The best new graphic novels including ‘a colourful assault on the brain that’s worth every minute you invest in it.’ Find out what it is
The Toronto Star | Mike Donachie | May 6, 2021
Heaven No Hell and Tono Monogatari on the Best New Graphic Novels list in the Toronto Star
Heaven No Hell
By Michael DeForge
Drawn & Quarterly, 228 pages, $24.95
It’s hard to keep up with Michael DeForge, who has produced 11 books in the last 10 years, but it’s worth the trouble. He’s a master of weird comics with interesting messages. This time, we have short stories presented, as is customary with DeForge and Drawn & Quarterly, in a colourful, hardcover assault on the brain that’s worth every minute you invest in it. You might chuckle at the dark romantic humour in a spaceship’s escape pod in “My Darling Astronaut,” or feel disturbed by “Recommended for You,” a strip in which the Purge meets the media. I laughed a lot at the macabre storytelling in “One of My Students Is a Murderer … But Which?” and my favourite story was probably “Roleplay,” which is about a secret hobby of faking competency for a job. This book’s a lot of fun.
Tono Monogatari
By Shigeru Mizuki and Zack Davisson
Drawn & Quarterly, 256 pages, $29.95
Described by the publisher as “the cultural equivalent of the Brothers Grimm,” “Tono Monogatari” has been brought to Canada by D&Q, the publisher that never tires of introducing us to important pieces of world culture. It’s a collection of folk tales recorded in the early 20th century as Japan was rapidly changing and in danger of losing aspects of its culture. This beautiful version, created in the 2010s by revered comics figure Shigeru Mizuki, weaves the cartoonist’s autobiographical journey into the classic text, giving us recent scenes, in colour, alongside black-and-white stories of monsters, giants and magic. In between are text pieces by Canadian translator and Mizuki expert Zack Davisson. The whole thing is such a treat. It offers weird, often horrifying stories along with a glimpse into Japan’s pastoral past and insightful context from Davisson. You will learn something and collect some nightmare fuel along the way.
By Michael DeForge
Drawn & Quarterly, 228 pages, $24.95
It’s hard to keep up with Michael DeForge, who has produced 11 books in the last 10 years, but it’s worth the trouble. He’s a master of weird comics with interesting messages. This time, we have short stories presented, as is customary with DeForge and Drawn & Quarterly, in a colourful, hardcover assault on the brain that’s worth every minute you invest in it. You might chuckle at the dark romantic humour in a spaceship’s escape pod in “My Darling Astronaut,” or feel disturbed by “Recommended for You,” a strip in which the Purge meets the media. I laughed a lot at the macabre storytelling in “One of My Students Is a Murderer … But Which?” and my favourite story was probably “Roleplay,” which is about a secret hobby of faking competency for a job. This book’s a lot of fun.
Tono Monogatari
By Shigeru Mizuki and Zack Davisson
Drawn & Quarterly, 256 pages, $29.95
Described by the publisher as “the cultural equivalent of the Brothers Grimm,” “Tono Monogatari” has been brought to Canada by D&Q, the publisher that never tires of introducing us to important pieces of world culture. It’s a collection of folk tales recorded in the early 20th century as Japan was rapidly changing and in danger of losing aspects of its culture. This beautiful version, created in the 2010s by revered comics figure Shigeru Mizuki, weaves the cartoonist’s autobiographical journey into the classic text, giving us recent scenes, in colour, alongside black-and-white stories of monsters, giants and magic. In between are text pieces by Canadian translator and Mizuki expert Zack Davisson. The whole thing is such a treat. It offers weird, often horrifying stories along with a glimpse into Japan’s pastoral past and insightful context from Davisson. You will learn something and collect some nightmare fuel along the way.