Book Review: Blacula: Return of the King by Rodney Barnes and Jason Shawn Alexander

Blacula: Return of the King
by Rodney Barnes (writer) and Jason Shawn Alexander (artist) (741.5 Bar)

Many years ago (back in the 1980s), I saw the 1972 film Blacula, starring William Marshall as the titular black vampire…an African prince (Mamuwalde) in the 1800s, who tried appealing to Transylvanian Count Dracula for help in stopping the slave trade, only to be attacked by the vampire and lose his wife. Dracula turned Mamuwalde into a vampire, then imprisoned him in a coffin in Dracula’s own estate. In the film, Mamuwalde’s coffin is moved to Los Angeles in 1972 and opened, and mayhem happens. The name “Blacula” was actually a derogatory slur from Dracula, and the film Blacula was one of a wave of “blaxploitation” films in the early and mid-1970s. It was actually successful enough to inspire a sequel, Scream, Blacula, Scream (1973).

 

In this brand-new graphic novel sequel, set in contemporary times (2020s), the name “Blacula” has been showing up in urban graffiti all over L.A., but especially in the Watts neighborhood. A paranormal blogger, Tina Thomas, investigating the rumors of the return of a serial killer not heard from since the 1970s, connects with a group of other “vampire hunters” seeking vengeance for lost family members.

 

Meanwhile, Prince Mamuwalde, in Hell, appeals to Lucifer to be released — he is only there because he was cursed beyond his own control. Though denied by Lucifer, Mamuwalde somehow escapes and returns to the world of humanity, pledging his “undead” existence to finding and destroying Dracula. The bulk of this graphic novel follows Mamuwalde’s quest in search of Dracula, and the actions of the team of amateur vampire hunters who have to decide whether to oppose Mamuwalde or aid him.

 

The painted artwork in this graphic novel is absolutely gorgeous — atmospheric and haunting. Alexander manages to capture the looks of both the actors William Marshall (Mamuwalde) and Charles McAuley (Dracula) as they appeared in the 1972 film, and all of the new supporting characters are also extremely well-realized. Although the storytelling is done in such a way that you don’t absolutely have to have seen Blacula (1972) or Scream, Blacula, Scream (1973) in order to understand the modern update, I strongly urge readers to see at least the first film before indulging in this excellent sequel — there are many callbacks in the artwork and storytelling to the events and characters of the original film. (*Spoiler alert* — though much of the plot of this graphic novel is brought to an end, it does actually end on a cliffhanger, meaning the creative time intend for Blacula to return!)

 

(If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try the films Blacula and Scream, Blacula, Scream.)

 

( official Rodney Barnes web site ) | ( official Jason Shawn Alexander web site )

 

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 

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New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!

Book Review: Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me by Mariko Tamaki and Rosemary Valero-O'Connell

Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me
by Mariko Tamaki and Rosemary Valero-O’Connell (YA PB (Graphic Novel) Tamaki)

Toxic teen relationship leads to strained friendships and hurt feelings. Can Freddy find it in herself to end it with her girlfriend, who keeps breaking up with her? Best Audience: Teens/New adults., and fans of Coming of Age stories.

 

( official Mariko Tamaki Twitter feed ) | ( official Rosemary V O Twitter feed )

 

This was one of dozens of Graphic Novel reviews submitted by library staff during our 2022 In-Service Training day on 9/23/2022, all collected on A Day Full of Graphic Novels

 

Recommended by Ali B.
Read Aloud Lincoln

 

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New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!

Book Review: Punderworld, Volume 1 by Linda Sejic

Punderworld, Vol. 1
by Linda Sejic (741.5 Sej)

The title and cover art of this one caught my eye on the New Books display at the downtown library. Punderworld started as a web comic and all of the story-to-date as of 2021 was compiled in this trade paperback graphic novel. Writer/artist Linda Sejic created this one in between working on her previous title, Blood Stain, as a means of burning off her work stress, only to realize she had a commercially-releasable title here.

