Graphic Novel Roundup

By Steve Weiner -- School Library Journal, 8/1/2005

<h3><a name="Before They Were (Really) Famous">Before They Were (Really) Famous</a></h3>
Some of this summer's biggest blockbusters began as groundbreaking comics 
In 1961, Marvel Comics started a comics revolution when it gave its superheroes the same problems regular people have. In addition to battling larger-than-life villains, the Fantastic Four were suddenly bickering among themselves like, well, family members. In the late 1990s, Marvel rewrote and updated many of the stories in its “Ultimate” line, including those featuring the Fantastic Four. Here are some recommendations that will keep your patrons returning for more:
The Essential Fantastic Four. Vol. 1. Marvel Comics. 2005. $16.99. ISBN 0-785118-28-4. Gr 3 and up.
Stan Lee and Jack Kirby kicked off the Marvel age of comics with Fantastic Four #1. In the Essential series, the early stories are reprinted in black and white. You can't lose with this one.
Fantastic Four: Visionaries. Marvel Comics. 2001. $19.95. ISBN 0-0-785107-79-7. Gr 6 and up.
In the early 1980s, John Byrne was given the task of reviving the Fantastic Four. The result is a strong retelling with a modern sensibility. Another winner.
Over the years, Batman has been one of DC Comics' most resilient superheroes. When Batman began in 1939, he worked solo. Then in the early 1940s, he added his sidekick, Robin. Since then, Batman has gone through more changes than Madonna. In the 1960s, he was reinvented, starring in a popular, slapstick TV series. The next decade brought a more somber tone to the comic book series. And in the 1980s, Batman gained new prominence when Frank (Sin City) Miller infused the series with a gritty, more realistic feeling, creating Batman: the Dark Knight Returns (1986) and Batman: Year One (1988), the inspiration for the film Batman Begins. Both of these titles are sure bets for your Batman collection.
Batman: Year One. DC Comics. 2005. $19.99. ISBN 1-401206-90-5. Gr 6 and up.
Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli chronicle the first year in the life of the caped crusader and introduce Commissioner Gordon, Ca m,twoman, and Batman's arch nemesis, the Joker. This is a story that no true Batman fan will be able to resist.
Batman: Knightfall, Part One: Broken Bat. DC Comics. 1993. $17.95. ISBN 1-563891-42-5. Gr 6 and up.
Doug Moench and his collaborators set a new standard in superhero storytelling. Although Batman is defeated in this episode, he eventually makes a triumphant comeback.
<h3><a name="The New Nancy">The New Nancy</a></h3>
Comics storytelling has always had a grand tradition of adapting the pop classics. Now Papercutz, a division of NBM Publishing, has created some new stories for everyone's favorite girl detective, Nancy Drew. Nancy was created by Mildred Wirt Benson (writing under the name Carolyn Keene) in 1929 as the girl-next-door counterpart of the Hardy Boys. The graphic-novel series features appealing artwork reminiscent of the manga, or Japanese comics, style. In The Demon of River Heights, Nancy and her friends Bess and George stumble onto a mystery while helping some college students make a film about a legendary monster. The new Nancy is now a strong, complex character, and writer Stefan Petrucha's tale uses humor and dramatic tension to reach its satisfying conclusion.
Nancy Drew: The Demon of River Heights. Papercutz. 2005. $12.95. ISBN 1-59707-004-1. Gr 4 and up.
<h3><a name="Not the Same Difference">Not the Same Difference</a></h3>
This imaginative collection of short stories from young cartoonist Derek Kirk Kim is stunning. The title story focuses on 20-somethings Nancy and Simon, who are racked with guilt. Why? Simon has turned down a date with a friend because she is blind, and Nancy has read love letters meant for someone else—and answered them, giving the jilted ex-boyfriend false hope. Through a series of credible coincidences, both eventually make amends. Cartoonist Scott McCloud called Same Difference “a literate, funny, and beautiful piece of fiction.” I agree. Kim portrays the uneasy, vague, lost feelings of late adolescence and early adulthood as well as any artist. The inspired collection also includes stories about high school track, weed wacking, familial relationships, celebrity interviews, and autobiographical tales. Kim's clear, humorous black-and-white images are reminiscent of the finest works of Herge, Tezuka, and Gil Kane. 
Same Difference and Other Stories. Top Shelf Productions. 2004. $12.95. ISBN 1-89183057-0. Gr 11 and up. 
<h3><a name="A Pad of One's Own">A Pad of One's Own</a></h3>
In Paul Moves Out, cartoonist Michel Rabadiati continues the lighthearted, semiautobiographical tale he began in Paul Has a Summer Job (Drawn & Quarterly, 2003). In the latest installment, 19-year-old Paul moves out of his parents' suburban home and enrolls in art school in Montreal. Everything changes when he meets Lucie, a classmate who shares his affection for comics—especially Tintin, the European graphic novel series that hit the U.S. in the mid-1970s. Paul and Lucie's adventures—and misadventures—include taking care of Lucie's nieces for a weekend and traveling with a hip male professor to New York City, where they are immersed in the Bohemian life of movies, art galleries, and bookstores. It's a great trip—until Paul's professor makes a pass at him. Eventually, Paul and Lucie end up living together in a small, run-down apartment. Rabadiati masterfully presents these vignettes with innocence and artistic flare, giving teens a gentle glimpse of what the future may hold for them.
Paul Moves Out. Drawn and Quarterly. 2005. $19.95. ISBN 1-896597-87-4. Gr 10 and up.
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<td class="table" bgcolor="#eeeeee">Author Information</td></tr>
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<td class="table">Steve Weiner is director of the Maynard Public Library in Massachusetts. He is coauthor (along with N.C. Christopher Couch of The Will Eisner Companion (DC Comics, 2004).</td></tr></tbody></table>