#ComicsWednesday: Bad Machinery: The Case of the Team Spirit by John Allison

This week I want to tell you about Bad Machinery Vol. 1: The Case of the Team Spirit by John Allison. Bad Machinery started and continues as a web comic. It is the successor to his earlier comic, Scary Go Round. Bad Machinery follows a group of schoolchildren in the town of Tackleford, England. Charlotte, Jack, Shauna, Linton, Mildred, and Sonny solve crimes around town. This is the first case they all tackle together, and it involves the Tackleford City Football Club (that's a soccer team to us Yanks), a curse, and a nice old lady named Mrs. Biscuits.

Bad Machinery is relatable on many levels. The experience in middle school is almost universal, which makes this a great read for the 12-and-up set. The kids deal with bullies, mean teachers, and clueless parents. Allison's humor is dry and, at times, surreal. The witty banter between these kids is honestly laugh-out-loud funny. Read this book in public at your own discretion and don't say I didn't warn you when you get shushed for snorting when you try to hold in a laugh. When you're done with this one, there are five more in print. You can get The Case of the Good Boy, The Case of  the Simple Soul, The Case of the Lonely One, The Case of the Fire Inside, and The Case of the Unwelcome Visitor here at Carnegie-Stout. To read past that, you'll have to hit up the website.

- Libby, Youth Services

Staff Review: Barkskins by Annie Proulx

Barkskins, the new, multi-generational epic by Annie Proulx, won't be for everyone. For one thing, it's over 700 pages long and covers over 300 years of history, specifically the history of the de-nuding of the American landscape by woodchoppers (or barkskins) large and small, individual and corporate. Yes, it's a lengthy tale of the destruction of the great North American forests -- not exactly the feel-good read of the year. At the same time, it's brimming with vitality: lovely, lively writing; gorgeous descriptions of nature; wild and colorful characters. I loved it.

Barkskins opens with the 1697 arrival in New France (now Canada) of indentured servants Charles Duquet and René Sel, both indebted to the same boorish master. The two men quickly part, one dutifully working off his indenture and the other escaping into the woods before losing any more teeth to his master's crude dentistry pliers.

The novel proceeds to tell Duquet's and Sel's stories, following each man's line of descent through multiple generations. Start to finish, they all make their livings from the trees of the vast northern woods, widely considered to be inexhaustible.

René Sel marries into the Mi'kmaq tribe of Nova Scotia and through his line we see the fate of America's indigeneous people as white immigrant families flood into the new country, extirpating the wildlife and appropriating all the land, relentlessly chopping, burning, and laying waste to the woods exactly as they had done in the countries they fled. Think The Lorax writ large. Charles Duquet, he of the bad teeth, founds a timber dynasty, amassing enormous wealth and passing on his rapacious greed to his offspring.

Proulx's characters are rarely two-dimensional, never all good or all bad. A number are even quite sympathetic, and plenty of the rascals come to highly undesirable ends.

If you're into American history -- natural history, Native American history, the history of the timber industry, the settling of North America, the French and Indian Wars --  just to name a few areas, this may well be the book for you. Characters roam the globe as well, travelling to China, New Zealand, Europe, and other vividly-wrought locales. The novel is extremely well-researched and very well- written. It's a lively and rollicking tale, and, in parts, very funny. A live-wire herself, Proulx peppers the book with forceful, intelligent women. And as a added bonus, just by reading it, you'll compile an extensive list of the many graphic and gruesome ways people met untimely ends in the good old days.

~Ann, Adult Services

#ComicsWednesday: Paper Girls by Brian K. Vaughan & Cliff Chiang

Writer Brian K. Vaughan has established a solid reputation as the creator of science fiction comic series that are both popular and critically acclaimed, including Saga, Ex Machina, and Y: the last man. His recent, ongoing collaboration with artist Cliff Chiang is no exception. Paper Girls features a twisted sci fi plot and has earned its creators two Eisner awards.

If you're a fan of science fiction adventure stories and eighties nostalgia (think Stranger Things), you should probably check out Paper Girls. The story features four 12-year-old girls who gang up to survive the danger of teen boys out to make trouble in the early morning hours the day after Halloween in 1988 Ohio. The danger quickly escalates when the girls encounter a gang of scavengers who aren't in costume and a strange device in the basement of a house under construction. It's hard to fully convey the sci fi weirdness without giving away major spoilers, so you'll have to trust me when I say it's cool and only gets cooler in the second volume.

The story is very plot-focused, but even with minimal time for character development Vaughan and Chiang manage to give them distinct personalities. There's an overall snarky tone that helps to lighten the danger the girls are facing. While characters can, and do, die, as a reader I was left feeling like Tiff, Mac, KJ, and Erin are likely to not only survive, but save the day.

Cliff Chiang's art is generally very good, but every now and then I was bothered by quirks in how he draws people. Then another action sequence would start, and I would be lost in the story again. I loved the color palate, which as a non-artist I can best describe as muted, menacing pastels. It's an unapologetically girly touch that I definitely appreciated.

~Sarah, Adult Services

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#ComicWednesdays: Snow White: a Graphic Novel by Matt Phelan

Matt Phelan's re-imagining of Snow White is dark, but that's not a bad thing. The story isn't gritty or modern, there isn't any unnecessary gore or violence. The liberties he took make sense for the setting - Depression Era New York City. Snow is the daughter of the "King of Wall Street," but when his stocks plummet, they lose everything. The wicked stepmother poisons the father and chases Snow off into Hooverville. The re-imagining of the seven dwarfs as seven homeless kids, and the Macy's Christmas window as the glass coffin really stuck out to me. Phelan put a lot of thought and hard work into this adaption, and it shows.

The book is largely wordless, and Phelan's illustrations are shadowy and wonderful. The shaded black and white of the makes the pops of color stand out. The pinkish red of the pig heart, the bright red apple, Snow's red lips, the frosty blue Macy's window. It makes the happy ending stand out that much more as the last few pages of the book are in full color.

I would recommend this book to readers 10 and up, though it could be enjoyed by anyone who loves a good fairy tale. The themes are a little dark for anyone much younger than 10, and the wordless nature means that lots of context clues are picked up in the illustrations. Shorter attention spans might have a hard time looking for all of them. You can find Snow White by Matt Phelan in the Children's area of the library.

- Libby, Youth Services.

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