Graphic Novels

Review of Over and Over by Ran Michael Ekman

December 19, 2020 by Roger Hyttinen Leave a Comment

Over and Over is a delightful graphic novel that follows Tom, a young gay man recovering from a breakup, and he’s feeling kind of down in the dumps at the beginning of our story. But he decides to get back into the dating game, and we then follow his adventures as he does so. The story takes a turn when he encounters a man named Omer, who could end up being just a friend or maybe something more.

First off, I loved the plotline. It was a whole lot more than merely a “bad breakup” story, and I adored the surprising and unexpected twist at the end. The story gripped me right off the bat with its compelling storyline and relatable characters.

This talented author does a fantastic job of bringing the story to life through the beautiful artwork, and I feel that the art really fits well here with the storyline. The entire set-up for the story, and how it plays out is phenomenal.

I adore this author’s art style, especially how expressive the emotions are drawn. Art can make or break a graphic novel for me, and the art in Over and Over made it. It’s accessible, engaging, and appropriately atmospheric. I love it when a graphic novel manages to tell a personal and poignant story, and this one definitely succeeded.

The author also includes several bonus goodies at the end of the book, including an alternate ending, various characters sketches, unused cover layouts, and preliminary layouts for each of the panels. I enjoyed the extras and am glad that they were included.

I hope this author continues to publish their work as they definitely have some mad skills. Loved it!

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Review of Anne Frank’s Diary – the Graphic Novel

February 13, 2019 by Roger Hyttinen Leave a Comment

Anne Frank’s Diary is the only graphic novelization of Anne Frank’s diary that I’m aware of. The breathtaking, expressive artwork in this adaptation by David Polonsky as well as actual excerpts from her diary really brings this literary classic to life, while maintaining its original integrity.

There are so much humor and emotion in these illustrations, and they make Anne feel like a real person, someone we can relate to. We get a true sense of Anne as a frighted, confused and somewhat saucy teenaged girl.

It was such a treat to journey along with this visual guide to the historical events in Anne’s diary, and I felt that the images and text captured Anne Franks diary beautifully and emotionally. This was an exciting new perspective to an old classic that really resonated with me, especially the ingenious manner in which the artist rendered Anne’s emotions, thoughts and observations through the vivid illustrations.

From the drawings and text snippets, it’s easy to see Anne’s hope, despair, passion, vulnerability, introspection, courage, humor, and sarcasm, all of which render her all the more lifelike.

All in all, a beautifully moving adaptation with stunning illustrations that, while keeping to the… spirit, I guess… of the original material, helps us to see this young girl in a different light I loved how the illustrator expertly brought her thoughts and feeling into relatable art. The editor and arctic took Anne Franks diary and transformed it into a delicately told story, with stunning pictures and heartfelt scenes.

I can’t begin to imagine what a daunting project this must have turned out to be. But in my opinion, it was a successful one, exquisitely rendered in pen and ink and I’m so glad that I came across it.

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Review of Blue is the Warmest Color by Julie Maroh

November 30, 2018 by Roger Hyttinen Leave a Comment

Blue is the Warmest Color is a wonderful graphic novel that follows our main character Clementine, a French junior in high school. One day while walking down the street she notices a girl with blue hair. What Clementine isn’t prepared for, is an unexpected tinge of desire, so much so that the girl begins to enter her dreams….in an erotic manner causing all kind of confusion for our heroine as she begins to question her sexuality for the first time.

Later, she wanders into a lesbian bar with her best friend where she reencounters the blue-haired girl and learns that her name is Emma. Their attraction is instant and electric, and it doesn’t take long before Clementine realizes that she has fallen in love with Emma.

But acceptance of her newly-emerged sexuality doesn’t come easy for Clementine, and we experience the battle she faces not only internally but also amongst her peers at school surrounding her forbidden attraction. It’s about finding and accepting yourself even though everyone around you tells you that you are wrong, that the love that you feel is wrong.

What follows is a heartfelt coming-of-age story of first love, self-discovery, and ultimately tragedy. Yes, there’s tragedy, something we learn in the opening pages of the novel. So though it’s a beautiful love story, it’s also a heartbreaking one, one that was difficult to read in parts. This is as much a coming of age story about a girl’s awakened desires, as it is a story of hardship and loss.

The medium of a graphic novel is surprisingly effective in telling this raw and very intimate tale. Blue is the Warmest Color is an emotionally expressive and exquisitely drawn book about love, loss, depression, trauma, bullying, acceptance, homophobia and so much more.

It’s a dark book in places, filled with angst and fear, but it’s also a beautiful, swirling romantic sweep of a book chock full of gorgeous, evocative images which render this graphic novel a beautiful work of art. Maroh’s drawing skill is exceptional and smart, the rich and bold drawings expertly capturing the nervous and exciting awe of first love as well as uncertainty, guilt, shame and tragedy, panel after panel.

