Category Archives: Graphic Novel Reviews

August 8, 2026 · 4:20 pm

Like Swimmers by Dash Shaw graphic novel review

Like Swimmers. Dash Shaw. New York Review Comics. 2026. 120pp. $32.95.

Dash Shaw is creating his best work. His latest has him, once again, playing with mystery, in storytelling and in the comics medium itself. It begins with that first page with an exchange between two characters. For the first bit of dialogue, Shaw adds one of his distinctive footnotes just below the speech balloon. It’s an unconventional yet natural fit. The two characters are in awkward poses: so close to each other that the reader can only see one eye from a frontal view and one eye from a profile view. So close and yet so distant.

Dash Shaw’s people are exceptionally unexceptional, just average folks, the perfect foils for any worthwhile quirky, weird, noir comic. And that is exactly what this is. Shaw has created his own subgenre of subdued characters at odds with everything, including themselves. The icing on the cake this time around is that the whole thing is set during Covid. Back in 2020, I was in Seattle, one of the epicenters for highly dysfunctional behavior towards the pandemic. It wasn’t enough to wear a mask, maintain six feet away distance and get vaccinated. A lot of people really took on their roles as guardians of the galaxy to the limit. All you could do was accept it: the severely strained staring back, cloaked under a mask, the incredible added tension waiting in lines. Well, that was the case in so many places–and it remains so at various venues that perpetuate mask wearing as a performative act. For this story, the locale is Richmond, Virginia, a ground zero of its own with heightened levels of rage. If Orson Welles were still around, he would most definitely cook up a film set during Covid. For comics, Dash Shaw is our Orson Welles.

Does Shaw weigh in on the more zany aspects of the Covid era? Yes. Well, there’s so many to choose from and Shaw does a great job of gingerly picking and choosing his way through. Just admitting to the fact that Richmond is not a safe place to live, is haunted in more ways than one and has its share of more sketchy areas seems brave to address. Shaw points out that on any random night in Richmond, you could have a couch set on fire. It’s a matter-of-fact observation which is remarkable given how matter-of-fact observations are not in vogue. We like to think that our everyday lives were at a brink during Covid, upturned in such an unprecedented way, but we’re just living another version of its disruption today. Well, this is a Covid story but it doesn’t feel dated at all. We’re all still processing Covid. And, in its own way, this book helps.

Whatever troubled times we live in, a good mystery can help as we sort out things going on in our own lives. And we have a dandy of a mystery here. Mackenzie is a young woman who works from home as a web designer. Her little brother, Howie, lives with her and is drifting through life as a delivery person. He rides his bike. He makes deliveries. Then one day he meets Isa, an older married woman of means who is decidedly out of his league. Ultimately, Howie and Isa have an affair. Mackenzie is none too impressed nor pleased with this. Finally, almost a foreseen conclusion, Howie is found dead in his bedroom, apparently murdered but the police call it a suicide. And it is at this point that our story really kicks off.

For the love of Howie.

Another essential trait of a Dash Shaw comic is how every character matters, no matter what station in life. Howie, who plays a significant role in the plot is all but a minor player on the stage of life. He is the result of countless decisions that he made, and other factors, that leave him on the margins. And yet, like all of us, he matters to someone. He drives his sister, Mackenzie, into a tailspin as she embarks on a mission to solve the mystery of his death. As far as she was concerned, Howie was a simpleton but she dearly loves him.

Once Mackenzie takes it upon herself to do some detective work, she discovers that Howie was likely a little more complex than she imagined. Howie, deliciously naive and yet an enigma, the sort of character after Agatha Christie’s heart. Mackenzie digs deeper and, well, things get deeper. Shaw has a great time with giving Howie his due. This is a far stranger case than anyone suspected. After all, Howie was killed by a silver bullet. Howie is an absurd and tragic figure with a touch of the whimsical, a classic Shaw character if ever there was one.

For fans of Dash Shaw, this new book, so soon after the success of Blurry, is a great treat not to be missed.

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July 31, 2026 · 1:00 pm

The Nightingales by Emil Wilson graphic novel review

The Nightingales. Emil Wilson. Simon & Schuster. 2026. 416pp. $38.

