Category Archives: First Second

Review: THE NAMELESS CITY by Faith Erin Hicks

Faith Erin Hicks Nameless City

“The Nameless City,” the new graphic novel by Faith Erin Hicks, published by First Second Books, is a fun and spirited adventure that is pretty breathtaking. Meet Kaidu, part of the Dao dynasty, and Rat, a “skral,” someone deemed less than human. The two of them could not be farther apart in the scheme of things. And yet they both end up crossing paths in the ancient Nameless City. If they listened to their elders, they would stay as far away from each other as possible. But sometimes you just have to break the rules.

Nameless City Faith Erin Hicks

Faith Erin Hicks is one of the most organized and precise cartoonists that I have come across, and determined too. That’s what I gather from doing some research and from just looking at her output, from her first attempts with her very first webcomic begun while still in high school, “Demonology 101,” (1999-2004) to right about when she fell on my radar with one of her more recent graphic novels, “The Adventures of Superhero Girl,” published by Dark Horse Comics in 2013, all the way to her current work. Looking at the artwork to this latest book, I marvel at how Hicks brings her characters to life. Her action scenes are totally believable. It feels like the characters literally jump from page to page.

Faith Erin Hicks First Second Books

Just take a look for yourself at the two page samples above. It has been said that a cartoonist may toil away for many hours only to have a reader spend mere seconds actually looking at the work. I don’t believe that really holds true when the art is of a certain caliber. When the art is a true visual treat, it can pull the reader in, make those scanning eyeballs slow down just a bit, cause the reader to go deeper. Much of what is going on in “The Nameless City” is a slowing down of time. The characters are caught in a cycle, one that has corrupted their logic and compromised their souls. Who wants to live in a nameless city, one forced to a fate of endless conquerers? The adults are living in a perpetual stupor. But the children yearn for more.

Hicks has been building up to this ambitious work. She has already created numerous graphic novels in her still young career. A story of this scope is remarkable for a cartoonist at any stage in their career. Hicks has honed her skills and picked up many lessons from her careful reading of manga. She includes among her favorite manga, “Monster,” by Osamu Kurosawa; and “Fullmetal Alchemist,” by Hiromu Arakawa. Well, her dedicated study has paid off. This is quite a sophisticated, accessible, and entertaining work.

“The Nameless City,” is a 240-page trade paperback available as of April 5th. For more details, visit MacMillan Publishers right here.

If you are in Seattle this Sunday, be sure to stop by and visit her at Emerald City Comicon at Booth I-04.

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Filed under Comics, Faith Erin Hicks, First Second

Review: MIKE’S PLACE, published by First Second

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Jack is a journalist in search of a story. It’s 2003 and Iraq is grabbing all the headlines. However, a set of circumstances finds him considering a story set in the Middle East that does not involve conflict. Enter Mike’s Place, a haven for the young and young-at-heart to unwind and enjoy good spirits and great rhythm and blues right off the beach in Tel Aviv. It will be a decidedly odd twist of fate that places Jack in what proves a most compelling story of conflict, and unbridled optimism.

Building upon their work on the documentary, “Blues by the Beach,” Jack Baxter and Joshua Faudem have taken what they placed on the screen and reworked it for the comics medium. Along with the thoughtful and energetic art of Koren Shadmi, you have a narrative that naturally flows with a life of its own. Shadmi has carefully developed believable characters that the reader hooks into. This is a story, as the cover makes clear, about a bombing. But not only about a bombing.

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With countless acts of violence and terror in the world, it can all seem a blur. As the characters in this story often say, you have to create your own way of coping amid terror. Throughout, the regulars at Mike’s Place are being interviewed for a documentary exploring the real Israel. One standout is Dominique, a beautiful and lively waitress. Her story, on and off camera, is pivotal. When asked about how she copes with bombings, she says that you need short-term memory as an “immune system.” You deal with it at the time and then move on. She proudly states, “That’s the Israeli way.”

But, how then do you make sense of it all if you’re constantly moving on? Well, you don’t completely forget. It seems that a story like the one about Mike’s Place becomes more powerful with each revisit. It seems that Baxter and Faudem had to process what they experienced and recorded into two separate mediums, as a documentary and then as a graphic novel. You sift through the details and sharpen the focus. What happens, once you have a graphic novel of this caliber, is that you find a greater truth.

