ISSUE 21/JUNE 2022
FREE
It’s officially summer, which means you can speed through school zones when you’re running late to work without worrying about the consequences (editor’s note: don’t do this), and Summer Challenge continues its slow march toward Fall Acquiescence. This month we’re going to look at comics aimed at kids, but they’re so good grown-ups will enjoy them, too. We’re truly fortunate to live in a time where there’s an abundance of entertainment which adults and kids can enjoy together without anyone feeling like they’re being talked down to or like they’re being sold something. When I grew up in the 1980s, every cartoon was a commercial for toys, pajamas, or even vitamins (looking at you, Flintstones). There were comics, too, but their market share paled in comparison to the need for Underoos. Thank goodness our society has moved beyond the naked greed of marketing to children. If you’ve come this far in my ramblings without having a library card, please know that you can get one for free, and knowing is half the battle. If you’d like to join the Panel Discussion book club, drop me a line at the address below. A schedule of our upcoming books can be found in the back of this issue. Happy reading! Jeremy jeremy.estes@nashville.gov 615-862-5800 x73716 Panel Discussion is a print supplement to Nashville Public Library’s Panel Discussion book club. Issue 21, June 2022.
•
June 1st, 12pm Big Black: Stand at Attica by Frank “Big Black” Smith, Jared Reinmuth, & Ameziane •
•
If
July 6th, 12pm La Voz de MAYO: Tata Rambo by Henry Barajas & J. Gonzo
August 3rd, 12pm The Good Asian by Pornsak Pichetshote & Alexandre Tefenkgi
NAME-THAT-PANEL Mr. Invincible by Pascal Jousselin Part of the fun of going to the library (not to mention working in one) is finding books you’ve never heard of and being blown away by them. This book caught my eye as something both my son and I might like. When he sat down to read it his reaction was immediate: “This is making me question my existence! I’m not going to be able to sleep tonight knowing this book exists.” Jousselin breaks the third, fourth, and fifth walls of this comic by having his hero’s actions have a real life effect on the actual physical pages of the book. Stuffy librarians might grouse about the acid-eaten pages and oddly shaped fold outs, but fans of the form will appreciate this innovative approach to storytelling.
The old saying about death and taxes has nothing to do with comics beyond the dead returning and having to pay sales tax on your purchase. If we could expand that saying just little, we could add to it the reliability of the artist behind this month’s panel. He’s worked steadily on his best known creation for nearly 40 years, and his approach to storytelling easily disarms skeptics both of the style and subject matter. This artist’s creation, seen here in what is likely a dead giveaway, will soon be featured in a Netflix animated series. He’s best remembered by noncomics fans as a character in an immensely popular cartoon and toy line of the late 1980s/early 1990s. That show served as a gateway to comics for many young people, and this character’s appearance opened that door even further. You can read their adventures in comics together, too, but first you have to find out who he is. His first name describes what he is, and his last name is shared with the film which inspired A Fistful of Dollars. Enough hints! If you’re unfamiliar with this mystery artist or his creation then consider yourself lucky. There’s an abundance of material out there. It’s quality is as reliable as death and taxes, but I guarantee it’s a lot more fun.
(Last month’s panel was from PunX #2 by Keith Giffen and is available on Comics Plus.)
Is This a Comic? My great grandmother was diabetic. She would often send me letters in her shaky handwriting, and each one would be a list of ailments she was potentially facing. Each letter was a variation on the declaration, “the doctor might have to take my foot.” Beginning around age 11 (the same time when I started reading comics) I began having problems with my own feet. My doctor never threatened amputation, but I had to have multiple outpatient surgeries to fix persistent ingrown toenails. I’ll spare you the gory details, but The author’s feet at press time. this problem lasted throughout my middle and high school years. I’d wander comic shops with a grimace, hoping the problem would go away, until I’d break down and have my parents take me to the podiatrist. Again. Then, I’d be at home for a day or two with my foot up, a stack of comics by my side. I recently came across Stephanie Tourles’ Foot Care Handbook: Natural Therapies and Remedies for Healthy, Pain-Free Feet while working the nonfiction desk and suffering from a self-diagnosed bout of plantar fasciitis. I’ve tried a few different remedies to help my foot pain, but frankly I’ve avoided going to a doctor out of shame and more than a little inherited stubbornness (see above).
Raina Telgemeier is one of the biggest success stories in comics no matter the audience. Her book Smile began as a webcomic in 2005, and by 2011 it was an Eisner, ALA (American Library Association), and YALSA (Young Adult Library Services Association) awardingwinning graphic novel. Her follow-ups-Drama, Sisters, Ghosts, and Guts— are award winners in their own right. Part of her books’ success is their availability. They’re available in libraries and comic book stores, of course, but also in big box retailers as well. Because shelf space in those stores is limited, books like Smile have very few comics to compete with. There aren’t enough pages in this or a hundred zines to cover all the wonderful comics available for kids and kids at heart. There are monster mysteries like Drew Weing’s The Creepy Casefiles of Margo Maloo, and Aaron Renier’s young Indiana Jones-like The Unsinkable Walker Bean, and delightful adaptations of cartoons like Adventure Time and Batman: The Animated Series. A recent addition to the library’s collection that I’ve enjoyed is Mason Dickerson’s Housecat Trouble. It’s bright, light, and as cute as can be, the perfect thing for an old grump like me who’s fed up with the darkness of the world almost as much as he’s fed up with his own housecat.
