Comics reviewed by Cloudscape members.
Showa is a four volume series around 2000 pages long, written and illustrated by Shigeru Mizuki. It doubles as a biography of the author and a history of Japan during the Showa period (1926–1989). Not only does it describe the various stages of Political turmoil, war, regrowth, and cultural developments […]
Review by Matthew Nielsen Hipira, written by Katsuhiro Otomo and illustrated by Shinji Kimura, is a charming children’s book about the adventures of a young vampire. Kimura’s artwork is vividly colourful, rich and finely painted. It is also stylised in a fantastic, crooked sort of way, somewhat reminiscent of The Nightmare […]
Review by Matthew Nielsen The Last Look Trilogy (X’ed Out, The Hive and Sugar Skull) by Charles Burns follows a series of events and thoughts in the life of a young and somewhat unconventional artist named Doug, including his memories, fears, and ambitions. It is a surreal story in which […]
Review by Matthew Nielsen Hostage by Guy Delisle is a graphic novel telling the story of Christophe André’s kidnapping and time spent as a hostage in Chechnya. A young Frenchman working for Doctors Without Borders, André was taken from his office and driven away to remote unknown locations. Delisle provides a […]
Review by Matthew Nielsen A Chinese Life, written by Li Kunwu & P. Ôtié and illustrated by Li, is a very large autobiography telling the story of both Li and the People’s Republic of China in the post-war period and beyond. At nearly 700 pages in length, this book is an extensive tome […]
Review by Matthew Nielsen Thoreau at Walden by John Porcellino is a short biography of the writer Henry David Thoreau and his time spent writing in a secluded countryside home at Walden Pond. With only a small vegetable patch for him to grow what he needed for food, Thoreau spent the rest […]
Review by Matthew Nielsen Mrs Weber’s Omnibus is a collection of comics written by Posy Simmonds for the British newspaper The Guardian. The comics themselves were usually simply known as “Posy” in the paper, and have also been previously released as multiple other, smaller collections, but here they are all in one […]
Review by Matthew Nielsen The Book of Hope by Tommi Musturi follows the life, thoughts, memories, and daydreams of a middle-aged Finnish couple living in the countryside. It focuses initially on the husband but later features the wife as well. The story feels slow but, at the same time, also like […]
Review by Matthew Nielsen With the Light: Raising an Autistic Child by Keiko Tobe is a manga series about a mother, Sachiko, raising her autistic son, Hikaru, while also exploring the lives and challenges faced by the other family members and their friends. The story is what some would call “edutainment,” […]
Review by Matthew Nielsen Embroidered Cancer Comic by Sima Elizabeth Shefrin is a short comic (graphic novella?) that’s an autobiographical retelling of Elizabeth’s husband Bob being diagnosed with prostate cancer. The comic’s panels are entirely made up of embroidered line art illustrations, and whilst this artwork can appear somewhat unrefined, it still […]
