GRAPHICS MIKE DONACHIE

Scott Chantler, Stratford’s accomplished graphic novelist, returns with a gripping mystery aimed at younger readers. This new release is a treat. This is the story of a clever squire to a boorish knight. Coming across an apparently cursed village that’s been plagued by a dragon, Sir Kelton grabs his sword and rushes in, while Squire ponders the problem and looks for another way. t’s beautifully realized — Chantler’s storytelling skill shows clearly in the pacing, leading us neatly through a plot peopled with all manner of fantastical creatures to a satisfying ending.

It might seem tough to come up with a new way to tell noir fiction stories, but Rina Ayuyang’s done it, and beautifully. Here, the setting may be familiar: the dive bars and broken dreams of California in 1929. But, as the Depression maintains its grip, enter our protagonist Bobot, a migrant worker from the Philippines forced to work as a fruit picker despite having a law degree, who swipes a suit and heads to find his missing wife. It may centre, as is customary in noir, on a “dame,” but the story of Bobot’s obsessive quest takes the genre in new directions. So does Ayuyang’s gorgeous approach to illustration. She mostly uses a single-colour wash art style, but builds a complex approach to colour and panel layouts over time. It’s hard to explain but should be seen, and it’s very clever indeed.

This is the post-apocalyptic whodunnit I didn’t know I needed, and I’m delighted to be introduced to it. Veteran illustrator Bill Slavin, who lives in Millbrook is the creator of this first book in a trilogy. Young drifter Mordecai Crow seeks his long-lost parents as he wanders a ruined wasteland peppered with settlements where people have forgotten most of their old civilization’s technology. Seeking safety in the fortress of Jarrow, Mordecai instead finds a tragic conspiracy and those old secrets in the book’s title. Independent publishers in Canada already have top-quality output, but this one from Canmore, Alberta’s Renegade is as good as they get. It’s high-speed storytelling in a well-crafted book and part two can’t arrive quickly enough.

There’s always room for a fresh approach with graphic novels; it’s arrived with Dartmouth, N.S., cartoonist Kyle Vingoe-Cram. In this absorbing debut, experimentation mixes with solid emotional storytelling to make a unique storytelling style Its main plot is a story about two people who were children together reconnecting to share nostalgic activities. In a connected narrative, a family tragedy plays out for a stalwart of local theatre. Kettle Harbour, based on the small-town Nova Scotia where Vingoe-Cram grew up, is about shared histories and estrangement and the reliability of memory. This is where the unique style shows in fascinating ways: the writer-artist gives us their character’s words in ink or pencil, to show speech heard aloud or just in the mind’s eye. New, exciting, worth a look.