By some stroke of corporate luck, I have today and tomorrow off. I'm not gloating though; I promise I paid my dues working holidays in retail. Seeing as how a Friday holiday suddenly overwhelms the Queens library system and they feel the need to close July 4th through July 6th, I just returned from a book stock up. It is a sad reflection on our society, at least our local one, that the graphic novel section occupies the same amount of space as Fiction A through D. Not a single
Margaret Atwood in sight. Luckily, as I've mentioned
in the past, I'm a bit of a comic nut. I know a couple of you out there also enjoy a good graphic novel, so here are some recent ones I've enjoyed:
Image from Wikipedia*
The Fables Series by Bill Willingham, now up to book 11, explores the trials of old fashioned fairy tale characters living in present day Manhattan after being forced out of their homelands by an evil "adversary". Prince Charming is Mayor, Beauty and the Beast are his second and third in command, Rose Red runs the "farm" in upstate NY where all the fairy tale animals live (Three little pigs, et al.) and everyone else pops up to make an appearance (Snow White, Big Bad Wolf, Little Blue Blue; you get the picture). It's a fascinating idea and beautifully executed, especially in the latter books.
Image from Fantagraphics*
Bottomless Belly Button by Dash Shaw is an epic (ie over 700 pages) comic about a family. Without giving too much away, I can tell you that it follows three siblings, now adult, and their reaction to their parents late-in-life divorce. It's simply but beautifully drawn and it's got a great press story, written about in this
New York Magazine article. It's published through
Fantagraphics; I'd buy anything they put out, that's how much I trust them.
Image from Wikipedia*Lastly, for now (because I am aware this is primarily a jewelry blog), let's have a moment for the final book in the
Y: The Last Man Series by Brian K. Vaughn and Pia Guerra. I cried at the end, but sometimes I'm a big baby, so don't think it's necessarily sad. The series, which spanned a perfect ten books, follows the adventures of Yorick (and his monkey, Ampersand), the very last man on earth after a disease wipes out all the other peeps with Y chromosomes. As with all books, this series had it's ups and downs, but the ups far outweighed the downs.
And how could I showcase anything else with a post like this?
Necklace made from Recycled Comics, $22
Comic Love Ring by Nakedtile, $6
Wonder Woman Cuff Bracelet, $24.95
Sunday Newspaper Comic Dangling Earrings by Holly Anne Mitchell, $99
Green Lantern Silver Ring, $20
KaPOW! Comic Book Necklace by I Make Cute Stuff, $20