Review by Henry Chamberlain

Emil Wilson has a very compelling story to tell and he dives deep into his storytelling skills to tell it. I can honestly say this is the most original work in comics that I’ve read this year. For those aspiring cartoonists out there who desire to create a spark with their work, here is a prime example. Tell a story from the heart. Wilson’s story takes the reader back to 1985, an era of great shifts, forward and backward, fraught with turmoil. Into a modest little town in Oregon, a sign of the times arrives and makes himself at home. This is Jim, who has taken ill and, with no family or friends to speak of, has been invited into the home of Donald, his co-worker at the local courthouse. Donald has his own family and issues to focus on but he decides to take in a stranger. Donald withholds from his wife, Annemarie, and his daughter, Lou, that Jim has AIDS.

This is a story that we see from various viewpoints, none the least of which is Lou, who is completing her senior year in high school and virtually only a few steps out the door into a life of her own. At this pivotal time in her life, Lou’s father decides, out of the blue, to bring home a stranger who is dying from AIDS. How does this factor into her own life? Lou is hesitant to the idea at first but steadily warms up to Jim, who is a deep well of insight and genuine goodwill. For such an unfolding narrative, Emil Wilson delivers a groundbreaking comics path. That sort of thing doesn’t happen all that often and, when it does, it needs to be honored. Wilson has added a new wrinkle into the mix, truly making the pages come to life. His framework is a sketchbook, filled page after page with various drawings, markings, notes and ephemera. Some of the dialogue is kept within traditional word balloons and a good bit of it is kept within the bounds of script notes, on Post-Its, like a play or screenplay. And it is all held together by a steady and flowing narrative. At no time did I feel like I was taken out of the story.

As a comic artist myself, I can tell you that it is always an interesting crossroads to take when you’re looking over a series of sketches that may or may not make their way into the finished work. Sometimes, you just want to take this or that sketch, lift it out and pin it down into the final work, because it’s so loose and powerful just as it is. That sort of vibe is at play in this book. I’m sure that Wilson had a wonderful, and challenging time, working his way through all the artwork that was generated during the making of this story. For him to, in essence, find a third way with his work is remarkable. Of course, we can thank Emil Ferris for clearing the way with her own monumental work, My Favorite Thing Is Monsters, often evoking art and notes from a sketchbook. That said, Wilson brings home something different and new he can call his own. You can’t rush these kind of developments and it is clear to me that Wilson took his time and thoughtfully crafted this book with integrity.

I encourage you to seek out this heart-felt coming-of-age graphic novel that is going to stay with me for a very long time. Emil Wilson makes it look easy but there’s really nothing easy about making comics, at least not genuinely worthwhile comics that will stand the test of time. And, if you happen to be in the area, by all means, meet Emil Wilson at one of these upcoming book events:

Book Passage (Ferry Building) – August 4 at 5:30 pm

1 Ferry Building Plaza, San Francisco

Powell’s Books – August 5 at 7:00 pm

1005 W Burnside Street, Portland, OR

Elliott Bay Book Company – August 6 at 7:00 pm

1521 10th Ave, Seattle

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June 16, 2026 · 1:02 pm

HEAVEN by Katie Skelly graphic novel review

Heaven. Katie Skelly. Fantagraphics. 2026. 100pp. $19.99. (On Sale July 7th, Pre-order now.)

Katie Skelly’s new graphic novel features a cast of cool girls down a foreboding path. These girls are still in high school and, while full of attitude, are short on experience. They can’t help themselves; can’t resist being attracted to something sinister, which seems just out of reach and yet beckons them to draw closer. Skelly once again delivers a work of comics that is an intoxicating blend of sex-positive content and horror genre.

The kids are alright but restless.

This is the fourth Skelly graphic novel published by Fantagraphics: My Pretty Vampire (2017), The Agency (2018), Maids (2020), and now, Heaven. Each title is different from the next in refreshing ways and each shares a spirited sense of experimentation. Skelly draws from various sources, looking for imagery that stands out in terms of style and energy. The idea is to have an image act as a jumping off point, work its magic and keep the narrative moving forward. A lot of that vibe will come from art house films and assorted high-end comics. A comics artist like Skelly picks and chooses this or that image, processes it and makes it her own, like a favorite panel from a comic by Milo Manara or a certain moment from a Dario Argento film.

The not-so-glamorous life of a stripper.

