Category: Graphic Novel

Title: Batgirl, Volume 1: Beyond Burnside
Author: Hope Larson, Raphael Albuquerque
Genre: Graphic Novel
Publisher: DC Comics
Source: Library
Release Date: March 28, 2017
Rating: ★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

A part of DC Universe: Rebirth!

Barbara Gordon looks to add a new bullet point to her already impressive Batgirl resume: travel agent. Having just (barely!) survived the Battle of Burnside and verging on an Arkham-worthy breakdown, the star pulls a Kerouac and gets on the road to find herself.

Follow Babs on her worldwide quest in Batgirl, Volume 1: Beyond Burnside, with New York Times best-selling author Hope Larson and award-winning artist Raphael Albuquerque leading the way!

Collecting: Batgirl 1-6

Review:

I really like Batgirl. She’s a unique super hero because she was not born with her powers. She is good with technical things, so that is her special talent. Her father is Commissioner Gordon, who is the head of police in Gotham.

In this story, Barbara Gordon travels to Asia where she meets an old friend. I liked the Asian setting. She travelled to different countries. This setting was different because most of the comics I read are set in the U.S. so it was nice to see another part of the world featured.

In the final comic, some familiar faces appeared, including Poison Ivy. I’m excited to read the next installment after seeing the characters she will encounter in the future.

What to read next:

• Batgirl, Volume 2: Son of Penguin by Hope Larson

  

• Batgirl, Volume 1: Batgirl of Burnside by Cameron Stewart

  

Have you read Batgirl, Volume 1: Beyond Burnside? What did you think of it?

Title: Queen of Kenosha
Author: Howard Shapiro, Erica Chan
Genre: Graphic Novel
Publisher: Animal Media Group
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Release Date: October 9, 2018
Rating: ★★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

A coming of age tale, this is the first installment of the Thin Thinline Trilogy, the fiercely independent Nina Overstreet has an axe to grind. A talented singer-songwriter slogging her way through the burgeoning Greenwich Village folk music scene of 1963, the Queen of Kenosha, Wisconsin, realizes that standing on the cusp of stardom gets her little respect and barely a cup of coffee in New York City. It finally comes, but in a way she could have never imagined. A chance encounter with the mysterious Nick Ladd at a late-night gig spins her life in a different direction–one that becomes a daily balance between life and death, right and wrong. Nick recruits Nina to join him and a team of ex-FBI operatives in a clandestine agency to stop the establishment of the Fourth Reich by undercover Nazis in post-War America. It’s a cause Nina believes in … until she’s forced to compromise the very principles of fairness and patriotism she holds dear. As she and Nick grow closer as partners, she forces him to question his own intentions. But as the body count mounts in pursuit of the Nazi ringleader, the evasive Alex, the stakes grow even higher for Nick and Nina.

Review:

I had the amazing opportunity to be a beta reader for the script of this book! It was a great experience. I loved that I was finally able to read it with the graphics.

This is an exciting story. Nina is a musician, but her world changes when she meets Nick. He gets her to join a group who is fighting to eliminate Nazis in America. Nina is the only woman in the group and that stirs up a lot of tension. However, she proves that she is as much of an asset as any man.

The final chapters in this book are very fast paced. There are some action scenes that happen quickly. There is also a final twist at the end of the story. Even though I knew it was coming, I was excited to read it again.

I can’t wait to read the rest of this series!

What to read next:

• Stereotypical Freaks by Howard Shapiro

• 

• Heavy Vinyl, Vol. 1 by Carly Usdin

• 

Have you read Queen of Kenosha? What did you think of it?

Title: Goldie Vance, Vol. 2
Author: Hope Larson, Brittany Williams, Sarah Stern
Genre: Graphic Novel
Publisher: BOOM! Box
Source: Library
Release Date: May 9, 2017
Rating: ★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

Nancy who? Goldie Vance is on the case! The adventures of the teen sleuth continue in this second volume of the hit comic book series.

The adventures of Goldie Vance, teen super sleuth, continue in the second volume of this hit comic adventure. Collects issues #5-8 of the series.

Sixteen-year-old Marigold “Goldie” Vance lives at a Florida resort with her dad, who manages the place. Her mom, who divorced her dad years ago, works as a live mermaid at a club downtown. Goldie has an insatiable curiosity, which explains her dream to one day become the hotel’s in-house detective. When Charles, the current detective, encounters a case he can’t crack, he agrees to mentor Goldie in exchange for her help solving the mystery.

Eisner Award-winning writer Hope Larson (A Wrinkle in Time: The Graphic Novel) and artist Brittney Williams (Patsy Walker, A.K.A Hellcat!) present the newest gal sleuth on the block with Goldie Vance, an exciting, whodunnit adventure.

Review:

This is the second book in the Goldie Vance series.

I didn’t like this book as much as the first one. The mystery that Goldie had to solve was anticlimactic. She investigated a girl who washed up on the beach in an astronaut suit. The story started off exciting with the discovery of the astronaut, but I didn’t really understand the ending.

Goldie’s friend, Cheryl, wants to be an astronaut, so she was very excited when she saw the astronaut girl. One thing I didn’t understand was the connection that Goldie found between Cheryl and the mystery girl. They both competed in beauty pageants. I’m not sure why this storyline seemed to disappear by the end of the story, because it was an interesting clue, but it didn’t seem to lead anywhere.

I hope the mystery is better in the next volume.

What to read next:

• Goldie Vance, Vol. 3 by Hope Larson, Brittany Williams, and Sarah Stern

  

• Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys: The Big Lie by Anthony Del Col

  

Have you read Goldie Vance, Vol. 2? What did you think of it?

