April Manga/Graphic Novel Genre Discussion

Gravy · Post by **Gravy** » 18 Apr 2016, 22:41

I'm really hoping to read V for Vendetta this month. I've got it sitting, staring at me. "Please, read me", it says (Book guilt, another symptom of a reading addiction

).

I'm forcing myself to finish one of my current books first, which shouldn't take long now. It finally caught my attention

kio · Post by **kio** » 23 Apr 2016, 10:54

gali wrote:
kio wrote:Another one I really like was Relish by Lucy Knisley. The food was so detailed, it made your mouth water. I think for me, the illustrations for graphic novels/manga can truly make or break the book. Which one did you like more @gali?
"The Invention of Hugo Cabret". Have you read both books?

I have, I loved both. How about you?

-- 23 Apr 2016, 11:56 --

Gravy wrote:I finished Legends in Exile, and rated it a three.

Fables is about a group of fabled characters; the three little pigs, the big bad wolf, Snow White (but don't bring up the dwarves!), etc, etc; living in New York after being chased from their homelands.

This is the first story arch of the series, and it's a mystery; Snow White's sister has gone missing, and her apartment is covered in blood.

Several characters are introduced, but were not really impactful to the story, which I don't tend to like...however, it actually made me look forward to reading more of the series, instead of being distracting or annoying.

One scene I felt was unneeded, and poorly handled, it felt out of place, and awkward, but it could be just my preference.

The illustrations are nice, and complex enough to keep you searching for things you might've missed.

The copy I read had the original cover art from the comics, and I love them! They're by a different artist than the illustrations, and they're quirky and fun.

A highlight for me was the very beginning. Beauty and Beast are being banished to The Farm because he's reverting to his Beast form:
But it was far from the only one.

Overall I enjoyed the whole thing, and can't wait to read more of the series!
I would definitely recommend this

I have to admit that line about Beauty and the Beast makes me want to go pick it up

-- 23 Apr 2016, 12:02 --

I read Sherlock Bones vol. 1. by Yumi Ando. I wanted to read something out of my usual and I saw this one. It's in the present and Sherlock Holmes has come back as a dog. When Takeru goes to the animal shelter and adopts a dog, he never realized that he'd become the new Watson. Now, he and Sherlock Bones are working together to solve mysteries. It's a funny, somewhat light-hearted, modern take on the classic. I liked the illustrations the most. They were detailed and easy to figure out what was going on (this was one of the Japanse-style ones, so I always appreciate being able to easily figure out which pane comes next). I think they also really brought to life the story for me. It reminded me a bit of Case Closed (another manga where the detective gets changed by his nemesis into a young boy, forget how).

I would give this book a 4 out of 5 stars. Overall, I'd say it falls primarily in the mystery genre, because they search for clues and there is always something going on behind the scenes that you don't quite figure out until the end. It is also a fantasy, since the dog can talk, but only Takeru can hear him (unique superpower maybe?). I'd definitely recommend this series to those who aren't real big manga fans.

What elements have you noticed that are unique to graphic novels/manga? Why do you think the chapter book counterpart versions aren't quite as popular (for those that start out as graphic novels/manga)?

gali · Post by **gali** » 23 Apr 2016, 11:35

Yes, I have read and loved both.

Post by **Heidi M Simone** » 26 Apr 2016, 07:36

I like that excerpt, Gravy about Beauty and the Beast! Legends in Exile sounds like a very interesting read! I'll have to look into it.

I read The Kite Runner Graphic Novel by Khaled Hosseini a little while ago. I haven't actually read the original Kite Runner yet, but I am planning to in the near-ish future. This was my first graphic novel in a while, and I thought it was fine. It was a little challenging to get into at first, but the story does pick up nicely afterward. The illustrations were well-done, I believe. Kind of unfortunate I read it on my Kindle and it was all black-and-white though. I will say that reading the graphic novel version makes me more motivated to read the full novel. One part that was disturbing to see (more than read) was when the young servant gets raped. It was so heart-breaking, and I think the illustrators captured the hurt, pain, and humiliation beautifully in their drawings.

I tried to read another graphic novel for this, but found the content a bit childish for me, so I actually gave up on it

(which I hardly do). However, I felt every time I picked it up was a forced read. All I kept imagining was all the other books I could be reading right now. The illustrations were great, and I'm sure a younger person would enjoy it more, but unfortunately, I didn't.

Also, I did start reading The Walking Dead graphic novels/comics, and I'm finding those entertaining.

It might be because it's something familiar and I like to remember what happened towards the beginning of the show...same thing happened when I read the The Game of Thrones graphic novels...Hm..I'm sensing a pattern here

HalcyonFlower · Post by **HalcyonFlower** » 26 Apr 2016, 21:01

Graphic novel, I finished reading Batman: Hush. I was exposed to the dark vigilante at a young age but never truly knew about the villains or their quarrel with Batman. Nor did I know much about his trail of sidekicks. The compilation I bought did a fantastic job of giving the highlights of nearly each villain and sidekick as Batman tried his best to solve a case.

