Written and Illustrated by Kazu Kibuishi
224 pages, full color
Published by GRAPHIX

If you haven’t read the first book in the Amulet series (The Stonekeeper) you should know that there will be SPOILERS here for you. Not SPOILERS for this book, but since this is a series, the events of the first book weigh heavily on the events of all future books…

In every good hero’s tale, there comes a point where the hero’s mission broadens. The scope of the whole journey is widened and the hero must make a choice. That is this book.

In Amulet 1: The Stonekeeper, the Emily and Navin were chasing to get their mom back… which they somewhat accomplish, but she’s been poisoned. In Amulet 2: The Stonekeeper’s Curse, the gang visits the town of Kanalis to get treatment from one of the many doctors for their mom.

Kanalis is the first time we’ve seen a town in the world of Alledia and right out of the gate we know that something is wrong. The whole town has been under an ancient curse where everyone is slowly turning into animals. They’re also being subjugated by the elves. It’s here they meet a sword-wielding fox promising to train Emily to use the stone around her neck for good, but only as long as she helps to save his world. Not only that, but that the stone also comes with a severe curse that could turn her into a world destroying monster.

But Emily’s not the only one getting a larger calling and a deeper role in the story. Her younger brother, Navin meets a group of warriors who are awaiting his orders as their general. And the evil elf from the end of the first book is being treated like a failure in front of the king elf, his father.

The elf prince’s story somewhat reminds me of the Arbiter’s story in Halo 3 and it honestly gives me guesses about where he’s headed, but who knows.

The thing I love most about this book is that with all the expansion, you’re not lost trying to figure everything out. If anything, Kibuishi has managed to get deeper with each character both emotionally and historically. You believe these warriors have been fighting the good fight. You feel the faith Leon the Fox has in Emily. You hear the sadness and distress in the elf prince’s dismissal. So many characters are added. A whole world is being penciled in as we read, but the colors are seeping through and it’s beautiful.

The pacing is great too. There’s tons of great action that rushes on ahead, and quiet moments that leave your mind churning to figure out the mystery. Kibuishi has an amazing knack for the slow reveal and, frankly, I can’t get enough.

Get yourself a copy!

 

 

 

So, today I have nothing but congratulations for Jackie Rose and Josh Ulrich. If you’re reading this post prior to 11:43am EST on July 31, 2013 and you haven’t backed Jackie Rose yet…

Back Jackie Rose Now!

If you’re here after 11:43am, then you’re out of luck to back the project, but you can still support this amazing comic and creator by checking out his website: JackieRoseComic.com and following along there!

Congrats to Josh, and thanks to everyone who supported it! I can’t wait for my copy!

 

I’ve been trying to start this review for months, but nothing has ever felt right. I started reading Amulet just before the 5th book came out, and had a hard time getting a hold of the 4th and 5th in my library because they were always checked out. If that’s not a great endorsement, then I don’t know what is! I don’t even remember how I became aware of the series’ existence, but after I did, nothing was the same.

For the next five weeks, I will be reviewing each of the five books in the series (not sure when 6 comes out). For these reviews, I’m going to re-read all three of the originals and read for the first time books 4 and 5.

Written and Illustrated by Kazu Kibuishi
192 pages, full color
Published by GRAPHIX

Amulet 1: The Stonekeeper is one of the best graphic novels I have read. It immediately shot its author, Kazu Kibuishi to the top of my graphic novel heroes list with Doug TenNapel. There is something incredibly inspiring about this book for me. To a certain extent it is the kind of book I would want to make outside of funny things.

The book starts out on a somber note with a family losing a father. This is a happy family, but roads are icy. The opening is interesting because it shows loss and death right in the opening, and even after only a few pages, you feel it too. not only that, but many young adult novels will imply loss and allow the reveal over time, but this shows—right at the beginning—that loss will play a strong role in the rest of the story. And as sad as it is, the openness is intoxicating.

