Paul Dini’s “Dark Night: A True Batman Story” tells an autobiographical account of Dini’s childhood love of stories that influenced his later work on “Batman: The Animated Series” and that helped him deal with the traumatic aftermath of his mugging in 1993 in which he was nearly killed. The experience crystallizes his years of self-doubt and self-hatred and makes him question his life. Through it all, he processes the experience with the animation that inspired so much of his life. Eduardo Risso beautifully illustrates the work, alternating between styles depending on the scene or to capture the mood of Dini’s memory. Russo blends illustration styles in a way that captures the multilayered narrative with familiar characters appearing recognizable while also having the malleability that people bring to their interpretations and favored portrayals of the characters that dominate popular consciousness. Todd Klein’s lettering helps to bring Dini’s words to life in an accessible format that emphasizes the key points. “Dark Night” will particularly interest fans of “Batman: The Animated Series” who want to know more about the creators and the world of WB Animation at that time. It also shows the power of graphic novels to tell deeply personal stories.

Literally the worst book. The plot was all over the place with spelling and grammar issues throughout.

In Gene Luen Yang’s “Saints,” the second volume of his “Boxers & Saints,” he parallels the first story by focusing on the fourth daughter of a family who desperately seeks her family’s approval and love. Dubbed “Four Girl,” she believes herself to be a devil and contorts her face accordingly in public. Her family takes her to an acupuncturist where she first becomes aware of Christianity, eventually converting and taking the name Vibiana. Her work in the church shows her a different side of the changes occurring in China as a result of colonial interests. They bring her into conflict with Bao’s group. Yang ends this volume with an epilogue for both. Like the previous volume, he uses magical realism to show how the Boxer Rebellion was a clash between belief systems and how easily a movement can become subject to its most extreme members. “Saints” is a great introduction to the topic for newcomers and Yang includes a guide to further reading in the back, though it should be read alongside its companion book, “Boxers”.

Esmé Louise James’ “Kinky History: A Rollicking Journey through Our Sexual Past, Present, and Future” explores the history of sexuality in a compelling manner that will entertain and educate readers from academics through to casual readers while building on her social media and graduate work. She structures her book into five main subjects: sin, pleasure, queer identities, kink, and pornography. Each explores these works using classical texts as well as current historical analyses. Discussing contraception under the heading of sin, James explores historical forms of contraception, many of which may horrify modern readers. In the modern era, she links contraception to syphilis in the early sixteenth century following Jared Diamond’s research (p. 24). Similarly, in exploring sexual toys as a form of pleasure, James argues that correcting the false history of the vibrator is of critical importance. She writes, “It matters how we tell history. In linking the story of hysteria and the vibrator, we achieve a story that is funny, cheeky, and a little bit sexy – perfect for Hollywood and Broadway adaptations. It’s also insanely harmful. It paints women from recent history as mindless creatures who would allow doctors to essentially assault their bodies because their husbands said they’d been acting irrational. This isn’t the story we should be telling” (p. 84). Addressing queer history, James argues, “These stories have always been in the history books – we just need the right reading tools to be able to find them again. This is a task of great importance” (p. 95). To illuminate these stories, James highlights the lives of Elagabalus and Julius Caesar from ancient Rome, Anastasia the Patrician from sixth-century Byzantium, François-Timoléon de Choisy from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and an unnamed person from newspaper reports in the 1930s (p. 121-123). Further, she highlights cultures that recognized an intersex or third sex including the Galli in ancient Rome, the Mahu from pre-colonial Hawai‘i, and he Muxe people among the Zapotec community in pre-colonial and modern Mexico (p. 125). Though she cautions against mapping our current concepts of gender onto the past, James illuminates how LGBTQIA people have always been part of the human tapestry and have played a role throughout history while understanding gender as much more than a simple binary in their own times and terms. Turning to kink, James uses sources from the ancient world through James Joyce. She questions, “How much more could we learn about the function of a human if we stopped treating these desires as ‘freaky quirks’ and instead worked to show that they function in a holistic view of a human?” (p. 166). She moves from body parts to clothing to pain and more, alternating between literature, letters, scientific studies, and evidence from the ancient world through early modern history. In her final section, James examines pornography, though she touched on notions of pornographic materials throughout her study. She writes, “While we have a range of erotic art and literature dating back to the ancient world that we now classify as pornography, this was not even considered as a distinctly separate category until the early nineteenth century” (p. 210). Further, “pornography – a genre now often associated with heteronormative depictions of sexuality – was actually popularized as a genre by two (likely) queer men who wrote through the eyes of female sex workers” (p. 215). Above all, ethical production and consumption is important and James notes how one may healthily consume the material under these conditions, bringing her to her conclusion. James argues that sexuality is a form of empathy, best understood as a way to connect and worthy of understanding while dispelling myths. “Kinky History” is critical reading for the public with research that straddles the boundaries between popular and academic writing.

