Spring/Summer 2024 Selection Survey!
We're trying to figure out what to read for 2024
It’s That Time Again!
We’re coming to the end of our scheduled readings here at the Chicago Public Library’s Comics Book Club, so it’s time for another poll! If you’re curious about how we decide on what to read, you can visit the Welcome page or look at the last time we had one of these. The main criteria for a comic’s eligibility are usually that the library have enough physical copies and that it’s available as an eBook or on hoopla.
I’m trying something a little different this time and including a poll for each book in this newsletter. That makes it a little too long for email, but feel free to open this in your browser and vote away!
Here are the titles we’ve chosen for this round! Feel free to leave a comment with your thoughts below. What do you think?
(Note: All descriptions taken from the Chicago Public Library’s online catalog.)
Bitter Root, Volume 1: Family Business by David F. Walker and Sanford Greene
In the 1920s, during the Harlem Renaissance, the Sangerye Family, once known as the greatest monster hunters of all time, are fading. The once-great family that specialized in curing the souls of those infected by racism and hate has been torn apart. A terrible tragedy has claimed most of the family, leaving the surviving cousins divided between the desire to cure monsters or to kill them. They must heal the wounds of the past and move beyond their differences or sit back and watch a force of unimaginable evil ravage the human race.
Cryptid Club by Sarah Andersen
Do you hate social gatherings? Dodge cameras? Enjoy staying up just a little too late at night? You might have more in common with your local cryptid than you think! Enter the world of Cryptid Club, a look inside the adventures of elusive creatures ranging from Mothman to the Loch Ness Monster. This humorous new series celebrates the unique qualities that make cryptids so desperately sought after by mankind (to no avail). After all, it’s what makes us different that also makes us beautiful.
Earthdivers, Volume 1: Kill Columbus by Stephen Graham Jones and Davide Gianfelice
The year is 2112, and humanity has given up hope, except for a group of Indigenous outcasts who have discovered a time travel portal in a cave in the desert. Convinced that the only way to save the world is to rewrite its past, they send one of their own—a reluctant linguist named Tad—on a bloody, one-way mission to 1492 to kill Christopher Columbus before he reaches the so-called New World. But there are steep costs to disrupting the timeline, and taking down an icon isn't an easy task for an academic with no tactical training and only a wavering moral compass to guide him.
Gideon Falls, Volume 1: The Black Barn by Jeff Lemire and Andrea Sorrentino
The legend of the Black Barn tells of an otherwordly buidling that has appeared and reappeared throughout history, bringing death and madness in its wake. Now its mystery ensnares and entwines the lives of two very different men: a young recluse obsessed with finding hidden clues within the city’s trash and a washed-up Catholic priest finding his place in a small town that hides dark secrets. Neither of them are prepared for what’s inside the Black Barn.
The Incal by Alejandro Jodorowsky and Mœbius
John Difool, a low-class detective in a degenerate dystopian world, finds his life turned upside down when he discovers an ancient, mystical artifact. His adventures will bring him into conflict with the galaxy’s greatest warrior, the Metabaron, and will pit him against the awesome powers of the Technopope. These encounters and many more make up a tale of comic and cosmic proportions that has Difool fighting for not only his very survival, but also the survival of the entire universe.
It’s Lonely at the Centre of the Earth by Zoe Thorogood
Cartoonist Zoe Thorogood records six months of her own life as it falls apart in a desperate attempt to put it back together again in the only way she knows how. This is an intimate and metanarrative look into the life of a selfish artist who must create for her own survival.
Light Carries On by Ray Nadine
Adding to his growing list of problems, Leon becomes inexplicably linked to the ghost of a queer punk rocker named Cody, and as the two investigate Cody’s mysterious death they also explore the complexities of life, death, love, and their shared love of music.
The Low, Low Woods by Carmen Maria Machado and Dani
Shudder-to-Think, Pennsylvania, is plagued by a mysterious illness that eats away at the memories of those affected by it. El and Octavia are two best friends who find themselves the newest victims of this disease after waking up in a movie theater with no memory of the past few hours. As El and Vee dive deeper into the mystery behind their lost memories, they realize the stories of their town hold more dark truth than they could’ve imagined.
Mimosa by Archie Bongiovanni
Best friends and chosen family Chris, Elise, Jo, and Alex work hard to keep themselves afloat. Their regular brunches hold them together even as the rest of their lives threaten to fall apart. In an effort to avoid being the oldest gays at the party, the crew decides to put on a new queer event for homos in their dirty thirties, a welcome distraction from their real problems. While navigating exes at work, physical and mental exhaustion, and drinking way, way too much on weekdays, this chosen family proves that being messy doesn’t always go away with age.
The Secret to Superhuman Strength by Alison Bechdel
From the author of Fun Home, a profoundly affecting graphic memoir of Bechdel’s lifelong love affair with exercise, set against a hilarious chronicle of fitness fads in our times.
Bonus Survey! Superman Edition
The Comics Book Club has been meeting for more than five years now, and I usually take a detached role in the selection process, offering up suggestions but never opinions. This time, I’m pleading that we read a Superman story. I’m asking everyone to choose from three based on availability and prestige. Someone suggested Superman: Red Son, which is a great story, but the Chicago Public Library only has one copy.
I’ve settled on All-Star Superman by Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely, Superman Smashes the Klan by Gene Luen Yang and Gurihiru, and Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow? by Alan Moore, Curt Swan, Dave Gibbons, et al. (We’re running out of room for plot synopses, I’m afraid.)
I’d love to hear any and all feedback (provided we keep it positive around here). Thanks for reading and for voting! Be sure to subscribe if you haven’t already to see how it all turns out.
These choices are super tough! 🙈🙈💪💪