Reviews - The Graphic Library

Teen titans vol 4 by kami garcia

7/27/2023

Cover of Teen Titans volume 4. Damien is holding a silver batarang, ready to throw it. He's wearing a red and black puffy jacket. Behind him is Dick, standing a bit taller than him, wearing a red and grey letterman jacket. He's on the phone. They're standing back to back, not facing each other.

Vol 4: Robin, illustrated by Gabriel Picolo

Picking up right where Beast Boy Loves Raven left off, the teens survive a night in the wilderness hiding from H.I.V.E., but they won’t last long on their own. Max calls her mother, Natalia, and they find a vacation rental in Georgia where they can lay low and avoid Slade. At the house, Natalia helps each teen train their individual powers for better control and to use them to their advantage. Gar decides it’s time to make up with his parents, and he calls them down to the Georgia coast to confront them about what they were doing and what they know about H.I.V.E.. Unknown to them, Damien’s adoptive brother, Dick Grayson, tracks his brother to the beach house and wants to stay and help them out, which enrages Damien. The two decide to settle it over some friendly challenges: hacking, parkour, target practice, and batarang throwing. The group also soon find out that Slade is interested in a girl in L. A., so they pack up and try to get to her before he does.

teen titans vol 3 by kami garcia

7/5/2023

Cover of Teen Titans volume 3. Beast Boy has his arms wrapped around Raven and they're taking a picture into a mirror on a cell phone.

Vol 3: Beast Boy Loves Raven, illustrated by Gabriel Picolo

Raven and Gar are on their way to Nashville, separately, but to see the same person, someone named Slade who can help them with their powers. Unbeknownst to Raven, her adoptive foster sister, Max is also tagging along to make sure she’s safe. Once in Nashville, the two teens find out their contact is going to be two days late. They keep bumping into each other and different restaurants, so Gar finally gets up the courage to talk to Raven. Their first encounter doesn’t go so well, but Gar is persistent and eventually gets Raven to come around. The two end up sharing a cheap motel room after Raven’s wallet is stolen, but she’s visited by nightmare visions of her father, Trigon, who is imprisoned in her necklace. When the date of meeting Slade finally arrives, the two go their separate ways to make their meetings. Thankfully, Damien Wayne is also in town to meet with Slade, and he’s a pretty untrusting person. He arrives in time to see Raven abducted, and mounts a rescue mission with Max to spring Raven and Gar from a secret facility.

The house of el vol 3 by claudia gray

4/7/2023

Cover of House of El volume 3. Sera and Zahn hold hands and stare off into a pile of rubble that was a city on Krypton.

Vol 3: The Treacherous Hope, illustrated by Eric Zawadzki

The culminating fight between Midnight and the military is here, and Sera knows there's something fishy going on. There's also world-shattering quakes happening, and thanks to the data solid, Sera and Zahn know this is spelling the end of their world. Regardless, Sera desperately tries to stop Midnight from attacking the city's structures. She is determined to make the last days of Krypton peaceful and happy, rather than filled with violence and bloodshed. Zod has other thoughts, as he leads the military against the very rebel organization he built up. He's convinced that Krypton needs new leaders, ones who might save the planet, and he has no idea how close their demise is. Meanwhile, Lara and Jor-El welcome their baby boy into the dying world and see him away on his spacecraft.

nightwing vol 1 by Tom Taylor

3/24/2023

Cover of Nightwing volume 1. Nightwing stands facing us with a smirk on his face. The blue nightwing emblem and the bottom part of his suit are also shaped to look like the city skyline of Blüdhaven.

Vol 1: Leaping into the Light, illustrated by Bruno Redondo, Rick Leonardi, Neil Edwards, Adriano Lucas, Scott Hanna, Andy Lanning, lettered by Wes Abbott

Dick Grayson returns to his beloved city of Blüdhaven to find that the city has elected a Zucco as mayor. He is instantly on edge because a Zucco murdered his parents years ago. At the same time, Grayson has inherited quite a bit of money, so after some introspection, he decides to use it for the homeless in the city, starting with inviting lots of hungry folks to grab slices of pizza. During the celebratory mood, Dick's wallet gets swiped. He enlists Barbara Gordon, aka Oracle aka Batgirl, with her enormous repertour of tech gadgets and knowhow, to help him track down the wallet-snatcher AND figure out why a Zucco is mayor. Along with all of this is the introduction a new villain, so Nightwing and Batgirl have their hands full in this adventure!

Poison Ivy vol 1 by G. Willow Wilson

12/27/2022

Cover of Poison Ivy volume 1. Iviy is cutting into a steak with a knife. She's wearing a black bra. All around her are flowers and plants. Her flaming red hair stands out against the green backdrop.

Vol 1: The Virtuous Cycle, illustrated by Marcio Takara, colored by Arif Prianto, lettered by Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou

Ivy feels betrayed by her partner and long-time friend, Harley Quinn, who recently helped save her life but diminished her powers. She's never been a fan of how humanity has run rampant over the earth, so she's taking matters into her own hands once again. Ivy has decided to take the poisonous spores of Lamia that are growing inside her and distribute them throughout the country as she journeys back to her hometown of Seattle. Ivy stops along the way at a diner and tries to infect as many people as possible, as well as at a packing plant where she can spread the spoors on the packages that are being mailed out across the country. She can feel the level of toxins rising in her, so she must hurry to get to Seattle if she's going to confront the Green Man before the lamia takes over her entirely.

