Reviews - The Graphic Library

monotone blue by nagabe

5/24/2023

Cover of Monotone Blue. Hachi, who is a cat boy, and Aoi, who is a lizard boy, stand in their school uniforms at the front of the class. Their tails are entwined behind them.

Hachi hates school and would rather nap all day, especially if there's a nice bit of sun to bathe in. Nothing really interests him until the transfer student shows up. Aoi is a lizard boy with his tail hidden in a sleeve, and Hachi, who is a cat boy, finds his coloring and manerisms to be interesting and soothing. The two start hanging out after school or sneaking away to an abandoned stairwell for lunch. One day, Aoi takes the sleeve off his tail, and Hachi is transfixed. It's a beautiful, bright shade of blue! Hachi lets Aoi pet his tail too as a trade off, and both promise not to share their secret with any other students. But Hachi doesn't really know how to have a friend, and he easily gets jealous when others start to become interested in Aoi. For his part, Aoi doesn't trust predators after a terrible incident at his last school that caused him to lose part of his tail. The two learn to be vulnerable with each other and navigate their (at times) uneasy friendship

The Least we can do vol 1 by iolanda zanfardino

4/26/2023

Cover of The Least We Can Do volume 1. Uriel is holding out her hands and her Justice Stone is floating above them bathing everything in a gold light. Her curly blonde hair frames her face. Behind her is a menacing person with red eyes glaring at us.

Illustrated by Elisa Romboli

In a United Kingdom that has already been ravaged by war, soldiers have magical Medium Stones that augment their deadly fighting skills. Uriel is dissatisfied with the powerful Eden Army, which uses their Medium to oppress and exploit others. She steals a Justice Light, a powerful type of medium, and absconds to join the Eclipse Rebels in the fight to bring Eden down. Uriel also has a mind for inventions and hopes her inside knowledge and creativity can bring more solutions to the Eclipse as they face a foe much larger and much more powerful than they. Along the way, Uriel has to prove herself to the rebels by not only providing them with valuable information but attuning with a stone that already has a master.

Mamo by sas milledge

2/15/2023

Cover of Mamo. Jo and Orla are climbing trees with Orla's cat familiar between the two of them.

Jo sets out one day to find someone who can help with the poltergeist in her attic and her ailing mother. She finds Orla, the granddaughter of the last witch of Haresden. Orla has no intention of being sucked back into Haresden’s problems, but Jo is pretty convincing. Orla agrees to fix her problems, but discovers that the magic is off in Haresden because of her late grandmother. She wasn’t buried properly, so her bones have been spread all over the town, causing chaos with the fae spirits and engendering magical problems across the countryside. Orla enlists the help of Jo in gathering all of the bones and setting the magic right again, but the two get more than they both bargained for.

Wynd vol 3 by james tynion iv

1/11/2023

Cover of Wynd volume 3. Wynd is in full transformed mode - he has large black wings, black fur covering his body, blue glowing eyes, sharp teeth, and sharp claws on his hands. He's flying over a snowy landscape that has spears sticking out of the snow. There are also a few spears in the air flying at him.

Vol 3: The Throne in the Sky, illustrated by Michael Dialynas

Our heroic band of kids is on the run, including from Duke Yadriel, who was supposed to be their savior! So now, humans, faeries, and those pesky vampires are wanting to overtake the group for a variety of reasons. The most terrifying presently is General Eks, a ruthless faery who believes the children are responsible for the destruction of an entire city. A suggestion is thrown out that they take the mountain pass to avoid being tracked, but this terrifies Merien. Faeries aren't built to withstand such extreme temperatures, which might be good for evading Eks, but not for their friend. While refreshing themselves at a mountain hot springs, the kids are picked up by Strawberry, a seemingly-friendly giant, who takes them to the ruins of an ancient city. Merien and Wynd discuss using his likeness to the Winged Ones to win allies, but Wynd still rejects the notion that he's descended from the original creators of the world.

Go for it, nakamura by Syundei

12/19/2022

Cover of Go for it, Nakamura! Nakamura is in his dark navy school outfit with button up coat. He's carrying a messenger back. He's blushing heavily and sweating a bit. Around him are all different poses of Hirose, his crush.

