December Staff Picks!

Bloodmarch by Audrey Westcott (she/her)
Franchesca Bloodmarch is going to become a paladin. She’s going to join up with a gang of adventurers and see the world. She’s going to get in a lot of fights and flirt with a lot of people. She’s going to uncover a cool magical sword, fight an epic battle with the bad guy, and she’s going to win. But before she can do all that, she has to leave home. Every hero worth their salt has a backstory. This is hers.

I’ve read a fair amount of comics that are born from role playing games, and sometimes they can struggle with translating the stories or with showing the depth of the characters. This, however, is not one of those cases; Bloodmarch is such a great example of how to write comics from tabletop games. It is an endearing exploration of a tragic backstory. You immediately get a sense of Fran’s personality, and she is infectious. She’s messy and real and lovely, just like all of the other characters in this story (and like us). As Westcott said about Fran, “She checks all the right RPG boxes for me—big, good, not too smart, kind of slutty, hits hard and does a bit of magic.” I mean, need I say more? Pick up a copy of Bloodmarch from our local zine shelf if you’re interested!

Boyfriends by Refrainbow
Heading into December, I’d fallen into a bit of a reading slump as a result of holiday-season-prep-burnout (something I’m sure most retail workers can relate to), and was thoroughly uninterested in anything dense, deep, or depressing. Enter this new release from popular webtoon author, Refrainbow, that gathers his polycule-boyfriends-following webcomic into one chunky collection!

This book is full of vibrant pastels (sounds oxymoronic but it’s true) and absolute vibes. I read it all in one sitting, giggling away, dying to see the next silly panel I knew was awaiting me. This series follows four boys that are, essentially, tropes – to the point that they don’t even have names. Goth, Jock, Prep, and Nerd are four lads who, well, all fall in love with each other, and end up having to navigate the ins and outs of a four-person relationship. Of course, like I said earlier, it’s entirely vibes here. No stress, no angst, nada! The “goth” character is trans, and it’s revealed after a while, recovering from top surgery, which is woven into the story seamlessly and without unnecessary struggle. Nobody questions his gender, his body, or his sexuality, and his surgery’s after-effects (which are minimal) are treated as just another aspect of his daily life.

It should go without saying that any yaoi lovers out there will dig this (although it may not be as ~spicy~ as some were hoping for) but I also think anyone who’s willing to try something a little different would appreciate the simplicity and style of this comic. It’s cute, well-drawn, and (do I need to say it again?!) entirely vibes.

Insomniacs After School by Makoto Ojiro
According to my son, Bruce (age 4), he doesn’t sleep. In fact, he says has never slept in his life. When we catch him with his eyes closed, he simply tells us he was “relaxing.” If you ask him how he slept last night, he says “I don’t sleep.” What a goober. So naturally when I was looking for a light, fun read in the manga section recently, my eye was drawn to the title Insomniacs After School.

This series centers on two teen insomniacs, Nakami and Magari, who discover the school observatory is the perfect place to nap during the day. The observatory is surrounded by dark rumors because of the mysterious circumstances surrounding the deaths several of the astronomy club members, so it’s always abandoned. When their use of the observatory is discovered by a young, hip teacher, they make a plan to reform the astronomy club so the two can continue to catch some z’s in their favorite spot, and continue to develop their budding friendship/romance/solidarity as insomniacs.

The plot is pretty standard shoujo manga fare: it deals with school life, a little romance, and a little drama. However, the art is notable with more naturalism than you sometimes get with mainstream manga. For example, Nakami, Magari, and their classmates’ faces and hairstyles are differentiated and detailed without falling into caricature, and the observatory setting is given a lot of time and attention. I am also intrigued by the whole astronomy subplot — both the subject of astronomy, which apparently becomes a more major plot point in the next volume, and the rumors surrounding the former astronomy club. Also just the exploration of these teen’s experience as insomniacs and why they want to keep it a secret provided interesting set up for future character development.

Another great thing about Insomniacs After School is that it’s a great time to start reading! Only volumes 1-3 are out in the U.S. with vol. 4 scheduled to come out later in December.

If you are looking for a light, fun, teen slice of life read with non-stereotypical manga artwork, I would definitely recommend this series! It would also be perfect for actual tweens and teens, not random mid-thirty-year-old moms who were intrigued by the title 🙂

Monica by Daniel Clowes
Growing up as a graphic novel fan, Daniel Clowes Black Hole was always on the “Top 20 Greatest Graphic Novels of All Time” lists but as the years fly by it seems to have been forgotten. While that is due to the growth of graphic novels as a legitimate source of profound works and all the new authorial voices because of that, works like Maus and Watchmen are still dominant on said lists. This month I’m recommending the October release from Clowes “Monica”; we follow the titular character as she attempts to piece together her past while ignoring the world around her.

While an “apocalyptic/supernatural” work it’s mostly a meditation on aging, identity, and whether or not your parents’ influence has any sort of dictating on what you will become. Clowes art is perfectly mundane while at the sametime giving off this sense of dread throughout the book. Only a hundred and six pages it is a dense read that will stay with you. After checking this book out, check out Death Ray and Black Hole.

Evergreen by Matthew Cordell
Meet Evergreen the scaredy-squirrel. Loud noises, meeting new people, germs, swimming, thunderstorms- all scary for poor Evergreen. But she has to face her fears when tasked with delivering magic soup to sick Granny Oak.

Flip through the pages and delight in the texture and warmth of the illustrations of Buckthorn Forest and its many inhabitants. They are simultaneously cozy and thrilling. If Arnold Lobel’s Frog and Toad illustrations had a baby with Quentin Blake’s pen and ink illustrations (original illustrator of Roald Dahl’s many books) you’d get Matthew Cordell’s delightful style.

This lengthier, but easy to read picture book, is something between a picture book and chapter book. It’s great for the little guys, but excellent for those kiddos who feel too grown up for “baby books”. So trap your not-so-tiny-tots in a squashy armchair and snuggle up with this pleasant story.

Deadly Class by Rick Remender and Wes Craig
I recommended Deadly Class to my boyfriend because she loves Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo– and the main character, Marcus, reminds me so much of Kaz Brekker. I realized I also want to recommend Deadly Class to everyone all the time for a bunch of other reasons. Deadly Class follows a homeless young man named Marcus, with a difficult past and a hardened outlook on life. He’s reached the end of his rope, impoverished and surrounded by bleak futures, when he’s recruited by Kings Dominion, a secretive school designed to train the world’s greatest assassins– putting power into the hands of the oppressed to shape the world how it needs to be shaped.
On top of being a great R-Rated action-thriller, Deadly Class prides itself on being a commentary about just how awful high school is. Even at Kings Dominion, high school students are still high school students; they’re cruel and unforgiving to their peers, creating cliques and social hierarchies. If you enjoy fictional crime, underdog stories, or even just a lot of Image releases, pick up Deadly Class! (Oh, and the show is super good too.)