Comics about Immigrants

A comics site called Women Write About Comics (WWAC) has recently written about five comics on the theme of immigration.

It's quite a political post as it's written with the UK General Election (7th May) in mind, but don't be put off  by that as the suggestions given are really rather good.  One of them is Anya's Ghost that we reviewed here, another is the current Ms Marvel series, published by Marvel Comics, which is excellent.  There are also webcomics listed.

I highly recommend you check out the WWAC site as well as the above linked article.

Tiny Titans: Welcome to the Treehouse

Writer: Art Baltazar and Franco
Art: Art Baltazar
Publisher: DC Comics

What's it about?
The Tiny Titans series is written for kids aged, at a guess, 5 to 10 years.  The Titans of the title are the Teen Titans, but aged about 7 or 8, attending primary (elementary) school.  They don't solve crime or fight monsters - they go to classes, get the bus to school, hang out together at lunch and tease each other.  It might sound mundane, but if you are 7 that's what your life is.  These stories have superheroes doing the same thing.  The teachers are villains from the DCU but there's no nastiness here.  It's light hearted and it's adorable.

Spider-Girl (MC2 universe)

 "No one dies on my watch"

Writer: Tom DeFalco

Pencils: Pat Oliffe

Inks: Various

Colours: Various

Letters: Various

Publisher: Marvel Comics

What's it about?

Spider-Girl is May Parker, the daughter of Peter Parker (Spider-Man) and Mary-Jane Watson.  This series is set in the Marvel Comics 2 (MC2) universe, a sort of What If? parallel reality where creators can explore alternative ideas.  In the main continuity May Parker was snatched from her parents shortly after birth, and is presumed dead.  In this MC2 universe she was snatched but then given back, and is now about 15 years old.  She's a regular schoolgirl - reasonable student, loves basketball and plays for the school team.  As the series starts she is just starting to exhibit her inherited spider powers, more or less the same as her Dad's.

Image on the right is from issue 56.

This series is about her life - how she dons the Spider-Girl mantle, how she deals with new villains and old heroes, how she manages school life and superheroics, and how her parents support her in her new activities.  It's a basic premise, delivered with a sense of fun and love.

Smile

Smile, by Raina Telgemeier
Publisher: Graphix

This review is written by Becky Hawkins.  Becky drew her first minicomic in 2007, right before landing a job as a cruise ship musician. Since then she has kept a travel-journal online, self-published eight more minicomics, and contributed to The Zinester’s Guide to NYC. She especially loves drawing food, old buildings and quirky bodies. If she had a spouse or a cat, she would mention them here.  Becky is the creator of French Toast Comix (which we reviewed here).  You can follow her on twitter using @hawkins_becky.

Now for the review:

What’s it about?
After losing her front teeth in a nasty fall, 11-year-old Raina Telgemeier undergoes a series of braces, retainers, dentures and oral surgery to repair her mouth. Between visits to the dentist, she faces boy trouble, friend trouble and even an earthquake! Luckily for Raina, she finds her artistic passion and a new set of friends. Luckily for us, she also became a cartoonist, so we can all enjoy sharing her adolescent pain!

 

Morning Glories Volume 1

Writer: Nick Spencer

Art: Joe Eisner

Colours: Alex Sollazzo

Letters: Johnny Lowe

Design: Tim Daniel

Publisher: Image

What’s it about?

Come walk with us into the halls of Morning Glory Academy.  We join six new students about to start at this impressive private school for the rich and talented.  However things seem a little odd.  The book’s opening chapter begins with a booby trapped exploding blackboard and ends the scene with a mysterious transparent hand feeding off a student’s head…

Oh yeah, Morning Glory is not your usual school.  The teachers have an agenda, the other students seem to be in on the plot and the six new attendees are soon fighting for their lives.

Valentine's review - Blue Monday: The Kids Are Alright

written and drawn by
Chynna Clugston-Major
gray tone colouring by
Guy Major and Staissi Brandt
Publisher: Oni Press

What's It About?
Blue Monday is an American high school comedy without the rose-tinted glasses. Its the early 1990s and Blue L. Finnegan lives in a world of teacher crushes, pig-headed boys, annoying girlfriends and nothing to do of an evening, the typical teenage experience. Suddenly, excitement enters her life when her idol Adam Ant announces a gig in her area. The gig sells out instantly but with single-minded determination Blue decides she is attending and that she'll get tickets somehow. Antics ensue.

