Tag: Graphic Novels

I Finished a Book: Hot Comb by Ebony Flowers

Book Cover: A young African American girl walking in between two statues of African American Women with black combs against a starry night sky. The ground is gray and goes into the horizon. A drawing of the author is next to the book cover. Black and White art of an African American woman with thick curly hair, earrings, necklace, and a dark top staring off to the side.
Image Source: https://digitaledition.chicagotribune.com/tribune/article_popover.aspx?guid=e5defb1c-adb2-4126-99af-9a74fb4bf755

So, I have trying to be more conscientious about posting here when I finish various media. My last post, I Finished a Game talked about/gave a review of a game that I recently finished and this post talks about a graphic novel that I finished. It is one that I found at the Chattanooga Public Library and thought I’d give a chance. Normally, this isn’t the type of graphic novel/genre that I read, but as Visiting Scholar of African American Literature at Jacksonville State University last year, and as a (forthcoming) scholar of African American Literature (whenever I finish my dissertation and successfully defend it), I felt that I should go ahead and expand my personal reading outside my normal tastes.

African American Women’s Hair

This is an anthology of stories about the travails of growing up with black hair. There are diverse stories, some seeming autobiographical and deal with children and young adults dealing with what it means to have black hair and all the rites, rituals, and social etiquette that goes along with it. It also has stories that deal with growing up (young adults and college age people) with some of the trials and tribulations associated with black hair, especially when dealing with attitudes of others outside of the black community. African American hair, especially for women, is particularly important at the moment. Will Smith, unfortunately, was goaded into a particularly garish moment at 2022 Oscar Award ceremony due to tactless joke about Jada Pinkett Smith’s hair loss by Chris Rock. As so many online have pointed out, Jada has been upfront about her struggles with Alopecia, which has caused her to lose her hair. While I won’t way in on the debate (other than to say I think both Will and Chris were wrong and this the classic “two wrongs don’t make a right situation”), I will say that this is an important topic to discuss and I feel that the graphic novel format was pretty strong.

The Art

My major problem with the graphic novel came from the art style. I know 1) art is subjective and 2) there is a “style” of art that seems to be pretty common to graphic novel autobiographies/semi-autobiographies. I first encountered it when my medical doctor let me borrow one of his graphic novels from Harvey Pekar. I didn’t like the art style there and I can’t say that I liked it any better here. I’m just not a fan of the R. Crumb style of artwork that seems to be employed by so many. Now, I would argue that Ebony Flowers artwork isn’t nearly as complex as Pekar and Crumb and utilizes more line work than “over-inking” that I associate with those other authors, but the effect is the same. For me, artwork draws me into a story, but Flowers artwork, just like that of most modern autobiographical graphic novelists, either keeps me at arms length or actively pushes me away. I have to say, even knowing the importance of “hair” in the African American community and being African American (male) myself, this one was a bit of a slog.

Overral Rating

Rating: 3 out of 5.

This one just wasn’t my (personal) cup of tea. I would definitely assign it in a class (Contemp. African American Literature or some sort of Graphic Novel class). I also feel that it would do well in my personal classroom library as a 6th E.L.A teacher (English/Language Arts) teacher. I feel like the girls in a 6th grade class would have really gravitated to this graphic novel and it would have been highly checked out and read by the young ladies in the class.

However, for me personally, it just didn’t have the resonance that I was looking for in a graphic novel (unlike Shadow Rock by Robert Love). Now, admittedly, Shadow Rock is much more of an action adventure in the style of an African American Goonies, but still, the artwork really helped me to get invested in the characters and enjoy the story. I’m afraid that, for me, that didn’t happen with Hot Comb.

Sidney

Please consider supporting these fine small press publishers where my work has appeared:

Currently Working On (August 2022):

  • The Runner (Fantasy Story–4100 words)
    2022 Revision; Out to Market.
  • Unhallowed (Weird Western Story–4100 words)
    2022 Revision: Completed; Out to Market.
  • Citizen X (Alternate History Science Fiction Story)
    Status: Drafting–1300 words (approx)

Scholarly

  • Dissertation Chapter 3 (Video Games, Empathy, Afrofuturism)
    Status: Drafting–6800 words (approx)

On the (Writing) Road Again

A straight road with a white striped line down the center disappearing into the horizon. There are brown fields of grass on either side with an azure blue sky above.

