I’ve been living in a bit of a bubble these past few years with respect to my comic book reading habits. I tend to read books that I hear about on websites and what I see on the shelf in front of me at the store. The problem is that this is limiting somewhat and I know that there is an absolute PLETHORA of books out there that I would really enjoy if only I knew about them. I guess as a reviewer of graphic novels it’s part of my mission to hunt these things out myself and really try new things. Sadly my reading of reviews is kind of limited as the number of review sites that I visit has diminished since the Fourth Rail went offline last year sometime. Fair enough the guys behind those particular sites are now doing other things in the form of ComicPants and Eyeoncomics however the consistency is just not there really, which is a shame, but I’m living in a glass box really and I shouldn’t be throwing stones myself to be honest.

The thing is I’ve been listening to more comic podcasts (in addition to producing my own) and that has seriously reinvigorated me in the reading and reviewing comics. One book that was mentioned and I thought was intriguing was a book that I mentioned from published First Second called, American born Chinese. And what an amazing find this book actually is.

I’m not particularly familiar with this publisher or this creator but I’ll definitely be hunting out his work in future and hunting his previous work as well, because in my mind this is one of the freshest talents to come into the graphic novel world in DONKEY years. Before I get further in this review let me just say that this book is without a doubt the best thing I’ve read this year, and I have read a tonne of really excellent books in the last month or so.

The creator of American Born Chinese is Gene Luen Yang and is without a doubt a talent you all should make yourselves more familiar with. The artwork is very simple and soft (that’s the best way I can describe it) and it’s got this seriously magical quality to it. Gene basically is using the graphic novel format to tell a story. That’s the main thing behind this. It’s not about the detail it’s not about the imagination, it’s about the story and the message that he is trying to convey, which he does with absolute ease.

The story follows three seemingly unrelated characters. The first being the Monkey King of Flower Fruit Mountain. A character who is trying to be more than he is and making sure all those around him know this to be true as well. The second follows Jin Wang an American born Chinese kid in school which follows his trials and tribulations as he goes through school and sees how he is treated by his fellow kids and how he feels oddly out of place but is trying to fit in. The final story is like a mocking sitcom, that is COMPLETELY over the top and racist in which feeds on the misconceptions of Chinese people. For a start the sitcom series is called Everyone Loves Chin-kee. The main character Chin-Kee is a complete stereotype and it’s meant to poke fun, not of Chinese people, but rather those that still have those misconceptions.

The real magic is how these three completely unrelated tales come together in the end to tell a brilliant story that has soo many defining moments that you end up with a massive smile on your face for a couple of days after you’ve finished reading it and so much so that you can’t stop talking about it.

Seriously do yourself a favour and get this book, it’s easily on my top ten graphic novels of this year unless Alan Moore comes back from retirement and published 10 new graphic novels that is. A preview of the book can be found on the website here.

Barry Ween is some of the funniest shit printed ever. Barry Ween is a genius; so far so good. Barry Ween is 10 years old and swears like a sailor. Ah now you see where this can get interesting. Judd draws Barry with his eyes half open, giving you the impression that he’s effectively bored of life. The world around him bores him and so he goes about creating and inventing and experimenting.

Along for the ride is Jeremy, his best friend and also my favourite character in the series. His dialogue is absolutely hysterical. Even though a lot of what he says is base it’s incredibly amusing. The interaction between the two characters is effectively the greatest asset to this seriously fun book.

This first volume (there are 4 in total, so far hopefully there will be more in the future) in the series collects three issues worth of stories. Each issue is self contained but the relationships build from issue to issue which is a great layering the Judd accomplishes seamlessly.

Judd Winick’s artwork is perfect for this series. He captures the character’s expressions perfectly and it’s one of those very few books that’s geniunly funny, in a laugh out loud sort of way. The feeling I got rereading this series was the same feeling I get when I used to read an Asterix story, except this is ruder and appeals to the other side of my humour.

