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Rex Libris #1
Rex Libris #1
The astonishing story of the incomparable Rex Libris, Head Librarian at Middleton Public Library, and his unending struggle against the forces of ignorance and darkness. Rex travels to the farthest reaches of the galaxy in search of overdue books. Wearing his super thick bottle glasses, and armed with an arsenal of high technology weapons, he strikes fear into recalcitrant borrowers, and can take on virtually any foe from zombies to renegade literary characters. In this first collection of Librarian adventures, Rex must confront the powerful Space Warlord Vaglox and retrieve the overdue Principia Mathematica while an energy manifestation of blood thirsty Vandals attempt to burn down Middleton Library, and all within, to the ground.
32 pages, Comic
First published August 1, 2005
6 people are currently reading
428 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
June 1, 2014
Word heavy, action minimal. This story sets up a pretty cool hero in Rex, I just felt that his anger issues and ruthless pursuit of fines gives the nice library staff a bad name. The funny running commentary was a bit small and hard to read, but I dug the artwork and the old school library poster at the end!
April 4, 2010
Why have I never read this before? No seriously, why? Tell me. Rex Libris is a bibliophile's wet-dream. Geometric and heavily-inked this comic book about books and a time and space-traveling bookkeeper was a very good read.
July 22, 2009
If you have ever worked in a library or are currently, this comic series is for you! I never laughed so hard at a comic. I love this librarian! :)
December 13, 2015
The footnotes make this comic!
January 22, 2025
good concept but poor execution
Although unconventional, I really liked the artwork in this graphic novel. And I loved the concept and the character of Rex Libris. But unfortunately I didn’t like the execution. In the end, author James Turner forgot the first rule of writing a graphic novel: don’t overload the panels with text. Much of the book is cluttered with text bubbles filled with long narratives. For example, when Mr. B chides Rex for his modesty, what follows is a long speech about why he is disappointed in Rex and his criticism of modesty as a trait. All of that could have been accomplished with one text bubbles filled that said “you disappoint me with your modesty. Modesty is a weakness.”
In the end I think Turner tried to say too much with the dialogue, which ultimately distracted from the overall story.
Although unconventional, I really liked the artwork in this graphic novel. And I loved the concept and the character of Rex Libris. But unfortunately I didn’t like the execution. In the end, author James Turner forgot the first rule of writing a graphic novel: don’t overload the panels with text. Much of the book is cluttered with text bubbles filled with long narratives. For example, when Mr. B chides Rex for his modesty, what follows is a long speech about why he is disappointed in Rex and his criticism of modesty as a trait. All of that could have been accomplished with one text bubbles filled that said “you disappoint me with your modesty. Modesty is a weakness.”
In the end I think Turner tried to say too much with the dialogue, which ultimately distracted from the overall story.
March 19, 2018
For 32 pages of comic, I'm shocked to say that I DNF'd this one. I just couldn't...
From the ham acting to the cheesy lines, to the annoying foot notes, there was just way too much trying to be done here to actually come together cohesively. It failed to impress, despite demons, a library, and a mob-type librarian. I just found Rex to be a bit dumb, creepy, and sleazy towards women. Not my type of main characters, not my cup of tea when it comes to illustrations, and no real substance that could keep me interested.
From the ham acting to the cheesy lines, to the annoying foot notes, there was just way too much trying to be done here to actually come together cohesively. It failed to impress, despite demons, a library, and a mob-type librarian. I just found Rex to be a bit dumb, creepy, and sleazy towards women. Not my type of main characters, not my cup of tea when it comes to illustrations, and no real substance that could keep me interested.
August 6, 2017
Funny at times but it goes on for a bit too long.
January 12, 2018
Loved it, bought the book and the t-shirt.
August 30, 2019
Especially hilarious if you have ever worked in a library! :)
March 14, 2017
Good premise but falls flat towards the end. Too many interruptions by the author with awkward and irrelevant commentaries. Interrupts the flow of reading the comic.
