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Graphic Novels and Comics for adult readers February 2020
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Hello there! My name is Patrick Holt, and I'm a librarian at Southwest Regional Library and a lifelong reader of comics and graphic novels. Check out the contents of this month's newsletter in the box to the left, and get access to past editions in the archive at the bottom of the page. I hope you find these recommendations worthwhile, and please email me at pdholt@dconc.gov if you have any thoughts or questions. Image from Noah by Niko Henrichon
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Bad Friends
by Ancco
From the publisher: "Jinju is bad. She smokes, drinks, runs away from home, and has no qualms about making her parents worry. Her mother and sister beg her to be a better student, sister, daughter; her beleaguered father expresses his concerns with his fists. [...] Cycles of abuse abound as the characters enact violence within their power structures: parents beat children, teachers beat students, older students beat younger students. But at each moment that the duress verges on bleakness, Ancco pulls back with soft moments of friendship between Jinju and her best friend, Pearl. What unfolds is a story of female friendship, a Ferrante-esque connection formed through youthful excess, malaise, and struggle that stays with the young women into adulthood."
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Bowie: Stardust, Rayguns, & Moonage Daydreams
by Michael Allred
From the publisher: "In life, David Bowie was one of the most magnetic icons of modern pop culture, seducing generations of fans with both his music and his counterculture persona. In death, the cult of Bowie has only intensified. As a musician alone, Bowie's legacy is remarkable, but his place in the popular imagination is due to so much more than his music. As a visual performer, he defied classification with his psychedelic aesthetics, his larger-than-life image, and his way of hovering on the border of the surreal. [...] BOWIE: Stardust, Rayguns, & Moonage Daydreams chronicles the rise of Bowie's career from obscurity to fame; and paralleled by the rise and fall of his alter ego as well as the rise and fall of Ziggy Stardust."
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Holy Hannah
by Will Dinski
From the publisher: "Hannah, a successful tech entrepreneur, decides to drop out of society and create a new social app, “Know Me.” She’s invited to test the app on a small religious community, the Church of Love and Devotion. The results go way beyond any intended consequences as lines separating the self, technology, and belief become blurred and lead to religious cult indoctrination. Loosely inspired by the life of the notorious Jim Jones and updated for the social media age, Holy Hannah explores family and the ways in which people’s lives become intertwined in unexpected and toxic ways."
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Rusty Brown
by Chris Ware
From the publisher: "Rusty Brown is a fully interactive, full-color articulation of the time-space interrelationships of three complete consciousnesses in the first half of a single midwestern American day and the tiny piece of human grit about which they involuntarily orbit. [...] From childhood to old age, no frozen plotline is left unthawed in the entangled stories of a child who awakens without superpowers, a teen who matures into a paternal despot, a father who stores his emotional regrets on the surface of Mars and a late-middle-aged woman who seeks the love of only one other person on planet Earth."
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Giraffes on Horseback Salad
by Frank, Heidecker, and Pertega
From the publisher: "Grab some popcorn and take a seat...The curtain is about to rise on a film like no other! But first, the real-life backstory: Giraffes on Horseback Salad was a Marx Brothers film written by modern art icon Salvador Dali, who’d befriended Harpo. Rejected by MGM, the script was thought lost forever. Author and lost-film buff Josh Frank unearthed the original script, and Dali’s notes and sketches for the project, tucked away in museum archives. With comedian Tim Heidecker and Spanish comics creator Manuela Pertega, he’s re-created the film as a graphic novel in all its gorgeous full-color, cinematic, surreal glory."
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Playback
by Ted Benoit and Francois Ayroles
From the publisher: "Betty Mayfield is blond and beautiful and has just been found guilty of murdering her husband. But when the judge realizes the jury is terrified of her father-in-law--the man who owns everything in this small North Carolina town--he overturns the verdict. Her father-in-law swears vengeance, and Betty flees. Seeking a new life, she meets Larry Mitchell, a brash but charming gigolo, on the train to Vancouver. He brings her to the Royal Vancouver Hotel, where she checks into a room beneath the penthouse of wealthy playboy Clark Brandon, who takes her under his wing. When Mitchell's body turns up on Betty's balcony, jaded inspector Jeff Killaine is assigned to the case, but finds himself falling for Betty. Did she do it, or was she framed? This graphic novel presents a heart-pounding tale of betrayal, blackmail, and murder that will take you to the edge of your seat on a ride through Raymond Chandler's last thriller."
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Noah
by Darren Aronofsky, Ari Handel and Niko Henrichon
Not so much an adaptation as a parallel work using the same script, Noah is Darren Aronofsky's second project like this. The first, a graphic novel version of The Fountain created after an initial production failure was an attempt to salvage the screenplay in some fashion. Noah, on the other hand, was created before the film was even funded and represents creative hope instead of desperation (and also explains why there is no visual reference to the actor cast to play the same roles). A worthwhile read for those who loved or hated the film, and even for those who have not seen it.
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Jim Henson's Tale of Sand
by Ramón Pérez
Tale of Sand is adapted from an unfilmed screenplay by The Muppet Show and Sesame Street creator Jim Henson and his writing partner Jerry Juhl. It's a whirlwind of a story that follows everyman Mac on a there-and-back-again journey of self-discovery through the wildest take on the American Southwest you've ever seen. Ramon K. Perez provides beautiful artwork and compelling page design for dizzying and wonderful storytelling experience.
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Duos Comic ClubSunday, February 16, 2-4 p.m.Southwest Regional Library: 3605 Shannon Rd. (not a library-sponsored event) A cool pair of cool comics, to read with cool people -- cool! This month: Black Panther vol. 6 by Coates & co, and Black Panther vol. 1 by Priest & co.
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Patrick's Triangle Comics Newsletter is an irregular and incomplete list of comics and comics-adjacent happenings in Durham, Raleigh, Chapel Hill and beyond. If you are a comics maker, maker-adjacent, a maker of comics-adjacent things, or adjacent-adjacent, then this is the newsletter for you! Check out the latest edition here, and email the editor (me again) to subscribe.
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Do you know a kid (6-12) or teen who wants their very own Graphic Novels and Comics newsletter? Well now they do! Both newsletters are bi-monthly, and you can view and subscribe at our full list of newsletters. Tell your friends! And your kids!
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For personalized reading recommendations from Durham County librarians, try My Next 5! Simply complete an online form to tell us a little about what genres, books, and authors you like (or dislike). A DCL librarian will review your submission and reply with a list of the next five books you should read -- all ages of readers welcome!
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Want to keep up-to-date on new books at the library? on everything from Horror to Home & Garden!
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NoveList Plus is a comprehensive database of fiction and nonfiction titles for all ages, including recommendations, articles, and lists for your fiction and nonfiction needs. DCL cardholders can access NoveList Plus from any computer.
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Check out the library's top ten checkouts! Lists include top tens for adult fiction and nonfiction, movies, young adults fiction, picture books and kids' fiction.
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Links to newsletters from the past year:
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If you are having trouble unsubscribing to this newsletter, please contact the Durham County Library at
919-560-0100, 300 N. Roxboro St., Durham, NC 27701
librarywebmaster@durhamcountync.gov
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