Sorry for stepping away from the blog, but college classes, under Covid, are something else entirely from what I’m used to as an instructor. I’ll save this rumination for another post, but basically, everything takes 5 to 6 times longer because everything has to be explained (in detail) in this environment and often, multiple times. A simple explanation at the end of class to clear up a misunderstanding often takes at least 1 email, sometimes 2 or 3. So, all that to say, I’m struggling to keep up with it all.

However, what I can say is that, after a two month unintentional hiatus, I am back on the writing path. Oh, I’ve been writing over these two months and while it hasn’t all been for school, most of it has. I even tried to work on other projects, but they’ve all fallen by the wayside until last weekend.

Project Wall

So, the obvious joke would be that I “hit the wall” with this project. That’s not true, however. The fact is, I still believe in this project and I still want to do it, but I don’t really have a strong character to help guide me through. I have a brother and sister duo here, and I’m an only child. I set it up so that the younger brother would try to save the older sister that he idolizes, but even in the very first scenes/paragraphs, I could muster much urgency for the character and his dilemma, even with a literal “clock” ticking in the background to increase the sense of tension with the story. And this isn’t some random bomb explosion, but a time-based story point actually woven into the story’s setting–and yet, I felt nothing as I was writing it. I may have to just make it the main character’s story instead of trying make it about saving his sister. Maybe the solution is to have him out and he has to struggle back before the time runs out. I’m not sure, but just writing those couple of sentences seems more tense than the draft I had been working on.

Project Ranger

The next project I’d been working on was one in which I can see the first scene and the last scene in my mind’s eye. I was able to get the entire first scene down, but without a middle, I don’t really have a narrative going. I have a thing that they are working towards, but it is a longer narrative that can’t easily be told as a short-story because of the number of characters involved and the way in which I want to tell the story.

Also, while I have a fairly distinctive character this time in terms of conflict, I don’t have a good sense of who that character is outside of his one defining trait: anger. Not only that, but I can’t “see” the character. I know he’s African American, but is he short or tall, bearded or clean shaven, bald or dreads down to he shoulder blades? I don’t know, I can’t tell you and it makes it hard when your protagonist is just one emotion: barely contained rage, and nothing else.

KnightWatch (Graphic Novel)

Which leads me to my final project, KnightWatch, and the one that I actually have worked on for the past two weeks in a row and the one that seems to be “the one.” It is a sequel to my long ago published story “Sister Knight.” This one is also going to take a while (probably all the way through Christmas) as it is a graphic novel. While not my first attempt at a graphic novel, it seems like it could be the first one I actually finish *fingers crossed* as it seems (right now) to be “flowing” where the other two projects did not.

This time, unlike my previous project (which I do hope to go back to at some point), I delved directly into the sequel. I think my beginning point is strong enough and evocative enough to capture the audience’s attention, but if I need to recap my short story as a “first” issue, my rationale is that I know how to do that well now from the previous project and right now, the story I want to tell is the one that I’m telling–a new story, with old characters in an “advisory”/”adjacent” position and new characters taking up the story. I can see the main protagonist of the story with my mind’s eye and the secondary characters are beginning to come into “focus.” I’m going to change my Signature file to reflect this new story. I’m giving myself a while (3 months) to get it done.

Well, that’s all that I have for now. Hopefully, more shortly!

