Gunnerkrigg Court

Gunnerkrigg Court, Vol. 1: Orientation

The greatest webcomic ever published. I recommend this to everyone!

by Tom Siddell

Rating: Any age. Technically young adult, but I really would give this to almost anyone.

Genre / themes: magic, science, boarding school, orphans, spiritual and mythological themes

Art level: Very high, improves dramatically over time and went from 'good' to amazing. Unique, both manga and western. Books in colour.

Star Rating:  5/5

Number of Books: Two published so far, ongoing series. Book number three, Reason, is now available for pre-order on Amazon.

Other notes: webcomic, won several awards, and I wrote a complete lens about it. Books are hardbacks and very high quality printing.

My Review
Gunnerkrigg Court is the book I would give to almost anyone. The story of self-possessed Antimony Carver, who arrives at the mysterious school of Gunnerkrigg Court after her mother dies, you could tentatively compare it to Harry Potter (and fans of Harry Potter books would definitely enjoy it). But Gunnerkrigg Court is unique, and mysterious, and keeps you guessing constantly without ever frustrating you entirely.

Gunnerkrigg Court, Vol. 2: Research

It was also the winner of a bunch of webcomic awards in 2008 and 2009, and was listed as one of the 2010 Top Ten Graphic Novels for Teens by the ALA.

While I'd happily give it to children, it's definitely intelligent and complicated enough to be an story for adults. And the art is beautiful - it starts off good, then evolves to mindblowing. The book is also very high quality - a small, heavy hardback in full colour. This is one of the books that I buy, and will buy, automatically as each book is released.

There are two books out so far, and I own both of them.
 The second book came out at the start of 2010, and was titled 'Research'. It was even better than the first book - Tom Siddell's art started off good, and becomes incredible. I've already read everything online so far, but I'm still definitely buying the third book when  it comes out - this is a story that is worth re-reading in physical form.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer

The Long Way Home
(Buffy the Vampire Slayer,
Season 8, Vol. 1)

The spin-off comics from the awesome vampire dusting television series from Joss Whedon


Rating: Young adult-adult

Genre / themes: Vampires, Buffy, supernatural, saving the world, normal- 'super' heroes.

Art level: Very variable - mostly quite bad, but the artists change a lot. The season eight books are much better.

Star Rating: 3.5 stars (4.5 stars for season 8)


Number of Books: Seven Omnibuses (one for each finished season) plus individual graphic novels and comics. Season Eight is unfinished, so still only in single story graphic novels.

Other notes: Mostly spin-off stories and retellings of the show, so it's not too repetitive if you've seen the original series. Bonus materials (e.g. original covers) included. Storytelling and art highly variable originally. Season eight only available as graphic novels, due to the television series ending, and much better quality (also actually written by Joss Whedon in many cases).

This is a brilliant gift for a Buffy fan, so-so for anyone else (with the exception of season eight which is pretty awesome)

See this series on Amazon
See this series at The Book Depository

My Review
The graphic novel version of the famous television series is collected in seven volumes, plus the eighth season that's still being written. The art doesn't get consistently good until the final season, but we're not buying this for the art. We're buying it for Buffy and the Scoobies.

 Some of the artwork or the stories are patchy, as they tend to be collaborations with various writers, but the omnibuses are the best way to collect the Buffy comics - they're even organised into chornological order (story wise). And the story is different enough to be worth reading, and to provide new enjoyment - especially the bonus stories! The stories in "Buffy the Vampire Slayer Omnibus, Volume 1" take place before the show's first season, and the other volumes all deviate from the television and include additional stories.

Season Eight - 4.5 stars
From what I've seen of the single graphic novels in the eighth series, the art is incredibly improved, and as it's the continuation of the television series, not the spin-off, and Joss Whedon is actually taking a hand in the plot, I can guarantee that a) it actually has a cohesive story (and is not just a bunch of collectible tales)  and b) it's canon, and good.

I actually met Georges Jeanty, the artist who did the pencils for the season eight books, and was impressed enough to buy one of his sketchbooks (reviewed here).

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 8 was shortlisted for the 2008 Gaylactic Spectrum Awards, in the 'Other work' category.

All the BtVS compilations so far (not including season eight)