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Millie of the Manor manages to combine three well-respected graphic novel genres mystery, making friends, and mental health (specifically, coping with anxiety) successfully. It sounds like a difficult goal, but Karina Evans and Andrea Bell make lead character Amy understandable and sympathetic from the get-go. She likes mysteries, and she’s socially awkward. It’s easy to tell when she gets lost in…
I wondered about having a dinosaur (and a Victorian-dressed one, at that) narrate a volume on computers, but as soon as Science Comics: Computers: How Digital Hardware Works opened with her talking about this being her second choice (the first was the Science Comics: Dinosaurs book, duh), I was won over. Then she started breaking down and eating (!) a laptop, as she explained the components to us,…
Consider the Consequences, originally published in 1930, is thought to be the first gamebook, a genre which you might know better as a choose your own path book, or a choice-based branching narrative , or interactive fiction. It was written by Doris Webster Mary Alden Hopkins, and I found out about it because Pushkin Press reprinted it last year. I had a blast with it. There are three stories…
Kitten-Kin s 181-post Sherlock fancomic, The Science of Affection, is now available in print-on-demand paperback. (It s also available as a pay-what-you-want PDF download.) It ran from 2018 to 2025. It started as a doodle about a sleepy John accidentally kissing Sherlock, who was feeding John s daughter Rosie. From that grew a story about how the three became a family. In addition to the Johnlock,…
Watson v. Holmes launches a 12-issue series with plenty of horror intrigue. It s written by Jon Santana (story co-written with Rafael Santana), illustrated by Jordan Rodriguez, and published by Iron Age Comics. I hadn t heard of them before, but they apparently publish via crowdfunding. Which is where I found an excellent summary of the series premise. In short, Sherlock Holmes is presumed dead…
Sherlock Roach and the Case of the Crunchy Crumb is billed as a chapter book, but it s a comic. And an adorable one! It s written by Joe McGee and illustrated by Jannie Ho. Sherlock Roach and his partner Dr. Wormston live at 221B Bedbug Street and solve crimes for the insects that live in Bugopolis. Lucille the Ladybug wants them to find out who stole her delicious crunchy crumb. Dr. Wormston,…
Holmes: Undead #1 crowdfunded successfully earlier this year. In the issue, there s lovely moody art as we get a quick summary of Holmes facing Moriarty at the Falls, narrated by Dr. John Watson, before we jump to modern day. Dr. Gionne Watson is being followed as she picks up a family legacy (a box of books, she thinks) and confronts her former team leader about being laid off from her job in…
Drawing From Your Memory by Shiki Kawabata combines the kids learn to make manga genre with an I went back in time to save a classmate story. We first meet Mahoro after she s had huge success. Her manga series spawned an anime, a movie, and a TV show. She s being asked to come up with another series, which leads to her confession her popular series was based on ideas and character designs from…
You Might As Well Be the One by Megumu Seto tells a classic romance storyline well. Ichika s in college and looking for a boyfriend. She wants a serious relationship, with someone she can talk with, someone who sees the real her. She meets someone at a meetup that she thinks is a nice guy but Kosei soon tells her he only goes out with girls casually. Their friendship continues to develop, but she…
The pass, in restaurant terms, is where dishes wait to go out together, where a final inspection is done or a garnish or finishing touch added. It often separates the kitchen and workers from the dining room and the rest of the world. The Pass by Katriona Chapman is an affecting graphic novel about a young chef finding herself. I was immediately and pleasantly struck by the borderless, full-color…
This chunky biography by José-Louis Bocquet and Catel Muller (translated by Edward Gauvin) from SelfMadeHero tells the life of Alice Guy, the first female filmmaker. At the end of the 1800s, she was writing, directing, and producing movies. She had her own production company in the US in 1912! And yet few have ever heard of her. Alice Guy: First Lady of Film covers from 1873 to 1968, the full span…
Rea Irvin s The Smythes is a prestige hardcover from New York Review Comics reprinting a Sunday comic from the 1930s. Although I didn t finish all the reprinted comic strips, which were much of a similarity, I found the historical information surrounding them fascinating. Rea Irvin is best known for creating Eustace Tilley, the snob with the butterfly who was on the first cover of The New Yorker…
Sherlockians make the best recommendations. I saw this mentioned in a fan group and as soon as I heard the concept, I knew I d enjoy it. Green Manor is a translated French comic, published by Cinebook Espresso, about an English club in the late 1800s where men gather to talk over vengeance and murder, or even to commit same. It s a Victorian gentleman s murder club. The series has two volumes,…
I ve talked before about the Mini Mysteries series of kids picture books the first two featured Hercule Poirot, The Mysterious Affair at Styles and The Mystery of the Blue Train. Now comes the third, with a new detective. It s The Secret of the Old Clock: A Nancy Drew Detective Story, written by Marci Kay Monson (who also wrote the previous two) and illustrated by Ryan Wheatcroft. It s been a long…
The nice thing about the explosion in modern romance titles, particularly with those demonstrating more diversity and geek acceptance, is that you can find a book that makes you squeal it s for MEEEEEEE. Such as Role Playing by Cathy Yardley. Maggie is a newly empty nester, divorced, and generally grumpy, with some social anxiety. She works from home, and she games online. Her two best friends are…
I can t read Nero Wolfe mysteries, because of Archie Goodwin. But not for the reason you may think. I belong to an historical mystery book club, reading classics of the Golden Age. We tried our first Nero Wolfe last year, And Be a Villain, because someone wanted to read the one with “Wolfe’s Moriarty”, Arnold Zeck. I know several Sherlockians who are Wolfe Pack members, and I’ve been exposed to…