This Week’s Hot Reviews

The Vagabond Valise
Siris | Conundrum Press/BDANG | 9781772620276 | October 2018
“What starts out as a comic that is likely to give you PTSD ends up as one that will much more likely inspire you, maybe even settle you.”—Comics Beat

Weegee: Serial Photographer
Max de Radigues & Wauter Mannaert | Conundrum Press | 9781772620238 | May 2018

“It’s pretty cool to see this other side of Weegee, the slightly more human side of the guy with the big camera and the bad attitude, and Mannaert’s art really brings the era and the photos to life.”—Smash Pages

Knucklehead
Adam Smyer | Akashic Books | 9781617755873 | February 2018

“Funny, astute, multidimensional Hayes, by opining on his own experience, resists being read as a stereotype. . . . Knucklehead would not be out of place on a shelf of books by Ellison, Wright, Dreiser, Fitzgerald, Updike, and other writers who have tried to capture what it means to live in America.”—Literary Chick

First We Surf, Then We Eat: Recipes from a Lifetime of Surf Travel
Jim Kempton | Prospect Park Books | 9781945551338 | September 2018

“This is a beautiful book that should belong on the coffee table or in the kitchen of every surfer, foodie, traveler and anyone with a lust for life.”—Coast News

The Discovery of Fireworks and Gunpowder
Phil Amara and Oliver Chin, illus. Juan Calle | Immedium | 9781597021425 | November 2018

“Emma and Ethan meet a talking red panda named Dao who takes them on a trip back in time to explain how gunpowder and fireworks were invented in China. The narrative begins with a story element but is primarily non-fiction, with clear but simple facts, supported by a glossary in the back. There is a little bit of chemistry as well as history that is appropriate for the intended audience. The full-color cartoon artwork is lively.”—Association of Children’s Librarians, Bayviews, December 2018

A House in the Jungle
Nathan Gelgud | Koyama Press | 9781927668627 | October 2018

“Gelgud’s most intriguing oddities occur at a deeper meta-level. A House in the Jungle isn’t just a story—it’s a comics story exploring the comics form that contains it.”—PopMatters

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