Radiant characters electrify this sublime horror outing.
A woman who has lived for millennia feeding on life-energy battles an enemy she believed was long dead in Sniegoski and Acheson’s graphic novel.
Amara Delacourt lives a quiet life in a Miami retirement community. Though she looks to be about 70, Amara has actually been around for thousands of years. She’s the last of the Nehmer, a race of immortal beings whose sustenance is human life force. Although they’ve lived and fed among humans inconspicuously and peacefully, a relentless religious order called the Venatori has hunted them to near-extinction. After this “fanatical offshoot of the Catholic Church hellbent on wiping out all those they perceive as unholy” exterminated Amara’s kind, Amara retaliated by killing all of the Venatori—or so she thought. Two chemically enhanced henchmen arrive in Miami on a mission to take out the final Nehmer. But someone else is after Amara, too—Magnes Pharmaceuticals wants to procure the secret of her longevity. As she dodges the company’s attempts to grab her, she must also face off against a bloodthirsty Venatori soldier and a lab-created human Bloodhound engineered to track the Nehmer. Sniegoski and Acheson’s supernaturally powerful hero is not the usual comic-book fare: When she feeds, she resembles a fanged, long-fingernailed vampire, but she typically looks like a grandma and easily consumes life energy without killing or even hurting people. Engaging backstories spotlight Amara and the Venatori throughout the last millennium and in various countries, from France and Italy to the Old West. There’s a notable progression across this volume’s six collected issues; foes inch closer to Amara, who gradually realizes who’s targeting her and putting someone she’s grown close to in potential danger. Welcome narrative touches include an ultrachic cyber-cat and the unorthodox way another character has lived a shockingly long time. The story ends with not one but two unforgettable cliffhangers. Burzo and Lecce’s impressive artwork combines beautifully muted colors and heavy shadows with brutal violence and ferocious expressions. The collection also showcases illustrator Sta. Maria’s six vibrant covers for the individual issues.
Radiant characters electrify this sublime horror outing.Pub Date: March 11, 2025
ISBN: 9781545816134
Page Count: 162
Publisher: Mad Cave Studios
Review Posted Online: Jan. 24, 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
Even so, this remains Macbeth, arguably the Bard of Avon’s most durable and multilayered tragedy, and overall, this enhanced...
A pairing of the text of the Scottish Play with a filmed performance, designed with the Shakespeare novice in mind.
The left side of the screen of this enhanced e-book contains a full version of Macbeth, while the right side includes a performance of the dialogue shown (approximately 20 lines’ worth per page). This granular focus allows newcomers to experience the nuances of the play, which is rich in irony, hidden intentions and sudden shifts in emotional temperature. The set and costuming are deliberately simple: The background is white, and Macbeth’s “armor” is a leather jacket. But nobody’s dumbing down their performances. Francesca Faridany is particularly good as a tightly coiled Lady Macbeth; Raphael Nash-Thompson gives his roles as the drunken porter and a witch a garrulousness that carries an entertainingly sinister edge. The presentation is not without its hiccups. Matching the video on the right with the text on the left means routinely cutting off dramatic moments; at one point, users have to swipe to see and read the second half of a scene’s closing couplet—presumably an easy fix. A “tap to translate” button on each page puts the text into plain English, but the pop-up text covers up Shakespeare’s original, denying any attempts at comparison; moreover, the translation mainly redefines more obscure words, suggesting that smaller pop-ups for individual terms might be more meaningful.
Even so, this remains Macbeth, arguably the Bard of Avon’s most durable and multilayered tragedy, and overall, this enhanced e-book makes the play appealing and graspable to students . (Enhanced e-book. 12 & up)Pub Date: Sept. 9, 2013
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: The New Book Press LLC
Review Posted Online: Nov. 6, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2013
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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