Sidney

Please consider supporting these fine small press publishers where my work has appeared:

Currently Working On (10/2020):

  • Unhallowed (Weird Western Story)
    Out to Market
  • Starlight, Starbright (Science Fiction Story)
    Out to Market
  • The Independent (Science Fiction Story)
    Out to Market
  • KnightWatch Graphic Novel (Fantasy Graphic Novel)
    Drafting: 1st Draft (Issue 1)

Reading Log: 6/2020

A notebook with a simple notation for title of books and information about the books read.
Image Source: https://www.tinyrayofsunshine.com/blog/reading-log

Well, Covid-19 has affected many parts of the civilized world and forced changes to the way many of us live our lives and interact with one another. You might be asking what does that have to do with reading? Well, for me, quite lot actually. You see, where Corona virus has affect many people’s lives and social interactions, for me, it has greatly affected my reading life and the ways in which I read.

No (Physical) Library Spring/Summer 2020

Obviously, I’m a huge proponent of libraries in general, and my own in particular, having worked as a Library Assistant for 17 years and being an Language Arts Teacher (maintaining my own classroom library) for 3 years, including purchasing books with my own (limited) funds. Obviously, due to the pandemic, my local library has been closed (rightly so) to help prevent the spread of the virus. However, this has had the knock-on effect of curtailing my intention of renting more books from the library and purchasing less. I’d planned to get back to my monthly visits of the library as well, but alas, this won’t happen for a while.

Reading Took a Hit

Add to that the fact that I’ve been rereading books on my shelf and I hit Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings at that time. Now, I love Tolkien’s work, but it is dense. His writing style is not something that is made for light reading to escape–which is what I wanted right at the pandemic’s height. It took me a while of procrastinating, but I finally had to put this particular book aside and start on another one in order to get back into the reading life.

All that to say that my reading life, which you would think would have increased with the pandemic, actually was affected by it because the book I’d queued up to read wasn’t the one best suited for the time.

Mage: The Hero Discovered (Volume 3)

About the only (non-school) related book that I got through since the last reading log was the 3rd volume in the Mage: The Hero Discovered trilogy by Matt Wagner. This is probably my least favorite of the trilogy because 1) there’s quite a bit more dialogue in which the protagonist is having his “origin” explained to him rather than us seeing it organically, and 2) the protagonist goes from stubborn to obstinate, which requires the dialogue to get him to “move on.” Basically, it is the exposition of the story, just shifted to the end rather than coming at the beginning. A good story, but one that is dialogue heavy.

Lone Wolf & Choose Your Own Adventure

The only other things that I’ve gone through was to skim through all my old Lone Wolf books by Joe Deaver and Gary Chalk, and later with Ian Page and Joe Deaver, and other Choose Your Own Adventure books that I own. If I’m honest, I was mostly skimming them, looking for inspiration for new short stories, but I had so many that I have already on my “backlog” to get to that it seemed foolish to look for more. I may revisit this activity next summer if my well of stories begins to run dry, but right now, I have enough to work on for the next year or so (and that’s not even counting school-related writing), so I think for now, I’ll just make sure they’re reflected in my online catalogs (Goodreads & LibraryThing) and place them back on my bookshelf.

Well, that’s all I have for today–have a great weekend everyone!

Sidney

Please consider supporting these fine small press publishers where my work has appeared:

Currently Working On (6/2020):

  • The Independent  (Sci-Fi Short-Story)–
    Finished: Revision 1
  • “Project Arizona” (Weird Western Story)
    Drafting: First Draft
  • Ship of Shadows Graphic Novel 
    Finished: Script, Issue #1
    Next: Script, Issue #2
  • “Project Wall” (Science Fiction Story)
    Finished: Rough Draft

ReRead: Myth Adventures One Graphic Novel

Image Source: https://www.amazon.com/Myth-Adventures-One-Robert-Asprin/dp/0898654149

So, today through Friday, I will be in orientation for the upcoming Fall semester (all of the Graduate Teaching Assistants are required to do Orientation every year). It generally lasts all morning and all afternoon with a break for lunch, so I thought I’d just catch on Mini-Reviews and Re-Reads to have a little fun with the blog for the rest of the week. These entries will be shorter and a lot more “fun” since I’ll be tied up pretty much all morning and afternoon for the next few days.