The first issue concentrates on introducing Barry Ween and his world to you. The second concentrates on an adventure based around Jeremy’s fuck up. While the final installment introduces my second favourite character, Sarah. Sarah is the one person that makes Barry loose his words, for even though he’s a genius, he’s still prone to falling for someone and loosing all his mental powers. All in all a great introduction to the world of Barry Ween. One I recommend you hunt down the next time you’re in a store.

Writer/Artist/Letterer: Judd Winick
Publisher: Oni Press

Remember when comic books were fun? You know what I’m talking about. When you’d pick up a book and go through it, you’d laugh, you’d get sad, you’d drool over the artwork, the connect with the characters. You’d invest some time with these characters that they even seemed more real to you. You don’t remember? That’s ok because Danger Girl does or more specifically the creators behind Danger Girl do.

This series was originally released under the Cliffhanger imprint from Wildstorm something like 4 years ago or so. The line was launched with three creators on board, Joe Madureira, Humberto Ramos and J. Scott Campbell. Their respective books were successful (critically and commercially). For his end of the bargain J. Scott Campbell created Danger Girl. It was serialised over a 2 year period in 7 issues which are collected right here in one seriously beautiful package. The package includes a prelude story as a suppliment to several books at the time and the package also contains some pin-ups and sketches from the books production.

Due to the long gaps between issues the series was criticised heavily, however I’m always of the belief that the time it takes between issues is not important so long as the creator is happy with the final work they created. Campbell can rest easy knowing this little Volume will stand the test of time as it oozes with a love for his craft that few creators achieve. That can also be one of the reasons why the man is so popular. His work is a joy to behold.

The story is exceptionally cheesy but in a brilliant way. It’s genuinely funny and the characters are explored and grow as the series goes on.

A Sean Connery look-alike plays their mentor Deuce . He’s in charge of sending them on their missions and making sure everything goes to plan. We’re introduced to the cast through a tried and tested method of bringing the reader up to speed through the use of a character that is introduced to this world along with us. In this case the rookie secret agent operative being Abbey Chase. She joins Sidney, Natalia and Valerie in their on going battle against The Hammer who are trying to take over the world; the Hammer are psuedo-nazi types.

The series is a globe trotting adventure, fast cars, fast women. Think of this as the best episode of Charlie’s Angels with the budget of a James Bond movie, with the added bonus of a pretty decent story, with an actual plot and a decent enough twist. Of course no Bond riff story could be complete without the insane and colourful characters.

Even though it’s very heavy on the T&A, Campbell’s art is without a doubt the biggest draw to this series. Each panel, each page, each character is a serious exercise in fun design. From ninjas sporting little pink teddy-bears at the top of their swords, to the tattoes and the elaborate machinery used to bring down our heroes.

The colours truly POP off the page in such a way that enhances the artwork while at the same time not taking anything away from it. It’s a great testament from the crew at Wildstorm that even though they had so many colourists working on this project the style and quality is near seamless throughout the entire book production, which is a feat in and of itself.

The graphic design of this package is something that the creators should be damn proud of. In a time where there is some serious lack of imagination associated with the graphic nature of comics Danger Girl occupies a specific and completely different style to those around it. Comicraft have seriously had some fun with all the made typography associated with the various people here and this can be seen very clearly indeed.

Danger Girl is easily one of the best looking books on the market. It doesn’t take itself too seriously and makes sure that once you’ve finished reading it, you’ll have a really massive, stupid smile plastered on your face.

Writer/Artist: J Scott Campbell
Writer: Andy Hartnell
Inker: Far too many, notably Alex Garner, Richard Friend, Sandra Hope
Colourist: Far too many, notably Guy Major, David Baron, Justin Ponsor, Joe Chiodo
Letterer: Richard Starkings and Comicraft
Book Design: James ‘JG’ Roshell
Publisher: Cliffhanger/Wildstorm