Step Aside, Pops!

Starred review from August 3, 2015
As the sequel to her bestseller Hark! A Vagrant, this collection—once again bringing together strips from Beaton’s popular website—is a wonderful second installment. It offers her take on a variety of different historical, literary, and cultural institutions, usually by finding something absurdly idiosyncratic in them and taking this to its ridiculous and, indeed, hilarious conclusion. Whether it’s a retelling of Cinderella that involves a night of weight lifting or an exploration of what the Lady of Shallot might have actually seen her knight doing when she looked out of her tall tower, Beaton has an uncanny ability to take the sacred and shake its foundations with the delightfully mundane. Her apparently “simple” art style uses a wide variety of sophisticated visual techniques that perfectly accompany the wit and humor of her prose. From Julius Caesar to The Secret Garden and from the late Romantics to Kokoro, Beaton knocks it out of the park, having a go at anything and everything with her razor-sharp wit.

September 15, 2015

The cover and title of this book play on 19th-century cartoons depicting velocipeding women as shocking and inappropriate, but we'd say "AWESOME" declares Beaton (Hark! A Vagrant; The Princess and the Pony). This new collection from her popular webcomic of affectionate satire digs deeper and more savagely into gender politics (ersatz "feminists" who want to kill men; Wonder Woman's problems), racial/ethnicity issues (obstacles confronting African American journalist Ida B. Wells and Native American runner Tom Longboat), classic literature about stupid people (the Lady of Shalott espies Lancelot--and he's relieving himself), and fairy tales (Cinderella gets a makeover complete with muscles from her fairy godmother, and she and Prince Charming work out together). Old favorites such as Peasant Comics and nutty interpretations of book covers reappear with new lunacies. The black-and-white drawings in ink and wash vary from cartoony to semirealism but always with elastic elan. VERDICT Beaton's critical humor inspires epiphanies as well as giggles, making her a commentator to watch among millennials who speak to broader audiences. Fans of the author's earlier collections and other lovers of offbeat satire, high school and up, will love this as well. [See Q&A with the author, p. 62.]--M.C.

Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 1, 2015

Gr 10 Up-In this rollicking follow-up to her Hark! A Vagrant (Drawn & Quarterly, 2011) comic strip collection, Beaton continues to highlight obscure and well-known bits of history, popular culture, and literature. Using a loose line in each strip, most of which contain five to 10 panels, and introductory comments, the creator parodies subjects as diverse as Nancy Drew, the Founding Fathers, Wuthering Heights, the French Revolution, and Wonder Woman. The humor is biting, and the satire may fly over some teens' heads, but jokes and punch lines will inspire young adults to inquire after the source material. Especially funny are the comics inspired by vintage postcards, book covers, and broadsides. The retellings of "The Lady of Shallott" and "Cinderella" and the cheeky upheaval of sexist superhero comic tropes lend a feminist bent to the collection. Vignettes about strong, independent women from history, such as Dr. Josephine Baker, Ida B. Wells, and Katherine Sui Fun Cheung offer much-needed spotlights on their important contributions. The black-and-white sketches, which border on caricature, reflect the fun, lackadaisical feel of the original webcomics but reinforce the satirical leanings of the work. This volume would be perfect for browsing, writing prompts, or as a tie-in for a unit on political cartoons. Spurts of colorful language and some nudity make this title more appropriate for mature readers. VERDICT A sardonically witty romp from a powerful female voice.-Shelley Diaz, School Library Journal

Copyright 2015 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 15, 2015
Find the idiosyncratic relationship between Romantic composers Chopin and Liszt funny? Looking for a good one about Ginsberg, Kerouac, and Burroughs on a road trip? Though Lois Lane, Wonder Woman, and a few hilariously exaggerated feminists show up to skewer misogyny, some might wonder how accessible this all is. The same criticism could no doubt be leveled at your average continuity-driven Marvel comic, but, thanks to Beaton's expert comedic timing, accessibility is hardly the point. The widely lauded Beaton has created a tidy niche for herself in gag strips that deflate history and literature's more grandiose personalities with highbrow intellectualism and lowbrow barbs. As with her previous Hark! A Vagrant (2011), Beaton employs subtle tricks to disarm her rarefied air. Her sources maybe deeply (sometimes obscurely) historical, but her vernacular is pure contemporary snark. She applies her pen with a deceptively slapdash quality to the intensely expressive faces and bodies, which helps her humor land more sharply. Perhaps more frequently amusing than outright hilarious, Beaton is still plying her trade in a field of one.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)