I Read Comic Books discussion

For this month's Book of the Month we're looking at comics made by writers and/or artists who are People of Color!

Have any recommendations to share? What did you end up reading?

Tell us all about it in the thread below!

Some at the top of my to-read list are American Born Chinese, Family Style, Earthdivers and Killadelphia…

As I wrote elsewhere, I'm currently going through Far Sector, whose writer and artist/colorist are both black.

Following which I'll focus on Monstress.

I'm not familiar with Family Style but American Born Chinese, Earthdivers, Killadelphia, Far Sector and Monstress are all very good.

Haha, thanks for the quality check!

Also relevant for AAPI Month is Peach Momoko's work for Marvel, Demon Days and Demon Wars.

Hey, no one wants to read crappy comics.

Peach is also working on Ultimate X-Men now. There's 2 issues out so far.

Having just finished reading Green Lantern: Secret Origin, I've bought Far Sector.

The first episode is too self-conscious for its own good about N.K. Jemisin's lack of experience as a writer of comics, but she delivers later on. And Jamal Campbell is fantastic.

I also enjoyed Far Sector, despite knowing nothing about Green Lantern going in.

Ed wrote: "I also enjoyed Far Sector, despite knowing nothing about Green Lantern going in."

You don't really need to. It's a new Green Lantern on a new planet.

Yeah, but I hadn't even known there could be more than one Green Latnern!

After reading that, I read Green Lantern: Earth One, Volume 1 which explains the origins, and which I enjoyed. Then continued with Green Lantern: Earth One, Vol. 2, which I did not.

Back on topic, some recent reads that fit, and which I enjoyed, are:

Monkey Meat by Juni Ba
The Night Eaters, Vol. 1: She Eats the Night by Marjorie M. Liu
New Masters by Shobo Coker
The Many Deaths of Laila Starr by Ram V.

Earth One is a completely different setup and origin. If you want to dig in to GL, Geoff Johns long run is a great place to start. All you really need to know is that they are space cops. Sometimes they follow around one or two of them. Sometimes it's more of an anthology type series. Hal Jordan is historically Earth's GL but there have been many just from Earth over the years.

Didn't someone comment on the Night Eaters in an earlier thread?

a.g.e. montagner wrote: "Didn't someone comment on the Night Eaters in an earlier thread?"

Yeah, it's been mentioned before. The first 2 graphic novels in the trilogy have been released.

a.g.e. montagner wrote: "Didn't someone comment on the Night Eaters in an earlier thread?"

I've only read the first volume but I enjoyed it!

Oh yeah, Far Sector is definitely on my read list! I also remembered Ironheart after I’d already posted. I really like Eve Ewing and haven’t read that one yet.

I read “The Talk” by Darrin Bell, which had already been on my To Read list since I found it on a “best of the year” list. Bookended between getting “The Talk” from his mother and having to give it to his own son, this memoir covers many of Bell’s firsthand experiences with racism whether overt, microaggression, or even debatable (and other people’s dismissal or acceptance is an important part of the story). He even includes his own instance of unintended racism in his own editorial cartooning.

It’s an impressive 350 pages, but reads at a good pace. I do have a few criticisms: Many of the drawings are little more than rough sketches; although they still work to convey the story, I wanted more consistency. The lettering at times is also just loose handwriting; it’s still readable but I can’t see an artistic reason for it feeling so rushed.

Books on race are tricky to review and recommend. Many people will be flat-out against reading it, so recommending it can feel like preaching to the choir. But this definitely deserves much praise and I’d say is a “must read” for anyone willing to improve their racial empathy.

I will be reading The Poorcraft Cookbook by Nero Villagallos O'Reilly.