Funny Fantasy

Myth by Robert Asprin is a late 70s/early 80s phenomenon where writers took the uber-popular fantasy tropes of “First Wave” Fantasy Writers (such as Tolkien, Lewis, and the like) and “Second Wave” Fantasy Writers (such as Terry Brooks, David Eddings, and the like) and parodied and/or satirized the tropes in the Fantasy field up to that point. While the Myth series was fairly popular in this sub-genre for a while as was Pierce Anthony’s fantasy series based on puns, Xanth, it was really Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series that grabbed the lion’s share of attention for the “funny fantasy” genre which has only seemed to abate in the past few years to the best of my knowledge–for a time Discworld was as popular as was “Epic” (Doorstopper) Fantasy.

Myth Adventures One

In addition to prose books, the “funny fantasy” genre also branched out into the realm of graphic novels and comic books. Myth Adventures One is an early graphic novel (1985) that collected issues 1-4 of the Myth Adventures comic. I found this graphic novel in a Friends of the Library Booksale several years ago, and I really liked the story, even though “funny fantasy” isn’t a sub-genre that I read regularly–although I do enjoy the Discworld novels that I own. I’d only read a couple Robert Asprin titles before getting this one (a Thieves’ World anthology that he co-edited with Lynn Abbey), but I do like Asprin’s writing. It’s very much in the vein of Shrek (way before their was a Shrek), but still, it is that very broad humor that would appeal to kids–very into visual gags.

Do You Like Cartoony Art?

If you do, then you’ll love Phil Foglio’s artwork. Me, well, there’s some things that I love about the artwork and something’s that I dislike. I love the exaggerated facial expressions–many times the comedy is sold by the expression on the face alone. However, a lot of times, the body/figure is also exaggerated, and this often results in the character looking out of proportion or (more commonly) posed in anatomically impossible positions that draw me out of the story. Even in the cover, it looks like the main character is a giant, but the cover image is meant to convey that the main character is flying, but the sense of perspective is off, so much of your enjoyment of the story is going to come from how much you like (or can tolerate) Foglio’s art.

Overall Grade: B (85 out of 100)

There’s nothing really wrong with the story (it’s a bit complicated to follow which is why I didn’t provide a plot synopsis, but ultimately follows the trials and tribulations of a magician and his apprentice). The art, again, depends on how much you like Foglio’s cartoony artwork (think Loony Toons level of abstraction). I liked it better on the first read rather than this reread, so the humor is something may only work when it’s fresh, but I still enjoyed it.

Have a great day everyone!

Sidney

Please consider supporting these fine small press publishers where my work has appeared:

  • The Independent  (Sci-Fi Short-Story)–
    3rd Draft of 3 Drafts 
    Drafting Section 1 (of 3)
    Mythic Mag. Deadline = January 31, 2020
  • I, Mage (Fantasy Short Story)
    Pre-Production Phase (Planning)
    Pre-Writing on Rough Draft & Character Sketch
    Mythic Mag. Deadline = July 31, 2020
  • Current Longer Work-in-Progress: Ship of Shadows Graphic Novel 
    (Sci-Fi) Issue # 2, Currently on Script Page 32
    Personal Deadline = September 30, 2019
  • HawkeMoon (upcoming) = Edits turned in to editor 5/31/19

ReRead: Star Wars X-Wing Rogue Squadron — Battleground Tatooine

X-Wing Fighter destroying a Tie Fighter over an alien world.
Image Source: https://www.amazon.com/Battleground-Tatooine-X-Wing-Rogue-Squadron/dp/156971276X

So, I reread Star Wars X-Wing Rogue Squadron (Rogue Squadron) over the weekend. I haven’t been reading much on my own except for school nights, but I thought I start to reread my collection once a week.

One of the Few Star Wars Graphic Novels I Own

Surprisingly enough, I don’t own that many Star Wars graphic novels (although I plan to increase that through used bookstore purchases) as graphic novels became a “thing” after I was already moving away from “comics” in general and moving more into “writing/creative writing.” It may have been a good thing since most of the Star Wars comics/novels/graphic novels have been “removed” from canon once Disney acquired the license. However, I still like to dip into the world and universe, even knowing that most of the work is no longer “relevant” to the Star Wars world.

