“If you could have ONE super power, what would it be?”

A friend of mine recently asked me this question, and it surprised me how long I debated over which power I would want most.



My immediate reaction was the ability to fly—wouldn’t it be awesome to levitate in mid-air? I’ve had dreams about flying, where I simply will myself up and before I know it I’m enjoying cool breezes amidst the clouds. Talk about a great way to clear your head when you’re stressed! Instead of taking a walk to work out my problems, I could go on a leisurely flight across the country landscape. Man, that would be sweet.

But as soon as I had decided that my best bet would be in flying, I started questioning my decision. Is flying really the best super power? What about telepathy (i.e., mind-reading)? Super strength? Invisibility?  Psychic ability? Breathing underwater? Pyrokinesis  (fire)? Controlling the weather? Telekinesis? Mind control?

As I continued to ponder about great super powers, I asked my friend to answer his own question. His response? “I would probably want the ability to teleport. Poof!” As soon as he answered, I wanted his super power. I told him so, in fact. How awesome, to be able to go wherever you want in an instant. You could live everywhere! Imagine viewing sunsets around the world, one right after the next. Imagine being in Italy for lunch, Thailand for dinner, and heading to Paris for dessert.  You could visit the Seven Wonders of the World in a single day, or spend a day at each, and stay at different places each night. You could live on an island in the Bermuda Triangle, but still make it home for weekends and holidays to visit friends and family.

The more I thought about it, the more I wanted to teleport. I still do, actually. It took me a while to figure it out, but I finally made my choice. If anyone asks what super power I would pick, you’ll know how I’ll answer!

So now that I have officially decided what super power I would have, I’ll ask you all the same question:

If YOU could have one super power, what would it be?

Having a tough time deciding? Check out some of our superhero graphic novels at the library for some inspiration!

Sita's Ramayana

While most Westerners are familiar with Greek epics such as Homer's The Odyssey and The Iliad, the epic traditions of other countries are unfamiliar territory for many American readers. Written by an Indian author known for her retellings of Indian myths and illustrated by a traditional Indian folk artist, this unusual graphic novel introduces the Hindu epic The Ramayana to a new audience in a bold new format unlike anything else in the world of comics today

Part magical adventure, part treatise on war and gender equality, Sita's Ramayana tells the ancient tale of Prince Rama's journey into exile and eventual triumph over the demon king Ravana. Rather than retelling the story from Rama's perspective, this version draws on little-known variants of the tale to show the story from the perspective of Sita, Rama's wife. Fans of the epic will love this new take on the familiar tale, but prior knowledge is not necessary. New readers will be able to dive in and enjoy the story as it unfolds. There's also a family tree at the beginning to help readers keep track of the many characters and their relationships to each other.

The most interesting part of Sita's Ramayana is the artwork. Based on the Patua folk art tradition of India, the illustrations are done in the traditional Patua style and text is arranged non-traditionally on the page, which reflects the oral tradition (in which a storyteller points to images on the scroll as s/he tells the story aloud). The bright colors and bold brushstrokes create lively illustrations that depict the emotional and cultural landscape of this important piece of Indian culture.

Graphic Novel Review: Kill Shakespeare

Lauren and I are back with another graphic novel review. This month's title is Kill Shakespeare Vol. 1, which is (not surprisingly) a comic about a fictional world in which all of Shakespeare's characters exist simultaneously. The heroes revere their creator as a god, but the villains have recruited the hapless Hamlet to kill the evil wizard once and for all.

Since this is a new take on the Bard, Lauren and I thought it would be fun to, once again, write two sets of reviews: one for the fans and one for the non-fans.

10 Reasons a Shakespeare Fan Should Read Kill Shakespeare

1. Shakespearean Villains vs. Heroes
2. The Villains want to kill Shakespeare and take his powers and the Heroes think he is a mystical god-like figure that will save them from all evil.
3. Hamlet is the main hero, destined to find and awaken the wizard Shakespeare and his magic pen. If he can ever stop dithering over whether he should be trying to find the wizard.
4. Falstaff gets Hamlet to dress up as a woman of loose morals to escape capture.
5. Lady Macbeth and Richard III both think they can out manipulate the other and the Three Witches just might be pulling their strings.
6. Romeo might be dead and Juliet is a female Robin Hood (or Joan of Arc) with Othello as her Little John.
7. Iago is playing both sides (You're shocked I know).
8. The dialogue is still Shakespearean.
9. Characters stay true to their personalities in the plays.
10. It is as bloody and emotional as a Shakespearean tragedy, but feels more action packed than angsty.