 

Punderworld is a lighthearted, romantic look at the gods and demi-gods from classical Greek mythology, as viewed through a modern-day lens. This isn’t to say the Greek myths are brought into the modern day, but modern sensibilities are applied to the characters of Greek mythology. The central character is Hades, god of the Underworld, whose job is to pass judgement on the souls of the dead to determine their final destination. On one of his infrequent visits to the surface world and the rarified air of Mt. Olympus, he encounters beautiful, young Earth Goddess Persephone…and is instantly smitten (as is she, though she has no idea who he is). Hades is a shy, introspective individual and it isn’t until his lascivious and more-worldly “wingman” Zeus realizes that Hades has a crush, that he’d even consider approaching Persephone to express his interest. Unfortunately, Persephone also has an overly-protective mother in the form of fellow Earth Goddess Demeter, who won’t even consider letting her daughter have the free time to explore relationships.

 

This graphic novel is the accident-prone beginning of the relationship between Hades and Persephone, involving runaway flying chariots, crash landing and getting lost in the River Styx, and finally figuring out who each other is. This story has a large, multi-faceted supporting cast of additional Greek Gods and Goddesses. The art is absolutely terrific — cartoon-like but not cartoonish, and more like paintings than drawings. The central characters are all charming to get to know, and I found myself rooting for their relationship to blossom (or at least officially begin). Sejic includes some bonus pages at the end of the book, explaining the origin of this project and encouraging readers to follow her online to stay up-to-date on future entries in the Punderworld series — yes, this ends on a cliffhanger, and as of early 2023 there has not yet been a second collected graphic novel volume…though she promises more is coming soon.

 

Charming, delightful, romantic read with a fresh take on classic mythology. I loved this!

 

( official Linda Sejic web site )

 

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 

Have you read or listened to this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!

Book Review: Relish - My Life in the Kitchen by Lucy Knisley

Relish: My Life in the Kitchen
by Lucy Knisley (Biography Knisley)

Lucy Knisley loves food — she is the daughter of a chef and a gourmet. This is a forthright, thoughtful and funny memoir. She traces key episodes in hr life — framed by what she was eating at the time, and lessons learned about food, cooking and life. Each chapter is book-ended with an illustrated recipe — many of them treasured family dishes — yummy!

 

Recommended for adults, teens, and people who like to cook!

 

( official Relish page on the official Lucy Knisley web site )

 

This was one of dozens of Graphic Novel reviews submitted by library staff during our 2022 In-Service Training day on 9/23, all collected on A Day Full of Graphic Novels

 

Recommended by Pamela C.
Gere and South Branch Libraries

 

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New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!

Book Review: Free Speech Handbook by Ian Rosenberg and Mike Cavallaro

Free Speech Handbook: A Practical Framework for Understanding Our Free Speech Protections
by Ian Rosenberg and Mike Cavallaro (323.443 Ros)

Traces the history of free speech law by reviewing the Supreme Court cases and compares the results to current events. An adaptation of Rosenberg’s book The Fight For Free Speech. Recommended for teens and adults seeking an understanding and entertaining overview of free speech legal history.

 

( publisher’s official Free Speech Handbook web site ) | ( official Ian Rosenberg Twitter feed ) | ( official Mike Cavallaro art site )

 

This was one of dozens of Graphic Novel reviews submitted by library staff during our 2022 In-Service Training day on 9/23, all collected on A Day Full of Graphic Novels

 

Recommended by Wyatt P.
Gere and South Branch Libraries

 

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New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!

Book Review: Octavia Butler's Kindred (graphic novel) by Damian Duffy and John Jennings

Octavia Butler’s Kindred
adapted from the novel by Octavia Butler by Damian Duffy and John Jennings (Butler)

A time travel story following a young woman from the 1970s back to the plantation run by her ancestors. Powerful and emotional.

 

(Note: A TV series adaptation of this story appeared in December 2022 on the Hulu streaming platform — it adapts the first three chapters of the novel into 8 episodes, with some changes from the original source material. Additional seasons are planned, continuing the adaptation of the original story.)