Nakamura is overwhelmed by his crush on Hirose, so much that he's stunned into silence for most of his class interactions. Many of his classmates think he's either shy or standoffish. One day, Nakamura gets an opportunity to talk with Hirose, and even be cast in a play with him! As Nakamura slowly starts to open up, he and Hirose strike up a timid friendship that is often interrupted by other classmates. One observant classmate draws an amateur manga of Nakamura and Hirose being in a relationship, and Nakamura absorbs some of the confidence from his alter-ego. On a class field trip, Nakamura strikes off on his own to the aquarium and is startled to find Hirose tagging along. The two converse at length about the fish and especially the octopi, Nakamura's favorite. At the end, Nakamura confesses his wish that he and Hirose would be friends, while Hirose admits he felt they were already friends.

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.

monstress vol 7 by majorie liu

11/5/2022

Cover of Monstress volume 7, Maika is holding a vicious red sword and she's in full battle armor. Behind her is Zinn in his full body. Around the two are the fragments of the mask and tendrils of black power. Encircling them is a red light with lots of shadows.

Vol 7: Devourer, illustrated by Sana Takeda

Maika has been captured by the Dusk Court, and the Baroness is bringing her back in a magic-and medically-induced coma. Through wrestling with her guilt, we learn more about the background of the Baroness and why she has had to do the things she's done to her friend. Inside Maika's mind, she and Zinn relive some of Maika's memories that have been trapped away, including what happened to her mother. Kippa continues to fight as staunchly as ever, even trying to gain some allies among the witches and Dawn Court nobility, in order to save Miss Maika from what the Dusk Court plans to do. The intrigues of the past, including the efforts of Maika's father to harness the power of the Old Gods, continue to come to light and make everything in the present much more complicated.

Boys run the riot vol 3 by keito gaku

10/21/2022

Cover of Boys Run the Riot volume 3. Ryō and Tsubasa are both on the cover staring straight at us. They both have on 2 halves of an outfit - one half is the school uniform for boys, the other half is a track suit.

Ryō has to deal with the fallout of having a popular YouTuber out him as transgender. At first, many people at school are supportive, but that quickly diminishes as classmates start asking inappropriate questions about Ryō’s body and sexual attraction. Ryō skips school for a couple of days to do some soul searching while Jin and Itsuka plead with Tsubasa to take down the video. Ryō returns to school and announces to his whole class who he is and apologizes for his silence. No one is more hurt than Chika, Ryō’s crush, who admits she thought they were closer friends. Meanwhile, Tsubasa has an intimate night with a woman, and she posts a photo online that goes viral. This causes Tsubasa's fans to question Tsubasa and criticize them for potentially lying to garner views and profits. The "Boys" create a new shirt supporting Tsubasa and their right to some privacy.

X-gender vol 1 by asuka miyazaki

10/20/2022

Cover of X-Gender volume 1. Asuka is standing in front of a giant white X with their arms crossed in an x. They're wearing a white shirt and blue jeans with large construction boots. Behind the title and the giant x, the cover is solid yellow.

This autobiographical manga presents Asuka's journey of self-discovery with their gender. In Japan, X-Gender is a term for nonbinary, but even these umbrella terms are not helpful enough to help Asuka navigate the LGBTQ+ community or to find a girlfriend. Asuka also provides some introspection and analysis as to why having a period is so emotionally disturbing to them as it reminds them of their female anatomy. Throughout the manga, Asuka tries to go on dates, participate in speed-dating events specifically for LGTBQ+ folks, and navigate friendships and attractions.

Cardcaptor sakura vol 6 by clamp

9/16/2022

Cover of Cardcaptor Sakura volume 6. Sakura and Yue, her guardian of Moon magic, are sitting next to each other with Yue's arm around Sakura protectively. They're borh wearing flowing white garments with pops of blue and yellow. Behind Yue is Kero-Chan in his lion form.

Sakura, Li, Kero-Chan, and Yue all feel it - the presence of Clow Reed. But how is that possible since he died so long ago? Sakura continues to fight a formless enemy who always uses another creature or creates a natural phenomenon that Sakuramust subdue. Each time she does, the Clow Cards she summons to help her are transformed - Reed’s magic circle on the back is changed into a distinct one Kero-Chan believes is a representation of Sakura’s own magic. These new cards are therefore more part of Sakura than Clow. But this takes a terrible toll on Sakura; she leaves battles completely exhausted and begins to run a fever, but even sickness isn't going to stop her from saving her friends and getting to the bottom of this mystery.