Macanudo: Welcome To Elsewhere by Liniers. Fantagraphics, 2022. 9781683965565. Introduction by Matt Groening. Groening compares Liniers’s comics to Mutts, Peanuts, and Calvin and Hobbes, calling them “funny and fanciful and whimsical and philosophical in the best sense.” Macanudo feels timeless and hand-crafted and makes me feel like I should be reading more comic strips. Its repeating characters include a beaked man in black, two penguins, a friendly monster named Olga, long-hatted elves, a girl and her cat, and others. Anything can happen in these comic strips — Cthulhu, dragons, superheroes, Dorothy, and even volcanologists make appearances. So does John Venn. Plus there are a fair number of comics about books and reading, too. This isn’t the only collection of Macanudo comics available in English but it is my favorite.

The Human Target Volume One by Tom King and Greg Smallwood. DC Black Label, 2022. 9781779516701. Contains #1 – 6. This is the first of two volumes that will collect King’s Human Target comics. It’s a detective tale in which Christopher Chance, aka The Human Target, tries to solve his own murder. While on the job, disguised as Lex Luthor, he was poisoned. Chance will be dead in twelve days. (Not even Dr. Midnight seems able to change that.) Evidence points to the poisoner being one of the members of the somewhat ridiculous Justice League International, and it seems that Chance will meet each in turn. First up: Ice, who says she wants to help. Her ex-boyfriend, the hot-headed Green Lanter Guy Gardener, isn’t happy she’s hanging out with Chance, though. There are other complications as well. This is Tom King at his best — the story is a little dark but also goofy and nostalgic. Smallwood’s art has a nice noir feel to it (think of Darwyn Cooke’s Parker adaptations) despite taking place in the present. On a slightly related note, I was happy to see that James Gunn’s plan for DC’s upcoming movies includes an adaptation of King’s and Evely’s Supergirl: World of Tomorrow series, which I’m really looking forward to seeing on the big screen.

Let There Be Light: The Real Story Of Her Creation by Liana Finck. Random House, 2022. 9781984801531. In Part I: Past, God creates everything: the heavens and earth, night and day, everything on the Earth. She’s a little more despondent and lonely than I’d have suspected, but she has a few wild, joyous moments too. Then she makes man (and Lilith, Monster of the Night). And man starts naming everything, including her. And when he names her “she [transforms] into a stern old man with a beard.” (That’s true only in man’s mind though. Ha.) When man is a little sad God has to tell him he’s right about everything, and then makes him a friend, woman. Everything is great, but then all of that stuff with the tree of knowledge happens, followed by the story of exile and Cain and Abel and a brilliant comics adaptation of all of the begetting that follows, plus the story of Noah. I loved the retelling of the Book of Genesis, and I’m specifically recommending the book for Part I. Part II: Present lost me as it veered out of the story of Abraham and toward Isaac and Sarah and others. I know I lost something in skipping ahead to the Epilogue. I’m not a Bible reader, but if you are I’d love to know what you made of all of Part II and its modern setting. (And I may do a little reading to figure it out, who knows.) Finck’s pencils and inks feel playful most of the time, and then entirely serious. I love her style, including the book’s simple layouts and how little text she needs. Her limited use of color is simply brilliant. Worth noting: The book has illustrated, hand-lettered acknowledgments, and the funniest note about the type I’ve ever read.

It Won’t Always Be Like This: A Graphic Memoir by Malaka Gharib. Ten Speed Press, 2022. 9781984860293. After her parents divorced, Malaka Gharib spent summers with her father and his side of her family in Egypt. In the first chapter, when she is nine, Malaka meets Hala, her new stepmother, a pretty young woman who seems fun and playful. They stay at the hotel where her dad works, and she and Hala spend a lot of time together. Despite the lack of much common language they get to know each other pretty well. In later summers as Malaka’s father’s new family continues to grow, she feels like she’s not quite a part of it. There’s a lot of teenage awkwardness, much of it about trying to relate to family across languages and cultures, but for me the heart of the book is when she becomes an adult and starts to understand Hala as a person, to see the problems in Hala’s marriage to her father. I recently reconnected with my stepmother who I hadn’t seen in almost forty years, and no book has reminded me of knowing her as a kid as much as this one. I admire Gharib’s ability to create coherent memoirs about her teen years as much as I love the style of her drawings. This is a great book, and a follow-up to her first graphic memoir, I Was Their American Dream.

