Seance Tea Party by Reimena Yee

“I’m not ready to let go of the things that make me happy.”

There’s a touch of magic in Seance Tea Party (RHGraphic) and it's not just with the inclusion of ghosts and fairies; it's in how it takes deep themes about coping with the passing of time, maturing and change, all with a lightness of touch that doesn’t feel mawkish or preachy – and in a way that conveys the joy of being young while encouraging the march towards adulthood.

Lora is losing her friends to a teenage world of partners and parties which doesn’t interest her as she would rather be playing. When her birthday seems to have been ignored by her best friend, she holds a séance tea party with her toys to cheer herself up and inadvertently evokes the ghost of a girl named Alexa. The ghost is looking for recognition and a playmate and Lora is in need of an understanding friend – both are avoiding moving on in their life journeys.

The plot grows with the inclusion of another character that allows for larger the themes to develop particularly through Alexa’s story, taking the book to deeper levels. As the story inevitably moves towards the need to let go and move on, it never becomes maudlin or over-sentimental. This isn’t just because of writer-artist Reimena Yee’s deft handling of the dialogue, but also the beautiful lightness to the illustrations. It feels less like reading and more like flowing through the story, with swirling images filled with movement and a restless mix of panels and larger pictures littered with leaves or cute doodles in the margins. There’s a nice six-page sequence of wordless storytelling near the beginning which shows the gang of girls reducing in number over time until Lora is left by herself.

This a lovely book for younger readers, particularly if they have any concerns about leaving behind childish ways, but older readers may also find value in the wisdom on offer – even if the message is familiar, rarely is it presented so charmingly. 

Folklords by Matt Kindt and Matt Smith

 “The once upon a time is real. Trust me.”

Are we all familiar with the troupes of Tolkienesque fantasy worlds of trolls and elves and quests? Are we tired of them yet? Of course not, apart from the limitless scope for adventure, they’re such wonderful allegorical and metaphorical vehicles for age-old themes of finding oneself and accepting differences etc. Folklords (Boom! Studios) manages to find another spin on the genre. Eighteen-year-old Ansel is the archetypal young adult in such stories feeling like he doesn't belong which is driving his desire to seek adventure. This time our young protagonist looks so alien in his environment because he looks so familiar to us – he’s wearing a black suit and tie. The reason for this is that he’s been having dreams about our world, one of buildings and cars and gadgets, and he's been copying the things he remembers from it. It’s a delicious side-note of intrigue to the story as Ansel establishes and sets off on a quest to find the supposed mythical Folklords whilst avoiding the fascist regime of The Librarians.

Matt Smith’s artwork has a really nice All Ages simplicity to it, but his time working on Hellboy and the BPRD has honed his eye for heightening gothic and creepy moments from the story and its environment including some genuinely dark Brothers Grimm-type scenes which manage to never rely on gore. The characters are all engaging, and the plot remains intriguing although it does lose a little of its charm as the story becomes more cynically self-aware. Also, the final chapters feature such a flurry of ideas that it can feel rather rushed. But there’s more than enough here to maintain interest in this beautifully realised ongoing series. It will be fascinating to see where writer Matt Kindt is heading with it all. Fascist Librarians? Megalomaniacal folk-lords (i.e. writers)? A protagonist dreaming of a land away from fantasy-troupe characters? Maybe the biggest spin on the genre here is the suggestion that we should be shedding some of these age-old forms of myth and story.

THE GOLDEN AGE by Roxanne Moreil & Cyril Pedrosa

“You can’t change the natural order of the world.”

It’s rare for a book to be truly for all ages, striking a balance between making the characters and plot for younger readers to relate to, but also edifying for older readers and for any action sequences to feel dramatic without being explicit. The Golden Age: Book One (First Second) achieves this balancing act along with glorious levels of comics artwork. Set in a fictional version of the medieval era, The Golden Age refers to a Utopian society of fairness and equality that was long ago replaced by a more familiar system of class structure and subjugation. When the young Princess Tilda is on the verge of inheriting her late father’s kingdom, she is usurped and banished with just two allies for company. Whilst in the forest, Tilda is struck by a vision of herself dressed as warrior – she decides it’s her destiny to reclaim the throne and free the populace from oppression.

But what version of leadership would that entail? This is the theme that drives the book alongside the moments of danger and intrigue – Tilda’s ideas of simply ruling better are challenged, testing the loyalty of one of her companions which reflects the concerns of the reader. This is where the book differs from the archetypal fairy story, in it's posing of philosophical questions.

Although The Golden Age is writer Roxanne Moreil’s first graphic novel, she comes from a background that is steeped in the French comics scene as a bookseller and as part of comics collective in publishing. The art by Cyril Pedrosa is stunning. The detailed linework feels as if it has been etched into stone tablets but the extraordinary colour palette is used not only to fill the space, but also of the linework itself, sometimes giving it the apearanc of coloured thread in a tapestry. The opening pages following characters talking in a forest is ablaze in reds and oranges making it feel as though we’ve joined a world on fire. Pedrosa has worked for Disney in the past and there’s a beautifully flowing expressiveness to his characters that brings to mind old Disney cartoons of The Sword In The Stone and Jungle Book era.

