Graphic Novel – Page 17 – Cannonball Read 17

The 80s were a magical time for dystopian near-future fiction

V for Vendetta by Alan Moore and David Lloyd

February 6, 2022 by KimMiE" 4 Comments

“I’m thinking of taking my family and getting out of this country soon, sometime over the next couple of years. It’s cold and it’s mean-spirited, and I don’t like it here anymore.” Surprisingly, the above quotation does not come from V for Vendetta, but from Alan Moore’s 1988 introduction to the graphic novel for the original DC Comics run. At the time, Margaret Thatcher was entering her third term as Prime Minster of the U.K., and Moore was despairing about, among other things, the treatment of […]

January 2022 Leftovers

Hit Parade by Lawrence Block

Sex Criminals, Volume 1: One Weird Trick by Matt Fraction, Chip Zdarsky

Devils In Exile by Chuck Hogan

Ex Machina, The Deluxe Edition: Vol. 2 by Brian K. Vaughan

A Trick of the Light by Louise Penny

Munich by Robert Harris

Shella by Andrew Vachss

Blitzed: Drugs in the Third Reich by Norman Ohler

The Accomplice by Lisa Lutz

No One Will Miss Her by Kat Rosenfeld

The Man in the Brown Suit by Agatha Christie

The Second Sleep by Robert Harris

February 2, 2022 by Jake Leave a Comment

My resolution for Cannonball Read in 2022 is to only write reviews where I feel like I have much to say and then dump the others in a singular post at the end of the month to track how much I’ve read. This’ll spare me from writing 250+ words about books that I can’t even think of a hundred for. So… Hit Parade **** I enjoy these books and while this is the one I maybe enjoyed the least (did EVERY story need cutaway conversations with […]

A Worthy Prequel to Bone

Rose by Jeff Smith and Charles Vess

January 25, 2022 by GentleRain Leave a Comment

Wrapping up my Bone series re-read with the prequel graphic novel, Rose. This is written by Jeff Smith but illustrated by Charles Vess, so you’re not getting Jeff Smith’s cartoony style here, despite the misleading cover. Instead, you get Vess’s beautiful full-painted art, which is unfortunately a little squashed and hard to make out the fine details in the edition I got. I think it would have been better served by a full trade binding, but I ended up with a library edition with a “Kidproof Cover,” […]

“It’s Not My Place to Patrol Your Life:” Queer SF Romance Strikes Again

Curveball by Jeremy Sorese

January 20, 2022 by GentleRain Leave a Comment

After how much I enjoyed The Short While, I figured I should get Jeremy Sorese’s first graphic novel, Curveball. This is also a science fiction queer romance set in a near-future type setting, but it felt less assured than The Short While and I found it a bit harder to follow. Curveball follows Avery and their friend/roommate Jacqueline, who live in a city where there is an energy crisis and a war happening. Avery is a waiter who is having a hard time at their job on […]

“The best worldbuilding doesn’t show the seams.”

Finder: Chase the Lady by Carla Speed McNeil

January 13, 2022 by GentleRain Leave a Comment

Carla Speed McNeil’s Finder series is one of those series where I bring it up to people and they stare at me blankly. It is one of the best pieces of near-future alternate universe science fiction worldbuilding and storytelling out there and it feels like a precious secret, which is frustrating considering how amazing these books are, and how long they’ve been coming out (26 years). It feels like these should be as critically well-regarded as Bone, which came out around the same time and is similarly […]

A Masterpiece of Graphic Storytelling

Bone by Jeff Smith

January 12, 2022 by GentleRain Leave a Comment

What can even be said about Bone that scholars and fans already haven’t said? It helped pave the way for the current middle-grade/YA graphic novel boom, it’s a beautiful masterpiece of long-form storytelling, it was completely self-published, it’s won every award….Bone is a testament to artistic effort and cartooning on the highest level. Personally I love it and have a long history with it. We had this same one-volume edition when I was younger and I reread it several times when I was in the most intense stage […]

Zirza on A Gothic Classic for a ReasonIt's one of those wish-you-could-read-it-again-for-the-first-time books. I loved it.
Emmalita on “It came to something when you found yourself hoping that the footsteps you heard were ghosts.”I loved the ending! I don’t think it’s been out long enough to talk about why though.
Dixie on Track Her Down by Melinda LeighI am just starting Track Her Down and I have read them all in order till now and thought I...
Roland of Gilead on How can you give us the gift of a crazy character named Rando Thoughtful and then just as suddenly take that gift away? We need to talk, Uncle Stevie.I came across this randomly years after it was written because I was searching "Random Thoughtful. But I have the...
Emmalita on “Only you, Em, would refer to heartbreak as a distraction. I think I would have a more sympathetic response if I asked to marry a bookcase.”Oh my goodness, Gallifrey was beautiful. I’m sure her mittens were gloriously murdery.

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