You have here a straightforward cadence as the story is presented in comics. The layout foundation on the page is two panels on three rows with variations as needed. This is classic comics storytelling and it works quite well. You don’t need much else in many cases. For this story, this framework sort of mimics the camera in a documentary and evokes reportage in general. In fact, you don’t really notice the panel structure as you are immersed into action. Again, Shadmi does a remarkable job with bringing to life these characters. And, as you’ll see yourself, this graphic novel does a remarkable job of clearing away the clutter and getting to the heart of the matter.

You see here Mike’s Place become the center of conflict. A happy-go-lucky gathering spot, seemingly existing out of time and place, comes crashing down. This is the story of such a place. And how people come together once the unthinkable has happened.

“Mikes’ Place” is a 192-page hardcover published by First Second Books. For more details, visit our friends at First Second right here. You can also find this book here, here, and here.

If you are in the Seattle area, be sure to stop by Fantagraphics Bookstore and Gallery this Saturday, June 13, and meet the book’s cartoonist, Koren Shadmi. This will be a fun event which includes the debut of a new book by local cartoonist, Greg Stump, “Disillusioned Illusions,” published by Fantagraphics. For more details, go right here.

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Filed under Comics, Documentaries, First Second, Graphic Novel Reviews, graphic novels, Israel, Middle East

Review: ‘The Sculptor’ by Scott McCloud

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“The Sculptor,” the new graphic novel by Scott McCloud, published by First Second Books, has an appeal linked to the author’s passion for his subject. Let’s say you’re a struggling artist. You moved to New York City and vowed to make it big. Once there, you learn that merit alone is no guarantee of success. Like Frank Capra’s “Mr. Smith Goes To Washington,” where an idealistic young man must come to terms with real world politics, another Mr. Smith, in this case David Smith, in McCloud’s story, must come to terms with not only the machinations of the real art world, but with just about everything else to boot! This, dear friends, is a true coming-of-age tale in the best sense of the word, full of questions, magic, and wonder.

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For those who appreciate the details that go into creating a work such as this, an involved comics saga that you usually find in the pages of manga, this is quite an achievement. McCloud brings his A game to this ambitious work. You’ll find an impressive attention to detail in characters, backgrounds and compositions. It’s all condensed into a most pleasing style. We get a nice clean three rows of panels per page as a base from which to detour from. Lots of fun use of bleeded panels and interplay with screens. McCloud makes many interesting choices with fading out backgrounds and text in order to underscore various elements. And McCloud is no doubt sensitive to pacing and, at times, you’ll find panels taking on the tempo of animation.

Layer upon layer of immersive storytelling reveals a compelling relationship between our hero, David, and a young woman, Meg, who stumbles upon his path. But first, before the girl, there’s the deal that David makes that he probably could never truly regret since it’s his main reason for existence. He makes a deal with Death to gain, what he believes to be, his rightful place in art history. He’s obsessed with making his mark on the world and nothing else matters more than that. McCloud has a great time with the Faustian fable. David is doomed right from the start. He gets 200 days with the power to create all the sculptures he’s ever dreamed of creating. After that, it’s curtains for David. Whether or not David was ever cut out for immortality is sort of besides the point. His wish has been heard and granted. He never expected to meet someone like Meg so that complicates matters. The story that unfolds finds us on a journey with a young man still discovering the meaning of life while already with the power to achieve his wildest dreams.

A healthy distrust for the contemporary art world and the story of an idealistic young artist are certainly things that Frank Capra would have agreed with. That’s not the whole picture to what McCloud has to say even though it is easy to see him just rooting for honest forthright artists like his main character. It turns out to be more complicated than that. McCloud also sees one very mixed up kid in his main character. It all adds up to a satisfying read. It has a sentimental quality that’s appealing in its own right.

“The Sculptor” is a 496-page trade paperback available as of February 3, 2015. It is published by First Second Books and you can visit them here. You can find “The Sculptor” at Amazon here.

