Booklist reviews Brooklyn’s Last Secret

A rock band called Major Threat is about embark on a music tour, and they’re breaking in a new lead singer. The band consists of Ed, a responsible drummer; Lilith, a perpetually high guitarist; Paul, a bassist of little words who attracts attention and adoration wherever he goes; and Marco, the new twentysomething singer with a bushy mustache. This comic acts as a love letter to pop culture, major U.S. cities, and—of course—band tours as the group experiences highs and lows, performing night after night in venues that start to blend together. The characters have been rendered with slumping postures, pinpoint eyes, and shapeless, chinless faces, and their dialogue looks handwritten, which allows for a changing font that adds voice and emphasis. Long hair, round glasses, and drug references lend a nostalgic hippie vibe to this contemporary story, and the somewhat sad yet humorous colored-pencil drawings contribute to the overall dry humor. Hand this one to music lovers, whether they’ve performed onstage themselves or have simply wondered what it’d feel like.