5 mostly new graphic novels with really good reviews

"Look at him now, poor fellow. That's what a dose of reality does for you...never touch the stuff myself, you understand. I find it gets in the way of the hallucinations."
― Alan Moore, Batman: The Killing Joke

Earlier this month, over on the Top 5 Goodies blog, I highlighted 5 new graphic novels that I'd spotted/requested/read. They were well worth the time. (My awesomeness at picking books amazes even me). I thought I'd round up another 5 for today's post here, although this time with a bit of a difference. I spent more than quite a while looking through the catalogue for ones that had been reviewed. Did you know that you can do that? Not all of our books have them, but sometimes they can help if you're a little uncertain about whether or not you really do want to read something. If you find a title in the catalogue with a cover, click on the cover, and any reviews will be listed under 'Additional information.' You can try with this book here: Tangle of Need by Nalini Singh. You should see a review by Publisher's Weekly. Success! You haz it! A little tip from me. Don't say I never do anything for you. So, quick intro from me, which is a bonus for you if you're all about the graphic novels and less about the talky talky. I give thee: 5 mostly new (and somewhat eclectic) graphic novels with really good reviews

Best of enemies [graphic novel] : a history of US and Middle East relations. Part one: 1783-1953 / Jean-Pierre Filiu & David B.
Filiu and David B. draw striking parallels between ancient and contemporary political history in this look at the US–Middle East conflict. The reader is transported to the pirate-choked Mediterranean sea, where Christians and Muslims continue the crusades, only this time on water. As the centuries pass, the traditional victims of the Muslim pirates-the British, French, and Spanish-all become empire-building powers whose sights lie beyond the Mediterranean. Reviews:

"This complex and unsavory saga is told concisely and vividly, enhanced by David B.'s marvelously inventive pen-and-inks, which won an award from the French magazine dBD" (Library Journal)

"...This complex and unsavory saga is told concisely and vividly, enhanced by David B.'s marvelously inventive pen-and-inks, which won an award from the French magazine dBD" (BigThink.com)

"B. is one of contemporary comics' true visionaries, the speaker of a visual language of his own devising" (Comics Journal)

Paul has a summer job [graphic novel] / Michel Rabagliati
Rabagliati's strip "Paul: Apprentice Typographer" was one of the highlights of 1999's Drawn & Quarterly anthology, and his first comic book Paul in the Country won the 2000 Harvey award for Best New Talent. This, his first graphic novel, is eagerly anticipated by comix connoisseurs who enjoy a sweet, unsentimental story about being a teenager and Rabagliati's crisp retro-modern 1950s drawing style. This book continues the story of Paul, a Quebecois teenager in the 1970s, as he experiences the first conflicts of responsibility with his desire to be free. Paul is outraged that he is forced to stop his high school art training. But he's been asked to put art aside because his other grades are so terribly low. Defiant, he quits school and anticipates a summer of leisure. But instead Paul follows the path of so many Quebecois teenagers: he lands a job as a counselor at one of the many summer camps in the mountains outside the city. There he finds himself guiding a motley band of kids, misfits and troublemakers, much like himself. After quitting school and trying his luck in the "real world," average teenager Paul gets a job as a counselor at a summer camp run for underprivileged children in 1970s Quebec.

Reviews:

"Rabagliati is a relative newcomer to comics, having spent most of his career as a graphic designer, and his art shines" (Publisher's Weekly)

"The story unfolds with quirky black-ink drawings and natural-sounding dialogue. The images bounce with physical energy and depict the brightness and darkness of the teen's moods" (School Library Journal)

"Rabagliati's simple black-and-white line drawings and classic comics format are well-suited to this slacker-goes-to-summer camp tale, which has plenty teens can relate to--whether it's Paul's dissatisfaction with the authority figures at his school or a first love" (Booklist)

Journalism [graphic novel] / Joe Sacco
Over the past decade, Joe Sacco, "our moral draughtsman" (Christopher Hitchens), has increasingly turned to short-form comics journalism to report from the sidelines of wars around the world. Collected here for the first time, Sacco's darkly funny, revealing reportage confirms his standing as one of the foremost war correspondents working today. In "The Unwanted," Sacco chronicles the detention of Saharan refugees who have washed up on the shores of Malta; "Chechen War, Chechen Women" documents the trial without end of widows in the Caucasus; and "Kushinagar" goes deep into the lives of India's untouchables, who are hanging "onto the planet by their fingernails." Other pieces take Sacco to the smuggling tunnels of Gaza; the trial of Milan Kovacevic, Bosnian warlord, in The Hague; and the darkest chapter in recent American history, Abu Ghraib. And on a mission with American troops—pieces never published in the United States—he confronts the misery and absurdity of the war in Iraq...

Reviews:

"The book is a powerful record of voices that would have otherwise gone largely unheard" (Publisher's Weekly)

Tammy Pierce is unlovable [graphic novel] / Esther Pearl Watson
Loosely based on a teenager's diary from the 1980s found in a gas-station bathroom, Unlovable is the remarkable story of Tammy Pierce, as filtered through the pen of Los Angeles artist Esther Pearl Watson. This boxed set collects the complete, acclaimed two-volume saga of Tammy's sophomore year of high school in 1989. Reviews:

"Given the source material, it's not surprising that much of the book is self-absorbed, repetitive and insufferable; it is also genuinely poignant" (Publisher's Weekly)

"Unlovable is a fine example of how art and narrative can be combined to make a potentially trivial book compelling and insight-provoking" (Booklist)

Channel Zero. The complete collection [graphic novel] / created and written by Brian Wood ; with Becky Cloonan ; introduction by Warren Ellis
DMZ and The Massive creator Brian Wood launched an all-out assault on the comics medium in 1997 with Channel Zero, an influential, forward-thinking series that combined art, politics, and graphic design in a unique way. Hitting on themes of freedom of expression, hacking, cutting-edge media manipulation, and police surveillance, it remains as relevant today as it did back then. The Channel Zero Collection contains the original series, the prequel graphic novel Jennie One (illustrated by Becky Cloonan), the best of the two Public Domain design books, and almost fifteen years of extras, rarities, short stories, and unused art. Also featuring the now-classic Warren Ellis introduction and an all-new cover by Wood, this is the must-have edition. See where it all began!

Reviews:

"What makes Channel Zero so significant is that it is unapologetically experimental; Wood is far more interested in trying out a variety of visual techniques than in creating something that is slick and polished. The result is a graphic novel whose form and content could not be more perfectly matched. And it's a kick-ass story, too" (Publisher's Weekly)