny is a person's only real obligation." So Santiago sells his sheep, sails to Tangier, is tricked out of his money, regains it through hard work, crosses the desert with a caravan, stops at an oasis long enough to fall in love, escapes from warring tribesmen by performing a miracle, reaches the pyramids, and eventually gets both the gold and the girl. Along the way he meets an Englishman who describes the Soul of the World; the desert woman Fatima, who teaches him the Language of the World; and an alchemist who says, "Listen to your heart" A message clings like ivy to every encounter; everyone, but everyone, has to put in their two cents' worth, from the crystal merchant to the camel driver ("concentrate always on the present, you'll be a happy man"). The absence of characterization and overall blandness suggest authorship by a committee of self-improvement pundits—a far cry from Saint- Exupery's The Little Prince: that flagship of the genre was a genuine charmer because it clearly derived from a quirky, individual sensibility.
Coelho's placebo has racked up impressive sales in Brazil and Europe. Americans should flock to it like gulls.Pub Date: July 1, 1993
ISBN: 0-06-250217-4
Page Count: 192
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1993
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
BOOK TO SCREEN
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