The female characters in a Katie Skelly comic appear to know what they want and are determined to get it, prone to leaving mayhem in their wake. They are femme fatales, one way or another. In this new book, they are a clique of cool high school girls. Dolly, at eighteen, the eldest by a few months, sort of leads the pack. When the girls stumble upon Heaven, an urban legend strip club that seems to have a very tenuous hold on existing in the real world, they jump at the chance to find it. Dolly, sent as the trailblazing explorer, walks right up to the front door, and ends up being invited to audition as a dancer. She is in way over her head but that won’t stop her. What’s so appealing about being a showgirl? Well, Dolly, is instantly hooked.

At a crossroads.

Will Dolly regret ever knocking at the door to Heaven? That seems to be a hard yes. Skelly reels in the reader, just like a masterful director of artful horror and as the seasoned cartoonist she is. The artwork is spot on as usual. With just the right amount of linework, Skelly suggests a whole world, inside and out, always daring and inventive. The male gaze is stared down, allowed to co-exist under a well-placed heel to the throat. Sex-positive work is for everyone to enjoy. That said, this work eludes easy categorization and leads the way among contemporary alt-comics. For a wild ride, filled with chills, thrills and dripping with style, you can’t go wrong with Katie Skelly’s latest deep dive into strange realms. Seek this out!

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June 10, 2026 · 8:00 pm

Junction Jones and the Corduroy Conspiracy graphic novel review

Junction Jones and the Corduroy Conspiracy. w. T.C. Pescatore. a. Locogonzales. Markosia. 2026. 220pp. $32.99
Science fiction and noir share a lot in common. For fans of either, or both, genres, it’s easy to roll with a story about a Phillip Marlowe type of detective in outer space. This is such a story and then some. Think of a very offbeat Blade Runner main character in an urban dystopia set in the distant future: Junction Jones, pudgy and bumbling; and his sidekick, Mr. Nibs, a very contentious talking cat. The idea here is that Jones is an escaped bio-engineered laborer who, during his routine scavenging in the multi-dimensional Junction City, stumbles upon the remains of an Earthling that could be the tip of the iceberg to some vast conspiracy. Lots of laser blasts ensue as this odd couple private investigator team must fend off various villainous forces. The art is gorgeous, the writing is crisp, and there’s a lot of fun multimedia narrative twists. This will surely satisfy any reader.
The creative team of Pescatore and Locogonzales come up with their own distinctive stamp on the cyberpunk landscape. They have plenty of tropes to play with in a story where the journey is more important than the outcome. After all, some of our most entertaining stories have this sort of set-up: the clues take on a life of their own, even become more significant than solving the case. This is such a story as it is swimming in clues, coming in all directions: going from the basement of hoarder grandparents, filled with mountains of nothing hiding everything; to the frantic dispatches of blogs in overdrive, also filled with nothing and hiding everything. It’s a world within a world within a world.

Panel excerpt from Junction Jones.

How deep down the rabbit hole do you want to go? Pescatore and Locogonzales know how to dig, dig, dig and invite you to dive in. The deeper and darker the better. Junction Jones was first introduced as single issues with the first issue out in 2023 from Scout Comics and then you add the time it took to create it. I see a page dated 2020. So, all in all, a very noble and ambitious effort this one is. It sort of reminds me of  The Winter Men, written by Brett Lewis and illustrated by John Paul Leon, running from 2005 to 2008, published by Wildstorm, another long, expansive and highly eccentric work that became legendary for its content as well as the circuitous path it took to get out into the world. But, once out, ah, it’s so nice to be out. People like me will keep singing its praises regarding its irreverent style and attitude. And so now I add Junction Jones to that short list of fun and weird comics that speak to me and will speak to you.

Page excerpt from Junction Jones.

If you’re in the mood to order something completely different from the menu, then Junction Jones is at your service. Think of it as a cerebral guilty pleasure or one of those really strange but cool movies you might find on a VHS tape in a thrift store. Perhaps something like Buckaroo Banzai. If you’re a Jeff Goldblum fan, you must see it. I’m just suggesting this stuff is potent, best read in bed with the lights out and a lone reading lamp for only one hour before bedtime. Think of it as the comic book that David Lynch always meant to create.

Page excerpt from Junction Jones.

