Author: Brad Hawley

Finder: Volume One by Carla Speed McNeil

Even though your to-read stack of books is overflowing, even though your Amazon wish list is daunting, and even though you are starting to worry about running across another review of a book you’ve just got to read, I’m afraid you’ve found one more not merely to add to the list, but to put on the top of the stack of books—if you can resist the urge to buy the book immediately on Comixology, which isn’t a bad idea since it’s great to read with the guided view technology.

Deep State by Justin Jordan and Ariela Kristantina

Boom! puts out some fun comics, very much in the Mark Millar, block-buster movie style, and Justin Jordan’s Deep State is certainly a page-turner. I read it in about an hour and could hardly take a breath the entire time. This first volume collects issues one through four, and though it ends on a cliffhanger, the book does tell a complete story. It’s just that the last page will make you want to read issue five immediately to see where the larger arc is taking us.

Sam Zabel and the Magic Pen by Dylan Horrocks

I am giving Sam Zabel and the Magic Pen by Dylan Horrocks my highest recommendation with one qualification: Unless you are easily offended by depictions of male sexual fantasies — even those written and depicted in order to critique those fantasies — then you should read this book. Without a doubt, Dylan Horrocks has written and drawn a five-star graphic novel. The book offers various answers to this question: What is the nature of fantasy? In doing so,

Endless Sky: The Story of a Swiss in America by David Boller

In the past few years, I’ve gained an appreciation for comic book memoirs, and Endless Sky by David Boller is another enjoyable work in this category. It doesn’t have the brilliant poetry of Fun Home or the powerful genius of Brooklyn Dreams, but it’s still worth seeking out, particularly if you are interested either in the story of a comic book writer trying to make it in the industry or in the culture-shock a man from Switzerland goes through upon moving to the United States.