Sakamoto Days Volume 1 by Yuto Suzuki. Translation by Camellia Nieh. Viz, 2020. 9781974728947. Publisher’s Rating: T+ Older Teen. Taro Sakamoto was the greatest hitman of all time. Then he fell in love, had a family, and now he’s totally out of shape. He runs a convenience store on the outskirts of Tokyo and, because he made a promise to his wife, he keeps his murderous instincts in check. Another hitman, Shin, has found his hero Sakamoto. Shin’s boss wants Sakamoto dead, but Sakamoto is no pushover — he’s hilariously fast and precise as he defends himself and defeats his attackers. Soon Shin joins the staff at Sakamoto’s where he helps his hero quietly defend the store and the community around it. A note on the shelf appeal of this title: unbeknownst to each other my daughter and I both bought this book at our local Kinokuniya on the same day. She found it amongst the Japanese-language manga while I discovered it on the shelves in the English-language section, but it’s clearly a standout. You can read the first few chapters for free at https://www.viz.com/shonenjump/sakamoto-days-chapter-1/chapter/21615

Super Trash Clash by Edgar Camacho. Translation by Eva Ibarzabal. Top Shelf / IDW, 2022. 9781603095167. 96pp. A young woman, Dul, buys an old video game cartridge she sees in a shop window and then rushes home to play it. And as she does she relives a childhood memory when, as a video game-obsessed young girl, she wanted a copy of Super Encounter Champions 2 to play with her friend Misa. Her mom bought her another game instead, the very poorly rated Super Trash Clash. What Dul did with the game, and how her mom reacted when she found out, form the emotional core of the story and are the reasons the game means so much to Dul now that she’s older. It’s a quick graphic novel, and its emotional punch will sneak up on you, particularly if you were once (like me) an ungrateful latchkey kid who only now (sometimes) appreciates what your parent(s) did for you. (Worth noting: I love the full-color pages, which have a matte finish — I’ve read too many graphic novels with slick, glossy paper recently.)

Twig by Skottie Young, art and designs by Kyle Strahm, and coloring by Jean-Francois Beaulieu. Image, 2022. 9781534323469. Contains #1 – 5. Publisher’s Rating: T / Teen. Because Twig’s father had no apprentice when he died, Twig has to take his place. Now it’s his first day as the new Placeling, and Twig is late. Mount Guphin (a living mountain) reminds him the world is depending on him and then unfurls a strange bridge to get Twig on his way. He descents (ungracefully) into the Belly Mines and there is given a gem, along with instructions on how to find the Pathsayer’s Cartogratory. The only problem is the Pathsayer is dead, and can’t tell Twig his quest. When Twig tries to find it out on his own, he accidentally kills the gem. Luckily his father told him what to do about dead gems, and that sets Twig on a quest (which it seems may be the last quest of all). I loved Twig’s friend Splat, a mollusk-like creature who accompanies him throughout. And that the story is full of adventure and kindness and bright, beautiful colors that buoy everything. If you’ve got a favorite fantasy graphic novel for kids, I’m sure it will remind you of that in the best ways. (I’ve got no idea why this is rated T for teens — I don’t remember Twig being a potty mouth or anything. It would appeal to any kid above fourth grade, and although there are some toothy creatures and a few scary moments, I don’t think it would cause terror in most of them.)

Methods of Dyeing by B. Mure. Avery Hill Publishing, 2021. 9781910395622. The fourth graphic novella in the Ismyre series is a murder mystery of sorts. Professor Detlef, botanist and master dyer, due to give a lecture at Ismyre University, is found dead on the university grounds. A detective sent by the Belsithan government arrives to take charge of the investigation because Detlef was one of its citizens. Mary, who found the body, leads the detective to the professor’s room and, ultimately, helps with a bit of revenge too. It’s a quiet story full of anthropomorphic characters and bold colors like the other graphic novels in the series. I particularly love the way Mure continues to explore the world without over-explaining any aspect of it.

Issunboshi: A Graphic Novel by Ryan Lang. Oni Press, 2022. 9781637150818. The gods used the power of the Heavenly Spear to make our world and then separated it into four parts. Those were hidden so that the spear’s power couldn’t be used for evil. But one day an oni found a piece of the spear and set out to find the rest. A childless couple prayed for a son. And the spirit of the air, the fourth piece of the spear, the essence of life, was reborn as a really tiny baby, Issunboshi. The second time Issunboshi appears in the book he’s facing down an owl as part of a bet to get two friend to do his chores. And then his parents talk to him, telling him his place is out in the world, and that he’s unique and destined to be a great man. A possessed bird, sent by the evil oni and looking for Issunboshi, attacks the family and sets Issunboshi on the path to his destiny, which includes: huge monsters, a blind warrior, a glorious training montage, and some of the most cinematic, black and white art I’ve seen in a long time. Lang works in animation and it shows in this book’s art and dramatic layouts. This graphic novel is an all-ages adventure that I hope everyone picks up.