And so it goes. Our pudgy fellow with his talking cat get into a whole lot of trouble and who can say if either one of them is any better for it all. But self-improvement is hardly the goal here. Anyway, I can clearly see this is a work of great passion, many years in the making, working at a different level of reality than you and me, which is saying a lot.

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June 7, 2026 · 10:00 am

Until We Meet Again graphic memoir review

Until We Meet Again. Lily Kim Qian. First Second. 224pp. Hardcover $25.99.

Review by Lara Boyle

Lily Kim Qian’s debut graphic memoir Until We Meet Again, published by First Second  chronicles the cartoonist’s struggles and search for home amid a tumultuous childhood lived between Canada and China. There’s a classic saying in Creative Writing about storytelling that goes like this: there are only two kinds of stories: 1) a protagonist goes on a journey, 2) a stranger comes to town. This formally innovative graphic memoir features the first kind of narrative, one where Qian’s coming-of-age odyssey, which becomes both internal and external, shapes her lifelong search for her identity and her place in the world, a compelling quest many will relate to.

The plot is structured in nonlinear fragments, a comic formally built much like a traditional braided essay, where multiple threads are at work to bind the narrative together. There’s the thread of Lily Kim Qian’s heritage, the thread of her childhood, the thread of her father, and the thread of her mother, who struggles with mental health and frequently disappears.  Lily Kim Qian herself is the biggest driving force behind the whole book, however, the character we’re most emotionally invested in and engaged with, the person we’re rooting for to succeed.

Qian’s willingness to approach the stories of her parents with nuance and complexity will be appreciated by her audience. She succeeds in giving them equal weight in the story of her life and views their impact from a balanced perspective. Rather than blame them or only depict a singular version of her parents, she looks at them as individual human beings from a place of empathy, and sees the good alongside the bad, instead of giving into the temptation to view the situation through a black and white lens. About her mother, she writes on page 35, “I could tell she was trying, desperately, to be a mother. But she didn’t know how. Everything just felt off.”

Qian’s art is playful and bouncy, the texture of the brushstrokes, though digital, often reminded me of clouds. The style is more abstract than literal, more lyric and metaphoric than realist. Lily Kim Qian isn’t afraid to challenge the conventions of the comic form in Until We Meet Again. Her visual language depicts her inability to feel at home anywhere she travels, as well as her longing for a more concrete family unit, or a desire for a connection to her culture.  In one scene, Qian writes that her mother “reappeared like a cyclone that could never be predicted.”

At a foreboding threshold.

Against a black backdrop, she depicts two panels. In one large square, three faceless people face each other in a threshold. A woman in a green jacket holding an orange bag opens a door through a light blue hallway. She has one foot up, the other grounded, a small detail which emphasizes how uneven her presence in her daughter’s life is. Up ahead, a father and his daughter stand waiting for her. All the while, streaks of color cut through them all like daggers. They continue in the bottom panel of her smiling, the eyes not shown, her expression unpredictable. The lines cutting through everything provide a feeling of imminent danger. Though actions are depicted in the panels, the scene is nontraditional and works because it emphasizes what is occurring without a need for dialogue or traditional sequences. The body language and abstraction does more work in a page than perhaps several could accomplish.

Throughout the graphic memoir, food becomes central to the author’s experiences. Her drawings of various meals, from dumplings to eggs to soup, are characters in themselves, each bowl an unspoken act of connection between parent and child, between home and family, between herself and her ancestral roots. There’s also a nice contrast in the drawings of urban life versus the natural world, not to mention Toronto versus Shanghai, illustrating how disorienting the shift from one to another had been for the author, who never quite felt she belonged in either.

On the move.

 Her color palette is light and full of childlike wonder and hope, the whimsical pastels soft on the eye and evoking a sense of calm and peace even when the protagonist’s life feels chaotic and unstable. Her choice of peach, baby blue, lavender, lilac, green, white and yellow, create a natural narrative rhythm and move the audience seamlessly from one person or place to another, carrying readers from scene to scene as if in a dream. The cartoonist’s use of color to fill a whole page sometimes adds to the emotional dysregulation experienced by the speaker; on the other hand, white space and black space are alternatively used to keep us at a distance from the subject matter or make us feel wholly consumed by the absence of a key mother figure in the narrator’s life. The pages appear to be structured based on the central emotion or experience the cartoonist hopes to convey, Qian utilizes the panel the way a poet employs a line break, waiting for the right moment to enlist the volta, or the turn in a poem. The bubbly, aesthetic, pencil-like font further adds to the authenticity of the autobio comic. We feel Lily Kim Qian’s hand at work.

