Dugout: The Zombie Steals Home by Scott Morse. Scholastic Graphix, 2019. 9781338188097. 256pp. – Twin sisters Stacy and Gina are baseball rivals. Gina and her team are doing well, while Stacy isn’t having any luck. Some of Stacy’s teammates on the Rooks think they’re cursed, and that her grandma is a witch. The latter is true, but their grandma isn’t going to teach Stacy and Gina spells until they’re at least sixteen. After Gina secretly uses her grandma’s magical ingredients on Stacy’s glove anyway, a zombie climbs from the ground in the middle of the Rooks’ practice field. It’s a freaky looking (if somewhat rotten) old guy zombie but don’t worry, it quickly and humorously becomes part of the team. Later, there’s a ghost in a baseball uniform, and a baseball-centered mystery/adventure involving both. – Full disclosure: Morse is one of my favorite cartoonists. I own copies of most of his books and several pieces of his art and I was giddy when I saw a new book by him. (He’s the creator of Soulwind, which was just reissued in a single volume, and is known in kid lit circles for the Magic Pickle series and his story in the first Goosebumps graphic novel.) I’ve seen him draw a few times, and he’s always super quick. I feel like this gives his illustrations an energy I find lacking in a lot of drawings, and in this book it really adds the chases and sports scenes. Recommended for all kids graphic novel collections.

                    Bastard by Max de Radiguès. Fantagraphics, 2018. 9781683961307. 174pp. – Hobo Mom by Charles Foresman, art by Max de Radiguès. Fantagraphics, 2018. 9781683961765. 62pp. – Belgian comics creator Max de Radiguès’s Moose was an amazing YA graphic novel about a kid dealing with an ethical conundrum: whether or not to let his bully die. His two new books deal, in one way or another, with the ethics of motherhood. (And he has several more about to be published in the U.S.) – In Bastard, May and her young son Eugene are on the run after taking part in 52 robberies in one city as part of a gang. After escaping the cops and burying their loot, it becomes clear they’re still not safe. A kind truck driver offers them a chance to lay low for a while, but it’s hard to tell if he’s really a nice guy. – In Hobo Mom, Natasha rides the rails to where her ex and her daughter live. It’s clear she broke his heart, and Sissy has no idea that Natasha is her mother, but Natasha wants to get to know her. After she stays with them for a bit, they start to form a family of sorts, but it’s unclear if she can or should resist the pull of the road. – I love the way de Radiguès’s simple art lets him suddenly mix adult moments into what look like kid-friendly books, in a way that really shakes things up. And I really loved the subtle use of colored screen tones in Hobo Mom — just a nice touch. (I met de Radiguès at NCSfest in May, and he said that he and Foresman drew the book together, passing pages back and forth, and that he inked the final pages to make the art look unified.) Anyway, I’m a huge fan. – Next up on my list by him: Rough Age, another graphic novel about teens, out from One Percent Press in August.

The Assassination of Brangwain Spurge by M.T. Anderson and Eugene Yelchin. Candlewick, 2018. 9780763698225. 544pp. with a discussion by Anderson and Yelchin at the end, about creating a book in which the illustrations disagree with the text. – Elfin scholar Brangwain Spurge is loaded into a barrel then shot from a giant crossbow, sending him on a journey over the Bonecruel Mountains and into the goblin kingdom. (It goes worse than you’d imagine, even with that start.) He’s a spy with a mission from the Order of the Clean Hand and, unbeknownst to him, possibly an assassin. In the goblin kingdom he’s hosted by Werfel the Archivist, historian at the Court of the Mighty Ghohg, who’s excited to meet an elf despite the history of war between their peoples. Werfel tries to show Spurge the best of the goblin kingdom, and to prepare him to meet (and dance for) the otherworldly and somewhat inexplicable Ghogh. Nothing goes as planned: the pair don’t become fast friends, and it’s all Werfel can do to keep Spurge safe. – The story is immensely entertaining, especially as Spurge’s former tormentor back home starts to get what he deserves, and (minor spoiler) as a friendship forms between Spurge and Werfel. The book is full of silent sequences of images by Yelchin that look like 19th century goblin etchings sent through a library fax machine. They’re as hilarious as they are fun to read.