That’s not to say the book feels like a storyboard for a movie. The use of panel sizes and framing are exemplary and the frequent double page spreads (suitably displayed in the large hardcover format) of characters travelling through the land give the story an epic sense of scale. They’re also brilliantly employed to heighten the wordless denouement, leaving a suitably dramatic cliff-hanger for the second and final volume. If it’s as good as this one, the series deserves to be hailed a modern classic. 

The Runaway Princess

A new graphic novel imprint from a major publisher is something to be celebrated – comics and graphic novels certainly need the investment and promotion. The Runaway Princess marks the first release from Random House Graphic which will focus on books for kids and younger teens.

It’s worth pointing out that despite the title and the slightly fearful look of the central character on the cover of the book, the story and mood within its pages is entirely fun and offbeat – the princess is running towards adventure rather than away from something fearful. She soon meets a small group of boys who remain her friends throughout the book. The fairy-tale world is full of impossibilities (mermaids in bubbles, floating baths, little pumpkin people) and the three stories have an air of aimless whimsy told in child-like art like a far-flung offshoot from the Dungeon series by the great Lewis Trondheim and Joann Sfar. The colouring is almost neon in its vividness which heightens a sense of the alien to the familiar shapes of castles, giants and fish floating through the air.

Importantly, the characters are all charming. Princess Robin is eternally curious and good-natured – I particularly loved how, even when she is kidnapped, she helps her kidnappers write ransom notes and convinces them to put on a musical show for the people that turn up with the ransom so that they will feel that they have got value for money.

 

The format is quite short and chunky, which may be a challenge for little fingers, but there are some nice pages of interactivity such as mazes, spot-the-character-in-a-crowd, or even a request to the reader to close the book and shake it! 

There have been plenty of studies about the benefits of reading with with regards to social and cognitive development, whether thru traditional novels or sequential art. The key is in recognising the variety within the medium, from story genre to art style, which is why it's so important when a publisher like Random House enters the market because the more books on the market, the more chance people have of finding something that their kids will love. 

You can check out an interview with the creator Johan Troianowski on The Beat here.

Swoon Now! Welcome To Your Awesome Robot

If you're aware of NoBrow Press you'll recognise their focus on the aesthetic. In fact o strong is the house style that we happily give them their own spot in the shop. Well they've recently launched an all ages imprint: Flying Eye Books. The website (see here) is worth rummaging around if only for the cute little animation on the title page and the rather nice mission statement, all of which may lead you to punch the air and say "Yay for books". Here's an extract:

...What would the world be like without beautiful, magical, tactile books? What would our homes look like? What would our children’s bedrooms be like? Where would that wondrous reveal of turning the pulpy, inky pages of a treasured picture book go?... 



Anyway, here's a look at the first book we have in from this line. It's titled Welcome To Your Awesome Robot, its by Viviane Schwarz (see here for her website) and it mixes engaging pages of comic 'how to...' (with a mother and daughter) and images to cut-out to add to your own construction if you so wish. I think it's really rather nice...

Swoon Now! The Complete Rainbow Orchid

Although several have tried, I don't think anyone has managed to capture the spirit of Tin-Tin quite like Garen Ewing in his Rainbow Orchid books.  Following the adventures of Julius Chancer, historical researcher, and his search for the mystical Rainbow Orchid, the series has received wide-spread acclaim (see here for The Guardian review of the third volume of the series). Now we have The Complete Rainbow Orchid (Egmont) which collects all three volumes and also includes 14 pages of sketches, research and notes. Explore more on the official website (see here) and watch out for Ewing's occasional contributions to The Phoenix Magazine. Highly recommended for all ages.

Presuming On His Senses - Power Up by Doug TenNapel

 

Doug TenNapel is one of those 'can do' people - starting out in animation (Attack of the Killer Green Tomatoes Animated Series), sliding into video games (most notably creating Earthworm Jim) then moving back into tv (Push, Nevada) before establishing a healthy reputation in original graphic novels. Just looking over the back covers of his eight books throws up compliments from the likes of Guilemro del Toro, Jeff Smith and Todd McFarlane. TenNapel's books have a high concept feel to the story balanced with a very human warmth to his characters, all told with confident black and white art. His latest, Power Up follows in line: A down on his luck family man works in a mundane job to finance his dream of designing video games. There's your everyman way into the the story. Then he finds a ancient video game console which produces real versions of power up's - extra lives, shields, weapon upgrades etc. Slowly, something beneficial becomes something chaotic and ultimately dangerous. 

The line work in the art this time round is cleaner and more flowing. As a result maybe some of the energy is lost from previous volumes as is a little of that unique edge but the storytelling is still very good maintaining a healthy pace in the action and humour whilst expertly infusing that all-important eye for human story. There's a lovely simplicity to his work, as if, once he's created the idea and characters, it all comes tumbling out onto the page. Another new work titled Ghostopolis is to be published by Scholastic and has been bought up by Hugh Jackman so it looks like the final frontier of movieland is soon to be charted. There's a nice interview with TenNapel here.