July 11, 2012
"Rex Libris" is a science fiction / humor comic book series written and illustrated by James Turner. I would dearly love to read more of this series but unfortunately was able to only get my hands on the first issue.
The series follows the adventures of Rex Libris, the Head Librarian at the Middleton Public Library. Unbeknownst to the general public, Rex is actually over a thousand years old, and was the original librarian at the Library of Alexandria. He is a member of the Ordo Biblioteca, a secret international society of librarians. With the aid of the ancient god Thoth, who lives beneath the Library, Rex travels to the farthest reaches of the universe to collect late book fees, and to fight the powers of ignorance and darkness.
Book Details:
Title Rex Libris #1 (Rex Libris #1)
Author James Turner
Reviewed By Purplycookie
The series follows the adventures of Rex Libris, the Head Librarian at the Middleton Public Library. Unbeknownst to the general public, Rex is actually over a thousand years old, and was the original librarian at the Library of Alexandria. He is a member of the Ordo Biblioteca, a secret international society of librarians. With the aid of the ancient god Thoth, who lives beneath the Library, Rex travels to the farthest reaches of the universe to collect late book fees, and to fight the powers of ignorance and darkness.
Book Details:
Title Rex Libris #1 (Rex Libris #1)
Author James Turner
Reviewed By Purplycookie
July 1, 2016
With my other half being a librarian, a lot of the humour in Rex Libris seemed on-point in relation to the stories she comes back with at the end of a shift. Loved the long exposition panels rather than just speech-bubbles; they seemed fitting for a comic book centred on libraries, although wasn't keen on the size of the font in the commentary (barely readable on kindle).
The art style was fantastic and very reminiscent of the animation of Genndy Tartakovsky (Samurai Jack, Powerpuff Girls), and the addition of Thoth as the library administrator is a touch of genius (his bombastic speech is very similar to that of Ancient Egyptian hymns, by the way).
I should probably get the TP for this series now!
The art style was fantastic and very reminiscent of the animation of Genndy Tartakovsky (Samurai Jack, Powerpuff Girls), and the addition of Thoth as the library administrator is a touch of genius (his bombastic speech is very similar to that of Ancient Egyptian hymns, by the way).
I should probably get the TP for this series now!
June 26, 2014
Free comic!
I quite enjoyed this one. The art was unique (for me), and the writing was top notch. However, the world in which it is set wasn't very clearly defined, and the story was a bit messy. I liked this issue, but I can't see myself continuing unless all the action remains within the Middleton Library, and I don't see that happening.
I used to live in a town called Middleton. Maybe it was a village, considering it was too small to have a library.
I quite enjoyed this one. The art was unique (for me), and the writing was top notch. However, the world in which it is set wasn't very clearly defined, and the story was a bit messy. I liked this issue, but I can't see myself continuing unless all the action remains within the Middleton Library, and I don't see that happening.
I used to live in a town called Middleton. Maybe it was a village, considering it was too small to have a library.
December 28, 2012
Oddly boring for a graphic novel about a librarian (although I didn't get all the way through. Maybe it gets way better?). Hopefully, I just wasn't in the right mindset to enjoy it. I'll try again one day.
May 17, 2016
Oh.My.Goodness. I laughed out loud many times while reading this hilarious comic. Shades of Mickey Spillane and high erudition, made even funnier by the inside jokes and references that only librarians will understand.
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May 5, 2009A comic about a superhero librarian: how could it not be awesome? Somehow, it managed.
May 14, 2011
Heh. That was silly.
November 17, 2012
Ein Bibliothekar als Superheld im Kampf um nicht fristgerecht zurückgebrachte Bücher. Sooo schön.
August 10, 2016
Even the commentary track couldn't wait for this hot mess to be over.
April 11, 2017
I read this one, I just couldn't get into it. I really couldn't believe it, either. ME, unable to get into a SUPER-SPY LIBRARIAN TALE?! But it's true, it just didn't work for me. So many words, all becoming very tiny within their bubble.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews