Graphic Novel Review: Two Short Story Collections

Posted on December 28, 2023 at 6:46 am by Gene Ambaum

It’s hard to find “graphic novels” full of short stories to recommend to adults, but here are two I loved.

Haruki Murakami Manga Stories 1 by Haruki Murakami, adapted by Jean-Christophe Deveney, illustrations by PMGL. Tuttle, 2023. 9784805317648. 144pp.

Contains adaptations of “Super Frog Saves Tokyo,””Where I’m Likely to Find It,” “Birthday Girl,” and “The Seventh Man.”

Though I once read every one of Murakami’s short story collections, it’s been a while since I’ve read one, and I don’t specifically remember any of these. But the adaptations capture the strangeness of some I remember and the drifty, specific vibe I associate with others. I admired PMGL’s art and particuarly the way the coloring and style varied from story to story, plus Deveney’s adaptations are solid.

I’ll be picking up the forthcoming second collection of Murakami’s stories from Tuttle because I loved this on, and also because it contains one of my favorite short stories, “The Second Bakery Attack.”

Werewolf at Dusk and other stories by David Small. Liveright, 2024. 9781324092827. 192pp.

Contains adaptations of “Werewolf at Dusk” story Lincoln Michel and “The Tiger in Vogue” story by Jean Ferry, as well as a story by David Small, “A Walk in the Old City.”

Small’s art is exact and beautiful, and somehow he manages to make it feel immediate, as if the pages are full of wonderous, quick sketches. My favorite thing about this collection is the way Small balances words and images to tell the stories, plus I also love how he draws objects and people in the distance. When you pick up this book, I think you’ll be wowed by the way he uses red in the first and last stories.