Graphic novel reviews C

Captain America - Ta-Nehisi Coates

1. Winter In America - In the wake of the whole Hydra thing, Cap's back and trying to make amends for his face being the face of the Supreme Hydra Commander. Unfortunately for Steve, no one's happy to see him back. The rest of America just kind of wants to forget Captain America exists. Some even believe he's still part of Hydra.  A plot slowly unfolds, Cap fights Taskmaster, Cap faces Selen who could beat him without any effort but decides to leave instead (?), the Russians are planning something.  This isn't wonderful, but it's intriguing.  [3.5] 
   

Captain Marvel [2016] - Ruth Fletcher Gage, Christos Gage

Captain Marvel [2019] - Kelly Thompson

Cardboard - Doug TenNabel  [Graphix]
An out-of-work dad gets his son a cardboard box for a present, only to realize that the creatures they make from it come to life.  When the nasty bully next door sees that, he takes the magic cardboard, but it's too much for him to handle.  This is a pretty good book about friendship, offering a helping hand, and being content with what you have.  The plot goes a little off the rails near the end, but the kids will love it.  [4]

Cardboard Kingdom - Chad Sell

The Carter Family: Don't Forget This Song - Frank M. Young

A biography of A.P. Carter, his wife, and her cousin, and how they went from dirt poverty to radio superstars in the 1930s.  It's very deeply researched, but also a broad overview.  The art is a little clumsy but it's a detailed and affectionate portrait.  [3.5]

 

Castle Waiting - Linda Medley

1. Vol. 1 - A fantasy that centers mainly on the lives of independent, strong women.  In the first story, pregnant Lady Jain escapes her husband and goes through some adventures before finding refuge in Castle Waiting, where bizarre but friendly characters such as the horse-man knight Sir Chess and the bird-headed steward Rackham welcome her.  In the second part, one of the ladies there tells a long series of stories about the origin of a cloistered order of bearded women.  More escaping nasty husbands and finding good men ensues.  Bold black and white art evokes Bone.  Excellent, startlingly original stories, although personally I prefer the first part which involves more talking animal folk.  [5]
   

Catwoman - Ed Brubaker
Vols. 1-4 - Perfect superhero noir, blending all the tropes and history of the comics with a neo-noir sensibility.  Not gritty, but dark and suspenseful, with real wit and humor.  It's like a comic written by an adult, for adults.  [5]

Caveboy Dave - Aaron Reynolds

Champions - Mark Waid

Champions - Eve Ewing

Cheer Up: Love and Pompoms - Crystal Frasier

Annie is a smart, antisocial lesbian starting her senior year of high school who’s under pressure to join the cheerleader squad to make friends and round out her college applications. Her former friend Bebe is a people-pleaser—a trans girl who must keep her parents happy with her grades and social life to keep their support of her transition. Through the rigors of squad training and amped up social pressures (not to mention micro aggressions and other queer youth problems), the two girls rekindle a friendship they thought they’d lost.  Very well done queer drama.  [4]

The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina - Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa

1.  The Crucible - A gory updating of the cheesy original, but set in the '60s.  The backstory involves a bit more lost love and killing and stolen babies, but keeps the doting (albeit cannibal) aunts and the snarky cat.  Sabrina comes to a school full of humans and falls for the local football hero, but a resurrected spirit of vengeance called Madam Satan has other plans for her.  It's well done, but a bit too visceral for me.  Horror fans would like it.  I mean, I would read the next one, but I won't be too upset if I don't get around to it.  [3.5]
   

Class Act - Jerry Craft

The sequel to New Kid.  Highly motivated Drew, straight-A student and star athlete who lives with his grandmother, enters eighth grade less sure of his place than ever.  His two closest friends are Jordan and Liam, but once he sees just how wealthy and rarefied Liam's life is, he starts to drift away, knowing how hard it is to bridge such a gap.  Pressures mount, among them a girl who keeps pressuring him with too much attention, and a well-intentioned but clueless white faculty.  This is a hilarious and important book, done with humor but not shying away from how tough racial issues can be.  I really enjoyed all the references and homages in the art.  [4.5]

Click - Kayla Miller

Clubbing - Andi Watson  [Minx]
A snarky teenage girl is sent to her grandparents' place in the countryside after being caught with a fake ID.  She chafes against the boredom but is soon caught up in a murder which may involve an occult coven.  Watson (who is a man, despite the spelling of his name) makes his heroine rather unlikely - model thin, in micro-skirts and halter tops, obsessed with clubs and shopping, but also casually name dropping Thomas Hardy, P.G. Wodehouse, Emmeline Pankhurst, and Evelyn Waugh, and using words like "emetic."  The plot starts well but ends a bit over the top.  Read twice, accidentally.  [2.5]

Concrete: The Human Dilemma - Paul Chadwick  [Dark Horse]
Eisner-winning story arc about world overpopulation and the ethics of addressing it.  Chadwick is a great artist but his writing is a bit histrionic and self-important for me.  Bought used and sold.  [3]

Criminal (6 volumes) - Ed Brubaker
Perfect gritty flawless noir.  Endlessly re-readable. [5]

Cub - Cynthia L. Copeland