Posted February 18, 2026 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments
Bipolar Bear and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Health Insurance: A Fable for Grown-Ups
Genres: Graphic Novels Pages: 200
Rating: 
Synopsis: Theodore is a bear with wild mood swings. When he is up, he carves epic poetry into tree trunks. When he is down, he paints sad faces on rocks and turtle shells. In search of prescription medications that will bring stability to his life, Theodore finds a job with health insurance benefits. He gets the meds, but when he can't pay the psychiatrist's bill, he becomes lost in the Labyrinth of Health Insurance Claims.
This witty and colorful tale follows the comical exploits of Theodore, a lovable and relatable bear, as he copes with bipolar disorder, navigates the inequities of capitalist society, founds a commune, and becomes an activist, all the while accompanied by a memorable cast of characters--fat-cat insurance CEOs, a wrongfully convicted snake, raccoons with tommy guns, and an unemployed old dog who cannot learn new tricks.
Entertaining, whimsical, and bitingly satirical, Bipolar Bear is a fable for grownups that manages the delicate balance of addressing society's ills while simultaneously presenting a hopeful vision for the world.
Bipolar Bear and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Health Insurance is an awesome concept, and it’s worth paying attention to the subtitle too (“A Fable for Grownups”), because it very much is a fable, and aimed at adults (definitely not kids). Kathleen Founds is writing with experience, very clearly, addressing some of the experiences of bipolar disorder, but also of navigating an insurance-based health system (and how bipolar disorder can add its own pitfalls to that).
Obviously it does feel very, very American; some of these problems don’t apply here in the UK, though (as I understand it from my mother, who is a psychiatrist) the problem of e.g. someone deciding they feel well and going off their medication (which is, of course, the reason they felt well) certainly does cause problems here too.
It felt maybe a little long for me, because I could see where it was going; being a fable, it could probably have simplified even more and made its point very well. Still, it’s a fun idea, and I suspect for some it would also be a way of seeing that they’re not alone.
Rating: 3/5 (“liked it”)
Tags: book reviews, books, comics, graphic novels, Kathleen Founds
Posted February 9, 2026 by Nicky in Reviews / 4 Comments
Milk & Mocha: Our Little Happiness
Genres: Graphic Novels Pages: 128
Rating: Synopsis: Cozy up with a warm cup of tea and follow the sweet scenes of Milk and Mocha, from the popular webcomic @milkmochabear.
Milk and Mocha share their sweet slice-of-life moments in this new collection, including never-before-seen comics! Milk and Mocha are charming bears with opposite personalities. These uplifting comics remind us of the sweet moments we share with our friends, family, and loved ones.
Melani Sie’s Milk & Mocha: Our Little Happiness is a cute collection of fairly similar comic strips featuring Milk and Mocha, two cuddly bears (one of whom is mute and uses signs to talk sometimes), and their tiny pet dinosaur, Matcha. It’s adorably drawn and the strips are cute, if repetitive.
Obviously as far as I’m concerned Matcha is the absolute highlight.
Possibly this’d be more fun to just dip into, rather than try to read in one go or something — there’s no story, really, after all.
Rating: 3/5 (“liked it”)
Tags: book reviews, books, comics, Melani Sie
Posted February 4, 2026 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments
Love Everlasting
Genres: Fantasy,
Graphic Novels,
Horror Pages: 136
Series: Love Everlasting #3 Rating: Synopsis: The next epic chapter of the acclaimed Eisner, Harvey, and Ringo nominated series!
Love Everlasting goes West, exploring the tropes and thrills of Old West Romance as everything shifts perspective and we discover the Cowboy's secret origin. Following the Cowboy as he follows Joan, we learn how Joan was first trapped in these stories...and how she might finally escape! The answers to the questions you've been asking are here in an addictive page-turner that will make you laugh and cry at the story of Joan and her Cowboy.
Collects issues #11-15.
I really really love the art in Tom King et al’s Love Everlasting — I’m glad it’s been consistent, it’s a style I’ve enjoyed. Buuuut the story is getting really frustrating: whenever you think you’re getting somewhere, Joan gets reset and goes through another love story.