Nubia and the Amazons

11/23/2022

Cover of Nubia and the Amazons. Nubia is in her full golden armor with fur cape flowing behind her. She's jumping as if to strike with her sword from above. She is grimacing at her target. Her long, black hair is flowing around her. Behind her is the city of Themyscira.

Written by Vita Ayala, Michael Conrad, Becky Cloonan, Stephanie Williams, illustrated by Alitha Martinez, Dominike Stanton, and Darryl Banks, inked by Mark Morales, colored by Emilio López, Allen Passalaqua, and Romulo Fajardo Jr., lettered by Becca Carey

At the end of the events of Infinite Frontier, Wonder Woman is gone, Queen Hippolyta has been killed, and Themyscera needs a new leader. Nubia leaves her post guarding the Doom's Doorway to become the leader, but her first task must be to replace the guardian of the Door. Strangely, four women come through the Well of Souls, which hasn’t happened in several decades since Nubia came through. An evil force uses these new people and some of the other inhabitants to threaten Nubia and the sanctity of life on the island. All of the Themyscerians must work together, and their new leader must prove her worth in handling this threat and keeping the island safe.

The sandman vol 5 by neil gaiman

8/14/2022

Cover of The Sandman volume 5. It seems to be a clay-made city-scape kind of like New York. There are rain drops falling on one part of the city. Underneath the title is listed all of the illustrators and others who worked on the book.

Vol 5: A Game of You, illustrated by Shawn McManus, Colleen Doran, Bryan Talbot, George Pratt, Stan Woch, Dick Giordano, lettered by Todd Klein

Barbie, who we first met in A Doll’s House, is back again - this time as a long absent princess of a small realm within The Dreaming. Joining her on this adventure are Wanda, her neighbor and a trans female, Thessaly, who is apparently centuries old and a witch, and the lesbian couple of Foxglove and Hazel. Barbie is called back to her dream realm when one of her faithful subjects crosses realms and ends up in the Waking World looking for her. The Cuckoo, the villain of Barbie’s dreams, has also stationed an agent in Barbie’s building who tries to manipulate the other occupants into attacking Barbie in her sleep, but Thessaly is stronger, and she forces the agent to give up the Cuckoo’s plan. She then barters passage for herself, Foxglove, and Hazel to enter into Barbie’s dream to save her.

Dark Knights of Steel vol 1 by Tom Taylor

7/21/2022

Cover of Dark Knights of Steel volume one. The Batman holds his sword handle up in the foreground, A small Harley Quinn jester squats to the side of him. Kal-El smiles off to the side with a noble, princely smile. Opposite him looking off the other side is Alfred. Behind the all is Jor-El and Lara with their hands on Lara's pregnant stomach. Behind them are red stained glass windows.

Illustrated by Yasmine Putri, colored by Arif Prianto, lettered by Wes Abbott

In a reimagining of the DC Universe, Jor-El and Lara escape a crumbling Krypton in a rocket and crash land in a fantasy, Medieval Europe inspired time, just as Lara is giving birth to Kal-El. A prophet in a neighboring kingdom warn of a danger coming from the sky, who will look like humans, and who will destroy the world. Naturally, many suspect the Els as the subject of the prophecy, and some work to take out the indestructible family. The Els struggle between several kingdoms on the brink of war with the Kingdom of Storm and the Amazonians.

Zatanna vol 1 by Alys arden

7/12/2022

Cover of Zatanna vol 1, Jewel of the Gravesend. Zatanna is standing in front of a ferris wheel with cotton candy in her hand, wearing a black shirt, black shorts, and a black hat. She's also wearing a red shawl. Her purple hair is fanned out around her face.

Vol 1: Jewel of the Gravesend, illustrated by Jacquelin De Leon

Zatanna Starr, the daughter of renowned Coney Island illusionist Ezra Starr, is not a fan of crowds and performing. She’s much rather hang out with her friends or boyfriend and ride Coney Island’s coasters, grab cotton candy, walk her pet rabbit, or laze around at the beach. Her whole life changes when they visit a traveling band and find Mirror Script, a backwards script trick magicians used to use to hide their spells and tricks. Everyone else seems to have difficulty reading it, but Zatanna is able to read it just fine. What's more, whatever she reads comes true, and she can't figure out how this illusion is working! Diving deeper into this mysterious world unlocks other secrets about her family and her past that she must confront in order to truly understand what she's capable of.

House of El vol 2 by claudia gray

6/26/2022

Cover of House of El volume 2. Sera and Jahn are running towards the middle of the frame with Kryptonian buildings behind them. The sky is a dark orange like a sunset.

Vol 2: The Enemy Delusion, illustrated by Eric Zawadzki

The adventure continues right where we left off - Zahn and Sera have stolen a piece of technology from the house of El, but the can't figure out how to unlock more than its surface-level recordings to what, Sera assumes, is more information on the genetic manipulation Lara did to her. Later, Zahn and his classmates are analyzing the damage from an earthquake to a vital system. Zahn proposes rerouting the system to share the resources with the lower caste, and he's punished instead of applauded. Elsewhere, Sera is likewise reprimanded for proposing a new strategy to fighting deadly pests in the upper atmosphere of the planet. Zahn gives the group of dissenters, Midnight, the idea to go after the structure his classmates were just working to fix, but they are planning to take the attack too far, and he fears how many people might be in danger.