June 2023 MBR The Comix/Graphic Novel Shelf

The Comix/Graphic Novel Shelf

The Lost Journals of Phineas Finke
Stephen Barnwell, author/illustrator
Joan Barnwell, editor
Antarctica Arts
https://www.antarcticaarts.com
9781733964982, $29.95, HC, 130pp

https://www.amazon.com/Lost-Journals-Phineas-Finke/dp/1733964983

Synopsis: In 1906, photographer Phineas Finke discovered a new emulsion for his glass plates. It was sensitive to a very special frequency of light that allowed him to see into another dimension.

At first, he was excited and fascinated by the intriguing images and bizarre creatures that his New Emulsion captured. Soon, however, enthusiasm turned to terror, as horrific beings from another dimension began to infest the countryside, the nearby town of Arkham, and finally his own home.

What unspeakable horrors might still be surrounding us at all times, unseen and invisible?

Critique: With the publication of "The Lost Journals of Phineas Finke" will be able to join Phineas Finke on his journey into madness in a Victorian Gothic tale worthy of H. P. Lovecraft.
A unique and chillingly illustrated graphic novel by author/illustrator Stephen Barnwell, and deftly edited by Joan Barnwell, "The Lost Journals of Phineas Finke" features 92 soul-chilling images -- purportedly the actual wet plate photographs made in 1906 by Phineas Finke with his New Emulsion. Macabre, original, and entertaining, "The Lost Journals of Phineas Finke" is highly recommended for the personal reading lists and community library graphic novel collections for ages 14-18 and older.

Editorial Note: Stephen Barnwell (https://www.stephenbarnwell.com/cv.htm) is a professional artist, working in printmaking, illustration, and book design. His prints have been exhibited internationally in museums including the Palais de Tokyo Contemporary Art Museum in Paris, the Marin Museum of Contemporary Art in California, the Altmarkisches Museum in Stendal, Germany, and the Lahti Art Museum in Lahti, Finland.

Sons of Ashgard: Ill Met in Elmgard
Chad Corrie, et al.
Dark Horse Comics
10956 SE Main Street, Milwaukie, OR 97222
www.darkhorse.com
9781506733616, $19.99, PB, 152pp

https://www.amazon.com/Sons-Ashgard-Ill-Met-Elmgard/dp/1506733611

Synopsis: With bloody hands and sorrowful heart / I set my sails and soon depart. / For a brighter day my soul does long. / A place to hope where I can belong.

Erick Redfur seeks a new life. Exiled from his homeland he craves a fresh start, but has yet to find it. Hopeful of a better fate in Elmgard he soon finds himself embroiled in a series of troubling events that quickly escalate into a near kingdom-wide war.

Yet even as he attempts a remedy through fast thinking and the aid of some new companions, he risks jeopardizing his chance for a more peaceful future. But in so doing he'll find his redemption along with new hope for the days ahead.

Critique: "Sons of Ashgard: Ill Met in Elmgard" by the team of author Chad Corrie, line artist Matt Wendt, colorist Hi-Fi, and with lettering by Taylor Esposito, is an original and compellingly impressive graphic novel that is a fully entertaining blend of action, adventure, comedy, and heart. It is an anthropomorphic saga that follows a group of adventurous squirrels across a Norse-flavored landscape finding commonality in a bond birthed through mutual struggle and discovery. Each story is stand-alone incident that also ties into a larger narrative woven between each tale. While also available in a digital book format (Kindle, $11.99), "Sons of Ashgard: Ill Met in Elmgard" is unreservedly recommended for personal and community library Graphic Novel collections.

Editorial Note: Chad Corrie (https://chadcorrie.com) has written comics, graphic novels, prose fiction of varying lengths, and an assortment of other odds and ends. He's been an editor and writer for an online magazine, owned his own publishing company; worked as a bookseller and magazine/book merchandiser.

New Realities: The Comics of Dash Shaw
Greg Hunter
Uncivilized Books
www.uncivilizedbooks.com
9781941250471, $22.99, PB, 112pp

https://www.amazon.com/New-Realities-Comics-Dash-Shaw/dp/1941250475

Synopsis: Dash Shaw is one of the most restless cartoonists of recent decades, constantly evolving in how he approaches the comics page. In the years since his breakthrough graphic novel Bottomless Belly Button, he has continued to create acclaimed, idiosyncratic comics, varying his uses of line and color as well as shifting from domestic realism to sci-fi farce to historical fiction.