I get that the repetition is part of the point, and it’s probably a lot of fun coming up with the multiple love stories in different styles (and the funny titles), but we really really have to start getting somewhere for real.
I’d read a volume four, but it’ll need to feel like a step forward for actually understanding why this is happening.
Rating: 3/5 (“liked it”)
Tags: book reviews, books, Clayton Cowles, comics, Elsa Charretier, graphic novels, horror, Matt Hollingsworth, SF/F, Tom King
Posted December 15, 2025 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments
Glass Town
Genres: Fantasy,
Graphic Novels Pages: 224
Rating: 
Synopsis: Glass Town is an original graphic novel by Isabel Greenberg that encompasses the eccentric childhoods of the four Bront. children--Charlotte, Branwell, Emily, and Anne. The story begins in 1825, with the deaths of Maria and Elizabeth, the eldest siblings. It is in response to this loss that the four remaining Bront. children set pen to paper and created the fictional world that became known as Glass Town. This world and its cast of characters would come to be the Bront s' escape from the realities of their lives. Within Glass Town the siblings experienced love, friendship, war, triumph, and heartbreak. Through a combination of quotes from the stories originally penned by the Bront s, biographical information about them, and Greenberg's vivid comic book illustrations, readers will find themselves enraptured by this fascinating imaginary world.
I’m not a huge fan of Isabel Greenberg’s art, maybe because I’m not a very visual person and thus I sometimes found it hard to parse when it got extra scribbly, and to identify characters, etc. I don’t love the lettering, either. It’s fun to play in the world of the BrontĂ«s and their juvenilia, but it kinda wore out its welcome for me, I guess?
In the end, it didn’t really feel like it told a full, satisfying story about either Charlotte BrontĂ«Â or Glasstown etc. In part that’s because life is like that, and the BrontĂ«s caught a pretty rough deal, but… I didn’t really feel the transition from fantasy to reality was a great climax, and I’d almost have been more interested to see Charlotte vanish into her fantasy world and find a better ending.
I will say that though I don’t like the art style, it is very expressive and captures body language and expressions really well at times.
Rating: 2/5 (“it was okay”)
Tags: book reviews, books, graphic novels, Isabel Greenberg, SF/F
Posted November 20, 2025 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments
Vaccines: A Graphic History
Genres: Graphic Novels,
Non-fiction Pages: 36
Rating: Synopsis: Vaccines have been used to safely introduce people's bodies to diseases for centuries, and they save millions of lives each year. By giving people a weakened or dead version of a disease, a vaccine allows the body to develop antibodies which recognize and fight the disease later on. Early vaccinations used dry scabs from smallpox to promote smallpox immunity. Doctors and scientists across nations took and improved the method, developing vaccines for health crises from whooping cough to polio to COVID-19. This graphic history features famous cases and current challenges, including the time frame for creating a new vaccine.
Paige V. Polinsky’s Vaccines: A Graphic History is a very whistle-stop tour of the history of vaccination, covering types of vaccination, how vaccination works, early vaccination, and COVID vaccines, all in an incredibly tight space.
It doesn’t seem to really know what it wants to be, since there are quite technical terms (like “live attenuated vaccine”), illustrated by a couple of examples, but then it’s so general and swift that it lacks actual interest, to my mind.
It seems like a valiant educational effort, and the art’s not terrible or anything, but… I think it’s simultaneously too dry and too brief to do much good.
Rating: 2/5 (“it was okay”)
Tags: book reviews, books, Dante Ginevra, non-fiction, Paige V. Polinsky, science
Posted November 17, 2025 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments
The Deep Dark
Genres: Fantasy,
Graphic Novels Pages: 470
Rating: 
Synopsis: Everyone has secrets. Mags's has teeth.
Magdalena Herrera is about to graduate high school, but she already feels like an adult with serious responsibilities: caring for her ailing grandmother; working a part-time job; clandestine makeouts with a girl who has a boyfriend. And then there's her secret, which pulls her into the basement each night, drains her of energy, and leaves her bleeding. A secret that could hurt and even kill if it ever got out -- like it did once before.
