Reviews - The Graphic Library

Strange vol 2 by jed mackay

6/25/2023

Cover of Strange volume 2. Clea is wrapped in the Cloak of Levitation, which has silhouettes of Wong, Bats the dog, and tentacles. In her outstretched hand is red smoke rising. She is looking over her shoulder with a deadly stare.

Vol 2: The Doctor Strange of Death, illustrated by Lee Garbett and Stefano Landini, pencilled by Marcelo Ferreira, inked by Roberto Poggi, colored by Java Tartaglia, lettered by Cory Petit

Wong has discovered that pieces of his memory have been stolen, so he seeks out some help from the Scarlet Witch in order to recover what he has lost. Some of what is lost could help uncover what the Blasphemy Cartel is and what they've been up to. Clea and The Harvestman must work together to stop the scheme of the Cartel, but Death, who the Harvestman answers to, has a thing or two to say about this team-up.

Die vol 4 by kieron gillen

6/22/2023

Cover of Die volume 4. We see Ash's blood red eye wide open, and her pupil is shaped like a 6-sided die. There are drops of blood around, and a mostly black cover obscures the rest of her face.

Vol 4: Bleed, illustrated by Stephanie Hans, lettered by Clayton Cowles

The group has to come to terms with what they have done to this world and still somehow get home. Ash and Izzy discover much of the secrets of how the world of Die came to be, and what toll it exacted from Sol. They create a plan to reunite with the others in order to go home, but first Ash must make a choice about who to use her Voice on. The reunited party They race to the center of Die to try to stop the vicious cycle between Earth and Die. There, they find more questions and more answers as to how this world came to be.

Fly me to the moon vol 11 by kenjiro hata

6/19/2023

Cover of Fly Me to the Moon volume 11. Tsukasa and Nasa are sitting in a grassy field with a telescope behind Nasa. It's twilight as there are some stars visible above them, but a light blue sky just above the horizon. Tsukasa is in a pink dress, while Nasa is in a brown hoodie and blue jeans.

On the camping trip continued from the previous volume, Nasa and Tsukasa’s friends surprise them with a Wedding Reception to finally be able to celebrate the couple in public. Nasa has to pull it together to make a meaningful wedding toast, which impresses Ms. Tokiko, Tsukasa’s grandmother. Nasa enthralls part of the group with his astronomy knowledge, while Tsukasa bribes the rest with fireworks. The next morning, Ms. Tokiko gives Nasa the Moon Rock and tells him to make Tsukasa happy. When they return from their camping trip, they find out their apartment is almost ready for them to move back in. Nasa also gets a volunteer teaching position at an all girls high school helping to teach coding.

The girl from the other side deluxe vol 3 by nagabe

6/14/2023

The Girl from the Other Side Deluxe volume 3. Shiva, all in white, and Teacher, all in black, are walking in an autumn forest full of orange leaves. They are walking away from us. Teacher is holding a brown suitcase.

This deluxe volume collects volumes 7-9 of the individual tankobon books.

The soldiers from the Inside are onto Shiva and Teacher’s new hiding spot, so Teacher must make some difficult choices to get back to the cabin and protect Shiva. To his utter horror, he discovers a black spot growing on Shiva, who he thought to be immune to the curse. He sacrifices much and trusts in the word of the other Outsiders in order to save her, but that doesn’t stop her from being captured after all. Once Inside, Shiva is almost offered as a sacrifice in a ritual to the god of the Insiders, but she is spared by the King’s conscious. The King then learns some disturbing truths about his deity and the nature of the curse itself. Shiva manages an escape with the help of a loyal Insider, and she’s determined to find Teacher again and go back to the way things were before.

Blue box vol 1 by kouji miura

6/6/2023

Cover of Blue Box volume 1. Chinatsu is in a blue jersey and holding a basketball. her short brown hair comes down to her shoulders. She's smiling. Back to back with her is Taiki, who is in a white jersey with an orange towel around his neck.

