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Eisele, Terry & Bowman, Brent – Far Tune: Spring
Website (Terry)
Website (Brent)
I’ve read a whole lot of series ending graphic novels over the years, and one thing that really impressed me about this one was how assured it was in wrapping things up. Granted, there’s no magic ring to be tossed into a volcano at the end, just a young woman trying to adjust to life in Ohio schools after living in a refugee camp and then London. Still, you need a conclusion for something like this, and Terry and Brent really landed this sucker. Things start off with a completely silent recap of Fartun’s leaving the refugee camp, and the decision to make it silent was brilliant. All we needed was to focus on her wide-eyed awe at just about everything she was experiencing (often while her father and brother were sleeping), from the little things like power locks in cars to getting on an airplane and actually flying away. From there the bulk of the school portion of the book deals with Fartun (and her friend Bea) getting back from spring break and discovering that they have to do a big project that covers three different classes. They come to the same conclusion separately; Fartun can write and Bea can draw, so why not combine their project to make a comic about Fartun’s time in the camp? They get approval, go to Laughing Ogre to get some resource material (always nice to see a great comic shop get recognized), and we get to read what sure looks like the actual comic that they made reproduced in this volume. There’s also a lot going on here with Fartun’s family, as the conflict between her more traditional father and his children (her and her brother) comes to a head. No sense getting too far into spoilers for the last volume of a series, but let’s just say that arranged marriages and forced relocation for “wayward children” are both things that are perfectly fine in the more antiquated parts of that culture, and neither of those things would go over well with children mostly raised in America. This whole series is another thoroughly impressive achievement, taking a lot of time to tell a story that’s too often glossed over or ignored entirely. It’s absolutely worth checking out, although if you wait a few years and happen to have kids (or grandkids, or nephews/nieces, etc.) I’d have to imagine this series being taught in schools. Anyway, I’m looking to see what he comes up with next, unless he wants to take a few years off to recover… $10
Lay, Patrick – Screaming Mimi Kids Volume 1: Ghosted
Screaming Mimi Kids Volume 1: Ghosted
I have to confess, I’m still a little confused on that title. Screaming Mimi is (in the comic) a possible urban legend, a ghost who only shows up at a specific time at a specific bridge. So it’s in reference to the kids on the cover? Screw it, I’m overthinking this, and I don’t want to get bogged down in nonsense, as I did enjoy the book overall. This starts out at the aforementioned bridge with Lisa, her brother Seth and their mutual friend Christine. They have to honk the horns at midnight near the bridge to get the ghost to appear (so the legend goes), but they arrive a little early, so there’s time for shenanigans. Lisa has a crush on Christine, and she’s told her brother Seth about it, so imagine her disgust when she gets back from a trip to pee just in time to see the two of them making out. Furious, they all leave, but since they’re there anyway, she honks her horn as they’re going. Behind them a spectral figure appears, which does a wonderful job of making them all forget the previous drama. The next thing we see is Seth waking up, where he immediately learns that one of the two other people at the bridge has died overnight. From there we get a bit of high school drama (and the phoniness of people who hated this dead student crying about her in front of an assembly) before Seth decides to head back to the bridge, just in case. One thing that struck me reading this was that it was a damned confident comic, by which I mean that Patrick really takes his time to let the story open up. I got this at a convention, so I know that he has a few more issues out already; that kind of slow pace would be a bad look if it petered out after one issue. But he clearly has more in mind, and after this I’m curious to see what that could be. It’s an intriguing start, and it also fits squarely in the “all ages but that doesn’t have to mean simple” category of comics that’s perfect for younger readers, for any of you who want to get your kids into reading comics. You monsters! $6