10 Reasons Why a Shakespeare Non-Fan Should Read Kill Shakespeare

1. You don’t have to know Shakespeare to follow the story. It’s a heroic quest in the midst of a good vs. evil battle, just populated by characters that were written by someone else first. (Kind of like superhero comics!)
2. It gives you all sorts of insider knowledge about Shakespeare, without having to read the plays. I’ve never read Hamlet, but now I know who Rosencranz and Guildenstern are. Woo!
3. If you hate Shakespeare, that’s okay! So do Richard III and Lady MacBeth. And there’s a chance he might get killed off, which I know some non-fans have wished for sincerely in freshman English.
4. Even though dialogue uses Elizabethan English, it’s easy to follow, partly because it’s in the familiar format of speech bubbles and partly because you get visual context from the illustrations.
5. Bloody battles worthy of any action comic.
6. Intrigue! Scandal! Secrets! Everyone is manipulating everyone else and threats of betrayal are everywhere.
7. Juicy romantic entanglements. For starters, Juliet doesn’t seem to be in love with Romeo any more...
8. There are also ghosts!
9. And promises of revenge.
10. Basically, it’s a great story that takes Shakespearean drama and transforms it into something new and innovative.

Basically, we think everyone should read it post-haste!

Yummy: The Last Days of a Southside Shorty by G. Neri & Randy DuBurke

"I tried to figure out who the real Yummy was. The one who stole my lunch money? Or the one who smiled when I shared my candy with him? I wondered if I grew up like him, would I have turned out the same?" -- Roger, from Yummy: The Last Days of a Southside Shorty

During the summer of 1994, a fourteen year-old girl named Shavon Dean died in the Roseland neighborhood of Chicago when a gang member's stray bullet struck her. Robert "Yummy" Sandifer, age 11, held the gun. In this unforgettable and inspirational book in graphic novel format, author G. Neri explores this real-life tragedy through the eyes of Yummy's fictional classmate, Roger, as Roger tries to make sense of what causes gang violence and what can be done to forward toward a more peaceful future. Thoughtful and expressive charcoal illustrations by Randy DuBurke bring Yummy's story to life. Looking for a short, yet powerful read? Request Yummy: The Last Days of a Southside Shorty today.

Peter & Max

If you haven't read Bill Willingham's Fables series and you like to read graphic novels, I highly suggest you get on it. Willingham created a world within our world where the characters from folk tales live, protected from "mundies" like you and me by spells that keep normal folks unaware of their New York City block or upstate farm. These characters are in our "mundane" world because they have fled a powerful enemy who has conquered their home worlds.

While I highly recommend the Fables graphic novels, I can easily recommend Willingham's Fables-based novel Peter & Max to those who refuse to read graphic novels, as well as fans of the series. Willingham has provided a summary of the backstory not only for those unfamiliar with Fables, but also to root this tale within the chronology of the Fables series.

The main story here is that of Peter and Max Piper, brothers of a musical family whose lives take different paths. The story is nonstop and engaging--at no time did I find a good place to stop reading as I would inevitably read the first few lines of a new chapter (to determine whether the story was flashing back to Peter's youth in enemy-occupied Hamelin where he struggled to make his way as a thief, or the present in which Peter's final confrontation with his brother loomed ever closer) and get hooked into reading the whole thing. Willingham is a great storyteller with a unique imagination, and reading Peter & Max would be enjoyable to any fan of light fantasy or folk tale reimaginings.

Castle Waiting

I'm late to the party on Linda Medley's Castle Waiting series. I remember everyone's excitement when Fantagraphics announced that they would be publishing a Castle Waiting collection and continuing the series, which had been on hiatus. The collection came out in 2006 and Fantagraphics continues to publish issues of the series. In my opinion, now is a good time to publish another collection, mostly out of my selfish desire to keep reading about these characters.

If you haven't read Castle Waiting, you're missing out. The first story tells the origin story of the castle. You know the story of sleeping beauty--this is the castle where it all happened. She woke up and ran off with the prince leaving the castle waiting for a new king to come, hence the name. Fast-forward a bit, and the only original residents of the castle are beauty's handmaidens, now quite a bit older. They're joined by others who've come to the castle over the years, attracted by its safe sanctuary and mysteriousness. It's a small group that acts something like a dysfunctional family, and over the course of the book, we learn some of their stories. I most enjoyed the story of Sister Peace of the Solicitine Order, an oddly plausible fictional sisterhood of bearded women. They carry out normal nun duties, but are able to get married and be involved in all sorts of mischief.

