Tag: graphic novel reviews

The Book of Murmurs Review on Comics Beat

~ Kathryn ~ Leave a comment

I recently had the opportunity to write a review of The Book of Murmurs, a new graphic novel from Fantagraphics about a young girl who goes on a magical journey through a fantasy world.

You probably think you know what you’re getting from that description, but this is an incredibly rich and dense story. I actually had to push back my review because, as I explained to my editor, I wasn’t expecting this book to be House of Leaves Junior. Formulating the basic outline of the plot was an intriguing challenge, and I had to do a fair bit of outside research, which included finding interviews with the artist while studying her social media posts. In case this sounds like a bad thing, please rest assured that The Book of Murmurs is well worth the time and effort.

Here’s an excerpt from my review:

In a launch day interview, Purwin describes her work as a reflection of her experience as a child growing up in the 1980s, when lush fantasy films like Labyrinth and The Secret of Nimh were suffused with sinister undertones and didn’t always make sense. Purwin says that she created The Book of Murmurs for her younger self, who would stay up late to watch movies like Stand by Me and then spend days dwelling on the unfamiliar imagery while processing a lingering sense of unease. The Book of Murmurs perfectly captures the sense of fascination with forms and meanings half-glimpsed through shadows, always asking compelling questions that don’t have straightforward answers.

I’d like to expand on my review here and say that I would have loved The Book of Murmurs as a kid. As an adult who appreciates the fragmented and nonlinear storytelling of The Magnus Archives and Bloodborne, I really enjoyed getting lost in this graphic novel. Based on the artist’s gorgeous and heartbreaking social media minicomics about Palestinian refugees, I also get the sense that there are strong political currents underlying the adventure story, and I hope this book receives the sympathetic scholarly attention it deserves. It’s so good.

You can read my full review on Comics Beat here:
https://www.comicsbeat.com/book-of-murmurs-review/

Review of The Art of Slay the Princess on Comics Beat

~ Kathryn ~ Leave a comment

Although this book came out back in October 2025, Comics Beat offered me the opportunity to write a review of The Art of Slay the Princess, which is something like a graphic novel adaptation of the horror game (on Steam here).

It’s difficult to summarize the story of Slay the Princess, and a serious discussion could easily turn into a substantial essay. What I therefore ended up doing in my review was discussing the success of the cross-media adaptation. You might wonder how a print book would be able to convey the multiplicity of the game’s branching storylines, and the answer is that it does so in a remarkably artful way.

Here’s an excerpt from my review:

In order to function as a book, The Art of Slay the Princess omits a substantial amount of text from the game’s script. By necessity, many of the game’s multimedia horror elements, including its viscerally upsetting soundscapes, are also missing. Regardless, Howard’s illustration work is sufficiently disturbing even in a montage of static frames, and the page layout is utilized to showcase the various forms of the Princess in their full uncanny glory. Though it’s not a traditionally linear reading experience, The Art of Slay the Princess is still more than capable of immersing the reader in its dark and labyrinthine world.

You can read the review on Comics Beat here:
https://www.comicsbeat.com/the-art-of-slay-the-princess-review/

Review of Pig Wife on Comics Beat

~ Kathryn ~ Leave a comment

I recently had the immense pleasure of writing a review for Comics Beat about Pig Wife, a massive graphic novel drawn by Abbey Luck, a Hollywood animator who specializes in Adult Swim style bizarro art. Pig Wife is definitely Hollywood, and it’s definitely got a Gen-X style “alternative” edge to it. Neither of these things is to my taste, usually, but I love Pig Wife for what it is: namely, a gothic “weird girl” coming-of-age story set in a not-quite abandoned labyrinth of mine tunnels in rural Pennsyltucky.

I say in my review that it’s easy to read this 500-page book in one sitting, and I mean it. Pig Wife tells an incredibly entertaining story; but, appropriately enough, there’s a lot going on below the surface. Here’s an excerpt from my review:

By forgoing the nuances of character, Pig Wife can focus entirely on plot, and the plot is a well-oiled machine that grabs the reader and aggressively drags them down into the tunnels. Moreover, by virtue of the broad strokes of its characterization, Pig Wife is also able to convey the allegorical elements of its scenario.

The coming-of-age story in which a young hero embarks on a journey has a universal appeal, but teenage girls (and slightly older girls, if they’re trans) often undergo a separate ascent from innocence to experience that I think of as “climbing out of the pit.” By “the pit,” I mean the everpresent tarpit of internalized sexism and misogyny, and the mine tunnels of Pig Wife are as good of a visualization of this pit as any.