Good Story (Even Without the Lightsabers)

I tend to be a “lightsabers” kind of guy, meaning that I really like the ligthtsaber combat in the films. However, I also like the space combat as well. I feel that the new films have focused more on space combat than lightsaber battles, but I’d still like to watch them. And that extends into the graphic novel realm as I enjoy reading about the adventures of Rogue Squadron which is what this graphic novel is about. The story was good–not great–but good, as was the artwork. Finally, I thought the inclusion of a hard to find second story at the end was a nice touch.

Overall Grade: B (85)

While it could have been more dynamic, I still enjoyed the setup and the resolution of the story. Its a fun, “popcorn” story and one that I enjoyed. I’ll definitely look for others in the series.

Sidney

Please consider supporting these fine small press publishers where my work has appeared:

  • The Independent  (Sci-Fi Short-Story)–
    3rd Draft of 3 Drafts 
    Drafting Section 1 (of 3)
    Mythic Mag. Deadline = July 31, 2019
  • I, Mage (Fantasy Short Story)
    Pre-Production Phase (Planning)
    Pre-Writing on Rough Draft & Character Sketch
    Mythic Mag. Deadline = January 31, 2020
  • Current Longer Work-in-Progress: Ship of Shadows Graphic Novel 
    (Sci-Fi) Issue # 2, Currently on Script Page 32
    Personal Deadline = September 30, 2019
  • HawkeMoon (upcoming) = Edits turned in to editor 5/31/19

What’s All the Hoopla About?

hoopla_hightechsociety

So, I’m a little late today as I got up a bit later than normal.  I would normally do the blog either during breakfast or shortly afterwards, but today (in addition to picking up my car–yay!) I needed to reset my password to Hoopla, a service that my home public library, Chattanooga Public Library subscribes to and that I have access to by being a member.

What is Hoopla?

Hoopla is a streaming service that is more than just a traditional streaming service.  It allows you to borrow (for my institution) 10 items per month.  Notice that I said, items, not movies or TV shows.  It does have movies and television, like Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Hulu.  However, it also has comics/graphic novels, ebooks, audiobooks, and music (!).  I’ve used it before and really liked it.  What it lacks in terms of terms of hit releases (very few major releases), it makes up with breadth–there are a lot of good genre materials embedded within each of the categories.

Summer Hoopla

So, while I’ve got a ton of work to do over the summer, in terms of getting ready for my summer classes this summer, I’m going to try to catch up on reading some of the comics/graphic novels (& books) that I’ve put off over the school year.  They have quite a few Marvel graphic novels, Star Wars, Star Trek, and other properties (again, books and graphic novels, mostly, not so much with movies/television).  Still, now that I trying to integrate Popular Culture into my scholarship as a Pop. Culture scholar, I actually need some pop. culture to go with my scholarship.

I would encourage you to check out Hoopla if your library has a subscription.  If not, then you might want to see if your library has something similar.  It is a really useful service that I plan to investigate more over this summer.

Sidney

Amazon Associate Disclaimer:
I earn a small commission on the purchase of these items.

 

Baby Steps To a Novel

novel_edx_org
Chapter One of a novel on a Typewriter, Image Source: edx.org

So, yesterday I took my first steps to trying to complete a novel.  Regular readers of the blog will note that I’ve tried before (without much success) to try to write a novel, but this time I’m using my university’s Writing Center to help.  I’ve worked in the Writing Center myself all last year and I have a friend and colleague who is working there now who has agreed to a “Writing Partnership” with me–a fancy term for a standing appointment to talk about writing over the course of the semester.  Generally, they are used for long term projects (thesis, dissertations, etc.), but they can also be used for just improving one’s writing in general.  We talked about what I wanted to do ultimately (short-stories or novels) and we decided that writing a novel would be a good way to “grow” as a writer.  Then we discussed the idea I had for a novel and what the next steps should be going forward.

