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Graphic Novels & Comics June 2014
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Greetings! My name is Patrick Holt, and I'm a librarian at Southwest Regional Library. I'm also a lifelong reader of comics and graphic novels. Check out the contents of this month's newsletter in the box to the left. I hope you find these recommendations worthwhile, and please email me at pdholt@dconc.gov if you have any thoughts or questions. Thanks and enjoy!
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New Titles at the Library
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Buffy the Vampire Slayer season 9, volume 5: The Core
by Andrew Chambliss
From the back cover: "When Dawn falls ill, it's up to best friends Buffy, Xander, and Willow to join forces and find a supernatural cure in a world sorely lacking magic. The trio must fight their way into the Deeper Well, the former home of Illyria and other ancient gods known as the Old Ones, where they hope to jump-start magic back into existence. But when they discover the volatile Severin and Simone, a Slayer gone rogue, looking to gain access to the Well, Buffy's mission must shift from saving her sister to saving the world."
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Northlanders series
by Brian Wood and many, many artists
Although writer Brian Wood is not without controversy, this series should leave no doubt as to his writing talent. Northlanders follows the harsh lives of Vikings warriors and civilians across hundreds of years and several generations, as they struggle, sometimes justly and sometimes not, to survive and prosper. Although gritty in tone and harsh in content, this series' historical context may make it more appealing to readers (like this reviewer) than most Vertigo titles of a similar nature. It's also a lovely showcase of some of the most talented artists working today, including Fiona Staples, Becky Cloonan, and Paul Azaceta. Recommended!
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The Legend of Bold Riley
by Leia Weathington and others
Set in a beautiful, south Asian-inspired fantasy world, The Legend of Bold Riley sees the young daughter of a royal family set out for adventure. With her mental cunning, physical prowess, and youthful optimism, Riley conquers the fiercest monsters as easily as she conquers the hearts of the loveliest ladies. This book is a welcome addition to the canon of swashbuckling adventure stories, and here's hoping we're graced with even more volumes in the future.
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The Mystery of Mary Rogers
by Rick Geary
Another excellent volume in Rick Geary's series of true Victorian crime, The Mystery of Mary Rogers covers the unsolved disappearance of a young tobacco shop girl whose possible murder occurred between the gang-lousy streets of New York City and the body-riddled shores of New Jersey. Although recently acquired, this volume was published in the early days of 2001, which explains the unintentionally haunting final page.
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Want more? Join in the discussion at Main Library's monthly Graphic Book Club! Details below.
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Hellboy series
by Michael Mignola
A demon child (hence the name) raised by a government agent, Hellboy is the world's finest paranormal investigator, ever on the search for mischievous spirits and meddling Nazis. A perfect blend of hardboiled mystery, Lovecraftian horror and classic science fiction and fantasy, and always beautifully drawn in Mignola's signature expressionistic style, Hellboy is one of the best series being published today. Be sure to start with volume 1, Seed of Destruction. Highest recommendations!
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Heck
by Zander Cannon
Hector "Heck" Hammarskjold has inherited a house and a career from his late father, but this is no family-owned law firm or shoemaker's shop. No, Heck has the altogether unique job of delivering messages between the living and the dead -- specifically, the dead of hell, to which his new house has a convenient basement entrance. A clever re-framing of Dante's Inferno (not to be confused with Jimbo's Inferno), Heck is a harrowing but touching story of friendship and family, betrayal and redemption, and Zander Cannon's plain writing and high-contrast art complement each other perfectly. Highly recommended.
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Graphic Book Club
Saturday, June 14, 2 p.m. Main Library - 300 N. Roxboro St. Questions? Call John Davis at 919-560-0125 Join our MeetUp group at meetup.com/graphic-book-club
Enjoy comic books or graphic novels? Join us for the monthly meeting of Main Library's Graphic Book Club. We're reading fantasy books this month! Here are some springboards to help you pick a book, and get you thinking, between now and our next meeting:
~ What story elements do you associate with the word Fantasy? ~ What makes a book (graphic or otherwise) a Fantasy? ~ Does your selection fall into a subgenre of Fantasy (as described in the link above, or elsewhere)? If so, which one, and why? ~ How good of a job do your books artists do in presenting the fantastical elements visually? ~ The Fantasy genre often involves highly unrealistic plot elements, which none-the-less manage to remain internally consistent within the story. ~Did you find any inconsistencies or goof ups, or did your story manage to keep things together?
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DCP workshop at Atomic EmpireMonday, June 2, 7-8 p.m. 3400 Westgate Dr. #14B (next to Li Ming's Global Mart)Want to participate in the Durham Comics Project but don’t know where to start? This is a quick and dirty workshop to get you started making comics. No drawing skills are necessary, just the desire to tell a story. We will walk you through the basics of comics creation and you will have at least a rough draft of an autobiographic comic by the end of the workshop. Learn more about the Durham Comics Project and see a selection of entries at durhamcomicsproject.org. Submit your own Durham comic story at durhamcomicsproject.org/submit.
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If you are having trouble unsubscribing to this newsletter, please contact the Durham County Library at
919-560-0100, 300 N. Roxoboro Street, Durham, NC 27702
librarywebmaster@durhamcountync.gov
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