Taiki is entering his first year of high school and has aspirations to join the badminton team and go to Nationals. He gets to the school gym early every day to practice. But someone else also has similar goals; Chinatsu Senpai, a second-year on the girl’s basketball team. Taiki knows she’s way out of his league, but he still manages to strike up some conversation and establish some mutual sports admiration. He’s content to crush on her from afar, but when her parents move overseas for work, she ends up staying with Taiki’s family to finish high school and hopefully take her team to Nationals!

Fly me to the moon vol 10 by Kenjiro Hata

5/26/2023

Cover of Fly Me to the Moon volume 10. Nasa is in a suit, holding Tsukasa up, who is in a wedding dress.

Nasa realizes he is gaining a bit of weight from being happily fed and eating with Tsukasa, but she hasn’t gained an ounce he’s determined to shed the pounds and thinks he can jump back into his high school workout routines easily, but he realizes very quickly, he’s out of shape. Later, Kaname convinced a boy at her school to pose nude for her upcoming art project, but in true Kaname fashion, it’s mostly a ruse. Nasa convinces Tsukasa to go camping to stargaze, and the entire crew invites themselves or gets invited. They start off with an invigorating hike, setting up the glamping site, and Nasa even gets lost! Lucky for him, Tsukasa can always find him at night.

Chainsaw man vol 3 by tatsuki fujimoto

4/27/2023

Cover of Chainsaw Man volume 3. Himeno is holding her palm to her cheek just below the eyepatch covering her right eye. Her black tie sways in the wind, as does her black jacket over her white button-up shirt.

Several of Denji's companions decide that if they kill him, the curse on the hotel will lift and they'll be able to leave. While he's fending off attempts on his life by demons and friends alike, Denji solves the mystery and is able to chainsaw his way through yet another demon. Two of his squadmates feel like quitting after their disgraceful behavior, so Squad Mama Himeno devices a celebration that may help absolve their grief, get Denji's kiss-reward out of the way, and find out what Miss Makima knows about Denji. Himeno gets exceedingly drunk and ends up throwing up in Denji's mouth as she's giving him his kiss! After the night's festivities are over, it's off to Kyoto for Makima and back to work for everyone else, but there are hitmen with actual guns after all of them, and they have lethal aim

Dai dark vol 3 by q hayashida

4/25/2023

Cover of Dai Dark volume 3. Sanko is in front with his dark armor on, while Shimada hangs over him in her armor, colored red here.

Sanko, Avadian, and Shimada have infiltrated a cult devoted to the light that was actually the beginning of Photosphere. Sanko is captured, and the other two disguise themselves as believers in order to save him. Along the way, they find the fourth member of “The Four Little Shits,” Hajime Damemaru, who was taken prisoner in the previous volume. Damemaru appears to be dead, so Avakian brings him along in case his bones can be sold. Meanwhile, a priest takes it upon himself to try and harvest Sanko’s bones for himself. Sanko manages to escape, although badly injured, and he’s finally reunited with his friends. Damemaru’s paggy also reunites with its master and is able to revive him into his old (looking) self. Once back on the Moja, the group gets a tour and finally gets to enjoy all of their purchases from the previous volume.

The abandoned empress vol 2 by yuna

4/24/2023

Cover ofo The Abandoned Empress volume 2. Tia is in a yellow flowery dress holding a white parasol with yellow trim. In her hair is a yellow flower clip. Behind her, kneeling, is Allendis, holding her hand and smiling sweetly at us.

Adapted by INA

Aristia is continuing her sword training, but her frail, sickly body isn’t letting her advance as fast as she would like. One of her instructors warns her not to let her friend, Allendis, get too close to her, so she starts to suspect him for ulterior motives. Later, the riots she was trying to warn against happen anyway - a famine she warned about and the kingdom prepared for still causes some to seize the opportunity for violence. Thus, her sword instructors, Allendis, and her father are all assigned to the riot, leaving Tia alone to tend the house and train by herself. She then meets Sein, the younger Rass son, who, at first, treats Tia with excitement, but after learning she’s the crown Princess, brushes her off and dismissed her interest in swordplay as just a hobby. Tia must prove to him that her training is not just a fancy, that she is actually fighting for her life.

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!