For Lily Kim Qian, forgiveness eventually morphs into a meaningful step toward healing. At the end of this nonlinear, fragmented coming-of-age narrative, the author writes “Eventually, it felt like something was unraveling. The string connecting me to the mass of confusion that I saw as myself.” (208.) In Until We Meet Again, Lily Kim Qian unravels her identity through the places and people that raised her in order to figure out who she is in the present moment via  a visual language brimming with creativity and love for her family. As she meanders through memory and questions her relationship to language and culture, she turns inward to find a home in herself. Readers will be delighted to follow Lily Kim Qian while she maps her journey toward self-acceptance in her heartfelt graphic memoir, Until We Meet Again, published by First Second.

Lara Boyle is a writer and cartoonist with an MFA in Creative Nonfiction from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. She has bylines at Solrad, Broken Frontier and Southern Review of Books. Boyle is currently working on a graphic memoir.

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May 24, 2026 · 1:15 pm

CLOUD TOWN by Daniel McCloskey graphic novel review

Cloud Town. Daniel McCloskey. Abrams. 2022. 224pp. $24.99 hardcover. $14.99 paperback.

Daniel McCloskey is a comics artist on the rise, offering comics with a strange and fun bundle of energy. He has created an interesting body of work that stands out among all-ages content. The flagship title is his graphic novel, Cloud Town, published by Amulet, an imprint of Abrams. In this book, the reader is in for a wild ride, an evolving world that began with the fanciful notion of an island encased in a cloud, near a rip in the universe. If you are a fan of the offbeat, like the misadventures in Stranger Things, then this middle-grade graphic novel about best friends, giant robots, and monsters from another universe is for you.

The key to any good work of science fiction, fantasy, or any work of fiction for that matter, is a hook. There needs to be a way to hook in the writer as well as the reader. In this case, we’ve got two very compelling main characters. Pen is a fighter. Olive is a scholar. Between the two of them, these two teenage girls will make their way through high school. Pen fights off the bullies. Olive makes sure they both make good grades.

Pen and Olive!

And that’s just for starters. This high school is part of an island village floating along inside a cloud, near a crack in the universe that is vulnerable to the entry of an assortment of monsters, hobgoblins and all-around nasty critters. And there you have it. McCloskey has created a world where anything and everything can happen and he’s just the kind of comics artist who can deliver on such a promise.

Cloud Town defined in a nutshell.

I think McCloskey must be drawing and thinking comics all the time. He has a very expressive line, with a very determined style, something you get over time as you pursue your passion. It’s this dedication to his craft that brings his characters to life. You need to be able to buy into the characters and the premise very quickly if you want to sustain that magical reading experience. I see that happening here. There’s a certain amount of controlled chaos that wins me over. I can’t tell right away what is happening, as I flip through the pages, but I can sense that the narrative is moving along well, there’s a specificity at play, this is adding up, it will be be worthwhile. And it is. The characters fly off the page.

As I suggested at the beginning, McCloskey is a busy cartoonist. Since his debut graphic novel, he has been adding to his Cloud Town world, known as, Friends in Stormy Weather, and the second part will be available soon.

Friends in Stormy Weather, Part 2

In fact, a Kickstarter campaign in support of Friends in Stormy Weather, Part 2, is coming up. For more details, just go here. And you can keep up with the Cloud Town/Friends in Stormy Weather saga here.

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May 10, 2026 · 10:00 am

THE SHADOWER graphic novel review

The Shadower. Peter & Maria Hoey. Co-written by C.P. Freund. Top Shelf Productions. 192pp. $19.99.

Comics scholar Scott McCloud has offered up a number of ways that we will read/experience comics in the future. For me, all the future I need happened when ComiXology invented the panel-to-panel reading format known as, Guided View. This reading feature, around for over a decade now, zooms in on elements on a comics page, mainly the text, allowing the reader, by the tap of a finger, to quickly and efficiently progress through a work of comics. I don’t think this is the best way to read comics (print is ideal) but it has its place given certain limitations of reading digital comics on a static page, primarily a PDF. I mention this because, the comic I’m reviewing now is a perfect example of a comic that not only works well with this technology but seems to be meant for it as this quirky reading feature seems to showcase the unique rhythm and pace of the work by Peter & Maria Hoey.

