Beelzebub's library

“Leap days” by Ian Bennett and “Anya’s Ghost” by Vera Brosgol Since these two graphic novels are somewhat similar and neither is particularly long, I figured reviewing them together would make sense. Both take place in high school and they are both coming of age stories. They also both involve a high schooler befriending a supernatural force who allows them to cheat in school. LEAP DAYS We’ll start with Leap Days since it’s the relatively less emotionally charged of the two.             I was surprised by this book. When it opens, it’s pretty grim. Being more realistic, it depicts the crushing boredom of school and the frustration of a sense that you are wasting your time and not really learning anything. The protagonist’s name is Jake and he drifts through the day, unknown by everyone and uninterested in everything. The only thing that snaps him out of the malaise aside from eventually getting to go home and go to sl...

Graphic novel: Noir/Thriller/Horror, Contains Gore, Obscenity, Adult implications, and Disturbing imagery. This review contains spoilers When I was very young, I got a fungal infection in my ear from prolonged exposure to water. I have had trouble with congestion in my ears since that point. Usually, it’s not too bad, but sometimes it can feel very irritating.             Silverfish by David Lapham is a graphic novel that takes advantage of our paranoia regarding our ears. You think it’s disgusting to think about earwigs crawling into your ears? It’s about ten times worse when its hundreds of tiny fish (which resemble viperfish) crawling to your brain.            (The above is a Viperfish, in case you were unaware)   Silverfish is neither about hundreds of tiny viperfish nor about a man with a fish head, as would be indicated by the drawing on the back of the book. It’s not ...