Library Chicken: Some Great Graphic Novels
Hello everyone! I hope you’ve been having a good 2019 so far! As you may have noticed, my Library Chicken updates this year have been happening less on a weekly schedule and more on a <ahem> somewhat quarterly schedule. It turns out that I’m not all that great at juggling the needs of two college kids, two high school kids, a houseful of obnoxious but cute animals, and a new year at the Academy. But I’m back with some of my personal favorites from this year—I can’t resist a good end-of-the-year wrap-up!
You may notice something different this time around: I have stopped posting my Library Chicken points and score. Not because I care that people know how badly I’m losing (I’m definitely losing this year), but because it’s kind of a hassle to keep track of everything and if I just make up the numbers I feel guilty. (Who needs more guilt?) And although the ostensible point of this occasional blog is to share my Library Chicken score, we all know it’s really just an excuse for me to babble on about books, right? So, onward!
This time I’ll be sharing some of my favorite graphic novels that I read in 2019—in part because I always think that graphic novels make really lovely holiday gifts. While you’re doing your shopping this holiday season, keep these in mind for your favorite readers…
Locke & Key written by Joe Hill, artwork by Gabriel Rodriguez
This series began publication in 2008 but is already considered a classic of modern horror. After a tragedy, a mother and her three children move into the old family home (located in Lovecraft, Massachusetts, so you know that’s not good), where strange keys can be found hidden away in various cracks and crevices. The kids soon discover that if they find the lock that matches a particular key, something magic will happen—a key may make you giant-sized, or turn you into an animal, or allow others to see your thoughts. Unbeknownst to the new occupants of the Keyhouse, however, a demon is stalking their family, trying to gather keys for its own dark purposes. The story is compelling and the artwork is gorgeous (and includes a very unexpected but lovely Calvin & Hobbes tribute), and I highly recommend it to all horror fans. Warning: this is not a series for younger readers as it does contain some intense violence. As a bonus: it looks like we’re finally going to get the long-awaited television adaptation on Netflix! Locke & Key, Vol 1: Welcome to Lovecraft is a great place to start, or you could spring for the entire six-volume set as a gift for yourself or, say, your favorite Library Chicken blogger.
written by Clint, Griffin, Travis, and Justin McElroy; artwork by Carey Pietsch
The Adventure Zone (for those unfamiliar) is a long-running Dungeons & Dragons podcast hosted by the McElroy brothers (of “My Brother, My Brother and Me” fame) together with their father, Clint McElroy. In the first series, known as “Balance”, the four of them play a campaign that spans several years, based in the D&D universe but soon becoming something wholly their creation. Full disclosure: I got into The Adventure Zone (often abbreviated as TAZ) because my teenagers would spend hours discussing the various characters and plot twists and I finally had to start listening to the podcast so I could understand what the heck they were talking about. The story starts out goofy, kinda juvenile, and often a teensy bit crass, but as they go along they create something that is remarkably heartfelt, along with being diverse and progressive in many wonderful ways. It’s hard to describe, especially for people unfamiliar with D&D and/or the McElroys and/or podcasting, but I’ve really enjoyed taking the journey. And now the various arcs of the Balance series are being published as graphic novels! The first two volumes are out, and they do a great job capturing the spirit — both the intense silliness and the emotion—of the series. (I should note that while this series has many young fans, it was originally intended for an adult audience, so there is some “adult language.” As always, it’s best to check it out yourself before gifting it to a young person.) Once you’re hooked, we can all listen together to the current season of The Adventure Zone, “Graduation” (set in a magical school for sidekicks and henchmen! it just started and it’s awesome!), while we wait for volume three of the graphic novel series, a road-race arc called Petals to the Metal.
Amphigorey, Amphigorey Too, Amphigorey Also, and Amphigorey Again by Edward Gorey
I’m cheating a little bit by including Edward Gorey’s Amphigorey collections in this list because they’re not exactly graphic novels. They’re also not exactly picture books, not exactly prose, and not exactly poetry, but some disturbing and delightful combination. If you haven’t had an opportunity to appreciate Edward Gorey’s writing and artwork (think Charles Addams but less cutesy) you should remedy that immediately, and one of these collections is a great place to start. I had to update our home library (our copy of Amphigorey Too had been appreciated to death by my kids — helping to develop their sense of the macabre along the way — and I hadn’t even realized that Amphigorey Again had come out in 2007) for a full reread because I was excited about the new biography, Born to be Posthumous: The Eccentric Life and Mysterious Genius of Edward Gorey by Mark Dery (which I also recommend). The Amphigoreys are lovely volumes and make great coffee-table books for people with slightly goth sensibilities.
French Milk
An Age of License
Something New: Tales from a Makeshift Bride
Kid Gloves: Nine Months of Careful Chaos
by Lucy Knisley
I first found Lucy Knisley through the wonderful comics she posted about her cat, Linney. (If you are at all a cat-lover, google “Lucy Knisley Linney” for a treat.) Once I started following her, I realized I’d heard of her before as a prolific author of graphic memoirs, so I immediately put a stack of her books on hold at the library. They are as delightful as I’d expected, and some even have bonus Linney appearances! French Milk and An Age of License are memoirs of young womanhood growing into adulthood, and the changing relationships and goals along the way. But I have to talk about my absolute favorites (so far): Something New and Kid Gloves. Something New is much more than a story of wedding planning—it’s about figuring out your place in the world and what being in a marriage means, especially to modern women who may not be all that excited about the institution’s patriarchal past. Plus it’s really funny! I immediately put it on my “good gifts for brides-to-be” list. Kid Gloves, about the birth of Knisley’s first child, is funny and moving and powerful. I am in awe of the way that Knisley shares herself emotionally with her readers. Reading her books feels like a private, personal experience that you get to have with her, as if we were connecting one-on-one. I don’t know that I would recommend Kid Gloves as a baby-shower gift, since Knisley has some tragic experiences with a lost pregnancy and then some very scary medical complications during birth, but it’s a lovely lovely book, and a great read. Those of you who are already Knisley fans have probably noticed that I haven’t yet read all of her books—when I discover an author I enjoy, I’m not always too quick to read everything, since I like knowing that there’s a book or two out there that I still get to experience for the first time. (I’m very much looking forward to reading Relish: My Life in the Kitchen PLUS I need to read her picture books and her new middle-grade graphic novel, Stepping Stones.) Knisley fans may also be aware that she shared a sad milestone with her readers recently when the much beloved Linney passed away. Nothing’s good about that, but I was so happy to see Knisley’s announcement that a book entirely about Linney will be coming out in 2021—I’ll be pre-ordering as soon as they put a link up!
Happy Reading!
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SUZANNE REZELMAN is home | school | life magazine’s Book Nerd. Subscribe to home/school/life to read her brilliant book recommendations and literary musings every issue. Your library list will thank you.