I See You've Called in Dead

 

I See You've Called in Dead by John Kenney (2025) 289 pages

Bud Stanley is an obituary writer for a news org. He's also been divorced for long enough to know that his ex isn't going to return. After a blind date goes nowhere‒the woman is late and tells him that she's going to go out with her own ex instead‒Bud goes home and drinks too much. He also learns that his former mother-in-law has died, and that his ex is not only remarried, but has a child now. He drunk-writes his own obituary, and although he didn't really mean to post it to the world, he does. And the obit is a doozy, filled with crazy things that are clearly untrue. Bud's continued employment is in doubt. He's put on paid leave while the head-honchos figure it out. 

Bud is swearing off of dating because of his bad luck. However, friendship is a strong recurring theme in this novel. Bud's boss, Howard, is a friend, although he doesn't seem to have the final say in the job decision. Bud's landlord, Tim, is another good friend who seems to have much strength of character although he's unable to walk. Bud's office mate, Tuan, treats him with fake disdain: one can sense camaraderie there, as well. A young neighbor boy named Leo also has an important role in Bud's life.

Bud goes to the funeral of his ex-mother-in-law, and meets a woman outside who confides that she goes to wakes and funerals of strangers, and that for her, it has been a kind of a secret to the meaning of life. She indicates the next funeral she will be attending. Bud begins attending funerals of strangers, then, too.

The pace and conversations in this novel make it fly, and in spite of the subject matter, it's definitely got its humor as well as discussions pertinent to the meaning of life and friendship. Really liked this book.

Talk to Me

 

Talk to Me by John Kenney (2019) 301 pages

Ted Grayson has been in the mainstream media for his entire career, the last 20 years as an anchor for his network's nightly news. He's used to getting attention and is a bit of a prima donna. On the evening of his 59th birthday, he's already upset because his wife is going to leave him and because he and his twenty-eight-year-old daughter are estranged. He has a substitute make-up person, a young woman from Poland whom he imagines is mocking him even though it's not true. He blows up just before he goes live, while she's filming him with her phone to show to her sister. The make-up woman is fired, and because she no longer has anything to lose, she uploads the video of Ted's vitriol to social media, where it goes viral. The result is that Ted's long career is in jeopardy, as well. Meanwhile, Ted's daughter, Franny, has been tasked by her odious boss at a social media company to do a write-up about her father to capitalize on all the clicks this will generate. 

The novel traces human frailties, especially regarding miscommunication, which seems to happen so very frequently. There is also discussion of the failures of mainstream media versus the unregulated world of social media.

Another selection of graphic novels read in Feb.

 Queenie: Godmother of Harlem by Elizabeth Columba and Aurelie Levy (2023) 160 pages

I was very intrigued by this history. Art in black and white is very realistic. Very traditional and symmetrical panels. The flashbacks to Stephanie St. Clair's childhood all deepen who she was as a person. A shadowy death always waiting for her is a great dramatic device. Astericks appear multiple times leading to a glossary in the back with historical context or translations of French at the bottom of the page. I love when Queenie and Bumpy, her right hand man, are in a movie theater and an indigenous character on screen breaks the fourth wall to address one asterisk right away. He explains a quote by James Baldwin. Black history is violent and often terrifying.

Ms. Marvel by Saladin Ahmed Omnibus by Saladin Ahmed with various artists (2021) 403 pages

This combines volumes 1-3. I had previously read volume 1, which is issues #1-6. The rest of this run by Saladin Ahmed felt like a smooth transition from G. Willow Wilson's series for this superhero. I love the further development of Kamala's family and high school friends. #7-18 had pretty good villains/monsters and fun uses of Ms. Marvel's powers to overcome the obstacles.

Roaming by Jillian Tamaki and Mariko Tamaki (2023) 443 pages

Second book I've read by Mariko Tamaki. This time she is working with her cousin Jillian Tamaki. Two friends and a new classmate, who are all in their first year of college, have different ways of being tourists in NYC. Over five days I love the way the story moves and how movement is illustrated across the page. The four tone color scheme works well. The relationship drama, the symbolic butterfly, the playfulness is all great and engaging.

Surrounded: America's First School for Black Girls, 1832 by Wilfred Lupano with art by Stephanie Fert (2025) 144 pages

Another great historical graphic novel for Black History Month! I'm not sure who is responsible for lettering, but it was tricky reading this font at times. Especially on my phone screen, but also on a desktop monitor, I had to really squint to make out some of the speech. I loved the way the story was told and the art. I could not find evidence that Stephanie Fert worked on the animated films Wolfwalkers or The Secret of Kells, but her art style reminded me of  those. The beauty of nature, the ugliness of racism, the promise of uplifting education are all explored. Crossing paths with Crandall's School for Girls is a young "feral" boy and a "witchy" woman who offer clever storytelling complications. There are pages with silent action, which work very well. And there are historical tidbits in an Afterword provided by the Crandall Museum.

Erased: A Black Actor's Journey Through the Glory Days of Hollywood by Loo Hui Phang with art by Hughues Micol (2024) 200 pages

This is a fascinating subject. Published in French first and translated. I just don't think the writer and artist were totally successful in delivering on the promise of the story. On one page director Josef von Sternberg, talking about exoticism, describes it as "a great big aesthetic shambles." I think that describes this graphic novel overall. It is trying to do so much tracing racism and politics in Hollywood. Maximus Wyld has Indigenous, African, and Chinese ancestry, so he is given many ethnic supporting roles. He is fictional, but he crosses paths with many real people who worked in Hollywood. He works on many real film projects. I didn't love the black and white art. Maybe the color scheme of the cover should have been used throughout. "Camera" angles change too abruptly and without the most logical flow. The likenesses of famous people aren't always recognizable. And sometimes the pages are too dark and cluttered. Writing-wise I wish there was more of a flow too. It is disjointed in attempting to cover so many faults in the way Hollywood operated. It is not always clear who is speaking, or what text bubbles are thoughts rather than speech. Purely non-fiction sketches of real people and films would probably have been more successful than this amalgamation of one guy linking all these different experiences.

The Whites / Richard Price writing as Harry Brandt, 333 pp.

Billy Graves and his former colleagues on a special anti-crime unit have 'Whites;' that is, they each have a horrible criminal who got away and whose freedom eats away at them.  But suddenly the Whites are turning up dead, and Billy needs to figure out why.  Meanwhile a secret from his wife Carmen's past threatens Billy's family.

If you like 'em hard-boiled this is the book for you.  Extremely dark and violent, this is a well-constructed and paced thriller.  Price/Brandt clearly knows his milieu, and he writes excellent dialogue.  I just can't enjoy stories quite so dark as this; it's so noir it's almost purple.