THREE more issues to go, and it's mostly uphill from here to the finish for me. Komi, improving slowly but steadily with her communication disorder, iTHREE more issues to go, and it's mostly uphill from here to the finish for me. Komi, improving slowly but steadily with her communication disorder, in her kinda weird goal to make 100 friends before graduation, can count off a couple more we will never remember. And one highlight of the series, her relationship to Tadano, is going nowhere, nothing new to say, so it is a sidelined story line?!
The focus of this issue is yet one more School Festival, senior year, and Komi as her group's school rep leads her group through this one more time. I am in a minority here in sorta skimming all this, nothing new, I say, but 2/3 of the ratings for this issue are 4 and 5 stars, so consider the burned-out source who 2 stars this volume.
The highlight of last volume's weak issue is the awkward two-ships-passing-in-the -night failure to create a relationship between Rumiko and Watai. But it is making progress, with e whole school watching, including Komi as consultant and a school reporeter asking her questions. Komi and Tadano hide and try to watch the progress toward a coupling, a little cute. I bet in one of the last issues this will all get sorted out, where more focus on Komi and Tadano as a couple happens, and then Rumiko agrees to get together with Watai....more
Komi Can’t Communicate, Volume 33 (4 to go?) by Tomohito Oda is already in the “mopping up” stage, nothing new to say. The series has a terrific core-Komi Can’t Communicate, Volume 33 (4 to go?) by Tomohito Oda is already in the “mopping up” stage, nothing new to say. The series has a terrific core--introducing a range of communication issues that young people struggle with and suggesting ways to cope/overcome these challenges, all while trying to be fun and entertaining--but it feels like it has run out of gas. For me, at least.
The first 70 pages or so deal with a sports competition that class rep Komi suggests her team should win, despite their having little athletic ability. And then of course they do, because in the various competitions Komi engages in, she has been shown to win--she is the prettiest, the nicest, she gets the sweetest boy, Tadano, she gains friend after friend, and so on. (Later I will consider what having 100 friends--her main goal--may really be about).
Anything worth mentioning?
*Manbagi gets permission from Komi to date Tadano, as part of her process to decide whether Wakai is right for her, eh, because there is no way Oda is going to make that switch at this point in the series. Readers would revolt.
*Of course we have to find more friends, cuz we go to get to 100 and we were at 79 last issue--so do the math, 5 per issue, but who would remember them? Or care, at this point? (Maybe in retrospect ten or fifteen would have been a better goal, Oda?)
*I liked a brief story of a widow Komi meets who needs someone to talk with (a communication issue). I liked that one quite a bit, maybe because it goes in a different direction, in age, and because I am. . . elderly?
*There’s a communications group, which is important--therapy, help, something we didn’t see from/in the school early on. Not a memorable story, though, except that it is necessary to mention as intervention, but it feels like an afterthought.
*A chapter on Komorebi with Susumi and her dogs works pretty well, but again, these are peripheral characters.
So this is mostly a wrap up, mostly side issues. We are done with Komi and Tadano and have nowhere to go....more
Superior (2012) by Mark Millar and Leinil Yu is one of the comics I found that specifically deals with the disability theme of multiple sclerosis, a tSuperior (2012) by Mark Millar and Leinil Yu is one of the comics I found that specifically deals with the disability theme of multiple sclerosis, a topic I sought out because someone in my house was recently diagnosed with ms. And it’s pretty good! Simon Pooni was popular, a good athlete in high school, but then gets the ms diagnosis, and it hits him particularly hard; he’s in a wheelchair very quickly. In recent years medical advances have proved amazing, but fifteen years ago that wheelchair was a solid possibility (and still can be).
Simon, a tween, is a big comics fan who particularly loves Superior (Millar's tribute to Superman). Many of the early pages are a pretty sentimental ode to comics. Then Simon is granted a wish that allows him to actually BECOME Superior, every comics lover’s dream. So in a sense, Simon is like Clark Kent, right? And then plenty of superhero comics action ensues.
