Commons Comics
469 FOLLOWERS
A bi-weekly review blog of new comics and graphic novels by writer, professor, and comics scholar Jessica Baldanzi. I'll be reviewing mostly brand new works, as well as some foundational classics. My expertise lies with what many people call "graphic novels"n - works that take books like Art Spiegelman's Pulitzer Prize-winning "Maus" (1986) and Marjane Satrapi's..
Commons Comics
1w ago
“Shubeik Lubeik” Written and illustrated by Deena Mohamed. Pantheon. $35.00. English translation January 2023, 528 pages. Youth to adult. Thanks to Fables Books, 215 South Main Street in downtown Goshen, Indiana, for providing Commons Comics with books to review. Check Fables out online at www.fablesbooks.com, order over the phone at 574-534-1984, or email them at ..read more
Commons Comics
3M ago
“Kwändür.” Written and illustrated by Cole Pauls. $25.00. November 2022, 140 pages. All ages. “Shelterbelts.” Written and illustrated by Jonathan Dyck. $20.00. May 2022, 224 pages. Teen to adult: Contains drug references. Thanks to Fables Books, 215 South Main Street in downtown Goshen, Indiana, for providing Commons Comics with books to review. Check Fables out ..read more
Commons Comics
7M ago
“Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands.” Written and illustrated by Kate Beaton. Drawn and Quarterly: $39.95. September 2022, 436 pages. Adult: salty language, drug references, sexual assault Thanks to Fables Books, 215 South Main Street in downtown Goshen, Indiana, for providing Commons Comics with books to review. Check Fables out online at www.fablesbooks.com, order ..read more
Commons Comics
10M ago
“The Phantom Zone and Other Stories.” Written and illustrated by José Alaniz. San Diego State University Press: Amatl Comix Series, $18.95 direct from SDSU, January 2020. 128 pp. Adult: drug references, some depictions of violence, some sexual content. Thanks to Fables Books, 215 South Main Street in downtown Goshen, Indiana, for providing Commons Comics with ..read more
Commons Comics
1y ago
“The Keeper: Soccer, Me, and the Law That Changed Women’s Lives.” Written and illustrated by Kelcey Ervick. Avery (Penguin Random House), $27.00. October 2022. 336 pp. Teen to adult. Thanks to Fables Books, 215 South Main Street in downtown Goshen, Indiana, for providing Commons Comics with books to review. Check Fables out online at www.fablesbooks.com, order ..read more
Commons Comics
1y ago
“Messy Roots: A Graphic Memoir of a Wuhanese American.” Written and illustrated by Laura Gao. Color and additional illustration by Weiwei Xu. HarperCollins/Balzer + Bray, $22.99. March 2022. 272 pp. Teen and up. Thanks to Fables Books, 215 South Main Street in downtown Goshen, Indiana, for providing Commons Comics with books to review. Check Fables ..read more
Commons Comics
2y ago
“Seek You: A Journey Through American Loneliness.” Written and illustrated by Kristen Radtke. Pantheon, $30. July 2021. 352 pp. Adult. Disclosure: I received a free review copy of this book from Pantheon. Content warning: Many readers have found the descriptions and illustrations of the primate research of Harry Harlow disturbing. Also, if you or someone ..read more
Commons Comics
2y ago
“Tunnels.” Written and illustrated by Rutu Modan. Translated from the Hebrew by Ishai Mishory. Drawn and Quarterly, $29.95. November 2021. 284 pp. Teen to adult (but my 9 and 12 year olds loved it). Disclosure: I received a free review copy of this book from Drawn and Quarterly. Thanks to Fables Books, 215 South Main ..read more
Commons Comics
2y ago
“The Day the Klan Came to Town.” Written by Bill Campbell, illustrated by Bizhan Khodabandeh. PM Press, $15.95. August 2021. 128 pp. Teen to adult. (My 9- and 12-year-olds loved it, but be aware that the book includes some violent and disturbing images.) Disclosure: I received a free review copy of this book, and contributed ..read more
Commons Comics
2y ago
“Cartooning is a form of world-making,” reads the introductory text to the current comics exhibit at Chicago’s Museum of Contemporary Art. Museum exhibits create immersive worlds, too, and I highly recommend three mini comics worlds contained in Chicago, listed below in order of how soon they’re going to disappear: “Chicago Comics: 1960 to Now,” Museum ..read more