Book Review: Gotham Academy vol. 1: Welcome to Gotham Academy

Title: Gotham Academy, Vol. 1: Welcome to Gotham Academy

Authors: Becky Cloonan, Brenden Fletcher, and Karl Kerschl

Rating: ☕ ☕ ☕ (3)

First off, the art is great. The background art is fantastic and the color pallet is perfect; it really makes Gotham Academy look and feel like a creepy Gothic castle. However, I just wasn’t feeling it. The story felt like the Batman version of Scooby Doo, only without the dog (although there is a killer Croc). The series takes place within Gotham Academy, a boarding school that is funded by the Wayne Foundation. The main character is Olive Silverlock (who, incidentally, has silver hair), due to a mysterious incident over the summer she has become withdrawn, breaks up with her boyfriend, and avoids her once close friends. She also has a grudge against Batman, and to be honest, he’s not doing much to try to win her over. While all this is happening, there are reports of a ghost haunting the school. Olive is skeptical but is eventually roped in to the investigation by her ex’s little sister Maps.

If the intended audience was children, then I think the writers hit the mark. It’s a good series to get kids into the Batman universe without all the gratuitous violence and adult drama. I’m interested to see where the story goes because there is potential there, but I’m worried it’s going to become a story about a bunch of meddling kids unmasking fake monsters.  

Book Review: Batgirl Vol. 1: The Batgirl of Burnside

Title: Batgirl Vol. 1: The Batgirl of Burnside

Author: Cameron Stewart and Brenden Fletcher

Artist: Babs Tarr 

Rating: ☕ ☕ ☕ (3)

Geez, I’ve been reading a lot of comics and graphic novels lately. I was given the opportunity to read the “soft” reboot of my favorite Batgirl, Barbara Gordon. This version has Barbara moving to Burnside for a fresh start as she pursues her PhD. It’s been three years since her spinal injury, but she’s back to her crime fighting ways and ready to take on the city. I was looking forward to reading this collection because it was rumored to have a lighter tone compared to Gail Simone’s New #52 Batgirl series. I loved Simone’s work but it was a little too serious for my daughter, so this seemed like a somewhat age appropriate way to introduce her to Barbara Gordon.

I wanted to love this, I really did, but somehow it just fell flat for me. This was indeed a “lighter” storyline and, aside from a few panels, I would feel comfortable handing it over to my daughter to read. The art was fun and colorful. I really liked Batgirl’s motorcycle jacket-style costume, it was practical, functional, and definitely more realistic than some of the other superhero costumes out there.

Since this the first volume, there isn’t much character development for the new supporting characters, but I already love Barbara’s research assistant Nadimah Ali. In some ways Barbara is still recovering from her injuries. In a fight, sometimes she is slow to react, and while I appreciate that the writers aren’t automatically showing her in top form, I also feel she is missing the emotional side of her recovery.  I also liked how they used social media in the storyline, it was almost a character in its own right. The writers did well showing all the great things that can be achieved with social media and coding, but they also show how dangerous this technology can be when it’s in the wrong hands. 

This reboot got off to an okay start, and I hope the story gets better as it progresses but I wouldn’t be surprised if it continues to fall flat. I love Barbara Gordon as Batgirl (and Oracle) so I hope we get to see more dimension in her character and the supporting characters.

**NetGalley provided me with an advance reader copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.**

Book Review: Are You My Mother?

Title: Are You My Mother?

Author: Alison Bechdel

Rating: ☕ ☕ ☕ (3)

Once again I picked a book based on the number of times it ended up on my shelving cart at work.  Though I am someone who enjoys reading both biographies and graphic novels, I rarely read graphic novel memoirs; not that there are many to choose from, and so I decided to give this one a shot. Admittedly, I hadn’t heard of author Alison Bechdel before I picked up this book, so I didn’t have any preconceived notions about her story telling style. And after reading Are You My Mother? I feel like I would have benefited from reading some of her non-autobiographical comics beforehand. 

The art in this book is wonderful. Bechdel manages to put so much detail into each panel without making it look cluttered or messy. I also love how she uses only gray and red for her color pallet, I felt that the red enhances the storytelling and adds an extra dimension to the relationship between the author and her mother, tying the past and the present together.   

Bechdel’s graphic memoir is an interesting blend of accounts of her memories and conversations with her mother and the dissection of those interactions with the help of her psychoanalyst over the course of many decades. I feel that in addition to the memoir, I was given a crash course in psychoanalysis, a field of study I have very little knowledge of outside of the basic Freudian theories I learned in Psych 100, which I took over 10 years ago. At the core though, is the complex relationship Bechdel has with her mother. The author often tries to explain the hows and whys of her complex feelings through the words of others, most prominently Virginia Woolf and psychoanalyst Donald Winnicott. 

Aside from the heady background material, I had a hard time relating to Bechdel and her need to pick apart every conversation, every dream, every action, etc.  I grew up in a very average family and I have a wonderfully uncomplicated relationship with my own Mom, so I had a hard time understanding the relationship between Bechdel and her mother. It seems that Bechdel was also puzzled about their relationship, which is probably why she decided to chronicle the journey to define what her mother is to her. By the end of the book, I felt like I learned more about Winnicott and the Mother-Daughter relationship than about her mother.

It took me a little longer to get through this compared to other graphic novels. Most of this was because of the citations from the many books on psychiatry and psychoanalysis. There were times when I had to stop and reread a passage because I wasn’t sure what I had just read. For some, I even looked up the original source material in order to gain some further insight. Overall I enjoyed reading it and gaining insight to Bechdel’s journey to find out what her mother means to her.  

