It seems like I've been reviewing a lot of graphic novels lately, but Girl Genius should be the last one for awhile ^_~ And to be honest, it's only kind of a graphic novel. I read it as a webcomic, but it was originally published in graphic novel form and I'd love to get my hands on the volumes at some point.
Overview
Our story takes place in an alternate universe Europe where the clothing is vaguely Victorian and the technology is Frankenstein meets Jules Verne. Political power rests in the hands of Sparks, people of extraordinary genius who invent, build and control all of the world's technology (some of which involves biological constructs and completely new races).
In a time briefly before the story begins, Europe was more or less united under the Heterodyne Boys, a pair of adventurous brothers who attained fortune and saved the world at least a couple of times before apparently disappearing, leaving behind fame and a set of legends to rival King Arthur.
The prominence of these enigmatic figures leaves no doubt that they and their legacy will be very important in the story, so it's no surprise to find that our bumbling young heroine Agatha is connected to the Heterodynes. This discovery launches her on a crazy course of adventure, excitement, romance and intrigue.
Recommended for: Adventure, fantasy and comic book fans ^_^ I recommend reading only the completed volumes, because reading the story one page at a time is a little excruciating and tends to highlight weaknesses in the art style. (I don't follow this advice myself, however; every Monday, Wednesday and Friday morning finds me obsessively checking the newest page before leaving for work ^_~ )
Parental Warnings: I think the comic is deliberately written at about the PG-13 level. There's plenty of innuendo, a bit of running around in underwear and the occasional 'suggestive' scene along with a hearty (but not excessive) helping of violence.
Ramblings: (Spoiler Threat: Very Low)
I was skeptical of this comic at first--the art style takes a little time to grow on you and the first volume isn't colored, which makes things a bit cluttered. But it didn't take long for me to become completely hooked. The world of Girl Genius is complex, well-fashioned and just familiar enough to tantalize the imagination. The characters are lovable and hilarious, the dialogue is witty and the plot is engaging and rich.
If it sounds like I'm trying to sell something :-p maybe I am. This is the kind of story I'd love to see as a movie or tv series at some point--the comic's pacing and flow makes it seem a natural fit.
But since this is a review, I've got to fit some critiques in here somewhere. Possibly the biggest drawback is the art. It's very effective at illustrating the story and getting its point across, but every now and then the characters are drawn strangely--not very . . . pretty? appealing? I'm not good with art, so that's about the best I can do, sorry :-p
Another drawback is that many of the characters are just barely on the sane side of genius and occasionally make brief forays onto the other side. The mad scientist element is intentional and part of the fun, but sometimes instead of 'mad scientist' the impression is forced and comes off as merely bipolar or hyperdramatic.
But even with these drawbacks, it's still an excelent comic. I highly recommend reading it, and since it's free and available online you have no excuse not to :-p
Labels: adventure, graphic novel, humor
A couple of years ago this graphic novel was made into a movie starring Hugh Jackman and Rachel Weisz. I didn't bother seeing the movie when it came out 'cause it looked like the weirdness would outweigh the starpower, but I wasn't quite right. Turns out it's visually stunning, the acting is quite good (insofar as I'm any judge) and although the plot is just as weird as promised, it makes just enough sense to be really good. Good enough that I jumped at the opportunity to read the original graphic novel.
Overview
The plot consists of three different arcs that seem completely random but are eventually all connected. The three stories interweave and float around in time, so you have to wait until halfway through to start piecing things together. The 'central' story takes place in the present, where Tommy Creo, a research oncologist, is racing the clock to find a cure for his wife Izzy's brain cancer. He finds hope in a strange compound from a tree in Central America that promises to have remarkable abilities. Several hundred years earlier, conquistador Tomas Verde, on a mission from his Queen to find the Tree of Life, attacks a Mayan temple in the hope of reaching his goal. And finally, in the year 2463 a man named Tom floats through space in a golden globe on his way to the dying star Xibalba, accompanied by a giant gnarled tree and the ghosts of his past. (Xibalba is the Mayan underworld, and the Mayans actually identified a particular star as the location of their underworld. Turns out it's a dying star :-p Interesting coincidence, huh?)
Surprise surprise, in the movie all three Toms are played by Hugh Jackman, although it took me awhile to recognize him under the Conquistador's beard and the space traveler's shaved head.
Recommended for: I'd recommend the movie to anyone (with the warning that it does require a bit of thought, not a mindless fun flick), but the graphic novel . . . only to artsy types or graphic novel enthusiasts. The art style is so very stylized that it manages to make the story even harder to understand, and I enjoyed the movie much more.
