Synopses & Reviews
Posy Simmonds, Britains best-loved cartoonist and the author of Gemma Bovery, has now created the irresistible Tamara Drewe, a graphic novel that delightfully skewers modern mores and manners with great wit and understanding for the foibles of humanity.
Loosely inspired by Thomas Hardys Far From the Madding Crowd, Tamara Drewe follows a year at Stonefield, a bucolic writers retreat run by Beth and Nicholas Hardiman, where Dr. Glen Larson, an American professor and struggling novelist, is staying. The ambitious young Tamara Drewe, mourning the loss of her mother, has returned to her family home nearby. A bookish girl not so long ago, Tamara is now a gossipy columnist at a London paper and undeniably sexy. She quickly has every man in the vicinity—Glen, Nicholas, and the handyman, Andy—falling at her feet, while teenage best friends Casey and Jody become infatuated with Tamara and her ex-rock-star fiancé, Ben. Meanwhile, long-suffering Beth sees to the needs of the writers while managing the farm, the household, and the many affairs of her husband, a best-selling detective novelist.
Perhaps even more satisfying than your favorite nineteenth-century novel, with its fine, expressive drawings, deft storytelling, and nods to both the past and the present, yet unlike anything that has come before, Tamara Drewe is that rare graphic novel for grownups.
Posy Simmonds is the author of many books for adults and children, including the widely acclaimed Gemma Bovery. A. N. Wilson called Gemma Bovery a “work of genius” and more than one reviewer suggested that it should be entered for the Booker Prize. Simmonds has contributed a series of weekly cartoon strips to the UKs Guardian since 1977 and has won international awards for her work. She lives in London.
Review
"a satisfying and complex story...Simmonds artwork, well-shadowed with clear grays, invokes and sustains the moods of longing, jealousy, self-satisfaction, and fear as the characters dance a multilayered but unconfusing reel of lust, repentance, forgiveness, bereavement, and distrust." Booklist, ALA, Starred Review
Review
"An inventive offering, sure to please fans of both American and Japanese comics."and#8212;Kirkus, starred review
"Fantasticand#8212;in every sense of the word! Lyga and Doran have created an eye-popping fun-ride through the comics traditions of East and West. Fans of both comics and manga will love Mangaman. Colleen Doranand#8217;s encyclopedic, rapid-fire grasp of manga conventions blows my mind!"and#12288;and#8212;Jeff Smith, author of Boneand#12288; "This is a wonderful, funny, touching story about the ultimate outsider seeking adventure andand#12288;love within the borders that surround us all.and#12288; There's some seriously innovative storytelling going on here, and the artwork is sensational.and#12288; If you're looking for a fun read, a romp, a rollicking good time...then seriously: buy this book."and#160; and#8212;J. Michael Straczynski, New York Times Bestselling author of Superman: Earth One "This title will appeal to readers who are fans of both manga and Western comics or crossover titles such as Wolverine: Prodigal Son (2009) and X-men: Misfits (2009)."and#8212;Booklist "Esteemed artist Doran juggles manga and Western illustration styles effortlessly, capturing their defining characteristics with pitch-perfect accuracy." and#8212;School Library Journal, starred review "Wonderfully quirky and subversive humor."--Bulletin
Synopsis
As with her brilliantly successful graphic novel Gemma Bovary, Tamara Drew is likewise inspired by a 19th century novel -- in this case, Far From the Madding Crowd. Set in a writers' retreat, it is a thrilling tale of jealousy and desire.
Synopsis
Posy Simmonds, Britain's best-loved cartoonist and the author of Gemma Bovery, has now created the irresistible Tamara Drewe, a graphic novel that delightfully skewers modern mores and manners with great wit and understanding for the foibles of humanity.
Loosely inspired by Thomas Hardy's Far From the Madding Crowd, Tamara Drewe follows a year at Stonefield, a bucolic writer's retreat run by Beth and Nicholas Hardiman, where Dr. Glen Larson, an American professor and struggling novelist, is staying. The ambitious young Tamara Drewe, mourning the loss of her mother, has returned to her family home nearby. A bookish girl not so long ago, Tamara is now a gossipy columnist at a London paper and undeniably sexy. She quickly has every man in the vicinity--Glen, Nicholas, and the handyman, Andy--falling at her feet, while teenage best friends Casey and Jody become infatuated with Tamara and her ex-rock-star fiance, Ben. Meanwhile, long-suffering Beth sees to the needs of the writers while managing the farm, the household, and the many affairs of her husband, a best-selling detective novelist.
Perhaps even more satisfying than your favorite nineteenth-century novel, with its fine, expressive drawings, deft storytelling, and nods to both the past and the present, yet unlike anything that has come before, Tamara Drewe is that rare graphic novel for grownups.
Posy Simmonds is the author of many books for adults and children, including the widely acclaimed Gemma Bovery. A. N. Wilson called Gemma Bovery a work of genius and more than one reviewer suggested that it should be entered for the Booker Prize. Simmonds has contributed a series of weekly cartoon strips to the UK's Guardiansince 1977 and has won international awards for her work. She lives in London.
Synopsis
East meets West in this innovative and very smart graphic novel by Barry Lyga,and#160;illustrated by Colleen Doran. Sci-fi adventure meets love storyand#8212;and East meets Westand#8212;in
Mangaman, an original
graphic novel for teens.
Ryoko, a manga character from a manga world, falls through the Rip into the and#8220;realand#8221; worldand#8212;the western worldand#8212;and tries to survive as the ultimate outsider at a typical American high school.
When Ryoko falls in love with Marissa Montaigne, the most beautiful girl in the school, his eyes turn to hearts and comic tension tightens as his way of being drawn and expressing himself clashes with this different Western world in which he is stuck in. and#8220;Panel-holedand#8221; for being different, Ryoko has to figure out how to get back to his manga world, back through the Rip . . . all while he has hearts for eyes for a girl from the wrong kind of comic book.
Barry Lyga writes a metafictive masterpiece as manga meets traditional Western comic book style, while Colleen Doran combines manga techniques and conventions with Western comic book
About the Author
Barry Lyga is a recovering comic book geek and the author of many books, including,
The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl, Goth Girl Rising, Boy Toy, and
Hero-Type for HMH and
Wolverine: Worst Day Ever for Marvel Books and
Archvillian for Scholastic
. He has also written comic books about everything from sword-wielding nuns to alien revolutionaries. He worked as Marketing Manager at Diamond Comic Distributers for 10 years. He lives in Brooklyn, NY.
Visit Barry online at www.barrylyga.com. and#12288; Colleen Doran, in a career spanning more than twenty years, has worked on some of the greatest characters in comics, including Superman, Spider-Man, and Wonder Woman, partnered with such writers as Alan Moore and Neil Gaiman. Her books include A Distant Soil and Girl to Grrrl Manga. She has traveled and lectured extensively in Singapore, Japan, Germany, and England, and served as Artist in Residence at the Smithsonian Institute in 2006. She won a grant from the Delphi Institute to study American popular culture, and was chosen to represent the United States at the Japan/America manga/comics seminar in Tokyo. Visit her website at www.colleendoran.com.