Ichiro by Ryan Inzana YP FIC INZANA

Ichiro is lost between worlds.He has a Japanese mother and an American father who died in a war before he ever really knew him. He feels out of place in New York and when he has to stay with his grandpa in the Japanese countryside, it’s more like another planet than another country. But none of this prepares him for when he catches a raccoon that’s really an ancient Japanese spirit that pulls him into the realm of the gods and in a fight for his life.  Now he has to find his way home when he's not even sure where or what his home is.

This is a graphic novel with pretty big ambitions. It tackles war, national identity, religion, violence, and even the fallibility of gods. It does this all within the backdrop of myths and legends of Japanese folklore. Inzana takes the risky move of explaining only the major figures of the mythology and leaving the rest for readers to research on their own, so you’ll learn a good deal about Japanese folklore but have even more to find out for yourself. I actually think this works out for the best, it lets readers feel as lost and bewildered as Ichiro. This makes his adventure more effecting and exciting than if every page was littered with footnotes explaining what a kappa is. The art is a mix of manga style, Japanese ukiyo-e wood prints, and American art. This fits the story and themes of the book perfectly and is also just gorgeous to look at. Inzana uses color sparingly to highlight important objects and for startling contrasts. This is a unique, original, and touching story with superb art throughout. It is a must read for any and all comics fans looking for a great story and great art, but especially for anyone interested in Japanese culture.

You can check our catalog for Ichiro here.

Dawn Land by Joseph Bruchac art by Will Davis YP FIC BRUCHAC

A story from before history, Dawn Land tells of the ancient people that lived in North America and one young man’s battle against an ancient evil that threatens to destroy them all. Young Hunter was almost killed by the Ancient Ones, evil blood drinking giants, when he was a baby. His cousin Weasel Tail defended him but was marked and infected with the ancient Ones’ evil. Now the Ancient Ones call and Young Hunter must track down his old friend and defeat the evil forces.

This is a classic folk tale brought to life by Will Davis’s excellent artwork. It has the look of something timeless and classic and brings the action alive with a great sense of movement. The story is very well researched and based on Bruchac’s novel of the same name. Bruchac knows a great deal about the Abenaki people this story is about and that authenticity makes the story feel real even though it has elements of legend and folktale. If you like stories of ancient times and myths and legends then you should check out Dawn Land. It has all the makings of a modern classic.

The Replacement by Brenn Yovanoff YP FIC YOVANOFF

Mackie Doyle is not Mackie Doyle. He’s a replacement. Left in exchange for the real Mackie Doyle sixteen years ago, he’s lived with humans his whole life knowing he was different, but not fully knowing why. All he knows is that the mere presence of iron makes him deathly ill and he can’t go onto consecrated ground, but no one is willing to talk about what he really is. When another child is taken and Mackie finds himself becoming friends with the child’s sister Mackie decides to go with her into an underworld known as Mayhem and face the creatures that left him in the first place and his own destiny.

This is a confidently written first novel from Yovanoff. It’s got well developed characters an unusual plot, and great descriptive language. It draws very well from the darker of Irish folk tales and keeps things gross and ghoulish like the classic Grimm fairy tales that usually ended with children dying horribly for misbehaving. If you like heroic journeys with lots of strange creatures in fantastic lands then you should really like this one. It reminded me some of Goto’s Half World (YP FIC GOTO), which I also quite enjoyed.

Yokaiden by Nina Matsumoto YP FIC MATSUMOT

Hamachi is a weirdo. Everybody says so. He is the only boy in his village that is obsessed with Yokai (magical Japanese creatures). Everybody else fears the Yokai and wishes they would all leave. However, his love of Yokai is tested when after befriending a Kappa (a turtle man-thing) the Kappa steals his grandma’s soul. Now Hamachi has decided to venture into the dangerous realm of the Yokai, from which no human has ever returned.

This is a really strong start to a new comedy manga. I am a huge fan of yokai and love reading about them. The manga does a great job of introducing them to a western audience. Yokai are truly odd and strange. The legends surrounding them are often hilarious. Lick the grim licker that licks your dirty bathtub clean! EWWWW! That’s a pretty good way to get kids to clean the bathtub. The art isvery simple and some of the ink work reminds me of classic Japanese ink painting which fits with the classic stories of yokai. The humor is uniformly good and Hamachi is a likeable goofball. This isn’t anything that will change the genre and the story so far isn’t as fast paced as I’d like, but the yokai and strong humor really make this a good read for fans of comedy manga.

Bayou: Vol. One by Jeremy Love

The story takes place in Mississippi in 1933. Lee Wagstaff, the daughter of a black sharecropper, is friends with Lily, a white girl, in a segregated society. The two girls regularly play by the bayou, where black victims of racial violence are often dumped. One day Lily is abducted by a monster, but Lee’s father is blamed and may soon face a lynch mob. In order to save her father and friend, Lee enters Dixie, a parallel universe of Southern lore. While in Dixie, Lee witnesses the horrors of the South’s racially violent past. She also encounters Bayou, a creature who is troubled by the realities of discrimination. Lee and Bayou learn a lot about one another and work to succeed against racial discrimination.

Love created the story and illustrations for this fascinating story. Originally seen as a web comic at Zuda.com, operated by DC Comics, this is the first book in a three-part series.