Comics return to kids stuff in new graphic novels

REVIEWS BY BECKY OHLSEN

Remember when comic books were for kids? These days, it seems the genre has matured to such a degree that it's almost outgrown its original audience. Sure, we grownups love the fact that we can be caught in the coffee shop reading the latest Neil Gaiman or Alan Moore without being embarrassed. If questioned, we can defend the mature storylines, complex structures and heavy subject matter of today's graphic novels and back it up with plenty of examples. But there's a reason we started calling them graphic novels instead of comics.

Luckily for today's young readers, some people out there still remember when comics were supposed to be fun. Which isn't to say they can't also be practical—after all, is there any better way to get a reluctant tyke excited about reading? The advent of manga has brought young readers back to comics, and publishers have noticed, with many launching new graphic novel imprints especially for kids.

The comics recommended here, whether intended for beginning readers or advanced teens, all address themes and issues kids face every day. (Well, except for Brewster Rockit. It's just weird.)

Wimps and winners

If you haven't already met Babymouse, a feisty little mouse with big dreams, this summer would be a great time to start. Sixth in a series of fun-size books for younger girls, Camp Babymouse is written and illustrated by the brother-sister team of Jennifer L. Holm and Matthew Holm. It's a zany little book crammed with black-and-white-and-pink drawings and lots of emphatically traced-over sound-effect words ("WHOOSH!" "THUNK!" "SPLASH!"). Our heroine, Babymouse, is a hapless camper with zero chance of winning a merit badge, but she sticks it out and eventually finds something she's good at: the camp scavenger hunt. The simple story and upbeat characters make this series a great introduction to comics for young readers.


Jeff Kinney's Diary of a Wimpy Kid: A Novel in Cartoons is told from the point of view of Greg, a boy whose mom makes him keep a journal about his life. A childlike scrawl and scribbly line drawings illustrate the story. The writing is sharp, and the artwork, though deceptively simple, is both entertaining and expressive—it makes an efficient storytelling tool, adding comic punch to these funny-because-they're-true scenes from the life of a picked-on student who's just trying to make it through school in one piece.


Finding middle ground

Stuck in the Middle: 17 Comics from an Unpleasant Age, edited by Ariel Schrag, is a collection of short pieces by noted cartoonists about the horror that is junior high. Daniel Clowes' painstakingly detailed and vaguely creepy tale of a teenage boy stuck at his grandparents' cottage for the summer is one of the highlights; the characters' blank facial expressions and the story's lack of resolution make it an unsettling, not-exactly-kid-friendly piece of work. At the other end of the spectrum is the almost primitively drawn, woodcut-style piece by Cole Johnson—it looks a bit like work by Marjane Satrapi (Persepolis) but with more white space. Johnson focuses on the struggles of being the new girl in school and the immense relief of finally making a friend. What the stories all have in common is showing how mean kids can be to each other and how difficult it is to find a trustworthy ally.


Breaking Up, written by Aimee Friedman and illustrated by the much-lauded Christine Norrie, has a storyline that will appeal to teenage girls and beautiful illustrations that will appeal to just about everyone. Narrated by a timid, artsy girl named Chloe, it's the story of four best friends in their junior year at Georgia O'Keeffe School for the Arts (dubbed "Fashion High"). As they grow up and start wanting different things—popularity, a boyfriend, freedom from parents—their tight-knit group starts to drift apart. Friedman is smart enough not to impose a sweet-and-tidy ending on the realistic tale; instead, feelings get hurt, and forgiveness takes a long time to arrive.


The Re-Gifters by Mike Carey, Sonny Liew and Marc Hempel is part of a cool new line of graphic novels from Minx, the much-buzzed-about DC Comics imprint aimed at teenage girls. Conceived as an alternative to the ultra-popular Japanese manga, Minx's black-and-white books are smart and hip, with fast-paced storylines, strong characters and sharp, realistic dialogue. The Re-Gifters focuses on Jen Dik Seong, also known as Dixie, the daughter of Korean immigrants and a talented student of the martial art hapkido. Dixie gets thrown off balance by a crush on hunky Adam, but eventually discovers—via "bad boy" Dillinger—that misplaced admiration can be a serious weakness.


Garage Band, by the acclaimed author/illustrator Gipi, addresses the constant teenage tug-of-war between having fun, following your dreams and learning to behave like an adult. Narrator Giuliano's dad agrees to let him and three friends use a garage for band practice. When the band runs into an equipment problem and tries to solve it by taking a shortcut, the boys learn that it's just as bad to abandon responsibility for the sake of dreams as the other way around. Composed of lovely sketched-and-painted pages in muted colors, the book is not only a lesson and an inspiration, but a real work of art.


Space defenders

Also new from the ambitious and wide-ranging First Second, the Roaring Brook imprint that published Gene Luen Yang's National Book Award-winning graphic novel American Born Chinese, is Sardine in Outer Space 3, written and illustrated by Emmanuel Guibert and Joann Sfar (The Rabbi's Cat). This is the latest in a wacky series that relates the adventures of a space-pirate girl named Sardine and her cohorts as they come up against all manner of oddball characters and dodgy situations, such as defeating Supermuscleman, Chief Executive Dictator of the Universe, in the Space Boxing Championship.


Finally, though it isn't strictly a children's book, we have Brewster Rockit: Space Guy!. Tim Rickard's comics may not be for everyone, but the combination of black humor and absurdism will appeal to a certain mentality. On board the spaceship R.U. Sirius, captain Brewster Rockit bumbles his way through Star Trek-style missions with the dubious help of Cliff Clewless, security chief Pamela Mae Snap and some poor kid named Winky who does all the dirty work. This is the kind of comic in which, during a diplomatic meeting, Brewster accidentally cooks and eats the leader of the Ewoks. Ready for blastoff!


Becky Ohlsen writes from Portland, Oregon.

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