But some concerns in Shaw's work remain constant. His characters live within their own personal realities, often failing to connect or even communicate. Comics as different as the dystopian spectacle BodyWorld and the geek-culture comedy Cosplayers become sites of clashes between incompatible mindsets -- with Shaw adapting his cartooning to capture new varieties of confusion, alienation, and more.

With the publication of "New Realities: The Comics of Dash Shaw" critic Greg Hunter (The Comics Journal) follows the through-line across this adventurous body of work.

Critique: A 'must read' study for the legions of Dash Shaw fans, "New Realities: The Comics of Dash Shaw" is an impressive presentation of the graphic novel style artwork of this unique and iconoclastic artist. "New Realities: The Comics of Dash Shaw" is an especially and unreservedly recommended for personal, professional, community, and academic library Comics/Graphic Novels literary criticism collections and supplemental curriculum studies lists.

Editorial Note: Literary critic Greg Hunter has a web page on The Comics Journal website at https://www.tcj.com/author/greg-hunter

Destroyer Duck: Graphite Edition
Steve Gerber, author
Jack Kirby, illustrator
John Morrow, editor
TwoMorrows Publishing
10407 Bedfordtown Drive, Raleigh, NC 27614
www.twomorrows.com
9781605491172, $31.95, HC, 128pp

https://www.amazon.com/Destroyer-Duck-Graphite-Steve-Gerber/dp/1605491179

Synopsis: In the 1980s, writer Steve Gerber was embroiled in a lawsuit against Marvel Comics over ownership of his creation Howard The Duck. To raise funds for legal fees, Gerber asked Jack Kirby to contribute to a benefit comic titled Destroyer Duck. Without hesitation, Kirby (who was in his own dispute with Marvel at the time) donated his services for the first issue, and the duo took aim at their former employer in an outrageous five-issue run.

With biting satire and guns blazing, Duke "Destroyer" Duck battled the thinly veiled Godcorp (whose infamous credo was "Grab it all! Own it all! Drain it all!"), its evil leader Ned Packer and the (literally) spineless Booster Cogburn, Medea (a parody of Daredevil's Elektra), and more!

Now, all five Gerber/Kirby issues are collected in "Destroyer Duck: Graphite Edition" but relettered and reproduced from JACK'S unbridled, uninked pencil art! Also included are select examples of Alfredo Alcala's unique inking style over Kirby on the original issues, Gerber's script pages, an historical Introduction by Mark Evanier (co-editor of the original 1980s issues), and an Afterword by Buzz Dixon (who continued the series after Gerber)!

Dedicated comic history fans will discover all the hidden jabs they might have missed when Destroyer Duck was first published, and experience page after page of Kirby's raw pencil art!

Critique: Informative enhanced with an Introduction by Mark Evanier, an Afterword by Buzz Dixon, deftly edited by John Morrow, and expertly reproducing a truly fascinating bit of 'protest' comic book art history, "Destroyer Duck: Graphite Edition" will be of immense interest to fans of comic book legends Steve Gerber and Jack Kirby. This informative and fun hardcover edition is unreservedly recommended for personal, community, college, and university library Supherhero comics/graphic novel collections.

Editorial Note #1: Steve Gerber (September 20, 1947[1] - February 10, 2008) was an American comic book writer and creator of the satiric Marvel Comics character Howard the Duck. Other works include Man-Thing, Omega the Unknown, Marvel Spotlight: "Son of Satan", The Defenders, Marvel Presents: "Guardians of the Galaxy", Daredevil and Foolkiller. Gerber (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Gerber) was posthumously inducted into the Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame in 2010.

Editorial Note #2: Jack Kirby (August 28, 1917 - February 6, 1994) was an American comic book artist, writer and editor, widely regarded as one of the medium's major innovators and one of its most prolific and influential creators. In 1940, he and writer-editor Joe Simon created the highly successful superhero character Captain America for Timely Comics, predecessor of Marvel Comics. During the 1940s. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Kirby).

Editorial Note #3: John Morrow (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TwoMorrows_Publishing) is a publisher of magazines about comic books (TwoMorrows Publishing) founded in 1994.

EDITOR'S NOTE:

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James A. Cox, Editor-in-Chief
Midwest Book Review