Bechdel's Fun Home is a revelatory autobiography, but the subtitle, A Family Tragicomic, points to the slightly broader subject matter, while playfully highlighting the feel of the book—it is indeed a tragedy and a comedy of family life, told in comic-book format.
The title proper is part literal and part ironic; "fun home" is the abbreviated name the Bechdels called their family's funeral home, which her (deeply closeted) high school teacher father reluctantly inherited from his father.
Broken into chapters, the book reveals the troubled home life of the Bechdels, the strange life and death of Bechdel's father, and how both affected her. To say much more would ruin the shocks and surprises within, and Bechdel swings information about her characters like sucker-punches in her narration.
Fans of DTWOF already know what a skilled artist Bechdel is, although here her work looks better than ever, in part because it's not being published too-small on newsprint in the back of a gay-interest or alt-weekly tabloid. It's also more detailed, and beautifully shaded with blue ink tones.
Beauty Pop Vols. 1 and 2
Viz
The three boys who call themselves "The Scissors Project" and give select girls makeovers are the kings of their school. There's their alpha male Narumi, a cocky hairstylist; happy-go-lucky Kei, who specializes in nail art; and Ochihai, who has a computer-like brain and is the consultant in "overall beauty."
Everyone may revere the Scissors Project, but new girl Kiri is not impressed. She is an incredibly talented stylist herself, but she has little interest in doing it professionally like her parents. In fact, Kiri seems to have little interest in anything at all.
Bored, blasé and seemingly always half asleep, Kiri's not your average shojo heroine, and creator Kiyoko Arai's Beauty Pop is not your average manga. While Narumi gives makeovers to bring fame and glory to himself, Kiri does so only on the sly, occasionally being moved to work her magic on girls she feels sorry for, like a grade-schooler who's teased for having helmet hair.
Naturally, the two philosophies lead to conflict, culminating at the end of the first volume in an epic stylist showdown so dramatic it's practically impossible not to pick up the second once you're committed.
Decoy: Menagerie Parts I and II
Penny-Farthing Press
Creator Courtney Huddleston's Decoy is a cute alien shape-shifter who seems to be equal parts Gray and Little Green Man. He's bonded to a young Earth policeman named Bobby Luck, and is his secret partner, transforming into a sword, pair of wings, grappling hook, shield or whatever else Bobby might need to get out of a scrape.
In this series of graphic novel anthologies, Huddleston gives acclaimed comics writers and artists a chance to play with his story's main toy, resulting in a somewhat uneven but overall enjoyable read. The first volume opens with a savage space opera about Decoy's home world, but the rest of the book is dedicated to the police-style adventures of a cop and his alien, by the likes of Phil Hester, Ty Templeton, Ryan Woodward and others. The second volume throws 20 more creators into the mix, including B. Clay Moore, J. Torres and Brian Wood.
The tone varies from chapter to chapter, but the sillier stories seem to work best, like the one in which an army of communist robots overthrows the city (Decoy morphs into a Lenin costume for Ben), or the one in which Ben and Decoy go undercover as a clown at a circus to solve a murder (shape-shifting aliens make wonderful balloon animals).