I liked the tribute to the once wheelchair-bound Superman actor Christopher Reeve. I like the effort here to highlight disability in comics in a thoughtful, fun way, and Yu’s illustration work is pretty impressive throughout. ...more
Komi Can’t Communicate, Volume 32, is about a socially awkward girl (and many more young people socially challenged in communication) whose goal is 10Komi Can’t Communicate, Volume 32, is about a socially awkward girl (and many more young people socially challenged in communication) whose goal is 100, and this is her senior year, and so we have this book and a few others to get this goal--it ends at 37, I am told. So as usual we will meet people we have never really met before whom Komi wants to befriend, yawn.
The highlight is the opening sequence, where a guy admits he likes Rumiko Manbagi--cute encounter. But that is about it. And Komi is doing better with communicating, we can see a bot of growth.
Class rep election? Komi!! But then she has to take care of emoi Emoyama, who lost, ok. I can almost not forgive Oda (our artist creator) for just at one point saying hi to all of her 79 friends so far, a kind of in-process catalogue!? Too busy to work on content, Oda? Can we go any lower? Yes! There's a guy who talks with a pacifier in his mouth for way too long. And can we go lower? Oh, yes! Yamai is sick and tries to persuade Komi to give her a suppository?! Funny, if just one moment, but it goes on seriously too long. Enough said. ...more
Maria Sweeney is a 2025 Eisner nominee for Best Writer/Artist.
Publisher: When Maria Sweeney was young, she kept count of her broken bones. As she grewMaria Sweeney is a 2025 Eisner nominee for Best Writer/Artist.
Publisher: When Maria Sweeney was young, she kept count of her broken bones. As she grew older, she living with Bruck syndrome, a rare progressive condition that gives her very brittle bones and joint abnormalities.
Sweeney, in the graphic medicine tradition (see my gn-health list), documents her condition from several angles. She writes of the anguishing weight of living with a debilitating disorder, but also things that help:family, cannibis, bananas, love. Beautiful paintings. Useful to anyone living with a progressive disease or also for family and friends....more
The only thing most readers are waiting for is the first verifiable kiss between socially awkward Tadano and Komi. And. . . after 2/3 of the book, aftThe only thing most readers are waiting for is the first verifiable kiss between socially awkward Tadano and Komi. And. . . after 2/3 of the book, after even more characters and yet another festival they go to as a group, and then just T and K go alone to another festival, so there are no obstacles except anxiety to keep them from taking the next step. . . yup, it happens!
There's also some time spent on a kinda surreal story of Kawaii--who has a communication problem we haven't quite seen yet in the series (maybe?)--she'a narcissist who chooses to have no friends. She lives with her family but orders them around and makes them squeel like pigs all the time. I'll say that is a unique story in the series, very weird, mean, possibly hilarious? Anyway, she invites Tadano and Komi to her house and to a festival, the ulterior motive being to try to impress Tadano, but our boy only has eyes for you-know-who!...more
The cover makes it clear that this volume picks up right after the last one, the defeat of Kawaii at the hands of Komi over the affections of The Boy.The cover makes it clear that this volume picks up right after the last one, the defeat of Kawaii at the hands of Komi over the affections of The Boy. So Komi feels bad for her, naturally, but Kawaii nevertheless tries again via a video summarizing her gifts. Result: Spectacular Fail. The rest of the issue was for me pretty forgettable but pleasant enough....more
A study camp competition for Tadano initiated by Komi's roommate Kawaii. Makes no real sense as Komi even tells her that Tadano likes her not because A study camp competition for Tadano initiated by Komi's roommate Kawaii. Makes no real sense as Komi even tells her that Tadano likes her not because she is more intelligent or even prettier than anyone else. But nevertheless they compete in study camp quizzes and so on.