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Filed under First Second, Graphic Novel Reviews, graphic novels, Scott McCloud

Graphic Novel Review: Cory Doctorow and Jen Wang’s IN REAL LIFE

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“In Real Life” is one of this year’s most intriguing graphic novels as it raises questions not asked often enough. A New York Times bestselling graphic novel written by Cory Doctorow and drawn by Jen Wang, it is the story of Anda, a gamer, who discovers a black market system through the friendship she makes with, Raymond, a poor boy in China. The focus is on what exploited people must do in order to survive and what can be done to help them rise up and out of their circumstances. But it’s also about the avatars we use to hide from the world. As is clearly depicted here, Anda has problems with the real world and her place in it.

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Filed under Comics, Cory Doctorow, First Second, Games, Geek Culture, Graphic Novel Reviews, graphic novels, Jen Wang, Orbital Comics

SPX 2014 Interview: Farel Dalrymple and THE WRENCHIES

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Here is a quick conversation with Farel Dalrymple just as he was setting up to fly out to Bethesda, Maryland for the annual Small Press Expo.

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He will be there in support of his new graphic novel, “The Wrenchies.” We talk a bit about the dream logic and overall feeling of spontaneity and exuberance found throughout the pages of this most remarkable book.

I have followed many an artist’s career and this is clearly Farel Dalrymple’s time. With The Wrenchies, he has brought together elements he’s been working with over years into a masterful panorama.

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If you’re in or near Bethesda this weekend, you will definitely want to visit SPX. And, if you’re in the DC area, visit Politics and Prose Bookstore and Coffeehouse that Sunday, at 5 p.m., for a panel discussion discussing graphic novels with a crossover appeal between young adults and adults moderated by Heidi MacDonald. The featured cartoonists are Farel Dalrymple; Gareth Hinds (Romeo & Juliet); and Jim Rugg (Street Angel).

Click the link below to listen to the podcast interview:

You can find Farel Dalrymple right here.

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Filed under Alternative Comics, Comics, Farel Dalrymple, First Second, Heidi MacDonald, Small Press Expo, SPX, SPX 2014

Review: THE WRENCHIES by Farel Dalrymple

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Farel Dalrymple has distinguished alienated youth to a high level with his comics. There is that distinctive deadpan stare from a young person confronting some great threat. We never know for sure what that young person is thinking. Are they afraid? Most likely. But putting on a good poker face will help. In “The Wrenchies,” Dalrymple’s much anticipated new graphic novel, he offers up another side of the Apocalypse filled with kids who are fighting the good fight. And then he takes it a step further, and step further after that, to deliver a robust and mature work for all to enjoy. This is Dalrymple’s moment, his skills coming together to say it all in one big book worthy of, you name it, Dr. Seuss, Ray Bradbury, the Beatles, the Ramones, really, name a creative genius you love and this book ranks right up there.

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Filed under Comics, Farel Dalrymple, First Second, Small Press Expo, SPX

Review: ANDRE THE GIANT: LIFE AND LEGEND by Box Brown

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Box Brown is the one cartoonist born to create a graphic novel in honor of pro wrestling and its greatest warrior: “Andre the Giant: Life and Legend,” published by First Second Books. As Brown describes in the introduction, he became hooked on the sports spectacle after a buddy brought some wrestling magazines to school in the fourth grade. Brown respectfully explains that there is a pact between the audience and the wrestlers to suspend disbelief. It is known by the voodoo-sounding term, “kayfabe.” For a brief time, you return to childhood and you let yourself believe that a man can fly.

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Review: THE SHADOW HERO by Gene Yang and Sonny Liew

Superhero on the Bus

Superhero on the Bus

“The Shadow Hero” revels in Chinese culture and so much more, addressing universal issues like the dynamics of family. In the case of this fabulous story, we have a most fabulous mother who leads the way. When Hua, middle-aged and disillusioned, finds herself rescued by an actual fly-thru-the-air superhero, she finds a new lease on life. And that lease depends upon her turning her teenaged son, Hank, into a superhero if it’s the last thing she ever does. This is how Gene Yang’s new graphic novel, “The Shadow Hero,” opens up. For this story, Yang writes and hands over the drawing to Sonny Liew.

