We all deal with heartbreak in our own ways. Some people eat, some write poetry, and some smash things they may or may not regret smashing later. In the case of writer and artist Lisa Maas, she turned hers into the new graphic novel Forward (paperback). Though in asking her questions about it for the following interview, she also noted that it was inspired by other people’s stories of love.
Writers often consult professionals in other fields to make sure they’re getting things right. Mystery writers, for example, will sometimes talk to cops, detectives, or FBI agents. But in the new science fiction graphic novel Legend Of Sumeria (hardcover, paperback) by Jay Webb and Biju Parekkadan, PHD, it was actually the doc who was asking for advice.
Though it had flaws which kept it from being DC’s answer to Marvel’s Avengers, the super hero team-up movie Justice League did end up being a halfway decent superhero action flick. Not surprisingly, the home version — which is available as a Blu-ray, DVD, digital combo pack; a 3D Blu-ray, DVD, digital combo pack; a 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, digital combo pack; and on DVD — also ends up being fun but flawed. Or maybe that should be flawed but fun.
Ever since Marvel Studios began their box office hot streak with 2008’s Iron Man, some so-called “serious” film fans and critics have lamented that these movies are nothing more than cinematic popcorn, devoid of any real substance. But that’s the last thing they’ll be able to say about Black Panther, which is not only the most serious Marvel movie to date, but the most socially-conscious and thought-provoking as well.
For the last two years I’ve kept a log of all the good books I read, regardless of when they were originally published. You can read my 2015 list by clicking here, and 2016’s by clicking here.
And since I’m nothing if not predictable, I decided to repeat this process for 2017.
So, here’s a look at the best novels, short story collections, and other books I read in 2017.
We always like to talk about the innocence of children. But in the new graphic novel 4 Kids Walk Into A Bank (paperback, Kindle) by writer Matthew Rosenberg (Kingpin: Born Against) and artist Tyler Boss, the kids aren’t strolling into a financial institution to use the restroom or find their mommies; they’re looking to rob the place. Though in talking to Rosenberg about this comic collection, he revealed that this story didn’t actually start with the kiddies.
In her first graphic novel, Blue Is The Warmest Color (Le Bleu Est une Couleur Chaude), writer and artist Julie Maroh told a coming-of-age love story about two women that took place over the course of a fourteen-year period. But while her newest graphic novel, Body Music (paperback, Kindle), is also set in the romantic realm, as she explains in the following email interview, this time she’s exploring the diversity of those feelings through a series of vignettes.
In 2012, writer Skip Brittenham and artist Brian Haberlin took sci-fi comics into a different realm by not only publishing the book Anomaly with a cinematic horizontal landscape format, but by also including interactive elements and an App to show how the comic was made. It’s territory they’re exploring again with Anomaly The Rubicon (hardcover), a sequel that not only utilizes the same format and behind-the-scenes interactivity, but a pinball game as well.
In his 2012 graphic novel Such A Lovely Little War: Saigon 1961-63 (paperback, digital), writer and artist Marcelino Truong recounted what it was like to be a kid in Vietnam in the early days of the Vietnam war. It’s a compelling story that continued in his 2015 graphic novel Saigon Calling: London 1963-75 (paperback, digital), which is now being released in English in the U.S.