Bone and Bayou

So with these two graphic novels, I actually read more this month than last...4 books :/ But I still may finish Fingersmith this month which would make it 5. Both of these were recommended by Nymeth and as is normal with her recommendations, they were both fantastic! I also have to put some blame on Debi for both of them as well because she made me buy them when I went bookshopping with her ;) So when I do a Bad Blogger's post they're just going to have to both take points for them, lol. Bone Volume 1: Out From Boneville by Jeff Smith 2005 138 pgs. 5/5 For some reason, I always thought that I would dislike this series even though I had no idea what it was about. It's one of those stupid things that I do. I make assumptions about things that I know nothing about. I guess I'm more close minded than I like to think I am. But then Nymeth reviewed it and I realized that it was totally different than what I thought it was. So I put it on my wishlist. Only when I saw the size of it, it honestly scared the shit out of me....there's this big all in one version and that's all I could find for the longest time. Well then Debi came in town and we went book shopping at Barnes and Noble! And sitting there in the children's section were a bunch of individual volumes of Bone in COLOR so I just had to get volume one. Plus, Debi had been talking about it earlier because she was reading it and she made it sound so good. It is!! Bone is the story of three...well, bones...who have been kicked out of Boneville because of the greediness of one Phoney Bone. While trying to find their way around, they get lost and my favorite bone, Fone Bone gets separated from his two friends. He finds himself in a land that is very strange and is confronted by the cutest damn character in the world, a tiny little bug that looks like a leaf named Ted. Ted tells Fone Bone that he's never heard of Boneville before, but he knows someone named Thorn that may be able to help him. But before that can happen, Fone Bone is confronted by two evil rat creatures that want to turn him into a quiche...or a stew...there's an argument that takes place over that. I'm realizing now that I could continue to summarize the whole book, but I'll save some surprises...but basically, Fone Bone is trying to find his friends and get home while not getting eaten by scary (but kind of funny) rat creatures all while being helped by a girl that he's head over heels with and her grandmother who races cows. Yep, it's great! I've already ordered the second volume. This is the kind of graphic novel series that I just absolutely love. It's terribly cute, it's hilarious at times, it has a really engaging story that kept me turning the pages so that I read it in one sitting, it's very touching at times, and I wanted more more more! Bayou Volume 1 by Jeremy Love 2009 160 pgs. 5/5 Bayou is a totally different kind of story. This is a dark story, but it has it's moments that put a little smile on my face in between the sadness. Nymeth put this one on my radar as well. Debi and I found this one together when we were shopping and didn't know what to do because we both wanted the one copy that they had :p The problem was, she already had $60 worth of books in her hands (sorry I'm throwing all your business out there Debi :p) So I solved her dilemma and took it, lol. Bayou takes place in Mississippi in the 1930's. A young girl named Lee starts off the story by telling us "The bayou is a bad place. Ain't nuthin' good ever happened there." A year prior, Lee was sent down into the bayou to retrieve the body of a black man that was hung. She was paid three dollars to do this. While she was down there, she saw a man with butterfly wings and has been terrified of the bayou ever since. A year later, her white friend, Lily, loses her locket in the bayou and asks Lee to help her get it. Lee refuses. Lily is afraid of getting abused by her mother, so she makes up a story that Lee took the locket and dropped it in the bayou. When Lily goes to look for it, something bizarre happens. A giant man comes out of the bayou and eats her and Lee is there to witness it. But none of the town folk believe her. They all think that Lee's father killed her, and he's imprisoned for it and will likely be hanged. Lee crosses into the bayou once more to enter into a dark fantasy world to avenge her father and her friend Lily and prove his innocence. Bayou was just amazing. The art is unlike any I've ever seen before in a graphic novel. It blew me away. It's in tones of brown and yellow and green. Very murky just like bayous are. And it's perfect for the story. This is a murky story. The line between reality and fantasy is constantly blurred. There is no clear distinction between the two. I've never read anything quite like it. And of course, it tackles the hurt and pain of racism expertly. It doesn't tiptoe around the issue at all. It addresses it head on and directly and shows the honest truth of what happened and what still happens, really, today. One that I think everyone should read!