…continuing from last night’s post…
Kate had a few books to share on our “kid-friendly” theme. Thematically similar to the previously mentioned “Princeless”, “Another Castle”, from Oni Press, features a very independent princess protagonist.
It seems that the most popular character of the night was a certain space-faring alien of the barky, vegetable variety…as Kate’s second suggestion was Groot’s solo series.
Kate’s final suggestion of the night was one for all readers. As she put it, OWLY is “one of those books that bridges simple to more complex ideas…” and does it with hardly any actual words – it’s a picture book that tells some pretty involved stories.
Amber had the most unique suggestion of the evening – she brought her thesis work from art school – a children’s book called “The Last Squawk of the Great Auk”. It was a very impressive work, especially as all the illustrations were made from cut paper!
There’s been a trend towards making comicbooks more kid-friendly by making the actual characters into kids – X-Babies, Tiny Titans, and – Amber’s most favorite – “Itty Bitty Hellboy”. As she put it, “I love Hellboy in general, and when this came out, I lost my mind!” One final book she brought followed this concept and was the every-so-lovingly illustrated “Study Hall of Justice.”
Emilio had a theme of his own this evening – kittens and ramen. He brought in “Neko Ramen” – a manga about a bossy cat that runs a ramen restaurant. His second manga was “Chi’s Sweet Home” another manga about an adorable kitten.
Then to really mix it up, he went back to the classic comic-strips of John Stanley – “Nancy”, “Thirteen Going on Eighteen”, and “Melvin Monster.”
I brought a couple books of my own, too. I shared “All-New X-men”, written by Dennis Hopeless and drawn by Mark Bagley. Like many of the comics that originally got me hooked on comics, “All-New” has excellent super-heroics, but also real emotional weight in many of the characters’ interactions.
I also shared “Goldie Vance”, a new comic about a young girl who lives at a fancy hotel and solves mysteries!
Here’s a quick list of the web-comics that got talked about…
–Oglaf – fantasy adventure and almost always NSFW, but hilarious
–Supermutant Magic Academy – what it says.
Whew, we covered a LOT of ground at this meetup. I hope you can take some time to check out these various titles!
The night closed with another trivia contest from Don, with prizes generously donated from Don and Lost World of Wonders! Jony was the 1st prize winner this month, winning a print copy of “Cyanide and Happiness”.