Book Review: Phoebe and Her Unicorn

Title: Phoebe and Her Unicorn

Author: Dana Simpson

Rating: ☕ ☕ ☕ ☕ ☕  (5)

Let me tell you a story. Once upon a time there was a little girl who fell in love with the movie The Last Unicorn. Fast forward 20 odd years and the now grown-up girl shared this love with her own daughter. Her daughter was even more in love with the movie than her mother and had several t-shirts featuring the beautiful unicorn. This past Saturday was the first day of the Summer Reading Program at the library I work at, so I brought my kids in to sign up and pick out some books. My daughter, Nora, was wearing her favorite “Last Unicorn” shirt. One of the Children’s Librarians saw her shirt and gushed to the point of frightening my very very shy daughter. To smooth it over she told us about this new graphic novel she had just read, Phoebe and Her Unicorn by Dana Simpson. Nora has found her new favorite librarian.

After waiting patiently for my daughter to go to bed the other night, I snuck into her room and grabbed the book to read it for myself. I knew I was going to like it when I opened to the first page and saw that Peter S. Beagle, the author of The Last Unicorn, had penned the introduction. At that point I was sold before even reading the first panel. After some mild internal fangirl screaming, I started reading.

The story begins with Phoebe skipping stones on a pond. One of those stones strikes Marigold Heavenly Nostrils the Unicorn on the head, freeing her from being held captive by her glorious reflection in the water – apparently this is a common problem for Unicorns. In return for saving her, Marigold offers to grant Phoebe any wish that is in her power to grant. Phoebe wishes that she and Marigold could be best friends, Marigold reluctantly grants her wish.

Marigold, like all Unicorns, knows that she is beautiful, intelligent, skilled….basically she’s perfect in every way. And she makes sure that Phoebe understands how amazing and wonderful she is. Phoebe knows that Marigold can do amazing things, but sometimes her attitude needs an adjustment, which Phoebe is more than happy to provide. Phoebe can be a little on the weird side, which baffles the perfect Marigold, but over time she grows to love her new friend, even if she is an ugly pink human.

To say I loved this is probably an understatement. Peter S. Beagle himself compared Phoebe and Marigold to Calvin & Hobbes, which in the beginning seemed like an overly ambitious statement. But after reading it, I can see why he came to that conclusion. The book is funny, sarcastic, and appeals to both children and their adults. There were plenty of moments where I would laugh out loud to the bewilderment of my husband. I can’t wait to read more of Phoebe and Marigold’s adventures! Lucky for me Nora, volume 2 was released on May 26th.

Book Review: Seconds

Title:  Seconds: A Graphic Novel

Author: Bryan Lee O’Malley

Rating: ☕ ☕ ☕ ☕ ☕ (5)

I pretty much picked this this book up on a whim at work last Tuesday.  I noticed it on the shelving cart and I was curious to see for myself what all the hype was about.  The lesson I've learned from this is that I should randomly pick books off the shelving cart more often. This book was amazing! I don’t usually gush over graphic novels (although I do love them) but “Seconds” was just so fantastic that I went back and reread it immediately – and then I read it a third time before I sat down to write this.

This is the first time I've read anything by Bryan Lee O’Malley. I had heard of him before and I know about his “Scott Pilgrim” series, but I didn't have enough time or interest to seek it out.  O’Malley’s “Seconds” is about a young chef named Katie who is going through a major transition from being an executive chef at a popular restaurant to being a restaurateur, and things aren’t going very well. With the construction delays, relationship issues, and other adult problems, Katie hasn’t figured out if she’s sinking or swimming. When an accident occurs in the kitchen one evening – due in part to Katie’s negligence -- she is given an opportunity to fix ONE mistake when a mysterious young woman leaves her some directions and a magic red mushroom. But why fix one mistake when you can fix them all? But she soon discovers that there is a price to pay when you ignore the rules.

What I really loved about this story was the different layers. Too many times in graphic novels the characters are one dimensional, predictable, and boring.  But Katie, she’s a three dimensional character, she’s flawed and that is great. She is selfish, single minded, and barely takes notice of the people and world outside of her personal bubble. But she is also a hard worker and dedicated to her craft and making her dreams come true. There were plenty of times when I wanted to reach into the book and knock some sense into her, and then the next page I was laughing at some sassy remark she made.  Although Katie is the center of the story, I also loved the quiet Hazel. The relationship between the two of them is so comical and really gives the reader more insight into how Katie’s mind works.

Now for the art, can’t write a review for a graphic novel without talking about the one thing that makes it a graphic novel.  Simply speaking, the art is great. I love how O’Malley drew Katie, she stood out, not so much that she didn't look like she belonged, but enough to where I knew she was the main character and the center of the story. The color pallet was full of bright, earthy colors and a lot of thought was put into how the background colors were used to emphasize the actions and emotions in the panels. My favorite panels were pages 182-185. Check them out, they’re beautiful.

I really can’t praise this work enough. It was so beautiful and I really related to Katie, I mean who wouldn't want to go back and fix your past mistakes. I also adored Hazel, and I think O’Malley should write a short about her because she’s just so sweet and I want to know more about her.

Should you read this? Absolutely!

Even if you aren't “in to” graphic novels or comics? Once again, absolutely.

Am I going to go out and buy this book after I return this copy to the library? You bet. I've already ordered it from the Book Depository.