Graphic Novel Reviews
by Jamie Coville

Steady Beat Vol. 1 Creator: Rivkah Publisher: TokyoPop Price: $9.99 US, $13.99 CND.

Steady Beat is about Leah Winters, a 16 year old girl that's good in soccer, has an older sister that she's gets compared to and a mother in politics. Leah discovers a secret about her sister and goes about trying to learn more without confronting her. She does this while trying to avoid getting caught by her mother. Along the way she meets a couple of potential romantic interests. Unlike most ToykoPop books, this reads left to right like traditional American comics. Rivkah's figures are very nice to look at. Easy on the eyes, with a wonderful mix of cartoony and detail. What really stands out are her faces, which are a bit more realistic looking than stereotypical manga elfish look. There is a very wide variety of panel layouts, most of them working quite well. There are a couple of small text pieces that stick out too. The first one gives us the profile of the main character. It's unique to see that as most writers work all that within the story somehow. A 2nd is Leah and Rivkah doing an "instant message" chat about writing. Within the back there is a sketchbook with notes by Rivkah, a preview chapter of Mark of the Succubus, plus some house ads. I enjoyed the book and give it a 3.5 out of 5.

DramaCon Vol. 1 Creator: Svetlana Chmakova Publisher: TokyoPop Price: $9.99 US, $13.99 CND

DramaCon is about a young comic writer (Christie) and her boyfriend (Derek) going to a Anime/Manga convention for their first time. It's titled DramaCon because this is a dramatic experience from the con itself, her relationship with her boyfriend and meeting a new guy (Matt). The story though is Christie's, who is a timid high school girl. She has just gone from fan to pro. What I like most about this book is it's believability. All these characters feel real, with the exception of one - but you wish he was real. The story feels real, too. I know my first con experience wasn't great either. If you ever gone to a comic con about half of what Christie feels will hit home with you. If not, then read this book anyway because it will sorta give you an idea of what a con is like. I loved the dialogue and the pacing. I breezed through the book and it was an enjoyable all the way. There was no boring or rough spots to be found. Even better is the story has an ending of sorts that leaves you feeling you got a complete story. There is more to come, but you got your money's worth. The writing is damn near perfect. Only quibble is don't remember seeing the main characters name introduced within the story. I recall her being called "Chriss" once but on the back cover I see it's Christie. An editor should have noticed this. The art bounces and flows from being straight to very cartoonish. I actually prefer the straight art, but the cartoon art is usually done to show dramatic emotions. Considering the story situation there is a lot of drama within the story. The layouts are energetic but still easy to follow along. I should say this is OEL Manga and is published in left to right format, which makes it easier on us traditional comic readers. I couldn't help but notice Svetlana uses a British style arrows with small descriptions in them and makes them work. When I seen them in Dandy reprints they always bugged me as they were describing a joke that the cartoonist was already showing. Svetlana uses them to add to the story, quickly getting more info into a small space and keeps the story moving along. I love this book. I can't stop re-reading bits of it as I'm doing this review. After the story Svetlana as a 3 page "on the set" which features the characters like they were actors. It's humorous. After that is some fan art with awards for them and the editor takes a favorite page and breaks down the creation of it from thumbnails to finished art and then some house ads. I highly recommend this book. It gets 4.5 out of 5. Regards, Jamie Coville http://www.TheGraphicNovels.com News and discussion on a free, Delphi like forum.

[Back to Collector Times]

[Prev.]

[Return to Comics]

[Disclaimer]

[Next]