So Mags keeps her head down, isolated in her small desert community. That is, until her childhood friend Nessa comes back to town, bringing vivid memories of the past, an intoxicating glimpse of the future, and a secret of her own. Mags won't get attached, of course. She's always been strong enough to survive without anyone's help.
But when the darkness starts to close in on them both, Mags will have to drag her secret into the daylight, and choose between risking everything... or having nothing left to lose.
I found Lee Knox Ostertag’s The Deep Dark a little predictable in a way — almost familiar, really made me wonder if I’d maybe read it before? But I don’t think so. Anyway, I wouldn’t say that finding it predictable was a bad thing, to be clear: it was more about the connection between Nessa and Mags for me, the path they took to the ending, than about being stunningly original.
It’s about self-blame and acceptance, even when it’s really, really hard. Yeah, it’s obvious as a metaphor when you get there, but that doesn’t make it any less of an important story. And the relationship between Nessa and Mags is in part about learning you don’t just have to go it on your own, and again, about finding self-worth… all of these are stories worth telling, especially with a trans girl and a butch girl as the protagonists.
I always really like Ostertag’s art, and I liked this too — character design, expressions, etc.
Rating: 4/5 (“really liked it”)
Tags: book reviews, books, comics, graphic novels, Lee Knox Ostertag, SF/F
Posted October 23, 2025 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments
Fence: Redemption
Genres: Graphic Novels,
Romance Pages: 112
Series: Fence #6 Rating: Synopsis: A mysterious new fencer arrives at Halverton in the newest chapter of the GLAAD Media Award-nominated sports comic, perfect for fans of Heartstopper.
THE COMPETITION HAS BEEN RESET… EN GARDE!
Return to the thrilling world of high-stakes, competitive fencing, with a brand new story featuring the beloved cast of characters from the original hit series. Are Seiji and Jesse really through? The rumors around Halverton, the prestigious fencing training camp, have spread like wildfire, but it’s not long before a mystery fencer arrives–one who may finally pose a threat to the #1 spot. Will Seiji’s unquenchable quest for rivalry take Nicholas’ place? Where will his loyalty lie? And, when Seiji gets an up close and personal look into Nicholas’ past and determination against adversity while preparing for the difficult road ahead and the State Championships, he’ll have to confront a tempting thought… are they on… a date? New York Times and USA Today best-selling author C. S. Pacat (Dark Rise, Nightwing) and acclaimed cartoonist Johanna the Mad (Wynd) continue their winning streak with this on-point entry in the GLAAD Media Award-nominated series! Collects Fence: Redemption #1-4.
The sixth volume of C.S. Pacat and Johanna the Mad’s Fence is a self-contained arc in which they visit another fencing school to practice intensively, and several people have dates (but Aiden doesn’t). There’s a lot of great stuff, like Bobby and Dante (though Dante’s absent for most of the book), Harvard learning to assert himself a bit more, and Seiji and Nicholas getting closer.
It does however emphasise that Nicholas has got this good at fencing in little over three months, which… I take back what I said about the fact that he doesn’t magically improve overnight. This is nuts. Fencing isn’t heritable.
Anyway, it’s a cute volume, and I would really like a lot more of it, please and thank you.
Rating: 4/5 (“really liked it”)
Tags: book reviews, books, C.S. Pacat, comics, graphic novels, Joanna LaFuente, Johanna the Mad, romance
Posted October 6, 2025 by Nicky in Reviews / 2 Comments
Fence: Rise
Genres: Graphic Novels Pages: 110
Series: Fence #5 Rating: Synopsis: En Garde! Excitement is in the air as Nicholas and his friends celebrate their prestigious invitation to the Halverton Training Camp. But they soon find themselves pushed to their limits as they come face-to-face with the best teams in the country. Will a new addition to the opposing team help Nicholas awaken the fighting spirit he needs to prevail? And what will it mean for his friendship with Seiji?