Parental Warnings: Plenty of nudity and an intimate scene or two. The movie is rated PG-13, but it puts clothes on all the nekkid people.
Ramblings (Spoiler Threat: Low)
I am not a fan of the art style in the graphic novel. I'm sure this just shows how uncultured I am, because it's probably supposed to be new and groundbreaking and enlightened, but to me it just looks unpolished and ugly. Having said that, I really like the story. The basic theme is the acceptance of death, and that death is only a path to immortality. This startlingly Christian theme is presented in a secular setting, with no trappings of religion other than those of the long-past Mayans. (Actually, it may be just generically religious/spiritual, more than Christian--I still prefer it to the materialistic, nihilistic vein of so much modern stuff.)
One of the differences between the movie and the graphic novel that sticks out to me is in the characterization of Tomas Verde's Queen Isabel. In both versions she eventually sends her Captain off to find the Tree of Life in an attempt to gain power over the dark forces of the Spanish Inquisition. However, in the graphic novel she originally questions the wisdom of such a move, mentioning that it is a heresy to attempt to gain eternal life. In the movie (if I remember correctly) the head inquisitor makes this point. That's an important switch. It's a valid point, in line with the main theme of the story, and yet putting it in the mouth of the grand inquisitor instead of the queen automatically turns it to ash, because the man liberally uses the accusation of heresy to justify torture and murder. Difference #2 is that while the movie only gives glimpses of the relationship between the Queen and her Captain, allowing the viewer (if they wish) to assume a chaste, courtly love between the two, the graphic novel leaves no room for such naive illusions. This bugs me, not only because I happen to like my naive illusions on this score, but because it presents two conflicting versions of the Queen. Either she's an intelligent ruler who recognizes and tries to avoid heresy when she sees it but is also involved in a sinful and scandalous affair, or she's a chaste but power-hungry and vapid ruler. >_< Why'd they have to split it like that?
Labels: graphic novel, romance, scifi
I'd been meaning to read this graphic novel for years, but I wasn't smart enough to borrow it while it was in easy reach. Now that the movie is in the making though, I decided to stop stalling. Luckily the Baltimore County Library system has very good inter-branch loan service. (I'd never thought of libraries as a place to get graphic novels, but it turns out that half the books I'm checking out these days are comics)
Overview
In a world where masked vigilantes and avengers are fairly common, but neither super nor heroes, what happens when a true superhuman appears? That's the basic premise of the novel, following the careers of masked crusaders and the creation of a superhuman semi-deity whose very existence threatens to throw the world into chaos. There's also a lot of psychological analysis, because normal people who are willing to dress up in costumes and wander around getting into fights have got to be interesting psych cases of some kind. You spend half the novel trying to figure out what the heck has been going on for the past 50 years because it starts mid-story and offers bits and pieces as it goes along. And don't let the term 'graphic novel' lure you into thinking this is a quick read. The comic is extremely text-intensive, and there's full-text sections sandwiched in every now and then. There's good reason why it's the only graphic novel to appear on one of Time Magazine's lists of "the 100 best English-language novels".
(well, good reason for it to be credibly considered a novel and a work of literature, but I can't really agree with Time that it deserves to be considered in the top 100)
Recommended for: Comic book and superhero fans, or anyone impatient for the movie.
Parental Worries: Sex and violence, used in many unusually disturbing ways.
Ramblings (Spoiler Threat: Low)
My overriding association with the term 'watchmen' will always be the Discworld group, so I was assuming that the title Watchmen referred to the law and order, Quis custodiet ipsos custodes type of thing. Then I watched the movie trailer, and a couple of scenes had gears and other assorted machinery floating around. So I thought 'wait, maybe it's watch men, as in timekeeping'. In a fairly masterful sweep though, the story actually brings in almost every possible meaning of the word: the enforcers, the watchers, the watchmaker, and even the Watchmaker, in the origins-of-the-universe sense.
If you haven't noticed by now, I tend to favor happy endings, or at least endings where the heroes triumph and the world is saved, even if there's tragedy involved as well. But this ending is really weird: the heroes lose, the villian wins, and the world is . . .well, saved, but only for a given value of saved. This isn't as much of a spoiler as it sounds, 'cause it's sometimes hard to tell who's a villian and who's a hero.
Overall, I liked Watchmen, but nowhere near as much as I thought I would. It's one of those morally ambiguous, "we can't really change things because humans are just a rotten bunch" type of stories, but although I can recognize both good storytelling and a decent study in abnormal psychology, that doesn't mean I have to buy the worldview.