Character Sketch
So, my homework is to complete at least one character sketch–the main character/protagonist–and have it ready by the next meeting.  We talked about who the main character is (Skye–which longtime readers will remember from earlier blog posts) and what is her personality like.  If possible, I’d like to write a character sketch for her father as that is her major familial relationship in the book, but based on school work and obligations, there may not be enough time for that.  We spent quite a bit of time talking about the importance of characters and how they should act appropriately–something that I don’t think that I always do well because of my interest in the plot.  Hopefully, I can really nail Skye’s personality and be able to create a convincing character arc for her.

Plot Outline
I also need to produce a plot outline for the next meeting.  Again, one mandatory, but two if possible.  I have “story map” that I use that is a 1 page “synopsis” of the characters, setting, plot, climax, and resolution.  However, I’d like to also provide a chapter-by-chapter breakdown of the story as that is where I always seem to break down when writing the novel, but I may find that that might be better suited to do after we talk about the character sketch/synopsis of the novel.  In any case, I do intend to do what Brandon Sanderson noted about how he writes novels on his podcast, Writing Excuses, where he notes that he writes down big tentpole scenes as he’s generating ideas for his novel.  I think that the tentpole scenes, in addition to the synopsis, would be helpful to do before trying to tackle the larger, chapter-by-chapter breakdown.

NaNoWriMo
November is National Novel Writer’s Month (NaNoWriMo).  I’ve never really tried to do anything for the month because I always had school (or a ton of things to do in the month of November), but as I’m in the midst of trying to write a novel and as the Writing Center will be holding a “Write In” on November 17, I guess I’ll give it a try.  I don’t know what the outcome of all this will be, but I’ll blog about the process here to hopefully inspire other writers (aspiring or practicing) and maybe provide, tangible techniques and tricks to my fellow writers out there as well.

Wish me luck! 🙂

 

Finished Leave It To Chance, Vol. 2: Trick or Threat

LeaveItToChance_Vol2_TrickThreat_Amazon

So I finished rereading Leave It To Chance, Vol. 2: Trick or Threat during this past week and I really enjoyed it.  It is a better story than I remember.  I really like it that Chance has agency in this story.  We can see rivalries and friendships develop and we see her take on a situation when she’s removed from her father.

Even the backup story for this one is good–as Chance tries to follow her father’s wishes, but is swept up by events and a desire to save her friend.  I think this one has more of a “Scooby Doo” feel meaning that while the monsters and supernatural elements are real, you get a real sense of the “adventure” or “mystery” that Chance and her new-found friends embark on in this story.

I really think that the creators hit their stride with this one and really found the link that made Chance feel real and alive and gave her a cool set of stories away from the noir of Devil’s Echo that really made the story resonate with me.  This is by far my favorite volume in the series and I think unfortunately, the creators lost this when they returned to Devil’s Echo (& took the agency away from Chance).  While I don’t know the particulars as to why the series ended, I do think this second volume is the strongest entry in the series.

Overall Grade: A

Leave It To Chance: Monster Madness and Other Stories

Leaveittochance_vol3_Amazon

Leave It To Chance: Monster Madness and Other Stories is the third book (Vol. 3) to the Leave It To Chance  series (yes, I know I’m out of order, but Vol. 2 was longer than I had time to read this week with grading and all) that I reviewed last week.  While I like this volume, I don’t like it quite as much as I liked Volume 1.  It tries to do something fairly unique, but the story (as presented) doesn’t quite work as well as it should.

Monster Madness takes the idea of what would happen in “movie monsters” came to life in the “real world” of Devil’s Echo (the city where the Chance stories take place).  However, it seems to focus more on Chance’s interaction with a “mysterious” character named “Lightfoot” than it does with her actually trying to solve a crime.  In fact, her dragon is knocked out for most of the story, and she is relegated to the sidelines while her father does most of the sleuthing/fighting the bad guys.  It doesn’t help that while Lightfoot is intended as a “possible” love interest in that Nancy Drew/Hardy Boys way of dropping similar characters of the opposite sex together and watching the sparks fly as their similar ways cause conflict (and interest), Lightfoot is drawn in such an unappealing manner that I (for one) was actively routing against Chance having anything to do with him.

