The Little Particle That Could

The Little Particle That Could is an adorable educational children’s book with plenty of distinctive, charming illustrations. It’s a board book, for ages 3-6, the size of an elongated pack of index cards. As written by Jason Rodriguez, it’s the story of a happy particle who “spun all day and pulled,...

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Black Lightning: The Complete First Season

Black Lightning is the superhero show for adults, those who are concerned with more than battles against cartoon bad guys. The 13-episode first season, out on Blu-ray and DVD on Tuesday, is tightly told and full of intriguing ideas. (Warner Bros. Home Entertainment provided me with a free copy of the...

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Lyric McKerrigan, Secret Librarian

Out September 4 is a kids’ book with a concept that tickles me by a talented artist. Vera Brosgol (Be Prepared, Anya’s Ghost, Leave Me Alone!) is illustrating Lyric McKerrigan, Secret Librarian, written by Jacob Sager Weinstein. Described as a “delightfully silly superhero tale”, the plot of the picture...

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Marvel Brings Back Titles Aimed at New Audiences

Marvel has announced the return of two series previously cancelled that star characters that aren’t the traditional straight white males. It’s great to see more diverse titles getting a second chance, since that’s how the company can stay relevant in the future. The one I’m most excited about is The...

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Read Kim Reaper for Free; Sequel Announced

Sarah Graley put out Kim Reaper through Oni Press last year, with a collection in February. Now a sequel has been announced. Kim Reaper: Vampire Island is a four-issue miniseries that brings back Kim and Becka. College relationships are tough for everyone, but they’re EXTRA hard for Kim. Her grumpy...

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Diamond Brings Back the Spinner Rack

In January, Diamond allowed retailers to order a comic spinner rack for $299 (and free shipping). That kind of display has nostalgic appeal for a lot of older readers who remember them displaying superhero titles at newsstands and other retailers, back when you didn’t have to go to a comic shop to keep...

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Silver Spoon Volumes 1-2

The classic “fish out of water” story, where someone with preconceptions and stereotypes learns to appreciate another lifestyle, feels fresh in Silver Spoon by Hiromu Arakawa (Fullmetal Alchemist). That’s because so few of us these days know what it takes to be modern farmers, and it’s fascinating to...

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Takane & Hana Volume 3

I enjoyed the first volume and was disappointed by the second. Was Takane & Hana volume 3 more to my taste? No, but I think I have a better handle on the approach author Yuki Shiwasu is taking to extending this series. (I can’t believe it has 10 volumes out in Japan!) In this volume, the misunderstanding...

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A Quick & Easy Guide to They/Them Pronouns

A Quick & Easy Guide to They/Them Pronouns is exactly what it says: an introduction to general-neutral pronouns in comic form. The short graphic novel by Archie Bongiovanni and co-writer Tristan Jimerson is out this week. It’s immediately approachable, with the two talking the reader through this...

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Delicious in Dungeon Volume 5

Delicious in Dungeon volume 5 is something of a restart for the fantasy adventure/food manga series by Ryoko Kui. Volume 4 was all adventure, as the group finally found and fought the red dragon they’d been seeking, which meant little room for new monsters and meals in that multi-chapter story. Now,...

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Cells at Work! Volume 5

Now that the premise has become a bit repetitive, Akane Shimizu is changing things up a bit by creating a through plot in Cells at Work! volume 5. An ordinary cell is bored and resentful of the attention immune cells get. He rescues four baby germs and hides them, but they turn out to be lactic acid...

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Limited Edition

One of the benefits of a digital-only publisher like Europe Comics (particularly one republishing works that already have a track record, but in English) is that they can experiment with a wider range of story types and subjects. Aude Picault’s Limited Edition has strong appeal to a market under-served...

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Valentine Book 1

The best thing about Valentine, by Vanyda, is that it foregrounds the experience of a teenage girl as worth viewing. The worst thing about it is that absolutely nothing happens. There is no story here. Valentine is a teenager in school. She hangs with her friends and goes to a party where one of them...

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Abridged Classics: Brief Summaries of Books You Were Supposed to Read But Probably Didn’t

Abridged Classics: Brief Summaries of Books You Were Supposed to Read But Probably Didn’t is exactly what it says — a whole collection of short (one- or two-panel) cartoons about a whole bunch of famous books. It’s a good blend of content. Some of the books I’ve never heard of, such as Ivanov or To...

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Cells at Work! Volume 2

I had no idea the topics inside the human body were going to be as varied as they are in Cells at Work! volume 2 by Akane Shimizu. The first book was mostly respiratory related, with allergies and flu and such. In this volume, though, we get food poisoning, heat stress, and a two-part battle against...

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More Warner TV DVD Sets Announced

To go along with last month’s announcement of four superhero DVD collections, Warner has also announced these two season sets: Lucifer: The Complete Third Season will be out August 28 at a suggested price of $39.99 for the mass-market DVD edition. The Blu-ray will be available through Warner Archive....

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Death of Superman Trailer, Release Dates

We started hearing about the next original animated DC movie, The Death of Superman, earlier this year. Now comes box art, a trailer, and a release date. The movie will be available digitally on July 24 with the Blu-ray and DVD versions following on August 7. It’s about Superman facing down Doomsday,...

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