Foiled by Jane Yolen and Mike Cavallaro.

I love Jane Yolen.  She’s one of the first fantasy writers I read as a little geekling.    So, when it was first announced that she was writing a graphic novel, I was excited, but cautious. 

I shouldn’t have worried.  Foiled is a great book.  In fact, it’s so great; I’m calling it one of the best books of 2010.

Our heroine is Aliera Carstairs.  Her passion is fencing, but her dedication to the sport sets her apart from other teens.  There aren’t many fencing cliques at your average public high school.   Her other hobby is role playing games, a pastime she shares with her wheel-chair bound cousin Caroline. Aliera navigates a narrow circuit of school, fencing practice and gaming, all of her equipment in tow, including the practice foil Aliera’s mom picked up at a tag sale.  It’s a good weapon, except for the cheesy red jewel on the hilt.  

Aliera’s narrow world is shaken with the arrival of Avery.  Avery is unlike any boy Aliera has ever met.  For one thing, Avery is beautiful and super charming.   He is also way, way, way into the dissection unit in biology.   Aleria knows something is off about Avery, but agrees to go out with him anyway.  It’s while waiting for him at Grand Central Station that she learns the truth about Avery and what the deal is with that red jewel.

What makes this book magical is how the typical teen tropes – outsider girl, beautiful boy with a secret, mystical foreboding – are used in fresh and unexpected ways.   I knew going in that there was something off about Avery, but I was surprised by the direction that it took.  What I liked most about Foiled is that it is Aleria’s story, unlike a lot teen books, where the girl who is supposed to be the main character is little more than a plot point for the more interesting mysterious boy.  Yolen does drop some hints about Aliera and her family that never really get picked up on, but I’m hoping that means there’s a sequel in the works. 

As much as I love Yolen’s writing, a big part of this book’s appeal is in Mike Cavallaro’s artwork. Clean and deceptively uncomplicated, it’s a perfect match for the story.   His characters are simply drawn, but expressive.  Aliera’s scowls and sardonic half-smiles tell you a lot about her personality without a word of dialogue.   Without being too spoiler-y, I can say that the coloring in this book is not only a major plot point,  but is beautiful in it’s own right. 

This is definitely a teen book, but adults and even tweens will enjoy Aleria’s adventures.  I’m recommending it to everyone I know, so go read it! 

Zeus: King of the Gods by George O'Connor

Greek gods are the new vampires. 

Or maybe it just seems that way to me, as the mother of a pre-teen with a deep love of all things Percy Jackson.  However, I have noticed that the Olympians are becoming a pop-culture trend. 

First Second is one with the zeitgeist, with their graphic-novel series Olympians, the first of which is Zeus: King of the Gods.

Zeus is a good starting point for a series about the Olympians, because not only is he their king, he started that whole “war with the Titans” that set up the Greek pantheon as we know it.

George O’Connor starts in the beginning, with Gaea and Ouranos.  O’Connor chooses to use the less familiar, more Greek, names of the gods.  This scores him points for authenticity, but may confuse readers who are more familiar with the Latinized names.   He goes through the creation of the Titans, the birth and subsequent devouring of the Olympians.  He moves quickly through Zeus’s childhood and rushes to the part we all want to see – the big war.

Adapting the story of the Greek gods to a graphic novel for kids has some unique challenges.  The Olympians liked to get it on, Zeus in particular.  O’Connor does a good job of glossing over the more salacious aspects of Zeus’s origin story, while still including some “wink, wink, nudge, nudge” moments. 

O’Connor has an angular, realistic style, which reminds me a little of Craig P. Russell.  It works fairly well with his subject matter.  I wish there was less black in his compositions.  The use of stark black for backgrounds and shadowing lessens the impact of some scenes, particularly the large format battles. 

All in all, this is a nice re-telling of Zeus’s origin story, in a more palatable format than the tomes of Greek mythology I read as a child.  I look forward to future installments in the series.