I think Monster Madness (and the other story, which has heart, but still isn’t as good as the first volume’s story).  I think that while this was a good volume, Chance’s strengths are when she’s the center of the action, doing the sleuthing, rather than as a standby character who merely interacts when the action comes to her.

OVERALL GRADE: C+

Leave It To Chance

LeaveItToChance_Amazon.jpg
Leave It To Chance “Shaman’s Rain” Book Cover, Image Source: Amazon.com

Leave It To Chance is a young adult graphic novel that I really, really like.  I wanted to take a moment to highlight this great (& short) graphic novel series.  I just finished rereading the first volume this week (I’m trying to read all my graphic novels as a way to remind myself of the graphic novel format since I’ve been away for so long).

Leave It To Chance was published in the early 2000s (2002) and it was written in the height of the GrrlPower movement (James Robinson’s Forward is dated 3.25.97 and this is in the height of the movement, but as the hardcover collection wasn’t published until 2002 which, by then, was the tail-end of the movement).  The protagonist is Chance, a young girl who is the daughter of Falconer, a mage of eminence and importance in the city of Devil’s Echo.  She is “protected” from the magical intrigue and derring-do by her father, but she is of age to take up training to become the next in the line of Falconers who are sworn to protect the city.  Her father refuses to train her simply because of her gender (noting that this “burden” of training is passed from male heir to male heir).  Chance decides that this is horribly unfair and seeks to rectify this (& gets into adventures on her own).

LeaveItToChanceModelSheet_ComicArtFans.jpg
Leave It To Chance Concept/Model Art, Image Source: Comicartfans.com

James Robinson and Paul Smith collaborated on the story and art.  This is actually my first (and I think, my only) examples of their work, but I really enjoyed the story when I first read it at the Public Library–so much so, that I bought a copy for my personal collection.  I like Chance’s character–they made her very much like a Nancy Drew detective and set the world in a Neo-Noir setting (grim, dark alleyways merged with aircars).  Chance also has a “Jubilee”-vibe to her and dresses similarly (who in turn, has bit of the Frank Miller’s female Robin from the Dark Knight look) as well.  You can almost see a direct progression from Miller’s female Robin to Jubilee from the X-Men, to Chance.  I own all three books in the series (will be doing reviews of the other two as well), but as a pure story, I think this first volume, “Shaman’s Rain” holds up the best storywise.

Chance-Falconer-Image-Comics-Leave-It-To-Chance_Writeups_org
Chance Falconer Image, Image Source: Writeups.org

I think too, that the setting of Devil’s Echo was very well used.  It definitely precedes the entire Urban Fantasy craze that authors like Jim Butcher, Charlaine Harris, and Kim Harrison (to name a few) helped popularize in the mid-to-late 2000s & early 2010s.  I personally love the fact that Chance has her own (mini-)dragon–as it recalls to mind Anne McCaffrey’s Dragonsinger books of the 1980s.  This one is a great series for both Young Adult Readers (& younger children), but has enough complexity, character development, and setting that will at least keep older readers from being completely bored with it, even if it doesn’t completely captivate them.

OVERALL GRADE: B

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LAUREGALIE

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Extra Content from PaulsPages.com

DragOn Writing

Sci-Fi and Fantasy writer, dreamer and Netflix junkie

The Godly Chic Diaries

BY GRACE THROUGH FAITH

Learning to write

Just your average PhD student using the internet to enhance their CV

Blog Writing Profits

Memoir of a Writer

perfecting language on paper

Tiger Riding for Beginners

Bernie Gourley: Traveling Poet-Philosopher & Aspiring Puddle Dancer

unbolt me

the literary asylum

The Solivagant Writer

The world is my playground; the pen, my friend

James Harringtons Creative Work

A site of writings, musings, and geek culture, all under one domain!

renegade7x

Natalia's space

Read Men and Nations

S.A. Barton