There's a bried moment in the inevitable end I like where Komi is sitting on the beach next to Kawaii and the latter is crying, and Komi is not sure, having asserted her dominance and asserted her deeper connection to Tadano, how to navigate the situation. After all, she's not a mean girl. . .
But otherwise, there's not much here to push things forward. ...more
Eh. Some game-playing, where the characters all become ganme icons for much of it, I feel out of that realm and its attempt at adorable cuteness. LotsEh. Some game-playing, where the characters all become ganme icons for much of it, I feel out of that realm and its attempt at adorable cuteness. Lotsa talk about kissing at one point.
I like the bit about Naruse and Ase again who seem to be dating. I like the soccer match and the socially awkward guy who can't talk to girls. I like Manbagi as a character quite a bit here, and generally....more
A sweet wordless graphic novel for children about Immie, a girl who finds one of the flowers in a rose bush blooms into a fantastical creature, a ros A sweet wordless graphic novel for children about Immie, a girl who finds one of the flowers in a rose bush blooms into a fantastical creature, a rose wolf. An adventure ensues, a journey. Both Immie and the rose wolf are missing limbs, but they in a sense "replace" what's missing with magic and the love of nature and friendship. ...more
Evelyn Glennie is a world-famous Scottish percussionist I had (probably) never heard of, but this inspirational picture book highlights how she has acEvelyn Glennie is a world-famous Scottish percussionist I had (probably) never heard of, but this inspirational picture book highlights how she has achieved fame as a DEAF percussionist. A budding musician in a musical family, her hearijng began deteriorating when she was ten, and then she went deaf. She became interested in percussion because she could feel the rhythm, and since then persisted against possibly unsurprising resistance to her contention that she could do this. She plays barefoot to help her experience the full effect of the vibrations in all percussion instruments. She thinks of hearing as akin to touch, which is fascinating, and makes sense.
As a person now wearing hearing aids, I tend ot think of hearing loss as ONLY in deficit terms, but Glennie's story helps everyone including me think of the ways one can think of the possibilities a disability can create. Or, how adapting to it can help one in so many ways.
#25 volume of Komi Can't Communicate (though she is doing much better, after 24 volumes, thank the stars). #24 was rhe almost anticlimactic but still #25 volume of Komi Can't Communicate (though she is doing much better, after 24 volumes, thank the stars). #24 was rhe almost anticlimactic but still well done and satisfying declaration of love in #24 (for Valentine's Day!) between Shoko Komin and Tadano, two kids somewhat hampered by social anxiety, though most of the burgeoning list of characters have communication issues of various kinds, if you look closely enough. So what do we expect in this issue? Holding hands, right? Or do we wait five volumes to accomplish this??!
Sorry for the spoiler, but the couple, now a “couple,” who are “going together,” initially paralyzed about what to do, go on a kind of date with Shoko’s Dad as chaperone, with predictably hilarious results. Whie Day! Then, sure, they hold hands--you get a one-page, suitable-for-framing full page of them doing just that, after Tadano assures her that he really likes her and she can relax and enjoy the mutual admiration. So she kinda does. Kinda.
A crazy graduation ceremony happens, too, but not much else will be remembered out of this volume as it turns into a romance series. ...more
There’s a real village in Germany called Neuerkerode that is operated in part by neurodivergent people with mental disabilities--the local restaurant,There’s a real village in Germany called Neuerkerode that is operated in part by neurodivergent people with mental disabilities--the local restaurant, the local bar, the local supermarket. The author, Mikael Ross, spent a couple years visiting there to write and share about it, to capture a sense of authenticity and respect for the people he depicts.