 

( official Kindred page on the official web site for the late Octavia Butler )

 

This was one of dozens of Graphic Novel reviews submitted by library staff during our 2022 In-Service Training day on 9/23, all collected on A Day Full of Graphic Novels

 

Recommended by Jen J.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 

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New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!

Book Review: Fangirl - The Manga, Vol. 1 by Sam Maggs and Gabi Nan, from the novel by Rainbow Rowell

Fangirl: The Manga, Vol. 1
adapted from the novel by Rainbow Rowell by Sam Maggs, with art by Gabi Nan (YA PB Maggs)

Twin sisters from Omaha begin freshman year at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Cath is a writer of fan fiction, but when she turns in a fanfic story for her creative writing class, her professor accuses her of plagiarism.

 

( official Sam Maggs web site ) | ( official Fangirl Manga page on the official Rainbow Rowell web site )

 

This was one of dozens of Graphic Novel reviews submitted by library staff during our 2022 In-Service Training day on 9/23, all collected on A Day Full of Graphic Novels

 

Recommended by Paul B.
Eiseley and Williams Branch Libraries

 

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New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!

Book Review: When Stars Are Scattered by Omar Mohamed and Victoria Jamieson

When Stars Are Scattered
by Omar Mohamed (author) and Victoria Jamieson (artist), with coloring by Iman Geddy (j Biography Mohamed)

This is a true story of Omar Mohamed and his brother, Hassan, two Somali boys growing up in a refugee camp in Kenya. The illustrator is Victoria Jamieson (Roller Girl).

 

As a former classroom teacher, this story hit me hard — emotionally. Over the years, I taught hundreds of refugee students. This made me wonder about, and empathize with, their stories.

 

When Stars Are Scattered was a 2021-2022 Golden Sower Award nominee.

 

( publisher’s official When Stars Are Scattered web site ) | ( official Omar MO Twitter feed ) | ( official Victoria Jamieson web site )

 

This was one of dozens of Graphic Novel reviews submitted by library staff during our 2022 In-Service Training day on 9/23, all collected on A Day Full of Graphic Novels

 

Recommended by Nancy P.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 

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New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!

Book Review: Elle(s): The New Girl by Kid Toussaint and Aveline Stokart

Elle(s): The New Girl

by Kid Toussaint (writer) and Aveline Stokart (YA PB (Graphic Novel) Toussaint)

 

Elle is the “new kid” at her school, and has a little trouble fitting into the social cliques. Mainly because she has six different personalities, most of which only come out and become dominant when she is anxious or stressed. And, unfortunately, in the “new school” environment, that is frequent. Fortunately, she’s got a support structure of a group of new friends, particularly her best friend, Maelys, who recognizes that there’s something different about Elle and wants to help her cope.

 

Writer Kid Toussaint does a great job of capturing modern teenage angst and the struggle to develop a strong, unique personality in an environment encouraging conformity. And artist Aveline Stokart does an incredible, beautiful job with their painted artwork, creating a lush, detailed world, people with distinctive characters. Elle’s six different personalities (referred to as “moods”) are denoted by six different hair colors and mood/color palettes. There are also shadings of paranormal elements, as some of the latent personalities wish to take over from Elle’s normal default mood.

 

I strongly recommend this graphic novel, and look forward to additional forthcoming volumes in what is planned to be a series.

 

( official Aveline Stokart web site ) | ( official Kid Toussaint Instagram feed )

 

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 

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New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!

Book Review: Star Trek Classics - The Mirror Universe Saga by Mike W. Barr, Tom Sutton and Ricardo Villagran

Star Trek Classics: The Mirror Universe Saga
by Mike W. Barr (writer) and Tom Sutton and Ricardo Villagran (artists) (Hoopla Comic Books)

This multi-issue storyline was compiled into a graphic novel several years ago and is available through the digital resources in our Hoopla service. The Mirror Universe Saga originally came out in the two-year span between Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984) and Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986), and deals – in part – with the after-effects of the events in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982), in which Spock sacrificed his own life to save the rest of the Enterprise crew, and Star Trek III, in which Spock is mysteriously resurrected as a result of the untested scientific effects of the newly-created Genesis Planet.

