The Martian Chronicles

It was irresistable, I had to buy this.  I opened it up and saw the first story Ylla and I just had to have it!

But the enthrallment pretty much stopped there...
Because I love Ray Bradbury so much, and because I love this book the best, I thought that this adaptation might be good. It is the authorised version which makes me wonder who else might have done something along these lines. There is something lacking however. Something that didn't translate as well from the written word to this graphic format. I still like it, I think it was well done, I especially liked the artists image of the Martians...it's just that the dialogue seemed a little chunky and arranged in such a way that it didn't flow as well as Bradbury's prose always has. Perhaps it was too difficult to do so, after all Bradbury was a master of metaphor. I still highly recommend this book, from a fangirl/collector's point of view, it will be placed amongst my Bradbury collection.

The Sandman - Preludes and Nocturnes

                            
I have read a few of Gaiman’s stories now and thought it a shame I had never looked at this collection of graphic novels sitting on my husband's shelf.  I have long been enjoying graphic novels and appreciating what they do for reluctant readers, but it is not just that.  There is something about the graphic novel which is to be admired, and I have often been happy to read what was once a novel in graphic form, and been absolutely thrilled at how the graphic version has incorporated ideas from the written page.  It is like an I-spy book, where you hunt and seek the images that ‘tell’ a page or two of text, an idea, which is fun and exciting all at the same time when you spot the reference, all in one small window of illustration.  
The Sandman of course, is not like that, as this is an original story with elements of the familiar (references from other comics and popular culture naturally), but there is a lot to be seen on every page.  I always find myself poring over each one seeking that little clue to help or enhance my understanding of the story being told. 
My first experience with this story is a feeling of being overwhelmed (of course, in it‘s initial form as a comic you would experience things in dribs and drabs and maybe that is a good way to get in a bit of a ‘breather‘ before going back in again for more of the nasty).  It is a fascinating story, but dark, and there are parts I choose not to think about again.  After reading American Gods, I  was prepared a little (thankfully) for the content of Preludes and Nocturnes, and after reading something as dark as Alan Moore’s graphic novels, I have been prepared, so to speak, for the darkness (there must be another word besides dark to describe this world of graphica that both Moore and Gaiman have imagined!   Black, cloudy,  dim, dingy, drab, dull, foggy, gloomy, murky, shadowy, somber, dun, faint, aphotic, caliginous, cimmerian, crepuscular, dusky, grimy, inky, pitchy, lurid, sooty, tenebrous…to name a few).
It brings back for me the age old question of what makes a good novel.  The particular question of “If it is horrible, does that make it a classic?”.   This is not typical of just modern literature (there is plenty of the awful in the old stuff as well, just read Hardy’s Jude the Obscure if you don’t believe me).  Neil Gaiman put it best in his speech for literacy so I will just direct you here for a better written and well thought out explanation which I am unable to give you.
Taking a break before I tackle reading volume two.

In The Pictures

I have come across some great graphic novels this year (and just wish that my budget was big enough so that I could be able to buy them all!).  While I am always on the lookout for more graphica for the collection at school, I have my own favorites as well so don't get concerned if you see something that is definitely not appropriate for ages 12 and under.

First up is one of my all time favorite artists Kazu Kibuishi.  I first encounterd him while reading the Flight collections.  Fortunately he did one collection for grade school (Flight Explorer)which has been a great guide for me to find new and interesting artists to buy.  I bought both of these for the school collection and they are both in constant circulation.  His art is clear and simple, and I like the two page panoramas that are his modus operandi.  The Mystery Boxes is a new collection of graphic artists.

Doug TenNapel is a new artist for me, and I liked Ghostopolis quite a bit.  Unfortunately there is line or two in Tommysaurus that makes it inapproproate for the school collection (big pouty lip), which is too bad because the story was really neat and original.

 Bone is really huge in the library and I have had to replace the series more than once from over-use.  I liked this edition of Tall Tales, and I also like Tom Sniegowski's contributions.  There is a series called Bone: Quest For the Spark, also written by Sniegowski, which hasn't seemed to have taken off in the library, but I don't hesitate to recommend them because I want to see kids reading beyond the graphic novel eventually.

 Binky is always hilarious and incredibly adorable.  

 I'm not sure this book has ever seen a shelf in the library yet.  Relationships between animals has always been a favorite storyline of mine, and Bird & Squirrel is a very good story about friendship.

A great selection for Halloween.  The graphics are clear and colorful which is very appealing.

 I'm always on the lookout for some graphica that I can put in the non-fiction stacks, and these autobiograpies of the gods and godesses are very well done.

Two of the word-free variety.  The illustrations say everything.  I particularly love Sara Varon and her Robot Dreams.

My two grown up selections.  Beowulf was incredibly gory which is good I guess in such a bloody and violent tale.  Century 1910 was typical Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neill (though I found out that I have read them out of order and will need to get The Black Dossier).
So a good hodge podgey selection.  I love how graphic novels have just taken off in leaps and bounds and I enjoy the classics that I have read so far,  Sherlock Homes, Shakespeare, poetry, classic stories like Kafka's The Metamorphoses and Proust's In Search of Lost Time.  It's a rich new presentation which has so many possibilties. 

Girl Power

I have been reading some great graphic novels of late (shopping for the school library where I work), and it has been quite noticable in a lot of the books that I have bought that the protagonist has a very strong female character.  I like this.  For too long the comic world has had their women in tight spandex with small waists, huge chests and big hair, so it's nice to come across something for the rest of us (the regular sized women of reality).

Of course I just love Zita!  Incredible things happen to her and she just goes with the flow, and does what she thinks is right.  Zita is the ideal super hero for young girls, she's accessible and possible.  She's a great role model (and I am so going to dress up like her at Halloween).