Overview
In a world where masked vigilantes and avengers are fairly common, but neither super nor heroes, what happens when a true superhuman appears? That's the basic premise of the novel, following the careers of masked crusaders and the creation of a superhuman semi-deity whose very existence threatens to throw the world into chaos. There's also a lot of psychological analysis, because normal people who are willing to dress up in costumes and wander around getting into fights have got to be interesting psych cases of some kind. You spend half the novel trying to figure out what the heck has been going on for the past 50 years because it starts mid-story and offers bits and pieces as it goes along. And don't let the term 'graphic novel' lure you into thinking this is a quick read. The comic is extremely text-intensive, and there's full-text sections sandwiched in every now and then. There's good reason why it's the only graphic novel to appear on one of Time Magazine's lists of "the 100 best English-language novels".
(well, good reason for it to be credibly considered a novel and a work of literature, but I can't really agree with Time that it deserves to be considered in the top 100)
Recommended for: Comic book and superhero fans, or anyone impatient for the movie.
Parental Worries: Sex and violence, used in many unusually disturbing ways.
Ramblings (Spoiler Threat: Low)
My overriding association with the term 'watchmen' will always be the Discworld group, so I was assuming that the title Watchmen referred to the law and order, Quis custodiet ipsos custodes type of thing. Then I watched the movie trailer, and a couple of scenes had gears and other assorted machinery floating around. So I thought 'wait, maybe it's watch men, as in timekeeping'. In a fairly masterful sweep though, the story actually brings in almost every possible meaning of the word: the enforcers, the watchers, the watchmaker, and even the Watchmaker, in the origins-of-the-universe sense.
If you haven't noticed by now, I tend to favor happy endings, or at least endings where the heroes triumph and the world is saved, even if there's tragedy involved as well. But this ending is really weird: the heroes lose, the villian wins, and the world is . . .well, saved, but only for a given value of saved. This isn't as much of a spoiler as it sounds, 'cause it's sometimes hard to tell who's a villian and who's a hero.
Overall, I liked Watchmen, but nowhere near as much as I thought I would. It's one of those morally ambiguous, "we can't really change things because humans are just a rotten bunch" type of stories, but although I can recognize both good storytelling and a decent study in abnormal psychology, that doesn't mean I have to buy the worldview.
Labels: graphic novel
This isn't actually a book, it's a manga series. Manga is one of my guilty pleasures, although I don't read as much now as I did in high school and college. It's expensive, addicting, and nerdy by definition, but it's also a lot of fun, as long as you pick your titles wisely. There's a wide range of quality in the world of manga, and as it becomes more popular in the US, providers are translating anything and everything they can get their hands on.
Overview
W Juliet is, as you can probably guess, a romance story. However, the hook is that it also falls into the sub-genre of 'gender-bender' romance, which is fairly popular among manga fans. We're not talking homo- or transsexuals here, but more of a Twelfth Night variety of humor. Your typical story in this vein has a girl starting high school diguised as a guy in order to join a sports team/cover for a relative/stay with a close friend. Shenanigans ensue; everyone has a lot of fun, except for the poor guy who falls in love with the main character and cannot understand why he's suddenly and very selectively become gay.W Juliet varies from the formula because this time it's the guy who has to make it through high school as a girl. This sounds like a bad idea at first; a girl can dress like a guy in order to accomplish something and still keep her femininity, but a guy dressing like a girl is probably slightly confused, right? Not so for Makoto. He wants to be an actor, but his strict, traditional father wants him to take over the family business (a martial arts dojo). They strike a deal--if Makoto can make it through high school as a girl without anyone finding out the truth, then Father will recognize his ability and allow him to follow his dream. It turns out that Makoto really is a good actor, and his school is thrilled with their beautiful new student.
Oh, but it isn't enough to have one cross-dresser! Enter Ito Miura, the school tomboy. Okay, so she's not actually pretending to be a boy, but she's tall with short hair, and she prefers the boy's uniform to a short little skirt that won't let her run around. All of this turns into a bit of confusion on the part of strangers, and lands her the male lead in many of the drama club's productions. Since she also wants to be an actor, it's natural that she makes friends with Makoto. It's also natural that when Makoto's changing into her costume for the next act, Ito has no compunction about wandering into the dressing room. Whoops.
So the whole story comes out, and Ito becomes part of the conspiracy. The rest of the series consists of Ito and Makoto falling in love and trying to keep Makoto's secret from the rest of the school. It's great fun, and alternatively sweet and hilariously funny. I haven't actually finished the series yet, but I think I'm only one volume away.