The sibling creative team of Peter & Maria Hoey have perfected their crisply delineated storyboards-come-to-life style of comics for decades with each work seeming to outdo the previous effort. You read one of their comics and, propelled along by Guided View, it is a truly immersive experience as the panels seem to take on an animated life of their own. While reading it in print remains ideal, it’s nice to know that it adapts well to a tech version and that has to do with its finely detailed and edited style and substance.

While Hoey comics readily bring to mind some elaborate storyboard presentation for a classic Hitchcock film, the decidedly cool characters also make me think of spooky marionettes on a stage giving off a vibe of being objects that are being observed rather than actors inviting the viewer in. So, there’s definitely that going on which is endlessly fascinating and enchanting; and that’s because, as much as you feel that distance, you can’t help but be drawn in.

The Hoey siblings have created this sort of magic many times, often favoring a gritty and melancholic landscape, the sort that gumshoe detectives follow. One recent example comes from their ongoing Coin-Op series. See our review here. In Issue 10, a man and a woman, cogs in a vast bureaucracy, must confront the authorities that enslave them if only they can discover how they are controlled while they sleep. And, if you can’t escape your dreams, then heaven help you in attempting to find peace in the afterlife in Hoey’s In Perpetuity. Just dazzling stuff: otherworldly and close to home.

The Shadower is another delicious Hoey offering: a tightly-woven tale about Nadia, a lonely and directionless young woman who lives in a small flat with her mother. They inhabit a world of great intrigue, similar to East Berlin, circa 1960. It is a grim city life after a massive civil war that has left everything in a high-tension tizzy of various districts just barely tolerating each other’s existence. Nadia happens to be a promising drama student. Then, one day, a secret agent enlists her to impersonate a girl named Miriam, a waitress, for a week in order to gather intel on a rival district kingpin. All very convoluted cloak and dagger stuff. The primary thing here is that Nadia suddenly finds herself stepping into a pivotal role, something she’s not sure she’s totally capable of seeing through.

The book begins with a seemingly esoteric, yet powerful rallying cry by Montaigne: “Lend yourself to others, but give yourself to yourself!” It is lifted from the collection of essays on how to live a worthwhile life and is certainly pertinent to our story. Will Nadia be able to give herself completely over to being someone else and still be able to remain true to herself?

We all take on roles in life and we must live with the consequences. Are we living our best lives? Or are we caught in a web of compromises and artifice? Why do we do what we do? Is there a greater purpose or is it all a game? These are the sort of questions that Nadia must grapple with. In the course of this story, Nadia grows into her role only to find her role is sinking much deeper roots into her than she ever anticipated. And it only gets worse as the stakes continue to rise. Quite a fitting scenario for this creative team who are no stranger to offbeat noir fiction. The Hoey golden touch is in full swing. This is a comic that can mesmerize.

