Tiger Lung

January 19, 2015
It's hard not to like a graphic novel that takes us back to Paleolithic Europe, especially one as beautifully rendered as Tiger Lung. In these tales, Roy (Prophet) and Wordie trace the story of the book's eponymous hero, an ancient shaman trying to do his best for his people against the backdrop of an unforgiving landscape. Both Wordie's use of color in the narratives that bookend the collection and Roy's black and white line in "The Hyena's Daughter" are outstanding. Prehistory is often thought of as that period when people were guided by instinct and rudimentary reasoning to negotiate their hostile environment, but this book uses elements of the mythic and the fantastic to show us a world that is far more complicated. The sketchbook that Roy includes at the end gives wonderful insight into complex process that guided his decision-making in putting these stories together, including, as he notes, "the challenge of trying to visually define the internal life of the shaman." An impressive effort.

March 1, 2015
Grades 9-12 Set 30,000 years before the birth of Christ, this is a collection of short comics about title character Tiger Lung, an Upper Paleolithic shaman who roams the land to help his people and ward off evil spirits. The first and strongest of the stories, Beneath the Ice, quickly and tensely switches between past and present, remarking on Tiger Lung's past mistakes as a boy and his present quest to right his wrongs. The other two stories explain more about the lore and harsh environment than the title character, as Tiger Lung, now in the prime of his magical powers, battles supernatural spirits in an attempt to bring order to his chaotic and primitive world. Although fantastical in tone, Roy has clearly taken pains to make the experience as authentic as possible. And his raw sketches do a great job of matching the dismal realities of the environments and situations. Though it's a bit too shortthe three short stories don't really paint a full picture of the world or the characterit's nonetheless an appealing endeavor.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)