Okay, I admit. I’ve had the Artemis Fowl books lying around my apartment now for over a year, and I still haven’t cracked the first volume. In my defense, I have about a hundred books lying around that I haven’t read yet (what can I say? I love buying books). So, when I was browsing the shelves at Borders and came across the graphic novel version of Artemis Fowl, the lazy side of my personality did a back flip. Finally, something I can read in under an hour…and it has pictures.
To top it off, the Artemis Fowl graphic novel is really good. As a newbie to the graphic novel genre (or format), I felt like this one had a more cohesive story than most. I can personally attest to the fact that even Artemis Fowl virgins can get into this graphic novel.
Artist Giovanni Rigano portrays the underground fairy world in rich hues that newbies and Artemis experts can appreciate. The troll is really cool, and readers will be especially amused by the portrayal of the dwarf Diggum’s bodily functions (okay, at least I was). Overall, this book was awesome. I would definitely recommend it to YA lit fans (especially the lazy ones).
DweebMeter: 3.5/5
Artemis Fowl Confidential
Artemis Fowl FanGathering
Naruto 1
A few weeks ago I finally picked up Naruto 1, the world’s most popular manga. The story goes like this. Twelve years before the story begins, a nine-tailed fox demon attacked the village of Konohagakure and killed the Hokage, or village champion. Today, readers find the village in peace, except for the antics of one orphan, Uzumaki Naruto. Naruto is trying his best to graduate from the ninja academy, and failing miserably, until he unlocks the secrets of the difficult ninja move, the doppelganger. He uses this move to win his teacher’s approval, but not before he discovers the truth behind his own mysterious past. Will Naruto suceed in becoming a shinobi, a true ninja, or will his past doom him to be an outcast forever?
Overall, Naruto was pretty good. It took me a while to get into the story (and to figure out how to read it the right way), but by the last page I was definitely ready to pick up volume 2. Like I said, this was pretty much my first manga, so I don’t have any grounds for comparison. Still, I give it a thumbs up, except for its stereotypical and sexist treatment of female characters (that part sucks!).
DweebMeter: 3/5
Official Naruto Website
Naruto on Wikipedia
Naruto Central
From the creator of Buffy comes a new heroine, Melaka Fray. In Fray, Whedon brings the Buffyverse into a new era. Basically, as he says in the introduction, his new graphic novel is Buffy with flying cars.
That being said, why fix something that ain’t broke? Fans of Buffy will embrace Fray.
Fans will remember that Buffy empowered all of the potential slayers at the end of season 7. Hundreds of years later, the line of slayers has died out, and Melaka Fray, master criminal, is the world’s only hope.
Led by a demon Watcher, Melaka reluctantly fights to protect a Manhattan slum from the lurks (aka vampires).
Fray takes the Buffy mythology in an interesting new direction and brings the same ass-kicking action fans have come to love. I would definitely recommend Fray to any Buffy fans.
DweebMeter: 3.5/5
Fray Fan Site
Cool design paired with hands-on activities makes this a great book for aspiring manga artists. Shoujo manga (as opposed to shounen) is most often created and read by females (of course this is just a stereotype). The introduction explains the development of shoujo manga and discusses its visual style and themes.
Section two outlines the materials and equipment needed to draw manga. Pictures of the recommended materials make this section easy to understand.
Section three shows the basic drawing techniques. The author takes readers through the process of drawing simple body parts and figures and progresses to examples of emotions and character types.
After viewing a brief gallery of completed manga art, readers can begin completing the first of the eight projects outlined in the book. Each project has enough detail for most amateur artists to achieve a good result.
The coolest part of the book is that you can stand it up like an easel. Also, the pages are d0uble sided. You read it one direction to begin with and then flip it over!
Overall, this book had clear instructions, adequate details and a cool design. I would recommend this book to any aspiring manga artist.
DweebMeter: 4/5
Manga University
Manga Revolution
Manga Tutorials