Manga wise, I suppose the last was Library Wars, as nerdy as that sounds. Makes one appreciate the freedom (generally) the average North American has with books. The manga takes place in a time where the an organization is trying to use censorship to remove freedom of speech and the library task force (a militia, basically) that fights against this organization.

Gravy · Post by **Gravy** » 29 Apr 2016, 16:23

I finished V for Vendetta by Alan Moore, and I happily gave it four stars. Everything about it just worked, in my opinion.
The storyline, the artwork, the decisions that were made...just combined to create something very special.

The storyline follows as V works to free England from it's currupt government. There's also Evey, who V rescues from certain death at the hands of the police.

There are also multiple other storylines that flesh out this dark dystopian world.

While there is nudity, unlike some other graphic novels I've seen, it's not juvenile, was important to the story, or used to show something about a character, which I much appreciated as opposed to just being thrown in with no real purpose.

This did not even feel like reading a graphic novel. It felt like a wonderful mix of watching a great movie, and reading an engulfing book.
I am a bit biased though, as I've loved the film adaptation for years...even with that, it surpassed my hopes and expectations.

Very simply put: I have no words to convay how much I love this book.

kio wrote:I have to admit that line about Beauty and the Beast makes me want to go pick it up

hsimone wrote:I like that excerpt, Gravy about Beauty and the Beast! Legends in Exile sounds like a very interesting read! I'll have to look into it.

It's definitely one I'm going to continue with

I'm a sucker for urban fantasy, and the ongoing storyline seems promising.
I loved the whole Beauty and Beast thing, it was just so hilarious, and a clever way to introduce the world. There's also a bit with one of the three little pigs, and bacon, and the big bad wolf...I was laughing so much

What graphic novel did you give up on @"hsimone"?

kio wrote:What elements have you noticed that are unique to graphic novels/manga? Why do you think the chapter book counterpart versions aren't quite as popular (for those that start out as graphic novels/manga)?

I only recently realized that there were adaptations from graphic novels to chapter books. I tend to prefer to experience things in their original form, so I'm not one who's likely to read the adaptations...with minor exceptions.
As for what I noticed, I think a major difference is that it's easy to overlook the artwork in a graphic novel, and it's also easy for the author to use the artwork for so many things. That being said, with the few I've read so far I've been slightly disappointed by the lack of using the artwork to do this, especially because I just finished V for Vendetta, so I know for a fact that it works.

Post by **Heidi M Simone** » 30 Apr 2016, 02:43

Gravy wrote:

hsimone wrote:I like that excerpt, Gravy about Beauty and the Beast! Legends in Exile sounds like a very interesting read! I'll have to look into it.
It's definitely one I'm going to continue with
I'm a sucker for urban fantasy, and the ongoing storyline seems promising.
I loved the whole Beauty and Beast thing, it was just so hilarious, and a clever way to introduce the world. There's also a bit with one of the three little pigs, and bacon, and the big bad wolf...I was laughing so much

What graphic novel did you give up on @"hsimone"?

Cool!

I gave up on The Girl Who Owned a City Graphic Novel. I'm not sure why, but I just couldn't continue. It's strange because I've read children's books and have enjoyed a fair number of them, so who knows?

kio · Post by **kio** » 02 May 2016, 19:06

Taylor Razzani wrote:I used to read Manga back in the day, Hana-Kimi, The Wallflower, and one I can't remember the name of...I think it was something like La Bijoux? It had something to do with jewels. I liked the merging of the illustrations with the words. It gives your imagination a little bit of a break but it is still stimulating. I feel like the manga I read would probably fit in the Young Adult category, but I always wanted to try others that might have been a little darker.

Side note, I loved reading from the other direction and the smell of them

Me too

-- 02 May 2016, 20:07 --

hsimone wrote:
Gravy wrote:

It's definitely one I'm going to continue with
I'm a sucker for urban fantasy, and the ongoing storyline seems promising.
I loved the whole Beauty and Beast thing, it was just so hilarious, and a clever way to introduce the world. There's also a bit with one of the three little pigs, and bacon, and the big bad wolf...I was laughing so much

What graphic novel did you give up on @"hsimone"?
Cool!

I gave up on The Girl Who Owned a City Graphic Novel. I'm not sure why, but I just couldn't continue. It's strange because I've read children's books and have enjoyed a fair number of them, so who knows?

I think sometimes the mix of illustrations doesn't necessarily complement the text well. At least, that's usually what turns me off

Post by **Heidi M Simone** » 03 May 2016, 00:45

kio wrote:
hsimone wrote:
Gravy wrote:
It's definitely one I'm going to continue with
I'm a sucker for urban fantasy, and the ongoing storyline seems promising.
I loved the whole Beauty and Beast thing, it was just so hilarious, and a clever way to introduce the world. There's also a bit with one of the three little pigs, and bacon, and the big bad wolf...I was laughing so much

What graphic novel did you give up on @"hsimone"?
Cool!

I gave up on The Girl Who Owned a City Graphic Novel. I'm not sure why, but I just couldn't continue. It's strange because I've read children's books and have enjoyed a fair number of them, so who knows?
I think sometimes the mix of illustrations doesn't necessarily complement the text well. At least, that's usually what turns me off