 

But this multi-part story is far more than merely time-filler between movies. Comic book writer Mike W. Barr, along with artists Tom Sutton and Ricardo Villagran, tap into some fan-favorite elements of Star Trek mythology to tell a rip-roaring tale of adventure, revenge, grief, and empire-building. Back on October 6, 1967, in classic Star Trek’s second season, the concept of a parallel Star Trek universe with an alternate timeline was introduced in the episode, “Mirror, Mirror”. In that story, Kirk, McCoy, Uhura and Scotty end up beaming up to the Enterprise during a violent ion storm and find themselves suddenly in a violent new world, where they must assume the roles of their doppelganger counterparts, who rose to positions of authority through deceit, bloodshed, treachery and torture. Only the Mirror Universe version of Spock (sporting a dashing mustache and goatee) seemed to offer them a chance at returning to their normal universe (after he discovers the truth about their origins), and Kirk leaves Mirror Spock in a position to potentially affect positive change in the violent Mirror Universe.

 

The Mirror Universe Saga is set over 25 years after “Mirror, Mirror” and reveals that the Mirror Universe Kirk and his crew have been waiting for an opportunity to cross through into our universe to attempt to expand their bloodthirsty Empire. The events of the early Classic Trek movies serve as a backdrop to our well-known Kirk and crew having to deal with monstrous versions of themselves. Characters who have died in the main universe films still exist in Mirror Universe versions. We finally have a showdown between two different James T. Kirks, and fans get to see the distinguished Mirror Spock again, and learn why his goal of leading a rebellion in the Mirror Universe never came to pass. The writing is absolutely terrific, though events in later Trek movies ended up making what happens in this mini-series completely non-canon. The artwork varies, from excellent versions of the movie-era appearances of Kirk, Spock, McCoy, et. al., to barely recognizable. And the “bad guys” from the Mirror Universe are portrayed as cartoonish megalomaniacs. None-the-less, this is one of my favorite storylines from the comic book history of Star Trek, and I strongly recommend it to any Star Trek fan who hasn’t already read it!

 

( entry for The Mirror Universe Saga in the Memory Alpha Star Trek fan databse ) | ( official Mike W. Barr web site ) | ( Wikipedia entry for artist Tom Sutton )

 

See many more reviews like this on the Star Trek Reviews page here on BookGuide!

 

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 

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New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!

Book Review: Asadora! Book 1 by Naoki Urasawa

Asadora! Book 1
by Naoki Urasawa (YA PB (Graphic Novel) Urasawa)

A typhoon descends upon 1959 Japan hiding something more sinister. One girl, Asa, stands before it with her stolen plane, delivering aid to those stranded. Recommended for Young Adults and Godzilla fans!

 

( official Asadora! web site ) | ( official Naoki Urasawa web site )

 

This was one of dozens of Graphic Novel reviews submitted by library staff during our 2022 In-Service Training day on 9/23, all collected on A Day Full of Graphic Novels

 

Recommended by Laurie J.
Gere and South Branch Libraries

 

Have you read or listened to this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!

Book Review: The Magic Fish by Trung Le Nguyen

The Magic Fish

by Trung Le Nguyen (YA PB (Graphic Novel) Trung)

 

A young queer boy uses fairy tales to connect with his Vietnamese-speaking mother. A language story. A gender story. A family love story. Threaded together with fairy tales. The boy speaks English as his first language, while his mother speaks Vietnamese. The boy is queer and he’s scared to tell his mother/parents. Mom uses a fairy tale to reassure him that they can write their own ending. Together.

 

( publisher’s official The Magic Fish web site ) | ( official Trung Le Nguyen web site )

 

Recommended by Carrie K.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 

Have you read or listened to this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!