will need to get their hands on the first install-
GRAPHIC NOVELS
Adult
Batman: The Silver Age Newspaper
Comics, V.I; 1966-1967.
By Whitney Ellsworth. Illus. hy Shelley
Moldoff and others.
2014.256p. IDW, $49.99 (9781613778456). 741.5.
The smash success of the 1966 Batman
television show launched a myriad of tie-
ins, including a syndicated newspaper comic
strip. Fans of the neurotically grim Dark
Knight of today's comic books and movies
will hardly recognize the lighthearted hero of
these adventures, which emulate the tongue-
in-cheek camp style of the TV series. All the
hallmarks of the show are replicated; garishly
garbed villains such as the Joker, the Pen-
guin, and Catwoman; Robin's "Holy . . ."
exclamations; the exaggerated sound effects;
and even a prominent Hollywood guest star
in the form of Jack Benny, who enlists the
Dynamic Duo to recover his stolen Stradi-
varius. Th.e artwork, by a variety of artists but
always credited to Batman creator Bob Kane,
is straightforward and nondescript, and a
too-brief drawn sequence by the stylish Car-
mine Infantino is the volume's visual high
point. The Batman fad faded quickly—the
show left the airwaves in 1968, but the strip
limped along until the early '70s. A pair of
subsequent volumes will reprint the remain-
der of its run. —Gordon Flagg
The Bojeffries Saga.
By Alan Moore. Illus. by Steve
Parkhouse.
2014. 96p. Top Sbelf, $14.95 (9781603090636).
741.5.
While Moore was first making a name
for himself in British comics in the early
1980s with Vfor Vendetta and Miracleman
(and before he set the comics world on its
ear with From Hell and Watchmen), he also
created this humorous strip about a mon-
strously eccentric family living in a council
house in Northampton. Father Jobremus
strives to muddle through, contending
with his dullard son, Reth, and brutishly
clueless datighter, Ginda; one uncle who
is a werewolf and another who's a vegetar-
ian vampire; a thermonuclear baby in the
basement; and a grandfather who's a gi-
ant Cthuloid blob. It's a bit as though The
Munsters had been written and performed
by Monty Python, with the same Briti-
cisms that are both fascinating and possibly
impenetrable to an American audience.
Parkhouse's tart artwork perfectly captures
the mordantly humorous tone of Moore's
vision. A final, brand-new story brings the
Bojeffries from the Thatcher era into the
present day, where the family, scattered af-
ter their house was demolished, is reunited
on the set oí Big Brother. —Gordon Flagg
60 Booklist June 1 & 15, 2014
ment. Still, this is a very promising series with
Climate Changed: A Personal
Journey through the Science.
By Philippe Squarzoni. Illus. by tbe
author. Tr. by Ivanka Hahnenberger.
2014.480p. Abrams ComicArts, paper, $24.95
(9781419712555). 551.6.
French cartoonist-journalist Squarzoni,
who practices his craft in the vein of Joe
Sacco and Guy Delisle, digs deep into the
science, economics, poli-
tics, international policies,
and ethics that together
force cataclysmic climate
change into our very near
global future. While the
experts he interviews
throughout this volume
present accessible yet tech-
nically specific details about how we got
where we are and what possible ways ahead
are practical, it is by inserting himself and
his personal exploration of responsibilities
and choices that Squarzoni makes the most
demanding call to action; we cannot address
as mere individuals the inequities visited
on the planet, but without recognizing our
personal responsibility, we can't address it
culturally or politically in a timely man-
ner. Squarzoni's realistic, black-and-white
art presents expressive faces, a geographic
range of naturally dramatic landscapes, and
the occasional succinct hyperbole, one of the
most potent of which riffs on Eddie Adams'
iconic 1968 Vietnam War execution photo,
here with a gas pump replacing the original
handgun. The plethora of contributing ex-
perts, a detailed index, and its multifaceted
exploration make this required reading for
both the general public and subject special-
ists. —Francisca Goldsmith
East of West, v.2: We Are All One.
By Jonathan Hiokman. Illus. by Nick
Dragotta.
2014.144p. Image Comics, paper, $14.99
(9781607068556). 741.5.
In the second volume of this weird western
series, the three Horsemen of the Apocalypse
continue to manipulate the Chosen, the
American leaders sworn to the message, as
they plot to bring about the end of the world.
Death, the betrayed Horseman, rides out on a
quest to locate his kidnapped son, but a new
character, the Ranger, attempts to derail both
groups' plans. Like the spaghetti westerns of
Sergio Leone, Hickman focuses on atmo-
sphere and environment, with slow pacing
and sudden quick-on-the-draw action, add-
ing a touch of Lovecraftian horror and epic
sci-fi for good measure. Although some of the
backstory and dense mythology of the series is
better explained in this volume, very little is
revealed about character motives, making the
plot confounding at times. We Are All One is
a challenging read, and those new to the series
a compelling enough premise that readers will
want to stick around until the final shots are
fired. —Peter Blenski
Kill My Mother.
• By Jules Feiffer. Illus. by tbe
author.
Aug. 2014.160p. Norton/Liuerigbt, $27.95
(9780871403148). 741.5.
There's a hard-drinking PI in this shades-
of-charcoal homage to the world of detective
fiction and film noir, but forget about him—
he's a lush, a boozehound,
a bum. The real engines
behind this story are five
fascinating dames; feisty,
devil-may-care Annie;
her widowed mother,
Elsie, hoping to find her
husband's killer; a big
blonde searching for an
e\'cii biui;cr blonde; and a tall woman who
won't speak but sings like an angel. Feiffer's
expressive inking seems made for full-length
graphic novels, with inventive page layouts
and action that practically leaps from panel
to panel as the story jumps from the Great
Depression to WWII, using boxing, radio
theater, Hollywood films, and USO tours
as touchstones. Readers who know Feiffer's
work (and, between his comic strips, political
cartoons, and children's books, who doesn't?)
may be surprised at the latest act in his long
career. But the real surprise is in the way the
85-year-old legend fixes his material with a
fresh and youthful eye, transforming famil-
iar tropes into a crazy kaleidoscope of toxic
family history that makes The Big Sleep look
like forty winks. You'll need to read it twice
to follow the story—and you'll want to do it,
too. —Keir Graff
The Love Bunglers.
• By Jaime Hernandez. Illus. by the
author.
2014.112p. Fantagraphics, $ 19.99 (9781606997291 ).
741.5.
Along with his brother Gilbert, Hernan-
dez helped usher in the alternative-comics
movement in the 1980s with their ground-
breaking Love and
Rockets series. Three de-
cades later, he remains
at the top of his game,
as proven by this master-
ful tale centered on his
frustratingly flawed but
immensely sympathetic
longtime heroine Maggie
Chascarrillo. The years have not been particu-
larly kind to Maggie, whose once-turbulent
life has settled into a drab existence managing
a seedy apartment building. She occasion-
ally sees friends from the old days, among
them her on-and-off boyfriend, Ray Domin-
guez, who still carries a massive torch for her.
Skillfully merging tragedy and serendipity.
Hernandez brings the pair's intertwining sto-
ries to a satisfying, if hard-won, culmination.
The simplicity of Hernandez's page designs
and the elegant economy of his drawing style
belie the thoughtflil sophistication of his sto-
rytelling, exemplified by a two-page spread
that brilliantly encapsulates two entire life-
times in just 18 panels. Although The Love
Bunglers certainly isn't a jumping-on point for
new readers, fans who have followed Maggie's
exploits over the years will find it a heart-
breakingly satisfying achievement that leaves
the door wide open for further chapters in
this most rewarding and accomplished of seri-
alized comics. —Gordon Flagg
use, magic, violence, and sarcasm that a hu-
morous, adult action-fantasy volume should
have. Upchurch's art has beautiful depth, and
his panels glow with life. Offer this to readers
tired of the same old comics featuring cheese-
cake depictions of female characters or to
readers who like intelligent plots with a side
of smart aleck. —Snow Wildsmith
Spider-Man: Family Business.
• By Mark Waid and James Robinson,
illus. by Gabriele DeH'Otto and Werther
Deil'Edera.
2014.112p. Marvel, $24.99 (97807851844091.741.5.
Peter Parker is thrown back into another
epic battle, although probably not one that
his typical audience is used to. After several
goons kidnap Peter in the
middle of the night, he is
rescued by a mysterious se-
cret agent who claims to
be his long-lost sister. Now
Spider-Man and agent The-
resa must dig into their
parents' own GIA past to
discover the explanation for
Peter's mysterious abduction and the reasons
for his sister's sudden appearance. Waid's story
is perfectly blended, with all the one-liners
and gags that fans have come to expect as well

