Need a break from academic articles? Consider exploring the library’s newest graphic novels added fresh to our stacks this winter. The most recent titles include well-known classics like From Hell and The Killing Joke to current and topical titles such as Matt Johnson and Simon Gane’s Dark Rain and Marguerite Abouet’s Aya: The Secrets Come Out.
Alan Moore’s The Killing Joke adds another chapter to the seemingly endless battle between Batman and The Joker, and delivers a glimpse into one of the many speculated back-stories of how The Joker emerged as Batmans foe. Published with original coloring for the first time, the images, story, and cliff-hanger-ending packed into this deluxe edition will certainly have readers craving Moore. (Richardson Library, 741.5941 M8211B, 1st floor)
Grab your press-pass and keep your head down for a ride through Brian Wood and Riccardo Burchiellis DMZ (De-militarized Zone). America, or what used to be America, is in the midst of a civil war. The Free States, Jersey and westward, battle with The U.S., whose remaining boundaries include Brooklyn, Queens, and Long Island. In between lies worn-torn Manhattan, or the DMZ where embedded Liberty News intern Matthew Roth quickly finds himself against the odds when his boss, armed guard, and helicopter are wiped out minutes after entering the DMZ on a press exploration. Filled with battling gangs, sniper romances, and peat-farming-tofu-eating-zoologists, Wood and Burchiellis futuristic Manhattan is a lively world. Can Matthew survive e war zone, and get out of the DMZ, or will he take this opportunity to make his mark on journalism by broadcasting the story of survival in the DMZ? (Richardson Library, 741.5973 W87390, 1st floor.)
Dark Rain: A New Orleans Story
, by Matt Johnson and Simon Gane, takes on issues such as race, greed and forgiveness within the context of Hurricane Katrina. The story follows a pair of ex-cons making their way from Houston to New Orleans, and vividly illustrates the people, hardships they encountered, and the epic storm that drastically shook the landscape to its foundations. Depicted mainly in black in white, with only blues flooding across the pages for color, the novel is visually smart and socially engaging. Despite a lineup of menacing opportunists, Dark Rain shows that hope can thrive in even the darkest of moments, and at times humanity can overcome the unstoppable forces surrounding us. (Richardson Library, 741.5973 J682D, 1st floor)