Grovel

Graphic novel news and reviews

Author Archive

La Perdida

By Andy • Aug 22nd, 2008 • Category: 2006, 4 stars, 4 stars, 4 stars, Abel, Jessica, Abel, Jessica, Literary, Pantheon Books, Review, Thriller, Travel

Jessica Alba’s break into the comics big time came with La Perdida, the story of a young woman called Carla’s lost year in Mexico. Starting out as a fresh-faced young American traveller, she finds herself reigniting a crappy relationship with ex-boyfriend Harry simply because he has an apartment in Mexico City. While she fulfils her [...]



Our Gang

By Andy • Aug 21st, 2008 • Category: no-affiliate

Walt Kelly is often considered one of the classic comic artists and, in this reprint of his long-running strip Our Gang, it’s easy to see his appeal. Having honed his craft as an animator at Disney, he converted many movie licences to comics, including these Our Gang strips, which originated as a popular movie franchise [...]



Smuggling Spirits

By Andy • Aug 20th, 2008 • Category: Coming soon, no-affiliate

With Frank Miller devoted to transferring his noir visions to Hollywood, we’re left looking to the next generation for our gritty, black and white, trench-coat clad anti-heroes. And visually at least, Mike Henderson is turning Ben Fisher’s script for Smuggling Spirits into something that looks like it’s been heavily influenced by Miller’s work on Sin [...]



Romance Papa

By Andy • Aug 18th, 2008 • Category: no-affiliate

Despite a ridiculously dubious sounding name, don’t let first impressions based on the title put you off this teen-romance comic presuming, of course, that teen-romance comics are your thing. The titular father of the piece is Sangbum, a plastic surgeon who finds out he has a 13-year-old daughter called Myunghae, courtesy of a sperm donation [...]



Essential Batman Encyclopedia, The

By Andy • Aug 15th, 2008 • Category: Preview

Is there anything that Robert Greenberger doesn’t know about Batman? Judging by this enormous 388-page tome, we’d guess not. This book has it all, from detailed information on Batman’s origins to biographies of every character the superhero has ever met. Don’t think this is a glossy, heavily-illustrated Dorling Kindersley style encyclopaedia either - oh no. [...]



Remembrance of Things Past

By Andy • Aug 14th, 2008 • Category: no-affiliate

Marcel Proust is widely considered a master of 20th Century literature - possibly the closest thing the world has come to Shakespeare since Shakespeare himself. However, there are a few barriers to his work. Firstly it’s in French, which is an obvious issue for non-francophones; and secondly, his best known work, Remembrance of Things Past [...]



Obsession

By Andy • Aug 13th, 2008 • Category: 2 stars, 2 stars, 2 stars, 2008, Clemens, Jeff, Heavy Proton, Rees, William, Review, Thriller

Obsession is a graphic novel is about a young girl called Clarissa, stuck out in the middle of nowhere, looking after her disabled mother. Her father absconded years before, leaving her mother in a mess of bitterness, obsessed with bringing her daughter up to be a perfect model of behaviour. Like most average sixteen-year-olds however, [...]



Countdown to Final Crisis Volume 1

By Andy • Aug 12th, 2008 • Category: Preview

You could be forgiven for thinking life is just one crisis after another for DC Comics’ superheroes at the moment, with another formulaic slew of crossover stories and a ‘countdown’ series making its debut. Countdown to Final Crisis Volume One is the first volume of four, collecting 13 of 51 weekly comics which, in the [...]



All-Star Batman & Robin, The Boy Wonder

By Andy • Aug 11th, 2008 • Category: 2 stars, 2008, 3 stars, 4 stars, 5 stars, 5 stars, All-Star, Batman, DC Comics, Lee, Jim, Miller, Frank, Review, Superhero, Titan Books, Williams, Scott

Batman is undoubtedly one of the most interesting of the superheroes. Usually written as a deeply intelligent man - a detective and scientist - with a billion dollars of gadgetry at his hip and a thing for going out at night and kicking the living daylights out of crime.
All-Star Batman & Robin, however, sees Frank [...]



Magic Lover’s Tower

By Andy • Aug 8th, 2008 • Category: no-affiliate

Love is no game, as most of us know. But when you’re the nerdiest girl in school and your heart decides to fall for the popular bad boy who’s never even noticed you, what are you going to do? Well, if you’re Roxanne, the female lead of Magic Lover’s Tower, you summon a magical being [...]