graphic novels By Martha Cornog & Steve Raiteri

¿HABLAS COMICS? Latinos are the bert (aka "Beto") and Jaime Hernandez. history students. Alcaraz illustrated Ilan
largest and fastest-growing U.S. ethnic Fantagraphics has collected the two ma- Stavans's Latino VSA: A Cartoon History
minority, and they use hbraries for infor- jor series. Jaime's "Locas" and Gilbert's {LJ 12/00), a sometimes sardonic over-
nKition and entertainment (see the Latinos "Palomar" narratives, and just released view of Latin Americans in the United
and Pnblic Library Perceptions study, d e - a volume of new stories. Written for a States since Columbus. A more genial La-
scribed in "Study of Latinos and Librar- younger audience, Beto's Sloth {LJ 7/06) tino-themed strip with several collected
ies." LJ online, 9/17/08). Their infor- made ALA's 20Ü7 Top 10 Graphic Novels volumes is Baldo, from Hector Cantú and
mation needs often center on learning for Teens. Carlos Castellanos.
English; entertainment can mean a taste Also for adults, Chicanos from Argen- Both DC Comics and Marvel have
of home with Spanish-language graphic tineans Carlos Trillo and Eduardo Risso created teen superheroes to appeal to La-
narratives. twists standard detective plots by pitting tino youth. DC revived its Blue Beetle se-
Of course. Latino-heritage patrons can a gutsy, odd-looking woman with ter- ries, dropping the azure carapace upon
appreciate English-language comics and rible luck against New Yorker mobsters beetle number three. Jaime Reyes (see
manga, too—some librarians report that and lowlifcs. Even quirkier is the low- review, p. 58). Marvel has introduced
their Latino teens know enough Eng- rent, arty Dead in Desemboque (Xpress Re- butt kicker chica Anya Corazón, who em-
lish to read manga with their peers, and views, 8/2/07), E. Arellano's send-up of bodies an enhanced spiderlike persona
it's mostly the older Latino patrons who Mexican comics with fascinating artwork dubbed Araña (see review, p. 56).
borrow the Spanish-language material. awash in surrealist imagery. In Bardin the
Other librarians note that Spanish ver- Superrealist, Spanish artist Max shape- LANGUAGE LEAP
sions of Bone and manga do well. Graphic shifts a playful collection evoking Peanuts,
Spain and the Latin American countries
novels with Latino characters and themes. Salvador Dali, and Luis Bunuel.
of Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, and Cuba
have rich traditions of graphic narrative
going back to the early 19()0s (see Tim
Pilcher and Brad Brooks's The Essential
Guide to World Comics). Although few
of these stories have found their way to
North America, graphic novels in Span-
ish are becoming increasingly available in
the continental United States. Blue Beetle
and Loi'e and Rockets are coming out in
Spanish, and so is the Dark Horse Star
Wars series.
Many other Spanish-language com-
ics and manga can be ordered through
"God" and "Ccrnftake Girl" gone wild, top-siie(f action, and America's breach birth dramatized Public Square Books as well as from part-
ner company Baker & Taylor and other
library wholesalers. See also the Span-
as well as titles in Spanish, will also appeal TEEN TEMPTATION ish-language book vendors listed in "Im-
to many Anglos, including those learn- A title making three ALA YA recogni- migrant Nation" {LJ 9/1/08)—La Casa
ing about Spanish-speaking countries or tion lists is Judd Winick's Pedro and Me, del Libro, for example, offers a Spanish
studying Spanish as a foreign language. about a young Cuban American dying Watchmen and Buffy Ca:::at'ampiros. For
of AIDS. La PiTí/íM, Jessica Abel's award more information and links for graphic
ADULT APPEAL winner (for ages 16+), follows a mis- novel publishers {ediloriales) in Spain, see
One of the longest-running and most guided Mexican American headed south www.guiadelcomic.com. Amazon.com
popular Latino-themed comics is Love of the border who loses her way going lists quite a few graphic novels in Spanish,
and Rockets., a sprawling, multicharacter native (L/7/06). including Don Quijote de la Mancha para
set of interlocking adult dramas produced In strip comics, Lalo Alcaraz's work Niños. To browse these, use Advanced
since 1981 by American brothers Gil- offers humor admixed with satire and Search and select Comics and Graphic
information and is appropriate for teens Novels in the subject box, plus Spanish in
Martha Comc>g is a longtime reviewer for LJ through adults. La Cucaracha collects his the language box.
and, with Timothy Perper, edits Reviews and nationally syndicated, politically themed In nonfiction, many titles from two
Commentaries for Mechademia: Ajournai strip, wherein the titular cockroach comes Capstone series, "Graphic Biography"
for Anime, Manga, and the Fan Arts, to life as a hunianoid cotnpadre to the and "Graphic History," are offered in
wu'w.mechademia.org. Steve Raiteri is artist's avatar as they hang out together Spanish, as are "Graphic Biographies" and
Audio-t'isuat Librarian at the Greene County in Los Angeles. His biting Migra Mouse: "Graphic Histories" titles from Gareth
Puhlic Library in Xenia, OH, where he Political Cartoons on Immigration makes a Stevens Publishing (www.garethstevens.
started the graphic novel collection in Í996 good resource for political science and com).