Title: Valiant High
Author: Daniel Kibblesmith
Genre: Graphic Novel
Publisher: Valiant Entertainment
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Release Date: September 4, 2018
Rating: ★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

Valiant proudly presents its first ALL-AGES escapade with a pitch-perfect entry point for new fans and longtime readers alike!

Before they became legends, the world’s most formidable heroes were roaming the halls at Valiant High – a super-powered preparatory academy where Aric “X-O Manowar” Dacia is a record-setting running back, Colin “Ninjak” King is a debonair foreign exchange student, and Coach Bloodshot is way, way too into dodgeball. Now, Amanda “Livewire” McKee and her best friend, Faith “Zephyr” Herbert, are taking it all in for the first time at the one high school where power trumps popularity!

From rising star Daniel Kibblesmith (The Late Show with Stephen Colbert) and Eisner Award-winning artist Derek Charm (Jughead), get ready for your first day of school inside a hilarious reimagining of Valiant’s award-winning superhero universe – one where the next world-ending cataclysm will have to wait until after prom night!

In the tradition of Archie and DC Super Hero Girls, this side-splitting adventure takes place outside of Valiant’s standard continuity…and comes packed with all-new incarnations of virtually every Valiant hero and villain! You’ve never seen the heroes of the Valiant Universe quite like this before!

Collecting VALIANT HIGH #1–4.

Review:

This story collects many characters from Valiant Entertainment comics and puts them in a high school setting.

I haven’t read many Valiant comics before, so I felt a little left out reading this story. I’m sure there were some jokes about the characters that I would have understood if I was familiar with the characters. The only one I recognized was X-O Manowar. I wish there was more to the story than just showing a variety of characters from their comics.

This comic reminded me of other series by comic book publishers that make all of their characters interact with each other. DC Comics has a few series which their super heroes in a school setting, such as DC Super Hero Girls and DC Comics: Secret Hero Society. Those series were better for me because I know the characters of DC Comics much better than Valiant entertainment.

If you’re a fan of Valiant comics, this would be a great comic for you!

What to read next:

• X-O Manowar, Volume 1: By The Sword by Robert Venditti, Cary Nord

  

• Harbinger, Volume 1: Omega Rising by Joshua Dysart, Khari Evans, and Lewis LaRosa

  

Have you read Valiant High? What did you think of it?

Title: The Adventures of Superhero Girl
Author: Faith Erin Hicks
Genre: Graphic Novel
Publisher: Dark Horse Books
Source: Library
Release Date: February 26, 2013
Rating: ★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

What if you can leap tall buildings and defeat alien monsters with your bare hands, but you buy your capes at secondhand stores, and have a weakness for kittens, and a snarky comment from Skeptical Guy can ruin a whole afternoon? Cartoonist Faith Erin Hicks brings her skills in character design and sharp, charming humor to the trials and tribulations of a young, superhero battling monsters both supernatural and mundane in an all-too-ordinary world.

Review:

Superhero Girl is just an ordinary girl who works as a superhero. She has a brother with lots of superpowers, but she can only leap over tall buildings. She must keep her secret identity separate, but she forgets to take off her mask sometimes.

I loved how Superhero Girl is really just a regular person. She doesn’t have a tragic past, which caused her to become a superhero. She has to deal with ordinary life, but she also fights lots of ninjas.

I also loved the Canadian references. There were jokes about Tim Horton’s. She encounters a hilarious “League of Villainous Canadian Stereotypes.” It wasn’t a huge part of the story, but it was nice to see so much of Canada included in the story.

One thing I would have liked was for the comics to be separated into chapters. Some of the comics had scenes that continued for many pages, but some were just one page long. These comics were originally published online and they would have been separated then, so I wish they were also divided up in this book.

What to read next:

• Nothing Can Possibly Go Wrong by Faith Erin Hicks

• 

• Goldie Vance Vol. 1 by Hope Larson

• 

Have you read The Adventures of Superhero Girl? What did you think of it?

Title: Archie’s Weird Mysteries
Author: Paul Castiglia, Fernando Ruiz
Genre: Graphic Novel
Publisher: Archie Comics
Source: Library
Release Date: August 9, 2011
Rating: ★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

Everyone is used to hearing Archie tell wild stories and tall tales, especially in his “Weird Mysteries” newspaper column, but when vampires, werewolves, aliens and Bigfoot start popping up, it’s up to Archie, Betty, Veronica, Reggie and Jughead to get to the bottom of it!

There’s always something strange going on in a little town called Riverdale… jump into the mystery!

Review:

When I was a kid, I loved watching the TV show Archie’s Weird Mysteries. In it, Archie and the gang came up against strange things in Riverdale, including werewolves and vampires.

I was surprised when I saw this graphic novel, because I hadn’t thought about the show in years and I had never seen a comic version of it before. It was actually a TV series before it was a comic book. Since the show was so popular, they decided to make comics based on the episodes.

The stories in this graphic novel were great. One of them was a crossover between Archie and Scooby-Doo, where Archie and his friends were dressed as Scooby and the gang and they drove the Mystery Machine. Another one was confusing because it literally summarized an episode, but then it started a new story.

This is a great graphic novel for Archie fans!

What to read next:

• Jughead, Vol. 1 by Chip Zdarsky and Erica Henderson

  

• Afterlife with Archie, Vol. 1: Escape from Riverdale by Robert Aguirre-Sacasa and Francesco Francavilla

  

Have you read Archie’s Weird Mysteries? What did you think of it?