Mark Waid’s “Star Wars: Princess Leia” collects issues #1-5 of the titular series written by Waid, illustrated by Terry Dodson, inked by Rachel Dodson, colored by Jordie Bellaire, lettered by Joe Caramagna, and with cover art by the Dodsons. The story begins mere minutes after the end of “A New Hope,” with Princess Leia finding herself seeking a purpose in the wake of Alderaan’s destruction. She recruits fellow Alderaanian pilot Evaan Verlaine for her personal mission as the last surviving member of the Alderaanian Royal Family to seek out and rescue any surviving Alderaanians before the Empire can eliminate them in retaliation for the Death Star’s destruction. Leia’s travels first take her to Naboo, offering a chance for her to encounter a Force-vision of her mother, the late Queen Amidala. Similarly, Artoo-deetoo has a homecoming, though without the fanfare. From there, they travel to Sullust, where Leia finds a group of particularly paranoid Alderaanians. She wins their loyalty, but needs their skills to find a spy in her midst. Evaan also helps introduce Nien Nunb to Princess Leia. Once Leia learns the identity of the spy, she demonstrates her willingness to risk her own life to preserve every remaining Alderaanian life. Meanwhile, her emissary to a different Alderaanian enclave encounters difficulty due to the fact that the Alderaanians have married and had children with the local population. Some want to accept anyone with Alderaanian heritage in order to keep any trace of their people alive while others reveal their racism. The story is a great Leia-centric “Star Wars” adventure, taking place shortly after the original film. The connections with Nien Nunb help connect to Cecil Castellucci and Jason Fry’s novel, “Moving Target,” while the setting neatly parallels Marvel’s relaunch of the “Star Wars” comics. Further, Leia’s brief glimpse of a Force-vision of her mother is a moving scene. Both Luke’s wardrobe as well as that of Evaan help to establish a style that appeared in Kevin Hearne’s novel, “Heir to the Jedi.” Waid is an able storyteller and uses Leia’s quest to rescue Alderaanian survivors as an introduction to explore Leia’s character. The Dodson’s art works particularly well with Waid’s writing, capturing character likenesses and imbuing scenes with a dynamism befitting “Star Wars” storytelling.

James Sturm and Joe Sutphin’s adaptation of Richard Adams’ “Watership Down.” The story faithfully retells the tale of a group of rabbits who seek a new home following the destruction of their warren, encountering other creatures, rabbits from different warrens, and elements of the human world that take on monstrous forms in the minds of the rabbits. The rabbits have their own mythology, though the allegory of their adventures was inspired by Adams’ experiences in the Battle of Arnhem in 1944. Sturm and Sutphin’s adaptation uses the graphic medium to visually capture the scale of the rabbits’ world as well as their emotions. Their adaptation will serve as a nice introduction to new readers or a supplementary volume for teachers incorporating “Watership Down” into their classroom syllabi.

Devin Grayson and Becca Farrow’s adaptation of Tamora Pierce’s “First Test: Protector of the Small – Book 1” faithfully adapts the first book of Pierce’s third Tortall quartet. The story introduces Keladry of Mindelan, who trains as a knight a decade after the events of the “Song of the Lioness” quartet in which Alanna trained and Jonathan of Conté made it legal for girls to train. Kel faces an uphill battle from the beginning with an added probationary period which other pages need not pass, though she seeks Lord Wyldon’s approval. Her sponsor, Nealan, sponsors her in the training and helps her learn the unofficial rules of training. Along the way, Kel discovers that she has a secret benefactor and makes friends while she challenges the systemic bullying at the school. Each of Pierce’s Tortall quartets may be read on their own and this works as an easy entry point for new readers, though some prior familiarity with “Song of the Lioness” and “Immortals” will help readers appreciate the world that Pierce built. “First Test” may appeal the most to new readers’ tastes, however, and what they expect from YA fantasy. Grayson’s adaptation honors the original text while taking into consideration the areas in which the art will tell the story. Farrow brilliantly compliments Pierce and Grayson’s writing with distinctive character designs and great visual world-building. Her art and Grayson’s adaptation will introduce new readers to Pierce’s writing and enhance their appreciation of Tortall. The book concludes with Farrow’s character sketches and a glossary of medieval and fantasy terms for newcomers. I look forward to Grayson and Farrow continuing to adapt the other books in the “Protector of the Small” quartet.

