The Two Worlds of Graphic Novel Umma’s Table
Where fiction typically emphasizes plot, Yeon-Sik Hong's Umma's Table emphasizes a rich layering of events that creates the artful impression of memoir-like fiction.
graphic novel
‘Year of the Rabbit’: How Quickly Cruelty and Genocide Can Become the Norm
Tian Veasna's superb yet harrowing graphic portrayal of the Khmer Rouge regime, Year of the Rabbit, conveys what damage a living nightmare can do to a country and its people in a mere four years.
Striking for Its Art, ‘New World’ Is a Magic Parable of Resistance, Guilt, and Forgiveness
David Jesus Vignolli's graphic novel, New World, chronicles Indigenous resistance to European monsters in gorgeous art and mythic undertones.
For All Governments: Gendry-Kim’s Graphic Novel, ‘Grass’
The powerful graphic novel Grass documents the atrocities against WWII "comfort women" through the recollections of a survivor. This is an incredibly powerful and urgent work that, frankly, should be read by the governments of all nations that must face, admit to, and begin real reparations for their country's atrocities.
Tsuge’s ‘The Man Without Talent’ Is a Perfect Manga Parable on Capitalism’s Failed Dreams
In The Man Without Talent, Tadao Tsuge captures the element of fantasy reflected in the childish utopianism of free market capitalism and the committed entrepreneurs who are its happy-go-lucky evangelists.
Jaime Hernandez’s ‘Tonta’, Hit Men, and High School Shenanigans
Jaime Hernandez conveys an exuberance and vitality in his characters that make them easy to relate to and sympathize with. This is no less so in his latest graphic novel, Tonta.
Size Matters in Eleanor Davis’s ‘The Hard Tomorrow’
Award-winning graphic artist Eleanor Davis likes to accent key moments in Hard Tomorrow through panel size. Big moments are literally bigger. Layout is a way of making meaning.
Compelling Grotesquery in Graphic Novel ‘Vivisectionary’
In Kate Lacour's graphic novel of imagined medical oddities, Vivisectionary, the viewer is the main character and the images the deranged antagonist.
Box Brown Takes on the Ultimate Weed Killer in ‘Cannabis’
As cannabis legalization spreads, Box Brown's graphic novel, Cannabis, examines the sordid and racist history of how it became demonized in the first place.
Trapped by Circumstance: ‘Guantánamo Kid: The True Story of Mohammed El-Gharani’
Jérôme Tubiana and Alexandre France have created a powerful work in Guantánamo Kid that brings attention to the humanity of people who are accused as terrorists.
‘Blame This on the Boogie’ Blurs the Lines between Graphic Novel and Songbook
Passion defines Rina Ayuyang's life as Blame This on the Boogie explores the pleasures and pitfalls of pop culture devotion.
Graphic Novel ‘Is This How You See Me?’ Carries on the Legacy
The Hernandez Bros.' Love and Rockets graphic fiction series has created a community of misfits filled with as much anger as warmth, with as many mistakes as wisdom, and with as much sadness as joy.