You can read the full review on Comics Beat here:
https://www.comicsbeat.com/graphic-novel-review-pig-wife/

Review of Shadows of the Sea on Comics Beat

~ Kathryn ~ Leave a comment

I recently had the privilege of writing a review for Comics Beat about Cathy Malkasian’s new graphic novel, Shadows of the Sea. I have to admit that I struggled with Malkasian’s previous books, which are brilliant but tonally dark and emotionally devastating. Shadows of the Sea is just as strange and heartbreaking as the artist’s earlier work, but it ends on a gloriously high note that gives me hope for the future. I was prepared to write a review about the value of portraying despair in dark times, but man. Hope is good too.

Here’s an excerpt:

In his review on The Beat, John Seven assesses Malkasian’s 2017 graphic novel Eartha as one of the artist’s characteristic “gloomy, apocalyptic parables that don’t make you feel so great about humankind.” It’s difficult to disagree, as Eartha is deeply disquieting. In contrast, Shadows of the Sea feels like a gentler turn of the same thematic wheel, presenting a story that’s smaller in scope but richer in emotional immediacy. The fantastic world Malkasian has painted is cruel and strange, to be sure, but it still affords the possibility of healing. Shadows of the Sea lingers not because of its darkness, but because of the hope that emerges after a brave confrontation with bitter truths.

You can read the full review on Comics Beat here:
https://www.comicsbeat.com/graphic-novel-review-shadows-of-the-sea/

Review of Let Me in Your Window on Comics Beat

~ Kathryn ~ Leave a comment

I’m super grateful to Comics Beat for giving me the opportunity to review the newest horror comics collection from Adam Ellis, Let Me in Your Window. These gorgeously drawn stories offer disturbing insights into the murky shadows of internet culture, as well as brilliant speculation on potential digital futures.

Something I always appreciate about Ellis is how he documents the many absurdities of both corporate platform policies and social media subcultures alike. It’s easy to read the stories in Let Me in Your Window as spooky urban legends with no allegory… but also, I feel extremely Seen by Ellis’s characteristic take on digital horror. Here’s an excerpt from my review:

Adam Ellis’s second horror comic collection, Let Me in Your Window, is digital horror at its finest. As the successor to Ellis’s 2024 collection Bad Dreams in the Night, Let Me in Your Window ventures even deeper into the wires as it speaks to anxieties surrounding the omnipresent ghosts that speak to us through our screens. Even if most of us are content to allow these phantoms to pass unnoticed, it can be unnerving to realize that we’re ghosts as well – ghosts being watched, ghosts being catalogued, and ghosts that constantly leave behind traces of our former selves. The ten stories collected in Let Me in Your Window invite the reader to reflect on what it means to inhabit the constantly unfolding urban legends of online culture.

You can read the full review on Comics Beat here:
https://www.comicsbeat.com/graphic-novel-review-let-me-in-your-window/

Review of Low Orbit on Comics Beat

~ Kathryn ~ Leave a comment

I’m honored to have been able to share a review of the recently published graphic novel Low Orbit on Comics Beat. Kazimir Lee’s debut is about dead malls in Vermont, sci-fi fan conventions in New York, epic space adventures, real-life queer identity, and everything in between. It’s an extremely ambitious story, and I’m in awe of the artist’s ability to pull it off with nuance and sensitivity – and also with some fantastic action scenes. Here’s an excerpt from my review:

At the end of Low Orbit, what lingers is the sensitivity with which Lee captures the slow and often painful process of becoming a person. Azar doesn’t find neat resolutions to her problems, and the adults around her remain as flawed as she is. Still, there’s a quiet clarity in how Azar begins to see them as fellow travelers on an uncertain path. Low Orbit is a stunning debut that’s just as fascinating as adolescence itself, and just as full of hard truths and unexpected kinships.

You can read the full review on Comics Beat here:
https://www.comicsbeat.com/graphic-novel-review-low-orbit-boldly-explores-the-intersections-of-fiction-and-identity/

Review of Hourglass on Comics Beat

~ Kathryn ~ Leave a comment

I had the immense honor of publishing a review of Barbara Mazzi’s graphic novella Hourglass on Comics Beat. Hourglass is gorgeous, and it explores the full speculative potential of steampunk. It has its gears and smashes them too, all the while being incredibly stylish. I’m ambivalent about steampunk, but I have nothing but love for this fantastic book. Here’s a short excerpt from my review…

Barbara Mazzi’s stylish artwork is the perfect vehicle for these characters and their world. Instead of moldering in the usual steampunk attachment to the Victorian era, Hourglass delights in the lavish luxury of the 1920s. Designs inspired by Art Deco contrast strong angles against delicate filigree. Meanwhile, the interior of the machine is a chaos of detail that reminds me of the detailed mechanical designs of Studio Ghibli films like Castle in the Sky. Mazzi’s warm shades of gray convey the warmth of the machine’s interior, while the mellow gold of the spot color emphasizes the magic of this world and the humanity of its inhabitants.

You can read the full review on Comics Beat here:
https://www.comicsbeat.com/graphic-novel-review-hourglass-gears-are-powered-by-adventure/