Lovelace (the daughter of Lord Byron) and
Charles Babbage (a noted polymath) into
an inspired, “What If?” story. Lovelace
was a talented mathematician and helped
translate a paper on Babbage’s ideas for an
Analytical Engine, the world’s first computer. The notes she added to the translation were so cleverly detailed that experts
today recognize them as the first example
of computer programming. Although
Lovelace died a few years later and
Babbage was left to tinker with his
Analytical Engine until his death, Padua
imagines an alternate reality where they
build the engine and use it to “have
thrilling adventures and fight crime!”
The immensity of Padua’s research and
the wit and allusions of her prose are
striking, saying as much about what drove
her to explore the possibilities of her protagonists’ relationship as about the protagonists themselves. Permeated by
delightful illustrations, obsessive foot-and endnotes, and a spirit of genuine
inventiveness, it’s an early candidate for
the year’s best. (Apr.)
The Cartoon Introduction
to Philosophy
Michael Patton and Kevin Cannon. Hill &
Wang, $17.95 trade paper (176p) ISBN 978-0-
80903-362-1
Like many nonfiction graphic novels
written by non-comic writers, philosophy
professor Patton’s wordy text drives the
narrative. But Cannon’s ( The Stuff of Life)
art transcends what could have been a
second-place relationship to keep this
textbook-like explanation of the key
thinkers of history visually entertaining.
Heraclitus takes the reader on a canoe trip
down the River of Philosophy (complete
with charming talking fish) as a way to
introduce the exploration of six key
areas—logic, perception, minds, free will,
the existence of God, and ethics—and the
famous thinkers who made key discoveries in each. Early on, it’s noted that
women aren’t part of the “accepted
canon,” which consists of well-known
male philosophers who each get a brief,
half-page biographical snapshot.
Otherwise, the concept-based structure,
which incorporates ideas from across eras,
is welcoming and understandable to the
casual reader, accompanied by Cannon’s
sometimes-funny, sometimes-insightful
visual metaphors. The sequence illus-
trating mind-body interaction, with a
little Leibniz sitting on Descartes’s head
and holding a ship’s wheel, is particularly
amusing. Moreover, it helps the ideas
stick with the reader, as do the glossary
and bibliography for more in-depth
reading. (Apr.)
Dark Engine, Vol. 1:
The Art of Destruction
Ryan Burton and John Bivens. Image, $9.99
trade paper (112p) ISBN 978-1-63215-176-6
In their first collaboration, Burton and
Bivens have created an earth gone wrong,
where the globe is swarming with nightmarish demons and humanity’s only
hope for salvation lies in the hands of a
time-traveling topless homicidal savant
known simply as Sym. As the alchemists
who created her wait for Sym to kill “the
enemy” and restore the world to its true
nature, the last dragon—in this world
flightless—quests for a monstrous steed
to pilot. Burton’s narrative is a complex
beast, much like Bivens’s creatures themselves. Readers may need to look back
frequently to make sense of the story,
which reads mostly as a prologue to the
second volume. Very little of this world’s
lore is explained, leaving readers to
muddle through until things become
clearer at the 11th hour. This is the
book’s greatest failing, as too little is told
for the reader to fully understand what is
being shown. Fortunately, backtracking
is another opportunity to soak up Bivens’s
intriguing, Paul Pope–influenced pencils. The action can be hard to follow—
compounding the puzzlement brought
on by Burton’s script—but the scenes are
beautifully set, resulting in a confounding
but intriguing introduction. (Jan.)
Foolbert Funnies:
Histories and Other Fictions
Frank Stack. Fantagraphics, $24.99 (224p)
ISBN 978-1-60699-808-3
Stack (Our Cancer Year) was one of the
mainstays in the underground comix
movement; his collection The Adventures
of Jesus, published in 1964 under the
name “Foolbert Sturgeon,” may even
have been the very first underground
comic book. This anthology shows the
variety of Stack’s concerns, including
basically good-natured spoofs of main-
stream comics icons such as Superman
and the Phantom; speculations about the
fate of troubled geniuses such as Van
Gogh, Shakespeare, and Caravaggio;
and savage portraits of contemporary
small-minded politicians. Over the
years, Stack’s style has loosened into a
combination of energetic brushstrokes
and meticulous but vigorous cross-
hatching, wonderfully effective in pieces
such as the action-packed “Amazons.”
Overall, from the acerbic satire on aca-
demic bureaucrats in “The Chancellor!”
(1970) to the sneering “Patriotism for
Dummies” (2003), Stack demonstrates
that his indignation at lazy, shallow
thinking hasn’t faded at all. An impor-
tant, exhilarating book. (Jan.)
★ March, Book 2
John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, and Nate Powell.
Top Shelf, $19.95 trade paper (192p) ISBN
978-1-60309-400-9
In the second installment of his graphic
memoir, Congressman Lewis continues
to lay his soul bare about his time as an
activist in the Civil Rights Movement.
Chronicling the triumphs and hardships
of the Congress of Racial Equality
(CORE), this book paints a devastating
picture of America in the 1960s, taking
to task those who attacked peaceful protestors, and politicians who were desperate to maintain segregation. Lewis,
Aydin, and Powell’s combined experiences combine to recreate scenes of incredible feeling, from Rev. Martin Luther
King’s legendary “ I Have a Dream”
speech (and Lewis’s own, oft-overlooked
speech on the same day), to a single, terrifying night spent surrounded by the Ku
Klux Klan. Even passages that are less
emotionally fraught still carry historical
import, including Lewis’s recollections of
private conversations with King.
Throughout, however, it is Powell’s art
that truly steals the show, as the veteran
graphic novelist experiments with monochrome watercolors, powerful lettering
techniques, and inspired page layouts to
create a gripping visual experience that
enhances the power of Lewis’s unforgettable tale. (Jan.)
Editor’s note: Reviews noted as “BookLife” are for
self-published books received via BookLife, PW’s
program for indie authors.
