comic book

Runaways is a series that’s been on my TBR list for over a decade. I remember my sister and brother-in-law telling me about it — the premise is these teens find out their parents are actually pretty damn evil after witnessing them do a heinous act, and thus find themselves on the run as they can’t depend on the law to be on their side. The original series was written by Brian K Vaughan and I remember around the time it was out, my sister and B.I.L. had been reading BKV’s Y: The Last Man (which I started and never finished, but thoroughly enjoyed).

Back in October I started reading the first volume of Rowell’s run since it was easily accessible, and as soon as I finished it I found myself falling down the rabbit hole as I read the entirety of BKV’s run, all the way to the Young Avengers three issue mini series on this website (WARNING: the ads are gross AF). I had to know what happened to this group of misfits and how they all got to where they are in the current series as it begins with all of them being dispersed. I still have a bit of a ways to go before I complete it all, but it goes without saying: I’m OBSESSED.

This series is so fun and filled with tons of humor, action, angst (a bit too much from Gert if you ask me), and there’s a dinosaur with a septum piercing named Old Lace! If you haven’t read Runaways yet, I HIGHLY recommend it. But don’t be like me — start from the beginning. I really wish I would’ve started there because the plot twists that come before are insane. I picked up the second volume of Rowell’s run last month and still need to read the rest of the original, but I’m still taking a bit of a break before I dive back in.

Have you read Runaways or watched the show (I have yet to see it)? Who’s your favorite character? Mine’s Nico! Let’s talk about it in the comments section 🙂

Cheers,
Nina

Pashmina is the debut graphic novel from one of my favorite artists, Nidhi Chanani, that focuses on the coming-of-age of Priyanka “Pri” Das, an Indian teen living in America with her single mother. She has tons of questions as to why her mother left India and what happened to her father (who she’s never met), but the more her mother keeps mum, the more curious she becomes of her roots. One day she happens upon a pashmina and finds herself transported to a fantastical and vibrant version of India. Whenever she wraps it around herself, it takes her further and further into the depths of India and unravels the mystery that is her family.

It’s been awhile since I’ve read this book, but I really wanted to share it on here because it resonated with me on another level. When you’re the first generation from an immigrant family in America (or anywhere for that matter), you must figure out how to balance two cultures. I loved the way Nidhi portrayed that; it was so relatable… sometimes to the point where it hurt just a wee bit.

I also loved the transition from black and white (every day scenes) to saturated color (scenes set in India) within its pages pages. It felt an analogy for the experience of growing up with two cultures — one seems less than compared to the other, but you soon discover there’s a whole side of you that’s rich in history and traditions. Well, that was my takeaway, anyway!

On Free Comic Book Day back in May, I trekked to Isotope Comics in San Francisco to get my booked signed! Nidhi was super sweet and took the time to chat with me, too 🙂

Have you read Pashmina? Let’s discuss in the comments section! If you’d like to get a copy of Pashmina, go here or pick it up at your local bookstore or comic shop.