I wanted to get out my knitting needles after reading this one.  I think the girls at my school could learn a lot from Mirka.

The cover drawing says it all about Emily.  She's a tough young girl with lots of love in her heart for her family and the determination to do what is necessary.  She does all of the hard stuff for them, and that is a good thing to see and read about.

 Now I have heard some objections about this series.  They didn't like how sometimes the females are little too good looking, and a little too underdressed.  But I have always felt that Rose and Thorn are some of the fiercest graphic novel broads I know.  Just look at the covers of these two books.  They look tough and unafraid of getting dirty so that they can to do what is important, what is necessary. 

I love how the stereotype is broken in this graphic novel.  We've got a girl going out to deal with the monsters instead of waiting for some prince to step in...

...and last but not least, we have Dorothy.  I really love this version of the classic story. I have always wanted to re-introduce the Oz books back in to circulation and this is a brilliant way to do it.

No bones about it (har har), we have some very strong girls in our graphic novels these days, and I am always on the lookout for more.  Not only are the girls in the books they are writing them too, and I just love the positive message and the great role modeling example for our girls.

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Volume 2 (spoilers)

I have really looked forward to reading this graphic novel.  Volume two in the series promised to be  particularly thrilling for me as it is, basically, all about what has always been for me the genesis of a long lasting love affair with science fiction.  Ever since I was nine-years-old and was freaking out over Jeff Wayne's  musical re-telling of H.G. Wells' War of the Worlds, I have been hooked.  Terrified, fascinated, but hooked.  Throw a mention of Mars or Martians into the story line of any book and I have to read it.  I have found several great writers that way, Ray Bradbury being one of them when I read his Martian Chronicles (my first ever Bradbury), there was just no looking back after that.

The first book was really exciting for me.   We begin on Mars itself, with Gullivar (of Gullivar of Mars by Edwin Lester Arnold) flying on his carpet to meet with none other than John Carter from The Barsoom Series by Edgar Rice Burroughs.  They are planning an attack on some unwelcome guests (guess who?) that are encamped in molluscs.   This is something I have just loved about this series of comics by Alan Moore.  All of our heroes, featured in a story together.  For the most part, I had already read most of these stories (with the exception of Gullivar but I got right on to that).  I was almost vibrating with excitement to see the Sorns in the fight against the molluscs (from Out of The Silent Planet by C.S. Lewis).  Gotta love that!  We get our first look at a martian (another shivery thrill fest), before they all flee the planet, leaving Gullivar and John to discover that the invaders have been observing Earth (by using a device from H.G. Wells' The Crystal Egg)  and are now on their way to the planet.

(End of spoilers, I promise)

We cut to Earth from there and I have to say that I was really pleased with how the story was written, and illustrated.  I think that of all the movies I've seen, and cover art, this was the most faithful rendition from H.G. Well's book.  With graphic novels you are able to say so much more than words, and looking at each page it felt like a treasure hunt looking for clues to what book might be featured in each page. The literal graphic nature of the violence that a story of this kind includes was not gratuitous and very neccessary to the telling of this story (and what a twisted, horrible story it was!), and all in keeping with the orignal horror story of  Martians invading the Earth in the late 19th century.  While I don't know if I could go on and read more from this series, the first two are just simply wonderful reads, and a brilliant combination of artist and writer, who are obviously huge fans of classical science fiction.

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Volume One

 What a treasure trove of  literature, graphica and steampunk!  This seems like a match made in heaven for myself (a confessed science fiction fanatic and lover of literature from  the 18 and 1900's).  During the first read-through I enjoyed myself immensely, playing a game of I-at I had found on Wikipedia  List of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Characters I did just that and had a lot of fun doing it, as well as finding new authors and series to read.  It was exciting to just flip a page and see what character  I would read about next (and no peeking until I had finished reading that book).  I couldn't track down them all, but I did manage to read quite a few that I had been meaning to read for quite a while, among them Bram Stoker's Dracula, The Insidious Fu Manchu by Sax Rohmer, Casino Royale by Ian Fleming (007's grandfather is featured in the graphic novel), H. Rider Haggard's King Solomon's Mines, Poe's The Murders in the Rue Morge and Zola's Nana.  Not all the characters were featured but just referenced through an image added like a street sign or the great picture gallery shown behind the league featured on the front cover.    My second reading was even more enjoyable once I understood more about the characters original story and could recognize the occasional reference alluding to something particular in it's pages.

A well written book can instill in you the horror of the imagination... with a graphic novel one page says it all and there is no need for your imagination to fill in the gaps.  This one is no exception.  I love it when the illustrations are well done, and with this novel I could see the 'humanity' of our characters as well as the horror of their private circumstances, the brutality of  Jeckyll's Hyde for example, or the precision and stoicism of Captain Nemo, the weaknesses and strengths of Alan Quartermain, the lack of morality and ethics in our Invisible Man,  the strength and determination of character in Mina Murray, who doesn't hesitate to do what needs to be done no matter how strange or unseemly the job may be.

I love it when such beloved characters are brought back to life and they have not been altered in any way to suit the author's story line, but seem to have had the story written around the strengths of each character's personality and circumstances.  I have seen movies do this (and sometimes alter the character so much that it is not possible to recognize the original in any way and they have had to fall back on some silly and often lame device to label the person so you know who it might be) and it has always bothered me to see a character altered in this way.  I can understand why Alan Moore did not like the movie that was inspired by his book (though I am grateful for the inspiration as I liked the movie very much regardless). 

For lovers of the steampunk genre, graphic novels, and literature from the late 1800's in general, this is a must-have for your library, and I am looking forward to the reading of Volume Two because there was a hint at the end of Volume One that had me squeeing like a teenage girl!