Reviews - The Graphic Library

Gannibal vol 1 by Masaaki Ninomiya

8/9/2024

Cover of Gannibal Volume 1. an old may looks up as he's pushing a wheel barrow. The wheel barrow is full of decapitated pieces of a person with a foot sticking out and a police cap on top.

A big city cop moves to a mysterious mountain town where the former resident police officer went missing, and the Goto family acts peculiar to everyone, especially outsiders. Rumors abound that residence are cannibals, and there are many peculiar traditions and rites of passage where Agawa struggles to prove he can be part of the culture. One day, Granny Goto is discovered dead in the woods, presumably eaten by a bear, and the villagers, particularly the Goto clan, spring into action to avenge her death. Officer Agawa has little time to reign in the situation and handle it as the town’s authority. Instead, he joins the family in the hunt and gets mixed deeper in the mystery that embroiled the former town policeman.

Dark spaces: good deeds by che grayson

4/24/2024

Cover of Dark Spaces: Good deeds. In the outline of a supernatural deer are Cheyenne and Rebecca with a purple and pink sunset over the beach of St. Augustine, Florida.

Illustrated by Kelsey Ramsay, colored by Ronda Pattison, lettered by Rus Wooton and Shawn Lee

Teenager Cheyenne and her mom Rebecca move to St. Augustine, Florida with a dream of fixing up an old diner and having it be the gem of the town. Little do they know the history of the diner, that a man was murdered there, and the town’s seething hatred for the building. Later, an investigative reporter named Jean McKnight comes to the town to cover the Founder’s Day celebration, a fluff piece to salvage her career after a terrible outing that tarnished her reputation. The three lives cross when they all find that there is much more to this town, including something supernatural that may trace its roots back to the landfall by Spanish explorers at the heart of the town’s celebration.

Oshi no ko vol 3 by aka akasaka

12/27/2023

Cover of Oshi no Ko volume 3. Aqua is dressed in an elaborate costume with fringes at the cuff. He is holding one hand over his right eye and he has a bright green glove on his hand. His blue eye with signature star is staring at us. His golden hair is falling around his eye.

Illustrated by Mengo Yokoyari

Aqua begins filming his reality dating show with five other teens from the entertainment industry while Ruby tries to get her idol group to have an online presence thanks to a popular YouTuber who is also repped by Strawberry Productions. Though Aqua is content to stay on the fringe of the show and not become entangled in the love triangles, he is ensnared when online rage is pointed at one of his female cast-mates. In thanks for his heroism, the cast-mate vows to become the kind of girl Aqua can fall in love with, which sends her into a deep character study of Ai and makes her a valuable asset in Aqua’s continued quest to discover everything about the idol.

clear by scott snyder

8/2/2023

Cover of Clear by Scott Snyder. A man in a black jacket with black tie and white shirt is holding a gun staring down at the ground. He has on a bike helmet with the visor down. The visor is bright yellow and has two red handprints on it. The background is very neon pink and has a lot of buildings stretching up towards the sky.

Illustrated by Francis Manapul

In a world full of filtered realities known as "veils", Sam Dunes is an ex-investigator who must take on a challenging case - figure out an apparent suicide of his ex-wife, which he believes could have been a murder in an altered reality. He receives a clue in the mail, and suddenly other entities are after him, wanting what he now possesses. Sam reconnects with many of his criminal underworld contacts to bring himself deeper into the twisted world of black veils, virtual realities deeper inside other realities, and the elite that manipulate everything others can see and believe about their worlds, all while staying just a bit ahead of the actual police who are investigating everyone involved.

Lost Lad London vol 3 by shima shinya

8/1/2023

Cover of Lost Lad London volume 3. Al and Ellis are walking by each other in one corner of the cover. Al is wearing a yellow puffy jacket and blue pants. Ellis is wearing a grey jacket and black pants with a black shirt underneath. Behind them, the grey city scape is juxtaposed against a pink sky.

Detective Ellis is under pressure to as the lead investigator hints that he is going to bring Al in as the primary suspect in the murder of London's mayor. Ellis has no hard evidence that Al isn't the murderer, but he makes a couple of final moves to help those involved make some moves, some wiser than others. Al's bosses open up to him about being racially profiled by the policy when they were younger, and they offer Al guidance and free food, as well as a shoulder if he needs it. Finally, Al is contacted by his half brother and given and ultimatum.

oshi no ko vol 2 by aka akasaka

7/30/2023

Cover of Oshi no Ko volume 2. Ruby is smiling and holding her hand above her forehead in a peace sign. She has blue gloves on. Her left eye has a white star pupil in it. She's wearing a pink dress with a pink ribbon on the collar.

