The To Read List:
Moriarty: the Dark Chamber by Daniel Corey, Anthony Diecidue, Perry Freeze, and Dave Lanphear
Umbrella Academy: Apocalypse Suite by Gerard Way and Gabriel Ba
The Light by Nathan Edmondson and Brett Weldele
Lost Dogs by Jeff Lemire
The Underwater Welder by Jeff Lemire
Skullkickers Vol. 1 & 2 by Jim Zub, Edwin Huang, and Misty Coats
Read This Week:
Jim Henson’s Tale of Sand by Ramón K. Pérez
Siegfried by Alex Alice
This was a very busy week. A lot going on with my comics publishing venture: a lot of reviews to write for Fanboy Comics, a very productive but busy week. Due to this, I knew I wouldn’t have much time to read, so I wanted to read some books I knew I would really enjoy. When I turned to my To Read List, I knew I wanted a guaranteed great reading experience. There was really only one answer; I searched my pile for books by Archaia. For those who don’t know, Archaia makes the best quality graphic novels out there. Not only is the content always amazing, but no one works as hard to produce a truly artistic presentation of the story in graphic novel form, and, even better, their prices are always great, too. In my current pile, I had two Archaia books to read: Siegfried and Tale of Sand.
Siegfried is an awesome, big, beautiful hardcover by Alex Alice. I was especially excited when I got to Comic-Con and saw it at the Archaia booth. So, I picked up Siegfried and really wanted to read it, but I also realized I had never experienced the opera it was based on. So, I downloaded the Wagner opera from Amazon for like 8 bucks and sat down to truly experience this book. With the Opera playing, I opened Alex Alice’s masterpiece and was completely blown away. This book is excellent; the art, the pacing, the characters. It is such a beautiful interpretation of Wagner’s work. If you get a chance to listen to the opera wile reading the book, it is even better. The book is expertly paced and the beautiful music flows right along with Alex’s artwork. This is just part one, but I am so excited for there to be more. Plus, this book finally got me to listen to an opera!
Tale of Sand is Ramón K. Pérez’s beautiful realization of a screenplay by Jim Henson and Jerry Juhl. I actually bought it a few months ago at a different convention, and it got absorbed into the bookshelf to be forgotten. I finally sat down to read it and was blown away. The first thing to know about this book is that it is almost entirely visual; there aren’t many dialogue bubbles, but it is still an incredibly deep story. Pérez uses all the tools available to a comic creator to fully realize this script which was meant to be a film. He plays around with layouts, colors, and even does his own take on the speech bubble by filling it with images instead of words. It is unlike any other graphic novel you will experience. In fact, that may be the best part pf Archaia’s graphic novels. They aren’t just books, they are experiences. They elevate the art form of comics. They say we can do something really special with this book and they do it. If you get a chance, check out their collection at www.archaia.com.
That’s what I read this week. Feel free to comment on what you are reading, and even make suggestions for what I should read next. Until next time, keep reading!