The Kids Are Alright collects the first Blue Monday series as well as an extensive collection of additional short comics.

Museum of Terror: Tomie Vol 1

Writer and artist: Junji Ito
Publisher: Dark Horse

What's it about?
We meet Tomie as a beautiful teenage schoolgirl, she has a boyfriend and many other admirers.   She is brutally murdered, cut up, and her body parts redistribute around the town.

Then Tomie returns.  Like she'd never been away.  Driven to a frenzy, her killer attacks again.  Then more Tomies show up.  You see, every time she is killed, she is cut up and her pieces scattered.  Each piece regenerates into a fresh Tomie.  She provokes bloodlust in others, she teases and aggravates those she meets until all around her are haunted and driven mad.  You cannot get away from her.

The Drifting Classroom

Writer and Artist: Kazuo Umezu
Publisher: Viz Media

What's it about?
This is a superbly spooky horror tale.  Leading the cast is Sho, an 11 or 12 year old boy who attends Yamato primary school.  One day the school disappears and is replaced by a gaping rock and sand filled hole.  From the perspective of those inside the school there is a different scenario - to the students and teachers it seems that the outside world has disappeared.

Cut off from everywhere the children and adults soon panic.  Phone lines are down, radio stations don't work and no one can understand what has happened.  Some scream, some cry, some fight.  All are despairing.

Love Roma

Writer and artist: Minoru Toyoda 

What's it about?
Quite simply, it's a Japanese manga about a fledgling high school romance.   The book opens with Hoshino asking Negishi on a date, at lunchtime, in front of all their classmates.  Negishi is a little surprised at this as she has no idea who Hoshino is.  Nevertheless he convinces her to go on a date with him.

The rest of the book covers the standard relationship stuff - the first kiss, meeting the parents, love rivals, fortune telling, and ahem, a battle of the lunches.  Maybe not quite so standard then!  After all, Hoshino is not your usual high school boy.  He is very honest, very earnest and not quite accustomed to social conventions.  Negishi often finds herself embarrassed by him and his actions but as they get to know each other she becomes quite fond of him.  Then you have you the best friends - scheming Yoko and cool Tsukuhara - who are doing all they can to make the relationship flourish.

Add to this mix a few other memorable characters which I shall leave you to discover, and you've got a great cast to flesh out an interesting story.

Azumanga Daioh volumes 1 to 4

All books are available in English but actual covers may vary dependent on the publisher.

Writer and artist: Kiyohiko Azuma

What's it about?

A group of Japanese schoolgirls plus two of their teachers journey through three years of upper secondary school in Japan.  Meet the girls:

Sakaki: Quiet, tall and prone to constant attack from the various cats and kittens which she finds so adorable.

Chiyo-chan: Child prodigy.  Aged 10.  Chan is an honorific used to express cuteness.  It is often used for babies, young children and teenage girls.  To address an elder or teacher using 'chan' would be quite rude.

Osaka: Not too bright, and spends the majority of her time spacing out (and obsessing with Chiyo's pigtails).

Supergirl: Cosmic Adventures in the 8th Grade

Note: This picture is from #1 of the monthly series, but I believe that the trade will have the same artwork.

Writer: Landry Q. Walker
Art: Eric Jones
Publisher: DC Comics

What's it about?
Simply put, this is a retelling of the Supergirl story.  It's aimed at younger readers but has been loved by many adults too.

Twelve year old Kara Zor-El crash lands in Metropolis, thwarting Lex Luthor's evil plans and meeting bumping into Superman at the same time.  Upon discovering little Kara is his cousin, Superman enrols her in Stanhope boarding school and gives her the secret identity of Linda Lee.  She must learn about earth ways, make friends and navigate her way through the eighth grade.

Along the way she encounters evil doppelgangers, duplicitous best friends, super intelligent feral cats, time travel, flying horses, meteor induced superpowers and the possible end of the world.