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Filed under China, First Second, Gene Yang, Graphic Novel Reviews, graphic novels, Sonny Liew

Comic-Con 2014 Interview: Lucy Knisley

Lucy Knisley is a wonderfully observant cartoonist. There wasn’t anything quite like her comics journal, “French Milk,” when it was first published in 2007, and it has grown in stature ever since. It’s a fun read, first of all. It’s also a gentle push forward in what the comics medium is capable of. Knisley has created a number of other works with that same personal quality. Her more recent notable work is “Relish,” published by First Second in 2013. In this work, the narrative is tighter and the drawing more refined in keeping with the book’s structured theme. For this interview, there is some comparison of these two works and some thoughts on what lies ahead for comics.

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We begin with thoughts on M.F. Fisher, a master at storytelling that made a fine mix of memoir and writing on food. Fisher’s first published book was “Serve it Forth,” in 1937. And, like the title implies, the pages within contain words that express an uncanny zest for life, and food. Nowadays, it seems like we’re all foodies. But only a few can claim to be standard-bearers to Fisher to any degree. I started thinking about that in terms of what Knisley is doing and that is where our conversation takes off.

You can find out more about Lucy Knisley by visiting her site here as well as visiting our friends at First Second Books right here.

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Filed under Comic-Con, Comic-Con 2014, Comics, First Second, graphic novels, Lucy Knisley

2014 Angoulême Review: HOW THE WORLD WAS by Emmanuel Guibert

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The 2014 Angoulême Comics Festival, being held in Angoulême, France, is just around the corner: January 30th through February 2nd. As one of Europe’s most premiere comic book events, the Angoulême Festival helps set the tone for the rest of the year in comics. One of the selections featured this year is “L’enfance d’Alan,” published by L’Association. It is by Emmanuel Guibert and chronicles the life of his friend growing up in California in the years prior to World War II. It seems quite appropriate to provide this advance review of the first American edition, entitled, “How The World Was: A California Childhood,” translated by Kathryn Pulver, published by First Second Books.

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It is a wonderful little miracle each time a life’s story is so vividly brought to life in comics. Cartoonist Emmanuel Guibert created “Alan’s War,” a graphic novel about his friend’s time as a soldier in World War II. For this new graphic novel, he turns the focus over to Alan’s childhood in California. And he does a most interesting thing. He lets Alan’s voice be heard with a deft balance of word and picture. Guibert lets the words breathe by providing them with all the room they need. These are, after all, delicate and quiet reflections and they require a certain tone.

Much of the story is told directly by Alan. His narration is predominant. We only need a smattering of word balloons on some pages. Guibert manages the tempo by alternating layouts: cinematic storyboard, grid sequence, tableau, scrapbook vignette. On one page, he has Alan recalling his grandfather’s habit of spreading out his magazines during his routine lounging. As part of that, he depicts the old man as a magazine cover portrait. This is all in the service of spinning a good yarn.

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Ultimately, this book lives up to its title. Guibert, with a gentle and consistent vision, provides us with a sense of how the world was. This is Alan’s childhood and we’ve been provided a portal back in time to view it. Like anyone’s life it has its struggles, drama, and pain. But we never get pushed out of the story by melodrama. This is an honest depiction, almost as if a camera were left rolling while Alan recollects as well as rolling directly upon key moments in his life. It is left to Guibert to give it shape, and therefore bring out its meaning, and that he does.

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“How The World Was” is a 160-page book, priced at $19.99, and will be released by First Second on August 12, 2014. Visit First Second here.

The Angoulême Comic Festival celebrates its 41st year, having first debuted in 1974. It is now the second largest comic book convention in the world, with more than 200,000 visitors attending each year. Numerous prestigious awards are granted during the four-day festival, known as the Le Palmares Officiel du Festival, covering a wide range of categories, including “Best Album,” “Angoulême Essentials,” and the “Grand Prix de la ville d’Angoulême,” which is awarded to a living creator in honor of their lifetime achievement.

For more information about the Angouleme Comics Festival, visit here.

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Filed under Angoulême, Bande Dessinée, Comics, European Comics, First Second, French Comics, Graphic Novel Reviews, graphic novels