Title: The Sword
Author: Luna Brothers
Comment: Dara Brighton is a talented young artist, confined to a wheelchair since she became paraplegic. She thinks her family is pretty normal until strangers with even stranger powers show up at her house one night and kill everyone in her family. They seem to have mistaken her father for someone named “Demetrios,” and they want his sword. As her house is burning down around her, Dara finds the sword hidden in her basement. Not only does it heal her, but it also gives her super human strength; she uses it to get herself out of the conflagration. At the mass funeral for her family, Dara meets one of her father's students and discovers that he's heard all about Demetrios – in class, under the guise that the stories were fiction. Before Dara can learn anything useful, however, she's attacked again (and again, and again). Soon, she's on the run from the same people who killed her family, and the police, and other government agencies who have their eyes on her sword. The Luna Brothers have a definite style – the artwork in this was very reminiscent of their Girls comics. Dara's got a distinctly Girls look about her (and I keep waiting for her to start chewing on someone). They don't sly away from showing people in all of their ugliness – habits, appearance, whatever. It makes their work rather dark, but this seems to be something that a lot of comics/graphic artists do. Sometimes I think there are only three genres of comics – superheroes, dark depressing reality stories, and dark depressing reality stories about lesbians. And fantasy/gaming/D&D types. FOUR. :) I was thrilled when Dara and her friends finally got snatched enough time to develop the Demetrios storyline – who was he, where did he come from, who are these people hunting the sword, what do they want with it, etc. etc. They've built this fascinating ancient/historical mythology around Demetrios and the people with the mysterious powers. And, it's really poised to take off from here. Now that Dara has some idea of who her father was and what the sword can do, she can make a decision about who she wants to be. I imagine it will involve some kind of revenge – those jerks did kill her family. This was pretty good. There's lots of gratuitous violence and some sex scenes, so if you're squeamish about any of that you may want to steer clear.
Rating: 3 stars

—Posted by Karin Thogersen (barkalot@hotmail.com) at Fri, 02-13-2009 13:14

Title: Ms
Author: Marjane Satrapi
Comment: This graphic novel is an engaging complex portrait of the author's life in Iran as a child & young woman. Her drawings are vivid. There's a real poignancy to the stories of her family, her clashes with a fundamentalist government, & sense of isolation when sent to school in Austria. A moving & important book, which was later made into a movie.
Rating: 5 stars [best]

—Posted by Phoenix Vie at Sat, 02-14-2009 08:02

Title: Coraline
Author: Neil Gaiman
Comment: I absolutely loved this graphic novel! It's dark and strange, exactly what you'd expect from Neil Gaiman, and the artwork was beautiful. The movie was amazing as well.
Rating: 5 stars [best]

—Posted by Al at Mon, 02-16-2009 18:51

Title: The Embalmer Volume 1
Author: Mitsukazu Mihara
Comment: A very good josei manga about an embalmer and the people he meets. Would have been a 5 star if the frame story was just a little clearer.
Rating: 4 stars

—Posted by Ricki at Mon, 02-16-2009 22:59

Title: Skyscrapers of the Midwest
Author: Joshua Cotter
Comment: A sad look into the disappointments of childhood. It is heart wrenching and will make anyone feel for these outcasts. Beautifully illustrated too!
Rating: 5 stars [best]

—Posted by nick fagan at Tue, 02-17-2009 16:20

Title: Gone Wild
Author: James W Hall
Comment: Mr. Hall's books are based in Florida and very accurate in description of the area that is portrayed in his novels. This book was about an animal activist who lost a daughter to poachers, everyone around her is abused or killed and the animals are treated cruelly. A very powerful book.
Rating: 4 stars

—Posted by Rosemary Simm at Sat, 02-21-2009 16:46

Title: The Shiniest Jewel: A Family Love Story
Author: Marian Henley
Comment: Light and enjoyable, but probably not a book I'll reread too many times.
Rating: 3 stars

—Posted by Niki Smith at Mon, 03-02-2009 20:11

Title: Battle Angel Alita: Last Order
Author: Yukito Kishiro
Comment: Great Martial arts manga. Brilliant creations and sciences that are fictional but so detailed that it feels real.
Rating: 5 stars [best]

—Posted by Chet at Sat, 03-07-2009 00:03