Welcome back to Graphic Breakdown the Friday Edition!
Here are some great titles to get you going for your weekend!
Time Share
Written by Patrick Keller
Illustrated by Dan McDaid
Published by Oni Press
Well, this was a delight. A nice, clean read from start to finish, this book is wonderful.; a good book that may slip under some people’s radar.
After a time bending adventure, Ollie Finch was set to go home in his uncle’s rocket car time machine when everything went sideways.
He’s at the center of a maelstrom of paradoxes that threatens to destroy the multiverse.
Fortunately, Ollie’s fellow time traveling friends might just help straighten things out: Teddy, the brain-damaged cyborg assassin; Bax, the soldier from the post-apocalyptic future sent to stop Teddy’s mission; Preston, the 19th-century inventor; Curtis, self-proclaimed Time Master; and Roxy, Ollie’s scorned ex-girlfriend.
Can this band of losers stop Phil, the world-conquering artificial intelligence… in time?
This book is well written by Keller. Likewise, the drawings are really nice and are very smooth. I have to say pick this up! It’s very enjoyable, and a nice book that is rather unexpected.
RATING: A-
The Dregs #1
Written by Lonnie Nadler and Zac Thompson
Illustrated by Eric Zawadzki
Published by Black Mask Comics
Well, this is a fairly disturbing title. And I loved it.
This is another rare book in the comic book landscape and I suggest picking it up!
A gentrified city. Its homeless population restricted to six square blocks called The Dregs.
When people start disappearing, a drug-addled homeless man obsessed with detective fiction becomes addicted to solving the mystery.
Equal parts Raymond Chandler and Don Quixote set in a thriving metropolis that literally cannibalizes the homeless, The Dregs is the first homeless meta noir ever made.
It’s a cool comic that could take off. The writing is fairly sharp and the art is very accomplished.
Black Mask had been pumping out some good titles. This is another one on their repertoire.
RATING: A-
When Life Hands You Lemons, Check For Lymes
Written and Illustrated by Phil Gerigscott
Purchase HERE.
Since Jeffery Brown went to draw Star Wars comics, there is a void that has been left to fill on the bio comic market, however small it is. Gerigscott fills that gap in pretty well here with this comic, available through Esty.
This comic is something special from Gerigscott.
In it, He explores almost in journal like form, about his bout with Lyme disease. It’s funny. It’s sweet. It’s roughly drawn and semi-sad. I loved it from start to finish and I applaud Gerigscott for really going the distance here.
The book stems from a crowdfunding campaign that was successful. And it deserved to be. Smart from start to finish. Pick this book up. It’s pretty damn good.
RATING: A
Johnny Appleseed, Green Dreamer of the American Frontier
Written by Paul Buhle
Illustrated by Noah Van Sciver
Published by Alternative Comics
I love the work of Noah Van Sciver. He’s a great artist doing some great work. This is no exception. Here, he hands the writing duties to Buhle. Buhle is a fantastic writer and we are in good hands. Let’s go!
The first scholarly comic art biography of the legendary John Chapman, aka Johnny Appleseed, who made himself famous by spreading the seeds of apple trees from Pennsylvania to Indiana. He was also an early follower of theologian Emanuel Swedenborg. Along with apple trees, he offered the seeds of nonviolence and vegetarianism, good relations with Indians, and peace among the settlers themselves.
The story of John Chapman operates as a kind of counter-narrative to the glorification of violence, conquest, and the “winning of the West” in the story of the Westward movement, and clears up many of the half-myths of Johnny Appleseed’s own life and work.
His apples, for instance, were prized for many reasons, but mainly for the making of hard cider, portable alcohol. His method of operation was a form of land speculation, purchasing potentially fertile acres on contract (such as “bottom land”), planting saplings, reselling the land, and then moving onward. He had less interest in becoming prosperous than in spreading his own gospel, based on visions of peace and love.
The art is amongst Van Sciver’s best. I loved this book so much. It’s intelligent and well done. Pick it up. It’s something else.
RATING: A