The Highest House by Mike Carey and Peter Gross. IDW, 2018. 9781684053544. 188pp. Contains #1 – #6 of the series in an oversized paperback. – Moth’s mother sells him as a slave to Clan Aldercrest in order to feed his siblings. It’s soon clear that the Steward sees something special (perhaps magical) in him. After he crosses The Bridge of Sorrows and enters Highest House, Moth begins training as an apprentice roofer. He also begins delving into the mysteries of the House, both on his own and with a powerful being trapped somewhere inside it who speaks to him and wants Moth to pledge himself to its service. – This book has a lot to recommend. It’s from the creative team behind The Unwritten and the original run of Lucifer, both published by DC’s Vertigo imprint. Carey also writes as M.R Carey (The Girl With All The Gifts and its sequels), plus he authored the Felix Castor novels, many other great comics, and lots more I probably don’t know about. – Check out his work if you’re a fan of Neil Gaiman. This oe also reminded me of Anne Leckie’s newest book, her first fantasy novel, the story of a trapped god: The Raven Tower.

To Build a Fire by Chabouté, Based on Jack London’s Classic Story. Translation by Laura Waters. Gallery 13 / Simon & Schuster, 2018. 9781982100827. 62pp. An overconfident newcomer to Alaska and his dog walk through the frozen Yukon, headed for camp. He’s distracted by thoughts of warmth and food. The dog, of course, can’t tell its master how much the cold worries it. I can’t think of another comics illustrator as gifted as Chabouté. This short graphic novel combines the best elements of his Alone (an exploration of the mind of an isolated man) and his adaptation of Moby Dick (the time period, and strong, quick characterizations) with a sense of struggle and cold to perfectly express the short story by Jack London. (And maybe this is weird, but I was struck by his perfectly drawn birch trees. And his sticks! Every detail of this book looks perfect.) Worth noting: this graphic novel could save your life if you’re given to wandering in frozen landscapes alone.

Blossoms in Autumn by Zidrou and Aimée de Jongh. Translation by Matt Madden. SelfMadeHero, 2019. 9781910593622. 145pp. – A beautiful romance develops between a former model turned cheesemaker, Mediterranea, and Ulysses, a retired mover. Both are dealing with loss and with getting older when they meet in Ulysses’ son’s waiting room, and their relationship develops from there. My favorite moment: Mediterranea, still afraid of apples because she saw Snow White when she was a kid, examining her aging, naked body in the mirror and seeing the witch. And then there’s the first sex scene — drawn in a sketchier, less colorful style than the rest of the graphic novel; composed without panels, it really captures the timelessness of the moment. – Buy this beautiful graphic novel for your library’s adult collection. And then, for bonus points, maybe put it on display near your large print shelves?  

Kiss Number 8 by Colleen AF Venable, illustrated by Ellen T Crenshaw. First Second, 2019. 9781596437098. 314pp including a conversation between Venable and Crenshaw in the back. At the beginning of the book, Mads (Amanda) kisses one of her best friends from church, and she kisses her back, which starts some very difficult times for Mads. Flash back to a month earlier where she’s hanging out with her friends Laura (quiet) and Cat (party girl), avoiding the affections of Laura’s hot younger brother Adam, and on the verge of finding out that her father has a secret (Mads suspects he’s had an affair, but it’s pretty clear she’s wrong). Mads and her dad are super close, so the whole situation is difficult for her and her family, though it does give Mads a chance to get to know her mom and others better. It’s always hard to review a graphic novel with a plot built around a secret, but here’s what I’d want to know if I was buying this for my library: it’s LGBT-themed, has little nudity but conversations about off-page sex (plus drinking and a few swears), and it takes place in the past (flip phones instead of smart phones). I’d have let me daughter read it in middle school without me looking over her shoulder, and I think she’d still enjoy it in high school.

Sister BFFs by Philippa Rice. Andrews McMeel, 2018. 9781449489359. 144pp. – Philippa Rice and her younger sister Holly star in short comics (and texts) where they clearly love each other and also get one each other’s nerves. It didn’t long much to draw me in — the messy endpapers remind me of my daughter’s room, and the dedication to Rice’s older, kinder, prettier sister Kate (and the anti-dedication to Holly) had me laughing. This book has it all: fart jokes, familial cruelty, awkward selfies, and essential oils, plus a discussion about kissing Tom Jones for money. – Other comics by Rice: Soppy My Cardboard Life