Theric Jepson, the current AML President, and our resident “comics snob“, reviews three of the AML Comics Award finalists. Although he is not the Comics Award judge this year, and had no input in the awards decision, he reviewed three of the finalists on his personal website. I have cobbled the reviews together into this post. The awards will be announced at the AML Conference on Saturday, March 30. (ah)
Green Monk: Blood of the Martyrs by Brandon Dayton
I preordered this book shortly after I learned Image was publishing it. I had been trying to follow it online, but it wasn’t getting updated regularly and I kept forgetting to seek it out. I was also stoked that Image picked it up. I love Brandon’s work and I want it to find a larger audience.
This volume picks up long before the original independently published version—it’s an origin story, really. (Upon finishing Blood of the Martyrs, the first thing I wanted to do was reread that first book, but … I can’t find it. Dang it, Theric.) How the orphaned child was raised by monks. How, when he came of age, he first joined the monastery, then had to leave in order to redeem his sins. I loved the in media res-ness of the original, but this is a lovely and moving origin story. I hope it sells well and we get to hear many more tales of the Green Monk in years to come.
(In the meantime, you can read a related story I commissioned for Sunstone 160.)
SkyHeart Book I: The Star Seed by Jake Parker
It’s been almost three years since I provided Jake with notes on the working script he shared with me and now I finally have the book in my hands and get to see how it turned out.
The short: it’s good.
I won’t have a long, but here’s a medium:
I love the characters as they were originally presented (as collected in Antler Boy) and it’s still hard for me when the pig and the whale show up and everyone doesn’t have the camaraderie that I loved from those original stories. But that aside, the story here in SkyHeart is stronger. This volume ends on a cliffhanger, but by the time that rolls round, we’re already fully invested in the world and our leads.
For the Latter-day Saint reader, there are at least two nods to the endowment to watch for.
One Dirty Tree by Noah Van Sciver
And with this I’ve read ALL the AML Award-nominated comics (sort of—I probably haven’t read ALL of Brittany’s collection, but the other three, sure). Thematically, it’s somewhat reminiscent of Tara Westover’s Educated in that it’s the memoir of a Mormon kid who grows up and away from the faith, but Noah’s story is very different.
For one thing, although he is less isolated overall, his relationship to church membership is unlike Tara’s as she lives in a Mormon town and has Mormon relatives. Noah’s parents are converts living in New Jersey. His father is diagnosed with the same mental illness as Tara’s but if you ever wondered if all bipolar manifestation is the same, here’s your answer. (No.)
Noah’s is a strong work, but he’s not as far along in the process of grappling with his upbringing (and arguably has not equipped himself with so many tools to do so).
I don’t have a say in the award, but in my mind, it’s between One Dirty Tree and Green Monk.
A fun thing for me personally with both books (as well as the other three, for that matter), is that my intimacy with their work gives me a lot of intertextual pleasures. But you don’t need that kind of background to enjoy any of them.
(One side note: Tara spends a lot of time noting that her experience is not typical Mormon experience. Noah only hints so and it’s clear he’s unsure how far from normal his experiences might be. If you find generalizing triggering, you might be upset by his retelling.)
Other finalists:
Brittany Long Olsen, Comic Diaries, Vol. 1.
Nick Perkins, Cooties #11.