Recommended for: Girls and manga fans
Parental Worries: None so far. The two are remarkably well-behaved, considering that their family and friends don't think twice about them sharing a room for the night. This is the type of manga where a girl gets flustered and nervous about hugs and her first kiss, and that's about as far as they go. (again, I haven't read the last volume, but I'm not expecting any surprises)
Oh, but it isn't enough to have one cross-dresser! Enter Ito Miura, the school tomboy. Okay, so she's not actually pretending to be a boy, but she's tall with short hair, and she prefers the boy's uniform to a short little skirt that won't let her run around. All of this turns into a bit of confusion on the part of strangers, and lands her the male lead in many of the drama club's productions. Since she also wants to be an actor, it's natural that she makes friends with Makoto. It's also natural that when Makoto's changing into her costume for the next act, Ito has no compunction about wandering into the dressing room. Whoops.
So the whole story comes out, and Ito becomes part of the conspiracy. The rest of the series consists of Ito and Makoto falling in love and trying to keep Makoto's secret from the rest of the school. It's great fun, and alternatively sweet and hilariously funny. I haven't actually finished the series yet, but I think I'm only one volume away.
Recommended for: Girls and manga fans
Parental Worries: None so far. The two are remarkably well-behaved, considering that their family and friends don't think twice about them sharing a room for the night. This is the type of manga where a girl gets flustered and nervous about hugs and her first kiss, and that's about as far as they go. (again, I haven't read the last volume, but I'm not expecting any surprises)
Ramblings
When I first started reading this series, I was kind of thrown off by the crazy gender switching and characterization. Ito looked like a boy (not even a particularly pretty boy) and Makoto was rather feminine. I honestly wondered a little what the two saw in each other. As the series develops though, we get to see more of Makoto not acting like a girl, (it's really a stunning change, he's a handsome guy) and Ito getting coerced into dresses and kimonos that show off her truly striking beauty. This development was something I really liked about the series; anime and manga characters (especially romantic couples) are usually designed to be 100% aesthetically appealing, so it was refreshing to have a bit of discord at first. (I may be giving the artist a little too much credit here, the changes in character design could be the result of polishing and refining the manga's art style, but it produces the same result either way.)
Another thing I really enjoy is that the actual relationship between the two is very real, and very healthy. This isn't a pair of emotionally dysfunctional kids clinging to each other for protection against the big bad world and trying to fill the holes in each others lives; there's more joy and less angst than in any other love story I can think of. There's still a bit of angst, or it wouldn't be much of a story, but it's kept to a minimum--most of the conflict comes from outside forces and extraordinary events. In fact, there's a surprising amount of action for a high school romance that isn't based around superheroes or magic. (This isn't to say that some of their adventures don't take a turn into the supernatural, but they're just amusing sidelines, not significant plot drivers) It turns out that Ito's family also runs a dojo, so when rival clubs or hired thugs try strong-arm tactics, the two heroes are fully capable of kicking ass.
The supporting cast is also lots of fun; between crazy schoolmates, crazy teachers and Ito's four overprotective brothers, there's always something going on. I can't wait to get my hands on the last volume. ^_^
When I first started reading this series, I was kind of thrown off by the crazy gender switching and characterization. Ito looked like a boy (not even a particularly pretty boy) and Makoto was rather feminine. I honestly wondered a little what the two saw in each other. As the series develops though, we get to see more of Makoto not acting like a girl, (it's really a stunning change, he's a handsome guy) and Ito getting coerced into dresses and kimonos that show off her truly striking beauty. This development was something I really liked about the series; anime and manga characters (especially romantic couples) are usually designed to be 100% aesthetically appealing, so it was refreshing to have a bit of discord at first. (I may be giving the artist a little too much credit here, the changes in character design could be the result of polishing and refining the manga's art style, but it produces the same result either way.)
Another thing I really enjoy is that the actual relationship between the two is very real, and very healthy. This isn't a pair of emotionally dysfunctional kids clinging to each other for protection against the big bad world and trying to fill the holes in each others lives; there's more joy and less angst than in any other love story I can think of. There's still a bit of angst, or it wouldn't be much of a story, but it's kept to a minimum--most of the conflict comes from outside forces and extraordinary events. In fact, there's a surprising amount of action for a high school romance that isn't based around superheroes or magic. (This isn't to say that some of their adventures don't take a turn into the supernatural, but they're just amusing sidelines, not significant plot drivers) It turns out that Ito's family also runs a dojo, so when rival clubs or hired thugs try strong-arm tactics, the two heroes are fully capable of kicking ass.
The supporting cast is also lots of fun; between crazy schoolmates, crazy teachers and Ito's four overprotective brothers, there's always something going on. I can't wait to get my hands on the last volume. ^_^
Labels: graphic novel, romance
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