Pretty Deadly.
By Kelly Sue DeConnick. Illus. by Emma
Rios and Jordie Bellaire.
2014.120p. Image Comics, paper, $9.99
197816070696211.741.5.
Badass women populate the swirly, sunset-
colored pages of this new series, a stirring,
brutal, and macabre combination of classic
western and a skewed Orpheus and Eurydice
tale. Little heterochromatic Sissy and her
guardian, the blind Fox, travel through can-
yons and frontier towns telling the mythical
tale of death-faced Ginny, a vengeance reaper
who has a personal score to settle—with Fox.
When Sissy finds out, she demands to know
the rest of the story of death-faced Ginny,
but she gets far more than she bargained for.
DeGonnick's slow-burn tale releases capti-
vating details and secrets about Ginny, Fox,
and Sissy at a bewitching pace as the scope of
the quest grows to legendary proportions. It's
a perfect match for the gorgeous, dizzying
artwork in a sumptuous palette—overlaid
panels add intricate choreography to fight
scenes, and detailed, whirling splash pages
beg for long-lingering looks. Gouple that,
along with a handful of Eisner nominations,
with a multicultural cast of tough-as-nails
women who all fight for their own hon-
or, and this is a series to watch out for.
—Sarah Hunter

Rat Queens, v.1: Sass and Sorcery.

By Kurtis J. Wiebe. Illus. by Roc
Upcburcb.
2014.128p. image Comics, paper, $9.99
(97816070694541.741.5.
The Rat Queens are a tough, insouciant
gang of ne'er-do-well girls (they're certainly
not ladies) who love a good bar brawl. When
they are assigned a mission as punishment
for their latest recklessness by the mayor of
Palisade and it turns out to be a trap, Han-
nah, Violet, Dee, and Betty come back to
the town to figure out who has it in for them
and the other local fighting gangs. And if
they have to beat up a few people and mon-
sters to do it, then that's just fine by them.
Wiebe and Upchurch offer readers three-
dimensional female characters with varying
body types, races, sexual orientations, and
backstories, while also including all the in-
triguing side characters, crude language, drug

www.booklistonline.com June 1 & 15,2014 Booklist 61

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