... Get your attention, keep you interested in the storyline, and have good art that complements the time period or genre of the graphic novel.

This graphic novel did just that for me!

Which was surprising, because my most recent review of Orson Scott Card's work was 'Ultimate Iron Man', which defintely did nothing for me, and actually turned me off reading the rest of that series....

(That was basically because I grew up with the original Iron Man of the 1960's by Stan Lee, and this updated storyline in an alternate timeline / Ultimates Universe just didn't get my interest. But then again I wasn't the target market for this Ultimate Iron Man series...)

However this graphic novel by Orson Scott Card, Roland Bernard Brown, Renato Arlem, Miguel Montenegro, and others, is far, far different than the first book I reviewed !

From the get go the story brought in interesting characters, the artwork was very good for the time period, and the script had a story to tell that was fascinating!

The writing, the artwork, and the compilation of the comics into one book with a good cover would make it worth the $19.99 that is the cover price of this book.

Comics, graphic novels, and picture books don't all have to be about super-heroes. And contrary to what some may think... I do read and enjoy many genres of comics!  Maybe I enjoy running comic con photos of super-heroines, (like Wonder Woman), a bit much in our blog here on eBay (LOL)... but I do blog on other genres like this one!

This volume was so good, that I want to continue reading the series!

Now THAT's a recommendation!

Speaking of which, Tina and I have 450+ reviews that can be seen by clicking this link, including reviews on DVDs, graphic novels, comic book compilations, and more....

Story & Artwork by Vittorio Giardino

This graphic novel series is a little old, (1997-1998), but I just came across it when checking out graphic novels I have not yet read.

The above photo is of the first volume in the set. It is called 'Loss of Innocence'.

The story may sound familar, that of a Jewish family being persecuted, but the storyline and the artwork is complementary to each other, and makes the book worth reading! 

Vittorio Giardino makes this story so riveting that I had to check out the second volume to continue reading the story of Jonas Finkel, the son of the man that was sentenced to ten years in prison for conspiring against the state, (which he didn't do).

The offical reason for the state to come down on Jonas' family is their bourgeois background.  Unofficially the real reason is anti-semitic resentment.

This was such a good read that I had to find the second of the series, 'Adolesccence'. Both graphic novels moved me so, that I stopped to post a review of them in our 'Reviews' section right away... (Click here for all 444+ reviews.)

This is a very good example of what graphic novels can be... good  story line, good story text and good artwork! This series should be in every library that carries graphic novels IMHO.

Photo Covers Of Lucy Lawless!

For those of you that didn't catch the TV Show Series:

Xena of Amphipolis was a fictional character in the now ended television series Xena: Warrior Princess and also in Hercules: The Legendary Journeys.  She was played by the New Zealand actress Lucy Lawless, pictured above. 

Xena first appeared on the Hercules: The Legendary Journeys television series, (in the episode The Warrior Princess airing in March 1995), as a seductive but treacherous warlord.

Two more episodes during the May 1995 TV sweeps presented her evolution from a villainess to a friend and ally of Hercules. Viewer interest in her was so high that shortly afterwards she became the main character of her own spin-off series Xena: Warrior Princess,  and the two series quite often played back to back.

Ironically though, her character was originally obsessed with defeating Hercules and thus obtaining his title as the greatest living warrior, she never did defeat "Zeus' Favorite Son". As a matter of fact, Hercules was the one credited with pointing her down the path of redemption when he beat her in combat and showed her that selfishness and greed were not the way to live.

In her own TV series, Xena set out to redeem her murderous past by fighting against tyranny and evil and protecting the innocent and weak.  I personally caught the show after it had started and began watching the rerun episodes to catch up. A lot of her past would remain obscure, but flashbacks would open up new chapters in her past as she revisited the people or areas again.    

For those interested in Xena comic books from Topps in 1997-1998 or Dark Horse 1999, we have several listed in our eBay Featured Store. Xena was published as mini-series by Topps, while Dark Horse published one unlimited series. We now also have several of the most recent series published by Dynamite Comics!