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April 1, 2026 · 7:25 pm

NOWHERE by Jon Claytor graphic novel review

Nowhere. Jon Claytor. Goose Lane. 2026. 448pp. $29.95.
Jon Claytor‘s graphic novel reminds me of Dash Shaw’s debut graphic novel, Bottomless Belly Button, also about the dynamics of family dysfunction; also having a large page count; and also drawn in a nontraditional loose and spare style. There are certainly no set rules to how you can go about creating a graphic novel but, like any art form, a raw and unfinished look is what it is. In general, graphic novels tend to have a more polished and finished construction. So, if you’re going to go for it and lean into a more sketchy approach, be ready to deliver. There are certain comics artists who have managed this quite nicely, like the great Jules Feiffer. But even his spontaneous style takes a lot of work to achieve.
When you have a new wave come in, like Dash Shaw, the purists might bristle at the shock of the new. It can take some getting used to. And so it is with what one can dash off on an iPad these days. I’m actually not against quick and dirty drawing. I tend to favor it. In fact, I’ve gone back and forth over the years with wanting to stay true to my instincts to dive in along with my need to refine and edit. One memory that stays with me is, many years ago, when I was showing around an early mini-comic to some cartoonists and editors at a comics festival. One editor suggested I check out the work of Blutch, a legendary cartoonist with a lively brush. And one cartoonist asked if he could read my whole book and to check back with him later. Much later, I finally got a response. He dashed off a note on my comic: “Don’t rush!” The thing is, sometimes you want to rush, you just can’t help it!
So, with all that said, I have to hand it to Jon Claytor, he has managed to jump into the fray, and offer up a credible addition to the growing trend of pared-down digital comics. Claytor’s background is in a form of graphic recording. He has documented numerous workshops and discussions, specifically on youth at risk, and the results are wonderfully vivid and crisp, similar in spirit to what he does here in this quirky coming-of-age graphic novel. Nowhere is basically about teenage growing pains and everything related to it. Claytor’s background and his inventive energy serve the story well. Claytor’s approach is spot on and a lot of fun. Some stories, especially long episodic pieces like this one, really can make good use of a more spare and quick drawing style. There are a number of good reasons to pursue this route not the least of which is that is makes practical good sense. Sometimes you just need the most efficient way to tell a story; and sometimes a story functions well with a limited means to an end.
I see this story has a lot of vampires, space aliens and zombies running around in a stifling small town that our hero, twelve-year-old Joel, is struggling with. Joel has had to move around too much and it has added to his anxiety. His latest home, the strange small town of Beauséjour is not going to make it easy for him. It’s populated with all kinds of monsters, or so it seems. Lucky for Joel, there’s one bright spot. He makes a friend of Charlie, a girl his own age. As menacing as all the monsters might be, it’s Joel’s parents’ dreadful lack of direction that is really scary. Overall, this is a refreshingly honest look at the obstacles young people must overcome, whether from monsters or from wayward parents. This is an easygoing and accessible work, full of all your favorite horror tropes and plenty of food for thought. I conclude that Claytor uses just the right tools to tell his highly unusual and highly relatable tale.

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March 17, 2026 · 10:40 am

Black Ties: In Gods We Trust by Bjorn Klein and Lucia Faccini comics review

Will blind faith secure party loyalty?

Black Ties: In Gods We Trust. w. Bjorn Klein. a. Lucia Faccini. Black Ties Press. 2026. 229pp. Advance review.

Review by Henry Chamberlain

Gods, like certain politicians, demand nothing less than blind loyalty. And, like certain politicians, will pursue whatever means necessary to stay in power. Because, once power is acquired, it can be very difficult for some people to give it up. Sound at all familiar? Well, as Rod Serling famously observed, sometimes it’s easier to present one’s political views in the form of a fable. Just prior to launching the much lauded television anthology series, The Twilight Zone, he quipped that he had found a way to avoid the wrath of the censors when writing political satire. Instead of lampooning a U.S. senator, he could replace that character with a robot or maybe a monster, in the guise of sci-fi horror. In this spirit, writer Bjorn Klein delivers the goods. Black Ties is a wickedly funny fable about gods scheming to stay in power.

The gods have a major public relations problem with humanity and it will take nothing short of infiltrating human life and altering human reality to win over a commanding number of true believers. One big component is deceiving humans into voluntarily giving up all manner of private information through a software app. If humans can deceive each other via technology, then so should gods.

The gods get it. They understand that humans can’t help but be good consumers so it stands to reason that gods just need to spike the consumer culture more in their favor, juice up the god brand. Oh, and then there’s curtailing free speech. If humans can manipulate the media in order to control the narrative, then so should gods. A free press is so over-rated, right? If humans can be fascists, well, then gods can too.

There’s a moment in the story that has Eldur, a god who has defected to the more promising party to stay in power, limping along a typical day at the office. He’s been tasked with helping out with marketing. All too often, he’s a befuddled mess but today he tries to be a little chipper. He takes a look at the colossal statue of Saint Barbie and the rolling numbers of new consumer true believers displayed on the ticker: over six billion and counting. That steady uptick, along with the beauty and majesty of the sculpture, seems to reassure him. An excellent depiction of the machinations at play.