I WWW.LIBfiARYJ0URNAL.COM REVIEWS. NEWS, AND MORE NOVEMBER 15,2008 | LIBRARY JOURNAL | 55


144 PAGES • FULL-COLOR ARTWORK
$16.95 «STUDY GUIDE AVAILABLE
AVAILABLE IN 2 TEXT LEVELS:
PUB DATE 8TH DECEMBER 2008
Disnibuted by Publishers Group West
www.pgw.com Sales: 800-788-3123
To preview these and other full-color
graphic novels in the series visit:
www.classicalcomics.com
56 I LIBRARY JOURNAL ] NOVEMBER 15,2008
GRAPHIC NOVELS
The Linapologetically pulp comics Comic Book Tattoo: Narrative Art Inspired
variously called novelas, Jotonovelas, or nov- by the Lyrics and Music of Tori Amos. Image
elitas—small Mcxicim-prodiiced booklets Comics. 2008.480p. ed. by Rantz A. Hoseley
of soap opera-type stories—have wide àTori Amos. ISBN 978-1-58240-9641. pap.
appeal to Latino adults. Libraries tend to $ 2 9 . 9 9 . ANTHOl
treat these like mass market paperbacks I h e quicksilver elusiveness of Tori Amos's
without cataloging. Novelas are sold on work takes more tangible form in this mas-
subscription from several North Ameri- sive, sumptuous collection of 51 stories from
can vendors, and popular series include over SO creators. While her semantic-col-
El Libro Semanal and El Libro Senlimenlai lage lyrics play at the edge of rationality with
Tucson-based Latin American Periodicals themes of love and loss, these creators have
offers subscriptions to Spanish children's played, in turn, with the lyrics, spinning oft"
comics as well as novelas and will email fantasies of their own, sometimes adhering
libraries an attractive PDF catalog (800- to the emotional atmosphere and plotlines
634-2124. lapmagazincs@att.net). Some of the song, sometimes not. In "I t^an't See
libraries use Novelas Popular in Yoiikers New York." the shade ofa girl who loved
(914-337-4434), and others order from too much comes down to reach for the man
local Latino bookstores (see "Focus on she has lost, a similar feel as the stmg. But not
Special Literature: Fotonovelas," Criticas, so with "God." which stars a fatuous office
1/05). drone instead of :i whimsical flirt offering
As North American publishers angle to help the Almighty clean up his act. Some
for the expanding Latino market and in- plots work less well than others, seeming to
terest from Anglos in all things Spanish stop rather than end. Others simply mystiiy.
increases, look for more titles such as the while the best offer an epiphany or resolu-
just-out Che: A Graphic Biography from tion—not necessarily happy. The wonder-
Verso and a Spanish-language biogra- fully diverse art ranges Iroin decent to spec-
phy of Fidel Castro due this month from tacular. "Heard melodies are sweet." wrote
Seven Stories Press.—M.C. Keats, "but those unheard are sweeter":
these creators evoke their own music, per-
haps not sweeter here but certainly compel-
Avery, Fiona (text) & Mark Brooks & Rober
ling. Amos fans will fight to check this out
Cruz (illus.). Araña. Vol. 3; Night of the
and hotly debate their favorites, and comics-
Hunter. Marvel. 2006.144p. ISBN 978-1-
only fans will be intrigued. With occasional
4352-1589-4. pap. $7.99. F
sexual situations and strong language; rec-
Half Puerto Rican, half Mexican Anya ommended for academic libraries and adult
Corazón is your average, bright 15 year collections in public libraries.—M.C.
old. but she's right in your face if you
cross her. With her mama dead and her
papa a brooklyn reporter, she grew up Hennessey, Jonathan (text) & Aaron
fast and furious. Now this Miguel guy is McConnell (illus.). The United States
telling her she's the new Hunter, meant Constitution: A Graphic Adaptation. Hill &
to help the mysterious Spider Society and Wang: Farrar. 2008.160p. ISBN 978-0-8090-
its front organization WebCorps (get it?) 9487-5. $35; pap. ISBN 978-0-8090-9470-
protect her community from a criminal 7. $ 1 6 . 9 5 . POL SCI
underground known as the Sisterhood We the people can now appreciate our na-
of the Wasp. A tattoo from Miguel acti- tion's founding document unpacked into
vates her Hunter powers, enabling Anya easy-to-follow explanations enriched with
to conjure up a protective exoskeleton stick-in-your-mind visuals. Rendering non-
and enhanced strength, speed, and agil- fiction into comics is a unique challenge,
ity. Now known as "Araña" (Spanish for perhaps best addressed by pulling out the
spider), this chica kicks butt and sticks to multiple stories implicit in the text. The sto-
walls, too. Volume 3 fmds Anya prepar- ries stay with you, whereas mere illustrations
ing to confront Jade {"hay-deh"), her can fade faster than the Articles of Confed-
mother's killer—or so she thinks. Mean- eration. Stories in the C!)onstitution? Yes,
while, the Wasps have contracted with indeed: about how the Founding Fathers
Egyptian teen assassin Amun to get rid disagreed with one other, how the 13 Col-
of Araña, but... could he be falling for onies disagreed with England and among
her? The series features plenty of may- themselves, and how the Constitution was
hem and magic while avoiding graphic- therefore designed to balance competing in-
body damage and gore. The art is quite teR^sts: states rights vs. federal power and-—
good, like Runaii'ays (Vol. 6. Xpress ii,e- within the federal goveriniient itself—the
views, 12/19/06), but the darker tinge executive vs. legislative vs. judicial branches.
makes some of the action a bit hard to fol- Throughout, we learn how the document
low. This gutsy superheroine should have evolved over time so that today the Consti-
strong appeal for teens.—M.C. tution forbids slavery, for example, instead