As a father of two sons with autism, I had mixed feelings:
*I love that this book exists, that he took all this time to research and write it. Thank you, Mikael. *I love that a town in Germany exists where folks with disabilities are respected and understood well enough to be integrated into their community (I live in the Chicago area and the best known place for similar commitments is where my son Sammy lives, in Rogers Park) * I love how many of these folks are depicted, so sympathetically
But: * As an older father of kids with severe needs, I am with thousands of parents who are terrified of what will happen to our children when we are gone. This book, which has been translated into English as The Fall and as The Thud, has a nightmare opening, where the mother, living alone with Noel, has a stroke and Noel is taken away to--thank god--Neuerkerode, but no one ever tells him he will never see his mother again or why. *There's danger, there are abusive characters, guys invite the young Noel to see porn and it's not fun; now I get it that this is the real world and worse things can happen and you can't protect your child from the difficulties of the world forever. Trust me, I know. This just felt very dark in places, including the very ending, which was intended perhaps as funny and sweet but not to me.
So I do like parts of this book and don't like it for few reasons I can’t necessarily fault the author for, though some of it is confusing for Noel and the reader. It's episodic, rambling. Ultimately I applaud the initial impetus for the book and the author's good heart and even the point of the realism. Maybe I'm just too sensitive....more
Just when I was getting consistently tired of the series, this one I felt was a little more inspired. The artwork had more energy. It's a winter-themeJust when I was getting consistently tired of the series, this one I felt was a little more inspired. The artwork had more energy. It's a winter-themed volume with gift-giving and snow sports, on a winter school trip where Tadano and Manbagi have to sleep in the same room--oh no! how embarrassing!--a kind of classic screwball comedy trope. The Komi-Manbagi struggle for the heart of Tadano goes on. And on, and on, but it's still pretty fun.
I guess the series has to get worse as we are stuck with trying to have Komi complete her goal of 100 friends. We see it already as we don't always know who is who(m). We just pile on characters. Nevertheless, this one had fun energy and humor. ...more
A pretty average offering, with one notable exception: Our hero Tadano at one point compliments many of the central characters, very sweet. Someone meA pretty average offering, with one notable exception: Our hero Tadano at one point compliments many of the central characters, very sweet. Someone mentions that he just might make a good teacher. Komi has now almost half of her goal of 100 friends, making at least three in this volume, one not nice, but Komi will not give up on her. A feel-good series examining a range of teen social anxiety issues from a variety of angles....more
A relatively light but fun volume where we basically learn nothing new, but get to play out the competition between Manbagi and Komi who both have unaA relatively light but fun volume where we basically learn nothing new, but get to play out the competition between Manbagi and Komi who both have unarticulated crushes on the clueless Tadano. It's a series about social anxiety disorder and so almost everyone suffers from problems with communication, and most especially around issues of romantic attraction.
At one point Manbagi and Komi get (informal) flirting lessons from a new friend, but they are not good at this. And they each elect to sing karaoke with Tadano, but this goes nowhere; they can't sing. Then, Komi approaches Tadano and asks him what is his relationship to Manbagi is. He answers, fairly directly, but then she asks him what his relationship is to her (Komi!): and then there is an interruption, so it's either a cliffhanger, or (more likely) they will not return to this question for three volumes. . . . sigh. 3.5 stars. ...more
A break-through volume, or maybe it is a two-volume highlight of the series, possibly a kind of turning point. The Manbagi/Komi/Tadano triangle has beA break-through volume, or maybe it is a two-volume highlight of the series, possibly a kind of turning point. The Manbagi/Komi/Tadano triangle has been a known thing but unaddressed, until this volume, #17 (!?), where an unusual thing happens (spoiler alert!!!): Komi and Manbagi finally communicate to each other about their mutual attraction to Tadano, and they agree to commit to their friendship in spite of whatever happens. Yep, rather than fight with each other in jealous rage, they agree to support each other regardless of what happens.
