Category: Graphic Novels

The Color Of Always edited by Brent Fisher & Michele Abounader

An LGBTQIA+ Love Anthology. While all anthologies can be hit and miss, comics collections tend to be more so, I feel, as it’s a more complicated medium to synthesize into one cohesive collection. This is, ofc, due in large part to the visual aspect making it immediately obvious if things aren’t meshing. Thematically, this book …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2023/07/20/the-color-of-always-edited-by-brent-fisher-michele-abounader/

John Tiffany Vol. 1 by Stephen Desberg & Dan Panosian

Every time I see a square-jawed black-haired white dude with a five o’clock shadow in comics, I immediately think Jon Hamm. Is that weird? Our book’s namesake hero is another Jo(h)n. John Tiffany is a very successful bounty hunter whose inner circle consists of only four people. First there’s Dorothy, his right hand woman, whose …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2023/07/18/john-tiffany-vol-1-by-stephen-desberg-dan-panosian/

The Facts Of Life by Paula Knight

Did I look at the fact that Doug and I had just featured five books in a row by men before deliberately picking up this graphic novel created by a woman to read and review? Darn right I did. Bonus for it coming in my recent shipment of sale books from Penn State University Press. …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2023/07/06/the-facts-of-life-by-paula-knight/

Strangers In Paradise: Vol I by Terry Moore

It’s been almost thirty years since I first saw this title and wanted to read it. I’m so glad I finally got the chance, even if it has been decades since it first came out! But mixed in with the glee of long anticipation is a note of dissonance. Even while I was reading this, …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2023/06/23/strangers-in-paradise-vol-i-by-terry-moore/

The Love Report by BeKa & Maya

Secondary schoolgirls Grace and Lola are bffs, united by many things but, most recently, by an utter bafflement as to the meaning, if not outright point, of love. In an effort to figure it all out, they begin a project called The Love Report, filling out a notebook with observations of people in love at …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2023/06/20/the-love-report-by-beka-maya/

The Nightmare Brigade #3: Finding Alice by Franck Thilliez, Yomgui Dumont & Drac

I really admire how well each of the books in this engrossing urban fantasy series lead in to one another. In this volume, Esteban, Tristan and Sarah, a.k.a the intrepid explorers of the Nightmare Brigade, are finally ready to plunge into the sleeping mind of Leonard, one of the Clinic’s most difficult patients. They’re going …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2023/06/16/the-nightmare-brigade-3-finding-alice-by-franck-thilliez-yomgui-dumont-drac/

Constellations by Kate Glasheen

My only regret is that the ARC I received of this wasn’t completely in color. This is understandable — graphic novels ain’t cheap! — but I was so in love in with the illustrations on the few pages that were full-color glossy that I know I lost a little bit of the story’s impact by …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2023/06/13/constellations-by-kate-glasheen/

Owl And Penguin: Best Day Ever by Vikram Madan

Do y’all have any books that you immediately whip out when you want to soothe your young readers? Maybe your kid is having a bad day and just needs some cheerful illustrations and easy text to take their mind off things. Or maybe you want to sneakily show them how sometimes the best way to …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2023/06/09/owl-and-penguin-best-day-ever-by-vikram-madan/

The Good Asian — Deluxe Edition Vol. 1: 1936 by Pornsak Pichetshote & Alexandre Tefengki

with colors by Lee Loughridge and letters by Jeff Powell. Most forewords don’t do a whole lot to adequately contextualize the books they’re introducing, but David Choe absolutely hits it out of the park with his no-holds-barred examination of what it meant to be a Good Asian in the West in the 20th century. In …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2023/06/06/the-good-asian-deluxe-edition-vol-1-1936-by-pornsak-pichetshote-alexandre-tefengki/

Ava’s Demon, Book One: Reborn by Michelle Fus

The hallmark of a great graphic novel is that even in the wordless panels, you can still hear precisely what’s going on. There’s a big, climactic battle scene near the end of this book that’s entirely devoid of the written word, yet I could hear every single thing that was happening and to loud, orchestral …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2023/05/30/avas-demon-book-one-reborn-by-michelle-fus/