All in all, I adored the characters, the story and the illustrations and I’m so glad I came across this. It was not only a well-told, deeply moving tale but also a heart-tugger of a story that sticks with you and gives you plenty to think about afterward — or at least it did for me. Recommended!

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Review of My Brother’s Husband by Gengoroh Tagame

June 28, 2018 by Roger Hyttinen Leave a Comment

My brother's husband book cover image My Brother’s Husband was my first Manga, so I was really looking forward to delving into it. Though it did take me a little bit to get used to, I enjoyed the format and the story.

So the story follows Yaichi, a single father raising his young daughter, Kana. So Yaichi and Kana’s lives suddenly change one day with the arrival at their doorstep of a hulking, lovable Canadian fellow named Mike Flanagan.

Mike tells Yaichi that he was married to Yaichi’s deceased twin brother Ryoji, whom I believe Yaichi hadn’t seen for around ten years. Mike, who is still relatively raw with grief, is kind of on a quest you could say, to explore Ryoji’s past.

So he planned this trip to Japan and getting to know Ryoji’s family was the first step.

What follows is Yaichi slowly coming to terms with his feelings about his brother and his brother’s homosexuality, and we see his struggle as he tries so hard to accept something he doesn’t really understand.

There was tension between Yaichi and Mike initially, a lot of it subtle, which I felt the artist did an excellent job portraying. It portrayed relationships as messy and complicated — not as cut and dry as we may sometimes think.

I got a good feeling for how difficult it was for Yaichi because he doesn’t quite know how to welcome Mike with an open heart.

This graphic novel is a wonderful representation of homophobia — even subtle homophobia — and the still very closeted Japanese gay culture. Heck, it’s usually the subtle homophobia and racism that we see rather than the shout in your face kind.

Yaichi also has a quite a spirited young daughter who truly shines a light in every scene that she’s in. She still trying to understand what homosexuality is and the sweet, innocent questions she asks as she attempts to understand are illuminating and heartwarming. She’s also quite taken with Mike and doesn’t hesitate for a moment to refer to him as family.

So while there are twinges of homophobia, this story’s more about acceptance and how difficult it might be to actually open your heart to someone or something different than us. It was so endearing how this loveable Canadian man ended up touching the lives of everyone around him.

In summary, My Brother’s Husband was absolutely delightful and a pleasure to read. I’m so glad that I read it. There is supposedly a part 2 coming out — which will be released in September of 2018 — that I’ll definitely be checking out.

You can check out My Brother’s Husband Volume 1 here at Amazon or at The Book Depository

Review of Blankets by Craig Thompson

June 5, 2018 by Roger Hyttinen Leave a Comment

Blankets is a graphic novel – an enormous coming of age graphic novel about a fellow Wisconsinite and artist named Craig who is searching for meaning in his faith, his connections to family, and the world around him. It’s not a coincidence that the main character’s name is the same as our author, as I do believe the book is autobiographical.

Our hero in this story is a lonely and isolated young man, and through these beautifully drawn panels, we follow Craig’s journey from childhood to adulthood as he navigates the oftentimes challenging world of trying to please one’s parents and doing “what’s right .” In so doing, Craig tries to be true to himself …or should I say, discover himself while trying to fit in.

Through the engaging pages, Craig experiences the joy and exhilaration of — as well as the heartbreak following — a first love, and all the while trying to reconcile it all with his religion or the religion of his parents, which was a small town Fundamentalist Christian religion. I was also brought up in a strict, Fundamentalist religion growing up so, I was able to relate to this on so many levels. So in this way, the story was at times heartbreaking and at other times joyful — painful to read in some parts, hopeful in others. Good memories, as well as bad and I, ended by tearing up on some pages, and smiling in others.

This was one of those books that I absolutely devoured and though it was enormous, flew through it in a couple of sittings. I thought that the illustrations were expressive and moving, and the author’s ability to capture so much emotion in facial expressions of these drawings captivated me.

It’s the kind of story that you can completely lose yourself in — or at least, I did. By way of his brilliant artwork, the author was able to pull me from my world into the mind of an adolescent and all the uncertainty and fear that goes along with that, bringing me back to my childhood as though it were yesterday.

It’s funny — as I was reading this, I thought of it as a quiet read, and it really was. So much was said in the drawings without the need for extraneous words — and that is a difficult feat for an artist to pull it. Craig Thompson did it amazingly well, in my opinion.

And there was so much snow in this book — something those of us who live in the Midwest can definitely relate to so in this way, it would make a perfect winter read.

Overall, I loved this book. It was an emotional and comforting read about discovering one’s relationship with faith, regardless of the type of religion or even lack of any spiritual belief system whatsoever. This book isn’t about having a crisis of faith but rather finding one’s own personal path — the path that’s right for each of us.

I think anyone should be able to appreciate this novel regardless of whether or not one is religious because again, it’s not about religion — it’s about slowly putting ourself together until all the pieces fit properly. Recommended!

You can check out Blankets here at Amazon or at The Book Depository.

Graphic Novels

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