Last issue we talked a little about comics in England, but continental Europe has a long and proud comic book tradition. So beloved are Tintin, the intrepid reporter, and Snowy, his dog that there’s a statue erected to them in Brussels, and a huge bust of the creator, Herge, in Angouleme, France. These books have been translated into many languages, not to mention film and animation, and remain some of the most masterful comics ever created (issues of colonialism and racist caricatures aside). The best way to read these books is in the bande dessinee format, the albumsized editions favored by many European publishers. A modern comic presented in this format is Alex Alice’s Castle in the Stars series. The first, The Space Race of 1869, is the story of a young girl searching for her mother who disappeared on a journey to space a full century before real world humans landed on the moon. With its Ghilbli-esque title and beautiful illustrations, this series looks like it was imported straight from a lost animated feature. It’s the kind of book that’s perfect for opening up on the floor and reading while on your belly. Assuming your spine is strong enough and your belly is small enough for such activities.
Is This a Comic? Tourles’ book is filled with illustrations of various ailments which befall the human foot, as well as balms, creams, and potions which may heal them. This diagram shows us the progression of a normal toe to a claw toe from both the interior and exterior view. Notice how the second toe retreats from its usual position, almost like an animal cowering from a predator. Maybe that predator is an ill-fitting or uncool shoe, or perhaps the toe is ashamed of its place in the toe hierarchy. Maybe it’s the sign of a timid transformation, one digit at a time, into some kind of hideous creature. Something you might find...in a comic book.
READING
IS FOR
EVERYONE
Summer Challenge is more of a challenge to the forces of ignorance than it is to summer. It may feel like those forces are gathering strength, but you can arm yourself with the best weapons on the planet: books. Sticking with this issue’s focus on books for younger readers, here are some books from Hispanic and Latinx creators from around the world. Lowriders in Space celebrates the lowrider culture so prominent in Latinx communities throughout the country with a mixture science, Spanglish, and friendship. Illustrator Raul the Third, whose luchador picture books I reviewed in Panel Discussion #11, turns in a virtuosic performance that’s equal parts graffiti, tattoo flash, and fine art. Last month we talked about Jaime Hernandez’ nonLove and Rockets work, so now let’s focus on the other half of Los. Bros. Gilbert, along with indie comics legend Peter Bagge, teamed up to create Yeah!, an all-ages story about an intergalactic rock band. It’s Josie and the Pussycats in outer space and fun for everyone.
come to function almost like indie record labels of yore. You may not like everything they put out, but you’ll come pretty close. Other RH Graphic titles include Crabapple Trouble, The Runaway Princess, and Witchlight (see Panel Discussion #7 for my review). This new wave of kids’ comics function in much the same way as contemporary kids’ cartoons. There are jokes accessible to both kids and adults without condescending to either. In comics, one can have the same experience reading Peanuts. Sure, Charlie Brown might have more in common with a middle-aged man than a small child, but Charles Schulz was able to find the common ground between those disparate experiences to create his beloved strip. There are dozens of options for enjoying Peanuts at the library, including Fantagraphics’ chronological reprints, thematic collections, the animated specials, and picture books. Calvin and Hobbes is another beloved strip which resonates with both kids and adults, and its lack of officially licensed products allows parents the opportunity to teach their kids about copyright infringement via those Calvin decals which are as permanent and regrettable as a Spring Break tattoo.
READING
My son brings books out for every occasion: a meal, going to the bathroom, even going from one room to the next. As often as not, they’re comics. I credit much of this love of printed material to Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, but even without those monthly deliveries from Heaven’s earthly emissary he would have been hooked early. From his earliest days we read to him every night; when he learned to crawl he’d drag a book along in his brand new teeth; and when he could walk he would climb into any adult’s lap and press a book against their chest, imploring them to read to him. Not that I need an excuse, but having a bookloving kid (not to mention working in a library) has allowed me to keep in touch with the world of kids’ comics, and I’ve discovered there’s never been a better time to be a younger reader. Take Laura Knetzger’s Bug Boys for example. This series follows two bug friends as they search for treasure, make s’mores, and have all sorts of woodland adventures. There’s a Frog and Toad dynamic between Stag-B and Rhino-B which should resonate with readers of all ages, plus the art is insanely cute. This book is part of a wave of delightful books published by RH Graphic, a graphic novel imprint from Random House. The RH Graphic logo has
IS FOR
EVERYONE
First introduced in 2011, the America Chavez has rocketed from Young Avenger to MCU star in the recent Doctor Strange sequel. This series, “The Life and Times of America Chavez”, written by celebrated novelist Gabby Rivera and illustrated by Joe Quinones, sees America fighting aliens and teaming up with Captain America. Until recently, Devil Dinosaur was an oddity of Jack Kirby’s 1970s return to Marvel, an excuse for the King to draw dinosaurs and prehumans. It wasn’t his strangest work (I’m looking at you, 2001!) but maybe his most forgettable. The series was given new life in 2015 in Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur. It follows Lunella Lafayette, a young inventor who forms a psychic link with Devil Dinosaur after becoming an Inhuman. Moon Girl, cocreated and drawn by Natacha Bustos, will soon appearing in an Disney+ animated series, proving once again that there is no such thing as an IP too strange or marginal to exploit.
Oh no! Public domain hero DOLL MAN has lost his library card! Now he must use his shrinking powers to traverse this maze to find it! Can YOU help him?
Start
You did it! Now Doll Man can check out up to 100 ITEMS, and he never has to worry about late fees! YOU, too, can be like Doll Man by signing up for a library card TODAY! DISCLAIMER: Nashville Public Library cannot guarantee the acquisition of powers when signing up for a library card.
LAST MONHT’S PUZZLE DOWN ACROSS 1. Tsuge 2. Basil 2. Burn 4. Gerber 3. Cruse 5. Saenz 6. Zone 8. OMAC 7. Laird 9. Sable