So much to love about the fifth volume of C.S. Pacat and Johanna the Mad’s Fence! Bobby is adorable, and I love that he gets to be the team manager, and I especially love the relationship between him and Dante. The fact that Dante would clearly get into anything Bobby wants to do is just… gaah, so cute.
Nicholas and Seiji’s relationship continues to develop, as well, and I like that though Nicholas has some flashes of brilliance and speed, the story never pretends he’s going to easily skill-up to beat Seiji. He has a long way to go, for all his enthusiasm and bluster, and we see that repeatedly, even where it might be tempting to give him a quick glow-up to match Seiji.
I do also enjoy Harvard and Aiden’s closeness; please just date, you idiots.
Rating: 4/5 (“really liked it”)
Tags: book reviews, books, C.S. Pacat, comics, graphic novels, Jim Campbell, Joanna LaFuente, Johanna the Mad
Posted October 1, 2025 by Nicky in Reviews / 6 Comments
Mooncop
Genres: Graphic Novels,
Science Fiction Pages: 96
Rating: Synopsis: "Living on the moon . . . Whatever were we thinking? . . . It seems so silly now."
The lunar colony is slowly winding down, like a small town circumvented by a new super highway. As our hero, the Mooncop, makes his daily rounds, his beat grows ever smaller, the population dwindles. A young girl runs away, a dog breaks off his leash, an automaton wanders off from the Museum of the Moon.
Mooncop is equal parts funny and melancholy. capturing essential truths about humanity and making this a story of the past, present, and future, all in one. Like his Guardian and New Scientist strips, as well as his previous graphic novel, Goliath, Mooncop is told with Tom Gauld's distinctive, matter-of-fact storytelling and dry humor -- an approach that has earned him fans around the world.
If you like Tom Gauld’s art, Mooncop isn’t exactly a great departure for him in style. It’s pretty much exactly the style he uses in his strips for New Scientist and the Guardian, but this time it’s a continuous story. Not a very plotty story, it must be admitted, but nonetheless there’s a narrative here.
It’s a surprisingly melancholy one, and that feeling comes through perfectly despite an art style that I’d more usually associate with funny science or reading-based humour. There are very few characters, and quite a bit of repetition, showing us the life of the “Mooncop” as people leave the moon and head back to Earth.
It ends on an open note, preserving the melancholy feel. Will Mooncop stay on the moon much longer? Will the last other remaining person go back to Earth, too? That’s left for you to imagine.
I rather enjoyed it — it’s simple, but effective.
Rating: 4/5 (“really liked it”)
Tags: book reviews, books, comics, graphic novels, SF/F, Tom Gauld
Posted September 20, 2025 by Nicky in Reviews / 2 Comments
I Will Judge You By Your Bookshelf
Genres: Graphic Novels Pages: 128
Rating: Synopsis: It's no secret, but we are judged by our bookshelves. We learn to read at an early age, and as we grow older we shed our beloved books for new ones. But some of us surround ourselves with books. We collect them, decorate with them, are inspired by them, and treat our books as sacred objects. In this lighthearted collection of one- and two-page comics, writer-artist Grant Snider explores bookishness in all its forms, and the love of writing and reading, building on the beloved literary comics featured on his website, Incidental Comics.
Grant Snider’s I Will Judge You By Your Bookshelf is a fun bookish set of comics, though I wouldn’t recommend it as one to sit down and read in one go, because it gets a little repetitive. I like the style, and it did provoke a few smiles, don’t get me wrong! But when it feels so samey, the joke kind of palls, and worse, it reminded me a lot of other reader-focused humour (and personally amongst all of that, Tom Gauld’s strips are usually my favourites).
It might be a fun one to have around and dip in and out of, or read a couple of pages a day, or something like that, and I’m sure there’s something in here that every reader will recognise themselves in.
If you have Kobo Plus, it’s included in that, so you could take a peek there if you’d like to check it out rather than buy a physical copy right away!
Rating: 2/5 (“it was okay”)
Tags: book reviews, books, comics, Grant Snider, graphic novels