Whatever else happens in this volume, any typical joking around, it's all in the background as this is a key occurrence. And note: Komi is communicating, and not on paper, with Manbagi. Now Tadano, who dresses as a girl for the play because Komi is talking to Manbagi, remains largely sweetly clueless about what is going on. No one is talking to him. And technically he has two separate culture festival "dates" with Komi and Manbagi, and doesn't even seem to realize it! And yet another girl who plays opposite him may also be falling for him! I say all clueless nice guys (like me and my sons, I am thinking, guys that as teenagers freeze up around girls) have Tadano as someone to cheer on....more
I was surprised to see this manga, which the author announces in an afterword is essentially auto-fiction, about a girl, Shino Oshima (see what he didI was surprised to see this manga, which the author announces in an afterword is essentially auto-fiction, about a girl, Shino Oshima (see what he did there, making a change from Shuzo Oshimi? Sly!) who grows up unable to say her name or much of anything else without a serious stutter. So most of her classmates make fun of her, though one reaches out to her and befriends her. That friend can play guitar but can't sing, and they discover Shino can sing without stuttering (there was an American country western singer named Mel Tillis who stuttered when he talked but he sang without a stutter; this may be common among stutterers, I don't know).
Another kid who has some problems communicating (he can't seem to stop talking, and is pretty goofy). Initially he mocks Shino about her stuttering, but later apologizes and wants to join them in music-making, hey, a(n unlikely!) band!
This book is maybe the least complicated or edgy of a number of social communication manga books I have read lately: Oshimi's own Blood on the Tracks (where Seiichi has seen something traumatic and is mostly silenced, and stuttering, which makes me worry about what the manga-ka may have faced growing up); A Silent Voice (a deaf girl and a bully), and Komi Can't Communicate, but it is still very good. It's a little darker than Komi Can't Communicate, but not as dark (so far) as (shudder) Blood on the Tracks....more
The most ambitious (and just plain largest) collection of Keillor Roberts' memoir or autobio comics, a Drawn & Quarterly production. This book collectThe most ambitious (and just plain largest) collection of Keillor Roberts' memoir or autobio comics, a Drawn & Quarterly production. This book collects from a decade of work, from five previous titles--Powdered Milk (2012), Miseryland (2015), Sunburning (2017), Chlorine Gardens (2018) and Rat Time (2019)--like a summary of her life so far. I categorize this as "disability" because Keillor has both MS and is bipolar, and these experiences have been part of earlier collections, but in this one we learn even more about the weirdness of her brain (or maybe, with the weirdness of my brain, I just forgot what I had read and all of this I had read before). Always funny, especially as we get deeper into the way her mind works. But it is not mostly about her disabilities; those are just part of her life. The main focus of the book is her family, and motherhood, as always.
Her daughter Xia always figures in here as the comic (funny, I mean) hero as in all the books, that Art Linklater, Kids Say the Darndest Things (I know this ages me as it was a popular book in the sixties or seventies) angle, but in this book many more people from her family and friends seem to figure in the joking around. And dogs, always dogs. Bigger book, more family members and friends, the classes she teaches. An expanded horizon. And it is funny, for sure.
The title is not so easily--or at all-explained; as I imagined, it was about that contemporary concept of "quiet quitting." And so I liked this title, hoping it would connect to that idea, or to slow growth, or just getting off the rat race maze, but here it is, Keiler more productive than ever, not really ever quitting, and I can't complain.
The key to the (apparently) acquired taste of this book for some Goodreads readers is that Keillor is deadpan humor always, you have to get that. This is true for her art, too; sort of deliberately deadpan drawing, with no one smiling though jokes are being made all the time. I love all these people. I read it in a matter of hours, but I now actually own all of her books, yay....more
A lively but less focused volume in the series, where we visit Grandma in the country for Oban, where we revisit a huge cast of characters in the growA lively but less focused volume in the series, where we visit Grandma in the country for Oban, where we revisit a huge cast of characters in the growing list of Komi's friends list. Tadano helps Komi learn how to ride a bike! Encouraging? Then there's a summer festival, hijinks. But it feels like a scattered volume, after last volume's focus on Komi and Rei....more