In addition to the Sister, there's a fairly normal cook and her son, a stork who's in charge of the castle's finances, a mostly silent man who's heart was repaired with iron rings, a horse-headed chess champion, a masked doctor, and a woman who gives birth to a green baby with pointed ears and a tail. All these other characters means many more interesting back stories, not to mention the possibility of other characters showing up at the castle. I'm hoping really hard that Fantagraphics publishes a second collection soon--Medley's writing, artwork, and imagination are phenomenal and not to be missed.

In case of zombies...

Here's a video that provides some helpful advice when dealing with zombies:



For more information, you may also be interested in Max Brooks's Zombie Survival Guide. According to testimony found in the report on World War Z, the survival guide was very handy in, well, surviving the zombie uprising. Brooks has continued his research and recently released The Zombie Survival Guide: Recorded Attacks, which looks at other zombie attacks from history, going back into times B.C.E. to document ancient attacks.

A brave new dystopia

Ball Peen Hammer by Adam Rapp. Yikes.

This is a short graphic novel, quickly read, unless you find it too disturbing to finish.

So what have we got? There's an artist guitar player sleeping in what seems to be a basement with a toilet that doesn't flush when a very, very large man in a gas mask climbs out of a manhole in the floor and heads up the stairs and out into the world. Some vague violence ensues, and he returns to his manhole. The guitar player has awoken and finds new stuff in the basement--there's a typewriter, inside of which is hiding a gun...

Part of the fun of reading this bleak, brutal book is learning about this odd world--its police state, the infection, and the jobs assigned to the guitarist and the man with the typewriter--which is why I'll tell you no more.

Caught You Reading!

One fine day on the streets of Chicago, one of The UFL's roving bloggers caught "V" the freedom fighter taking five, catching up on his reading. Although not reading a graphic novel from whence he came, The UFL has a growing and exciting collection of graphic novels to satisfy even the most discriminating revolutionary. What about you? Can we catch you reading?

Here's a selection of great graphic novels from the YALSA website, that have a high level of teen appeal. All of the titles below can be found on the shelves at your library:

Alan's War: The Memories of G.I. Alan Cope - Guibert, Emmanuel.

One young man's memories of his time in World War II and the life he created for himself on two continents after the war was over.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - DeFilippis, Nunzio, Christina Weir and Kevin Cornell.

Like the movie, only funnier and closer to the book. The strange tale of man who is born 70-years old and mysteriously ages in reverse.

The Eternal Smile - Yang, Gene and Derek Kirk Kim

Three luminous stories which toy with the boundaries between imagination and reality. These tales are wonderful ruminations on the human condition and the power of imagination to lift us beyond the mundane.

Jim Butcher's Dresden Files: Welcome to the Jungle - Butcher, Jim and Ardian Syaf Harry Dresden, the only professional wizard in the Chicago phonebook, investigates supernatural murder and mayhem.

1985: A Novel - Millar, Mark and Tommy Lee Edwards

A boy with family issues realizes he's got lots more to worry about when Marvel super-villains start invading the real world.

The Photographer: Into War-Torn Afghanistan with Doctors without Borders - Guibert, Emmanuel

In 1986, the young French photographer Didier Lefevre accompanied Doctors Without Borders into war torn Afghanistan. Guibert has taken Lefevre's notes and photographs and combined them with his art to tell Lefevre's story.

Swallow Me Whole - Powell, Nate
Teen stepsiblings deal with their own mental illnesses, mistaken love, and the strength of family ties.

Go Graphic!

Other Heroes: Go Graphic
@ The Urbana Free Library
Saturday, April 12 / 1:00 - 3:00 pm

We're talking comics at the Urbana Free Library with Graphic Novelists John Jennings and Damian Duffy. They'll be showing their own work and talking about how they do what they do. Bring your own comics, comments and questions. Open to teens and others interested in graphic novels.

John Jennings, a professor in the UI Graphic Design Department, and Damian Duffy have gained national attention for their collaborative work – creating comics, curating art exhibitions of comic art and researching issues in popular culture. Check out their online comics at http://www.eyetrauma.net/.