Postmodern storytelling, that eclectic mixing of genres that characterises so much modern narrative activity, can really pay off in the right dividends. Far from being gimmicky, adroit bringing together of seemingly disparate elements can work spectacularly well as novel Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree made hilariously and affectingly clear Continue Reading
Graphic novel
Graphic novel review: The Stuff of Legend: Book 1 – The Dark by Mike Raicht & Brian Smith (illustrations by Charles Paul Wilson III)
We have grown accustomed through Pixar’s Toy Story franchise to the appealing idea that childhood is largely and wondrously trouble-free. That’s not to say that Andy and later Bonnie don’t go through some emotionally troubling experiences; they definitely do and it informs and propels the narratives in all four of Continue Reading
Graphic novel review: Twig by Skottie Young and Kyle Strahm
Saving the world is a big job. A huge amount is resting on whomever the protagonist happens to be – the fate of all life, time itself often and existential everything – and the one thing you don’t want to be on your first day saving whatever your world happens Continue Reading
Graphic novel review: Wynd Book Two – The Secret of the Wings by James Tynion IV (writer) and Michael Dialynas (artist)
Fantasies always seem to convey, by some intangible sensibility woven into the word, the idea of limitless, epic adventure where anything can happen, anyone can exist and the world can be anything and everything. They are a feast for the imagination and that’s why they are seductive for so many Continue Reading
Graphic novel review: Low (Vol. 2 – 4) by Remender, Tocchini, McCaig
Hope is usually not something in plentiful supply at the end of the world. Or if the superlative storytelling in Low by Rick Remender (writer) and Greg Tocchini (artist) with colours by Dave McCaig is to be believed, for quite a few millennia afterwards. In the long-running graphic novel series, Continue Reading
Graphic novel review: The Me You Love in the Dark by Skottie Young and Jorge Corona
Halloween is a lot of things, scary, dark and horrifying well among them. The Me You Love in the Dark by Skottie Young (I HATE FAIRYLAND) and Jorge Corona (NO. 1 WITH A BULLET) embraces all those tantalising terrific elements, and much more, in a seductively disturbing tale of what Continue Reading
Graphic novel review: The Heartstopper Yearbook by Alice Oseman
SNAPSHOTNow an acclaimed live-action Netflix series! Boy meets boy. Boys become friends. Boys fall in love. This joyful trip into the LGBTQ+ world of Heartstopper is the perfect gift for anyone who loves the graphic novels or Netflix TV series – from Alice Oseman, bestselling author and winner of the Continue Reading
Graphic novel review: Buckhead by Shobo Coker and George Kambadais
We demand a lot from our storytelling. Not consciously of course (some notable extremes of fandom aside), but somewhere in that liminal space where unexamined thought and emotional need intersect, we crave a story that will enliven our sometimes dreary lives, that will seem inexpressively epic but accessibly intimate, and Continue Reading
Upending the fairytale! BRIAR wonders what might happen if Sleeping Beauty had to save herself?
SNAPSHOTBRIAR [is] a brand new four-issue limited comic book series from Eisner Award-nominated writer, producer, and director Christopher Cantwell (Regarding the Matter of Oswald’s Body, Iron Man, Halt and Catch Fire), rising artist Germán García (Ka-Zar: Lord of the Savage Land), and colorist Matheus Lopes (Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow) that Continue Reading
Graphic novel review: Wynd Book One – Flight Of The Prince by James Tynion IV (writer) and Michael Dialynas (artist)
The idea of being home, of having a home – and not just the physical dwelling but the intangibly ephemeral emotional sense of belonging t00 – is so universal that it’s taken as a given that everyone has one. But not everyone does; for a whole host of reasons, people Continue Reading