Lucia Faccini‘s artwork is delightfully droll understatement that compliments and elevates the story. Faccini strikes the right balance with depicting  the supernatural world of gods and the mundane, sometimes sinister, world of humans. After all, gods want the same things that humans want–both at massively grand scales–to the point it’s difficult to tell them apart. Our existential crisis went into overdrive after the atomic bomb. Both power hungry gods and humans are pretty scary and dangerous. The creative team of Klein and Faccini stay on course with wicked humor, thoughtful pacing and a healthy sense of dread. Satire, at the end of the day, can be quite amusing while also sounding an alarm. This book delivers on both counts.

So, I hope this advance review has intrigued you. The book is expected to launch as early as next month. As with any project, whether from a small or big publisher, it is best to check in for updates. I’m confident about how Black Ties will be received as it makes its way into the world. I think it’s a shining example of what’s possible from new voices through self-published work. We’ve reached the point when any work has a viable chance at finding readers, regardless of where it is published. At this early stage, reviewers play an important role in spreading the word. So, if you’re a reviewer, or a reader, I highly recommend that you seek this book out.

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March 9, 2026 · 6:05 pm

ARTICHOKE KNIGHT by Alex Newton comics review

Artichoke Knight. Alex Newton. Alex Newton publications. 227pp. £23.00 for Volume 1.

Review by Henry Chamberlain

Sometimes, a comic, by its energy, spirit and style, just grabs you and you know you’ve found a winner. Such is the case with Artichoke Knight by Alex Newton. Let me tell you, this comics artist loves what he does. It is so apparent from every page. I believe this holds true for all of his work since I clearly see an overriding style here. Newton just keeps going; he has a relentless drive to share his vision. With that in mind, I say that Mr. Newton must continue and you must buy his work.

Page after page of fun, inventive and original work.

The book we are looking at collects all the single issues thus far, which appears to be a dozen. Newton manages to completely avoid any continuity of style issues; the whole thing runs quite smoothly, easily passing the flip-through pages test. What instantly catches my eye is Newton’s confident use of wordless passages. If you don’t speak English or, if for some unfortunate reason, reading is just not your thing, there are quite a number of amazing text-free pages. Newton has a career in illustration just waiting for him. Anyway, he’s doing just fine. Clearly, creating comics is his passion. His lettering is outstanding. His color choices are spot on. His light-line style is right on the money.

What a scene!

The story is delightfully straightforward. A couple of friends, Charlie and Cherry, engage in an annual competition. Cherry always wins and has gotten a bit complacent. This could be Charlie’s big year to win big. The plot gets a little more involved as the competition is some sort of “cookery-combat.” Okay, sounds very intriguing–and original. All sorts of opportunities for fun visuals. There’s a road trip to get to this event. The couple are cute and energetic. A hint of romance is in the air. A competitive spirit is also in the bargain. This is a great set-up and Newton makes it pure comics nirvana. Yes, I say this: Artichoke Night is pure comics nirvana!

When pigs fly.

As you can see, Newton delivers page after page with work that is a lot of fun to view. I can see him going into animation if he chose to. Again, it’s all about the comics, that we’ve established. But branching out into related things is definitely an option. At least offering prints, which Newton does. Just go visit his website. However you look at it, Newton is a born storyteller. He writes. He draws. He lays it all out. Talk about auteur creators! This guy is doing it.

And away we go!

Hats off to this book being self-published too. While there are some perks to getting picked up by a publisher (and there are wonderful things to that) there is no getting around the fact that holding onto your intellectual property and getting to call all the shots is very appealing. You’re going to do most, if not all, of the marketing whether or not you have a publisher. If you can stay determined, self-publishing done right is truly the gold standard. Just ask Jeff Smith.

There’s a moment in the story when Charlie is slouched over on his couch trying to take stock of his life. We’ve all been there many times over. And it hits him. He’s been attempting to hang in there all this time. Why not level up? Too often, in various circles, we’re encouraged to just get along and embrace just being a participant. Phone in your effort. Mediocrity is more than okay; it’s the standard; and it’s celebrated. Excellence is not supposed to exist. I say to this killjoy of a concept, that there is such a thing as reaching for the stars! Some people, if they so choose, do get there–and we all benefit when that happens. Ah, you only live once. So, why not do better? You’ll regret the drip, drip, drip of conformity.

A hint of romance.

Getting back to Newton and Artichoke Knight, it’s just a matter now of staying the course, going to comics conventions, engaging in various grassroots marketing and always believing in yourself. I’m sure that Newton is a true believer. We are so lucky to have him around.

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