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.