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Literally Graphic

LiterallyGraphic@books.theunseen.city

Joined 1 year, 3 months ago

An avid audiobook and comics reader with few IRL outlets for what has become a very special interest.

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Drawn to Berlin (GraphicNovel, 2018, Fantagraphics Books) 4 stars

Fitzgerald’s graphic memoir entwines political and personal displacement. Ali Fitzgerald is an artist trying to …

Review of Drawn to Berlin

4 stars

Content notes for drowning, trauma, racism, nudity, and swastikas.

What kinds of keywords came to mind reading Drawn to Berlin? Line, typography, history, refugees, and place.

The summary is "Fitzgerald’s graphic memoir entwines political and personal displacement. Ali Fitzgerald is an artist trying to find herself in a rapidly changing city facing an influx of asylum seekers. In Berlin, she teaches an art class to displaced people who have traveled from war-torn countries such as Syria and Afghanistan. Given Fitzgerald’s encouragement, her students take pen in hand and express their painful memories of home and cautious optimism about their new life. Revealing the humanity behind the politics of immigration, Drawn to Berlin is about loss, community, and the art that binds people together. Black & white illustrations throughout."

My one note is that, to her credit, I did feel like Ali centered herself a lot less then this summary would …

Ping Pong (GraphicNovel, 2020, VIZ Media LLC) No rating

Ace high school table tennis players push their passion to the limit in this story …

Ping Pong Round 2

No rating

2024 Review for volume 1 and 2: content notes for smoking, the angst of a child prodigy, and intense school sports.

Keywords that came to mind were speed, sweat, intensity, competition and line.

Written and illustrated by Taiyo Matsumoto it has apparently been three years since I told y'all that this dude is one favourite mangaka of all time.

Writing wise, I will admit to initially being a bit surprised that Matsumoto had written a sports manga as it didn't seem to be totally in his wheelhouse based off of the rest of his work I had read up until that point. On the one hand, there's definitely very Matsumoto ways in which he approaches this sports manga, and on the other hand apparently his editor kind of forced the idea onto him. Reading the essay in the back by said editor Yasuki Hori was kind of weird. Dude could …

Free Inside (Paperback, 2018, Ad Astra Comix) No rating

"'Free Inside' is a portfolio [of] art and writing by the late Canadian activist and …

Free Inside

No rating

Content notes for nudity, guns, violence, police, torture, needles, death and lack of healthcare.

Content warning for the fact that this is not actually a comic book. But it's close enough that I felt like including it.

What kinds of keywords came to mind reading this volume? Prison, reformation, birds, nature, censorship, and life sentence.

The summary for this volume is "'Free Inside' is a portfolio [of] art and writing by the late Canadian activist and prisoner Peter Collins, who spent 32 years behind bars for killing a police officer during a botched robbery. Collins was the kind of man you'd expect to find in prison - and he still didn't belong there. Among his cartoons, paintings and articles are heartfelt words from friends, comrades and those who knew him best. 'Free Inside' is a condemnation of the Canadian prison system and an invaluable perspective on notions of justice, "rehabilitation", …

Breaking free (Paperback, 1990, chiefly ill]) 5 stars

Finally back in print! He's back, and he's bad! Now Tintin's back with all his …

The Adventures of Tintin: Breaking Free, a classic tale of insurrection and urban uprising by J. Daniel

5 stars

And today's pick is The Adventures of Tintin: Breaking Free, a classic tale of insurrection and urban uprising by J. Daniels. A "anarchist parody of the popular Tintin comics." Originally published by Attack International in April 1988 with their urging to freely distribute.

Content notes for racism, homophobia, swastika, fist fights, brick throwing, police violence, sex, and arson.

There's a couple of different ways to read this volume for free online. So maybe look that up on duck duck go. As you can see, because I'm really bad at ever tackling digital comics, I ultimately picked up a paper copy printed by Freedom Press, which also included the much shorter piece about Tintin and the Wapping Dispute. This was originally a pamphlet from The Scum in 1986.

Keywords that came to mind reading this volume was community, intersectionality, resistance, solidarity, unions, and striking.

The summary is "Finally back in print! …

Djeliya (2022, TKO Studios) No rating

Inspired by West African folklore and stories handed over centuries, this unique graphic novel follows …

This graphic novel is not overtly rated and I did find it in the general adult section of my library. That said, both Goodreads and WorldCAT have categorized it as young adult and that certainly did not surprise me.

Flipping to the back of the book, Juni Ba describes themselves as "what happens when the influences of 2000s era Cartoon Network enter the brain of an average Senegalese boy. Since growing up in Dakar, he has come up with several works including the Monkey Meat Comics, the Kayin and Abeni miniseries with co-writer  Keenan Kornegay, as well as being featured in the publications of the Nigerian house Kugali. Djeliya is his first graphic novel, but hopefully the first of many, to tackle subjects in and out of Africa."

