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“The Talk,” by Darrin Bell

“The Talk.” Written and illustrated by Darrin Bell. Henry Holt. $29.99. June 2023. 352 pages. Teen to adult. (School Library Journal suggests Grade 10. My 7th and 9th graders enjoyed and learned a lot from it.)

Thanks to Fables Books, 215 South Main Street in downtown Goshen, Indiana, for providing Commons Comics with books to review.

Check Fables out online at www.fablesbooks.com, order over the phone at 574-534-1984, or email them at fablesbooks@gmail.com.

Thanks also to my colleague Cynthia Good Kauffman for passing her copy of this book on to me.

From Macmillan Publishers, us.macmillan.com

Before his 2023 graphic memoir “The Talk,” Pulitzer Prize-winner Darrin Bell was known as a political cartoonist more than a memoirist. “The Talk” earned him a new fanbase, as well as multiple best-of-the-year accolades, from “Publisher’s Weekly” to “Time.” The book was so successful, in fact, that Bell’s publisher wanted to extend its reach to another format. Documentary? Fictionalized film? Nope. The audiobook version of “The Talk” was released in August of 2024.

You’re probably thinking what I was thinking when I heard this news: “Audiobook from a comic? How does that even work?” Bell was skeptical, too, he told “Comics Beat,” “until I read the script.” Much like screenplay writers are hired to rework books for film, Macmillan hired a scriptwriter, who turned Bell’s story into, essentially, a radio play.

Darrin Bell with his son, recording his own dialogue from the book. Image from Bell’s Substack, “Disobey in Advance.”

Continue reading ““The Talk,” by Darrin Bell”

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“Monica,” by Daniel Clowes

“Monica” Written and illustrated by Daniel Clowes. Fantagraphics. $30.00. October 2023. 106 pages. Adult.

Thanks to Fables Books, 215 South Main Street in downtown Goshen, Indiana, for providing Commons Comics with books to review.

Check Fables out online at www.fablesbooks.com, order over the phone at 574-534-1984, or email them at fablesbooks@gmail.com.

A new book by Dan Clowes is always an event. A veteran indie comics artist, Clowes writes, draws, letters, and colors all of his own work by hand, a time-consuming and increasingly rare creative process in this age of digital tools. “Monica” showcases that mastery, especially in illustrating his characters’ faces, where miniscule shifts betray complex emotional storms:

My blog’s homepage has been graced since its inception by an image of Enid Coleslaw, from “Ghost World,” the most beloved of Clowes’s “Eightball” comic book series. It’s about time that I review one of his books. Continue reading ““Monica,” by Daniel Clowes”

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“Shubeik Lubeik,” by Deena Mohamed

“Shubeik Lubeik” Written and illustrated by Deena Mohamed. Pantheon. $35.00. English translation January 2023, 528 pages. Youth to adult.

Thanks to Fables Books, 215 South Main Street in downtown Goshen, Indiana, for providing Commons Comics with books to review.

Check Fables out online at www.fablesbooks.com, order over the phone at 574-534-1984, or email them at fablesbooks@gmail.com.

NOTE: I received a free review copy of this book from Pantheon.

Egyptian comics artist Deena Mohamed posted her first webcomic in a 4 a.m. rage, when she was only eighteen. She had been up late fuming at a misogynist article, “Ten Things to Look for in a Muslim Wife.” It was far from her first encounter with such content, but this time she hit a breaking point—fortunately for her fans, a productive breaking point. She channeled her fury into the creation of Qahera, a Muslim Egyptian superhero who not only fights back against such rhetoric, but uses her powers to battle suffering and injustice wherever she encounters it:

Continue reading ““Shubeik Lubeik,” by Deena Mohamed”