Illustrated by Mengo Yokoyari

The twins are about to begin school at a prestigious academy for teens who are part of Japan’s entertainment industry, but in order to do so, they need to contracted entertainers. Ruby is determined to become an idol, but Aqua wants to protect her from that devastating industry. To help keep away from predatory agencies, Aqua convinces their adoptive mother, Miyako, to sign Ruby to Strawberry Productions as their first idol since Ai. Aqua’s contract comes from his constant mentor, Director Gotanda. Once they begin school, Aqua reconnects with Kana Arima, the genius child actor he starred alongside in volume one. She once again wants Aqua to join her on screen, this time for a campy tv drama where the studio is pushing male models and ruining her career. From this roll, Aqua now finds himself a reluctant contestant on a dating show!

Goodbye, Eri by Tatsuki Fujimoto

7/4/2023

Cover of Goodbye, Eri. Eri is standing in front of some water in her school uniform. Yuta's hands are holding up his smartphone landscape-wise, and he's looking at Eri's face through the lens of his smartphone.

One year for his birthday, Yuta's mother gives him a smartphone and requests that he record her often, as she is dying and won't know which moment will be her last. Yuta complies and tries to capture as many memories as he can, but he can't bring himself to go into the hospital to see her last breath. Then, he runs from the building just in time for it to explode. Then, we realize we are in a theater and have been watching a movie Yuta put together of all the footage of his mother, and he's debuting it in front of his classmates. Most of them are horrified, and Yuta takes their criticism very harshly. He runs to the roof with the intention of killing himself, but instead meets Eri, a girl who loved his film but believes he can make a better one. The two of them spend many days in Eri's secret hideout, watching movies together, until Yuta gets the inspiration to make his second film. This film also has a surprise twist, as Yuta can't help himself.

Know your station by Sarah Gailey

5/29/2023

Cover of Know your Station. A skeleton stands atop a pile of gold coins. It's holding a martini glass in one hand, the other hand is perched on its hip bone. There is a space helmet around its skull.

Elise is, for all intents and purposes, the "law" on the most elite space station full of Earth's 1% who have escaped a dying planet below. There's hardly any crime aboard, so she feels ill-equipped when there are multiple murders to investigate! Someone is going after the station's Board of Directors, and they're not just dying quietly. Each body is made into a spectacle that would disgust even the most heartless of the working-class citizens. While she's trying to solve the murders, Elise is also trying to kick her habit of taking the highly addicting, hallucinogenic substance known as "Blue". Her paranoia is heightened when it seems like she might have had a hand in one of the murders in an intoxicated stupor, but she's determined to figure out what is really happening on her station.

The adventure Zone vol 5 by the mcelroys

5/17/2023

Cover of The Adventure Zone volume 5. The three adventurers are surrounded by a glowing blue clock face. Outside of the clock face is glowing orange flames.

Vol 5: The Eleventh Hour

Magnus, Taako, and Merle are dispatched yet again for another Grand Relic. This next one is inside a small Western-style town in the desert that is currently protected by a bubble that keeps it separated from the rest of time. The relic they seek is a chalice that allows the wielded to control time itself. The three manage to pieces their way through the bubble and are immediately apprehended by a deputy, who is a suit of armor and a small talking bird. They are just becoming acquainted with the town when they are sent back to the beginning again, and they realize they’re stuck in a time loop!

Friday vol 2 by Ed Brubaker

4/12/2023

Cover of Friday volume 2. Friday sits in the snow with orange flame-like brushstrokes illuminating around her. She's stretching her hand out to something on the ground in front of her, but it's obscured from us.

Vol 2: On a Cold Winter's Night, illustrated by Marcos Martín & Muntsa Vicente

Friday is on her own to solve the biggest case of her life, but she'll have to get over crippling depression and through tons of cryptic clues in order to do it. As she starts to piece together the last few cases Lancelot tried to solve, she realizes there's a much bigger picture that she'll need to look at to connect all the dots. Some of her sleuthing introduces some magical objects and mystical beings, so Lance's hunches for the supernatural being involved prove correct!