Graphic lit and comics have always been ideal showcases for gritty antiheroes, especially the tortured souls who risk their lives to save a corrupt Gotham. The artwork conveys a gothic mood in an instant, and readers get a visceral sense of setting and bloodletting. In Indieland, some of our top picks for graphic lit continue the tradition of depicting the down-and-out savior but with a few inventive twists.
Roberto Saviano’s graphic memoir I’m Still Alive, translated by Jamie Richards, traces Saviano’s life in hiding after publishing his wildly popular Gomorrah (2007), which revealed the inner workings of Neapolitan crime syndicates. Explosions of gunfire and slashes of color stand out against the primarily black-and-white art, expertly drawn by Asaf Hanuka. “A powerful tale of moral corruption and the cost of one’s resistance to it,” notes our reviewer.
In Head Wounds: Sparrow, written by Brian Buccellato and illustrated by Christian Ward, dirty New Orleans cop Leo Guidry wants to come clean, but otherworldly events upend his efforts. The head wounds he witnesses become his own, although no one else can see them. Our reviewer says, “Ward’s richly hued artwork complements this somber detective story with blue-gray nights and glaringly bright lights. But the most striking visual is Guidry’s head wound, as its mesmerizing blood floats in the air and sometimes even covers the panels with spatter.”
We Promised Utopia, written by Adrian Morales and Robert Holman Charles J. Martin and illustrated by multiple artists, is a twist on the cli-fi novel. Ecological catastrophe is averted thanks to a carbon-credit system invented by a conservationist, but the planet faces other perils in two future time periods. The authors “deftly introduce three radically different eras early on” in this “timely, engrossing SF tale with an environmental theme and striking art.”
Karen Schechner is the president of Kirkus Indie.
