Book Review by Kevin Wolf Creepy by Lee Sensenbrenner and Keiler Roberts is creepy. I won’t give much away about this graphic novella, except to write if taken seriously, then medically it includes cartilage amputation, obsessive compulsive eating disorder (my diagnosis, though not a diagnostician), and child abuse; but it’s really an allegory against digital device obsession whose protagonist looks a lot like Keiler Roberts’ cartoon avatar and it’s a horror story for children. It’s short, pithy, and, did I mention, creepy? Keiler Roberts’ The Joy of Quitting is a very honest, bare (sometimes naked) portrayal of her… Read More
Bipolar Bear’s Misadventures
Book Review by Kevin Wolf I haven’t read Judith Viorst’s Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day (September 2009, Atheneum Books) which is illustrated by Ray Cruz, so I don’t know if the book under review is also a spoof of Viorst’s work or only borrowing some of its title, but I’m ok with that; because, Kathleen Founds in Bipolar Bear and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Health Insurance: A Fable for Grownups is venting her own frustrations in an allegory about struggling with a chronic mental health issue (bipolar disorder) which is exacerbated… Read More
Black Jack Volume 1
Created by “father of manga” and trained doctor (although he never practiced) Osamu Tezuka, Black Jack is a mysterious and brilliant surgeon who practices without a licence. Distaining mainstream medical institutions and living alone with a cute assistant he fashioned himself (from a cystic terratoma and doll parts!) he is the superhero doctor we would all love to be. Like a cartoon Clint Eastwood character, the truculant Black Jack is called upon by those in need to perform the operations only he can do. Often derided as mercinary and working only for money, his hard facade secretly hides a heart… Read More