Rosa Carr’s “Air Fay” tells the story of Aria, who finds herself transported to the world of Fairy without any memory of who she is or where she came from. Encountering Laredo, another Fairy with secrets of his own, she learns more about the world and begins to uncover secrets of her past and her destiny. Carr crafts a detailed world of Fae that can exist parallel to our own human world, though the writing is occasionally wooden and the conflicts occasionally feel forced to achieve a plot goal rather than the actions of well-rounded characters. Specifically, Laredo’s sullen moods read as clichéd efforts to create conflict or remove him from the story for ease of plot and his big secret is all-too-obvious for following well-worn tropes. Despite these weaknesses, Carr’s writing shines in the third act when her characters reach their central conflict. The action and world-building reads as much more believable while the characters’ actions feel natural. “Air Fay” will entertain middle readers who enjoy fantasy and is likely to find an audience among those looking for something new at the library.

David Stabler’s “What Is the Story of Captain Picard?” explores the fictional biography of the captain of the U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701-D as well as the making of “Star Trek: The Next Generation” and its place in the “Star Trek” franchise, past and future. Stabler notes how Gene Roddenberry and the “TNG” writers chose Picard’s name in honor of brothers Jean Felix and Auguste Piccard, Swiss chemists and balloonists, while basing Picard’s personality on C.S. Forester’s Horatio Hornblower. He explores the development of the other main characters on “TNG,” notable adversaries, and some of Picard’s greatest adventures. Pointing the way forward, Stabler discusses the character’s legacy and how it influenced spin-off series “Star Trek: Picard” in 2020, the second season of which was in production at the time Stabler wrote. He concludes, “Today, it is impossible to imagine ‘Star Trek’ without Picard” (p. 106). This book will appeal to young Trekkers looking for a convenient reference work as they learn more about “Star Trek” or to parents who want to introduce their children to the franchise. It also nicely compliments the non-fiction biographies in this series and would go well alongside books on science and aviation pioneers like “Who Were the Tuskegee Airmen?”, “Who Was Neil Armstrong?”, “Who Was Jacques Cousteau?”, “Who Were The Wright Brothers?”, and “Who Was Galileo?” or titles focused on entertainers like “Who Was Chuck Jones?”, “Who Was Lucille Ball?”, “Who Is Stan Lee?”, and “Who Is George Lucas?”. Another book in the “What Is the Story” series focuses on Captain Kirk.

Paul Michael Peters’ “Mist and Moonbeams: Stories from the Great Lakes Edge” features five novelettes set around Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario. Peters organizes the stories based on the mnemonic “H.O.M.E.S.,” with that sense of home running through each novelette. The Huron story, “You Can’t Start a Fire with Moonlight,” focuses on a forbidden love and the pain of its loss. Turning to Ontario, “A Hummingbird in Winter” takes place in the twenty-second century with human connections driving the narrative as main character Dash finds his world changed after a chance encounter. As Peters reaches Michigan, “Confessions of an Efficient Cause” takes on a noir tone as the dark winter of 1992 parallels a threat to students in Chicago and the detective who seeks justice on their behalf. On Erie – the shallowest of the lakes that empties the quickest – “Careful, Icarus” is a heist story in Cleveland featuring a character who hopes one big score can change his life for good. Finally, Peters closes out with Superior and his story “Love in Her Big Two-Hearted,” which follows recent widow Sonny as she seeks out a new adventure through a canoe trip in order to quench her sense of unfulfilled dreams. The stories are entertaining in their own way with their brevity often working to their strength. The book will appeal to those looking to try something new and would find a good home at any library or rental cabin along the Great Lakes. In fact, I was struck while reading this by how perfectly this book would fit in hotels or private rentals along the lakes for vacationers to have something to read after a day exploring the sights. The variety and brevity of the stories are perfectly suited to this type of reading while the local settings would entertain readers as a diversion while they visit the Great Lakes Region.