Keywords that came to mind: Folklore, colour, adventure, cartoon network nostalgia, and storytelling.

Looking at the art, it was by far the …

Are you listening? (2019, First Second) 3 stars

Bea is on the run. And then, she runs into Lou.

This chance encounter sends …

Yes

3 stars

Cataloged in the young adult/teen section, I would describe the genre as contemporary dreamscape low key horror if that makes any sense.

Content notes for teen runaway, being hunted, and cat in danger.

Keywords that came to mind reading this comic were Texas, vehicle, sunset colour scheme, escape, highways, pit stops, breakdowns, found family, loss, and menace.

Not dissimilar to other Walden books I've read the art sucks you right in and the vibes carry you through, but by the end you are left scratching your head a little bit about what exactly happened. But in an ok way.

Unlike the two other fiction graphic novels I've read by Walden, Are You Listening had the strongest sense of place. Both literally, but also thematically. I've never been to Texas, but it did feel heavily tied to Walden's experience growing up there.

That said, it still felt like Walden pushed at …

What Remains : Colombia (2022, Uncivilized Books) 4 stars

"What Remains is an innovative graphic novel that weaves documentary and memoir forms to capture …

Personal Histories

4 stars

Content notes for a military dictatorship and all the the horrible things that obviously involves.

A book that almost no one has read, it was also kind of hard to track down author information. But according to his entry in the 2020 MCBA Prize "Camilo Aguirre is a Colombian artist whose practice shifts between comics and fine arts.

In his comics Camilo uses the elements of documentary format to tell non-fictional stories, implementing anecdotes and interviews from his immediate context, addressing the asking how his own subjectivity is constructed from the Colombian context, and reflecting on this context towards the ideas of globalization and belonging. Camilo has been the author of graphic novels such as Ciervos de Bronce (Bronze Deers, 2014), Calidez Aislada (Isolated Warmth, 2012) and has been coauthor of graphic novels such as Caminos Condenados (Condemned Paths, 2016) and La Palizua (2018). During his career in comics Camilo …

Kimiko Does Cancer (Paperback, 2020, Arsenal Pulp Press) 5 stars

At the age of twenty-five, Kimiko Tobimatsu was a young, queer, mixed-race woman with no …

A potent personal story

5 stars

Published by Vancouver publisher Arsenal Pulp Press in 2020.Content notes for cancer and nudity.

Flipping to the back of the book, this creative duo describes themselves as

"Keet Geniza is an illustrator and comic artist. Born and raised in Manila, she moved to Toronto in 2006 and has since immersed herself in zines and comics as a way to document her struggles as a queer immigrant woman of colour. Kimiko Does Cancer is her first book."

And Kimiko Tobimatsu "is an an employment and human rights lawyer by day. Kimiko Does Cancer is her first book."

What keywords came to mind reading this beautifully concise work? Illness, family, relationships, queerness, age, medicine, gender, work and survival.

A book with a clear mission, and not a centimeter of room was wasted. This is a potent and very personal story.

The art felt a bit reminiscent of Fun Home but different enough …

Nubia (Paperback, 2021, DC Comics) 5 stars

"Nubia has always been a little bit...different. As a baby she showcased Amazonian-like strength by …

A really impressive read

5 stars

Content notes for school shooting, police killing/brutality, armed robbery, and SA.

Looking at the nature of the violence that is one of the things that perhaps most impressed me about this book. Because with some of these young adult DC titles issues of violence and poverty have sometimes felt insultingly cartoonified, even considering they are supposed to be for younger readers. That's not to say that I have no critical thoughts about the depiction of violence... It would literally make no sense for the robbers to kill anyone in this or any story as that would up the consequences for all of them exponentially. Not to say that sort of thing never happens, and people make mistakes. But I do feel like, the media's depiction of armed robbery makes it seem much more likely to happen then it actually does in real life. Flipping back to the positive side though, …

Kwändǖr (GraphicNovel, 2022, Conundrum Pres) 5 stars

Indigenous Voices Award winner Cole Pauls returns with a robust collection of stories that celebrate …

Kwändǖr

5 stars

What keywords came to mind reading this book? culture, heritage, community, language, teaching, learning, colonization, the land, art, and sovereignty.

The summary is as follows "Indigenous Voices Award winner Cole Pauls returns with a robust collection of stories that celebrate the cultural practices and experiences of Dene and Arctic peoples Gathering Pauls’s comics from magazines, comic festivals and zine making workshops, these comics are his most personal work yet. You’ll learn stories about the author’s family, racism and identity, Yukon history, winter activities, Southern Tutchone language lessons and cultural practices. Have you ever wanted to learn how to Knuckle Hop? or to acknowledge and respect the Indigenous land you’re on? Or how to be an ally to Indigenous people? Well, gather around and hear this Kwändǖr!"

Much like the rest of his work that has been published so far, rather then being a straight forward graphic novel Kwändǖr is a …