The story quickly jumps 2 years into the future where we meet our family again moving into an old family home. The mom has tried to provide as best she can, but things just aren’t working in their favor. As they’re moving in, the daughter, Emily, finds a room with mysterious mechanical works and a large portrait of the long lost Silas Charnon, her great grandfather. One thing leads to another and Emily discovers a mystical amulet.

That night their mom is taken by a creature in the basement, and they follow into a different realm and thus begins an amazing chase to retrieve their mother. Along the way, Emily is being helped by the amulet around her neck in both advice and strange powers. They meet a team of robotic characters that helps them along their way: a rabbit named Miskit, a crotchety old cod named Cogsley, and a fretting robot named Morrie—just to name a few.

Without ruining too much of the plot, Kibuishi has an incredible talent for widening a story. Much like the characters in the novel, the reader is whisked away into a much wider world. You can see and feel the history of the world as the story progresses. It makes every page more fascinating than the next.

And as deep a history as the world has, the same can be said for the story itself. Kibuishi does not spend a lot of time spelling out the meaning or any of the lessons. Like I said before, he doesn’t shy away from loss, but even more so he delves into the cravings of power, adolescence and more. There are plenty of subtexts for all ages to get something out of this story.

But not only are there great thematic elements and a good story, but the artwork is fantastic. On every page, as an artist, I felt blown away. I feel like I could read through the book hundreds of times and always come away with some new piece of just how he does what he does. Every page is beautifully rendered in full color and on a nice glossy paper that really give the book a high quality feel, and at a low price point the whole thing feels like a great investment for my library. I can’t wait to read through these books with my kids!

Next week, I’ll be doing Amulet 2: The Stonekeeper’s Curse, so stay tuned!

Get a copy!

 

I found this pie chart about Web Design by Alan Foreman on a BuzzFeed article that was pretty great if you’re a developer, but wanted to clean it up a bit for those of us a bit more averse to sharing things with coarse language and potty-mouthery. The chart was just too funny not to share with you guys because this is probably 99% true.

Well, have a good weekend everyone!

Today we continue July’s Featured Comic Series with Jackie Rose by Josh Ulrich!

ACTION! ADVENTURE! AIR PIRATES! And those are just some of the words I would tell you (all starting with “a” surprisingly) to get you into Jackie Rose. I’ve been teasing you guys all week by showing the lead up to today’s comic, but BAM! Action! The pirates are attacking their air-cruise!

Josh’s pacing in this story is quite fantastic. He never lets moment linger for longer than it needs before it’s off onto the next thing. Like this moment we’ve been showcasing over the past few weeks between Jackie and Eddie… just when it really starts to get sweet… BOOM. Guns blazing. Glass shattering. As the song would say, “the heat is on.”

And he does this throughout the book. Allowing for a quiet moment, but not letting it sit idle very long. It’s wonderful. The story moves at a fast clip, yet still contains the emotional depth lost in most action movies. It’s refreshing and inspiring.

Jackie Rose Page 17

 

Interview: Part 4

Q. Who is your hero, and why?

My grandpa. He loved God, served in WWII, married the woman he loved, lived below his means, saved, provided for his family, and retired a wealthy and wise man. He was also one of the most generous men I ever met. He would hardly spend a dime on himself, but he would give you the shirt off his back if you asked for it. That’s the kind of man I want to be.

Q. As an artist, where do you draw value from your work?

I would say the greatest value for me is being able to share my stories with others. If my comics can cheer someone up, add something to their life, or just make them think, then I’m doing my job. The recent trend in our culture is to tear things down and aspire to mediocrity, but I believe we have a responsibility as storytellers to enrich people’s lives, build them up, and give them something to strive towards.

 

Kickstarter Update!

HOLY STRETCH GOALS, BATMAN! Jackie Rose is totally funded, and then some!

This is pretty exciting! As of this writing, he’s about $1,000 away from the next stretch goal of $9,000 which will bring some sweet, custom air pirate patches! Just recently we passed the $7,500 stretch goal and everyone over the $20 reward level gets bookmarks now! They look awesome and I can’t wait.

Keep up the support! Oh, and if you want that patch, you’ll need to be in the $35 and up range, so if you’re not now, up your support to get in there! 😀

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