Forces of Nature: A Book Of Drawings by Edward Steed. Drawn and Quarterly, 2024. 9781770466982. 184pp. I’m not sure I’ve ever done this, but I take issue with the subtitle. This is a book of single-panel comics! They’re drawings, sure, […]
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Author: Gene Ambaum
Book Review: The Tainted Cup (Shadow of the Leviathan Book 1) by Robert Jackson Bennett
The Tainted Cup (Shadow of the Leviathan Book 1) by Robert Jackson Bennett. Del Rey, 2024. 978-1984820716. 432pp. The book opens with a gruesome death. It turns out to be a murder, which leads to the discovery of what is […]
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Novella Review: Outside The Gates by Molly Gloss
Outside The Gates by Molly Gloss. Saga Press, 2019. 9781534414976. 128pp. “The best first novel I’ve seen in years.” — Ursula K. Le Guin I came across a copy of this novella in a bookstore and had to it when […]
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Graphic Novel Review: Smoking Kills by Thijis Desmet
Smoking Kills by Thijis Desmet. Translated by Trace Demon and Gryla Skullking. F.U. Press / Fantagraphics, 2023. 9781683969150. 166pp. Two dead dudes hang out. The ghost smokes. The skeleton guy can’t quite face the fact that he’s dead. They wander […]
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Graphic Novel Review: Endsickness by Sofia Alarcon
Endsickness by Sofia Alarcon. Conundrum, 2025. 9781772621075. 148pp. This book features eight short comics by Alarcon about “climate change and eco-anxiety” (says the back cover). “Positive Thinking” opens with just that, but then becomes a fantasy about leaving everything behind. […]
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Graphic Novel Review: Family Force V Book One by Matt Braly and Ainsworth Lin
Family Force V Book One by Matt Braly and Ainsworth Lin. Skybound / Image, 2025. 9781534340336. 232pp. Publisher’s Rating: Ages 12+ This is a cross between Power Rangers and the Fantastic Four. A family of superheroes in colorful costumes — […]
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Graphic Novel Review: Simplicity: A Novel by Matty Lubchansky
Simplicity: A Novel by Matty Lubchansky. Pantheon, 2025. 9780593701126. 272pp. Here’s the book’s full title on the title page: In the Land of…Simplicity: A Novel. An Account Of The Unusual Peoples Of The Former United States & A Sojourn Through […]
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Graphic Novel Review: Lucas Wars by Laurent Hopman and Renaud Roche
Lucas Wars by Laurent Hopman and Renaud Roche. Translated by Jeremy Melloul. 23rd St., 2025. 9781250367402. 186pp. Includes a detailed bibliography plus a portfolio, commentary, and a few pages of notes on Roche’s creative process from roughs to finished pages. […]
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Graphic Novel Review: Goes Like This by Jordan Crane
Goes Like This by Jordan Crane. Fantagraphics, 2025. 9781683967729. 192pp. This is a perfect companion to Crane’s adult graphic novel Keeping Two. The stories are short, but they share the mastery of sequential art on display in that book; the […]
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Book Review: World’s Edge: A Mosaic Novel by James Sallis
World’s Edge: A Mosaic Novel by James Sallis. Soho, 2026. 9781641298261. 225pp. Sallis is one of my favorite novelists because he’s a poet who doesn’t waste words. His books circle ideas and moments and people that are often full of […]
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